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.

Site	Latest	Reviews	Average	Total Pts Awarded
AtomicGamer	9/22/2010	630	82.94%	52252.2
RPGFan	9/29/2010	727	81.37%	59155.99
ImpulseGamer	9/29/2010	379	80.88%	30653.52
Game Vortex	9/29/2010	4453	80.53%	358600.09
Computer Games RO	9/26/2010	478	80.22%	38345.16
Game Industry News	9/29/2010	1079	80.18%	86514.22
XboxAddict	9/24/2010	609	79.69%	48531.21
GamingTrend	9/27/2010	1291	79.57%	102724.87
2404 - PC Gaming	9/13/2010	255	79.56%	20287.8
Games Xtreme	9/20/2010	535	79.31%	42430.85
WonderwallWeb	2/23/2010	733	78.54%	57569.82
Futuregamez	9/20/2010	785	78.05%	61269.25
Xbox World Australia	9/29/2010	384	77.68%	29829.12
ZTGameDomain	9/29/2010	1425	77.68%	110694
NZGamer	9/28/2010	1125	77.64%	87345
Lawrence	4/5/2010	1204	77.54%	93358.16
Gaming Target	9/29/2010	1938	77.44%	150078.72
XboxZone	3/5/2010	177	77.39%	13698.03
Da GameBoyz	7/29/2010	990	77.15%	76378.5
Playstation Universe	9/24/2010	285	76.95%	21930.75
GamePlasma	3/11/2010	566	76.89%	43519.74
Planet Xbox 360	9/29/2010	481	76.85%	36964.85
VGChartz	9/28/2010	616	76.81%	47314.96
Hooked Gamers	9/29/2010	530	76.74%	40672.2
GamePro	9/29/2010	4409	76.70%	338170.3
Game Over Online	9/29/2010	2550	76.38%	194769
UltraNinjas	6/7/2010	391	76.32%	29841.12
GameFocus	9/28/2010	673	76.25%	51316.25
Kikizo	9/26/2010	608	76.24%	46353.92
Game Chronicles	9/29/2010	2986	76.06%	227115.16
Armchair Empire	9/27/2010	1945	76.04%	147897.8
Gameplanet	9/24/2010	1377	76.01%	104665.77
Extreme Gamer	9/29/2010	906	75.98%	68837.88
Fragland	9/24/2010	1439	75.94%	109277.66
ActionTrip	9/27/2010	827	75.90%	62769.3
Gametrailers	9/29/2010	1333	75.84%	101094.72
Gamer Limit	9/27/2010	600	75.74%	45444
MS Xbox World	9/29/2010	877	75.67%	66362.59
GamersHell	9/13/2010	1041	75.64%	78741.24
411mania	9/28/2010	441	75.52%	33304.32
TotalPlaystation	9/29/2010	782	75.44%	58994.08
Kombo	9/22/2010	1579	75.32%	118930.28
GameZone	9/28/2010	6542	75.13%	491500.46
PSX Extreme	9/27/2010	1273	75.06%	95551.38
GamerNode	9/28/2010	869	75.00%	65175
TeamXbox	9/27/2010	1413	74.90%	105833.7
DarkStation	9/8/2010	1119	74.49%	83354.31
Digital Chumps	10/1/2010	561	74.35%	41710.35
Gamers Daily News	9/29/2010	380	74.07%	28146.6
N-Europe	9/22/2010	462	73.98%	34178.76
Gamervision	9/23/2010	869	73.92%	64236.48
play.tm	9/28/2010	1027	73.87%	75864.49
Xbox Evolved	7/22/2010	547	73.85%	40395.95
Console Obsession	9/29/2010	711	73.66%	52372.26
Console Monster	9/29/2010	728	73.62%	53595.36
GamingExcellence	9/28/2010	1119	73.33%	82056.27
Nintendojo	6/8/2010	1027	73.28%	75258.56
The Gamers Temple	9/29/2010	1559	73.26%	114212.34
Game Informer	10/1/2010	5213	73.06%	380861.78
