January 2005 EGM scores

[Canadian Psycho]

Taken from a reliable source:

call of duty : finest hours - 8.5 / 7.5 / 8.0
pop2 : WW - 8.5 / 8.5 / 8.5
ESPN college hoops 2K5 - 6.0 / 7.5 / 8.0
NCAA march madness 2005 - 8.0 / 8.5 / 8.0
Golden eye : RA - 7.5 / 7.5 / 7.5
the incredibles - 5.5 / 6.5 / 7.0
rumble roses - 7.5 / 6.5 / 6.5
ATV offroad furry 3 - 8.5 / 7.5 / 6.5
mega man X8! - 6.5 / 6.5 / 7.0
sega superstars - 5.0 / 7.5 / 4.5
tron 2.0 : killer app - 7.0 / 6.0 / 7.5
ghost recon 2 6.0 / 6.0 / 7.0
blinx 2 - 7.5 / 6.0 / 6.5
doa ultimate - 7.0 / 7.5 / 7.5
super mario 64 DS - 8.0 / 8.0 / 9.0
ridge racer DS - 6.5 / 6.5 / 2.5
sprung DS- 4.0 / 5.0 / 1.0
madden NFL 2005 DS - 6.5 / 7.5 / 7.5
mr. driller DS - 7.5 / 7.5 / 7.0
feel the magic:xy/xx - 8.0 / 9.0 / 7.0
spiderman 2 DS - 6.0 / 5.5 / 3.0
ping pals DS - 1.5 / 0.0 / 0.0
kingdom hearts : com - 7.0 / 7.0 / 7.5

Btw, what is Ping Pals? 1.5 out of 30 just might be the worst score ever in EGM.

[suppafly]

thanks a lot for the info :)

[FlufflePuff]

1.5.... :eek 2:

That's worse than the GBA MK game. Not that i put much stock in their reviews, but damn...

[Promophile]

Saw Ping Pals at target today. Basically its like a few mini-games, and you can collect junk. basically it's like an add-on to the chat feature of the DS.

[Graham Mitchell]

So according to them, the "killer app" for the DS is Feel the Magic XX/XY. Who would've thought?

[FlufflePuff]

Well, Super Mario DS technically scored 1 point better. I would say that the DS doesn't have a killer app yet, and won't likely have one until Metroid is released.

[MegaDrive20XX]

and Mario 64 still kicking ass even after 8 years....

[goatdan]

I forget what game it was, but there was something that was given one or two zeros once upon a time... It scored lower than 1.5.

Regardless, I don't take much of any stock in magazines. I'd rather read what people on GameFAQs and other review sites have mentioned.

[Mayhem]

How they can give Goldeneye:RA a 7.5 mark I don't know... it's utter shite!

[TheRedEye]

So according to them, the "killer app" for the DS is Feel the Magic XX/XY. Who would've thought?

I had a feeling it would be awesome ever since waaaaay back when Famitsu showed the first screenshots. I mean, come on, your girlfriend gets rained on by scorpions.

So...to answer your question, *I* would've thought!

[Canadian Psycho]

How they can give Goldeneye:RA a 7.5 mark I don't know... it's utter shite!

Interesting you say this. Haven't played the game (and never will - not my cup of tea), but there was a debate about that score and EGM's review process, bribes and other things on the Gaming Age Online forum, and a couple of EGM reviewers including Mark MacDonald chimed in. I'd insert a link, but the site seems to be down at the moment.

[zmweasel]

How they can give Goldeneye:RA a 7.5 mark I don't know... it's utter shite!

Interesting you say this. Haven't played the game (and never will - not my cup of tea), but there was a debate about that score and EGM's review process, bribes and other things on the Gaming Age Online forum, and a couple of EGM reviewers including Mark MacDonald chimed in. I'd insert a link, but the site seems to be down at the moment.

So there really are people who think that game journos get "playola" for positive reviews? Wow. Believe me, I wish it was true.

-- Z.

