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Zero Punctuation is a weekly online video series published in The Escapist in which Croshaw reviews video games using dark, sarcastic humour. The videos are notable for Croshaw's style of delivery, a fast-talking rapid-fire speech delivery which lends to the humour. During the first videos, Croshaw claimed that he did not "intend" to speak so rapidly, but it happened "by accident" because of his anger on the game.The videos are also famous for their minamalist animation. The images on-screen relate to what is being said, creating Croshaw's trademark humour. He is almost always outright cynical about the reviews, and has often enjoyed being critical of what he deems over-hyped games such as Metal Gear Solid 4, Bioshock and Halo 3.
Reviews (Name/Date/Description)
Croshaw used to be an avid webcomic author. His work includes Yahtzee Takes On The World, The Adventures Of Angular Mike, and Chris and Trilby. however, since his videos took off, Croshaw has abandoned his comic, and apparently maintains a disdain for tendencies in the gaming webcomics industry, making a Zero Punctuation video about it, and smashing the gaming webcomic Control-Alt-Delete in several blog posts and parts of some of his videos.
It can be argued, however, that his criticisms are not directed at web comics as a whole, as the prior paragraph suggests, but instead criticizing specific comics for not utilizing their medium properly, and using cheap humor with no build up, with Control-Alt-Delete exemplifying this tendency. His criticisms extend toward the many comic writers who, in his opinion, water down and degrade the medium. In the video he even suggests that many of these comics creators are simply trying to cash in on Penny Arcade's success. Some have pointed out that his strong criticisms are disingenuous given that he used to work in the medium himself, but he acknowledges in the video that his criticisms could be considered hypocritical.
What follows is his parody of Control-Alt-Delete, written by him and drawn by his girlfriend:
Croshaw and fellow Austrailian gamers Matt Burgess and Guy "Yug" Blomberg, recently debuted a pilot for a new video game related TV show called Game Damage. In it the three talk about recent game releases, provide their own reviews, previews, and perform comedy skits with video game themes. The pilot episode can be seen on the show's website. The current word is that it has been picked up by a major Australian television network. Though these claims have yet to be substantiated.
Yahtzee will be releasing his debut novel through Dark House Books named Mogworld. According to the official press release:
Ben Croshaw is a game developer with several past games to his credit including 5 Days a Stranger, 7 Days a Skeptic, Trilby's Notes and 6 Days a Sacrifice. He is also a popular game critic, posting videos with a distinct visual style.
Overview
Ben Croshaw was born in Rugby in Warwickshire, England, in 1983, who goes by the moniker "Yahtzee" in his online videos and posts. He currently lives in Australia. He is known for wearing a trilby hat that he never takes off outside of his own house. In his videos, he is always seen wearing it.Zero Punctuation
An example of Croshaw's artwork in Zero Punctuation.
