PixlBit

Don't worry about me eviscerating you over a review Julian. If I disagree with your opinion, I might say something, but in a civil manner. I try to cover everything in my reviews (graphics, music, gameplay,etc.) because that's what I'm used to reading. Although I do try and make them funny or entertaining sometimes. I think that gaining insight into the reviewer's personality over time is a wonderful thing.

Thanks. To be honest, I'm not really worried about everyone who moved into PixlBit over the weekend. Everybody has been very cool and even handed with their comments and criticisms. That's the reason I liked to blog at 1up, after all. But now we're looking at a period of real growth. I don't know if we'll get as big as 1up, but with such a big (well, influential) site going away we stand to fill in the void, and I remember how much hate Jose Otero and Bob Mackey could get on reviews. It scares me, lol.

Yeah that's true. When Bob Mackey did his Ni No Kuni review there was a massive flame war going on about it. I don't think it's gonna come to that though. You guys got something special going on here. It feels a lot more personal than over at 1up. Plus you don't HAVE to read the comments lol. =P 

Just like I don't HAVE to look at my achievements list every time I pop a new one, right? :P

You may find that most of us are pretty level-headed. Yeah, with Ni no Kuni you see that a negative review on everyone's favorite game got a lot of heat but I think most of those were from faceless commenters who were just linked from the site from metacritic. I don't think we'll be seeing those guys anytime soon.

I don't think you should change the way you write just because the perceived amount of faceless people will be greater in number.  Your opinions and approach should be the same whether you have 1 reader or 1,000 readers.  When they start changing to make the reader happy, that's when you know you have a problem.  Any review that you write is your opinion, it's not a fact.  If you hate Hotline Miami that's your opinion.  I happened to like the game, and that's my opinion.  They're two sides of a coin and neither one is right.  Keep doing whatever feels right to you and everything will be fine.  As for myself, I comment on the occasional blog from time to time, but I generally don't comment on reviews or features, etc.  So you're safe from one faceless person at least.

I agree with this guy.  Nothing is quite as awkward as trying to change the way you write, especially if you're changing your style to a way you don't agree with.  It's easier to defend your piece if you can stand behind it in its entirety rather than try to explain bits and pieces of it.  Hope this comment makes sense, but keep doing what you're doing in my opinion 

While every writer writes for an audience, it's important not to give too much power to the audience.  You have to stick to your own vision, and find a balance between what you want to do, and what they want to read.  

Most of us are pretty civil.  But you never know what might set someone off.  I think you have to be detached about it, no matter how emotionally connected you are to your piece.  

I've written some pretty incendiary blogs, and I was always shocked by the response sometimess, and even overreacted on occasion. That's kind of why I like to be just a blogger and not a professional.  

As far as what reviews should be, I struggled with this as well when I was on a staff at a site. I think you have to make it personal, but you also have to have the ability to put someone else's shoes on, and imagine how other people might like it or not like it.  

One of my reviews was for Mass Effect 3, and I liked the ending. But I tried to understand that not everyone would, so I conveyed that in my review.  Obviously, people who hated the ending would think I was too even-handed.  And people who loved it would think I was being too critical. You just have to be honest, I guess, and hope for the best.  

The voice of the reviewer is much more important to me than the checklist approach. I have loved some games that got terrible reviews and hated some that got excellent reviews. I'm more likely to get a game based on the experience someone has had with the game and written about than a by the numbers review.

I care more for the 'voice of the reviewer' than for any number or checklist.  I completely agree that reviews are subjective, so I like to get a feel for the reviewer when reading the review.  

  Sometimes I'll read a review from a reviewer that I like, and who thinks the game they are reviewing is bad, but after having read the review I realize that I'll probably end up liking the game.  If it was just a checklist review without any commentary then I'd have no way of knowing this.

Don't change your style.  Review the way you have been and be honest with yourself and us.  That's why we are all here.

I've heard you talk about it plenty before, but that's the first time I've ever seen the cover of an issue of your fanzine, it's really cool.

I anticipated that you would feel like this once the bigger audience came along and it would make you think about your writing and how people will receive it. You're a big teddy bear like you said one time, but just continue to write with the philosophies you already have and the voice you have. I like the way you review, think, write, and approach critiques and discussions. I'm partial to it and don't want to see it change. I think it's very fair, honest, and thoughtful. Back in the day when you said you gave FF7 a perfect score and were a bit of a fanboy I didn't know you back then but it seems like quite a different person from what you are now. Scores aren't the important part of a review, but when you do give scores they tend to make sense when you pair them with the context and description of your experience in the review. The score you gave Duke Nukem and more importantly the description of your experience with the game made perfect sense when I read the review. And at a time when people were overly ridiculous and raging about the game, your review was the single one that made sense and seemed fair.

The writers voice and the description of his experience is the most important part of the review, and it's mostly just hit and miss. You have to listen to the writer's voice, and if you like it you can get to know a writer over time, it gives you context to how they think and what they like. Once you like a writer you can read their thoughts on the game, and the extra bits like numerical score will just fall in place and make more sense once you have the previous context. Some people will like the reviewer's voice, and some won't. That kind of hit and miss nature probably leads some people to try and make reviews purely by the numbers like its science which in turn puts the writer at less risk of personal involvement and investment since they're just checking boxes and making suggestions to buy or not buy.

The checklist kind of stuff and numerical score stuff isn't bad or unnecessary. Games aren't only about experience and emotion, there's an art and design to it, so I still love to see the technical aspects of a game be torn down and analyzed critically, but the review shouldn't loose the writer's voice. The voice should be the bulk of it and the score and technical stuff just adds to it.

Don't worry about it man. I was going to start doing it more often before 1up shut down because I just got the idea this year, but if the comments ever get too out of control, I like to make a blog cherry picking the worst of the worst for everyone to laugh at. So maybe those can always cheer you up.

Thanks for all of the feedback! I don't want to give the impression that I'd change a score based on what I think people are expecting. My reviews scores are my reviews scores, and reflect my experience. While I'm anxious at the thought of my reviews coming under closer scrutiny (and possible gamer rage) I would never try to tailor a review to avoid heat.

As far as the way I write, I think our styles naturally change over time. I've written reviews off and on for 16 years, and my approach to them has changed a lot in that time. I like to play with the review format, and I do think that putting more personality and less "bullet points" on the separate elements of games is more interesting. I'll take all of these comments to heart as I work on my Metal Gear Rising review.