Category: Gaming Personalities

So I Saw The Newest AVGN Episode…

These intermission bits with the special effects are kinda stupid, the actual “review” portion is the usual nitpicky shits and giggles type of thing that usually makes for good comedy if the execution came off as more natural rather than ham-fisted overacting that has since become a detriment to the past few years worth of Nerd videos, and then the ending just hurt my brain.

On the flip side, I give credit to Nerd for being able to use those original giant-ass Xbox controllers. I’ve only used those things once or twice a long time ago and that was more than enough for me.

So I guess there’s a Tomb Raider-related episode coming up… that should be interesting to watch… I guess.

Marc0's Decline Of Gaming Video From 20XX

Marc0, the former Armake21, once made a video on the decline of gaming that actually made some very good points. In lieu of a “proper” video upload, I decided to embed said video – hosted on the ArmakeArchive channel – present it here… for as long as it’s up until it’s no longer there and then I have to replace the video with something else ten years down the line.

I bring this up because I felt like it.

ReviewTechUSA Interviews El Reg Reporter Who Killed Ataribox (Not Really)

Courtesy of Rich of ReviewTechUSA, an interview with the man, the myth, the legend that is The Register’s own Kieren McCarthy, the so-called vulture who interviewed the Atari people about the Ataribox, wrote a hilarious yet brutally honest article about the lack of information regarding the product that Atari eventually claimed was a troll tactic, which prompted El Reg to release the full audio interview to the Interwebs, which has caused a significant stall in the Ataribox campaign.

On June 23, at 2 a.m., the campaign had reached $2,922,479, which was probably the highest it had reached up to this point. Roughly four days later at this very moment, it went down to $2,909,555. There’s always a possibility that the campaign will break three million – a lot can happen in three days, after all – and despite this mishap, the project has already made its money, so they should be ready to go.

But after hearing about Atari’s other failed ventures and abandoned concepts, I’m even more skeptical than before as to whether they can or even will pull this off. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

AVGN’s Dirty Harry… Doesn’t Work For Me, Brother

This year, AVGN began premiering its episodes on Amazon, before eventually making its way to Youtube. This sort of follows the same route that Classic Game Room took with its latest 2085 incarnation, although those episodes are behind a paywall… and in all honesty, may not be worth it, which pains me to say as a longtime CGR fan. The AVGN episodes can be seen on Youtube on delay.

I saw his Earthbound video… or rather bits and pieces of it as it was a rather meaty episode. Given the scope and length of the game, I could understand the long-running time and from what I’ve seen, this was actually an enjoyable little episode that I’d like to sit down and watch the whole thing.

And then his latest episode hit, covering Dirty Harry for the NES… and folks, this has got to be one of the worst episodes of AVGN I’ve seen up to this point.

Okay, okay, it’s not THAT bad… but this was not a good show. It runs at eleven minutes and within that eleven minute runtime, I bore witness to pointless visual gags, unfunny referential humor, predictable jokes… all the shit that people used to mock Irate Gamer and all those other knock-off artists are on full display here and they are not any better.

The quality of the show has seen a considerable dip over the years and sometimes, I wonder if it’s the show or just me outgrowing the material. But man, I go back to those early 2006-2007 episodes and I still get a kick out of watching those episodes due to their rawness and genuine feeling. These feel overproduced, cookie-cutter, and lacks that genuine feeling.

Much like a certain sports entertainment company these days.

All that aside, it’s nice to see that James Rolfe is still kicking and I’m very much looking forward to some of the more personal small films he says he’s working on… but as far as his AVGN output goes… it’s not working for me, brother.

Did People Really Want An Irate Gamer Return?

So apparently, Chris Bores is back and he’s bringing the Irate Gamer with him.

A new video was posted on Bores’ old channel (formerly the IrateGamer channel before undergoing a name change to the CB Network before settling on the quaintly-named CHRIS-TUBE) in which Bores dies at Super Mario Bros and throws something at his TV before declaring “I’m back.”

The Irate Gamer, for those who don’t know, is a “review” show where Chris Bores portrays said Gamer who is always angry… er, I mean, IRATE at all the bad games he has to play. In an effort to be different from that other guy who is always angry at all the bad plays he has to play, he also gets irate at all the fan favorites too. If you really need more details on this fellow, there’s already a blog that touches on Bores’ body of work in much more detail than I’d care to look into.

I suppose the question remains is there an audience for the return of the Irate one because I’m not sure I’ve encountered anyone who had been wondering why there hasn’t been any new Irate Gamer videos as of late. Hell, I had completely forgotten about the poor fellow until a visit to said blog had made me aware of said video.

This is simple “hating” for the sake of “hating.” Unlike other people, if I genuinely hate something, I would not be calling attention to it. That’s why certain pieces of business will never get touched upon here. But Bores has always been that oddity that people found offensive, but I found mildly amusing for all the wrong reasons.

But in any event, hide your Skylander toys. Because the Irate Gamer is coming back whether you want it or not.

Now, if only we’d get through IG’s History Of Video Games in a more timely fashion…

A Sign That The Manga World Is Out Of Ideas…

At a local Tim Hortons restaurant late at night, I’m having coffee with a buddy of mine and we talk about a whole bunch of stuff. At some point, he brings up the news that there’s a new manga called Daigo: The Beast coming out soon. I don’t keep up with manga news, so I ask him what’s so special about this manga.

