[JoshM33k]

Interesting. What do you think is vague about the five star system? Or is it any rating system that would be "garbage-in"?

Being interested in video games, I've thought a lot about rating systems. Older magazines used to use 10 (or even 100) point scales, and you quickly realize all the rating ends up taking place in the top 30-40 percent of your scale anyway... so why not limit the gradations. For my money, 5 stars makes sense... you've got a middle of the road "average" 3 star movie, and then two stars above and below.

[elijahmoore]

My thoughts are generally in line with yours - big problem from the consumer's perspective is tendency for most titles to end up in the 3.8 to 4.2 range. Not very helpful when I'm browsing titles.

The stars are also just a snapshot of feeling, and don't account for any context like expectations, identity, mood etc. Maybe I'd give Black Swan five stars because it was impressive and won awards, but it doesn't mean I necessarily enjoyed it or would recommend it to others. Perhaps a system based loosely on Net Promoter Score ideas could be more helpful