Ign and Penny-Arcade -The claws are out

[FreelancePolice]

Don't know if this is really news worthy, feel free to move to general gaming if not. Anyway seems that IGN have got a bit shirty after Gabe on PA defended Assassin's creed telling people to see past the bad reviews.

Then IGN attacked Gabe on their podcast, silly move IMO. Although they'll no doubt get hits their already well dented reputation well be kicked in the dirt. Does anyone actually read their reviews anymore? I've always looked at their scores out of interest but never took them seriously. After their God hand review I completely ignore them.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/2007/11/26 - see bottom of page

[SuperBeatBoy]

at the end of the day, they probably want to get their assassin's creed comic out. So both of them are preety lousy.

[Eight Rooks]

I read IGN - they're not too badly written - but I never really give their opinion that much weight. On the other hand, Gabe's column was arrogant, patronising toss. Yes, pal, if I space utter tedium out for long enough that suddenly makes every iteration of it bright, charming and new. Oh, no, wait; no it doesn't. Saving every citizen and hearing the same two or three speeches over and over, killing the same brainless AI drones, having every assassination target boil down to "run in and poke him full of holes" is just as much of a bland, unfulfilling grind whether I leave two hours in between plays or two weeks. Prick.

EDIT: And mods, just in case, perhaps I'd feel guilty over descending to profanity if he hadn't put that "I don't feel angry over these reviews, I feel sorry for the reviewers" crack in there. I love Penny Arcade, and consider Mike and Jerry two extremely talented people, but they don't half... let their personalities run away with them at times?

The sad thing is, as no-one seems to be prepared to admit, a 7/10 is a pretty good mark and the sign of something well worth playing. I'd strongly recommend Assassin's Creed to anyone with a bit of patience and an eye for visual beauty, but the idea it simply can't be criticised and wah wah wah, nasty reviewers wah wah wah is just childish whining and little else.

Double EDIT: And Gabe was talking about 1Up's review? In which case my comments stand times two, since I definitely pay attention to them.

[Roddie]

I still tend to read over IGN reviews of games I'm interested in, but without paying too much attention to the final score, their reviews are usually in-depth enough to give a good idea of the game (even if Matt Cassamassiasisasina is self-obsessed prat).

I would probably be less surprised by an individual complaining about an IGN review (or review from another large site) that was too complimentary about a rubbish game, since any good score of a game someone doesn't like automatically means they must have been paid by their advertisers to say it's great. If a game with a lot of buzz surrounding it comes out, and receives a score like a 7/10, then I'd probably be inclined to think that it's quite an honest review.

Why some people can't accept that others can have different opinions on a game is quite beyond me.

[angelox]

old feuds die hard. Got to agree with Gabe, but frankly its not worth even talked about. Most people think IGN are a shill anyway because they are owned by the murdoc group I believe.

[Ian(not Ian)]

I use IGN for reviews of stuff I've missed and have a hankering to check out, don't take too much notice of the 'out of ten' score. Reading between the lines of their reviews usually gives up a decent impression of what a game is like.

Their database of reviews is well handy for checking out those skipped over gems you missed first time around.

[FreelancePolice]

I would probably be less surprised by an individual complaining about an IGN review (or review from another large site) that was too complimentary about a rubbish game, since any good score of a game someone doesn't like automatically means they must have been paid by their advertisers to say it's great. If a game with a lot of buzz surrounding it comes out, and receives a score like a 7/10, then I'd probably be inclined to think that it's quite an honest review.

exactly why I have such a distaste for them following the 3/10 or whatever farcical review score they gave God hand :P

[fahrenheit]

Reviews....pfff.
Coming here and reading a 'first play' thead after it has reached page 2 is pretty much all I'll ever need.

[Eight Rooks]

Oh, Christ, now Tycho couldn't let it slide either. And surprise, surprise, he's just as big a conceited idiot.

Some of the complaints I've read simply aren't factual - for example, the "one button" or "button mashing" combat is actually six button combat, built around two stances and few precise timing elements that should appeal to fans of fighting and rhythm games, of which we are both.

You can win practically every fight in the game simply by holding the right trigger and randomly pressing X. That is not opinion, that is factual. I attempted to get the achievement for surviving a chase for ten minutes during the long climactic fight sequence. I held down the right trigger and changed the channel on my TV to watch whatever happened to be on. I repeat, I was doing nothing other than holding down the right trigger; I couldn't even see the screen. I changed back once I'd got bored (this must have been at least five minutes later) to find I still didn't have the achievement and I was oh, maybe two points of health down. Again, not opinion; factual. The idea it's somehow a crime to suggest this is a sign the developers haven't really spent much time on the combat, or that it makes the game significantly less than it might otherwise be is simply ****ing ludicrous.

I just detest this whole brave-new-world internet gaming community thing where people get justifiably annoyed that mainstream criticism consists of paybacks up the yin-yang and never rating anything below a 7 if there's a big name attached, but then they seem to turn that into making it a sin for reviewers to tell them anything other than what they want to hear. It looks amazing! You're an assassin! Stabby stabby! How can it not be game of the year, Chrissakes? Bloody reviewers, eh? Tossers.

It's not wrong to enjoy whatever game takes your fancy. It is wrong, in my book, to insinuate that just because you're easily pleased anyone who dares to suggest the faults you glossed over really shouldn't have been there is somehow on a mission to ruin everyone's day because they obviously just hate fun. Christ.

Okay, I'll shut up. For now. Just if more people realised that the only significant difference between their beloved forum threads and the reviewers they despise is that one group get paid for it... I might just be a little happier.

[MattyD]

Please let it be known: God Hand is awesome.

That's all I had to say really! Any excuse to praise that game

[Swallow]

That God Hand score is far too generous, an absolute joke of a mark.

[MattyD]

Your troll-fu is weak. It brings shame and dishonour upon your family