I think you've missed my argument. I'm saying I think it means that, but it's not proof and there is no proof. Proof would require sales figures and Metascores to be compared and a clear correlation drawn. In the absence of such proof, it's a safe assumption.
That still doesn't show how library Metascores affect public perception of a platform, if at all. You haven't addressed Silent-Buddha's point, that he doesn't think there's a correlation between critical acclaim and public value in that awareness on a platfrom level. I agree it can be implied and, certainly in the absence of any better info, is a meaningful way to compare libraries, but that doesn't prove that a higher number of 90+ metascore games increases a platform's value and gives it a competitive edge. There's also a question of whether number of highest game scores or mean average game scores or interquiartile game scores or whatever is the deciding factor for consumer perception.
Silent-Buddha is right to question it, but I think that decent arguments are made in favour of Metacritic scores.
Almost.
The biggest thing that I bring up and everyone has missed.
Metacritic scores are an echo chamber of people who already are interested in that type of game. As such it doesn't include people that aren't interested in that type of game. Is someone interested in GTA V going to also be interested in Legend of Zelda: BOW? There's a high likelihood that not everyone that likes GTA is also going to like Zelda. But people that don't like Zelda are unlikely to play or rate Zelda in the first place.
Hence why I used StarCraft 2 (93 metacritic). The majority of the users on this forum aren't interested in RTS games, so does SC2 having a high Metacritic rating mean that it will sell more copies than HZD (89) or COD: Infinite Warfare (77) with a lower Metacritic score? And will the majority of people on this forum also agree that SC2 is a better draw for the average consumer than HZD or COD: IW because of the higher metacritic score?
On a per SKU basis, does Battlefield 4 (81) or COD: Inifinite Warfare (77) represent a worse draw for the average consumer than GOW (94) or HZD (89)?
Cross genre comparisons become almost meaningless due to this. Even same genre comparisons become tricky if there's an established playerbase for a franchise.
Did Resistance: Fall of Man (86) ever come even remotely close to any of the CODs (PS3 version only)? Nope. COD 3 (88) was also in the launch window of PS3.
Which did better on X360? Halo: Reach (91) or COD: BO (87)? It wasn't the one with the higher metacritic score.
I've listened to the podcasts of a fair few reviewers as they talk about this phenomena, and it's actually quite interesting to hear their thoughts on why sales don't always match the review scores that they give to a game.
While there are obvious cases where sales performance matches, there are also obvious cases where it doesn't. And my main point from before is that when you try to compare metacritic scores across genres and then try to associate average consumer interest (usually represented by sales) in those titles, the comparison completely falls apart.
When comparing titles within the same genre, it should generally be representative, but that isn't always the case. For example, I believe HZD (89) sold more copies than the PS4 version of The Witcher 3 (92).
Regards,
SB