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[Sanjuro]

I just wanted to get other people's opinions as well. I was a subscriber for their site for a couple years and I was pleased when I would get all the video reviews and even the weekly Gamespotting they would do skits and have their own videos. The video features made my yearly membership feel worth it and I miss them a great deal. They also seem to take huge breaks in the time to review new games and the lack of effort made me terminate my membership this year. I used to hate IGN, but now it seems I go here because they are 100% up to date with media of all sorts (comics. movies, games, etc.)

Just curious to what you guys have to say.

UPDATE: The last Gamespotting article even just without the videos:

GameSpotting March Madness (03/09/05)
It's March. That means college basketball teams around the country are fighting for their lives and bringing their A-game in order to get to the big dance.

 

[sly]

Gamespot > IGN

Their E3 coverage was far superior.

 

[PhatSaqs]

Gamespot is ass. They're only useful for GAF entertainment when controversial reviews pop up.

 

[SpokkX]

Gamespot >>>> IGN

IGN´s scores can´t be trusted, they are laughable

9.9 for jade empire.. 9+ means "An ok game"

whats next..

 

[Baconäger]

I like the weekly On The Spot shows more than the Gamespotting articles...

 

[Sanjuro]

Gamespot >>>> IGN

IGN´s scores can´t be trusted, they are laughable

9.9 for jade empire.. 9+ means "An ok game"

whats next..

I agree, but as a paid member for Gamespot they give me NOTHING extra than what anyone else can read or watch for free. Even so they have been insanly slow with reviews as of late.

 

[thorns]

Gamespot >>>> IGN

IGN´s scores can´t be trusted, they are laughable

Talk about missing his whole point.
Scores are the only thing that's important for a site these days?

 

[Geek]

There does seem to be a drop off in the video content at Gamespot. I used to love the Gamespotting columns/videos and Let's Gamespot, and both seem to be on the backburner. I'm not a fan of On The Spot so much, so I wouldn't be sad to see that go.

Typically, I think the reviews are done in a pretty timely fashion and I have no problem with their reviews schedule. The only problems I have review-wise are that I really have zero interest in seeing Mobile phone game write-ups, and would love to filter out that content completely.

My guess is that they're focusing a good deal of effort on building their Community section and the occasional random special feature.

But dying? Nah.

 

[Solid]

I agree, but as a paid member for Gamespot they give me NOTHING extra than what anyone else can read or watch for free. Even so they have been insanly slow with reviews as of late.

insider is basically the same, except for the head 2 heads.

 

[Unison]

One can hope!!!

Seriously, though, I think this is just because this is a slow time of the year for releases...

 

[scissorfight]

I also just terminated my membership there. I just didn't think there was enough content to justify keeping it.

 

[ProgramFighter]

I used to go religously to Gamespot. Every night I would go and check on the updates. Now I only go to watch On the Spot. I get all my info from this forum and sometimes quickly scan through IGN for some new media. Gamespot just doesn't have that same, idk, charm or something as it once did for me. Also, I too have noticed the slower reviews lately.

 

[IJoel]

Gamespot's usually slower when it comes to reviews, but besides that, they pretty much do the same as IGN.

The thing I like about Gamespot over IGN is that their website isn't as horribly cluttered as IGN's. It's pretty cluttered, but compared to IGN, it's nothing.

As for value, I agree that Gamespot really doesn't offer value for premium memberships. The only thing they can provide real value on is by offering exclusive downloads and they couldn't even do that right last week with the BF2 demo. I will most likely be cancelling my Gamespot premium membership, as it really doesn't offer any real difference over the free membership.

 

[Gantz]

I hope Gamespot crashes and burns.

 

[Ruzbeh]

They were way too slow with the NFS Underground DS review!!

And, look... http://www.gamespot.com/ds/action/kirbycanvascurse/index.html

It's out now. Still no review. IGN had the review ready a few days ago.

 

[Oracle Dragon]

I agree, but as a paid member for Gamespot they give me NOTHING extra than what anyone else can read or watch for free. Even so they have been insanly slow with reviews as of late.

That’s not true, you can download everything on their site. I pay Gamespot Complete solely to be able to download the high resolution video reviews and PDF strategy guides. It would be a total scam if it wasn't only $30 a year... that’s the price of only 2 guides, and I get a lot more than that.

Although their "High Speed FTP transfers" is a horrible, horrible lie

 

[tedtropy]

I hope Gamespot crashes and burns.

