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          <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">- <a href="../index.html">Contents</a><br>
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              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC">volume 
                1, issue 31</font></b></font></p>
              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC"> 
                </font></b></font></p>
              <p>  <p><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><b><font color="#339900" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Today 
                in loonygames:</font></b></font></p>

<P><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">New!!</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> The Archives have been cleaned up, fead links fixed, and printable versions restored! Also, don't miss the new comments <a href="../../../index.html">on the front page</a>!</font></p>
              
<P><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="../../2.15/feat/index.html" target="">Livin' 
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  theAntiELVIS explores the wild and wacky world that is Will Wright's <b>The Sims</b>, 
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        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0022A8"><b><a target="" href="../../columns.1"><font size="-1">Pad 
          Happy</font></a><font size="-1">:</font></b></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="+3" color="#0022A8"><br>
          What's the Score?</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="+1" color="#0022A8"></font></p>
        <p align="RIGHT"><font color="#804000"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By 
          </font></b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <a href="mailto:nickf@saqnet.co.uk">Nick 
          Ferguson</a></font></font></p>
        <p align="right">&nbsp;</p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Percentages. Who, what, why, 
          where, and – dammit - when? As loonygames’ own top dog, loonyboi, puts 
          it, &quot;isn't it flaky how Game X will get a 76% and Game Y will get 
          a 75%? What the heck's the difference? With loonygames I decided early 
          on to do no ratings, and screenshots only rarely. I want people to read 
          what I have to say, and make their own conclusions about the game.&quot; 
          While I’m on the subject, what’s with these &quot;3.5 out of 5&quot; 
          scores? Why pretend you’re using a five-point scale when you’re blatantly 
          using a ten-point one? Is this some sad attempt to create the impression 
          that your magazine reviews with greater accuracy than the opposition? 
          Scales like that are almost as annoying as those that use smiley faces, 
          or those totally cheesy temperature readings - <i>because the game’s 
          just that hot!!!</i> Sorry, I got all Gamefan for a moment.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Rich Wyckoff raises another 

