Edge asks 'How good are Xbox games, really?'

by Xav de Matos on Mar 18th 2009 1:55PM

It's the moment we all dread: Opening a carefully wrapped video game gift from a non-gaming relative. The chances that you'll need to hang onto that gift receipt? Astronomically high -- unless they are given explicit buying instructions. Wishing to put a number to the above hypothesis, Edge and Electronic Entertainment Design and Research have teamed up to graph the Xbox 360 library based on Metacritic scores.

According to the research, 13% (48 titles) of all Xbox 360 software released in North America between 2005 and 2008 have received an average score of 85 or higher while 38% (136 titles) scored a 65 or lower. Of course, this stylish graph only means anything if you take stock in review scores -- and if you follow our WRUP posts, you know we don't. PS3 users don't fret -- EDGE and EEDAR are tackling the big black (on the outside, blu on the inside) box next week.

Source

Tags: edge, eedar, metacritic, Microsoft, statistics, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (140)

lol, 48 games, how many of these are multiplatform?

this should be good, PS3 should have a higher percentage

Only because they have fewer games.

I wouldn't be suprised with the likes of 'Burger King games' exclusive on 360 ¬_¬

Thats not a good thing.

But the amount of games on Metacritic with 90+ scores is higher then PS3's

They're probably about equal. For every high rating ps3 game like Killzone 2 you have a Haze. For every Uncharted you have a Lair.

This should have been done only with exclusives, it would make better sense

Yeah, but devs that make shit games on PS3 have a tendancy to go bust, lol

Except Ubisoft and EA ¬_¬

Who gives a fuck which system has a higher percentage?

For as often as I hear that the PS3 has a better community than the 360 or some shit, the moment I bought my PS3 last month I began to notice that there are almost or just as many annoying PS3 fans on the net as there are annoying 360 fans.

Fanboys are inherently stupid. Someone needs to tell them that we want multiple consoles competing on the market. Someone also needs to tell them to stop acting belligerent and ignorant on internet forums.

Well, based on my quick check of Metacritic:

59 360 games have scored an 85% or higher
43 PS3 games have scored an 85% or higher

22 360 games have scored a 90% or higher
12 PS3 games have scored a 90% or higher

14 360 exclusves scored 85% or higher
9 PS3 exclusives scored 85% or higher
* PSN and XBLA gamers were removed from this count

5 360 exclusives scored a 90% or higher
4 PS3 exclusives scored 90% or higher
*PSN and XBLA games removed from this count

Not sure how PS3 fans figure they've got better games. Maybe if you play some percentages game with the numbers, but that's basically just relying on the fact that the PS3 has a smaller game library to justify it.

People have already told them....and it hasn't worked.

I rest my case.......

Lets check back next year

I only count 3 360 exclusives that scored a 90% or higher.

dude, im a PS fanboy and even to me this shit is meaningless...don't be retarded.

Einhanderkiller,

Gears of War
Halo 3
Gears of War 2
Mass Effect
Forza Motorsport 2

That's 5 games above a 90%.

This post on Kotaku would easily surpass 200 comments, no doubt abetted by the editors masquerading as fanboy trolls who never seem to get banned or "disemvoweled." I salute my fellow Joystiq readers in resting their sphincters.

Killzone 2, LittleBIgPlanet and Metal Gear Solid 4 beats every Xbox 360 exclusives out there. We all know its true, right Bill?

@ enrique
The articles' author brought up the ps3. I guess he though it was important. We read the articles for his oppinion, not to see wannabe psy major's links to wikipedia.

Oh, but eNrique, Gears of War, Gears of War 2, and Halo 3 all rated higher than Killzone 2. That obviously means Killzone 2 sucks and is not worth getting. :rollseyes:

Just figured I would point that out for all you guys, in case it wasn't obvious enough. I just enjoy watching you guys bicker.

Wow, Xbox fanboys are back in droves! How's MS defense force treating you guys?

How did this turn to a console flame war so quickly? The article topic wasn't even on 360 vs PS3 or anything!

