It seems we have a new popular phenom game reviewer, who not only is internet famous, but now has secured himself a spot on television. This British-born Aussie seems to have made quite a dent with his tongue-in-cheek profanity laced reviews. Yet for each part of vitriol and sheer disdain, there is a refreshing amount of insight and stark opinion. Yahtzee’s short video reviews represent the full fury of a uncensored critic, something no other professional game reviewers get a chance to do.

But the question remains if this type of review adds anything to the overall dialogue of discourse over games. Yahtzee is at least forth coming in that he feels his work is only the gateway to a career in gaming development, and he himself has is a amateur game designer. His unabashed love of PC gaming, and scathing remarks about console games have my grudging respect. But his reviews are not really reviews so much as comedic criticism. I can’t say I see Yahtzee ever informing my purchasing decisions, the way the reviews of EGM and other review houses often do. They merely provide an amusing contrarian view of well known games, and a bashing of some games that I might never have noticed.

What Yahtzee does do however, is bring a wider audience the esapist. A online rag I have followed on and off since it’s inception and wavered with my attitude towards its content. Sometimes it has interesting pieces, other times I think they are just drivel, perpetuating and defending societal practices that I personally cannot reconcile my personal beliefs with. Nevertheless, Yahtzee’s work is a sort of gateway drug, as the style fits in with the rest of the escapist, both visually and content-wise. While the Escapist wants to be a non-review/preview based journalism, Yahtzee provides the alternative style review. In the way most of the Escapist’s contest is more or less editorial style articles, Yahtzee provides an editorial review, that more often is a commentary on the entire game industry and game genres.

But that is Yahtzee’s genius, his video reviews are gateway drugs. There a plenty of viewers who just tune in for the laughs, but I think the management behind the escapist is hoping his open style of game review and frank questioning of game developers choices, as well as game players choices, is a sort of gateway drug into the content of the escapist magazine. Yes, Yahtzee sees his work as a personal gateway, for the Escapist he is a gateway to their work, and I think for every game player Yahtzee might serve as a gateway to a more thoughtful and critical way of playing, designing, and thinking about games.