Poll: Zero Punctuation: Do his words matter?

[felltablet]

It really depends on your level of cynicism.
For example, I thought Bioshock should have gotten a 60/100.
Because I am so picky, I do value his opinion.

 

[Mstrswrd]

I don't listen to him for anything but the funny.

I'm the same way.

 

[tiredinnuendo]

I hear people say how he only liked Portal and Psychonauts and therefore is not a valid source, but they're forgetting that he gave positive reviews to Bioshock, CoD4, AC, Crysis, the entire Orange Box, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Paper Mario, Peggle, and Manhunt; just off the top of my head. He also gave Halo 3 a score of average.

Saying that he points out a game's flaws is a merit in my book, I like to know what's bad about a game. For most people, it's not terribly difficult to tell the difference between a game that he's knocking because it's funny vs. a game that he's knocking because it's terrible.

So yes, I listen to him as a reviewer and I take his word into account.

- J

 

[Jakeb Smith]

What Zero Punctuation does for me is highlight everything that is annoying or stupid in a game. Those two things are extremely important for me when deciding what to play. Most games have a level of fun to them, its what you have to endure to get to the fun that makes the difference.

 

[emokid72]

Satire is a type of comedy. If I went through them all to find the one where he was completely hate mail spammed for saying a game good, so to please the cunts who think any indie review should never be a good one, he makes a few of the pussies sad that good games aren't recognized.

That being said, we should never take his word for anything, except Halo 3 and Portal.

 

[Sheanus]

I eagerly look forward to Zero Punctuation every Wednesday, but I'd no more use it to pick games than I'd use the Colbert Report to pick candidates. Entertaining, witty, and with a few kernels of truth... but my tastes are not his, his are not mine, and anyway his seem to be exaggerated for comedic effect.

Frankly, I'm kinda disappointed to see how many treat infotainment seriously... and I'm not restricting that to just ZP.

-- Steve

I agree - ZP is mainly meant for comedy, and thus it's easier to make something funny by bagging out on it. That doesn't say I don't disagree with him in all that he says, far from it, but what he says has to be taken with a grain of salt. It's meant as a humorous review - note the word humorous, and as a humorous piece, is meant to entertain. I certainly don't take it seriously, and I hope that if people really aren't sure about buying a game they've been waiting for for a while just because Yahtzee just wailed on it will have the sense to either get a second, third, maybe even a fourth opinion, or rent the game out ant try it before you buy it.

 

[Maverynthia]

I put a lot of store in his reviews as was mentioned, many reviewers are either paid off to give it a good score or can't be bothered to tell you the horrible parts.
I'd really like to see his review of FFXIII, one that all the fanboys and girls will probably cry over..

 

[Hey Joe]

I wouldn't really use Yahtzee to inform my buying choice because when all is said and done he's trying to entertain first, and inform second with his videos. Let's face it, ZP is hardly a bastion for well-balanced reviews.

 

[Evil Genius for a Better Tomorrow]

I'd say that Yahtzze's reviews, while sarcastic & sometimes caustic but screamingly funny, are a good indication of the quality of a game. They are a good yard stick to measure a game against and I listen carefully to his reviews [once I've stopped laughing] to gauge whether or not I want to fork out my hard earned cash for a game that turns out to be crap.
I mean there is nothing worse than spending $90 or more on some touted new release game only to find its derivative of something done previously [and often better as well] as well as finding out the mechanics/gameplay drive you into a murderous incandescent rage because they're just so damn insanely fiddly that if you don't get it absolutely perfect in your button mashing sequence, you die/etc and just want to throw the whole thing out and take up golf instead.

 

[tubtub500]

What you have to understand about Yahtzee is that he is usually a PC gamer. He doesn't understand the impact that is console games. He is a wise man that knows how to state his opinion bluntly and not bend and twist the truth. What I'm trying to say is that I use his reviews as thought or reference, but it doesn't impact me immensely on my decision.

 

[MattyDienhoff]

Short answer, yes.

All his joking aside, he knows his games and I trust his opinions.

@ Khell, I bought CoD4 solely because of Yahtzee's review, and I haven't regretted it.

 

[Gansasalite]

I mainly watch his reviews because they point out those parts of games that annoy me. Like in his mass effect review he points out how much text there is which leaves me and my brother going "That?s so true".

Whether I buy games because of him, no. Yahtzee is there to give me a laugh, point out some notable flaws, and confirm what I already feel about said game.

EDIT: That said, he does know his stuff.

 

[UncleAsriel]

I rarely buy games, but I've learned to appraise and appreciate game design a little bit further - a neat meta-media exploration of the medium. His explanations on quicktime events (especially with he most recent video) do much to critique how interactivity versus passive watching control how the user engages with the game.

Plus, he put twat on the map for 'daily vocab use'. Atta boy, Yahtzee!

 

[Anarchemitis]

I usually make my opinions and compare them to his, which usually don't. I buy games on the accord of my opinion, and not others.

 

[Deatre]

The only review that convinced me to buy a game was the orange box, and that was compounded by the fact that it was five games (Having never played HL2 onwards) for $99 while normally it's one game for that price (Or more)

Generally I don't let reviews sway my choices too much, based on the fact that reviewers have personalities and personal bias against/for certain things, Yahtzee might hate generic tonnes of dialogue while I'd love it (Provided it was interesting/engaging and whatnot) so their reviews will reflect that to a certain point

Over the years I've perfected the art of taking every single thing I hear with a grain of salt, but that doesn't mean I don't love ZP and all of it's fast-paced-no-holds-barred-hilarity/troof.

 

[Mairsil the Pretender]

I hear people say how he only liked Portal and Psychonauts and therefore is not a valid source, but they're forgetting that he gave positive reviews to Bioshock, CoD4, AC, Crysis, the entire Orange Box, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Paper Mario, Peggle, and Manhunt; just off the top of my head. He also gave Halo 3 a score of average.

Saying that he points out a game's flaws is a merit in my book, I like to know what's bad about a game. For most people, it's not terribly difficult to tell the difference between a game that he's knocking because it's funny vs. a game that he's knocking because it's terrible.

So yes, I listen to him as a reviewer and I take his word into account.

- J

Thank you. Thats exactly the point. This man wins a cookie, and the internet.

 

[Fire Daemon]

I borrowed Bioshock a few days ago and his review does pretty much sum it up. Still a great game though. I'd say that you can trust his reviews. If he says its shit it probably is shit unless it obvious that he hates the game because of the developers name or something.

 

[CptLande]

I bought Psychonauts because of his review and, well, the game's one of my favorites now.

Yeah, same here!

 

[Conqueror Kenny]

no he just tears every game down i judge a game on what real revewers say hes just a bit of entertainment