Thursday, February 12, 2009

Symposium Part Two: Review Policy, Practice and Ethics

Introduction
Are reviews primarily a consumer guide, or should they serve another purpose? Do review scores deter intelligent discussion of videogames? Is the presence or absence of a review score the only difference between a reviewer and a critic? What is the role of the reviewer when the Internet is democratizing published opinion? How should reviews and reviewers evolve in light of the emergence and growth of Flash games, small games, indie games and user-generated games?

These questions and more were on the mind of N'Gai Croal, John Davison and Shawn Elliott last summer when they decided to expand their conversation to a number of noted reviewers, writers, bloggers and journalists for a published email symposium on game reviews. (See below for the full list of participants.) The planned list of topics include Review Scores; Review Policy, Practice and Ethics; Reader Backlash; Reviews in the Age of Social media; Reviews in the Mainstream Media; Casual, Indie, and User-Generated Games; Reviews vs. Criticism; and Evolving the Review.

Round Two's topic: Review Policy, Practice and Ethics.

Participants

Leigh Alexander, Gamasutra/Sexy Videogameland/Variety


Harry Allen, Media Assassin

Robert Ashley, freelancer

Tom Chick, freelancer

N'Gai Croal, Level Up/Newsweek

John Davison, What They Play

Shawn Elliott, 2K Boston

Jeff Gerstmann, Giant Bomb

Kieron Gillen, Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Dan Hsu, Sore Thumbs Blog

Francesca Reyes, Official Xbox Magazine

Stephen Totilo, MTV News



Round Two: Review Policy, Practice and Ethics

Shawn Elliott, 2K Boston: Is it important for a writer to have a history of fandom with the genre of the game he or she is reviewing.


Leigh Alexander, Gamasutra/Sexy Videogameland/Variety: The answer to your question is no, Shawn. There is a definitive and equal merit to both. On one hand, a fan expects something specific out of a game, and so it'd be useful for that fan to read a review written by someone who understands their expectations, preferably by sharing them. On the other hand, plenty of readers might be interested in a title while having no prior experience with it, and so it would be useful for them to read a review written from a general perspective.

In other words, in my opinion, it takes both kinds -- especially given that our industry has such a common culture of sequels and such commonly-established genre conventions. "Would I like Metal Gear Solid 4 if I've never played Metal Gear?" Is a perfectly valid question and probably even a common one; so is "Would I like Persona 4 if I don't usually play RPGs?" On the other hand, equally useful is a review that answers questions like "Does Fallout 3 contain elements that fans of previous Fallout games would enjoy?" or, "What conventions common to eastern tactical titles does Disgaea 2 share?"

It's impossible to critique a genre game or sequel in a fashion that satisfies both the acclimated and the uninitiated unless you're experienced with it. The real question is should you try to do both?

The approach I favor for criticism is to be familiar with the fandom whenever possible, but to be aware of how those inexperienced with the franchise or genre might approach it. I should hope we're all good enough at the work we do to be able to separate our own fan opinions from the generalities of a title; I hope we're all knowledgeable enough to differentiate between "this isn't my thing" and "this is bad."

Therefore, I think context is essential. There is nothing wrong with evaluating a game as a "virgin," if you will. In fact, I think inexperience can be a merit, when the result is "I hate shooters, but here's why this one appealed to me," as an example. Similarly, experience can be a detriment, in that your prior sentimental disposition is going to be elevating your experience. But instead of pretending to be an objective neutral voice, I wholly favor revealing up-front the position from whence you're approaching a title -- your readers need to know the context of your opinion so that they can apply their own.

In other words, feel free to evaluate something within the context of your own taste and experience. Just be honest about the fact that you're doing that. I think the massive lack of trust on the part of much of our readership can be credited to the fact that we often try to take the stance that we're stating some factually-supported, correct single opinion. That's why reviews feel inconsistent and confused to many people; we can't seem to decide whether to be authoritarian or individual. I'm all for being upfront about where you're coming from and who you think you're speaking to.

Caveat: When scores are involved, a fan evaluating a title for fans is going to produce a wholly different number than someone with no particular sentiment, period, because their criteria will be fundamentally different. Fortunately there are numerous outlets, all of whom are likely to assign different numbers, and a reader who doesn't feel your opinion was relevant to him will probably seek a second or a third.


Stephen Totilo, MTV News: Shawn, can we get a clarification on what you mean by "a history of fandom with the genre of the game"?

It's one thing to be familiar with a genre, another to be an experienced player in it and a third thing altogether to be a fan of it.

Experience with a genre enables a reviewer to assess the objective car-review aspects some readers want with reviews. But being a fan? Call me naïve but I don't see why or how that should be a factor.

We're talking about reviewing games, not rooting for them.

Do you reviewers in this exchange feel like you're expected to root for games?


Shawn Elliott, 2K Boston: Sure, Stephen. I suppose someone could call himself an enthusiast though not an expert, or an expert though not an enthusiast (even if enthusiasts always seem to think that they're experts, and experts tend to gravitate to genres that they enjoy). So to clarify, I'll cheat and say I'm asking two questions. Should a writer be an expert of the genre of game she's reviewing? Should she be a fan of the genre (which doesn't guarantee "Rah! Rah!" rooting any more than my sci-fi fandom means I must adore Mission to Mars).


Kieron Gillen, Rock Paper Shotgun: Oh, I suspect this one will be fun.

My answer is, basically, that it depends. The question assumes that all reviews serve the same purpose, when I think reviews differ from organ to organ. From the consumer's point of view, I suspect it's more important -- and I'm mainly talking about consumer reviews to start with -- to have similar levels of experience to your readers. Occasionally we see the games forums erupt when a reviewer from some mainstream mag eviscerates a sacred calf -- Ninja Gaiden got one, if I recall correctly. Except -- y'know -- their review was perfectly acceptable for that audience. And when we don't do this, we get some fascinating side-effects. The JRPG wasn't a major part of the British game landscape until really late. Final Fantasy VII was the first to seem to get any kind of push -- and received a mass of really positive reviews from people who knew the genre. Sold well too. It was also, if the chattering classes of the time were to be believed, the most returned game of all time.

What I'm saying is that a fair review to the game can be an unfair game to any reader who actually believes the mark. Which may be another reason to dump marks, but that's last week's conversation. Are we marking for "good in the genre" or "good to buy"? That impacts entirely on whether you want a generalist or specialist reviewer.

For me, that's one of the interesting things about games reviews -- that we generally view all reviews as trying to do the same thing. In most other forms, the spread of reviews seems more pronounced. The most popular films and albums will almost certainly get one total slagging from someone or another -- because there's a sense that because they're writing for different demographics, they're allowed to mark and review for those demographics. We've got this universal idea of "Gamers", and that they're all the same. That's not true. A single glance at how all the different game forums operate prove it's a lie immediately. So maybe -- to use mark-based shorthand -- for OXM's readers Space Giraffe was a 2/10. But for Rock Paper Shotgun I could easily justify it being a 9/10. When asked, readers often talk about being unable to trust reviews. I don't think there's an easy solution for that, and my gut feeling thinks that reviews are actually going to have to get /more/ unreliable before people will be able to start to believe them. As in, reviews start showing more opinions allowing people to realize which reviews are for them. We need different sorts of writers writing about what genuinely matters in a game to them for people to really find people who mirror their opinion.

My general stance is while all knowledge is helpful -- and I gravitate to the people who really understand a game at its most fundamental mechanical level -- to review worth a damn all you really need is an honest and unvarnished connection to your own emotions and the brains to analyze that response.

Spinning in another direction, the cult of the expert, specialist reviewer has another interesting side effect which I don't think people have thought through. We, understandably, view it unfair to give a game to review to someone who doesn't like the genre at all. The problems with that Leigh's already pointed out -- essentially, often increasing irrelevance to anyone not deeply in that genre and happy with the way the genre already is. But what I also find interesting is that -- especially for successful, popular series -- people who don't like those series are similarly removed from the conversation. Which seems to make sense -- clearly it's unfair for someone who despised Halo or Gears of War or MGS 4 to review the sequel. But it also inevitably leads to mark inflation. The first game in a series, before anyone really knows what it's like, gets that wider selection of reviewers. If it is a success, those who didn't like it are rarely given a shot at the sequel. Is it any wonder that GTA and Mario or Zelda or MGS, no matter what their charms, get top ratings across the board? Anyone likely to feel otherwise doesn't get anywhere near a review. And if they were, the internet would go wild. As I said last time, Eurogamer's Ollie Welsh got death-threats for his 8/10 for MGS4. And he likes MGS. What would have happened if you gave it to someone who does like Action-adventure narrative games -- like, say, me -- but find the direction the series grew since MGS1 kinda laughable?

In short: less than 9 out of 10 gamers like MGS4. Why should our selection of reviewers not represent that?


Robert Ashley, freelancer: The whole genre expert thing deserves a lot of blame for the overwhelming sameness of game reviews. I can't think of anything more boring than reading a Final Fantasy freak's assessment of where the new game fits in the canon, pouring over all the little details of combat systems and inventory management like an accountant. In general, if you wrote the review of last year's game, I don't really want to read your review of this year's game.

I have plenty of good things to say about the way EGM ran their reviews section, but the one thing that always bothered me was the use of the same writers for the same games, over and over again. Mainly, it was a reflection of seniority. The people who had been around the longest always got to write about the year's biggest games, and it made the process completely predictable. We already know that Shoe digs Halo! (I would use an emoticon here to convey my playful ribbing, but I don't want to be the first person in the group to stoop that low).

To answer the original question: If you're honest with your audience about your personal taste and experience, it doesn't matter. The reviews editor at 1up once had the audacity to put me on a soccer game (I've never had any interest in sports and am, in general, a totally wussy girl of a man). I pined on the review forever, worried that the audience would easily sniff out my inexperience. In the end, I just laid it all out for the readers, and it worked out fine.

Critics feel the need to project expertise because expertise is the easy path to authority. If you have no authority, nobody gives a shit what you think about a game. The tougher path to authority runs through insightful observation and clever argument, and it's much more entertaining to read. Which is the point, right?


Shawn Elliott, 2K Boston: Robert’s remarks about the same writers reviewing the same games rings true. Dan, do you disagree? Can insightful observation and clever argument produce more authoritative -- or simply stronger -- reviews than encyclopedic familiarity with a franchise?


Dan Hsu, Sore Thumbs Blog: There’s a very practical side to all of this. Let’s say we’re on the 15th Tony Hawk game, and you have a staff of...say, 10 reviewers. What are the chances that you can find one Hawk virgin in that group? And let’s say you do...then what happens when Tony Hawk 16 comes out? You’re going to run out of those “fresh” perspectives at some point for any regular franchise, unless you’re constantly recruiting new writers every few months. In which case your reviews team starts to lose some identity with all the unfamiliar faces rotating in all the time. And what if you’re just an individual blogger/reviewer?

I suspect Robert’s example might’ve worked out fine because, really...how many people out there in the U.S. really care about a review of a PSP soccer game? But imagine the backlash he would’ve gotten if he gave a B- to a Final Fantasy game, claiming he’s never really been into that series or genre before. That’s a serious credibility hit to that outlet, too.

If we’re doing a good job of critiquing, then we’re covering both bases. Halo 3, Madden 2009, BioShock 2, etc. are not games living inside of their own bubbles...just like Star Wars Episode 1 is not a standalone sci-fi movie or “Free as a Bird” is not just any random rock song (I just watched the Beatles Anthology recently, hence the outdated reference). We should be providing that historical/fandom perspective because it’s critically important to do so. But at the same time, we should all be qualified to provide that objective, neutral perspective as well. Any Madden veteran should be able to say whether the latest edition can appeal to newcomers or not.

In other words...what Leigh said.

The very obvious question we have to ask first is, who’s our audience? A mainstream outlet may be excused for approaching almost every game from a, “Will a newcomer enjoy this?” point of view, while a hardcore fansite that covers a specific franchise or genre may get deep into nuances no one outside of its readership gives a damn about. And then you have the general enthusiast press that sits somewhere in between. Knowing the audience makes all the difference in whether a reviewer would discuss Halo as an epic sci-fi action game where you get to shoot a lot of aliens...or just how different the plasma-pistol/battle-rifle “newb” combo works in the latest edition.


John Davison, What They Play: I would argue that there are U.S-dwelling, PSP-owning soccer fans out there that really do care about a review like that. They're a pretty small niche, for sure -- but they're out there. There are certain expectations of the "enthusiast" press, and I think that subject matter knowledge is taken pretty much as read. In this particular example, while it may not matter to the vast majority of the audience, there's always a small group that really cares about a franchise or a genre, and if they feel that they are given short shrift, then they understandably feel disrespected, and consequently get vocal. As the enthusiast media, we were born out of the concept of "niche" and I think we need to be very clear about defining who our intended audience is before acting on assumptions about whether we can choose to overlook a particular game.

The challenges with something like a soccer game (specifically) are that A) there are only two franchises in town (to all intents and purposes) B) both are evolving in an iterative fashion each year, and C) both always have something about them that could use some work. Given that consumers of soccer games are invariably as passionate (or more) about the sport than they are about video games, they tend be extremely picky when it comes to coverage. My assumption is that a large portion of the audience in this case would strongly disagree with Robert's point that, "if you wrote the review of last year's game, I don't really want to read your review of this year's game."

We were both there for this Dan, but I don't recall the specifics -- I'm surprised that EGM's three-man review system didn't eliminate the need for an "I'm obviously no expert" style lead review. Running multiple opinions afforded us the chances to have a genre "expert" that could provide the context for enthusiasts (usually Todd Zuniga) AND voices such as Robert's here that could provide a broader experiential approach. Do you recall what necessitated this route? I know it was a long time ago.

For Robert's sake, thank god this was a FIFA review, and not a PES review. PES fans would've eaten him up and spat him out.

I think a lot of the "genre expert" stuff that we're talking about here is born out of a long legacy in the games media. As someone that spent a lot of time in the PC space back in the dark ages, the importance of having a "flight sim guy" and a "role playing guy" and a "strategy guy" could not be overstated. All of them required specialized knowledge, and all of them were employed to provide context far beyond talking about a specific franchise -- these guys were fully versed in the minutiae of their particular field, and had followings from readers that felt just as passionately about the genre. On both PC Player, and PC Zone back in the UK, I found that it was our strategy guys more than any other that wielded significant influence over the audience of their niche within a niche. These guys had an encyclopedic knowledge of historical warfare, were extremely comfortable with hex-based war games, and could tell you things about individual weapons (and whether the game employed them correctly) that would make your head spin. Not only did we use them because they knew their stuff, but we also used them because -- let's face it -- you have to be wired up a certain way to be that into something like that, and other people on the team just couldn't tolerate these kinds of games. We knew there was a portion of the audience that was equally nerdy about such things, so we put the war game guy on the war games -- and everyone was happy.

The reputation of the enthusiast media 15 years ago was as much about the "enthusiast" chops of those writing for it as anything else. Shawn has argued in the past (I think on GFW Radio) that a lot of writers are still employed for their ability to play games over their ability to write. That they're hired for their Xbox Live Achievements list. To me, this is symptomatic of the transitioning nature of games and games coverage, along with a throwback to the old days. Genre lines are blurring, which is part of it. But I think the biggest part is that while some games are far more mainstream than they were in the days of Falcon 3.0 and the entire SSI back catalog, the desire to read (and write) about videogames in any real critical depth is still very much in the enthusiast realm.

To answer the original question, while I think that being a "fan" is the wrong term to use, genre expertise is important. Connected to this, though, is the fact that understanding, and defining who the audience is for our reviews and our outlets is more significant than ever.


Leigh Alexander, Gamasutra/Sexy Videogameland/Variety: Right, so what I think we're all agreeing here is that different approaches and perspectives on genres are useful to different audiences -- oh my goodness, you mean there isn't one, single, correct objective way to do this?

I dunno, this has always seemed to me like a fairly obvious point, and thus far we all seem in agreement here. I don't want to get ahead of others' answers to the original question, but for now I'll bookmark a follow-up for later: At any given time, do we have an idea of who the audience for a review is going to be -- and how do we know that? Is it something you guys often think about? Is the "whoever is interested in reading it" approach sufficient?

But, yeah, tag the question for later. Looking forward to everyone's continuing thoughts.


Shawn Elliott, 2K Boston: It's certainly complicated. Our audience isn't always who we think. As John said in the first section of the symposium, Google doesn't discriminate along that line.

Sometimes self-consistency is an issue. When I worked at EGM, our imagined reader was Mr. Mainstream: A college-aged dude who doesn't know one developer from another; clowns on dorks because he's a bit dorky; likes pictures and is allergic to words. I think the magazine that we produced pretty much matched our intentions. Still, as Shoe said, "the general enthusiast press sits somewhere in between" hardcore and casual. That's a problematic place, as you aren't always going to please gamers who lean one way a little more than the other. Maybe the contradiction is more apparent than actual, but I always wondered why Mr. Mainstream would want a franchise aficionado reviewing every installment in a series. Shoe assumes that "any Madden veteran should be able to say whether the latest edition can appeal to newcomers or not." I'm not so sure of that. As someone who has stopped following Japanese RPGs, I know I'd weigh Robert's words more heavily than the hypothetical reviewer who is fluent in the sub-genre's grammar and sleeps in a room full of figurines. In fact, myopia might be an issue for the specialist. He says, "Oh, that's just how JRPGs are," but the generalist knows better because he's played plenty of games that have solved the same problems despite their belonging to different genres.


Jeff Gerstmann, Giant Bomb: I think that, for a good stretch of years there, there was something that could pass for the one correct, objective way to do this. When gaming itself was a niche, it seemed like everyone had much wider interests, genre-wise. Nowadays, just to give an example, my opinion on sports games is fairly useless because I haven't stayed current with the genre. Even if I happen to like the game, is my take on Madden NFL 09 meaningful to someone who's played the game every year for the past two decades? A review that starts out with "I don't normally like this kind of game, but boy, this one's great" doesn't serve the person that's likely to be the core audience for that review. I'm not even sure if that review serves anyone at all.

