Unlike my LJ these are my rants on the gaming world

• 17Nov 06

  I'm done

  Dear Gamespot,
  It's come to my attention that your credibility as journalists is waning. As a general gaming site you should remain unbiased as much as possible and review games for what they are. As a lover of RPG's it's killed me how much you underrate RPG's particularily those from Japan. Games I loved you've given 6's and 7's. I thought it was merely just that you were a general site and that no one who reviewed the games actually played RPG's. Now that I've seen some of your Western RPG reviews, it made it clear to me that this is what you prefer. That's fine, but if you're going to have such a bias, you should hire a person or two that doesn't mind them, so they may get a more fair review.
  
  Not only are your biases against Japanse RPG's obvious, but your bias towards Microsoft and the XBox even more obvious. Xbox versions of ports tend to get higher reviews; while you generally don't overrate games you consistently overrate XBox games. Many called foul on your review of Perfect Dark, which was a 9.0 while the GameRankings average was an 81%. Your podcasts tend to spend a lot more time talking about XBox games and Jeff Gertsman's obsession with points than anything else.
  
  Your journalists are entitled to have biases on their own time, we are after all human. But when delivering objective views on games you review, keep your agenda to yourself. Part of the problem is that you have your journalists spread out to review games from various platforms and there is no way there can't be some sort of bias, despite your claims that you judge games for the system they're on. If one reviewer is review PS3 games and GBA games how can they be truly objective? The answer is they can't.
  
  My annoyances with your obvious fanboyism have been building for months, but the icing on the cake that has prompted this is your ridiculous review of Twilight Princess. You can have your reservations on the Wii controller. But don't criticize the game for looking outdated graphically when you've known FROM DAY ONE that it was a port from the Gamecube. Other reviewers have made the same gripes but you Gamespot knocked TP more than any other site that has reviewed the game to the time of this writing. Did you not read the Penny Arcade about journalists knocking on Enchanted Arms for being "an old school Japanese RPG." Knocking a game for being what it is on a superficial not only disservices the readers but the developers who worked so hard on the game as well. Stop comparing this game with Gears of War. You will be sorely dissappointed.
  
  With that, I'm done here. You're up there in my book with 1Up on the credibility meter (well not as bad as 1Up. You didn't give Bully a perfect score). I'll continue to look towards GameRankings to give me a more general view on what people think of games, and my precioius RPG's won't be as attacked as badly.
  
  Now if you will excuse me, I'm parking myself at IGN, because while they're not completely credible, they're less crooked than you.
  
  Hugs and kisses
  
  Polyhymnia/Naia
  
  • Posted Nov 17, 2006 11:17 pm PT
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• 8Nov 06

  Sony does something right!!! See I don't just make fun of them!

  I can't find the link and I'm too lazy to look for it.  I think it was on joystiq that Sony will be selling PS1 games for $5!  That's awesome if this is true!  I'm not sure how many games I would download on this service, as I still own many PS1 games.   There are a few RPG's that I wouldn't mind trying that I couldnt' snag when they came out.  But who knows if those will actually be available.  This has loads of promise though.
  
  This makes Nintendo's VC service seem like a total ripoff.  You all know how much I love Nintendo, but come on, $5 for an NES game?  Compared to PS1 games very few games on the NES worth that much.  Not to mention that the Japanese are getting Sega games for cheaper than us (600 vs 800 points).  Total crap.  Nintendo, you had me in your corner and you messed it up.  And WHY THE HELL are the VC games region coded?  No excuses. 
  
  This doesn't make me want to run out and spend $600 on a PS3, but it's nice to hear GOOD things about the system.  This also doesn't hurt my feelings towards the Wii.  I was able to preorder one for launch.  I totally lucked out in that my EB secretly took 10 preorders before they were "officially" announced.  I overheard them talking to another guy and I got myself on the list (still I was only #5 out of 10).  They put my deposit down as a Wii game SKU and the deal was that I had to show up the day of the preorders and come in to change my order.  Otherwise after a day my spot would be taken.  It was great to get there opening morning and have loads of fanboys tell me it was sold out and to go home.  Little did they know... I'm very excited for the Wii and I'm going to the launch party in LA next week.  That will be total fun.
  
  I'm finishing up my Dragon Quest Marathon.  I beat Rocket Slime and I'm at the end of DQ8.  RS was a charming little DS game that I really enjoyed.  I just wish it was longer.  DQ8 is living up to its hype despite some little gripes I have over the gameplay mechanics.  Overall I'm loving it like McDonalds; its definitely one of the better Dragon Quest games.
  
  I have no idea what to play next.  Zelda is coming out and I could wait and play that, but I'm letting my fiancee play that first, so I'll probably need something else to entertain me with.  I'm thinking either Metroid Prime 2 or Fire Emblem, something Nintendo-ish to celebrate the Wii release.  Decisions decisions...
  
  
  • Posted Nov 8, 2006 11:57 pm PT
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• 17Oct 06

  Another Quicky: Are fanboys taking it too far?

  This is a mini rant/editorial.  I've been noticing a trend recently that is getting to the point of being disturbing.  Are fanboys going too far to show their affections towards a video game company?  I think it's great to get excited for products and show support for the companies they like, but I'm thinking people are taking it a bit to the extreme.
  
  Nintendo's been quietly doing this practice for years.  I love Nintendo as you may know, but they're the only company I know that can take a 20 year old game, repackage it for a portable system and sell it for WAY more than its worth, and people blindly buy the games.  It would have been nice to play Legend of Zelda or Super Mario Bros. on my GBA, but each game is not worth $20.00.  I wished they had released a compilation cart. 
  
  Fast forward to 2005: Microsoft releases the XBox 360 and people go crazy due to the shortages.  People realize the amount of profit that could be earned on eBay and people sell their 360's for exorbarant prices. 
  
  Another year later the Sony fan boys go even crazier:  people camping over night for preorders, selling them for even more outrageous prices and people camping outside Best Buy just to play demos at a kiosk.  I know that Sony and Microsoft aren't to blame for the outrageous ebay prices, but I can't help to feel disturbed by the trend.
  
  It makes me feel like the "big three" are taking advantage of the consumers' devotion.  Consumers are willing to spend more on their consoles, their games and their accessories.  What will things be like 20 years from now, will we be willing to spend as much as $100 a game?  $80 for a controller add-on?  $800 for a system just because it has loads of bells and whistles?
  
  I understand that productions costs of games are increasing, but I urge consumers not to be completely blinded by them and to remember this is just entertainment, lets not have them milk us too much.
  
  And don't even get me started on microtransactions....
  
  • Posted Oct 17, 2006 10:43 pm PT
  • Category: Editorial
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