Edge has compiled new data in conjunction with EEDAR to reveal that the PS3 features the highest percentage of games that score above 85%. The 360 comes in second and the Wii pulls in last place with a positively pathetic score.
PS3 - 17% above or equal to 85% review scores, 30% scoring 65% or less.
360 - 14% above or equal to 85% review scores, 38% scoring 65% or less.
Wii - 4% above or equal to 85% review scores, 54% scoring 65% or less.
You can see all three of the comparisons at these spots: PS3, 360 and Wii.
Obviously review scores aren't everything and having more games on your system means there is a higher chance of some of them sucking. It does also mean you have more opportunity to have a higher number of better games. Regardless, these are interesting figures.
The PS3's 17% consists of 36 games, the 360's consists of 48.
It makes sense. The x360 and Wii have larger libraries then the PS3, which means that each score is worth less. If the x360 and PS3 have an equal number of games that are above 85%, then the PS3 will have a higher percentage because of the smaller total number of games. I wish they gave raw numbers rather then percentages so we could really see how they compare.
Raw numbers are in the articles. So the PS3 has 36 85%+ games to the 360s 48 85%+ games.
Well, that's what I get for responding before I have time to actually read the article. I was just catching a quick glance at the headlines before I raced out the door for work this morning. I think it would be good to edit into the news post somewhere those numbers, just to keep things neutral.
Well, that's what I get for responding before I have time to actually read the article. I was just catching a quick glance at the headlines before I raced out the door for work this morning. I think it would be good to edit into the news post somewhere those numbers, just to keep things neutral.
Done. Sorry if that comment came across all grumpy.
I think it is important to remember that this article aims to state which console has the best reviewed games, not the most number of 'best' games.
They are not stating that the PS3 has better games, merely that a higher percentage of what is available on the console earned a score within the 85%+ bracket.
We have to ensure that we don't become to spin doctors through assumption and misinterpretation.
Done. Sorry if that comment came across all grumpy.
I think it is important to remember that this article aims to state which console has the best reviewed games, not the most number of 'best' games.
They are not stating that the PS3 has better games, merely that a higher percentage of what is available on the console earned a score within the 85%+ bracket.
We have to ensure that we don't become to spin doctors through assumption and misinterpretation.
The choice of 85% as a line to measure is also interesting... I don't have the numbers in front of me, so I won't try to quote. But I do remember that if you shift that line by as little as 5% the numbers shift dramatically.
If you have the time, and motivation, to play every single highly-reviewed (by whatever metric you choose to use) game for a particular system, you may want to consider branching out your interests. This is a silly metric, because regardless of the platform(s) you game on, there's far more available than one person could ever experience.
These "statistics" they are using seemed a little bit hollow to me, so I dig some deeper digging.
First of all, I don't know where they're compiling their review averages from - because both gamerankings and metacritic list 43 & 44 games (respectively) at 85% and above for the PS3 and 57 and 60 for the Xbox 360. So here's how those numbers break down by console:
-Metacritic, upon closer inspection, has slightly higher review averages because it tends to round all review scores and averages upwards - so I'll be sticking to the gamerankings numbers.
-Of the PS3's 43 games at or above 85%, only 11 of them are exclusive to the PS3.
-Of the PS3's 11 high-ranked exclusives, 3 of them are PSN downloadable games (Wipeout HD, Flower, and Super Stardust HD.)
-Of the PS3's 8 non-downloadable games, Ninja Gaiden Sigma is a questionable inclusion - as it's merely a port/reskin of an old Xbox game.
-The PS3's 7 remaining high-ranked games are: Little Big Planet, MGS4, Killzone 2, Drake's Fortune, Valkyria Chronicles, Resistance 1 & 2.
-Of the Xbox 360's 57 games at or above 85%, only 24 of them are exclusive to the Xbox
-Of the Xbox's 24 high-ranked exclusives, 11 of them are XBLA downloadable games: (Braid, Geometry Wars 1 & 2, GTA IV: L&D, Peggle Deluxe, Rez HD, Portal: Still Alive, Puzzle Quest, Ikaruga, Bomberman Live, Castlevania: SotN)
-Of the Xbox's 11 high-ranked XBLA exclusives, 6 are questionable inclusions, as they're available in various forms on other (non PS3 - but, wierdly, some on PS2) systems: (Peggle, Rez, Portal: Still Alive, Puzzle Quest, Ikaruga, & Castlevania SotN.)
