Gamespot Butchers Calling All Cars

After receiving very good scores of 8.5 from IGN and 8.0 from 1up.com, Gamespot has given David Jaffe's latest downloadable title a 6.7.

[Sevir04]

with every review of ps3 exclusive stuff, they seem really really really more baised toward MS. oh well you can please everybody.

[BIadestarX]

They stated their reasons, "Calling All Cars! has the makings of a fun and exciting multiplayer game, but it feels more like a demo than a full game. With at least double the number of maps, weapons, and cars, this would be worth checking out. As it is now, there's just not enough content to justify spending $10 on this game." Are you saying that it's not true? That this game has plenty of maps, weapons and cars?

[Sevir04]

i disagree with it. over here in cali and certain parts of Florida where i use to live people will pay 9-10 bucks for a 2 hour movie. in all honesty ur getting full features for voice chat, multiplayer, split screen and a small single player experience and 4 maps. thats a whole lot and the fact that this games replayablity especcially with multiplayer goes well beyond that of a 2 hour movie. and they are complaining about bout 4 maps boohoo. keep in mind this game at it's core is ment for multiplayer. it's not an adventure game. there for four maps is about the sweet spot. i think, this is truely a baised against sony. if you look at a game like counter strike all you have is about 4 maps. i could agree with them if David Jaffe was charging 20 bucks for this game but ten dollars is reasonable for a game that 2 other unbaised reviewer gave an 8 AND 8.5 respectively. if it captures the essense of fun. 10 bucks with features that quite a few full fleged disc retail games are lacking in now plus unlockable stuff, it more than justifies it's price. on that note i've leave it at that. gamespot really cant be taken seriously anymore with there reviews it's onesided and totally baised

[dissectionalrr]

so what do you mean to imply is going on then? some massive anti-sony conspiracy in the videogame industry? if so, then that must mean that everyone in the videogame industry dislikes the ps3 enough to want to take part in a conspiracy against it. if everyone doesn't like you, that means you lose the "war". weird...

[Cartesian3D]

Gamespot is clearly in MS side..

u can see GOW2 rating .. or Oblivion rating..

9.5 for Ps3 and 9.6 for 360 .. but Ps3 has more contetnt and much better graphic and lower load times..

[WilliamRLBaker]

Firstly Ps3 doesn't have more content, PC and 360 have more, The ps3 doesn't get all the downloaded content that pc and 360 get, LOad times? load times are only better because oblivion MANDATORIALLY installs about 4 gigs of info on the ps3's hard drive.

And Better graphics? ill give you that, but after the update the graphical difference instead of being about 1 point went down to half a point....The only thing the ps3 version has is faster loading cause of an install and a micro amount of better graphics and thats it.

Face it Calling all cars sucked.

[Theo1130]

read the damn review

[iceice123]

It's worth 10$ to me. Honestly, 10$ for such a simple game?

[Cartesian3D]

2.1 so what?

(-0.1) for alittle better textures and alittle better load times.. !!!

why they didnt even put same rating on it!

[nix]

come on guys.. why do we take whatever gamespot says so seriously. i registered there before i registered at ign. but then when PS3 came out ign had the machine first wrote about it... whereas gamespot had to buy the console. must be pissed off with sony for not sending them a console. q:

anyway, gamespot=cnet=microsoft.

so stop crying about it.

man... i feel sorry for one of the subscribers there. he had commented that he didnot buy motorstorm because gamespot gave a low review. let me find out whether i can find that guy again.. so that i can send him a PM.

[WilliamRLBaker]

Gamespot=cnet=microsoft? and where did you get that from? the neither regions of your behind?

[nix]

you mean to say - you didn't know??!!! i'm shocked!!!

EDIT:

@william (below):

then i can say the same thing about you too... show me a proof that MS doesn't have a share in cnet which in return owns gamespot. probably you're the one who is blind with fanboyism and can't see anything... hah!

