Game Reviewers: Who To Trust?

It's a huge topic of conversation these days, what with so many games coming out all at once. After all, these games need reviews, and there are plenty of media-naysayers out there who say it's getting increasingly difficult to trust video game reviews.

Now, after last year's GameSpot Kane & Lynch fiasco, they probably have a point. And we sincerely doubt that reviewers on one of the super huge sites never once fudged an overall score just a bit, entirely - although perhaps subconsciously - due to the lure of advertising dollars. Then, the smaller sites don't have the resources to review every single title the instant it's released, even though they may not bend to potential bribery. As evidenced by this article, some gamers are having a difficult time trusting anyone. Well, we're here to tell you that reviewing games at PSX Extreme is a really simple process: we get the game, we play it, and then we tell you what we think. It never goes beyond that. Our reviews are as timely as we can make them - you almost never have to wait more than a few days or a week or so for a high-profile review - and they're always informative and detailed. Hell, we got you LittleBigPlanet, Dead Space, and Bioshock well before they ever released on store shelves. And the likes of Silent Hill: Homecoming, NBA 2K9, and Saints Row 2 weren't far behind.

The point is, this question of trust doesn't just involve reviews; we're starting to hear more and more about gamers leaving the huge sites due to a lack of community control (among other reasons), and we've also heard a lot about the death of blog-based gaming sites. We are neither a blog nor a crazy huge gaming site, but we're large enough to get our games from publishers to review, and we're small enough to keep our community fantastic; exactly the way we like it. Reviews are a staple of this particular form of media; that's for damn sure, and we do understand everyone's concern. Who can you trust? Honestly, we think too much is being made of the idea that all these game critics are on the take, because as much as we dislike places like GameSpot and IGN, we assure you this isn't true. It's more accurate to assume the majority of reviewers handle their game reviews the same way we do ours.

But here's one thing you're not going to see at PSXE: ads plastered all over the place for a certain game, than that game scoring a full two points higher here than the standard critic average. ...kinda like Mark Ecko's Getting Up at GameSpot.

10/21/2008 Ben Dutka

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Comments (49 posts)

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Alienange
Tuesday, October 21, 2008 @ 10:52:49 PM
Reply

That's what drew me here. Can't stomach the huge sites with a bunch of fools on there. The community on PSXE is great and keeps me coming back for more. The reviews here seem honest to me too so thanks for that.

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Scarecrow
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 1:13:45 PM

Same with me, the articles here are very straightforward and while I may not agree with everything, this is really the best console news site I've seen.

I used to respect GameInformer's and GamePro's reviews the best(still love their reviews). But psxe's reviews are second to none, really like the scoring system and they look at all aspects of the games when giving them a score.

The best thing is that you don't see the staff here cater to any game in particular. I mean they talk 'bout the hot games, but you don't see them gagging all over Resistance2(OVER all other games) like we see in *cough* Gamespot/Gametrailers *cough*

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WorldEndsWithMe
Tuesday, October 21, 2008 @ 11:41:23 PM
Reply

I'll say this, the gang here is more in tune with my own tastes. Also since it's a Playstation site we don't have to worry about brand favoritism. I still drop into IGN from time to time but I find it has been overrun with non-gaming stuff of late. I think the accusations of people being on the take have to do with people rating games which they aren't really qualified to rate, in other words you wouldn't want me rating most FPS games since I'm an RPG and TPS fan mostly. See my point? Arnold did the LBP review because it was more his forte. Win-win.

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Aftab
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 2:10:41 AM
Reply

For the reasons mentioned, I take the reviews here more seriously than else where. I do check out the monster gaming site from time to time, particularly for the user reviews, but even those have been affected by GTA4: Everything seems to be rated as a 10 in revenge or as shite out of spite, with not much in between. I use to check out the vids quite frequently, but they tend to spoil the initial surprise of great games a bit, especially when they a come out a year or two in advance.
Regarding the speediness of the publishing of reviews, no big deal, again, because a sober review coming out after the madness subsides is much more reassuring.

