Does anybody else enjoy YouTube review shows? What're some of your favorites? Which ones do you avoid like the plague?
My faves at the moment are:
The Nostalgia Critic: The new version of the series (featuring a multi-person cast) is always entertaining and features some of the best production I've seen on a regular YouTube show.
Atop the Fourth Wall: Much like the Nostalgia Critic, Linkara can make a review of a bad comic incredibly entertaining. He's great at finding ways to wring joy out of a terrible bit of fiction. I also like how, everyone once in awhile, he'll stumble upon a book that he actually enjoyed.
Pat the NES Punk: I don't know what it is, but the series is just so much fun. You can tell how much the dude behind the character loves these games, and the way he talks about them (though the more goofy Pat character) is great fun. The show also has one of my favorite casts of any of these shows. From Frank and Ian (who, apparently, never want to be there) and ROB/DK etc play off the Pat character very well.
The AVGN: New episodes don't come out frequently (largely on account of the guy making a movie), but they're always a blast. This was the first YouTube show I watched regularly. His "making of" video blew my mind. It just looks like some dude in his basement playing games, but when he pulls back the camera to show how all the professional-grade equipment he uses to put together each episode (some of which take dozens of hours to shoot and edit) it's jaw-dropping.
What are you into? And why? Share!
Among the ones you mentioned I have only seen Angry Video Game Nerd. He is probably one of the better ones and I like the theme song, but I don't get the humour at all. All he seems to be doing is swearing excessively and doing exaggerated expressions that I'm not sure what he is trying to do with sometimes. His acting isn't bad, but there's lots of room for improvement there.
My favourite was JewWario. He was a natural actor and his warm-hearted attitude when he was reviewing was what made him so good. R.I.P.
i only watch AVGN...
Very professional production and entertaining... I don't care about all the scat-stuff he is obsessed about (is that an american thing? do you have fierce potty training?) but still fun to watch.
I have always enjoyed Ashens, and irategamer.
I like the AVGN, Happy Console Gamer, and lukemorse1.
Lukemorse1 may not be the most popular, but he is for sure the most dedicated and most informative. This guy has taught me soooo much knowledge about the games itself, console repairs, as well as Japanese culture. Also, his video game shopping videos at Hard-Off are probably his most famous videos, and has inspired others to make similar videos. He has over 2000 or 3000 videos, I forget which one. Definitely check out his channel.
Quote from: The Uninvited Gremlin on October 11, 2014, 05:31:02 am
I have always enjoyed Ashens, and irategamer.
Irategamer huh? The most hated game reviewer ever.. although I don't understand why. I've seen a couple of videos he made, wasn't bad.
Anyway I watch AVGN, JonTron, Zero Punctuation (if that counts, I go to escapist first usually) regularly, and Nostalgia Critic for movie stuff
Quote from: Protoman on October 11, 2014, 11:17:53 am
Quote from: The Uninvited Gremlin on October 11, 2014, 05:31:02 am
I have always enjoyed Ashens, and irategamer.
Irategamer huh? The most hated game reviewer ever.. although I don't understand why.
Because he's a damn douchebag that shamelessly rips off EVERYTHING of AVGN and pretends he doesn't exist.... need I say more??
Also, very good topic and very popular one, I wonder why it wasn't posted before ;) . I also watch AVGN, Jontron, sometimes Game Sack, it's also interesting and also many more random ones I come across. Youtube reviews is something I watch more often than movies ;)
Irategamer sucks bad....
Game Sack is pretty good. Anyone ever watch Talking Classics with Keith Apicary? He's extremely funny at first, but can get a little dull after a while.
Gonna drop some ProJared (https://www.youtube.com/user/DMJared) in here. He has some really well-researched and well-balanced reviews. Good production values, too. Good stuff all around.
I had watched Nostalgia Critic back in the day and eventually abandoned him... but I recently came back to him in the last year and found his new shows to be utterly fantastic. He's now my favorite youtube show!
His co-stars are hilarious too. Wonderful show all around!
Quote from: zmaster18 on October 11, 2014, 05:33:52 am
Also, his video game shopping videos at Hard-Off are probably his most famous videos
Good stuff! Thanks for letting me (and everyone else) know about it! I wish I knew how people got permission for things like that. People are always asking for videos from inside places like Hard-Off, Book-Off, Mandarake, Super Potato, etc. But they're always pretty strict about their "no photography" policy.
The AVGN just uploaded the long-awaited review of ET. It's pretty much the same as the one that plays over the credits of the AVGN movie, but it was really cool of him to put it up on YouTube for all his regular viewers and not make them pay for the movie to see it. That said, I *loved* the movie. It was a legitimately fun time and had such a good story that, even if hadn't featured the AVGN character, it could still have stood on its own. Snagged the digital release as soon as it was available and can't wait for the Blu-Ray version.
James Rolfe used to work really hard and have belieavable acting but on these more recent episodes he's too relaxed and doesn't have that power any more, while on the other hand we've got Pat the NES Punk whom just doesn't limits himself to cheap flashy special effects but also special guests and the Donkey Kong Family, plus R.O.B too.
