How do you rate games?

I felt it was necessary to pick my brain for the fine folks here when it comes to how I rate games. When you read reviews on sites, they take into consideration all aspects of a game to come up with a final score, which all makes good sense. Over the years I've had responses to my take on games ranging from "right on" to "what are you thinking" or "flawed". So what am I thinking when you don't agree with what I see?

I always look at all aspects of the game. The graphics, sound, music, controls, interface, fun factor, etc. When it comes down to scoring though there is one aspect that rises highly above all the rest. Fun factor. I've played some games that have looked and sounded great and have been a bore to play, plus I've played crappy looking and sounding games that have had me hooked for months. So in my mind to be fair to those that can't seem to make a game take advantage of the hardware but know what keeps a gamer occupied, when I put down the controller, I reflect back to how much fun I had with it and that is how I make my decision. This could be flawed, but I would feel bad to rate a game higher just because it had better graphics. This way I don't have to worry about rating games according to their platform, because a game made 20 years ago can be just as fun as a game made today.

Of course there is the other side to this, that I sometimes simply have way more fun with a game than the common gamer and vice versa. So if you think I scored a game too high or too low, I encourage feedback on how much you agree or disagree. I also think that contrasting views game to game is what makes this industry so great. To get a broad range of opinions for each game shows that we are all not one person and each of us have a different itch that needs to be scratched. So agree or disagree with me, but in the end, I am just one opinion.

What do you guys look for most when playing a game? How do you go about rating it and how often are you among popular opinion? For the times you were on the minority end of a game score, do you feel you missed something or do you rather feel others are just following the bandwagon?

I loved the shit out of Too human even though it was raped across the board. I saw the flaws but the fun outwieghed them. But I wouldnt give it a 5 star rating because I know it doesnt deserve one.

I rate games by how much I enjoy them. How polished they are, how nice they look, all are good things but to me ultimately meaningless.

I am almost never in the popular opinion, these days... :\

Popular opinion and me aren't the best of friends either. How much praise did LostWinds get? Well, I didn't find it to entertaining.

LostWinds... it had no direction, I never really knew where to go, and I didn't care because the story was just so blah. The controls work VERY well, they should be commended for that if nothing else.

But if you want a platformer that works a little better NyxQuest is better way to go.

Popular opinion is usually what was cool a long time ago. Take music for instance. Me being a hip in-scene musician, I know what's cool. lol Most of you simple peasants still listen to Destiny's Child and Linkin Park (sorry NF!! ) Just kidding, my band isn't cool, hip, or popular. ROFL