That being said, I would like to see certain high profile games doubly reviewed. It's not that I doubt the credibility of either Arnold, Ben, or John by themselves. Each of their perspectives I trust more so than the entire staff of other gaming sites. But let me give you an example: LBP. It is clear it is an excellent game, after hearing Mr. Katayev's side. However, Mr.Dutka, it would be interesting to hear your side, from someone who wasn't particularly interested in the game, because it would show whether the game defies interest groups or not. For example, regarding GTA4, I never played the previous iterations simply because I wasn't inclined to. But when you highly recommended the game to everyone even if it wasn't "your cup of tea", I instantly went for it, and realized what you wrote was 100% dead-on. And I would prefer a scored review as opposed to an editorial, simply because a great game can be anything between a 9 and a 10. But something close to 10 means a game is a must-buy regardless whether your into the genre or not. That being the case, I'm going for the game especially since Arnold said not playing it is a "crime against, well, something." But I still would be highly interested in hearing your side, Ben, because it will make the difference between me getting it used or on release, especially with all the other must-have's coming out.

Last edited by Aftab on 10/22/2008 2:22:11 AM

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Tim Speed24
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 8:12:59 AM

I try not to watch the videos also on the bigger gaming sites because it DOES ruin the suprise and 'fun of discovery'

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JPBooch
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 10:17:51 AM

I like that idea, even if it a two sentence blurb and a score by the other guy. It lets us see another opinion that is valued. I think Game Informer does that or one of the magazine review guys.

Last edited by JPBooch on 10/22/2008 10:18:16 AM

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www
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 10:24:58 AM

Yeah reviews from all of you...i think is a brilliant idea.

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ceedot
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 3:43:57 AM
Reply

Giving an 11 to a game isn't 'telling it how it is'. It may be a comical thing, but professionally it's bias. Anyway, I do trust this site, and I doubt people would bribe you, but I can tell when someone is being payed sometimes.

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WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 4:03:56 AM

The 11 is on replayability, partially as a joke but a joke with a point: because no game has offered this level of replayability before since Media Molecule deemed the major point of this game to be the ability of every player to create their own levels and the ability of any player with online access to play levels from users all over the world which probably will not cease to pop up even in the event of mass nuclear war.

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OhYessss
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 5:00:47 AM
Reply

Whats with the porno adverts?

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FLYING_APE
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 11:02:09 AM

I LOVE CAKE AND PSX-EXTREME (name is crap tho)

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whooka
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 6:26:54 AM
Reply

I pretty much rely on my own judgement of the playable game demo before I'll purchase anything unless it's something I absolutely know I'll like whether it's got some problems or not (i.e. if the next Ratchet and Clank game showed up in stores tomorrow before it was reviewed I'd still run out and buy it). That part is obviously a matter of personal taste but as far as 'trusting' reviews i think you find a particular site or reviewer that you feel has similiar tastes as oneself does and a proven track record and you stick with it. I don't think all reviewers are lying or working in concert with the game publisher when there's a review out i disagree with. Alot of aspects of enjoying the game will be relative to the player so what's fun to one person, or a control issue to one person, is not necessarily an issue to another person. There is no 'is' or absolute reality for anything out there, baby, the bulk of it is relative to the observer.

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www
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 6:44:20 AM
Reply

Gamespot's 8/10 for Uncharted is the sh@##est review i ever heard,well Ben u say they aren't bias but look at this,8 for Uncharted,naaaw.

Eurogamer are gettin worse,10/10 for fableII,9/10 for LBP but the overall rankings has LBP faaar leadin FableII.

I trust IGN better than the 2 mentioned.

Psxextreme is my most trusted.

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The_Benny
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 8:48:59 AM

Interestingly, if you listen to the staff at Eurogamer you'll find that for some of them it's the first place they've worked at where editors actually haven't tried to exert any control over the score they give. So when scores go against the conventional opinion it's specifically because there isn't anybody telling them to adjust it to match what other people are giving it.

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Jed
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 6:45:01 AM
Reply

I read the reviews on this site and usually ending up agreeing with them. Other than you guys, I only pay attention to reviews from the consumers.
Magazines get free copies of the game and get payed to play it, so I think their views will usually be a little different than consumers who spend their own money on the game. The game could be an alright game, but not worth the 60 bucks we have to drop to get it.