On topic: Scores are meaningless to me. I know what kind of games I like, and as long as those type of games aren't reviewed as utter shit, then I'm willing to give them a try. I don't like games like CoD, so even if it gets a perfect 10, I don't give a shit. In this realm of objective artistic entertainment, scores have absolutely no meaning. Got that folks? SCORES ARE MEANINGLESS.

To quote Ratatouille on the topic of critics: "We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so."

@Lars

you do realize that this entire response thread is following someone who decided to bash on the 360, right? Why are only xbox fanboys bad in your book?

"Fanboys are inherently stupid. Someone needs to tell them that we want multiple consoles competing on the market. Someone also needs to tell them to stop acting belligerent and ignorant on internet forums."
-Vegnagun bwf

"People have already told them....and it hasn't worked."
-Maverick Saturn

The two smartest comments in the thread there.

Yet Lars' judgment is null and void.

@ifalldownstairs

Oh, they're both bad. But there are a few posts in there which are opinionated (stating preference) that are way downvoted for no good reason, such as eNrique's post. It's like their sticking their fingers in their ears and going "lalalalalala".

If someone's giving an honest opinion, that should not be downvoted. So you like 360 exclusives better than PS3, or vice versa, that's your opinion and that's fine. But don't downvote anyone who disagree's with you... that's childish. However, downvote people who just trash talk or whatever, by all means.

Ah Zeus... you've gotten better recently, but I've seen you light many fanboy flames on Joystiq in the past. I bet we could be good friends IRL though, we're both passionate about tech.

I see eNrique made a mistake though:

8 Killzone 2 92 -MEH

;)

-There are 22 games for the Xbox 360 rated 90+ or higher. 11 of these games are exclusive.

-There are 136 games for the Xbox 360 rated 80+ or higher.

-There are 12 games for the Playstation 3 rated 90+ or higher. 4 of these games are exclusive.

-There are 81 games for the Playstation 3 rated 80+ or higher.

@AkaMagi

Gears of War and Mass Effect are not exclusive.

As a PSWii60 owner, I really want to see the Wii games done like this. That POS only has about 4 good games. If I wasn't married it would have been sold long ago. I'll be looking forward to next weeks PS3 scores...

I can't hear you over the sound of a chainsaw

;)

4? Hmm, I'm sure all the ones I have are good, and I have tons more then 4 :S

Is it just me or has the number of dbag trolls on the stiq been going up lately?

It's because all of the fanboys were forced onto Joystiq after they brought all the sites sections together.

Sprinkles is thier mentor :D

Why wait until next week when you could just run the numbers yourself using Excel in just a couple minutes.

Are you calling me a troll? You must love your Wii. That's fine. For me it's 360>PS3>Wii. Can't I have an opinion without being a troll? If the order was Wii>PS3>360 would you call me a troll if you liked the 360 most? I have all three because I love games/tech.

@ Mr Awesomer

If I ran the numbers myself they would be accurate unlike the list from EDGE. One click on metacritic quickly shows the number games and percentages are off. Not to mention they seem to have included XBLA games in the percentage.

If we all did that, what would Joystiq post for? What would EDGE have to do?

I haven't played my Wii for probably around 4 months now. Just play my 360. But saying something as asinine as "POS that has 4 good games" makes you sound like a sorry troll.

"That POS only has about 4 good games"
"If I wasn't married it would have been sold long ago"

Love games huh? You mean you love 360 games, period. Theres nothing wrong with that, but it kinda defeats the whole purpose of having all three consoles, and based on what you're sayng, it sounds like you wasted money getting all three when you clearly only like 1 of them.

I have all 3 too, but unlike you, I don't put them in order of which I like most, I just play them for thier own unique games and abilities, I've never really felt the need to judge them or sell any of them.

The difference between supporting one system and trolling is a fine line. A line that you cross when you start calling other systems a POS and exaggerating the facts.

"Can't I have an opinion without being a troll"

I'm pretty sure it's only trolls call a console a piece of shit and say it only has 4 good games.

As opposed to *developers* who call it a piece of shit?