[WilliamRLBaker]

When a person asks that, They usually want proof...and since you are incapable of giving it. your wrong:)

So basically all you have is your own fanboyism driving you, Cause in reality Calling all cars sucked and unlike other gaming sources Gamespot isn't biased.

[xfrgtr]

It is well known that MS owns gamespot

[God of Gaming]

Seems like they may have been a bit harsh.

[Vojkan]

O for God sake Microsoft does not own gamespot but true gamespot is hars on Sony for some reason. And to guy that said that IGn got free PS3 and Gamespot didn't, well its not true. you can check that out on one old episode of the show "on the spot"

[nix]

and yes... ign "got" the console from sony.... whereas gamespot bought it and showed it... those days i used to visit gamespot daily and thought this was the ultimate gaming site and when ign showcased the PS3 even before it came out i was like - WTF?

EDIT:

here's the link from ign.com:

http://ps3.ign.com/articles...

remember PS3 launched on November 17th, 2006. this article is dated: November 10, 2006.

[VirtualGamer]

The nice thing about having a blog, is I can review the reviews! :)

So…

As of now, here’s what we’re looking at:

IGN: 8/5/10
1UP: 8/10
GAMESPOT: 6.7/10

The first two I can live with, they feel fair and make sense. I am very, very proud of those reviews. Although, I have to say, when I hear the 1up guys on the podcast saying the game is the best on PSN AND saying that it's closing in on being one of the top 3 download games out there, it does seem 8 is a bit low...but what the hell...8 is good in my book, so thank you guys!

I’m not so keen on the GAMESPOT review, and who would be? It simply feels unfair and simply wrong. Granted, why would I not say that? I am the director of the game they are saying is simply ‘fair’. So take my opinion with a grain of salt.

I think tho, much of it has to do with expectations for titles such as this, as well as maybe me not really understanding the review process.

So my thoughts in general on aspects of the reviews:

MAGNET ISSUE- Here was a nice, simple, clean PROBLEM with the game that the reviewer hit on that was pretty black and white. Hard to argue with this one. IGN hit this spot on and we’ve fixed it already! Nice thing about download games is you can see a review and then rush back to the code and do some tweaks :) So while we don’t know if we’ve solved IGN’s issue where the AI seemed to be able to dominate with the magnet weapon, we’ve at least toned it down and increased the amount of time a player needs to be in the magnet ‘cone’ before the criminal is sucked away. We did not touch the multiplayer aspect of this, just the single player where IGN had what we felt was a great point about how the single player was feeling. So thanks IGN!

LACK OF CONTENT: This one just makes no sense to me but I can live with the fact that I may in the minority here. I can also live with the fact that my take on what something should cost (as a guy who gets games for free mostly) is different from the take of a reviewer as to what a game should cost (as people who get paid to play games they usually get for free…but to be fair, the reviewers ARE paid to take the consumer mindset into mind….but then again, so am I…so anyway…). But look, it’s a 10 dollar game. And for that you get: the core game (which in multiplayer- which is the point- EVERYONE says is at least fun, and many say is really, really f***ing fun). 4 maps, split screen, internet with voice, and 10 cars to unlock. I fail to see how this is a bad deal, especially since if you like the multiplay- and all of the reviewers have- you can play the game for hours (over time) before you burn out. How is this a bad deal for 10 bucks? I just don’t see it. The gamespot review- I think- didn’t seem to like that you could finish the single player game in 20 minutes. And maybe this is a fault of the game’s presentation but it’s not an adventure game…it’s like a fighting game in that sense: you work thru the single player to learn the game and unlock stuff. And when you get thru one level if you want to get better, up the difficulty. I get thru Tekken and Mortal Kombat single player in 5-15 minutes on default setting. Again, maybe our presentation did not make this clear and it's a fair call that Gamespot would want more from the single player experience. But it's not like I go out and buy Madden or NBA JAM or NBA HOMECOURT cause I'm going to be playing it by myself. But that could just be me and it's Gamespot's job- I assume- to take all gamer's desires into account and I can appreciate that.

