TEN FINS: - If we give a product ten fins then you know that your life will get a whole lot better by purchasing it. This rating is given out about as frequently as a Solar Eclipse. In order for a game/piece of hardware to get an 'Extreme Game/Hardware Award', it'll have to be bloody spiffy, saucy, spicy and as close to perfect as possible. Let's face it- that isn't easy.

NINE FINS: - This is for games/hardware that is not quite perfect but still an essential purchase. You won't want to live without a product that gets this score.

EIGHT FINS: - An eight fin overall tastiness rating will mean that the particular product in question is really outstanding and almost unmissable but by no means perfect. This will be the bottom-line in terms of a Sharky Extreme recommendation. If we give something eight fins then it means we would certainly buy it and recommend that you do so if you can spare the cash.

SEVEN FINS: - A seven fin rating is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. This means the product/game in question is good enough and worth a buy if its something that you the reader have a fetish for. In most cases it means that your money will be well spent.

SIX FINS: - This is for games/hardware that really isn't very original and is neither groundbreaking nor worth the money.

FIVE FINS: - We're getting low now. A five fin rating stands for 'Average'. When we mean average we mean that this product should only be bought in cases of extreme fetish. If you're into a particular genre of game and just have some time on your hands and extra cash to splash then you'll be a happy camper- if only for a short while.

FOUR FINS: - Ok we're now entering the 'below par' zone here. Obviously the product here falls into many of the following categories being sloppy, expensive and unoriginal.

THREE FINS: - For something to get a three fin rating you know that it's basically a down and out. Avoid at all costs

TWO FINS: - Ok this is almost rock bottom, not quite Space Bunnies 'rock bottom' but still. You really don't want to spend any money at all down at this level. Stay clear.

ONE FIN: - Oh boy this is as low as it gets. I would recommend you buying second-hand Y-Fronts (spice not included) and just running as far as you can from the product in question. Any product receiving a rating of one fin is trying to rob you of your hard-earned cash and is so diabolical that you just won't get any pleasure out of it. Avoid at all costs.

1. One of the most important criteria we apply to reviews that is a bit different is this: How well does the product measure up to its marketing campaign or rather have the company in question tried to pull the wool over consumers eyes? The best way to have great technology/games prevail is to persuade the manufacturers/publishers to tell the truth. In this way, price is also a factor. We are really tired of forking out big bucks for cack. Or watching a great marketing campaign put an inferior product out that preys on the new buyer. On the other fin, when a company is quite honest about the realistic expectations a consumer may have, we will acknowledge this fact.
2. Any and every piece of hardware that's reviewed gets a full monty going over. We try and make sure we test the particular hardware in question on as many different systems and configurations as possible to give as broad a spectrum as humanly possible. And if it performs admirably for the majority with lower and mid-range PC's then all the better- we'll say so. We won't forget about the people that don't have Pentium II 450MHz's and if the end result is that it alienates them by poor performance then we'll bloody well say so.
3. We do test all hardware and software extensively spending many an hour playing through games and/or benchmarking hardware. You might be surprised at the number of boards that come our way that have only had benchmarks played on them! We do this to make sure that we can be as thorough as possible in order to find any loopholes or cracks that otherwise might be invisible to some of the less knowledgeable readers.
4. Just as we're always ready to compliment a piece of hardware or congratulate a games company on their hard work, we are just as ready to put the smack down. We might be friendly with the people in the industry but our readers always come first. We all know what it's like to waste a wad of cash only to find out that the product purchased doesn't cut the mustard. This syndrome is what we'll be trying to make you, our readers, avoid.
5. We'll review games/hardware from a gamer's perspective FIRST and from an astrophysicist's perspective second. In other words, we'll judge the merit of the game/hardware based upon the new innovation or enjoyment it will bring to gamers and then talk about the technology that goes hand-in-hand second. We sleep a little less granted- and we probably eat more Pizza too but we're gamers all right.
6. We don't talk in mathematical riddles here- we're gamers just the same as anyone else out there. But for those of you that are members of MENSA, we'll have enough technology gloss in our editorials to make sure you don't feel alienated.
7. Above all we don't regurgitate Press Releases. We loathe the thought of anyone doing something like that. It just isn't tennis.
8. We have standards when reviewing and only do so with a six pack of mountain dew and a cold one day old Pizza. Those are the high standards that we set.