Mags: Game Informer, GamePro, & Play - Niche game coverage & Biases?

[j_factor]

IMO, a sub to GamesTM or Retrogamer is money better spent.

Ah yes, GamesTM is great, actually. I also enjoy Edge, although they're not as good as they once were.

I don't think that's fair. If it turns out that 80% (made up number) of the new Wii games are shovelware, and GI (or any publication for that matter) slams each of those games, then obviously the result is going to be a lower cumulative score for Wii software. It's not a bias against the Wii. They aren't slamming these games specifically because they're Wii titles. It's just the result of shoddy software. A reviewer shouldn't be obligated to not give his opinions when, like I said, the reviews are fancy op-ed pieces anyway. And if there is a large amount of less than spectacular software it isn't wrong to point that out. That's like saying GI or any other publication would be in the wrong for mentioning that Xbox 360s aren't exactly the most sturdy pieces of hardware. You can't fairly say "well, shut up and wait for the day when everything is all peachy. Then you can talk all you want."

That's not the point. The complaint with GI isn't that they rightfully slam shovelware titles. In fact, very little shovelware for any system gets reviewed. The complaint is that their coverage is tilted against the Wii. And I don't mean their review scores. Look in the preview section of any recent GI. Very light on Wii games. Look at the reviews. They don't bother to review as many games for the Wii. A new issue just came out (well, like a week ago) and they still haven't reviewed House of the Dead, Tenchu, or Onechanbara. I never saw a review of Dokapon Kingdom in there, or Tales of Symphonia. Do you honestly think Tales of Symphonia is shovelware?