But again, this may be the problem. Gamespot was not saying it’s a sh!t game. They seemed to like aspects of it. So I’m not bashing them or the score so much as just being confused a bit. We set out to make a balls to the wall, trash talking, fun ass multiplayer/party game. From all reviews we did that and from a few of the reviews (IGN and 1up) we did that really, really well. And so really, that’s all I care about. And I can see reviewers are not going to JUST review the game portions I care about. Hell, I guess I could have just taken out the single player so it would have never been an issue. But somehow that would have just felt wrong.

SCORES IN GENERAL: And maybe therein lies the problem. With the exception of the GAMESPOT score- which I really just feel is simply unfair- these scores are good scores and I am happy with them. I am proud of those scores; happy with them and grateful for them. So thanks IGN and 1up! But the issue may be that our goal was to provide a trash talking fun ass time with your buddies. And I feel we did that really well…between an 8 and a 10 depending on all the factors that determine fun that go into any individual game (who is playing; skill level;etc). So to me, I’m like: grade us on THAT because that was what we wanted to do.

But I guess that’s like asking a movie reviewer to grade a horror movie 10/10 that wanted to do nothing more but provide a visceral thrill ride (and did that) while at the same time there may be other movies out there that provide the thrills AND drama and story too? You guys know my sh!tty analogies....not sure if that makes sense. And I'm rush typing this as I gotta head out for some sh!t to do today.

CASUAL: Diner Dash got like a 3/10 on a game site the other day. And that game is considered a watershed/masterpiece in the casual space. It may also be that as I get away from hardcore games, some of the reviewers (that have no interest in those sorts of games) that used to love the kind of stuff I did, will simply not find as much in the stuff we do nowadays to love? Could be…and I can understand that.

Or it could be that the game really is a 7/10 and I just WANTED it to be more. I can live with that as an option if that's how- once the game ships and people play it and pass judgement and time passes- that is how it all comes down. Hope that's not the case, but what can you do?

I don’t know…I wanted to get a response to the scores up fast. I will prob. think on this some more and hit you guys back.

But overall, I am so proud of this game and think in many aspects it’s the most fun game I’ve ever worked on. If you want a fun party game, then I think we’ve got something for you. I hope you read the reviews from folks who are into these sorts of titles and THEN make your decision to buy or pass.

Ok gotta run...thanks for indulging me. A more mature designer would say: 'my game is my response' and shut up about it. But come on, this is me :)

David

http://criminalcrackdown.bl...

[nix]

good find virtual gamer!!! a bubble for you! q:

EDIT: @Cartesian3D (below)

he he he... yup! he's totally blind! he just joined N4G so... we must forgive him and talk nicely to him otherwise, he'll grow up and be like theMart. lol! q:

[Cartesian3D]

thx for ur comment buddy ..

everyone in the world knows that GAMESPOT is in MS side except WilliamRLBaker

[Bathyj]

You cant review a PSN game and mark it down for not enough content. Thats like ordering just an entree and then complaining you're not full. Totally missing the point of having these cheap short games. Jeese, what do you want for 10 bucks? The guy himself admits everything the game does, it does well. It looks good, it plays well, its fast, frantic and fun.

To anyone who actually believes gamespot aren't biased, go on their forums and get banned just for calling them biased. With all the flaming and name calling that goes on, on that site, apparently thats over the line.

[WilliamRLBaker]

last time i checked a review was an opinion and an opinion can be any thing they want it to be....

[Bathyj]

I retract the word "can't" and replace it with "shouldn't"

[Bill Gates]

I hate reviews. I've never paid any attention to them anyways. They're just like assholes, everybody's got one.

I'd rather play the games and review them myself rather then read what someone else thought of the game. It's so stupid to follow reviews.

I say if a game is announce and as time goes by you seem more and more interested in the game, then if you feel you really want the game when it is released......BUY IT. Make your own darn review of the game.

