Reviews On Games/Movies You've Never Played/Seen

I want to talk about another review pet peeve of mine that unfortunately seems to be more of a problem with amateur bloggers and broadcasters than major publications, that being the passing of final judgement on a work before it's even released to the public.

Not to point any fingers, but I've seen full written reviews and videos more often denouncing "X Game/Movie" is horrible, and then the writer actually has the nerve to say they haven't actually watched or played what they're reviewing! I mean, how could you possible know without having experienced it first hand? Preview trailers and stills simply do not provide enough information for someone to give their final judgement on something.

Don't get me wrong, it's perfectly fine to post your speculations on something or your opinion of the work thus far as long as it's stated as such. But to do otherwise completely discredits you as a reviewer to me.

Speculating is fun, but if your ideas swing one way or another without showing an open mind to try the final product then it becomes clear that you've already made up your mind. A strongly biased review without proper disclaimers is not an honest one to your readers. This goes for both negative and positive reviews.

In short, the phrase "in my opinion" can do a lot for your credibility to your readers. At least to me anyway, but that's my opinion ;)