August 2008 EGM - Rumor Mill & Review Scores - New One-Man Review System

[FriskyTanuki]

In the Rest of the Issue

-:360::ps3: Big UFC 2009 preview.
-:wii: Preview of a Japanese WiiWare game about popping bubble wrap
-Feature on Great Moments in Videogame Lawsuits
-:ds: Shuffle Away preview, a dungeon crawler from Mistwalker/Artoon
-Feature on the speedrun culture
-:pc: Feature on big upcoming PC RTS games
-:ps3::360: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed preview
-:ps3::360::ds: Lord of the Rings: Conquest preview
-:wii: Strong Bad WiiWare preview
-Feature on great GTAIV online modes inside of the Free Mode.
-:wii: Boom Blox Afterthoughts
-:ps3::360: GH: World Tour preview
-Feature on the lesser-hyped games that could hit big at E3
-:ps3: Huge 10 page cover story on Killzone 2

Rumor Mill

-Activision is building a new fancy plastic peripheral (think Guitar Hero) for the next Tony Hawk game. Neversoft is also not making this game.
-Kratos will be in Soul Calibur IV. Also mentions that there are more secret character, but nothing to really be shocked by.
-The first episode of the GTAIV DLC will star a biker character.
-Microsoft is going to allow third-party manufacturers to make Xbox 360-compatible hardware.

Q-Tips

-Q Entertainment's working on a new game for the PSN, maybe another version of Rez?
-Look for more experimental PSN stuff to come out later this year, like a bizarrely awesome music visualizer.
-Both the PS3 and 360 will be getting hefty price cuts this fall.

Reviews
-Features a new one-man review system, expect three-man reviews for big games

:wii:We Love Golf! - B
:wii:Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon - B+

:ps3::360: Battlefield: Bad Company - B
:ps3::360: Civilization Revolution - B+, A-, A-
:ps3::360: Top Spin 3 - C+

:ps3: SingStar - B+
:ps3: Haze - D+ - Shame of the Month
:ps3: Metal Gear Solid 4 - A-, A-, A

:360: Supreme Commander - C
:360: Spectral Force 3 - B-
:360: Don King Presents: Prizefighter - D+ - Shame of the Month
:360: Ninja Gaiden II - B-, B, B+

:ds: Final Fantasy IV - B
:ds: Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness - B

:psp: Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 - B-

Download Roundup

:360: Penny Arcade Adventures: Episode One - B
:wii: Lost Winds - B
:360: Roogoo - A-
:ps3: Echochrome - B

In the Next Issue - September 08

:ps3::360: Bayonetta Cover Story?
:ps3::360: Midnight Club: LA Preview
:ps3::360: Skate 2 Preview
:ps3::360: SCIV Review
:ps3::360::wii: Madden 09 Review
:ps3::360: Brother in Arms: Hell's Highway Review
:ps3::360: Mercenaries 2: World in Flames Review

Feel free to ask for more details on reviews or previews and I'll see what I can do.

[Chibi_Kaji]

-Kratos will be in Soul Calibur IV. Also mentions that there are more secret character, but nothing to really be shocked by.

I'm not sure how they could shock anyone now... first Star Wars characters and now Kratos? what secret character could they shock us with? Cheapy D?

[Sofa King Cheap]

EGM's review "system" keeps getting worse and worse. First stupid letter grades and now only 1 review per game for most titles. Well, they have until Dec 2029 to improve, as that's when my subscription ends.

[blueshinra]

It took them that long to review MGS4 and LostWinds? Huh. The reviews of Chocobo's Dungeon and the latest Harvest Moon are pretty encouraging, though (was planning on picking up the former and was sort of interested in the latter).

The first two rumors are ones I've heard elsewhere, in part. Is it just me or are they usually better about publishing fresh rumors?

[Chibi_Kaji]

The first two rumors are ones I've heard elsewhere, in part. Is it just me or are they usually better about publishing fresh rumors?
I have also heard them elsewhere. But the source for the Kratos rumor always seemed to be EGM. And I think I heard that Tony Hawk rumor on the Giantbomb podcast.

