Against Foolish Reviewers

Not only in Gamespot, but many other websites.

Like many people I sometime wish I could live in a fantasy world where unicorns roam the earth and elves play wooden flutes whilst sitting in talking trees. However we all have to put up with reality and the drawbacks that brings. Including the inability to see into the future. Anyone who gives a game max point without even knowing what it's really about is either living out their fantasy of having second sight or they are a deluded, egotistical and stupid individual.

I understand that people are excited about oncoming games. I understand that many people think they will 'own' and that it will be the single biggest thing to happen to video games since someone started drawing a big yellow circle and then left a slice out of it so it was shaped a bit like the pizza they had just started eating. However all these non-reviews serve to do is give a false impression to the buying public when the game is eventually released. If you are so excited that you have to tell the world about it then why not use forums on Gamespot or other gaming sites? There you might even be able to swap excitement with other like-minded individuals about how great the game MIGHT be when it comes out.

This isn't just a problem with games, and websites need to get their house in order with all their products where this is concerned.

The review section on Gamespot is for reviews. Not fantasy, not predictions, not opinions based on what you THINK something is like. A review is about what you have EXPERIENCED and what you KNOW something is like because you have played/used/experienced that thing. A review is something used by other people to find out what others who have used or own the product really think about it. It helps people make an INFORMED decision about what to buy.

Gamespot members should do genuine customers a favor by not writing 'reviews' before a review is humanly possible. No member of the general public should be allowed to review an item before it is on sale to the public, unless they have been involved in a game beta or in a position where they have received the product on pre-release. It isn't hard to check and it would stop all these pointless comments from people about products they simply have an uninformed opinion about.

If someone from the development team/an author/a musician who is involved in the item wants to write in with a preview piece then fine, that is possibly of value to the buying public. A posting by someone with little better to do than talk about a product they do not own, have not played and so cannot possibly review is a waste of time and space. What foolish reviewers are doing is massaging the egos of the interminably "stupidness" by making them think their non-opinions are worth something to people out there.

WE DON'T WANT OPINIONS, WE WANT GENUINE REVIEWS!