Zero Punctuation: Mailbag Showdown

[Kaos Incarnate]

To be honest, looking at the controls of Melee if it is similar, with the gamecube controller I don't think you can button mash on Brawl

Button-mashing isn't very effective in Brawl, no - not any more than a typical fighting game, anyways.

To be fair though, the "button mashing" pointed at in the SSBB review was a general problem he had with fighting games. It's not usually a problem with people who know how to play the game (not necessarily to the "That Guy" point, but competent with the system at least), but when everyone is totally new to a fighting game, "button mashing" is certainly a fair complaint.

I did look at the video again all the problems he listed (except the button mashing) where in Melee too, so I don't think I will have a problem with Brawl.

 

[Deadwings]

O.k., this is it, Yahtzee has proved himself to be just as idiotic, by complaining about getting hate mail. When you sell out (as he did when he signed up for worldwide recognition when he joined this site) you are going to be in the public eye, and as such will have your every move scrutinised. When you make a move that seems random and/or biased (the Brawl review, or, say, a print cartoonist making a racist joke) you are going to cop a lot of hate. If you don't like it, resign instantly, as its only going to get worse when you review Guns of the Patriots.

But I don't know why I bother with this, he's never going to read it and realise any of this.

And where the hells my actual review?

1. It was good GTA 4 Review Stall Material.
2. Assuming he is a total sellout, what's so bad about Yahtzee 'selling out'? He insults video games for a living, christ, you aren't supposed to take it as art.

I would list more, but it really seems like that covers the whining. Don't like it? Don't watch. You aren't paying here. No where does the Escapist/Yahtzee hold any obligation to provide you with a review weekly. I mean, come on. "my review?" What the hell? Since when are you entitled to a game review every week, or anything for that matter? So you don't like how he trashed a game you liked, grow the hell up already and move on.

 

[g31st]

I registered to post in this thread. I've been a Yahtzee fan for a while, and I watched the Brawl review fiasco happen.

-snip-
Very early on in the forum, a couple of people said that it was a generally accepted rule not to make fun of your own fans. However, the emails that he quoted here were truly ridiculous. None of them were well reasoned arguments against his review.
-snip-

Of course they were ridiculous. Did you really think Yahtzee was going to respond to any well-reasoned emails he got? If an email said, "You can unlock every level and character without ever touching the single player," or "Since Brawl is a button masher, you will naturally be able to beat any pro-level player, right?" or "Not including Marth would have pissed off the hardcore Melee players to no end," he wouldn't have been able to respond to it, because those emails are well reasoned, and they are right. He had to pick the dumbest emails in his pile because doing otherwise would have made him look stupid. It's kind of disappointing that he didn't even try to have a reasonable discussion about it, but I didn't really expect him to from the get-go.

And, as it has so often been pointed out, a review is a subjective statement of opinion by one person who played the game. It should be noted that most (not all) of the objections in the SSBB forum could be summed up in the emails he reviewed here.

Very true. Reviews are subjective statements, but people (fanboy or not) had every right to be pissed off at his Brawl review for 2 reasons. First, he had his facts wrong. You don't have to play the single player to unlock characters. You can, but it's not required. Snake can be had after 10 minutes of multiplayer, and Yahtzee claims that it takes 10 hours to get Sonic. Done in multiplayer, Sonic can be yours after 3 hours of fighting. The second (and most important) reason people had to get pissed off was that he didn't just say, "Brawl is a shit game." He's entitled to say "Brawl is a shit game." because that's his opinion. He said, "Brawl is a shit game, and the people who like Brawl are shit people." I like Brawl, and last I checked I wasn't a shit person. I don't even like Brawl because it has Mario in it. I was a huge Powerstone fan, and I like Brawl because it's an incredibly deep fighting game. (As a side note, Smash Brothers wasn't even originally supposed to have any Nintendo characters in it. Those characters were added after the fighting system was developed) Others on this forum have commented that there wasn't as much of an uproar from the Halo 3 review he did, but he didn't insult Halo's fan base in that review, either.

I expect to be called a fanboy even though I haven't tried to convince anyone that Brawl is teh best game evar, nor insulted the people who agreed with Yahtzee's review and subsequent email fallout. In real life, I'm actually quite hands-off as far as getting my friends to try new things. It's sad when people don't even seem to understand what "fanboy" means anymore. It's become an all-purpose term that people use to dismiss what others say. If you like a game, you can be considered a fanboy regardless of how you behave online and in real life. A lot like the U.S. political climate in the past few years, corralling people into a black-and-white fanboy or non-fanboy world makes actual discussion impossible to do.

