I'm not a fan of Polygon's review staff, but I expect no more skill from game reviewers than I expect athleticism from a sports writer. Their job is to be knowledgeable about games and to be good writers. That's it. I don't care if they're "bad" at games (whatever that means).
So, Polygon 'playing' Doom...
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Except a sport is not a product sold to a consumer. A game is.
blame space
Banned
sports are actually multi-billion dollar enterprises!
I think these analogies are stupid.
I think these analogies are stupid.
Not only when you review it. This is a first 30 minutes gameplay video. Normaly perfect to get some impressions of a game. The only Impression I get here is that a guy who never played a game before makes the Videos for a World famous gaming site.
That makes no sense at all.
boredandlazy
Member
Using that logic they should review games by watching 'Lets Plays' instead of playing the games themselves.
blame space
Banned
I think more people do that than read reviews anyway
schaft0620
Member
Absolutely positively under no condition was the person who was playing that game a video games journalist.
I should try to replay what they did blackout drunk over twitch to see if I could even possibly be that bad. And in no means have I ever been ranked in any shooter.
SirMossyBloke
Member
He's not reviewing the athlete and saying whether or not you should buy him lol
These analogies, man. Get worse by the page.
Yet the video is by Polygon, a video game review site. If it wasn't a reviewer (even someone who didnt review Doom in the end) then what? It should have been titled "Polygon's janitors neighbour plays Doom". Whoever it was is representing the site in some form.
People continue to not understand how analogies work.
Look your example would only apply if the game reviewer watched footage of someone playing the game and then wrote a review about the game based on the footage they watched.
You would never trust a review from someone who didn't actually play the game they were reviewing. Not being able to play the game well runs the risk of the person reviewing the game poorly based on their experience. After all, reviews are opinion pieces, and your opinion is going to be based on your gameplay experience, and your gameplay experience is going to be based on how well you can play the game.
Nobody is saying they need to be pro gamers, but they should know their way around the very tools they use to formulate their reviews. You know. The console and controller?
Robert Ashley
Member
Looks like the average player to me. You guys are in such a bubble.
Average? More like someone who has never played a console FPS before.
SirMossyBloke
Member
Have you....ever seen anyone else ever play videogames ever?
Go check out youtube and randomly select a gaming video.
That is an interesting point. It is closest to being a real defense of Polygon's video. But I would say the crucial distinction is that with professional sports there are only a very few individuals that perform professional sports, and the main action related to it is the rest of us watching and enjoying.
Video games are different in that they are a pastime for the masses. It is like reading a book or watching a movie or driving a car. It is meant to be used and experienced, not just watched from afar. And therefore the better analogy is one of those activities.
If you are going to review a game, you hopefully have some experience with playing games. You certainly could be a game reviewer and never had actually played one. That would be a very interesting angle to take. An outsider's perspective as someone who doesn't play them could be very novel. Sort of like a food reviewer who never eats anything.
But usually car reviewers are people that have driven many many cars, and have some facility with shifting and fast speeds and handling. If someone got in a car and didn't have their driver's license I expect that their review of the car would be very immature and lacking. Much like this review from Polygon was. It was from a naive, inexperienced position and therefore not very insightful or relevant to game players who are looking for quality writing on games.
Bottom line, it seems sort of a no-brainer that if you want to write intelligently about a subject, you should have some knowledge and experience with the subject. If you have never played an fps, you can't write about them very smartly.
I don't understand why people would be arguing against that idea.
Robert Ashley
Member
Ever watched a developer playtest? People who upload game footage to YouTube are not the average gamer. People are not good at video games.
M_A_C
Member
Man that first video with the guy talking, was that real? Chringe worthy is an understatement.
And the second one... Boogie was actually better than polygon in that, lol.
Pinko Marx
Banned
There's are only relatively a handful of people in the entire world that get to play sports on a professional level.
Many many more people have the ability to play a video game.
So I am kind of late to this, but did anyone else mention that it was Russ Frushtick playing?
I honestly have no care regarding the skill of the player, I just like seeing the game.
Me personally I like Russ, he's a great co-host on the 404, and in general I agree with a lot of his thoughts on stuff.
I guess I don't get the over reaction to the video. I looked at their FB comments and while a couple laughed at how not great he was, no one seemed to care. I wonder how much he plays FPS on PC though and if that had an effect.
