Topic: Second Opinion: Mario Kart 8 Review

[chilenozo]

I understand opinions may be different to mine, but that's why, being a numbers guy myself, I wait till a number of reviews are around and use statistics to base my opinion before buying a game (yeah, I'm one of those who decide to purchase based on scores cause I have little time and patience to try the game at a store or borrow it, or to watch endless youtube videos).

I thank Daan to score this game the exact same way as Neal so I can discard both scores as outliers.

As many of you know, in most judged sports, the highest and lowers scores are discarded, and the final score is an average or the idea, the truncated mean, of what the real score may be.

So, since most of reviews around the world have been in the top 80s and 90s, this game is totally good and worth buying at launch. Having said so, a game in the 70s to me is not worth buying at launch, although they are definitely worth playing, so I take that, for Neal and Daan this game would be good to rent, borrow, or get on a sale?...I wish they can answer that. Does a score reflect if one should invest time playing/buying a game?...to me it should...even if I've never heard of game, a score should get me closer to how much I will enjoy the game.

p.s.: For those who would argue that, one should read every review...pfff...almost every jorunalist out there think that is some kind of Ernest Heminway or something....they write pages and pages of analysis and blabla. Everyone takes their job "seriously" so to me Neal, Dan, and the rest of the dozens of journalists out there are no better/worst than anyone else. I respect them...but give me my damn score fast so I can run stats on them as quick as possible!

[NWR_Neal]

It's hard for me to totally judge how I'd treat this game if I didn't review it, but I have a feeling this is how it would go down:

I would get MK8 day one, play it furiously for a weekend. I likely wouldn't play it much after that outside of multiplayer. I don't think I would regret the purchase at all.

[Disco Stu]

For real, 7.5 means the game is GOOD!  When did the scale for video game reviews become "anything below an 8.5 means it's a shitty game"?

[lukas85]

ok, really im done with nintendaan and neal, pretty dumb review and totally misleading, you are telling legions of nintendo fans that this is a mediocre game? what the **** is wrong with you? the game is great and no i havent played but when every one on the net says the contrary is hard to believe this f%&$& review.

[broodwars]

ok, really im done with nintendaan and neal, pretty dumb review and totally misleading, you are telling legions of nintendo fans that this is a mediocre game? what the **** is wrong with you? the game is great and no i havent played but when every one on the net says the contrary is hard to believe this f%&$& review.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0nYKgkFvMM[/youtube]

 

[latterdayrasta]

It's hard for me to totally judge how I'd treat this game if I didn't review it, but I have a feeling this is how it would go down:

I would get MK8 day one, play it furiously for a weekend. I likely wouldn't play it much after that outside of multiplayer. I don't think I would regret the purchase at all.

Thanks!  This mini review is actually more helpful than the paragraphs of texts we get with traditional reviews.  Not that I dislike long-form reviews, but these few sentences packed in a lot of meaning.  Maybe including something like this in each talkback thread would be something reviewers can consider.

[chilenozo]

For real, 7.5 means the game is GOOD!  When did the scale for video game reviews become "anything below an 8.5 means it's a shitty game"?

You're kidding right?...the grade inflation is a pandemic that starts in academia but spreads to almost every other field, including reviews. In fact it is hard to discard outliers when so many people give hundreds or tens to a game.

I think that, by now, a game in the 70s is great as you said, a different issue is of the game is worth buying, e.g., gamers telling the developers that they did a good job and should keep up the good work. In fact from reading Daan and Neal reviews I can notice their disappointment on the series, and I would feel compelled to ask them not to buy the game, so if many more follow, the developers will be forced to learn from the mistakes and hopefully change for good.

But hey, I'm buying given the overwhelmed good reviews that are telling me to buy, so in a way Nintendo will keep doing the same if many people buy the game. And my guess is that given the popularity of the franchise and the free game coming with the purchase before the end of July this game will sell lots no matter what...what a cheap way to bump your sales Nintendo! sigh.

[Soren]

For real, 7.5 means the game is GOOD!  When did the scale for video game reviews become "anything below an 8.5 means it's a shitty game"?