Reviews (Name/Date/Description)
- The Darkness demo - 24/07/ 2007 (One of two reviews published on YouTube before coming to The Escapist)
- Fable: The Lost Chapters - 29/07/ 20 07 (One of two reviews published on YouTube before coming to The Escapist)
- Heavenly Sword demo and Resident Evil 5 trailer - 15/08/ 20 07
- Psychonauts - 22/08/ 20 07
- Console Rundown - 29/08/ 20 07 (Croshaw gives his opinion on all the current-gen game consoles)
- Bioshock - 05/09/ 20 07
- Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary - 12/09/ 20 07
- Manhunt - 19/09/ 20 07
- Peggle - 26/09/ 20 07
- Halo 3 - 03/10/ 20 07
- Tabula Rasa - 10/10/ 20 07
- Orange Box - 17/10/ 20 07
- Super Paper Mario - 24/10/ 20 07
- Medal of Honor: Airborne - 31/10/ 20 07
- The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - 07/11/ 20 07
- Clive Barker's Jericho - 14/11/ 20 07
- F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate - 28/11 / 20 07
- Assassin's Creed - 05/12/ 20 07
- Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - 12/12/ 20 07
- Mass Effect - 19/12/ 20 07
- Super Mario Galaxy - 02/01/ 20 08
- Silent Hill: Origins - 09/01/ 20 08
- Crysis - 16/01/ 20 08
- The Witcher - 23/01/ 20 08
- Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles - 30/01/ 20 08
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - 06/02/ 20 08
- SimCity Societies - 13/02/ 20 08
- Yahtzee goes to GDC - 21/02/ 20 08 (Yahtzee displays clips he made especially for GDC)
- Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - 27/02/ 20 08
- Devil May Cry 4 - 05/03/ 20 08
- Burnout Paradise - 12/03/2008
- Turok - 19/03/2008
- Zac & Wiki: The Quest for Barbaros' Treasure - 26/03/2008
- Army of Two - 02/04/2008
- No More Heroes - 09/04/2008
- Condemned 2: Bloodshot - 16/04/2008
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl - 23/04/2008
- God of War: Chains of Olympus - 30/04/2008
- Mailbag Showdown - 07/05/2008 (Focusing on the hate mail recieved after the Super Smash Bros. Brawl review)
- Grand Theft Auto IV - 14/05/2008
- Painkiller - 21/05/2008
- The World Ends With You - 28/05/2008
- Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - 04/06/2008
- Haze - 18/06/2008
- Metal Gear Solid 4 - 25/06/2008
- Webcomics - 02/07/2008 (Croshaw comments on the current trend of gaming webcomics)
- Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures - 09/07/2008
- Alone in the Dark - 16/07/2008
- Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures - 23/07/2008
- E3 - 30/07/2008 (A general review of E3 2008)
- Ninja Gaiden 2 - 06/08/2008
- Prince of Persia Retrospective - 13/08/2008
- Soul Calibur IV - 20/08/2008
- Braid - 27/08/2008
- EVE Online - 03/09/2008
- Too Human - 10/09/2008
- Spore - 17/09/2008
- XBLA Double Bill - 24/09/2008 (Croshaw reviews Bionic Commando Rearmed and Castle Crashers)
- Mercenaries 2 - 01/10/08
- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - 08/10/2008
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky - 15/10/2008
- Silent Hill - Homecomings - 22/10/2008
- Saints Row 2 - 29/10/2008
- Dead Space - 05/11/2008
- Fable II - 12/11/2008
- Fallout 3 - 19/11/2008
- Guitar Hero World Tour - 26/ 11/2008
- Mirror's Edge - 03/ 12/2008
- Left 4 Dead - 10/ 12/2008
- Sonic Unleashed - 17/ 12/2008
- The Year in Review 2008 - 24/ 12/2008 (Croshaw gives us his favorite jokes from 2008, clip show style)
- Prince of Persia - 31/ 12/2008
- Awards for 2008 - 07/01/2009 (Croshaw recognizes the best and worst games of 2008 with comical award categories)
- Tomb Raider: Underworld - 14/01/2009
- Far Cry 2 - 21/01/2009
- Gears of War 2 - 28/01/2009
- Little Big Planet - 04/02/2009
- Thief: The Dark Project - 11/02/2009
- Skate 2 - 18/02/2009
- F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin - 25/02/2009
- Spider-Man: Web of Shadows - 04/03/2009
- The House of the Dead: Overkill - 11/03/2009
- 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand - 18/03/2009
- Resident Evil 5 - 25/03/2009
- Halo Wars - 01/04/2009
- Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars - 08/04/2009
- MadWorld - 15/04/2009
- Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. - 22/04/2009
