Hello! I decided that this was easier than setting up my own website. I'm Pseudagonist/Pseudo, a game reviewer and basically nothing else. I might post a few musings now and again, but I'm primarily interested in giving games the old rundown. I use three specialized scales to rate games: out of 100 (mathematically calculated), out of 10 (pure opinion), and out of 5 (pure recommendation). I hope this appeases mostly everyone, as I get sick of the reviewing scale debate that goes on at other websites. If you have a problem with it, please comment. I'm always looking to improve them.

The scales:

MC Scale: Used due to the "out of 100" scale that Metacritic uses becoming the norm in the world of gaming journalism. Attempts to eliminate the arbitration that defines "out of five" review scales. Tells you exactly what I rate on.

Aesthetics: How does the game sound? How does the game look? Is it butt-ugly? Is the screaming J-pop killing brain cells? (Sound, Music, and Graphics) (15)
Design: Is the game even playable? How does the gameplay work? Is the main idea behind the game even decent? (Gameplay, Fun) (45)
Experience: Is there a main theme? Is the player constantly moving forward of his own volition? Are you working towards something? Is the game boring? Is the story sufficient? Is it told in an original way? Is the game priced realistically? Is it a good buy? A good rent? Is it really worth something as a piece of media? (Fun, Story, Value) (25)
Playability: Are there a whole shitload of technical problems? Does the game crash constantly? How are the controls? Is it a Wii game? (Playability) (10)
Tilt: Five points of pure, unadulterated bias. Do you like the game on a personal level? Do you think it's underrated? Overrated? Anything you'd like to say, do it here. (Tilt) (5)

Divide by ten to get x/10 scale, with tenths.

Scoring guide:

0.0 - Absoludicrous (Worthless on every possible level. Life-changingly bad. Absolutely ludicrous. Need I go on?) (Examples: Action 52, Plumbers Don't Wear Ties)
0.1-1.9 - Abysmal (Generally unplayable. I can't really recommend these to anyone.) (E: Superman 64)
2.0-2.9 - Terrible (Borders on unplayable. Usually contains terrible design decisions, dated graphics, an incoherent storyline, etc. Tough to recommend to even avid fans of the genre or series.) (E: Sonic 2006)
3.0-3.9 - Bad (Somewhat playable, but still awful. Contains perhaps a few good ideas, but the execution is so terrible that you might not even notice. Not recommended.) (E: Mortal Kombat Gold)
4.0-4.9 - Inferior (Playable, but not very good. The game generally functions, but it has several key design flaws that hold it back from being even decent. Recommended for die-hard fans only.) (E: Blood Omen 2)
5.0-5.9 - Mediocre (Functional. Not good, not bad, just meh. Recommended for fans only.) (E: Donkey Kong 64)
6.0-6.9 - Decent (Somewhat good. The game knows what it wants to do, and it sometimes does it pretty well. Repetition and design philosophy issues may hold it back from greatness, but these games definitely aren't bad. Weak recommendation.) (E: The Path)
7.0-7.9 - Good (Generally enjoyable. The game isn't amazing, but it is at least a bit of fun. Somewhat weak recommendation.) (E: Katamari Damacy)
8.0-8.9 - Superb (Really, really good. The game has a definite audience, and can generally be enjoyed by a wide variety of gamers. Recommended.) (E: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune)
9.0-9.5 - Excellent (Reviewer's choice. The flaws in the game are negligible at worst, and the designers obviously put a lot of work into it. Highly recommended.) (E: Persona 3: FES)
9.6-9.8 - Phenomenal (A triumph of videogame design. The flaws, if any, are hardly noticeable. Nigh-universal recommendation.) (Example: Soul Reaver)
9.9-10.0 - The Apotheosis (As close to perfect as possible in a genre. Universally recommended.) (E: Persona 4)

Ten Scale: Used for the people that hate the .1 differences between games that happens as a result of the MC scale, this scale is a simple whole-number out-of-ten representation of the reviewer's opinion of the game's quality.

0 - Absoludicrous
1 - Abysmal
2 - Terrible
3 - Bad
4 - Inferior
5 - Mediocre
6 - Decent
7 - Good
8 - Superb
9 - Phenomenal
10 - The Apotheosis

See above for more detailed descriptions.

Five Scale: Used for the people who just want a goddamn recommendation, this scale is as simple as it gets.

1 - Extreme dislike
2 - Not recommended
3 - Weakly recommended
4 - Recommended
5 - Strongly recommended

It is possible for the scores not to be consistent, i.e. game X getting an 8.9 on the MC scale and a 8 on the ten scale. Each score is calculated independently. The first is mathematical opinion, the second is pure opinion, and the third is purely recommendation.

I know that's a lot to digest, so I'll try to make my reviews enjoyable without forcing everyone to read the above mess. I'm currently playing a ton of JRPGs, so that'll probably be all I review for quite a while. I'm going to revisit older games as well, so that will break up the tedium of three straight FF articles.

That's the plan, at least.

ADDENDUM: The Aigis banner at the top is huge, I know. It would take effort to resize it, though, and I think it looks cool the way it is. If you think it sucks, or that it's too big, please let me know, as I'm pretty awful at blog aesthetics. Thank you.

XXII