Zero Punctuation: Exclusives Showdown

[jackpipsam]

Uncharted over Halo?
Well each to their own I guess.

 

[Evonisia]

I liked those lovely transitions, and some of the jokes (like the Killzone Heilgast one brought up in XP). But this just feels like a lazy E3 video to the point where Ryse is almost summarised exactly as it was in the E3 video and Dead Rising 3 has the exact same summary as the E3 video. It also just felt like smug PC supremacy which you could find in abundance (to put it charitably) in the forums, especially because the 7th Gen was completely forgotten in the description of "good games".

I wonder whether any of these games will be given a full review.

*dismissive hand way* its only smug if you ignore facts

Yeah if only smug meant that.

 

[FieryTrainwreck]

Well imagine that. Yahtzee buys himself a gaming PC and almost immediately realizes that consoles are pointless closed gardens designed to screw people out of money for the benefit of massive corporations who add almost nothing to gaming at large. Stranger still, a very similar epiphany befalls almost everyone who buys a gaming PC.

Also, accusations of elitism don't really amount to much when the product is just plain better in almost every conceivable way. I mean I watched a friend play AC4 on PS4 a few days ago, and it looked roughly like my PC games have looked for 2+ years. The PC games I play on my HD TV from my couch. With a controller. Without paying for multiplayer.

 

[Insideout Ink Demon]

i'm getting more and more tempted by the WiiU
I must be strong

Join us, it is your destiny.

maybe. I'm putting some serious thought into convincing myself. its looking like the only one of the big 3, thats truely focused on gaming

 

[Battenberg]

Best. ZP. ever.

Loved the singing as well, Yahtzee should consider trying to win one of those reality singine competitions, the Ex-pat Factor or something like that.

Also the PS4 is definitely looking like the shinier of two turds at the moment but compared to the sans-faeces PC it's still a long way behind. Now if only I could afford to build one.

 

[LazyAza]

I feel sorry for everyone who rushed out to buy these damn consoles. Then again I felt the same way with the last three generations as well. I mean neither has any game that is actually worth playing yet so you're paying for a big shiny plastic brick to sit in your house for god knows how many months until a game comes along worth playing on the bloody thing. In the mean time your only option is waste money on crap games or not. Never mind the first wave of these machines always tend to be the ones most prone to breaking. Just no logic to the whole thing at all.

I'm having quite a time playing Battlefield 4 thank you very much. In addition to that I have Killzone, an admittedly generic shooter, but one that is beautiful and fun to play. PS4 also gave me Resogun, Super Motherload, Contrast, Warframe, and Blacklight Retribution. There is plenty to play, especially for a system that has been out a week and a half.

If it weren't for people rushing out to grab consoles on day one we would see more situations with the Wii U, where 3rd party developers are nervous to support it. Malfunctioning consoles are covered by warranties, so if my PS4 bricks it will either be repaired or replaced. There is no logic in preaching "wait and see" because if everyone did it, new games wouldn't be released at all and hardware revisions wouldn't happen.

Love how you listed three incredibly bland shooters none of which have anything new or interesting to offer to the genre and thus serve only to prove my point of why buying a console day 1 is silly.

I'm well aware of all the business nonsense behind things needing to sell well upfront but that still doesn't stop the whole situation from being incredibly stupid. At least with the PS3 and 360 their were some ok games that did something new and different, janky and broken many were, but at least they were trying.

This gen its been a whole launch of nothing but bland this and pointless sequel that. And no downloadable games don't count, big budget games are what matter with a console launch and both of them this gen failed to be compelling in that regard and from the looks of the release schedule will continue to be for a while still.

 

[Aardvaarkman]

To be fair, just because PC sales are dropping doesn't mean PC gaming is dying.

This is true, but I didn't say PC gaming is dying. I was mainly refuting the argument that console gaming is dying.

The reason PC sales are in decline are because non-gamers are moving to tablet devices which fit their needs better.

You don't think any gamers are also switching? That it's just non-gamers? It hardly even seems to be a matter of switching. Young children practically live and breathe tablets these days, and they play games on them all the time. I'm not so sure when they grow up they are going to switch to PCs when they've played with tablets and phones all their lives.

There's a huge market for games on phones and tablets, this indicates a significant number of gamers are using them.

PC as a gaming platform is actually rising. The total number of Steam accounts grew by 30% up to 65 million this year, and doesn't show any sign of slowing.

I don't think that's significant evidence on its own of a growing PC game market. The growth in Steam users could possibly be accounted for gamers who previously bought boxed games at retail switching to Steam for the convenience and price savings. It doesn't necessarily reflect overall growth of the market.

Part of it could also be accounted for by Steam adding support for the Mac and Linux platforms - which have historically not been as well-served in gaming as Windows was. And yes, I know that Mac OS and Linux technically also run on "PCs" in the general term of "Personal Computer" - but "PC" in the gaming context typically refers to Windows specifically.

