Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Reviewing the Reviewers, Part II: Average Review Scores for Reviewers in 2010

In Part I, I figured out the average score from all reviews in the GameRankings database. Now, I'm going to eliminate all the reviewers that haven't updated in 2010, and sort the table by the average score descending.


SiteLatestReviewsAverageTotal Pts Awarded
AtomicGamer9/22/201063082.94%52252.2
RPGFan9/29/201072781.37%59155.99
ImpulseGamer9/29/201037980.88%30653.52
Game Vortex9/29/2010445380.53%358600.09
Computer Games RO9/26/201047880.22%38345.16
Game Industry News9/29/2010107980.18%86514.22
XboxAddict9/24/201060979.69%48531.21
GamingTrend9/27/2010129179.57%102724.87
2404 - PC Gaming9/13/201025579.56%20287.8
Games Xtreme9/20/201053579.31%42430.85
WonderwallWeb2/23/201073378.54%57569.82
Futuregamez9/20/201078578.05%61269.25
Xbox World Australia9/29/201038477.68%29829.12
ZTGameDomain9/29/2010142577.68%110694
NZGamer9/28/2010112577.64%87345
Lawrence4/5/2010120477.54%93358.16
Gaming Target9/29/2010193877.44%150078.72
XboxZone3/5/201017777.39%13698.03
Da GameBoyz7/29/201099077.15%76378.5
Playstation Universe9/24/201028576.95%21930.75
GamePlasma3/11/201056676.89%43519.74
Planet Xbox 3609/29/201048176.85%36964.85
VGChartz9/28/201061676.81%47314.96
Hooked Gamers9/29/201053076.74%40672.2
GamePro9/29/2010440976.70%338170.3
Game Over Online9/29/2010255076.38%194769
UltraNinjas6/7/201039176.32%29841.12
GameFocus9/28/201067376.25%51316.25
Kikizo9/26/201060876.24%46353.92
Game Chronicles9/29/2010298676.06%227115.16
Armchair Empire9/27/2010194576.04%147897.8
Gameplanet9/24/2010137776.01%104665.77
Extreme Gamer9/29/201090675.98%68837.88
Fragland9/24/2010143975.94%109277.66
ActionTrip9/27/201082775.90%62769.3
Gametrailers9/29/2010133375.84%101094.72
Gamer Limit9/27/201060075.74%45444
MS Xbox World9/29/201087775.67%66362.59
GamersHell9/13/2010104175.64%78741.24
411mania9/28/201044175.52%33304.32
TotalPlaystation9/29/201078275.44%58994.08
Kombo9/22/2010157975.32%118930.28
GameZone9/28/2010654275.13%491500.46
PSX Extreme9/27/2010127375.06%95551.38
GamerNode9/28/201086975.00%65175
TeamXbox9/27/2010141374.90%105833.7
DarkStation9/8/2010111974.49%83354.31
Digital Chumps10/1/201056174.35%41710.35
Gamers Daily News9/29/201038074.07%28146.6
N-Europe9/22/201046273.98%34178.76
Gamervision9/23/201086973.92%64236.48
play.tm9/28/2010102773.87%75864.49
Xbox Evolved7/22/201054773.85%40395.95
Console Obsession9/29/201071173.66%52372.26
Console Monster9/29/201072873.62%53595.36
GamingExcellence9/28/2010111973.33%82056.27
Nintendojo6/8/2010102773.28%75258.56
The Gamers Temple9/29/2010155973.26%114212.34
Game Informer10/1/2010521373.06%380861.78
AceGamez9/28/2010322672.84%234981.84
DarkZero9/19/2010105172.65%76355.15
Playstation Official Magazine AU8/1/201019872.63%14380.74
Play UK10/1/2010172172.49%124755.29
Games Master UK10/1/2010388772.42%281496.54
Worth Playing9/29/2010362772.32%262304.64
Mygamer9/29/2010125372.29%90579.37
Cubed39/29/201080372.28%58040.84
PlayStation LifeStyle9/29/201031072.16%22369.6
Gamecell 9/10/2010106672.10%76858.6
Zentendo4/28/201023872.02%17140.76
TotallyGN9/27/201041672.02%29960.32
Cheat Code Central9/27/2010397871.56%284665.68
Hardcore Gamer Magazine9/27/201095571.46%68244.3
Adventure Classic Gaming9/27/201037071.19%26340.3
RealGamer9/29/201056971.04%40421.76
Official Xbox Magazine11/1/2010167770.55%118312.35
Giant Bomb9/23/201043070.51%30319.3
PC Power Play10/1/201021070.24%14750.4
Thunderbolt9/29/2010176270.23%123745.26
Boomtown5/17/2010126870.21%89026.28
GameSpy9/22/2010482969.92%337643.68
VideoGamer9/29/2010209369.91%146321.63
D+PAD Magazine9/29/201042869.81%29878.68
Official Nintendo Magazine UK10/1/201093169.81%64993.11
NintendoWorldReport9/22/2010119369.65%83092.45
Playstation Official Magazine US10/1/201045669.43%31660.08
The Entertainment Depot9/27/201064169.20%44357.2
PALGN9/28/2010191069.18%132133.8
Total PC Gaming5/1/201020368.67%13940.01
Official Xbox Magazine UK10/1/2010137668.53%94297.28
PSM3 Magazine UK10/1/2010181968.45%124510.55
IGN9/29/20101202568.41%822630.25
PC Format UK9/1/2010109768.20%74815.4
PC Gamer11/1/2010181968.16%123983.04
Nintendo Power10/1/2010334268.01%227289.42
HonestGamers9/23/2010162068.00%110160
Computer & Video Games UK9/29/2010104767.78%70965.66
PC Zone UK10/1/2010239467.68%162025.92
DS-x29/26/201066467.57%44866.48
GameCritics9/29/2010133667.48%90153.28
GameSpot9/28/20101142467.40%769977.6
RPGamer9/27/201049367.25%33154.25
PC Gamer UK10/1/2010181067.18%121595.8
NTSC uk5/18/201086266.83%57607.46
Video Game Talk1/11/201085266.73%56853.96
Eurogamer9/29/2010352366.02%232588.46
gamesTM10/1/2010163565.87%107697.45
Adventure Gamers9/20/201048265.85%31739.7
Gamestyle9/29/201065065.77%42750.5
Playstation Official Magazine UK10/1/201078265.28%51048.96
Nintendo Life9/26/201082365.17%53634.91
X360 Magazine UK10/1/201077264.14%49516.08
Sega-169/27/201060363.96%38567.88
Edge Magazine UK10/1/2010146763.76%93535.92
Xbox World 360 Magazine UK11/1/201061162.75%38340.25
NGamer UK8/1/2010109660.87%66713.52
Sum16998112238398.39
Average72.74%71.99862567
Standard Deviation4.6111682

