Hey guys.
So if you may remember, around this time last year I was the one who created the Game of the Year polls here on the GN Boards, and the response was so amazing that I've decided to do it again. Unfortunately, I need your help.
Last year, I based my nominations off of Metacritic, meaning I took the top 10 games from Metacritic and asked you guys to vote from them. However, since then, Metacritic has been criticized for the way they count review scores, which makes me uncertain on whether or not to use them again for this year's poll.
There are a few other sites that I'm considering using for the poll, one of which is GameRankings. Here is how GameRankings works differently from Metacritic:
1. GameRankings is more exclusive; they accept about half as many publications as Metacritic, and of those publications only a few well-respected ones are counted into the average. Metacritic, on the other hand, counts every review score from every website into their average. In summary, Metacritic collects more numbers than GameRankings, however some of these scores may come from questionable publications.
2. GameRankings uses an unweighted scale, meaning every publication has an equal chance to alter the average score. Metacritic, on the other hand, weighs each score based off of the publication; for example, a review from IGN will affect the average score more than a review from Modojo. This ensures that the bigger (more trusted) publications can alter the score more than lesser known ones, but it also means one bad score from a major publication can throw the whole average off.
3. Letter grades work completely differently in GameRankings than in Metacritic. A "B-" on GameRankings is worth 75/100. A "B-" on Metacritic is worth 67/100. Both sites claim their method works the best, but Metacritic's system has been more openly criticized... though that may just mean Metacritic is more popular than GameRankings.
Please vote in the poll above! And be sure to participate in the GOTY Polls here on GoNintendo Boards in the coming weeks:
December 22: 3DS Retail GOTY Poll
December 25: 3DS eShop GOTY Poll
December 28: Wii U Retail GOTY Poll
December 31: Wii Game of the Generation Poll
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