Number of games that received a Gamespot review of 9.0 out of 10 or better:
Number of games that received an IGN review of 9.0 out of 10 or better:
Maybe you don't like either of those publications.
Correct. I don't like publications that take cash for comments. That rules out most commercial game reviewers who get paid to make such statements.
Seriously, don't talk to me about objective/subjective. Grand Theft Auto is a great game. That's objective. You don't like Grand Theft Auto. THAT'S subjective. I can admit that Miles Davis is a great musician, even if jazz doesn't really float my boat.
What drivel are you spinning?
A game is pure entertainment. It's "greatness" cannot be measured on any scale other than a subjective one. It's entire purpose is designed to appeal to particular human taste. That is it's existential and functional role in life.
*PLAYING* music is a technical detail. Being able to hit notes in correct timing or being able to hold a particular pitch while singing is a technical detail. You can be TECHNICALLY a good musician, yet still make music that people don't like. That is the point you make above about Miles Davis, which is correct. The problem is you are comparing a technical skill of MAKING entertainment with a subjective PRODUCT of that skill. A more correct analogy would be to say "Rockstar are good at making games, but their products are up to subjective individual criticism". In layman's terms, you have compared apples and oranges and come to a false conclusion.
Applying this logic to GTA, you can only comment objectively on the title by it's TECHNICAL nature. Does the 3D engine work? Yes. Does the game play music and sound effects? Yes. Does it spit a picture out to the screen that people can understand? Yes. These are the technical elements to the game. If you want to look at these objective elements and "rate" the game based on that, there are very few games that fail.
But the game itself cannot be rated objectively. You simply cannot say the game is objectively "great" nor "crap" no matter which way you spin it. I don't care who your are or what the arguments, all you can tell me is if YOU as an individual like the game or not. YOU as an individual cannot rate the game objectively for all humanity in any definitive way, as the game itself is pure entertainment and nothing else, and all entertainment or other pleasure-inducing substances/events/objects are subjective to personal preference.
what I meant to say was, "People play GTA because they're great games.* " Sorry about that.
*This statement does not refer to people who don't play GTA.
So people who don't like GTA don't play it? There's a shocker.
What you mean to say is:
"People play games that they like, and don't play games that they don't like".
Which is a pretty pointless thing to say. Of course I'm not going to play a game I don't like. I play games for entertainment, not to sit infront fo a screen and say "gee, this sucks".
For the record, I have put some serious hours into GTA, and still don't like it. You are being EXTREMELY presumptive to assume that I don't like it simply because I haven't played it enough. You could apply the same assinine logic to any game genre if you tried hard enough. I enjoy fighting games on the whole. Some of these require YEARS of play to fully appreciate the game at it's most intricate level, and equally require an opponent who has put just as many years into the game as yourself to really challenge you. Would I be correct then in saying to an individual who told me they don't like the title that "you simply haven't put enough hours into it"?
No. I would not. Taste is and always will be subjective. Do not be so arrogant as to assume that simply because people don't share a particular taste that they are ignorant. This is far more a reflection on you than anyone else around you.
It is evident that many people play and enjoy GTA. That much cannot be debated. Saying "it is a good game" is a rediculous thing to say. Saying any game is "good" or "bad" is just as rediculous. Just like you can't tell someone what their favourite colour or food should be, there's no point blatantly labelling a game or game type genre as "good" or "bad" when that depends ultimately on someone's taste.
And on a side note: if you are going to make analogies, at least make them correctly using concepts that match. Using flawed analogies on items that aren't aimilar in nature only gives for flawed logic, and confusion for yourself and the public at large. Take a logic class, for goodness sake.