AceGamez	9/28/2010	3226	72.84%	234981.84
DarkZero	9/19/2010	1051	72.65%	76355.15
Playstation Official Magazine AU	8/1/2010	198	72.63%	14380.74
Play UK	10/1/2010	1721	72.49%	124755.29
Games Master UK	10/1/2010	3887	72.42%	281496.54
Worth Playing	9/29/2010	3627	72.32%	262304.64
Mygamer	9/29/2010	1253	72.29%	90579.37
Cubed3	9/29/2010	803	72.28%	58040.84
PlayStation LifeStyle	9/29/2010	310	72.16%	22369.6
Gamecell	9/10/2010	1066	72.10%	76858.6
Zentendo	4/28/2010	238	72.02%	17140.76
TotallyGN	9/27/2010	416	72.02%	29960.32
Cheat Code Central	9/27/2010	3978	71.56%	284665.68
Hardcore Gamer Magazine	9/27/2010	955	71.46%	68244.3
Adventure Classic Gaming	9/27/2010	370	71.19%	26340.3
RealGamer	9/29/2010	569	71.04%	40421.76
Official Xbox Magazine	11/1/2010	1677	70.55%	118312.35
Giant Bomb	9/23/2010	430	70.51%	30319.3
PC Power Play	10/1/2010	210	70.24%	14750.4
Thunderbolt	9/29/2010	1762	70.23%	123745.26
Boomtown	5/17/2010	1268	70.21%	89026.28
GameSpy	9/22/2010	4829	69.92%	337643.68
VideoGamer	9/29/2010	2093	69.91%	146321.63
D+PAD Magazine	9/29/2010	428	69.81%	29878.68
Official Nintendo Magazine UK	10/1/2010	931	69.81%	64993.11
NintendoWorldReport	9/22/2010	1193	69.65%	83092.45
Playstation Official Magazine US	10/1/2010	456	69.43%	31660.08
The Entertainment Depot	9/27/2010	641	69.20%	44357.2
PALGN	9/28/2010	1910	69.18%	132133.8
Total PC Gaming	5/1/2010	203	68.67%	13940.01
Official Xbox Magazine UK	10/1/2010	1376	68.53%	94297.28
PSM3 Magazine UK	10/1/2010	1819	68.45%	124510.55
IGN	9/29/2010	12025	68.41%	822630.25
PC Format UK	9/1/2010	1097	68.20%	74815.4
PC Gamer	11/1/2010	1819	68.16%	123983.04
Nintendo Power	10/1/2010	3342	68.01%	227289.42
HonestGamers	9/23/2010	1620	68.00%	110160
Computer & Video Games UK	9/29/2010	1047	67.78%	70965.66
PC Zone UK	10/1/2010	2394	67.68%	162025.92
DS-x2	9/26/2010	664	67.57%	44866.48
GameCritics	9/29/2010	1336	67.48%	90153.28
GameSpot	9/28/2010	11424	67.40%	769977.6
RPGamer	9/27/2010	493	67.25%	33154.25
PC Gamer UK	10/1/2010	1810	67.18%	121595.8
NTSC uk	5/18/2010	862	66.83%	57607.46
Video Game Talk	1/11/2010	852	66.73%	56853.96
Eurogamer	9/29/2010	3523	66.02%	232588.46
gamesTM	10/1/2010	1635	65.87%	107697.45
Adventure Gamers	9/20/2010	482	65.85%	31739.7
Gamestyle	9/29/2010	650	65.77%	42750.5
Playstation Official Magazine UK	10/1/2010	782	65.28%	51048.96
Nintendo Life	9/26/2010	823	65.17%	53634.91
X360 Magazine UK	10/1/2010	772	64.14%	49516.08
Sega-16	9/27/2010	603	63.96%	38567.88
Edge Magazine UK	10/1/2010	1467	63.76%	93535.92
Xbox World 360 Magazine UK	11/1/2010	611	62.75%	38340.25
NGamer UK	8/1/2010	1096	60.87%	66713.52
Sum		169981		12238398.39
Average			72.74%	71.99862567
Standard Deviation			4.6111682

