Wednesday, October 13, 2021

w'ever Happun'd 2... PBCProductions

If you wanna see previous installments:

Futuramaooy/Mega-Rhys: https://channelevensreviews.blogspot.com/2020/10/wever-hapun-2-futuramaooy.html

ShadowBlazeX8: https://channelevensreviews.blogspot.com/2020/10/wever-hapun-2-shadowblazex8.html

FoxtrotDeltaLima497: https://www.deviantart.com/channeleven/journal/W-ever-Happun-2-FoxtrotDeltaLima497-872745843

YoshiLove5000: https://www.deviantart.com/channeleven/journal/W-ever-Hapun-2-YoshiLove5000-YouTube-retrospect-860602482

Pativee: https://www.deviantart.com/channeleven/journal/W-ever-Happun-2-PatiVee-861498951

======

In the realm of video game- you know what? Screw formalities, welcome to a 2007 crash-course. Soulja Boy told them stuff, YouTube was within its second major year, Cartoon Network was still forgettable, we had three blissful years before School Gyrls came out, but the same year of another Nickelodeon movie I saw back then that I'd like to see again. The Verizon Wireless Juke hit the scene (which I actually owned, burned some Now That's What I Call Music CDs and the Simpsons soundtrack on there along with whatever default songs were already on the computer.)

Back on YouTube Angry Video Game fever persisted (also around that time Angry Nintendo Nerd rebranded to Angry Video Game Nerd), some of the earliest video game reviewers reared their heads into the right, Armake21, Irate Gamer, NC17Productions, SpoonyOne, PlayItBogart... I dunno, Stan Burdman? Also this guy with glasses came out and would indirectly ruin review culture as we know it.

It seems everyone wanted to try their hand at angry reviews, leading to backlash that persisted for many years, I question James Rolfe and boundaries on more extreme fans, one of them was even a stalker. But, let's keep things to 2007 and focus on one of the earliest collaborators with the AVGN, PBC Productions, or Brett Vanderbrook.

PBC Productions was established in late 2006, though its more notable content wouldn't come until the start of 2007. Brett made gaming content, but what set him apart from others is that video games were merely part of a bigger series. What if Captain N and Full House- okay you get the idea. The New Adventures of Captain S. You can tell the influences mentioned before through the name and the font used for the casting call.

This isn't so much about the content he produced, but I'd like to establish who this guy is and what he was known for. Unlike the Angry Video Game Nerd and a number of other contemporaries, Captain S was more of a serialized series with a lighthearted tone. If you complain about anything obvious in this, you're probably desperate to act like you're smarter than you actually are.

Few game reviewers from this era have incorporated more plot heavy elements, the only one who ever did was Irate Gamer, which ironically marked a distinction between him and AVGN, sorely ignored, but given that PBC was able to handle more ambitious effects, it's understandable why people were harder on Chris. Anyone else involved happened to either be close friends or were hired by the channel, I'll get to the drop off in a while, but for now I'd like to talk about an important point in PBC's history.

Angry Nerd and others

In the early days of AVGN, PBC Productions was one of the first major channels to collaborate with him, and boy was it a match made in heaven, gaming related channels run by filmmakers or those with experience in video production, not to mention James is from New Jersey while Brett is from Astoria.

James made a guest appearance in a non-canon (as it's proudly displayed) Christmas special, while both would team up to make a video pinpointing landmarks related to the film Ghostbusters.... then that was about it. PBC would also assist in the production of another program which would get promoted by ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.

To sum up, PBC was involved with two of the biggest creators at the time, a position that many had only ever dreamed about. Things can only go up for Brett, but....

W'ver happun?

Around 2012, the channel hit a stand-still and has become dormant. The company remained active on Twitter, with their latest post being about the AVGN episode involving Maculay Culkin in 2018. They still occasionally post on Facebook, but are no longer involved in production on anything.

These days PBC are trying to keep the memory of Captain S alive, hey kinda like what I'm doing now. Captain S is now over a decade old, it's as retro as one could get, and we're now in an era where YouTube videos can be viewed in a nostalgic light. I imagine it brought joy to some people, maybe.

I guess things happened that were out of Brett's control, or he wanted to focus on his personal life. At least he didn't threaten to go all Virgina Tech like some earlier game reviewer did.

And just like that, this ends with no fanfare. It's over, goodbye. Go.

No comments:

Post a Comment