Game reviewers draft a 'Bill of Rights'

Though you may begrudge them for stamping a 4.5 across Highly Anticipated Shooty Game, or daring to rate The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess an outrageous 1.3 points lower than what you felt it truly deserved, game reviewers are known to have feelings too. Sensing the beating hearts beneath these calculating judgment machines, MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo has asked several reviewers to lay out the circumstances necessary for the wishfully "perfect" review. Their requests aren't as lofty as you might expect.

Compiled in a "Bill of Rights," reviewers' requests include being granted access to a game's online mode during the review process, as well as receiving a final boxed copy of the game prior to the review. "I think all a reviewer should really have in their disposal is exactly what the person purchasing the game will have," says Giant Bomb's Jeff Gerstmann.

Sometimes, even a review copy of the game is hard to come by on time, with critics asking to receive final code a week before the review gets underway. Modern production schedules frequently prevent this, forcing writers to peer into the future and take the publisher's word on what will be fixed in the final code. Oh, and developers? Please don't peer over their shoulders while they're playing your game. Check out the full Game Reviewer's Bill of Rights on MTV Multiplayer.