The Deal With Yahtzee Croshaw (And all critics for that matter)

[the Dept of Science]

The job of a game reviewer is to analyze and criticize a game, generally so they can either recommend it to others or warn them away from it. If you have already bought said game and enjoy it, then the analysis of the reviewer is largely irrelevant, because you now already know whether or not you enjoy the game and whether it was a worthwhile purchase. Many people, however, treat the opinions of critics as validation or condemnation of the games they already own, which is entirely the wrong way to go about it. It is advice, not the immutable word of God.

Not to mention the fact that Yahtzee is more an entertainer than a reviewer. He has a persona to keep up, and has to keep firing off jokes at regular intervals, and it is generally a lot funnier when he's taking apart a game piece by piece and then spitting on it, rather than simply offering unbridled praise.

That's not quite true. The job of a critic is more than to give consumer advice. If they were recommending on the basis of what most people would enjoy, then their wouldn't be such a disparity between critical acclaim and commercial success. A critics tastes should, in theory, be more refined than those of an average person, with far more references and theoretical understanding of the medium.
The job of a critic can involve entertaining, bringing to light aspects of a work that a lot of people might have missed/allowing them to see a work in a different light, generally promoting discussion about a work, etc.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

It probably has to do with them not agreeing with the critic and taking offense. Some people are just stubborn, I guess...

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Yahtzee is comedy gold. I dont know why people get annoyed with him as i dont consider him a reviewer of games at all. Plus whats wrong with liking stuff that others hate? That just makes you more special with different tastes in things. Whats so wrong with that?

 

[AdamRhodes]

-Maybe I think Yahtzee is pants-on-head stupid, ill-informed and talks way to fast (and his "official" fanboys gargle my salty balls).

But if you're offended, then the reason we hate you is not because of your choice in games online video game reviewers. We hate you because you're an entitled, spiteful dork with too much time to be angry.

-Maybe I think the phrase "too much time to be angry" doesn't make any sense here. I mean are they not angry before because they have too much time and when they lose all that delicious, wonderful time they become angry? Or when they waste that time watching videos or typing into forums on the internet it makes them angry? ...I don't understand. I'm not angry. Are you angry?

-Maybe internet video game critics can defend themselves.

-Maybe most Escapist Users are smarter than you are and have already figured this out. Who knows?

-Or maybe it doesn't matter to me and I can respect the opinions of others [sub]even if they are wrong[/sub]. But only if they make me laugh. If I fail to laugh they have failed as an internet video game reviewer!

-Maybe even Yahtzee's Escapist profile reads Professional Troll and he's laughing off his ass right now. But who really knows for sure?

See now, you're getting defensive over not liking Yahtzee.

He was addressing the fact that people take Yahtzee too seriously and send him stupid e-mails and comments. And considering it still happens, no, Escapist Users haven't figured this out. If it wasn't still happening, why would this guy start a thread in an attempt to stop it?

Also, opinions can never be wrong.

 

[omega 616]

I'll say this, I love Yahtzee, consider me a fanboy if you must, he's one of the few game critics

Well, he's not a game critic.

His "thing" is to shred games, notice the ratio of games he likes to games he shreds is like 1 like to 20 dislikes. I think there is a quote or piece written by him that people only watch him to shred games, the ones where he talks about how good the game is are the ones that don't get the best responses or something.

He doesn't review or critique games, he just shines a huge flood light of hyperbole and dick jokes onto almost every game.

 

[Flailing Escapist]

He was addressing the fact that people take Yahtzee too seriously and send him stupid e-mails and comments.

Sorry, but I haven't kept tabs on Yahtzee's emails for a while. Who even pays attention to stupid emails anyway? You don't take your spam seriously, do you?

Also, opinions can never be wrong.

I disagree.

 

[IPunchWithMyFists]

Holy shit did I actually just start intellectual discussion over the nature of the critic?

You know, angrier people aside. Which I.... guess includes me?

 

[Atmos Duality]

I treat Yahtzee as I do any critic: I see their statements as opinions until they commit one of the Critic Cardinal Sins:

1) Criticizing the audience of the work, instead of the work (Oh Moviebob...)
2) Going on tirades instead of reviewing the work (this means injecting tangentially-related/unrelated segments into a review, and focusing far too much on them instead of the review itself. Typically, it's political, religious, and/or personal garbage involved here.)
3) Selling Out one's "opinion" (what we think of as the "Gamespot reviews", essentially)

Commit one, and the verbal "fight" (as the OP puts it) is justified and warranted.

