So just who is Yahtzee, anyway?

There are a lot of things you could say about the study of video games as an art form. In recent years, the idea that video games can be art has been a huge driving force behind the growth of the medium. Games are advertised as if they were movies, critics are calling every new release 'The Citizen Kane of gaming', and most people have absolutely no problem with this. 

Gaming has become a sort of hive mind, filled with pretentious people who don't understand what they're talking about. This isn't exactly a secret, but it is only now starting to become a problem. The Anita Sarkeeisan's, the Zoe Quinn's, the Ben Kuchera's, the Colin Moriarty's, the Adam Sessler's, and others in the industry are known for having absolutely toxic opinions in the industry that, to be completely honest with you, make absolutely no sense to me. 

And then you have Yahtzee. 

Yahtzee is a bit of an anomaly. Although he is strongly associated with the Escapist, as he is one of their most notable content providers, his fan base has a weird aversion to other critics on the site. Actually, generally Yahtzee fans don't have much respect for any other journalists in the industry at all. Comments from completely unrelated critics, such as Angry Joe, always have a swarm of Yahtzee fans dismissing everything that particular critic is saying, simply because Yahtzee disagrees. 

Well, why is this? Maybe Yahtzee often makes good points...? 

No. 

What you have to understand is that Yahtzee's appeal is nothing more than a simple fascination with the fact that he rarely likes anything he plays. He's extremely well known for attacking popular franchises, such as Super Smash Bros, Zelda, and Mario. Everyone who discusses Yahtzee brings this up. 

Yahtzee claims he is primarily a critic, and not a journalist. Although I do have to concede that this is true, I staunchly believe that Yahtzee isn't a particularly good critic. In fact, I'd argue he's actually pretty terrible. He doesn't understand basic game design, why sequels are so beloved in the medium, or what makes games so fun to talk about.  

In short, I feel he's ignorant, short sighted, and far too eager to please his fans. And I'm not alone in this! 

And thus, this is why I started this blog. Yahtzee does have many, many detractors, and for good reason. But I have not seen any detailed explanations for exactly why that is, and have decided to undertake the task myself.