Poll: Do Yahtzee's reviews impact your game buying decisions?

[AlchemistMayCry]

I'd take a fourth option: "I watch Yahtzee to hear his bitching and then rent the game to see if said bitching is true then buy the game regardless if the bitching doesn't get in the way of things."

Yahtzee is best taken with mountainous piles of salt (to use one of his phrases from whenever) because while he does say true things, he does miss some stuff, but that's what you get for doing a review every week. You only get so much time to play the game before you have to write/animate/record the voiceover for the review. I'm gonna go look at his review of Devil May Cry 4 as an example. He criticized it for having cinematics that swaggered about for too long (when that's been DMC's usual method of storytelling), the cardboard characters (it's basically a Hollywood-style action movie. Plot? What Plot?) and the infamous dice section (which can be easily broken once you learn the trick behind the dice which is incredibly easy). Now it's true that the "Timed jumping puzzles with fixed camera angles with enemies spawning in every time you fail" is totally true, that only gets radically annoying during the harder difficulties and getting the double jump firmly breaks the puzzles into incredibly easy territory.

Tl;dr: Yahtzee's funny, don't take his reviews seriously, and see if the flaws of the game exist when you play it.

 

[solidstatemind]

If Yahtzee has a specific beef with a game that seems to coincide with those things I personally loathe (say, for example, bad controls and/or camera), I'll give it credence, but generally no: his complaints are usually legitmate, but he does engage in hyperbole when raising them.

 

[sumanoskae]

I rank somewhere in the middle, while I think Yahtzee makes many interesting and convincing points, I've come to the conclusion that our tastes in games vary greatly.

Though I did buy Painkiller under his recommendation... and never did it again after

 

[MrEff]

I live in America, so I don't really wait for a month and a half until he gets the game to review. Plus, I agree with some of the posters here, he's a critic, and critics are inherently wrong most of the time. What he rants about is either accurate or not. There isn't much room for interpretation, and there shouldn't be. What he likes, he likes, what he doesn't he doesn't, and that should be the only basis anyone has for purchasing a game. And yes, he is funny as hell...

 

[jpoon]

He doesn't influence my purchasing choices but he calls out the shitty decisions that developers make like a champ. I give him 2 thumbs up!

 

[Julianking93]

Only if he gives a game a positive review.

If he likes a game, I'll probably get it, but I was usually going to buy or avoid a game anyway.

 

[happy_turtle]

As a general rule I never read a Yahtzee review of a game I am playing or want to play. As after seeing one I tend to notice annoyances that I wouldn't have spotted before he mentioned them....Ignorance is bliss

 

[Usurpurus]

Surely this is one of the top re-posted threads here?

I try not to take his reviews seriously but then when I play the game I see his points.

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

Usually not.
I mean, I can't even remember if I ever took his reviews into consideration. Although I might have, I do think he makes some pretty good points.

 

[Proteus214]

Some of his "reviews" have some substance to them, but you need to learn to weed through the comedic trolling for real criticisms and praises for a title.

 

[Neikun]

When I find myself agreeing with most of what he says, I believe it's acceptable that I can trust his opinion.
If he dislikes an aspect of a game that I typically like, then that part of his argument typically goes unheeded.

 

[EscapeGoat_v1legacy]

Not in the slightest. When I buy games, I don't go by reviews anyway, so Zero Punctuation really doesn't have any impact on whether or not I buy a game. I tend to look at the blurb, the genre and what my friends think of it as to whether or not I buy any given game.

 

[DjDairy]

Does the pope use a toilet when relieving his bowels?

 

[GreatVladmir]

No, he is a comidian, just like AVGN or NC, he is not to be taken seriously atall, and anyone who actually is influenced by his "reviews", I feel very, very sorry for you.

 

[Leviathan_]

What?

There are people who take Yahtzee seriously?

 

[Fallen-Angel Risen-Demon]

i watch his show i have a laugh but i realy don't take him seriosly like most things. taking things too seriosly is boring and even if it illigitment review i only take note of what they say if theres a bunch 'o people saying its amazing/sucks donky dick.

 

[Daipire]

When I want to be talked out of buying a game, I listen to Yahtzee.

 

[The Heik]

I'm just curious because I consider Yahtzee to be more of an insult comic and not so much a critic. He's certainly not a reviewer in my opinion.

I fervently argue this point. In fact, I would say that a huge percentage of reviewers out there are less reviewers than he is, simply because they are given money by the game companies. That means that if they review a game badly the supporting game company loses money, and as such will have less money to give to the review, even more so because the reviewers aren't helping them. No money means those reviewers are out of work, so they always edge on the positive side if only to ensure their paychecks.

On the other hand,it is Yahtzee's job, nay his reputation, to point out the flaws in a game. He looks at the games critically, and compares them to gaming as a whole. That's the way it should be done. Oh sure his reviews are his own opinion, but then again every review is subjective, and he at least tells us straight out that he's subjective, rather than other sites whose reviews you swear are set in stone. He may put in jokes to up the enjoyment level on his movies, but Yahtzee really talks about the positives and negatives of the game under the fast-talking and dick jokes. Combine that with his Extra Punctuation periodical which discusses overall characteristics of gaming, and you have an individual who reviews games on a far more legitimate level.

OT: and yes his reviews does affect my shopping. Isn't it the point of reviews to give you an opinion that affects your choice of whether or not to buy a game?