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.

Title	Region
The Entertainment Depot	Online
PALGN	Online
Total PC Gaming	Offline-UK
Official Xbox Magazine UK	Offline-UK
PSM3 Magazine UK	Offline-UK
IGN	Online
PC Format UK	Offline-UK
PC Gamer	Offline-NA
Nintendo Power	Offline-NA
HonestGamers	Online
Computer & Video Games UK	Online
PC Zone UK	Offline-UK
DS-x2	Online
GameCritics	Online
GameSpot	Online
RPGamer	Online
PC Gamer UK	Offline-UK
NTSC uk	Online
Video Game Talk	Online
Eurogamer	Online
gamesTM	Offline-UK
Adventure Gamers	Online
Gamestyle	Online
Playstation Official Magazine UK	Offline-UK
Nintendo Life	Online
X360 Magazine UK	Offline-UK
Sega-16	Online
Edge Magazine UK	Offline-UK
Xbox World 360 Magazine UK	Offline-UK
NGamer UK	Offline-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.

Reviewing the Reviewers, Part I: Average Score

Opening up the latest issue of Game Informer, I head to the reviews section and am greeted by the following scores:

Transformers: War for Cybertron - 8.5
Toy Story 3 - 8
Singularity - 8.5
NCAA Football 11 - 9
LEGO Harry Potter - 7.25
Limbo - 9
Crackdown 2 - 7.25
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker - 8
Dragon Quest IX - 8
Puzzle Quest 2 - 7.75
Persona 3 Portable - 8.25
Disgaea Infinite - 6.5
Snoopy Flying Ace - 8.5
Naughty Bear - 6

The last five games being little one-paragraph blurbs at the end the of the section. Take those away, and the scores range from 7.25 to 9.

What does this mean? Is every single one of those games an above average title worth buying and playing? After all, 5/10 is average, right? (Actually, Game Informer has the courtesy to let us know that 7/10 is considered average to them, while 5/10 is flawed. But with this batch of reviews, the average is closer to 8.)

What is the point of using a 10 point scoring system if you're only going to utilize about half the points on the scale? This isn't just GameStop-owned Game Informer trying to hype up games and generate sales, it is a problem that affects the entire reviewing industry as a whole.

What I'm going to do for now is find out the true average score among all video game reviewers.

The Average Video Game Score
 
Summary: I'm going to gather all the useable scores from the GameRankings database, add up all the points awarded by the reviewers, and then divide by the total number of reviews to find the true average review score from across all the reviews in the database.

GameRankings is a site that gathers review scores from several web and magazine publications. You might have heard of/used Metacritic, which is very similar, but much less useful because it only covers recent consoles, doesn't provide us with the raw scores (instead using its own completely worthless and biased scoring system), and has been reported to take down reviews that the users complain about. GameRankings, while certainly not perfect itself, provides us with a very valuable resource for this experiment: a listing of all review sites in its database, the total number of reviews from each site and the average score that each site gives. You can find this listing here:

http://www.gamerankings.com/sites/index.html

Unfortunately, we can't just use this data: like MetaCritic, GameRankings tries and fails to convert non-standard scoring systems into a universal 1-100 rating. For example, if you click on the first item in the list, 1UP, you'll see that they actually use a letter grade to review games. GameRankings tries to change this into a number grade, where A = 90, B = 80, C = 65, D = 50 and F = 5. How do they come up with this? We don't know, so we can't use such scores. I'm going to go through each individual site and see what kind of scoring method they use, and then throw out the sites that use letter grades.

I don't really feel comfortable using scoring systems that range from a scale of 1 to 5, either. I'll include them in the average for now and might do a separate average later with such sites removed to see if there is a difference.

There is another small problem: some sites change their scoring methods over time. The previously mentioned 1UP formerly used a 1-10 scoring method before switching to a letter grade. I'm not going to look over every reviewer's history to see if they used weird scoring systems in the past. If they're using a standard system now, then all of their reviews are included. If they're using a letter grade now, all of their reviews are removed.

Sample Size: 251 sites, 257,065 total reviews, 18,576,521 total points given when converted to a 1-100 scale.