[Chacrana]

EGM's review "system" keeps getting worse and worse. First stupid letter grades and now only 1 review per game for most titles. Well, they have until Dec 2029 to improve, as that's when my subscription ends.

Honestly, I think it's a good thing. The 3 reviews you get for smaller games are worthless, because the author only has time to give you 1 to 2 lines that tell you anything about whether or not a game is good. With one review, you can say a lot more, so it's actually semi-useful to read those now.

[FriskyTanuki]

1up posted the third-party 360 and Kratos in SCIV rumors and the first part of the Tony Hawk rumor (the peripheral) was from the big Activision/Microsoft marketing leak while Jeff Gerstmann mentioned the Neversoft part on Giant Bombcast, but that part hasn't really made the internet rounds all that much.

[blueshinra]

The ones I've heard before are the Kratos in SCIV and the Neversoft bit; fairly sure I heard the latter on 1UP Yours. Even if EGM/1UP are the sources for the rumors, I could've sworn they were better about not mentioning them until they were in the magazine *shrug*

[FriskyTanuki]

They've been posting a news story with a rumor or two on 1up a week or two before the issue comes out for a long time now.

[blueshinra]

Ahh, okay; didn't know that.

[whiptcracker]

Honestly, I think it's a good thing. The 3 reviews you get for smaller games are worthless, because the author only has time to give you 1 to 2 lines that tell you anything about whether or not a game is good. With one review, you can say a lot more, so it's actually semi-useful to read those now.


Not really. There's more than one or two lones now, but it isn't much more for non-big name games. Battlefield: Bad Company review barely even touched on the single player portion on the game, which actually was something DICE did focus on.

Odd that they have multipage previews of some games, then when the game is released it only gets a paragraph or two.

[dmaul1114]

I'm kind of mixed on the one review per game. On the one hand I like getting a bit more detail, on the other I like getting multiple opinions on every game.

But kind of moot for me since they'll still do three reviews for big games and those are mostly all I buy anyway.

[Otherguy676]

I'd buy the game that put Cheapy in as a character. Those would be some awsome special moves. The Cheapy Attack! The Penny Pincher Punch! The Cheap-o-du-ken! Yes, I am at work and bored out of mind.

[FriskyTanuki]

I'd buy the game that put Cheapy in as a character. Those would be some awsome special moves. The Cheapy Attack! The Penny Pincher Punch! The Cheap-o-du-ken! Yes, I am at work and bored out of mind.
It does have a create-a-character mode, so you could certainly try to make Cheapy in the game.

[fart_bubble]

still wish Strong Bad was hitting 360 (would also take Sam & Max as well even though I already own season 1)

[Dead of Knight]

The only thing EGM had left going for it was multiple people reviewing a single game to get three different perspectives. Now they are completely in the shitter.

[captainfrizo]

A feature on PC RTS games?

Did I miss an announcement where EGM is going to start doing limited PC gaming coverage or something?

Not that I mind at all. I was pissed when Games for Windows was shut down; hopefully EGM does expand into PC territory a little bit.

[Littlefields]

Honestly, I think it's a good thing. The 3 reviews you get for smaller games are worthless, because the author only has time to give you 1 to 2 lines that tell you anything about whether or not a game is good. With one review, you can say a lot more, so it's actually semi-useful to read those now.
I would rather get more than one opinion. I personally don't care much about detail if their review is clear on why the game is good and why it might be bad. Straight-forward. Why do you need detail if you're playing the game later anyways?

[Chacrana]

I would rather get more than one opinion. I personally don't care much about detail if their review is clear on why the game is good and why it might be bad. Straight-forward. Why do you need detail if you're playing the game later anyways?

That's the thing though - their reviews usually aren't clear about why the game is good or bad in those tiny chunks of text that they had. And yeah, it's nice to get more than one opinion, but that's where gamerankings comes in... I'd rather get 1 well-developed opinion in EGM and scour the internet for more than 3 useless blurbs.

