There seems to be this theme where the people I disliked at first gain my daily attention and loyalty in the future.
Just like the Nostalgia Critic, the guys from Farfromsubtle didn't interest me at all at first. Though, I never "despised" them like the Nostalgia Critic, I just found their show "AWESOME Video Games" to be badly acted and boring. The only good thing was the intro song. But they were obviously having fun.
The first thing I ever saw from the channel Farfromsubtle was actually the small animations starring these characters who have an electronic bassline for voices, and I loved those, but I never bothered to check out anything else from them at the time. But one bored day, when browsing through the Angry Video Game Nerd's subscriptions (I wanted to look for more Youtube gamers), I got introduced/reminded by them again, and while I was still busy looking for a decent AWESOME Video Games episode, no offense guys, they suddenly lauched the first episode of a new show "Video Games AWESOME".
Not to be confused with AWESOME Video Games.
The fact these guys decided to sit down on a green-screened couch, play video games and say whatever comes up in their minds, is brilliant. Back in those days you didn't really see that many people just boot up a game and (successfully) talk over the gameplay; everything had to be acted; everything had to be an Angry Video Games Nerd parody or rip-off. Good times. Interestingly enough, though, host Fraser is a better "angry video game nerd" than James is. His anger has always been legit, and his rage earned its own title by fans; "frage".
To hear these guys make better jokes live than when holding a script in their hands was strange, but I fully welcomed it. They are honestly funny people and I watch their videos every day. Though, many old fans preferred the first show and didn't really welcome it at all. I guess I was the only one who didn't like AWESOME Video Games.
The thing with these guys is that they remind me of my friends. And they'll remind you of your friends as well. And if you don't have any friends, they'll be your friends. They are so involved with their viewers, it's hard not to like them just for that. I'm still sad that the original team is hardly ever complete anymore, as Kyle and Deacon tend to be too busy to join the show's recent gameplays, but even when it's just 1, 2 or 3 instead of 5 sitting on the couch, the head man, Fraser, still manages to entertain you.
Fraser is what keeps this show alive. He and his girlfriend Becky have always done their best to hear out their fans and keep the show running. Becky actually used to be active in the background, answering live comments, and seeing her face appear on the screen for the first time needed some time to get used to, but she grew out to be a very comedic person, and she's the show's official costume maker as well. It stays a strange feeling to introduce these fellas to other people, as you're showing a bunch of guys sitting on a couch wearing the craziest costumes in existence, but in combination with their voice acting for text-based games, you can't deny it is a playful introduction.
Though, it often saddens me there are alot of people criticizing Fraser's behaviour and gaming skills, and it makes me wonder why they even call themselves fans if Fraser can never do it "right" according to them. Of course, the show always has those moments where you try to direct or correct them, even though they can't hear you; but there's always someone on the couch or in the live chat who says exactly what you're screaming at your computer screen. And it's always acknowledged. Everything is always acknowledged. So why are people still so angry?
Video Games AWESOME is top entertainment, and Fraser is more intelligent than people give him credit for. And Kyle is funnier than people give him credit for.
Besides it being an awesome intro and series by itself, it's also an intro that doesn't contain a single anime cliché.
You know that animes tend to have the same kind of intro formula; where characters epicly walk on an empty field, stick out their hand towards the camera, or open their eyes at you and give you that badass stare, all this while some badly sung Japanese pop song plays in the background. And I've had quite enough of that. As decent a series may be, the intro is just as important, but it seems like it's the element that keeps getting glanced over by animators.
