I’ve returned once more with another Sunshine Blogger Award. This is my third post for the Sunshine Blogger Award and this time I was nominated by Red Metal. Be sure to visit their blog if you haven’t.

Between music, film/television, and game critics, which do you find the least consistently reliable?

I would have to go with game critics as the least reliable. Others can be unreliable, but you never know when you can trust video game critics. The best example is what happened to Jeff Gertsmann.

If you don’t know Gertsmann used to work for GameSpot before starting his own review site, Giant Bomb. GameSpot had ads displayed on their site for an upcoming game called Kane and Lynch. Gertsmann gave the game a score of 6/10 and he was fired.

GameSpot claims him being fired had nothing to do with the review. This seems like a false claim though as he was fired soon after that review. Below are some articles that go more into detail.

Kotaku: https://kotaku.com/yes-a-games-writer-was-fired-over-review-scores-5893785

Escapist Magazine: https://www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/jeff-gerstmann-explains-his-departure-from-gamespot/

Between music, film/television, and game critics, which do you find the most consistently reliable?

I think music critics are consistently reliable. I say that mostly because film/television and game critics are just too unreliable. From the music critics that I have listened to, usually on YouTube, give their honest opinion on the music they are listening to. Some of them even break down the notes and different beats in the songs.

What was your single worst theatergoing experience?

The worst experience I had was back in high school. I think I was a Sophomore at the time. There is a movie theater that is about ten to fifteen minutes walking distance from where I went to school and a movie called the Martian was released.

The school decided to make it a field trip and I went. Me and my friend got stuck in the back of the concession line so we were the last ones into the theater. We ended up stuck in the front row having to look up at the screen for the entire movie. The move was pretty good but my neck hurt for quite a bit.

What was your single best theatergoing experience?

Video from gfycat

One of my best theatergoing experiences was once again back in high school. I can’t remember if we planned it or not, but we were walking around after school and realized that Captain America: Civil War was out. We decided to go and watch it and it was a pretty good movie. It was especially enjoyable while watching it with my friends.

Do you think a lousy ending can completely ruin an otherwise great work?

I do think a lousy ending can ruin a great work. When it comes to any kind of media whether they be movies, books, or video games a lousy ending can sour the experience. Imagine having an excellent story build up to a conclusion just to have it end in a lackluster way. A lousy ending could leave you hating the game, movie, or or book.

Do you think an incredible payoff can redeem an otherwise middling (or even bad) work?

I don’t think an incredible payoff can redeem a middling or bad work. My reasoning for this is because to get to the good you have to suffer through the bad. If a book, movie, or video game is all bad up until the ending, I’ll still label it as bad. If something has an incredible payoff it would make me wonder what happened to the rest of the work? Did they only focus on the ending and disregard the beginning?

Do you feel the price increase of AAA games was justifiable or not?

Personally I don’t believe it was justified at all. Sure I’ve bought newer games, but noticeably less than usual. These games honestly make a lot of money as well as the CEOs of these companies making a lot of money as well. I can’t really see the justification for raising the prices of games. It just makes a relaxing activity more expensive.

What work did you like as a kid only for you to realize it doesn’t hold up at all?

We’re going way back in time for this one. One game that I liked as a kid that doesn’t hold up today is Spider-Man 2: The Sinister Six on the Game Boy Color. It obviously doesn’t hold up today because of how dated it is combined with the hardware limitations. Compared to the Spider-Man games that are out now it just doesn’t stack up. It was good when it came out, but just can’t compete with the better hardware of today.

What work did you not like as a kid only for you to later realize it’s amazingly good?

Kingdom Heearts Birth By Sleep Cover
Image from Amazon.com

The one game that comes to mind is Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep. As a kid I hated how you got new magic, you had to fuse skills to get new ones as buying magic only got you a limited amount. I don’t think I finished the game when I first had it. At some point I ended up replaying it and realized how wrong I was. Birth By Sleep offered a unique experience that set it apart from Kingdom Hearts I and Kingdom Hearts II.

Having three different characters that all played differently was amazing. It was also nice that each character experienced the different worlds in their own way. There was also a large amount of magic skills that could be made. I also enjoyed the the true final battle.

Are there any podcasts you listen to regularly?

There aren’t any that I listen to regularly. I listen to a few every now and then, but nothing consistently.

Taking cues from AK’s last question, what is the most bizarre combination of ingredients you enjoy?

I personally wouldn’t consider it bizarre but I like the whole sweet and salty combination. Chocolate and pretzels are pretty good. I know some people probably don’t like it but that goes for anything. All I ask is that we respect that some people don’t like certain things that we like and vice versa.

