bit-tech News: OpEd: Yes, Games Critics Understand Innovation

news · December 2, 2008

Hi all,

We have just published a OpEd titled *Yes, Game Critics Understand

Innovation*, which talks about some of the recent criticism from the

mainstream media levelled at games journalists following the release of

/Mirror's Edge/. If you could post a link on your site that would be

very much appreciated.

*Link:*

*Quote:

*/Thereâ€™s an argument too to say that itâ€™s the role of the critic to

explain the flaws of the game (even the tiny ones) so that the reader

can make an informed decision, but in this instance I donâ€™t hold much

truck in that. If that were the case then the critic should be telling

the reader that the game is about running away from fights, not that

there arenâ€™t enough fights in it.

Iâ€™m both lucky and biased though because I think bit-tech is a site

which does this well, recognising and rewarding innovation whenever we

see it and always giving honest and informed reviews. Thatâ€™s why we were

able to give Episode 2 a ten out of ten and an excellence award, but

also werenâ€™t afraid to tread the unpopular path and say that Gears of

War 2 was little above a seven. Itâ€™s why weâ€™ve only ever given three

games a ten-out-of-ten score since Iâ€™ve been here, though many have

edged that line and retrospect perhaps disfavours some others. This

isn't a science afterall.

Do games critics need to understand how important innovation is?

Obviously, yes. More important than that though is the ability to

recognise when something really is innovative (and Mirror's Edge owes a

lot to the chase sequence from Call of Cthulhu from what I've heard) and

the wisdom to recognise that just because something is innovative

doesn't mean it's perfect.

Simply; innovation isn't worth anything if you can't get the basics

right - though that doesn't mean any developers should stop trying!/

*

*Cheers guys!

Tim Smalley

www.bit-tech.net

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