I hate this arguement!
"Oooh! Yahtzee isn't really a serious reviewer! He's comedy!"
Well if you were to look at a lot of the extra punctuation reviews, off prime-time you'd see that he does actually take his reviews seriously. And not just individual games. He looks at the whole culture and thinks deeply about it. I mean, read for yourself if you don't believe me:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/8586-Extra-Punctuation-Molyneuxs-Unfocused-Innovation
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/8031-Extra-Punctuation-Dont-Use-the-Word-Gamer
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/8156-Extra-Punctuation-On-Silent-Protagonists
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/8127-Extra-Punctuation-On-Endings
"But he does it in a humorous manner! Therefore, it's not serious!"
Well, that's kinda why he's noticed. I mean, there are lots of reviews in the user review section on this site that give just as good an opinion as Yahtzee. But they're not noticed because they're just words. Good as they are, they do little to stand out. Often to stand out it the market, you have to either group up with a big company or make yourself noticed with a fresh review style. And to be honest, I'd rather lose a little review to good jokes than the whole review to being brought out and bribed.
"oh....er....but, but, but. It doesn't have a score! Yes, that means it's bad!
You know what? I think scoring by number is bollocks. I.G.N. for instance bases 40% of its score on graphics and sound. You want graphics and sounds? Go to a cinema! It's hard to capture the full experience a game gives you with a number. What if it has niche appeal? I would rate a JRPG lowly, but somone who likes JRPGs and knows more about them would rate it higher. Not to mention that numerical reviews with a large number of people doesn't work either. Take system shock 2, for instance. Some love it, some hate it. Overall, it's going to get a mediocre score, which won't accurately reflect anyone's opinion of it.
And which is better, anyway? Getting a big fat number from a review, or a guy pointing out what's good and bad about a game and describing the kind of experience you might get. Someone who describes it for what it is or who has been told by their boss to give it a 7ish?
That leaves the one real reason for not calling him serious:
"WAAAA!! WAAAA!! HE TRASHED A GAME I LIKE AND MADE A FEW VALID POINTS!!! Maybe if I shout about it, he'll go away"
That is it, isn't it? I mean seriously.