Announcements
- Grand Theft Auto V ships 32.5 million units (via Take-Two)
- PlayStation 4 1.60 firmware adds Pulse Elite Headset support (via PS.Blog)
Media
22 minute Strider developer walkthrough
Game of the Year 2013 Day 1 of 3
posted in: Editorials & Features 0
It’s a little late this year but with good reason. There were just so many last minute games that I had to knock out before I could compile my list. With new consoles, the list of platforms for which great games to appear on is on an all time high. I played games on smartphones, tablets, handhelds and on consoles new and old in 2013. Now it’s time to reflect and acknowledge some of the highs and lows of the last year.
The 2013 Game I Wish I Bought & Played in 2013
Winner: Grand Theft Auto V
I had many opportunities to purchase Grand Theft Auto V for $39.99 but I didn’t want to play it on the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 generation of consoles. I had faith that Rockstar would be bringing their trademark sequel to PC. So I decided to wait and miss out.
Runner ups: DmC, Rayman: Legends
Oh review scores
posted in: Editorials & Features 0
Gamespot gave Grand Theft Auto V a fine score of 9.0/10. It’s a fantastic score to what looks to be a fantastic game. Apparently that score isn’t good enough and some folks out there couldn’t bear the fact that their score wasn’t a 10.
So the craziest of the crazy folks on the internet went out of their way to start a petition to fire the Gamespot editor behind the review. I didn’t read the review but I doubt anything the reviewer could have written would warrant losing their job over.
Review scores are not the problem. The problem is that some people put too much weight on them. We’ve been trained from a very early age to take scores seriously so it’s not surprising why people do so.
However math tests and games are different — 2 x 2 will always equal 4 and beauty (or fun) is the in the eye of the beholder. A 10/10 on a test will always mean perfection; you made no mistakes. 10/10 in a game review never means that; it means that the game is held to the highest regard for that specific reviewer. Game reviews like movie or music reviews are subjective pieces.
And until the masses can discern between the objective and subjective, numbers should be sidelined in favor of a stars system like GiantBomb. It’s a silly distinction but you know what? It works. Or everyone should just adopt my system.
GTAV’s Final Trailer
Rockstar’s final trailer for GTAV is in line with their other trailers. Well produced, features a wonderful soundtrack and hints at grander things to come.
Rockstar’s knack for using licensed soundtracks has reached new heights with their inclusion of 240 licensed songs stretched across 15 radio stations. I don’t know if they’ll use it as well as the folks at Volition and Saints Row but I look forward to discovering if can.
Grand Theft Auto V will debut on September 17th on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.