Seven console generations and the best the Simpsons managed to do was devolve to a one-button GameBoy. Ouch.

Oh, there it is.

This looks like it was shot in front of a clothing shop. I can tell from some of the cans and from seeing quite a few shops in my time.

I dunno, his textures look kind of muddy, and the background is obviously pre-rendered 2D.

Squirrel.

Meh. It can always get worse.

If Infinite gets high scores across the board, IGN doesn't have a problem. Just for the sake of argument, however, imagine the following situation:

Well, I guess that was inevitable. To my ear, the Disney characters sound better (and less stilted) with English voices, but Square's characters sound better in Japanese.

Sure, and from the publisher's point of view it makes sense. From a journalist's point of view, it's problematic. It's difficult to take exclusive deals like this and retain your independence—and therefore your respectability. I'd never take the deal because I'd know I'd feel pressure to give a good review. If I…

Okay, allow me to be cynical for a moment.

Not glue. Static cling.

All jobs in the game are useless except for the one skill that makes them indispensable. If you're still single-classed by the end of the game, you're doing it wrong.

Polished graphics, maybe, but Time Mages still look goofy.

Yeah, but with a Metacritic user score of 8.2 it wasn't exactly hated. SimCity currently sits at 1.7. Even Colonial Marines manages a 3.8.

I should probably learn to stay away from hyperbole, but it's so tempting!

There are plenty of big, AAA games that get generally well respected. Skyrim was 2011's 3rd best selling game: Arkham City was a little ways down the list.

Maxis initially claimed that the smaller city size was necessary due to the increased system resources needed to drive their new, more complicated simulation.

At this point I'm waiting for Maxis/EA to announce that you CAN build bigger cities, but you have to buy the extra space in their real money auction house.

I don't own the new SimCity yet. I wanted to like what I saw of it. I've even considered that maybe constructing an intricately detailed bonsai biome of a city could be pretty fun if it was done right.

Well, yeah, but I'm thinking even Maxis is surprised by that one.