Actually, I've drawn a lot of inspiration from IGN. They've hammered down a very good formula for how to format a game review, and how to look at all aspects of a game instead of just how pretty the graphics are or how imbalanced the multiplayer is or how bad the story may be. But they gave [i]Modern Warfare 2[/i] a 9.5, [i]Halo 4[/i] a 9.8, and [i]Sonic: Unleashed[/i] a lackluster 7... and so some people get really pissed when a game's final score conflicts with their opinion of how good the game was. That's understandable. Journalism, even gaming journalism, is never going to be able to provide us with complete truth, but so long as the reporting happens and people are filled in on things, then it's done its job. And I hope to one day be a part of that. :)

Ign just seems to not know what they are talking about most of the time. yet I still use them b/c I find myself good at delicately plucking through their bs.

Now here's the thing. I find IGN to be a source of not only some very well-written reviews but also very good in their other reporting. They're kind of the CNN of the gaming world; large, professional, but divisive because they don't take as strong of stances on certain issues as other people would like. But it is also the duty of the readers to pluck through multiple news sources so they can aggregate information when need be.

Really? I don't hate ign for not taking strong stances, I hate ign for sugar coating failure, but I deal with it, I just have to laugh off the silly comments they make when I read their articles. And while readers [i]should[/i] look around to find the best depiction of the truth, people don't, and seem willing to fork over $60 for anything that is a part of an established franchise and as long as it has good reviews, and while that is no fault of ign's, it saddens me.

In much the same way, it saddens me that a few years back parents shelled out millions of dollars to take their children to [i]Alvin and the Chipmonks 2: the Squeequel[/i] when perfectly good family movies like [i]Fantastic Mr. Fox[/i] and [i]The Princess and the Frog[/i] came out at the same time, yet earned less than a fifth of what a garbage movie staring CGI rodents in hoodies made. And don't get me started on all these comic book movies they keep coming out with... A large number of people will always gather around the mainstream stuff, and there's just no stopping that. It's a part of the entertainment industry.