Here are the results:

Site	Latest	Reviews	Average	Total Pts Awarded
2404 - PC Gaming	9/13/2010	255	79.56%	20287.8
360 Gamer Magazine UK	11/1/2007	148	67.23%	9950.04
3D Avenue	2/14/2007	539	78.78%	42462.42
411mania	9/28/2010	441	75.52%	33304.32
Absolute PlayStation	5/21/2004	749	81.40%	60968.6
AceGamez	9/28/2010	3226	72.84%	234981.84
ActionTrip	9/27/2010	827	75.90%	62769.3
Adventure Classic Gaming	9/27/2010	370	71.19%	26340.3
Adventure Gamers	9/20/2010	482	65.85%	31739.7
All Dreamcast	6/29/2001	104	77.83%	8094.32
AllRPG	3/18/2008	348	80.41%	27982.68
AntKids.com	6/16/2001	551	78.43%	43214.93
Archive 64	2/4/2004	125	75.34%	9417.5
Armchair Empire	9/27/2010	1945	76.04%	147897.8
AtomicGamer	9/22/2010	630	82.94%	52252.2
BonusStage	5/3/2006	708	78.92%	55875.36
Boomtown	5/17/2010	1268	70.21%	89026.28
Cheat Code Central	9/27/2010	3978	71.56%	284665.68
Cincinnati Enquirer	1/25/2006	439	78.52%	34470.28
Club Skill	10/11/2006	363	76.93%	27925.59
Computer & Video Games UK	9/29/2010	1047	67.78%	70965.66
Computer Games Mag	4/1/2007	1746	63.37%	110644.02
Computer Games RO	9/26/2010	478	80.22%	38345.16
Computer Gaming World	5/1/2006	1109	62.89%	69745.01
Console Gameworld	10/2/2008	517	76.80%	39705.6
Console Monster	9/29/2010	728	73.62%	53595.36
Console Obsession	9/29/2010	711	73.66%	52372.26
Contact Music	2/6/2007	340	76.69%	26074.6
Cube Europe	9/4/2005	207	76.62%	15860.34
Cube UK	12/1/2005	433	71.90%	31132.7
Cubed3	9/29/2010	803	72.28%	58040.84
Cyber Gaming Net	12/16/2006	628	73.92%	46421.76
D+PAD Magazine	9/29/2010	428	69.81%	29878.68
Da GameBoyz	7/29/2010	990	77.15%	76378.5
DailyGame	11/28/2009	1056	74.70%	78883.2
DarkStation	9/8/2010	1119	74.49%	83354.31
DarkZero	9/19/2010	1051	72.65%	76355.15
DC Swirl	9/19/2001	191	62.09%	11859.19
Deeko	8/27/2009	772	75.99%	58664.28
Digital Chumps	10/1/2010	561	74.35%	41710.35
Digital Sports	7/28/2005	458	78.71%	36049.18
DreamStation.cc	7/27/2007	490	74.71%	36607.9
DS Central	1/29/2005	261	61.61%	16080.21
DS-x2	9/26/2010	664	67.57%	44866.48
EAGB Advance	11/28/2003	158	72.72%	11489.76
Edge Magazine UK	10/1/2010	1467	63.76%	93535.92
Electric Playground	1/10/2007	2234	73.15%	163417.1
Electronic Gaming Monthly	1/1/2009	4332	67.77%	293579.64
ESC Magazine	7/3/2006	421	75.05%	31596.05
eToychest	2/15/2007	779	76.40%	59515.6
Eurogamer	9/29/2010	3523	66.02%	232588.46
Extreme Gamer	9/29/2010	906	75.98%	68837.88
Final-Level	5/4/2005	365	70.11%	25590.15
Firing Squad	12/1/2007	321	78.49%	25195.29
Fragland	9/24/2010	1439	75.94%	109277.66
Futuregamez	9/20/2010	785	78.05%	61269.25
G4 - X-Play	3/27/2009	1752	63.55%	111339.6
Game Axis	10/13/2006	530	77.33%	40984.9
Game Blitz	8/17/2004	649	84.12%	54593.88
Game Chronicles	9/29/2010	2986	76.06%	227115.16
Game Fan	7/3/2003	334	77.99%	26048.66
Game Helper	4/11/2007	347	74.33%	25792.51
Game Industry News	9/29/2010	1079	80.18%	86514.22
Game Informer	10/1/2010	5213	73.06%	380861.78
