metacritic.com
In today's hyper-speed world where new movies, albums, songs, video games, and television shows are being pumped out with more frequency than ever before, it can be hard to keep up. Plus, for every new media release there are hundreds of reviews that immediately pour out from every which way alongside them. No matter what kind of entertainment you prefer, it can be overwhelming to try and stay in the loop and get a sense of what's worth watching, listening to or playing and what is not.
With so many options for how to spend our leisure time, reviews are arguably more important than ever. But the internet, with its vast expanse of opinions and media review outlets, makes it difficult to weed out the credible reviews from the less reliable ones.
Besides, when it comes to personal artistic mediums such as music and film, so much of people's reactions are extremely subjective. How, then, are you ever supposed to figure out which reviewers or even which websites are most likely to have similar enough taste to you to warrant trust in their opinions?
If only there was a site that would provide an aggregated overview of the critical response to a TV show, movie, album, or video game in a very short amount of time. This site is called Meta Critic and it allows you to see how well (or poorly) a project has been received by its critics.
Maybe you have heard of Meta Critic before. They are an authoritative source on media criticism because they do not rate their reviews from one person.
This site collects all reputable reviews of a new release and averages them into a score out of 100%. This is never easier than it is with this feature.
History
Meta Critic was the brainchild of a brother-sister duo and a law school student, Marc Doyle, Julie Doyle Roberts, and Jason Dietz. The website did not officially launch until January of 2001.
At first, feedback on the nature of our site was varied. Many people believed that it was too close to a site that already existed, Rotten Tomatoes. However, Doyle, Roberts, and Dietz believed that their site could differentiate itself enough from Rotten Tomatoes in order to make it a worthwhile pursuit.
These three visionaries essentially picked up where Rotten Tomatoes left off by offering averages for video games, music, and books. The site has since phased out its book reviews.
Meta Critic was purchased by CNET in 2005. In 2011, it was acquired by the CBS Corporation. Today, Meta Critic is a major authority on media reviews and is frequently cited by entertainment journalists and fans on a daily basis.
Design
This is my first and major issue with Meta Critic? the design is in need of a revamp. Again, this could just be a matter of personal taste, but I donât find the site at all easy to navigate or intuitive to scan. There is too much going on, in my opinion, and, thus, the eye has trouble figuring out where to go.
The content of the website is somewhat organized into boxes, but this arrangement can be difficult to navigate. In addition, there is not much of a user-friendly web experience present. This can be attributed to the website's reliance on text rather than on user experience. Going through Meta Critic is somewhat akin to flipping through pages of a textbook.
Content
If youâre interested in concerts and recordings, those are both broken down here too.
As I mentioned previously, Meta Critic offers averaged scores for music, movies, TV shows, and video games. The bulk of the content found on Meta Critic is ranked by their Meta Critic score out of 100%, which can be found on the home page separated by the medium. In addition to simply providing an averaged score, however, Meta Critic also hooks users up with all of the necessary means to follow up and dig further on a given project. For example, clicking on a movie title will bring users to that film's page. If users are interested in concerts and recordings, those are both broken down on Meta Critic as well.
Here, you will be able to provide scores for each release, as well as click into links of all referenced professional reviews that went into creating the aggregate score. Additionally, you can read up on all of the movie's details and credits. Meta Critic is truly one of the most useful sources for reading up on films, shows, albums, and games.
Meta Critic publishes lists of the best content, editorialized by their own staff of media pundits and journalists. They also keep users up-to-date with upcoming releases and entertainment news. Meta Critic could be a helpful resource for anyone interested in the entertainment world.
Desktop and Mobile Experience
As I have already touched upon, the overall experience of Meta Critic is slightly hindered by its less than ideally clunky and text-heavy website design. This, of course, is the case for both its desktop version of the website and its mobile version. Another complaint that I have when it comes to user experience is the fact that Meta Critic still does not have an app available. perhaps releasing one, should it be executed effectively, could be Meta Critic's answer for those of us who prefer a more minimalist approach to web design.
Another factor to consider is the number of ads on this site. There are a fair number of ads, and they also have a negative impact on the site's overall experience. However, given that Meta Critic is a completely free service, you may be able to overlook this issue.
Pricing and Plans
Meta Critic is a 100% free site that offers no pro or premium upgrades in order to lure users into paying. It is an objective media critique site that wants to provide users with accurate information. Use Meta Critic as often as you like without ever having to pay for access.
Suggestions that I Have for Meta Critic
My biggest suggestion for Meta Critic is that they consider a full-blown site design overhaul. If the site became less clunky and unnatural to navigate, I think that I would probably visit it once a day. I would even consider making it my home page, as it is such a convenient resource. It's a shame that all this great information needs to be marred by subpar user experience.
Second, I hope that Meta Critic will release an app in the next year or so. I am surprised that they do not have one already - it is 2020 after all? Doesn't everyone have an app?
Conclusion
MetaCritic is a great site that provides accurate and credible scores of movies, TV shows, albums, and video games. By using an effective averaging of scores based on the best of the best in media critiques, you can rest assured that the meta scores provided on this site are trustworthy. Plus, Meta Critic does a great job of linking users to all subsequent information, credits, and reviews available on a given release. If you are looking for one of the best sites out there and are willing to tolerate subpar site design, look no further. Meta Critic will keep you in the loop on all of the best (and worst) releases.
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