Yet we had significantly more game releases than ever in 2016 - something doesn't add up. Statistically, we should be seeing more games in the 90+ range, not less.
The games are worse.
Yet we had significantly more game releases than ever in 2016 - something doesn't add up. Statistically, we should be seeing more games in the 90+ range, not less.
It's not typical of modern gaming for a game to ship unfinished and promise contents and/or bug fixes in future patches?! Where have you been this past few years?!XV is a complete oddball release and says more about one odd company and one odd 10 year troubled project. It's not typical of modern gaming.
Yet we had significantly more game releases than ever in 2016 - something doesn't add up. Statistically, we should be seeing more games in the 90+ range, not less.
Not really.
It's a lot harder to convince 100 people that something is specifically great than 10 people. To make an apples to apples comparison, only 8 movies are above 90 in Metacritic this year for movies. That's not because there aren't only 8 great movies out there. It's because there were only 8 movies that hundreds of critics could agree were great.
Yet we had significantly more game releases than ever in 2016 - something doesn't add up. Statistically, we should be seeing more games in the 90+ range, not less.
Are you saying the growth of the media industry is creating an overall downward trend on review scores?
My GOTY 2016 VA11 Hall-A has metacritic rating of 77 (based on 17 critics):
http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/va-11-hall-a-cyberpunk-bartender-action
Yet it has 98% on Steam reviews (based on 2270 game owner reviews):
http://store.steampowered.com/app/447530/
I think the industry is moving past Metacritic being relevant.
I am not seeing a visual depiction of a steady decline.
What came out in 2001?
It's not typical of modern gaming for a game to ship unfinished and promise contents and/or bug fixes in future patches?! Where have you been this past few years?!
Go to the article and they have a table of every 90+ game. Sort by release year.
Code:97 Grand Theft Auto III 8.5 2001 97 Halo: Combat Evolved 8.6 2001 96 Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty 8.7 2001 95 Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec 8.4 2001 94 Devil May Cry 8.5 2001 94 Madden NFL 2002 7.9 2001 93 Mario Kart Super Circuit 8.3 2001 93 Paper Mario 9.2 2001 93 NBA 2K2 7.7 2001 92 SSX Tricky 8.9 2001 92 NHL 2002 8.5 2001 92 Advance Wars 9 2001 92 Super Smash Bros. Melee 9.1 2001 92 Final Fantasy X 8.7 2001 92 Conker's Bad Fur Day 9.2 2001 91 Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil 9.1 2001 91 IL-2 Sturmovik 8.8 2001 91 Twisted Metal: Black 8.4 2001 91 Golden Sun 9.3 2001 91 Castlevania: Circle of the Moon 8.5 2001 90 ICO 8.8 2001 90 Tennis 2K2 8 2001 90 Black & White 7.7 2001 90 Dance Dance Revolution 8.8 2001 90 Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy 8.7 2001 90 Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II 8.6 2001 90 NCAA Football 2002 8.7 2001 90 Unreal Tournament 8.6 2001 90 Sid Meier's Civilization III 8.4 2001 90 NFL 2K2 8 2001 90 Flight Simulator 2002 8.4 2001
how does a 7.7 count as 90+?
I think the 2nd number is the user score.
Considering the sheer amount of review outlets these days compared to then how is this surprising?
*looks at chart* what happened to 2006?
Critics are definitely tougher on games and things that weren't as big a deal as they used to be (performance) are affecting scores. The bar has gotten higher.
how does a 7.7 count as 90+?
Yeah. The "metagame" of reviews has become far less needlessly glowing and a little more critical. Gamers were tired of reviews reading like advertising, and the whole Doritogate thing really brought to light a lot of the biases and conflicts of interest that many people used to gloss over. Also, outlier reviews have increased alongside the clickbait generation. Many outlets will go against the grain and give a great game bad reviews just for hits.
Some graphs
Yes, there are exceptions of course when something is so awesome that nobody can deny it. But, just to pick a game at random from Metacritic, Helldivers for PS4 got an 81 from Metacritic with scores ranging from 95 to all the way down to 60. That likely would not have happened in a world w here the only opinions were from 5 or 6 gaming magazines who are staffed by frankly, people from largely the same background and taste.
Not surprising really.
Reviewers have been noticeably harsher on games these days.
It isn't really that large of a difference tho, if you compare the number of critics counted in the score ,some random pick from 2001 and 2016 90+ games:
2001
GTA 3 - 56
Jak and Daxter - 35
Advance Wars - 28
FFX - 53
2016
INSIDE - 86
Overwatch - 62
Uncharted 4 - 113
Maybe doubled in number over the years, I would argue that is not that much of a significant difference.
Or games just got worse and less polished.
Instead 4k res, hdr and other useless stuff, they have to aim to gameplay
According to the graph we have in 2016:
According to the graph we have in 2016:
PlayStation: 6 games
Xbox: 4 games
PC: 3 games
Nintendo: 0 games
But if you look at metacritic we have in 2016:
PlayStation: 4 PS4 + 0 PS3 + 0 PSV
Xbox: 4 Xbox One
PC: 5
Nintendo: 0 WiiU + 0 3DS
and if you include games with few reviews:
PlayStation: 4 PS4 + 1 PS3 + 2 PSV
Xbox: 6 Xbox One
PC: 9
Nintendo: 1 WiiU + 0 3DS
So, what have I done wrong?
You're counting expansions as games. Kentucky Route Zero and Witcher 3 for instance don't count as 2016 games, which drops PC back down to 3. And yes they're ignoring games with few reviews
A bit weird...And no I don't know where they got 6 on PS4 from.
Nah, game journalists are finally easing up on hyperbole.The games are worse.
Jesus H Christ, what godly year.
More like gaming journalism decreased worthless hyperbole.The games are worse.
There are a few which engage in that, sure, but I think the majority of reviewers have simply become more critical.There's a steady increase of review sites giving low scores to gain hits through controversy.