Game Over Online	9/29/2010	2550	76.38%	194769
Game Positive	6/15/2009	159	74.83%	11897.97
Game Power	7/20/2001	616	73.00%	44968
Game Power AU	1/4/2007	695	77.28%	53709.6
Game Raiders	3/25/2005	665	79.27%	52714.55
Game Rankings	7/11/2006	1148	72.72%	83482.56
Game Vortex	9/29/2010	4453	80.53%	358600.09
Game XC	1/25/2007	463	79.27%	36702.01
GameAlmighty	4/29/2008	336	70.89%	23819.04
GameBoy Station	2/27/2002	191	66.34%	12670.94
Gamecell	9/10/2010	1066	72.10%	76858.6
Gamecenter	2/6/2001	1088	66.34%	72177.92
GameCritics	9/29/2010	1336	67.48%	90153.28
GameDaily	11/3/2009	2234	70.36%	157184.24
GameFocus	9/28/2010	673	76.25%	51316.25
Gameguru Mania	2/10/2008	485	74.20%	35987
GamePen	9/4/2002	506	70.16%	35500.96
Gameplanet	9/24/2010	1377	76.01%	104665.77
GamePlasma	3/11/2010	566	76.89%	43519.74
Gameplayer	8/5/2009	445	72.97%	32471.65
GamePro	9/29/2010	4409	76.70%	338170.3
Gamer 2.0	5/22/2009	1240	76.05%	94302
Gamer Limit	9/27/2010	600	75.74%	45444
Gamer Web	6/14/2003	900	72.84%	65556
Gamer Within	3/18/2008	582	74.02%	43079.64
Gamer.tv	4/20/2004	299	77.91%	23295.09
GamerFeed	3/16/2006	967	68.15%	65901.05
GamerNode	9/28/2010	869	75.00%	65175
Gamers Daily News	9/29/2010	380	74.07%	28146.6
Gamers Europe	1/23/2008	502	68.91%	34592.82
Gamers Pulse	8/8/2004	828	75.94%	62878.32
Gamers Wave	9/22/2003	410	79.45%	32574.5
GamersHell	9/13/2010	1041	75.64%	78741.24
GamersMark	4/15/2009	916	77.93%	71383.88
Gamervision	9/23/2010	869	73.92%	64236.48
Games Are Fun	4/27/2009	661	77.40%	51161.4
Games First!	12/5/2007	1294	70.79%	91602.26
Games Master UK	10/1/2010	3887	72.42%	281496.54
Games Xtreme	9/20/2010	535	79.31%	42430.85
GameSpot	9/28/2010	11424	67.40%	769977.6
GameSpot UK (Pre-2003)	8/20/2002	1127	73.47%	82800.69
GameSpy	9/22/2010	4829	69.92%	337643.68
gamesTM	10/1/2010	1635	65.87%	107697.45
Gamestyle	9/29/2010	650	65.77%	42750.5
GameTap	5/27/2008	278	73.31%	20380.18
Gametrailers	9/29/2010	1333	75.84%	101094.72
GameZone	9/28/2010	6542	75.13%	491500.46
Gaming Horizon	10/14/2007	826	75.38%	62263.88
Gaming Illustrated	7/26/2007	389	81.67%	31769.63
Gaming Maxx	4/15/2004	326	81.13%	26448.38
Gaming Target	9/29/2010	1938	77.44%	150078.72
GamingExcellence	9/28/2010	1119	73.33%	82056.27
GamingTrend	9/27/2010	1291	79.57%	102724.87
GamingWorld X	9/16/2004	502	77.75%	39030.5
GD Xbox	12/18/2003	217	72.33%	15695.61
GF3K	1/23/2004	325	78.21%	25418.25
Giant Bomb	9/23/2010	430	70.51%	30319.3
Globe Technology	2/1/2006	487	71.29%	34718.23
GMR Magazine	2/1/2005	1173	72.64%	85206.72
GotNext	7/5/2008	716	72.25%	51731
Hardcore Gamer Magazine	9/27/2010	955	71.46%	68244.3
HonestGamers	9/23/2010	1620	68.00%	110160
Hooked Gamers	9/29/2010	530	76.74%	40672.2
Hot Games	8/19/2003	960	73.24%	70310.4
Hyperactive	7/29/2003	460	80.62%	37085.2
IC-Games	7/6/2008	672	77.49%	52073.28
IGN	9/29/2010	12025	68.41%	822630.25
ImpulseGamer	9/29/2010	379	80.88%	30653.52
Incite Games	6/23/2000	318	69.37%	22059.66