A 7.5 can be both good or bad, depending on the tone of the review. If a review spends more time talking about what the game did wrong or what it did to disappoint you a 7.5 hardly seems like a ringing endorsement.

[Ian Sane]

I would typically consider a 7.5 game to be a decent but unexceptional game.  So it isn't bad but it isn't anything that the world wouldn't miss if it never existed.

Games that get below 5 are pretty rare because we can all conceptualize how bad a game can get and because of the high cost and effort involved in making a videogame, few titles make it out the door that would be that terrible.  A truly wretched game with no merit whatsoever would also be a glitchy mess.  They wouldn't just be boring games but also poorly made ones.  Sony, MS and Nintendo all have policies to prevent an outright unfinished or broken game from getting released on their systems.  Publishers are also going to insist on a certain level of quality so that the game stands a chance of making a profit and doesn't damage their brand.

If I made a game and got 7.5 I would be upset because to me that means I made merely a perfectly acceptable game.  Being unexceptionally competent is even worse than being infamously terrible.  Anyone with pride in their work wants to make something amazing.  A 7.5 ain't amazing.  Is it "good"?  I guess but "just there" is probably a better description.

[NWR_insanolord]

At NWR, we use the full scale. Anything above a 5 is worth playing, at least under certain conditions. A 7.5 is a good score.

[lolmonade]

I haven't bought a Mario Kart since Mario Kart DS 8.5 years ago and the only reason I'm buying this one is to get my free Wind Waker.

I hate to admit it, but that's why I'm getting it.  I'm willing to take a chance on Mariokart if it's basically halving the price between that and Pikmin 3, a game I've had a lot of curiosity about.


Or maybe Wii Party U….anyone able to provide input on if that game's any good?

[Mop it up]

I don't have an issue with the criticisms raised in both reviews, they seem fair to me. My only thing is, I feel that both of them have similar talking points. It would have been more interesting if the views of the second review were from a more differing perspective that could have brought some different talking points.

[NWR_Neal]

I don't have an issue with the criticisms raised in both reviews, they seem fair to me. My only thing is, I feel that both of them have similar talking points. It would have been more interesting if the views of the second review were from a more differing perspective that could have brought some different talking points.

Fair point.

If you've noticed, we've had a lot of dual reviews for Nintendo games lately. That's mostly because we're getting both NA and European codes for coverage. If Daan and I knew ahead of time our opinions were going to be so similar, we might have tried to switch up who was reviewing it. However, when we realized we had this weird groupthink about it, it was like two days before embargo. I've said it before and I'll say it again: we both came up with our scores/reviews independently. We briefly talked about the game when I started it and that was kind of it until our reviews were written.

We're continually evaluating how we handle our coverage, and this Second Opinion phrasing is our latest attempt. It may or may not stick. We'll see how reviews go over the next few months.

[Phil]

I haven't bought a Mario Kart since Mario Kart DS 8.5 years ago and the only reason I'm buying this one is to get my free Wind Waker.

I hate to admit it, but that's why I'm getting it.  I'm willing to take a chance on Mariokart if it's basically halving the price between that and Pikmin 3, a game I've had a lot of curiosity about.

Or maybe Wii Party U….anyone able to provide input on if that game's any good?

Fantastic party game that uses the GamePad in fantastic ways (some of the best on the system), but it's very much not a great solo game.

Personally, I'd get the physical version of that because of the Wii Remote Plus that comes with it, all for $50. The other games, I think, are worth more anyway.

[marvel_moviefan_2012]

I do have a question about the bundle deal, I know it is if you register Mario Kart 8 you get one of a few select games you get a free download, coupled with the New Super Mario U bundle which gives two games included if you buy a Wii U when the game launches you can effectively get four games for the price of one is that how it works? Because a deal like that is tempting.

[RarityGamer]

Having now played the game a fair bit, I don't think it's that good. The tracks are fun and the controls are fine, but that's about it. The transformations seem pretty pointless and badly implemented, while the weapons are still unbalanced to the point of breaking the flow of the game. I've lost count how many times I've ended up losing a race due to constantly getting attacked resulting in me unable to build any real competitive pace before crossing the finish line. I'm finding I'm having (and had) more fun playing Sega all stars racing transformed personally.