Today, only eleven, well, now twelve games have been awarded the perfect score. The latest is multi-platform title Bayonetta. Multi-platform Bayonetta is the first game to appear on the Xbox 360 to receive this score.

To review, here are the previous 40/40 games:

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
2. Soulcalibur (1999)
3. Vagrant Story (2000)
4. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2003)
5. Nintendogs (2005)
6. Final Fantasy XII (2006)
7. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008)
8. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008)
9. 428 (2008)
10. Dragon Quest IX (2009)
11. Monster Hunter Tri (2009)

So no games in 2001, 2002, 2004 or 2007 got a 40/40, but three games in 2008 and three games in 2009 have? Either Famitsu thinks games are getting better or is giving out more perfect scores. Discuss!

And for those who care, Final Fantasy X was released in 2001, Resident Evil was released in 2002, Dragon Quest VIII and Gran Turismo 4 were released in 2004, and so on and so forth.

Once the actual scan of the score has hit online, we will add it to this post.

Bloggers, as reported earlier, are specifically mentioned by the recommendation, which has obvious implications for the specialty press covering video games. "The post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service."

The pivot here is what constitutes an in-kind payment. Games do have a value, but is agreeing to review a game an endorsement, regardless of whether the review recommends it or not?

It's also important to note these new guidelines do not themselves have the force of law. They are:

"[...] administrative interpretations of the law intended to help advertisers comply with the Federal Trade Commission Act; they are not binding law themselves. In any law enforcement action challenging the allegedly deceptive use of testimonials or endorsements, the Commission would have the burden of proving that the challenged conduct violates the FTC Act."

So there are two layers here: One, that it's not even law and two, does it even apply to video game reviews? Either way, the singling out of a blogger's endorsement is significant.

FTC: Freebies Must Be Disclosed [Game Politics]

Each check, mailed in wooden boxes decorated with twin skeletons and the words Dante's Inferno, was affixed to a velvet pillow inside a box. Inside the top of the box is a welcome to the fourth circle of hell which reads:

In Dante's Inferno, Greed is a two-headed beast. Hoarding wealth feeds on beast and squandering it satiates the other. By cashing this check you succumb to avarice by harding filthy lucre, but by not cashing it, you waste it, and thereby surrender to prodigality. Make your choice and suffer the consequence for your sin. And scoff not, for consequences are imminent.

Not wanting to give in to temptation by cashing the check or using it to market Kotaku, or waste the money, we came up with a different solution. Balls in your court EA.

Publisher Future has teamed up with WoW developer Blizzard Entertainment for quarterly title World of Warcraft: The Magazine.

Available in English, French, German and Spanish, the publication is sold via subscription only through World of Warcraft Account Management or from the mag's official site.

The magazine is available as a one or two-year subscription, pricing for one year is US$39.95, 34.95 EUR or 29.95 GBP depending on your region — two year subscription packages cost $69.95 in the US, 61.25 EUR or 52.50 GBP.

"Future produces some of the most respected gaming magazines in the industry, and we're pleased to be working closely with them to make World of Warcraft: The Magazine a true standout product," says Blizzard COO Paul Sams. "Together, we look forward to offering World of Warcraft players a great mix of entertaining and insightful content in every issue."

The 148-page first issue will cover the fifth anniversary of World of Warcraft.

Other Future publications include T3, Total Film, Digital Camera, Fast Car, Classic Rock, Guitar World, Official Xbox Magazine, Official Playstation Magazine, Nintendo Power, Maximum PC and MacLife.

I got going on this idea because my first night on the job for Kotaku — covering a Godfather II event — I sliced my foot open and spent the next week limping from junket to junket. But whenever I thought I had it bad as a games journalist, I'd always remind myself that journalists in video games usually have it way worse. They wade through zombies, deal with emotionally unstable people and more often than not wind up on the front lines of wars and stuff. They're the ones that deserve a bottle of Cristal and a hug. But instead, they get this photo gallery.