[FriskyTanuki]

A feature on PC RTS games?

Did I miss an announcement where EGM is going to start doing limited PC gaming coverage or something?

Not that I mind at all. I was pissed when Games for Windows was shut down; hopefully EGM does expand into PC territory a little bit.
No announcement, but it definitely is a result of the GFW closure. Jeff Green wrote this one and it'll probably be his column for now.

[dmaul1114]

The editorial in this issue announced that they'd start having limited PC gaming coverage.

[RelentlessRolento]

only thing I really liked that I heard in the rumors was the GTAIV biker thing... not because I like biker stuff, but I just like the idea of not only playing Nico.

[Scorch]

Prizefighter also shared the honor of being Shame of the Month along with Haze.

[62t]

wow some of the game they reviewed had been out since may.

[FriskyTanuki]

The editorial in this issue announced that they'd start having limited PC gaming coverage.
Not much of an announcement if it's in the same issue.

Shane on 1up Yours said more about the other unlockable characters in Soul Calibur IV, which is that they're designed by anime/manga artists and that they're pretty much clones of existing SC characters.

[elwood731]

The editorial in this issue announced that they'd start having limited PC gaming coverage.

The funny thing is, if you've been reading EGM for years then you know this is about the third or fourth time they've tried this. It always just slowly fades away.

[coolsteel]

wow some of the game they reviewed had been out since may.

No kidding, this issue felt more behind then normal. One of the few times i've bought and completely beaten a game before they reviewed it.

[jlarlee]

EGM has been in a downward spiral of late. Been changing a lot of stuff with no regard to the long term effects. IMO Game Informer has passed it in terms of quality

[Dark Slayer120]

Thanks for the info Frisky.

[Pojomofo]

That's the thing though - their reviews usually aren't clear about why the game is good or bad in those tiny chunks of text that they had. And yeah, it's nice to get more than one opinion, but that's where gamerankings comes in... I'd rather get 1 well-developed opinion in EGM and scour the internet for more than 3 useless blurbs.

Ryan Scott (or was it Milkie?) said in the editoral why they changed and it makes a lot of sense.

also keep in mind they do say that they will have a 3-person review for the bigger games, so where they would have 2 pages dedicated to the review anyways, still have a threesome.

[KaneRobot]

Moving to a one-person review is a good thing, no question. It's the first good thing they've done with their reviews (or maybe the first good thing they've done at all) since they all decided it was time to not take anything seriously somewhere in the XBox/Gamecube/PS2 era. Each game has a miniscule amount of space devoted to it to begin with, at least now the reviewer can actually talk about the game without having to stop for the next guy.

If I want differing opinions and jabs at other people reviewing the same title they don't agree with, I'll look at a message board. No shortage of those.

[msdmoney]

No kidding, this issue felt more behind then normal. One of the few times i've bought and completely beaten a game before they reviewed it.

I'd rather them take their time and not rush to be first with a review. For example, with the MGS4 review, I appreciate that they waited until they could give a complete review.

[FriskyTanuki]

Also remember the Ubisoft ban, so they had to wait until Haze came out to get it into the magazine.

[Moxio]

Uh wow they are just NOW reviewing PA and NGII?

[Poor2More]

A feature on PC RTS games?

Did I miss an announcement where EGM is going to start doing limited PC gaming coverage or something?

Not that I mind at all. I was pissed when Games for Windows was shut down; hopefully EGM does expand into PC territory a little bit.

shut down? ohh is that why I stoped getting my free subscription for them

[Jesus_S_Preston]

Eww, why did they give the "reviews we didn't have time for" space to the Downloadable Games? PA deserves more then a three-line-ish review.

[trq]

Roogoo beat Echochrome and Lost Winds? Seriously? Did they grade them based on how long they took to download or something?

[coolsteel]

I'd rather them take their time and not rush to be first with a review. For example, with the MGS4 review, I appreciate that they waited until they could give a complete review.

Can't say I liked the MGS4 review, it was a pretty negative review that completely didn't match the score given. Problem is i'm almost positive readers were supposed to combine it with the "discussion" from the previous issue to get the full review.

