The Real Deal on Zero Punctuation

remnant_phoenix

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I know that this comes up all the time, and I know that there's not a ton of discussion value, but I had to get this out there because it's been bugging me.

Some people take Yahtzee too seriously. Again, yes, I know, it's been said many times, but I'd like to use this post to remind us all that there are some key things about Yahtzee that people regularly seem to forget:

(These are all things that HE HAS SAID ABOUT HIMSELF, I'm not making my own assertions.)

He is a "critic," and he goes out of his way to call himself a "critic," not a "reviewer," and there is a subtle, yet distinct, difference there. He doesn't see his job as reviewing a game and giving an overall opinion, good and bad. He sees his job as criticizing a game, pointing out its flaws and ragging on them, even if they are petty and nit-picky criticisms.

He ENJOYS taking the piss out of something and ruining other people's enjoyment of something.

He is a jaded, cynical, misanthrope.

He doesn't believe that people should actually listen to his opinion! His own words: "Do you really need someone in 'authority' giving you a simple 'yay' or 'nay' before you buy something?!"

= = = = =

Emply basic observation and critical thinking skills it becomes quite clear: Zero Punctutation is NOT meant to be taken seriously. It a sense, it's NOT a even a review show. Generally speaking, the point of a review is to enlighten potential consumers of the product being reviewed, helping them decide whether or not they want to buy it. Yahtzee himself has stated that this is not his purpose in ZP. Therefore, it can be easily argued that ZP isn't a review show.

I would argue that ZP a roast, a foul-mouthed writer expousing foul analogies for the things he doesn't like about video games, whether he likes the overall game or not. I'd even argue that ZP may be a satire of video game reviewing, and if anything is designed NOT to be taken seriously, it's satire.

So yeah. Watch it. Enjoy it. Laugh. But don't take it seriously. Please.

EDIT: When I said "don't take it seriously" I meant "don't take what he says as gospel truth."

Can helpful and informative things be gleaned from ZP? Of course. That is, if you look past the exaggerated comic effect, ZP does provide some helpful information on games. Is it possible to tell by Yahtzee's opinion whether or not you'll like a game? Sure. That is, if you have a good understanding of how Yahtzee's taste compares to your own.

I'm just asking that people use a little pattern recognition and critical thinking before they let Yahtzee's opinion have any effect on their purchasing decisions.

SECOND EDIT: Okay. I apologize. I probably shouldn't have made this thread. I wrote this up in a reactionary moment and the main point that I was trying to make overall got mostly lost in my words. Can we just let this one die out quickly?
 

Kopikatsu

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I don't see the discussion value, unless it's bashing the OP for what is OBVIOUSLY FALSE. EVERYONE KNOWS THAT YAHTZEE IS A REVIEWER!

But seriously, I agree with the OP. So many people on this site say that Yahtzee should be taken seriously, but he really shouldn't. He takes the flaws of the game and blows them way out of proportion. Because it's funny! Which it is. (That's not to say that he doesn't make good points, but most of them go into Extra Punctuation.)
 

Mittens The Kitten

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Whether or not Yahtzee genuinely likes a game or not can sometimes come through in his reviews (sorry, critiques). However, his opinion on any particular game is usually subject to debate.
 

enzilewulf

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Yahtzee actually improves my depth of Immersion when playing a game. He points out flaws so I know what to look out for and I don't really let it break the flow of game play as much. I.E when I bought Red Dead Redemption I already knew what to expect from Yahtzee, so when the walk animation failed or when the game bugged out, it really didn't disrupt the flow of gameplay and I was still heavily immersed in it. If I hadn't know what to expect I would be a little bit more taken out of it.

As for Opinion I don't let any critic or reviewer let it get to me. If you enjoy it you enjoy it. Thats why SpongeBobSquarePants The movie the game for Game cube will always be in my top five. Regardless of how silly and stupid that sounds.
 

Pearwood

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Well done Captain Obvious. I think you're going a bit far though, he does proper reviews every so often but only if he can still make the review funny.
 

ZZoMBiE13

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enzilewulf said:
As for Opinion I don't let any critic or reviewer let it get to me. If you enjoy it you enjoy it. Thats why SpongeBobSquarePants The movie the game for Game cube will always be in my top five. Regardless of how silly and stupid that sounds.
You know, when my daughter was younger I would buy those games for her. The Spongebob games were never in danger of taking Mario's title as king of the platformers, but they were always fun. And usually funny too.
 

GiglameshSoulEater

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Yahtzee also said that humour is the best way to make people listen.
His style is to ignore good points to point out the bad.This is in contrast to other reviews of high publicity games, which reviews often focus on the positive. He does raise good points, but not about what is positive.
Yin and yang.
 

jessegeek

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Oct 31, 2011
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Yeah, I don't need Yahtzee to approve games that I like, and the series is a comedy series. But at the same time Yahtzee raises valid points about the state of gaming, ie; that 90% of modern shooters are boring clones, that many franchises have bloated to the point where they don't need to make good games and so have become scarce more than rehashes (and that this is making the whole industry creativity-starved), that Amnesia is the only thing close to a survival horror in modern gaming, and that story and characterisation actually play a huge part in a game... I could go on but you get the point.

