Who should Review?

I've always been disgusted when bloggers and journalists try and post articles that are only intended to try and save their own butts. Case in point is Jim Sterling's most recent article on review scores. From where I'm sitting, the article could have been very insightful had Jim's intentions simply been on a reflection of video game scores and their place in the media, provided Jim had reflected on other sites, or other reviews that were not his own. However, I don't think that Jim really understands why he gets flack for some of his reviews. It's not because of the score. It's because he's not the right type of person to review the game.

Whether it be Sterling, or Hilary Goldstein, or Jeff Gertsmann, or anyone else in the game media, one thing that has to be outed (despite the fact that it's obvious) is that each of us has certain tastes. Despite the fact that someone (such as myself) who has a very wide variety of tastes can review a large number of games, there are still things that cannot be touched by a specific reviewer. Using myself as an example, I cannot be the person to review a JRPG, or a dungeon crawler like Torchlight or Diablo. I know that these games bore me to death, so any review from me would not be a solid indicator of the game's content, or the experience that the consumer is getting his or herself into. I would probably have to hand over the review to Dant or Yousif.

A question that I asked myself a couple of days ago was what the purpose of a review was. What is a review akin to? After a bit of pondering, I realized that there was a misconception that needed to be addressed first. Reviews, as a whole, are not simple opinion articles. Articles such as my Tuesdaily List feature, or my Philosophical Fridays series are opinion articles. A review, however, asks quite a bit more of the writer than a simple editorial. For an editorial, I'm not asked to devote ten to twenty hours playing through anything to get an idea of what an experience is, and what my final judgment on that experience is.

Video game reviews are more than just opinions. They're akin to a trial. The reviewer is asked to sit and play through an experience, write an article that describes the pros and cons of that experience, and then rank it according to a numeral scale. You're not just being asked for a simple opinion. You're being asked to describe a situation, and then render judgment. If you do a poor job of it, then your credibility is in question. If the game is a popular release, then you may be labeled as someone who simply stirs the pot for the sake of getting attention. If you do a proper job of it, then your work will be heralded by the people you work with, the people who bought the game, and probably your bosses as well.

A month ago, I had a conversation with my boss, Admir, about the upcoming release of Halo: Reach, and whether or not I should review it. At that moment in time, Admir was correct to say that I should probably let that game go, and focus on a different title. Had I reviewed the game when it was released, I simply would not have been fair to the game. Aside from the fact that I haven't been impressed with the series since the second installment, I was also sick of shooters, having reviewed Singularity and Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days. Though Kokugamer didn't have a review of the game, I think that it was for the best. Would I have done my readers any credit with my review? I don't think so.

As it stands, whether you see yourself as blogger or journalist, the minute you sit on your computer and begin typing, you have a duty to your readers. Whether your site gets one thousand hits or one million, you have an audience that comes to you for information. When a game has quite a bit of hype built about it, the readers are depending on you to give them an accurate idea of what's coming to them. If you tell them that a game like Fallout 3 is just a boring trek through something that could be considered Obilvion 2099, and then they go to a friend's house and fall in love with it, you just made yourself look like a fool.

Since I've already driven that point home like it's a railroad spike and I'm John freaking Henry, let me answer the question. Who should review? The person who is fair. For example: Let's say that you're a website owner, and Capcom agrees to send you a copy of Dead Rising 2. You have four reviewers, and three of them are sick of zombies. However, those writers are more popular than the guy who isn't sick of zombies. I know that it's tempting to give the game to the popular guy, but your readers are going to hate you for it if he lambastes it for no reason whatsoever other than to appease his own need for self-entertainment.

Now, luckily for gamers there are dozens of sites out there that you can go to and try to find something accurate to the experience. On the written side of things, I tend to go for Giantbomb, or my cohorts on Kokugamer. From a video perspective, I really enjoy Angry Joe's videos, or Bennett the Sage's work, simply because the two of them do a fantastic job of giving the viewer an idea of what they're in for. In this day and age, video games are quite the investment, and nobody wants to get the wrong impression going in. For those of you who review video games, please have the sense to know when to step away from the table and let someone else take over. If you feel there is something that needs to be said, you've got the chance to write an editorial on it, or some sort of supplement. Be responsible.

Repost: The October Schedule

October 1st – Half-Life

October 8th – Dead Space

October 15th – How to make a true horror game

October 22nd – Doom

October 29th – Condemned: Criminal Origins


Now, here's the thing: There's some neat stuff coming up soon. What I can't say is exactly what's happening. What I can say is that there is a very big site that people are familiar with (to degrees) that you will be seeing me as a part of. A very big part of. No, that's not a fat joke.

Anyway, I've done a little working ahead for some projects, so some of these may change, and others may get thrown in there. Half-Life, by the way, is still an homage of "Freeman's Mind." That one and Dead Space are the two episodes that I'm really wanting to do. However, the rest of the month I'm not completely sure on. I'd like to cover Doom just for fun, but we'll have to see.

What I have been working on, however, is recording Mega Man X footage, so I may swap that out for something, and I've also been considering going over Mass Effect 2, and Dead Rising 2 if I end up getting it. So, whatever happens, it should be good stuff.

Insight ep 1 - Moral Relativism and Journalism

and then there was that time that the former Middleweight champion did the chicken dance.

