Metacritic is heavily biased in favor of XBOX and against PS3.

[Teh Nitwit]

I keep seeing people refer to metacritic as some reliable, unbiased source of review scores. Makes me think people are unaware of just how heavily biased that site is.

Basically, they try to include those reviews that bring down the overall score for PS3 games and raise the score for xbox games.

They include reviews from sites that are owned by MS (and whose reviews are far off the average) and their parent company CBS has a $500 million "content distribution" contract. Basically, metacritic is in Microsoft's pocket.

Here is a link to a good discussion on this subject:
http://forums.metacritic.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/217108/m/6380070775/p/1

Instead of metacritic, everyone should use http://www.n4g.com

[jer7583]

lol yes. A site that aggregates reviews from multiple sites and averages them/displays them in order of score is "biased".

Next up: math - biased against ps3?

Sony fans so crazy.

[HotShotX]

Is it also possible that the 360 has a library of higher scoring games than the PS3? That technically would raise their overall score if the number of 360 exclusives are scoring higher than the PS3 exclusives.

~HotShotX

[jer7583]

just to be clear, metacritic is the worst. But not for this reason.

[Teh Nitwit]

lol yes. A site that aggregates reviews from multiple sites and averages them/displays them in order of score is "biased".

Next up: math - biased against ps3?

Sony fans so crazy.

Is it too hard for you to comprehend that metacritic can skew the score by selecting which reviews they chose to include?

[Teh Nitwit]

Is it also possible that the 360 has a library of higher scoring games than the PS3? That technically would raise their overall score if the number of 360 exclusives are scoring higher than the PS3 exclusives.

~HotShotX

Sorry, but that is beside the point. I recommend everyone read the topic I linked. It explains well metacritic's bias.

[Droogs]

I thought it was widely accepted that all multiplatform games score better on the 360

[The Mana Knight]

I totally believe it, which is why I never used it. I find Gamerankings to be a bit more accurate, which is why I use that. Gamerankings had LBP has the highest (or 2nd highest) ranking game in 2008 and included some 10's.

[Teh Nitwit]

I thought it was widely accepted that all multiplatform games score better on the 360

They certainly do on metacritic, even if they're identical.

People, don't take my word for it. If you want proof/evidence the read that article I linked. There's many others like it on metacritic but this one is imo most convincing.

[ihadFG]

They certainly do on metacritic, even if they're identical.


Now I'm not trying to take sides console-wise, but I was curious after seeing you write this, so I did a little research of my own. The following are the metacritic scores for some recent multi-platform games that came to mind.

Skate 2: PS3 - 83, 360 - 83
Saints Row 2: PS3 - 82, 360 - 81
Dead Space: PS3 - 88, 360 - 89
Prince of Persia: PS3 - 84, 360 - 81
GTAIV: PS3 - 98, 360 - 98
Mercenaries 2: PS3 - 72, 360 - 72
Mirror's Edge: PS3 - 78, 360 - 79
Call of Duty World at War: PS3 - 85, 360 - 84
Fallout 3: PS3 - 91, 360 - 93
Devil May Cry 4: PS3 - 84, 360 - 84
Soul Calibur IV: PS3 - 85, 360 - 85
Lord of the Rings Conquest: PS3 - 58, 360 - 56

I'm just not seeing bias on the multiplatform releases. They are mostly the same, with a few favoring PS3 and a few favoring 360.

Feel free to point out something I might have missed as far as multi-platform games go.

[Arakias]

whatever. find a site you like or more particularly a reviewer you tend to agree with and go with that. Its not like the rank on an aggregating site matters/.

[-Never4ever-]

I don't see it either.

360 has more games, not to mention more high-profile AAA games. Of course it's going to have the higher percentage rating.

And I don't see them leaving out any of the credible review sites (ie; IGN, Gamespot, 1Up, etc, etc).