-Of the Xbox's 13 non-downloadable exclusives, Burnout Revenge is a questionable inclusion - as it's also available on the PS2 (and even recieved higher review averages on that system.)
-The Xbox's 12 remaining high-ranked exclusives are: Gears of War 1&2, Halo 3, Mass Effect, Call of Duty 2, Forza 2, L4D, Gotham Racing 3&4, Fable 2, Dead or Alive 2, Viva Pinata.
My own opinions from all this: wow, pickings are *slim* - exclusive-wise. As long as this generation has been around, I expected there to be more top-shelf exclusives for each system. The XBLA does seem to beat out the PSN games, but only because it has snatched up more games from other sources that people may (or may not) already own. Being an owner of both systems, I will say that I play most of my games on the Xbox, and the PS3 gets powered on 95% of the time to just play blu-rays. Console exclusives don't seem like they can carry much of a torch anymore - they are so few in number.
It would be interesting if someone had the time to average the review differences on non-exclusives. Just eye-balling it it seems like the Xbox has a significant percentage advantage on non-exclusives. Games like Fight Night Round 3 and Orange Box received much higher review averages on the Xbox than the PS3. On the few games that did receive higher averages on the PS3 (Bad Company's the only one I can find while skimming) the percentage difference is much smaller.
My own opinions from all this: wow, pickings are *slim* - exclusive-wise. As long as this generation has been around, I expected there to be more top-shelf exclusives for each system. The XBLA does seem to beat out the PSN games, but only because it has snatched up more games from other sources that people may (or may not) already own. Being an owner of both systems, I will say that I play most of my games on the Xbox, and the PS3 gets powered on 95% of the time to just play blu-rays. Console exclusives don't seem like they can carry much of a torch anymore - they are so few in number.
Great post. I agree with what you said -- your post really highlights how few system exclusives there have been this generation and (IMHO) just how weak many of those exclusives have been.
I might go you one further and point out that both the 360 and the PS3 really missed the boat on BC. The BC on the PS3 only looks correct if you use a standard definition TV (otherwise it is all washed out and blurry) and the 360 BC covers so few titles that it might as well not even be there (certainly none of the titles I wanted to play are included).
With Sony still pushing the PS2 at retail, I think they dropped the ball on not including hardware BC in every system and finding a way to make it look decent on a HD TV.
__________________ Play Gears of War with it - "Marcus, take cover. Yes...over by the couch!"
These "statistics" they are using seemed a little bit hollow to me, so I dig some deeper digging.
First of all, I don't know where they're compiling their review averages from - because both gamerankings and metacritic list 43 & 44 games (respectively) at 85% and above for the PS3 and 57 and 60 for the Xbox 360.
I think Edge's numbers are pretty close to Metacritics (but they don't seem to be from Metacritic), I did some calculations...
Games scoring 85% or more on Metacritic
Platform num/total = Metacritic % (Edge %)
PS3 44/317 = 14% (17%)
360 60/603 = 10% (14%)
Wii 18/390 = 5% (4%)
Games scoring 65% or less on Metacritic
Platform num/total = Metacritic % (Edge %)
PS3 99/317 = 31% (30%)
360 240/603 = 40% (38%)
Wii 205/390 = 53% (54%)
Personally, I think having 60/603 games ranked highly is better than having 44/317, even if 60/603 is a lower percentage.
Personally, I think having 60/603 games ranked highly is better than having 44/317, even if 60/603 is a lower percentage.
That all depends on whether you're a consumer who fully vets, via composite reviews, for each purchase.
Certainly, the better percentage is more appealing for "blind" purchasers who don't rely on reviews. You have less of a chance of buying a lemon, at random, on the PS3.
This article interestingly dovetails with some of the talk about the PS3 being more expensive to develop for than the 360.
One result of that is keeping the "riff-raff" hit-and-run budget developers from diluting the PS3 catalog with crap games. A problem that's very evident in the Wii catalog.
That all depends on whether you're a consumer who fully vets, via composite reviews, for each purchase.
Certainly, the better percentage is more appealing for "blind" purchasers who don't rely on reviews. You have less of a chance of buying a lemon, at random, on the PS3.
This article interestingly dovetails with some of the talk about the PS3 being more expensive to develop for than the 360.
One result of that is keeping the "riff-raff" hit-and-run budget developers from diluting the PS3 catalog with crap games. A problem that's very evident in the Wii catalog.
Sony would be wise to use this as one of the selling points of their more expensive console. You get what you pay for with the Wii/360 so to speak-- more chance of buying a craptastic game than with the PS3.
