AbsolutSurgen

Based on your POV that the phrase: "There's one particular scene, a torture scene in which you have no choice but to actively participate, that I found so troubling that I had difficulty playing it; even couched in obvious criticism of the US government's recourse to torture post 9/11 it's a shocking moment that will attract justified controversy." demonstrates that reviews are more political. I'll agree with your assertion that we disagree on a fundamental level of what politics means.

Whether we like it or not, the vast majority of games sell rather poorly. And sales/profits are concentrated into a very few AAA games. I believe it speaks to the relative disappearance of the second tier game.

Politics specifically relates to power in an institution -- whether it be government, business or university. But you are absolutely right, the word "power" has a much broader usage and can absolutely be used in every aspect in society. The practical application of morals, ethics and norms can absolutely be part of any discussion on politics. But that doesn't mean ANY discussion of morals, ethics and norms is political -- in fact most, IMHO, are not. But, IMHO, it is a false equivalence to argue that because "power" has a much broader definition, so does the word "politics". But this is a side tangent I haven't seen any review that contains a serious discussion on any of those topics -- referencing "marginalized groups" or "bio-terrorism" does not, in itself, become a commentary on politics unless it ties into institutional power. The alleged appropriation of "Native American" culture in H:ZD wasn't discussed in reviews (but in an essay post-release). In fact that very essay even raised the point that none of the reviews made any mention of what that author felt was a serious issue. It began: "Dear Games Journalism, I’m really bummed out and we need to talk about why. In the past week leading up to the launch of Guerrilla Game’s Horizon: Zero Dawn, I’ve read several thousand words about it. And now on the eve of its launch, I’ve read several thousand more. Most of those words repeat, but none so glaringly as these: Tribal. Primitive. Braves. Savage. But in all those thousands of words, those dozens of instances of that particular list, no one calls them into question. Not a single review makes mention of the historical usage of those words, or the tropes reflected in Horizon that caused the writers to use them without hesitancy." Games reviews are the "white bread" of media criticism -- largely because of the nature of games. Games, outside of a few notable examples, work hard not to create any controversy, so largely have almost nothing to say about the human condition, let alone politics. They are the equivalent of a popcorn movie, or summer blockbuster. And the reviews of them are similarly banal -- occasionally making reference to lack of diversity, objectification/over-sexualization of women or overly gratuitous violence -- and are largely written by recently graduated English minors with no life experience, and nothing much to say.

So, I assume you are specifically referring to governmental power. "Democrats vs. Rebublicans" is a specific American example -- as they are the only two parties that even have a modicum of influence in the U.S. political system. How are reviews of video games discussing "the way power is achieved and used in a country or society?"

What is your definition of political?

I don't understand how that is "political". 1) Most games don't deal with anything political 2) Most reviews that are "borderline political" aren't dealt with in the reviews 3) I don't understand how a controversy over the nature of what Lara Croft is doing to native people is "political". Which side are the Democrats or Republicans on of this issue? 4) How is the GTA5 review political? Again, you're making an assertion with no backup/facts and just referring to anecdotes that don't prove your point. Feel free to demonstrate that my assertion was demonstrably false.

Can someone give some examples of game reviews that are political?

I haven't. I've been reading reviews since ZZap!64 The vast majority of reviews are not political. Of course I'm willing to see you show my assertion is demonstrably false.

Reviews aren't any more political than they've ever been. There are a couple of outlets that have some columnists with extreme views. But, IMHO the vast majority of reviews aren't really impacted by this. Particularly, because most games have virtually nothing to say on a "political level". However some of the opinion pieces on some sites (Polygon in particular) are laughably bad, and seem to have the logic of a middle school essay.

It's fun -- but not as unique as the Blizzard Mountain and Hot Wheels were....

I already picked up the game on Black Friday -- because I didn't want my game to be caught in a cloud that was disappearing on Jan 15th. Looks like with this news. I just wasted my money... I found that it was "playable" over a wired connection, and "unplayable" over Wi-Fi. And when I say playable, I mean mono sound, slightly fuzzy 1080p/30 with some perceptible lag -- and some macro-blocking every 10 minutes or so.

I wish I was playing FH4, the Fortune Island DLC. But, my sons have spent all afternoon playing it...

God of War Wolfenstein 2 (& the DLC pack for Wolfenstein) Assassin's Creed Origins Watch Dogs 2 Forza Horizon 4 Mr. Shifty CoD: Infinite Warfare

Week 15 Feature Game Kansas City Chiefs $45,000 QUESTIONS 1) Chiefs TD 2) Chiefs 3) Gurley, Barkley 4) No 5) Detroit, New England, Oakland 6) Chicago 7) Aaron Donald 8) Gurley, Julio Jones

Mat's comments were factual and non-judgmental. Not once does he use the term "successful", "unsuccessful", "bomb" or offer a subjective opinion. "Fantastic Growth" is your word, not Mat's. Have you ever worked with marketing or communications in a big company?

Retailer margins, rebates, distribution costs, advertising, promotion (i.e. trade shows), publisher costs, interest costs, localization, etc. What is a "sales analyst"? Mat Piscatella/NPD have access to data, which they sell to the industry. I can say that Detroit sold poorly relative to other big AAA titles (i.e. Monster Hunter, Far Cry 5, GoW, Spider-Man, CoD, RDR2, AC, etc.). Although it probably outsold SotTR (which I had heard was a bomb).

Ok then. Based on that list (and your disallowance of my previous ranking), I'll be including Bayonetta and Diablo 3 on my top 10...

From that same article, "That is, of course, if the numbers are real." That same reported $37 million is only for development -- which excludes other significant costs.

None of us will ever know the Budget of a game -- so we can never know if they made it back.

What are you allowing?

How do you define a "bomb"? Titanfall 2 sold in the range of 3 million, and is widely considered to have bombed.

So it sold poorly?

Life’s to short to play bad video games.

Don't its phreaking horrible. I had to stop playing after about 3 hours based on how terrible the controls were.