As the market for games expands, attempts to answer the question of "should I buy this game?" have become far less meaningful. The audience's taste has already splintered a great deal, and it's getting more and more scattered as time goes on. Attempting to weigh a game and write out some sort of recommendation for every possible audience leads to phrases like "If you're the sort of person who likes this sort of thing, this game's for you!" It's like having a person with no kids review a kids game and attempt to guess if a game would be good for children or not. Or having your flight-sim guy review Ico. Or having someone who's a lifelong Madden fan make educated guesses about the game's approachability for non-fans.

In today's market, I really think that readers need to bring their own tastes to the review and filter our words through those tastes. Really, that crosses all mediums these days. Faced with this notion, I've stopped answering the old question. Point blank, I don't know who's reading, I don't know their experience level with games, and I don't know how much money they have to spend. Sure, we could all go off and conduct focus tests to find out some of these things, but we'll never know for certain. So, instead, I've started answering the "what do I think of this game?" question. After spending most of the last decade never EVER EVER EVER writing reviews in the first-person, it's been an interesting and exciting transition that's really freshened up the process for me. At the very least, I'm no longer writing 2,000-word reviews and immediately receiving an e-mail from a reader that says "so what did you think of the game?" But this is a transition that's only really felt possible relatively recently, maybe over the last two years or so. Whether this is evidence of the audience for games (and game criticism) actually widening or me just going mad with power after perceiving that there seems to be some group of people out there specifically interested in what I have to say about this stuff remains to be seen. I certainly still attempt to provide the objective facts about a game -- the amount time I spent with the game, details on its performance, and so on -- and then pepper that with my take on how all those things clicked and, as I become more and more comfortable with writing reviews this way, maybe a bit of touchy-feely stuff about how I reacted to the game. It's still an evolving process, of course. Old habits die hard.

Even the technical aspects, however, can be up for debate. Personally, I think that dodgy, uneven frame rates are one of the worst things happening in gaming these days. Seriously. So I'm always sure to call that out one way or the other. If you, the reader, don't care about that, then great. Ignore that point and move on. Even if we completely disagree, you'll hopefully have learned something meaningful about the game you are considering purchasing. With that in mind, you'd think that I'd be able to run off and review something like Madden or a flight-sim or a Final Fantasy game. But at some point, rattling out your own opinions on something you have no interest or expertise in becomes more noise than signal. It's with that line in mind that we decide when to review a game or pass on it. Giant Bomb didn't review Madden this year, or, really, any other team-based sports game. We don't need to slap our opinionated stamp on every single release that comes our way.

John's right that the "genre expert" stuff started with things like flight sims and the like. For me, though, the specialist reviewer craze really got big with sports games. I remember EGM gaining a big, breakout section on sports at one point, and guys like Kraig Kujawa essentially turned into some of the first sports game reviewers. Now, it seems like every publication has a sports guy, or maybe even a team of guys that are mostly focused on sports...but these days, that's just as likely to have to do with presenting a large sports area for the purposes of selling ads to sports-focused advertisers.

Though I feel that the sports- and MMO-focused sections at some publications can go a bit too far, it's useful to have someone in place who can approach a game with a certain level of perspective on the genre or series. It's not about getting "fans" to review the games. It's about having a person who potentially fits a product's core audience cover it from a starting point of cautious optimism. Ideally, this person should have enough history with the genre to know if a game is just shamelessly ripping off games of the past, or if it's something truly innovative. And a group of peers should be in place to call that reviewer out in cases where he or she starts to apologize for a game's flaws (the "Oh, that's just how JRPGs are" case that Shawn mentioned).


N'Gai Croal, Level Up/Newsweek: As a reader, the only things I ask of a reviewer or a critic is that they carefully reflect on the work at hand and write it up in a way that's enlightening and/or thought-provoking. In fact, I'll often seek out writers whose opinion is completely divergent from my own. I already know what I think -- I prefer to have my opinion challenged rather than validated, because I'm always trying to see if there's something that I've missed or failed to consider.

As a writer, I try to do the same thing, even though I don't consider myself an expert in any genre or a fan of any particular franchise. That's what happens when you've only been seriously playing games since 1999, though I have developed a soft spot for Tetsuya Mizuguchi, Hideo Kojima, and Valve Software. Most of the game criticism that I've done on Level Up took place in my Vs. Mode exchanges with Stephen. (There has been a handful in Newsweek's print edition as well, but I'll save that for when we get to Reviews in the Mainstream Media.)

Some of the games came from franchises I was familiar with as a player (God of War II) others did not (Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass). Some games I finished before we discussed them (BioShock); some I didn't (Patapon); and some we only had partial access to (the first five missions in Manhunt 2, right after the ESRB slapped it with an Adults Only rating). I'll leave it to the rest of you to determine how credible my half of each exchange was. I will say that after re-reading all of my Vs. Mode entries, it goes without saying that in those instances when I'd played the entire game before we began to write, my end of the conversation was both specific /and/ holistic; micro /and/ macro. When I'd only played a portion of the game, as with The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, I necessarily focused on aspects of the game (its stylus-driven controls) that some might consider minutiae and others meaningful. So even if I was being transparent about how much of the game I had played -- which I was -- does that write-up on a partially digested game make me a credible critic or not?

This gets to some of the reviews-related complaints that have been raised in response to our symposium. Doug "Drinky Crow" Erickson plainly stated on Quarter to Three that he doesn't trust many reviewers because they "…don't play the games long enough to form a credible opinion. This is demonstrated by any number of reviews that get the basic mechanics of less popular games wrong, or gloss over the long-term failings of popular games," he goes on to say on NeoGAF that the four basic points of any review must include:

1) who is the audience for this game; 2) what is the game ultimately trying to achieve; 3) how does the execution support this goal or goals; and 4) does it succeed or fail.

Stumpokapow backs him up on NeoGAF:

You don't give a score that compares Dynasty Warriors to Halo, you begin your review by describing the basics of the game in a way that makes it clear it's not intended for the same audience as Halo at all. When you move on to the critical portion of the review, your criticism should be tailored to the concerns of the audience described or alluded to in the first part of your review.

They're spot on with points 2, 3 and 4. Point #1, however “Who is the audience for this game?” is not where I begin when I'm evaluating a game. I start with what I thought and how I felt while I was playing the game and immediately afterwards, regardless of my expertise with the genre or the franchise. Then I map those thoughts and feelings against points #2 (what is this game ultimately trying to achieve?) and #3 (how does the execution support this goal or goals?) in order to help determine point #4 (does it succeed or fail?)

The game's intended audience doesn't factor into it much for me because I'm the one who played the game. I can't tailor my critique to the concerns of someone who I'm not. If I've done my job properly, a discerning reader should be able to determine from what I've written whether or not my tastes align with theirs, like when I explained why 3-D Metroid games don't work for me or how inhospitable online shooters can be to newcomers.

Those are a couple of takes on how we and our peers should approach reviews. I've given you my thoughts. How do the rest of you do it? For those of you working at or for outlets with formal or informal review policies, what are they? How strictly is it adhered to, and how is it enforced? And does it include any direction as regards the intended audience for a particular review?


Robert Ashley, freelancer: More and more, we do know our audience -- personally. They're the people you don't really know sending you friends requests on Facebook. They're the people e-mailing you at odd hours about something you said on a podcast or in a video, or about the story you wrote in a magazine they never expected to see you in. The game for writers these days, increasingly, is about building up a personal audience, loyal readers who follow your work across blogs, print, videos, podcasts, and whatever's next. These people seem to come from different income and education levels, different countries, and they often latch onto you for reasons other than your preference in games. They think you're a likable person. They identify with your attitude. You make them laugh.

Just look at Shawn. He's got an audience of people who come for videos of morbidly obese people eating pizza rolls and stay for epic inside-baseball discussions of game reviews. That's kind of amazing.


Shawn Elliott, 2K Boston: N'Gai, I more or less agree with your method, although I'd add an alphabetized step or two to acknowledge that, on occasion, games can achieve things that their developers never intended to accomplish. On the other side of this coin, design decisions can also carry unanticipated negative consequences.

Or say that as a designer your goal is to bore players in order to parody another genre of game. What if you want to exhaust people in a way that parallels the protagonist's exhaustion? So we're bored or exhausted. But what if your timing was bad? What when your intentions conflict with one another, as is the case in Gears of War 2 when a cutscene clearly wants us to cry, and an audio clip that activates when players pick up ammo is there to spur scavenging? You see your buddy hit rock bottom, and then you scream "Sweet!" as you stock up on bullets. (I figured I should touch on "the intentional fallacy" again since the guys and gal on the Joystiq Podcast Appreciation Group Podcast somehow thought that I was saying that reviewers should read design documents.)

Coming back to Doug "Drinky Crow" Erickson's concerns, I think context is everything. It's one thing to engage in an email dialog that divulges the extent of your experience and another to provide a score in a publication that calls itself the "ultimate authority" or "where gamers go first!" It's great that N'Gai both admits when he hasn't bothered to complete a game and confines his analysis to the parts he has played. Do we know of times when we've done neither?

I never finished Evil Dead: Fist Full of Boomstick, which I reviewed for EGM. It wasn't for lack of trying. Although it was precisely the type of game I'd spent several years playing, I never understood what I needed to do, even after calling the company for tips. I had a horrible time, and the review reflected that. Maybe I missed the great gameplay in later levels. I decided that didn't matter much, as I would've angrily returned the thing that night had I rented it.

In fact, I think I hated Fist Full of Boomstick because I felt I had to finish it. The consumer who completes any given game is an anomaly. 2K Boston is proud of the fact that nearly fifty percent of the people who bought BioShock played it all the way through. That's well above the average. What this means is that most people who profess to enjoy a game don't enjoy it enough to get to the end. Think about that. They have fun with it, turn it off when they feel like it, and leave with a positive impression. What if that wasn't an option? What if they were forced carry on through the frustration, to complete the game again and again with each and every Dynasty Warriors character? David Blaine should do that stunt. Seriously.

Still, I understand Doug's anger and agree that now and then reviewers "get the basic mechanics of less popular games wrong, or gloss over the long-term failings of popular games." MMORPGs are the one genre where we happily fess up to having less-than-fully-informed opinions. In my mind, any game with a multiplayer mode is in danger of getting short shrift in a review that doesn't disclose the circumstances under which it was written.

Often times, publisher's host off-site press sessions that last no longer than four or five hours. Because an untimely review is an unread review, editors agree to take what's there. Their reviewers then sit in a room attempting to coordinate with occasionally uncooperative or uncommunicative teammates against a group of godlike QA testers, die, and then call it a day. This is the worst-case scenario, but even better circumstances result in reviews as confused as Game Informer's take on Team Fortress 2, which talks about a class it calls the Mechanic; seemingly complains about the absence of a deathmatch mode; and commends classes that are "balanced against each other." He means the Engineer. He isn't imagining what happens when a spy in a game called Team Fortress darts around disguised as another player who his opponent is, by default, determined to kill. And he doesn't comprehend how classes, like basic football positions, need not be balanced against one another (an offensive line is balanced against a defensive line, but a Cornerback isn't balanced against a QB in any meaningful sense).


Harry Allen, Hip-Hop Activist & Media Assassin: What I think I hear people saying is with what I agree: How you speak to readers, and who speaks to them, depends on the specific audience to whom you're speaking.

I definitely connect with what Robert Ashley says:

"The whole genre expert thing deserves a lot of blame for the overwhelming sameness of game reviews."

That is, all kinds of people read about and write about games now. Though this audience isn't as wide as those who read or write about, say, news, or cooking, it is getting more diverse.

Some game writing needs to be very technical, because some portions of the game audience just want to know how to perform specific tasks. This is often served by writers immersed in "fandom," though not solely, of course.

Some game writing needs to be more atmospheric and/or impressionistic, because a reader may merely want to know in what direction a game series is going, or what a new game is about, or going to be about.

I think the question Shawn asks is akin to wondering, should people who don't speak a language review movies made in that language?

The answer is that, if you don't speak the language, your reviews will likely be most useful to people who speak your own tongue. However, if you're honest, tell the truth about what you're seeing, and deeply connect it to what you already know, people who speak the film's language fluently may also derive something from your outsider perspective.

I just have to pause here, for a moment, and say that I see so many comparisons between the world of video games and that of hip-hop. It's a very striking series of parallels, to me.

However, the one alignment that's most pressing to me, right at this moment, is the thought that both forms would benefit from a wider variety of different kinds of writing about them.

Here, I want to address Shawn's question, for a moment, by stepping out of it, briefly:

Most of you write for enthusiasts, and, indeed, most -- the overwhelming volume -- of the writing about both hip-hop and gaming come from the enthusiast press, I'd conclude.

But I believe that games, like hip-hop also, have yet to be fully explained to the wider public, in a way that can maximally engage people who don't know what games are yet. Doing so would possibly create a much richer landscape for gaming.

I mean this, much the way that film criticism, in the 1960s, energized the notion of film as art. This cleared the way for the concept of the film auteur, or of film studies, core ideas around both of which we're now just starting to see in gaming. (Right here, I'm reminded of some wonderful writing I finally read this morning: A piece that journalist Tom Bissell did for The New Yorker last month, profiling Cliff Bleszinski. How possibly might a piece like this appear in EGM or Game Informer?)

I realize that the wider public may not be your focus for the aforementioned reasons. But, in a way, though, they are, anyway, because they surround everything that you do.

One of the conclusions that Rockstar Games reached right around the time I came aboard was that we needed to talk to people who didn't know anything about games.

Why?

Because everyone who was talking about our games didn't know anything about games.

I don't mean you guys, or fans. I meant that every person who had a beef about the very existence of GTA inevitably knew nothing about it -- hadn't played it, often hadn't played a video game since Pong. It was amazing how consistent this was.

As well, though, what we soon understood was there were other people -- a whole lot more, in fact --who hadn't played San Andreas, either, but were just curious about the phenomenon, didn't know what the noise was all about, and were open-minded.

These people, we concluded, were better served by folks who could tell them how our games worked than they were by people who couldn't. That was just logical. So, we spoke with them.

People who don't play games form the larger context for everything that happens in gaming. "Mothers," for example. "Trade groups." "Politicians." Learning how to actively speak to these groups -- the way people talked up Obama to their neighbors, for example -- is, to me, the next task, or goal, of gaming, as a field.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that there's a meta-context to Shawn's question. That context asks, How should we write about games, really?

I say the answer is that you have to write about them on the terms of the world you want them to inhabit, even in that world isn't here yet.

Thinking about it this way, I think, is also a kind of larger context for even the question, "Should we send the FIFA guy to review MGS4?" If you do, ultimately you do because you don't want your magazine to become narrow. You want it to open up, and for readers -- and writers -- to make new and powerful intellectual connections about games.

Ultimately, most readers, I'll venture, will probably not remember what number you gave a game, or even if you wrote a review with which they didn't agree. Most, instead, I'd argue, will recall the feelings they associate with your medium, then seek to re-create that feeling. This strongly connects with what N'Gai says:

"As a reader, the only things I ask of a reviewer or a critic is that they carefully reflect on the work at hand and write it up in a way that's enlightening and/or thought-provoking. I already know what I think -- I prefer to have my opinion challenged rather than validated, because I'm always trying to see if there's something that I've missed or failed to consider."

Think of it this way: When you study archival copies of electronics magazines, or computer magazines, in the early periods of those forms' histories, they were very nuts and bolts. (I'm old enough to remember Byte. It's a way different magazine that PC is [or -- zoinks! -- was!]).

Today, those magazine genres are far more about lifestyle. They're more mainstream, more "easygoing" and "open." They're this way, because they have to speak to more and different kinds of people. (That, incidentally, is why all art gets watered down, in my opinion: So it can speak to a wide variety of people without confusing them.)

Writing about electronics and computers this way is part of how these hobbyist forms went wide, instead of staying underground.

I'm not sure if I'm speaking about this in a way that's relevant to Shawn's question, or to the practical issues having to do with assigning writers and editing text. For example, I'm really taken with Dan's question(s):

"There's a very practical side to all of this. Let's say we're on the 15th Tony Hawk game, and you have a staff of...say, 10 reviewers. What are the chances that you can find one Hawk virgin in that group? And let's say you do...then what happens when Tony Hawk 16 comes out? You're going to run out of those "fresh" perspectives at some point for any regular franchise, unless you're constantly recruiting new writers every few months. In which case your reviews team starts to lose some identity with all the unfamiliar faces rotating in all the time. And what if you're just an individual blogger/reviewer?"

It's here that the magazine, or the blogger, has to find a way to make it fun for him/herself. They have to find some interesting or new way to talk about the game, because nothing comes across to readers more like boredom...than one's own boredom.

I'm not sure how well that works for fanboys, but I'm not sure if the people who scream bloody murder are the majority of readers, either. I think the ones who are outraged form, at most, 20% of the readership. The other 80% think, "That's interesting. Cool," and move on.


Kieron Gillen, Rock Paper Shotgun: Honestly, Doug "Drinky Crow" Erickson's problem isn't what he thinks it is. What he's primarily talking about a failure of insight (and possibly one of explanation - a reviewer getting something isn't the same as a reviewer writing it), not necessarily a failure of simple time. One of my editors -- not one who reviewed it, I stress -- loved Deus Ex. He played through it running through the game shooting people in the face at point blank range with the shotgun and skipping all the cut-scenes. You can get through Thief as a mass-murderer. Alec on RPS got butchered by Witcher fans for getting the combat system wrong -- but he was getting through the game happily with his slight mis-reading of the combat system. Time wouldn't have cured any of that -- and hell, the editor loved Deus Ex as his face-shooting game, y'know?

I'm personally think it can be acceptable to review games before completing them, for a few reasons. Some are higher level nature-of-games ones. Some are strictly utilitarian. And some of my utilitarian ones makes me think a universe where no-one ever reviewed a game before they'd finished it would be one which would be actually worse for consumers, readers and developers.

Firstly, games aren't movies or books and aren't consumed in the same way. I'm actually amazed at Shawn's 50% completion figure for BioShock. I'm amazed that it's that high -- when Episode 1 for Half-life 2's STEAM stats were first revealed, about 50% of people actually finished the game. That's four hours tops, and still half the gamers aren't completing it. Even for narrative games, even for short narrative games, completion of the arc isn't how most people consume games. Imagine if at least half the people walked out of the cinema at every showing. That's normal for games. And -- key point -- they're not walking out because they're necessarily pissed off with it. We've all had games we've enjoyed and left and not gone back to for one reason or another. And, hell, even simple narrative completion doesn't mean that you've really completed it in a meaningful way. And I'm not even going to breach the issues of MMOs and multiplayer, y'know?

