Week 4

Writing about Games

Reviews are mainly someone else’s opinion about a game, so to me I find it a bit hard to trust some reviews at times as you never know it might turn out to be crap in the end. Normally when new games are coming out my friends are my main source of information these days (lol) but depending on the game I do end up doing my own research checking if the game is good, I guess studying Media Studies in A-level was a big help for me as it improved my analysis skills, when looking at a game the main thing I look at is whether or not the game well interest me because if it doesn’t I would most likely not to buy it. As I said before I don’t really take reviews seriously, for example my friends told me about Killzone 2 which was coming out back then and I also watched and read a review which said it would be good but when I actually got the game and played it I was like WTF, don’t get me wrong the graphic and gameplay was good but I didn’t really find the game interesting which basically in my opinion made the game suck.

I guess when it comes to reviews game mags are a good source of information as well as having a better written text which you can’t get bored off its a lot more entertaining, internet is good for vast knowledge and obviously there would be more then what you find in a mag, but mags to me well always have a upper hand as it tells the viewer the main key bits of the game without giving out any spoilers. If more information is needed on a game then internet would be the best option, one thing that you should keep in mind is that the sites you going on might not always tell the truth and also be sure that it isn’t too biased as reviews should be balanced so that you know the pros and cons of the game.

Reading the links posted for the week, 'New Games Journalism’ (NGJ) was different and interesting to other game journalism. NGJ tells us honest reviews, personal experience, emotion and focuses on the style more rather than the facts, not only is it personal but it is written in a way that people would what to read more. To me reviews in the end will never be 100% accurate or reliable so it is always hard to whether to believe it or not.

I guess the only way finding out if something is good or not is trying it out yourself, reviews can always be helpful at times but its whether they can be trusted or not. Experiencing something yourself will allow you to analysis it which will help you to make your own judgment on future game and other things, NGJ shows honesty which makes there viewer more comfortable and want to read more which I really like, not only was it good but something new as well. In the end it’s up to your own judgement as everyone will always have different opinions, the game will either be good or bad and reviews well be there to help with some main aspects of the game and most likely to help your decisions on buying it or not.