Vita Player – Revisiting Old Reviews

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One thing that we have done recently here on Vita Player is gone back to some of our older reviews and features on the site and made alterations to them or re-evaluated games that we have reviewed in the past. This may seem like a strange approach to take, especially as we are taking a wider view of the PlayStation Vita as a platform and not only looking at native PS Vita games but also anything that runs on it including games dating back to the dawn of the original PlayStation so why are we taking such a relaxed view when it comes to our reviews and – in many cases – the score we are attaching to our reviews.

One thing that has changed in recent years with gaming is the ability for developers and publishers to update their products. Even are recently as the PS2 once a game was released that was it. If a title was bugged it was too later for a developer to correct flaws, add new content or anything else short of recalling the product or releasing an enhanced version at a later date. Now we simply get patches or DLC released updating games on a regular basis. However, what this means is that games that we may review one week could be dramatically different the next and the question we have to ask ourselves is whether it is fair on the publishers to leave our original reviews intact.

As journalists we have a responsibility to accurately report on the quality of games and apps and to write accurate articles and features for the website. If we have any content on this site that is significantly out of date then we need to either update it, clearly indicate that it is an old opinion piece or remove it from publication. In the case of reviews we need to ensure that we give developers a fair chance to prove that have corrected flaws in their titles and if a game warrants a new or updated review which may result in an increased review score then we have a duty to do so. In turn, this is one of the reasons why we are slowly going back over all our old reviews and adding scores to them to bring them in line with our current reviews.

Two titles immediately spring to mind that prove the need for us to change our views on products and why our reviews need to continually evolve, both from the PlayStation Mobile range. My original review of Snake, developed by Philip Morby was rather scathing. Since that point the game has been updated considerably with new game modes, almost triple the number of levels and online leaderboard support has been added, all at no extra cost. In re-writing the review all of this was taken into consideration and while it still didn’t give the game a top score, it has lifted it to now making it a title I’d recommend.

On the app front, Zhang Bo’s Sola Translate is another key one. My initial review of this gave this the lowest score possible on the website – zero – as it simply failed to function in any capacity. An update has been released and I am in the process of re-writing the review. There are some flaws because of the way the translations are handled and the options that are presented, but it now works and has managed to handle the translations I have thrown at it so not only is it going to get a score above zero but one that is to be significantly higher.

As software continues to evolve so will the content on Vita Player and our team will be actively encouraged to revisit all of their work where needed to bring you all the most accurate reviews possible so you’re never left in any doubt about the quality of the products you are planning on buying.

Simon Plumbe
Site Editor, Vita Player

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About Simon Plumbe 1052 Articles
Husband, father and lifelong geek. Originally from the West Midlands, now spending my days in South Wales with my family and a house full of animals. Passionate about video games, especially retro gaming, the Commodore 64 and PlayStation Vita. Love pro wrestling, sci-fi and I'm an animal lover and vegetarian. Enjoyed this and my other articles? Why not buy me a coffee: http://ko-fi.com/simonplumbe

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