Friday Five: Internet Video Series/People
I remember long ago when the internet was a place you would read stuff and look at pictures because that’s all the bandwidth would allow at the time, because video compression was not yet very good. Eventually though, compressions got better and you could at least download videos. Then compression got even MORE better and suddenly just as we could use the internet for text, graphics and audio so to now did video enter the fray with YouTube and Flash video finally offering a great means to get video on the web and freely accessible to everyone. This opened a whole new world of possibilities as video-based media could be made and distributed by anyone. Over time, video has become a highly prevalent part of the internet with regular series or “internet celebrities” becoming more commonplace.
Today’s Five deals with videos by people/series that I really enjoy watching on a continuing basis. They cover a whole breadth of areas from opinion, to music, to parody and more. In keeping with the family friendly nature here at GeekLore, I will forewarn you that some of the outgoing links I’m providing may contain NAUGHTY WORDS that your children or boss may not like hearing. Not that you should be watching internet videos at work, but you know you’ll do it anyway. That being said, let’s hit the old digital trail and discuss just who grabs my attention.
Bob “MovieBob” Chipman
Links are mostly clean, but still may contain naughty words!
Bob "MovieBob" Chipman
MovieBob is the overly-opinionated host of three shows I on which I keep tabs. On The Escapist, I watch his two weekly series Escape to the Movies, a movie review show on Friday, and The Big Picture, a geektastic opinion/rant show on Tuesdays. His other show runs on Screw Attack and it is his first series called The Game OverThinker, which is another opinion show with the focus on video games in particular. He’s a very vocal person with a lot to say, and even though he sometimes comes across as overbearing in his shows its still a good watch because he never comes across as abrasive. I don’t always agree with what he says, but he makes a lot of good points on his various rants. He has a lot to say, and isn’t afraid to step on toes to say it. He provides great commentary and insight that is enjoyable to watch. Well, except the whole “AntiThinker” story arc he did recently onThe Game OverThinker. That wasn’t so fun. But overall, like any opinion show, you get your kicks from the emotions stirred from agreeing or disagreeing with the author. In that regard Bob has some good stuff that provides some excellent food for thought and some decent entertainment.
brentalfloss
Links may contain naughty words or concepts!
brentalfloss
What if this Friday Five… had lyrics? I’d get them written by brentalfloss, mofo! The Floss made his internet claim to fame with his popular “…with lyrics” series where he takes tracks from classic games and fits them up with ridiculous lyrics. Having covered classics such as Zelda, Megaman and more. The lyrics are fun and witty and are based on some really classic and awesome tracks. He’s bit vulgar, but its all in the name of a good laugh. From the over-the-top “Final Fantasy Classic WITH LYRICS” to the horribly misogynistic “Tetris WITH LYRICS” to my personal favorite “Duck Tales WITH LYRICS,” brentalfloss whips a good time with catchy, singable tunes based on great tracks from yesteryear’s and even today’s systems. In addition to his “…with lyrics” series he is very active on YouTube operating a vlog and showing off other work he has done and generally seems like a fun guy who is actively involved with his fanbase over YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
Penny Arcade: The Series
Links will very most likely contain naughty words!
Penny Arcade: The Series
This feels like a bit of cheat to me mostly because it’s the one thing on the list I kind of had to dig for and there were some other contenders I didn’t feel were up to snuff because I hadn’t really had time to get into their work work yet. Being professionally filmed and edited kind of takes away from the home-brew aspect of some of the other mentions on today’s list, but I really do enjoy this show. If you’re unfamiliar with Penny Arcade, you’re likely not a gamer and if you are a gamer, you’ve been under a rock. The webcomic Penny Arcade is so representative and infused into the gaming culture it has become a behemoth force, even netting its creators Jerry Holkins (aka Tycho) and Mike Krahulik (aka Gabe) a spot in TIME’s 100 most influential people of 2010. The comic is more than just a funny strip that shows up three times a week. Penny Arcade the company is responsible for two huge annual conventions and a spectacular show of generosity in the form their Child’s Play charity. Penny Arcade: The Series catalogs a formerly unseen side of the comic by going into the office and showing you “the victories and secret shames of the .jpeg business” as they so put it. Episodes show off their company culture, inner workings, ping-pong matches, hiring processes and even inside looks into PAX and Child’s Play. It’s amazing to see how two guys with a silly comic have become juggernaut icons and forces in the gaming world. Quite frankly, I wish I had a skill they needed so I could work there because it seems totally awesome. My favorite episodes are the ones called “Fourth Panel” where you watch Jerry and Mike go through the process of formulating a comic. It’s really fun and interesting to watch.
Dragonball Z Abridged
Links may contain bleeped naughty words, but you’ll understand them!
Dragonball Z Abridged
A while ago, it became a thing to take an animated series (normally anime) and cut down the content and add new dubbing. Typically, these are really funny when done well. I believe the trend started with an abridged version of Yu Yu Hakusho, and other projects followed suit with series like Naruto and Avatar: The Last Airbender. However, eventually some of the best in the game got together to make an abridged version of Dragonball Z under the group name “Team Four Star.” They’ve managed to compress the long series into a distilled form of pure awesome. It follows the story really well and has done a really great job with the editing. The result is totally hilarious, particularly if you watched the original. The actors behind Goku and Vegeta are great and probably have some of the best moments so far. For a fan-dub project, it has really high production values in terms of visual, voice-acting, scripting and editing quality. Not to mention it is a total blast to watch. New episodes are scattered with long release times, but the series as a whole is certainly worth watching, especially if you’re familiar with the source material.
Extra Credits
Links contain no naughty words at all!
Extra Credits
Another awesome Escapist series can lay claim to being one of my favorite things on the web. Every Thursday introduces a new episode of Extra Credits narrated Daniel Floyd, written by James Portnow and arted by Allison Theus. Extra Credits explores games through a magnifying lens, celebrating their strengths, exposing their flaws and making the call to grow and improve the medium. Each episode is chock full of insightful commentary and great ideas. Daniel’s artificially sped up voice (which is a remnant from needing to keep his original YouTube videos under 10 minutes) does get a bit annoying, but the caliber of this show is otherwise top-notch. Some people claim that the show is overly preachy and that they are taking things too seriously. I say that there is nothing wrong with that. Knowing the medium and understanding how it is driven, operated and can be improved are discussions worth having. Just as movies need their critics and people to discuss the state of the medium, so too does gaming and the Extra Credits guys are among the best and most consistent in that regard. My own article “The Space In-between: Morality in Video Games” was heavily inspired by the work of the Extra Credits gang. Each Thursday, I look forward to whatever new topic they’ll bring to the fold. My personal favorite was the discussion on music in video games, and I’m still waiting for the long-overdue-mentioned-in-episode-1 “Voice Acting” episode.
[The Friday Five is murf's weekly series on GeekLore. If you enjoyed this article, and want to see more geeky goodness from murf and others, please check out www.geeklore.net.]
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