"What does, "The proof is in the pudding", even mean?" I'm glad you asked!
According to The Word Detective, “The proof is in the pudding” is a popular figure of speech meaning “the quality, effectiveness or truth of something can only be judged by putting it into action or to its intended use” and when applied to food, according to The Word Detective, "A dish may have been made from a good recipe with fresh ingredients and look delicious, but you can really only judge it by putting it in your mouth. The actual taste is the only true criterion of success."
"The proof is in the pudding", isn't the original phrase, and The Word Detective says, "But the key to the mystery lies in the fact that “the proof is in the pudding” is actually a mangled form of the original phrase, which was “the proof of the pudding is in the eating.”
I've applied the statement, "the proof is in the pudding" to the gaming world, particularly, the idea that Wii games sell well, despite being reviewed poorly.
Analyzing what analyst Michael Pachter said, "A well positioned game with an interesting concept can sell well on the Wii regardless of review scores..."
For the sake of this example, "pudding" would be poor review scores for games, and "proof" would be how well those games sold.
Analyzing what analyst Michael Pachter said, "A well positioned game with an interesting concept can sell well on the Wii regardless of review scores..."
For the sake of this example, "pudding" would be poor review scores for games, and "proof" would be how well those games sold.
Is Michael Pachter correct? Are there Wii games that have sold millions of copies that were reviewed poorly, or "regardless of review scores"?
Absolutely! The "proof" is Wii games like Carnival Games and Deca Sports that have reportedly sold a million copies or more, and the "pudding" is that Carnival Games has a MetaCritic average score of 56 out of 100, while Deca Sports has a MetaCritic average score of 50 out of 100.
While some may think those games are poor examples to use, let's take a look at several games that have only been out a few weeks.
A picture says a thousand words, so here you go:
(click photo to enlarge)
What do you think of the information displayed in the photo?
I find it very interesting that Tony Hawk: RIDE is outselling both, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare [Reflex] and Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles. All three games come from established franchises, but Tony Hawk: RIDE is also more than double the price of Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare [Reflex]!
How is it that Tony Hawk: RIDE on the Wii has a higher sales rank than does Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare [Reflex]?
A couple of reasons I think could explain it:
1) Tony Hawk: RIDE isn't rated "Mature" like the other two
2) The Wii's "casual" crowd that "...wouldn't know Metacritic if it fell on them.", is buying the game because they are used to Wii games selling with peripherals, and they want to try something new.
Tony Hawk: RIDE is another example right now of a game that is reviewing poorly, but selling better on Amazon.com than other games that have reviewed better than it.
What do you think of the Wii's game market and the way seemingly "bad" games, sell well.
*The prices, sales rank, and Metacritic.com score averages were gathered on Sunday, November 29, between 4p.m. and 5p.m.
A couple of links you may find interesting based around this topic:
I certainly don't read reviews, because reviewers have no clue what makes a game good anymore. Instead, I try out games myself to see what's good. The reviewers can't be trusted!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Anon @ 3:44AM. Some people are just fan boys and will down play a really good game despite all the fun that everyone else has with it.
ReplyDeleteI remember when I was playing WOW and someone said that game was stupid because Guild Wars has a better and easier interface. I was just thinking, "So you're calling a game that at the time had 8 million subscribers stupid because you're too stupid to figure out the interface?"
Anyways, I do the same with movies, I don't let other people talk me out of seeing a movie, if I really want to see it, I will.
@Anon: Thanks for the comment. I definitely agree with your sentiment towards reviewers in general, but I do believe there are some good reviewers out there that can give you a feel for a game before you play it.
ReplyDelete@Nicodemus at Nite: "Some people are just fan boys and will down play a really good game despite all the fun that everyone else has with it." I think many Wii reviewers get the mentality that "It's on the Wii, it can't be good", so they nitpick everything about the games.
"So you're calling a game that at the time had 8 million subscribers stupid because you're too stupid to figure out the interface?" I'm always careful with this thought though, just because a certain game sells 8 million copies, and another game only sells 100,000 copies, doesn't necessarily show which game is better, but maybe which game was marketed better.
@Coffeewithgames: You're right, how many units a game has sold doesn't show that it's necessarily better game. But I was pointing out the fact that the guy who called WOW stupid because of it's interface compared to GW, failed to see that at least 8 million other people have no issue with the interface of WOW. Currently there are about 11 million WOW games sold and I haven't heard of any complaints that the interface being hard. My point is, (to that guy) don't call a game stupid because you're too stupid to figure it out.
ReplyDelete@Nicodemus at Nite: "My point is,(to that guy) don't call a game stupid because you're too stupid to figure it out."
ReplyDeleteExactly, I agree. I think this is how many Wii reviewers are though. They're soooo used to using dual analog controls, they don't even attempt to learn a new control style, and it's evident in their reviews when they complain about controls, but never mention that you can customize them.
I think a lot of people are just afraid of third-party games. There is so much garbage out there, that it would be easy for someone uninformed to pass up really good games from developers that actually try.
ReplyDeleteBoy and His Blob, Deadly Creatures, Madworld, and others are all creative, interesting games, but they sold like dirt. The Wii gamer audience cries out for traditional gaming experiences, yet seem to ignore each and every title that tires to meet those requests. Outside of that, you have an audience that is only interested in "Wii Whatever" titles, and isn't going to try looking at some of these non-health/fitness/mini games.
I really don't understand the Wii audience. It's filled with too many contradictions. I just buy what I like and leave it at that.
I understand that a lot of Wii games came out this year, like MadWorld, Deadly Creatures, and a A Boy and His Blob, the one thing I see lacking, are games from 3rd parties that reviewed for an average of 9.0 or higher.
ReplyDeleteBelieve me, I don't trust most reviewers of Wii software, but there should be more than one 3rd Party game per year on the Wii to get great reviews across the board, and it doesn't happen often at all.