Exactly. The real problem here is underhanded practice within the industry, and they could just as easily be targeted like this without being included in Metacr

Exactly. The real problem here is underhanded practice within the industry, and they could just as easily be targeted like this without being included in Metacritic. In fact, since Metacritic do actually have a policy for the kind of reviews Ars makes, this article ends up feeling a little disingenuous. Or at least not the whole story. I don't think they are really doing as much of a service as they make out by not giving a real score. For me it's a negative.