Amazon added MetaCritic scores to its video game listings

[tmcmeekin]

Amazon recently added some Metacriticscores to some of their video game product pages. (Metacritic alsoincludes TV, Movies, and Music, but scores for these have not yetbeen added to Amazon.)


Metacritic aggregates reviews from awide variety of sites to give each game a single numerical score,from 1 to 100. However, the system is controversial, and some newssites specifically choose to avoid having their reviews included.They claim that Metacritic's attempts to convert scores from anon-numerical grade is not accurate, and that participating inMetacritic means they are told by video game companies when they canrelease a review of the game.


Do you agree with Metacritic'spractices? Should Amazon post the scores on their product listings?

 

[MMkaho]

Probably not because its only when a game company says too what is best if the games/ media being reviewed all the way through pre release into store release instead of when things are already publicized

 

[DM28]

I find it infuriating that we have to rely on a numeric score to determine whether a game is good or not. Back in the day, videogame magazines (yes, those were a thing back in the day) would review a game without necesarily giving it a letter score or a 1-10 score. I think i like that system better but not many review sites use it anymore. I want to know WHY I will enjoy a game, not simply know IF i'm going to enjoy it... Does that make sense?

 

[tmcmeekin]

I find it infuriating that we have to rely on a numeric score to determine whether a game is good or not. Back in the day, videogame magazines (yes, those were a thing back in the day) would review a game without necesarily giving it a letter score or a 1-10 score. I think i like that system better but not many review sites use it anymore. I want to know WHY I will enjoy a game, not simply know IF i'm going to enjoy it... Does that make sense?

I think it does make sense, and I agree. I think a numerical/letter score only matters to me if it's an average (for example, how many 5 star reviews compared to 1 star reviews a product has) and not if it's just one critic saying "this is 4 stars." Now, I think that's the point of Metacritic - BUT if reputable sites aren't included, that makes the data less valuable to me. The same way I can safely ignore 1-star reviews on Amazon if I read them and can tell the people who gave poor ratings are idiots.

As someone who is literally trained to write reviews (I studied journalism and mass communication, and had classes specifically in critical reviewing)... I also agree a well-written review provides more information than a numerical score can.

 

[DM28]

I think it does make sense, and I agree. I think a numerical/letter score only matters to me if it's an average (for example, how many 5 star reviews compared to 1 star reviews a product has) and not if it's just one critic saying "this is 4 stars." Now, I think that's the point of Metacritic - BUT if reputable sites aren't included, that makes the data less valuable to me. The same way I can safely ignore 1-star reviews on Amazon if I read them and can tell the people who gave poor ratings are idiots.

As someone who is literally trained to write reviews (I studied journalism and mass communication, and had classes specifically in critical reviewing)... I also agree a well-written review provides more information than a numerical score can.

That's another thing, I think the reputation of the site that's writing the review should somehow be weighted into the overal score.