For the purpose of rating the various game.com carts, I have designed a ratings system that should be able to show the reader at first glance what the reviewer thought of the cart in question. The games are rated in 5 categories (Gameplay, Graphics, Sound, Replay, and Overall) utilizing a simple 5 point system, with the following breakdown:
This, IMO, solves the problems inherent with the 10 point scales that are commonly used in the gaming magazines. The primary problem of such a system is that, while a 5 is generally defined as average on those scales, rarely will an average title receive below an 8. Either by pandering to the gaming manufacturers or to the less-intelligent readers, such a rating system ends up not telling the true story, hence negating the need for the system in the first place. GAMEPLAY: this is the "fun factor" of the game. Titles are rated according to how enjoyable the game is to play, regardless of side issues such as technical advancement in design, or graphics and sound. This is, obviously, tied in with what type of game is being reviewed - Lights Out is a great puzzle game, but non-puzzle fans might not consider giving the title a high mark in gameplay. GRAPHICS: how nice the title appears visually. This is within the bounds of the game.com's graphics capacity - a title will not lose points for not looking as good on the Com as it does on a PC, but is rated for how well it looks comparative to the system. Certain games (most notably, puzzle games) have minimal graphics requirements, making this category less important. SOUND: the audible element of the Com is very important, and this category reflects that importance. Sound can add incredible depth, almost subliminally, to most titles, and in some games the audible aspect is of primary note (ie, Henry). Conversions of existing games can score high by faithfully depicting the classic sounds (ie, Arcade Classics). REPLAY: how fun is the game to play multiple times? Some titles have high replay values (puzzle games with near-infinite variations), while some titles almost by definition will have little to no replay value (RPGs, in general). Trivia games are often weak in this category, with their limited space available for stored questions. OVERALL: the subjective "feel" of the quality of the title, all factors considered. This is not the average of the previous categories, but an independant value of its own. Given that some titles place more emphasis on some elements than others (Henry focuses on sound, with little need for graphics), a title could score low in most of the categories and still receive a good Overall mark by shining in its emphasized area. 
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