IGN vs. Gamespot

Mothergoat · Post by **Mothergoat** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 3:25 pm

So I've heard rumbling on this forum about how IGN is hated. Not sure why. I like both sites...but prefer IGN for layout and sentiment. The Kasavins of the world over at Spot seem a little separated from the love of video games.

Plus Gamepot's layout and navigation SUCKS. IGN is easier to navigate, is cleaner and is an overall better experience. Of course, if you check the sites numerous times a day, you'll notice Gamespot doesn't wait til the end of the day like IGN usually does to update their pages.

Personnel? I admit that Gamespot's reviews bring everyone down to earth and I tend to agree with them more. I personally can't stand IGN Xbox...they have bloated too many reviews for my taste...but they've gotten plenty better. IGN PS2 does suck period. 9's are handed out like free toorsie rolls at grandma's house.

But overall, the insight on the industry and knowledge despite bloated opinions seem to be much better over at IGN.

(and yes I know IGN and Gamespy are now recently the same company)

Realm · Post by **Realm** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 3:37 pm

Never cared for IGN, don't know, just never really liked them. Gamespot is where I usually go for gaming news, they seem pretty good. I always take Gamespot's reviews with a grain of salt, there've been a few I didn't agree with, and their GOTY special each year is shit. (imho) Gamespy sucks, there's really nothing about it I like. For news I usually hit Slashdot and 1Up as well. I've always thought Gamespot's previews and updates were pretty good. Overall though, I'd have to say I trust Penny-Arcade's reviews and opinions more than anyone else's.

RurouniQ · Post by **RurouniQ** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 1:14 am

They all suck. Period. They're all corporate whore sell-outs who are willing to shill to the lowest common denominator or highest paying benefactor. Screw them all. The only thing they're good for is the free news and the occassional bit of import news that can't be found elsewhere. Other than that, I stick with Slashdot and here and that's about it.

Mothergoat · Post by **Mothergoat** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 9:41 am

Yeah! Screw the man!

RT- What the heck are you talking about? Which aspect is the lowest common denominator in the video game world? So...since Ninja Gaiden is popular they suck for covering it? Are there Death Cab for Cuties and Spoons in the VG industry?

I personally hate the "corporate whore sellout" drivel. It's old. It's meaningless. It's an excuse for somebody to bitch.

The VG world is completely different than other lowest common denominator industries. In music we have Britney. Pure suck on many technical levels. In VG world the most popular (or lowest c d) are games like Zelda, Mario, GTA, Halo etc that are all technically superior to uber$#!# like Blowout that DIDN't get covered.

So your blanket statement of lowest common denominator = bad is wayward and really superficial...if that's what you meant.

Making a buck isn't bad until someone forgets how they arrived where they are.

RurouniQ · Post by **RurouniQ** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 10:23 am

It's very simple, MG. On every site, Madden gets the highest rating of all the football games. I think that explains the whole thing pretty well. With these sites and magazines, it's not about integrity; every game that is expected to fly off the shelves is given a boost to their ratings so as not to piss off all the prospective customers. It's good business, but it pisses me off royal. That's why Break is the man and always will be, because journalistic integrity is #1 to him, not the Almighty Dollar, and he says what he feels to be true no matter what sort of backlash he might get.
And the "corporate whore sellout drivel" is not old and meaningless; I work for a international corporation and because of it, I get to see how things work in major corporations. All this sellout stuff you hear isn't made up or exaggerated. It's frighteningly true. I don't want to get into details cuz I don't wanna violate company privacy rules and forfeit my job (which I really need right now for the health insurance), but it's there, trust me, at a painfully stupid and evil level.

Realm · Post by **Realm** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 11:00 am

It's a cold, cruel, painful, meaningless, depressing world out there.

Mothergoat · Post by **Mothergoat** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 12:16 pm

Fair. I am not ignorant to bad corporate practices. But I am referring specifically to games.

But I wholeheartedly disagree with inflated reviews for the sake of helping a company sell more games. Manhunt...Brute Force...Medal of Honor: Rising Sun...where was this evil tactic when Rockstar, Microsoft and EA released these pieces of ubershite?

Madden? I understand why people love Sega's iteration over EA, but people go too far to assert that Madden "sucks." Both franchises are pretty stellar football sims. The only thing that ESPN has over madden IMHO is player faces/graphics. Madden deserves acclaim...and so does ESPN.

I have never met a reviewer of ANY game that hasn't built in their hate or love for a company/franchise into a review of a game. Everyone's at fault.

RurouniQ · Post by **RurouniQ** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 1:42 pm

We KNOW that at least EA gives undue pressure to reviewers. Somewhere on these forums someone posted about their site (I think it was IGN) getting lots of pressure and threats from EA for giving Street a less than flattering review.
And I'm saying Madden gets inflated because that's what the readers expect. If they did otherwise, the readers would get upset and they don't want to upset their market base.

Mothergoat · Post by **Mothergoat** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 1:50 pm

Haha...that was actually me. It was my review for NFL Street for lawrence.com. The main beef they had was that I was one of the first out of the box with a review...a 79% review to boot. Gamespot followed with the same number.

EA never calls me up and pressures me. They did tell me that the developers weren't too happy and guess what I said? "That's nice...when is Bond on the way?" They didn't stop sending me review products. So it's not as hostile as you claim.

I am sorry if I misled people to believe that they were threatening to take away my free games or something. And yes...IGN's review WAS inflated...but honestly...it just takes one prominent site to give a bad review to throw your argument off. Gamespot gave it a blah review.

phylof · Post by **phylof** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 1:56 pm

Mothergoat wrote:In music we have Britney. Pure suck on many technical levels.

I could give her some physical levels too ...

Atticus · Post by **Atticus** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 10:21 am

Even though GS is pretty harsh on their reviews sometimes, their still my first place to check out gaming news.

Mothergoat · Post by **Mothergoat** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 2:53 pm

Wow...so I am in the minority. Most like Gamespot. I guess I like them both. However I agree with the sentiment that Gamespy blows. I can't stand reading their console reviews.

Every review is usually tainted with "Man, this would rock on PC...I HATE consoles" type of crap.

phylof · Post by **phylof** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 6:46 pm

I usually go to Lawrence.com first ... that Matt guy rocks

Seriously, I don't really read any websites ... usually because I don't care what they say. If I play a game and it entertains me to the point of enjoyment, then I will consider it a good game. I usually don't go off of other people's opinions, especially game review sites, since if a game doesn't get a 9 it is total crap. I think most of them are bloated on *all* reviews. There is no way that most games can get 7 or higher ... maybe I am just being too picky, either that or I suck.

jayt11 · Post by **jayt11** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 8:03 pm

you mean joeylawrence.com???? WHOA!!!!!!!

anyhow, Gamespot i find to be the tougher of the 2 on games, but they are nitpicky, and the average gamer won't be as picky when playing a game for fun. I like GS more though, cause their forums are more user friendly, even though IGN has the better layout.

BreakmanX.com

IGN vs. Gamespot

Which do you prefer out of the "Big 3"

IGN vs. Gamespot