How do you get that? In the original post I said I thoroughly enjoyed his work and that he should keep it up...you did read the whole thing right? Or did you just read a bit and then rage out, completely missing the point?AugustFall said:
Poll: And now for my review of Yahtzee's reviews.....
- Thread starter TheComedown
- Start date
May I be a voice of reason here?*
Actually he said he likes the videos and the humour they contain. He's just arguing the toss wether or not Yahtzee is "reviewing" the game or not. To be fair it usually says: "Zero Punctuation (splash screen) Reviews:...." [insert game title here] although on the flipside he usually refers to himself as a critic rather than a reviewer (I wont' say he ONLY refers to himself as a critic because I dunno for sure).
For an anti-Yahtzee rant, I'd say that the OP is rather unique in that he enjoys the videos but not the fact he tears into games most people love. Sadly, as YZ himself said, "nobody likes it when I am nice to a game" so he generally sticks to pulling them apart for our edification.
I've only played a handful of games he's reviewed / critiqued and enjoyed them all. Notably, he did too (well mostly).
Yes I am getting a hint of troll but at least he explained himself fully rather than just typing "SHUT UP YZ U FAG! I U H8 GAMES DONT PLAY EM LOL!", which is at least a step in the right direction, if nothing else.
Wardy
*Christ, if it's come to ME being the voice of reason, the thread must be volatile!!!
Actually he said he likes the videos and the humour they contain. He's just arguing the toss wether or not Yahtzee is "reviewing" the game or not. To be fair it usually says: "Zero Punctuation (splash screen) Reviews:...." [insert game title here] although on the flipside he usually refers to himself as a critic rather than a reviewer (I wont' say he ONLY refers to himself as a critic because I dunno for sure).
For an anti-Yahtzee rant, I'd say that the OP is rather unique in that he enjoys the videos but not the fact he tears into games most people love. Sadly, as YZ himself said, "nobody likes it when I am nice to a game" so he generally sticks to pulling them apart for our edification.
I've only played a handful of games he's reviewed / critiqued and enjoyed them all. Notably, he did too (well mostly).
Yes I am getting a hint of troll but at least he explained himself fully rather than just typing "SHUT UP YZ U FAG! I U H8 GAMES DONT PLAY EM LOL!", which is at least a step in the right direction, if nothing else.
Wardy
*Christ, if it's come to ME being the voice of reason, the thread must be volatile!!!
First off your poll is broken. The answers don't make sense.OintmentFly said:
Second Yahtzee takes all the FLAWS of them game and tells you about them. Reviewers 90% of the time are being paid to make a good review so you can't really take any reviews seriously.
you're statements don't add upOintmentFly said:
If you ask him what his opinion is and he says he hates it, there you go. He hates it.
I think all the other reviews on the Escapist site are completely uninformative, despite them actually talking about the game. watch the Escapist's review of Mafia 2. Russ Pitts says there are 36 big cars, big period music, naked women, and a cover system. He might as well have said it comes in a box and you use a controller. I don't know if it's good or not.
now listen to Yahtzee's review. he says the storyline is predictable, the game play is Linear and boring, unnecessarily padded, and the characters bland. I know that I do not want to play that game.
Maybe you don't find Yahtzee's reviews helpful because you don't give a toss about atmosphere, story, characters, originality, etc. then in that case stick to buying your first person shooters.
if you don't like negative reviews, you should probably go to one of those sites that give everything a perfect 10, waist a crap load of money on mediocre games, and wonder why you didn't just keep listening to the guy who likes Silent Hill 2
I don't agree with those people who say that Yahtzee doesn't take his reviews seriously. I think he means just about everything he says; it's just that his opinions are exaggerated because:
1. Yahtzee has been playing games, writing about games and creating his own games for a long
time, and the more knowledge and experience you have regarding a medium the more critical
and less forgiving you tend to be. There are parts in many of the negative-sounding reviews
where he will admit that there are positive aspects of the game; the one I keep coming back
is directly after the Quicktime gag in the middle of his review of Uncharted where he admits that he is being "overly mean". As someone who has played music for 17 years, I can
understand how he feels to some extent.
2. The reviews are meant to be entertainment, first and foremost. Yahtzee, like most people
who have to turn out creative work on a strict schedule, has a formula that he has to
follow in order to consistently put out good work. Some parts of this formula involve
nasty put-downs, gross and bizarre visual gags and the clever use of expletives. It's a
lot easier to use these kind of things in a negative context, so even good games tend to
savaged a bit for every little problem they have. Think back to the Bioshock and
Batman: Arkham Asylum reviews where basically says "This is a good game and I recommend
it: now I'm going to tell you about all the things I wish were better".
I think Yahtzee created Extra Punctuation for these reasons. Yeah, the columns have their humorous bits, but they are much more focused on games as a medium, and he tries to explain why he likes or dislikes various design choices related to games as a whole.
