Video Masters TV- Discussion Forum

John Gibson

Haha, it's quite entertaining how amateurish this review is. People fail to realize that there is a responsibility coming with reviewing. "No one's telling you to watch it"? Actually, that fun little human feeling of WANTING TO KNOW IF THE GAME IS WORTH THE MONEY is telling you to watch it.

Newsflash: people don't watch reviews for entertainment. Only the upper crowd.

And a game isn't fun in the long run if it isn't deep.

The latest comment on my Virtua Fighter 5 review says

"No one watches reviews for Entertainment"

It also says I should have a responsibility to tell viewers whether to buy the game or not.

People like this could not be more wrong. A reviewers job is to share his or her opinion, not convince the viewer to buy X game. Of course, any reviewer who is compensated to tell the viewer(s) to buy the game is not a reviewer, in my opinion.

Let's say X Game Company came to one of us and said "We'll give you a billion dollars if you tell your viewers that X game Part 17 is great". Then we decide to play the game, and it's horrible. Do we still give it the "Keep It"?

Absolutely not! Cause we're lying, plain and simple. VMTV, and people like us, such as Retroware TV, and even those angry reviewers, review the games for entertainment purposes, not to act as a buying guide because your dumb ass can't decide if you want to buy X game or not.

If, by some chance, someone watches a review to an out of production game, and says "Hey, your review inspired me to go to Ebay and buy it, thanks", that's cool, but it's not our job. I'm happy that one of our reviews was inspirational enough, but the reviews on VMTV are NOT meant to tell you if you should invest your money in a game.

Hell, we review Arcade games, for Christ sake. Are we about to tell you invest $6000 in Mortal Kombat II? Hell no!

This could make a good rant, too. Oh, and there's also something to be said about his last comment about how games aren't fun if they're not deep. That cracked me up.
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John R. Gibson
Host/Writer/Creator Video Masters TV

"The whole planet Houston?" -General Zod
"Am I supposed to conduct with my penis?" -Peter Griffin (Family Guy)
"What does God need with a starship?" - Star Trek V

Black Flag NC · Posted: Apr 09 2009 8:07 am Post subject:

Fuckin A.

I've never let a review influence me to buy or not buy a game. Now if a game got nothing but bad reviews, I may wait till I can find it cheap. But I'll still play what appeals to me.

To me the score given to the game is the least important part of the review. The reviewer should explain why they did or didn't enjoy the game. Every reviewer is biased towards the style of game they like. For example, I hate long cutscenes and tons of dialogue. Therefore I naturally don't care for Final Fantasy, Shenmue, or Metal Gear Solid. It's not that they're bad games, it's just not my thing.

I always get pissed at these reviews of shoot-em-ups when you can tell the reviewer don't even know the difference between a vert and a hori: "Duh... this game sucks because it's hard and I die too much. What's the point of the score? This game got stuck in a time warp! Etc..."

That's what I like about our own Kepp it/Try it/Toss it system. It leaves room for our own bias. Theoretically, everything should be a "Try it if it looks like you'd dig it"... but that's a bit wordy. Laughing

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John Gibson · Posted: Apr 09 2009 11:54 am Post subject:

Yeah, you'll notice that I never say this game sucks, or whatever (at least I don't think I have, hahaha). There are games that I'm not interested in. If someone says have you played X game, and I haven't, I won't say Oh it sucks. I'll just say no, it's not my game, don't have time for a game like that, etc.

HAHA, your quote about "This game sucks. It's hard and I die too much" sounds like something the Angry Nerd, or Irate Gamer would say.

It's just so funny that people think reviews are supposed to influence you to buy a game. I'd like to know who says so.
_________________
John R. Gibson
Host/Writer/Creator Video Masters TV

"The whole planet Houston?" -General Zod
"Am I supposed to conduct with my penis?" -Peter Griffin (Family Guy)
"What does God need with a starship?" - Star Trek V

StrifeDeliveries · Posted: Apr 09 2009 5:17 pm Post subject: HAHA

That's some funny stuff right there. Anybody who knows anything knows a review is not to be a condemning action or a set in stone for every person in out there. And you can be predisposed to certain genres as my friend Matt described, as I have been a long time fan of Final Fantasy's and dialogues (suck it Matt Laughing

) but i enjoy many other types as well. To me a review is nothing more than a first rough draft of an essay to the President, simply put its only there to basically lure you in to try it and stop being the a dumbass and religiously following them. Matt has included me into a review of a game and I understand the process of it and how it is. I love the fact of the reviews for VMTV follow a comically overtones while still showing you whats what. And for somebody to give great reviews because they are sponsored by the company, its horseshit. One of my favorite movies "The Matrix" got terrible review and I loved it. So what I have to say about this entire debacle.......... "It's Alright"
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Paul *Strife Deliveries*

John Gibson · Posted: Apr 09 2009 7:54 pm Post subject:

Considering a whole bunch of crap that's been happening lately, between my videos being pulled for copyright, and just various issues I have, it's hard to pick a rant.

