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You had to have done that on purpose... guh. Ha.Dutch wrote:Famitsu scored the game 40/40. It is only the 8th game in the magazine's long history that has scored that high. That's the second game so far this year, it seems 2008 is turning out to be quite a good year for games.
Do you have proof of this advertiser money claim you make?Black Lotus wrote:They rate for expectations and advertiser money anyway. Anybody in North America who gives Famitsu ratings any second thought is a fanboy fooling themselves.
And it seems that you're buying into it as well since you're obviously making a significant financial sacrifice to get the game.Black Lotus wrote:I broke down and bought an 80GB bundle. My wallet weeps.
So, essentially Famitsu...
Looks like you didn't understand the thread very well.SineSwiper wrote:So, essentially Famitsu...
...is just an excuse for PR, which only reviews games that companies have paid them to review. (This would probably exclude most US games.)
...treats scoring as a meaningless object, since the difference between 39/40 and 40/40 is huge.
...does even give out perfect scores to perfect games (or anywhere near perfect games).
...is a mag for fanboys, so that fanboys can look at their favorite series and squeal in delight when it gets a high score, instead of say, scoring on whether the game is actually good or not.
I am relatively certain that you are the one who didn't understand that thread very well. Give it another read...Dutch wrote: Looks like you didn't understand the thread very well.
"The reviewers got into the magazine because they like games. Their opinions tend to be either honest or else just informed by honesty. If they play a game they hadn't ever heard of and they truly, truly love it, and end up playing it for twelve hours in one sitting, and they really want to say they like it, that's what they do."
SineSwiper wrote:...is just an excuse for PR, which only reviews games that companies have paid them to review. (This would probably exclude most US games.)
TFA wrote:Contrary to what hordes of western gamers believe, people don't "pay" Famitsu for a specific review score. I know this because I have dinner with Famitsu guys once a week.
It's more like, a company pays Famitsu "protection money" -- in other words, they pay them to review their games, period.
...
Yet Famitsu makes more money off the back cover advertisement than off all the newsstand sales combined (they offer no subscription service). What Famitsu is -- and you wouldn't know this unless you've held a heavy issue in your hand on a tired Friday morning -- is straightforward (if not entirely honest) PR in a pretty, meaty, high-quality bundle. It's an advertisement feast.
SineSwiper wrote:...treats scoring as a meaningless object, since the difference between 39/40 and 40/40 is huge.
TFA wrote:When Famitsu rates a game high, they do it out of respect for the readers -- avid players of Kingdom Hearts as most of them are. Avid players of Kingdom Hearts don't want to be told what Famitsu really thinks of their fucking piece of shit hobby. So Famitsu awards the "courtesy score" -- which used to be all nines and a ten, and is now all tens and a nine. When Famitsu KNOWS a game is going to sell 2 million copies in a week regardless of what they say, this is what they do.
SineSwiper wrote:...does even give out perfect scores to perfect games (or anywhere near perfect games).
TFA wrote:Famitsu is still very careful about perfect scores. No matter what, readers will bawl when a perfect score is given. They will be either overjoyed or deeply angry. Final Fantasy XII's perfect score, to look at 2ch, was "the biggest debacle in the history of the magazine". No. FFXII was a game that made giant, drastic, sweeping attempts to change a genre. Famitsu made a conscious decision to give it a perfect score, despite the game not being perfect. They wanted to send a message -- a gentle one -- "Please make an honest attempt to like this game better than those other games." It's very noble of them.
SineSwiper wrote:...is a mag for fanboys, so that fanboys can look at their favorite series and squeal in delight when it gets a high score, instead of say, scoring on whether the game is actually good or not.
And yes, I understand the tone of the article is supposed to be positive, but what he is admitting is not positive.TFA wrote:The editors of Famitsu are, to a certain extent, deeply entrenched in the most fascinating role-playing games of their lives. Sure, it's a love of games that gets them to apply for the job. However, once "in", they must play the "role" of a person who is batshit nuts in love with the very idea of videogames. The guys at Famitsu, however, are usually such resiliently affable personalities that they can do this job and still provide hilarious conversation at dinners where they are not even drunk (yet).