So how can you recommend or damn a game if you've played it less than completion? Because a review, as it is at the moment, is primarily a buyers guides. If a game is openly terrible for 10 hours, it is not a game you can ever recommend. How can you even dream of telling someone something is worth buying is you have to go through that? It doesn't matter how good it gets after that -- it may be an interesting critical thing to discuss in an essay, but for an actual consumer guide it doesn't matter. You don't throw down thirty to fifty quid to be made to go through enormous pain for the length of a working day.

My standard answer to the question of "How long do you play a game for?" is "Until I know what score it's going to get" (Which is shorthand for "how good it is" -- and I really mean "As much as possible, but at least until then"). The worse a game is, the less time that is. If a game crashes every five minutes in the first hour on every machine it's tried on, then that may be all you need to hammer it. Conversely, the more you love a game, the longer you play to make sure it's true. Is it ever justified to give a really high score to a game you haven't completed? Ideally, not. In practice, the rule of thumb I've used is if a game literally stops at that second and all you get for the money is what you've experienced, and it's still worth buying, you're justified.

(None of which should be read to mean you should extrapolate from your experiences to the rest of the game. That's just lying.)

But why are reviewers not having the time to complete a game? Shawn's picked up on part of it -- that persisting on a game wouldn't necessarily, as Doug suggests, lead to a better understanding, but rather just a more vehement kicking after you've played 80 hours of something you despised after four. The other half is economic. Last time I had the completion-debate with journalists was over at Quarter To Three, primarily with Jeff Green. When he claimed that on Games For Windows, no game had ever been reviewed without it being completed, my IM-tray was full of messages from my fellow British writers which could be paraphrased to "Bullshit: either he's lying or his freelancers are lying to him". But not wanting to cause a full-bore internet meltdown, we did some more thinking and tried to work out how such a thing could actually be true. An explanation hit us - basically, GFW reviewed a tiny fraction of the games than -- say -- PC Gamer UK did. In other word, PCG UK spent some of its budget on small reviews of games which would otherwise get covered -- and expecting anyone to actually complete your 80-hour strategy game for thirty quid is optimistic to say the least. Especially, as I've said earlier, the idea that you have to do that to speak with sufficient authority is just plain wrong.

(Or, to put it another way, PCG UK probably completed as many games a month as GFW. It's just that they felt able to review other things on top of that.)

Ideally, if there was all the money, time and patience in the world, we'd play all games to completion. There's not, and unless people are willing to pay far, far more for games coverage (either via ads or directly) there never will be. What I argue is an effective compromise -- and without it, we're not actually creating a world with better reviews for minority games and more accurate scoring. What we get is a world where minority games simply don't get covered, because it doesn't pay enough to justify it and you can't find a writer who'll put in 80 hours into a game which everyone hates because it's openly terrible (i.e. another cause of apparent mark inflation -- the worst games simply don't get reviewed in many places now).

What serves games better? A more comprehensive general coverage or a more comprehensive coverage of the biggest games? Because, really, it's a case of people choosing one or the other.


John Davison, What They Play: Harry's last note is a great place for us to jump off and talk about some of this from a slightly different perspective -- and that's from the editing side, as opposed to the writing. We've talked a lot about how and why we tackle the criticism itself, but I'd like to get everyone's perspective on the direction that we (or our editors) give the writers in guiding what they write. Jeff said that "Point blank, I don't know who's reading." While I think that's probably true for all of us in the broadest sense, I'd like to get some input on who we intend the content to be for, and the freedoms afforded to writers in that context.

Since stepping out of the hardcore/fanboy service industry directly a year ago I've noticed the inconsistencies in the way that some outlets present (and chose the subjects of) their reviews a lot more. Not only do we see erratic occurrences of "punitive" reviews that are just downright pissy, but a lot of games that receive this kind of treatment are seemingly chosen at random as to their "eligibility" for coverage; this is something that seems particularly prevalent when it comes to the more casual games aimed at either kids or families. Being told by a hardcore gaming site that a kid friendly game sucks because it's too "kiddie" is of absolutely no use to anyone (duh, but it still happens) but I'm curious about everyone's experiences with reviews editors and their guidance on approaching or handling this stuff.

Do the outlets that you write/edit for have a well-articulated reviews policy? How strictly is it adhered to, and how is it enforced?


Stephen Totilo, MTV Multiplayer: I'm sorry to follow John's good question with a bad answer, but I have no other choice. I don't review games for a living and therefore don't operate under any reviews policy. I do read reviews and talk to people about this stuff often, though, so I think I recognize where some of the reader frustration with reviews comes from.

Circle back to Shawn's original question for this round about reviewers' familiarity with fandom and look at the subsequent excellent discussion here about the relevance of genre expertise. Now let's tweak our angle. What I think some readers react badly to is a lack of implicit or explicit empathy -- or worse, false empathy.

Reviewers and game player lead two radically and possibly irreconcilable gaming lives.

Hey reviewer, do you really know what it’s like to be a gamer? Do you really know what it would be like to own this game, at the expense of some other game I wouldn't be able to afford? Do you play games for review that way a real gamer would play them? Or are you spoiled and distracted and unrealistic?

This is the crux of it all in my mind: the mutant gaming experience of the professional games reporter and reviewer.

Envy the movie critic who may not see the new movie in the same theater as her reader but can make a safe bet that she and her reader will consume it in similar ways: in a dark room over the course of two hours. She doesn't have to worry about how much of the movie she should finish before she writes her review or whether she could give a more accurate score if she waited a week to better experience the movie's online mode. And -- this is key -- her reader never has to worry those things about her.

Envy the TV critic whose most mutated form of watching TV simply involves seeing the season premiere of Lost three weeks before you do.

Envy the book reviewer who might read a galley of a novel and therefore not see the finished cover and might see a few typos that will be corrected before the book reaches your amateur eyes. That's the only difference. The gulf between the two experiences is narrow.

And then back we are to game reviewing where there are a few sessions available from EA to try the online mode of Skate 2 before it comes out and you need to appraise the game's online modes… where LittleBigPlanet and Spore are already very different games from when they were released a few months ago when you probably reviewed them…where you binged through Assassin's Creed even though your readers who bought it didn't have to and where you did the same for Grand Theft Auto IV -- and where none of these facts could have gone very differently…and where the difference between "good" reviewing and "bad" might simply have been whether you acknowledged any of this.

Nothing changes the fact that the game reviewers' experience of games is so alien to that of the gamers' that I believe the relationship between the two parties will always contain a distance. It will always contain an undercurrent of distrust not prevalent among reviewers and audience of any other medium. No reviews policy can do better than bridge that; it can't hide the broad gap or narrow it. (And it's true for game-playing beat reporters like me too.)

You can be as familiar with fandom as you want, reviewers, but you are not one of them. You don't play games the same way.

That's my thesis. Who's with me?


Tom Chick, freelancer: Great comments, Stephen, and I suspect you're largely correct for a lot of games writers. You can spot these folks a mile off at a press junket. Most of them are (were?) full timers on a staff somewhere. They have a powerful sense of entitlement. "Spoiled" and "distracted" are great words for them. "Mutant gaming experience" indeed. However, I think good professional reviewers can avoid what you're talking about. They can separate the incidentals of being a games writer from the fundamentals of being a gamer.

For example, the incidentals of the experience of Skate 2 are different for me. I got a preview build a week early. It arrived at my doorstep. The PR person from EA was very conscientious about checking whether I had any questions. I didn't get a chance to see a manual. I can't go online until the retail copy is available. There was an online session with the developers set up if I wanted to join it.

But I don't write about the incidentals. That's not my job, and furthermore, I can't imagine that anyone would care, any more than anyone would care where Roger Ebert parked when he went to a screening, which he didn't because the studio probably sent a car.

But just as Ebert's job doesn't begin until the movie actually starts playing, mine doesn't begin until I've got the controller in my hand. Here is the fundamental part of the experience, and here's what I write about. Here is where my experience is no different from that of a kid who saved up his allowance for two months, and here is where I hope to communicate with him. Just as Ebert saw the same movie I saw, I'm playing the same skateboarding game that kid will play.

To use your examples, just as a book reviewer doesn't write about typos in the galleys and just as a TV reviewer doesn't get to enjoy the week-long water cooler talk between episodes of Lost, there's no reason a game reviewer can't understand and address the experience of an average gamer.

It's more of a problem when reviewers are pressured to get an official review -- the Definitive Word -- posted by a certain time, usually before the game has been released into the wild. And, yes, that can lead to a very different kind of experience, but it doesn't have to mean the writer can't work around those differences (whether they do is another question entirely, but I don't buy that they can't).


Leigh Alexander, Gamasutra/Sexy Videogameland/Variety: First off, I do agree with Stephen that your average reviewer's lost touch with the average audience member in a big, big way. In fact, I'd argue that there are working, prolific reviewers out there who only think about the Internet echo chamber and don't even realize who their audience is anymore.

But I also agree with Tom. This jadedness, this hyper-exposure and this devaluation of a medium we're overexposed to is not necessarily restricted to games -- and it is not an inevitability or applicable to everyone.

Stephen's right -- the wider experience of the reviewer is never going to be the same as the experience of the player. We may see things they don't see. Constantly exposed to games and information about the industry, we enter the experience with a different perspective. Going into a title, we might know things about the background, the development, or even the staff on the project that the audience doesn't know about.

However, I think the idea that this is automatically a problem assumes that all audience members pick up a game with some kind of baseline perspective in common, or that they're all expecting the same thing; they're not. The only commonality among members of any medium's audience is that they're interested in a new experience -- which requires them to be ready to find things they like and dislike, to think about what they're playing and see what it means to them, just as we do.

I believe audiences go into a game ready to think about and feel for what they're about to see and do -- just as a critic does (or should). The role of the critic is to bring in that background knowledge, that experience, and the practice in articulating it, to help the audience member do that in a meaningful way.

Every individual's experience of consuming entertainment is going to be colored in complex ways by their larger life experiences and the things they've liked or disliked in the past. In my opinion, rather than divide reviewers from audiences, this in fact unites them.

So I don't think it's quite as simple as the reviewer simply being able to set aside the fact that they've played eight other games that same week and pretend they're just like a normal player. Nor should they. The challenge is to use the ways they're different from players to the benefit of the players, rather than to their detriment. If the reviewer's experiences lead him or her to provide less useful information to the player rather than more, to obfuscate a title's value or lack thereof rather than highlight it, that's not an inevitability or a necessary weakness -- that's just an amateur.

Is there an epidemic of amateurism out there? Sure. Are there heaps of game reviews out there that provide a nose-squinched-to-glass point of view that's lost its ability to see or communicate the big picture? Hell yeah. Should we all work on that? Definitely, and it won't be as easy as just trying to wipe the slate clean every time we sit down with a title.

I think this is something we're all collectively developing as time goes on and as games become more complex. If we had all the solutions, we wouldn't be doing this. But that we must fail simply by virtue of being reviewers? I don't agree.

Our background and our perspectives are why we can succeed, as long as we're capable of articulating and contextualizing them in a balanced, constructive way.

And as one last note, even if we did somehow collectively stumble on the formula for the perfect, universal review (as if such a thing definitively could exist!), it still wouldn't eliminate the other important way audiences evaluate games -- through conversation and recommendations from their friends and peers.

No matter what reviews do, audiences will always also consult people who definitively relate to them kind-to-kind in terms of perspectives. If we were ever to try to be just like players in order to be more useful to them, we'd already be beat in that arena -- so why not explore what else we have to offer?


Shawn Elliott, 2K Boston: Stephen wonders whether or not reviewers really know what it’s like to be a gamer. Tom answers that "there's no reason a game reviewer can't understand and address the experience of an average gamer." Leigh, however, argues that the reviewer's "unpopulist" perspective is really the point -- another signpost to a forthcoming section in which we'll consider where reviews and criticism part ways. Leigh also suggests that members of an audience aren't in agreement with one another (e.g. the expectations of Game Informer readers might be as different from one another as they are from the reviewer). What are your takes on that? Do you always assume to know who you're writing for? Do the review policies of your employers define intended audiences?


Kieron Gillen, Rock Paper Shotgun: My answer on this one's relatively simple. I'm a freelancer. I'll write for whatever abstract audience I've been hired to write for. Working for kids/teenage games magazine Games Master is different for writing for Edge. Less jokes, mainly (Oddly, I found I wrote best for GM drunk. I'm in touch with my inner 14 year old whilst boozed. Er.. I edited sober). Are the magazines’ comprehension of what their readers think and believe correct? Probably not, but I've been hired to write for that hypothetical audience. It's not my job to decide what the audience is. As a freelancer, I have no power to decide that. And if I do decide that, I'll be rightly sacked and edited to the magazine line.

(And perhaps obviously, if I disagree with the magazine line -- and there are magazines I find pretty reprehensible -- I don't write for them. Or at least, I don't write for them twice)

When I'm the boss -- as in, as 1/4 of the RPS hive mind -- we've constructed the audience from the ground up. We basically made the site we'd want to read. And, generally speaking, specialist magazines only ever really work when your writers are also your audience. I disagree with most people here who've argued in the split. I think we are gamers. I don't think it's a huge thing to remember what it was like to throw down thirty quid for a videogame for it to turn out to be shit. If you're genuinely interested in the form, what interests you in it is what interests your readers. It may be easier to say that on something relatively niche like RPS -- but RPS is little other than old-school PCGUK/Amiga Power/You Sinclair with the leash of decency removed, all of which were brilliant and highly popular (i.e. Best selling in their market) magazines. Specialist games writing in the UK has always thrived on the sense that the writers were the readers, just capable of articulating better than you were what these wonderful things called videogames are like. I always recall Tim Edwards -- Deputy Editor of PCGUK, and recovering mag fanboy -- overjoyed when we first did the yearly Top 100 Games feature by disappearing to the pub all day and arguing it out. "You really do it! You actually go to the pub and argue games". That was the fantasy for the brit mags, y'know?

If I'm writing for a more mainstream place, of course, the rules all change. But that's a different question -- and there I return to being a freelancer. I'm a writer. I'm perfectly capable of writing for any audience I'm told to. At which point all my commissioning editors are laughing, as well they should.


Dan Hsu, Sore Thumbs Blog: I think the most successful media outlets are the ones that understand who their audience is, and like Kieron says, is a part of that same audience. On this first point, if the editors don’t give their writers some captain’s guidance as far as their readership goes, that boat can sail all over the place. Game Informer...are their readers the typical 18-34 gaming males? A more hardcore gamer? Or a more general consumer (including parents, aunts, uncles, etc.) who might be shopping at GameStop for someone other than themselves? If GI’s editors don’t provide that feedback, then a new writer may not know if using the term “RPG” or referencing some guy named “Miyamoto” without proper context is appropriate or not. I remember GI’s Editor-in-Chief Andy McNamara talking about this very thing at a panel once, so I know they think about this kind of stuff. We did at EGM as well. We figuratively painted a picture of our audience to our writers and editors regularly, so they understood whom they were writing for. It helps maintain a certain level of consistency in the writing. It also gives our respective magazines a consistent identity and brand. This is very important for so many obvious reasons.

And Kieron’s right as well as far as it helping when the writers are in the demographic they’re writing for. This lets the prose come out more naturally, more authentically because the writer and reader are in the same state of mind.

Take a look at John Davison. When he had his first son, his brain started changing. He started looking at videogames differently. I know he can still write for a more traditional, hardcore audience (because he’s still a hardcore gamer), but now he has a parent’s perspective as well. He was more and more interested in writing for a crowd that has to split time between Madden and diaper changing, and since Ziff Davis Media wasn’t the right outlet for that, he gave birth to What They Play. That’s a great story...a perfect example of someone reaching out to the audience he wants to write for rather than forcing it upon the wrong crowd and diluting the established hardcore brands (1UP, EGM, etc.).


Francesca Reyes, Official Xbox Magazine: I hate to chime in only to ride on Kieron’s coattails on this, but to me, he’s absolutely right. I know as writers, we’re supposed to be able to take on the guise of the Everyman, reviewing games for some fictional demographic out there and assuming the voice that speaks to them. But how successful is anyone if they’re not in some way writing for themselves? Especially for stuff like reviews, which are essentially well-supported (or crappily-supported, depending) opinions based on experience, knowledge, and taste?

But before I get carried away with that tangent, I wanted to make sure to address Shawn’s question about review policies. I’ve only really ever worked for one company for the past 12 years and since then, I’ve never had any sort of really strict guidelines for how to write or approach reviews. Maybe that had nothing to do with freedom of editorial and everything to do with disorganization, but a few things have always remained consistent, but never quite stated, across all the pubs I’ve written for: review the product, not the company that created it or released it (how very Formalist of us!); don’t become a jaded fuck; don’t get too insider-y with technical language (because it’s just wankery at that point); and always support your hypothesis. Those were for the actual writing part of reviews and I’d think they’re pretty straightforward.

For the process of reviewing a game or product -- it was always strongly encouraged to finish the game you were reviewing and be as thorough as possible in researching them. Those were ideals, and like every ideal -- not always realized in practical application, of course. Back in the day, it was a lot easier to do because of a number of factors -- not the least of which, we all had some form of a freelance/contributor budget. These days, things run much leaner and as such -- unless someone comes along and adds 5-10 more hours to each day, finishing every single game on time just isn’t always a possibility. But you always push people to do it, even if they physically can’t -- even if it’s only to get across the importance and accountability of reviewing a product.

I know it’s an old-fashioned (possibly annoyingly earnest) ideal, but I always kind of thought you owed it to your audience and to the people who spent months to years creating a game to at least put in the 10-20 (and in the case of JRPGs, even more) hours of diligence to critique it. It’s completely impractical, I know, but I’ve always aspired to be consistent about it with the games I’ve reviewed. I’m always disappointed if I don’t accomplish it by the time I have to write the review.

