420°

The strange math of Metacritic

Notaboutgames wrote:"I've just found a very strange thing about the metacritic score and how the final numbers are rounded. Take a look at Halo3:ODST and Uncharted 2 and how they are treated differently.

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notaboutgames.com
Major_Tom5341d ago (Edited 5341d ago )

L.O.L. I'm kinda surprised no one did this sooner (in which case they probably have just never publicly).

5341d ago
SupaPlaya5341d ago (Edited 5341d ago )

if MS sends check: it becomes PSCritic

if Sony sends check: it becomes MSCritic
.
.
.
In this case it's clear to see who sent the check.

/joke

Props to the OP by not making a flamebait title.

Simon_Brezhnev5341d ago

i'm not surprised just regular microsoft practices

t-dizzle5341d ago

This isn't the first time there has been controversy with regards to Metacritic's weighted average system, but please, enough with this MS wrote a check crap... Metacritic is not an average. It gives some publications more weight than others. Therefore, it isn't a rounding of a decimal point, but a belief that some peoples opinions are better than others. If you don't like it, than stop going to the damn site.

---
From Metacritic's "about" page:

This overall score, or METASCORE, is a weighted average of the individual critic scores. Why a weighted average? When selecting our source publications, we noticed that some critics consistently write better (more detailed, more insightful, more articulate) reviews than others. In addition, some critics and/or publications typically have more prestige and weight in the industry than others. To reflect these factors, we have assigned weights to each publication.

http://www.metacritic.com/a...

caladbolg7775341d ago (Edited 5341d ago )

Metacritic is run by one man, Marc Doyle. He ultimately decides which publications to include in the metascore and how much weight each publication gains. There's very little transparency as to how much "weight" each publication has.

I have spoken to Marc via e-mail communication regarding the validity of his website. He seems like a pretty cool guy. Still, I'm weary to put too much faith in a website governed by a single individual especially when the process used to calculate a game's score is so carefully guarded.

When using Metacritic, I've grown to overlook the meta-average and instead use it more like a "directory". Go to Metacritic, click the game, scroll to a reviewer and check out their website. Marc includes some pretty obscure sites in his weighted averages, and it's funny to see what some of these reviewers write. Without metacritic, I'd have never heard of some of those websites.

5341d ago
SuperM5341d ago

Metacritic is not an average of all the reviews for those who didnt know. The bigger sites get the bigger impact on the scores

ABizzel15341d ago

I never trust Metacritic once I found out that they don't consistently use the same websites for every review. They use unknown sites to bring down the scores of certain games, and others to build the scores of games up. It's like they want to give the games a score they fell is right so they add unknowns to bring the score up or down.

That's why I base my total review score off of IGN (who's been off to me lately), 1up, Gamespot, and Game Informer. But most importantly I rent the games I'm unsure of and decide if I want to buy it or not. By the way I think EGM had the best way of rating games using 3 people to rate the same game, it gives you multiple perspectives. I say have a hardcore fan of the genre, a moderate fan of the genre, and a casual fan of the genre rate the same game.

Ju5341d ago

Weighted average is just fine - except if one e.g. 40% result can drag down the whole system. Then average is not such a good solution in that case. However, I think there's no reason to create a flame bait out of this, since the 100% for UC2 on MC fill at least 2 pages. Its one (if not the best) result a video game ever had. Stop complaining.

jerethdagryphon5341d ago

uh well rounding works like this

100= no rounding needed
less then 5 round down
more then 5 round up

to the next colmn

so odsts 5169= 9rounds to a 0 making it 5170
7 rounds to a 0 making it 5200/6200

uncharted 2 2046 rounds down to a 2000/2100

cheating but it works

NeoSprtacus5341d ago

@1.10

You can't round the actual numbers of the data, that's not how it works. That would be like lowering a score of 100 to a 54.

You have to round the percentage that is already calculated. Since metacritic doesn't have decimals in their overall review- they round. Hence the article.