Thanks to the other people who have made similar replies on this topic - I don't have time to reply to you all individually, and I hope this post addresses your points. I really don't think we have adequate data on PC gaming to determine if game sales as a whole are following the overall trend of PC sales. But lacking better data, I think we can see what the broad trends are, and at the moment it is not trending away from consoles and mobile devices.

 

[Enizer]

Alas, there is a tragedy mixed in with Titanfall's PC release...

It's on Origin, which to many gamers (me inclusive) means it may as well be console exclusive; because it's dead to me, and it'll be a cold day in hell before I sign up to EA's plans to RFID chip/barcode/track all PC gamers on the off chance they so much as glance at the word "piracy"

Same for me, i'm still hoping for mass effect 3 to be released soon on pc.
I remember bullfrog EA, I REMEMBER BULLFROG!
..
ahem..

Oh well, mabey i'll eventually buy one of the last gen consoles and pick it up used.

 

[vercardo]

Did the basement thing at the end remind anyone else of Plato's cave analogy?
If so, then you like over-interpreting video game criticism as well.
We should hang out.

I thought I was the only one...
Let's go look for the Fibonacci sequence in Gavin's videos!

And I'm pretty sure that Plato reference was deliberate, 'feel the rays of the sun' and going back down into the basement /cave... That just fits way too nicely.

 

[endnuen]

I feel sorry for everyone who rushed out to buy these damn consoles. Then again I felt the same way with the last three generations as well. I mean neither has any game that is actually worth playing yet so you're paying for a big shiny plastic brick to sit in your house for god knows how many months until a game comes along worth playing on the bloody thing. In the mean time your only option is waste money on crap games or not. Never mind the first wave of these machines always tend to be the ones most prone to breaking. Just no logic to the whole thing at all.

That's like your oppinion man, I think the new Killzone looks great and can't wait to try it.

 

[AstaresPanda]

This PC master race stuff has really stopped being funny and has begun looking like crass bitterness. I intend to be a PC4 gamer this generation (PC + PS4), so I can happily have the best of both worlds.

^^^
THIS GUY IS INTELLIGENT

Im certainly going to keep my PC around for some exclusives, but primarily the next gen consoles, (X1 first at the moment) are going to get more attention from me.
The PC master race stuff is part of the reason I play games on console so much more though, I honestly don't like playing with the sort of people that call themselves "PC gamers" its a term that carries so much bloody self importance and satisfaction in the fact that their preferred *leisure time activity* is done in a mostly solitary, fashion on a device that is marginally more powerful than the alternatives, because for some reason that matters.

The attitude of self importance can be seen even here, where a comment bemoaning the fact that the X1 sold a million consoles at launch as being the death of gaming was somehow held in such high regard by all around that a fellow who pointed out that this doesn't actually affect anything in the real world and was a bloody stupid thing to get emotional about got banned!

Gaming, at this juncture has gotten too far up its own rear end, and nowhere is that more apparent than in this constant and eternal war between three different and equally obtuse sides, you have your xbox fanboys, your playstation fanboys and your PC fanboys, all of whom seem remarkably incapable of noticing the fact that they are just that, obsessives, people who define themselves more by their fucking choice in entertainment hardware than the actual things that they do in life, whilst at the same time possessing an air of victimisation by a society that bends over backwards to allow their preferred entertainment medium to be taken seriously, even whilst they do absolutely everything they can to treat people who just want to enjoy videogames, but also have a healthy lifestyle and (gasp!) Physical strength and a reasonable diet like they are somehow scum who don't deserve to enjoy gaming's many pleasures

At this stage I very rarely comment, either here, or on youtube, 4chan's /v/ or any other gaming related channel or site, this community has started to act so damned toxic towards people that have "lives" outside of pumping £2500 into a computer every 6 months that I actually wonder if it is a community that I have ever actually been a part of.

Also, I may just be a complete idiot, but did this video actually make any reasonable observations that could inform buying habits or which console to buy, or was it just a rant about consoles?

ok They play mostly on pc, = pc gamer ? Does not carry anything more then that with it. So i have no idea why you'd shun pc gaming/the gamers due to some weird veiw you have, perhaps on furoms but otherwise the pc gaming online community is generally alot nicer then the legions of kids yelling down their headset. They dont go around online patting themselves on the back. And if you've built yourself a gaming pc its not self important to point out its more powerful then consoles.....its just fact.


If its a hobby your passionate about i dont know what your issue is? This happens in all kinds of sport. I really dont get the issue here. And whats with the stereotype that gamers are fat and unhealthy ? whats that even got to do with anything ?Did you get bullied by a bunch of fat poor diet eating gamers ? beating you with keyboards and mice ?