Independent Gamer	9/22/2003	307	68.36%	20986.52
InsidePulse	9/13/2006	541	65.03%	35181.23
Irish Player	2/16/2003	309	77.73%	24018.57
JIVEMagazine	2/20/2008	312	77.61%	24214.32
Just RPG	11/28/2007	432	80.30%	34689.6
Kikizo	9/26/2010	608	76.24%	46353.92
Kombo	9/22/2010	1579	75.32%	118930.28
Lawrence	4/5/2010	1204	77.54%	93358.16
Loaded Inc	6/15/2006	632	73.36%	46363.52
Mad Gamers	8/22/2003	382	74.09%	28302.38
Media & Games Online	2/5/2003	456	76.47%	34870.32
Mobile GameFaqs UK	12/12/2006	180	81.82%	14727.6
Modojo	12/18/2009	632	64.21%	40580.72
MS Xbox World	9/29/2010	877	75.67%	66362.59
Multi-Player Online Gaming	1/17/2002	329	67.15%	22092.35
Mygamer	9/29/2010	1253	72.29%	90579.37
Netjak	9/25/2008	1050	71.65%	75232.5
N-Europe	9/22/2010	462	73.98%	34178.76
Next Generation	1/1/1999	1001	62.64%	62702.64
Next Level Gaming	3/25/2007	1859	77.82%	144667.38
NGamer UK	8/1/2010	1096	60.87%	66713.52
NGC Magazine UK	6/1/2006	571	67.20%	38371.2
N-Insanity	1/22/2007	315	76.86%	24210.9
Nintelligent Network	1/17/2006	160	75.07%	12011.2
Nintendo Gamenet	9/27/2005	121	86.32%	10444.72
Nintendo Insider	5/15/2006	259	74.15%	19204.85
Nintendo Life	9/26/2010	823	65.17%	53634.91
Nintendo Power	10/1/2010	3342	68.01%	227289.42
Nintendo Spin	7/6/2008	236	75.61%	17843.96
Nintendojo	6/8/2010	1027	73.28%	75258.56
NintendoWorldReport	9/22/2010	1193	69.65%	83092.45
N-Revolution Magazine UK	12/5/2008	196	70.33%	13784.68
NTSC uk	5/18/2010	862	66.83%	57607.46
NZGamer	9/28/2010	1125	77.64%	87345
Official Nintendo Magazine UK	10/1/2010	931	69.81%	64993.11
Official Playstation Magazine	7/1/2008	2185	63.67%	139118.95
Official Xbox Magazine	11/1/2010	1677	70.55%	118312.35
Official Xbox Magazine UK	10/1/2010	1376	68.53%	94297.28
Operation Sports	12/18/2007	215	73.26%	15750.9
P2 Magazine UK	12/1/2005	664	70.72%	46958.08
PALGN	9/28/2010	1910	69.18%	132133.8
PC Accelerator	1/1/1999	187	63.64%	11900.68
PC Format UK	9/1/2010	1097	68.20%	74815.4
PC Gameplay	10/9/2002	195	73.69%	14369.55
PC Gamer	11/1/2010	1819	68.16%	123983.04
PC Gamer UK	10/1/2010	1810	67.18%	121595.8
PC Gameworld	10/3/2008	774	76.11%	58909.14
PC Power Play	10/1/2010	210	70.24%	14750.4
PC Zone UK	10/1/2010	2394	67.68%	162025.92
Pelit (Finland)	9/1/2008	780	81.54%	63601.2
PGNx Media	10/6/2009	1502	83.99%	126152.98
Planet Xbox 360	9/29/2010	481	76.85%	36964.85
Play Magazine	5/1/2008	2082	76.36%	158981.52
Play UK	10/1/2010	1721	72.49%	124755.29
play.tm	9/28/2010	1027	73.87%	75864.49
Playstation 2 Mag UK	7/1/2008	1428	63.07%	90063.96
Playstation 2 Max UK	9/27/2004	560	71.54%	40062.4
PlayStation LifeStyle	9/29/2010	310	72.16%	22369.6
Playstation Official Magazine AU	8/1/2010	198	72.63%	14380.74
Playstation Official Magazine UK	10/1/2010	782	65.28%	51048.96
Playstation Official Magazine US	10/1/2010	456	69.43%	31660.08
Playstation Universe	9/24/2010	285	76.95%	21930.75
Pocket Gamer UK	12/18/2009	696	66.08%	45991.68