83.3 was rounded up
97.4 was rounded down
According to you, 3 > 4... but not the case!

Anyway it's all weighted so it's okay, move along people

Arnon5341d ago

If you want absolute proof, go look at the 1UP/EGM reviews for Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. It's literally, the same exact review, except for EGM, they took the second opinion as the review.

Anon19745341d ago

Metacritic has both reviews for Nuts and Bolts. One from 1up and one from EGM. 1up gave it 91, EGM gave it 69. I'm not sure what you're getting at. Where they not supposed to include both reviews for some reason?

Arnon5341d ago (Edited 5341d ago )

EGM uses the same scores from 1UP. It's their publication. It even said "A-" in the magazine. I know, I own the issue that has the review.

First Score: A-
Second Score: B-
Third Score: C

In fact, none of these scores add up to a 69.

http://i162.photobucket.com...

The Lazy One5341d ago (Edited 5341d ago )

it has something to do with the fact that there's 66 reviews not 62 for halo.

edit: realistically it's probably automated. It would be an absolute waste of manpower to calculate the averages every time a review is added. They are probably the least biased site you'll find just because it would be too much work for them to be biased. Imagine manually calculating every average for every movie, DVD, TV show, and game released. It would just be ridiculous.

kws10655341d ago

The only review averaging site I trust (Except they include Gamespy. Oh, well...I should say "I trust most")

+ Show (13) more repliesLast reply 5341d ago
The Wood5341d ago (Edited 5341d ago )

'Metacritic use mean average though. Maybe they should use more than 1 average method. To be honest i dont even rate meta highly anyway...no transparency in their weighing or credence to particular sites or no standard format or transparency in their site selection methods. Dedicated gaming sites get left out (especially from europe and asia) whilst movie publications like 'variety' are allowed in. No vote, not democracy...no thanks.'

Now they round some games down whilst rounding other games up.....seems meta is more flawed than i thought. Can somebody explain this or are ps3 fans just paranoid conspiracy lovers huh. This is not a big big thing but it does make you think.

edit

maths is maths and rounding up is not unusual for a number that has reached .5 or above but neither of the games have yet one is rounded up.......Im laughing whilst typing this btw as im sure the metacritic damage control team will get in here soon enough to put me right......;)

@notpill
the titles perfect.....its their act thats flaimbait. These slight differences in averages has been used/miss-used all gen so its obviously more important than some think. The media is and will always be somebodies tool no matter how insignificant things like this seem. Will we get a reason from metacritic themselves......eff no

RadientFlux5341d ago

It's simple Microsoft paid to up their game by a percentage point.

Realistically I have no idea, though off the top of my head maybe the rounding (up or down) has to do with the amount of reviews each game has. That or the programming script the calculates the average score is off.

notpill5341d ago

I don't want to put any flamebait into that thing (and maybe you noticed that I avoided "hook titles" like "Uncharted vs Halo" or other stuff like that).. You said, it's a little thing but does make you think.

SuperM5341d ago

Its because the reviews from big sites have more weight then the review from small sites.

Hayabusa 1175341d ago

Well, to settle the "flamebait" thing, why doesn't someone look at more titles and see if any 360 games have been rounded down in a simular manner or if any PS3 games have rounded up? Instead of just comparing two highly anticipated exclusives for each console? I would do it myself, but I can't be arsed and never go to metacritic.

The Wood5341d ago

i cant be asked either and i also never visit their site for other reasons. What i really want to know is what the weighing/credence allocation methods are used. Its not transparent enough and then the average is not an average when there is unequal weighing.

Mystery5341d ago

Metacritic gives different publications different weights when averaging any type of media's metascore. They haven't revealed what their formula is, but they are completely honest about giving more reputable publications higher weights, and newer or less-known publications less weight.

97 is still a great metascore, especially for a PS3 exclusive. Will 6 tenths of a point really detract anyone who is remotely interested in the game from purchasing it?

Bathyj5341d ago

Way to totally ignore the point which is why is one game rounded down, while another rounded up?

