The Divnich Debrief: Wii Quality Sees Significant Improvement in 2009

In the last article we spoke briefly about the increase in reviews scores, over last year. This led one reader to e-mail in and inquire as to the spread between each home console. 

The results are actually quite interesting. (As a quick note, EEDAR Quality Scores are aggregated in a synonymous manner as other aggregate review sites, except EEDAR uses a pure average rather than weighted.)

The average review scores between PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 have remained unchanged over last year. The Wii, however, has had a significant improvement since last year with review scores increasing 10% (6% on an absolute basis). 

What has changed? Are games for the Wii improving that dramatically, or are review critics grading Wii titles on a curve?  This article will not go farther into the review-curving subject nor make any accusations—it is a touchy subject. Just uttering such words has known to cause brawls at industry events (there are vocal opponents on both sides of the subject). Nevertheless, no console over the last 10 years has ever produced this much of a shift in their aggregated quality score in the middle of a cycle. Certainly, something has changed.

However, there is one logical theory. With the Wii finally producing review scores similar to its peers, it could be possible that developers finally "get" the Wii. In the past, critics would slam games that chose to do an end-run and avoid specifically designing to the Wii's unique control system. The shift in review scores for the Wii could very well be an indication that the development community is producing Wii games to the system’s creative and technological potential. 

Lastly, we should keep in mind that it's unfair to compare review scores between different platforms as review critics set expectations specific to each games platform. A “perfect” or “100” rated game for the iPhone is entirely different from a “perfect” title on the PlayStation 3. The similarity in review scores between the Wii, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 does not necessarily mean that a 90+ Wii game is better than a 90+ Xbox 360 game (or vice versa).