Portable Review	4/24/2008	422	73.47%	31004.34
PSE Magazine	5/1/2006	818	85.91%	70274.38
PSM Magazine	12/1/2007	1787	70.40%	125804.8
PSM3 Magazine UK	10/1/2010	1819	68.45%	124510.55
PSW Magazine UK	6/26/2009	609	69.11%	42087.99
PSX Extreme	9/27/2010	1273	75.06%	95551.38
PSX Nation	5/19/2005	1217	71.64%	87185.88
Quandary	5/3/2008	432	72.54%	31337.28
RealGamer	9/29/2010	569	71.04%	40421.76
RewiredMind	4/5/2007	492	67.30%	33111.6
RPGamer	9/27/2010	493	67.25%	33154.25
RPGFan	9/29/2010	727	81.37%	59155.99
Sega-16	9/27/2010	603	63.96%	38567.88
Silicon Fusion	7/29/2007	367	77.05%	28277.35
Sports Gaming	1/25/2006	472	78.42%	37014.24
Talk Xbox	12/10/2009	372	78.78%	29306.16
TeamXbox	9/27/2010	1413	74.90%	105833.7
TechTV	5/9/2004	948	65.32%	61923.36
The Entertainment Depot	9/27/2010	641	69.20%	44357.2
The Gamers Temple	9/29/2010	1559	73.26%	114212.34
Thunderbolt	9/29/2010	1762	70.23%	123745.26
Total PC Gaming	5/1/2010	203	68.67%	13940.01
Total Video Games	9/4/2009	1107	75.72%	83822.04
TotallyGN	9/27/2010	416	72.02%	29960.32
TotalPlaystation	9/29/2010	782	75.44%	58994.08
UltraNinjas	6/7/2010	391	76.32%	29841.12
VGChartz	9/28/2010	616	76.81%	47314.96
VG-Force	1/4/2006	542	77.27%	41880.34
VGPub	11/30/2007	499	77.02%	38432.98
Video Game Talk	1/11/2010	852	66.73%	56853.96
Video Gamers First	8/27/2005	557	75.59%	42103.63
VideoGamer	9/29/2010	2093	69.91%	146321.63
VideoGames NZ	4/6/2009	487	81.24%	39563.88
Videogameslife	9/27/2005	559	65.97%	36877.23
WonderwallWeb	2/23/2010	733	78.54%	57569.82
Worth Playing	9/29/2010	3627	72.32%	262304.64
X360 Magazine UK	10/1/2010	772	64.14%	49516.08
XBM UK	12/1/2005	452	67.79%	30641.08
XBN Magazine	2/1/2005	547	59.34%	32458.98
Xbox 2k	7/21/2003	112	77.02%	8626.24
Xbox Evolved	7/22/2010	547	73.85%	40395.95
Xbox Exclusive	1/4/2007	168	81.58%	13705.44
Xbox Gamer Mag UK	4/1/2005	426	64.25%	27370.5
Xbox Impact	4/8/2004	135	77.25%	10428.75
Xbox Maniacs	2/2/2004	177	76.80%	13593.6
Xbox Rules	1/30/2005	150	75.00%	11250
Xbox World 360 Magazine UK	11/1/2010	611	62.75%	38340.25
Xbox World Australia	9/29/2010	384	77.68%	29829.12
Xbox World Mag UK	6/1/2008	209	66.32%	13860.88
XboxAddict	9/24/2010	609	79.69%	48531.21
XboxSolution	12/22/2006	242	80.82%	19558.44
XboxZone	3/5/2010	177	77.39%	13698.03
XGP Gaming	11/13/2006	321	82.31%	26421.51
Zentendo	4/28/2010	238	72.02%	17140.76
ZTGameDomain	9/29/2010	1425	77.68%	110694
SUM		257065		18576521.35
TRUE AVERAGE				72.26390738

The average score when throwing out the letter grade sites is a 72.26 out of 100. Including the letter grade sites (using GameRankings' conversions), it is a 72.45.

So the next time somebody tries to tell you, "Hey, it got a 7 out of 10! It's a good game!," you can tell them to sod off.

Then again, it depends on the reviewer in question. Some reviewers give out an average of 8, others a 6. That's probably what I'll go over with the next update.