Yahtzee travels to America, visits Valve

by Scott Jon Siegel { Nov 22nd 2007 at 2:01PM }

We all know that Yahtzee -- of Zero Punctuation fame -- has a bit of a skewed view on American culture. So perhaps it's fortuitous that Valve invited him to fly out to Washington to visit their studio, fire guns, and witness the wonder that is modern American airport security.

No video this time, folks. Yahtzee takes it all in through the ancient medium of travelogue, with a few pictures mixed in for good measure. Still, the tone is undeniably his, and you can practically hear the dulcet rhythms of his accented vulgarity. Check out the piece for some new tidbits on Valve's survival horror title Left 4 Dead, as well as some keen insight into the team's design process.

Tags: escapist, left-4-dead, left4dead, orange-box, orangebox, valve, yahtzee, zero-punctuation

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Esat @ Nov 22nd 2007 2:34PM

I......

have no idea who that man is.

rom @ Nov 22nd 2007 2:52PM

Check out his game reviews. He's hilarious!

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/zeropunctuation

Sieged Eagle @ Nov 22nd 2007 3:03PM

Wow. I hope people don't white you out 'til you die.

Erarg @ Nov 22nd 2007 2:39PM

"I witnessed the Cabal System in action today when a roomful of rowdy animators asked me to take a look at the prototype for the newest "Meet the Team" Team Fortress short, about which I've probably already said too much."

Coooool.

frrs @ Nov 22nd 2007 2:39PM

The last part cracked me up!

Godmil @ Nov 22nd 2007 2:40PM

The trick is to read the travelogue really quickly.

Godmil @ Nov 22nd 2007 2:43PM

When I read Yahtzee was invited over to Valve, I half expected to find out Gabe offered him a job.
I'm torn between my hopes for him to keep doing Escapist reviews, and interest in seeing what extra humour he could bring to Valve games.

Mike-453 @ Nov 22nd 2007 3:00PM

Why not do both.

Blast Processing Megadrive @ Nov 22nd 2007 3:00PM

I wonder if the folks at Valve were able to understand him, or if his lack of punctuation made him too fast to be comprehensible.

I kid, of course. He's quite comprehensible.

James @ Nov 22nd 2007 3:06PM

Did an American write the first line?

Wolfrider @ Nov 22nd 2007 6:23PM

I thought the same thing.

Penguin Warlord @ Nov 22nd 2007 8:27PM

I don't really see his view as skewed since when you think about how much America obsesses about Pearl Harbour and Nazi Germany. Notice how they never mention what they did to the Japanese with the nukes and firebombings.

Sieged Eagle @ Nov 22nd 2007 3:10PM

I thought Yahtzee was going to look a little younger and more of a brit because of its British accent and his signature character, but oh boy! I was wrong. He looks like a nice guy, but with a little bit of temper, although that temper made his reviews have that comical touch that somehow you want to see it about 2-3 more times (like me). Seeing him being invited to Valve makes me think how people start out small and in the future they become a worldwide idol (and someone you'd like to punch in the face if you saw him walking on the streets).

And that hat of his... it looks identical to mine, just that his is brown, and mine's grey.

Mike-453 @ Nov 22nd 2007 3:14PM

Not meaning to sound like someone taking offense to what you said, because I haven't, it's more of a 'lol wut?' responce.

But how exactly do brits look like to you? Not like we're some single cultured country. Sounded a bit silly. lulz

AUSTIN POWERZ!

Sieged Eagle @ Nov 22nd 2007 3:42PM

To be honest, I always think that brits look more younger than the average american, seeing that most of the people in the US are fat and grow wrinkles on their face quicker (I may be wrong though), unlike the UK where people look younger because they don't grow them quickly. Most of them are very calm people too, although there might be times when one out of those people are mad brits, which occasionaly happens, but still, they look normal. I can even recall this reviewer I saw on 'tube called Dr. Ashen, and he looks very young for having that age, and sometimes I've surfed the TV to see European Poker Championships, where I've seen some brits that are about 25 years old and still look like they're about 19-20 years old. Although seeing Yahtzee in that picture makes me think that sometimes there are exceptions.

Anyway, I think this might answer your question. I may be wrong in some things I said, so feel free to correct me.