It's great that he raises these points whilst not coming over all preachy and detracting from the series' humour.
 

remnant_phoenix

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SecretNegative said:
Which of your favorite games did he not like this time?
He didn't. I'm just annoyed at people who his opinion as gospel truth without employing any discernment or critical thinking skills of their own. Especially when he himself has dismissed the idea of doing so.
 

ryanthemadman

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Nov 5, 2010
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don't take him seriously? but the points he makes are spot on. why wouldn't we listen to his opinion and take it into consideration?
 

ZeroHero3D

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remnant_phoenix said:
I know that this comes up all the time, and I know that there's not a ton of discussion value, but I had to get this out there because it's been bugging me.

Some people take Yahtzee too seriously. Again, yes, I know, it's been said many times, but I'd like to use this post to remind us all that there are some key things about Yahtzee that people regularly seem to forget:

(These are all things that HE HAS SAID ABOUT HIMSELF, I'm not making my own assertions.)

He is a "critic," and he goes out of his way to call himself a "critic," not a "reviewer," and there is a subtle, yet distinct, difference there. He doesn't see his job as reviewing a game and giving an overall opinion, good and bad. He sees his job as criticizing a game, pointing out its flaws and ragging on them, even if they are petty and nit-picky criticisms.

He ENJOYS taking the piss out of something and ruining other people's enjoyment of something.

He is a jaded, cynical, misanthrope.

He doesn't believe that people should actually listen to his opinion! His own words: "Do you really need someone in 'authority' giving you a simple 'yay' or 'nay' before you buy something?!"

= = = = =

Emply basic observation and critical thinking skills it becomes quite clear: Zero Punctutation is NOT meant to be taken seriously. It a sense, it's NOT a even a review show. Generally speaking, the point of a review is to enlighten potential consumers of the product being reviewed, helping them decide whether or not they want to buy it. Yahtzee himself has stated that this is not his purpose in ZP. Therefore, it can be easily argued that ZP isn't a review show.

I would argue that ZP a roast, a foul-mouthed writer expousing foul analogies for the things he doesn't like about video games, whether he likes the overall game or not. I'd even argue that ZP may be a satire of video game reviewing, and if anything is designed NOT to be taken seriously, it's satire.

So yeah. Watch it. Enjoy it. Laugh. But don't take it seriously. Please.

EDIT: When I said "don't take it seriously" I meant "don't take what he says as gospel truth."

Can helpful and informative things be gleaned from ZP? Of course. That is, if you look past the exaggerated comic effect, ZP does provide some helpful information on games. Is it possible to tell by Yahtzee's opinion whether or not you'll like a game? Sure. That is, if you have a good understanding of how Yahtzee's taste compares to your own.

I'm just asking that people use a little pattern recognition and critical thinking before they let Yahtzee's opinion have any effect on their purchasing decisions.
i think Pinkie Pie can bring the obvious response to your case, good sir.

http://youtu.be/5LO45HDhl_c
 
Aug 10, 2011
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No, I think for the mot part people understand this. You get children every now and then say how terrible ZP is now or something like that, but I think for the most part people in the comment section- if they disagree- follow the format: "while i agree on X, I'd like to bring up Y as a counterpoint." I'm actually okay with that, because you as the viewer can then weigh the game's negative qualities (as magnified by ZP) versus what I like to think of as intelligent people enjoyed about the game. Dare I say this particular format is much better suited towards evaluating a game, rather than a number. Especially since numbers can't be lower than 8/10 anymore.

Or, God forbid we bring up DA2 again.

pssst... the word is "employ"...
 

Casual Shinji

Should've gone before we left.
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Jul 18, 2009
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Then maybe we should stop making serious discussion threads about not taking Yahtzee's critique serious.

Seriously Honestly, can we stop these "I don't take Yahtzee serious, so neither should anyone else" threads?
 

Trivea

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Jan 27, 2011
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I can't help but agree with the OP. He's taken the piss out of every game he's played except Portal (and even Portal to a degree in his critique of the sequel, even if it was just the fans), at least to a certain degree - even Silent Hill 2. Generally, he'll seem to bash a game to pieces and then say "overall it was fun to play but", except in the cases of games that are "fucking fucking fucking fucking bad bad bad bad don't don't don't don't play it".

Yes, he's bashed some games that I genuinely like. Do I care? No, because even if it was a review show (which it isn't) he's entitled to his opinion and I'm not going to get mad even if I think he's wrong.
 

remnant_phoenix

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YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH said:
Or, god forbid we bring up DA2 again.
Ah, but you just did bring it up.

And now, potentially derailing my own thread, I don't think Dragon Age II was worth all the hate it received. Inferior to Origins, certainly, but other than the recycled environments, it was an incredibly solid game when judged on its own.

And the let the flames begin! Or not. It would probably be better for all of us if you just ignored me... Yeah, let's go with that.