I actually do agree that Yahtzee isn't really the person to go to for straightforward, conventionally informative game reviews. Instead, I do think they are more a representation of Yahtzee's view on games as a whole. He really is closer to being a critic than being a reviewer, but there are already so many reviewers to read that this doesn't seem like an issue. If you want to read something more balanced and informative, just go on Metacritic and search for the game you want to read about.
1. Yahtzee has been playing games, writing about games and creating his own games for a long
time, and the more knowledge and experience you have regarding a medium the more critical
and less forgiving you tend to be. There are parts in many of the negative-sounding reviews
where he will admit that there are positive aspects of the game; the one I keep coming back
is directly after the Quicktime gag in the middle of his review of Uncharted where he admits that he is being "overly mean". As someone who has played music for 17 years, I can
understand how he feels to some extent.
2. The reviews are meant to be entertainment, first and foremost. Yahtzee, like most people
who have to turn out creative work on a strict schedule, has a formula that he has to
follow in order to consistently put out good work. Some parts of this formula involve
nasty put-downs, gross and bizarre visual gags and the clever use of expletives. It's a
lot easier to use these kind of things in a negative context, so even good games tend to
savaged a bit for every little problem they have. Think back to the Bioshock and
Batman: Arkham Asylum reviews where basically says "This is a good game and I recommend
it: now I'm going to tell you about all the things I wish were better".
I think Yahtzee created Extra Punctuation for these reasons. Yeah, the columns have their humorous bits, but they are much more focused on games as a medium, and he tries to explain why he likes or dislikes various design choices related to games as a whole.
I actually do agree that Yahtzee isn't really the person to go to for straightforward, conventionally informative game reviews. Instead, I do think they are more a representation of Yahtzee's view on games as a whole. He really is closer to being a critic than being a reviewer, but there are already so many reviewers to read that this doesn't seem like an issue. If you want to read something more balanced and informative, just go on Metacritic and search for the game you want to read about.
Maybe I was confused withOintmentFly said:
It does in retrospect sound like you thoroughly enjoy his bile, how could I be confused by such a mixed and rambling OP.OintmentFly said:
Oh yes but the point! How could I have missed such an obvious and well crafted point, "He shouldn't be called a reviewer" oh wait, he isn't, as has been stated he is not in the reviews section.
The thread was /ed but the first person that pointed out he is not a reviewer.
*leaves*
Here's the beauty of being a self proclaimed critic rather than a reviewer. You do not need to be objective (you can be) and you do not need to assign a score. I have a degree in Fine Arts -- not that this means anything as far as my smarts -- but what it does mean is I've had my work shit on by some reviewers, and I have had the same work lauded by others. Neither faction was being particularly objective in their critique, but that doesn't make their critique any less valid.
I can show you a painting that I think is sheer brilliance, and another that I think is total shit, and you might have the complete opposite view. Does that make your opinion wrong... hells no... it opens the door for spirited debate, while we try our best to justify our gut reactions. I always struggled that my mate's painting could earn a numerical grade of 93.5% and mine an 88.3% -- can we really judge art this precisely? A portion of my work in my final year work was done regarding my struggle with that concept.
Yahtzee made himself famous for the high speed venomous style of critique that he does. Why he started down this road only he might truly know. He believes strongly in games being elevated to the level of art -- which means they need criticism and not review. For an art form or artist to grow it needs its nits picked. He is pursuing his personal perfection in gaming -- the games he likes the most are those that have come closest to his personal taste.
His original style of reviewing in itself has become close to art in its own right. It has it's own impersonators and copy cats -- and apparently is of a quality worthy of debate.
I can show you a painting that I think is sheer brilliance, and another that I think is total shit, and you might have the complete opposite view. Does that make your opinion wrong... hells no... it opens the door for spirited debate, while we try our best to justify our gut reactions. I always struggled that my mate's painting could earn a numerical grade of 93.5% and mine an 88.3% -- can we really judge art this precisely? A portion of my work in my final year work was done regarding my struggle with that concept.
Yahtzee made himself famous for the high speed venomous style of critique that he does. Why he started down this road only he might truly know. He believes strongly in games being elevated to the level of art -- which means they need criticism and not review. For an art form or artist to grow it needs its nits picked. He is pursuing his personal perfection in gaming -- the games he likes the most are those that have come closest to his personal taste.
His original style of reviewing in itself has become close to art in its own right. It has it's own impersonators and copy cats -- and apparently is of a quality worthy of debate.
If you're keenly interested in finding out more regarding his actual points regarding game criticism, then read a few of the articles entitled Extra Punctuation. While still written in a fashion intended to entertain, he generally addresses points directly related to issues with games.
Though a few others have already mentioned it and you yourself acknowledged, Yahtzee's reviews are a matter for comedic entertainment with a light sprinkling of apt-points and nitpicking. Pointing it out does not make you particularly smart or innovative in ideas; it makes you look like a child whining for attention. This point by itself seems somewhat obvious, considering your own original post filled with various hyperbole and metaphor. Did you spend a long time working on it?
