[dc]A[/dc]s a person who runs a games review site, I am extremely fortunate and get to try out not just games, but gaming related hardware. Anyone who has seen my site will know there are quite a few headset reviews as well as reviews of gaming mice.
Just recently though, I have had a slight crisis over how I perceive value. One of the things people often criticise reviewers for, is the lack of connection they have to average buyers. I always thought that I was pretty good at this, but I may have slipped a little!
Don’t get me wrong, I stand by all of my reviews, as I have said before, you can only review based on what you know. You can only compare products against ones you have previously used.
At £150 a product may well be amazing. However, it is still £150. Is that really good value, when a product that is £40 performs almost as well, even if it is missing some of the whizzy bits? The fact that I, as a review, am not paying for it can make for a strange view on the value.
It is my job to put myself in the shoes of the buyer. When presented with two products, each of which has had a shining review – which will I go for – the one my wife will kill me for spending money on, or the one that is almost as good but is less that half the cost?
I do this with every review, but until now did not have a baseline to compare to. Now I do!
But again, this all comes down to experience and having a broader range of products to compare.
