'Some Punctuation' riffs on Yahtzee's Art of Theft
by Griffin McElroy 
{ Nov 26th 2007 at 8:00AM }
Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, illegitimate love child of Eddie Izzard and Six from Blossom, is apparently on a week long sabbatical from tearing popular games a new one. He's spending his time off touring the offices of Valve, who enjoyed his recent review of The Orange Box. However, we're jonesing for our Zero Punctuation fix. We get cranky when we don't hear those rapid-fire quips, that sophisticated inflection, that finely-tuned profanity.
Luckily, a YouTuber using the pseudonym "Some Punctuation" (we see what you did there) has done his own Yahtzee-esque review of, appropriately enough, Croshaw's latest indie title, TRILBY: Art of Theft. While he lacks the vocal deftness and charming accent of the real deal, he's got the visuals and sarcasm down pat. It's a decent placekeeper for the weekly lambasting, but we'll have to wait until Wednesday to truly fill that Yahtzee-sized hole in our hearts.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Bucket @ Nov 26th 2007 8:29AM
It was only a matter of time.
mr mobius @ Nov 26th 2007 8:33AM
Thats a good parody and I think it would be fun if he'd do more parodies of Yahtzee. If this guy would do reviews of internet games (I'd love to see what he'd say about a huge game like N) then it'd be brilliant.
Heres hoping Yahtzee hears of this guy and has a go at him in his next review. Would be quite funny. It was well done and had good sense of humour similar to Yahtzees. Its also funny because it had to happen at some stage.
Bucket @ Nov 26th 2007 8:34AM
I also think it's hilarious that the author has the same version of Cool Edit that everyone else on the internet has. Thanks, Peter Quistgard!
TJ0331 @ Nov 26th 2007 8:43AM
Fail.
Hashbrown_Hunter @ Nov 26th 2007 8:25PM
Epic fail.
Jaef @ Nov 26th 2007 9:13AM
For those of you wondering who made it, the creator is poster GSM ( http://forums.penny-arcade.com/member.php?u=5453 ) over at the Penny Arcade forums ( http://forums.penny-arcade.com/index.php )
Amusingly enough Kotaku posted this article earlier and erroneously named some random blogger who linked to it as the creator of the spoof. Nice to see Joystiq can give credit where credit is due.
Chris @ Nov 26th 2007 9:49AM
I can only understand some of it =(
FoxHoundADAM @ Nov 26th 2007 9:58AM
At first I read that as "Sony riffs; by Yahtzee, The Art of Theft". Like Yahtzee was going to make fun of how Sony steels just about every one of their good ideas, aside from the Eye Toy..
What it actually was was still decent but I like my version better.
why not the LS2/LS7? @ Nov 26th 2007 11:24AM
Yeah, they "steel" all their ideas.
Except for putting an HDMI port on a console.
And putting a dedicated 3D chip in a console.
And putting a DVD drive in a console.
And playing DVDs on a console.
And dual analog sticks on a controller.
And memory cards (yeah, an idea past its prime, but any Saturn or 3DO owner could tell you how they wish they had them back in the day).
And internet play on a console (EA games were online-capable on PS2 months before Xbox Live launched).
Man, Sony stole all their good ideas from other places.
FoxHoundADAM @ Nov 26th 2007 11:39AM
I know I know, everyone uses pretty much the same ideas I think it just sems that Sony is worse because of their aweful PR department. I mean seriously, announcing the SIXAXIS 3 months after Nintendo's Wii-mote is just uncanny.
Also: http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/25/apple-and-sony-like-peas-in-an-ipod/
Synner @ Nov 26th 2007 1:14PM
@ynot
Except that sega had internet capable machines and online play before sony.
nintendo had a dedicated graphics processing chip in a cartridge (sorta)
They got the dual shock from immersion, and really analog control? Pong Paddles on atari anyone?
thomashenwood @ Nov 26th 2007 11:00AM
He didn't do a bad job though.
homerj312 @ Nov 26th 2007 11:16AM
That was really well done. I hope yahtzee responds in some way because that was pretty fucking good.
NukeAssault @ Nov 26th 2007 11:10AM
That was pretty good. Hope he does more. XD
ThornedVenom @ Nov 26th 2007 11:14AM
Nice attempt, good tribute.
