I really hate reviewers/personalities with gimmicks.

Like I'm the angry guy, or the crazy guy, or the guy that hates everything, or creepy guy.

Haveing a gimmick proves that you actually have no personality, rather than portraying that you have too much of one. It's like prop comedy, real comedians don't need a prop to be funny.

Is it awkward if I join the conversation?

That's right. Real comedians just have hooks like "I'm the angry guy," or the crazy guy, or the guy that hates everything, or creepy guy. In many ways, it's as if their on-stage persona is some sort of... gimmick?

You're on the site with the crazy loud guy, the crazier louder guy, the comically unfunny guy, the pretentious dweeb, the obscure interests guy, and the Vinny.

It is called having a personality.

@brodehouse: Excellent summation and adjective-laden description of the bomb crew.

Yes.

Yeah but they are not always like that. The giantbomb staff act like they always do. 80% of the time they are not putting on a show. From mailbag videos to jeff's jar time, jeff is always jeff. He doesn't come into work and put on his persona.

Adam sessler acts like adam sessler. It's not like I'm mean adam and I'm going to yell at you why this game sucks.

The point that I'm trying to make is that some people have actual personalities/ personas that fall into the ones you think were a "gimmick". I understand the internet is an incredibly false environment, but some of us are genuinely crazy/loud/angry.

If you mean that you hate YouTube personalities then I wholeheartedly agree.

Listen lady, Jeff is only about these streets. And what's happening on these streets.

I'm not sure I can figure out who's who. Except the Vinny.

Funny you should mention that.

Where's Dave? Or is Dave the obscure interest guy? I guess he and Drew can both be that guy.

I'm conflicted between Jeff and Ryan. Mostly because Ryan is louder than Jeff but Jeff is definitely crazier than Ryan. After that it's Brad, Patrick, probably Drew or maybe Dave and of course our lord and savior

The worst thing is when they build up a character that's so 1-dimensional but, as they develop as a reviewer, they find themselves wanting to approach things in a different way than they can as the persona they created.

Are we talking about something in particular or is this entire conversation hypothetical?

Like matching a tie with a highlighter?

Always.

@guided_by_tigers said:

Like matching a tie with a highlighter?

Digger Freaking Phelps! Why is that his gimmick? He never uses that market for anything aside from showing it to the camera.

@video_game_king: You're making me want to play through Persona 3 again and goddamnit, I just don't have the time.

Ohhh I wanna take a stab at it!

in the order of the post is it Alex, Ryan, Brad, Patrick, Jeff, Vinny?

Maybe a few too many angry British fellows out and about but for the most part I don't care.

If you're talking about people who have "characters" that they play on set, then yeah. I sort of agree. I used to be a fan of the "Internet Angry Man" persona that so many youtube personalities use, but now maybe not so much.

I guess that building a videogame website is like building a superhero team except that the superpowers are misery, self-loathing, incompetence, social dysfunction, dying alone and the Vinny.

.

.

.

j/k!!! :)!!! <3!!!

.

.

.

Eh.

If the personality is cranked up in a sincere way I don't mind the gimmick. I loved AVGN despite the character being purposely over the top... had an obvious passion and knowledge for old games and that shone thru w/ the AVGN character I also like Angry Joe, who knows his games/pop culture but manages not to be overbearing or annoying. Mileage may vary of course but it works for me.

I think after you read so many reviews from someone, their personality and likes/dislikes tend to show through. While everyone wants to argue that you don't want to do that because it's "unbiased" it's actually quite helpful when I think about whether or not I like a game or not. I think those character tendencies like being someone who usually scores games higher or lower than everyone else, doesn't mean a system is broken, but it does make it more important to put the name of a review up front before I read through it.

Honestly, though, I've never encountered a reviewer with a "gimmick." The closest thing to that here is Alex's review of awful, awful games but even then that guy can bust out a seriously informative review if needs be.

I've got an idea, I'm gonna make game reviews on Youtube.

But I've got an angle,

I'll be really angry!!!!!!

grr so mad about games

i am now a children's entertainer

@pr1mus said:

i have no opinions on this topic. i just wanted to quote this picture :P

wouldn't you say that you'd be irate as well?

I just can't stand shouting. It's the single biggest turn off for me when watching a preview/review or listening to a personality talk in a video or podcast or any form of media.

the overweight guys?

I still can't really make it through any of Film Critic Hulk's stuff. The gimmick weirds me out.

@pr1mus said:

Well, I'm printing this out to hang up. More amazing without context.

I just hate the five billion ANGRY VIDYA GAME DUDE guys. AVGN, Annoyed Gamer, Irate Gamer, whatever. Stop. We get it, you're super cynical and video games all suck and that's edgy and cool.

@somberowl: It's the clipping. Kills me every single time.

AVGN should get a pass because he practically invented the trope, or at least was one of its pioneers.

Fair enough, and he doesn't spend all his time going DURR VIDEO GAME SUCK. So yeah, I'll give that to him.

And any hate shifted from him should go toward the Irate Gamer.

Video_Game_King is all gimmick, and we love him for it. Or at least we pretend to.

I agree with you. Game reviewers and internet personalities that overdo it or act while recording is not something i'm a fan of. I like genuine, fun personalities and that is why i like Giant Bomb.

@mocbucket62: The better question is does he match his ties with his highlighters or his highlighters with his ties?

@lordandrew:

What are you saying?

I'm a llama. I give this topic 4 spits.

yeah the angry guy thing has become really pervasive.

I've always felt the same way. If a reviewer has some sort of "character" or stupid nickname, it's an easy way for me to tell if I'm going to like them or not. It's probably one of the reasons I never liked Patrick's horror game features; the dumb cartoon thumbnail and referring to himself as "Scoops" just felt like I was watching something from That Guy With The Glasses. Something about Giant Bomb has always felt very antithetical to that sort of style and it's why I like this place so much. Like my kindergarten teacher always said; just be yourselves!

All reviewers should be like "HEY LOOK AT ME I'M THE REVIEWS GUY AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

Then they start every review with "fans of the genre..."

You realize you basically just admitted to your gimmick (all by yourself) after all of this time playing it completely straight every time so many of us tried to get you to break it?

Kind of a bummer, really.