The New Rating System

I've decided to add a new rating system to my little write ups. Below are some thoughts on the why, what and how of it. I guess there's even a little something on the who of it too.

I didn't have one previously because I don't really think of these things as objective reviews, more just semi structured musings on the old games I've been playing. See if you're interested in old videogames you don't really need a product style review with sections devoted to Graphics, Story and Gameplay to decide if something is worth your time. More likely you're just curious as to other peoples impressions of an old favourite or interested in checking out great titles you may have missed the first time around.

However it occurs to me that anyone just casualy surfing the web who winds up at this little blog might just want to read about the games I consider really great or really bad. So I've added a simple 5 star rating system. It's very straightforward.

***** Excellent

**** Great

*** Okay

** Bad

* Terrible

A few quick points.

1.) Excellent does not mean perfect. Entertainment is subjective so calling something perfect is a bit silly.

2.) Personaly I prefer games to be creative and imaginitive over polished and balanced. The ratings will reflect this. In other words please don't tell me that the original Fallout doesn't deserve 5 stars because the combat is slow, some character builds are unbalanced or the UI is unintuitive. The game's atmosphere, creativity and roleplaying all more than make up for that. And seriously if you think the most important thing about a game is it's UI you have screwed up priorities.

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Videogame Ads Are Stupid Part 1

I stumbled upon an old Shacknews article and it led me to these gems.



Yes that was a pimped out mario you saw for a second there.

Anyway MOAR!!



I kinda like the song in that one. That's the kind of music people should use to sell me consumer electronics, none of this new age folky indie rubbish.

This next one is freaking arty as hell. So much for people who like to say those David Lynch Playstation spots were revolutionary.



Yes the nineties were awesome

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The Schooling the Old Mission Statement

The Plan.

To write some smart analysis of classic video games with an emphasis on what designers could learn from them today.

To do so at least once per week.

To avoid snark unless it's absolutely necessary.

To be humorous if it's at all possible.

To be at least readable in terms of grammar and spelling.

To avoid getting off topic.

To fail gracefully at all those aims.
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