Things We Hate About Gaming: The “Perfect” Score

I’ll get this out of the way at the start: I’ve never been a fan of number or letter grades being assigned to anything. Whether it’s movies, videogames, coursework, or a product, I would rather know what it is that makes it good or bad than have some arbitrary number or letter assigned to it. While most videogame reviews certainly do provide that, the number of people who skip to the number score of the game can’t be ignored. It seems like reviews will always have some kind of number associated with it to keep these impatient people satisfied. Some sites have gone to the trouble of giving brief explanations for their scores for those who would like to know why the game got what it did without going through the trouble of all that laborious reading. Gamespot and IGN have a few bullet points about the game next to the numerical score and while that may get people more interested in reading more, even that system is flawed.

A good example of this is IGN’s review of the Street Fighter 4 Tournament Edition FightStick. IGN gave the stick a performance rating of 9.0. The problem with this score is that the parts used to make this stick are the best parts that are available in the world. Of course there will be some argument here from people who prefer the feel of seimitsu or happ parts and that’s fine, but I’m sure we can agree that, functionally, these parts are the top of their class. They are tested to a million clicks, etc, etc. Their explanation for the score is “With Sanwa components, the TE FightStick performs like some of the best Japanese arcade sticks.” If that isn’t a ten, then what is? What is there that could enhance the performance? Nothing. There is no better example of arcade parts than what is used in this stick but IGN, along with almost every other reviewer, is scared to give out that ten to anything. The reason for this is that so many people have been conditioned to believe that a score of ten means that the product is absolutely perfect. That has to change. The stick doesn’t deserve a ten because it’s absolutely perfect. To some people it will be too big or too heavy, never will everyone’s opinion on something be the same. However, the stick is the best example of what an arcade stick can be. As of this time it is, compared to all other sticks that have been released, the best and it sets a new standard for domestically released arcade sticks. That’s why it deserves a ten and that’s what a ten should stand for.

Navi=/=Perfection

The idea that a score of ten means that the game is flawless has always been ridiculous. Instead, it needs to be used as a judge of how the game compares to others in its genre. Gamespot gave Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 on the PS2 a ten. Was it a perfect game? Hell no. Was it the best example of a skateboarding game up to that point? Was it the best in its genre? Did it set a new standard? Yes, yes, and yes. That’s what a ten should mean. Other games that have gotten a ten that come to mind are Soul Calibur and The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time. IGN gave both of those games a ten and neither of them were anywhere near “perfection”, but they were shining examples of what games in those genres could be if enough effort and care was put into them.

I know that up until now the score of ten has maintained this mythical status that only the most amazing of games should get. When a game or accessory that deserves a ten is arbitrarily given a high scoring nine just to maintain the sanctity of the ten, it’s time to re-evaluate the system. I’m not one of those people who calls Gametrailers biased because Metal Gear Solid 4 didn’t get a ten. It doesn’t hurt my feelings when a game gets a 9.9. Reviews are simply the opinion of the reviewer and that’s fine. I’ve noticed that with the mindset people have now, it’s assumed that all Zelda and Soul Calibur games that don’t get a ten must be inferior to the releases that got that mythical score and I think that invalidates some of the great features of the newer games. Of course this doesn’t apply only to those two games, but if a score of ten were to become a more common occurrence, while still only being given to the games that truly deserve it, I think we could turn this whole “Ten is a perfect score and my favorite game deserves it because it’s perfect in my eyes BAWWWWW” mindset around.

More things we hate about gaming.