“Did you just read the review on the Awesome-o 9000 gaming mouse? The reviewer only gave it 60 percent and called it an overpriced device with gimmicks instead of features. If he knew anything about hardware he’d know that it’s the only mouse true hardcore gamers use; I know what I’m talking about since I bought one.”
You’d be forgiven if you thought that was a comment left on an online hardware review rather than the introduction to this opinion column. Similarly worded posts can be found all over the internet on hardware reviews ranging from PC components to audio equipment to cars; it seems reviewers can never get a break, not even well know celebrity journalists like Jeremy Clarkson, who have been reviewing/playing with cars since before many of his critics were born.
Despite the noise made from what is probably a very small portion of the consumer market, reviewers do actually have something going for them. The first thing is no emotional investment in the product, because they (usually) haven’t had to pay out of their own pocket for the product. This makes it a lot easier to pan the product if it’s below par – after all not many are willing to admit that what they bought is anything less than the holy grail of computing.
Secondly, they have some experience in the market. They can speak with authority on things like ease of installation, usefulness of drivers, and comfort of a gaming keyboard. Sure, that last one is very subjective, but at least it’s a consistent baseline to compare products against each other.
Thirdly, there are a plethora of reviews out there, all by different people who are writing for different communities. There are sites that do short- to medium-length reviews that deal with the general product, and then there are enthusiast class sites that go on for pages and pages and spend hours testing every little aspect. Both types of reviews serve a purpose, and after reading enough of both, consumers have a useful indication of what to expect from a product.
Haters gonna hate
There are some downsides however. Reviewers can become jaded after doing their job for too long. The latest high-end graphics card becomes the next “meh” thing to land on their desks, and new technology is hardly interesting or unique to someone who has “seen it all”. Luckily this isn’t the case for most reviewers out there as it sounds like a horrible existence.
Secondly, they have to often rely on very subjective opinions when it comes to reviewing hardware such as headphones and mouses where each user’s experience will be slightly different. Their standards may be different to those that consumers have, leading to a lower or higher than expected score that doesn’t translate into what the real world is experiencing.
Finally, there are those times where reviewers need to sell themselves to get gear. Either by praising a product no matter how terrible it is in the hopes that eventually companies will start sending free gear their way, or by withholding certain information about the product in order to get pre-release access to gear in order to boost their appeal to readers. These are luckily easy to spot and are avoided by all other than fanboys who are looking for fodder to back up their justification for buying something less powerful than the cheaper, better competitor.
So there are pros and cons to reviews, and for the most part people get their point. Beyond that one can only hope that the trolls and fanboys keep their distance, and the reviewers deliver complete, unbiased reviews.
Loading ...
CeeZedCee Quintin Jacobs
Apparently this was a hoax: http://blog.triplepointpr.com/imitation-hoaxes-and-halo
http://www.gameranx.com/features/id/10460/article/halo-4-hoax-letter-attempts-to-shame-game-journalists-343-industries-triplepoint-pr/