Getting it out here before it turns old news: Sega is making a fresh attemp at a Sonic game, again, as it took them a while to realise that no one was really digging their human-kissing, goody-two-shoes Sonic and the overdramatic and badly acted games he starred in. But, not going to lie, I liked the Sonic X series based on what I saw. Without a doubt they are trying their best to appeal to the audience, as Sonic games are pretty much being shat out by the second, and there is one fact everybody can agree on: that the trailers and visuals they show for these games have always been awesome. But, the games themselves always end up disappointing fans. But really, Sometimes high expectations can make a game seem worse than it really is. I only have a few Sonic games myself, and I found myself disliking Sonic Heroes, but liking Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic Unleashed, even though those games are called pieces of shit as well. I'm not going to claim these games are perfect, but then I'd only be talking about the story. I've never had much trouble with the gameplay of either games, or the levels where Sonic runs around as a werewolf in Unleashed. That's actually my favourite part. But back to the original subject of this article; "Sonic Boom", the name of the upcoming game and tv-series Sega has planned for us. Honestly, I won't give my opinion about the game right now, as the trailer has the same formula as all their previous trailers, so the game can actually still fail. Don't like Knuckles big, clumsy appearance, and Sonic has a scary face in the cutscenes, but those are little aspects you shouldn't judge an entire game for. But then there's the tv-show, which can be a more difficult project to perform than a game, but seeing what I saw, I am not turned off. I want to see this and I want to see this succeed. Sonic deserves success, if only because of the fact he survived all this time. Doesn't that mean his fans want him to succeed as well?
Before knowing who exactly he was, I saw GIFs of him float around the internet. Then I bothered to look him up, and the first review I saw of him was "Pokémon: The First Movie", which wasn't really the best choice, because when you don't agree with someone, that's not a good first introduction. After all, I like that movie. Afterwards I wanted to give him another shot, and I actually ended up watching a video where he badly parodied the Angry Video Game Nerd, for comedic purposes, but I clicked it away before he could finish his act.
When thinking back to all this, I wonder why I came back to watch more of his videos. There wasn't much reason for me to, so it seemed. But I probably saw another movie in the list I would actually agree on was terrible, watched it, and felt entertained. But well, this was all years ago, so I don't know for sure what I was thinking, but till this day I regret nothing.
Over the years I saw many great videos, and actually saw the guy grow in quality. Even though I can't say he was bad to begin with. The Nostalgia Critic is the type of guy who always stayed the same, and wants to stay familiar. But even when having that said, I should mention the failed project the poor guy tried to launch.
At one point Doug wanted to leave his act "the Nostalgia Critic" behind and start a whole new series, using hired actors. I believe it was called "Demo Reel". I actually bothered to watch these videos, and I can say that I was far from interested, though, the series was still new, so I was willing to let it grow. The rest of the world did not. Doug and his new employees recieved alot of hate on their roofs, just because they tried to do something new. The thought that Doug had replaced the famous Nostalgia Critic for a terribly acted movie-parody show was just intolerable for these people.
I felt incredibly bad for the man. He did not owe anyone anything, and the fact his own fans didn't allow him to experiment, didn't allow him to do something HE really wanted to do, was hard to swallow. And really, that's not the first time fans showed their true colours; the Video Game Nerd and his friend, Mike, are being scolded by their fans as we speak. James for not making any Video Game Nerd videos and Mike simply for existing. As James is occupied with other things, he hasn't made a new video for a while, and instead posts simple gameplay videos of his friend, or the both of them playing together, and people are really giving Mike alot of undeserved hate. What the fuck, people, let them do what they want. They were not put on this Earth to entertain you. Mike is a good guy, and actually funnier than James. James enjoys his friend's company, and so should you. Do people on the internet ever feel something else besides disgust and hatred?
Anyway, after a few episodes of Demo Reel, Doug released a video showing his homesickness for the Nostalgia Critic, which was quite a piece of art itself, and Doug revealed the return of the Nostalgia Critic and the death of Demo Reel. Should've satisfied people, right? Not as much, as Doug just couldn't say goodbye to the Demo Reel people he had already made a promise to; and he decided to make them part of the new Nostalgia Critic series. Fans saw them as the Nostalgia Critic's "Mike", and were still not satisfied. At this point I was just sickened by the fandom and their lack of support. The Demo Reel crew proved themselves to be very funny and talented people, and actually fitted in. Doug always made sure he was still in the center of attention as the Nostalgia Critic. I never understood the problem, anyway, he's done crossovers before, why would including these people be that much of a disaster? Doug had already sacrificed so much, and the fact he came back means he cared enough. But I'm happy he still knew his boundaries and didn't get rid of the Demo Reel crew, just because of the huge negativity.
And this is exactly who Doug is. A funny and clever guy who gives a shit. Keep your Jack Nicholson-face on, boy.
