Zero Punctuation: Top 5 of 2011

[ComradeJim270]

Skyrim at #5? I'm disappointed in you, Yahtzee...

... surely there are more deserving games to give that spot to!

 

[icaritos]

Every year there's that one game that I DON'T regret buying. In 2011, that game was portal 2. Good choice.

Skyrim FREEZES? I thought Bethesda was over "New Vegas" levels of glitchiness! I thought that Skyrim's worst bugs were along the lines of "hovering ground ladies" or spinning horsemen (as seen in a Youtube video).

Has anyone else had serious glitches with Skyrim? I'm starting to doubt whether I should get it if it's going to crash on me.

If you're on the PC, wait for the modders to fix it.

If you have a 360, play it for 10 mins at a time so it doesn't melt.

If you have a ps3, avoid it like the plague.

They say patch 1.4 will "address" it which means that they can't "fix" it.

I'm guessing they didn't send Yhatzee the ps3 copy...
Oh yea, he's a reviewer.

Can't fix what is fundamentally a hardware issue. Unless they send someone in your house to shove more RAM into your PS3 it is quite likely that there won't be any massive improvement.

All of the versions of the game have been experiencing bugs and glitches. And the PS3 actually has the same total amount of RAM as the Xbox 360, it's just divided into two halves whereas in the 360 it's bunched together and shared. The PS3's RAM is also faster and more efficient than that of the Xbox 360.

The problem isn't the hardware or RAM. It's the game itself.

Bull crap. The PC version of the game has been one of the least buggy ones of all elder scroll games, with less bugs per time played than read dead redemption. Even then the bugs are not game breaking and tend to be either graphical or NPC behavioural glitches. The only version suffering from game halting bugs are the 360 and PS3, and the 360 less so because it has 500mb of potential RAM rather than 256.

Don't talk out your ass, I have the PC version and my 2 other room-mates have the 360 version.

As I said, all the versions have bugs and glitches. Although the console versions more so. And the PS3 has 512 mb of RAM split in two 256 RAM modules. And the PS3's RAM is much more fast and efficient than that of the Xbox 360. The RAM isn't the problem.

Bethesda has a reputation for releasing their games in buggy states. And the PS3 has been known to be harder to develop for in general than the 360 and this has been largely due to developers not really having known how to use it's hardware and features properly. Hence the PS3 getting a number of inferior ports early in it's life cycle. And to some extent you still see some of that going on today. So when taking all this into account it's not all that surprising that the PS3 version of a multi-platform game has once again gotten the short end of the stick.

You have no idea what you are talking about. The PS3 partition only allows for half of its RAM to be used for gaming so it effectively has 256 MB available at any one time. And while this "it uses it more efficiently" might have held water 7 years ago, now it is simply a joke since modern RAM is already entirely DDR3 at much higher speeds.

The consoles are outdated and it is simply disingenuous to place all the blame on Bethesta for poor performance while running on a 7 year old hunk of metal. Just so you get a basic idea, the PSP vita as well as my mobile phone (an android) have more RAM than the PS3.

Don't believe me follow this link http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-vs-ps3-skyrim-lag

It just explores the bugs on the PS3 version and goes on to say what I have pointed out, the game runs badly not due to poor, but outdated hardware.

 

[A1]

Every year there's that one game that I DON'T regret buying. In 2011, that game was portal 2. Good choice.

Skyrim FREEZES? I thought Bethesda was over "New Vegas" levels of glitchiness! I thought that Skyrim's worst bugs were along the lines of "hovering ground ladies" or spinning horsemen (as seen in a Youtube video).

Has anyone else had serious glitches with Skyrim? I'm starting to doubt whether I should get it if it's going to crash on me.

If you're on the PC, wait for the modders to fix it.

If you have a 360, play it for 10 mins at a time so it doesn't melt.

If you have a ps3, avoid it like the plague.

They say patch 1.4 will "address" it which means that they can't "fix" it.

I'm guessing they didn't send Yhatzee the ps3 copy...
Oh yea, he's a reviewer.

Can't fix what is fundamentally a hardware issue. Unless they send someone in your house to shove more RAM into your PS3 it is quite likely that there won't be any massive improvement.

All of the versions of the game have been experiencing bugs and glitches. And the PS3 actually has the same total amount of RAM as the Xbox 360, it's just divided into two halves whereas in the 360 it's bunched together and shared. The PS3's RAM is also faster and more efficient than that of the Xbox 360.

