Topic: Yahtzee/Ben Croshaw (fullyramblomatic.com, YTOTW, Zero Punctuation, _ Days A _)

[NatchDan]

This is the guy that created the Darkness review I posted in Que's thread, as well as similarly-constructed videos about Fable and (for The Escapist) Heavenly Sword and RE5 (Click here for his video talking about being hired by The Escapist, and here for the official episode one of Zero Punctuation, about HS and RE5).

He's maintained a website, Fully Ramblomatic, which I've read on and off for years, as well as the funniest and cleverest MS Paint webcomic you'll ever read, Yahtzee Takes On The World (now ended).

Now, the main reason I draw your attention to this man is because he designs games as something of a hobby. Point-and-clickers in the old LucasArts adventure stable, and they're really rather good. Mostly named ____ Days A ____ (7/Sceptic, 5/Stranger etc), four of these games create a long and frankly awesome arching plot. I just thought I'd bring them to your attention after seeing all the LucasArts love. They're free unless you want to donate for a special edition and require no install, which is nifty. You can get them here, and I'd recommend playing them in order (5 Days, 7 Days, Trilby's Notes, 6 Days).

[Quemaqua]

I've messed with those and I had no idea that was the guy.  How funny.

[NatchDan]

Heh, nice. What did you think to them? I'm just getting into 5 Days myself.

[Quemaqua]

They're really pretty great.  I've yet to play all of them, though.  I only messed with the first two and didn't finish either because it was before I had to go somewhere... never came back to them due to busy schedule.  Then I forgot about them.  But thanks for the reminder, I'm gonna' get back in and do more than just fuck around.  But there's a following out there, to some extent.  People definitely know about them and have played them.  The feedback has been quite positive, mostly saying that they're lots of fun, just super short.

[NatchDan]

Awesome. I must say I'm stuck in 5 Days right now, but point-click adventures tend to be tricky to me. I'll figure it out eventually.

[Quemaqua]

The games are popular enough that I'll bet you could do a quick search and find the solutions, in the event you get completely stuck to the point of no return.

[idolminds]

I haven't played them yet, but I've heard a lot about them. I've been thinking of using AGS to make my own game.

Time for inspiration! (and downloads)

[NatchDan]

Oh shit! Psychonauts video review!

[Quemaqua]

That's the best thing since... since the last thing I saw there.  Jeezus.  That's great.

[Cobra951]

Oh shit! Psychonauts video review!

Awesomeness.  A new personal hero is born?

[MysterD]

Yahtzee's PK Review has caused sale increase...
Hmmm....Who knew that Yahtzee's Painkiller review sometime back caused the game's sales to jump like crazy on Amazon.

Do Zero Punctuation Videogame Reviews Influence Videogame Sales?

escapist-review-of-braidIt’s been over a year since Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw was plucked from YouTube obscurity to host Escapist Magazine’s Zero Punctuation video series, and the acid-tongued Brit with the surreal, machine gun patter remains the undisputed star of game reviews, with regular appearances on G4 TV, at the Game Developers Conference, and more. But does his massive fanbase buy the games he loves (which are few), and skip the titles he hates (nearly all of them)?

Depends on who you ask. Here’s a case study on the relation between an online video celebrity and the consumer behavior of his fans:

Croshaw recently gave a rare rave to indy art game darling Braid, available on Xbox Live’s download service. (Conquering its mind-bending challenges, he memorably noted, is “a more satisfying feeling than teabagging a hundred noobs in any deathmatch shooter you care to name.”) But did his fans follow his advice with their dollars?

“I don’t see any real case for Zero Punctuation increasing sales by a lot,” Braid designer Jonathan Blow told me, after checking his game’s Xbox Live purchase stats. Looking at the period when Croshaw’s review went online, he added, “There definitely isn’t a visible sales spike or anything like that.”

That isn’t the full story, however. Last May, Croshaw effusively praised Painkiller, a somewhat obscure, hyperviolent first-person shooter from 2004; a pull-quote from the review (”All you really need to know is there is a gun that shoots shurikens and lightning”) showed up as an ad on Steam, the game download service, generating big gamer acclaim. On Amazon, sales of the old game immediately jumped 7400 percent.

Yahtzee’s impact in this case was so notable, Escapist publisher Alexander Macris even cites it in the company’s marketing brochure, to demonstrate the site’s reach and influence. “As I’m sure you know,” he told me, “media companies are always fighting to prove audience engagement and relevance.” As to the comparative lack of consumer engagement after his Braid review, Macris speculates that the game “was already a breakthrough hit by the time Yahtzee reviewed it, while Painkiller was a lesser-known title that was given a new look based on his review.”

Maybe. My personal guess is that Croshaw’s audience is overwhelmingly comprised of gamers who enjoy the vulgar smack talk in his reviews, which are almost always of hardcore titles from established genres, but no matter what he says, are less interested in experimental games without the usual rock ‘em sock ‘em conventions. That would be a sad irony, given Yahtzee’s passionate advocacy of games as an art form. But then, that’s generally the challenge of online video stardom— once your fans decide why they like you, it’s difficult to stray outside their expectations.

