I've rarely ever agreed with GS's reviews, and I look at a lot of them.
The people that I do agree with most of the time are the Penny-Arcade guys, even though they don't actually review games. They agree with me on that review scores are useless, especially when the written review doesn't match up to the actual score.
Yes, another of IGN's problems is they consistently overrate games. Scores at IGN are often higher than what the game deserves... because when they don't underrate a game for having some silly problem like no noticable framerate drops, they overrate it like you'd expect more from a low-quality fansite... I disagree with IGN so much that mentioning specific games would be pointless... there are so many...
But Gamespot? Sure, there are definitely times I disagree with them (like my most-mentioned one -- their dislike for Gauntlet Legends and Dark Legacy and how those games get scores in the 4's through 6'es when I'd give them high 7's or 8's). No website or magazine's reviews are always accurate to anyone except the reviewers themselves... but OVERALL I think they do a good job. And I agree with them FAR more than I do with the extremely inconsistent and often not rational reviews at IGN... Gamespot's are definitely more consistant (than IGN at least...) and professionally done.
Suure. What do you have to say about the Cubivore review?
That, like they are sometimes(Gauntlet Legends N64! They gave it a 4.2... I'd give it twice that score!), they were wrong?
It's not just wrong, it's isane. They believe that Cubivore has better graphics than Skies of Arcadia. That's just crazy talk.
Yet another pointless debate.
But really, that is insane. Cubivore getting a point higher than Skies in graphics doesn't make any kind of sence [not even in a bizaro universe where people worship cassette tapes and eat processed cheese
].
Are there any debates here that aren't pointless?
Yes, the politics one isn't... but most every other one is. Like this one... :)
Anyway, I do agree that Cubivore didn't deserve a 8 for graphics...
There, happy now? I agreed that in that case Gamespot was wrong! Oh no! I sort of agreed! :loopy:
It doesn't change the fact that I vastly prefer (and believe) their reviews over IGN's as a whole, though. :)
my experience with IGN vs Gamespot has been this. Each section of IGN is a bunch of fanboys toward their respective system...and GS is just a bunch PS fanboys. then again, i don't go to GS very much anymore, so maybe they've gotten better since Mario Sunshine came out, i have no idea...i don't like either place really. i go to Planetgamecube for all my reviews because they have multiple full reviews for all the big games, and ususally have reviews that i agree with for all the smaller games. they may not work for everybody, but they work for me.
one downside to them is that they're GC only. but that's not a problem for me since it's the only "next-gen" system i own.
edit: i read metroid prime's review at GS and it sounded much, much more professional than i remember them sounding.
I've never been a huge GS fan, I come from the N64.com days, when Ziff-Davis didn't even have a hand in this here industry. But that's nostalgia talking. IGN definitely seems to skew towards fanboyism. Perhaps its because of the atmostphere, or the age, or the industry, but silly things like overrating games in order to trump another system's games is silly. Star Fox Adventures with a score above 9.0? SSXTricky on Xbox a 9.0? How about a little sense of reality? The site seems to skew towards a school-type rating, where 7.5 is average and 6.0 is failing, which is okay if it's understood to be under that scoring rubric. I get the feeling that some of the GS reviewers have beef with Nintendo, beef which should not come into play in an "objective" review.
As a side note, I tried to go out to some local stores today to get SoA:L, but TRU, KBToys, and FYE all did not have it in, and the people I spoke to had no idea what a Skies of Arcadia was. Have you tried to get SoA at a non-gaming store? I'm just curious, because if this is the trend around the country, SoA has no chance of selling.
Non-gaming store people are clueless about any games, not just SoA. I'd think you'd know that by now... don't you ever shop in them?
Oh, and your post is confusing. You say 'i dont like gamespot' then spend the whole thing except the last line bashing IGN...
Do you like either of them?
And I didn't go to IGN before it was IGN... I go there a lot, yet never really trusted their reviews all that much. They really are like a bunch of fansites, with the amount they let their biases influence their game scores... Maybe its just me, but I don't see nearly as much of that at Gamespot. Or some anti-Nintendo bias there... (well, except for the fact that they've never reviewed many GB/C/A games, but that's different)
I have issues with both of them, but, on the whole, both are above average.
I'm thinking I'm going to rent the GameCube version sometime soon... maybe this weekend. I look forward to what I'll be playing, though... hopefully, SoA will magically fall under the category of RPGs that I can tolerate, and who knows, maybe even have fun with for 5 minutes or so!
*quivers in anticipation*
Indeed, the Delphinus is fantastic. I just wish there was a good way to see it. I recorded a bunch of the battle scenes so I could get a better view of it, but it's not enough. I want a Delphinus trophy like in SSBM.
Delphinus is cool, but the Yggdrasil in Xenogears wouldn't break a sweat in smashing it to bits... the Delphinus could fit in the Yggdrasil's Gear Hanger a dozen times over... and the Yggdrasil IV is thirty times larger than THAT, with infinite hitpoints!
Ah, I remember that SINGLE boss battle against that weird.... thing (which I assume would have been the REAL ultimate boss if it wasn't for the temporary owning of that gigantic transformer, er, ship that can change into a robot). I'll have to play pretty often to see all the available moves it had.
i never got very far in Xenogears...but i remember liking what i played...which wasn't much.
anyway, i absolutely love skies of arcadia...and i want the GC version very badly...i just need a job. i think i'm gonna pick this up with my first check...and pre-order zelda while i'm at it.
now i just need that job...
Skies of Arcadia Get...or shall I say SoA:L has me. Or perhaps it's a mutual obsession. Alfonso loves me, and I love...err, anyone else notice Alfonso's resemblence to Richard Simmons? I'm just started, so I've only got the chance to explore the first sky area, but what I've played is EXACTLY what I have been craving for the past 10 years. I'm particularly impressed with the specials. Aika:Get away, or I'll ALPHA STORM your ass! Talk about pickup lines. :-) It's the traditional RPG that has been looking for me during the RPG dearth on N64. I can't wait to get deeper into the story, and I love the battle system already. Battle frequency seems pretty standard for an RPG, and it takes one of my favorite elements from Chrono Trigger: the efficacy of some attacks are dependent upon position of enemies/allies. For example, if all the enemies are in line with Aika, ALPHA STORM will tear them all up. Loving every moment.