Should reviews from fansites for a specific publisher (Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft) count on Meta/Open critic?

[Jssom]

or at least have an option to see the metascore without counting reviews from the console specific fansites.

If you ask me why you want that? Well the implication is quite obvious, I have an assumption that they overscore prominent games that are exclusive to the console they are only write about and cover. It's just an assumption not a fact. Maybe someone can pull numbers and prove that in average they don't score it more than other sites that cover all consoles.

 

[Deleted member 1726]

There's Microsoft fan sites?

But yes, they're opinion is still valid.

 

[Deleted member 2791]

so you have a baseless assumption and you're asking for people to prove that you're indeed pulling stuff from your ass?

 

[Z-Brownie]

yeah, i see your point, they're 100% biased, but it would not be "democratic" if you count them off.

 

[DrEvil]

Yes of course.


Metacritic is kinda a joke anyway, so what does it matter if there's a slight bias in coverage? a shit game is still a shit game.

 

[Necro Felipe]

It's just an assumption not a fact.

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Your answer: Yes they should.

 

[cw_sasuke]

Yes.

 

[entremet]

Stop caring about scores. This MC/OC fetishizing is out of control. And yes, I know industry bonuses are tied to them, which is still problematic too.

But yes, they should count.

 

[Sir Hound]

I'd imagine it'd be trivial to normalise their scores against multi-platform sites. Even though this is ostensibly their business I doubt either will put in the time or effort to do so.

 

[Nightengale]

I assume that your assumption is false. It's just an assumption, not a fact.

 

[Platy]

Would be fun if they did like a "how much did you give to the shittiest game of that company?"

Like "hey nintendo fansite, how was the score of Wii Music ?" and then choose based on that

 

[Deleted member 3017]

In my experience, most Sony and Nintendo-centric sites tend to score most games within a similar realm as multiplatform sites. There's really not much to suggest they're overly biased towards giving exclusives higher scores than you see on other webpages.

For example, I browse Push Square and NintendoLife frequently and their first party reviews don't seem to be out of line compared to reviews from GameSpot, IGN, etc.

 

[StoveOven]

The easy way to fix this problems is to stop caring about Metacritic scores

 

[kiryyuu]

as far as I'm concerned they don't, that's why if you need to rely on reviews you should check out your specific favorite site that mostly align with your taste

 

[Mass Effect]

Yes of course.


Metacritic is kinda a joke anyway, so what does it matter if there's a slight bias in coverage? a shit game is still a shit game.

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because it has affected people's bonuses

 

[Nightengale]

because it has affected people's bonuses

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If publishers still hedge developer's bonuses on game scores, it's not the fault of the reviewer or the score aggregator, but the publisher.

 

[ivan.k]

There's Microsoft fan sites?

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Seriously? 😐

 

[FelipeMGM]

What's the distinction for ''fansites''? Push Square, Nintendolife, and Pure Xbox are all sister sites and owned by the same company, they just focus on one platform each, are they considered one of those?

Not familiar with many other single platform outlets, but I don't usually see any strong bias in the reviews of these ones I mentioned tbh

 

[Seedy87]

It's just an assumption not a fact. Maybe someone can pull numbers and prove than in average they don't score it more than other sites that cover all consoles.

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You should have done that yourself before starting a thread about it...

Regardless of where they are posted, every review is an individual's opinion and therefore as equally valid as someone else's.

 

[Kthulhu]

As long as the reviews from a site tend to be quality and follow the Open/Meta guidelines then I wouldn't have an issue with it. So I think fansites on principle should be fine if they don't allow their bias to color their review.

Edit: Also doesn't Opencritic let you filter out reviews from sites you don't trust? Thought that was part of the point.

 

[Deleted member 10737]

I have an assumption that they overscore prominent games that are exclusive to the console they are only write about and cover.

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that's an obviously wrong assumption. from making several review threads, i've seen that the scores from most of the single-platform-centric websites are mostly in line with the general consensus, and a lot of time even lower than the metascore. there ARE some exceptions (not really prominent publications) that obviously overscore, but there's not that many (who are cataloged by meta/opencritic) and most of them should be ignored for more obvious reasons than their review scores.

 

[DrEvil]

because it has affected people's bonuses

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I used to run a nintendo fansite, as much self-disillusion we had on how important we were, metacritic weighted our reviews lower than say, IGN, and we knew it.

Just because we covered nintendo didn't mean we were super kind to them either, we ran stories that pissed off their PR people and constantly asked us to modify (and refused to do so), and our review scores were balanced too. We focused on Nintendo because that was the platform and types of games our staff was passionate about, not because we were 'sucking up'.


I also work at a game dev now, and we've released our share of low-scored games, so I have perspective on both sides, but to equate a fansite's inflated score to directly affecting bonuses, I think you're reaching.

Yes, some publishers use a metacritic score as a basis for bonus distribution, but as I said in my opener, fansite weighting is much less than you think. You'll be talking tenths of a percentage point, and if the OP is insinuating that fansites have bias FOR a specific platform, then if anything, those extra tenths will help not hurt the chances of receiving a bonus.

 

[Lobster Roll]

Yes, they are all valid. I will admit that when reading individual reviews from these websites, that there have been moments where I'm side-eyeing what I'm reading ... like when it's a 10/10 review for an exclusive and they are talking about aspects of the game that were a complete disaster as though they were perfectly executed.

