Rethinking Video Game Criticism Robert-Jan Schiphorst Outline Some Main Points As the video game industry becomes

s larger, and video games more prominent in everyday life it is perhaps wise to critically asses the state of video game reviewing and criticism through an academic perspective. At this point most video game reviews are based on grading systems that have very conflicting results. It is generally accepted that games which are reviewed below for example a 75 (out of a 100) aren't worth playing, compared to similar film reviews this grading system thus seems completely skewed and barely informative. Moreover, video game reviews seem to lack a certain vocabulary that goes beyond vague terms like "cool" or "awesome". Current popular video game reviews also seem give mere overviews of what is to expect in the game as opposed to the actual quality of the game, making it more like consumer reports than critical examinations of cultural objects. How can we rethink the way in which we view video games through well articulated criticism that surpasses grading, bias and overly subjective statements? And are there any reviewers that try to push the perspective on the medium further through innovative game reviewing? Should academics perhaps make more use of game theory and game studies to write in depth critical analyses of individual video games and its quality? Questions for David 1. Any useful literature (be it academic or popular discourse)? -I have some but academic writing on the subject appears to be sparse, can I perhaps use film theory to examine the practice of cultural object criticism? 2. Any own thoughts on this subject as video game journalist?