Review layout - a question of attached images

[shigzeo]

Ladies and gents, a question which has plagued me from the start is a great thing to out in the forums. Would you prefer reviews to be decorated with in-line pictures or to have pictures (images from games and apps) to rest in the gallery? I have read many review sites for a variety of media and both ways exist. Others put pictures in the gallery and only one or two of the most necessary pics in the body of the main review. Take a look at our reviews and please tell us what you think.

Personally, I am inclined to think that more than a couple of pics in the main body break up the review, but what does my opinion matter? TMA's readers are the ones who matter.

This is a poll.

[NineSwords]

I'd say 2-4 (1 menu/logo and 2-3 gameplay defining) pictures in the main body and additional ones in the gallery.

Sure, this is all dependant on the given title. Some only need a single picture while others cannot be adequately described with 100.

TMA has shown some good common sense in the past (especially in that pure genius Galaxy on Fire review) and I'd say you guys just keep it up that way.

[Ron]

A couple of pics and a vid in the body of the review works for me. Your thoughts on the game in the form of words and the vid are most important imo.

[shigzeo]

The vote isn't getting us anywhere! haha. I'll close this on Friday, so please keep looking and voting!

[Thunderclaw]

I prefer many images when the games require it.

Some simple games might only need a picture or two but major ones seem like they need more than just the loading screen.

[Ron]

so please keep looking and voting!
well let's see- Me, myself, and I vote for the "1 or 2" gold colored choice. Add in the same vote for my evil twin and that makes 4 votes total. Take 1 away because "I" already voted. That leaves 3 uncounted votes for gold... ;)

[juubee]

I prefer pics in the review body.

I mostly read reviews thru my RSS app so I usually scan thru the images first and skim thru the actual review to see if it looks good :x

[shigzeo]

^^ Juubee, that brings me to my second poll which I will bring up a bit later: length of reviews. Call me old-fashioned, but I don't think reviews need to be more than 600 words unless they are comparing very specific items. If readers are mostly skimming, 700 words are wasted for people who may only like to hear and see what is good and bad about an app.

[Mr. Charley]

^^ Juubee, that brings me to my second poll which I will bring up a bit later: length of reviews. Call me old-fashioned, but I don't think reviews need to be more than 600 words unless they are comparing very specific items. If readers are mostly skimming, 700 words are wasted for people who may only like to hear and see what is good and bad about an app.

I'm not particular about where you post pictures or how many. I think it's one of those "at your discretion" type of thing. Whether it's at the beginning only, scattered throughout the review or only at the end, I don't personally think that will make or break a review. At the same time, I'm not even sure it needs to be official and every review has to have the same number or layout though maybe that's because I don't run a site and don't understand the importance of formatting and all that jazz. lol
However, your last point to me is the most important one. In today's day and age, we're all time sensitive and all I look for in a review is what's good and what's bad. I check out the forum threads for more detailed 'analysis' but when I'm reading a review, I just quickly want to know if it's recommended for reason a,b and c, and/or not recommended because of d, e, and g.

[shigzeo]

I'm not particular about where you post pictures or how many. I think it's one of those "at your discretion" type of thing. Whether it's at the beginning only, scattered throughout the review or only at the end, I don't personally think that will make or break a review. At the same time, I'm not even sure it needs to be official and every review has to have the same number or layout though maybe that's because I don't run a site and don't understand the importance of formatting and all that jazz. lol
However, your last point to me is the most important one. In today's day and age, we're all time sensitive and all I look for in a review is what's good and what's bad. I check out the forum threads for more detailed 'analysis' but when I'm reading a review, I just quickly want to know if it's recommended for reason a,b and c, and/or not recommended because of d, e, and g.

Thank you Mr. Charlie - can you elaborate: Do you tend to review the goods/bads at the end rather than the amazing prose? ;) I will start another poll, but your response has me interested.

[shigzeo]

Well, it looks overwhelmingly in favour of 1: pics in body. some reviews have more (ChiffaN for instance is quite a game photographer), but we will keep the same format. Thank you for the input.