Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Rihanna’s hotness, your favorite chicken wings, or your favorite Little Rascal, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
A couple of weeks ago, RPadholic bsukenyan sent me a link to a Pokemon Black/White review. It contained a small comment that made me dismiss the review, even though it had nothing to do with the review’s quality. Check it out:
Somebody at Game Freak must love bridges because there are numerous huge bridges to cross.
Hardcore Pokemon fans know that Game Freak director Junichi Masuda is a bridge otaku. He completely lit up when I asked him about his fascination with bridges during an interview I did for G4tv.com. I don’t expect most gamers to know about Masuda’s love of bridges, but between a writer and an editor, this stupid line should never have made it to the review.
More recently, I read this review of Tactics Ogre. It also had a line that made me wince:
On the surface Tactics Ogre looks like any other tactical RPG (with an uncanny resemblance to Final Fantasy Tactics), with grid-based, turn-by-turn combat featuring a multitude of classes and weapons.
An uncanny resemblance to Final Fantasy Tactics?!? I don’t see what’s so uncanny about it. Before Yasumi Matsuno’s team made Final Fantasy Tactics, they made the Tactics Ogre and Ogre Battle. He directed, designed, and wrote all of those games. The art and music teams were largely the same. It’s uncanny for a small development team to make games that resemble each other? Really?!?
In both cases, the lines had nothing to do with the reviewer’s opinion on the game. As a huge fan of both series and developers, the lines made me think less of the reviewer and editor. What do you guys and gals think of missing small details in reviews? Do they ruin the review for you? Is it irrelevant since it has nothing to do with the reviewer’s opinion? Kindly share your thoughts in today’s Coffee Talk!
Honestly it would be tough for me to even notice anything like that. I don't know enough about the industry to catch anything. Those remarks seem completely pointless to me and I would have read right over them.
Its not that I don't care, its just not something I would give a second thought and I would continue to read the review.
It's not so much about being inside the industry. Big fans of Pokemon and FF Tactics will know that those lines are dumb. As a fan, those lines made me question if the reviewer knew enough about the material.
I don't read a lot of video game reviews either though. I prefer bullet points, scores or video reviews, but I don't ever let them keep me from trying a game out. At most a crappy review will prevent me from making a day one purchase but I'll still rent it.
But of all of the reviews I have read, not once can I think of anything like what you described.
I honestly don't know anything about the behind-the-scenes for even my favorite games. I would never know a specific person involved in game development.
I can't think one one name I know from video games. I used to remember the guy that did the voice for Uncharted (Nolan???) and Hideo from MGS (it popped up on screen when fighting a boss.
yeah i'm with slicky. if you wouldn't have pointed out those lines and explained why you had an issue with them, i would've been lost. That's why i support and your site though Rpad. i feel learneded every day. thank you :D
@wings
my favorite wings are from the buffalo wild wings chain, spicy garlic and habanero
@rihanna
i think she's overrated.
@Wings
I get all mine from Buffalo Wild Wings.
Order of favorites:
Caribbean Jerk
Mango Habanero
Hot
Spicy Garlic
Honey BBQ
Blazin'
Not sure what Rihanna looks like.
Don't remember the Little Rascals either
Here are some Rihanna pics for reference. I like her because she's talented, she makes bold fashion choices, and she didn't accept being hit by Chris Brown.
<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-13920" title="Rihanna 3" src="https://rpad.tv/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Rihanna-3.jpg" alt="" width="575" height="460" /><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-13918" title="Rihanna 1" src="https://rpad.tv/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Rihanna-1.jpg" alt="" width="575" height="359" /><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-13919" title="Rihanna 2" src="https://rpad.tv/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Rihanna-2.jpg" alt="" width="575" height="392" />
Oh thats the umbrella chick. I pretty well suck with names lately.
She is kinda so-so for me anymore. I like longer hair on a girl (plenty of exceptions though), and thought she looked much prettier earlier on (in these pictures) compared to how she usually looks now. I still wouldn't say no to her now (unless my fiance is reading this then I totally would say no) but I prefer how she looked before.
Also, favorite little rascal has to be spanky or buckwheat.
I think it just speaks poorly for the publication since these are the types of things I did expect the writers or editors to know. It's not really a secret that I'm a pretty big Pokemon fan, and I definitely don't know everything out there, but it was a pretty easy problem for me to spot. I would also think that they would (or should) give some of these assignments to people with interest in the games. In short, don't give a Pokemon review assignment to the CoD/FPS fanboy at the publication—which means that the person doing the piece should have some knowledge on the topic (or at least the editor w(sh)ould).
There is a set of expectations especially from a large organization like IGN also, as opposed to if I were writing a random review for a game on a personal website or blog. No one really expects me to get all the details, IGN should be professional enough to get their facts straight. These types of things ruin credibility for me.
Even someone who's a big fan of a series won't necessarily know everything about it. That being said, it's not too hard to do 15 minutes of research before putting finger to keyboard.
Also, depending on the size of the publication there might not be anyone on site with a fascination with a certain series. In those cases it depends on how thorough you want to be. Do you want to try to cover EVERYTHING? Of do you want to do the best job you can covering that which you do know and hope to pick up some talent to help with what you don't know. In the case of my site, we usually try to go for option 2, but it means that we don't spend a lot of time with some stuff outside of "here's the new trailer for ____________".
IGN is major. Machinima is a good size. I expect better from them.
Honestly, I didn't follow either link as I wasn't specifically interested in either game. I was speaking in general terms. These are the kinds of mistakes you can see at any publication, large or small.
That being said, I tend to expect less from IGN actually. The way they break down their review scores categorically clouds their opinions. I've played plenty of good games with bad graphics and crap games with amazing graphics. The two games could get the same score at IGN because of how they weigh that kind of stuff. Most sites I choose to visit don't break down their reviews into category. It's either "good" or it's "not good", and here's why.
Also, I don't know why I need a seven page dissection of each game they review. Seven paragraphs would be more than plenty in most cases. I find sometimes that in the writer's attempt to show their vast knowledge on a subject, they tend to actually show their ignorance. And I'm sure that many editors are just checking for the basics of grammar, spelling and punctuation.
As for the specific complaints:
The bridge bit is poorly written, but unless you care enough to know about the personal interests if the design team (which has no bearing on gameplay) I could let that lack of knowledge go. I'm sure that there's a better way for the writer to have described the game's landscape, but not having played it, I don't know what it would be.
I'm much less likely to accept that someone doesn't know the background of a game, such as who created it and what they've done in the past…regardless of the series. If the first game out of Respawn Entertainment seems very CoD like, then it makes sense to mention in the review that these are the guys who used to be at Infinity Ward. That being said, the line "with an uncanny resemblance to Final Fantasy Tactics" could be a bit of sarcasm or snark. Since I'm not familiar with the writer, I'm not familiar with his style. Though if it was meant as snark, an explanation of the connection in the next sentence would have been better than simply assuming that the reader knows the connection.
I think she is hot but her forehead kills it for me lol.
My favorite little rascal is Alfalfa and Buckwheat is a close second. I also like that Stymie character lol.