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… I guess that means that his review made me comfortable with a purchase I was already going to make?

His reviews have helped put in perspective how many times I’ve been burned in the past, but I also want to see the new stuff coming out, so I’ve become a habitual renter at Blockbuster.

I expect that current sales won’t be affected much one way or the other. I’m looking for two things to come out of his reviews:

One: Positively reviewed games will, a few months past release, be being grabbed off the shelves of used game stores at a much higher rate than otherwise.

Two: His reviews will be played and dissected by the Game Design classes of the future, affecting (one way or the other) what kind of games they put their time behind. I mean, its a bit like the effect the Evil Overlord list has on writers, right?

I venture to suggest that an exploration of the commercial viability of such an approach is rather missing the point, unless you’re talking about whether he’s increased traffic for the people who pay him.

Ya, I bought Psychonauts based on his review also–any review that claims that a modern game brings as much enjoyment as gaming back in the C64 days convinces me.

and that was definitely a gerat tip, what a stellar game!

So, was that 2 copies one day to 148 the next, or what? 7400 ZOMG sounds great, sure, but it really depends on what numbers you’re using, and during what period.

In any case, everyone who watches Zero Punctuation has access to a PC, and as the Yahtzee sold Painkiller as a best-of-generation FPS (a genre that has been mined into extinction recently) rather than a cute, fun puzzle game for a console that not everyone has, maybe the markets for these two games are incredibly different.

But do they stop playing? Of course not. And those same titles that they bash for not being up to their expectations they keep buying. (Note Yahtzee’s love for the Silent Hill series….)

So a good review might make a difference, but people watch Zero Punctuation so that they can hear someone else say all the things they were thinking while they beat the game, and that’s basically it.

If I wanted to buy something I would regardless of his review. However, if he really panned something I was intending to buy I might at least spend some time getting other views before splashing the cash.

No he rarely likes anything, but then most publishers put out crap 99% of the time.. and it’s very rare that there is a game that is universally lauded.

As an old hand at both playing and writing games, and doing the latter because I too am looking for that Nirvana game… he tells me what I have already guessed about most games before even looking at them.

Zero Punctuation is entertainment. Childish, obscene and repetitive, but damn enjoyable.

More power to the dick wad IMO!

All you guys arguing about the quality of the reviews, recall that all reviews are opinions, and be thankful that Yahtzee doesn’t go to all the trouble everyone else does to pretend that they are more than that. I watch his reviews mostly just for the entertainment.