Yes 97 is great. Does that make it right?
Is it ok to steal from someone cos they're rich?

SuperM5341d ago

are you retarded? his post was right on point. Its because big sites have a higher weight. So for the Halo ODST reviews the big sites gave it on average a higher score then the smaller sites thus the metascore gets rounded up.

Bathyj5341d ago

Why, do I look retarded?

Ok, Maybe you both just missed my point. That has nothing to do with it. They get more points, ok, but when all is said and done the answer for Halo ended with a 3 and got rounded up. The final score for Uncharted ended even higher with a .4 and got rounded down.

You dont round up til a number hits .5. And you certainly dont round alower number up and a higher one down. Thats not how maths works. The only situation I can think of in life where you do something like that is when in golf and bowling they do a thing called handicap.

JRaptor5341d ago

Read what the others said. The weighted reviews change the average completely....for all we know, uc2 might be 96.6 using their weighted system and they've rounded it up. So yes, you do look retarded.

Bathyj5341d ago

God, why is this so hard?

HALO 3 ODST
Total score 5169 in 62 reviews= 83,3
The final score is rounded UP to 84

UNCHARTED 2
Total 2046 in 21 reviews=97,4
The final score this time is rounded DOWN to 97

I understand the weighting affects the score.
The point is these ARE THE FINAL BLOODY SCORES arrived at AFTER the weighted reviews are taken into consideration.

Its NOT 96.something, its 97.4 and was rounded down while 83.3 got rounded up. Its not Quantum Physics you know.

Can someone else, preferably old enough to drive explain this to them.
I must be saying it wrong.
Its real simple but I'm not getting through.

The Lazy One5341d ago

big sites like ign have more weight. the actual equation looks like

((score)*weight + (score)*weight....)/total of weights.

so if ign gives it a 100 and nothing site gives it a 50, the average would appear to be 75, but ign's site might have a weight of 1.5 and nothing site would have .5, so you get:

(100*1.5+50*.5)/(1.5+.5) = 87.5

Get it now? it's a simple weighted average. Take a statistics class.

Bathyj5340d ago

Why isnt anyone listening to me.

I AM NOT DISPUTING THE WEIGHT.

I get it. IGN has more say than Joesgamingblog.com.

Look at your equation there.
My issue is not how they arrived at the final score. The issue is the rounding. 87.5 would round up to 88. 87.6 would round up. 87.4 would round DOWN. Get it? And if .4 rounds down .3 definately rounds down.

It has nothing to do with who voted and what weight they carried as the score is the end result, and then they round. If you have the score, who voted what and how much weight is irrelivant.

Can we at least agree that Uncharteds score is 97.4?
Without mentioning games, PS3 or Xbox, ask a person on the street what 97.4 rounds to.

thor5340d ago

Bathyj

Work out the average from the scores you gave. Those are totals that this misinformed website has taken. They've added up all the scores, and added up the total number of reviewers.

2046 divided by 21 = 97.4 BUT the actual number may be different because that's not how you work it out.

The rounding will be normal. Uncharted's score is NOT 97.4 (well it might be but it's probably not). ODST's score is CERTAINLY NOT 83.3, because otherwise it would be rounded down to 83 as you say.

All this website has done is make a calculation and found that it doesn't match up to the metacritic score. Well that's simply because they haven't made the right calculation.

JRaptor5340d ago

"The point is these ARE THE FINAL BLOODY SCORES arrived at AFTER the weighted reviews are taken into consideration."

This is where you are making the mistake. The article above that listed the 97.4 figure did NOT apply any of the weightings that metacritic does and therefore is completely irrelevant.

Metacritic haven't revealed their weighting system...so nobody can prove that their rounding is either right or wrong.

The individual review scores that they display have not been weighted. The weighting happens in between raw scores that are displayed and the overall metacritic score.

+ Show (6) more repliesLast reply 5340d ago
Bathyj5341d ago

Well thats just one more thing isn't it?