The problem isn't the hardware or RAM. It's the game itself.

Bull crap. The PC version of the game has been one of the least buggy ones of all elder scroll games, with less bugs per time played than read dead redemption. Even then the bugs are not game breaking and tend to be either graphical or NPC behavioural glitches. The only version suffering from game halting bugs are the 360 and PS3, and the 360 less so because it has 500mb of potential RAM rather than 256.

Don't talk out your ass, I have the PC version and my 2 other room-mates have the 360 version.

As I said, all the versions have bugs and glitches. Although the console versions more so. And the PS3 has 512 mb of RAM split in two 256 RAM modules. And the PS3's RAM is much more fast and efficient than that of the Xbox 360. The RAM isn't the problem.

Bethesda has a reputation for releasing their games in buggy states. And the PS3 has been known to be harder to develop for in general than the 360 and this has been largely due to developers not really having known how to use it's hardware and features properly. Hence the PS3 getting a number of inferior ports early in it's life cycle. And to some extent you still see some of that going on today. So when taking all this into account it's not all that surprising that the PS3 version of a multi-platform game has once again gotten the short end of the stick.

You have no idea what you are talking about. The PS3 partition only allows for half of its RAM to be used for gaming so it effectively has 256 MB available at any one time. And while this "it uses it more efficiently" might have held water 7 years ago, now it is simply a joke since modern RAM is already entirely DDR3 at much higher speeds.

The consoles are outdated and it is simply disingenuous to place all the blame on Bethesta for poor performance while running on a 7 year old hunk of metal. Just so you get a basic idea, the PSP vita as well as my mobile phone (an android) have more RAM than the PS3.

Don't believe me follow this link http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-vs-ps3-skyrim-lag

It just explores the bugs on the PS3 version and goes on to say what I have pointed out, the game runs badly not due to poor, but outdated hardware.

I was never comparing the PS3 to PC. And I know that console technology tends to be more conservative than PC technology and that as a result both the PS3 and the 360 are now using outdated tech components. I never said anything that contradicts this (although it does seem to be at least somewhat of a moot point in this particular case since Bethesda used the consoles as lead platforms for Skyrim). What I did was compare the PS3 to the 360 and not the PC. And while the 360 may appear to have more RAM due to all the RAM being shared it still has to distribute the RAM accordingly among the same the things as the PS3. All the PS3 does is formalize the process by splitting the RAM into two halves.

And the PS3's RAM is indeed faster and more efficient than that of the 360 (once again I'm not talking about the PC).

But you don't have to take my word for it. Here's an article for you:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2010/08/26/xbox-360-vs-playstation-3-the-hardware-throwdown

So the idea of RAM issues might (let me emphasize "might") explain why the PC version supposedly fares better than the console versions (although PC version has had it's share of issues as well) but it wouldn't seem to do all that much to explain why the PS3 is getting the shorter end of the stick than the 360. It seems more likely that it's simply because Bethesda simply found the 360 to be easier to work with as has been the case numerous times before regarding the 360 and PS3 with numerous other games and developers. And among those times by the way is with Bethesda's own Fallout 3 (I imagine that the consoles were at least a little less outdated then than they are now).


And all the article you point out does is present a few different theories. So it's not the most reliable of sources to say the least (and Joshua Sawyer isn't a particularly credible source due to potential conflict of interest issues). And it's seems that it doesn't actually say anything about outdated hardware. At best it only implies something like that.

And Bethesda is generally not a particularly reliable company either. As I said Bethesda does indeed have a reputation for releasing buggy games (and perhaps seemingly using consumers as de facto beta testers). As I understand it this has been going one since well before the PS3 was even released (stretching back to Morrowind if not further back than that). Even the PC version of Skyrim has had it's share of issues (and by the way a few instances of anecdotal evidence don't really amount to all that much if anything). And on top of that Bethesda is also guilty of suspicious and questionable behavior like refusing to release the PS3 version of Skyrim to reviewers before the release date even to those who specifically requested it. Not to mention those allegations that Bethesda forced unfavorable reviews of New Vegas to be taken down.

So Bethesda doesn't have the best of reputations with regard to numerous things. And among those things is PS3 game development.