Taylor — Suikoden 5
[Image Cred]

Irene Ellet — Valkyria Chronicles
[Image Cred]

Frank West — Dead Rising
[Image Cred]

Elena Fisher — Uncharted
[Image Cred]

Joseph Schreiber — Silent Hill 4

Keith Helm — Disaster Report
[Image Cred]

Ben Bertolucci — Resident Evil 2
[Image Cred]

Ulala — Space Channel 5

Everyone — Michigan: Report From Hell (never came out in North America)
[Image Cred]

Madison Paige — Heavy Rain
[Image Cred]

Laura Parton - D2

Keats — Folklore
[Image Cred]

Maya Amano - Persona 2: Eternal Punishment

Alyssa - Resident Evil: Outbreak
[Image Cred]

I give honorable mentions to the news announcers in King of Fighters 12, the sportscaster characters in any sports game ever and one to Reuben Oluwagembi in Far Cry 2 (couldn't find a good enough picture of him). Other than that, these are all I've got — hit me up in the comments if you think of more. Owen Good nominated Paperboy I assume on grounds that he would have been promoted to copyeditor by now, but I don't know...

P.S. I still have the cork from that bottle of Cristal in my purse. It reminds me of everything that's happened in the last year and how much of it I owe to Kotaku. Here's looking at another year of blogging!

"My concerns were risen when my son went out and bought himself a gaming magazine to read the reviews of the latest Xbox 360 games," mayhem writes. "To my surprise the only thing that did was the last 4 pages of the magazine that contained major full page spreads of mobile sex games, videos and pictures."

"...I turned to the front cover to see if there was a 18 rated sticker anywhere on the front of the magazine," mayhem continues. "Nothing. Absolutely no indication that the magazine contained content unfit for young eyes."

Mayhem's 8-year-old daughter went to various UK book sellers to see how easy it would be to purchase game magazines — game magazines with adult ads in the back.

"My 8 year old daughter walked in on her own and when straight for the gaming section," mayhem writes. "On the lower shelf she picked out several magazines including Play (a Sony PlayStation 3 Magazine) and 360 (a Microsoft Xbox 360 magazine) both of which are published by Imagine Publishing. Neither of these titles had an 18 or 15 certificate on them."

But in the back, there were adult ads, so mayhem complained. After doing that, mayhem and child headed to more small shops to buy more game magazines with dirty ads in the back. "We found that at every shop we had gone to that she could easily walk in and buy literally any gaming magazine she liked," mayhem continues. (Of course she can! They're not rated ages 18-years-old and up!)

"On one occasion even some with 18 certifications from a local news agent," mayhem writes. "I was amazed my 8 year old daughter can by pornography in this form." Hey, we're amazed you let her — all in the name of research.

Though, this "pornography" looks more like adverts for phone sex and adult cell phone games and not actually pornography per se. Weekly British tabloids have more actual pornography in them! There are dodgy adult ads in telephone booths and, heck, even the phone book. It's endless.

Sure, Imagine Publishing might want to re-examine how it generates ad revenue. It might not, and the ads it is running could very well be acceptable under UK law. If it is, the issue is not with the bookstores or the publisher even, but with the law. (And what about ads in other under 18 magazines? Were those checked as well?)

We do thank mayhem at Overclocke3D for creating a dialogue about this issue.

News :: Not much left to the Imagine'ation - Magazine publisher serves up porno to minors [Overclock3D.Net via GamePolitics]

The commission, in the process of reexamining the disclosure rules for their truth-in-advertising guides, are now calling out bloggers as a potential issue. The commission says it is looking into the legitimacy of blogger opinion and whether access to review product influences their write-ups. They don't, however, seem to be concerned over similar practices in the print and mainstream media.

Instead of relying on specific rules, the FTC's guides use a set of examples to lay out issues that they have identified. In talking about the importance of disclosure of material connections between the endorser and the seller, the guide uses an example aimed directly at online video game journalism:

Example 7: A college student who has earned a reputation as a video game expert maintains a personal weblog or "blog" where he posts entries about his gaming experiences. Readers of his blog frequently seek his opinions about video game hardware and software. As it has done in the past, the manufacturer of a newly released video game system sends the student a free copy of the system and asks him to write about it on his blog. He tests the new gaming system and writes a favorable review. The readers of his blog are unlikely to expect that he has received the video game system free of charge in exchange for his review of the product, and given the value of the video game system, this fact would likely materially affect the credibility they attach to his endorsement. Accordingly, the blogger should clearly and conspicuously disclose that he received the gaming system free of charge.

While this example is talking about free consoles, what about free games or free movies or free books?