Either way thought it was interesting as I was catching up on the 404, Russ mentions the video going up on Friday, and I see this thread all within 30 minutes of each other.
If you guys want high level play go pay someone (subscribe) on twitch. Me I thought the video did well to show the game.
I honestly have no care regarding the skill of the player, I just like seeing the game.
Me personally I like Russ, he's a great co-host on the 404, and in general I agree with a lot of his thoughts on stuff.
I guess I don't get the over reaction to the video. I looked at their FB comments and while a couple laughed at how not great he was, no one seemed to care. I wonder how much he plays FPS on PC though and if that had an effect.
Either way thought it was interesting as I was catching up on the 404, Russ mentions the video going up on Friday, and I see this thread all within 30 minutes of each other.
If you guys want high level play go pay someone (subscribe) on twitch. Me I thought the video did well to show the game.
neurosisxeno
Member
This would be my main complaint. Just reminds me of the story of people turning down early versions of Demon Souls because they thought the game was broken due to its difficulty. Someone who can't even use a controller properly cannot possibly give legitimate input on how the game legitimately controls or plays because their experience with the game will be so ridiculously bad.
i have an analogy: would you trust a high end sports car review by someone who can barely drive? sure they can tell you about the features listed on the product page but can they tell you how the feeback feels when gripping the asphalt on a 60mph turn?
or how about someone reviewing a high end camera who only uses it to take selfies? you expect a level of proficiency from someone who is giving you an expert opinion on a PRODUCT. they are literally getting paid to do it. they are not amateurs so my expectations are adjusted as such
lets talk hyopthetical. lets say you are garbage at fighting games. just terrible. you cant pull off a fireball and couldnt dream of doing a proper combo. ( i believe this is a fair comparison to someone who cant use two sticks simultaneously on a FPS)
ok...so you suck at fighters but you are reviewing a fighting game. obviously with your skill set you will not be able to scratch the surface of the available mechanics and minutia that game has to offer. do you feel like it would be ethical for you to review that product, knowing thousands of people will use your input to help determine if they will purchase it? you cant possibly touch any many of the intricacies associated with the fighting game genre and how the devs implemented them, and how they feel when executed. its a fucking disservice to their readers and a disservice to the development staff who worked on the game.
or how about someone reviewing a high end camera who only uses it to take selfies? you expect a level of proficiency from someone who is giving you an expert opinion on a PRODUCT. they are literally getting paid to do it. they are not amateurs so my expectations are adjusted as such
lets talk hyopthetical. lets say you are garbage at fighting games. just terrible. you cant pull off a fireball and couldnt dream of doing a proper combo. ( i believe this is a fair comparison to someone who cant use two sticks simultaneously on a FPS)
ok...so you suck at fighters but you are reviewing a fighting game. obviously with your skill set you will not be able to scratch the surface of the available mechanics and minutia that game has to offer. do you feel like it would be ethical for you to review that product, knowing thousands of people will use your input to help determine if they will purchase it? you cant possibly touch any many of the intricacies associated with the fighting game genre and how the devs implemented them, and how they feel when executed. its a fucking disservice to their readers and a disservice to the development staff who worked on the game.
Vault Dweller 111
Member
This is the worst analogy ever.
I had a friend come over and she wanted to play a game, so for fun I let her play Bloodborne, it went about as well as you'd expect. Would you trust a Bloodborne review written by her?
wow that guy might need therapy after shooting that gun in VR.
Please let this guy review the next GTA. OMG..... lol
I watch this every night before I go to bed. Great video.
johnnydrama
Banned
That is a horrible analogy. In your sports analogy, the skillful people are the athletes (and not the sports writers) who put up a show for the spectators, and in turn, create a service. A sports journalist would have to understand the sport and accurately report it. His job is limited to knowing and not interacting (playing the sport), but that doesn't mean he is creating the service or good in this instance.
Now, when a game, which is a good, is created, it is created by the game developers. They are the skilled people who are to be equated with the athletes in your sports analogy. Reviewers' job is to critique the good at hand here, which is video games. Their job description here is to play the game in an adequate manner and report their findings and opinions. If a professional video game critic isn't even skilled enough to carry out the activities in their job description, then there is nothing wrong in people having a negative reaction to it. They are not just "bad at games"; in this instance they are bad at their job, because it is expected from them to be skillful enough to play a game as intended by the developer. If they can't even fulfill that requirement, they're not fit for the job.
