Well, I probably shouldn’t call it “intellectual” — it’s likely to scare off the intended audience. But I’m told that having the audacity to like a slightly basic DS dungeon hack more than a terrible PSP platformer has given rise to accusations that I am afflicted with the dreaded taint known as BIAS.
Could it be, I wondered? Could it be that despite my best efforts to be fair and even-handed when writing down those all-important numbers on my 1UP reviews I allow myself to be swayed by some sort of inherent personal preference? Well, of course I do, just like anyone else. But I was curious to see just how biased I truly am, so I sat down and averaged out my cumulative review scores for PSP and DS games to date. And yes, without question it seems I do tend let favoritism factor in:
- PSP review average: 6.96
- DS review average: 6.88
Well, there you have it, folks. Incontrovertible proof that I am, in fact, biased in favor of Sony’s PSP. Just like the rest of the media. So much for objectivity. I have failed you all :(
Also: I have previewed Star Fox Command, and it was not the train wreck I was expecting. That’s a pleasant surprise, though it still doesn’t elevate my feelings about the series above a sort of tepid apathy.
Your black mathematical arts cannot hide the truth! Cold facts do not change the reality!
So much for 5.0 being the midpoint of 1UP’s reviewing scale.
So much for 5.0 being the midpoint of 1UP’s reviewing scale.
So much for 5.0 being the midpoint of 1UP’s reviewing scale.
So much for 5.0 being the midpoint of 1UP’s reviewing scale.
So much for 5.0 being the midpoint of 1UP’s reviewing scale.
So much for 5.0 being the midpoint of 1UP’s reviewing scale.
So much for 5.0 being the midpoint of 1UP’s reviewing scale.
So much for 5.0 being the midpoint of 1UP’s reviewing scale.
So much for 5.0 being the midpoint of 1UP’s reviewing scale.
So much for 5.0 being the midpoint of 1UP’s reviewing scale.
So much for 5.0 being the midpoint of 1UP’s reviewing scale.
So much for 5.0 being the midpoint of 1UP’s reviewing scale.
So much for 5.0 being the midpoint of 1UP’s reviewing scale.
So much for 5.0 being the midpoint of 1UP’s reviewing scale.
So much for 5.0 being the midpoint of 1UP’s reviewing scale.
So much for 5.0 being the midpoint of 1UP’s reviewing scale.
Or it could be that the games I’ve reviewed have been, you know, mostly above-average.
Hah! Now that’s irony. Or maybe just comedy? I don’t know, but I’m lol.
Yeah, not to rag on Jeremy, but do the math on any full-time staffer of just about any game pub and you’d get a similar “average.” How do I know this? Because I was a freelancer for a year and a half, and played all the games they refused to.
You could always say that “bias” is the new way of saying “I have taste.”
Dear Mr. Parish,
There are more people that internet love you than you would be comfortable with. Despite my suspicion that dire internet hatred is what you really want, you don’t have to prove that you’re not a Nintard.
I think the best thing of all would be to have lots of internet not taking every damn thing so damn seriously.
Bias is the new fair. And the other white meat, if the occasion arises.
The internet is serious business.
What would the internet be without false crises?
A more enjoyable place all around? Wait, is this a trick question?
Tubes!
I don’t know, I’m glad I caught your mini-review of Ghosts and Goblins when I did. I had put aside some money for a game, and I figured it would be G’n’G, but I also had my eye on Gradius V, which I’ve been wanting to try for a while. Long story short, I got Gradius V instead and I definitely haven’t regretted it. I didn’t even realize it was a Treasure game until very recently.
Get it together… Get it together… Get it together… Get it together…
Me thinks Mr Parish needs to take less seriously that the Internet takes some things so seriously.
Now I’m king of the hill-falutin! How do you like that?
To say that the internet is a bastion of rationality would be akin to saying that a night at a motel can cure all Worldly diseases. The fact of the matter is, the internet in general is about as rational and generally as unintentionally funny as a badly translated RPG or Eastern origin.
This is how I’ve learned to see the internet these days and I’m happier for it.
“What would the internet be without false crises?”
Porn, YouTube, and webcomics about both. Oh wait, there wouldn’t be webcomics either.
Don’t forget Myspace.
“I think the best thing of all would be to have lots of internet not taking every damn thing so damn seriously.”
So says the man who takes the serious internetards sersiously. If you want to know a secret, whipping up those serious idiots into a frenzy so they obsess over you makes it seem like you are really really popular. And when somone they hate becomes successful, they obsess even more. So its like a vicious cycle in your favor.
Some of you seem to be operating under the impression that this blog post was not, in fact, tongue-in-cheek. I think somewhere along the way it all became a little too recursive.
To play devil’s advocate:
–
“the fact that some people have convinced themselves it is a work of art speaks volumes about how powerful the forces of nostalgia and franchising can be. It is not the game everyone was hoping for, except that small demographic that savors physical and psychological trauma.”
–
…is pretty loaded rhetoric, given the counterarguments that were posted on NeoGAF that were actually well thought out. Though if those red monsters on that screenshot are really supposed to be those gargoyles or whatever, then I concur that that really is some crappy polygon art.
Didn’t early videos and screens of this game look good? Somehow in my memory I recall seeing a nice looking sprite Arthur. Did the graphics change, or did we all just go blind at the prospect of an awesome G+G game?
I think it’s time we gave up on this and went back to talking about how awesome Contact is.
If you really wanted to see bias, you’d have to average Jeremy’s review scores for MicroSoft / XBox games… Wait! I don’t think Jeremy has ever reviewed a MS / XB game. 1up must think he’d be too biased and that he would just give them all 10’s (or 8.5!s on his scale). So I guess 1up just didn’t bother to assign any of those reviews to him.
On a (somewhat) more serious note regarding EGM reviews: Gee, isn’t the multiple reviewer format supposed to allow for varying opinions on a game because people actually have different personalities and likes and tastes and what not? So you can look for the reviewer that has similar tastes to yours (which is helped by the little blurb about each EGM staff reviewer at the beginning of the reviews section). [This comment is not quite forming up like I want it to]… Basically, I think the EGM review system is pretty reasonable and rational (except perhaps for the numerical arbitrariness). But I guess fanboys + internet is an equation that doesn’t allow for positive values in the reason and rationality variables.
Contact is pretty sweet guys.
.
Also, I have reviewed an Xbox game, so shove the heck off. XBOX REVIEW AVERAGE: 8.5. I guess I really am an MS fanboy at heart… especially since I’m about to click the “purchase” button for a 360. Curse you, Dead Rising. Curse your Servbot-y goodness.