Why do gamers obsess over review scores?

[Skippy]

I asked two videogame psychologists, Eurogamer deputy editor Oli Welsh, writer Cara Ellison and our own rudderless/Chris Schilling

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-do-gamers- ... es-1433683

I was a little hamstrung by the vague upper word limit. Everyone I talked to said so much and I couldn't use it all.

Ave a gander *prepares tumbleweed gif*

[abcd]

Sorry didn't read.

I scrolled down to the bottom of the page and couldn't find a score.

[Lagamorph]

I asked two videogame psychologists

That's one of the most made up job titles I've ever heard.

[finish.last]

A good little read that, thanks.

[Trelliz]

7/10, would read again.

[TheTurnipKing]

Well, I guess that seals it.

I'm not a gamer anymore.

Because I haven't given a gooseberry fool about review scores in a long long time.

[smurphy]

Because people are immature strawberry floating twats.

[TheTurnipKing]

I asked two videogame psychologists

That's one of the most made up job titles I've ever heard.

It's amazing how putting the word "videogame" in front of any job automatically makes it sound like a mickey mouse operation.

[Gemini73]

A good read.

[Meep]

My opinion is that it is because games are so much more expensive than other forms of media. People obsess over reviews because they fear making a bad investment and most people don't have so much money that they can waste £30-40 and just shrug it off. I'm sure all of you reading this have been burned at least once or twice and that kind of experience leaves a psychological impression; it forces you to be more guarded and adverse to risk in the future.

[smurphy]

People who've already bought the game whine just as much though. It's like a kind of personal validation towards their choice of game, and choice of console with exclusives. And there's this automatic assumption that any big budget AAA game has to be 10/10 across the board, which is ridiculous.

[Skippy]

There's also a fundamental misunderstanding that a review is one person's opinion. It may be representing an entire site's worth of people, but that's only because that one person has been entrusted to represent them. It's shocking how many people don't seem to get that.

Also thank you for reading fellas

[Johnny Ryall]

Metrics innit.

[Gario]

I obsess just as much over film review scores, but the standard is lower. I generally won't buy a game that gets less than an 85 average, but with films anything 60 and over is fine (which has a lot to do with Metacritic rating 60+ as Green in their traffic light system of scoring.

[Mafro]

I obsess just as much over film review scores, but the standard is lower. I generally won't buy a game that gets less than an 85 average, but with films anything 60 and over is fine (which has a lot to do with Metacritic rating 60+ as Green in their traffic light system of scoring.

Why do you do this?

[Super Dragon 64]

I obsess just as much over film review scores, but the standard is lower. I generally won't buy a game that gets less than an 85 average, but with films anything 60 and over is fine (which has a lot to do with Metacritic rating 60+ as Green in their traffic light system of scoring.

Why do you do this?

To make matters worse, he would only buy A Link Between Worlds if it averaged a 92.

[Gario]

Because my interest in games is at an all-time low (I'm getting old), so only the best will hold my attention. I couldn't play a game with flaws (especially with the controls) like RE6 for example, as I wouldn't be able to get past this distraction.

[Gario]

I obsess just as much over film review scores, but the standard is lower. I generally won't buy a game that gets less than an 85 average, but with films anything 60 and over is fine (which has a lot to do with Metacritic rating 60+ as Green in their traffic light system of scoring.

Why do you do this?

To make matters worse, he would only buy A Link Between Worlds if it averaged a 92.

It got 91 in the end and I'll buy it eventually

[SEP]

Because my interest in games is at an all-time low (I'm getting old), so only the best will hold my attention. I couldn't play a game with flaws (especially with the controls) like RE6 for example, as I wouldn't be able to get past this distraction.

The problem is, review scores are entirely subjective. You'd need to read the text of the reviews themselves to find out if a game got below 85 because there was a genuine problem with it, or just because the reviewer was a dick.

[Gario]

Because my interest in games is at an all-time low (I'm getting old), so only the best will hold my attention. I couldn't play a game with flaws (especially with the controls) like RE6 for example, as I wouldn't be able to get past this distraction.

The problem is, review scores are entirely subjective. You'd need to read the text of the reviews themselves to find out if a game got below 85 because there was a genuine problem with it, or just because the reviewer was a dick.

I don't base my decisions on one reviewer's opinion alone. I trust that the games journalism industry as a whole (ie. every reputable website and magazine) can guide my purchasing decisions. I've never disliked a game I bought that scored an average of at least 90% - with one exception.