Obviously they should leave out fan sites like Playstation Fanboy and the irk. Where are all the 10/10s for LBP & MGS4 coming from anyhow? Neither game comes close to deserving them, unless the site's standard for 10's are "really good, but far from epic".

[happy]

Over the weekend I was thinking about this a bit. What I wondered is about the top games, which get the most attention anyway. On PS3 3 of the top 6 are all exclusive to the system. By contrast, on 360 only 1 of the top 6 is exclusive, yet the score of the sixth game for 360 is higher than the sixth ps3 game. I just found that strange.

[jer7583]

This is just bullshit. A bunch of Sony fanboy whiners angry that LBP got "only 95%"

[Monsta Mack]

93% for Killzone 2 on metacritic and a 92% on gamerankings. (As of today)

Yeap, biased for sure.

[Serpentor]

never even heard of the site... biased or not, who cares, bottom line, it's my money, it's my free will. For those of us with PS3 and Xbox, the deciding factors are all mixed. I don't buy Xbox games anymore (except exclusives), #1 reason being RRoD, #2 being no free on-line play and #3 HDD upgrade sucks... When comes to graphics, both consoles are very close, the difference is so insignificant that it doesn't matter to me.

[Serpentor]

93% for Killzone 2 on metacritic and a 92% on gamerankings. (As of today)

Yeap, biased for sure.

i bet Gears got a lot higher score than that eh? If KZ2 is not 95% or higher, there's a problem... Again, i don't know the site and i don't want to know.

[Vegan]

Is it too hard for you to comprehend that metacritic can skew the score by selecting which reviews they chose to include?

Do you know how much work that would be for Metacritic? You really think they have a guy hand-picking which reviews to include and which not to include, for every game, all for some crazy agenda? What would even be in it for them?

[help1]

NExt you will say that gamerankings is biased towards the 360.

No, better games are biased towards the 360.

[Teh Nitwit]

This is just bullshit. A bunch of Sony fanboy whiners angry that LBP got "only 95%"

Either you didn't read the article (maybe just title) or you have some severe issues with reading comprehension.

Most of that thread is about metacritic "inventing" scores from Variety, which is Microsoft owned. Variety doesn't assign a score. Metacritic "infers" that score from Variety's articles. For multiplatform games, such as Fallout 3 and Dead Space, if that score is good, they only include it in XBox360 version's overall score and if it's bad they only use it for PS3 version's overall score.

LittleBigPlanet they have an 8/10, which is as silly as gamespot's review of R&C:ToD.

I don't personally care much for review scores, but they do matter because they influence public opinion and can cause good games to perform poorly.

[jer7583]

i bet Gears got a lot higher score than that eh? If KZ2 is not 95% or higher, there's a problem... Again, i don't know the site and i don't want to know.

Herein lies the problem. If the site doesn't mesh with your personal opinion, it doesn't mean it's biased.

More critics thought more highly of Gears than KZ2 /= bias.

[Teh Nitwit]

Do you know how much work that would be for Metacritic? You really think they have a guy hand-picking which reviews to include and which not to include, for every game, all for some crazy agenda? What would even be in it for them?

Not for every game - only the high-profile ones. Don't be naive enough to think that money is not involved. I already mentioned that their parent company signed a $500 mil contract with Microsoft.

[jer7583]

Except killzone 2, right?

[Ryuukishi]

i bet Gears got a lot higher score than that eh? If KZ2 is not 95% or higher, there's a problem...
Geez, didn't we learn anything from Twilight Princess? Some favored game gets less than straight 100% reviews and there must be a conspiracy afoot. Or maybe, you know, somebody just really liked the game, but didn't think it was absolutely perfect. That just might be possible.

[lolwut?]

Your name suits you.

[Teh Nitwit]

Herein lies the problem. If the site doesn't mesh with your personal opinion, it doesn't mean it's biased.

More critics thought more highly of Gears than KZ2 /= bias.