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Alienange
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 2:57:27 PM

You sir just made perfect sense and I absolutely agree. It's one reason why I like this site's community.

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TheRaPtuRe
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 7:35:56 AM
Reply

i only really trust you guys now, everyone else just suck and are biased.
I just read a review on dead space on one site that gave it a 7 out of 10, they said it offered nothing new and was too generic and repetitive, i totally disagree, this game is 9!

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cadpig
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 7:46:50 AM
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It's hard to trust any review site anymore. I like to go by what people said that bought the game at amazon or newegg. I wish there were more demos released

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Tim Speed24
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 8:15:07 AM
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This site is more objective than most. GameSpot is full of Xbox fanboyism. Every forum has something in it trying to prove the 360's existence.

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Shatterday
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 9:59:57 AM
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I don't read enough reviews to worry about who to trust. I used to read PSM and even then I would still buy games despite them recieving a crap rating. I absolutely love this site. I can't believe I didn't find it sooner. I remember I was at work and I would google PS3 under news and just read all the stuff that comes up, every once in a while your articles would come to my attention. Once I took the time to actually come on here every day because you always have something interesting and new, I was in love. I'm not the most active when it comes to posting but I do read almost everything you put up... unless the title is something I absolutely do not give a crap about. I just want you to know that I love this place, despite my limited interraction and for every one of the people you see posting, there are hundreds more reading what you have to say. Keep it up!

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photo K
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 10:09:34 AM
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Ture dat Shatterday, I too come to the site everyday and read most of the news but the posters here are normally very good at expressing the thoughts many of us "viewers" have. This is the Only site I trust in reading reviews.

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BeezleDrop
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 10:12:02 AM
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Ya know at first I started reading other sites reviews like ign, but then I discovered this site and couldn't turn away from its greatness. Any other sites reviews are lacking but the ones here keep up the quality I need. Plus the community here is much cooler. Great work here!

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Joe_III
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 10:49:10 AM
Reply

I have a much different viewpoint on games and what's good or bad and what bad parts can be overlooked for the whole. This is why I got kicked off a site I used to write for.

But I digress. Its really simple for myself. Here for PS3 games, TeamXbox for 360 games. That said, any AAA titles/highly anticipated sequels I don't bother to read reviews on because no one can be trusted with them. And after all, I'm a game-whore so I'm going to play all those games anyways.

My main problem with reviews and reviewers is that most of them have the same standard when it comes to reviews. Which is really amazing since games and gameplay is such a subjective experience. Take GTA4, I can agree with most of your itemized results, but overall it didn't deserve a 9.9.

And I completely disagree with you on Dynasty Warriors 6. But I won't quibble.

However one thing I do like about your system is that the overall is not an aggregate or average of the list items which shows that either the whole can be greater or lesser than the sum of its parts or that you're just bad at math.

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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 1:19:07 PM

Most all sites tell you specifically that the overall score isn't necessarily an average of the individual categories, and there's a reason for that. There are other determining factors that go into our Overall factor; for us, it's mostly the Tilt factor you find at GameSpot. Essentially, how much we enjoyed the game on a whole is considered in the Overall score after the individual category scores are tallied.

We think this works well.

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Joe_III
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 1:43:05 PM

ha i wouldn't know. The last site I worked for, the total score was an average of the parts.

But I only go to ign or metacritic for a score if I'm trying to find one for a statistic or to quote it...

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Frenchy17
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 10:54:41 AM
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I could'nt for the life of me understand how IGN would not give Little Big Planet a 10 in the replay value department. With all the user created levels, this game should have some of the best replay value ever! That is why when I saw Arnold's 11, I knew I was in the right place for reviews. I dont really put much stock into reviews anyways, but I like to read them just to get other people's take on games.

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PS3addict
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 11:52:52 AM
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I love and trust the reviews you guys give and for the most part you are my exclusive source for all PS3 info..

But can you give me a review for Web of Shadows please? It looks sweet, I am taking a half day from work today to pick it up.

