There’s a war going on right now on the internet, and I’m not talking about the alt-right trolls on reddit and everyone else. Video game websites and YouTubers are constantly at each other’s throats, desperate to come out on top when the dust cloud of new media finally settles. Everyone is desperate to get you, the viewers, click and admiration, so that we can continue to make money and keep a roof over our head. Without you, we fade away into obscurity and have to get real jobs.
VideogameDunkey’s newest video takes aim at huge gaming sites like IGN, where there are many different reviewers with different backgrounds. When reading a review, it’s important to know their biases, likes and dislikes. You might think racing games are the greatest thing ever made, while I think they are boring and dull to play (unless you’re talking about Mario Kart). It’s all about the reviewer's perspective and what they enjoy. If I read a review that bashes a game in a series, like Final Fantasy, and it’s obvious they’ve never played anything else in the series or even an RPG, I’m going to disconnect from what they are saying.
As a reviewer, I tend to place my biases front and center. I make it clear that I either love or loathe a type a game and that’s it going to heavily impact my review. My favorite games have fantasy settings, in-depth stories and robust combat systems, while I hate action-packed shooters that require less brain cells to play than a Hearthstone Pirate Warrior deck. I’m not trying to hide that information just to give something a good review to make a developer happy. I’ve gotten in trouble from publishers before for choosing to point out the flaws in a product when they expected a glowing review.
Dunkey brings up another important point that’s often glanced over: wording. When you have a deadline, it’s hard to be as creative, or sometimes even interesting, in your writing. Using the same terms over and over and over and over and over just to fill a word count doesn’t make for a very compelling read. A review’s entire purpose is to give someone who’s never seen a product an insight into how it works. The reader might not have decided if they will enjoy a game and will need that extra bit of information in order to figure out if they should buy it or not. If the reviewer doesn’t make a compelling point, all you’ve done is wasted their time and potentially scared them away from future content.
YouTubers’ opinions are becoming more important every year. Chris Stuckmann and Boogie2988 have a gigantic viewer base that wants to know how they are going to view a movie or game. Boogie loves Nintendo games, but tends to dislike shooters. I’m excited to see his Splatoon 2 review because I care about his opinion on a game that I’m on the fence about. For something like Lawbreakers, I’ll stick to popular shooter streamers like TimTheTatman.
Where do you get your game reviews? Tell us in the comments.
