There is constructive criticism and proper use of it can tune something into something good.
A good critic is someone like Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation. He doesn't give you a score and tell you that's how good the game is, he gives you his actual thoughts on it.
Entertainment of every form is subjective, you can't put a number on it and expect it to apply to everyone. If you must, find a critic that likes the same things you do, and follow that one critic. The same applies to books, TV shows, movies...
I think we do need them though. They provide constructive criticism to the people that make everything. Just don't follow them blindly.
[QUOTE=ECrownofFire;33563300]A good critic is someone like Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation. He doesn't give you a score and tell you that's how good the game is, he gives you his actual thoughts on it.
Entertainment of every form is subjective, you can't put a number on it and expect it to apply to everyone. If you must, find a critic that likes the same things you do, and follow that one critic. The same applies to books, TV shows, movies...
I think we do need them though. They provide constructive criticism to the people that make everything. Just don't follow them blindly.[/QUOTE]
Yahtzee is entertainment, any way you look at it.
Most of his bad points when concerning games are simply minor shit which can be overlooked and won't even be noticed in an otherwise fun game.
He does explain his thoughts, that's all well and good, but recently I've been going into his reviews after having played the game he's reviewing beforehand. I noticed that almost every single point he makes that isn't a gamebreaking bug is so minor it doesn't matter.
[QUOTE=ffffff-;33538690]Can one not form their own opinion, or are they somehow less qualified than the critic? How much should one let a critic (or critics) opinion(s) sway them?[/QUOTE]
Yes but to do that, you actually have to see if beforehand. If you want to get an idea of what something is like before you invest time and money into it, a critic can often to a better job than your stupid friends. They have a much broader base to work from and can give a more informed position even if it is as biased as anything else.
Another role they play is recognition of something that is actually good. Do we really need to go over how something that is a steaming pile of shit can be incredibly successful? From that someone who has a lot more experience in seeing through bullshit and has the larger base to work from should have a higher rate of success. They may be biased and get some completely wrong but everyone gets it wrong sometimes and they do it less than just working from income which places Transformers 2 at 11th place or your idiot friends half of which probably think Twilight is amazing.
yes.
It's the individual's responsibility, in turn, to judge the critics credibility.
Yes.
No one will stop you doing dumb shit if you don't get criticized for it.
[quote]Can one not form their own opinion, or are they somehow less qualified than the critic? How much should one let a critic (or critics) opinion(s) sway them?[/quote]
A critic's opinion is usually much more insightful than the average joe's because they have the background and know what to look for.
There's also a difference between a critique and a review. What does the OP want to focus on?
Define need.
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