"More" has nothing to do with it. For example:

MGS 4:

metacritic: 81 reviews, score 94
n4g: 221 reviews, score 96

Gears 2:

metacritic: 85 reviews, score 93
n4g: 249 reviews, score 92

[Chibi_Kaji]

"More" has nothing to do with it. For example:

MGS 4:

metacritic: 81 reviews, score 94
n4g: 221 reviews, score 96

Gears 2:

metacritic: 85 reviews, score 93
n4g: 249 reviews, score 92
So because they list every review from some no name sites we have never heard of before they have a 360 bias?

[jer7583]

But the metacritic score for the PS3 exclusive is still higher on metacritic, so bias?

I'd also say that taking any and all review scores from every site makes you more likely to have bias by proxy because the validity of those 250 sites is less than the 100 or so that metacritic has approved.

Anyone who would go to such lengths to compare scores and worry about a few points difference as "bias" falls squarely into the "insane fanboy" category in my estimation.

[Teh Nitwit]

Your name suits you.

Thanks for taking the bait.

[jer7583]

Thanks for taking the bait.

He's still correct.

Stop wasting your time with insane conspiracy theories and enjoy your games.

[Monsta Mack]

Gametrailers is awfully biased to.
They just gave Killzone 2 a 9.2 and Halo 3 9.8.
I guess that's telling people that they should buy a 360 and Halo 3 instead.

[Teh Nitwit]

So because they list every review from some no name sites we have never heard of before they have a 360 bias?

I stated in previous posts why they have bias. In the above post comparing metacritic and n4g scores for Gears 2 and MGS4 I provided evidence to refute the suggestion that metacritic's scores are higher for xbox360's games because "more" reviewers like them.

But feel free to jump to conclusions and twist everything I say to suit your agenda. I don't really give a shit. I'm responding to all these stupid posts because I don't feel like working right now, but it's getting prettty boring.

[jer7583]

I stated in previous posts why they have bias. In the above post comparing metacritic and n4g scores for Gears 2 and MGS4 I provided evidence to refute the suggestion that metacritic's scores are higher for xbox360's games because "more" reviewers like them.

But feel free to jump to conclusions and twist everything I say to suit your agenda. I don't really give a shit. I'm responding to all these stupid posts because I don't feel like working right now, but it's getting prettty boring.

You're coming across as an insane sony fan and also a jerk in this thread. Just to let you know.

Take it to GAF, see how nice they are to you about your "TEH BIAS" story there.

[depascal22]

So what if they're biased? If people are swayed by a couple points, then they shouldn't have been playing the game in the first place.

[ihadFG]

But feel free to jump to conclusions and twist everything I say to suit your agenda.
#-o

[blitz6speed]

XDF is always ready at the hip. I agree that metacritic is biased, but overall doesnt make too much difference. This gen has it out to destroy sony regardless of who it is, so no surprises. Microsoft pays millions every year to pay people to go on forums and post anti-sony/pro-microsoft propaganda threads everyday, im sure they are on this site also.

*XDF = Xbox Defense Force.

[jer7583]

XDF is always ready at the hip. I agree that metacritic is biased, but overall doesnt make too much difference. This gen has it out to destroy sony regardless of who it is, so no surprises. Microsoft pays millions every year to pay people to go on forums and post anti-sony/pro-microsoft propaganda threads everyday, im sure they are on this site also.

*XDF = Xbox Defense Force.

You are incorrect and delusional, sir.

[Teh Nitwit]

XDF is always ready at the hip. I agree that metacritic is biased, but overall doesnt make too much difference. This gen has it out to destroy sony regardless of who it is, so no surprises. Microsoft pays millions every year to pay people to go on forums and post anti-sony/pro-microsoft propaganda threads everyday, im sure they are on this site also.

*XDF = Xbox Defense Force.

