I think one of my highlights last week at GameX was the chance to sit down for a quick face to face with one of my favorite Australian video game journalists Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw, who does the video game review series Zero Punctuation on The Escapist.   Zero Punctuation which started as a couple of YouTube videos on Ben’s blog has turned into a web phenomena on The Escapist website.  Every Wednesday Ben reviews another game in his, it’s funny because it’s true colorful style. I am a huge fan of Zero Punctuation and really enjoyed getting some time to pick Ben’s brain about everything from what his workflow is like for creating an episode of Zero Punctuation, to his thoughts on the recent controversy surrounding Left 4 Dead 2 in Australia(The game was first banned, and when Valve agreed to edit the game it was reclassified for release.)

What inspired you to become a video game journalist?

Well, video games simple answer to that one. I guess I didn’t go out of my way to become a video game journalist; I just had an idea for the Zero Punctuation Style. The thing I wanted to talk about that first time happened to be a video game, and so I got into doing it entirely about video games, which isn’t a problem because I am very opinionated about them obviously.

Zero Punctuation is such a different approach to reviewing video games how did you come up with the concept?

Well I was very, very bitter and had recently broken up with someone, lost my job and I was sick of the game’s bullshit – that’s pretty much what it comes down to.  I also got some inspiration from an English TV critic called Charlie Brooker who does a lot of good stuff on YouTube that I like. As for the visual style, I guess I use to watch the Hitchhiker’s Guide TV series a lot with the whole… STUFF… the computerized STUFF so I guess it stemmed from there.

Do you do still do all the animation work on Zero Punctuation yourself?

Yeah I do everything myself, with the videos: the voices, the writing and the art.

How long does it take to produce an episode of Zero Punctuation?

Well to release the whole video, its like I put aside the week for it. It’s usually a day or two to write the script, a few days to do all the images and another day to put it all together.

More with Yahtzee after the jump!

I know you did a pilot for a video game review-type show Game Damage, what is the status of that project?

We just released a new trailer for our second pilot on YouTube. Well, basically we thought we had a deal with this network in Australia, I won’t name, names. They paid us to do a technical pilot but they pulled out at the very last minute. So we got this new pilot and we are shopping it around now. So, we’ll wait and see I guess.

Any chance it that show doesn’t work out maybe a longer version of Zero Punctuation?

I don’t think Zero Punctuation would work in a longer format, I tend to work better when I can bounce off someone.  Yug and Matt who I do Game Damage with are two really good friends of mine, which is why I think that show works so well.

I know like myself your a huge Valve fanboy, what are your thoughts on the banning of Left 4 Dead in you home country of Australia?

I think the whole R18 problem the Australian Censorship Board has is complete bullshit.  It’s just the hanging on, of republican politicians who are too stubborn to get out of power. And it’s a really arbitrary distinction; occasionally they just ban things on a whim, because they just feel like it at the time. Like Fallout 3 was initially banned in Australia, because it referenced morphine, they had to change it to med-x or something before they let it come out. So, I thinks it’s basically I am waiting for the current administration to die, because they are all obviously a bunch of ignorant old men and I guess we can all move on from there.

Any thoughts on Valves eventual agreement to censor the game, upon its release in Australia?

They probably wont have to edit too much of it. Because there has been this sort of problem in the past and as I recall the main reason they banned the game is they think it’s living people that just have a disease or something. But I think if they just made the fact that they were indeed zombies clear, with even just a bit of dialog somewhere they could probably swing a better certification, that’s if they haven’t already done it.  A lot of this could be resolved by just going in person and presenting your game professionally and giving them a better impression, because they usually don’t do that.

What’s your favorite game you have reviewed so far: because of the review you did or the game itself?

Well if it’s my favorite review I have done then, most recently I enjoyed doing the Wolfenstein review, which I did entirely in limericks. It was just fun to be doing something different I guess, it was a challenge to come up with all the rhymes.

Did it take longer to produce because of that?

No, that episode actually took about the same time to produce as a normal episode of Zero Punctuation because I was so interested in the concept.

I know your reviews are colorful to say the least, have you ever been contacted by a publisher because you reviewed their game either good or bad?

I don’t get a lot of contact from the publishers, but I do hear a lot from the developers. They are very positive and like my stuff because a lot of the time they say when I review the game they say “we said the exact same things to our publishers, but they wouldn’t give us any more time.” So I get along pretty well with developers.

What are some of your thoughts on game journalism today, I know nowadays you have a lot of these smaller gaming sites giving just good reviews to games, because they got a free game or console from the publisher of the game?

Well there is always a close relationship between media and the source so you know and a lot of this is inevitable.  But having said that, yeah there is a big problem with freebie culture and the sense of obligation if you will that comes from being sent the game.  A lot of publishers will deliberately not send a journalist a game because they can’t be promised a good review. But I don’t have that problem because I buy the games myself and get reimbursed by The Escapist later on.

Is there any challenges reviewing games for the international web audience, because you live in Australia due to availability or other circumstances?

Well not so much, but there is a time delay there obviously when I have to import a game from the US, when it comes out later in Australia. But it usually takes me a few weeks to review a game anyway, so I am never really right on the button new. I also usually review a game a few weeks after its come out. But I have always thought that is more of a strength, because you get my review after you have played it yourself,  you’ve seen all the other points of view and after all the hype has died down and you’re probably ready to take a more critical look at it.

Recently it was just announce Yahtzee is coming out with his first feature length novel through Dark Horse you can find out more here.