Game Reviews Don't Matter, Study Finds 94
Next Generation has an article up looking at a report from SIG, on the correlation between game reviews and sales. Their findings indicate that, while reviews obviously do have some effect on games sold, there just isn't that much of a correlation. From the article: "He said he doubted that publishers and PRs would stop caring about review scores, especially as they matter a lot with consumers who compare games from the same sub-genre — say, basketball games. But he said that, as with last year's report, the report's findings are unlikely to be popular. 'We received a lot of attention but the stats do not lie,' he said."
I read reviews as an afterthought (Score:5, Interesting)
Incorrect (Score:5, Interesting)
If you want a list of things that a good review should look for, all you have to do is find lists of Cliches [project-apollo.net] and reviews that make note of them. There are similar lists for strategy and action games - but common components among all such lists involve being railroaded through events outside of the players control (e.g. is captured by 3 units after taking out 2000 soldiers), or events that are obvious enough to be traps but the player is forced to go through them to advance the plot.
traumatic experience makes me read reviews always (Score:3, Interesting)
Reviews Prevent Me From Buying (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't buy many games (mostly I rent because most games are worth the $$$). If I REALLY want a game (New Mario, Guitar Hero) I'll just buy it ("Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"). But if I want a game but I'm not that set, I'll wait for the reviews. If the review seems positive (no major flaws, still sounds fun) then I tend to buy the game. If not (bugs, doesn't sound fun, etc) then I don't.
I don't buy games just because of reviews though.
For the record, I get most of my reviews from X-Play (which I watch all new episodes of). I also check specific games on GameSpot and IGN.
A demo is FAR more likely to change my opinion of a game than a review, but I like having reviews around to see what is happening with games I don't tend to play (sports games) and to save me from buying a piece of junk that won't be that fun.
However, I can tell you that my little sister and her friends (all about 14) don't read reviews at all. They are just mindless consumers. "I liked spider man/the hulk, I'll get that game". "That football game looks like it might be fun". Mostly we rent (so many games are terrible) but they don't even consider reviews before renting (not their money, I guess).
Re:Seems like a "no shit" to me (Score:2, Interesting)
They matter to me (Score:4, Interesting)
Here's an embarassing thing to admit: if I've been looking forward to a game and it gets an 8.9, I actually feel disappointed and I might take a few weeks to make a decision. But if that game gets a 9.0, I'm much more inclined to run out and grab it. Yeah, it's dumb. It's just like I know that $49.99 is only a penny away from $50, but it feels a lot more like $40.
One thing I realized as I was typing this is that while I'll look at the points the reviewer gives a game, I rarely ever read a professional review. They're simply too wordy and glossy. I'd rather just read some player comments about how "it sucks ass that you can't ride the donkey in multiplayer mode" than to try to discern these tidbits from the professional review.
It's all in the hype (Score:4, Interesting)
Name of Game/Company
Hype
Popularity of genre
In that order.
There's quite a lot of really awesome games out there that didn't get any attention. Why? They lack at least 2 of the three factors.
Imagine something is labeled "Command & Conquer Final Chapter". Will it sell? You bet it will! It could be the last crappy ripoff, a repackaged C&C1 with new graphics for example (no, you don't need to tell me "it's already been done", I know, thank you very much). It will sell. It has the name. Imagine Halo 3. Quake 5. NHL 2006. Diablo 3. Does/would/will it sell? Yes. Why? Name.
Same with "games to movies". Fortunately, at least some movie studios do care these days who buys the license for the name to slap on a game. It used to be a surefire way to say a game sucks donkey bits if it had the name of a current movie. But they always were bestsellers. Even the crappiest of the lot.
Then there is hype. DNF will sell. No matter when it comes out and no matter if it is up to par. You could offer an empty box and it would sell. Other games have the "new feature" hype, whether that feature actually matters or not. Max Payne was hyped as "revolutionary" in the genre of shooters for its bullet time and the actually rendered bullets. Whether it really was, I leave to the reader.
Re:Game review RATINGS don't matter (Score:4, Interesting)
This was why the OLD Computer Gaming World avoided giving numeric/star ratings for so long.
Some people consider different things when buying. Some look at a tie-in/license (parents, younger kids, non-"gamers"). Some look at genre/subject: WWII, evil-alien-shooter, cute ponies, horror. Some look at whether text of reviews (is it monotonous, etc). Some look for eye-candy or cool tech; game is secondary (anyone remember "Trespasser"?). And some look at the numeric rating closely - but not many, I'll bet.
My guess is that of those who even look at reviews at all, most use the numeric rating just to group it into 3 bins: Run like the plague, it's ok to look at other factors, and (occasionally) look at it even if you normally wouldn't. And for those who find a game first then check reviews, the 3rd case is out, so it's basically only a "look for warning flag before pulling trigger" check.
Who buys "Barbies playhouse" because it got a 8.8 instead of "Kill nasty aliens with cool guns" which got a 7.8? No one. Some may buy Barbies playhouse because that the sort of game they like. And others might NOT buy KNAWCG when they normally would because it got a 4.8, or because if KNAWCG got a 7.8 and "Kill nasty Nazis with cool guns" got a 9.5. But the point is that subtleties of score have almost no impact, and even gross differences of score have only moderate impact except at the very extremes.
Reviewers are just like you and me (Score:3, Interesting)
Reviews can be influenced (Score:3, Interesting)
Completists (Score:3, Interesting)
One of the posts here said DNF will sell pretty well because of coverage. Heck, given its extreme coverage, if it actually comes out, I predict it will be one of the best-selling games of all time. (Many will play it, and those who don't, will still buy it for their collection.)
Re:They matter to me (Score:2, Interesting)
I'd use online and magazine reviews and comments if I could but they're so badly polluted by fraud and astroturfers that it's pointless.
That's why reviews have very little effect on sales; such a large percentage have no correlation with the actual quality of the game that people rightly ignore them.
Word of mouth from people I trust is it. I do not trust the vast majority of marketing parasites.
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The majority of modern marketing is nothing more than an arms race to get mind share. Everybody loses except the parasitic marketing "industry".