Nine out of ten reviewers will enjoy today's Speak-Up on Kotaku, in which commenter Wocalax wonders if review aggregate sites like Metacritic make it easier or harder to decide which games to buy.
Kotaku, I haven't asked you a question in a while, but I think I have a decent one: Have sites that collate reviews(Metacritic, Rotten Tomatoes) changed what you see as a worthy purchase?
They have for me.
Back in the day you either read a few reviews, or you tried it out for yourself. Now I can get my opinion of a game or movie from a one to three digit number.
Is this good? Sometimes. I was on the fence about seeing The Lincoln Lawyer, but after seeing its solid 83% from critics, 85% from the audience, I definitely want to check it out.
But, what about movies closer to the 50% range? That sounds bad as a percentage, but that means 1 in 2 people liked it. I could be one of those people! But I don't know, it did just get a 50%...
Games are different, but the basics still apply. When I see a game get a 70 or 60 that's a turnoff. Even if that game looked like the most amazing game in the world to me, it's still a mar on its image.
What about you lads and ladies? Do these numbers grant you power, or do they just make the decision process more convoluted for you?
About Speak-Up on Kotaku: Our readers have a lot to say, and sometimes what they have to say has nothing to do with the stories we run. That's why we have a forum on Kotaku called Speak-Up. That's the place to post anecdotes, photos, game tips and hints, and anything you want to share with Kotaku at large. Every weekday we'll pull one of the best Speak-Up posts we can find and highlight it here.