An open letter to the guys at Ziff-Davis

Below is an email I just sent off to feedback@gamers-inc.com questioning their Review standards. I don't mean to imply that any of the games listed are not worthy of high scores. Also, I love EGM, unlike many. But here it is:

"Hi all,

I enjoy your site and EGM and have read you for years. But I have a couple of questions. Has true critical objectivity lessened at gamers.com/EGM/US PlayStation Magazine, et al? Eleven games in the last month have received perfect scores:

Metroid Prime
Ratchet And Clank
Shenmue II
The Sims: Unleashed
Medieval: Total War
Phantasy Star Online v. 1&2
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
NBA 2K3
TimeSplitters2 (ps2)
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2

While I know the reviews portions of your sites and mags are made up of many people and many different opinions, it seems much easier than in years past to receive a platinum score.

I do realize that a score of 10 doesn't mean that the game is perfect but that at the time of the review, that particular game is the absolute cream of the crop for that genre/platform and exhibits little or no problems in any of the several criteria upon which the game is being graded.

Still, it seems like the floodgates have been opened to a more lenient scoring system and a generally less critical look at games when for example GTA: VC gets a 10 even though it has a bug that makes it lock up on occasion, or Shenmue II receives a 10, when the "updates" when porting it from Dreamcast [least powerful "next-generation" hardware] to Xbox [most powerful current console] were minimal at best.

So are we in such an unbelievably good time for gaming that the pinnacles of production are seriously being reached by developers on a very regular basis now, or can readers really take your reviews seriously, especially when you supposedly devote, say, 20 plus hours to Metroid Prime but only devote 200 words to its glowing review?

Thanks for your time."

-signed-

Any thoughts?

--Scourge .

Very nice letter. Thoughtfully written, and you describe your concerns with sincerity, and above all, maturity.

Very well written Scourge.

Pip pip, cheerio.

Shenmue 2 got a perfect score?:wtf:

Hmm my issue seems to be defective. =/

Gamers.com gives everything a perfect score.

Ahhh i see.

need for speed: hot pursuit 2 didn't get perfect scores either.

i do agree that reviews seem more lenient nowadays.

Say what you want about Game Informer, but at least they aren't afraid to throw around fives and sixes.

I'm all for lenient reviews, but they do take things a bit far with their liberal scoring.

I have put almost 40 hours into GTA VC...and have not discovered one bug. The only bugs I have seen are the ones you guys have told me abou.

Im so sad..

anyway, good letter.

Shenmue II gets a perfect score... and people on this forum are bitching... and if it got a 6.0 or 7.0 people would be bitching...

Shenmue 2 kicks assz0rz.

I love Shenmue II. That wasn't the point.

Also, the games I listed have scores of 10 at gamers.com which pulls together scores from all Ziff-Davis publications plus reviews written specifically for the web page, so Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 may not have gotten a 10 in EGM, but if you go to gamers.com and look at the score, the ps2 version got a 10 and the review was written by John Davison of U.S PlayStation Magazine.

NFS:HP2 PS2
http://www.gamers.com/game/1092418

Shenmue II on Xbox:
http://www.gamers.com/game/1042802

--Scourge .

Numerical scores for games are retarded to begin with. If reviews were detailed and concise, and gave an accurate impression of the qualities of games, then there would be no need for scores.
I especially hate it when a a game gets a score of, for example, 8.3. I'm so sure this game is 0.1 better than the games that got 8.2 and 0.3 worse than an 8.6.
If reviewers feel compelled to give the game a rating, then I would prefer a simple one word description at the end of the review, like 'Garbage,' 'Mediocre,' 'Average,' 'Good,' 'Great,' or 'Masterpiece.'

I haven't played Metroid Prime yet, so I can't really question their review since they've tried it and I haven't...

I don't belive in score reviews, but I guess everybody could guess that by now.

take that away and we'll see just how good of a reviewer they are.

Yeah. We have a magazine that doesn't have any scores whatsoever. That should sell like Johnny cakes!!