acurmudgeon

I have noticed this trend as well. I remember a time when I believed that anything over a 7 might be good, conceding that a lot of the time the difference between a 7 and higher was usually reviewer preference, and you had to take into account the reviewer's feelings about the genre, the story, multiplayer, etc. Now reviews mean nothing to me. I mean really, I don't feel I can trust them at all. But for me the biggest indicator that the entire professional review system is bought out is the delay in the release of the title and the review. Remember the good old days when the reviewers got an advance copy of the game around when it went gold and the review was out for a couple of weeks before release? It really did happen that way, if you don't remember. Those days are long gone. Why? I firmly believe that the companies producing the games don't want reviews before it hits the shelves, so the hype machine they have built up prior to the release can sucker in as many people to buy before the negative press hits the proverbial street. Previews are a straight up, old school bait-and-switch con. When was the last time you read one? Think about it the next time you tuck into one of the professinal previews. Look for anything that might make you think twice about purchasing it.
Oh, and for the record many of those games reviewed with a 7.0 or and 8.0 were horrid.