Popmatters Interview

QUICKLY before this crashes again:

I've been interviewed by LB Jeffries of PopMatters about the OverThinker series. How cool is that? No time to even be faux-humble snarky about it (that was on the other blog, and even that was abbreviated.)

Read the interview here: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/64317/the-new-youtube-game-criticism-an-interview-with-moviebob/

Wonder about how I got to be deemed newsworthy later ;)

A memo to the fans

Okay. The reason there hasn't been a new video for almost a month is twofold: Firstly, my PC is apparently in some kind of death-throes, so my ability to get online OR edit is sporadic at the moment. Secondly... I can't say much officially at this time, but I have a few other projects taking up some time right now.

Rest assured that new material is on the way, and that I'll be saying more as soon as I am able to.

EPISODE THIRTEEN: "And There Came A Review"

Not that I don't enjoy being a commentator as opposed to a straightforward critic, but sometimes you just want to review something. So I did, to a largely overlooked budget DS platformer called "Barnyard Blast." The only thing you really need to know is that it's hero is a pig who is also a cowboy and that it actually sets out to spoof "Castlevania" and "Ghosts n' Goblins."

EPISODE TWELVE: "Sir Mix-A-Lot Would Approve"

See? Technically, it's a whole day LESS than a month since the last update :)

This one is, chiefly, about "Fat Princess"... or, rather, my likely-to-be-in-vain hope that the inevitable (mutually) embarassing dust-up between Gamers and Feminists over "Fat Princess."



Since "Fat Princess" is still yet to be released even for full reviews, this is probably the EARLIEST I've ever been to the party in terms of current-affairs commentary in game journalism. As you'll see in the video, there's a good reason for that: The earlier you hit a subject, the less usable visual material there is to work with.

As such, I'm not even going to pretend that this is one of the more visually-compelling episodes by any means; though I would perhaps beg a small amount of credit for doing ten minutes of commentary largely about anger amongst womenfolk and not doing a single Sarah Palin joke (saving for later, don't worry.)

EPISODE ELEVEN: "Can It Happen To Us?"

A decade ago, a onetime "niche" industry for the young and the geeky "grew up," conquered the world... and then lost everything. The OverThinker remembers how it happened, and wants to know if the gaming biz is heading down the same path.



I'll try not to let a month pass between installments again - fortunately this one was actually a pretty quick job. What slows these things down is the image-hunting: Some material you'll find TONS of stuff to work with, others... not so much.

EPISODE TEN: "Not A Review Of GTA IV"

In which I most-emphatically DO NOT review one of the biggest titles of 2008.



I went back and forth about putting this one up now, my main concern being that putting up what boils down to a "yeah, but"-ing of one of the four or five biggest post-Playstation franchises isn't going to do much to deter my apparently growing reputation as a cranky nostalgia-gamer - the gaming equivalent of some aging-hippie film professor who STILL won't concede that "Easy Rider" has or ever will be surpassed... BUT it's a relevant entry and (more importantly) was finished and ready to go. I know I've been very blunt about not having a set schedule, but I do start to feel like a slacker if I let too much time go by.

And, of course, the near-garaunteed uptick in traffic that comes from being able to accurately place "GTA" in one's YouTube tags doesn't hurt, either...

EPISODE NINE: "Daisy, Daisy"

In which "Mario Kart Wii" gives me an excuse to string together some tangentially-related bits about Nintendo's "other princess," under-appreciated Hedgehog love-interests and Squaresoft's ever-more-"emo" hero characters. Also: Fixing some issues from last time, some elaboration on audio-editing and Italian softcore starlets.



Most of the time I have a cohesive, essay-ready plan for these. Other times... not so much. Enjoy!