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The channel in a nutshell.
Socrates (from Assassin's Creed: Odyssey): Our choices are like ripples on water. They seem tiny and insignificant at the beginning, but they can become devastating tidal waves by the time they run their course.
Narrator: A lesson the gaming industry never took to heart, thus the reason why my channel exists.
Everything Wrong With E3 2018

Game Care Network (also known as Game Centered Nitpicks, but usually just abbreviated to GCN) is a YouTube channel that follows the formula of CinemaSins, but sins video games instead of movies. The first of several channels to consistently mimic CS in this manner, they openly display their Follow the Leader status, and enjoy making fun of themselves for it (as well as simultaneously trolling the YouTube commenters that attack them because of this fact). GCN kicked off its channel with its Gaming Sins series in 2013, and has been putting out sins videos ever since. Visit the YouTube channel here.

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     Content Sinned by GCN 

Tropes Referenced by Gaming Sins:

  • Actually Pretty Funny:
    • While sinning Mortal Kombat 9 (or Mortal Kombat 2011), the narrator adds a sin because the devs didn't have Shao Kahn slip in a Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance reference when he has Kung Lao go up against Shang Tsung and Quan Chi simultaneously. However, Quan Chi then says: "No Earthrealm boy can stop this Deadly Alliance!", causing the narrator to burst out laughing, admitting that it was good enough, and retracting the previous sin.
    • While the narrator fully acknowledges that Emily is obviously meant to be the stereotypical Alpha Bitch horror character, he finds a couple of her moments to be so awesome and/or funny that he begins adding likes.
  • Always a Bigger Fish: Played with in Spider-Man (PS4) episode.
    Spider-Man: Pick on someone your own size, Rhino!
    Rhino: There is no one my size, Pauk! note 
    Narrator (coughing): Hulk. The Thing. Juggernaut. Venom. Thanos. *ding!*
  • Anachronic Order: They dismiss Mortal Kombat X's use of this as just being bad writing, as it simply thrusts new characters at the audience and expects a quick flashback to suddenly cause the player to be invested.
  • Artistic License – History: Narrator points out that besides the inherent stupidity of The Order: 1886 making Jack the Ripper secretly a vampire, Jack the Ripper's murders took place in 1888.
  • The Bad Guy Wins: Narrator asserts that by all reasonable accounts, this is how Mortal Kombat X should have ended.
  • Big "NO!": The narrator does one in "Everything Wrong With E3 2017" after finding out that Beyond Good & Evil 2 is going to be a prequel.
  • Black Humor: The narrator finds The Riddler's use of this in Batman: Arkham Asylum to be darkly funny enough to remove a sin.
  • Book Ends: Narrator lampshades that this is what Mortal Kombat X was going for by having Cassie Cage defeat Shinnok in the final battle just like Johnny did near the beginning of the game. However, this doesn't earn any points from him, as it was unrealistic that Johnny was even able to accomplish this in the first place, simply making Cassie's victory even more ridiculous.
  • Borrowed Catchphrase: Narrator actually knocks a sin off of Life Is Strange for doing this.
    Chloe: Fuck the police!
    Narrator: *laughs* Hey, she said it, not me. *removes a sin*
    • Also, there is Nathan Drake:
    Nathan Drake: That's convenient.
    Narrator: I love it when the in-game characters do my job for me. *ding!*
  • But Not Too Black: Sins Mortal Kombat X for doing this to Tanya:
    Narrator: Damn, Tanya's looking sexier than ever. And I feel ashamed saying that. It's like "Hey, Tanya. Now that you got lighter skin, you look a little bit more attractive." Not cool. *ding!*
  • Call-Back: Due to Until Dawn having many different gameplay options, as well as GCN really enjoying the game, they released an additional sins video titled "Everything(Else) Wrong with Until Dawn," which contained many of these concerning the previous video.
  • Cliché:
    • GCN has its own list of video game clichés that has yet to be fully revealed.
      • No. 5: Hit a boss with 3 major strikes to defeat it.
      • No. 6: The Rule of 3 Cliche: destroy 3 of any objects to proceed to the next objective.
      • No. 7: Collect 3 components/objects to proceed to the next objective.
      • No. 8: Press a button or analog stick 3 times in order to perform a certain task.
      • No. 10: Destroy 4 of any object to preceed to the next objective.
      • No. 13: One person standing and staring at an obvious threat.
      • No. 14: Multiple people standing and staring at an obvious threat.
      • The "It's gonna be okay, when it's not cliche".
      • No. 17: Final boss can't defeat the protagonist on its own, and thus it must use minions to assist them.
      • No. 21: The last place protagonist searches has the item he/she's looking for.
      • No. 27: Stealth sequences in games not based around stealth.
      • No. 32: People leave their audio diaries for protagonists to pick up and listen to.
    • It's been implied that they also have a video game villain Cliché list as of their Mortal Kombat X sins video:
      • No. 1: Decides to simply torture his/her enemy instead of killing him/her so that the protagonist can save the day.note 
      • No. 2: Decides to keep his/her enemy prisoner instead of simply outright killing him/her.
      • No. 5: Explains all the details of his/her evil plan after he/she is revealed to be evil.
    • There are also "Rules of combatting Batman" as of Arkham City sins video:
      • No. 1: Never taunt Batman directly unless you know for sure he can't escape defeat.
      • No. 2: Never claim victory if Batman is still breathing.
