Metacritic Rejects Braben's Game Reviewer Idea

Metacritic co-founder Marc Doyle has rejected David Braben's suggestion for an aggregate system for computer game reviewers, and instead spoken some common sense.

In Braben's column, originally published on Develop, the Kinectimals creator suggested that good critics tend to provide accurate reviews "pretty soon after a game is released." Doyle argues that the developer is making some assumptions. "Reviewers are not always provided with the game or review code before a game's release date. So if he or she must purchase the game at retail, of course, it's going to take time to play the game, write a well-reasoned review, and publish it."

Doyle adds that there shouldn't be a race to review games anyway, and that additional time to assess the game should be 'encouraged.'

More to the point, the idea that a reviewer should be rewarded for scoring closer to the accepted Metacritic average is one that Doyle doesn't want to entertain. "A critic's review and his or her score is an opinion - it's not right or wrong. We can judge the credibility of a critic based on the quality of his or her analysis, the depth of his or her experience in gaming, and a host of other criteria. We do exactly that when selecting critics at Metacritic.

"Penalizing a brilliant critic who happens to utilize the lower end of its publication's scale more often than a middling critic who never gives lower than a 6/10 doesn't make sense to me."

Where do you stand? The debate continues.

Source: Eurogamer