Out of 8 Calling it Quits

[Jarhead0331]

I think fewer opinions is always a sad development, however, I never put much weight into Jaguar's reviews.  His reason for closing down is supposedly:

What say you? The time and energy needed for comprehensive written reviews is in shorter supply

Due to increasing time constraints that have limited my ability to devote a fair amount of time to written evaluations.  I have decided to discontinue writing game reviews. I feel that I would be doing a disservice to the gaming audience in continuing to pen reviews while not being able to invest enough time into completely evaluating the products at hand...

I find this odd though.  His reviews were typically released the day after, if not the day of a new release.  How can you possibly write a "comprehensive" review in that time frame.  It's a grueling pace, that on the one hand is commendable, but on the other, lead to most of my criticism of the reviews on the site.

Anyway, all the best to him.

http://www.outofeight.info/2012/08/the-untimely-demise-and-partial-rebirth.html

[Herman Hum]

I think fewer opinions is always a sad development, however, I never put much weight into Jaguar's reviews.  His reason for closing down is supposedly:

I find this odd though.  His reviews were typically released the day after, if not the day of a new release.  How can you possibly write a "comprehensive" review in that time frame. 

I found the same.  Most were not well done or accurate and just seemed a desperate attempt to be 'first'.

[LongBlade]

Well, I'm sorry to hear that. On a personal level I never enjoy seeing enterprises close their door.

I wonder if any of their readers will find their way here?

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I felt the same.  I didn't put too much stock in his reviews as he seemed more interested in being first to review than he was in being thorough. 

[Kushan]

I feel the same. Its never good to have fewer opinions, but all of his reviews seem to to start with how he played the game extensively in beta.

[Jarhead0331]

I wonder if any of their readers will find their way here?

Doubt it.

[Nefaro]

I think fewer opinions is always a sad development, however, I never put much weight into Jaguar's reviews.  His reason for closing down is supposedly:

I often agreed with his opinions on many strategy games.   Importantly, they were a quick snapshot view of the issues at release.  I'll miss them.

I find this odd though.  His reviews were typically released the day after, if not the day of a new release.  How can you possibly write a "comprehensive" review in that time frame.  It's a grueling pace, that on the one hand is commendable, but on the other, lead to most of my criticism of the reviews on the site.

Anyway, all the best to him.

http://www.outofeight.info/2012/08/the-untimely-demise-and-partial-rebirth.html

He generally received Preview copies of games a couple weeks early, for review purposes.   As do many review sites.

[Grim.Reaper]

Although I read his reviews, I never totally relied on them.  He didn't seem very consistent and often seemed to judge the games based on what he wanted them to be versus what they claimed to be.  I had an issue with him reviewing some games after they have been patched while not doing the same for others.

[Jarhead0331]

I often agreed with his opinions on many strategy games.   Importantly, they were a quick snapshot view of the issues at release.  I'll miss them.

A quick snapshot view that was often inaccurate.  His reviews were frequently based off of beta code.  A problem for obvious reasons, especially when you're most interested in "issues," or bugs.  See below.

He generally received Preview copies of games a couple weeks early, for review purposes.   As do many review sites.

You don't need to explain the review business to me.  I've been a part of it for almost a decade.  The fact of the matter is, he received BETA copies frequently for the purpose of preparing a PRE-view.  Beta copies imply PRE-release code.  He would then use BETA code to prepare a RE-view, as opposed to the PRE-view that would have been more appropriate.  Can't you see why this is problematic, not only for a developer/publisher, but for the consumer, as well.

[Huw the Poo]

I often agreed with his opinions on many strategy games.   Importantly, they were a quick snapshot view of the issues at release.  I'll miss them.

Agreed.  I will miss his reviews.  I never use professional reviews to help my buying decisions, I just read them for entertainment, and his were always entertaining.

[Nefaro]

I often agreed with his opinions on many strategy games.   Importantly, they were a quick snapshot view of the issues at release.  I'll miss them.

A quick snapshot view that was often inaccurate.  His reviews were frequently based off of beta code.  A problem for obvious reasons, especially when you're most interested in "issues," or bugs.  See below.

He generally received Preview copies of games a couple weeks early, for review purposes.   As do many review sites.

You don't need to explain the review business to me.  I've been a part of it for almost a decade.  The fact of the matter is, he received BETA copies frequently for the purpose of preparing a PRE-view.  Beta copies imply PRE-release code.  He would then use BETA code to prepare a RE-view, as opposed to the PRE-view that would have been more appropriate.  Can't you see why this is problematic, not only for a developer/publisher, but for the consumer, as well.

I enjoyed numerous ones, and regularly agreed with some of the points he made.  If you didn't like them, then that's no skin off my back.  *shrug*

[Fetrik]

I often agreed with his opinions on many strategy games.   Importantly, they were a quick snapshot view of the issues at release.  I'll miss them.

A quick snapshot view that was often inaccurate.  His reviews were frequently based off of beta code.  A problem for obvious reasons, especially when you're most interested in "issues," or bugs.  See below.

He generally received Preview copies of games a couple weeks early, for review purposes.   As do many review sites.

You don't need to explain the review business to me.  I've been a part of it for almost a decade.  The fact of the matter is, he received BETA copies frequently for the purpose of preparing a PRE-view.  Beta copies imply PRE-release code.  He would then use BETA code to prepare a RE-view, as opposed to the PRE-view that would have been more appropriate.  Can't you see why this is problematic, not only for a developer/publisher, but for the consumer, as well.

Aww, come on Jarhead. Don't say that that isn't precisely what is being done by every gaming magazine in the world. And when that is the case they mention it less than 50% of the time.

[Rayfer]

I enjoyed his reviews and always thought of them as first impressions....there was enough in them to either spark my interest in the game to research it further or to realize it was one I wouldn't be interested in.  As others have mentioned, I never make a purchase decision based solely on one review.  I'll miss his work and appreciated the time and effort he put in to make them available. 

[bayonetbrant]

FWIW - we will occasionally get preview code here, but we won't complete a review until production code drops.
There are times when we get the production code early, but are asked to embargo the content until a certain date (usually for the publisher to get their PR splash in first) but if we're not working on production code, we say so.

[Jarhead0331]

I guess my problem with the Out of 8 reviews is completely personal; one reviewer to another. 

When I review a game, I wait until I have a RELEASE build.  Then, I play the game for weeks; months if possible.  My reviews are pages, in length, and usually contain historical references and anecdotes.  That is my personal style, I'm not knocking anyone else.  However, THAT, in my opinion is thorough reviewing that takes time, commitment, dedication and hard work.  Research, even.  I know a lot of readers do not appreciate that, and prefer quick, hit-and-run style reviews, but that is just never how I did them.  It never resulted in a product I felt comfortable publishing.

I have also worked on PREVIEWs.  Those are articles that could be based on pre-release code and did not require as much of a commitment of time and effort.  Those are "first-impression" pieces, if you will.

Anyway, I don't want my comments to be misconstrued as beef.  Like I said in the OP, I'm sad to see Out of 8 go.  Any press that gets people reading and playing is good in my opinion.  I hope we see Jag making a successful switch to a new format.