Most newspapers allow their critics to go to free screenings of movies so they can write a movie review. Most newspapers, in my experience, also allow critics to receive game code in one form or another and even retain loaner consoles so they can review games. Certainly every major gaming website, from GameSpot to IGN take free copies of games for review.

What's troubling about this FTC example isn't the expectation that the blogger should disclose that they received a free console, but that the rule seems to single out bloggers.

In seeking to delineate between a professional writer and a blogger, the FTC approaches a slippery slope that could very easily end with the government deciding who is and who isn't a journalist.

Equally troubling is the coverage of this issue by the New York Times, which seems to almost deliberately not get it. In a Sunday story entitled "When a Blogger Voices Approval, a Sponsor May Be Lurking", the New York Times reports on the issue making it clear that unlike journalists, some bloggers are for sale:

"But unlike postings in most journalism outlets or independent review sites, most companies can be assured that there will not be a negative review: if she does not like a product, she simply does not post anything about it."

I do like some of the ideas spelled out in the document, in particular the notion of advertising and marketing folks not being allowed to flood a message board with false praise for their product without identifying themselves. But who is going to differentiate between "most journalism outlets" and "independent review sites" and bloggers? And how will they do so?

When the government gets in the business of identifying journalists and setting up a separate set of rules for those that don't make the cut, it's more than a little troubling.

[Pic]

Yes, this is the same Eidos behind the Kane & Lynch fiasco with GameSpot. Behind voting for their own games in a game of the year poll. Behind attempts to fix Tomb Raider review scores.

Sure, they're far from the only company to be accused of this sort of thing with magazines (businesses gotta make money, yo), but it seems they could be far and away the worst at covering their tracks.

According to The RAM Raider, the company's latest misstep the following absurd policy:

Several mags have their review code already, but have to sit on their reviews until a hateful embargo expires at the end of the month. But Eidos, ever the helpful fellows that they are, have been offering a way around this embargo. If you dedicate the cover of your mag to Arkham Asylum and guarantee a score of at least 90%, Eidos will allow you to run the review early.

TRR says that while "one editor has already valiantly told Eidos to fuck off", others have been less resolute. "This means", they say, "that if you see a mag turn up within the next few weeks (ding!) that features Arkham Asylum on its cover (ding!) and gives it at least 90% (ding ding ding!), you have a winner."

With the publishing arm of Eidos soon to be rebranded as part of the Square Enix empire, it's a shame that, if true, this is probably the last thing they're going to be remembered for.

We've contacted Eidos for comment, and will update if we hear back from them.

UPDATE: Eidos, for their part, outright deny the allegations telling Kotaku:

"With regards an article posted on RamRaider alleging that Eidos has fixed review scores for Batman: Arkham Asylum, we want to state that no discussions have been held about review scores with any magazines. In short there is simply not one shred of truth in this article, except for the title of the game." Jon Brooke, Head of UK Marketing, Eidos.

Eidos Seek 90% Score & Cover For Arkham Asylum In Exchange For Early Review [The RAM Raider]

Owner Steve Harris says:

First and foremost, we're planning to incorporate digital content within the magazine. This includes professionally-produced video, audio and other types of content. We're also going to make this content fully transportable. ... There's now a heightened consumer interest in the transportability of information and using applications to do things like read content on an iPhone. We benefit not only from the technology but from the consumer's willingness to use it. The new Electronic Gaming Monthly will let you take your magazine and its content from print to computer to wireless devices — even to your television — as well as enable subscribers and single-copy purchasers to enhance that experience every step of the way. We are embracing that reality [and] will enable it and encourage it.

So you pay for the "mag", and in return receive content that can be read (or watched, or listened to) across multiple formats. Interesting. Very interesting.

Big Hints at EGM's Future [Bitmob]

Earlier, it was reported by TBS News that the Ethics Organization of Computer Software had voluntarily agreed to halt the sale and manufacture of "rape-type" games. Too bad nobody told the EOCS, because the organization was surprised to see this reported by TBS and later picked up by Yahoo! News Japan.

So what happened? Back when Rapelay controversy reached Japan, TBS came to the EOCS to do an interview, but then edited the footage to misrepresent the organization's intended stance. TBS recently asked to do another interview with the EOCS, who declined this request. Still, TBS ran this story, regardless.

