Well, I was going to answer comments from my Assassin's Creed 2 review, but it seems all anyone wants to talk about is how my voice sounded different, and how this apparently reduced the entertainment value by a significant percentage. OK then.

Basically, it's been a bad week for lovers of my voice. I've had my usual dose of the seasonal flu for the last couple of weeks and it's just moved into the wonderful phlegmy phase. And on top of that, the morning of the video's recording, my headset mic stopped working. I had to record using a Guitar Hero mic plugged into the USB port.

I used that original headset to record every single episode of ZP up 'til now. That mic put up with two years of full-bodied swearing.

Let's take a moment to remember a faithful friend.

The headset was bought for $2.50 from a cheapo store in Annerley, south Brisbane, because the ear buds I was using at the time were causing waxy buildup that was frankly quite horrific. But when it came time to record voices for a new video series, who could have guessed that a headset mic from such humble origins could produce a sound quality that could only be described as "adequate?" Indeed, some months later I even bought a considerably more expensive headset, because the ear padding on the originals was getting a bit tatty, but the recording from the newer device sounded like a dog with its head stuck in a big tin bucket.

The $2.50 headset was faithfully supportive for over two years, but was satisfied with a career out of the spotlight. Its moment of glory came, however, during the live-action section from the Uncharted 1 review. My hat had unexpectedly fallen ill from myxomatosis and an understudy was required at very short notice, but the headset stepped up to the plate and did us all proud, to absolute viewer indifference.

So this one's for you, defunct cheapo $2.50 headset mic. May you have many great days ahead of you at your new home in the kitchen bin. As for the rest of you, I've now had time to buy a new headset, so expect normal service to be resumed next video. Sound quality should be even better. This one cost five bucks.

Anyway, comments.

"It's obviously not Yahtzee. It's not just that he sounds different, he even pronounces words differently. Let's hope this is a one time thing."

-Kariodude, from the Assassin's Creed 2 comments

This was the gist of quite a few comments last week, people assuming we'd pulled a fast one and used a stand-in. No. Just to confirm, I had a bit of the summer flu and was using a different mic. No substitutes or alien body snatchers.

It does make me wonder about people who genuinely believed this, though. What sort of arrangement do you think this is? Do you think I have the resources to go out and hire some kind of perfect voice double at a moment's notice, while most of the people in the world who share my accent live 12,000 miles away? No. Sorry to disappoint, but my entire production crew is me, a headset, a laptop, and a desk in the corner of my bedroom. My morning work commute consists of walking about three feet, discounting detours for a shower and some raisin toast. If I ever become completely incapable of speech you'll know about it, because I will use a voice synthesizer and the video will sound like it's being guest presented by Stephen Hawking.