High Review-Scores Shouldn't Make You Happy

I see it all the time. Fanchildren of all types are happy when a game that they are looking forward to gets a high review-score, even though they haven't even played the game yet.

Review-scores don't mean anything. Just because a game gets a 10 doesn't mean you will like it. In fact, you may like a game that gets a 7 more than a game that gets a 10, so it doesn't make any sense whatsoever to care about high review-scores. Use your own judgment. Know your own tastes.

You are not part of whatever company developed or published the game that got a high review-score, so why does it make you happy? By becoming happy about it, you are just being a foolish fanchild. To borrow a term from Blackbond, a fanchild is nothing more than a "corporate slave." Fanchildren do the work that advertising agencies and PR people are supposed to do, without getting paid. That's what a slave is: someone who works for somebody else without getting paid. Stop being a slave.

If you were looking forward to a game, and it gets high review-scores, of course, that could be a good thing: the game you were looking forward to is widely considered good. Great;  be wary, however. The "professional" game-reviewers out there have different tastes than you. They must play through a game within one or two weeks, and normal people do not play games like that. Some companies design games so that they will get high review-scores, versus actually trying to make the game fun. If that sounds antithetical, it is not.

A review-score is just one more piece of information that consumers can use to determine whether or not to purchase videogames. They are just one tool. Do not rely on them. Know what review-scores mean to you, personally. Above all else, trust your tastes and instincts over someone else's.

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