Dead Rising 2: Case Zero review

Vlog 9-21-10 - Metroid: Other M

Searching vs Stumbling

Before I dig into the meat of what I wanted to write this morning, I think that how I've sort of treated this blog has certainly shifted from week to week. One week, it was a place for me to practice my writing. Then, it was just a place to host my videos. Now, I've actually got a few followers. Not many, but a few people who enjoy reading what I write, and the vids I work on. It's nice to have devoted readers, for sure. Well, now that the mushy stuff is out of the way, let's talk about something I've been thinking about recently.

Since I was divorced a couple years back, I've sort of realized that I've really seen most of what there is to see when it comes to the very lows of life. I've been homeless, I've lived with friends, I've been employed in a job I hate, I've been unemployed, and now I'm divorced and trying to build up a future for myself. During the course of the whole thing, I've found many of the answers of my life, such as "Who am I?" and, "What does it all mean?"

However, the methods of finding those answers were sort of weird. When it came to the "Who Am I?" question, I had to find the answer to that. I had to take a lot of time meditating, exercising, thinking, reading, and listening to music to really reach into the recesses of my own mind. In a way, I was retreading all of the aspects of who I used to be to see where I had come to. What I found out about myself was that I'm simply an enigma wrapped in a riddle. I remember when I saw a counselor around the time I had figured this whole mess out who said that she couldn't figure me out, and all I said was, "Don't try to. It'll just spin your head in circles."

So, with that part figured out, and the fact that searching is what found everything out, you'd think that searching would figure out what I was supposed to be doing, right? Well, that's what I thought. Nope. I was way off. My current work? Completely stumbled on it. Like I said in my one year retrospective video, both writing and video production quite literally fell into my lap. At the time, I was really wanting to get back into the ministry. Honestly, I think that you can have one look at my articles on Kokugamer, or my videos here and see that I'm better at what I do now. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Now, you may be asking, "Why are you asking yourself this now?" Well, as I've mentioned before in little tidbits, I have four sisters (two stepsisters, two sisters), and one of my younger sisters is about to get married. For those playing the home game, marriages do something funky to most Americans. We tend to think about exactly where our position is when it comes to relationships, and where we're going with it. Some people will reflect on past stuff and get depressed, and others will look to the future and try to figure out exactly what's coming.

Well, I'm in the latter group. I've already done the dance of my past, figuring out where everything stands there, and where I'm at. Without giving details, I'll just say that I want nothing to do with my ex-wife because of where she is, and the type of person she is. Since I've got a new sense of clarity and happiness, I want to find someone that enjoys that part of me, and wants to be happy with me. Essentially, I want the rest of my life to be a joyful little experience, for however long it is. Keep in mind that I hit the quarter century mark this December.

You see, I've only been in two relationships in my life, and in both of them I found myself swimming upstream for that particular person. You give effort after effort only for everything to crumble at your feet, and I don't want that right now. I certainly don't need it. Relationships are supposed to be easy, fun, and enjoyable. There's supposed to be positive chemistry that makes the burdens of life considerably lighter. It's almost as if all men like me are like Atlas, and the woman that comes into our lives helps alleviate the weight of the world. We're always going to have troubles. Relationships should make those troubles easier to get through. There's probably a scripture I should be quoting from Ecclesiastes right now, but I'm a little unfocused at the moment.

So, here's where I'm standing right now: Do I look, or do I let that person look for me? As a fairly logical individual, I wanted to look at this from a mathematical standpoint first and foremost. Most girls out there really are not fans of approaching boys about their feelings and asking them out. The chances of me finding that person by sitting here and waiting is pretty low. However, on the flipside, I'm looking for someone who is probably one in a million. So, that leaves me with 999,999 chances of being rejected. I have a very negative reaction to being rejected, so I'm sort of at a stuck point. I've had success with waiting, but I've had success with searching as well.

If you ask any divorced person who is currently single, they'll tell you what it's like to be where they are, even if they're happy. It consistently feels like there's supposed to be someone on your arm, or over your shoulder. You can almost feel them there, but then when you turn, there's nothing and no one. Now, is this some sort of big deal? No. It's like living with minor arthritis in a knuckle. It's just annoying if you don't have the proper medication.

So, that's where I'm at right now, so I figured that I would take the time to express it. I've got a big couple weeks ahead of me, so hopefully everything keeps unfolding well, because things have gone pretty well so far.

-Micah C

note: I'm trying something new this week. At the point of the blog they show up in, play the song. It's essentially there to set the mood.

ADHD - Dragon Age Origins

Coming soon: Insight

V-Log 09/10/10

Next week......

I may be a Christian......

......but I am incredibly disgusted by the idea of burning the Quran, or any book for that matter. The Dove World Outreach Center does not represent Christianity, and it's people like them that make me ashamed to believe what I do.

That's really all I had to say. Thanks for reading.

ADHD - Fallout 3

Duke Nukem Forever is Coming

Hail to the king, baby. Thank you, Gearbox, for finally making it happen!

Schwarzenegger vs EMA: A Gamer's Plea

For those of you who do not know about the case, the base premise of it is that the supreme court will be hearing a case that will decide whether or not video games are protected under the first amendment. Though the law has been rejected in California twice, deemed unconstitutional, it is still getting a Supreme Court hearing.

Also, Daniel Floyd, Allison Theus, and James Portnow did an excellent episode of Extra Credits on the same topic. If you agree with the sentiments, I'd ask you to please post these videos wherever you can, wherever you live so people can take a stand about this issue, and make sure that the right thing happens.

-Micah C