Don't commit those, and remain entertaining, and I will watch/listen on the notion of amusement alone; perhaps on the terms of credibility if one persists in not breaking those as time goes on or provides insights into the field of the subject (which is showing professionalism beyond the need to make money).

 

[Vigormortis]

It all comes down to people being insecure about what they have, want and enjoy. People are super content with what they have until someone says it sucks. Suddenly they're worried that they aren't having fun and they might have picked the wrong game so they have to defend and justify why it is fun. Otherwise they are missing out. If a critic has extremely valid points they have to defend it otherwise they feel like they are being told their opinion is wrong.

Even worse, on the opposite end of the spectrum, you have the people that are so insecure about what they like that they go out of their way to lambast, insult, and "hate on" what other people like.

Take this forum, for example. How many times a week, or hell a day, do we see threads like, "I don't get it. How can you people like ******!?!?!??!"

What perverse pleasure does it bring these people to actually take the effort to insult others for liking something they don't? As if to imply their affection for something else makes them less of a person. Are they really that insecure about their own interests that they need to berate others to make themselves feel superior?

 

[n00beffect]

You are not your game. If Yahtzee does not like Skyward Sword, that's not a jab at you. That's a jab at a video game that Yahtzee played. He is not insulting you. He may insult your favorite thing, but not you. Hell, he tore L.A. Noire a new one and I love that game. He hates a LOT of my favorite titles. If you are so attached to a piece of cultural media that any offense taken at it becomes personal then you should not be allowed near a computer.

Could not have said it better myself. (although I'll try) - Yahtzee hates almost every game I like, but you know what? I embrace that hatred. It makes me laugh at my own inability to see some of it's flaws. And, man, how I hate people like the mentioned above. I have this friend who just adores Korean cinema. She's the same bloody way. Every time I piddle on a stupid movie she likes, it's as if I've killed her own personal Jesus or something. Seriosly! this is retarded.

Plus if you can't take the piss out of what you like, then you don't really like it, you dumbass! I absolutely adore Death Note as an anime, but right now I can dig up at least 20 things about it that are absolute shite, and that would never change my opinion of it. And I am the same way about Assassin's Creed, and many other games I like. I like being able to find the flaws in things I adore, because that means I know them better than anyone, and, it means I am capable of being objective, even about the things I love. That, for me, ought to be the real definition of the word 'fanboy', not some angry, brooding ass-wipe, that defends something just because he wuvs it (flippin' morons...).

Being a devoted, self-rightious 'fanboy' of ANYTHING is akin to being a religious extremist, or a militant atheist (for you touchy sods).

But hey, let's face it, without angry 'fanboys', making complete and utter idiots out of themselves, there wouldn't be anyone to laugh and point at, so, in retrospect, I'd be willing to put-up with whiny little mongrols, at the expense of constantly having someone to barate with laughter.

 

[Suicidejim]

The job of a game reviewer is to analyze and criticize a game, generally so they can either recommend it to others or warn them away from it. If you have already bought said game and enjoy it, then the analysis of the reviewer is largely irrelevant, because you now already know whether or not you enjoy the game and whether it was a worthwhile purchase. Many people, however, treat the opinions of critics as validation or condemnation of the games they already own, which is entirely the wrong way to go about it. It is advice, not the immutable word of God.

Not to mention the fact that Yahtzee is more an entertainer than a reviewer. He has a persona to keep up, and has to keep firing off jokes at regular intervals, and it is generally a lot funnier when he's taking apart a game piece by piece and then spitting on it, rather than simply offering unbridled praise.

That's not quite true. The job of a critic is more than to give consumer advice. If they were recommending on the basis of what most people would enjoy, then their wouldn't be such a disparity between critical acclaim and commercial success. A critics tastes should, in theory, be more refined than those of an average person, with far more references and theoretical understanding of the medium.
The job of a critic can involve entertaining, bringing to light aspects of a work that a lot of people might have missed/allowing them to see a work in a different light, generally promoting discussion about a work, etc.

Hm, you are quite correct, I did gloss over the 'refined taste' aspect of game criticism (although I tried to point out that consumer advice was simply a large part of their role, not necessarily all). That has more to do with my own stance that quality is, to a significant degree, rather subjective, although I do acknowledge that a firm grasp of the techniques and theory behind game development is important when evaluating a game. However, even though most critics do possess such knowledge, they are still fallible. As such, though I will give the opinion of an established critic more consideration than the average man on the street, I don't take their word that a game is good/bad as law, and if I already enjoy or appreciate a game, I couldn't care less for the opinions of others.

Still, you are quite right, my definition wasn't strictly accurate. My mistake.