[Pojomofo]

The Killzone 2 feature was good, looks like the game is coming along nicely. Also confirmed that the release was purely a marketing decision, saying "It will also give us time to polish the livingi daylights out of it" Which is all that KZ1 needed to be a great game. So I have high hopes for this one now.

[TC]

I liked having the 3 person reviews. What I didn't like was the fact they would comment on the other reviews. It would have been better if the three people didn't see each others reviews until it went to print.

[dmaul1114]

Can't say I liked the MGS4 review, it was a pretty negative review that completely didn't match the score given. Problem is i'm almost positive readers were supposed to combine it with the "discussion" from the previous issue to get the full review.

I agree. They over scored it as they all mostly said the game kind of fell apart in the later half with way too many cutscenes, not enough gameplay, and the gameplay never being as good as the early stages.

Should have been straight B's not A's based on what they wrote. Almost makes me wonder if they were just afraid to buck the trend and not give it A's since they'd get bashed to hell by fanboys saying they were just holding a grudge do to the Konami embargo "scandal" that blow up on the net after the last issue.

[coolsteel]

I agree. They over scored it as they all mostly said the game kind of fell apart in the later half with way too many cutscenes, not enough gameplay, and the gameplay never being as good as the early stages.

Should have been straight B's not A's based on what they wrote. Almost makes me wonder if they were just afraid to buck the trend and not give it A's since they'd get bashed to hell by fanboys saying they were just holding a grudge do to the Konami embargo "scandal" that blow up on the net after the last issue.

That is what i'm thinking, they were scared to death to just give it a B or C which had it been any other game i'm sure it would have gotten based on that review.

[FriskyTanuki]

I agree. They over scored it as they all mostly said the game kind of fell apart in the later half with way too many cutscenes, not enough gameplay, and the gameplay never being as good as the early stages.

Should have been straight B's not A's based on what they wrote. Almost makes me wonder if they were just afraid to buck the trend and not give it A's since they'd get bashed to hell by fanboys saying they were just holding a grudge do to the Konami embargo "scandal" that blow up on the net after the last issue.
It's probably because you see the negatives as more severe than they do.

[whiptcracker]

It's probably because you see the negatives as more severe than they do.

Or they didn't clearly explain why the negatives they mentioned didn't effect their overall impression of the game.

[msdmoney]

Can't say I liked the MGS4 review, it was a pretty negative review that completely didn't match the score given. Problem is i'm almost positive readers were supposed to combine it with the "discussion" from the previous issue to get the full review.

My comment had nothing to do with whether or not somebody agreed with or liked the MGS4 review, I was just referring to the dissmissal of late reviews.

[FriskyTanuki]

Or they do.

In Jeremy's conclusion paragraph: "It's a great game (no question), with an intricate story and some brilliant stealth action backed up by tremendous production values. But, freed of continuity's constraints, it could have been more than merely great." That's not a B or C review.

In Matt's conclusion paragraph: "In some ways, MGS4 is the RE4 of the series: It removes some of the franchise's notable complexities and comes up with another cut-scene-heavy story centered on a virus. But most importantly, it feels like an overhaul without losing the fun details and epic feel that have always made the series work."

[whiptcracker]

Or they do.

In Jeremy's conclusion paragraph: "It's a great game (no question), with an intricate story and some brilliant stealth action backed up by tremendous production values. But, freed of continuity's constraints, it could have been more than merely great." That's not a B or C review.


There I disagree. If a game could've been more than what it was, then it isn't a game that deserves a perfect or near perfect grade. If an A is a great game with flaws then we're running out of letters for a near perfect game.

[FriskyTanuki]

A+ is perfect, A- is a great score.

[whiptcracker]

A+ is perfect, A- is a great score.

That leaves a lot of letters to determine how bad a game is, but only a + or - to seperate the great from the nearly flawless.

This is why I prefer scoreless reviews. Though I'm interested in seeing the future CAG scoring via how much the reviewer is willing to pay for a game.