Yeesh, did it impregnate your mom?

 

[shpankey]

Content wise, there is absolutely no comparison. IGN owns Gamespot.

 

[Ferrarisimo]

I hope Gamespot crashes and burns.

Damn. Did any of its employees attack you and/or your dog? Or are you simply a hateful person?

 

[Baconäger]

Although their "High Speed FTP transfers" is a horrible, horrible lie

I get 500 KB/S for all media. The BF2 demo on the other hand...

 

[cyberheater]

Gamespot is a bit pish though. I've been with IGN for a few years now and haven't regretted it. As long as you take the review scores with a pinch of salt then you'll be fine.
Much better content then Gamespot and at least the reviews come out first.

 

[typhonsentra]

Well I generally trust their reviews. I also don't know about how much video content they used to randomly put up, but they still do a weekly hour long show. Isn't that enough?

 

[KingJ2002]

they arent dying but like many others in this thread... their complete service is bull.

whats the point of having it?

to download high res trailers? that wont be necessary since next gen trailers seem to come out in masterbit quality.

screens? news? nope you get that free

editorials... dont really care for that.

ad free browsing? i got ad blockers and the only ads i can't block... are gamespots own ads at the top of the page.

i subscribed to IGN & GameSpots and i find my IGN Insider purchase to be more satisfying (even though their reviews are iffy at times).

i have to renew my gamespot in 30 days... and i dont think i will be putting in that order this time around.

 

[john tv]

Yeah, I cancelled my GSC sub the other day when it came up for renewal. I don't really have any complaints or anything, but I wasn't using it so it seemed pointless to keep paying for it.

 

[Baconäger]

Heh, so everyone's main complaint is that their free service is too good.

 

[themadcowtipper]

Is Gamespot Dying?

You Know what you must do Gamespot...go back to the darkside.....

 

[Sho Nuff]

Gamespot reads like it's written by a bunch of old farts who hate games and just want their paycheck. Their Rumor Control articles are garbage as well (just look at their recent "debunking" of the GTA VC sex minigame, which actually exists). I also hate Gerstmann trying to be cool, it's like watching your grandpa trying to rap or something.

Their video descriptions are lame too, it's just something small that bugs me. "Robbing a bank in a small town turns out to be an adventrue. " "Nothing like shooting down the police from the sky." Wow you are so enthused.

IGN used to be good, but now it reads like it's written by a bunch of retards who have never heard of using a spellchecker or even reading an article over once before clicking the "post" button.

 

[CrimsonSkies]

Their coverage is fairly biased now. More so than I can remember.

 

[DrLazy]

Their coverage is fairly biased now. More so than I can remember.

Not like the guys at IGN or Teamxbox, huh?

 

[SantaC]

Why do people hate on gamespot so much? They had better livestreams and better E3 coverage than IGN. Their reviews are also less biased than IGN.

When IGN scores a game over 9.0 I am not actually sure if that game is great or not. I know with gamespot.

 

[Geek]

Their coverage is fairly biased now. More so than I can remember.

Who are they biased against this week?

Ah... nm.

 

[Zer0]

Yeesh, did it impregnate your mom?

no.they just dont workship his console

 

[Zer0]

Their coverage is fairly biased now. More so than I can remember.

yeah.every website than doesnt workship the xbox is biased.rolleyes

 

[Pseudo judo]

Not like the guys at IGN or Teamxbox, huh?

Considering the site is called Teamxbox I think a reasonable amount for the Xbox console is expected. Their Previews are never negative but not gushing either, save for the Halo's and PDO's of the system. The reviews are usually about +.3 imo, so a game Teamxbox gives a 9.2 a 8.9 is more deserving. I don't know, but I suspect that it's much the same for any console specific internet site.

 

[Zer0]

Considering the site is called Teamxbox I think a reasonable amount for the Xbox console is expected. Their Previews are never negative but not gushing either, save for the Halo's and PDO's of the system. The reviews are usually about +.3 imo, so a game Teamxbox gives a 9.2 a 8.9 is more deserving. I don't know, but I suspect that it's much the same for any console specific internet site.

teambox alongside with nintendo dojo are pure fanboysm

 

[C- Warrior]

A score is a score. If you take a look at the average of all review scores gamespot only comes out 0.1 to 0.2 lower than IGN.

And also, god forbid you read the TEXT of the review. To find out exactly why one loved it and the other reviewer might have just liked it.