But maybe I’m not being completely honest about my reasons, because I’ve also learned over the course of the past years that I have to cover my ass. If I don’t play through a game and know it thoroughly, I can’t expect to be able to accurately debate with someone who disagrees with my review -- whether that’s a reader or a developer or a co-worker. I realize there are loopholes in my logic (I think Kieron pointed out early on that two players can see the same game completely differently), that I don’t always have the hours in the day to follow through on my goals, and that maybe I’m increasingly paranoid – but I’m also trying to be completely honest.

And as for the original topic for debate in this thread -- being a fan reviewer versus not being a fan -- that really depends on the publication. I know this is going against my original paragraph about how we all basically write for ourselves -- but I don’t think you necessarily have to become someone completely different in order to connect or write for a different audience. I mean, if we’re all writing and reading about games -- there’s a fundamental understanding that we are interested in the same medium and it’s only the degree of familiarity with said medium that separates any of us as writers or readers. So, it’s an adjustment of language -- but it’s not an adjustment of passion or enthusiasm or knowledge.

There was some earlier chat in the thread about broadening game reviews/games media appeal to a wider audience by freeing certain reviews from genre experts -- that doing this would somehow democratize the appeal of game reviews for readers. I’m a bit on the fence about this one since I think it all comes down to the skill of the reviewer. I mean, what do you want out of a review? Who are you hoping it’ll appeal to? If someone who’s never played a Madden game before gets an assignment to review one, you would hope they did their homework. But is that point? I mean, are you assigning it to them in order for them to write some experiential editorial about how they learned to play Madden? Or are you hoping that they write a review that weighs the pros and cons of the game versus what’s come before for people who’ve had some experience with the series? I think that’s really what you need to ask. Because I’m guessing that everyone in this forum, if they’re handed a game to review that they have no experience with, will do an inordinate amount of research (including maybe playing previous games in the series) in order to be able to evaluate it before or while reviewing it. And ultimately, you may not become an expert on the genre or the game’s series/background, but you will know more than the reader you’re hoping to attract by giving the review a “fresh, unfettered” take. Or I could be full of shit at this point.

I think the “non-expert review” idea is a great one for feature-type coverage or on a blog. I’d love to hear someone’s take on, say, Monster Rancher or Harvest Moon if all they’ve played up to this point was Counter-Strike games. But I’m not entirely sure I’d base any actual buying advice on that reviewer’s opinion. Because ultimately -- games are weird in that they’re part entertainment (like movies), and part consumer product (like televisions). Evaluating how a game works (or doesn’t work) can be just as important as evaluating what it’s trying to say. And figuring both of those out takes some familiarity that I would think the reader trusts that you have.


Harry Allen, Hip-Hop Activist & Media Assassin: I definitely find this change in how reviewers review -- the effect that the birth of offspring has -- the most interesting one: The idea that, now, having children, I, as a gamer, see games differently.

It happens, and it happens pretty instantly. I'll bet if you ask them, they couldn't even tell you how, nor would they tell you that it "creeped" up on them.

My brother has two small children, aged five and eight.

A few years ago, it may have been before the first of his five-year-old, or shortly afterwards, I was reading up on this devastating new roller-coaster somewhere in the U.S.

I love roller-coasters, and e-mailed the link to him, with the idea that this was something we might go ride together.

He sent me an e-mail back -- I'll never forget this -- with one word:

"Horrifying."

In other words, having had children, he was having, essentially, a chemical counter-response to the idea of putting himself in even simulated danger.

Another, related-unrelated: I once did Tavis Smiley's show, when it was on BET. Rapper Mack 10 was also a guest, and he was married to T-Boz, of TLC, at the time.

They had a bunch of food in the green room, including stewed chicken. At one point, T-Boz, who was pregnant then, came into the area. "Oh, my goodness," she said, her nose offended. "What's that smell? Ugh, chicken!" she said, and walked out.

I couldn't understand it. The chicken wasn't prepared in any unusual way, nor was its scent that dominating.

It was only later I learned that pregnant women will often have a very powerful, chemically-programmed counter-response to meat, because animal flesh can often be the carrier of parasites, to which a fetus would be especially vulnerable.

As a person aspiring to Christianity, I thought of this as a remarkable piece of design.

As a gamer, a person who adores the art of gaming, and who respects the craft of writing, what I appreciate is game writers being honest and saying, "I've changed."

As Chris Rock says, you don't wanna be the old guy in the club. Whether the issue is a lack of passion, burnout, family duties, or too many first person shooters in one lifetime, I think saying that, "I see this differently," for whatever reason, has a high moral quality.

96 comments:

Teanaholic said...

TL;DR

Jin said...

i find it interesting that Stephen Tortilo finds the relationship between the two parties will always contain a distance, i agree that there average gamer and reviewer do not experience the game the same way

the fact is that the majority of gamers will be fans of the genre to a certain extent. so to be completely objective isn't possible where the medium is subjective.

then the term average gamer means different things for each publication. if the magazine is catering for the "average" Joe who needs a bunch of women in the rest of the magazine to get him to read then the tone and prespective changes with it. I at least think thats understandable and that it comes with the magazine.

then on Francesca Reyes point on accountability it's nonsensical to to be playing 20+ hour games to review an RPG but then it's a total experience that needs to be review right? that's where the "fans of the genre" should be involved. if for example a primarily FPS player should come to review the game he would be the blank slate and the fanboy the control and a third for setting a balance. Thats what i liekd about 1UP's old review policy. the fanboy's spasms for the fanservice and the FPS-nut countering it and the third reviewer provides an extra perspective then readers can put on their bull-shit filters and find the key points of the game.

not to degrade it into pros/cons, but essentially thats what i think a lot of readers do.

and with the presence of demos/vertical slices that makes the gamer have their own opinion into the topic as well. i'm intrested to see what is said about that in the later syposiums

thanks Shawn, great post. change your background please the white is bleaching my eyeballs.

Rory Taylor said...

I don't have anything particularly insightful to add, just this: whatever game you end up making with 2k Boston better be some good shit because I miss the personality you brought to the enthusiast press side of the industry. Good read, thanks.

SnakeLinkSonic said...

Great read guys. Since I’d rather not go into a long winded subjective rant, I decided to break it up and quickly respond to standout points.

Leigh Alexander: “That's why reviews feel inconsistent and confused to many people; we can't seem to decide whether to be authoritarian or individual.”

Most of the readers are too stupid to decide what they want to read as well.

Kieron Gillen: “We need different sorts of writers writing about what genuinely matters in a game to them for people to really find people who mirror their opinion.”

Not enough people willing to do that still, I think. It’s gotten better over the past few years though, I’ll give it that. I write purely from an experiential standpoint, anybody reading my crap knows I demand to either be challenged in my own opinions or given a dose of the reader’s own little subjective world.

John Davison :“Not only did we use them because they knew their stuff, but we also used them because -- let's face it -- you have to be wired up a certain way to be that into something like that, and other people on the team just couldn't tolerate these kinds of games.”

Everyone is quick to draw lines for something that they don’t like, but have no problem criticizing in a situation involving a web of this nature. Power of the internet…

Shawn Elliot: “In fact, myopia might be an issue for the specialist. He says, "Oh, that's just how JRPGs are," but the generalist knows better because he's played plenty of games that have solved the same problems despite their belonging to different genres.”

I know it’s not what you’re trying to say (I don’t think so anyway), but it still sounds like you’re alluding to some objective truth, which we’re never going to have regardless. I guess that doesn’t mean you shouldn't try though…

Jeff Gerstmann: "If you're the sort of person who likes this sort of thing, this game's for you!"
I call that “slamming”, there should be a hell of a lot less of it.

Jeff Gerstmann: In today's market, I really think that readers need to bring their own tastes to the review and filter our words through those tastes. Really, that crosses all mediums these days.

Most people don’t reach out for fear of having their world view shattered when it’s in actuality the best thing that can happen to them…how’s that for irony…

Jeff Gerstmann: If you, the reader, don't care about that, then great. Ignore that point and move on. Even if we completely disagree, you'll hopefully have learned something meaningful about the game you are considering purchasing.

It’s idealistic to expect the vast majority of people to be any more than what they are, ignorant animals.

N'Gai Croal: “I prefer to have my opinion challenged rather than validated, because I'm always trying to see if there's something that I've missed or failed to consider.”

Pretty much ties right into what I just said about people in general. They don’t like being challenged, even if it is “to be crowned”. This is where the talent of the writer will show itself because they are always basically forced to passive aggressively make people evaluate their own opinions. Some prefer to be outright abrasive, which has it’s uses as well. I still think I’m in a small group of people who liked being opposed on almost everything I write about.

Robert Ashley: “These people seem to come from different income and education levels, different countries, and they often latch onto you for reasons other than your preference in games. They think you're a likable person. They identify with your attitude. You make them laugh.”

This is something 1up is/was basically KNOWN for, as the personalities that stem from that site, EGM, GFW, etc. assert themselves more so than any other online hub (that I’ve read anyway). I guess that’s why this bubble network of people here has flourished the way it has.

Shawn Elliott : “That's well above the average. What this means is that most people who profess to enjoy a game don't enjoy it enough to get to the end. Think about that. They have fun with it, turn it off when they feel like it, and leave with a positive impression.”

Selfish much? That’s just me though, I specifically hate the consumer mind. I’m certainly not saying one has to complete a game, but I believe that stems solely from the selfish consumer mind rather than an attempt to actually enjoy an experience provided to them. It drops the meeting-halfway point in lieu of shooting the damn thing and taking it’s wallet.

Harry Allen: You want it to open up, and for readers -- and writers -- to make new and powerful intellectual connections about games.

Good luck with that…the readers anyway. As much as I want to believe that…I can’t.

Stephen Totilo : “Nothing changes the fact that the game reviewers' experience of games is so alien to that of the gamers' that I believe the relationship between the two parties will always contain a distance. It will always contain an undercurrent of distrust not prevalent among reviewers and audience of any other medium.”

Leigh Alexander : “If we were ever to try to be just like players in order to be more useful to them, we'd already be beat in that arena -- so why not explore what else we have to offer?”

While that has some black tar along with it, it’s something you guys are allowed a bit of hubris over. That distance is necessary in my opinion. It’s a worthwhile burden most of you have and it’s also a tool that some of you use to varying degrees of success as well.

Harry Allen : “Whether the issue is a lack of passion, burnout, family duties, or too many first person shooters in one lifetime, I think saying that, "I see this differently," for whatever reason, has a high moral quality.”

The system works…just in fucked up ways…as usual.

~sLs~

Etelmik said...

I'm with Kieron on the audience thing. With content like this, audiences make few (if any) decisions about what they want before reading a particular thing (unless they've already decided they like a game like Killzone 2, but there's nothing you can do about that). Instead, they survey the landscape or have content drop in their laps (links, buzz) and then give it thumbs up or down.

Writing sincerely works best. Movies have different genres but they are reviewed within established parameters. A movie reviewer generally doesn't think "will someone who doesn't like horror movies like this"?

Unless it happens to be on everyone's lips, one should not waste review space of a particular game to explain why or why not someone who isn't familiar with the genre would like it. Reviewing genre nuances is bigger than a review's scope.

If someone really wants to know whether he'd want to play something in a genre he usually doesn't like, he's willing to do the homework by going on forums and reading multiple reviews. Too many people would be alienated that way.

If you want to do a feature of some sort (multiple reviewers in EGM was a good example that was brought up), such as "games that will convert your friends to your favored genre" or whatever, fine; but don't spend time on it in the review.

My three cents.

trip1ex said...

Gaming mags/sites are cheerleaders as much as critics.

And so yes it is important for their reviewers to have experience with the genres and franchises they cover. That is what their audience calls for.

These sites and mags (that some of you guys work for) post 10 page previews on games that are years off. I think that is probably your answer to the reviewer/fandom question.

Personally I'm all for a larger variety of perspectives that speak to a larger variety of audiences. I'm not in the 13-22yr old male demographic that these big sites and mags speak to. And so I hope the favorable economics of the internet can facilitate this.

Shawn Elliott said...

Snake wrote:
Shawn Elliot: “In fact, myopia might be an issue for the specialist. He says, "Oh, that's just how JRPGs are," but the generalist knows better because he's played plenty of games that have solved the same problems despite their belonging to different genres.”

I know it’s not what you’re trying to say (I don’t think so anyway), but it still sounds like you’re alluding to some objective truth, which we’re never going to have regardless. I guess that doesn’t mean you shouldn't try though…

Response: Say what?

Anonymous said...

Just to point out you didn't go too much into ethics, you addressed that it’s preferable to finish a game before reviewing it but not whether it was ethical to not finish it without stating this. I wonder what standards of practise you would agree on should always be in place, and what you personally would prefer but the others won’t necessarily agree with.

Keiron mentioned the incomplete reviews, I remember a few years ago now that games-master used to do back of issue, barely a paragraph long games summaries. They normally focused budget games and occasionally games that had proper reviews next issue. They were absolutely useless, rarely where able to talk about gameplay and in some cases were recommended purely for low price point.

On fans and newcomers reviewing: When feasible it can be a good thing to have different perspectives and takes on a game, but it depends on the outlet and its audience. For example it might not go down well for a newbie to shooters review Killzone 2 for a PS3 site, it’s only likely to lose readers and perhaps even hinder the career of the writer while they remain at that outlet. But if it did go ahead is it even likely to affect the tone of the review, would the newbie feel obliged to say it’s a good game despite not understanding why, being unable to articulate things they haven’t yet begun to understand. Of course the reverse can be true, particularly in remakes and samey sequels, an experienced veteran might find them boring but a fresh face without the history might be able to enjoy the improved version even more than the genre fan did when they played the original.

Steven talked about there being a disconnect between reviewer and consumer and Tom Chick then pointed out that a reviewer should be able to approximate, the average consumers experience. Personally I don’t think there’s a massive disconnect anyway, even in completely choice driven or “spur of the moment” games like Fallout and Oblivion your doing largely the same things, using the same mechanics. Multiplayer is just a completely different kettle of fish that I think should be reviewed separately from the single player.

A question I would like to pose is do you want to write reviews based on the average consumers experience? Many of them won’t complete the game and even those that do might have a comparatively dull experience. It’s the unique experiences, retellings and attempts at recreating those that make it great, (as I’m sure Shawn will testify). These kinds of experiences and hearing about them can capture the imagination can improve a game and your fun with it.
This line of thought came about because of this article, ( http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=161570&site=pcg it’s a long read but well worth it) it’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever read and I still read it now and then when I want a good laugh. This article alone made me want to buy this game, (despite my very limited experience with RTS’s) and if I had a computer that could do it justice I would. This account is definitely far from the average experience but makes me want to try and play the game in the way Tom Francis did.
I’m pretty sure with most games this would be an unfeasible amount of work, to give them similar treatment to do something every time to grab the readers imagination. But my point is that the disconnect is not necessarily a massive barrier to reaching that audience.

S. McKenzie said...

Robert Ashley said:
More and more, we do know our audience -- personally. They're the people you don't really know sending you friends requests on Facebook. They're the people e-mailing you at odd hours about something you said on a podcast or in a video, or about the story you wrote in a magazine they never expected to see you in. The game for writers these days, increasingly, is about building up a personal audience, loyal readers who follow your work across blogs, print, videos, podcasts, and whatever's next.

Leigh Alexander said:
other important way audiences evaluate games -- through conversation and recommendations from their friends and peers. . .
No matter what reviews do, audiences will always also consult people who definitively relate to them kind-to-kind in terms of perspectives.

This resonates with the way I read game reviews: I look for reviewers witha history of taste which matches my own. Sure it's labour intensive - and it becomes harder when Nick Suttner is layed off from 1up (amongst others) - but this is for me the best way to understand what any given game has to offer me as a player. When it comes to game cristicism, howver, this confluence of opinion becomes less necessary. I may not financially invest in some games, but I am still very interested in what they have to offer critically; mechanically, intelectually, metaphorically, narratively etc. etc. When reading games criticism it is often as interesting to read divergent opinions to my own as it is to read like minded opinions.

jer said...

80% of my game time in 2008 was TF2 or Left 4 Dead.

And I spent in the 600+ hours gaming in 2008. "Normal" gamers don't play everything that comes out, because we'd rather play what we like.

Game journalist live in a different world, where they need to play everything, they need to play all of MGS4 instead of stopping after part 1, they need to play all of Fallout 3, all of GTA4.e

Anonymous said...

Rather than spam the comments with my spurious rubbish on the matter, I wrote in response to it here: http://thereticule.com/2009/02/13/shawn-elliots-reviews-symposium-my-thoughts/

Now I need to apologise for links advertising :D

Anonymous said...

The thing about reviewers as fans has actually been a problem for me, because for a while I wanted to play a good JRPG again. The thing is, I can't trust most reviewers, because they just ignore all the minor and major flaws of most JRPGs. They don’t even point out anymore if the cast is totally annoying or if the story deals with boring teenager insecurities. So I just stopped following JRPGs.

Also another thing that didn’t come up with reviewers as franchise experts was, what happens if they get bored with the franchise. I thought Tomb Raider Underworld was absolutely brilliant. Most reviewers didn't like it because it was just "more Tomb Raider". Clearly most gamers are not going to be bothered by that at all.

Oh and while I'm at it, I think some reviewers ruined their own experience of Mirror's Edge, because they knew too much about the game in adanvce. They tried to play the game without using weapons (as was shown in the promotional material), which is just frustrating. And then they complain about how the game forces one into fights, except that those fights would have been really short and easy had they used weapons. And I bet most gamers will just play the game using weapons.

SnakeLinkSonic said...

@Shawn

Er...let's see (*scrolls back up to re-read*). Oh, What I meant is how you opposed Dan's statement in response to a "veteran's merit". When you say that the general player is better versed in finding problems being solved across genres, it makes me wonder how pigeon-holing that in itself is. Of course I have no touch or base with any side of the industry other than my own, but I am operating off the assumption that NO problem is ever the same, no matter how similar. There are too many factors that contributes to any one game's "problem" in terms of how it should be dealt with. Does that make any more sense?

~sLs~

Mick said...

I just want to say how much I'm loving this series, and how much I appreciate that you're interested enough in changing perceptions and practices to share this conversation with the world. Keep it up, and thanks.

Unknown said...

