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Perfection, if ever a word could be made that meant so much but at the same time meant so little this could well be the best candidate. Perfection in its own right is impossible, nothing in the world can be perfect, some would even say, what is perfect? Does it even exist? Or was the word created to represent a state which will never be but is always there to aim for?
Everything in life is always made in the aim to reach perfection, you spend your life trying your hardest aiming for that one state that has no higher point but never reaching it, there is always better, there is always something closer, but never equal. This standard represents everything anyone aims for, including game developers.
The trusty out of ten mark system or the more accurate percentage grading is used with all games created for the public to show how 'close' to perfection the game really is, but nowadays I struggle to agree with the scores found in modern day magazines. Are games really becoming 'perfect'? Is it possible to rate a game 100% or 10/10?
There are so many genres around today that perfection would not actually be perfection but a lower state suited to the certain genre for which the game was designed for, this then begs me to ask another question, are there various levels of perfection? Can something be perfect at what it does in different aspects? For e.g. Mario may be a perfect adventure game, but is it a perfect 'Game'? Is this what they actual mean when they grade these games?
What pushed me into writing this topic was the amount of 'What is the best game ever?' threads on these forums, is that a possible discussion or should it be, what is the best first person shooter, action, adventure, beat em up? For these topics a final answer is possible to reach, if you decide to ponder any higher up the chain of perfection reaching a final verdict becomes increasingly difficult. In my mind perfection is never possible even at various levels, nothing is perfect, it may be 99.9999 % but it will never reach that impossible 100%.
Phew, now after a few hundred words which contain little to do with games, but contained a lot of 'Perfection's, we reach the point of the topic, magazines grading systems. I personally think that no game should ever be rated 100 %, 10/10, or be called 'The best game ever'.
When a game is reviewed for a publication which is designed 'help' people in choosing what games they wish to purchase I believe that a sub heading should be present telling the reader in what aspect the game reaches the acquired score. As a form of false advertising (False due to nothing being perfect), the only point of the 100% grading would be to sell bucket loads of the game, but then again, if ever we lived in a day that money was all that mattered in life and satisfaction and perfection were just words people spoke, then today is that day.
Maybe money is all that matters...
Thanks for reading, d34n0
Everything in life is always made in the aim to reach perfection, you spend your life trying your hardest aiming for that one state that has no higher point but never reaching it, there is always better, there is always something closer, but never equal. This standard represents everything anyone aims for, including game developers.
The trusty out of ten mark system or the more accurate percentage grading is used with all games created for the public to show how 'close' to perfection the game really is, but nowadays I struggle to agree with the scores found in modern day magazines. Are games really becoming 'perfect'? Is it possible to rate a game 100% or 10/10?
There are so many genres around today that perfection would not actually be perfection but a lower state suited to the certain genre for which the game was designed for, this then begs me to ask another question, are there various levels of perfection? Can something be perfect at what it does in different aspects? For e.g. Mario may be a perfect adventure game, but is it a perfect 'Game'? Is this what they actual mean when they grade these games?
What pushed me into writing this topic was the amount of 'What is the best game ever?' threads on these forums, is that a possible discussion or should it be, what is the best first person shooter, action, adventure, beat em up? For these topics a final answer is possible to reach, if you decide to ponder any higher up the chain of perfection reaching a final verdict becomes increasingly difficult. In my mind perfection is never possible even at various levels, nothing is perfect, it may be 99.9999 % but it will never reach that impossible 100%.
Phew, now after a few hundred words which contain little to do with games, but contained a lot of 'Perfection's, we reach the point of the topic, magazines grading systems. I personally think that no game should ever be rated 100 %, 10/10, or be called 'The best game ever'.
When a game is reviewed for a publication which is designed 'help' people in choosing what games they wish to purchase I believe that a sub heading should be present telling the reader in what aspect the game reaches the acquired score. As a form of false advertising (False due to nothing being perfect), the only point of the 100% grading would be to sell bucket loads of the game, but then again, if ever we lived in a day that money was all that mattered in life and satisfaction and perfection were just words people spoke, then today is that day.
Maybe money is all that matters...
Thanks for reading, d34n0
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Meka's Robot Wars is also out there though - but I think it was posted yesterday. If so, good luck and great post!
I like your original post.
A game may receive a score of 100% or perhaps 10/10, depending on which magazine or review that you're reading, but of course it all comes down to the person's opinion.
