Poll: Is Yahtzee serious?

[Diceman]

I don't really understand why this is actually being debated.
Yes he's being mostly serious.
Why can't someone genuinely hate most of the dross out there?

 

[Racecarlock]

In the core of what he is saying, he is serious. However he clearly a. exagerates and b. ignores the good parts as much as possible. In one of his videos he starts out listing good points for a game and then says "but we don't want that, you all love it when I poke holes in a game so here goes" or something along those lines.

I believe in his arkham asylum review he said "But you don't call a sewage technician to redecorate your bathroom and you didn't come to me to hear about how a game is good."

But to be honest, people will only take him seriously if they share his tastes. IF you're like me and you enjoy whizbang shooty fun and silly over the top action and horror that's acutally scary and even a good story, then you should take him at face value, as you'll probably notice every flaw he does. But if you like slow gameplay and lots and lots of menus and numbers and shit or grey brown realistic shooters, you should probably look to some other reviewer. Also if you're a nintendo fan.

 

[Sjakie]

why the F*** are you asking us? You should ask him, he's the only one that knows for sure

 

[signingupforgames]

He's probably semi-serious. He accentuates the negative aspects, so he probably doesn't think all the games are horrible. HOWEVER after playing game after game after game after etc. He's probably gotten to the point where he's like a film critic, able to spot the most bland and uninteresting garage that we would see as merely average, and truly spiteful by how many pieces of trash there actually are. But in all seriousness, he's probably mostly just trolling.

Probably.

 

[Jumpingbean3]

He's not a reviewer, he's a critic. A reviewer will take a balanced look at a game and deliver an unbiased report. A critic will examine a game and pick up on all its flaws, glossing over the good and emphasizing the bad.

Yahtzee exaggerates for comic effect, but he's pretty on the ball when it comes to finding a game's weak spots.

In all fairness Yahtzee only really glosses over the good if he doesn't like the game or isn't sure if he recommends it or not. Plus there's usually more to say about something that's bad.

 

[Agayek]

I get the feeling there is no right or wrong anwser to this so what do you think?

The answer to this is simple. Go watch his Bioshock video, specifically at ~0:15. He explains that people hate him when he's nice to a game. Thus, most all of his reviews are rather negatively biased.

He presents the worst bits of the game in a comedic manner, instead of actually doing a balanced review.

 

[Jumpingbean3]

The MH review - he didn't play the game for more than half an hour or an hour, tops. I can guarantee you that. He only mentioned the gathering quests and barely even mentioned the hunting quests.

Well it is possible that he did some of the hunting quests but it's quite a while before you fight the first big monster (I don't really count the Great Jaggi because, while tough, it wasn't that big or exciting) and he did mention that the early encounter with the final boss was genuinely exciting. He's also said in the past that he rarely, if ever, excepts the argument that "It get better later". Before you get the wrong idea, I genuinely like Monster Hunter Tri so far (the Switch-Axe in particular is on my list of coolest weapons ever) but you can't deny it has a very slow start so you could be forgiven for giving up on it before playing to the end.

 

[Liquid Paradox]

yhatzee's reviews are honist, if that's what you're asking. If he hates a game, he nitpicks it. if a game is okay, he nitpicks it. if he loves it, he praises it, followed by nitpicking, because that's what The Escapist pays him to do.

Too bad there isn't a 3rd option on the poll: Kinda. Well... that's my vote.

 

[Aelfspranca]

I can't imagine he isn't being serious if you read his articles as well. I've personally come to a point in gaming where I own systems from every console generation both home and portable and sift through hundreds of titles to find a few dozen I find enjoyable. I watch him every week because it's refreshing to see someone calling an industry that has consistently avoided innovation in cultivating an experience in favor of improvements in graphics and realism. I have a few subscriptions to published gaming magazines and a I follow a few more on-line and it's very rare to find a review that is really critical of a game on any practical level. I often rent or buy these games to try them out only to find myself bewildered at what game the reviewer was playing. It's for this reason I only purchase games used from retailers that fully reimburse returns during a set time frame. Gaming simply isn't worth the cost otherwise.

 

[Draconalis]

On the other hand if he isn't in character it's rather jarring that he honestly hates so many of the games out there and truly beleives them to be bland and unoriginal.

This is how I felt long before I ever knew Yahtzee existed. Most games do not impress me at all.

 

[Sack of Cheese]

I think he's serious. He always tries to make his reviews fun to watch, at the same time gets his points across.

 

[Maddenfreak]

while i think at ground level he's serious, he plays a lot with comedic effect which blurs the true statements a bit

 

[Alphakirby]

I said yes because there isn't a third option. He's serious when he reviews games,listing the things wrong with detail,but he's also snarky about it and exaggerates every bad thing about a game to insane levels,because that's his thing.

While yes he is serious in his reviews,he still tries to entertain us.

 

[Erttheking]

why the F*** are you asking us? You should ask him, he's the only one that knows for sure

...I think we all know that that will end badly for me. Yahtzee isn't well known for being on good terms with his viewers.

 

[chuckman1]

I'd say he's in the middle so I didnt vote.
He makes valid points but exaggerates for comedy sake.

 

[Kristina.K.]

I think that he uses hyperbole often, though I have a strong feeling that he is serious when it comes down to his key points.

He is a game reviewer. It is his job to be critical, and personal bias is often a huge part of any reviewers' critique. It would be difficult to create an entertaining review without that bias. He has seemed to find decent games out of most of the genres which he seems to hate, but not much other than that. I have no doubt in my mind that he is serious.

After all, why abuse his outlet to give credit to games which he deems crap, and vice versa?

 

[Rangerboy87]

Those that take his opinion seriously though...Well they are the reason we can't have nice things xD

I don't know about that. I do take his opinion seriously when considering whether a game is worth getting or trying out. I have watched enough ZP now that I can figure through tone and what he says whether the game is ok or horrible without him having to give a recommendation.

I'd hope you base your prospective buys on more then just yahtzees approval though

Oh of course...especially on the ones he's ok with...I'll get other reviews and opinions to see what others like or dislike...for the ones he harps on for being horrible...i tend to know what the prospective on those will be

I use Yahtzee as a starting point for games...if his review gets me interested in a game...I'll check it out elsewhere...if his review doesn't...then I usually leave it there

 

[Awexsome]

It's always been meant for comedy first. He'll rip on good games well worth your money and call them shit all the time. But he often puts legitimate criticisms in there to help with the comedy.

He's really more of a entertainer than a reviewer.

 

[Frankster]

I use Yahtzee as a starting point for games...if his review gets me interested in a game...I'll check it out elsewhere...if his review doesn't...then I usually leave it there

That's perfectly fine and dandy I seem to have a bad habit of either using too few words to describe what i mean or too many.

There are quite a few people here who litterally take yahtzees word as the word of god when truth is, most of the time he says things about games which are plain false (from the most recent gow review alone:some fans are saying it's a colorful game which goes directly against yahtzees description of it), and though funny (its the reason we watch him right?), is untrue but you will have silly people mindlessly echoing his opinion and bringing it up.

You see why I might say that those kinda people are the reason we can't have nice things (which btw i never really got what it means but just find it a funny expression <3)? Your case is perfectly fine and "normal", yahtzees influences ya and gives ya ideas, but his word ain't the gospel for ya.