like to say that I am just the messenger......
Paul
I have an early (May build) of GPL (don't ask) and it does not go with the
review. And I wonder why I trust some sites (and magazines) content more
than others....
>I have an early (May build) of GPL (don't ask) and it does not go with the
>review. And I wonder why I trust some sites (and magazines) content more
>than others....
While a Gold CD and manual photocopied doesn't mean it's not GMC, It's an
issue which needs to be picked uover and considered.
For instance, the rash of Half life reviews in this month's UK press. While
reliably informed that the last set of levels is still being finsihed, i'm not
viewing the 96% it got in PC Gamer too credibily. I mean, it's fantastic, yes,
but all the continued exposure and exclusive press coverage means people are
seeing games and evaluating them earlier and earlier.
Competition between mags is forcing this upon us. I personally aplaud some
mags which have a commitment to only reviewing finsihed code, but they are few
and far between, and invaribly, as the content seems "old", they don't sell as
well.
I guess the other queston is one of previews and exclusivity itself. Titles a
long way out are singled out as mega-hits, and followed through. You can't
expect a mag to do this and at the say "whoops, it's shite".
Magazine's and products "buyer beware".
Z.
Off topic I know, but do you really think Half-Life is fantastic? I
thought it was another "Ho-hum, here-we-go-again Doom, Quake, Unreal"
sort of game. Take Quake with the Aliens patch and you've pretty much
got it.
Agreed. In my experience people decide what they want to buy a long
time before final review based upon previews, screenshots etc, and it
would take a mightily bad review to change their mind. Mags tend not
to give really bad reviews anyway, and it's pretty difficult to U-turn
on the fawning praise of the previews.
Cheers!
John
> >For instance, the rash of Half life reviews in this month's UK press. While
> >reliably informed that the last set of levels is still being finsihed, i'm not
> >viewing the 96% it got in PC Gamer too credibily. I mean, it's fantastic, yes,
> >but all the continued exposure and exclusive press coverage means people are
> >seeing games and evaluating them earlier and earlier.
> Off topic I know, but do you really think Half-Life is fantastic? I
> thought it was another "Ho-hum, here-we-go-again Doom, Quake, Unreal"
> sort of game. Take Quake with the Aliens patch and you've pretty much
> got it.
Brian Short
Actually in my experience, most reviews have been a 180 u-turns from the previews.
Most of PC GAMER's preview are REALLY optimistic. Never have I seen them put down a
game in a preview and that's mainly because its just that, a preview. Since mags
aren't(or rather, shouldn't) suppose to review unfinnished code they mark them as
previews and just say how good it looks blah blah blah, but when the game is
finished they can let the guns fly(be it good or bad). Its actually annoying
because you can trust the previews but I don't really see a fair solution.. anyway
just my 2 cents...
-YUBS