Why hello there fellow Dtoiders. Why don't you sit down right there. Yes, next to the fireplace should be fine. Now, are you comfortable? Good. I have invited you hear to discuss something that has been discussed quite a bit right here on the internet. Something that I guess you can argue is very important to the videogame industry. That, my friends, is videogame reviews. People have argued about this here numerous times in the past. What is wrong with them and what can be done to fix them. Well my friends, I would like to take a difference stance here today. I would like to argue that there is in fact nothing wrong with todays reviews. That the problem is with people.

Let me ask you a question: when was the last time you opened up a magazine or a newspaper and looked at a review for a movie? Did it get 2 stars? Did it get 3? 4? And after looking at that did you immediately think "wow, that is an arbitrary and bullshit way to rate something" ? This seems to be the common argument people have when talking about videogame review scores. That the review scale that websites and magazines use to rate games make very little sense and can be confusing. Now, I have to admit some ways of reviewing work better than others but when it comes down to this I don't believe what people say. I guarantee somewhere on the website or in the magazine they have something to explain how their reviews work. what each rating means and how each rating corresponds to one another. So there really should be no reason for somebody to be confused by what a reviewer means by a 7 or a 5. Yes, each website has different ideas of what each number or rating means but if people actually take time to read the website this shouldn't be a problem.

There is also a problem with the fact that people look at that number and automatically think that is the review when it fact it isn't. That little number after all that text is meant to be a summary, something that puts everything said in the review into perspective. A score is something that is meant to accompany a review, NOT replace it. What you should be looking at is the actual review, something that seems to escape a lot of people. Somebody took the time to write all that for a reason, and if that review really is going to affect whether or not you are going to purchase said game then the very least you can do is take 5 minutes and read the damn thing. Hell, if you are really that lazy at the very least you could read the last paragraph of the review and look at the score. That should give you a better idea of the jist of the review then just looking at the score.

But when you really get down to it the problem is people look at all reviews. They head over to metacritic and rotten tomatoes or whatever website throws together reviews all in one place. You should not be doing that. You should be reading one or two. The beauty of all these reviews floating around is that there will always be someone who has an opinion that is close to yours. You should be going to websites, reading reviews and figuring out who you trust the most, and when you need help on deciding whether or not to buy something than you can go look at their review. After all the time I have spent on Destructoid, I trust Jim's and Grim's reviews the most and I will look to them when I can't decide whether or not to buy something. This is because after reading all their reviews I realize their taste in games are closest to mine. Scrolling through reviews on metacritic isn't going to work because for all you know, those people don't like the type of games you like.

I also think that a large part of why people think this problem exists are the incredible numbers of comments of people complaining about the score on the front page of Destructoid or on other sites. But the fact is you shouldn't pay attention to people such as that and they should not affect how you feel about review scores. People who get upset about a number being put next to the name of a game they like are going to get upset no matter how somebody reviews a game. The way games are reviewed should not be changed on their account.

The problem with game reviews today have nothing to do with the reviews today but with how people choose to perceive them.

And before I leave you today I would like to give you one more important piece of advice:

read number nine

Hello everybody. How are all you dickbags doing this glorious day? I was going to do one last week but the only really notable thing that happened on Destructoid was so full of fail that I didn't want to bring any more attention to it. That, and I'm lazy. As you probably would have noticed by now. Anyway here we go again.........

1. God of War 3 is looking really good. I knew I would have to get a PS3 when this game comes out but hot damn, the video of the demo has hired my expectations. That being said I would like it if they would stop using the same damn ideas for magic abilities. They have overused the "ripping off somebodies head and using it as a weapon" as well as the magic bow shit. It would be nice if they made a completely different magic ability. At least ripping off Helios's head was badass.

2. Borderlands is really goddamn addicting. It has been a long time since I have played a game where I was rushing home after classes or work to play it.

3. The forums now have more Journalism then ever before

4. Apparently there is going to be a PSP version of Blazblue. I highly doubt I will pick it up though, unless it has new content. Or if it has Jubei. If it has Jubei I will buy that fucker into a coma.