Regardless of the review I will buy it (Prepaid months ago), but it would be great to have more info on this game. From what I have seen on the web, it is a sweet game with little more info on it besides plot and video... I am hoping it will be one of the not Advertised gems of the PS3 this year. I read your preview, but would love to hear your input on the final product.

Please??

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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 1:17:06 PM

That's coming but it'll be a little later...Activision sent it to me instead of Arnold, and it's his to review. So I'm going to have to send it to him, and then he'll take care of it. Sorry for the small delay on this one...but bear in mind, we've got like a GAJILLION games to review right now. LOL

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tlpn99
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 1:13:03 PM
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I trust the reviews on this site a lot, most of my game purchaes have been cos of something that Ben or Arnold has said. With the exception of Bioshock as I knew I was getting that as soon as I knew the PS3 version was coming out and I will be trading in my 360 version.

I sometimes use Metacritic to get an overall feel for a game but that does films dvd's and music as well as games.

Anyhow what I wanted to ask was do you guys split the reviews ? I mean if say your a driving fan and its a driving game do you say I'll review that or just decide by simply tossing a coin ? Or does it depend on whose got the heavier workload ?

Anyhow for once outside life beckons im going the pub to watch the football (soccer). Gaming can wait for a night, well maybe squeeze a few rounds of something in later after the game.

Last edited by tlpn99 on 10/22/2008 1:17:16 PM

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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 1:22:09 PM
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Aftab and others: As for putting up multiple reviews, we would if we had time. And you may see it for super huge releases like Resistance 2. But if Arnold does a review, you can usually get my two cents on it if I play it; I'll put my thoughts in an editorial or in my Week in Review.

Multiple reviews for the same game just isn't something we have time for, although it's great to know you guys are interested in hearing more viewpoints. For the most part, Arnold and I agree on many of the games, though, so two separate reviews wouldn't really matter much. In other cases, it might...and that's when you might see the two reviews. :)

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Joe_III
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 4:37:46 PM

Ben,
If you ever need any help, just send some games over my way and I'll be happy to do some backup reviews...
Joe III

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Arvis
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 1:35:39 PM
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Not to exacerbate the echo effect in these comments, but I too love this site. I was a loyal reader for months and months before I registered last week. Absolutely the first place I go for news, and I love how Ben is so involved with the community here. Also, Ben has GREAT taste in video games. :)
I wanted to register so badly a few months ago when alot of the comments were claiming Final Fantasy Tactics as the greatest video game ever made. I knew I was home when I read that.

-Arvis

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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 5:13:27 PM

"Also, Ben has GREAT taste in video games. :)"

LOL Even with all these games I have to play - and games I want to play - I found myself wanting to start a new game of FFT the other day. The urge comes at least once a month, but these days, I can only indulge it like once a year or so. Heh.

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BigBoss4ever
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 1:58:25 PM
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As I said, this is the best fan-based website I have seen. Reviews are informative and up-to-date and hands on. Love PSX site!!!

IGN is rediculous, they gave Golden Axes Beast Rider only 3.2 out of 10, they gave Lost Odyssey 7 point sth score whereas I think it is the best JRPG in this generation so far. Gamespot is a bit better. But PSX is the best, no pop up ads and very accurate and editors have great taste of the games.

Last edited by BigBoss4ever on 10/22/2008 2:02:42 PM

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LightShow
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 5:33:16 PM
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I like it here. The community is rather self-regulating, and when an individual won't take a hint, Ben or Arnold steps in. Its a good way to go about keeping a nice community.

Plus, even though we may not all agree, for the most part everyone is civil and has a certain degree of maturity and restraint. It's nice to see such individuals exist, and you wouldn't know it after a few minutes on a gamespot forum.

Keep it up, guys. And try to STAY moderately sized.

Last edited by LightShow on 10/22/2008 5:33:29 PM

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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 5:54:29 PM
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"And try to STAY moderately sized."

Can't promise that. ;) But I CAN promise to keep the same personal attention and regulations in place, regardless of how big we get.