Apparently, nothing will go into effect on June 2. There is merely a meeting then, and this news report came out of nowhere. On erotic game industry insider says that even if the organization had decided to prohibit the games, companies would have until past July to comply with the new regulations. What's more, the used game market will probably be unaffected.

There are even rumblings that this news report is a news campaign on the part of the New Komeito Party, which has previously expressed disapproval of these types of games. This is unconfirmed, but supposedly the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry told a New Komeito party rep that there was going to be a meeting on June 2 — information that apparently was passed on to TBS. This some how became rape games will be banned on June 2. Like we said, all unconfirmed.

Those connected with the EOCS do see tighter regulations for these types of games, but not necessarily prohibition.

Rape games not really banned and I hate TBS [CANNED DOGS]

Totilo tells Crispy Gamer all about the move from simple Kotaku tag to his highly anticipated return as a Kotaku person. Don't think it's going to be all wine and roses for Mr. Totilo, as he'll be suffering the loss of his mainstream outlet privileges, entering the category of "enthusiast press." But he has his reasons.

"What Kotaku allows me to do is reach another audience," Totilo explains, "a massive and passionate crowd of hardcore gamers and developers who, I think, already do respect the kind of reporting I and some of the Kotaku guys do, and will be happy to get even more of it."

Totilo also shrugs off the assertion that he's just waiting for a game development job, that not even the death of Kotaku by space rock would sway him from gaming journalism.

"Just a week or so ago, I was reading some rude comments from a developer telling me that he was sure I was just biding my time until I could get a cushy development job. He guessed wrong," he says. "If a meteor hits Kotaku and I manage to survive, then I will get another gaming journalism job after that."

Sure, linking to Stephen's interview may be a little self-serving on our part, but we're glad the man has a chance to speak more openly about the job change. And I'm not just saying that because he'll outrank me and happens to name-check me in the interview.

God, I hope I don't get crushed by a meteor tonight.

Press Pass: Totilo Talks Transition From MTV to Kotaku [Crispy Gamer]

It's no secret that print journalism is a rotting corpse; legitimate new sources are packing up and heading for the web left and right. With new levels of interactivity come new possibilities for the way we create and consume journalism. This article says online gaming is where it's at.

"BlackBerrys, iPods and Kindles are not enough anymore. Let's add a joystick to the expanding repertoire of tools available to news consumers.

Gaming is often overlooked as a tool for disseminating news. Online games are attempting to explain the economy through the politics of oil, educate users on disaster readiness in the context of Hurricane Katrina and, perhaps more in line with traditional video games, some are exploring the various military operations implemented in the Iraq war. In a strange likeness to fantasy sports, one game allowed people to draft their own cabinet picks for Obama's then-new administration."

The article goes on to conclude:

"In order to interest readers and keep them interested, news organizations should come up with ways to incorporate news in video game format without extricating the two."

"It's much more complex than that," Georgia Tech Professor Ian Bogost – whose Journalism and Games Project is sourced several times in the article – said. "The correct question [the article should be asking] is: ‘How can the institution of journalism benefit from video games, and vice versa.' This article is a great example of what's wrong with journalism in general. It assumes simple fixes: take news, add games, stir – profit."

From his perspective, games as journalism is not about keeping readers entertained or replacing traditional reporting with a virtual representation that readers can play around with. It should be about applying journalistic values – accurate information that helps people make decisions about their lives – to video games.

So take a look at some of these examples that the article kicks around both as good and bad applications of games to journalism: Darfur is Dying, Ars Regendi and Class Matters. Ask yourself if "games" like these will take the place of articles like these.

If your answer is yes, then proceed to this line of questioning about fun and games. If your answer is no, keep an eye on Bogost at the next Games For Change conference; we'll see if he can suss out where the games and journalism connection really lies.

Games and Journalism: Now that journalism is in trouble, why not play with it? [Online Journalism Blog]

In an option piece about why wearing blue jeans is bad and why we should dress like Fred Astaire (yeah, we know), the Pulitzer Prize winning and the very-much-out-of-touch Will's pie hole offered these off-handed insights:

Seventy-five percent of American "gamers" — people who play video games — are older than 18 and nevertheless are allowed to vote. In their undifferentiated dress, children and their childish parents become undifferentiated audiences for juvenilized movies (the six — so far — "Batman" adventures and "Indiana Jones and the Credit-Default Swaps," coming soon to a cineplex near you).