Conclusion

As usual thank you all for reading as always. Be sure to read my first and second posts for the Sunshine Blogger Award if you haven’t. Below are my questions and the people I am tagging. Don’t feel obligated to answer. Also if I didn’t tag you feel free to answer these questions or the other questions from previous Sunshine Blogger Award posts.

  1. What’s one game you refuse to finish?
  2. What game would you like there to be a sequel for?
  3. What game coming out this year, if any, are you most excited for?
  4. What’s your go to snack?
  5. What is the best way to preserve older games in your opinion?
  6. What goals do you have for your blog this year, if any?

I’m tagging:

Buffalo_Retro_Gaming

McKenna Talks About Games

meghanplaysgames

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Author TheGamerWithGlasses
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Comments (5)

  • Red Metal
    May 21, 2021 at 11:52 am Reply
    I think what ultimately sinks gaming critics is that they’re very lackadaisical. Whenever I read their articles, I seldom get the sense they actually like video games; they always seem to favor games that downplay the “game” factor as much as possible, and when called out on it, they can’t mount strong defenses. That lack of passion really makes their assessments difficult to take at face value. I actually consider film critics slightly less reliable because the worst acclaimed films are generally worse than the worst acclaimed games and films are in a state of arrested development right now (which, granted, isn’t the critics’ fault), but I never get the sense that film critics lack passion. It’s a passion that masks a lack of self-confidence by desperately and constantly seeking validation, but it is at least somewhat genuine, and their willingness to promote independent talent (while misguided given the current talent pool) does denote a greater amount of respect for the medium than what game critics offer. Really, a lot of people focus on what game critics do when criticizing them. They’re right to do so, but what I find especially offensive about them is what they *don’t* do – namely, that they stopped talking about indie games once members of the scene quieted down and stopped providing them with tabloid drama. It’s easy to tell when you’re only in it for the money, and while film critics are frequently pretentious snobs, at least they’re not sellouts. Ironically enough, the critics of what is arguably the most subjective medium are the most consistently reliable. I think what separates music critics from game and film/television critics is that they’re the only circle that pointedly and consistently demand innovation from their artists and always praise ambition when it’s evident. I mean, yes, occasionally, you’ll get a Rolling Stone-type who only promotes stuff that reminds them of their childhood, but those kinds of critics are generally mocked. Like the artists themselves, critics are always redefining themselves and those who can’t keep up usually end up getting left behind. It’s why I don’t think it’s a coincidence that, when listening to the opinions of music critics, I have never discovered anything that wasn’t at least decent. I’ve never actually sat in the front row in a movie theater; I’m surprised it’s even an option in some of the larger ones. I can imagine if the film is long enough that your neck would indeed hurt for quite a bit. My Endgame audience was pretty lively. I was expecting it to be a little rowdy, but they were very well-behaved, only laughing at things that were actually funny and cheering at scenes that actually warranted it. And that’s the reason I have my penalization rule. No work with a lousy ending can get more than five points from me, and while a lot of people may think that’s harsh, I can counter with the notion that a lack of care will translate to a lack of points from me. It’s not my fault when the artists refuse to get good. It’s interesting because I don’t have a specific rule for when a middling/bad work has an incredible payoff, but I find they tend not to fare much better. The only difference is, not being subject to penalization, they can actually earn more than five points, but a work guilty of being mediocre up until the third act would need to really make an exceptionally good case for itself just to earn a 7/10 with Live A Live being one of the very few examples I can think of where I can definitively say, yes, it is worth suffering through what is otherwise an average-quality game to experience the payoff. I think the price increase could’ve been justifiable given inflation if the AAA industry actually gave a damn about quality assurance, but because they don’t, it isn’t. If they really want to make a profit, what they should really consider doing is cutting costs, and because the better graphics of the current generation don’t afford many new avenues for gameplay, I’m sure they can find ways to cut development costs without having to lay anyone off. The AAA model, as it is now, isn’t sustainable, and this price increase is probably just a way to delay the inevitable.
  • TheGamerWithGlasses
    May 21, 2021 at 12:26 pm Reply
    The audience when I watched Endgame was the same as the audience you were with. I can't stand those audiences that are all loud and yelling. I'm a Marvel fan as well but I would be annoyed to hear screaming and yelling instead of the actual movie.
  • meghanplaysgames
    May 21, 2021 at 8:01 pm Reply
    Thanks for the nomination! There’s nothing sadder than going back to a game you loved as a kid and realizing it’s lowkey awful, haha.

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