Dvader said:I can tell after a few hours if a game is a 9 or an 8 or a 7 for me.
That's far off from what I find. Golden Sun is my most frequently used example, as it just ends in the middle of the game, as if they chopped off the rest to make into a sequel. Baten Kaitos: Origins goes from solid for the first half of its 50 hours, to stellar on the latter. MadWorld was promising from the start (OK, maybe it didn't make it a few hours, though). Metroid Prime wavered above and below the 9 marker.
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Yodariquo said:Dvader said:I can tell after a few hours if a game is a 9 or an 8 or a 7 for me.
That's far off from what I find. Golden Sun is my most frequently used example, as it just ends in the middle of the game, as if they chopped off the rest to make into a sequel. Baten Kaitos: Origins goes from solid for the first half of its 50 hours, to stellar on the latter. MadWorld was promising from the start (OK, maybe it didn't make it a few hours, though). Metroid Prime wavered above and below the 9 marker.
Depends on the game you may need more or less time with it to determine it. Usually a 9 game screams 9 from the start. And to me a 10 is one of the easiest ones to determine. The game must wow me from start to finish, while I play it if I am saying "this is one of the best games I have ever played" almost all the time, then its probably a 10.
Did you just say MP wavered above and below a 9... never talk to me again. 
Dvader said:
Yodariquo said:Dvader said:I can tell after a few hours if a game is a 9 or an 8 or a 7 for me.
That's far off from what I find. Golden Sun is my most frequently used example, as it just ends in the middle of the game, as if they chopped off the rest to make into a sequel. Baten Kaitos: Origins goes from solid for the first half of its 50 hours, to stellar on the latter. MadWorld was promising from the start (OK, maybe it didn't make it a few hours, though). Metroid Prime wavered above and below the 9 marker.
Depends on the game you may need more or less time with it to determine it. Usually a 9 game screams 9 from the start. And to me a 10 is one of the easiest ones to determine. The game must wow me from start to finish, while I play it if I am saying "this is one of the best games I have ever played" almost all the time, then its probably a 10.
Did you just say MP wavered above and below a 9... never talk to me again.
And landed there as well 
The only game that I first played after I started reviewing games that I have given 10/10 (I'd give that to Super Mario RPG and Perfect Dark, but those were before I started rating) was Meteos. It didn't wow me from start to finish, but I was play plenty of it, went to review and thought...I can't think of anything negative about this game, every aspect is perfect. It was weird.
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I think that games reviewers are all from a certain generation and the same type of person. They are typically young males who all have similar hobbies and tastes. People who make games to target these tastes, to make these games which tweak the nerves of our boyish fantasies - they win big with reviewers.
Anything that is outside that remit, will have a harder time.
also have some rules of thumb of my own:
any game which puts me to sleep, controller in hand, when i'm not drunk or sedated ... is automatically a 5 or lower. fuck you assassins' creed (and fuck your sequel too
), final fantasy X etc. on the contrary any game which is enjoyable while drunk or sedated is automatically an 8 or higher any game i actually finish nowadays is automatically a 7.5 or higher. this is actually a pretty good test for me. it's like dvader was saying. it has to do with the enjoyment level which is what it comes down to. everything else is a bonus
as dvader said professional reviews on general focus on the positive aspects of a game. it's what most people want to read about. anything on the negative side has to be a very glaring fault which significantly lessens the overall enjoyment if a reviewer is going to do any more than mention in passing.
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Dvader said:Yodariquo said:However, when comparisons are made, it does seem to consistently be the case that Saints Row 2 is the recommended title.
From crazy people. Saints Row 2 isnt in the same league as GTA4.
It's like comparing an arcade racer to a sim racer. They are both racers, but they are scratching different gamer itches. GTA4 is a long-haul character driven game, SR2 is an embrace of the novel anarchy that most GTA3 users wallow in when they first tried the game.
While I no longer use reviews as a buying guides, I do consume reviews rapaciously - so much so that I know what an outlet means with each notch of their scoring card (and have developed my own 1-10 scale so that it calibrates to theirs). I'd say my personal 1-10 matchs the former EGM scale, which is similar to the current gamespot measurement. The scale with which I disagree the most is Game Informer.
As a result, I'm always kind of embarrased to find that when I finish a game, and then go back to compare my personal score against theirs it is usually pretty close. (Saying that my scores almost always match or go slightly higher than the user scores).
I usually treat franchise games with less charity than the press outlets, and will sometimes find a cult classic and go nuts for it
Archiebot loves his Halo games for sure.
I think it really boils down to personal tastes. I mean while I generally fit in with most of the bigger review sites reviews there's certainly times where I don't agree with them. While I was having a great time playing Zelda PH when I finally finished it it didn't leave me with usual satisfaction I expect from a typical Zelda game. I loved GTAIV and personally feel it falls comfortably into around a 9.5 which for me is close enough to a 10 that most sites gave it. I never did play SR2 so I can't really say how it compares. I did try the first SR demo and it was a lot of fun and while it seems like it would be a game I'd really enjoy it also didn't seem like a game I would necessarily enjoy more then GTA.
Archiebot. I like that name.
What's SR?
Sonic racing?
gamingeek said:Archiebot. I like that name.
What's SR?
Sonic racing?
Yes it is. Good guess. You got it on the first try.
bugsonglass said:
as dvader said professional reviews on general focus on the positive aspects of a game. it's what most people want to read about. anything on the negative side has to be a very glaring fault which significantly lessens the overall enjoyment if a reviewer is going to do any more than mention in passing.
Unless it's a Wii game, in which they focus on the negatives, and anything good has to be exceptionally good and somehow give them a level of overall enjoyment in playing a Wii game.
They are all good questions. Just stay true to yourself, that is the best advice. I tend to look at the positives in games and put the games into categories after I get a general feel for it. I can tell after a few hours if a game is a 9 or an 8 or a 7 for me. Even if I dont like major aspects about a game I still ask myself what good qualities does this game have. I compare games to others in like genres while I play and I use that as a reference point for my scoring. Above all its all about measuring how much fun I had with it, also was it worth it plays a part.