I really hate reviewers/personalities with gimmicks.

@mcghee:

I did no such thing. I did not state the reasons why it would be awkward; you filled that much in.

right

I have to disagree on this one. While I think there are too many angry, cynical, crass (usually white) guys reviewing video games, and a lot of people affecting personalities haven't pulled it off well, I don't have a problem with the idea in itself. The word "gimmick" has become a term that people have too easily fallen back on to criticise things in recent years (see: Nintendo), but one person's "gimmick" is another person's feature, or personality, or style, or whatever. If you go out and look at a lot of great stand-up comedians you could easily just label them as "the cynical guy", "the angry guy", "the surreal guy", and so on, but if they pull it off well, it really works, and it definitely does not act as proof that they have no personality. Some game reviewers are trying to put on a bit of a show, some are trying to be earnest, and I think both can work. Heck, Jeff often opts for comedy which depicts him as the awkward/creepy guy, but I don't look at that and think "Here he goes with the gimmick again".

@mcghee:

You're not very good at this "linking video game music" thing, are you?

To be quite honest, my choice was one of spontaneity that fit the tone of my response quite clearly, while yours was just trying to fit a current interest into your post. As you had already post a P4 song in a previous post. Playing The Golden right now?

No. I'm just lazy.

If only reviewers had a little more baby fat, we might want to protect them.

MY GIMMICK IS THE TRUTH.

I found that people that like to be in front of the camera, like to stay in front of the camera. Also. people that like to be in front of the camera like attention. The very reason why I didnt hang out with theater peopl in high school

i hate things sometimes too.

not everything.

just somethings sometimes

@brodehouse said:

So it's what:

Jeff Ryan Brad Patrick Drew Vinny?

I don't really know who any of these are, except I'm pretty sure the Vinny is Drew.

Don't be stupid.

...the Vinny is Dave.

@yummylee said:

Being the first doesn't make him the good one. He's super annoying, and not in an enjoyable way.

I like the dude what uses the yellow cartoon stuffs. Only because it's not reviews, it feels like an emphatic but genuine thing, and because it's a quick and clever bit of content that is amusing beyond being harsh.

...Well fuck.

Yahtzee? Ugh. He's the worst.

I like reviewers who seem like people I could meet and say hey and they would say hey back and I would feel like I had a nice time meeting them. It's why I love basically everyone on the GiantBomb team and really don't care for Jim Sterling.

It's basically the same principle as my friend group. If i'm going to go out of my way to watch somebody's content and more importantly spend my money based on their opinions, it seems like a no-brainer that I should like them as people.

Yeah, but like, enjoyably so man. AVGN is just obnoxious and grating.

@mordeaniischaos:

Other way around.

It's Jeff, right?

Normally I dislike anything gimmicky regardless of context, *cough Wii U *cough, and this is doubly true when it comes to watching reviews/gameplay videos. There is one exception to this however, and that would be good ole 'Yahtzee' Croshaw on Zero Punctuation. His reviews are about as one-dimensional as it gets, yet I keep coming back every week.

Nah.

@mordeaniischaos:

@video_game_king: Y....yes?

Yes, no one should ever do anything fun or interesting >.> Conform! CONFORM! One of us! One of us! This post has made me want to see if there is anything new on the AVGN site!

@video_game_king: What are you, my ex? Sheesh.

Is picking the most obvious and over-played gimmick in the entire entertainment industry some how not conforming? Being the annoyingly angry guy to get people to pay attention to you is about as old as jokes about Adam and Eve.

Irate Gamer: Before "ripoffs" become "inspired by."

Didn't know that guy was still going, just remember him being really stiff and unfunny. Looking at his recent work, he seems to have fallen into recurring jokes being expanded into dumb, unfunny, convoluted stories, which seems to be a necessity for these types of reviews now.

This also applies to the "I'm the reviewer with the tits" or "I'm the reviewer that licks stuff" or "I'm the reviewer that plasters galleries or bikini-shots all over the place, because video games".

Man you would hate Japanese comedians than. 95% of them are nothing but horrible gimmicks. Also doesn't help that they aren't funny and don't have talent. Than again their careers seem to be very, very short so I guess all is right in the world.

@jz: I take it you haven't seen the 90 minute Phantom Menace review?

Sort of agree, but it works for a few. AVGN has always been entertaining to me. It might be because he doesn't play the character throughout the entire of his episodes.

My new answer to "What the F is Giant Bomb?"

I've been watching a bunch of "Angry Video Game Nerd" lately and while the "act" is certainly that at times, I still find his stuff amusing. He has also been diversifying what he does quite a bit, featuring more and more stuff that isn't in that character. His latest video was actually getting some heat in the comments for not being angry enough, but I found it all the more pleasant for it. What I've seen of "Angry Joe Show" though definitely seems forced. He was one of those folks that was super irate over Bayonetta 2 being exclusive to Wii-U despite the fact the game literally wouldn't be financed were it not for Nintendo. Just angry for the sake of being angry, logic be damned. To some extent, I've grown weary of Jim Sterling's schtick as well. "I'm crude AND angry. Why? Its what I do" So yeah, having one stock personality trait that kind of defines your coverage does get tiresome.

I would rather they actually lived up to their gimmick. That Angry Joe fellow doesn't seem very angry in his videos. What a sham.

My gimmick is that I hate the Godfather movie. Man was that a boring movie! Tons of talking and the action scenes are like 10 seconds each.

Yea this. In a group of people, and in front of other people, everyone puts on a certain persona (hee. hee. hee.) Its natural, its human.

Think you're just having a bad day, bro.

There is a difference between having a personality and having a persona. What the OP was complaining about were people who put on fake personalities in order to have a gimmick that attracts viewers. James Rolfe, better known as the Angry Video Game Nerd, is not actually a big whiny baby with an uncontrollable habit of stringing together swear words like a parody of somebody with Tourette's. He is actually INCREDIBLY kind, very relaxed and has a genuine passion for video games and film. But nobody wants to see his actual personality tell them about video games cause it would just be some dude in front of a camera saying "yeah it was pretty okay, I enjoyed this part but sometimes it was frustrating so I dunno, play it if you're bored."

@jz: call someone out.