Mashin Haters
Member
see this analogy doesn't work. If this was the same guy who played and reviewed the Last of Us, which got points marked down because of the difficulty and challenge, then it just absolutely delegitimizes the review of the game. This dude is just completely bad and incompetent at shooters. Not even that he's just bad at controlling two thumbsticks at the same time. Something that most gamers are able to do.
https://www.twitch.tv/biggestinjapan/v/42574278
OH CRAP IN A HAT
I'll never forget this video, still makes me laugh!
Watch it from 4h18min, some Kotaku guy playing DKCTF.
OH CRAP IN A HAT
I'll never forget this video, still makes me laugh!
Watch it from 4h18min, some Kotaku guy playing DKCTF.
Sweet Mother of God.
b&jy77VjiKn$#F
Member
that is such a bad analogy.
to review a product, you need to be able to use the product. last time i checked an athlete wasn't a product.
Langdon Alger
Banned
It looks like he's not even aiming the gun. He "aims" by moving the character's entire body, while the character's arm stays in the same place.
Permanently A
Junior Member
This thread has just devolved into people posting garbage analogies and then getting ripped apart.
SlipperyFishes
Banned
So you've moved past gentle chiding and into open trolling towards them for their overall coverage? I get it, you're not their target audience. Go watch something that makes you happy instead of shitting over unrelated videos for jollies or for some imaginary cool points.
The developer that showed off mad max was absolutely horrible. Thank heavens I got it Cheap and saw how well the combat actually played. I couldn't believe how bad he was in hindsight.
Snkfanatic
Banned
Well this is a strange reaction.
stan423321
Member
Bait's bait, but do you not realize how much does the latter tend to make people happy?
Quote
Member
Has this really devolved into making fun of people not knowing how an M16 works? Brad at Giant Bomb had the same issue because, surprise, people don't know how guns work because they've only ever used them in video games.
Criticism is one thing, but a 37 page thread over a harmless preview is just creepy.
Criticism is one thing, but a 37 page thread over a harmless preview is just creepy.
Zomba13
Member
No, it's devolved into making fun at a (possibly) different Polygon staffer monologuing about his childhood and and how scary guns are while playing a light hearted virtual gun simulation with a silly name.
While I understand having initial difficulties with a controller or mouse, this is just bad. I remember when I first played Halo and being a PC player had lots of trouble aiming with the controller. But it probably took me 5-10 minutes to get a decent hang of it. The guy playing the game just seems to be unable to do that.
For games you should at least have the basics down if you are going to review it. You don't have to be good at it, just decent. For example I'm pretty bad at fighting games but can play them enough to get an idea of how they work etc.
For games you should at least have the basics down if you are going to review it. You don't have to be good at it, just decent. For example I'm pretty bad at fighting games but can play them enough to get an idea of how they work etc.
Mr. Pointy
Member
A game reviewer is more or less the equivalent of a car reviewer. Bare minimum they should be able to drive the car.
That first video is the equivalent of writing a college paper with content that your professor wants to hear (Beethoven morose) compared to what you actually think (upbeat music guy)
What's your definition of "creepy"
This is good harmless fun, I don't think anyone wishes the Polygon staffer ill will.
old manatee
Banned
I don't understand why this thread is 37 pages.
It's just a person playing DOOM. They are probably younger and used to Gears of Uncharted games where you huddle behind a wall and peek out for headshots.
They need to strafe more, and their aim isn't good, but from what I watched they were using the melee attack properly. This person could definitely loop the game.
This is just what it looks like when I watch like 80% of my friends play a game like DOOM.
It's just a person playing DOOM. They are probably younger and used to Gears of Uncharted games where you huddle behind a wall and peek out for headshots.
They need to strafe more, and their aim isn't good, but from what I watched they were using the melee attack properly. This person could definitely loop the game.
This is just what it looks like when I watch like 80% of my friends play a game like DOOM.
Drakendodertje
Member
Only watched the first one, but laughed really hard. Awesome.
Being a European anti-gun guy myself, i can only say: stfu hippie douchebag
Spiral Insanity
Banned
Holy shit. Is this guy for real
Oh wow, I thought that voice over was the joke.. but it's real.
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