5. Podtoid finally did there commentary of Resident Evil. Took them long enough.

6. Resident Evil Apocalypse is as much fail as I remember it being. I decided to watch it to get ready for ResidentEvilToid and I still am not entirely sure what I was on when I decided that was a good idea. Although I was surprised to notice that Jill wasn't the only character from the Resident Evil series that made it into the movie. I never noticed this before but Carlos, Yuri, and Nikolai are in it as well as the Ashford's. Even though they changed the first names of the Ashford's and Alexia is now a 6 year old girl. Although what they did to Nemesis takes away from this fan service. It amazes me how much money they spent on explosions yet they couldn't afford a decent costume or special effects for the Nemesis.

7. What they are adding to the online features for Super Street Fighter 4 has got me even more excited. Especially since I found the original SF4's online to be somewhat lacking

8. Everything around COD:MW2 is making me facepalm so hard right now. You would think people would wait to play the actual game before deciding that the airport scene is the worst/best thing ever.

9. Topher is wrong. Akira Kazama is CLEARLY better then Hinata Wakaba

10. The forums are no longer full of fail

Hello folks I'm back. Unfortunately. The reason for the lack of posts is, well, I was tired. I have been doing these posts for almost 2 years straight and I have to admit I have grown a little tired of it. Usually I would just suck it up and just pull stuff out of my ass at the last minute but I just couldn't do it this time. I have considered discontinuing this in the past but this time I have never been this close to actually doing it. The thing is I would like to make more posts like I used to do but whenever I sit down to write a non-10 things posts I get distracted by my 10 things posts because I sort of feel an obligation to make them. I have nowhere near the amount of time I did back when I started off here so I really don't have the time to make a shit ton of blogs. Now, I am not saying I will stop doing this, just that I might make it less frequent, like once every 2 weeks so I have the time to pump out another blog that isn't a list.

Anyway enough with the drama. God knows there has been enough in the forums this week.

1. The fact that Podtoid keeps pushing back their commentary of the Resident Evil movie is driving is driving me insane.

2. Borderlands is the tits. Seriously, this game is fucking amazing. Anybody with a connection to the internet and a love of First Person Shooters must buy this game.

3. Snaileb has way too much free time on his hands.

4. Double Downing is a very painful experience. Goddamn my need for forum badges! Well, the good news is I got the badge, the bad news is I will be dead by the end of the week.

Also screw you guys who said I didn't double down. I used fucking whole cheeseburgers for buns for Christ sakes! If Hamza can wrap a burger in a pizza and call it doubling downing I can call that double downing.

5. The bar is full of a bunch of pansies.

6. The Left 4 Dead 2 trailer is absolutely amazing. Anybody who hasn't seen it I highly reccomend you go do so.

7. I have come to the Conclusion that Blehman died a horrible death. Where the hell did that motherfucker go?

8. Q from SF3 is a badass.



9. Oberoi is officially the best newbie in the forums

10. Anthony Burch is an asshole

Fried Fish patty

+



Cheeseburger

+



Another Cheeseburger

=





Now you will have to excuse me, I am going to go crawl into bed and die.

I am a big fan of Capcom. Some of my favorite characters, series, and games have come out of their work. I have always liked what they have done and I have always appreciated all the stuff they have done for their fans. Hell, this year has been one surprise after another what with MVC2, Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom coming to America with extra characters and the announcement of Super Street Fighter 4 makes this a good year to be a fan of Capcoms games but there is one thing that has bothered me about this year.



15 years ago Capcom started a series that has become my favorite fighting game series. That series is the Darkstalkers series. Alot of people like Street Fighter, King of Fighters, and Guilty Gear but I have always considered Darkstalkers the best of the best. The characters in it I consider some of the best designed and balanced fighting characters in the genre but I am getting ahead of myself. This year, as I have stated earlier, marks Darkstalkers 15th anniversary and what with Capcom having a habit of doing something for the anniversaries of their most popular franchises I was expecting them to do something special. But now the majority of 09 is behind us and Capcom hasn't done a thing. They haven't released an arcade stick, a gamepad, or even a measly T-shirt. Hell, I probably wouldn't have even know that this year was Darkstalker's 15th anniversary if Udon hadn't done the Darkstalkers tribute. But what dissapoints me the most is that they didn't announce a new game in the series.

