Poll: Does Yahtzee affect your game purchases?

[Therumancer]

You know, the man who makes a show out of rants. His metaphor-filled warp-speed reviews (if you can call them that) roast through nearly every game they reach. From big-budget overhyped shooters to long-running and weird JRPGs the online-hating player has injured the pride of many a developer. But people take him seriously, and that is a surprising and sort of unnerving thing. In the comment threads (one you get past all of the thinly-masked first posts) there are basically three types of comments. There are those who, overtaken by fanboyism, either 'agree with his reasoning' or try to show him how he's wrong about their most loved/hated series. There are also those who merely enjoy the comedy, and waste good pixels quoting dialogue because they think it will be funnier the second time and typed out. But the last kind, and the one most startling, are those that go something like this:

"Wow, I'm glad I watched I was almost going to buy the game lalz "

This got me thinking. I love Zero Punctuation as much as the next guy does, but I would never have thought that his 'opinions' are taken seriously! People buying with his list must have pretty small libraries...

So, what about you guys? Does this influence your opinions?

He can, typically if it's a game I really wanted ahead of time I will have bought it before his take on things comes up. If it's a title I'm taking a "wait and see" on, then when you look past his style he can be right on the money on a lot of things. The big questions are "does what he's saying bother me" and of course knowing what kinds of things he tends to value in games and what he doesn't like on principle, I know to take certain rants with a grain of salt.

He's not one of the major influancing forces, but what he decides to say DOES interest me.

 

[Byere]

To be honest and blunt... no...

By the time he reviews something I like (like Fallout's 3 and New Vegas), I've already bought and possibly completed them. So no, his reviews don't really affect my purchasing of games. However, his reviews of certain games unbeknownest to me (along with Unskippable in that respect, case in point being "Resonance of Fate") HAVE lead me to look into the games with the possibility of buying them if I like them

 

[ComicsAreWeird]

Nope. I watch Yahtzee´s reviews for entertainment purposes. Sure, he usually ends up exposing most games flaws, but it doesnt affect my judgement.

 

[Bad Jim]

Yahtzee has some effect but not a huge effect. Magazines can be corrupt, while the average person on a forum may be ill informed and probably has different tastes to mine. All sources are subject to error. There is no reason to entirely discard his opinion just because he greatly exaggerates problems way beyond their real importance and has urinated on several games I rather enjoyed.

 

[Slavik_91]

I like RTSs, while Yahtzee compare them to RPGs,which always makes me lol (silly aussie RTS noob )

And I'm not fond of horror games like Silent Hill like he is.

Though we share a profound love for stealth games, so I usually take those reviews 0.350% more seriously

 

[JackRyan64]

I'm a lot more likely to look at a game he gives a positive review. Even for his negative reviews, I take his criticisms into consideration. Not that I base my purchases on them, but I do take them into account.

 

[snow]

*pokes you in the head.*

Use the search bar you! I see this thread so often that I wish it had it's own category in the forums!

And nope!

 

[x0ny]

Yes, but I don't just rely on his views alone. He normally points out some serious flaws with games, and if I feel that a certain flaw will negatively affect my enjoyment then I will unlikely buy that game.

 

[ninetails593]

I think that if you see him reviewing a game, and not declaring that it's an abomination, then you should buy it, since it was big enough to get on his list.

 

[0p3rati0n]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHA no....

 

[Xifel]

Yes, he does. Although his scale is a bit off, it's better than most other reviewer. I don't know how much better a game that got 9.0 on GameSpot is compared to a game that got an 7,5.

But I do know that if a game got just a hint of positive from Yahtzee it's worth looking into, and if he enjoyed it, I probably will to. Also, his taste in games is pretty much the same as mine, except I like RTSs.

Nobody can say that his reviews are inaccurate, just a bit taken to a extreme.

It should also be said I'm a student, and I buying a game will result in me eating noodles for 3 weeks, so a game have to be awesome, or I would starve for no good reason.

 

[SalamanderJoe]

Nope. I bought WET. I love it.

 

[Samuel Adams]

Nah, he gives bad reviews to almost every game. I just watch for entertainment.

 

[Magnatek]

That would be a no on my end, for two reasons.

1. He shouldn't really be called a "reviewer". He's more of a comedic critic, and accentuates only the negative points on any and all games he reviews, nearly to the point of nitpicking. It's purely for entertainment, as I believe he has said in the past, and...

2. The majority of my game purchases don't include any games he mentioned. For example, the last few games I've bought (SMT: Strange Journey, Mega Man Zero Collection, and Dragon Quest V) have not been talked about by him in any ZP or, well, anything, unless he's said it off the record somewhere.

 

[deathbydeath]

i heard about some games through him, and if he strongly reccomends one, i'll look into it, but if he hates it, i won't tie myself to his words. (although i agree with him a lot)

 

[DarkenedWolfEye]

He usually reviews games that I either don't have the platforms for (all I have is a little Wii)or that are rated M that my mom won't let me have until I'm 17.
But he did make me want to eventually get other platforms because of the games on PS2 and 3 that he said were really good. So basically I'll be giving Sony hundreds of dollars thanks to him. So I suppose, yes, he does influence my decisions as a video game consumer.

 

[C95J]

Nope, I know his reviews are just for fun, and not meant to be taken seriously. After all, he does take the piss out of almost every game he plays

 

[Assassin Xaero]

Not really. I think Painkiller was the only game I actually heard from from him and decided to buy. Most other games I already have an opinion on before he does a review or his review doesn't change it at all.

 

[Seriphina]

OMG i was gonna make an almost identical thread earlier after watching the Black Ops review... Subliminal messaging?! :O
Anyway Yahtzee does seem to affect what i will play, or continue playing rather than what i buy cos i am a frivoulous game buyer!!