Again feeling some PC gamer hate here, im starthing to think you were dumped by some pc gamer or somthing.Ive only ever seen this "toxic" stuff directed towards people who pull random bullshit out their ass like say....2500 every 6 months. lol i mean really ? REALLY ? my 3/4 year old pc cost me 500/600 ive not had to spend anymore money.
FACT is your better off with a PC in the long run, your graphics will not get dated if that is really an issue for you anyway, upgrade when you please. Pc games are cheaper have a longer life span and does not totaly die once the next yearly instalment comes out. Counter-Strike 1.6 and Source are over a decade old and yet they are still the most played FPS. Community made maps, mods, community patches.
All this stuff they are braggin as next gen is stuff pc gamers have been enjoying and doing for a very long time now. There is nothing really "next gen".Just more ways to fuck over the customer with DLC.

 

[Conza]

Its good that Yahtzee came around to appreciating the PC, consoles have their place for sure, but bang for buck PCs are a better long term investment for your dollar and definately deserve consideration, especially so at launch when consoles have a couple of bugs, cost more than an arm and a leg, and have very few titles available. The sweet spot for consoles is probably 2-3 years after they're released, when the graphics aren't too archaic, plenty of exclusive/great titles and the console's price has settled quite a bit (and possibly a slim version exists too).

But hey, if there's 3 great games, or 1-2 must have games, I suppose folking out for the console straight away might be worth it, I just don't see it (this time).

 

[-Dragmire-]

Well imagine that. Yahtzee buys himself a gaming PC and almost immediately realizes that consoles are pointless closed gardens designed to screw people out of money for the benefit of massive corporations who add almost nothing to gaming at large. Stranger still, a very similar epiphany befalls almost everyone who buys a gaming PC.

Didn't he always have one? I recall him mentioning how his pc(implied it was good) chugged a bit in the Crysis(I think it was that one) review.

 

[Evonisia]

Well imagine that. Yahtzee buys himself a gaming PC and almost immediately realizes that consoles are pointless closed gardens designed to screw people out of money for the benefit of massive corporations who add almost nothing to gaming at large. Stranger still, a very similar epiphany befalls almost everyone who buys a gaming PC.

Didn't he always have one? I recall him mentioning how his pc(implied it was good) chugged a bit in the Crysis(I think it was that one) review.

He's mainly used laptops, at least from what I can tell from the System Shock 2 (2013) and The Witcher 2 (2011) episodes. He bought an Alienware PC the other week.

 

[Lazule]

For all those people complaining about "PC Master Race" read Yahtzee's article on that. We PC gamers don't want to appear arrogant to others also it isn't some kind of elitism.

There might be people that take it seriously through. Idiots are everywhere.

 

[Saltyk]

Alas, there is a tragedy mixed in with Titanfall's PC release...

It's on Origin, which to many gamers (me inclusive) means it may as well be console exclusive; because it's dead to me, and it'll be a cold day in hell before I sign up to EA's plans to RFID chip/barcode/track all PC gamers on the off chance they so much as glance at the word "piracy"

Sadly, you would still have to sign up for EA's bullshit even on a console. Want to play Battlefield 4 online? Gotta sign in to EA servers. Wanna play your DLC in Mass Effect 2/3? Sign in. Dragon Age? Sign in. So, consoles are no better in that. Though, I don't think it counts as Origin. I could be wrong. Still, the console won't save you from EA.

And, all I see in Titanfall in the ability to double jump and wall run, coupled with running around in a mecha. It's not really as revolutionary as they claim.

 

[Geekeric]

Another brilliantly hilarious episode! I just wanted to post that someday these reviews will be recognized for the creative genius that they are, and that I knew it in 2013 rather than 50 or 60 years from now when videogame reviewing has grown and evolved into a more standardized genre, like movie reviews are today. So, haha, future people, behold how I saw the genius of Yahtzee before you!

 

[Fangface74]

This seems overly presumptuous. If you want to have a classy and highly attended spunking contest, then why wouldn't you rent out the Royal Albert Hall? Seems entirely appropriate to me.

It's more about the acoustics. While the Royal Albert is great for music, the halls reverberation time of about 1.5 to 2 seconds is a little much. As you can see from this reverberation time function, competitive spunking is best done in halls with a value under one second: TR[1kHz] = [0,4 log (V+62)] ? 0,38 TR in seconds and V=volume of the room in m3.

Hmm indeed, before ANY audienced based custard-chucking i would wonder; "would the ideal RT60 have the same value at all frequencies from 30 to 12,000 Hz. or, at least, is it acceptable to have a linear rising from 100% at 500 Hz to 150% down to 62 Hz?

 

[szaleniec1000]

Basement gaming is SOOOO 1990! We of the true master gaming race have quite literally elevated ourselves to gaming in the attic. This way we can be literally superior at all times regardless of hardware to the console gaming peasants.

Gaming in the basement is a terrible idea round here, because you don't really want to keep your expensive electronics in the part of the house that floods first.