Now, you are probably thinking this is just me being a bitter fanboy but I really think there is alot that Capcom could have taken advantage of to bring more people into the series. The Darkstalkers series has always been sort of a cult classic and probably doesn't have anywhere near the following Street Fighter or King of Fighters has but with all the fighting games coming out this year they could have introduced a lot of fighting fans to the franchise.

If there is one thing I know about crossovers it is that it can easily introduce people to new franchises. Back when the original Super Smash Brothers came out I knew nothing about alot of the Nintendo characters. In particular Kirby, I had never heard about Kirby until SSB and I really liked him in SSB so I wanted to know where he came from. Not long after Kirby and the Crystal Shards came out and I have been a fan ever since. Now, i'm not an analyst nor will I ever pretend to be, but it doesn't take a genius to grasp that crossovers are a good way to introduce people to something new. And with two games coming out this year containing Darkstalkers characters and this being its anniversary I figured Capcom would take advantage of this, but they haven't. I'm positive if they did announce something it would garner alot of interest as people recognize Felicia from MVC2 and Morrigan from TVC so why isn't capcom doing this?


a rerelease of this on XBLA would be so awesome

I've always wanted another Darkstalker's game but I never felt Capcom would dig it out and do something with it. I figured however that after Street Fighter got a revival and all the other stuff that they did in the fighting genre this year that if they ever were going to announce making this game it would have been this year's TGS, but instead they announce Super Street Fighter 4. Don't get me wrong, I am really excited for SSF4 and I can't wait until they announce the new characters, but I can't help but feel dissapointed that they didn't do something else.

Of course, the year isn't over yet and I can still hold out hope that they will announce something around Halloween but it just seems unlikely. I guess just more then anything I just wish that Capcom would do something to celebrate the release of one of my favorite series. So far the only thing that has been done was Udon releasing the Darkstalkers Tribute book. Some may argue that that is Capcom's contribution but last I checked Udon wasn't Capcom and them giving Udon permission to do something they wanted to do isn't much of a celebration. I just wish Capcom would do something and I thought the best way to have celebrated its anniversary was announcing something to bring people to the series and all I have to say is that it is a shame that Capcom hasn't done something for Darkstalkers.

/rant

1. I am really excited for Super Street Fighter 4. I would have prefered Darkstalkers 4 but I am pretty sure people are tired of hearing me bitch about it by now. Anything that brings me back to Street Fighter 4 after abondoning it for MVC2 is a good thing.

2. I am really goddamn pissed off at the announcement that the second new character in the revamped Blazblue is Hazama. Goddamn it I wanted Jubei, not some jackass that looks like an amalgamation of every anime villain ever created. They made such a big deal out of Jubei in Blazblue's shitty story that I couldn't help but want to play as him and now they have denied me that. Goddamn it.

3. I just wasted money on the Crash Course DLC for Left 4 Dead. No I'm not saying it sucks or anything, I just realized after buying it that I lost my copy of L4D in the move into my new dorm. I could probably buy a new copy for 30 to 40 bucks but that is kind of pointless when I am no doubt going to ditch it in a month for L4D2. God fucking damn it.

4. A sprite based gamecube game looks really friggin ugly on a HDTV.

5. Kiranio is a pussy. Also, I have found a new calling in life: giving people a hard time over stupid stuff.

6. I have just realized that their hasn't been a Failcast in a while. What happened? Was Necros burned to death? Was King arrested for being a pedo? Was Yashoki deported? Has Hitogoroshi come down with Alzheimer's?

7. Adam Dork wasted his chicken nuggets. You have 160 chicken nuggets and all you did was sit around your house and then overlayed the video with Pulp Fiction clips? You disgust me Dork, you absolutely appal me.

8. The Cleveland show is a bit shit.

9. The Point Lookout DLC for Fallout 3 is pretty cool, although I think Bethesda may have Maryland confused with Louisianna.

10. Juri looks more like a Final Fantasy character than a Street Fighter character.