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50°

XCOM's Jake Solomon Q&A - Building a Narrative-Driven Life Sim Game at Midsummer Studios

XCOM and Marvel's Midnight Suns director Jake Solomon has founded a new studio to make a life sim game. Here's a new interview with him.

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330°

Microsoft's quest for short-term $$$ is doing long-term damage to Windows, Surface, Xbox, and beyond

Microsoft is pushing for no "red line" for what games could come to PlayStation, and it all revolves around Satya Nadella and CFO Amy Hood's plans to increase every department's margins.

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windowscentral.com
Brazz12h ago

"The plan to move Xbox games to other platforms is codenamed "Latitude" internally, and I know there's debate and unease at Microsoft about whether or not this is a good idea. More upcoming Microsoft-owned games slated for PlayStation are already being developed. At least for now, they're potentially obvious games you'd most likely expect. And yes, while it's true Microsoft is a prolific publisher on PlayStation already, it has typically revolved around specific franchises like Minecraft. From what I've heard, Microsoft is pushing for no "red line" for what games could come to PlayStation, and it all revolves around Satya Nadella and CFO Amy Hood's mandate to increase every department's margins. "

Yeah, they are going to kill Xbox hardware.

Xeofate10h ago

"Yeah, they are going to kill Xbox hardware."

It's for the best.

Quit stringing along xbox fans and screwing over PlayStation owners.

crazyCoconuts5h ago

Take good care of those Xboxes if you have 'em ...

outsider16245h ago

An Xbox game on a Playstation. Never in my years of gaming did i ever thought this was gonna happen.

jznrpg1h ago

It is dying anyway so doesn’t make much of a difference

VersusDMC1h ago

No way can they get rid of the hardware as probably 90% of game pass subscribers are hardware users.

Highly doubtful those users will move to PC or Cloud to subscribe there and the competition (Sony and Nin) will never have gamepass on their system.

If they want to keep the current subscribers, they need to keep releasing new hardware.

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gold_drake12h ago

i think it will kill off the xbox brand. windows will be fine.

but there is and would be a chance that xbox might be killed off in the future. if they fail to make the money they put in. imo.

S2Killinit9h ago

They wont kill it, but they will go fully PC while keeping xbox as a brand, and go multiplatform for the most part. They will also work tirelessly to diminish console gaming’s importance.

PRIMORDUS6h ago

It would be best if Xbox goes the way of Sega, just make and publish games. I know I myself will not support them at all with buying games from them, you all can. 🙃

ChasterMies4h ago

The Xbox brand will live for the games. I don’t expect Microsoft to entirely drop out of gaming hardware. They make Surface tablets and laptops. They’ll make Xbox branded hardware for those that want it.

shadowT11h ago

"Microsoft is pushing for no "red line" for what games could come to PlayStation"

Forza and Starfield next?

Skuletor10h ago

Starfield would be no surprise and there's the rumor that it will come to Playstation after the Shattered Space DLC, Forza (along with Halo and Gears of War) I find less likely but I wouldn't be surprised if they eventually end up on PlayStation too, especially if Xbox give up on hardware and go the Sega route.

shinoff218310h ago

Not to worried about forza. I'd rather see others like what inxile and obsidian are working on. Starfield sounds like it needs more time in the oven so let it cook first imo. If starfield and it's a small if does release on ps it'll be in the fall around the time for dlc or right at the dlc and come packaged with it.

-Foxtrot10h ago

In the words of Phil Spencer when he was talking about Nintendo last year

“It's just taking a long time for Microsoft to see that their future exists off of their own hardware"

S2Killinit9h ago

Yup. MS are a cancer to console gaming.

Aloymetal9h ago

100%!!
I wonder what happened to that dude that was always here posting those court articles with cartoons about MS spending all those billions in studios. He suddenly disappeared, I guess he doesn't like bad news when the green brand is in trouble. No new articles from him as of late...

PRIMORDUS6h ago

Yup, and it's only going to keep spreading.