He tells me that it’s a manga-ized biography of that Street Fighter pro player person.

I look up and stare into his eyes, looking for any sign that he could be pulling my leg or making some ridiculous claim. I’m waiting for him to cut the air of silence and tell me what this manga is really about. It didn’t take long for me to realize that he was being completely serious.

“Somebody’s making a manga about some gamer?” I ask him.

My bud nods slowly.

I slowly shake my head in disbelief. Of all the things you could make a manga out of it and you go with some gamer’s life story. This was a sign that the world is running out of good ideas.

“Is there a reason why anyone would want this?” I ask. “I’m not sure why anyone would want a manga about a guy whose claim to fame is that he’s very good at Street Fighter.”

My buddy just shrugs, unable to give me an answer that would satisfy me. I take a couple more sips of coffee before we change the subject.

Just to clarify, I know about Daigo; that guy who did fifty parries to a crowd of lifeless zombies heard around the world. Apparently, he’s one of the best SF players in the world. You know what? Good for him… that doesn’t mean the world needs a manga about this guy. Not when you make more magical girl comics instead that borderlines on hentai or whatever the proper venacular happens to be.

For people who care about this sort of shit, the Daigo: The Beast biography manga is due out in December, but early copies are available at the EVO event this July.

Later.

James Rolfe Refuses To Watch The New Ghostbusters. Meanwhile, Mike Matei Takes A Dump…

Original article can be found here.

So one guy decides he’s not going to watch or review the upcoming Ghostbusters movie and people decide to lose their shit… And apparently, this is enough to qualify as a “news” story. My faith in modern journalism would’ve been shattered and destroyed forever if it had existed in the first place. As such, I merely shrug my shoulders and go back to playing Doom…

Doom, as in the old one from 1993, not the new one from 2016 that I have no intention or desire to buy at the moment, mostly due to concerns that it won’t run well on my rinky-dink PC… the high price tag doesn’t help matters, either. Say, I wonder if this will be a news story that will flip some poop patties.

Oh, and for those who cares, there’s another trailer for this movie out and can be accessed on the same page. Haven’t seen it yet, but people say it still looks awful, so I guess that’s what we’re going with.

In other news, Mike Matei took a dump. Reports are conflicting as to whether the stool was light or dark colored. We’ll have more details as the news break out and if you believed any of this to be true, then I’ve got twenty acres of grassland in Antarctica that I’ll sell you for real cheap.

If you want my thoughts on this Ghostbusters 2.0 thing, I wrote a post back in March expressing my thoughts on it. I don’t remember what I wrote, but it must have been important enough to turn into an essay of sorts. You can check that out here.

Is IG’s History Of Video Games Still A Thing?

Browsing through the Interwebs and I noticed that the Bores uploaded his latest chapter on the ever-sludging-about History Of Video Games for dummies who don’t know anything about the history of video games. This episode is about the old Intellivision console and features a thumbnail of Bores biting into a phone cable that is the cord for said console’s controllers. By this point, this sort of “angry” reaction on the thumbnails is somewhat played out with everyone else doing it and usually when I see this, I’ll just tune out and look for something else.

But since it’s Bores, I might as well give him a quick view.

There used to be a time when I could smile or even offer a mild chuckle at the stupidity of these sorts of videos. But I watch this latest Bores offering and find myself scratching my nose, rolling my eyes, and falling asleep. I never thought I’d see the day when Bores would fail to offer some mild entertainment through his sheer incompetent and pig-headedness, but lo and behold, it has finally happened.

Or maybe I’ve just outgrown this sort of humor and it’s just not funny anymore.

I’d like to think that, but watching old ragetown Armake21 or UrinatingTree videos from half a decade or so ago still give me the giggling fits. Hell, I’ve even laughed at a couple of old Kenny The NC17 Guy videos for all the wrong reasons.

Even the Nerd… wait, never mind. I wouldn’t go THAT far. Even he’s fallen off the rails for me.

Man, it’s a good thing Classic Game Room is still a thing on Youtube and…

Oh wait.

The Nerd Does Bad Game Box Art… because sure, why not?

So this year, as part of an “advent” event, The Nerd does bad video game cover art… because sure, why not?

On the one hand, it’s not a bad idea to showcase some horrific covers. After all, sometimes a game’s cover is the only determining factor in whether it’s going to get your money and that cover has to convey exactly what the game is going to be about. Sometimes, it works and other times, it doesn’t. I’m sure the subject of game covers have been touched on, but bad game covers has only been the subject of shitty top 10 videos or lists. So a video series focusing on bad covers isn’t such a bad idea.

On the other hand… it’s the Nerd.

In the hands of a capable person, this could’ve been a good series. In the hands of James Rolfe, it’s just another excuse to dwell into bad jokes and pseudo-intellectual bullshit that will fool people into thinking that there’s deep and thought-provoking humor in here.

The first two entries, thus far, have been underwhelmingly bland. As a funny look into bad box art, it somewhat fails, with the only humor coming from the box itself and not necessarily any of the Nerd’s words. As something that could be an examination of these artistic missteps… it’s the Nerd. Nothing of any real worth comes out of these episodes that you can’t just look up on Wikipedia or the aforementioned shitty Top 10 lists.

But, hey, you know what? There’s hope that this’ll develop into something decent. After all, it’s hard to base an entire series on two mere entries. Maybe there’s something to do that that will eventually emerge after a while.

But, then again… it’s the Nerd.