But I think since this is relevant to the show, I may bring this up at the beginning. Guess you'll know how the show opens when ya see it. hehe
_________________
John R. Gibson
Host/Writer/Creator Video Masters TV

"The whole planet Houston?" -General Zod
"Am I supposed to conduct with my penis?" -Peter Griffin (Family Guy)
"What does God need with a starship?" - Star Trek V

Splodge · Posted: Apr 10 2009 9:16 am Post subject:

I wouldn't say any review should be used as a buying guide - no one should use a review as the sole reason for buying a game.

Having said that, I do freely admit that I have avoided / watched (or played) movies or games based purely on reviews. I had planned on skipping Punisher War Zone but after a couple of reviews said it was actually a fun movie, I decided to watch it. I only really got into Metal Gear Solid after seeing a few video reviews. Before that, I had no interest what-so-ever.
So reviews can be enough on their own to influence my decisions. But that is not what a review should be - that is not the point of the review.

But a reviewer does have a responsibility. A reviewer has spent time with a game and they do truly have a responsibility to share their experience with people who have not - most people who watch reviews are interested in seeing opinions of games they have not personally played yet.

I'll admit that I'm not in 100% agreement the way VMTV reviews everything (No hard feelings - just a difference of opinion).
I do believe a reviewer should offer more than just a casual opinion - they should almost be an expert on the games they review before they can share their experience - or at least have completed it. A lot of great games only make the jump from good to great, at a certain point. To properly review it, it's important to know it all, know the full weight of every part of the game.
Even if it's not a buyer's guide - there should be some level of expertise behind a game review.

The other thing I don't agree with is ruining the endings of movies. With some retro-games, I can forgive it but I can't say it's a good thing to ruin a movie, especially a short film.

Still, like I say, just a difference of opinion - keep doing what you're doing.
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Black Flag NC · Posted: Apr 10 2009 10:36 am Post subject:

Splodge · Posted: Apr 10 2009 2:38 pm Post subject:

It was very good. Better than I was hoping for. Definitely the best fun I've had with a film in a long time. I'm not sure if it would be as good on my own - it seems like the kind of film you have to watch with an audience, but it was awesome.
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StrifeDeliveries · Posted: Apr 10 2009 3:03 pm Post subject:

Well, I do tend to agree that when coming to review a game that there should be a level of expertise involved, yet I know a reviewer and been part of one as well (truly only 1 lmao), I got to say, that if you are looking for a hardcore in depth intensely reviewed game of whatever check out your local magazine rack. Plus this show from what I have seen has trended toward more retro and the reviews of said, include humor as well as a general outlining of said game. If you ask me, VMTV is quite entertaining with there main objective of showing games to people that people might not of played. I mean are you seriously going to hold responsible ultimately if somebody reviews a game and TELLS you, not opinionated such as toss it, try it, keep it system, wether or not your going buy the game? NO!! Of course not, screw that! I mean, Final Fantasy fan here, really big one, Bad reviews for FFX.5 (Ya it truly wasn't the best but at least there are some really funny parts and almost haunting info in there that makes me, well a geek for it) but I bought it almost new, like anything I want, I get. Also where else are you going to get video media except on G4 or whatever and you never hear anything about anything older than PS3 or Wii or Xbox 360. Huh? I don't know many but maybe that's me. And if a show where in season 1 John mushes Mario in a laptop, do you think VMTV is out there to bring hardcore solidifying reviews of your FAVORITE GAMES?! Um apparently not really, kinda sorta, break out the cam and go for broke!

So all I am really kind of saying is that ya, Reviewers have responsibilities, and that main goal should be relate a generalized sense of feeling of the game to other gamers who been playing so long they have forgot what day like looks like (no just kidding actually most gamers are productive in society). Because face it, you play enough games, you are always going to play what you want to, not what a review might say, if you want more solidarity, pick a media predisposed to marketing influences and how somebodies wallet might get a little bit fatter if it sells, even if its a COMPLETE flop.

Thank you, and this has been me, ranting uncontrollably for no reason but just to do it.

