My room had a private balcony, a calming view of the Pacific, and beaches a few hundred feet away. Like dozens of guests who stayed at a Santa Barbara resort in October, I was there to play a video game.

Joseph Olin, president of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, thinks game reviewers are lazy. The head of the AIAS — the body that organizes both the D.I.C.E. Summit and Interactive Achievement Awards annually — points to a glut of critics, but little in the way of critical analysis according to a Shacknews…