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LightShow
Thursday, October 23, 2008 @ 10:45:34 AM

I'll hold you to it =D

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shaydey77
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 6:41:43 PM
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@ Lightshow Totally agreed.

I love hearing other peoples views on topics and then inputting my own. Often i have agreed or disagreed with people and found responses to be with as you put it "a certain degree of maturity and restraint". Without this site i would be in complete darkness for Ps3 news.
As for people that only comment once in a while..you guys should comment more!!Its best to have more opinions especially as we all want the same thing..great games, great news and great fun!!

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Jed
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 8:14:10 PM
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it's really nice to actually be able to interact with everybody on the site, and not have to sift through 300 comments to find out what other people think.

I think my favorite thing about this site is watching how Ben reacts to the smart-mouthed fanboys that show up periodically.

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AbCdEfG
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 8:19:38 PM
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I discovered psxextreme.com on accident, and it has becomed one of my favorite sites to get PS news

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Shellshock92
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 9:05:43 PM
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Hell YeahI take PSX's reviews into consideration when buying a game

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Daedusian
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 9:55:49 PM
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I come here to read articles on things that I would be interested in, and right now all I care about is the PS3. And when I get my 360 this Xmas, I’ll have to look out for a great site like this, of which will be hard to find. Staying on topic, you guys still don’t have a 360 exclusive site do you? I know there’s XboxNerds or something, or has that site been trashed?

On another note, IGN I trust for the most part, but as for GameSpot, I am through with their reviews. However, I do visit GameSpot quite a lot, but that is only for their video content. It’s hard to leave a site behind that releases gameplay footage, interviews with the creators, etc. almost weekly, sometimes even daily. And that goes for G4 too. To me G4 is nothing like it used to be, but they get their hands dirty a lot which is what also brings me back. As for their reviews, I do not look so heavily on them as well. In the end, I prefer a mature/smaller site over these any day, hence the reason why I’m on PSXE most of the time and not the latter. So, in other words, please don’t change PSXE lol!

Last edited by Daedusian on 10/22/2008 10:01:00 PM

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gankdol
Thursday, October 23, 2008 @ 1:16:38 AM
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Well I can honestly say that IGN rips people off, I know most ppl will agree with me when I say MGS4 = 10, Assassin's Creed > 8.3, and Deas Space > 8.4

I love PSXextreme, because you guys are the only ones that do deliver, F all other sites that try to get a crappy game in your head...

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ceedot
Thursday, October 23, 2008 @ 6:29:47 AM
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Why does everyone suck bens di**? I personally prefer arnold as he is less bias. Doesn't mean I hate ben, but sometimes I feel he is bias and that people only like him more because of it. I think bens cool but it's just annoying when people say 'ben I agree with you', 'ben you are so totally right', 'couldn't have said it better ben' when it was arnold who wrote the article.

Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 10/23/2008 10:20:26 AM

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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Thursday, October 23, 2008 @ 10:21:15 AM

Until you can provide even one - just ONE - instance of my so-called bias, this is the last time you make a comment about it. Got it? I'm the least biased gamer you'll EVER KNOW, so get your head around to that fact.

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LightShow
Thursday, October 23, 2008 @ 10:46:26 AM

Buuuurn...

I felt the heat from that one all the way over here ^_^

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Deleted User
Thursday, October 23, 2008 @ 8:43:31 PM
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Ceedot I think you do have a point. I mean wow Ben he was just voicing his opinion and you fire off on him like that? When I read these posts whenever someone says something in favor of the 360 it seems like you always threaten to "delete" them from the site. To me, the ones that don't crotch ride you all the time are the ones that should be respected. And until you can admit that you are somewhat biased when it comes to these games you will REMAIN "moderately sized"

Last edited by n/a on 10/23/2008 8:45:07 PM

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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Thursday, October 23, 2008 @ 11:46:49 PM

Don't think so, chief.

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DigitalStorm
Friday, October 24, 2008 @ 4:16:21 AM
Reply

Currently I use metacritic for the reviews. I tend to find it smooths out the dodgy reviews.

I do however completely ignore their user reviews and I'd be quite interested to see who they weight their score towards.

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