No Offence But: Why have we become so obsessed with review scores?

It was during all the Uncharted 3/Battlefield 3 review hubbub that I realised what my next No Offence But column would be about. This is something that has become a horrific phenomenon in the gaming industry; I wouldn’t say it’s always been so strong, but with the huge number of great games out this year the weird obsession we have for review scores has only multiplied in ferocity. Read on for more on our fixation on a figure.

No offence But: Online Pass = Annoying but Necessary

It’s been one of those weeks in gaming when one little piece of news sparks a huge online debate that seemingly transcends all time and space. The news that Batman: Arkham City will require an online pass in order to play the Catwoman sections struck many fans as an unfair, ‘capitalist’ decision on the part of Warner Bros. This, of course, is anything but an isolated event, as gamers worldwide have voiced their anger at the online pass concept. Sure it’s annoying and upsets the resale market, but really, it could just help out our industry.

No offence But: Why do people get so angry over DLC?

At the risk of making this a weekly thing, I thought I’d bring up another problem in gaming that’s been eating away slowly but surely on my nerves. I don’t really have an issue with DLC, in fact, I like the idea so much that I get a little bit annoyed every time someone mouths off at the mere thought of additional gaming content. Read on for more thoughts.

No Offence But: Why do PC Gamers consider themselves superior?

I was originally going to name this article ‘Do PC Gamers consider themselves superior?’ but I hastily realised that this is not really a question, it’s a relative fact. Of course, I don’t want to generalise as this isn’t the case for everyone, but it does seem to be the case that people who play games primarily on their PC consider PC gaming to be the be all and end all of gaming and therefore consider themselves superior gamers because of it. Read on for a look at this phenomenon from the view of an ‘on the fence’ kind of gamer.