Aaron Larson @ Nov 26th 2007 11:27AM
I dunno. I've played Trilby: Art of Theft, and there's a move that lets you sidle against walls while pressed against them. That's why it's a toggle switch. It's a really cheap move, and I'm surprised he wrote the review before getting it. Other than that, it's a pretty good spoof.
ssuk @ Nov 26th 2007 11:42AM
Sorry, but that was the most god awful parody of Zero Punctuation anyone's ever done. I'm pretty sure you yanks loved it, but there was no form of humour in that video what-so-ever.
Your AD here 555-19?? @ Nov 26th 2007 11:52AM
Hahaha,that parody was priceless.He should do a parody of the AVGN next.
Easo @ Nov 26th 2007 12:13PM
He did and excellent job of actually reviewing the game, something yahtzee rarely does. Therefore the video fails as a parody/ jk I actually thought it was pretty good.
s256 @ Nov 26th 2007 12:44PM
I didn't think it was that great.. maybe the lack of a British accent destroys the charm. =p
James @ Nov 26th 2007 2:21PM
It's very very poor.
Ethan @ Nov 26th 2007 2:43PM
I think he'd have been better not speeding up the voice.
Zsavior @ Nov 26th 2007 2:58PM
I am sorry it just isn't funny. The humor isn't dark there is not anger or contempt for the mediocrity of the game, it was just bad impersonation of Yahtzee. Just shows you He knows what he is doing.
giantenemycrab @ Nov 26th 2007 4:09PM
Yahtzee should stick to his frantic game reviews.
Dale @ Nov 26th 2007 5:05PM
I laughed. :)
Noit @ Nov 26th 2007 6:26PM
There might be some punctuation, shame there's no fucking spelling. Or clear gaps between the monotonous drawling. I gave up trying to understand the words and tried to look for visual gags. But good christ, I'm not going to watch it again to see if I can find any.
(01) @ Nov 26th 2007 9:28PM
definitely a fail...
WiNG @ Nov 26th 2007 11:25PM
I liked it.
Also I JUST played Karma Chameleon on DDR Hottest Party so +1 for that!
Twisted @ Nov 28th 2007 2:41PM
This wasn't as bad as i had expected, having played most of yahtzees games (which are by the way some of the best free games available on the internet) i understand some of his gripes but you have to bear in mind that he designs his games on a very basic program not 2 bad a review though i don't think yahtzee took it well though (see his latest post) on the other hand yahtzees comments made me come out and look for this game therefore giving this guy some free advertising lol
Tsaph @ Nov 28th 2007 1:29PM
The visual jokes were quite well done.
That's all I can say for it. Honestly.
Truly, Truly Terrible.
Orig @ Nov 28th 2007 4:57PM
This isn't funny, your voice is annoying, and why would you parody something that's supposed to be funny? Almost always these things end up being less funny than the original or, even more often, not funny at all. Make fun of stuff that's bad or overrated, for gods sake. This is just obnoxiously icky.
HurricaneJesus @ Nov 29th 2007 3:57PM
I thought it was funny. Good job dude, don't listen to these bitches.
Celius @ Nov 29th 2007 6:05PM
"Except for putting an HDMI port on a console."
Not inventive, it was a matter of time and progress; inevitability is not theft.
"And putting a dedicated 3D chip in a console."
Not inventive, it was a matter of time and progress; inevitability is not theft.
"And putting a DVD drive in a console."
Now that's just obvious.
"And playing DVDs on a console."
As is this.
"And dual analog sticks on a controller."
PC: Mouse and WASD is pretty much the same, almost a carbon copy.
"And memory cards (yeah, an idea past its prime, but any Saturn or 3DO owner could tell you how they wish they had them back in the day)."
Not really. I enjoy sitting down to play a game and watching time fly. Call yourselves gamers? Bah.
"And internet play on a console (EA games were online-capable on PS2 months before Xbox Live launched)."
So internet play is not stolen from the internet/PC?
In conclusion, stolen or it was going to happen. Just because someone did something first doesn't mean they were the first to think of it, or invent it, or make it.
Anyway, all companies steal and improve things.
Fronken @ Jan 13th 2008 11:44PM
This is just sad, such a wannabe, try thinking of doing something original instead of doing an obvious rip-off, your not brittish, nor as fast of a talker, so dont try to imitate one who is, and to all the people saying they'd love to know what yahtzee thinks about this, here's a quote from his review of "F.E.A.R: Perseus Mandate":
"Also could the person who made a ZP-style review of Art of Theft while i was away please forward his name and address to the Escapist so that i can burn his house down"