 

[rapidoud]

And this is the final nail in the coffin. I've watched Ben for years (I came here on his 6th review and didn't make an account until much later), but now, he looks at the bare surface of games and just says angrily what everyone else is saying. Around the time of the BF3 review did it start becoming terrible and this 'review' is just plain awful, so many undeserved games (portal 2? Not that crapfest, and no mention of Guerilla having even less destruction than Red Faction (the original)?) and more dick jokes than actual dialogue.

Yahtzee, I hardly knew ye.

 

[SuperBlender84]

This is interesting to me because I only purchased two games in 2011, Portal 2 AND Battlefield 3. And you know, I don't really have a problem with Yahtzee's opinion. I love watching his reviews, and he makes valid points about the negative aspects of games he dislikes. But you can't help what you like, and that applies to him as well, and frankly I appreciate a reviewer who actually REVIEWS games, instead of someone who panders to the masses. Even with his hatred of a game that I love, he still is the only video game reviewer I pay any attention to. - So in short, don't listen to the haters, your reviews are awesome!!

 

[stinkyrobot]

I'm surprised that Skyward sword didn't show up on his shit list.

 

[ImSkeletor]

sigh...

I remember when ZP used to make objective reviews and it's end of the year lists made a stuff that isnt ACTUALLY that bad rather than the stuff that really DESERVES a roasting...

No. just no. He was never objective because there is honestly NO SUCH THING as objective reviewing of any kind of artistic medium. Thats why everyones top five and bottom fives are different.

 

[mysecondlife]

Perfectly assembled cheese sandwich sound really pleasant.

so is cute barista knowing your preferred beverage..

mmhmm.

 

[MSfire012]

I really get sad when someone says that Yahtzee is wrong or that he can't be taken seriosly. Is like they're saying a game critic can't be harsh, or have a different opinion. Can you imagine how better the game industrie would be if every player and critic was as harsh as Yahtzee? A lot.

 

[ThatNewKid]

That was a close one. I seriously thought he was going to slap Skyward Sword, one of my personal games of the year, up on his list of bottom 5 for the year, considering the thrashing he gave it.

Maybe I should try Driver: San Francisco...

The shittiest Zelda game is nowhere near bad. Zelda is like pizza: at it's worst, it's still pretty damn good.

 

[UkuleleSlayer]

I am totally mystified by his comment on dark souls. What does that metaphor even mean? I have seriously been trying for like a few days to figure this out. Cool episode though, besides the mental breakdown that ensued.

 

[FallenMessiah88]

Aside from Duke Nukem Forever, I have yet to play any of the games on this list, so im afraid I don't really have a lot to say other than happy new year Yahtzee. Hope 2012 works out better for you...and me.

 

[teh_Canape]

I'm kinda surprised he didn't put Crysis 2 in, considering the praise he gave it in his review

 

[Markunator]

I really get sad when someone says that Yahtzee is wrong or that he can't be taken seriosly. Is like they're saying a game critic can't be harsh, or have a different opinion. Can you imagine how better the game industrie would be if every player and critic was as harsh as Yahtzee? A lot.

Yahtzee isn't simply being harsh, he's intentionally making the games he reviews sound like shit by accentuating the negatives. He's funny, sure, but his reviews are clearly mostly for comedy purposes. If you want to see harsh done right, watch Angry Joe's reviews. He brings up both the negatives and the positives, likes multiplayer and is not averse to any given genre of games.

 

[Bmagada]

So I'm guessing the COW and BF3 fan boys like crying a lot because someone told them their games suck lol

 

[blindthrall]

I was going to go on a tear about MW3 and how I'm just going to go play "the worst game of 2011" and and much as Yahtzee's unrelenting bashing of multi-player focused titles will earn him the unerring loyalty of a thousand screaming children, but I just don't even care anymore.

That's weird, cause "thousand screaming children" is the multiplayer market.

 

[crawfs]

I really think Dragon age 2 should have made it into the bottom 5 it was by far (for me) the most disappointing game of the year.

 

[Heraklitus]

What the heck was that? ZP has always been a little juvenille with the humor (and damn funny), but that was just a long string of digusting jokes about bodily fluids.

I hadn't watched in a couple of months--have been like this for awhile now or was he just really off this time?

 

[Dhatz]

none of my presents was MLP FIM themed, so I didnt get presents either.

 

[HSIAMetalKing]

watching his choice for #5 worst in a video pane which was enframed by a huge ad for a ridiculous looking MW3 themed headset made my irony bone tingle