Be Excellent To Each Other

Perhaps it's just me but reading exhaustive accounts of all the faults of a game before playing it dampens enthusiasm beforehand but far worse it forces me to notice things which otherwise would probably have completely escaped my attention. I think I used to enjoy games far more when (as far as I was concerned at least, I played lots of games but never read magazines all that much) I hadn't already seen them being dissected. Maybe it all means that games just have to be better now. Or maybe it means that I'm remembering a time when I was twelve and I'd happily play pretty much any old shit. I dunno, I'm just thinking out loud really but I do find myself increasingly avoiding any opinions beyond ascertaining whether something is meant to be good, average or terrible.

I know what you mean. Bayonetta I own, Saboteur I don't but I know which I'm going to have liked more in six months when I've had a good play of both and brilliant at Bayonetta is, it won't be that one.

Yeah, I know what you mean but it's hard to avoid the whinging when you're trying to find out if something is basically fun or not.

Especially from Perkies.

I tend to avoid reading up much on games at all now. As long as there's a general positive consensus on a game, that'll be enough for me to give it a try. Having a bad memory helps though - I followed the Batman:Arkham Asylum discussion but by the time I'd got round to buying it, I'd forgotten everything I'd read, so went into it without knowing too much about what the game entailed and enjoyed it immensely.

I enjoy reading Perkies' rants though.

When I am spending £20 upwards on a game I like to know if its good or not. I've bought some shit games in my time and that depresses me more than any game review would.

Ahh.. the memories of pre-ordering Driv3r come flooding back...

I've (mostly) given up reading games magazines/sites for anything other than news & on the forums I visit I've sussed who has similar tastes to me for a given type of game as well as who would probably laugh, clap & declare it the BEST GAME EVAAR!!!! if it was anything greater than substandard.

I'm strong minded enough to know what I like in a game & what pisses me off, so a trusted opinion or accurate description helps me with game buying/pricing decisions. For everything else there's demo's.


I'd rather have dampened enthusiasm than undue hype, at least with the former you still have the potential to be pleasantly surprised.

In the ap time i liked reading about them more then playing them

I like reading entertaining reviews after playing the game. Of course, the lack of entertaining reviews holds that back somewhat.

if it's a game I'm well up for then I never read a review (but I might check scores on Metacritic).

I got burned by Play Magazine's Resi 2 review which helpfully told readers what all the best bits were AND when you could expect them.

They even went as far as giving away the library drop!