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[Update] Nintendo Issues Statement On User Review System Takedown
Update 2 2/28/14: Nintendo has provided an additional statement to Game Informer. While this statement is similar to the one on the website, this one states the program's initial release was more of a trial run than a full release.
"Nintendo.com recently offered a trial customer review feature to let users share feedback about Nintendo Switch games on our website. The response has been positive, and Nintendo appreciates the time and effort that reviewers put into their thoughtful commentary on the games. Nintendo has removed this feature as we evaluate the future of the ratings functionality on Nintendo.com. We have no estimate on when an update will be provided on the status of this initiative, but we appreciate the enthusiasm shown for the trial.
Update 2/28/14: After being up for a short while, Nintendo has taken down its user reviews system.
Before, users could scroll down to a game's page on Nintendo's website to leave a review. Currently, however, they are greeted with the following message: "Customer reviews have been taken offline as we evaluate this feature and its functionality. We currently have no estimated date on when an update will be provided. We appreciate the positive response and thank the reviewers who provided such thoughtful commentary on the games."
The company did not provide a reason as to why they are evaluating the feature. We reached out to Nintendo and will update this story should they respond.
Original Story: User reviews are coming to Nintendo's website, as spotted by Polygon, adding a feature that lets fans talk up (or talk down) games on Nintendo systems.
If you have played a Nintendo 3DS or Nintendo Switch game, and your MyNintendo ID confirms as much, you can go to the company's website and drop some thoughts about the game. The process for this is, at best, circuitous in that Nintendo way, so let's go at it step by step.
To review a game, you browse Nintendo's game guide and search for the game you want to talk about. Upon finding let's say Splatoon 2, you scroll down to "Review This Game." Assuming you're logged in with your Nintendo ID, Nintendo's servers will check if you have played the game for at least two hours. If you have, great! You can submit a review using a 5-star system, create a headline, write a review (with a minimum of 50 characters, so no just "This sucks!" or "WOW"), be nice and mark for spoilers, and identify what type of gamer you are: Core gamer, casual gamer, parent, or Nintendo fan.
You can't mix and match, so you might need to ask yourself some hard questions about whether video games are more important than your kids.
The page notes that reviews will be moderated, but they won't be modified, removed, or rejected simply for disliking a Nintendo product. There might be other reasons that they'll be removed or rejected, but your opinions of the game won't be the straw that breaks the camel's back. After 3-7 business days, the reviews will go up, implying that a person or persons are actually looking through these manually.
The review system is brand new, so nothing has shown up yet, and we'll likely be seeing the first reviews next week.
[Source: Polygon]
Our Take
I assumed one of the reasons they killed Miiverse was because of the moderation overhead that must have gone into it, but maybe this is a much smaller scale. I do wonder if any of these ratings or reviews will be available to be seen or even posted from the eShop itself.
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