Don't take this personally, though! Just add this to a long line of recent Will jewels: That drilling offshore Florida is being done by China and that the global sea ice levels are unchanged. See? Gas bag in a bow tie.

Demon Denim [Washington Post Thanks Travis!] [Pic]

Today, Croal posted his final update on Newsweek's Level Up.

I had a chance to speak with Croal recently about why he decided to leave Newsweek after 14 years at the magazine.

"The simple answer is that Newsweek had buyouts last year in may and then in the fall they reopened the buyouts," Croal said. "I didn't consider the first one, but the second one, I was like, ‘You know I'm 36 years old… I studied film making in college and I directed plays and short films and stuff like that, so I've always had a pretty pronounced creative side."

"I always thought I was going to do end up in movies or something else, but I kind of got sidetracked into journalism. It's one of the most amazing things that's happened to me. But when the buyout came around again, I said to myself if I don't do this now when am I going to do it?"

"That's really what it came down to. My editors never said to me don't cover games."

There are changes being made at Newsweek, a redesign and a shift in tone, but Croal says that didn't mean that there wasn't a space for video games.

While Croal hasn't cemented his future, he plans on shifting more of his time away from covering games and toward helping developers.

"I want to do something more creative than when you are on the journalism side of things," he said. "I think it's going to be a combination of things, I'm still in the process of figuring that out. There is some interest in me consulting on games, that's something I'm interested in as well.

Croal says that he believes there is a stratification that's going on in the video games industry. That developers concentrate too much on an audience of 12 to 24 year olds who have plenty of time on their hands to play, but forget that the older audience has less time to play.

That's something he thinks he can help with.

"As a journalist you sort of get a broad perspective across multiple genres," he said. "I've covered things here ranging from pop music to movies and other things. To be able to bring a bit of a broader perspective, I think that might be useful at a time like this for certain developers who want to expand their audience."

That doesn't mean Croal will give up writing about games entirely. He will continue his column in Edge and says that there are other outlets interested in having him write about games for them.

"I wont be doing pre-release coverage of games the way I was for Level Up and Newsweek because that can be a conflict of interest," he said.

Instead his writing will be more akin to commentary, he said. Let's hope that he continues stirring the pot as he did so famously with Resident Evil 5.

Gibson - who claims the move has nothing to do with money troubles for the site - says of the surprising deal:

GameFly has demonstrated a true understanding of and commitment to Shacknews' gaming culture.

We are confident [GameFly] will protect the legacy and community we've established, while at the same time providing much needed resources to expand into new and exciting areas that would not otherwise be possible.

Meanwhile, GameFly CEO David Hodess and co-founder Sean Spector say:

We purchased Shacknews because it's a great site. We believe we can help expand its reach—we're not looking to twist and turn the site into something else.

With its avid, engaged community and commitment to providing an independent voice for gamers seeking the most accurate and up-to-date news and information, it goes to the core of our vision as a company, which is to be the ultimate resource for the entire gaming community.

Two months into 2009, two game news outlets bought out. Stay tuned in March, see if the hot streak continues!

GameFly Acquires Shacknews [Shacknews]

GamePolitics, however, did, and asked Crave to deny (or confirm!) whether the bathtime baby in their kids DS game was an undercover missionary for the Muslim faith. Crave's response:

In creating the Nintendo DS game “Baby Pals”, the game developer Brain Toys / InXile used sounds files to simulate the life like baby noises and babbling. The sounds are publicly available for license. It is a recording of a 5 month old baby babbling non-intelligible phrases. In over 200 hours of testing the product, no recognizable English words or phrases were discernable.

The sound in question of this babble may sound like the words night, right or light, but it is only coincidence as the baby recorded was too young to pronounce these words let alone a whole grammatically correct phrase.

We at Crave Entertainment and InXile regret that there was any misinterpretation of the baby noises and in no way have intentionally put any words or phrases into the baby sounds.

We hope this eases any concerns and fans continue to enjoy playing the game.

That record has been set straight. Besides...I always thought it sounded more like "my salami is alright", though as a connoisseur of cured meats I may just be hearing what I want to hear.

