Many videos games are published annually from a variety of companies across platforms and genres. With this variety comes different critic/audience responses. Some websites like VGChartz provide data on video game charts, game sales, top sellers, and overall game data. Additionally, metacritic provides critic ratings for each game upon release. Kaggle has considated data from both sources into one dataset.
Looking through the provided data, it's shown that Grand Theft Auto V had a critic score of 97, global sales at 21.12 million, and a user score of 8.2. While GTA Auto V had 0.31 million more sales than its predecessor, its user score went down, showing that more sales doesn't equate to increased user happiness. More importantly, GTA V generated 0.218 million sales per critic-score point (21.12 ÷ 97).
Immediately following is Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas with a critic score of 95, global sales at 20.81 millions and a user score of 9. As it was released before Grand Theft Auto V, that while the game had less sales, there was a higher user satisfaction of 0.8. GTA San Andreas generated 0.219 million sales per critic-score point (20.81 ÷ 95). Ultimately, this reveals that while the two games had different critic scores and global sales, they had extremely similar amount of sales per critic score.
Ultimately it shows that critic score, global sales, and user scores don't move together and don't impact each other significantly. Of course, it's important to note that correlation does not equal causation. These numbers highlight differences between the games, but don't explain why one sold more than the other or why it received a higher user score.
| Name | Platform
What console/where the game was released
|
Year_of_Release
When the game was released
|
Genre
Genre of the game
|
Publisher
Who published the game
|
Critic_Score
Aggregate score compiled by Metacritic staff
|
Global_Sales
Total worldwide sales (in millions)
|
User_Score
Score by Metacritic's subscribers
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Theft Auto V |
PS3 |
2013 |
Action |
Take-Two Interactive |
97 |
21.12 |
8.2 |
| Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas |
PS2 |
2004 |
Action |
Take-Two Interactive |
95 |
20.81 |
9 |
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City |
PS2 |
2002 |
Action |
Take-Two Interactive |
95 |
16.15 |
8.7 |
Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec |
PS2 |
2001 |
Racing |
Sony Computer Entertainment |
95 |
14.98 |
8.4 |
Mario Kart DS |
DS |
2005 |
Racing |
Nintendo |
91 |
23.22 |
8.6 |
New Super Mario Bros. |
DS |
2006 |
Platform |
Nintendo |
89 |
29.81 |
8.5 |
New Super Mario Bros. Wii |
Wii |
2009 |
Platform |
Nintendo |
87 |
28.38 |
8.4 |
Mario Kart Wii |
Wii |
2008 |
Racing |
Nintendo |
82 |
35.57 |
8.3 |
Wii Sports Resort |
Wii |
2009 |
Sports |
Nintendo |
80 |
32.78 |
8 |
Wii Fit |
Wii |
2007 |
Sports |
Nintendo |
80 |
22.7 |
7.7 |
Wii Fit Plus |
Wii |
2009 |
Sports |
Nintendo |
80 |
21.79 |
7.4 |
Wii Sports |
Wii |
2006 |
Sports |
Nintendo |
76 |
82.54 |
8 |
Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day |
DS |
2005 |
Misc |
Nintendo |
77 |
20.15 |
7.9 |
Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day |
DS |
2005 |
Puzzle |
Nintendo |
77 |
15.29 |
7.1 |
Kinect Adventures! |
X360 |
2010 |
Misc |
Microsoft Game Studios |
61 |
21.86 |
6.3 |
Wii Play |
Wii |
2006 |
Misc |
Nintendo |
58 |
28.92 |
6.6 |