Overall, there's not a sweeping bias, but there are very rare moments here and there when it's clear that a writer is showing allegiance to a specific title / platform.

 

[Aegis Renfro]

Absolutely, but they should also be more transparent with their weights of review sources.

 

[RecRoulette]

Figure it would sort itself out if you saw a game get 5-6's across the board with the console specific site giving it a 9

 

[abellwillring]

Sure. Their opinions are usually more important to a lot of fans -- especially gamers who just have one system.

 

[AndrewDean84]

No. The potential for bias is strong.

 

[janusff]

i think we all together should stop giving so much of a shit about metacritic scores.

but i can see your point. State of Decay 2 for example, it's top reviews are solely from xbox sites. i guess the current reality is that folks do care about these scores and taking these fansites out could make things a bit clearer.

 

[Deleted member 1726]

Seriously? 😐

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yeah seriously, I don't really go on many fan sites, but I know of only Sony ones and Nintendo ones. What are the MS ones?

 

[logash]

Sure. Reviews are reviews and they are extremely subjective by nature. I'm sure at IGN they have people who enjoy Nintendo games review Nintendo games. I mean at the end of the day, who cares? It's nice to say you have a high metacritic number and I am pretty excited when a game does but at the end of the day it does not really affect how much I will enjoy a game. We should really stop caring how high a metacritic score is.

 

[NightShift]

No. The metacritic scores should be as high as possible so all the developers with dumbass employers can get there bonuses. If anything, we need more biased reviewers.

 

[Thatguy]

Meta scores are completely detached from the quality I actually experience and are totally worthless to me. The review industry is broken by publishers holding back advance review copies unless they get favorable scores. Fan sites aren't above criticism. I would be more interested in seeing a "1 week later" aggregate where you get those reviews that were not pressured by the publisher and not under a deadline.

But seriously just watch a couple videos and ask yourself if that looks fun and if it does it probably will be for you.

 

[Fredrik]

Everything should count. And being a fan likely means that fan sites will give you the most relevant review. Not being a fan doesn't make your opinion more relevant. If I would've reviewed Halo CE I would've scored it 6/10, in what way does that help someone who're actually interested in buying the game?

 

[Jaded Alyx]

I have an assumption that they overscore prominent games that are exclusive to the console they are only write about and cover. It's just an assumption not a fact.

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Examples?

 

[Ruisu]

Even if these reviews were actually inflating numbers on scores or whatever, what exactly would be at stake here?

 

[Rosebud]

iirc GOTY Picks blog don't count them.

But for MC score I don't see the problem.

 

[Thera]

If that help dev to get their bonus, yes.

 

[Tapiozona]

yeah seriously, I don't really go on many fan sites, but I know of only Sony ones and Nintendo ones. What are the MS ones?

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Seriously seriously?
First I thought you were making a dumb fanboy joke, but this isn't much better (you were still making a dumb fanboy joke even with this new 'cover')

 

[Haze]

Yes, they're still opinions

 

[molnizzle]

No, I don't think they should. Their opinions are meaningless since there is an admitted slant in their coverage.

 

[Deleted member 51789]

I see no reason why their opinion is worth less than that of publications that cover more platforms

 

[Haze]

No, I don't think they should. Their opinions are meaningless since there is an admitted slant in their coverage.

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There's always going to be a slant when the subject is a piece of media.

 

[lupinko]

No different than Official Playstation Magazine/Nintendo Power/Official Xbox Magazine.

 

[Delusibeta]

OpenCritic allows you to exclude certain outlets from appearing in the headline scores (while you're logged in), so OP can answer their question themselves.

 

[John Caboose]

The problem comes from expecting the metacritic (or any other aggregate) score to hold any worthwile significance.

 

[APZonerunner]

Metacritic has a silent 'weighting' system, so not all scores are born equal there. An 8 from one publication can be worth more towards the overall metascore than an 8 from another. So this is a factor in all this, I imagine - but they do not reveal their setup.

 

[Elfgore]

I checked Dualshockers to see if any bias could be found. Persona 5 got the same score as AC: New Horizons and Tokyo Mirage Sessions. Gears: Tactics got an 8. So far the only ten I've found has been on Astral Chain. Which is higher than Days Gone, Persona 5, and Death Stranding. Gears of War has also been given high review scores.

If all fan sites are like this, I see no problem with it. Unless dualshockers, a company named after a controller, isn't a fansite.

 

[HOUSEJoseph]

I would say so. They still tend to provide legitimate reviews. It is interesting to me how some games tend to score higher on Nintendo platforms but still I feel they tend to be on-point

 

[Deleted member 10737]

I checked Dualshockers to see if any bias could be found. Persona 5 got the same score as AC: New Horizons and Tokyo Mirage Sessions. Gears: Tactics got an 8. So far the only ten I've found has been on Astral Chain. Which is higher than Days Gone, Persona 5, and Death Stranding. Gears of War has also been given high review scores.

If all fan sites are like this, I see no problem with it. Unless dualshockers, a company named after a controller, isn't a fansite.

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despite what the name may imply, dualshockers isn't really a fan site, they've been covering nintendo and MS platforms for a long time. same with thesixthaxis.

 

[CloseTalker]

Metacritic is such a dumb, flawed system that detracts magnitudes more from sensible game discourse than it contributes. I don't see why this would be the one thing that people would take issue with