Oh before I forget, FFX.5 had a kid name Shin-ra (Obviously FFVII) and they discover that in the game a sort of life force flows throughout the planet and how to possibly to use it in the future to make energy for cities and everything like that (See where I am going? Warped sense of creativity handed out by a unique game)

So basically, enjoy the reviews, hold them close, but don't in particular let them influence you so you miss out on some great stuff.
ENJOY
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Paul *Strife Deliveries*

Black Flag NC · Posted: Apr 10 2009 3:16 pm Post subject:

Black Flag NC · Posted: Apr 10 2009 3:19 pm Post subject:

John Gibson · Posted: Apr 10 2009 6:35 pm Post subject:

Splodge · Posted: Apr 10 2009 7:47 pm Post subject:

John Gibson · Posted: Apr 11 2009 8:58 am Post subject:

Ya know, in the case of Resident Evil 4 for the Wii, when it was reviewed at the time, it was fairly new, I didn't have to complete the game to review it, nor did I need to to help me figure out if there was a good enough challenge to it. If I spent that much time on it, and I was still not finished upon review time, then there's a great challenge.

Same with Super Paper Mario. I played a lot of that game, was close to finishing it, but I had to get the review out. Completing a game isn't vital to a review, it's not the same as watching a complete film. You cannot review a film if you just watched half of it, and left the theater 45 minutes into the film.

I wouldn't say you have to be an "expert" on the game. No one does. It does help to do your homework on the game. By that, I mean don't look up other people's review, but I find it helps to look at a Wikipedia page, or a website where I can get general info about the game, release date, what other consoles the game was on, etc, and maybe a fun fact here and there.

You are right about RPG's, to a point. I still don't think you have to complete an RPG to review it, especially nowadays, where you have to devote 100 + hours to it in order to get somewhere. Let's say the highest level of experience you can reach in a certain RPG is 60 HP, or whatever. I get 46. I'm maybe another 10 hours or less from the games completion. I can still review it, because I've devoted so much time to it already. I've visited every town, every cave. I'm intimate with every single enemy character in the game, and am familiar with their fight patterns. I've also unlocked 75% of the game's secrets. I can still review the game.

Other people might disagree, and that's fine. Maybe one day, I will pop in an RPG title, and devote some ungodly amount of time to it, and then once I've reached a high level, or decide if I like the game or not, I'll review it.

Naturally, I have found it's not easy to review a game if I can't even get past the first level. Perfect examples of this are when I reviewed Adventures of Batman and Robin on Genesis, and when I almost reviewed Castlevania on the N64. I couldn't review the game because I couldn't even get far enough in the game, so I can review it properly. I thought the graphics were ok, sound was fine. Control was Eh, but it's hard to rate the challenge when you have such a hard time with Level 1. I'm not about to pull an Angry Reviewer and say "This game sucks cause I can't get past the first level". If I'm having so much trouble, I either won't review it, or just devote more time to it, and see what happens.
_________________
John R. Gibson
Host/Writer/Creator Video Masters TV

"The whole planet Houston?" -General Zod
"Am I supposed to conduct with my penis?" -Peter Griffin (Family Guy)
"What does God need with a starship?" - Star Trek V

Splodge · Posted: Apr 11 2009 10:05 am Post subject:

I see what you're saying but I don't think I can completely agree with you.

You could play an RPG to death, get all the secrets, get a high level, visit every town but not finish the game. At that point you think you might have an idea of the quality of the game but really there's no payoff. The ending of that sort of game counts for everything, it's the culmination of everything you've done and a good ending can make the difference between a good game and a great game. You might say that that payoff is not a part of the actual game but it's an important part of the experience.

Imagine playing the lottery. You pick your numbers and buy a ticket. At that point you might think you've captured the lottery experience (you've done everything you've had to do). But the real payoff is checking the results to see if you've won or not. If you don't check, it's a pointless thing to do.

I wouldn't say that only goes for RPGs. In games like Metroid and Zelda, every part of the experience counts. I could play the first two or three dungeons in Ocarina of Time - that would give me an idea of how the game plays technically, but I would have no idea of the scale or impact of the game as a whole.
The same goes for bad games - games that are too short or have bad elements that need to be discovered. The endings of Bioshock and Fallout 3 were a bit of a letdown - while the games were good, they never were great because the ending made things sour and detracted from the experience as a whole.
(And I don't just refer to the ending cinema when I say 'ending' - I mean the actual end-game, be it the last level or final mission or whatever but yes, also the cutscenes too).

But I don't completely disagree with you. This is just another point of view.

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