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| FEBRUARY 28, 2008 |
Doyle's system is weighted, meaning that ratings from Web sites or publications he feels
have more credibility count for more towards the final score. That means Finnish game
magazine Pelit is included whereas Hollywood trade magazine Variety is not, despite its
100-plus years of covering entertainment.
"I used to get stuff from companies reviewed by what they considered inappropriate critics,
like a UK publication reviewing a 'Madden' game. How are they qualified to review football?"
Doyle said.
Another area of controversy is how Doyle assigns a number rating to reviews that provide a
letter grade or no score at all. To Doyle, an F is equal to 0 and a C is 50. That chafes some
folks in an industry long used to grade inflation where means 70 is average and few games
ever fall below 50.
Individual reviewers can also be subject to pressure from game companies unhappy with a
Metacritic score.
"The only annoying thing about aggregate sites ... is when the game companies use that
against us. Sometimes we'll hear from a game company that says 'Hey, you're the lowest
score on Metacritic, can you change it?'," said Dan Hsu, editor-in-chief of EGM, a monthly
publication.
EA's Riccitiello wants to avoid the trap of just pursuing a good Metacritic score, a mindset he
said frequently leads to too much executive meddling.
"The process often gets in the way more than it helps," he said. "That sort of circus has
unfortunately sort of defined our company for too long. And it's not a good process."
Some critics also point out that there is increasingly a mismatch between scores for
so-called casual games and the popularity of those products.
Games like Nintendo's "Mario Party 8" and Take-Two's "Carnival Games" scored badly but
sold well.
"That sounds a lot like these horrible movies that make millions their first week but critics
hate them," Doyle said. "Some things are critics-proof but I don't think critics are any less
qualified to judge them."
That's one view, but Riccitiello has another: "You don't cash Metacritic, you cash checks."
have more credibility count for more towards the final score. That means Finnish game
magazine Pelit is included whereas Hollywood trade magazine Variety is not, despite its
100-plus years of covering entertainment.
"I used to get stuff from companies reviewed by what they considered inappropriate critics,
like a UK publication reviewing a 'Madden' game. How are they qualified to review football?"
Doyle said.
Another area of controversy is how Doyle assigns a number rating to reviews that provide a
letter grade or no score at all. To Doyle, an F is equal to 0 and a C is 50. That chafes some
folks in an industry long used to grade inflation where means 70 is average and few games
ever fall below 50.
Individual reviewers can also be subject to pressure from game companies unhappy with a
Metacritic score.
"The only annoying thing about aggregate sites ... is when the game companies use that
against us. Sometimes we'll hear from a game company that says 'Hey, you're the lowest
score on Metacritic, can you change it?'," said Dan Hsu, editor-in-chief of EGM, a monthly
publication.
EA's Riccitiello wants to avoid the trap of just pursuing a good Metacritic score, a mindset he
said frequently leads to too much executive meddling.
"The process often gets in the way more than it helps," he said. "That sort of circus has
unfortunately sort of defined our company for too long. And it's not a good process."
Some critics also point out that there is increasingly a mismatch between scores for
so-called casual games and the popularity of those products.
Games like Nintendo's "Mario Party 8" and Take-Two's "Carnival Games" scored badly but
sold well.
"That sounds a lot like these horrible movies that make millions their first week but critics
hate them," Doyle said. "Some things are critics-proof but I don't think critics are any less
qualified to judge them."
That's one view, but Riccitiello has another: "You don't cash Metacritic, you cash checks."