Publisher Responds to "Islam is the Light" DS Game Controversy [GamePolitics]

Like the more widely-publicised issue surrounding the Little Mommy Cuddle and Coo doll - from which the baby's audio sample is presumably taken - the baby is speaking in gibberish. A simple background check on the "furore" surrounding the doll could have told them that.

Likewise, a phone call to developers Crave - look, the logo is right there on the box in the report! - could have settled the matter, instead of trying to ask Nintendo about a game Nintendo didn't develop.

Ah well. "BABY GAME SPEAKS GIBBERISH" wouldn't be as interesting an angle as "BABY GAME IS ISLAMIC CHUCKY", would it?

Video game plays strange message? [wtnh, via GamePolitics]

An unconfirmed rumor also names Wilson as possibly the person behind the last-minute offer to buy Hardcore Gamer. The New York Times quotes mag owner Tim Lindquist as saying that an unnamed suitor "who had recently sold his video game business" dropped by an hour before the auction was due to close and offered a bit more than Lindquist's asking price.

The deal for the mag, rights and associated domain names, isn't quite done yet, but is expected to be finalized this week.

Reached for comment Tuesday afternoon, Wilson was first coy about the possibility that he sold his game publishing company to SouthPeak only to jump into the video game journalism business.

"Awesome rumor! I hope (the magazine I own is) Tiger Beat!"

But later said that he did talk to the magazine.

"I did talk to them and would love to help the guys find a way to stay in business, because they do it just for the love of it, and you know I have a serious soft spot for dedicated indies. But I did not and am not buying them."

But is Wilson perhaps part of a group picking up the magazine? Wilson declined to say.

He did say that he's currently currently entertaining offers for SubstanceTV.com and that he's busy putting on a charity burlesque event in Austin, Texas for Valentine's Day.

We only have the rest of the week to wait to see if he is a part of the upcoming mag deal mentioned in the New York Times.

Seemed a desperate gamble from an owner that, from his selling brief, sounded like he was in the business for the wrong reasons anyway. Yet...success! The NY Times caught up with Tim Lindquist, owner of HG's publisher Doublejump books, and learned that he somehow found a buyer for the mag.

The unnamed suitor, "who had recently sold his video game business", dropped by an hour before the auction was due to close and offered a pinch above Lindquist's asking price for the mag, rights and associated domain names. While the deal isn't done just yet, it's apparently in the later stages of negotiation.

Oh Ziff. You should have tried eBay! Maybe then you'd have found somebody who wasn't UGO.

With Magazines Folding, One Finds a Surprising Bid [NY Times, via Go Nintendo]

On July 31, 1928, the paper announced they would be using a three-star reviewing system from then on out to rate movies. And almost from the same day, movie critics starting hating the system.

It took video game writers a bit longer to adopt the ubiquitous system for rating games, but the hatred was right on it's heels.

Recently game reviews and the use of ratings have become a target of constant navel staring, with critics, writers and box-standers killing obscene amounts of pixels to talk about what should be done. Last year, we just threw ratings out the window, reinventing how we reviewed games.

I don't expect the same sort of reaction from movie critics, but at least they're starting to talk about their hatred of the system.

"We don't seek to reduce our arguments about a particular piece of art to a number, or letter grade, or golden spatulas, or whatever," says Sam Sifton, the New York Times' culture editor told the Wall Street Journal for a recent article on the subject. "These are numbers that aren't based on any rational or countable thing." However, restaurant reviews in the paper have long included rankings from "poor" to four stars. Mr. Sifton, the former dining editor, calls those "the exception that proves the rule here."

The article is a fascinating read for anyone interested in the subject. It talks about the history of reductive criticism, the good and bad, and how sites like Metacritic have helped bring the issue to a head.

One critic's pan of "Pearl Harbor" originally was ranked 40 out of 100, until he contacted the site to say it was more like a 10. Marc Doyle, co-founder and senior product manager of Metacritic, which is now owned by CBS, says the site's employees read reviews carefully, will change scores if they are protested by reviewers, and will reconsider them if readers object. "It's just a tool, like any other tool," he says of the site.

Doyle, for his part, says that Metacritic is exploring improvements.

Let's Rate the Ranking Systems of Film Reviews [Wall Street Journal]