Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

I think it's been a while since we've asked this, so here goes. Where do you go for "unbiased" gaming news and reviews? Websites? Magazines? Forums?

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

Since there are no unbiased reviews I mostly check some online review sites like IGN and then most of the times the game website and its forum.
I always want to see screenshots of the game. Even if the graphic isn't pretty most of the time you can see buttons and options that give you some impression of the game mechanics.
The forums give me a good impression also because you can see if fan boys are pushing the product or if critical opinions are welcomed and considered by the developers. The involvement and feedback by forum officials/developers on the forum is also a point I consider.

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

I agree it's impossible for any human to give an unbiased game review - my bad . But do you think the bias is more a product of the reviewer's personal interests or is it influenced by the source of funding for the site (advertising dollars, parent company, etc.) Do you think the news content on such sites is biased? I'm glad to hear you go to directly to the game's site. I wonder how many else here do so regularly?

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

I like www.gamespot.com, IGN, and PC-Gamer (mag) for a "quick glance" at a game. After that, if it captures my interest, I'll visit the main site like Mephisto mentioned and check their forums.

You can learn a lot about the game just from popular feedback and how good the support is.

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

Hi Mindi!
Though question about the source of the bias. Personally I think that most prominent sites are "aware of their customers", i.e. they believe that their readers are 13 years old and need to have nice graphics and a short attention span.
I do believe that money to an extend influences the news and previews of reviewers. News and screenshots equals more customers... Further, if you have a prominent name you get attention even if it isn't really deserved.

I think that there are many people how will check out the game website directly if they found a promising game in the preview news. Therefore I think it is a good idea to build a website for the game you are trying to sell (like the m...rix...g-company does ;:)).

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

I hate to say it, but I go to Gamespot. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif I used to go to the Cnet game source, but they folded with Gamspot back in 98.

www.gamespot.com Past that its Gamespy, 3dgamers, goinggold, and a few minor ones.

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

I don't surf much about games, so most of my game-related surfing is done here at Shrapnel or directed to a site/game by way of a friend.

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

I don't. Sad to say, this is the only game I play.

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

My main source of info on games is two magazines,.. PCGamer and Compter Gamming World. I buy one or the other every month and every other month I get both. Especially if they are reviewing a game i'm interested in. Sometimes the best part of these mags is the 'pipeline' news about what's in the works.

That's it in a nutshell.

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

I prefer to review the game myself, look for a demo or something online. I rairly trust any company to know what I would like.

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

I like Gamespy.com and Game Informer magazine... hey, you aren't considering advertising your games, are you? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/eek.gif

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

I go by word of mouth, my brother got me hooked on SEIII and I have been at it ever since I got him into Star Fury http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif turn around is fair play http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

I have to say the worlds most popular gaming stuff would be Gamespy.com well for euro there is one more pop but you would not like euro langs. So gamespy.com and gamespot.com they are both really great and a lot of people use them, ALOT.

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

First I go to the website of the game and/or the developer (if different). Second, I visit the forums for said game and just generally check things out. Third, if there's a demo available, that's basically the single biggest 'unbiased' review that I can find http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif Fourth, I may from time to time visit various gaming sites, namely Gamespot and Gamespy, among others.

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

I really only come here. The mainstream industry in general is only spewing out crap these days, and it makes me sad to read about these "games"...

I never bother reading reviews, since they are generally always worthless. I don't care what some bribed writer wrote about the game. Or even if it is the rare review site where reviews are not purchased, it doesn't affect how good or bad the game is. Forums for mainstream games aren't of much use to me either, since they are either filled with flaming idiots or diehard fanboys... The Shrapnel forums are really a diamond in the rough. Well, there are still the diehard fanboys, but it isn't the arrogant newbie-flaming type. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif Demos are the only way to go, and I only try the demos that friends (real life or internet) mention are for good games. So really, just word of mouth... And I never pay any attention to advertisements of any form, as they are the most useless thing of all.

Erm... so I guess that post was completely useless for you. Sorry.

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

For anything such as Games or Music I check out Amazon to see if they have it. Usually you can get a strong impression from the reviews, usually customer reviews, good or bad, put together have enough information for me to make an opinion.

Other than that it's usually what comes up in conversation amongst my roleplaying group, Republic Commando is currently the topic. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif That or this Forum. What will swing me to buy a game is what I've read about it and after playing the Demo.

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

We're not looking at making any major changes to our strategy of advertising in the niche market publications. Feedback like this, though, helps us keep our thumbs on the pulse of the community so to speak. This input is very helpful to us - even yours Fyron! Please keep it coming http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

When applicable, my first stop is specialised magazines, like the French magazine PC4War for strategy games. If I am interested in the multiplayer part of the game, I also check the community. And for more general information, I usually head for sites like the Underdogs of Moby Games.