The average individual review score, with just sites that updated in 2010, is 72.00. The average site's average score is 72.74, with a standard deviation of 4.61 (two-thirds of all review sites have an average score around 68.13 to 77.35).

The publication with the highest average score is AtomicGamer, at a whopping 82.94/100, 2.21 standard deviations above the average. On the other end, the lowest average score is awarded by NGamer (UK) at 60.87/100, 2.57 standard deviations below the average. Both of these sites use a scoring system which ranges from 1 to 100, and these scores are not converted or changed by GameRankings.

Not a single reviewer gives an average of less than 60/100. Isn't that something? Ideally, you would think the average would be at the midpoint.

Looking at this table, we can see an interesting pattern at the bottom. Here are the 30 lowest averages and the region from which they are based.


TitleRegion
The Entertainment DepotOnline
PALGNOnline
Total PC GamingOffline-UK
Official Xbox Magazine UKOffline-UK
PSM3 Magazine UKOffline-UK
IGNOnline
PC Format UKOffline-UK
PC GamerOffline-NA
Nintendo PowerOffline-NA
HonestGamersOnline
Computer & Video Games UKOnline
PC Zone UKOffline-UK
DS-x2Online
GameCriticsOnline
GameSpotOnline
RPGamerOnline
PC Gamer UKOffline-UK
NTSC ukOnline
Video Game TalkOnline
EurogamerOnline
gamesTMOffline-UK
Adventure GamersOnline
GamestyleOnline
Playstation Official Magazine UKOffline-UK
Nintendo LifeOnline
X360 Magazine UKOffline-UK
Sega-16Online
Edge Magazine UKOffline-UK
Xbox World 360 Magazine UKOffline-UK
NGamer UKOffline-UK

Of the 30 lowest averages, 16 are from online websites and 14 are from offline publications. Of those 14, only 2 are from North American publications, while the other 12 are based in the UK. The UK version of PC Gamer gives lower scores than the NA PC Gamer. If you look at the online websites, several of those are Euro-centric.

You'd have to compare those facts with the rest of the data, but just from eyeballing it, the Brits clearly have the Americans beat when it comes to giving lower scores. But that's not the whole picture. If a site just gave a 50/100 to every single game, it would have an average score of 50/100, but that's still not very useful. Eventually, I'll be looking at the standard deviation of these publications to see how well they distribute their review scores. Generally, the closer the average is to the midpoint of the scale, the higher the deviation, but this is not always true. You have to look at it on a case-by-case basis. Stay tuned.
Posted by at
Labels: , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)