Zero Punctuation…One Year of Bollocks!

Pop idols have Simon Cowell. Chefs have Gordon Ramsay. Parents have the old crones from Nanny 911. The hottest trend in entertainment is watching British know-it-alls verbally assault poor saps whose only crime is to dare to live out their dreams, if not just get by. For the video game industry, Yahtzee from Zero Punctuation fills that void. The series has grown to such popularity that many online publications simply embed the videos into their news posts in order to boost traffic by riding its coat tails, and making up for their own lack of original content. This article may not be much different.

Coming up on its first anniversary over at The Escapist, Zero Punctuation is a crudely animated, yet sharp-witted weekly commentary on the latest games in need of a good wedgie. Why the name “Zero Punctuation,” you ask? It’s simple, really… Yahtzee’s a man of many words, but of little time. So in order to pack in everything that’s worth saying, he has to speak as fast as he can without any pause or punctuation.

While he occasionally finds a game that he does enjoy, no title is safe from its due criticism. As much as Metal Gear Solid 4, Super Smash Bros Brawl, and Guitar Hero III are heralded as the sacrosanct titles of the current generation, they are not without their flaws…and Yahtzee exposes them with harsh abandon.

If my description fails to paint an adequate picture for you, don’t worry, my feelings aren’t hurt. It’s a series that must be experienced to be truly understood. As a sample taste, I offer to you one of my favorite of Yahtzee’s reviews to one of my favorite games, Psychonauts.