Certainly, I'll say your post wasn't poorly written, at least by internet standards. However, you merely spewed bile about something unimportant that most folks figured out around the first few months of Zero Punctuation's creation.
Though a few others have already mentioned it and you yourself acknowledged, Yahtzee's reviews are a matter for comedic entertainment with a light sprinkling of apt-points and nitpicking. Pointing it out does not make you particularly smart or innovative in ideas; it makes you look like a child whining for attention. This point by itself seems somewhat obvious, considering your own original post filled with various hyperbole and metaphor. Did you spend a long time working on it?
Certainly, I'll say your post wasn't poorly written, at least by internet standards. However, you merely spewed bile about something unimportant that most folks figured out around the first few months of Zero Punctuation's creation.
Obvious troll is obvious.
On the point of this type of thread though, I would like to say that I think people misinterpret Mr. Croshaw; he loves video games. He just so happens to be an embittered cynical bastard. I'd be willing to bet that he chose this interactive media as his outlet because it's one that he thoroughly enjoys regardless of the many flaws he sees with the industry. If you'll recall, he started doing this sort of thing for free and for his own enjoyment. What we get to enjoy every week is the fruition of his combined loves of games and petty ranting. If you take any of it seriously, than congratulations on missing the point so far off that you might as well be flinging stones at a safety pin on mars.
On the point of this type of thread though, I would like to say that I think people misinterpret Mr. Croshaw; he loves video games. He just so happens to be an embittered cynical bastard. I'd be willing to bet that he chose this interactive media as his outlet because it's one that he thoroughly enjoys regardless of the many flaws he sees with the industry. If you'll recall, he started doing this sort of thing for free and for his own enjoyment. What we get to enjoy every week is the fruition of his combined loves of games and petty ranting. If you take any of it seriously, than congratulations on missing the point so far off that you might as well be flinging stones at a safety pin on mars.
The whole "should Yahtzee's videos be taken seriously" question has been debated on these forums literally dozens of times.
You have added nothing new to said debate.
That said, I congratulate you on presenting your views in a manner that does not resemble the whining of a butthurt fanboy. Not many people manage that.
You have added nothing new to said debate.
That said, I congratulate you on presenting your views in a manner that does not resemble the whining of a butthurt fanboy. Not many people manage that.
@ Mikey: I like the comparison the the 'serious' side of the reviews. As for not giving a toss about atmosphere/story etc, you're wide of the mark there. Games are essentially stories that require interactive immersion. For me, that means the two main things are 1. a good story and 2. Good gameplay. I do what anyone else with a brain does after they read a review - hire the game first to make sure you're not wasting 100 bucks on crap.
@face: Agree with you mate.
@ August: Seeya.
Also it's nearly *edit* the end of *edit* page two and nobody has mentioned the whole 'Alan Rickman and a lemon' thing, which I thought was rather neat. Can nobody else see/hear it?
@face: Agree with you mate.
@ August: Seeya.
Also it's nearly *edit* the end of *edit* page two and nobody has mentioned the whole 'Alan Rickman and a lemon' thing, which I thought was rather neat. Can nobody else see/hear it?
Just pointing out, have you ever heard the Nostalgia Critic or Linkara do bits of subject matter they enjoy outside of a few key items? He isn't a game reviewer, he is a comedian. The same applies to quite a number of internet based "reviewers" they just have different subject matter.
Excellent. Thank-you sir. Reminds me of an argument I had where somebody told me that anything that creates commentary is art. I asked him that if we were walking along the street and I saw a dog turd and remarked on the pleasant swirling patterns in it if that made it art, lol.orangecharger said:
dathwampeer said:Which means if the dog chose to poo there because it was his statement about the quality of shop adjacent to that piece of sidewalk then it's not only activist art, but a performance piece as well.OintmentFly said:
Seriously though, I am not one to simply dismiss someone's endeavor as not worthy of the title "art", but I do struggle with how expansive the borders of that word have become. I had some out there professors who would likely have taken the dog's side.
OT: I get that the review was done as an homage to the very style it was critiquing - very cheeky indeed. My only real point was assigning a numerical score to a single game in a medium that includes variety like Scribblenauts, Pac Man, Oblivion, and Left 4 Dead (just what came to mind) -- seems a bit of a false pursuit. Sure once you have the all important number based on all of the important criteria and sub-categories, you can compare the games in a fashion. If a reviewer gave both Pac Man and Left 4 Dead a 9 out of 10, would you expect a similar experience or level of quality? A score on a math exam helps rank the students to the desired bell curve... trying to do the same with an art form becomes a bit questionable for me. There are plenty of reviewers out there that would be happy to give you that number, but I caution giving that any more credence than the over the top Yahtzee style criticism.
I give Yahtzee a 9.5374 out of 10.