I do not often check demos though: there aren't so many games likely to strike my fancy, and I only play demos to get a feel of the game (I cannot recall one demo I played for more than one hour).

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

I prefer any site where I can put in search parameters and get a "recommended" list. You might make a note to make sure that such sites have all of the important key-words properly loaded against your games.

For general "buzz talk" I prefer newsgroups such as:
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategy

As more and more games seem to have devastating problems that cant be found until you try to run it, many people haunt those groups to get the initial impressions of other gamers before they buy. Its often commented that its considered a balancing factor against reviews which are considered to be questionably money-driven on major magazine sites and possibly abit too biased in favor the product.

I tend not to feel that way but I see it mentioned a lot so I thought Id bring it up.

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

I am a long time subscriber to PC Gamer. I am also a member of several forums and newsgroups. I use these methods, and word of mouth, to "discover" new games. If a game piques my interest, I will then do research, like the games website for screenshots and forum feedback, and, if I am still interested, I will then download a demo and try it out. Then, and only then, will the game manufacturer get my money.

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

I've stopped going to game news sites for information about games. I've blown way too much money on games that got good reviews but really were all talk, no guts to trust them.

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

And rightly so, they probably got paid for givin those good reviews. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

That said, *good* demos are my preferred way of finding out about a game, along with word of mouth. IE: Borrowing it from a friend, or playing it at a friend's house. I tend to buy games if I've *ahem* borrowed and liked them.

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

PC Gamer.
PC Gamer.

my subscription ran out http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

For XBox, I read XBN, I think. Its the one not in circulation now. Dunno.

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

hi from austria,

as i work for independent online media i know the problem of biased reviews - sorry if my english is not the best, but i am native german speaker http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

we don't accept anything to make reviews better or as good as the publisher wants them. we even had phone calls of publishers wich were not satisfied with us because we rated their games not the way they wanted it and at this point it gets hard for me/us to really withstand this pressure because you also have to think about getting samples of the newest games to give your community the information it wants. but we can be proud to say we withstand any publisher's pressure and we have learned to live with it when we do not get any new samples from theese publishers. i think this independence is also because we do not earn any cash out of our work and we do not really plan to make lots of cash. we are satisfied with financing our server costs out of some banner clicks. nowadays every 2nd gamer's website with noticeable visits is owned by someone in the background. you dont really want to know in how much sites the "big players" are inwolved in some kind of way....

but back to the basic question: for news and reviews i visit rebell.at http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

I'm not sure it qualifies as unbiased, but I'll often check out metacritic to get an overview of what people are saying. Then I'll look at a sampling of the top, middle, and bottom reviews (usually just skimming/scanning) to get an idea of what issues are reoccuring problems to the reviewers and so forth. I don't feel that necessarily bypasses any biasing going on, but maybe it helps mitigate it a bit.

Most often, however, I just go by word-of-mouth. I know the tastes of my friends compared to mine, which makes it easier to know if what they are enjoying is really something I'll enjoy.

Once upon a time, I relied heavily on print reviews in magazines but the delays involved in that medium means they are relying more on previews than reviews these days, and that's not all that valuable to me. Things change too much from preview time to gold, IMO. I haven't read a print computer magazine since Dom III was getting reviewed and it was at least as long before that since I'd picked one up.

Oh, and if I'm thinking about picking up something that's been out for awhile, my first stop is never a review site but rather the game's forums, both the official ones and any fansite ones that are around. I find you can learn more about the actual play experience by browsing through the chatter than you can from just about anywhere else than talking about it directly with somebody who plays it.

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

The only computer games I play are wargames.

They need to be reviewed by wargamers

The Wargamer and Armchair General websites are the only places I read reviews.

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

News? Various places, mostly game forums.

Reviews? I don't, gennerally. The game has a demo or the game doesn't get purchased. Reviews depend on finding a reviewer with similar tastes, which is rare..

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

PC Gamer and word of mouth

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

Welcome, Gray. We are happy to see you here. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

Re: Where do you go for game news and reviews?
 

Being more or less a hard core wargamer, I find I only want to visit Matrix Games, Wargamer, Warfare HQ and Battlefront (aside from recently deciding to put my face in around here).

After spending to much time posting to many posts on to many forums though, I have had to brutally limit myself.

I try to get my posting out of my system primarily at Warfare HQ. The rest I am trying to be just a reader.

I don't read "reviews" as much as I read gamer's opinions on forums.
Everyone's opinion is worth something.