So a while ago, I wrote a post relating to KingMasterReview and his review of that crappy Sonic port for the GBA. I pointed out how it was a near verbatim copy of a review Spax3 made back then, and how much of an influence he had on the guy, thus getting him tarred time after. I had assumed he was the bottom of the barrel, but one day, I got curious, and I wanted to see if I could find a review made by another lesser individual.
I had thought his old videos were removed, but it turns out that wasn't the case. After watching the one review I recall, folks...
I feel like screaming right now, so what better thing to do it to than a a good ol' bad video? Videos. Okay
One Up Gamer
Oneupgamer, real name Nicholas Friesen, came into the fold in 2009. This was during the advent of the Irate Gamer Sucks blog, when DLAbaoaqu was very popular, when DJCuell managed to get away with ripping DLA off, and this guy came about.
Nicholas originally made reviews of NES titles, mostly those based on 80s movies, and for a time a lot of his old reviews were unavailable. The channel was up, but he had hidden his old reviews, until one day he decided to honor his past because he had managed to carve a better name for himself. He was mercifully not included on Encyclopedia Dramatica's list of Video Game Reviewers, you may think because he was a kid at the time, but VIB113 was an exception, don't diss Contra goddamnit, but keep VIB in mind.
When it came to AVGN worship, age wasn't a big deal to people, as this kid got it up the ass through commentaries. These days, his comment sections are closed on his older reviews, but given how broken YouTube's notification system is, it makes small things unavoidable, no matter how hard you try. Maybe that's why one particular movie has become so contaminated to me, I can't help but see red with it, literally and figuratively.
Technical Stuff
Oneupgamer's unique, in terms of his production quality. Let me explain. Let's pretend there's no such thing as the Angry Video Game Nerd, wouldn't that be awesome. The quality of game reviewers at the time would always vary.
Some would incorporate decent production value mixed with filmmaking experience, such as Alexander4488.
Some would be low budget, high concept and yield some interesting results for whatever they had at their disposal, such as Irate Gamer and Spax3.
Some would use basic practical effects but display some basic editing and acting fundamentals (showing footage and reactions), like NC17 Productions, KingMasterReview, you know.
Some would do let's play style reviews, like Stanburdman and Hellsing920.
Some would do rant style reviews, where they would point the camera at the screen, like VIB113.
Now, what does Nicholas do? What do you get when you cross VIB's resources with Irate Gamer and Spax3's tendency to make sketches? And all you have is a camera that may very well be a cellphone?
When I saw Nicholas' older videos, I was floored with how cheap they are. Want to know how cheap it is? Title cards are represented through filming sheets of paper with the show name and creator credit written in black marker. That cheap. I've heard of DIY, but this... I'll give you an idea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc7JZtdE3x4
When it comes to the reviews themselves, honestly he's a hell of a lot more blatant of ripping off AVGN than they made out others to be. He has stated lines and jokes by AVGN near verbatim, and it is especially common in his Nightmare on Elm Street review. He also happens to hate LJN, probably because James does, and it's his word against anyone else's. So much was foresaken for the sake of comedy.
But back on topic, I hate it when reviewers lift points from others verbatim, because half the time they have no idea what basis the points had to begin with. All they see is an obvious point they could use, and they'll run with it as much as they could. When you find out who made the point first, it's hard to see anyone else make it. I can understand why a lot of reviews got shit back then, because yeah, it's not right to ride off of existing material for your own gain. Some were more shameless than others, some just sucked that hard.
Instinctively, when you find yourself without a budget, you'd want to keep your review as simple as possible. But Nicholas had different plans. He incorporated sketches into his reviews, and yeah, he was a one-man show. These lack the cheese of Irate Gamer, the earnest nature of CNASN, they're too narrow, boring, and at most are non-sequiturs, the sketches in the former two at least fit the nature of their respective shows. Gaffs are very noticeable, and given that this is a basic editing job, there's no excuse. VIB113 had the excuse of coming up with what he said on the spot, because this was being recorded live, and KingMasterReview was already known for his rambles, and even he did a better job in hindsight.
He manages to make arguments AVGN did in his reviews, but completely avoided some stuff, like how the radio would wake you back up when you fall asleep in the Nightmare on Elm Street NES game. You can tell he borrowed points from AVGN, as he points them out before they actually occur. He was able to play that Bill and Ted NES game before James did, wish I would've made the claim James ripped Nicholas off, people's heads would explode, right after their asses catch fire.
But that was then
I would leave it off here, that he was just a kid with no hindsight making stuff in earnest, but for many, they can't remain gone forever. I mean I never thought VIB113 would come back, yet he did, and is otherwise still going on. Nicholas stayed on, but popped up sporadically, and he gradually got better, even earning a sign of approval from DLA.
I saw a review he posted of Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle and folks, I was amazed. Along with lampooning AVGN fanboys over rip-off stigmas, which for the record is quite satisfying once you realize how petty it was, his review was concise, well detailed (I had no idea most of the Crazy Castle games were repurposings of previous licenses, and only two were built from the ground up), and any odd jokes caught me by surprise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1FUINZ6m9M
It seems he pops up every now and again, but things had looked up for him immensely, and he can at least leave off on a good note. For a time, he had his older videos unavailable, but decided to bring them back. It's a good thing, because now people can look back at his older stuff, knowing he had improved very much since.
We got to a point where YouTube can become nostalgic, so it's interesting to see how someone has changed over the years, and look back on the past with fondness, no matter how many quirks it has.
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