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Video Essay: A Story About My Uncle

I played A Story About My Uncle, and want to tell you about it. But I have to get something off my chest.

Jun. 25 2014

Cast: Patrick

Posted by: Patrick

In This Episode:

A Story About My Uncle

231 Comments

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SurgicalLube

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Really like when you guys add flare to these always done formula. Makes these things so much more interesting. Carry on the great work Patrick

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Dan_CiTi

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@ptys said:

Interesting format man, I hope the other Guys give it a try!

Yes!!

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cooljammer00

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This game is currently like 6-7 dollars on Gamefly with code JUL20OFF or something.

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Olqavtoras

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Just as good as the last one, keep it up!

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development

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@cooljammer00 said:

I see what you were going for, and for the most part I enjoyed this video, but the little segways where you use the royalty free music as a gag reek of first-ish time editor goofs. Not to mention the weird cutoff between Patrick and "the unnamed source" who liked Bionic Commando. It sounds like Patrick's audio track got cut off.

(Gosh darn it, my comment got stuck in the quote and I can't get it out.)

Just want to agree with this. This was an interesting video, but I think it would have been stronger without the little humor attempts. I legitimately enjoyed the discussion of the game and it's mechanics, though.

Nah, fuck that! I came into this worried "essay" meant it wasn't gonna have any humor, and I'm glad I was wrong. I come to Giant Bomb to laugh! Keep the humor! Better try and fail than not tr-- you get it. Though it was funny, anyway. And I think the "amateurish" video-editing is charming. Plus, what do you guys expect? He is an amateur video editor.

But I will say I think "Video Essay" is a boring title. Sounds way too... lofty... or something.

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deactivated-61116b784c23a

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It's like an article in full motion video! The future is here

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wrecks

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Video Essay: A Story About my non-Video Review about A Story About My Uncle.

I like it though!

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millidooms

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@patrickklepek The stalactite sections were some of the best parts. I HATED that falling block section though.

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flameboy84

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I'd like to join the voices of those saying please keep this kind of work up!

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Littleg

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I legitimately enjoyed the discussion of the game and it's mechanics, though.

Personally, I enjoyed it illegitimately. That's right, I enjoyed this video out of wedlock!

I know Patrick's all up on his 'listening to feedback' and all that 'getting better at what he does' stuff so I just thought I'd pop in and say I really enjoyed this. I don't usually have enough time in my day to be able to fit in watching GB Chicago things like Scoops 'n' The Wolf, but I'll definitely make time to watch more of these.

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Banggoo

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Wow, I see a lot of effort went into the production of this video. This is a welcome change from the usual Quick Looks, podcasts, and livestreams. It's a little awkward because the name of the game was said too many times and the clips from other games were too long. I recommend looking at Campster (Errant Signal) on Youtube to see a more polished version of this video essay idea. Keep up the good work Patrick! We need more people getting involved in the critical analysis of video games as more than just products.

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GunslingerPanda

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Edited By GunslingerPanda

That was a review. Labelling it an "essay" doesn't instil it with any extra import, it just tricks people into thinking there might be a little extra depth.

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Hardtarget

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Great video Patrick! (but what was with the LA Noire music at the end lol?!)

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SchrodngrsFalco

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Love the video essay's @patrickklepek! My two cents on the format: ambiance music was enjoyable, random B rolls didn't do it for me.

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Dodongo

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Edited By Dodongo

Mannnnn, this video reminded me of watching X-Play back in the day. Well, minus the snark. All that was missing was:

"A two..........out of five...."

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JesterArbo

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Edited By JesterArbo

I usually don't comment here, but I would love to see more videos like this Patrick There are parts I didn't like but on the whole, this type of video content for smaller games or just games that aren't prominent on the site are great. Keep it up.

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heghmohqib

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I enjoyed the feelings and retrospects of this essay. Little too much "video review" towards the end though.

Also;

Did I just imagine this or did Patrick actually say "Do's" instead of "Does"?

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lazirus95

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I love the Ira Glass vibes I'm getting from these. Keep it up Patrick! Don't let the unenlightened nay-say you.

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rabbithearted

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Edited By rabbithearted

@cooljammer00 said:

I see what you were going for, and for the most part I enjoyed this video, but the little segways where you use the royalty free music as a gag reek of first-ish time editor goofs. Not to mention the weird cutoff between Patrick and "the unnamed source" who liked Bionic Commando. It sounds like Patrick's audio track got cut off.

(Gosh darn it, my comment got stuck in the quote and I can't get it out.)

Just want to agree with this. This was an interesting video, but I think it would have been stronger without the little humor attempts. I legitimately enjoyed the discussion of the game and it's mechanics, though.

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Hameyadea

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Great video' Patrick. It reminded me of GooseGoose's Half-Life 2 (and the Episodes) review

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roguehallow

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Well done Patrick!

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Kitnighty

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Edited By Kitnighty

Please keep doing these video essays- I adore them, I really do.

I could name some flaws or bits I didn't like, but I can see you only getting better with experience.

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Pushtoclose

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Great job as always Patrick!

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MisterMollusk

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I would love to see more of these.

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deactivated-630479c20dfaa

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Video essay sounds so fancy. This is a borderline video review and a great one at that, nicely done Patrick! I have a friend who might dig this game. He has been wanting to play something like Mirrors Edge for quite awhile, granted this not nearly the same thing, I guess this is as close as you are going to get, for now.

