Easy Mode #4

PALGN Feature | Volume 4 of Easy Mode is brought to you by Haterade, the number one choice of whinging videogame fans across the world.

Welcome to Easy Mode, Matt's occasional editorial piece, which will either discuss intelligent gaming issues, or make me look like an ass. Either way, I hope you enjoy it. Why the name "Easy Mode"? Well, I've copped a lot of crap over the last two years from a few friends about playing some games on easy difficulties, and I thought it might actually make a decent title for a set of editorials. This week: Review Score Backlash.

A few of you may have heard about an Xbox title called Ninja Gaiden, which we previewed a couple of weeks ago. Our preview wasn't entirely positive, stating that the game could go either way, based on Tecmo and Team Ninja's track record as of the last few years.

Over the weekend, the first few reviews from major sites began to trickle. GameSpy with a 5/5, IGN and GameSpot with 9.4, GamePro with 5/5, Team Xbox (hardly a trusty source for a review on a hyped Xbox title, but we'll use them) 9.6 and 1UP with a 9/10. Looked like fairly stellar reviews across the board, no?

Yesterday, something the rabid Xbox fans hadn't accounted for arrived. A negative review of Ninja Gaiden! Highly respected, long serving independent site Gaming Age awarded Ninja Gaiden with a C minus, stating that the game had severe problems, and that fans of the genre might want to seek a second opinion.

Needless to say, the result you get from giving a highly hyped and anticipated title a negative review is much like adding fire to a barrel of gun powder. Gaming Age received a lot of flack on its forums, and hordes of hate mail, all for a negative review. A negative review of a game that these people had not even played yet.

As the old saying goes, opinions are like assholes - everybody has them. Just because somebody doesn't agree with the majority doesn't make them some sort of criminal. The events that take place after a site gives a hyped game a negative review are ridiculous, and provide another example of why people don't take videogames and the people who play them seriously. These statements of hatred supplied by irate fans aren't pretty - usually full of expletives, assaults on your family, personal insults and questioning of your abilities as a reviewer. How can people be so irate about a review for a game they haven't played yet?

My recommendation is that people shut their damn mouths until they have played a game - at least that way they will have some decent ammunition when it comes to writing an email to the reviewer. Another recommendation is to write civilised emails - don't use expletives and insults - reviewers are reasonable people. It's a real pain trying to read a poorly written e-mail that implies you force sexual relations with dogs, or suggests your cranium and anus should introduce themselves to each other.

Let's close out with a handful of stupid (and censored) quotes from irate gamers

"We don't need to play it to know it's a great game."

"HERE IN BRAZIL, NO ONE LIKES YOU, BECAUSE YOUR REVIEWS ARE SHEET !!!!"

"you are complete idiot learn how too review games you ****in moron"

"Enjoy your 5 seconds of fame, you narcissistic fan boys."

"idot"

"you are a ****ng ****tard!!"

"Where is the {Name Withheld} lives? I like to pay him a visit and trash things out. Let me show him how a gamer plays a great new game and not whinewhinewhine of nostalgic crap!"

"are you {Name Withheld}? I hope you die"

I hate people who play videogames

Easy Mode #4 has been brought to you by Haterade, the number one drink of angry videogame fans everywhere. In the middle of writing an angry email to a reviewer from your parent's basement, but suddenly feeling tired? For a quick sourced of hate-filled energy, drink Haterade.

The views expressed by Matt Keller in the Easy Mode editorial are his own, and are not indicative of the views of the PAL Gaming Network or its affiliates.

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6 Comments

bonsai

9 years ago

Yet again, I totally agree with Matt's latest Easy Mode.

The issues discussed here is what makes me considering dropping games altogether. I've been playing games since I was a toddler on the old Atari and the industry as it stands is sickening. Sure there have been many bad points and views since the inception of video games, but to the point where any random gaming consumer on the internet will spew forth shit and dribble from their mouths towards anything negative that is thrown onto their favourite "thing" in gaming; characters, companies, genre's, individual people or the games themselves.

i.e. throw a hate topic in any Final Fantasy VII forum and you'll either be mauled by flamers or there will always be the person that says "I wish morons like these would stop flodding our forums with crap like this."

Just goes to show you that with the internet, anyone can achieve criticism. Let's all go back to the school yard where either Mario and Sonic were cool.

mrcivic

9 years ago

Yep, another good easy mode.

And I'll tell the truth here - I'm guilty of slagging reviews for giving a certain game a bad score, but I didn't go to extremes of sending hate mail or post offensive shit about the reviewer.
Obviously I don't do that any more as I use reviews to help me decide what to buy, and not get a game on hype. Reviews are there to help us and give us information on the game(s) we want.

NismoR34

9 years ago

bonsai wrote

i.e. throw a hate topic in any Final Fantasy VII forum and you'll either be mauled by flamers or there will always be the person that says "I wish morons like these would stop flodding our forums with crap like this."

Just goes to show you that with the internet, anyone can achieve criticism. Let's all go back to the school yard where either Mario and Sonic were cool.

Heh, I wonder where an FF VII forum is, I didn't enjoy that game as much as the others in the series, so it would be interesting to see their comments if I joined, and said that.

Anyway, I agree with you, anyone can achieve criticism. On online communities, or forums, if you post in a thread, about a specific game, and say that you don't like it, more then 4 people will quote you, and call you stupid, or say something which is against you. I think this is because of the age factor, most people who are on gaming forums, are in the teenage bracket. (Note, I said most...)
Therefore, they're at that stage in life, where whatever they say, is right.
The reason I bring up the age factor, is cause it's rare to find an thread, where someone has said that they don't like the game, and then people have discussed with them why they think it's not a good game or whatever. Forums are meant to be for discussion, not a flaming session. I love it when there's a brilliant discussion, especially if the people discussing, are mature enough, not to think that a person is stupid, for not having the same opinion.
Now I could be wrong, and it might have nothing to do with age, but I think it's at least a part of why someone would get flamed, for not having the same opinion.

bonsai

9 years ago

Agreed, age has got a LOT to do with the difference. Personally I don't stick to the forums where I know a lot of gamers who are in their early teens will be there.. sure a lot of 12-15 year olds may be mature for their age, but it's rare to find on a forum.

Matt

9 years ago

You often tend to find that you will grow out of a particular forum, and find one that suits your way of thinking, until the cycle repeats itself to the point where you grow out of forums all together.

Cerebral

9 years ago

Anonymous wrote

"We don't need to play it to know it's a great game."

Chillingly familiar.

And yet, I can't get enough of the ignorant results of fanboy rage. Such good source material not only satisfies my need for cheap entertainment, but if I was to analyse them for grammatical and argumentative flaws, it'd be a great way to showcase my English skills for my Year 12 coursework.

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