The only well-reasoned reviews of Brawl I've ever heard have come from people who have actually played the game and who approached it with an open-enough mind to see the deep fighting game beneath the party-game facade. Anyone who's actually played the game will tell you that it's a party game if you set it up one way and a strategic fighter if you set it up another way. In other words, it's versatile. In truth, the best reviews I've heard come from avid Melee players who can comment on the differences between the two games, but those won't mean much to someone who's never played Melee.

 

[ThurgistBerzerk]

I wouldn't say it was the BEST "review" ever... as he pretty much stated something along the lines of a critique...
I think this is a very good one, but not yahtzee's best...

When I first saw the title I thought to myself "why isn't he reviewing a game?" and "this probably is going to be something stupid..." but by the end I was definitely thinking that it was one of the top 3 critiques of his. Go yahtzee! Teach those grammer haters a lesson that they already havn't learned in school.

 

[Mirika_the_warrior]

Yahtzee definitely went postal

 

[Sylocat]

Interesting how the Yahtzee fanboys outnumber the Brawl fanboys by a 2:1 ratio at least, and yet Yahtzee's fanboys are still complaining of persecution by the Brawl fanatics.

 

[Greatfrito]

To be honest, looking at the controls of Melee if it is similar, with the gamecube controller I don't think you can button mash on Brawl

Button-mashing isn't very effective in Brawl, no - not any more than a typical fighting game, anyways.

To be fair though, the "button mashing" pointed at in the SSBB review was a general problem he had with fighting games. It's not usually a problem with people who know how to play the game (not necessarily to the "That Guy" point, but competent with the system at least), but when everyone is totally new to a fighting game, "button mashing" is certainly a fair complaint.

I did look at the video again all the problems he listed (except the button mashing) where in Melee too, so I don't think I will have a problem with Brawl.

Yeah, if you liked melee, you'll probably enjoy Brawl. Be forewarned though that Yahtzee's problems with the game were very "first glance" - once you've played the game a bit more (or if you're a fan of the series previously), you'll see a few more problems that he -didn't- point out that are perhaps more annoying.

 

[RaiDK]

Snip

Wow, that's gotta be the most epic fanboy post ever...

 

[Tendercrisp]

Best ZP yet, and you didn't even review a game!

Thank you for finally showing people that they don't need reviews to sway their opinion. I disagree with Yahtzee quite often, but that doesn't mean I still don't find his reviews hilarious, which is what I watch them for.

Can't wait for the GTA IV review you hinted at after the credits.

EDIT: Also, oh-the-irony at him proofreading e-mails but the series being called "Zero Punctuation".

Yeah I know, it's called that because of his speedy talking, but still.

 

[KaptenZom]

This is brilliant, i've always wanted this and you, dear sir have delivered! All hail Yahtzee, king of the internet!

 

[bulletproof12]

i feel bad for yahtzee. does a good review of the piece of shit called SSBB and then has to deal with all the fanboys.

 

[NezumiiroKitsune]

Gahahahahaa, oh Yahtzee you do make me chuckle. Thank you muchly for your grammatical polish. Bad grammar for effect or just on the basis the commentee has the brain power of a stale fart irritates me. You deserve a hareim for your awesome, albeit seing as you have since rejected female companionship I suppose I will pass it onto some undeserving dickhole. Heres a dictionary instead. Enjoy

Still... laughing... ventilation... failing...

 

[Magnetic2]

I have been putting this off for some time, but Yahtzee, I hereby pledge my undying loyalty to you.

 

[NezumiiroKitsune]

O.k., this is it, Yahtzee has proved himself to be just as idiotic, by complaining about getting hate mail. When you sell out (as he did when he signed up for worldwide recognition when he joined this site) you are going to be in the public eye, and as such will have your every move scrutinised. When you make a move that seems random and/or biased (the Brawl review, or, say, a print cartoonist making a racist joke) you are going to cop a lot of hate. If you don't like it, resign instantly, as its only going to get worse when you review Guns of the Patriots.

But I don't know why I bother with this, he's never going to read it and realise any of this.

And where the hells my actual review?

1. It was good GTA 4 Review Stall Material.
2. Assuming he is a total sellout, what's so bad about Yahtzee 'selling out'? He insults video games for a living, christ, you aren't supposed to take it as art.

I would list more, bu it really seems like that covers your whining. Don't like it? Don't watch. You aren't paying to view this - and no where does the Escapist/Yahtzee have any obligation to provide you with a review.

