Game Reviews and the Gaming Press: Why Do They Suck?
The gaming press is a pretty powerful entity is this industry. The consumers come to them for the latest in gaming news, including what is about to come out, what companies are partaking in less than consumer-friendly business practices, and other news a gamer might want to know. The publishers rely on them to get information to their customers and effectively spread the word on projects they are working on. However, the press also has one critical function to serve: To review video games. Game reviews are supposed to be an important part of the gaming ecosystem. It is, theoretically, immensely helpful when contemplating the purchase of a game to have a collection of opinions regarding it. They should help to distinguish between bad games, average games, and good games, but how effective are they in that capacity and why do they sometimes get called into question?