People seem to forget how powerful Microsoft is. If MS can afford to spend $500 million on Viacom

http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/microsoft-and-viacom-announce-strategic-alliance-for-distribution-ads-and-games/18916/?biz=1

then they definately can afford a bunch of viral-marketers working out of their parent's basements. Viral-marketing is the new fad, and I wouldn't be surprised if MS put some money into that.

[Monsta Mack]

Yeah me and jer7583 are waiting for our new anti-PS3 arguements to be sent via hotmail.

Last they told us that we can use the Halo 3 > Killzone 2 arguement will work because it scored lower on Metacritic and Gamerankings, with more reviews to boot.

Still waiting on my invitiation to the XDF secret hideout to try out the XBawx 720.

[jer7583]

Or there's just *gasp* people who prefer or only own Xboxes on forums.

Fanboys like you really make me upset, because in 2009, we should be discussing all things in games EXCEPT "TEH BIAS"

Fuck off, seriously. You're the problem. Play your games and quit worrying about 2 percentage point differences.

If they actually are bias they're doing it poorly, because 2 percentage points don't mean shit to anyone.

[The Crotch]

I hereby rate Killzone 2... http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/9995/bottlecapsdc8.jpg

Gears of War 2 gets... http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/6522/herman20giant20rabbitxn3.jpg

Any arguments about bias?

[jkanownik]

This is retarded. I know for a fact that some independent publishers actually use GameRankings.com, which has Gears 2 at 93.1% and MGS4 at 92.9%. The difference between those scores and Metacritic is negligable. I actually prefer the look and design of Metacritic, so I usually go there. On LBP Metacritic is actually higher than GameRankings.

Even if Metacritic does have a <1% bias towards 360 it is completely meaningless when taken in context. One hundredth of a review score has no bearing on anything other than the feelings of fanboys.

[odintal]

but Variety gave Gears 2 an 85 according to metacritic. so wouldn't that mean MS is pulling down the scores of their own games?

[heavyd853]

I'd like my 3 minutes back, please.

[depascal22]

Isn't anything over 90% basically a must play anyway? I've never heard someone say that they wouldn't get a game just because the average sat at 93% instead of 95% or higher.

[Monsta Mack]

Any arguments about bias?

So how much is a giant rabbit versus that many nuka cola bottle caps in Fallout currency? That will verify the bias.

[The Crotch]

Giant rabbits are poisonous and have a very high sequence, but if you get ten pelts, there's this one ghoul in Necropolis that will trade you some Luger ammo for 'em.

...

I actually anticipated that question and thought all this out in advance.

[gindias]

I hereby rate Killzone 2... http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/9995/bottlecapsdc8.jpg

Gears of War 2 gets... http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/6522/herman20giant20rabbitxn3.jpg

Any arguments about bias?

Thats one big fucking bunny.

[The Crotch]

It's also one of the strangest combinations of terrifying and impossibly cute that I have ever come across.

[-Never4ever-]

Fuck off, seriously. You're the problem. Play your games and quit worrying about 2 percentage point differences.


:applause: And we have a winner. Discussion over.

The OP is either trolling for arguments because they're bored, or fucking delusional. Pick one and lets close this puppy.

[Thongsy]

I hereby rate Killzone 2... http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/9995/bottlecapsdc8.jpg

Gears of War 2 gets... http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/6522/herman20giant20rabbitxn3.jpg

Any arguments about bias?

Thank you sir, you have made this thread worthwhile now. Though I think you're bias, the giant bunny should be KZ2 and the bottlecaps for GoW2. So thus I demand a recount.

[sj41]

I totally believe it:rofl:

[SpazX]

Wow, really? Seriously?

So Sony is some tiny, struggling little upstart company just trying to make good games for people and Microsoft is coming in with all their money and influence and destroying Sony's chances of making a successful gaming platform by manipulating reviews to give them a 1-2% bias towards the 360?

Video game conspiracy theorists...wow.

[jer7583]

The Mana Knight believes it, it must be true.

