Zero Punctuation: Mailbag Showdown

[m_jim]

Here's the problem with what you are saying... A) You are quoting a piece of crass commercialism that is a screed against crass commercialism and don't seem to see the irony of it. B) People don't stick to simply insulting what someone likes. These new kids decide that if someone likes a game that Overlord Yahtzee disapproves of, it is obviously indicative of a character flaw, so they insult accordingly.

I came up with direct response that consisted of two words, but let's try addressing you points directly.

A) Yes I did get the irony when watching the movie. Although that has fuck-all to do with the topic at hand. You might as well talk about sourdough starters or rainfall percentages in the Amazon river basin while you're at it.

B) The character flaw being demonstrated is not liking a game that Yahtzee gave an unfavorable review. He's given unfavorable reviews to other games, and the discussion threads didn't balloon this quickly. There must be some reason for it. Thee are actually two main possible reasons. The first Yahtzee gave in the Mailbag Showdown is that these people are not actually enjoying the game as much as they've convinced themselves that they are, so they react poorly to others confirming their own niggling doubts. The same thing happened when Phantom Menace came out. The second is what I've said, these are nerds with no self-esteem in themselves but in the games (and movies, and TV show, etc) of which they are fans. Both of these reasons indicate a pathetic immaturity, which only follows given the average age of Wii owners. But it is telling that Halo 3 did not warrant such a response, but that probably means that Halo 3 fans were too busy playing the game to give two shits about what Yahtzee had to say (unlike SSBB fans, apparently) or that Microsoft fanboys are more mature than Nintendo fanboys, which is a scary fucking thought.

And throughout this thread and the previous one are the constant piddling of the horse apple cobbler of "this is not a review" citing some minor detail or whatever that Yahtzee got "wrong." Since apparently you guys don't know, let me be the first to tell you: reviews are little more than advertising. For every person who is scared of some game by a review, there are like a million people who'll go buy it anyway. This explains why the Fantastic Four movies keep turning a profit. All a review does is make people aware that a game exists. The secondary purpose of reviews is to be entertaining to read in their own right. Any consumer advise found there is just getting some general idea of what the game is like, regardless of the reviewer's opinion. So whining about features that Yahtzee "got wrong" is at best misguided and at worst a thin veneer of bullshit to hide the real reason you're complaining, which is likely one of the two reasons above or a combination thereof.

Thanks for deciding to be civil and not give the two word response that I assume that you had in mind. I'll address your points directly as well. A) It gets on my nerves when people quote Fight Club because of the reasons I pointed out. I think that it's a self-important movie that people take too seriously. My response to "You are not the game you play or the system you own" would be "You are not the reviewer you support." That has something to do with the topic at hand. Also, an XKCD reference? If so, then my compliments. B) I've read most of the discussion that has taken place in this board and the SSBB board. Most of the posts seem to be in support of Yahtzee and trumpeting how he stuck it to those dirty fanboys for liking that game, rather than taking up arms against him. So, your point contrasting them with Halo players who were too busy playing doesn't ring true. Perhaps, the people attacking it should find something fun to play rather than beating up people on the message boards. Respectfully yours... m_jim

 

[MrFinn]

I really don't know why people take these reviews so seriously. The show is just another form of entertainment based around feedback to the games world

If these reviews upsets you then you don't get it or you don't like it. In any case, just move on. It's just meant as entertainment. And it's free. This isn't the BBC, you pay for your internet connection, you don't pay for this site

Thank you Mr Yahtzee, Sir and please keep being a horrible man

(PS. In case your not from UK- we have to pay a £120 TV licence to own a TV but all that money just goes to one company, the BBC, so that they don't have to use advertising during their programs but I don't know anyone who even watches any BBC channel regularly or listens to their radio shows)

 

[MrFinn]

You make me funny... ha ha funny

 

[Skrapt]

Why does everyone feel a need to put down Yahtzee's opinion on SSBB? It's his opinion, get over it, that shouldn't have any bearing on whether you enjoy the game or not, just take what he says at face value, he may be right, he may be wrong, it depends on what you like in a game. Personally I'll end up trying it some time, if I like it, I'll play it, I won't feel an irrational urge to come here and try to demean Yahtzee, he's doing this for free and it's funny. Though I guess for some people that's not enough and to them he has to say exactly what they want him to say.

(PS. In case your not from UK- we have to pay a £120 TV licence to own a TV but all that money just goes to one company, the BBC, so that they don't have to use advertising during their programs but I don't know anyone who even watches any BBC channel regularly or listens to their radio shows)

I watch quite a lot of BBC programs, but not mainly, mostly channel 4 aslong it isn't some reality TV show.