Take for example the Haunting Ground review. GS looked at the game by itself. Gave it a higher score than IGN. While IGN looked at the "been there and done that" approach and never let that go, thus they gave it a much lower score.

It seems only recently IGN has been giving higher scores to the bigger games as of late.

God of War
GS=9.3 (overrated piece of shit)
IGN=9.8 (overrated piece of shit)

Metal Gear Solid 3:
GS=8.7 (WTF....WTF?!?)
IGN=9.6

Devil May Cry 3:
GS=8.6 (The game isn't that hard good god man =p)
IGN=9.6

Gran Turismo 4:
GS= 8 point something
IGN= 9 point something

But the point of the matter is those are all great games to fans of the series (GoW sucked, but thats my personal preference). So, it'd be a shame if you start judging wesbites because "OMG OMG OMG, IGN da overate, they gave this game 0.3 tenths of a point higher!11!111"

But to be specific to the question at hand, I don't think GS is dying. Also, I think Greg Kasavin is a great writer and really knows what points of a game to talk about, although sometimes I disagree with the actual score (and sometimes the points he makes) but he's a good writer.

While IGN has some annoying ass editors. Ivan Sulic comes to mind. God, somebody tell him to just write a fuckin article and get it done with instead of inputing his own sly comments about games be it positive/negative when it's merely supposed to be a factual unbiased preview article. Jeremy does get props though for interacting a lot with the readers at the forums. Plus he knows his RPG's. (GO SHADOW HEARTS!!!)

 

[jgkspsx]

Gamespot is slow and lazy. Say what you will about IGN (yes many of their writers suck), they update once a day at least, and organize previews/reviews/news in an excellent and accessible way. 1up and Gamespot are both organized terribly by comparison.

 

[Pellham]

You Know what you must do Gamespot...go back to the darkside.....

:lol what the hell, is that for real?

 

[Pseudo judo]

teambox alongside with nintendo dojo are pure fanboysm

That was constructive. I stated an opinion on the previews and reviews and said it was about par for the course for console specific sites. Whats you point?

Your comment adds nothing, Zer0. How ironic.

 

[Guy LeDouche]

Use gametrailers.com if you want high quality trailers. You can stream them, though it tends to hitch every so often, but you can also d/l the trailer too.

I usually just d/l the trailer, then trash it.

 

[akascream]

I don't like gamespot media at all, especially compared to IGN's qt videos. I hate both site's design, though I hate IGN's less. I just wish IGN would get rid of all those flash movies that flutter like crazy when loading thier site, and I really wish they would tone down the ads some, especially for paying customers.

 

[echoshifting]

(shrug) I like Gamespot, but I don't really go to a site like that for news...just reviews, and out of all the available options they generally have some of the better reviews. I mean, IGN just can't be trusted at all, as others have pointed out...I'd say 8 out of 10 times Gamespot is on the money with their reviews. I don't do GSC anymore - why would I bother? - but I almost always wait on the Gamespot review before buying. Their opinion isn't the be-all, end-all for me, but it's a definitely a factor...more the written review than the score, for that matter.

Don't understand where all this hatred is coming from. People who hold a grudge against a gaming site (or zine) because the latest entry in their favorite franchise didn't get a 9 or higher, or didn't get the preview coverage they wanted, should seek professional help.

 

[Zer0]

That was constructive. I stated an opinion on the previews and reviews and said it was about par for the course for console specific sites. Whats you point?

Your comment adds nothing, Zer0. How ironic.

read the editorial on teamxbox about the ps3,one of the lamest editorial of all time

 

[Wollan]

Gamespot is the greatest gaming website. GAF excluded of course..

 

[tedtropy]

I still prefer Gamespot's site layout more than IGN's. IGN's site is too busy, too cluttered, and too fricken' splattered with annoying ad poop. Gamespot is pretty streamlined and has a nice search tool.

Paying members should not have to see advertising. Period. At least Gamespot recognizes this.

 

[DaveT]

I'm not here to make an excuses, but while on the outside it may seem like things are slowing down, that's anything but true. It's like E3 has never ended from within the office. :lol

Anyhow, we are currently working hard on wrapping up our E3 DVD set (6 discs!) and as you may or may not know, our DVD is produced entirely from within our offices with all the GSLive producers working on it in some fashion.

We aren't ignoring the material that needs to be covered. We are taking care of that for sure. It's just that a good number of the spare resources are being used on the DVD instead of other various special features we'd normally work on cooking up during the lull after E3.