I mean, come on. "my review?" What the hell? Since when are you entitled to a game review every week, or anything for that matter? So you don't like how he trashed a game you liked, grow the hell up already and move on.

With all due respect, are you using your skull to store old rags?

I never complained about him selling out. What I said was that once he, arguably, became a celebrity he cannot really complain about getting hate mail. He really should have seen it coming when he signed on. To judge from any celebrity, anywhere, ever. (And no, thats not literal, its whats called hyperbole).

And you might notice that that last line was not backed up at all, and seems to be a throwaway comment. Thats whats called a joke. Its tough for those of us with only a brain stem to understand, so please just take my word for it.

"When you sell out (as he did when he signed up for worldwide recognition when he joined this site)"

Yes you did.

 

[MaraN88]

Haha best Yahtzee video ever

 

[WiseHacker]

I hope the fan boys for Brawl learned their lesson. Yahtzee, while a review, is first and foremost a human being.

The fan base of Brawl wanted him to review it, he did, he gave his opinion, and they all cry foal because he didn't tell him want they wanted to hear.

There's one word to describe this: CHILDISH! If you bully someone (don't frown Brawl fans, you *did* bully Yahtzee into doing this) into doing something, of course they are going to hate it!

I tip off my hat to you, Yahtzee. I'm a Nintendo fan myself, but it gets annoying when people start liking a franchise so much they become ignorant of its faults.

 

[Alluminn]

Honestly, I believe everything he said about Brawl to be true. I like the game, it's one of my personal favorites, but everything he said is freaking true. I never quite get why people get offended when one of their favorite games isn't liked by someone. What you do is don't give a shit about what they think and move on.

 

[Yahtzee Croshaw]

I would've like a number-free review of a game much better, but this one was fun, too.

 

[NezumiiroKitsune]

O.k., this is it, Yahtzee has proved himself to be just as idiotic, by complaining about getting hate mail. When you sell out (as he did when he signed up for worldwide recognition when he joined this site) you are going to be in the public eye, and as such will have your every move scrutinised. When you make a move that seems random and/or biased (the Brawl review, or, say, a print cartoonist making a racist joke) you are going to cop a lot of hate. If you don't like it, resign instantly, as its only going to get worse when you review Guns of the Patriots.

But I don't know why I bother with this, he's never going to read it and realise any of this.

And where the hells my actual review?

1. It was good GTA 4 Review Stall Material.
2. Assuming he is a total sellout, what's so bad about Yahtzee 'selling out'? He insults video games for a living, christ, you aren't supposed to take it as art.

I would list more, bu it really seems like that covers your whining. Don't like it? Don't watch. You aren't paying to view this - and no where does the Escapist/Yahtzee have any obligation to provide you with a review.

I mean, come on. "my review?" What the hell? Since when are you entitled to a game review every week, or anything for that matter? So you don't like how he trashed a game you liked, grow the hell up already and move on.

With all due respect, are you using your skull to store old rags?

I never complained about him selling out. What I said was that once he, arguably, became a celebrity he cannot really complain about getting hate mail. He really should have seen it coming when he signed on. To judge from any celebrity, anywhere, ever. (And no, thats not literal, its whats called hyperbole).

And you might notice that that last line was not backed up at all, and seems to be a throwaway comment. Thats whats called a joke. Its tough for those of us with only a brain stem to understand, so please just take my word for it.

"When you sell out (as he did when he signed up for worldwide recognition when he joined this site)"

Yes you did.

How is that complaining? That I called it selling out? What else do you call it? Going corporate? Gaining employers? The phrase was the one that lept to mind at the time, and I meant it as a neutral word, with no positive or negative connotations. What I said was that he sold out. What I did NOT say (and you seem to think I did) is that was a bad thing.

Getting paid, for something you enjoy, without any 3rd party or employer interferance, with complete freedom to say what you like. Not selling out.

Just the fact he lets us contact him and takes (albeit rather en masse) requests to heart should be seen as a statment to his still completely undictated lifestyle. If getting paid is selling out, then selling out would no longer have any meaning. Pokemon has sold out. Yahtzee hasnt.

Dammit he only reviewed SSBB because we yelled at him to. Now he responds to us being whiney cunts we whine some more about how he's sold out and how he sucks. FFS, SSBB was the single worst review idea he listened to. Democracy doesnt work.

 

[Paincake]

Nintendo isn't your financial source for you to suck Miyamoto's cock so much. Seriously you faggots need to grow up and just realise its nothing more then a review by some random guy on the internet.