I LOL'd when Donkey Kong Jr. said that the Monkey word was insulting and thus far it is now the M-word! ;D
I still have absolutely no idea what was going on with that "monkey" word being offensive.... I may sound dumb but really, can anyone explain it to me?? Perhaps it's because I'm not 100% native English speaker....
AVGN posted an actual new review (Beetlejuice) but it's such a disappointment it doesn't live up to the old episodes, it lacks that authentic acting and quality that the 'retro' AVGN had.
I'll definitely say that the Tiger review was far superior and closer to the 'retro' AVGN episodes.
Quote from: MaarioS on October 15, 2014, 12:12:21 pm
I still have absolutely no idea what was going on with that "monkey" word being offensive.... I may sound dumb but really, can anyone explain it to me?? Perhaps it's because I'm not 100% native English speaker....
People from US tend to be overly sensitive and PC (politically correct) so the Donkey Kong Jr. himself is no different from them.
I agree 100% that the Tiger episode was the last good AVGN episode.
James Rolfe on his Frankenstein made a very important point about the Sonic games: "You love going fast but sometimes you've gotta slowdown and pay attention to what's happening". This quote right here is why Sonic Lost World isn't all about speed and more so like a traditional platformer, which I really like.
Man, I wish James Rolfe could get back to his "Retro AVGN" acting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjUHdz2_v_o
Sonic as a whole isn't about speed and is actually about platforming - that's why the originals felt so great, they weren't just about whizzing around gormlessly.
The speed was a hardware wow moment to show how 'next gen' the game was... If you ask people what they like about Sonic and they say 'he's so fast!' that doesn't mean a straight up faster Sonic makes a better game, you have to dig deeper than that and read between the lines. I think that's the biggest shame with Sonic, after S&K they just lost that magic.
Quote from: MaarioS on October 11, 2014, 12:29:48 pm
Quote from: Protoman on October 11, 2014, 11:17:53 am
Quote from: The Uninvited Gremlin on October 11, 2014, 05:31:02 am
I have always enjoyed Ashens, and irategamer.
Irategamer huh? The most hated game reviewer ever.. although I don't understand why.
Because he's a damn douchebag that shamelessly rips off EVERYTHING of AVGN and pretends he doesn't exist.... need I say more??
Also, very good topic and very popular one, I wonder why it wasn't posted before ;) . I also watch AVGN, Jontron, sometimes Game Sack, it's also interesting and also many more random ones I come across. Youtube reviews is something I watch more often than movies ;)
AVGN has ripped off irategamer as well, it's the nature of being a youtube reviewer. I still prefer irategamer as I find him more likable.
Quote from: FamicomRetroGamer on October 16, 2014, 04:24:55 pm
James Rolfe on his Frankenstein made a very important point about the Sonic games: "You love going fast but sometimes you've gotta slowdown and pay attention to what's happening". This quote right here is why Sonic Lost World isn't all about speed and more so like a traditional platformer, which I really like.
Man, I wish James Rolfe could get back to his "Retro AVGN" acting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjUHdz2_v_o
Yeah. I don't know what it is.. I think he got burnt out on it, or got fed up with the fans and the community.. I can imagine it must be maddening to see people criticize you unendingly.. Who knows.
His old stuff was amazing. You could tell he was having a lot of fun with it.
Now it's like he's barely engaged in what he does. Maybe his marriage is awful or something.. Maybe something killed him inside and he hasn't been the same since.
Quote from: tappybot on November 01, 2014, 12:37:04 pm
Quote from: FamicomRetroGamer on October 16, 2014, 04:24:55 pm
James Rolfe on his Frankenstein made a very important point about the Sonic games: "You love going fast but sometimes you've gotta slowdown and pay attention to what's happening". This quote right here is why Sonic Lost World isn't all about speed and more so like a traditional platformer, which I really like.
Man, I wish James Rolfe could get back to his "Retro AVGN" acting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjUHdz2_v_o
Yeah. I don't know what it is.. I think he got burnt out on it, or got fed up with the fans and the community.. I can imagine it must be maddening to see people criticize you unendingly.. Who knows.
His old stuff was amazing. You could tell he was having a lot of fun with it.
Now it's like he's barely engaged in what he does. Maybe his marriage is awful or something.. Maybe something killed him inside and he hasn't been the same since.
Even on his Kickstarter scam failure he played the AVGN character which was back in 2012 and he nailed it but now he's done with it and he'll just be James Rolfe himself (AVGN never had sideburns plus they look horrible).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3-_N-iXa4A
Greg Pabitch was asking $65k and yet he lives in a mansion.. he obviously could've paid for it without asking for donations.
Quote from: FamicomRetroGamer on November 01, 2014, 01:06:39 pm
Quote from: tappybot on November 01, 2014, 12:37:04 pm
Quote from: FamicomRetroGamer on October 16, 2014, 04:24:55 pm
James Rolfe on his Frankenstein made a very important point about the Sonic games: "You love going fast but sometimes you've gotta slowdown and pay attention to what's happening". This quote right here is why Sonic Lost World isn't all about speed and more so like a traditional platformer, which I really like.