Outside_ofthe_Box6h ago

Phil Spencer's words always comes back to bite him lol

10h agoReplies(7)
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380°

The PS5 Has Shipped An Estimated 5x More Units Than The Xbox Series X/S In The Last Quarter

When the PS5 and the Xbox Series X/S first launched all the way back in 2020, console sales were not what either platform manufacturer wanted them to be. The pandemic slowed things down more than ever before, even though in the case of each next-gen console, all the units that were manufactured, sold.

Of course that didn’t last, and soon manufacturing limitations on the consoles were a thing of the past, and sales started to leap forward. For one next-gen console platform, at least.

-Foxtrot1d 2h ago

I can see why Microsoft is putting their games on PlayStation with these numbers

Imagine how many copies of future games like Elder Scrolls VI, Blade, Indiana Jones and more they could sell if they went fully multiplatform.

OtterX21h ago

If they don't, it would be the death of them.

Cacabunga7h ago

Can we then stop calling this a console war? Sony rolling over xbox trillions with a few cross gen games.. what would it be when a new uncharted, horizon or tsushima 2 comes out.. even worse, with GTA6 no one would buy an xbox to play it..

purple10119h ago

while I see your point, i'm one of those people that dont really want to see a M$ logo, when I boot up, however good the game is, unless truly exceptional, I've got enough games from Sony and enough coming down the pipeline, plus the 2 free smaller games on ps+, why do I need to give Microsoft anymore money,

I usually play just GT7 and cod, you've got Gran Theft Auto coming, its over for microsoft, they shot themselves in the foot, and now have to hobble away, to the losers corner, sit there, and repent.,!!! hahaha

bloop7h ago

That's crazy man. Just because you prefer blondes doesn't mean you should turn down a brunette.

GamerRN6h ago

Yeah and that's the fanboy problem right there in a nutshell

OtterX18h ago(Edited 18h ago)

@Purple101 At this point, Microsoft just wants to be the American Tencent, but also just happen to have a console available for those who want it.

I hate what they're doing to the industry, but I would play the next Elder Scrolls on PS5 or PS6 even if I had to look at a MS logo at the beginning. At this point, I'm just invested in the series. I didn't feel this way about Starfield, which is why I've skipped it. Worst case scenario, I'd pick Elder Scrolls up on PC if it didn't come to PS, but I've stayed true to my word - I have not, and will not buy another Microsoft console after 3 red ringed 360s. They've killed my console support for life. They showed how scummy they can be by knowingly rushing out a product before it was ready, just to try and capture a 1 year headstart.

If a MS logo shows up at the beginning of the next Elder Scrolls on a Playstation console, so what? That means Sony won and MS is just another publisher. Many of the large publishers are quite dirty, so it fits them well. I wouldn't mind seeing their console die off though and them solely take up this publisher role.

Jingsing15h ago(Edited 15h ago)

Yeah, I never bought another Xbox console after the 360. But at the same time you shouldn't find yourself captive to Elder Scrolls if the company behind it is very scummy. I dropped COD after Ghosts and I don't regret it the company has only become worse and I'm glad I never was part of funding that.

OtterX9h ago

@Jingsing oh yea for sure. If I sense that Elder Scroll 6 is a shell of its former self w a trashy microtransaction setup, I'll probably skip it. I'll wait for previews and reviews but I sure am hoping for the best. I still play Skyrim to this day in VR.

purple1019h ago

I mean yeh, if they do produce something good, i've got a laptop, +HDMI cable to the telly, link a bluetooth dual sense (that I already own), and hey presto, I don't need an xbox,

but I can't see that happening, ps5pro will the the best way to play, with best graphics and sound, for me.

gold_drake13h ago

yeh same, surprised it took them so long.

jznrpg5h ago(Edited 4h ago)

Personally I did not care for the Indiana Jones trailer. The combat looks too much like a Doom/Dishonored game to me. I think it could have been so much more. Which is too bad as I grew up with the movies and Raiders of the Lost Ark is still one of my favorites from when I was a kid.

