I think i know why ZP no longer amuses me.

[Kollega]

[HEADING=2]Read the whole post before saying anything... this will save us a lot of trouble.[/HEADING]

I've lost intrest in Zero Punctuation a month or two ago, when i skipped on a review of Monster Hunter Tri for some reason. Flash forward to today, when i've finally decided to watch the latest one - "hey," i thought, "maybe it'll be funny!" It seems i was wrong. But instead of just rolling with it and spewing irrationless hate at our resident professional troll, i have begun to ponder an important question: WHY?

The answer, it seems, is the lack of wit. ZP was never a "high-brow" type of humour, yes - but in the early ones there was a bit more than simply dick jokes. Clever metaphors and analogies, wordplay, visual puns, and so on. Now, maybe i wasn't paying attention, but it seems that cutting wit for which i have loved the series in the first place was absent from today's video. I'm sorry to intrude on the sacred grounds of the "best internet humorist ever", but...

- the neverending bashing of America is "meh".
- constant appearance of balls, dicks, various holes and such are "meh".
- the sarcasm regarding "plotdeviceum" and "helicopter intro" seemed pretty blunt, like a hammer instead of rapier, and therefore "meh".
- the only genuinely funny bit of sarcasm, the one about "metaphor for adolescence" was swiftly undermined by a dead baby joke. Dead baby jokes ARE NOT TOO FUNNY - OR CLEVER, and i used to love ZP for cleverness.


In conclusion: Zero Punctuation used to be rather witty, but now it has certainly lost some of that charm. Some of the "reviews" (the "review" of Just Cause 2, for example) can still be considered funny, but most are just rude with few - if any - hints of cleverness. And this is why i don't watch it anymore. Now, let the hate-spewing commence, and tell me what do you think: is this assertion true or false?

 

[Rarhnor]

I began to lose interest after Mr. Croshaw's videos became more content with relying on rant and narcasism, than making clever points disguised as humor. Overall what you said.

 

[Becoming Insane]

Sounds like a sound argument to me; I see where you're coming from and totally agree. However, I think I will continue to watch ZP for those insanely funny moments when Yahtzee remembers that his wit is the best thing about him.

 

[Doctor What]

However, I think I will continue to watch ZP for those insanely funny moments when Yahtzee remembers that his wit is the best thing about him.

This. I love it when some of that good 'ol Australian charm pulls through. But I couldn't agree more wholeheartedly with the op's argument.

 

[Weofparadigm]

I must disagree. While he does rely on ranting a bit too much he is good remembering not to repeat himself and he usually mixes up his criticism with creative jokes.

 

[Azure-Supernova]

I still watch the videos; probably will do as long as they're being pumped out. But, I have found that I'm laughing less. I remember the first video I watched had me in stitches, the Prototype vs inFamous and it was the quip about Mercer flying like an 'emo Peter Pan'; cracked me up big time.

Maybe he's just going through a bit of a humour dry spell?

 

[Jonluw]

I sort of agree, but I still watch and enjoy zp. It might not be as good as it used to be, but it's still pretty decent.

 

[NeutralDrow]

I disagree, but that might be because I've rarely agreed with him on most things. When your favorite genres are ones he explicitly dislikes, it's difficult to take most of his recommendations seriously.

So, no, I don't have the same feeling. There certainly was a slump somewhere, culminating in the Madworld review, but he picked up the pieces of my esteem and, but for a few "meh" instances, has been consistently funny since.

 

[Blind Sight]

I was pretty much over Yahtzee after his first two months reviewing, I find he usually has a good joke here or there but his comedy is often a one-trick pony (for example, like you stated, his bashing of Americans over and over). When his jokes do work though, they're excellent (I thought the 'cake' joke from his Super Mario Galaxy 2 review was one of his best ever).

Now I'm off to a street corner to purchase some...cake.

 

[GundamSentinel]

It seems like he becomes more and more of a lonely elitist in an ivory tower of his supposed good taste and sense of innovation. Personally, I think he doesn't give any decent and fair criticism on games anymore and is just picking on thing we all know are there and don't bother us. It's not as sharp as it used to be. It's been a long time since he really made a good point and made me laugh at the same time.

 

[Camembert]

This. I love it when some of that good 'ol Australian charm pulls through. But I couldn't agree more wholeheartedly with the op's argument.

I don't think Yahtzee possesses a single speck of Australian charm. He may live in Oz but he is still very much a Brit, so if any charm does show through it's his Englishness that does it

 

[The Procrastinated End]

I still find him funny and still enjoy his videos but I can't wait for the thread, after he makes a video with all the things YOU personally want, that calls him amazing.

 

[Inferno_622]

These days I prefer reading his Extra Punctuation articles. I mean, I still think the videos are great and I do look forward to Wednesdays, but I think you can get more out of the articles than ZP itself - the videos are for jokes.

 

[Sleekgiant]

As long as his videos are free, I will continue to watch them and laugh, although he seems to be going to more rants and less jokes.

 

[Cheesepower5]

I like Extra Punctuation a lot more. Sure it's not all that funny, but it gives him a chance to elaborate himself and I find it's where he usually makes some sense.

 

[MattRooney06]

at least you have a valid reason

one of my friends now hates yahtzee because apparently "he rants too much", i replied....."yes he has allways done that"

And my girlfriend hates him because he dosent like final fantasy :S

 

[HeySeansOnline]

He has sort have run into a rut, and you see less and less of him breaking basic gameplay and story staples we hold dear. I actually enjoyed his tri review because he took a game me and many others like and dropped a good bit of reason on it. But I still watch, four minutes of generally ok is better than twenty three minutes of suck.