People hating on the VGC

General and high profile video game topics.
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Stalvern
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Joined: June 18th, 2016, 7:15 pm

Re: People hating on the VGC

Postby Stalvern » July 25th, 2021, 4:52 pm

Retro STrife wrote:And boy do these guys love F-Zero, huh? Every commenter: F-Zero and Golvellius, F-Zero and Golvellius, F-Zero and Golvellius.. dude, do you guys play anything else? I've never played Golvellius.. who knows, maybe it needs a re-review look. But F-Zero is really not that good - the D is a very fair score. It's a game that was superhyped by Nintendo marketing in the 90s so everyone has fond memories, but probably couldn't last 20 minutes with it today. It's a Nintendo sacred cow over at GameFAQs though. But I digress..

F-Zero kicks ass, actually.

ThePixelatedGenocide
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Joined: April 29th, 2015, 9:06 pm

Re: People hating on the VGC

Postby ThePixelatedGenocide » July 26th, 2021, 1:37 am

Dave really doesn't get enough credit for what he's doing.

He may not change his opinions on games, but he was understanding when I talked to him about how the gay jokes were a barrier to enjoying the site. (Most of my friends aren't straight.) That kind of good faith was appreciated - he never once acted like I was attacking him.

Then there's the way he edited every single review, just to add spaces so they were more readable. And the way he goes back to old reviews he thinks didn't give the game the attention it deserved. Yes, for the most part, the best way to look at this site is as a useful collection of first impressions. But that's not all it is. It's the record of over two decades of gaming, from a single perspective, covering over 4 decades of games. I know what he likes, what he doesn't like, and both when I should be thrilled we have the same opinion (Panzer Dragoon Saga), and when I should probably give the game another chance. (F-Zero.)

Plus, I'm willing to bet that nobody in that thread would give Raiders and Riddle as much time as the critic did. (I certainly didn't.)

But most of all, there's just the fact he's hosting all this. I don't know how much it costs, and I'll never ask. But it's like a bit of time travel, every time I come back here.

We actually talk about games. And people still support each other, and still have real conversations...

It's not always perfect, but...

He can be proud of what he's built.

I certainly can't say the same about IGN or Gamespot.

It's almost enough to make me forgive him for that horrible Pole Position II review. : p

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Retro STrife
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Re: People hating on the VGC

Postby Retro STrife » July 26th, 2021, 2:44 am

Stalvern wrote:F-Zero kicks ass, actually.


:mrgreen: fair enough. I guess the better way of saying it is that I think reasonable minds could differ somewhat on F-Zero. Surprised me that, of all the VGC scores, somehow F-Zero's D grade was the one they harped on over and over. Usually Nintendo fans at least find the B- review of Super Mario 64 before burning the place down.

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MSR1701
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Re: People hating on the VGC

Postby MSR1701 » July 26th, 2021, 7:54 am

Heck, through the years I've disagreed with the VGC here and there, though I still used the site as a benchmark to see if something would be worth the time to play. And even if his thoughts don't match with what I would think on some things (I have a soft spot for Lion King Game Boy, which he slammed, though my view is partially tinted by Nostalgia, I will admit), he is honest with his thoughts and conveys what he does or does not like in the games he reviews.

Gleebergloben123
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Joined: April 8th, 2015, 12:06 am

Re: People hating on the VGC

Postby Gleebergloben123 » July 26th, 2021, 9:14 am

Read some of the hatin’ posts, and a former short-time poster here, Kajicat, said he was banned from this site. After reading some of his comments here from a couple years ago, I can see why. Boy did he come across as a whiny broken record. Good riddance.

goldenband
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Re: People hating on the VGC

Postby goldenband » July 26th, 2021, 11:35 am

MSR1701 wrote:Heck, through the years I've disagreed with the VGC here and there, though I still used the site as a benchmark to see if something would be worth the time to play. And even if his thoughts don't match with what I would think on some things (I have a soft spot for Lion King Game Boy, which he slammed, though my view is partially tinted by Nostalgia, I will admit), he is honest with his thoughts and conveys what he does or does not like in the games he reviews.

That's the thing about any reviewer who maintains a consistent perspective. If you understand what that perspective is, you don't need to agree with them for their reviews to still be useful to you.

It's possible for a review to be extremely negative, and yet still communicate that a person with different tastes might enjoy the thing being reviewed -- and vice versa. With any reviewer you kinda need to read between the lines and extrapolate the difference between their personal tastes and value judgments vs. the actual qualities of the thing being reviewed.

Anyone who reads Dave's site knows certain things consistently put his back up: a steep learning curve, a long manual that has to be read, unintuitive controls, slow methodical gameplay, a bad opening stage, and so forth. If those things don't bother you, then it's possible to read his review and infer that you'll enjoy the game. I've done that a few times -- read one of Dave's reviews and thought "He gave this a bad grade, but I think I'd like it." And I was right!

If we create a gaming spectrum from "bro" to "weeb", then Dave is definitely more toward the "bro" end. Naturally, people at the other end of that spectrum are more likely to WELL ACKTHUALLY his opinions. But I appreciate the fact that Dave doesn't get swept away by backstory/lore, anime iconography, or general nerding out. Many reviewers do fall prey to those things, so it's a welcome contrast.

But I do like F-Zero a lot. :D That one's a B+ game in my book for sure, maybe even A-.

mbd36
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Re: People hating on the VGC

Postby mbd36 » July 26th, 2021, 12:08 pm

The rule of thumb is if VGC's only real complaint is high difficulty then you can bump up the grade by a notch or two.

Herschie
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Re: People hating on the VGC

Postby Herschie » July 27th, 2021, 10:39 am

I mean what do they want? This isn't some big corporation hiring editors and writers. This is mostly a one-man show, a guy who has a full-time job, a family, and other obligations, who by the way isn't getting paid for any of these reviews. This is his hobby, and when you think of it that way, this is a remarkable site (Actually is regardless and I think it looks pretty darn professional).

Amazing that this all started over 20 years ago.

Zack Burner
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Re: People hating on the VGC

Postby Zack Burner » July 27th, 2021, 10:51 am

I never disliked the VGC in any way, to each their own, he's pretty honest in his reviews and though he does swear (covered by expletives), it's all done in a very mature manner, unlike other critics such as the Nostalgia Critic or Angry Videogame Nerd, whom I both oppose as they go off the deep end swearing like a lunatic and obsessing about toilet humor which gets pretty tiresome. That would be like watching some noisy, destructive kid running amok in an antique shop or museum, hollering obscenities like lunatic and breaking everything he sees. I prefer my reviews to calm, mature, and honest, Siskel and Ebert did that, and so does the VGC.

Herschie
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Joined: April 7th, 2015, 11:44 pm

Re: People hating on the VGC

Postby Herschie » July 27th, 2021, 11:19 am

Zack Burner wrote:it's all done in a very mature manner, unlike other critics such as the Nostalgia Critic or Angry Videogame Nerd, whom I both oppose as they go off the deep end swearing like a lunatic and obsessing about toilet humor which gets pretty tiresome.


I agree. At first I was a huge fan of the Nerd but now I can't remember why I liked watching it so much. Perhaps I grew out of it?


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