Tim Rogers on FFXII
Don't read this yet, but here's the link:
http://www.insertcredit.com/features/fukubukuro/2006/05.html
This review is everything I hate about Tim Rogers. Let me say first that the man has some excellent insight on certain aspects of games. That said.
Here is a review of almost 20 pages. It is not until halfway through that Rogers mentions the game in question. The "review" up to that point consists of name-dropping and verbal masturbation. After we are treated to a nod at the game ostensibly up for review, we get back to listening to Rogers talk about how he met Sakaguchi once and how wonderful Matsuno is. If you're not familiar with these names, that's okay, because Rogers explains half of them (and expects you to know the other half, of course).
Is the game good? Well, it got four stars (out of four!) and that's all you need to know. I mean it. Rogers apparently doesn't think you really need to know anything else about the game, since he spends about four paragraphs in those 20 pages actually talking about the game per se.
Here is a lesson to would-be reviewers. When you review a game, there is one thing that is important and that is the game. When you review a movie, there is one thing that is important and that is the movie. I don't want to hear about the director's personal life or how the actors felt about their roles. That has nothing to do with the material.
(In contrast, Tim Rogers's review of Mother 3 is actually pretty good -- the half of it I've read, anyway.)
http://www.insertcredit.com/features/fukubukuro/2006/05.html
This review is everything I hate about Tim Rogers. Let me say first that the man has some excellent insight on certain aspects of games. That said.
Here is a review of almost 20 pages. It is not until halfway through that Rogers mentions the game in question. The "review" up to that point consists of name-dropping and verbal masturbation. After we are treated to a nod at the game ostensibly up for review, we get back to listening to Rogers talk about how he met Sakaguchi once and how wonderful Matsuno is. If you're not familiar with these names, that's okay, because Rogers explains half of them (and expects you to know the other half, of course).
Is the game good? Well, it got four stars (out of four!) and that's all you need to know. I mean it. Rogers apparently doesn't think you really need to know anything else about the game, since he spends about four paragraphs in those 20 pages actually talking about the game per se.
Here is a lesson to would-be reviewers. When you review a game, there is one thing that is important and that is the game. When you review a movie, there is one thing that is important and that is the movie. I don't want to hear about the director's personal life or how the actors felt about their roles. That has nothing to do with the material.
(In contrast, Tim Rogers's review of Mother 3 is actually pretty good -- the half of it I've read, anyway.)