Game Critics
Why Hacker News recommends it
Recommended as an amusing but thoughtful take on review inflation and game journalism, in threads about reviews and ratings.
What it is
A videogamedunkey video essay on video game critics. It argues that a critic's taste and integrity matter as much as their score, and tries to explain why major outlets give such inflated ratings.
Recommended by 4 HN commenters across 4 different months, 2018 to 2024.
What Hacker News said
Recommends ljm · 2018-05 · on “The Never-Ending War on Fake Reviews”
I actually wonder why crowd-sourced reviews have become so ubiquitous, to the point of almost being necessary (along with five-star ratings). Has anyone legitimately attempted to challenge the status quo here? I'm reminded of videogamedunkey on YouTube and his video about game critics[0], where he goes into some detail about the preferences and integrity of the critic being just as important (if not more) than the review and rating. Professional critics build a strong reputation around their taste and preference and they gain notoriety from doggedly sticking to those principles. So you'd likely trust the opinion of Roger Ebert or Mark Kermode if you share their taste in cinema, and even watc
Recommends fyrabanks · 2019-08 · on “Devilution – A web port of the original Diablo game”
Dunkey presented a fairly well-argued idea why major publications tend to give 9+/10 reviews to games, even when the actual text of their review clearly points to major issues ( [this video] ). The tl;dw version is that gamers, by and large, tend to disparage media outlets for giving poor ratings to games that aren't already widely disliked by the hive mind. It comes from the perspective of someone who does unbiased VG reviews, and I think it raises an interesting point that might otherwise be overlooked. (Of course, payola should certainly not be discounted as a factor.)
Recommends MaXtreeM · 2021-08 · on “Video Game Pricing [video]”
I never thought I would see videogamedunkey in top hot posts on HN but here we go. As others have already pointed out, he usually makes silly videos but has been consistent for many years if you like his kind of humour. From time to time he makes a video-essay which are usually great, I would recommend a "Game Critics"[0] and part two if you liked the first one. [0]: [this video]
Recommends seanhunter · 2022-07 · on “The man who made the “worst” video game in history (2019)”
There really are a lot of terrible game journalists. The ones who aren't terrible tend to be independents rather than writing for big publications. An amusing and yet thoughtful take on the problem comes from Videogamedunkey [this video] and [LINK]
Cites operator-name · 2024-12 · on “Critics, not fans, perpetuate the failed second album myth, study shows”
You don't, but it can be helpful if you find a critic that strongly aligns with your preferences, or even strongly misaligns with your preferences. Just like a reccomendation from a friend, you can use it to consider if something is worth even giving a try. [this video]