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DD: I guess I’m really against the whole notion of the enthusiast press. Being so enthusiastic that they want things to be good. I think if our medium is going to become mainstream, and we’re going to be considered an art form, we need true critics like the movie industry or even the music industry where people go up and literally critique something, and it’s a profession to critique it. In order to critique something, it has to be done. How can you possibly try to predict the future? It’s like predicting the weather a year from now. It’s almost impossible. So I think for us as an industry, to be taken seriously, and for game reviewers to be taken seriously…I’m sure you’ve seen the evidence – that gaming scores don’t necessarily relate to sales at all, and I want to be able to pick up a review and know that it’s a good indication of how good the game actually is. Often, the case is that it’s completely random. Especially for the magazines, they have a really tough time, because they’re looking at stuff four months before the game is done. How can you possibly review that? I think it’s good for the consumer, it’s good for the developer and it’s good for the press, it’s good for the publishers. I think it’s good for everyone. I think it’s just a natural maturation of the industry. Have you ever had to review a game and got a list like, ‘We will fix these things – please ignore them’? Have you ever got that list, and then when the game’s come out, they didn’t fix half of them? How fair is that to you? That’s what I’m trying to eliminate. The worst thing about the whole process is that no one’s trying to be unfair; no one’s trying to be deceptive. But the process is just broken, and it inevitably leads to something that you can’t objectively review. GS: Leaving that aside for a moment, do you think that the nature of criticism for games still needs to mature? DD: Oh yeah, I think so. Here’s a really good reason that I look at: we’ve worked with several hardware platforms now, and have a lot of websites and a lot of magazines that have an Xbox 360 specialist, a PSP specialist, a PlayStation specialist, a Nintendo specialist; in the end, for me, I hate that. I want someone who’s going to tell me if the game is good regardless of the platform. I don’t want it relative to anything else, I just want to know if it’s a good game. I might only have a Nintendo, but that doesn’t matter – we need to get away from the fundamental nature of, ‘This guy’s reporting on this, he’s reporting on this because he likes it’. I’ve seen so many things where the author or critic will say, ‘Hey, I love Nintendo’, but, who cares? What’s the game about? I love Nintendo too, but how does that reflect on the game? Or, ‘I love Microsoft, and I love what they’re doing with…’ – I think that’s all great, but that’s not being critical of the game. I think, from those perspectives, our industry really needs to grow up in that way. It’s really all about the games. All the hardware manufacturers – Sony, Nintendo – have always said that. What we need to do from a critical perspective is have people who are game experts. Have you ever heard of a film critic that only watches films that use THX? It’s just not the case; they just review films. They might like horrors, or westerns or dramas or whatever – they might have what they personally like – but they’re not directed to any hardware platform. I think that’s going to change over time too, but I think there’s a lot of areas in which that needs to be done.
Previewing things and giving opinions on things in the way that the preview structure works – I think that’s broken. I think, in general, the type and analysis of how you rate a video game needs to change as well. To me, as an example, I just need to know that a game’s entertaining. If the technology is great, that’s a bonus. If the sound is great, that’s a bonus. If the story is great, that’s a bonus. If the gameplay is great, that’s a bonus. If the artwork is great, that’s all a bonus. They all add up to: how entertaining is this package? That’s what I want to know. If was a critic, that’s what I would write. It seems you like are getting a lot more people now talking about reviewing games in that binary nature – thumbs up, thumbs down – and saying that way might be more relevant than a score out of ten. I’m strongly in favor of a thumbs up, thumbs down or a star rating. If you say something is five stars, you’re saying it’s incredibly good, but you’re not going to say that it’s a perfect game. When you say something’s a ten out of ten, it’s just not realistic. It’s like if you give an Olympic medalist a ten out of ten across the board. Nothing’s ever perfect – there’s always ways to improve things. I don’t ever care if it’s perfect; I just want to know whether I should play that game. Am I going to get an entertaining experience? That’s all I’m looking for. I think that’s what critics need to do: they need to give a critical analysis of the game, and a yes or no. I think that’s the best way to do it. I agree, a lot of magazines are going that way, and I think that’s a good trend. I think people honestly want to become more critical, as well, and I think that’s also a good thing. In order to be the most critical, and the most objective, we need to establish a process where you have the ability and the tools to do that. I think, in the end, whether it’s exactly the way I say it or some variation, I this is going to be better for everyone. GS: How long do you think it will be before we start seeing the kind of model you’re talking about picked up on a wider basis? DD: I think we’re probably starting to see it already – some studios are doing it already. I think it’s going to become the norm by the end of this generation and the start of the next one because of the increasing cost of games. I think, with the death of E3, for example, that’s another step forward. One of the reasons people didn’t want to do it was the downside was too high; it cost too much money, and there weren’t enough positives that would come out of that show. Take, as an example, Rockstar and GTA IV. How much do we know about it right now? The trailer is very controlled, and as far as we know, the game could be done right now. At the end of the day, I think we’re going to move towards that, and the more expensive the game and the more important the game, that’s definitely going to be the direction. So, I think it’s happening right now, and we’re starting to see a slow change. I think a lot of people want to see it happen and I think when it does happen, no one’s going to notice, except, ‘Hey, reviews have gotten better; press are happier and developers are happier and publishers are happier.’ Everyone becomes happier. GS: So, overall, you’re seeing this as a necessary maturation of the industry. DD: Yes, absolutely. |
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