User:Logan The Master/sandbox

The Video Game Critic is a website focused on video-game reviews and run by David Mrozek. It was established in 1999, and is known for featuring comprehensive reviews on many early gaming platforms.

History
Mrozek, a self-proclaimed fan of video game platforms old and new. He is by profession a computer programmer, and established Dave's Video Game Reviews in 1999, citing an inspiration from the reviewing format of the website "Tomorrow's Heroes". An early version of his site was primarily text-based, and featured reviews solely on the Atari 2600. The platforms reviewed eventually expanded, and by 2000 the name of the site had changed to The Video Game Critic. The original URL, www.thevideogamecritic.com, was stolen by a gambling website when Mrozek forgot to renew the domain, so the URL was shortened to videogamecritic.net. He has been referenced in research journals regarding gaming systems.

Reviews
The Video Game Critic contains over 4,000 video game reviews spanning across 45 consoles and portables. The site's reviews are included in AtariAge and MobyGames indices, and have been recommended by Stephen Glicker. The rating system used by The Video Game Critic is similar to the grading system used by educational institutions, and has a range of "A+" to "F−". One striking difference between many other review sites is that The Video Game Critic rates primarily on the gameplay, or the level of enjoyment. Secondarily, he factors in the games graphics, sound and control, and the length of the review is typically a paragraph. Critiquing the way other review sites tend to dismiss early video games, Mrozek has said, "I was also tired of reviewers trashing old games solely because of their antiquated graphics while being totally oblivious to their excellent, timeless gameplay".