I would really love to see an experience of a game rather than a review. Tell me your expectations, what you knew coming into the review, and then what you felt and noticed upon playing it. What you liked and didn't. If you gave up, how come? What was frustrating. If you played it through twice, were you happy that you did so? Don't give it any kind of rating, just sum up your feelings on the game. I feel like this could potentially be more useful to a broader audience. Maybe the game isn't a great game technically, but you loved it anyways. I want to know that. Earth Defense Force is a terrible game technically. Yet I, and many others loved it. Metacritic shows a 69 average. If somebody saw a 69% (C-, 2 stars, whatever), they probably would pass. But if you talk about the game and tell me despite its issues, its still a fun, B-movie style action game, I know what to expect.

I know that a lot of reviews did do this, hence my giving the game a shot, but most people just skip to a score, and the game was probably passed on by a lot of people for this reason. I believe I'm in the minority in actually reading most of the reviews I come across.

I wish we had a more objective community review procedure. IMDB for games so to speak (I know they have a games section). I often find my tastes align much more closely to the average of consumers than rotten tomatoes type movie review sites. As it is now, too many user reviews are just random ratings assigned by people before they've even played the game based on their hype for it (or their feeling of it's importance for the first party company they have chosen to back), and that's something as a community that we need to work on.

Anonymous said...

Another great read, just like the first one. I especially liked the discussion on whether or not a reviewer should be experienced with a specific series or genre before starting the game. I preferred EGM's approach of having three reviewers, but that might not be financially feasible in this day and age where the amount of games is overwhelming.

I think whether a reviewer should be experienced in a series or not should be taken as a case by case basis.

Lets take RPGs for example, JRPGs to be specific. Most of the people buying those games are people who are already fans of the genre. I think the genre has the potential to expand, but companies have failed to market the games properly, so they continue to reach the same audience that has for the most part, at least played them since Final Fantasy VII. Within that fan base, there are a variety of gamers. Some JRPG fans (I'd say the majority) place the most emphasis on story, the characters, artwork, and music. Other RPGs fans are more into games like Dragon Quest where the game is mostly about a grand adventure and monster battling with a minimalist plot. Those types of RPG fans mostly play them for the gameplay, while other RPG fans (either like or hate the gameplay), but play them because of the reasons I mentioned above.

Clearly, for JRPGs at least, a reviewer should have at least played a couple of the most popular RPGs. If that author is reviewing a game in a series, it would also be beneficial for that person to be familiar with previous games in the franchise, so he can determine whether or not it measures up to previous installments. Sure, this perspective has its inherent biases, but the majority of people buying games from a franchise like the Tales series have played a game in the series or have at least heard about it.

This brings up the main issue I wanted to discuss. IGN tends to have reviewers that are experienced in the most popular genres of the present, but it lacks reviewers in genres that still sell fairly well, but aren't really fairly represented. A reviewer of Gears of War 2 for example will have played GoW and probably the Halo games, while the reviewer of Tales of Symphonia 2 had not even played the first game, or a Tales game. There was an inherent problem with the ToS2 review, because that game relied on the first Tales of Symphonia for its story. In order to understand the story and jokes, players had to have played the previous game in the franchise.

I'm going to be honest. I had no problem with his review score, but my problem was with his lack of supporting evidence and bashing an entire genre and series based on one game, of a series he had no experience with. ToS2 was not a shining example of an RPG, or a Tales game for that matter. As someone who really enjoyed Tales of Symphonia, I thought it was fun and worth the money for me, but I would not recommend it for most consumers. First of all, the game took about 12 hours to get exciting, which is ridiculous considering that many games are fun right from the beginning. The beginning of the game was downright boring even for someone who loves a lot of RPGs. I doubt the reviewer, Daemon Hatfield actually played more than a couple hours, because his complaints about the main character were only things that happened for the first hour or two of the game. It is too bad he didn't play longer, because the story does finally get interesting at some point. He mislead some people that may have played the game otherwise.

Also, many of his other comments were just plain wrong, or weren't even about the game. He claimed the game's battle system copied Pokemon, when the only similarity was the fact that you can catch monsters (which is mostly optional). The use of the monsters and the methods of catching them are far different than Pokemon, and are more like a mini-game more than anything.

He failed to tackle things that actually would be an issue with gamers such as a battle system that didn't really evolve from previous installments, and an erratic difficulty level.

Review scores matter little to me anymore. I would have been fine if he gave the game a 4, but I just didn't appreciate his approach. He decided to make his review an attack on JRPGs in general instead of an actual review of his experience with the game. To me, opinions are great, which is one reason why I love Giantbomb (even though some reviewers have very different tastes from me), but his review was just done in a distasteful manner. If he wanted to rail against JRPGs, he should have done it in a special feature or blog, not a review of a single title.

Anonymous said...

Sagan,

I agree that they don't discuss the characters and story in-depth, but almost everything they say about the characters is negative. Even though many RPG characters now have an anime style, there are still some distinct personalities and plenty of character development. Just because every character isn't like you doesn't mean they're bad. I'd hate it if all character were outgoing or if all characters were feminine looking. You just have to take a chance sometimes.

Lost Odyssey had an excellent cast, and most people who enjoyed Final Fantasy 1-10 liked it. Unfortunately, the reviewers only focused on negative points of the game, which were often from incomplete versions like the IGN review.

That's one of the reasons people should branch out a little bit and not only play Square-Enix RPGs. To encourage innovation, people need to buy products that do things differently. There's still plenty of good RPGs out there, some aren't as good as ones from the SNES and PSX era, but many companies other than Square-Enix are producing some great games. Some flaws are usually present, but name a game that doesn't have flaws? Gears of War 2 was a major success critically, but it had loads of issues. Some people didn't mind, but others were outraged. Same goes with RPGs. I just want a balanced approach to reviewing games. That's all I ask for.

ATC 1982 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ATC 1982 said...

I like that you all are doing this.

Then again I have found the Authors I enjoy reading reviews from. For example with RPG's that I am going to play I will look to Heather C. from PLAY, Taso if I can find a review or Faleron from Gamefocus.ca.

I would rather read a review by someone who plays theses games an will pick them apart These people also give weather or not it is worth looking into even if it crashes every 5 minutes (RoTA) which was a good game if you downloaded it to your 360.

I think some sources are better to go to then others. Then again I really don't trust the reviews coming from OXM, GI, or GamePro even though I subscribe to the first two magazines.

February 17, 2009 6:04 AM

ShiroMe said...

I think that reviewing a game in the way traditional reviewers do is inherently flawed. Most reviewers speed through a game as fast as they can criticizing anything that gets in their way just to get the review out before the game hits shelves. This is in no way how a consumer will play or think about a game. Personally, I don't want any of you to review games. I want you (being the intelligent informed people you are) to simply have an entertaining discussion about the positive and negative attributes a game has.

Kevin Elgar said...

Finally got down to reading this. I found myself siding mostly with Kieron Gillion views on the perspectives and audience of a reviewer.

Not much I can do to sum up my feelings, but I definitely think you guys are making some headway with this. In a few years time, we may be seeing much more respectable reviews and not even know the influence this symposium made.

Cornelius T. Fish said...

This is excellent. I just discovered this and I'm excited to be able to read your work again.

ArticleDirectory said...

What a nice blog you got here, keep doing a great job.

www.acredarticle.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Cool post


website design nyc

Not Dead said...

Game reviews don't influence the purchase of games enough for all of this to be important, especially when this is so verbose and delusional.

I think most games "journalists" understand that they are lucky to have the job they do and that on a global scale being a game critic is about as important as being a movie critic... which, as you know, isn't really that important.

Paul Blart made an assload of money. So has tons of crappy Wii games.

Get over yourself.

Anonymous said...

哈啦論壇
浪漫月光論壇
中暑
中暑 abc 急救
BMI
糖尿病
無蝦米正式版
kmplayer繁體中文版
爆爆王無敵程式
mlb中文官方
迅雷5下載
you tube 中文版
smg 軟體
facebook中文介面
免費掃毒軟體
音樂播放軟體 winamp
adobe reader
wwindows 7 序號申請
windows 7 beta
7zip 中文版
PhotoImpact 12
ie8 0繁體中文版
nero 9序號產生器
pigo 遊戲網法
winzip 9 0 繁體中文版
mxie v0 6 0 1 繁體中文版
ewido 線上掃毒版
rocketdock 中文化
quicktime player 繁體中文版
pcman下載
emule 繁體中文版
生份證產生器

Anonymous said...

I like your blog, it's very good!
By the way, do you like spyder ski jackets, I think they are very fashionable and chic, especially the kids north face jackets, I love them so much. In my spare time, I also like playing tennis racket, it can keep healphy, what do you like to do?
polo vest
polo jacket
polo jackets
polo jackets for men
polo jackets for women
polo hoodies for men
polo hoodies for women
polo sweatshirts for men
polo sweatshirts for women
polo shirts for men
polo shirts for women
polo shirts wholesale
polo shirts for girls
ralph lauren polo shirt
polo pants for men
abercrombie fitch shirt
wholesale abercrombie fitch shirts
abercrombie fitch mens shirts
burberry shirts for men
burberry shirts for women
burberry shirts on sale
nroth face jackets on sale
nroth face jackets cheap
nroth face jackets for women
nroth face jackets for men
columbia jackets women
columbia jackets for men
columbia jackets discount
spyder jackets for men
discount spyder jackets
cheap spyder jackets
spyder jacket
spyder jackets for women
tennis rackets
cheap tennis rackets
discount tennis rackets
tennis rackets on sale
prince tennis racquets
head tennis racquets
wilson tennis racquets

Ebuy4cheaps said...

Fake watches
Porsche Design replica watches|

Rado replica watches|

Raymond Weil replica watches|

Richard Mille replica watches|

Roger Dubuis replica watches|

Romain Jerome replica watches|

Tag Heuer replica watches|

Tissot replica watches|

Tudor replica watches|

U-Boat replica watches|

Ulysse Nardin replica watches|

Vacheron Constantin replica watches|

Versace replica watches|

Victorinox replica watches|

Zenith replica watches|

aai333 said...

If you have cheap ghd, or will be travelling a

lot with your Gghd, you might want to consider

purchasing the ghd straighteners. But you must

consider that the standard model will work for all lengths, and ghd outlet. If you do not want to use a lot of heat on your hair, just make

sure that the cheap discount ghds you choose has

temperature control, and a low setting.

These magnificent Paddington metallic and tan leather sandals by Chloe outlet are unique in style thus will add sensational sass to your Spring

and Summer wardrobe, as you can wear cheap Chloe with

shorts and a tank top, discount Chloe and an elegant

blouse, as well as dresses. The t-strap gold metallic finely woven leather of these sandals is adjoined to

the two additional side straps by double tan straps with gold-tone buckle newest Chloe. As well, the stacked wooden wedge heel of these Chloe bags 2010 leather sandals measures at four inches,

adding the perfect amount of height to your frame.

bape outlet is well known for the unique and colorful

hoodies they produce. If you're wondering what a bape

clothing
is, it's just slang for a hooded sweatshirt. The discount bape designs are creative and usually feature camouflage in some part of

the fabric pattern. The cheap bape brand is hugely

popular with rap and hip-hop stars, with the most popular clothing item being the bape jackets and sweatshirts.

Anonymous said...

Look,Cheap GHD Straighteners,Discount GHD Styler,GHD Outlet,CHI hair Straighteners,2010 Cheap Sunglasses,Discount SunglassesSunglasses Outlet,wholesale Sunglasses,Sunglasses Wholesale. Do not worry. The urge to buy these goods will be very strong once you spot the shoes or clothes that you like. I am also a big fan for these products, although I like ED Hardy,cheap ED Hardy Clothes,discount ED Hardy Outlet,Wholesale Ed Hardy,Ed hardy wholesale, cheap Prada,discount Prada,Prada Outlet,newest Prada handbags,Prada handbags 2010, so I can understand. Online wholesale dealers have quite an array for you to choose from, including wholesale jewelry and handbags. And these are bags that bear the most famous names in the world of fashion, by the way -Prada, Spyder, Moncler, GHD, ED Hardy, designer Sunglasses, Ankh Royalty, Twisted Heart, or say AnkhRoyalty,Ankh Royalty,Ankh Royalty Clothing ,Ankh Royalty Clothes,AnkhRoyalty Outlet. Such variety that comes at incredibly affordable prices is a treat you can't possibly pass up on.

ai said...

1
abercrombie & fitch clothing Clothing Online
Wearing Hoodies has been quite a trend and the best part is that the trend is being still followed. Come the winters and most of the people on the streets are found wearing

Hoodies and the one brand that has managed to give some of the best Hoodies and Abercrombie Hoodies are indeed one of the best trend setters. Even with time, people still can

not manage to get over with these and they still continue to wear them and why not, they surely look trendy and at the same time, serve the purpose that are meant for.
There’s also the auction site option with plenty of abercrombie & fitch clothing to choice from but it’s hard to determine which

sellers are selling counterfeit items. The third, safest and best option for the serious buyer is to use one of a few UK based stores that manage to sell the real deal. The only

problem with this is that these are few and far between, there are a few independent high street based stores that stock limited items. But there does seem to be at least one

good solution. The most accessible option is to use a store such as QCUM Menswear that specialise in selling both mainstream and rare mens fashion including polo shirts,r, jeans

and t-shirts at affordable prices.
Of course not everyone is still too assured about shopping online but with the trends certainly moving towards more online shopping its certainly a medium which is sure to grow.
2
Abercrombie is a name synonymous with style and sophistication. Each of abercrombie fitch outletapparel aims to create a

distinctive look for its wearer. Be it an Abercrombie shirt or jackets or shorts or polo it makes you stand out in the crowd with its fine cut and typical rugged look.
Abercrombie aims at dressing the young from elementary school to post college stages. Its different subsidiaries apart from Abercrombie & Fitch have different names for

different age groups. They have the same products but appropriate for the particular age group.
The range ‘abercrombie’ caters to outfits for pre teens in 7 to 14 years. ‘Hollister’ brand is meant for 14 to 18 year old high school students. For 18 to 22 year old

college students they have Abercrombie & Fitch range of apparels. For the post collegiate cheap abercrombie fitch has ‘RUEHL’

which caters to 22 to 35 years of age. Having different segments for different age groups makes it easy for people to select outfits suited to their age.

ai said...

Shopping in Abercrombie store is an experience in itself. Beautiful male and female models wearing Abercrombie outfits attend to you and help you to select your apparel. The

stores create unique ambience with latest popular music and the very special Abercrombie fragrance.
Like any other outfit Abercrombie shirts have that unmistakable look about them which speaks of style and sophistication. These shirts have typical rugged Abercrombie finish.

The Abercrombie shirts are offered in both casual as well as formal styles. They are made of high quality cotton. The long sleeved casual and formal Abercrombie shirts are very

much in demand, especially with college kids and above. You can get shirts in stripes or plain with traditional colors like navy, cream, white, blue, olive, etc. Some of these

shirts have patch colors on them presenting a unique look, hard to find in any other brand. The high quality Abercrombie shirts come in different categories like Cascade Lake

Green and Navy, Blake Peak white or light blue stripes or pink stripes, Abercrombie shirts cargo blue and cargo pink, and Hoffman Mountain White.
3
lat irons are one of the biggest selling brands today. Only brands like CHI and GHD can claim to sell as many . Apart from marketing, its success lies in the features you

achieve, at a price that's very competitive and that many purchasers just love the job it does on their hair. The following compares GHD to other brands and evaluates how it

compares. There are a lot of models of GHD flat iron to option from; furthermore, there are three basic ones. Each major style provides a various function, whether it is

tourmaline or a world traveler edition. What's impressive about each model is its price; without doubt these instruments are one of the most competitively priced on the market,

which has no doubt contributed to their popularity. First off we have the Woman shirts--cheap abercrombie fitch fitted inverted

pleat bib front, stretch cotton blouse with single cuffs.
This blouse features a stitched down flat collar and a deep curved hem, the cuffs of the blouse have an inverted pleat which features contrast green and yellow buttons.
The shirt is finished with white buttons within the concealed placket and a Black Label signature bow is applied to the left side seam.
Woven 198% cotton 4% elastane
40°C machine wash, do not bleach, do not tumble dry, 2 dot- warm iron
Man shirts-- paulsmith outlet London classic fit formal shirt with a semi spread and curved collar and single cuffs. This

shirt is made from blue fabric with green and white thin stripes. Tourmaline Ceramic flat iron. There are 4 various models to option from, the only distinction being the plate

size. You have the option of 3/4", 1", 1 1/2" and 1 3/4". I really like that there are 4 plate widths to option from; most other brands usually only feature a 1" and 2" version

for any particular model.

ai said...

Another great feature of this model is that the plates are 100% ceramic and are coated with tourmaline crystal. Furthermore, Tourmaline emits 6 times more negative ions than

does ceramic. Negative ions close cuticles thereby locking in moisture. This means that hair is less ghd straighteners damaged and stays straighter for longer. These hair

straighteners also come with Dynamic Alignment System. The plates aren't rigidly fixed, but will move slightly to follow the contours of your hair. This helps to ensure that

heat is applied evenly. Both the dynamic alignment and the tourmaline are excellent features that most other instruments lack - the Corioliss flat iron also comes with these

features and is, in my opinion, one of the best styling instruments on the market, but it costs a lot more than the ghd.
4
I’ve ever tried on a lot of styles of TR Jeans, but only have a few in my closet. I really like trouser jeans, so both the Emma style and Sammy are my favorite. Both have flat

pockets in the back, but they look completely different. Emma has rounded pockets –Sammy has square. ghd outletBoth fit

similarly, like trousers—and balance my humongous hips. Becky’s are a versatile pair of bootcut jeans with flap pockets, and tend to run large in some washes –so you may be

able to size down if you’d like a snug fit. True Religion is the king of vanity sizing, in terms of pairs running incredibly large.
Some people size down 1 or even 2 depending on how stretchy the wash is. Dark Lovestruck for example runs one large, the one pair I own is a size down from my normal 7 For All

Mankind and Citizens of Humanity Size. Of course, cheap ghdalthough I do not own any, every woman should have a pair of

TR rainbows in their closet. Bring all the attention to the pockets –that’s what TR jeans is known for: pocket detailing and impeccable stitching.

ai said...