- Siren: Blood Curse - 29/04/2009
- The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena - 06/05/2009
- Valkyria Chronicles - 13/05/2009
- Velvet Assassin - 20/05/2009
- Duke Nukem Forever - 27/05/2009
- Bionic Commando - 03/06/2009
- inFamous - 10/06/2009
- The Second Annual E3 Hype Massacre - 17/06/2009
- Prototype - 24/06/2009
- The Sims 3 - 01/07/2009
- Ghostbusters: The Video Game - 08/07/2009
- Overlord II - 15/07/2009
- Red Faction: Guerrilla - 22/07/2009
- Wii Sports Resort - 29/07/09
- Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood - 05/08/09
- The Conduit - 12/08/09
- Silent Hill 2 - 19/08/09
- 2.5D Hoedown ( 'Splosion Man, Trine ) - 26/08/09
- Tales of Monkey Island - 02/09/2009
- Wolfenstein - 09/09/2009
- Batman: Arkham Asylum - 16/09/2009
- Beatles Rock Band and Guitar Hero 5 - 23/09/09
- Darkest of Days - 30/09/09
- Scribblenauts - 07/10/09
- Wet - 14/10/09
- Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - 21/10/09
- Brutal Legend - 28/10/09
- Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - 11/11/09
- Dragon Age: Origin - 18/11/09
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - 25/11/09
Games
Croshaw had become known in gaming circles even before Zero Punctuation for his adventure games, made independently and published on his website. They are all available for free, although special editions are available in exchange for donations. Games he has created include the Chzo Mythos, 1213 series, Adventures in the Galaxy of Fantabulous Wonderment, and Trilby: The Art of Theft.Webcomics
Yahtzee Takes On The World.
It can be argued, however, that his criticisms are not directed at web comics as a whole, as the prior paragraph suggests, but instead criticizing specific comics for not utilizing their medium properly, and using cheap humor with no build up, with Control-Alt-Delete exemplifying this tendency. His criticisms extend toward the many comic writers who, in his opinion, water down and degrade the medium. In the video he even suggests that many of these comics creators are simply trying to cash in on Penny Arcade's success. Some have pointed out that his strong criticisms are disingenuous given that he used to work in the medium himself, but he acknowledges in the video that his criticisms could be considered hypocritical.
What follows is his parody of Control-Alt-Delete, written by him and drawn by his girlfriend:
A parody of Control-Alt-Delete
Game Damage
Game Damage cast (left to right): Yahtzee, Yug, and Matt
Novel
Mogworld
Mogworld, a comedic fantasy novel with a twist, is the story of Jim, who, sixty years after dying in a magic-school mishap, is wrenched back to life by a renegade necromancer. All Jim wants is to die properly, once and for all - no easy task for a minor character in a MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game).
Ben Croshaw games
Edit
| Name | Platforms | Developer | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Adventures in the Galaxy of Fantabulous Wonderment |
PC | Fully Ramblomatic |
|
|
Trilby: Art of Theft |
PC | Fully Ramblomatic |
|
|
6 Days a Sacrifice released on Jan. 25, 2007 |
PC | Fully Ramblomatic |
|
|
Trilby's Notes released on June 26, 2006 |
PC | Fully Ramblomatic |
|
|
1213 (Special Edition) released on Feb. 22, 2006 |
PC | Fully Ramblomatic |
|
|
1213: Episode 3 released on Feb. 19, 2006 |
PC | Fully Ramblomatic |
|
|
1213: Episode 2 released on Feb. 13, 2006 |
PC | Fully Ramblomatic |
|
|
1213: Episode 1 released on Dec. 30, 2005 |
PC | Fully Ramblomatic |
|
|
7 Days a Skeptic released on July 25, 2004 |
PC | Fully Ramblomatic |
|
|
5 Days a Stranger released on Jan. 1, 2003 |
PC | Fully Ramblomatic |
| Full Name: | Ben Croshaw |
| Gender: | Male |
| Birthday: | May 24, 1983 |
| Death: | n/a |
| Credited In: | 11 games |
| 1st Game Credit: | The Trials of Odysseus Kent |
| Currently Working For: | Pandemic Studios |
| Hometown: | Rugby, Warwickshire |
| Country: | England |
| Website: | http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/ |
| Email Address: | yahtzee@fullyramblomatic.com |
| Aliases: | Yahtzee |