 

[Kaos Incarnate]

(PS. In case your not from UK- we have to pay a £120 TV licence to own a TV but all that money just goes to one company, the BBC, so that they don't have to use advertising during their programs but I don't know anyone who even watches any BBC channel regularly or listens to their radio shows)

It's on BBC1 for Doctor Who then it's mostly on the channel Dave on sky

 

[stacia123]

You don't respond to hate mail. EVER. You know what's going to happen now. MORE HATE MAIL.

Which is what he wants, you know. More hate mail equals more stuff to pull out and "review" when he needs to pad things out. Also, it's attention. Someone waaaaay upthread compared Yahtzee to Maddox, and I get that same feeling, too. He loves the attention and the fans while pretending to hate it all. It's a decent enough shtick, if not a bit common.

 

[Xenon Pretzel]

In responce to the scores thing-
Does every single game on earth follow a strict order? E.G Tutorial. Intro. Boss. Level. Level. Boss. Level. Level. Boss- NO IT FRICKEN DOESN'T SO WHY SHOULD REVIEWS?

I especially loved the "FOUR. FOR FOURK YOU." comment.

Oh wait, here's a few things I HATE to see from people like.. Me.

FIRST COMMENT- I know everyone hates these but, Mods can delete posts can't they? Why don't you?

ZOMGOMGROFLMAOURTEHBESTEVERANDILUFU. This does not help at all and just distracts me. It also looks like another horrible case of people sucking up to important people because they think they give a crap. Admittedly, Ben isn't really important, but then, neither are the spice girls and they probably have a whole house labelled "Fanmail".
EDIT: People saying they liked it and why is different.

USUKCUZILIKTHATGAME: Ben has covered this really. Basically, if you can't take the fact that some people have different opinions then leave me the fuck alone. If I told you I didn't like cherries and you did, would you throttle me? No. So shut up.

Think of games as food and reviewers as really picky eaters. Especially Ben.

 

[DeLukas]

The World Ends With You is a completely new game on a Nintendo system, true it was developed by Square-enix and Jupiter, but still it shows that Nintendo are looking for things that are different.

I didn't realize Final Fantasy and Beat Mania where new games.

 

[Kaos Incarnate]

The World Ends With You is a completely new game on a Nintendo system, true it was developed by Square-enix and Jupiter, but still it shows that Nintendo are looking for things that are different.

I didn't realize Final Fantasy and Beat Mania where new games.

The World Ends With You hass almost been out a month but I still consider that new to be honest. Since when did I mention Final Fantasy? And I have no idea what Beat Mania is.

 

[VeryOblivious]

It's quite amusing reading this useless debate. What did I just say? It's not useless if the debate amuses me. Silly me. (yes, I see you coming, nitpicky and idiotic SSBB defenders)
An example:

Its rather like Mike Tyson beating up Steven Hawking and claiming to be the greatest boxer in the world.

Stupid analogy.

 

[Sektor88]

After the Chains of Olympus review, I'm glad Yahtzee came up with this, mainly because the Chains of Olympus review just didn't have the same feel to it as this or any of his other reviews. So for that Yahtzee, I thank you for putting out something like the mailbag showdown. I can only wonder if and how you'll take on Grand Theft Auto 4.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

It's quite amusing reading this useless debate. What did I just say? It's not useless if the debate amuses me. Silly me. (yes, I see you coming, nitpicky and idiotic SSBB defenders)
An example:

Its rather like Mike Tyson beating up Steven Hawking and claiming to be the greatest boxer in the world.

Stupid analogy.

Yeah, but I can't come up with a good analogy now. And anyway, you get the point.

Perhaps Mike Tyson debating boxing Steven Hawking. Hawking will win the argument but Tyson wins if it goes to reality.

 

[tagMaverick]

Yahtzee rips on games that I like too, but the fun in it is that all the flaws he points out are there. People play the games saying "well it isnt THAT bad" and "this flaw doesnt TOTALLY ruin the experiance" where as Yahtzee will straight off say what bothers him and have a good laugh about it. That's what makes a good critic, someone who will always strive for Perfection!

 

[m_jim]

In responce to the scores thing-
Does every single game on earth follow a strict order? E.G Tutorial. Intro. Boss. Level. Level. Boss. Level. Level. Boss- NO IT FRICKEN DOESN'T SO WHY SHOULD REVIEWS?

I don't really get your analogy, but I will offer something of an explanation. When I'm trying to decide if I want to buy a game, I'll check out gamerankings.com . If a game is generally well received, then I'm more interested in seeing what the dissenting reviewers had to say. Having a score (be it numerical or alphabetical) makes these reviews easier to pick out of the crowd rather than having to read through every review