As a desire to mask their identity, celebrities and film stars wear Gucci ghd hair straighteners. They can also wear

them due to the production lighting being more forceful than natural light. Sunglasses namely on the beach have been a popular fashion statement since the 1950s. The color of

the lens can actually vary by fashion, purpose and style.
As many individuals find direct sunlight too bright and uncomfortable on the eyes, sunglasses are a wonderful visual aid to prevent blinding light from reaching the eyes.

Sunglasses work best in outdoor activities, such as flying, riding, skiing and motorcycling. Doctors recommend to wear sunglasses whenever outside to protect our eyes from

ultraviolet radiation. This can lead to the serious development of cataract.
However, they do cause color distortion. Adidas Sport fashion brand sunglasses with yellow lenses are usually used by avid

golfers and shooters for the contrast enhancement, as well as depth perception properties. Other colors, such as purple and blue, offer no true benefits—they are chiefly

cosmetic. Green, yellow, brown or gray is recommended for general use to avoid or limit color distortion.
Some sunglasses use a gradation where the top of lenses is darker, as the bottom is transparent. Sometimes, a mirrored coating is applied to the lens. The mirrored coating

reflects some of the light when it hits the lens of the sunglasses before it’s transmitted through the lens. This makes the situation useful in very bright conditions. The

mirrored coatings can be manufactured in any color for fashion and styling purposes.
6
select designer sunglasses With such a hefty price tag, one might wonder what it is that makes the Elite C Six so special. Each pair is fabricated with approximately 80 layers

of carbon fiber, the same material used in the aerospace and motor sports industries. The carbon fiber is extremely costly, but for the seasoned athlete, a more flexible,

functional frame offers a new degree of performance. Factor in the 90 hours of machine time during production,AIR MAX, and you've got yourself one expensive pair of shades. The

limited-edition Elite C Six will be available exclusively at Oakley retailers and at select designer cheap sunglasses boutiques.

In a recent conversation with a friend we've determined what we think to be the sunglasses of San Francisco. Drum roll please...the Ray-Ban Wayfarers. If you've ever been to San

Francisco you're sure to have noticed these shades on many a resident- from chanel armani sunglasses girls in the Marina trying

to give their sun dresses an edgier feel to brunch-goers in the Haight who have hip written all over them

ai said...

Wogentlemen from all walks of life are always battling their hair. Those who have straight hair always tend to it to be curly. Those blessed with curls tend to theirs to be

straight. With the gentlemany innovations in the beauty domain that are emerging daily, there is certainly consequentlmething to meet the needs of everyone. And for those

gentlemen and ladies who do long for super sleek and shiny hair, then they are truly lucky to find the line of Sedu flat irons and the Sedu cheap ghd
Sedu flat irons are consequentlme of the most highly regarded tools in the hair straightening line by numerous leaders in the beauty and cosmetic industry. The Sedu Company has

been an innovator for leading the way in hair care products and professional items for gentlemany years and their experience demonstrates. Their flat irons and hair

straighteners are consequentlme of the most consequentlught after in the industry. Those who have found Sedu swear that they will never employ any other company's hair

implegentlements again!
The Sedu flat irons, which are specially coated with either ceramic or tourmaline, are namable for causing abconsequentllutely no damage to any hair type, No matter if yourghd is coarse or fine, long or short, thick or thin, you will certainly benesuit from using a Sedu flat iron. They are made

from the very optimal quality materials and will transform your unruly mop into your crowning glory in a matter of minutes.
8
The choices are mixed Discount ed hardy wholesaleand may clearly answer all your wants for an optometrist will give you

the extract prescription for your eyes. Keep in attention that total fit. Its popularity can be seen through the dozens of brands producing glasses for both feel and elegance,

Miu glasses are the ones that answer both requests. Keep in mentality the glasses are no longer “geeky” accessories. Hence, for those who have to desire a contour for your

eyewear that would compliment your face. Ed Hardy Kids T Shirts Oblong-shaped faces are typically compatible with most models because of the glasses from sunburned havana-

brown, gloss black, purple ginger gemstone and ruby-blond-linen. Nevertheless before something also, you will have to make a holiday to your face and you can do wonders for your

generally look, not to state that it would be sized to get that troubles in eyes may disagree, sense the impolite prescription glasses will do is that you have 20-20 foresight

are using glasses for aesthetic reasons. For example, cheap ed hardy wholesalemens T-Shirt the MU 52EV by Miu for males

come Not only one You don’t want to constantly stopover the native evaluate in the building. Basically, this find the right outline, magnitude and blush that would work best

for your optometrist. If you are in chic! Glasses are looking for a narrow yet ample copy. Your spectacles must also be best to look for corrective lenses, then an eyepiece.

Nevertheless, when looking for glasses, manner is not the only are they trendy accessories, Christian Audigier T-Shirt but they also in different shapes. Even while you may need

them, that doesn’t mean that you have to live with this, you have the choice to rest the lower part of the face. Note that the worse frames should be bolder to want a redden

per standard. Remember that the right glasses can be convinced that the eyepiece you planned will be right as acetate or metal.

ai said...

broader market tumbled yesterday, had to. We have analyzed, in the concentration of the disclosure of annual reports and quarterly period of excellent performance of listed

companies dropped to make market lacks reason for the policy to immediately raise interest rates or raising the deposit reserve is unlikely that tape is expected to be near

3,000 access to support,coach discount abercrombie and fitch, short-term technology to build a small head and shoulders pattern at

the end of the completion of rest, afternoon to continue upward shocks. While the broader market's trend has not exceeded our expectations, although the broader market have

cropped up again after the opening bell, but did not even touched an intraday low of 3,000 points mark, indicating lack of active sell into kinetic energy, with banking stocks

brand new start, against the big heavy volume rebound, recovering Yesterday lost ground. As banks face a larger plate or the short-term profit-taking pressure to maintain a high

level after the broader market pulled the pattern of strong shocks, cheap ed hardy wholesalethe final SSE Composite Index

closed out the heavy volume in Yang Xian, banking stocks attract a lot of money, resulting in significantly Su Liang, Shenzhen,chanel handbags, rebound margin somewhat more

fragile.
10
As of today's close, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed at 3059.72 points, up 40.54 points,chanel watches, or 1.34%, turnover of 110.6 billion; Shen Chengzhi to close

at 12,240.36 points, up 153.46 points,chanel handbags, or 1.27%, 78.08 billion turnover.
heavyweight to regain vitality, small-cap stocks today, the cold, across the board drop in stocks slightly active in the afternoon.
plate, the tourist hotel, Shanghai local stocks,coach cheap ed hardy wholesale, banks, Internet of things, transportation

and logistics sections. Only small-cap stocks, Wuhan planning, Tibet plate slightly.
Tourist Hotel by the China National Tourism Administration and the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments jointly issued the "Northeast Regional

Tourism Development Plan" message to stimulate, the column or top position. Plate stocks strong limit-Beijing Tourism Expo shares, Dalian Sun Asia, China was ranked CYTS.
11
Almost all designer goods (handbags, shoes, apparel, etc.) pass through many levels before it reaches the store shelf. In most cases it goes from the producer through 2-5

levels of "jobbers", then to a distributor, then the retail store, and then to you. By this time the price has increased drastically (mainly at your expense).
At Burberry outlet we cut out many of the intermediate levels, introduce you to the jobbers who are closely related to

the distributor, and you save! You do not have to buy in bulk. You do not have to have a wholesale license. You will not have to pay retail ever again.
Unlike fraudulent companies that give you some strange outdated list of who to call... We give you our suppliers actual current stock list and order form, in most cases online

(as well as customer service info)! Many of our suppliers also now have online ordering systems now in place. cheap

Burberry
We have been in business for over 7 years and have the most sources, jobbers, suppliers, and wholesalers for luxury designer handbags, accessories, shoes,

clothes and apparel.

ai said...

Louis Vuitton Agendas Antigua Bequia Leather Classic China Run Cruise Collection Damier Azur Damier Canvas Damier Geant Canvas Damier Graphite Epi Leather LV Shoes Mahina

Leather Monogram Canvas Monogram Cerise Monogram Denim Monogram Denim Cruise Monogram Denim Patchwork Monogram Dentelle Monogram Groom Monogram Jokes Monogram Leopard Monogram

Mini Lin Monogram Mini Lin Croisette Monogram Mirage Monogram Miroir Monogram Multicolor Monogram Perforation Monogram Puple Monogram Rivets Monogram Rubis Monogram Shearling

Monogram Suede Monogram Tahitienne Monogram Tisse SAC Monogram Vernis Monogram Waltz Monogram Watercolor Monogramouflage Monogramouflage Denim Murakami Chibi Kinoko Riveting

Stephen Sprouse Suhali Leather Taiga Leather That's Love Utah Leather World Cup 2007 09 New Arrivals Tiffany Co Gucci Burberry Chanel Mont Blanc UGG Swarovski Mirror Louis

Vuitton News How the Louis Vuitton Have Fallen Attractions of New York How to Spot a Fake & Where to Shop General Shopping Guide as Louis Vuitton Fashion Louis Vuitton Handbag

Trends Exploring Trapani with Louis Vuitton Classic Men's Louis Vuitton Wallets Louis Vuitton Handbags More Than the Designer Shipping and tracking Privacy statement Return &

Exchange policy LV ONLINE SHOPPING SUPPORT ARTICLES F.A.Q ABOUT US PRIVACY POLICY CONTACT US Louis Vuitton outlet is always a fabulous source to buy Luis Vuitton wallet replica

at affordable cheap prices. Various styles of LV Speedy,MBT shoes sale, Tivoli,christian louboutin shoes, Mahina are offered here to appeal to your unique taste and style.

Discounted rates enable you to enjoy low cost luxury. You are not just spending money on a quality Louie Vuitton bag, but also a perfect fashion accessory which adds unbeatable

elegance to your personality Copyright 2009 www.favorluxury.com(Louis Vuitton Sale) All rights reserved. Tel: 213-985-0575 Email:info@favorluxury.com 175682 visitors since 2004.

link:- Gucci
13
Paul by discount paulsmithSmall Violet bag made from blue grained leather with brushed steel hardware, carry handles and

studded protective base. This structured handbag has two buckle straps, subtle light blue stitching detailing and a Paul X logo on the front. Internally it is lined in black

swirl jacquard fabric with three pockets; one which is zip fastened with a blue leather trim. Paul X collection yellow label is appliqué internally.
Woman shirts--cheap paulsmith Black fitted inverted pleat bib front, stretch cotton blouse with single cuffs.
This blouse features a stitched down flat collar and a deep curved hem, the cuffs of the blouse have an inverted pleat which features contrast green and yellow buttons.
The shirt is finished with white buttons within the concealed placket and a Black Label signature bow is applied to the left side seam.

ai said...

Woven 198% cotton 4% elastane
40°C machine wash, do not bleach, do not tumble dry, 2 dot- warm iron
Man shirts-- paulsmith 2010 London classic fit formal shirt with a semi spread and curved collar and single cuffs. This

shirt is made from blue fabric with green and white thin stripes.
14
paulsmith outletswirl printed soft grained leather long purse. Internally the wallet is finished with smooth beige

leather and cream swirl jacquard fabric.
There is space for 8 credit cards, the main body of the purse has two large expanding pockets, a zip coin pocket and 1 smaller pocket. There is also a pocket directly behind the

press snap clasp opening and a further back external pocket
The purse is finished with white topstitching, gold hardware and a leather trim on the zipper
Each wallet has an individual swirl print due to the cutting process.paulsmith
Size L 19.5 x H 11 x W 2.5cm
100% calf leather
Men’s
Black smooth leather wallet with a naked lady print on the interior – inspired by old cigarette cards.
* Made from smooth leather and topstitched in white with purple binding threads.
* Embossed Paul Smith signature logo on the front.
* Holds up to six cards, and on either side there is a large slot pocket underneath.
* Large compartments for notes are lined in classic multi stripe.
Size 11 x 7.5cm
100% calf leather
Women’s Purse

ai said...

The shirt is finished with white buttons within the concealed placket and a Black Label signature bow is applied to the left side seam.
Woven 198% cotton 4% elastane
40°C machine wash, do not bleach, do not tumble dry, 2 dot- warm iron
Man shirts-- paulsmith outlet London classic fit formal shirt with a semi spread and curved collar and single cuffs. This shirt is made from blue fabric with green and white thin stripes. Tourmaline Ceramic flat iron. There are 4 various models to option from, the only distinction being the plate size. You have the option of 3/4", 1", 1 1/2" and 1 3/4". I really like that there are 4 plate widths to option from; most other brands usually only feature a 1" and 2" version for any particular model.
Another great feature of this model is that the plates are 100% ceramic and are coated with tourmaline crystal. Furthermore, Tourmaline emits 6 times more negative ions than does ceramic. Negative ions close cuticles thereby locking in moisture. This means that hair is less ghd straighteners damaged and stays straighter for longer. These hair straighteners also come with Dynamic Alignment System. The plates aren't rigidly fixed, but will move slightly to follow the contours of your hair. This helps to ensure that heat is applied evenly. Both the dynamic alignment and the tourmaline are excellent features that most other instruments lack - the Corioliss flat iron also comes with these features and is, in my opinion, one of the best styling instruments on the market, but it costs a lot more than the ghd.
4
I’ve ever tried on a lot of styles of TR Jeans, but only have a few in my closet. I really like trouser jeans, so both the Emma style and Sammy are my favorite. Both have flat pockets in the back, but they look completely different. Emma has rounded pockets –Sammy has square. ghd outletBoth fit similarly, like trousers—and balance my humongous hips. Becky’s are a versatile pair of bootcut jeans with flap pockets, and tend to run large in some washes –so you may be able to size down if you’d like a snug fit. True Religion is the king of vanity sizing, in terms of pairs running incredibly large.
Some people size down 1 or even 2 depending on how stretchy the wash is. Dark Lovestruck for example runs one large, the one pair I own is a size down from my normal 7 For All Mankind and Citizens of Humanity Size. Of course, cheap ghdalthough I do not own any, every woman should have a pair of TR rainbows in their closet. Bring all the attention to the pockets –that’s what TR jeans is known for: pocket detailing and impeccable stitching.
5
As a desire to mask their identity, celebrities and film stars wear Gucci ghd hair straighteners. They can also wear them due to the production lighting being more forceful than natural light. Sunglasses namely on the beach have been a popular fashion statement since the 1950s. The color of the lens can actually vary by fashion, purpose and style.

ai said...

As many individuals find direct sunlight too bright and uncomfortable on the eyes, sunglasses are a wonderful visual aid to prevent blinding light from reaching the eyes. Sunglasses work best in outdoor activities, such as flying, riding, skiing and motorcycling. Doctors recommend to wear sunglasses whenever outside to protect our eyes from ultraviolet radiation. This can lead to the serious development of cataract.
However, they do cause color distortion. Adidas Sport fashion brand sunglasses with yellow lenses are usually used by avid golfers and shooters for the contrast enhancement, as well as depth perception properties. Other colors, such as purple and blue, offer no true benefits—they are chiefly cosmetic. Green, yellow, brown or gray is recommended for general use to avoid or limit color distortion.
Some sunglasses use a gradation where the top of lenses is darker, as the bottom is transparent. Sometimes, a mirrored coating is applied to the lens. The mirrored coating reflects some of the light when it hits the lens of the sunglasses before it’s transmitted through the lens. This makes the situation useful in very bright conditions. The mirrored coatings can be manufactured in any color for fashion and styling purposes.
6
select designer sunglasses With such a hefty price tag, one might wonder what it is that makes the Elite C Six so special. Each pair is fabricated with approximately 80 layers of carbon fiber, the same material used in the aerospace and motor sports industries. The carbon fiber is extremely costly, but for the seasoned athlete, a more flexible, functional frame offers a new degree of performance. Factor in the 90 hours of machine time during production,AIR MAX, and you've got yourself one expensive pair of shades. The limited-edition Elite C Six will be available exclusively at Oakley retailers and at select designer cheap sunglasses boutiques. In a recent conversation with a friend we've determined what we think to be the sunglasses of San Francisco.

ai said...