Man, I wish James Rolfe could get back to his "Retro AVGN" acting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjUHdz2_v_o
Yeah. I don't know what it is.. I think he got burnt out on it, or got fed up with the fans and the community.. I can imagine it must be maddening to see people criticize you unendingly.. Who knows.
His old stuff was amazing. You could tell he was having a lot of fun with it.
Now it's like he's barely engaged in what he does. Maybe his marriage is awful or something.. Maybe something killed him inside and he hasn't been the same since.
Even on his Kickstarter scam failure he played the AVGN character which was back in 2012 and he nailed it but now he's done with it and he'll just be James Rolfe himself (AVGN never had sideburns plus they look horrible).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3-_N-iXa4A
Greg Pabitch was asking $65k and yet he lives in a mansion.. he obviously could've paid for it without asking for donations.
Oh I've never seen that. Thanks..
He played that alright.
I haven't seen his feature film yet.. Did it deliver?
I liked the AVGN movie. It passed literally the ONLY litmus test I had for it, which was "Would the story hold up even without the AVGN character?" The answer is a resounding "yes".
The movie was quite good, had plenty of nods to movies and games of the past, and kept the "in-jokes" to a minimum. For a first-time filmmaker with a limited budget (provided by the fans) it surpassed every one of my expectations.
I kind of figured it would be more like the Channel Awesome cross-over movies, which are a lot of fun, but they're definitely "fan films". The AVGN movie was an *actual* movie.
On the topic of other YouTube Reviewers...
I didn't know until recently that the dude who quit his job by painting "I QUIT" on his chest and blasting Queen was the Nostaliga Critic. I saw that video a long time before I started watching Channel Awesome stuff and just never made the connection.
It was awful I gave up watching it by the first 45mins due to being so stale, boring and repetitive (overused putrid jokes, unnecessary cursing, a military guy pretending to be half robot, etc). The script in its overall was mediocre, so it's not surprising all of it went to the shitter.
And to top it off James Rolfe uploaded his crappy E.T. review he did for the film and called it "AVGN Episode 121" which was really lazy because he lost all interest playing the character's role a long time ago already. If he can't be bothered then just retire his AVGN character and stick to "James & Mike Mondays".
By the way, Nostalgia Critic reviewed the film but since he did a cameo (of barely a few seconds) and he's close friend of James he didn't criticise it at all.
Quote from: FamicomRetroGamer on November 03, 2014, 04:49:34 pm
overused putrid jokes, unnecessary cursing
Isn't that every AVGN video, though?
Quote from: UglyJoe on November 03, 2014, 07:17:47 pm
Quote from: FamicomRetroGamer on November 03, 2014, 04:49:34 pm
overused putrid jokes, unnecessary cursing
Isn't that every AVGN video, though?
It was certainly one of the hallmarks of the early videos. The AVGN character could give Peter Capaldi a run for his money in the "creative swearing" department. If anything, I think the movie toned *down* the cursing and toilet humor.
I also dug that he uploaded the ET review. I maintain that the movie was worth the digital rental price, but it was a nice gesture to give the review away for free.
Quote from: UglyJoe on November 03, 2014, 07:17:47 pm
Quote from: FamicomRetroGamer on November 03, 2014, 04:49:34 pm
overused putrid jokes, unnecessary cursing
Isn't that every AVGN video, though?
After so long it became stale, boring and repetitive.
James' even has one of AVGN's episode with the ratings disabled because everyone kept disliking it due to the terrible toiler humour and this was before the crapfest of his film even came out.
I also watched the first half of the AVGN movie and had to stop. I always knew that it wouldn't be good, but oh my god... it was a little worse than I had imagined! The 'jokes' were horrible, I hated the villain guy, and nobody was actually able to act, except the older guy. The scenes never felt complete, they always feel too short and pointless. I wish James Rolfe would have spent more time on the actual writing.
Quote from: zmaster18 on November 04, 2014, 05:17:07 pm
I also watched the first half of the AVGN movie and had to stop. I always knew that it wouldn't be good, but oh my god... it was a little worse than I had imagined! The 'jokes' were horrible, I hated the villain guy, and nobody was actually able to act, except the older guy. The scenes never felt complete, they always feel too short and pointless. I wish James Rolfe would have spent more time on the actual writing.
The second half gets kinda crazy with the homages to classic monster movies *and* 80's puppet-heavy cheese. Seems kinda wasteful to give up halfway through a movie you paid to watch.
On a side note, everyone hopefully has seen "Ashens and the Quest for the Gamechild" but if not watch it on YouTube. It's awesome in contrast to the AVGN movie!
I've been watching Ashens lately. I haven't explored beyond his reviews of trashy toys and candy though. Sounds interesting.
Pat (the NES Punk) and Ian (from the CU Podcast) are live, doing the annual NES Marathon to benefit Children's Miracle Network.
http://www.twitch.tv/nesmarathon