Can You Suck at Video Games and Still Review Them?

How skilled at playing video games do journalists have to be? Let's find out.

[godashram]

If you suck at games, yet enjoy playing them, I say you should be allowed to review them. As long as you don't bring up difficulty.

[OB1Biker]

Agreed if you don't call yourself a game journalist.
I mean a journalist is supposed to know what he's talking about. A bit like a political journalist who would know crap about politics.

[ShottyatLaw]

Still, reviewing and reporting are two very different things. Game journalists can report on gaming regardless of their own gaming abilities. A sports journalist doesn't have to be good at sports. An entertainment journalist doesn't have to be good at acting. Journalists should be focused on facts, not opinion.

Critically analyzing a game is different. Gaming is an active medium...meaning it requires more than just observing or passively experiencing it. If you're going to be criticizing that type of experience, you have to be competent. If you're going to be criticizing it at a high level, you need to git gud.

[OB1Biker]

@Shotty
Thanks for reply. I see your point and I was thinking about previews/reviews.
Its even more complicated than that. I'd say you need to be reasonably skilled in the genre your reviewing.

[HaveSumNuts]

Can a pilot fly a plane if he sucks at flying? No, because people would die...

[Mithan]

It depends what spectrum of "suck" you fall on, because obviously how good/bad you are will affect your enjoyment of the game, total content seen, etc. Imagine somebody who couldn't play Skyrim reviewing the game, what would they leave out? Imagine if you suck at Dark Souls and try to review it?

[yumi76]

Well... in general i feel like people shouldn't review games if they haven't finished them... So if you suck so bad you can't finish a game then you probably shouldn't review it. But I would still say you have to take in on a case by case basis.

[I_am_Batman]

I agree with this. It really depends on the game. Most games don't really require much skill or understanding of the underlying mechanics to beat. Also the average gamer isn't really good at games anyway so I don't see why the reviewer shouldn't be allowed to represent the vast majority of the playerbase.

On the other hand I'd personally like a reviewer to go in depth on the mechanics of the game when reading/watching a review for a fighting game or a strategy game. But in that case it's my responsability to find a reviewer that can provide such an analysis imo. I won't bash anyone for providing a more casual review for a fighting game because for a lot of people there is merit for that review as well.

[TheColbertinator]

Apparently so. Look at Polygon

[Lennoxb63]

No. Because if you suck at video games, you can't play them the way the devs intended them to be played.

[crazychris4124]

You can, Im just not gonna take the review seriously.

[Elda]

It depends.