How are the two any different, though? They really are just two ways of saying the same thing.
I mean, in the US at least, an F = 0-59, a D is 60-69, a C is 70-79, a B is 80-89, and an A is 90+. Just turn those number scores into the equivalent letter grade and presto, you have a letter grade like he uses, while still using the standard 6-10 grading scale you usually see.
It isn't the same because the grade distribution is on a curve, meaning there are roughly the same number of Fs as As, Ds and Bs, centered around C as average. If you look at the reviews for each system, this is roughly the case. The 7-10 grade scale means 7 is a C, anything below that is essentially F for failed, and is very rarely given.
It means a game that isn't broken and has decent production values will get no lower than 7 or C, turning the review into a mere consumer reports product review. That's not what The Critic does. He uses the whole scale, kind of like Tom Chick, who gave Halo 4 1 out of 5 stars for being boring, http://www.quartertothree.com/fp/2012/11/04/halo-4-is-half-the-game-it-should-be/
Are you saying the Video Game Critic uses a scale for his reviews? If he does, I don't like that either. Design your review system so that 7/C is average, yes, but don't actually scale reviews based on trying to portion out scores evenly, I don't think that's right! Scores should be based on performance, and how other games (or people, for school) did shouldn't matter. If the average isn't average, that's not something you should often fix by scaling the scores afterwards.
Also, it's not 7-10, it's 6-10. A 6 is a below average but passing score.
And yes, this is how I think of scores; if I see number scores I think of them in terms of the equivalent letter grade that number represents, and vice versa for letter grades. I don't like the "50% is average" system for this reason -- when I see a score under 60, I think 'that's a failing grade'.
Then that's your problem for not appreciating how a grade curve works.
I take it none of you here attended law school. It's brutal to do very well, and get a C or D because of the curve.
If there were no scores, would any of you have a problem with his capsule reviews?
I have a masters', but no, grades were not scaled. As I said I don't like that idea, either.
Wait wait, Valis III is at the bottom end of the PCE library?
huuuh
This is the same guy who gave Metal Storm on the NES an "F" so he can shove it for all I care.
That would certainly be one of those completely, totally wrong reviews of his, yes. That game's one of the better games on the NES.
