Gaming news and reviews are available online, but they're not all created equal. Some have major drawbacks, including a lack of ethics or biased review scores. Others have specific niches that exclude certain groups of gamers. For example, Christ Centered Gamer has clear reviews that make it easy to see the pro's and con's of each game. They also include a morality score that's helpful for people of faith. Game Informer Game Informer is a video game magazine that features articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games. It debuted in August 1991 when video game retailer FuncoLand started publishing an in-house newsletter. It is published monthly and is available in print and digital form. It also features previews of upcoming games and interviews with video game developers. Cody is spending his fall co-op at Game Informer, one of the most well-known gaming journalism outlets in the world. He writes daily articles on the website https://arminae.com/ , as well as pitching and writing longer features, interviews, and previews. He has learned a lot about how different game publishers operate, as each outlet has its own pace, vibe, and traditions. He’s also learning how to adapt his writing style to fit a specific outlet, which will help him as he pursues freelance opportunities in the future. Metacritic There's a reason why game publishers and studios have a strong interest in Metacritic scores. These numbers are seen as an indication of a game's financial value. They also influence studio policies and employee compensation. The site aggregates reviews for movies, television shows, music albums, and video games. The site then calculates the average review score and spits out a number called a Metascore for each product. This score is based on the average of the individual critics' scores and a secret weighting algorithm. Recently, Metacritic changed its policy to require users to play a new game before submitting a review. This is in an effort to combat "review bombing," in which gamers leave poor scores for a game that they haven't played. This change has led to a lot of controversy. Steam A few years ago, Steam introduced review data to help customers explore the positive and negative feedback that has been posted about a game or software. This feedback can be helpful in making purchase decisions, and customers have the ability to up-vote the most helpful reviews and down-vote unhelpful reviews. However, some players have begun to use User Reviews as a tool for protest, engaging in what we've come to call review bombing. Review bombing can take many forms, from expressing discontent with a developer's behavior online to voicing frustration with choices in the game itself or the game's pricing. Regardless of the reason, these reviews can distort the overall sentiment of the review data and are not helpful to other customers. That's why we're modifying the review display to prioritize recent helpful reviews. Christ Centered Gamer Christ Centered Gamer is one of the best places to look for gaming news and reviews with a Christian perspective. They take a great approach to video game reviews, keeping the lore and moral aspects of a game separate from each other. They also avoid telling people not to play a certain game, which is a great thing to do in an environment full of clickbait and spins. They also address some thorny topics, such as the Call of Duty series’ portrayal of violent soldiering, without trying to sanitize it. They’re a refreshingly honest and professional site that takes on issues that are hard for many other gaming sites to tackle. In addition to their gaming review articles, they offer a forum for discussions about video games from a Christian perspective. GamesRadar+ GameRadar+ is a video game news and review site. It also publishes a popular weekly podcast called Talk Radar, which is available for download on iTunes. The podcast features interviews with members of other video game related websites and magazines. This website is well-known for its combination of a professional yet comedic approach to video game journalism. It has a number of articles that are highly inaccurate and often contain humorously exaggerated statements. It is a great place to find gaming news and reviews without the political nonsense that can be found on some other sites. In addition to its news and reviews, it has an excellent selection of hands-on previews and features. Its reviews are clear and concise, with Pros and Cons lists and a verdict summary.