Recent Yahtzee reviews
Yahtzee of ZP took on Fable 2
Yahtzee is not thrilled with Dead Space
Yahtzee takes on SH: Homecoming + a bonus Yahtzee video/voice-over SH3 Joke
Yahtzee took on Saints Row 2

[MysterD]

FIVE minute interview w/ Yahtzee

[Pugnate]

You know why I read Yahtzee's reviews? Because aside from the humor, they are better put together, and more interesting than 99% of the reviews out there. That's why it irks me when I read people at Kotaku and like commenting on how "He isn't funny anymore" etc.

I mean, underneath that hilarious exterior, lies a reviewer with some insight, who understands where modern day gaming has come from. While I actually don't agree with him half the time, I still respect the perspective he brings in his reviews.

So yea, the internet crowd screaming about him losing his hilarious edge makes me a little sad. I guess they just see him as some brainless ass clown.

A few months ago, I tried listening to a 1UP yours podcast, where the lead talked about Yahtzee, saying very seriously, "This guy is just not funny any more. His 15 minutes are up yo!" That was the first and last time I humored that particular podcast, but to me it was just laughable considering who the observation was coming from.

[Cobra951]

1UP is horrible in general.  Yes, Yahtzee has more insight into the games than most.  He always seems to cut through the BS, and I find his reviews valuable even when I don't agree with them.  Who says he isn't funny anymore?  Did he bash some popular sacred cow recently?

[Pugnate]

Just the internet crowd on joystiq, kotaku etc. In a sense I do agree, that I don't find him as funny anymore, but that's not all I get out of his reviews so yea...

[Quemaqua]

I never found him that funny.  He's just amusing, and provides his perspective on games, which generally happens to go into a "man, this shit is stale" category.  He's perfectly entitled to that opinion.  I don't always share it, no, but he still makes decent points most of the time.

[Xessive]

Anyone stumbled upon Game Damage yet?

[MysterD]

Anyone stumbled upon Game Damage yet?

Oooh @ the look back on the "pure" adventure gaming days (especially LucasArts -- Grim Fandango, Monkey Island series, Sam and Max series, etc) around 22:35.

Oh, and also how the "pure "adventure genre got interwoven with RPG's, action games, action-adventure (survival horror).

[gpw11]

Anyone stumbled upon Game Damage yet?

The general consensus is that he just jumped the shark.   I don't know, the guy has amusing reviews, but that's pretty much it.  I don't think there's usually any actual value to his reviews (but then again I generally don't put much stock in reviews anyways). To be honest, if I wanted to know what some socially awkward guy thought about a game that came out a month ago I'd probably go read user reviews at Gamefaqs.  Once the funny starts to wear off for most people they're finding that there's little else there.

[Pugnate]

Anyone stumbled upon Game Damage yet?

Has potential. Needs work. Yahtzee needs to stop looking like a childmolestor on video.

[MysterD]

Yahtzee needs to stop looking like a childmolestor on video.

LMFAO!

[Xessive]

Haha yeah, he has this weird look when he focuses on the cam.

It definitely has some potential. I like that they addressed the DNF condition hehe

[gpw11]

Haha yeah, he has this weird look when he focuses on the cam.

It definitely has some potential. I like that they addressed the DNF condition hehe

The thing for me is that he'd only focus on the camera. If you're going to make a show like that where you're using language like you're talking to your co-hosts, actually talk to your co-hosts, don't creepily stare into the camera.  Beyond that, don't put a couch there if you're just going to sit there stiffly with horrible posture.  Sit behind a desk if that's what you're going to do.

Finally, DNF jokes...seriously?  The original joke sketches they had were alright, but they dragged them out too far.  Three versions of each joke?  Keep it to one version but more variety.

[Pugnate]

Haha yeah, he has this weird look when he focuses on the cam.

It definitely has some potential. I like that they addressed the DNF condition hehe

For me that was the worst part of the video. I blame D.

[Xessive]

They did overdo it, I just like the fact that they brought it up.

I hope they improve for the next show.

[Pugnate]

That's the thing I didn't like. That they made the most overused joke on the net.

[gpw11]

The more I think about it, the more I start to realize it might be one of the worst things I've ever watched.

[Pugnate]

haha whenever I come to this thread, I get the mental image of a pale white man, with a strange purple hate, staring at me as if he is looking for a prison bitch.

edit:

Hat... not hate.

[beo]

hate has a colour? well i suppose if it did, purple seems about right.

also, if you want to watch a good show about gaming (vaguely), try videogaiden. http://www.bbc.co.uk/videogaiden/

it's currently on break, so the episodes they have up are a bit out of date, but it's still funny shit. quite weird, and the presenters have thick scottish accents, so might not be for the north american crowd - but i love it.

[MysterD]

Yahtzee's Year in Review 2008 -- highlighting some of his best jokes this year.

[MysterD]

Yahtzee takes on Spiderman: Web of Shadows

[gpw11]

Yeah, he's kind of played out now (for me anyways).  what really killed it for me was seeing him on that show.

[poomcgoo]

Wow.  G4 got it right when they hired actors to pose as gamers.  It makes me wonder what percent of gamers are actually that horrendously awkward and homely.  Could they have perpetuated the stereotype any worse?  I couldn't stomach more than 2 minutes of it -- right around the time the hunchback of Notre Dame mentioned "snagging" a new girlfriend, just in case anybody on the internet was wondering.