Video Essay: A Story About My Uncle

Really enjoyed this. Do more of these, this was cool. Keep that jazz playing! TOOT TOOT!

The real problem would have been if the bits that took you the longest just flew by everyone's head.

Interesting take on the game and thanks for giving it some time in the spotlight. If anyone decides to get this and has some questions after finishing the discussion threads on steam explained some things that made me really enjoy my second play through.

Also the restrictive design from the later levels was actually something I enjoyed, neat to hear an opposing point though.

Sublime video. Looking forward to more,

This was weird. And not necessarily in a good way.

I second this. Please never do that again.

On that subject, I repeat my question: Does anyone know the source for the music played at the beginning of the video thing?

@patrick The format felt kind of like you were on the fence about officially reviewing it, which I think gave it a more personal and colloquial tone. I dig it!

The video felt like a mix between a video review and a segment from the podcast. Loved it!

Liked this, and I'm really excited for similar stuff in the future, but I do have some (hopefully) constructive criticism.

It seemed like this was trying to cover two things simultaneously, and in doing so just left us with two half-developed points with no real core idea to come away with. It was a partial review of the game, and a very limited exploration of the joy of extreme traversal mechanics when done well. I guess it's possible to combine those things effectively, and I'm not sure if that was even the intention with this, but I think it would have been far more meaningful if this explored Patrick's ideas about that kind of traversal in general, and left a lot of the details about this game specifically out.

Also, the humor just didn't work. As others in this thread have mentioned, the trend with these kind of short form overview videos on YouTube is to make them funny, so I understand the urge for this one to be similar, but it's absolutely not a requirement. I come to Patrick for his passion for games, his urge for new experiences, his wide scope of knowledge and experience, and his unique POV. But honestly, I never come to Patrick for a laugh. And that's not a bad thing. It only goes bad when those attempts at gags are forced. Especially in a video like this tying to actually say something, that communication can easily just get obscured by a joke. There's no harm in just playing it straight.

But overall it was good, and I'm thrilled that Patrick is exploring this format. (sorry if any of this sounds harsh or overly critical, it's meant to be positive!) They key is to distill what unique advantages and options a "video essay" gives to a writer, and create a piece based on that. Not just read an essay with some gameplay footage in the background.

Easier said than done. ;)

I really liked the Kinect one, I really disliked this one.

I liked the Kinect video, this one was weird. The tone of it was all over the place.

But hey! Keep trying with this format, i'm sure it will bring interesting stuff.

Sad there is no public domain version of "Fly me to the Moon".

@patrickklepek Would it be to much of an issue to provide a transcript of this at some point?

The name could be more catchy but the video was pretty good, I think the tone is kinda awkward because it swings between monotone narration to gags that go one for a little too long. I think the jazz and narration shtick is enough to carry the series on its own. Thanks Pat!

I really like this, but I do believe it could be improved. Specifically, I think you could benefit from some acting classes, get some good experience in how to make the written word sound less written when spoken. I'll watch anything like this you put out, I really like your point of view, but you could use a little education on technique.

I laughed, I cried, I shook my head. But seriously, this came out great Patrick. I think more features like this and the Kinect video are solid additions to the site. It feels like a really wonderful way to produce video content with an editorial mind set that is less focused on reviewing it and more focused on sharing your thoughts.

It really reminded me of Tim Rogers' God Hand Review:

Calling it a video essay perhaps creates some expectations that it doesn't quite cash in. But other than that, random musings about things, neat.

Fantastic! I hope more are on their way.

Just some feedback for you, Patrick. I hope this isn't taken as unconstructive.

First off, I enjoy the idea here and I hope you refine it. I think you are on to something with this and would like to see more videos like this. It will take a lot of work as editing these kinds of videos is more time consuming than making a quick look or video of game play while talking about it which is why Giantbomb has not done a lot of these forms of video in a while (due to how small the team is and due to the amount of content output the site intends to provide it can be unfeasible). If even done rarely these types of videos are a nice watch and something I enjoy.

The transition to the compressed speaking is jarring in the video. There should be some kind of verbal acknowledgement of the transition. Due to it being disembodied voices the transition here is jarring. The video comes off (at least at first) as sort of surreal- which is fine if that's the intent- but it would still help to follow the talking points with some sort of acknowledgement, "Our source describes his feelings on the subject of traversal" or what have you. Just an example. This is probably not something you would have to do often.