[QiG]

Umm.. wow. Just wow. I've switched over to metacritic after not agreeing with IGN (who I listened to religiously in the past) a couple years ago. If I'm not taking the time to read what people write in words and just want to look at a score for a general feel, I'll use metacritic. Swayed or not, a AAA game is going to be in the 90s, maybe 80s. Metacritic is good for what it sets out to be. When Killzone 2 gets a 50 on metacritic, I'll start looking elsewhere.

[will52]

Hmmm 360 has better games... therefore better scores... makes sense. Metacritic just takes averages.

IMO, look at GTA4, I've played it on both PS3 and 360. On metacritic it has a score of 98 on both platforms even though it is far superior on 360.

Doesn't seem like theres any bias there. That's one example though.

[Quillion]

Reality has a well known Xbox 360 bias.

[Hostile]

Stop your crying. See that score of 1UP's review of Killzone 2 on Metacritic? How did Metacritic decide an 'A' is 100 when there's an 'A+' score available? Prince of Persia PS3 also has a 3PT score above the 360 version even though they're exact copies. It must mean they're biased against Microsoft!

[UjnHunter]

Bias? Who says it's not just the truth? :) I buy all my Multiplatform games for my Xbox 360 for a reason you know.

[benjamouth]

You suck OP, but maybe I'm biased.

[will52]

You suck OP, but maybe I'm biased.

metacritic feels the same way.

[Allnatural]

Most of that thread is about metacritic "inventing" scores from Variety, which is Microsoft owned. Variety doesn't assign a score. Metacritic "infers" that score from Variety's articles. For multiplatform games, such as Fallout 3 and Dead Space, if that score is good, they only include it in XBox360 version's overall score and if it's bad they only use it for PS3 version's overall score.

Eurogamer gave the same score for Dead Space (70), and it was only included in the 360 composite. So, yes, the universe is still in balance...

Also, Variety gave CoD: World at War a 60, and it was only included in the 360 composite. (What?! BIAS!!)

[Teh Nitwit]

Eurogamer gave the same score for Dead Space (70), and it was only included in the 360 composite. So, yes, the universe is still in balance...

Also, Variety gave CoD: World at War a 60, and it was only included in the 360 composite. (What?! BIAS!!)

That pretty much proves that I was wrong. I guess I should have done more research before proclaiming metacritic biased. Oh well, thanks for correcting me.

To all the jackals, go ahead and enjoy yourselves. I'm sure none of you was wrong before.

[odintal]

That pretty much proves that I was wrong. I guess I should have done more research before proclaiming metacritic biased. Oh well, thanks for correcting me.

To all the jackals, go ahead and enjoy yourselves. I'm sure none of you was wrong before.

giving up that easy? come on don't you know those scores were artificially lowered just to hide the bias? MS has their tentacles wrapped around the necks of cnet, cbs, DC, the porn industry, squeaky toy industry, colleges, and the martians form Ulmak 24 all in an attempt to control every form of media ever created.

[Teh Nitwit]

giving up that easy? come on don't you know those scores were artificially lowered just to hide the bias? MS has their tentacles wrapped around the necks of cnet, cbs, DC, the porn industry, squeaky toy industry, colleges, and the martians form Ulmak 24 all in an attempt to control every form of media ever created.

Holy shit! Really?! Damn, MS is even more evil and powerful than I suspected!

[jer7583]

Hope you learned a lesson here.

Don't be a dumbass.

At least you admitted being wrong. Respect that.

[Quillion]

That pretty much proves that I was wrong. I guess I should have done more research before proclaiming metacritic biased. Oh well, thanks for correcting me.

To all the jackals, go ahead and enjoy yourselves. I'm sure none of you was wrong before.
Props for admitting you were wrong.

Nobody is really biased except for those with an interest in seeing a specific system succeed, e.g. the companies involved, the people who only own one system and are certain it's the best.