A whole lot more attention is being paid to the DVD this year compared to any DVD we've done before. We want to be sure to get it right this time.

As far as video quality, we are always looking into what works best. Our "HD Quality" videos are .wmv files and if you check them out (I suggest you check out the Zelda videos if you have GSComplete) you will see the amazing quality the future holds in providing gameplay video. And these are 480p (physical size). Wait until the next generation where 720p is standard and what will possibly be provided then. Yep, we are ready for it.

 

[SickBoy]

I'm not here to make an excuses, but while on the outside it may seem like things are slowing down, that's anything but true. It's like E3 has never ended from within the office. :lol

Anyhow, we are currently working hard on wrapping up our E3 DVD set (6 discs!) and as you may or may not know, our DVD is produced entirely from within our offices with all the GSLive producers working on it in some fashion.

We aren't ignoring the material that needs to be covered. We are taking care of that for sure. It's just that a good number of the spare resources are being used on the DVD instead of other various special features we'd normally work on cooking up during the lull after E3.

A whole lot more attention is being paid to the DVD this year compared to any DVD we've done before. We want to be sure to get it right this time.

You know, I don't really have a preference in terms of the sites, and I've never been a paid subscriber (nor do I plan to be), but when I read the initial post and then this, the message that pops into my head is "No, we're doing fine, but we just think this DVD is more important than providing any premium content to our premium subscribers."

 

[Fragamemnon]

IGN is, and always has been, a mess. Gamespot's been providing me with 6.8-must-be-great feelgood sensations for years, while IGN has always struck me as being a bit hollow, with lots of media but with shallow reviewing and weaksauce "journalism". GS generally has the better reviewers, at least for PC titles, and seem less chicken to throttle a game that deserves it.

If I were a more of a handheld/Nintendo fan I can see what IGN would be more appealing , as I think that they've always had a better presence in that space than GameSpot.

What's a real shame is Gamespy. I've hated their software for so long that I have a hard time visiting them often-which is sad because they do a damn fine job on the oringal content (previews, reviews) side there. I just can't get past the "WOULD YUO LIKE GAMESPY ARCADE????" crap in my game installs back in the day when I know all I needed was either an in-game browser or the All Seeing Eye.

 

[DaveT]

You know, I don't really have a preference in terms of the sites, and I've never been a paid subscriber (nor do I plan to be), but when I read the initial post and then this, the message that pops into my head is "No, we're doing fine, but we just think this DVD is more important than providing any premium content to our premium subscribers."

Eh, didn't meant to rub off that way. Which is funny, because after I read it myself I almost deleted it thinking someone might thing that, hehehe...

It's just there's a general lull after E3. Not much is going on. So we are able to focus a bit more on the DVD. GSC members get a steep discount on the DVD, too....so that's a premium benefit if you think about it.

Trust me, if it comes between doing a video feature or working on the DVD, the resource goes to the video feature. It's obviously more important.

Things will pick up this week. A lot more things (ie. releases) happening this week compared to the past few.

 

[john tv]

I'm not here to make an excuses, but while on the outside it may seem like things are slowing down, that's anything but true. It's like E3 has never ended from within the office. :lol

Anyhow, we are currently working hard on wrapping up our E3 DVD set (6 discs!) and as you may or may not know, our DVD is produced entirely from within our offices with all the GSLive producers working on it in some fashion.

We aren't ignoring the material that needs to be covered. We are taking care of that for sure. It's just that a good number of the spare resources are being used on the DVD instead of other various special features we'd normally work on cooking up during the lull after E3.

A whole lot more attention is being paid to the DVD this year compared to any DVD we've done before. We want to be sure to get it right this time.

As far as video quality, we are always looking into what works best. Our "HD Quality" videos are .wmv files and if you check them out (I suggest you check out the Zelda videos if you have GSComplete) you will see the amazing quality the future holds in providing gameplay video. And these are 480p (physical size). Wait until the next generation where 720p is standard and what will possibly be provided then. Yep, we are ready for it.

Is the DVD free for GSC members?

EDIT: NM. I got the same impression from your original post as he did, though. The main reason I dropped GSC is because I didn't feel like I was getting anything that was really worth paying for... so to hear you're spending all this time on a DVD you're going to charge even more for just seems a little strange to me. At least make it free for people who are shelling out $30 a year for the site, no?