Tech
Metacritic Implements 36-Hour Delay On User Reviews, To Ensure "Gamers Have Time To Play" – Nintendo Life
Review-bombing has become a serious problem on the review aggregate website Metacritic. Over the past few years, we’ve seen user scores for a number of high profile Nintendo Switch games plummet on release.
This happened to Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! in 2018, Astral Chain in 2019 and most recently Animal Crossing: New Horizons earlier this year. A lot of the time, these zero out of 10 user scores are dished out by people who haven’t even played the games yet.
Metacritic is seemingly fed up with this and has decided to take action against these disgruntled gamers by implementing a 36-hour delay to all user-written video game reviews – after seeking advice from data-driven research, critics, and industry experts.
Here’s a statement about the new “waiting period” from a Metacritic spokesperson (via GameSpot):
“We recently implemented the 36 hour waiting period for all user reviews in our games section to ensure our gamers have time to play these games before writing their reviews. This new waiting period for user reviews has been rolled out across Metacritic’s Games section and was based on data-driven research and with the input of critics and industry experts.”
As noted by Eurogamer, this new waiting period went live earlier this week. Before user reviews open, there’s now a message – asking players to “please spend some time playing the game”.
It’s hard to say how effective this will be against review-bombing. Nintendo’s new release Paper Mario: The Origami King is one of the first games to test out this new system, and at the time of writing, its user score is 6.1 out of 10.
What do you think about the delay Metacritic has placed on user reviews? Do you think this will be enough to stop review-bombing? Share your thoughts down below.
Tech
Downhill Bikes of Sea Otter – Part 2
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@juanhall: I gotta say, this was the most interesting bike in this post….love that Intense is experimenting with gearboxes…I can see it have a huge effect on DH bikes….thank god there’s still people pushing things. Now, they need to make an Enduro bike with the Pinion MGU!
Tech
Important updates regarding the Bob-Birnie Arena
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The City of Pointe-Claire would like to inform you that the Bob-Birnie arena will be closed for its annual maintenance as of Monday, April 29. The Annex rink will reopen to the public on Monday, May 13, and the arena’s Main rink will be accessible as of Monday, June 3.
Public skating will resume on May 13, and the summer public activities programming will begin on June 3 when both rinks have reopened to the public.
In addition to the annual maintenance of the facility, two renovation projects are also scheduled to start at the same time:
Installation of new sound systems
The City will be replacing its current sound systems in both the Main rink and Annex rink, to offer arena visitors a better overall experience, whether watching from the stands or participating in on-ice activities. This project is expected to be conducted throughout the month of May.
Renovation of locker rooms in the Main Rink
The City will also be renovating the five locker rooms located in the Main rink, to bring up to date the amenities currently available to participants. These renovations are expected to begin in early May and will be completed by mid-August.
For all information about the Bob-Birnie arena, visit the arena’s page on our website.
Tech
Surprise Apple Event Hints at First New iPads in Years – CNET
We haven’t seen a new iPad in years, but Apple seems likely to change that in just a few weeks. All signs point to the release of new iPad models in the first week of May.
This morning, I received an email invite for a virtual Apple event, scheduled for May 7 at 7 a.m. PT (10 a.m. ET). The invite, which says “Let Loose,” shows a drawing of a hand holding an Apple Pencil. Considering the iPad is the only device that uses the Pencil — that doesn’t leave much to the imagination.
Apple’s been expected to release new OLED-screened iPad Pros with newly designed Pencils and Magic Keyboard cases. New iPad Airs are also expected, including a larger-screened 12.9-inch model. Apple’s iPad Air lineup tends to be slightly redesigned versions of previous-model iPad Pros, so just look to the M2 iPad Pro lineup for a sense of what the next Airs could be. These would be the first new iPads since the iPad Pro M2 model arrived in late 2022.
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