Video Life (Atari 2600)

[digitalpress]

Critique the critique!

Rate this review on a scale of 1-10. Please explain your score. Was the review entertaining? Informative? Well-written? All of these things should go toward your critique.

http://www.digitpress.com/reviews/contest/videolife.htm

[digitalpress]

Critique the critique!

Rate this review on a scale of 1-10. Please explain your score. Was the review entertaining? Informative? Well-written? All of these things should go toward your critique.

http://www.digitpress.com/reviews/contest/videolife.htm

[TheRedEye]

I have to applaud someone who would dare to tackle THIS game.

While I do like the "full-circle effect" of beginning and ending with sex, and I really enjoyed the line "the playground network," the contrast between sex and Video Life seems a little weak. This could have been done a lot more cleverly, were the author to invest a little more time in proofreading and revising.

PROTIP: Always sleep on a piece before rewriting it.

I'll give this one a 7, and suggest that the author rework this, adding a little bit of spice while he or she is at it.

[TheRedEye]

I have to applaud someone who would dare to tackle THIS game.

While I do like the "full-circle effect" of beginning and ending with sex, and I really enjoyed the line "the playground network," the contrast between sex and Video Life seems a little weak. This could have been done a lot more cleverly, were the author to invest a little more time in proofreading and revising.

PROTIP: Always sleep on a piece before rewriting it.

I'll give this one a 7, and suggest that the author rework this, adding a little bit of spice while he or she is at it.

[Flack]

7.

A well-written and planned out review. The main problem I had with the review was that the intro was a little cumbersome. Once it got to the game I was interested and read it all the way to the end.

[Flack]

7.

A well-written and planned out review. The main problem I had with the review was that the intro was a little cumbersome. Once it got to the game I was interested and read it all the way to the end.

[maxlords]

Very interesting, very informative. I don't feel that the whole sex commentary really fits in well though. It's almost great, but not quite there. 7/10

[maxlords]

Very interesting, very informative. I don't feel that the whole sex commentary really fits in well though. It's almost great, but not quite there. 7/10

[hamburgler]

7 of 10

Very strange to read at first but it starts to make sense once you read it after a while.

[o2william]

I agree that some bonus points are deserved for tackling this game, but I have to say that the third paragraph went a little over my head. Actually I rather liked seeing the technical descriptions -- they prove the writer understands the game's concept, and the info would be of interest to the game's niche. But a better layman's summary and maybe a note along the lines of "Non-statisticians: feel free to skip this paragraph" would be in order. The idea of using s-e-x to bookend the review is inspired, but it felt a little forced at the end.

7/10 - with polish, it could have been higher, which is quite a feat considering the oddness of the game!

[zmweasel]

* The first sentence is a decent "hook," but the author never establishes a legitimate link between sex and Video Life, and first and second paragraphs should have been cut.

* The third paragraph is a nightmarish jumble of jargon. It takes an exceptional writer to explain science in layman's terms, but the writer of this review definitely ain't Carl Sagan or Simon Singh.

* The historical information about the cartridge is vague.

3/10.

[NoahsMyBro]

I thought this was interesting and entertaining to read, but I didn't understand everything written as well as I'd like.

I'm unclear as to what the player actually does to affect the game.

Clearly the author enjoys the game. And the game was described better than in a lot of the reviews I've seen.

I give this review a 7.

[Drexel923]

The information given, while seems to be a good amount, is confusing. I often found myself getting lost in the descriptions of the gameplay and the research terms. I would have liked to see some information on graphics and sound. The extra info about sex was a nice touch.

6/10

[Captain Wrong]

Rambling and too much techie language. Interesting pick to try and tackle, but I think this review is lacking the spark I'm looking for.

Score: 6

[Ascending Wordsmith]

Sex in a game review? Okay, but it better be good. Honestly, it almost was. The information had me boggled at times. Whatever descriptions I was able to understand, I wish there were more of it.

6/10

[digitalpress]

I'll give this one a 6/10.

The bottom line is that it kinda "lost me" in places. Reading it was akin to listening to a college professor explaining somethnig that is normally very interesting (or could be made to sound so) into something very dry, technical, and ... *scientific*. The fact that it SPELLS "s-e-x" at the beginning further confirms the fuddy-duddy approach of the review.

And I wouldn't give anyone bonus points for tackling this game. Think about the possibilities. It IS about reproduction, after all. I'd rather write a review about a strange conceptual title like Video Life than have to do one for yet another football game.

Still, it IS informative and gets the general points across. But what it could have been... ahh.