"We may need you to play twing-twang."

August 24, 2007 11:54 PM

Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw is a writer and game designer who has recently begun contributing some decidedly unique game reviews to The Escapist magazine. (NSFW, naughty language.) via Kotaku.com
posted by Rangeboy (20 comments total)

Also, some earlier efforts.
posted by Rangeboy at 11:59 PM on August 24, 2007

I hate The Escapist magazine. Didn't someone get banned for self-linking that site at one point? I'd hoped I'd never have to see a link to them again.
posted by delmoi at 12:06 AM on August 25, 2007

"When I played EverQuest, I would set my alarm for 3:00 AM to wake up in time for the next Bilge Farfathom spawn. Now, my alarm clock is a CRYING BABY that SPANS DIRTY DIAPERS"

Yeah someone's got the "stupid virus"
posted by delmoi at 12:15 AM on August 25, 2007

(er, sorry, my last comment was meant to link to this, The quote is not from one of Croshaw's reviews)
posted by delmoi at 12:17 AM on August 25, 2007

If delmoi is finished, I'd just like to say that this is a great outlet for Croshaw.
posted by bardic at 12:30 AM on August 25, 2007

His youtube account has Flashback runs. I loved that game growing up, along with Prince of Persia and Out Of This World.
posted by stavrogin at 1:54 AM on August 25, 2007

I don't get the Escapist hate. They run some of the best gaming articles going; they're objectively good in the larger sense, not just in the subculture.

Croshaw, at least so far, is both very insightful and funny as hell. Escapist is very good at recognizing talent.

Stavrogin: you might not know this, but Out Of This World was recently ported forward to Windows... it's exactly the same game, but works nicely in XP. You can get the demo here; the full version of the game costs $9.
posted by Malor at 2:49 AM on August 25, 2007

Anyone who loves the old Lucas Arts / Sierra style point-and-click adventures owes it to themselves to play Yahtzee's games, especially the Trilby series. Great dialogue, distinctly creepy plotlines and nostalgia oozing from every virtual pore.
posted by Ted Maul at 6:40 AM on August 25, 2007

Loving these videos, rangeboy -- thanks for the link.
posted by ukdanae at 7:10 AM on August 25, 2007

I'm pretty sure this review video is entertaining because I can see lots of interesting things happening on the screen, but I can't make out a word the guy is saying.
posted by majick at 9:19 AM on August 25, 2007

*gasp* Thanks, Malor!

*sprints off to website with money in virtual sweaty fist*
posted by gnomeloaf at 9:32 AM on August 25, 2007

I loved psychonauts and the psychonauts review.

I also don't understand the hate for the last level of Psychonauts. Have these people never played old school platform games? They aren't supposed to be fair or easy.
posted by empath at 10:54 AM on August 25, 2007

I grew out of videogames years ago, but I still thought his reviews were pretty funny.
posted by rhymer at 12:04 PM on August 25, 2007

grew out of videogames

Did you grow out of watching movies and listening to music as well?
posted by empath at 12:50 PM on August 25, 2007

Have you read the so-so comments in this thread and are debating whether or not to click on the word "reviews" up there? Do it, it's quite funny.
posted by blag at 2:35 PM on August 25, 2007

This is surprisingly good and funny -thanks!

Also, Psychonauts is amazing, everyone should play it. Really. Everyone.
posted by blahblahblah at 6:00 PM on August 25, 2007

His youtube account has Flashback runs. I loved that game growing up, along with Prince of Persia and Out Of This World.
posted by stavrogin at 1:54 AM on August 25 [+] [!]

This is when I normally mention the blistering glory of DOSBox.
posted by id at 11:51 PM on August 25, 2007

Yes, someone from the Escapist was nailed here for self-linking sneakily. I can't find the info right now though.

FWIW, I've never read the Escapist but I can't stand them because of their astroturfing. IMO, every mention of them should be checked for source.
posted by Kickstart70 at 9:01 AM on August 26, 2007

he has some other than the ones on escapist.
posted by juv3nal at 5:58 PM on September 7, 2007

oh and he also did one on bioshock recently which is up on escapist.
posted by juv3nal at 6:00 PM on September 7, 2007