I recently reviewed a game for an online magazine, it winded up with a score of 86%, that game was Crazy Taxi, and for legal reasons I am unable to post it here on these forums (not that anyone would want to read it)...
It's a fantastic game that would have made an excellent gift to many - screams of "Perfect! I always wanted that game!" will often occur, perhaps not screams, maybe just delirious joy, but the truth is, there will never be a game that suits every single person out there. Not EVERYONE loved GTA3, and yes, there were people that couldn't stand MSR on the Dreamcast.
If you're able to empathise, you may be able to see where their opinion is founded from (Metropolis Street Racer's inane WARNING! is a perfect reason to hate the game), but in the end, it's all down to personal preference, taste and how you get your kicks from this Polygonic world.
I remember that Mario 64 on the Nintendo 64 received a 100% rating - one of the only games to achieve such a feat. I've never played the game, I'll openly admit I love the original NES versions - quality in gaming will never die - but I never had a desire to play the 3D version.
I suppose we can find milestones in different genres - "the game to beat" will always exist, and people will always try and beat it, but if you don't like a game, you won't play it and won't rate it therefore it only takes one individual to ruin a game's perfection. It's all about reaching the right audience - and keeping them entertained and relishing for more and more and more.
We'll never see a perfect game - as soon as a conflict in opinion arises, that's it, the game isn't perfect - and yes believe it or not, there are people out there that don't discuss these things on the forums, but have their own opinion in such matters. If you like a game and think it's perfect, then that is fantastic - your money is well spent, you've not wasted your hard earned cash, and hopefully you'll have a great time playing through it.
Defy a genre and you'll get criticism from the press, bewildered faces, but eventually you'll find those who start to like it - and this newly formed genre will welcome more titles into it. Produce the genre leader and you will be respect, idolised and become legend (Mr Suzuki!) and of course rolling in it.
These things take time.
Great original topic Deano!
:)
A game may receive a score of 100% or perhaps 10/10, depending on which magazine or review that you're reading, but of course it all comes down to the person's opinion.
I recently reviewed a game for an online magazine, it winded up with a score of 86%, that game was Crazy Taxi, and for legal reasons I am unable to post it here on these forums (not that anyone would want to read it)...
It's a fantastic game that would have made an excellent gift to many - screams of "Perfect! I always wanted that game!" will often occur, perhaps not screams, maybe just delirious joy, but the truth is, there will never be a game that suits every single person out there. Not EVERYONE loved GTA3, and yes, there were people that couldn't stand MSR on the Dreamcast.
If you're able to empathise, you may be able to see where their opinion is founded from (Metropolis Street Racer's inane WARNING! is a perfect reason to hate the game), but in the end, it's all down to personal preference, taste and how you get your kicks from this Polygonic world.
I remember that Mario 64 on the Nintendo 64 received a 100% rating - one of the only games to achieve such a feat. I've never played the game, I'll openly admit I love the original NES versions - quality in gaming will never die - but I never had a desire to play the 3D version.
I suppose we can find milestones in different genres - "the game to beat" will always exist, and people will always try and beat it, but if you don't like a game, you won't play it and won't rate it therefore it only takes one individual to ruin a game's perfection. It's all about reaching the right audience - and keeping them entertained and relishing for more and more and more.
We'll never see a perfect game - as soon as a conflict in opinion arises, that's it, the game isn't perfect - and yes believe it or not, there are people out there that don't discuss these things on the forums, but have their own opinion in such matters. If you like a game and think it's perfect, then that is fantastic - your money is well spent, you've not wasted your hard earned cash, and hopefully you'll have a great time playing through it.
Defy a genre and you'll get criticism from the press, bewildered faces, but eventually you'll find those who start to like it - and this newly formed genre will welcome more titles into it. Produce the genre leader and you will be respect, idolised and become legend (Mr Suzuki!) and of course rolling in it.
These things take time.
Great original topic Deano!
:)
Yeah! But that's not the point. How do you know it will do that every time if the battery kept going.. you just assume. There is no way of proving that will happen every time. anyway I gotta go. By.
Well they're always improving games so it's not perfect and it never will be. Every game has at least one glitch. There is also no such thing as faultless. Just because you've done something a number of times doesn't mean that it won't do something different. You can't predict the future. Say if you get one of the tune tie things then just 'cos it plays one tune it doesn't mean that in the future it won't play another out of the blue. No matter how much planning you give something it's not certain to do the same thing everytime.
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