[tangytangerine]

Just got the issue today. Is it just me or does writing on the wall seem that they will either be laying off some employees or ditching the magazine soon? Moving to one man reviews(except for big titles), trying PC sections, Hsu & Crispin quitting. Something's going on at ZD.

[dmaul1114]

It's probably because you see the negatives as more severe than they do.

No, I've not even played it. It's just hard to reconcile A ratings when all 3 reviews spent more time on bitching about negatives than praising positives and didn't justify why it still warranted an A. They just didn't match up to the scores as they didn't explain why it was an A game after spending most of their reviews ranting about it's flaws.

Or they do.

In Jeremy's conclusion paragraph: "It's a great game (no question), with an intricate story and some brilliant stealth action backed up by tremendous production values. But, freed of continuity's constraints, it could have been more than merely great." That's not a B or C review.

In Matt's conclusion paragraph: "In some ways, MGS4 is the RE4 of the series: It removes some of the franchise's notable complexities and comes up with another cut-scene-heavy story centered on a virus. But most importantly, it feels like an overhaul without losing the fun details and epic feel that have always made the series work."

Just doesn't seem like an A review to me. Too much bitching for an A- (or 9.0) IMO. But I'm a harsh critic. I have to have very, very few complaints about a game (and none as severe as their complaints) to give a game an A.

Just got the issue today. Is it just me or does writing on the wall seem that they will either be laying off some employees or ditching the magazine soon? Moving to one man reviews(except for big titles), trying PC sections, Hsu & Crispin quitting. Something's going on at ZD.

Yeah, I see the review staff becoming smaller as inevitable--probably just won't bother replacing people who leave.

Magazine could disappear. I hope not as I still like having it around as the reviews are generally decent, if not always perfect. Makes for good reading on the crapper!

[jollydwarf]

I'm a pretty staunch supporter of EGM, have been for years, but I think it's pretty much inevitable that the magazine will disappear by the end of the decade. Look at the exodus from 1up.com. Look at the almost weekly shuffling of titles over there for so many. Look at the transformation and collapse of CGW/GFW. Look at the recent shifts in their review set-up (letter grades and single-person 'big' reviews). Look at how thin and content-free the magazine's gotten this year!

It's fairly sad, because the magazine used to be so great. I still trust the integrity of their reviews, but they've clearly pissed off a number of publishers as a result, and if you can't consistently get the review out pre-release in this day and age...you're done. The gaming world just really doesn't have a place for a monthly magazine these days, with Game Infomerical being the exception because Gamestop will keep that (literal) rag afloat for some time with their promotional 'synergy' with publishers looking for someone to play "carnival barker" for them.

By the end of 2010, I predict that 1up.com and its staff will be totally unrecognizable, and will probably have succumbed to a sellout of unprecedented proportions. They'll probably have "1up Yours" hosted by four 'photogenic' TRL types in front of a crowd of obnoxious thirteen-year-olds, while bringing on a current American Idol type each week to talk about "how much I loves that Madden, yo!"

P.S. At that point, Shane will be absorbed by the Cell chip, and will become a Max Headroom-type that will live forever in the PSN.

[elwood731]

By the end of 2010, I predict that 1up.com and its staff will be totally unrecognizable, and will probably have succumbed to a sellout of unprecedented proportions. They'll probably have "1up Yours" hosted by four 'photogenic' TRL types in front of a crowd of obnoxious thirteen-year-olds, while bringing on a current American Idol type each week to talk about "how much I loves that Madden, yo!"

This is essentially what gaming journalism is right now. It hasn't been much of anything since the good old days of 400-page EGMs, Next Generation, and Gamefan.

[jollydwarf]

Well, game journalism, yes, maybe, but for as excruciatingly awkward and tedious as some gaming podcasts are, at least the hosts of those, from top to bottom, still seem pretty 'authentic'.

Damn, that was a lotta commas!

[Jesus_S_Preston]

As long as EGM still has Seanbaby, , they can do whatever else they want and I won't care.