If they can bring Elder Scrolls back towards Morrowind I would love it. If it’s like Skyrim it will be pretty decent but not great. Blade has potential. Hopefully it’s nothing like Redfall. I don’t really trust MS to make good games and rather not give them my money as they are bad for gaming. I’ll buy some games used, maybe but that’s about it

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Barlos15h ago(Edited 15h ago)

A surprise to nobody.

S2Killinit14h ago(Edited 14h ago)

5X is a surprise as it’s just unreal.

fr0sty11h ago

Yeah, this console war just became a console genocide.

Jingsing15h ago(Edited 15h ago)

Sony would probably be selling more if they stopped sending mixed signals about their future. Putting games on PC because you are taking data analytic advice from Microsoft about the future of consoles is folly and has limited their potential sales. Microsoft want Sony and the world to believe that consoles are done as a business so companies like Sony and Nintendo etc can end up serving Microsoft's platform. Remember when it comes to Microsoft "It is us or no one and the three E's" Don't fall for it.

S2Killinit14h ago(Edited 14h ago)

MS has forced everyone’s hand in regard to PC. If the other two dont release on PC, they will be giving them an edge. Imo

Although i think Sony/PlayStation would be wise to release selectively on PC.

Jingsing13h ago

The way Sony are doing it though is very suspect, It almost seems like they are trying to tunnel their way out of Steam with a PSN back-end. They should have just launched their own store. Yes this would no doubt upset PC users but you just can't have everything on Steam as that means no market competition. Microsoft and Sony should only use their own stores. That way they can also enforce their subscription fee's (I don't think there should be fee's) like they do on console as right now they are saying people on console have to pay this fee but if you play on PC you don't. That is very anti-consumer.

Skuletor12h ago

While putting their games on PC would lose them some console sales, there's a large market of people that prefer consoles for their simplicity and convenience, I wonder if it would really effect them negatively. Well, I guess at this current point they won't be dragging PC players into a PS Plus subscription, so there's that.

crazyCoconuts11h ago

I think after Xbox is gone they'll make a bigger push to move PC gamers over to PS, and they may halt momentum on the PC ports to do that. PC and Nintendo gamers will be the only ones left to convert

Einhander197211h ago(Edited 11h ago)

Jingsing

This is a reply to this comment.

"The way Sony are doing it though is very suspect, It almost seems like they are trying to tunnel their way out of Steam with a PSN back-end"

That's not accurate, what they want is simply to be able to count PC users as PlayStation users. It's no different than what EA Ubisoft or Microsoft are doing. Heck, people need to sign up for extra accounts even on consoles to play some of their games, you can't play Sea of Thieves or Minecraft without a Microsoft account.

I'm not sure why PlayStation is being singled out like this, I get why it was a problem in Helldivers because they added it after the game was released which caused problems for people who already owned the game, but at the same time it was nothing that all the other major publishers weren't already doing.

ChasterMies11h ago

“Putting games on PC because you are taking data analytic advice from Microsoft ”

Sony is putting games on PC because the market for people who spend $2000 on a gaming PC is different from the market that spends $500 on a gaming console. Also consider that consoles are sold at a loss. Sony probably makes more from selling Sony published gamed to PC owners than selling consoles to PC owners who would only use them play those games.

shinoff21838h ago

I dont think consoles are sold at a loss outside of the first couple years.

InUrFoxHole9h ago

Hold your breath if you think they're gonna stop bringing games to pc

BehindTheRows8h ago(Edited 8h ago)

Selling more? They just had one of the biggest periods for a console EVER (20.8m). That’s not exactly something for them to scoff at. They’d just break more records by selling more, but it’s not a necessity.

Their balance of selling what they’re selling while making plenty of money is how you successfully run a console business.

neutralgamer19926h ago

PC gaming is a platform which is compatible with consoles. So many of keep saying the same nonsense for years ago. PC isn’t going anywhere and more and more games will be on PC

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 6h ago
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