News Molyneux wants critics to do him a favour

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/10/07/molyneux-wants-critics-to-do-him-a-favour/1

Peter Molyneux likes Fable 2, but in the face of continued controversy wants game reviewers to do him a favour and get a non-gamer to review it.

 

To be fair.. he may have a point if he has made it simple enough for everyone to enjoy.. hard core gamers will feel that they don't have enough control over their person etc...

 

Maybe he could have made various control options, a bit like Fifa on Wii, with easy controls and advanced controls.

It would be interesting to see your mum's review.

 

A bit of both? Maybe you do most pages then have a page on your mum's impressions hehe. Obviously it's a game a professional reviewer / journalist is going to do the best review of it in terms of testing the product for enjoyment and so on and what people actually want... otherwise nobody would read your reviews would they. But I think getting your mum to go on it for an hour and get her impressions would be good entertainment

 

I wonder though: asking a non-gamer to review a game is flawed completely since they have no basis for comparison. It's like asking me to review Bugatti, knowing full well that I can't drive and never have.

 

I'm somewhat interested in what a non-gamer would think of Fable2, just for curiosity's sake, really. However, I wouldn't make purchasing decisions based on such opinions because, like most other bit-tech readers, I AM a gamer, and I want to know what the game has to offer someone like me, rather than what it offers someone who has neither clear expectations nor a gaming context in which to place his or her experiences.

 

I agree, both you and your mum's opinions would be interesting to read in this circumstance.

 

Whats the point, non gamers are pretty unlikely to buy it (unless i've missed something) and most of us here are gamers so why should WE care what non gamers think of it. I think that would stand for most gaming/hardware review sites, maybe Trusted Reivews should do it Molyneux way they seem to have a broader reach.

 

Maybe I'm being cynical but a non gamer would not realise the flaws in the game, that there are other games in the genre that do the same things only better or that it is a complete let down that has been over hyped.

I'm not saying this is the case with this game, but it always gets me suspicious when a games developer starts defending his game before it is released.

 

He wants the game reviews to come from the perspective of the least likely person to play it? If its a good game both gamers and non gamers will enjoy it, look at lego star wars. Asking for a game review (almost certain to be read only by gamers) to be conducted by a non gamer is as ludicrous. I dont even understand why he would care, non gamers wont be reading the reviews.

 

As with others, I am a bit lost as to why a non gamer would buy a game unless it had received really good reviews from the reviews (i.e Joe et al).
So Whilst a mum's (or mums') perspective would be nice I think Peter must have something to hide.

 

Isn't this pretty much like asking a car magazine to get a non-driver to ride the car in order to see the unique experiences which emerge, and so that they miss the flaws with the car?

Stupid, if you ask me. Games reviers review games for gamers. Not for non-gamers.

 

It's a pre-emptive strike for when the disappointing reviews come in.

"Aha!" Molyneux can say, "These reviews were written by professionals, and I told them to use non-professionals. Therefore these reviews are meaningless," He goes on to put his hands over his ears and start shouting, "La la la! I can't hear you! My game r0xx0rs!"

All the comments he's been making over the last few weeks have been to (a) generate interest in Fable 2; and (b) mitigate the damage caused when reviewers realise that this new game is nowhere near as ground-breaking as Molyneux promised us it would be.

 

Simple hmmmm....spore :: cough cough :: stupid cold.

Peter shouldn't hype up a game so much and then water it down to make a release date. I'm a hardcore gamer and I find new experiences in games that are not half ass. What scares me is that Peter is making statements like this and it sounds like he has no confidence in his work.

 

Just seems to me it is yet another dumbed down console game for the masses, consoles are the worst thing to happen to gaming. Molyneux, man, I hate every time I hear something come out of his mouth. Supid thing to say and speaks volumes about the game IMO.

 

a game made for non-gamers... Que?

 

From the quote you made, he's not asking you to get a non-gamer to review the game but to see what a non-gamer makes of the game and take it into account in your review.

But yeah:

What non-gamer goes out and read reviews of games?

 

What non-game buys games?, Come on bye.

 

Could be one of those secret non-gamer gamers. Like the religious leaders that are against porn but get caught in underground bondage clubs.

 

A game for non-gamers is like a radio for deaf people