2015/1/7: Playstation 4: Minecraft, NBA 2K15

[VideoGameCritic]

Well, you asked for a Minecraft review so I gave it my best shot.  NBA 2K15 may be the best looking sports game ever, but is somewhat disappointing.

Your thoughts??

[Rev1]

I'm glad that you went with a NA rating on Minecraft because the game is so either hit or miss with people. Some people love it and others (like yourself) really don't want (or have) the time to invest into the game. I'm confident my own opinion would be pretty much the same since I hate building anything, have zero patience, and would feel way too overwhelmed with the options available to me in the game. Still, what some people manage to build from the game is truly impressive, with people taking weeks, months, or years to build attractions to their location. I wish you would go back to games like Animal Crossing and do something similar.

[PSX1]

Critic, I'm curious, why the NA for Minecraft?  To me it suggests: "I want to give this game a D, but (a) maybe I just don't get it, or (b) I'll get criticized if I give this game a bad grade, so I'll just take the safe route and do an NA."  You've usually gone with your gut in these situations in the past, even if you knew you'd take some flak for it.  But I'm wondering if maybe I'm just missing something and there's a reason that it's not possible to give a score.

[VideoGameCritic]

The main reason for the NA (Not Applicable) is that I don't feel like I spent enough time with the game to fully evaluate it.  It's kind of like an RPG where you need to so many hours to make a fair judgement.

If I waited until I spent enough time with the game, a review might never happen.  I'd rather post an NA review now and get my thoughts out there.  I think the review is still very useful even without the grade.

It may be a bit of a cop-out, but I asked readers in another thread if they thought it would be okay, and they concurred.

[scotland171]

At this point, Dave has reviewed 11 PS4 and 5 XboxOne titles, and not a single A nor F yet. With 24 WiiU reviews, there are 7 A's, or more than 25%. Granted the WiiU is a year older, and this is just a VGC sampling, but it shows the PS4 and XboxOne libraries are pretty underwhelming. The xbox360 is like 15% As, the Wii about the same, and the PS3 even higher, more than 20%.

Is there a released PS4 or xboxone game you think deserves an A that Dave has not reviewed yet, or do you think this is basically reality at this point in time?

[Vexer1]

I usually enjoy crafting in games, I found it particularly fun to create weapons in the Dead Rising series, but Minecraft does not look at all appealing to me, I get bored just hearing people talk about the game, so it's definitely not for me.

[Crock1]

I've pretty much come to the conclusion that Minecraft is a generational thing.  I don't have anywhere near the time or patience for it these days.  I was raised on Atari.  Quick to learn, difficult to master, etc.  The internet has sapped whatever attention span I used to have.  (And get off my lawn!)

Now my kids, on the other hand (ages 11 and 13), live and breathe Minecraft.  It's like crack to them -- seriously  My daughter is particularly enthralled by it.  It's the only game she's ever been interested in, and she's totally hooked.  I think it's the creativity aspect -- it lets her express herself like no other game does.

We had Asteroids, Mario, and Tetris.  Kids today have Minecraft.  I don't get it, but I feel as if I'm not supposed to....I don't know how else to explain it.

P.S.  Dave do you have kids?  If so, have they played it?

[HardcoreSadism1]

MineCraft is good if you want to make story settings with a retro video game theme. I like that this game isn't just a glorified 3D sculpting program like Second Life.

[VideoGameCritic]

Crock,
Don't have kids, but I think you are on to something there.
Also, kids have more free time and imagination than most adults.
Minecraft is probably more of an activity than a game.
VGC

[txsizzler1]

Dave, I feel much the same way you do about Minecraft... as in, heinously boring. My kids love it, similar to the reason that Crock gave.

On the other hand, I have really enjoyed the game "Terraria", which is somewhat similar to Minecraft, but like on steroids! Its the game Minecraft should have been, and I implore you to review it, perhaps even do a comparison of the two games.

As far as the NA grade, I feel you should attach a grade to it (like a previous poster suggested, it feels like a cop-out what you did). If you didn't like the game, then you didn't like it, and assign the appropriate grade to it. There are many games on here that you have graded, that you haven't "completed", due to various factors, and yet still assigned grades to them.

Just my .02.