Metacritic 2008 ESRB Summary

The following displays how many titles have been scored, vs. how many titles remain unscored.  Again, this is due to Metacritic requiring four outlet reviews before an MC Score is assigned.

Just as we did in the platform summary, the following uses Metacritics Favorability Index with counts for each appropriate ESRB Category:

Here, we took the the top two positive categories “Universal Acclaim” and “Generally Favorable Reviews” and rolled them up into a “Positive Index.”  Similarly, a “Negative Index” was created for titles that fall into the “Generally Unfavorable Reviews” and “Overwhelming Dislike.”

The following correlates the number of titles per ESRB category with Metacritics Favorability Index. You’ll find one chart per ESRB Category:

Finally, we’ll use the grade scale we applied for the platforms to determine which ESRB category is the most consistent in regard to quality.  Again, here’s the scale:

After applying the appropriate grade scale to each game title, we totalled the results for each ESRB and came up with the following consistency index ranked in order of ‘most consistent.’

The ESRB ranking ‘M’ for Mature was the most consistent in regard to game quality.  This is also supported in other reports found within this 2008 summary.