[JJNova]

Well, Super Mario DS technically scored 1 point better. I would say that the DS doesn't have a killer app yet, and won't likely have one until Metroid is released.

New Super Mario Bros. ? Animal Crossing? Harvest Moon? C'mon now...we're talking KILLER APPS...or maybe "kiddie"...as it is apparent I can't tell when a system is childish or not.

[ddockery]

While Feel the Magic and Mario 64 seem to be the best so far, the DS has no killer app as of now. Maybe by March when some of the better titles hit, but definiely not yet.

[Graham Mitchell]

I was being kind of sarcastic when I used the term "killer app", but it's not like anyone can get that by reading it in print. I pretty much agree with everyone, though--DS doesn't have one yet. I hope it does, though (there are speculations that Wario Ware is gonna really showcase what this thing can do). I think this is probably going to be a pretty cool and unique system. I don't know how well the consumer market is gonna swallow it, though, because my interests never reflect the majority.

The DS also has Mr. Driller--I played that game in the arcades years ago and it's rad.

[slownerveaction]

So there really are people who think that game journos get "playola" for positive reviews? Wow. Believe me, I wish it was true.

-- Z.

David Smith did some commentary about this in his blog recently:

http://doktorsmith.1up.com/

It sums it up quite well:

"The other funny part is how ignorant these kids are of how the games industry really works. You don't need to pay magazines and websites for fawning hype and cracked-out reviews, except in a few extremely rare instances"

"Like I say, we don't need to be paid to be weak or stupid or just misguided. Being human, we take care of that fine on our own."

[JJNova]

The DS also has Mr. Driller--I played that game in the arcades years ago and it's rad.

I.....greatly apologize....for overlooking Mr. Driller in the above post.

[Raedon]

EGM is about as reliable as Nintendo Power was or IGN.. Money gets the vote.

[Graham Mitchell]

The DS also has Mr. Driller--I played that game in the arcades years ago and it's rad.

I.....greatly apologize....for overlooking Mr. Driller in the above post.

Well, you may not have an opportunity to murder people or run over a hooker to get your money back, but some of those games are probably really fun regardless, and that's the case with Mr. Driller.

I mean are you actually judging the quality of games based on their violent content? I'm not trying to be a jerk, I just don't understand your post. Please clarify.

[Lady Jaye]

Well, as far as game reviews go, I've said it before and will say it again:

MetaCritic (http://www.metacritic.com) is your friend (for those unfamiliar with the site, it culls reviews for a given game, movie, album or DVD, from varied sources (magazines, newspapers, websites) and compiles an average grade. The only part for which I find it flawed, is the DVD section (often it will link to the movie's theatrical release review, instead of a review of the DVD itself).

[zmweasel]

So there really are people who think that game journos get "playola" for positive reviews? Wow. Believe me, I wish it was true.

-- Z.

David Smith did some commentary about this in his blog recently:

http://doktorsmith.1up.com/

It sums it up quite well:

"The other funny part is how ignorant these kids are of how the games industry really works. You don't need to pay magazines and websites for fawning hype and cracked-out reviews, except in a few extremely rare instances"

"Like I say, we don't need to be paid to be weak or stupid or just misguided. Being human, we take care of that fine on our own."

God bless Mr. Smith. Best game journo in the biz.

-- Z.

[Captain Wrong]

People aren't going to want to believe it, but from my breif time in the world of freelance music writing, it seems like most writers will melt like butter if you say something nice to them and scratch them behind the ears a little bit. As the man said above, you really don't need to bribe them. They're willing to roll over on their own, as long as someone in the industry gives them a pat on the head every once in a while.

[Mayhem]

Give me a pat on the head and I'll bite your hand off LOL

I pull no punches and tell it how it is in my reviews... always have, always will do. And why I hope people trust my judgement if they listen to my views.

[Famidrive-16]

why is everyone so bent over the 1.5? I mean, it got two 0.0's. That's one more 0.0 than what MK Advancde got.

[petewhitley]

Ghost Recon 2 must refer to the inferior PS2 version, because the Xbox version is incredible.