          interesting problem with the typical magazine score: &quot;If you look 
          at a year’s worth (or even a month's worth) of reviews from any American 
          magazine, one thing should become immediately obvious: reviewers are 
          <i>highly</i> reluctant to give below a 75% (or the equivalent) to any 
          game. In the magazines which use a 1-100 or 1-10 scale with decimals, 
          you will also note that there is a large gap below 75%, with the rest 
          of the ratings given usually 35% or less&quot;. Whether this is due 
          to bribery and corruption, or just reviewers ‘being nice’, it really 
          does render use of a percentage (or ten-point) scale pointless. A truly 
          average game should get a score of 50%, but I think any game given 50% 
          (instead of the current ‘average’ of around 75%) would sink without 
          trace given the influence of reviews in today’s market. That said, somebody 
          has to go out there and buy Deer Hunter III. If reviewers are just going 
          to group the vast majority of games together in the same 15 - 25% of 
          the score band, it really does seem a waste of time.</font></p>
        <p> </p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">A number of interesting differences 
          can be found in the scoring philosophy of British and American games 
          magazines. Despite our comparatively small size, the UK has a huge number 
          of video game magazines. Although circulation figures probably don’t 
          begin to compare with the likes of US giants such as EGM, Gamefan and 
          PSM, the UK’s gaming populace manages to sustain a wide range of titles. 
          US magazines (which a large number of newsagents import) have an appalling 
          reputation over here for being simplistic pap, filled with puerile advents 
          and sloppy journalism. In the interests of fair comparison, I tried 
          to get hold of some of the US magazines I mention above (which I used 
          to read regularly when I was at US schools but haven’t read since for 
          a good few years), but only the March ‘99 issue of PSM was available. 
          I have to say, it was a lot better than I was expecting – certainly 
          better than many of the UK’s (frankly embarrassing) PlayStation-specific 
          magazines. An exclusive interview with the <b>Silent Hill</b> (my game 
          du jour) producer was my particular highlight (most of the UK magazines 
          seem to have been rehashing the same year-old interview). However, I 
          felt the text of the reviews was too short and uncritical, and relied 
          on the scores to carry the impression of the game over.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I do feel there is a tendency 
          for UK game reviews to be a bit more critical and honest in their appraisal 
          of a game - even the British, Official PlayStation Magazine has got 
          stuck into some of the real stinkers Sony have seen fit to release over 
          here. While previews in American tomes tend to focus on the exciting 
          new features a game promises, British magazines tend to focus in on 
          the negative aspects almost immediately. Case in point: every FIFA soccer 
          game preview, for the last two years, has contained a sarcastic dig 
          at EA’s seeming need to update the franchise every six months or so, 
          with very little in the way of real (and needed) improvements. Maybe 
          it’s a reflection of our (dour, sarcastic) national character? If you’re 
          visiting the UK, I highly recommend you pick up a few of our games magazines; 
          EDGE, Computer and Video Games, OPSM, N64 Magazine and Arcade should 
          provide you with a healthy spectrum of British games journalism.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I think I can comfortably 
          describe myself as a ‘hardcore’ gamer, for want of a better phrase. 
          I take this to indicate a number of things - not least the amount of 
          time and money that I dedicate to my favourite pastime, but also the 
          time I take to check out what’s new on the gaming scene. When I’m researching 
          an article, or looking for information on a new game, I like to visit 
          as many web sites as I can and lurk on the appropriate newsgroups before 
          coming to any conclusions. This ease-of-access to information makes 
          me an unusually well-informed consumer, to the extent that I tend to 
          know some months in advance the titles I’m likely to be buying. I can’t 
          remember the last time I walked into a games store and saw a title I 
          hadn’t already formed an opinion about through reports on the Internet 
          – and part of that mentality means I can’t understand people who hardly 
          know what they’re handing their fifty bucks over for when they buy a 
          game (and then moan because they’re disappointed)!</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I understand, though, that 
          mine is not normal behavior. This is the behavior of a net addict (one 
          who gets antsy if he can’t get online for a few days). Most normal people 
          do not relish the opportunity to crawl the Internet looking for snippets 
          of information about the new Sony machine. Nor should they - I do not 
          choose to thoroughly research every movie that I go to see (although 
          <i>A Night at the Roxbury</i> came perilously close to changing all 
          that). </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I think what I’m getting 
          at is that perhaps casual gamers really aren’t so interested in the 
          nitty-gritty of detailed review text and just want a general indication 
          of whether a particular game I worth playing or not. While we may be 
          a few years away from having a famous thumb-wielding, game reviewing 
          duo of our own, Aaron Loeb feels that such a development is inevitable. 
          &quot;Five years from now, we'll have critics that everyone knows and 
          simple reviews that everyone reads. There will be personalities like 
          Siskel and Ebert, and people will be more interested in their thoughts…&quot; 
          It certainly appears that gaming is heading for the true mass market. 
          With each new generation of hardware, the number and demographic of 
          games players seems to swell. With this new audience, a wider range 
          of approaches in covering the gaming scene will be both viable and valid. 
          The &quot;hardcore&quot; gamers can scour the web for 2000 word anal-retentive 
          reviews of lost gems, and the less obsessed will be happy playing the 
          chart favourites – just like any other popular media. In many ways, 
          this is just an extension of what is already happening.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I can certainly imagine myself 
          playing games for the remainder of my life – whether I’ll want to spend 
          anything like the time I do now trawling the net for information on 
          the latest thing is another question. Maybe when the wonderful freedom 
          of university life comes to an end this year, I’ll end up becoming a 
          casual gamer, too? Hey, <b>FIFA 2000</b> looks pretty good…</font></p>
        <p>&nbsp;</p>
        <p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i><font size="-1">- 
          Nick Ferguson wishes to thank everyone who contributed to this article 
          (those quotes really helped pack out the word count)!</font></i></font></p>
        <p align="RIGHT">&nbsp;</p>
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      <p><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2"> </font></i><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2"><b>Credits:</b> 
        Pad Happy logo illustrated and is &copy; 1999 Dan Zalkus. Pad Happy is 
        &copy; 1999 Nick Ferguson. All other content is &copy; 1999 <a target="_self" href="http://www.loonyboi.com">loonyboi 
        productions</a>. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited, so 
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