I think others have said this, so I won't harp on it, but it seems like you should have a goal in these videos. To discuss a game and what it means to you, or to discuss mechanics and meaningful uses of it. To discuss empowerment in games and the different ways it can be provocative to the player- even without violent uses. I think this format would be improved with a more singular focus. The video at points read like a review rather than editorial but then it shifts into more editorial ideas and thoughts on multiple subjects.

I wasn't a fan of the musical interludes mainly because they served no purpose to the discussion. I understand the purpose- a vocal joke- but it needs a little more finesse. Timing is important in these jokes, as someo of your audience may be lost if they cant get over how much they don't like the music. I don't know, just something to think about. The length of the segment is as important as when you choose to use it I guess is what I'm saying.

Anyway, I did enjoy the video and this game is on my wish list so I will check it out at some point and the video has made that more clear for me.

Thanks for the video Patrick. As a new thing you're experimenting with I think you did rather well. =)

Don't worry Patrick, I actually really liked Bionic Commando 2009 as well! Great video, though that looks like a bad game.

New Bionic Commando was pretty good (if you bought it on sale). Great video Pat, looking forward to more!

That mysterious fan of the Bionic Commando reboot has to be the anonymous Hunk dealer the Hurdy Gurdy Man.

This seemed a little scattered and random, but I get it's not a traditional video review and may not even be intended to be one. Definitely curious to see how this evolves if you continue to do more, Patrick. Keep it up!

The section with the awful pop track and game montage was jarring, but the rest was really cool. Keep it up Scoops!

I'd definitely watch more of these. Giant Bomb could probably use some more original content that isn't breaking the sixty minute mark.

Great video and it's pretty much the perfect length. More please.

Some really awkward editing on this one.

Great video! really enjoyed this and the pop track lol.

I like this. Well done!

There's something about Patrick's voice in these and in the Interview Dumptruck intros that I can't stand. Canned/stilted, awkward seriousness or something

Yeah, it's a solid game with some issues, got way too much flak.

Way to go Patrick! I like the tone of the video more than any thing else, feels a original approach to "review" videos that usually are pretty dry in terms of tone. Can't wait to see what will come up next!

I feel like this video and his Kinect video is Patrick finally finding his own voice with Giant Bomb. Don't get me wrong, Patrick is probably the member that produces most content for GB but I have always thought of this site as a video site and these videos by Patrick are a fucking great contribution to the site's content.

Keep it up.

Man, who cares about the story in Bionic Commando 09...the swinging was fan-fucking-tastic and imo is the best swinging in a video game (spider man 2 for the ps2 is up there as well)

Damn, what an underrated game

I like these kinds of videos from you Patrick, but this one felt kind of of superfluous. It was basically just a video review with a few anecdotes and opinions not pertaining to the game thrown in haphazardly. There wasn't much of a deep meaning to it or a point at which it all came together. I'm guessing that this was more of a test run for a series of these types of videos coming in the future, and if so then keep at it I'll be excited to see more!

Bionic Commando was pretty great, and whenever I hear people disparaging it I just keep my mouth shut and quietly wait for the next game in the grappling hook for an arm genre.

Its been pointed out that it needs some work so I wont bore you with repeating what needs to be tweaked. No worries, practice makes perfect

This a good and informative format for letting people know about games that might go under most peoples radars.

Really enjoyed this style of review, Patrick. Keep it up!

Thanks for doing this, it was awesome. I would consider this a review, because I like those critiques that imbue some personal anecdotes and feelings and how the game comes together as a whole in addition to the typical paragraphs dedicated to story/gameplay/production values/sound/flaws. Will have to check out this flawed but cool game.

I think this style is a good balance between how it would be talked about during the morning show or Bombcast, a quick look, and a written review. I also really enjoy the production. It comes across that Patrick is really enjoying what he is working on while learning and playing around with the tools.

At the risk of sounding like I'm complaining, this is a bit too much like a Video Review for me. I'd prefer if these video essays were more big picturish or beyond a traditional review. It'd really add to the value of the content too (and maybe justify the time put in more?). Anyways like that you're experimenting with content.

Patrick's voice is really calming, if that's not a super weird thing to say. I really like this feature. A Story About My Uncle seemed intriguing, but I wasn't sure how well the grappling would hold up over the course of the game.

I loved this, but echo the statements others made about some of the pacing feeling off.

Pretty good for a semi-trained-quasi-video editor.

The pacing felt a little off in this one, particularly the music choices/audio editing. That said I do like this series and would gladly watch more.

You are correct. +2 points to Gryffindor.

Cool feature. But I did kind of feel like a video review without a score IMO

Cool idea. Not so sure about that musical interlude though...