Category: Gaming Personalities

Classic Game Room… Sigh.

So… if you haven’t heard the news, Mark Bussler of Classic Game Room fame has announced that the show will be scaled back considerably to a smaller form factor come 2016. This means the end of CGRUndertow (which I never cared for, but it had its fans), the end of the current CGR website of which I was a proud user of, and far fewer videos compared to the output of the past several years.

Apparently, Youtube revenue or lack thereof is to blame here and CGR can no longer sustain itself as a business… hence the scale back.

This is the harsh reality of making income based strictly on Youtube. One day, you’re making huge bank and everyone loves you… and then all of a sudden, it’s all gone and you’re forced to look elsewhere.

I am going to be flip-flopping on the issue for quite some time, but for the moment, I can only wish Mark and company all the best in their future endeavors and hope all goes well in the coming years.

In the meantime, I’ll go back and watch that Kasumi Ninja review.

Bores Has Special Editions of Breakout and Night Driver

The title of this post says it all. That explains how he was able to play those games with the standard Atari joystick, rather than the paddle controllers that you’re supposed to be playing with.

Context: Chris Bores’ latest edition of his long-running, long-waiting History of Video Games was recently put up, covering Atari games from 1978 to 1980 in relatively quick fashion. How quick? The whole episode was roughly five minutes long and a good chunk of it was dedicated to some rather poor sketches and unfunny gags. In addition, there are some minor errors, such as playing paddle games with the standard joystick, as well as showing footage of the arcade Space Invaders and passing it off as the VCS version.

There’s also a notable lack of attention to the dates in which certain things took place; Nolan Bushnell’s exit from Atari was in 1978, but this fact isn’t mentioned until the end of the episode as though it took place in 1980. However, Bores does make an effort in bringing up the fact that Bushnell founded Chuck E. Cheese. Because breakfast is ruined or something.

Look, I’ll be honest, here. This latest episode did very little for me. Even though the run time is roughly five minutes, it was probably the longest five minutes I ever sat through. It felt as though the very essence was being sucked away as the seconds withered away. But hey, look on the bright side! It’s not another lazy AVGN Clip Collection.

Then again, that’s not saying a whole lot, is it?

Alright! New AVGN… oh wait, it’s just a clip collection.

No doubt what some AVGN fans (want to) believe James Rolfe thinks of them. See? I can do stupid meme images too.

I think the comments on the YouTube video in question – another one of “those arguments” see – is what inspired this post… and mind you, it’s something that’s been on the back of my mind in case this particular brand of video rears its ugly head again… but in any event…

Yeah… for those wanting a new AVGN episode for whatever reason, you’ll have to settle for another lazily put together Top 10 list. Cryptic gaming moments is the theme this time around and… it’s an AVGN Clip Collection video. Lazily put together to appease those wanting new AVGN and forcing to settle for something that takes even less time to put together than an Irate Gamer video about Skylanders. Sure, nobody wants to see endless videos about Skylanders from a guy with a somewhat spotty and dubious YouTube career… but even those videos have more effort put into it than these Clip Collections do.

I’ve got two takes on this.

Continue reading “Alright! New AVGN… oh wait, it’s just a clip collection.”

Random Thought on AVGN Seaman

That sums it all up, really.

If you want a genuinely funny Seaman video that isn’t pretentious, well… you know where I’m going with this already.

EDIT: I was apparently told that this horrible episode was dedicated to the late Leonard Nimoy, who provided narration for Seaman. I was also told that people on “that blog” consider this a “proper” tribute. Sure, pal. Whatever you say.

On The Other Hand… Da Bores

So some time ago, I had written a post declaring how god awful the recent episode of the Nerd series was. And for the record, I have yet to play this Hong Kong game and thus will also have to do so the same way the rest of the Internet does… through an emulator. (Expect a review of this next April Fools, when such a review makes sense to make.)

On the other hand, we have Da Bores making a video on Kid Icarus… and it’s about as much as you’d expect a typical Irate Gamer episode; lots of unfunny puns, lots of over-exaggerations, lots of unfunny gags, lots of predictable jokes, lots of repeating jokes in a vain attempt to make someone laugh, more dying on purpose, and more acting like a complete idiot for the sake of acting like a complete idiot. There is even an eggplant that is killed for the sake of the end bit. Suffice it to say; if you enjoy Irate Gamer videos, you might enjoy this one. But if you didn’t… well, there’s not much to change your mind on.

The one thing that I can credit Bores on – for all of his faults, his inaccuracies, and the somewhat dubious nature of his claims – the one thing I give him credit on is that HE KEEPS THEM SHORT – roughly within the 10 to 15 minute range and more often than not, less than that. And with his “storyline” over and done with, he actually keeps them relatively simple. I don’t tune into an Irate Gamer video for an in-depth review or an overblown plotline featuring lots of cheap gimmicks and shitty acting; I just want to watch a guy who knows very little about games act like a complete moron. And dangnammit, that’s what I get.

With that having been said, however, this was lacking something in the humor department. Throughout the whole video, I had to struggle to find something laughable here, whether intentional or otherwise, and I didn’t get much of that here. I also have to knock points off this video for swiping a clip that was obviously of lower quality than the rest of it, as well as the predictable ending which involved said eggplant. Not going to spoil it here, but I’m sure you can figure it out yourselves.

In any case, if one were to pick a winner in this “feud” that nobody should give a shit about these… you know what? I’d say fuck both of them and give Board James a watch; now THAT’s a Cinemassacre show that’s actually worth watching these days, especially the recent episode on the Omega Virus.