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vencha

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Great video, Patrick. I really enjoyed this and hope it's the beginning of a new series. Especially because this game was not even on my radar before and now I'm excited to check it out. The environments look beautiful.

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@generalbison said:

@vigorousjammer: I'm just comparing how they approach the same game, the objectives for both videos are to showcase the games, I could also point to Markiplier's video (the most popular A Story About My Unlcle video on YouTube) but I find his videos hard to watch. If you could recommend some good examples of good, popular YouTube journalists delivering well thought-out content I'd be happy to take it into consideration.

I dunno, I tend to think most YouTube personalities do the whole "let's play" thing, simply because it's a popular format and gets lots of views. I'm with you on Markiplier. His voice sounds like he's trying too hard to sound like a professional, or give it that "announcer style", and he also tends to make weird faces during most of his videos, which can get annoying. In fact, I think you're right, most of the popular "Youtubers" (such as Markiplier or Pewdiepie) aren't trying to critique games or give any kind of journalism, they're just trying to be funny on camera while playing a game. However, if you scroll down a bit and get to some of the less popular videos, you'll usually find stuff like this:

Loading Video...

Here's somebody just playing through part of the game and giving their opinion while doing so... somewhat like a quick look. I still like the stuff that Giant Bomb does much better, but I think this stuff is definitely much more watchable than your typical "let's play", and there's plenty of YouTube personalities doing exactly this.
They may not be as well known as the top personalities, but that doesn't matter, because those most popular personalities only became popular because of the cheap little novelties they use to gain that popularity.

I think of it like pop music vs. underground, or hollywood movies vs. independent films.
The most popular stuff is almost never good, but once you delve deeper, you tend to find some really good stuff.

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IEATPLANETS

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Thiago123

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Edited By Thiago123

Oh I get it! It's a 5 minute video review...

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big_jon

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Keep trying Patrick, I quite liked the Kinect video and this was interesting.

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samread

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Really liked the feature and editing, good job.

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ManlyBeast

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I feel like this video was more about Patrick than the game...

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Brendan

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I'm not sure that you really pulled off the attempts at humorous musical interludes, and to be honest I was hoping this would be more than basically a video review but thanks for informing me on this game Patrick.

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Quantris

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nit: so we're saying "undos" now? I think my English teacher would cry.

Thanks for the entertaining video! Looking forward to more in this kind of format!

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rudy66

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Great piece Patrick. Fantastic job! I loved hearing your feelings about the game. Can't wait to see more of these. Kudos to you good sir.

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LazyEkans

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Good Video! I like floating islands. If you want me to play your game put some floating islands in there.

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zimzam99

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@pyrodactyl: I was thinking the exact same thing. With added random music!

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Meltac

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I don't think you should be ashamed of enjoying Bionic Commando; I have fond memories of completing that game on every difficulty setting, and really think it was under-appreciated by the general gaming populace. I just played the game for what it was without bringing a bunch of expectations to the table, and as such had a really good time with it for a few weeks.

I feel exactly the same way about it. When you really learned the mechanics of swinging around, it was a blast to play.

Thoroughly enjoyed this video, Patrick. I wouldn't mind seeing one of these again. Great form to express your feelings in a different way.

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GeneralBison

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@vigorousjammer: I'm just comparing how they approach the same game, the objectives for both videos are to showcase the games, I could also point to Markiplier's video (the most popular A Story About My Unlcle video on YouTube) but I find his videos hard to watch. If you could recommend some good examples of good, popular YouTube journalists delivering well thought-out content I'd be happy to take it into consideration.

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Landmine

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@patrickklepek I really enjoyed this. My only critique is the repetition of the games title throughout. I hope you get a good workflow going for stuff like this because I'm excited to see what you do next!

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ptys

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Interesting format man, I hope the other Guys give it a try!

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downloaded

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This was good, Patrick, though my critique is that I could not exactly decide what the focus of the "essay" was. At times it felt like you were reviewing the game, and at times it felt like you were trying to give a greater commentary using the game as an example. I hope to see more of these around the site, but I would suggest that you make sure you pick a focused message/idea you want to discuss and adhere to it tightly in the future.

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nightonyx

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Very cool video Patrick. Would love to see more of these in the future.

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fetchfox

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I love the idea, but the execution of this is maybe a bit of. I didn't feel coherent enough. But seeing as this is the first one, keep it up! I loved the essence of it, and I'm always open for some jazzy beats (which sounded like they were straight from LA Noir?).

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atelle789

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An interesting new format. :) Good idea, Patrick!

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ar8423

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This was awesome.

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probablytuna

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Sometimes you just want to fly indeed.... (boots up Saints Row IV)

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BagronkeN

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This is the start of a beautiful new video series, I hope. I agree with some other comments about the editing that could be a bit tighter, but as a first(ish) attempt at this, it's truly brilliant.

Thanks @patrickklepek, you always deliver when it comes to new and fresh content, keep at it!

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SlantedRoom

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Edited By SlantedRoom

Holy crap I think he said "A Story About My Uncle" about a bajillion times during that 6 minute video. That's all I could focus on!

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Renpatsu

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Edited By Renpatsu

I enjoyed the video and could see where you were going with the little asides, but think you fell short a few times there (the modified voice wasn't very clear at all - subtitles next time?). Maybe you don't need them at all and can just rely on the essay portion of the video or maybe you just need more time figuring out how to marry the two together. Either way I look forward to seeing more of these.