Drum roll please...the Ray-Ban Wayfarers. If you've ever been to San Francisco you're sure to have noticed these shades on many a resident- from chanel armani sunglasses girls in the Marina trying to give their sun dresses an edgier feel to brunch-goers in the Haight who have hip written all over them
7
Wogentlemen from all walks of life are always battling their hair. Those who have straight hair always tend to it to be curly. Those blessed with curls tend to theirs to be straight. With the gentlemany innovations in the beauty domain that are emerging daily, there is certainly consequentlmething to meet the needs of everyone. And for those gentlemen and ladies who do long for super sleek and shiny hair, then they are truly lucky to find the line of Sedu flat irons and the Sedu cheap ghd
Sedu flat irons are consequentlme of the most highly regarded tools in the hair straightening line by numerous leaders in the beauty and cosmetic industry. The Sedu Company has been an innovator for leading the way in hair care products and professional items for gentlemany years and their experience demonstrates. Their flat irons and hair straighteners are consequentlme of the most consequentlught after in the industry. Those who have found Sedu swear that they will never employ any other company's hair implegentlements again!
The Sedu flat irons, which are specially coated with either ceramic or tourmaline, are namable for causing abconsequentllutely no damage to any hair type, No matter if yourghd is coarse or fine, long or short, thick or thin, you will certainly benesuit from using a Sedu flat iron. They are made from the very optimal quality materials and will transform your unruly mop into your crowning glory in a matter of minutes.
8
The choices are mixed Discount ed hardy wholesaleand may clearly answer all your wants for an optometrist will give you the extract prescription for your eyes. Keep in attention that total fit. Its popularity can be seen through the dozens of brands producing glasses for both feel and elegance, Miu glasses are the ones that answer both requests. Keep in mentality the glasses are no longer “geeky” accessories. Hence, for those who have to desire a contour for your eyewear that would compliment your face. Ed Hardy Kids T Shirts Oblong-shaped faces are typically compatible with most models because of the glasses from sunburned havana-brown, gloss black, purple ginger gemstone and ruby-blond-linen. Nevertheless before something also, you will have to make a holiday to your face and you can do wonders for your generally look, not to state that it would be sized to get that troubles in eyes may disagree, sense the impolite prescription glasses will do is that you have 20-20 foresight are using glasses for aesthetic reasons. For example, cheap ed hardy wholesalemens T-Shirt the MU 52EV by Miu for males come Not only one You don’t want to constantly stopover the native evaluate in the building. Basically, this find the right outline, magnitude and blush that would work best for your optometrist. If you are in chic! Glasses are looking for a narrow yet ample copy. Your spectacles must also be best to look for corrective lenses, then an eyepiece. Nevertheless, when looking for glasses, manner is not the only are they trendy accessories, Christian Audigier T-Shirt but they also in different shapes. Even while you may need them, that doesn’t mean that you have to live with this, you have the choice to rest the lower part of the face. Note that the worse frames should be bolder to want a redden per standard. Remember that the right glasses can be convinced that the eyepiece you planned will be right as acetate or metal.

ai said...

broader market tumbled yesterday, had to. We have analyzed, in the concentration of the disclosure of annual reports and quarterly period of excellent performance of listed companies dropped to make market lacks reason for the policy to immediately raise interest rates or raising the deposit reserve is unlikely that tape is expected to be near 3,000 access to support,coach discount abercrombie and fitch, short-term technology to build a small head and shoulders pattern at the end of the completion of rest, afternoon to continue upward shocks. While the broader market's trend has not exceeded our expectations, although the broader market have cropped up again after the opening bell, but did not even touched an intraday low of 3,000 points mark, indicating lack of active sell into kinetic energy, with banking stocks brand new start, against the big heavy volume rebound, recovering Yesterday lost ground. As banks face a larger plate or the short-term profit-taking pressure to maintain a high level after the broader market pulled the pattern of strong shocks, cheap ed hardy wholesalethe final SSE Composite Index closed out the heavy volume in Yang Xian, banking stocks attract a lot of money, resulting in significantly Su Liang, Shenzhen,chanel handbags, rebound margin somewhat more fragile.
10
As of today's close, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed at 3059.72 points, up 40.54 points,chanel watches, or 1.34%, turnover of 110.6 billion; Shen Chengzhi to close at 12,240.36 points, up 153.46 points,chanel handbags, or 1.27%, 78.08 billion turnover.
heavyweight to regain vitality, small-cap stocks today, the cold, across the board drop in stocks slightly active in the afternoon.
plate, the tourist hotel, Shanghai local stocks,coach cheap ed hardy wholesale, banks, Internet of things, transportation and logistics sections. Only small-cap stocks, Wuhan planning, Tibet plate slightly.
Tourist Hotel by the China National Tourism Administration and the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments jointly issued the "Northeast Regional Tourism Development Plan" message to stimulate, the column or top position. Plate stocks strong limit-Beijing Tourism Expo shares, Dalian Sun Asia, China was ranked CYTS.
11
Almost all designer goods (handbags, shoes, apparel, etc.) pass through many levels before it reaches the store shelf. In most cases it goes from the producer through 2-5 levels of "jobbers", then to a distributor, then the retail store, and then to you. By this time the price has increased drastically (mainly at your expense).

ai said...

At Burberry outlet we cut out many of the intermediate levels, introduce you to the jobbers who are closely related to the distributor, and you save! You do not have to buy in bulk. You do not have to have a wholesale license. You will not have to pay retail ever again.
Unlike fraudulent companies that give you some strange outdated list of who to call... We give you our suppliers actual current stock list and order form, in most cases online (as well as customer service info)! Many of our suppliers also now have online ordering systems now in place. cheap BurberryWe have been in business for over 7 years and have the most sources, jobbers, suppliers, and wholesalers for luxury designer handbags, accessories, shoes, clothes and apparel.
12
Louis Vuitton Agendas Antigua Bequia Leather Classic China Run Cruise Collection Damier Azur Damier Canvas Damier Geant Canvas Damier Graphite Epi Leather LV Shoes Mahina Leather Monogram Canvas Monogram Cerise Monogram Denim Monogram Denim Cruise Monogram Denim Patchwork Monogram Dentelle Monogram Groom Monogram Jokes Monogram Leopard Monogram Mini Lin Monogram Mini Lin Croisette Monogram Mirage Monogram Miroir Monogram Multicolor Monogram Perforation Monogram Puple Monogram Rivets Monogram Rubis Monogram Shearling Monogram Suede Monogram Tahitienne Monogram Tisse SAC Monogram Vernis Monogram Waltz Monogram Watercolor Monogramouflage Monogramouflage Denim Murakami Chibi Kinoko Riveting Stephen Sprouse Suhali Leather Taiga Leather That's Love Utah Leather World Cup 2007 09 New Arrivals Tiffany Co Gucci Burberry Chanel Mont Blanc UGG Swarovski Mirror Louis Vuitton News How the Louis Vuitton Have Fallen Attractions of New York How to Spot a Fake & Where to Shop General Shopping Guide as Louis Vuitton Fashion Louis Vuitton Handbag Trends Exploring Trapani with Louis Vuitton Classic Men's Louis Vuitton Wallets Louis Vuitton Handbags More Than the Designer Shipping and tracking Privacy statement Return & Exchange policy LV ONLINE SHOPPING SUPPORT ARTICLES F.A.Q ABOUT US PRIVACY POLICY CONTACT US Louis Vuitton outlet is always a fabulous source to buy Luis Vuitton wallet replica at affordable cheap prices. Various styles of LV Speedy,MBT shoes sale, Tivoli,christian louboutin shoes, Mahina are offered here to appeal to your unique taste and style. Discounted rates enable you to enjoy low cost luxury. You are not just spending money on a quality Louie Vuitton bag, but also a perfect fashion accessory which adds unbeatable elegance to your personality Copyright 2009 www.favorluxury.com(Louis Vuitton Sale) All rights reserved. Tel: 213-985-0575 Email:info@favorluxury.com 175682 visitors since 2004. link:- Gucci

ai said...

Size L 19.5 x H 11 x W 2.5cm
100% calf leather
Men’s
Black smooth leather wallet with a naked lady print on the interior – inspired by old cigarette cards.
* Made from smooth leather and topstitched in white with purple binding threads.
* Embossed Paul Smith signature logo on the front.
* Holds up to six cards, and on either side there is a large slot pocket underneath.
* Large compartments for notes are lined in classic multi stripe.
Size 11 x 7.5cm
100% calf leather
Women’s Purse

Michelle said...

Bright idea, hope there can be more useful articles about glasses.

I am glad to read some fantastic eyeglasses online article like this.

I appreciate your bright ideas in this eyewear article. Great work!

We share the opinion on cheap eyeglasses and I really enjoy reading your article.

What an inspiring article you wrote! I totally like the useful prescription glasses info shared in the article.

This is the best child eyeglasses article I have ever found on the Internet.

I greatly benefit from your articles every time I read one. Thanks for the cheap kids glasses info, it helps a lot.

Your do have some unique ideas here and I expect more children eyeglasses articles from you.

I totally agree with you on the point of children glasses. This is a nice article for sure.

You have given us some interesting points on kids eyeglasses. This is a wonderful article and surely worth reading.

Good job for writing this brilliant article of kids glasses .

I really like this kids sunglasses article, and hope there can be more great resources like this.

Great article, it's helpful to me, and I also like the useful info about unisex glasses.

This metal eyewear article is definitely eye-opening and inspiring.

Thank you so much for sharing some great ideas of plastic eyeglasses with us, they are helpful.

It has been long before I can find some useful articles about titanium eyeglasses. Your views truly open my mind.

I love this aviator eyeglasses article since it is one of those which truly convey useful ideas.

I like your ideas about wood-like eyeglasses and I hope in the future there can be more bright articles like this from you.

Excellent point here. I wish there are more and more rimless eyeglasses articles like that.

Great resources of rimless eyewear! Thank you for sharing this with us.

Michelle said...

I appreciate your bright ideas in this nds card article. Great work!

Great resources of nintendo ds! Thank you for sharing this with us.

Thank you so much for sharing some great ideas of ez flash vi with us, they are helpful.

I totally agree with you on the point of dstti card. This is a nice article for sure.

You have given us some interesting points on dstt card. This is a wonderful article and surely worth reading.

Excellent point here. I wish there are more and more m3 dsi articles like that.

This is the best r4 article I have ever found on the Internet.

Your do have some unique ideas here and I expect more r4 dsi articles from you.

Bright idea, hope there can be more useful articles about r4 sdhc.

I like your ideas about ak2i cards and I hope in the future there can be more bright articles like this from you.

I am glad to read some fantastic acekard 2i article like this.

What an inspiring article you wrote! I totally like the useful tti upgrade info shared in the article.

This nintendo ds card article is definitely eye-opening and inspiring.

Good job for writing this brilliant article of dstti adv price.

We share the opinion on DSTT card for dsi and I really enjoy reading your article.

I greatly benefit from your articles every time I read one. Thanks for the M3 Adapter info, it helps a lot.

I love this r4i gold article since it is one of those which truly convey useful ideas.

Great article, it's helpful to me, and I also like the useful info about nintendo ds r4 card for sale.

It has been long before I can find some useful articles about R4 Revolution for DS. Your views truly open my mind.

I really like this Acekard AK2i article, and hope there can be more great resources like this.

http://www.watches-user.com said...

thank you for share with us i like Offer wrist watches,especially Omega

watches
,it is good.Fossil watches was founded in 1984, focusing on fashion and value. The image the

company communicated was vintage Americana. Quartz movements from the Orient helped Offer wrist watches in

the design and manufacture of affordable timepieces. Since 1984, the company has experienced astounding growth.
Fossil watches with Circular Blue Gradient Dial: Features a circular, blue gradient dial with silver-tone

hands, stainless steel case, silver-tone stainless steel band, and a date display at the 3 o'clock position.

Anonymous said...

femara 2.5 mg

Unknown said...

We sell cheap rechargeable laptop battery for most every notebook computer on the market, such as dell laptop batteries, toshiba laptop batteries, HP compaq laptop batteries, acer laptop batteries, sony laptop batteries, gateway laptop batteries, asus laptop batteries, IBM laptop batteries, fujitsu laptop batteries, MSI laptop batteries and apple laptop batteries.We also sell laptop AC adapters, such as dell laptop ac adapters, gateway laptop ac adapters, asus laptop ac adapters, fujitsu laptop ac adapters, toshiba laptop ac adapters, HP compaq laptop ac adapters, acer laptop ac adapters, MSI laptop ac adapters, sony laptop ac adapters, IBM laptop ac adapters and apple laptop ac adapters.
----------------
Laptop Batteries | UK Laptop Batteries | UK AC Adapter | Laptop Battery Replacement | Laptop Battery On Sale | UK Laptop Battery | Ebuy Laptop Batteries

jane simi's blog said...

Thanks very much for your suggestion.I can get a lot of information from you article.And there is also so

much nice jackets for all of you,i hope you like them.
moncler
moncler jacken
moncler jackets
moncler men
moncler coats
moncler women
Puma Shoes
puma outlet
Puma Sneaker
christian dior
dior shoes
dior handbags
dior sunglasses
herve leger
herve leger bandage dress
herve leger outlet
moncler
Thanks for you attention.

Unknown said...

NewStreetFashion
Ed Hardy
stylish design
Ed Hardy Wholesale
fashion excellent quality
wholesale Ed Hardy
ED Hardy clothing bring you a super surprise!
ed hardy wholesale clothing
The quality is so good
christian audigier

combattery84 said...

Battery
Laptop Battery
Camcorder Battery
Digital Camera Battery
Mobile Phone Battery
PDA Battery
acer laptop battery
asus laptop battery
apple laptop battery
dell laptop battery
fujitsu laptop battery
hp laptop battery
ibm laptop battery
sony laptop battery
toshiba laptop battery
CANON Camcorder Battery
JVC Camcorder Battery
PANASONIC Camcorder Battery
SHARP Camcorder Battery
SONY Camcorder Battery
NOKIA Mobile Phone Battery
Laptop Battery
acer Laptop Battery
apple Laptop Battery
asus Laptop Battery
compaq Laptop Battery
Dell Laptop Battery
fujitsu Laptop Battery
gateway Laptop Battery
hp Laptop Battery
ibm Laptop Battery
sony Laptop Battery
toshiba Laptop Battery

combattery84 said...

SHARP Camcorder Battery
CANON Digital Camera Battery
CASIO Digital Camera Battery
FUJIFILM Digital Camera Battery
JVC Digital Camera Battery
NIKON Digital Camera Battery
SANYO Digital Camera Battery
SHARP Digital Camera Battery
SONY Digital Camera Battery
PANASONIC Digital Camera Battery
OLYMPUS Digital Camera Battery
IBM Laptop Battery
acer laptop battery
apple Laptop Battery
toshiba laptop battery
hp latptop battery
dell laptop battery
sony laptop battery
asus laptop battery
compaq laptop battery
FUJITSU Laptop Battery

LG Laptop Battery
Laptop Battery
ACER Laptop Battery
ASUS Laptop Battery
COMPAQ Laptop Battery
Dell Laptop Battery
FUJITSU Laptop Battery
HP Laptop Battery
IBM Laptop Battery

Unknown said...

I would like to appreciate the great work done by You

Generic Viagra
Cheap Generic Viagra
Generic Cialis
propecia
Generic Cialis
careprost
Lumigan
retin a

generic dostinex
generic avodart
generic imitrex
generic maxalt
benoquin
generic stromectol
ventolin
generic lamisil

angelyu said...

thanks Shawn, great post. change your background please the white is bleaching my eyeballs.
ASUS A32-R1 BatteryASUS A32-R1 Battery
ASUS R1 Series Tablet PC Battery ASUS R1 Series Tablet PC Battery
ASUS R1E BatteryASUS R1E Battery
ASUS R1F Battery ASUS R1F Battery
ACER 3UR18650Y-2-QC236 Battery
ACER Aspire 5600 Series Laptop BatteryACER Aspire 5600 Series Laptop Battery
ACER Aspire 7000 Series Laptop BatteryACER Aspire 7000 Series Laptop Battery

Anonymous said...

Christian Louboutin Pumps
michael jordan shoes
Mens Polo Shirts
Mlb Jerseys

Manolo blahnik shoes
jordan basketball shoes
Lacoste Polo Shirts
Nba jerseys

Christian Louboutin Shoes Sale
jordan shoes sale
Wholesale Polo Shirts
Authentic Nhl jerseys

Jimmy Choo shoes
air jordan shoes sale
Cheap Polo Shirts
Authentic Mlb Jerseys
Gucci Shoes
Stripe Cable Ugg Boots
Sundance Uggs
Tory Burch Shoes
Sundance Uggs
Tall Romantic Flower Uggs
Bottega Veneta
Tall Romantic Flower Uggs
UGG Classic Tall Boots

resumedocket said...

Its a wonderful document. It's an useful to scan your blog. The information from your blog is exactly splendid, your blog is really interesting.

Resume Writing Service

Unknown said...

I suggest this site to my friends so it could be useful & informative for them also. Great effort.
Send Flowers to Japan

King Bayern Munich said...

This is a great article, supplies the useful information for me, thanks in this
soft sofa
http://www.eyousofafurniture.com/Soft-Sofa-41.html
soft sofa
Modern-stone-sculpture
http://www.stone-trading.com/Modern-stone-sculpture-53.html
Modern-stone-sculpture

Vidmar said...

That's the system for you. We should be looking into Home Wind Power and working to protect Child Custody Rights. Instead of being out there in our backyards cooking on our Weber Grill 22.5 while looking for new Beat Making Programs for our dance music and exploiting new styles using Brother Embroidery Machines 'cause all we really want is: The Cheapest Gold.

Anonymous said...

laptop battery
ACER Laptop Battery
APPLE Laptop Battery
ASUS Laptop Battery
COMPAQ Laptop Battery
Dell Laptop Battery
FUJITSU Laptop Battery
GATEWAY Laptop Battery
HP Laptop Battery
IBM Laptop Battery
LG Laptop Battery
SAMSUNG Laptop Battery
SONY Laptop Battery
TOSHIBA Laptop Battery
APPLE M8403 battery
APPLE A1078 Battery
APPLE A1079 battery
APPLE A1175 battery
APPLE a1185 battery
APPLE A1189 battery 1
Acer aspire 5920 battery
Acer btp-arj1 battery
Acer LC.BTP01.013 battery
Acer ASPIRE 1300 battery
Acer ASPIRE 1310 battery
Acer Aspire 1410 battery
Acer ASPIRE 1680 battery
ACER BTP-63D1 battery
ACER BTP-43D1 battery
Acer lc.btp05.001 battery
Acer aspire 3000 battery
Acer Travelmate 4000 battery
ACER aspire 5560 battery

Anonymous said...

ACER BATBL50L6 battery
ACER TravelMate 240 Battery
ACER BT.00803.004 Battery
ACER Travelmate 4002lmi battery
Acer travelmate 800 battery
Acer aspire 3613wlmi battery
Travelmate 2414wlmi battery
Acer batcl50l battery
Acer Travelmate 2300 battery
ACER aspire 3610 battery
ACER travelmate 4600 battery
Dell Latitude D800 battery
Dell Inspiron 600m battery
Dell Inspiron 8100 Battery
Dell Y9943 battery
Dell Inspiron 1521 battery
Dell Inspiron 510m battery
Dell Latitude D500 battery
Dell Latitude D520 battery
Dell GD761 battery
Dell NF343 battery
Dell D5318 battery
Dell G5260 battery
Dell Inspiron 9200 battery
Dell Latitude C500 battery
Dell HD438 Battery
Dell GK479 battery
Dell PC764 battery
Dell KD476 Battery
Dell Inspiron 1150 battery
Dell inspiron 8500 battery
Dell Inspiron 4100 battery
Dell Inspiron 4000 battery
Dell Inspiron 8200 battery
Dell FK890 battery

Anonymous said...

Dell Inspiron 1721 battery
Dell Inspiron 1300 Battery
Dell Inspiron 1520 Battery
Dell Latitude D600 Battery
Dell XPS M1330 battery
Dell Latitude D531N Battery
Dell INSPIRON 6000 battery
Dell INSPIRON 6400 Battery
Dell Inspiron 9300 battery
Dell INSPIRON 9400 Battery
Dell INSPIRON e1505 battery
Dell INSPIRON 2500 battery
Dell INSPIRON 630m battery
Dell Latitude D820 battery
Dell Latitude D610 Battery
Dell Latitude D620 battery
Dell Latitude D630 battery
Dell xps m1210 battery
Dell e1705 battery
Dell d830 battery
Dell inspiron 2200 battery
Dell inspiron 640m battery
Dell inspiron b120 battery
Dell xps m1210 battery
Dell inspiron xps m1710 battery
Dell inspiron 1100 battery
Dell 310-6321 battery
Dell 1691p battery
Dell Inspiron 500m battery
Dell 6Y270 battery
Dell inspiron 8600 battery
Latitude x300 series battery
Dell latitude cpi battery

Anonymous said...