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/gdc-the-wii-is-a-piece-of-sht-says-hecker

For solidarity purposes, i dont agree that you are a troll. Just had an opinion that people didnt like. Plus i also think Joystiq tends to run a lil nintendo sided. so you cant bad mouth them.

Even trolls have to pay the bills SOME how.

Joystiq runs a little nintendo-sided? Are you out of your mind?

I'd also dump my Wii if I wan't married.

Ditto. My wife is the main reason my Wii ever gets used anymore.

Maybe if you made dinner every once in awhile she'd diddle your Wii for you.

saying that it would be sold if he wasnt married isnt an exaggerated troll comment, its his reality. deal with it. i think everyone is jealous of the fact that he's married in the first place.

but seriously, anyone can go on metacritic and see that the 360 has the highest number (and i believe percentage) of 90+ titles. just go on the console you want to see, and click full list by score.

"i think everyone is jealous of the fact that he's married in the first place." Oh man, were you being serious?! LOL!!!

"That POS only has about 4 good games."

Nah, the Wii has plenty of good games. But I will agree with you on principal -- the Wii just wasn't created with me in mind. Many of it's "good" games are too simple or childish for my personal tastes. There may only be 4 games on the system that I personally like, but that does not mean all the rest of the games are crap. That is a ridiculous argument.

Just like with the 360, I always tell people it has tons of great games. However, nearly all of it's exclusives are not games that I particularly fancy.

If I'm a fanboy of any system, it's the androgenic personal computer -- which relies on standards and has no big evil company holding a proprietary scepter over its dominion. And before you say "what about MS/Apple?" Those are choices... you don't have to choose them.

| 1 | 2 | 3 | Most Recent | Next 50 Comments

Sorry, you must be logged in to leave a comment.

Breaking News

The most popular posts
in the last 7 days

Vita 'UMD Passport' won't be offered in US 220 comments
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning review: A tempting fate 153 comments
David Jaffe leaves Eat Sleep Play, layoffs hit developer [Update] 108 comments
Don't call it a remake: Final Fantasy X is a 'remaster,' to be clear 95 comments
Battleship movie adapted into FPS by Double Helix 93 comments

Edge asks 'How good are Xbox games, really?'

Reader Comments (140)

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 1:58PM Marius said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:00PM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:08PM Spunky Monkey 190906 said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:12PM Vegnagun said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:14PM Marius said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:15PM Spunky Monkey 190906 said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:20PM Da Largest said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:24PM Vegnagun said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:26PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:26PM Spunky Monkey 190906 said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:27PM Marius said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:37PM einhanderkiller said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:40PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:48PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:55PM Jack Tretton said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 3:21PM ZayCube said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 5:53PM Boomzilla said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 7:15PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 7:20PM Larz said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 7:39PM TheyDidItFirst said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 7:41PM Larz said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 7:44PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 7:49PM Larz said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 8:00PM Larz said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 8:08PM Larz said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 8:09PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 8:11PM einhanderkiller said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:00PM FNG said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:09PM Mr Khan said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:10PM Spunky Monkey 190906 said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:11PM MarkezJM said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:13PM Vegnagun said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:14PM Spunky Monkey 190906 said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:16PM Mr Awesomer said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:17PM FNG said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:20PM FNG said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:23PM MarkezJM said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:25PM Spunky Monkey 190906 said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:26PM Vegnagun said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 2:52PM samfish said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 3:06PM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 3:07PM urbantek said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 3:09PM samfish said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 4:19PM Mr Khan said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 5:00PM Dragun said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 5:16PM Trojan said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 5:44PM MarkezJM said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 6:08PM mynk said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 6:56PM MarkezJM said

Posted: Mar 18th 2009 7:36PM Larz said

Info

Description

MSRP

Release Date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

Rating

Breaking News

Double Fine Kickstarter passes $1 million in under 24 hours, breaking yet another record

Featured Stories

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier brings information warfare to the front

Rhythm Heaven Fever review: Crazy into you

Remedy not done with Alan Wake

The most popular postsin the last 7 days

Engadget

TUAW

Massively

WoW

The most popular posts
in the last 7 days