Hello Erik Rapson here, founder or (if you will) overlord of Only the Games.

Our name embodies a dual meaning. In the more obvious sense, it describes our goal of a succinct and comprehensive videogame blog, one focused solely on the games and the range of experiences they offer. Sales data, quarterly earnings and certainly the self-satisfied NPD press releases of publishers and will never be reported.

In another sense, Only the Games is meant to be a little bit ironic, purposefully debasing the value of gaming. It reflects a mistaken impression of this young medium; only an experience that begins and ends in and of itself. In some cases that would be absolutely right. But for the most part, games have the capacity to be a powerful source of expression, for both player and designer. The possibilities are endless and we have, so far, barely scratched the surface. If a book is mere paper, then games are only lines of code running on computer chips. Which they are, of course.

Some things to know:

Reviews, Not Recommendations

Our reviews follow neither numerical scales nor value scales — just the text. Titles are played thoroughly with a critical eye and the review itself can go anywhere from there. Don’t expect a recap of features, because we try to break down the experience as a piece of communication, design and art. Whatever is fitting will be written.

All reviews are substantiated on retail copies. Sometimes, they will be late compared to other publications, but it’s an acceptable trade off that allows us to look with a keen and fair mind at the true and final quality of a product.

You’ll also never see a recommendation to buy a game, because, frankly, by using a vernacular that’s contained to the experience, we expect that any reader who has his or her own mind will be clued as to whether or not it’s an experience that will speak to them.

Previews

Any coverage before a final review is an inherently tricky business. So here at OTG we try to keep away from the previewing process, but we do still do it. But we keep in mind that these games are not complete and could fall either way upon release.

It may be just semantics but “Impressions” or “Hands-On” will indicate a playtime that lasted for roughly within an hour. It takes time to fully come to grips with any game, so these articles will shy away from making any bold judgments. Whereas a “Preview” indicates that the playtime with the title was an hour or more and these articles may be more critical in individual elements, seeing as the game had time to sink in with our writers.