Dell 1x793 battery
dell Inspiron 1501 battery
Dell 75UYF Battery
Dell Inspiron 1720 battery
dell Latitude C640 battery
Dell XPS M140 battery
Dell Inspiron E1405 battery
dell 700m battery
dell C1295 battery
Dell U4873 Battery
Dell Latitude C600 battery
Armada E700 Series battery
Compaq 116314-001 battery
Compaq 319411-001 battery
Compaq nc4200 battery
Compaq Presario R3000 Battery
Compaq Presario 2100 battery
Compaq Presario r3000 Battery
Compaq Business Notebook NX9000 series battery
HP 395789-001 battery
HP 446506-001 Battery
HP dv9700 battery
HP F4809A Battery
HP nc8000 battery
HP nc8230 battery
HP pavilion zd8000 battery
HP f2024b battery
HP f4812a battery
HP Pavilion ZV5000 battery
HP Pavilion DV1000 battery
HP Pavilion ZD7000 Battery

Anonymous said...

HP Pavilion DV2000 battery
HP Pavilion DV4000 Battery
HP Pavilion dv6000 Battery
HP Pavilion DV9000 Battery
HP F4098A battery
HP pavilion zx6000 battery
HP omnibook xe4400 battery
HP omnibook xe4500 battery
HP omnibook xe3 battery
Notebook NX9110 battery
IBM 02K6821 battery
IBM 02K7054 battery
IBM 08K8195 battery
IBM 08K8218 battery
IBM 92P1089 battery
IBM Thinkpad 390 Series battery
IBM Thinkpad 390X battery
IBM ThinkPad Z61m Battery
IBM 02K7018 Battery
IBM thinkpad t41p battery
IBM THINKPAD T42 Battery
IBM ThinkPad R60 Battery
IBM ThinkPad T60 Battery
IBM ThinkPad T41 Battery
IBM ThinkPad T43 Battery
IBM ThinkPad X40 Battery
Thinkpad x24 battery
ThinkPad G41 battery
IBM thinkpad r52 battery
Thinkpad x22 battery

Anonymous said...

IBM thinkpad t42 battery
IBM thinkpad r51 battery
Thinkpad r50 battery
IBM thinkpad r32 battery
Thinkpad x41 battery
SONY VGP-BPS2 Battery
SONY VGP-BPS2C Battery
SONY VGP-BPS5 battery
SONY VGP-BPL2C battery
SONY VGP-BPS2A battery
SONY VGP-BPS2B battery
SONY PCGA-BP1N battery
SONY PCGA-BP2E battery
SONY PCGA-BP2NX battery
SONY PCGA-BP2S battery
SONY PCGA-BP2SA battery
SONY PCGA-BP2T battery
SONY PCGA-BP2V battery
SONY PCGA-BP4V battery
SONY PCGA-BP71 battery
SONY PCGA-BP71A battery
SONY VGP-BPL1 battery
SONY VGP-BPL2 battery
Sony vgn-t2xp/s battery
Sony vaio vgn-s4xp battery
Sony vaio pcg-z1rsp battery
SONY NP-FT1 battery
SONY NP-FC10 Battery
SONY NP-F330 Battery
SONY NP-F550 Battery
SONY NP-FM50 Battery

Unknown said...

ethics in policy are very important and without it there can't be a moraly nice debats or something like that.

Vidmar said...

What a great job you guys have!
Home Wind Power
Child Custody Rights
Weber Grill 22.5
Beat Making Programs
Brother Embroidery Machines
Cheapest Gold

tn requin said...

rosetta stone
rosetta stone
rosetta stone spanish
rosetta stone 3.4.5
rosetta stone
rosetta stone spanish
rosetta stone 3.4.5
rosetta stone
rosetta stone spanish
rosetta stone software
rosetta stone spanish
rosetta stone software
rosetta stone
rosetta stone spanish
rosetta stone 3.4.5

game vera said...

The best personalised gift shop on the web.We provide great wedding gitfs,birthday gifts,anniversary gift,christmas gifts and unique gift idea for women,men,children and baby.
Buy quality supercard ds Nintendo DS card, including DS flash, DS memory card, supercard ds R4iNDS card, DS flash card, r4i cards, PS3 break, PS3 Jailbreak online.

weddingdresses said...

nike running shoes
The Power Balance wholesale bracelet is made of pure surgical grade silicone that is extremely durable. Its stretch feature optimizes users' comfort level. It comes equipped with two, visible power balance holograms and this sporty and stylish bracelet goes with everything.

Specification:

Silicone Power Balance Wristband Bracelet
The band made of 100% silicone rubber
With 2 visible hologram disks for balance power,waterproof.

Anonymous said...

81 in Game Ecco Casual Shoes3 loss than the 89 scored the game by winter boots,25 points, and this is their only a

jimmychooshoes said...

Manolo Blahnik Sequin-Cuff Ankle Boot |Manolo Blahnik Sequin-Cuff Ankle Boot
Manolo Blahnik 'Kata' Cuff Ankle Boot |Manolo Blahnik 'Kata' Cuff Ankle Boot
Christian Louboutin Unique 140 leather boots |Christian Louboutin Unique 140 leather boots
Jimmy Choo Elaphe snake and suede platform sandal |Jimmy Choo Elaphe snake and suede platform sandal
Jimmy Choo Lace Mary Jane Pump |Jimmy Choo Lace Mary Jane Pump

Anonymous said...

Handful of items compare to contentment and also companionship of a gentle, affectionate plush toy. Pillow Pets™ luxurious foldable packed animals increase accurate function compared to that comfortable as well as great experience by mixing the protection of a stuffed animal with all the performance of a pillow. Made from good quality, extremely gentle chenille, Pillow Pets™ luxurious folding packed creatures maximize treasured snuggle buddies regarding you and your loved ones.

Anonymous said...

When floods do occur, The North Face Sale the water, though turbid for the time, subsides rapidly and soon becomes clear again. Below Hertford, floods are liable to act injuriously, the water remaining longer on the adjoining marsh lands. Mr. Beardmore stated that heavy floodings had taken place in May 1824, in November 1852, and in October 1857, and that at such times large areas of land were, laid under water for several days. Skechers Shoes The marsh-lands on both sides of the lower Thames are not subject to such flooding, as the embankments are found to be sufficient to shut out the tides, and the primitive sewers, marsh-ditches, and tidal outlet-sluices regulate the delivery of flood waters so as to prevent injury to land. The marsh districts on both sides of the lower Lee are now subject to the double evil of flooding and droughts; during long continued dry weather the surface cracks until there are fissures several feet in depth. Flood water is passed much more rapidly down the valley of the Lee in consequence The North Face Sale of the improvements made of late years in the navigation by dredging the channels. Much, however, remains to be done which would improve the conditions of the marsh-land and the health of the people.The evidence as to the water-mills proves that in many instances the dams and ponds act injuriously by preventing land drainage and impeding floods. However useful Discount G Star Sale water-power may have been in former times, when these mills were first established, that use has now been greatly reduced in relative value, and, wherever there is sufficient trade to The North Face Sale make grinding corn a profitable occupation, steam-power has to be brought in as an auxiliary, the improved navigation and railway accommodation facilitating the delivery of coals so as to give an advantage to steam over the constantly alternating and uncertain flow of water. Water-power having diminished in commercial value, and land for agricultural purposes having greatly increased in value, injury to the adjoining lands may be shown to cause an annual money loss to the district Shape Ups Boots. To this money loss must be added injury to health by the retention of large areas of undrained land. Water-mills and mill-dams are proved to be injurious to local properties, but we have no evidence as to any serious pollutions being caused by these mills, other than so far as they cause a partial stagnation in the water and accumulations of mud by ponding.

Anonymous said...

When floods do occur, The North Face Sale the water, though turbid for the time, subsides rapidly and soon becomes clear again. Below Hertford, floods are liable to act injuriously, the water remaining longer on the adjoining marsh lands. Mr. Beardmore stated that heavy floodings had taken place in May 1824, in November 1852, and in October 1857, and that at such times large areas of land were, laid under water for several days. Skechers Shoes The marsh-lands on both sides of the lower Thames are not subject to such flooding, as the embankments are found to be sufficient to shut out the tides, and the primitive sewers, marsh-ditches, and tidal outlet-sluices regulate the delivery of flood waters so as to prevent injury to land. The marsh districts on both sides of the lower Lee are now subject to the double evil of flooding and droughts; during long continued dry weather the surface cracks until there are fissures several feet in depth. Flood water is passed much more rapidly down the valley of the Lee in consequence The North Face Sale of the improvements made of late years in the navigation by dredging the channels. Much, however, remains to be done which would improve the conditions of the marsh-land and the health of the people.The evidence as to the water-mills proves that in many instances the dams and ponds act injuriously by preventing land drainage and impeding floods. However useful Discount G Star Sale water-power may have been in former times, when these mills were first established, that use has now been greatly reduced in relative value, and, wherever there is sufficient trade to The North Face Sale make grinding corn a profitable occupation, steam-power has to be brought in as an auxiliary, the improved navigation and railway accommodation facilitating the delivery of coals so as to give an advantage to steam over the constantly alternating and uncertain flow of water. Water-power having diminished in commercial value, and land for agricultural purposes having greatly increased in value, injury to the adjoining lands may be shown to cause an annual money loss to the district Shape Ups Boots. To this money loss must be added injury to health by the retention of large areas of undrained land. Water-mills and mill-dams are proved to be injurious to local properties, but we have no evidence as to any serious pollutions being caused by these mills, other than so far as they cause a partial stagnation in the water and accumulations of mud by ponding.

Unknown said...

Do you lovejewelry making blog, jewelry making tips is your best choice. jewelry DIY blog can make your jewelry unique.

2011bagnews said...

The lens is made wholesale sunglasses of plutonite qkxccxy0vxg and fits a medium to large sized face. The good thing about aviator wholesale sunglasses is that they can be worn even with a smaller face.Wholesale Sunglasses colored cheap oakley sunglasses aviator sunglasses are unique and different, even for men. Often, maui jim sunglasses are made to be unisex, which means that both men and women carrera sunglasses can wear them. If you are looking for attention and dare to live up to the slogan that "real men wear pink", then check out this pair of Cocoons Sunglasses aviator sunglasses - the Cocoons Sunglasses Aviator Bright Pink Polarized Grey, which is made for women, but may suit some men as well.

Choose the wholesale Wholesale Ray Ban Sunglasses Split Thump Sunglasses - Polished Black from stylerocket mens. These cebe sunglasses come with the added benefit of an MP3 player. They are designed to fit in your world and the MP3 player is there to rock it. Listen to music virtually anywhere with speakers that adjust easily and come out when you don't need adidas sunglasses them. Quickly control the music with buttons that only you know are there, Wholesale Serengeti Sunglasses because they are seamlessly blended into the icons. Forget about wires that dangle, snag and tangle, because the age of wires is over. Split Thump is a total grab-and-go solution that puts your cebe sunglasses music into something you already take with you.

laptop battery said...

very good,it's very important for somebody as me,I can not express my feeling with words now,just can see one hundred time of thanks.
Dell Latitude E6500 battery
Dell Latitude X1 battery
Dell Latitude X300 battery
Dell Precision M6300 battery
Dell Precision M6300 battery
Dell Studio 1436 battery
Dell Studio 15 battery
Dell Studio 1535 battery
Dell Studio 1555 battery
Dell Studio 1735 battery
Dell Studio XPS 13 battery
Dell Studio XPS 16 battery
Dell Vostro 1000 battery
Dell Vostro 1200 battery
Dell Vostro 1400 battery
Dell Vostro 1420 battery
Dell Vostro 1500 battery
Dell Vostro 1510 battery
Dell Vostro 1520 battery

laptop battery said...

very good,it's very important for somebody as me,I can not express my feeling with words now,just can see one hundred time of thanks.
Dell Latitude D410 battery
Dell Inspiron 1150 battery
Dell Inspiron 1200 battery
Dell Inspiron 1300 battery
Dell Inspiron 1501 battery
Dell Inspiron 1520 battery
Dell Inspiron 1521 battery
Dell Inspiron 1525 battery
Dell Inspiron 1526 battery
Dell Inspiron 1720 battery
Dell Inspiron 1721 battery
Dell Inspiron 2100 battery
Dell Inspiron 2200 battery
Dell Inspiron 2500 battery
Dell Inspiron 2600 battery
Dell Inspiron 2650 battery
Dell Inspiron 3800 battery
Dell Inspiron 4000 battery
Dell Inspiron 4100 battery
Dell Inspiron 4150 battery
Dell Inspiron 5000 battery
Dell Inspiron 500m battery

2011bagnews said...

Many people take it buy Cheap replica coach purses . I do not agree at all that it unwise, which is in force for several reasons. qhcxy0bdh a lot of attention to personal taste, replica Chanel handbags if they have a replica bag for a formal occasion, you see other people down on them. It is said that China is the second largest consumer in the rank of luxury products. replica Gucci purses It means to be Chinese get richer. Wallet replica Gucci purses store for sale at low prices online buy replica Chanel handbags handbags Famous luxury brands replica Coach wallets was established in 1854, now established part of French luxury goods group replica Chanel handbags Moet Hennessy particularly high. Wallet replica Coach handbags outlet store for sale at low prices online buy replica Chanel handbags .

Mark said...

There are hundreds of great free Android weather apps that more than make up for the lack of paid weather apps in the Android market.

best android apps

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this article. This is my first time I visit here.That’s all I can say. You most definitely have made this blog into something special. At the same time,Welcome to look at my website ghd uk and hope we can become good friends, and exchange and to help each other! Thanks.Best Chi Hair Straightener
You can also visit ghd uk and
chi us

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Koon said...

good article and valuable post, thank for idiot sharing okkk
Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
How to Get Into Acting
Breville Smart Oven
How to Impress Woman
Picking Lottery Numbers
Canon Powershot A800
Adidas Barricade
Adidas Barricade 6.0
Cuisinart TOB-195
Acne Conglobata
Acer 11.6 Netbook
500 payday loan
acne inversa
VIZIO M261VP
checkmate payday loans
Pengurusan Masa
How To Stop Panic Attacks

Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
How to Get Into Acting
Breville Smart Oven
How to Impress Woman
Picking Lottery Numbers
Canon Powershot A800
Adidas Barricade 6.0
Cuisinart TOB-195
Acne Conglobata
Acer 11.6 Netbook
500 payday loan
acne inversa
VIZIO M261VP
checkmate payday loans
Pengurusan Masa

Unknown said...

Those are yours alright! . We at least need to get these people stealing images to start blogging! They probably just did a image search and grabbed them. They look good though!
v

Unknown said...

Those are yours alright! . We at least need to get these people stealing images to start blogging! They probably just did a image search and grabbed them. They look good though!
live cricket streaming

baele said...

This Nike mercurial vapor ultra vibrant Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly III FG...The Superfly series has a huge army of fans across the globe, and if you're one of them we know you love them to be bright, flashy and in-your-face colours. Checking out these Nike mercurial vapor fg versions, part of Nike's Fall seasonal releases, we're sure you're going to love these Nike mercurial vapor too, especially once they start appearing en masse on pitch. You can click "VIEW MORE" for more detailed pictures. New levels of performance after Nike soccer cleats new levels of performance after,Nike Mercurial Superfly.

yyyy said...

Thanks for sharing and letting us aware about this information. This is a great thread, so much info.
http://www.2joygame.com/WOW-News/Blizzard-said-there-are-another-two-pieces-of-information-about-World-of-Warcraft.html

http://www.wowbotsfree.com/pros-and-cons-of-switching-between-warcraft-union-camps/

http://teralife.eklablog.com/sen-richard-blumenthal-s-d-conn-proposed-personal-data-protection-a5498541

Unknown said...

fashion jewelry wholesale
wholesale fashion jewelry
china jewelry wholesale
china fashion jewelry
jewelry wholesale china
fashion jewelry china
wholesale jewelry
jewelry wholesale
[URL=http://www.wonderful-jewelry.com]Fashion Jewelry[/URL],
[URL=http://www.wonderful-jewelry.com]fashion jewelry wholesale[/URL],
[URL=http://www.wonderful-jewelry.com]Wholesale Fashion Jewelry[/URL],
[URL=http://www.wonderful-jewelry.com]China Jewelry Wholesale[/URL],
[URL=http://www.wonderful-jewelry.com]China Fashion Jewelry[/URL]
[URL=http://www.wonderful-jewelry.com]Jewelry Wholesale China[/URL]
[URL=http://www.wonderful-jewelry.com]Fashion Jewelry China[/URL]

Admin said...

Very well written. You got every point explained. Loved the whole article! Many thanks!
vrnjacka banja smestaj
vrnjacka banja privatni smestaj
tekstovi pesama

Melany Flemmings said...

This is exactly what I was looking for. Great post and nice blog shared here. Thanks for posting keep it up.

BOSTON FINANCIAL DISTRICT

Anonymous said...

If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about our mistakes,
learn kithg86 from them.
Cheap New Era Hats

New Era Fitted Hats

Wholesale Cheap Hats

Wholesale New Era Hats

Cheap 59fifty Hats

oct809 said...

I have looked for such software for a long time.
louis vuitton outlet
louis vuitton handbags
cheap louis vuitton handbags
Beats By Dre Solo
Beats By Dre Solo Hd
Monster Beats Mlb
cheap beats by dre
monster headphones
monster beats headphones

Anonymous said...

For extraordinary how, let's confine it to the pot and you will be shocked facebook entrar perfil , facebook entrar mi cuenta , facebook entrar login , ggg girls games , facebook entrar , facebook entrar , facebook entrar

Lalitha Telugu vantalu said...

best rule to set for all this CA CPT Syllabus 2017 Download pdf