[Xi]

http://www.gamespot.com/xbo...

don't know if you've ever played this game, but it's quite similar to calling all cars, but they have more characters, vehicles and more levels. Maybe they just don't like the style and felt that the amount of content isn't able to make up for it.

David Jaffe needs to cry more.

[paracardium]

I should got on here the first 6 months 360 was out. I could've really trash talked it then when it had it's growing pains. All I can say is what goes around come around. Anyway this game looks fun and I'm in see you all there.

[Vojkan]

Reviews are not just someones opinion. yes if it is from me and you but if it is from a guy that can influence million to buy or not to buy game than you have to really be careful with your judgment. I like how that Japanese site reviews games(Famitsu or something). They have 3 guys and each one of them gives a score in few categories and they score divided with 3 = something much fair.

[Seraphim]

the problem is that reviews are in fact opinion. Which is in part why gaming journalism is a joke. To many reviewers do place their own personal preference and likes/dislikes into reviews. As gaming journalists they need to do a much better job or ratings games for their own merits.... rambles on about gaming journalists and reviews...

Gamespot.com in general has harsh reviewers, or rather, harsh scorers. They're reviews are normally decent, but their scores are almost unarguably the worst in the industry.

However, in this case, we are talking about a down loadable Arcade Game are we not? The need for massive content doesn't need to be there. How many tracks did Off Road have back in the day? Yet how many quarters did you drop into the machine to continuously race the same tracks? While I'll admit it sounds like the game should have a little more content the fact remains that this game is cheap, and nothing more than something to have a little fun with when you don't feel like sinking into a game. Fun factor should hold more ground in an Arcade title more than content does...

As for scores, reviews, and gaming journalism. People place to much faith into others opinions. As a gamer you should know which kind of games peak your interest, which games warrant your money... There's certainly nothing wrong with reading up on a game to find out more about it, but placing your entire decision on another persons opinion is outright dumb. Do yourself a favor, quit relying on opinions, and take the time to learn and understand what you like, what warrants your money...

[spacetoilet]

We all know what they are about. It's pretty obvious at this point.
I think that M$ payment will be good for another few years yet. Expect alot more bs reviews than this from shill spot.

[Ps3007]

Their reviews are horrible, they have become totally biased and not credible..

Sorry but review sites are no longer needed especially sites like gamespot.

[Violater]

I will agree with the point about not enough content.
4 maps and 3 weapons is not enough think about it...

[jp 117]

don't think gamespot is on ms payroll but i think some of you guys need to be on sony's b/c you pr skills are pretty freaking good .if some one says gives a bad review your all over it

[Why o why]

i wouldnt expect 360 fanboys to listen to ps3fanboys and lets not forget that all media is biased in some way whether its to a political party, race, organisation even consoles. Fanboys can work for the media too. what the public dont know is who is buttering whose bread. Maybe gamespot have a grudge or maybe we'll never know but lets not fool ourselves into thinking websites are total objective with their reviews or views.

[FeralPhoenix]

READ #10 VIRTUAL GAMERS POST WITH JAFFE'S RESPONSE IN HIS OWN WORDS.....

Jaffe obviously disagree's with Gamespots review score but he never called them biased.....AMAZING, he even admits that he at least understands their criticism but that basicly its sort of unfair given that it was intended to have a single player mode since the main focus was to make a trash talking fun multiplayer/party game....and although I haven't played this game yet, if this is indeed where it succeeds then I totally agree with him that Gamespot should have maybe judged it more on that aspect. Whats really AMAZING is that instead of crying that they are bias because of this or that, Jaffe gives a very reasonable response about why he disagree's with Gamespot....I for one have so much respect for this guy, he speaks his mind and its just cool to see a developer defend his game without crying to his fanbase and calling those who don't agree with him bias. -Maybe some of you should try to learn a thing or two from Mr. Jaffe. -Don't complain buy the game!