No more F grades any more?

[PsychoSavager]

We've been in the 7th generation of consoles for nearly 4 years now and GR has given out a total of 2 F grades in that time (Jenga World Tour and The Golden Compass). I remember a time when there would be maybe one F per month. Are GR getting nicer or are games getting better?

 

[schimmel]

I think with the cost of development for one of these games being so high, and the fact that publishers need to sell a lot of copies of them to simply break even they don't take as many risks. I mean look at the games that have come out in the past few years: Killzone 2, Call of Duty: World At War (CoD 5), Metal Gear Solid 4, Gears of War 2, Unreal Tournament 3. Upcoming games include Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, Uncharted 2, Halo 3: ODST.

All we get are sequels now. If a game does poorly in reviews nobody buys it, meaning the company is out (insert number of millions of dollars here) which is why different games (that sometimes do very poorly) don't come out.

 

[GRColin]

I don't know about F grades but this seems as good a place as any to say I feel the quality of reviews has greatly declined. Aside from Chris Hudak most of the new staff write forgettable reviews that lack the charm and wit of former GR staffers. The new Donkey Kong Jungle Beat review was just horrible.

I applaud Duke keeping the site going after all these years and keeping it free but unfortunately there are some negatives to it. Sorry Duke .

 

[Lien]

well, let's put it this way. Do you reeeeaaaallly want the GR staff to spend some days being tortured by horrible games just for our merriment? I'd rather read articles from comfortable and healthy writer. But that's just me...

Still, if you ask me, i miss hard reviews. I stand by letheans when i say I miss how mean some reviews were back in the days. It was a charm and we actually trust a closed fist of rage then a fake smile filled with dollar bills like other websites do these days. And with sequels that sells billions, it's hard to write reviews like that anymore. Companies just want to stick with what sells and not take chances. The Times They Are A-Changin' indeed...

In the end, i blame it on Crave, like always...

 

[LinksOcarina]

Core Staff, plus Jesse, Greg, and Ben Card have awesome reviews, I enjoy them, at least.

And as a budding, aspiring writer who has no chance of ever getting into the industry at all, I can appreciate good and bad criticism. Yeah, there haven't been bad games lately that deserve an F, but at the same time there have been few games that really deserve an F lately. Ok, Dynasty Warriors Gundam maybe....but has anything really been atrocious lately?

Plus, because of the economy and Crave, they get little money out for games after the fact, so they are basically doing marquee titles on the day it comes out so that they get paid, plus previews. The member reviews and the contributing writers basically are picking up the slack then.

So yeah, it's not as bad as your making it, at least to me.

 

[Longo_2_guns]

The grades themselves are still pretty much on the dot, but the reviews seem a bit more forgettable. Of course, half the time nowadays the games are forgettable too.

I don't care either way. This place is still less corporate than most other review sites. It's also less staffed. I'm sure you guys can't wait for the day when corporate suits write reviews for you.

 

[De-Ting]

Guys, we killed Billy Mays. Let's try not to kill the quality of games that are being released, too.

 

[LinksOcarina]

I don't care either way. This place is still less corporate than most other review sites. It's also less staffed. I'm sure you guys can't wait for the day when corporate suits write reviews for you.

Which is why we can help in picking up the slack so that doesn't happen.

Were a community that is active to the point where we would help those guys in any way possible (I would hope at least.) That is what is so unique about GR too, because you don't see people contributing anything meaningful, funny, or insightful on sites like IGN or Gamespot, where it is drowned out in noise.

 

[King_Arthur]

I thought Shaq-Fu gotta f...

 

[Affen]

Why to review bad games, when you can review good games?

I mean they already have reviewed most of the so called big releases - that are supposed to be good- and even some less know games on top of it. Why to dig deeper into a shit pile just to find some F worthy? Better just lick the cream from top of it.

 

[MattAY]

Affen said it, they're not gonna review EVERY game. They'll review games that people want to know about. I think the reviews are better than ever. All of them have wit, with all the information you want to know about the game - Which is what a review is.

Pull the sticks out of your asses!

 

[schimmel]

I agree with Affen and Matt, but I still want video reviews...

 

[dUKE]

F's were never as common as one a month. we try to save them for the truly 'special' games. and you forgot limbo of the lost and spore comic book creator.

 

[madster111]

Yeah, but limbo of the lost was obviously an A+ game, so you guys screwed up on that one, thus it doesn't count.

 

[Nick_Tan]

Yeah, but limbo of the lost was obviously an A+ game, so you guys screwed up on that one, thus it doesn't count.

Only if the A+ was plagiarized.

 

[Nick_Tan]

F's were never as common as one a month. we try to save them for the truly 'special' games. and you forgot limbo of the lost and spore comic book creator.

And Rhythm 'N Notes and Aqua Teen Hunger Force Pro-Am.

 

[Nick_Tan]

F's were never as common as one a month. we try to save them for the truly 'special' games. and you forgot limbo of the lost and spore comic book creator.

And Rhythm 'N Notes and Aqua Teen Hunger Force Pro-Am.

 

[Longo_2_guns]

Way to triple post Nick.

 

[Bretimus_v2]

^He's merely emphasizing his point.

Also, quit your biz-natchin'. If you bought a D rated game because "hey, it's not an F"...you deserved it. Besides the reviews themselves are fairly in-depth.