    • The so-called "Mortal Kombat Kommandments":
      • No. 8: "Thou shalt not speak of thy lame characters such as Bo'Rai Cho/Reiko."
      • No. 9: "Thou shalt not show thy lame characters such as Bo'Rai Cho."
    • Telltale Games also got their own Commandments for Walking Dead series:
      • No. 1: "Thou shalt not diss or tamper with thy Clementine's hat."
      • No. 2: "Thou shalt not speak of thy worthless childnote  that nearly ruined Season 1."
  • Department of Redundancy Department:
    • One of the narrator's Catchphrases is: "Convenient *insert plot device* is convenient."
    • He points out the confusion of DmC: Devil May Cry basically naming itself "Devil May Cry: Devil May Cry".
  • Deadpan Snarker: The narrator himself is a Deadpan Snarker Incarnate at his finest.
    • Some characters also get praise - and sometimes, sin reductions for their respective video games - for being exceptionally snarky. John Marston is one of the finest examples.
  • Deus ex Machina: Narrator points out that this is really how the main heroes of Mortal Kombat X survive long enough to foil the villain.
    • This is also a staple for every similar situation in other sins videos. It even has other names:
      • Fox-Die Ex Machina: Liquid dies from it in final part of Metal Gear Solid. And this happens right before he could kill Solid Snake and Meryl. Justification for "Ex Machina" part indeed.
      • Cancer Ex Machina: Ana is slowly dying because of it in Rise of the Tomb Raider.
      • Robin Ex Machina: Robin saves Batman's ass from League of Assassins in Arkham City.
  • Distracted by the Sexy: The narrator takes five sins off of Batman: Arkham City because through the Batman: Arkham Series' unique crouching controls, he can "make Catwoman drop it like it's hot."
  • "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: Occasionally. Narrator sometimes sings to emphasize the point of the corresponding sin... or just for the Hell of it.
  • Do Wrong, Right: They exhibit a bit of this in their The Last of Us Remastered sins video, saying that Sarah is joking about selling drugs the wrong way.
    Joel: (seeing the gift that Sarah got him) How'd you afford this?
    Sarah: Drugs. (laughs) I sell hardcore drugs.
    Narrator: Either it's a sin that this girl is pretending to sell drugs and not affiliating herself with Walter White, or it's a sin that she really is selling drugs.*ding!*
  • The Dreaded:
    • EA. So much so that several games were given 500 sins right off the bat because they were simply created by them.
      Narrator: EA. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy... except maybe Activision. *ding!*
      • Speaking of EA, its CEO - Andrew Wilson - is the one person who gets his own Bullshit Sin Counter which then adds the number of its sins to a total sin counter. This happens in every single E3 sins video so far, save 2019 where Wilson himself is not present; the narrator instead gives the press conference 500 sins, on top of the 1000 sins EA already racked up just for having a press conference.
    • Konami also qualifies. Still, narrator admits that the only person who made one of its gaming masterpieces great is Hideo Kojima who later left this company.
      Narrator: If you're true Metal Gear fan you'd be like me. Go where Kojima goes and leave behind Konami.
    • WB Games. Mostly thanks to their "bullshit business practices."
    • Aiden Pearce. This "colossal shitlord" is the reason why narrator gives 300 sins to the game. Aiden proved to be a douchebag and a liar, and this is what qualifies him as a "protagonist that should die in first 30 minutes of the game."
    • Revamped version of Dante. He is so different that he doesn't embody the core essential elements of the original, most-beloved version of the character.
      • The fact that this game even exists earns it over 9000 sins.
    • Also, the "enemies of modern video gaming": cinematic letterbox, first-person point of view in critical plot moments and Quick-Time Events.
  • Exact Words: In MK9, the Elder Gods try to pull this, claiming that Shao Kahn's invasion of Earthrealm is not a breach of divine law, as it is the merging of Earthrealm with Outworld that has been outlawed. Raiden isn't buying it, and neither is the narrator.
    Raiden: But Shao Kahn—-Liu Kang has bested him twice! Yet he still-
    The Elder Gods: Shao Kahn has not violated the rules of Mortal Kombat.
    Raiden: What? He is invading Earthrealm as we speak!
    The Elder Gods: Invasion is not in itself a transgression. It is the merging of realms that is prescribed.
    Raiden: A distinction without a difference!
    Narrator: Exactly, Raiden. Why the fuck do you think Shao Kahn's invading if not to merge Outworld with Earthrealm? *ding!*
  • Failure Hero: The Narrator says that Raiden has failed so utterly and unjustifiably in his task of protecting Earthrealm that he has pretty much become this.
  • Forgot About His Powers: They have a bit of a problem with Raiden pulling this, so much so that it's approaching Running Gag territory. When the God of Lightning accidentally mortally wounds Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat 9, the narrator asks why he couldn't simply revive him before he died like he did Jax earlier in the game. The narrator also calls Raiden out on his obliviousness to his own power in Mortal Kombat X when the god laments his supposed inability to revive Liu Kang and Kung Lao from their revenant forms.
    Raiden: Kung Lao and Liu Kang... they were like sons. I would move the Heavens to bring them back into the light.
    Narrator: (exasperatedly) Really, Raiden? You would move the Heavens to bring them back into the light? YOU. ARE. A. GOD! *ding!*
  • Friendly Rivalry: With Dartigan and his gaming sins videos. Notable that when Dartigan started doing specialized intros for his games, GCN followed suit.
  • Gameplay and Story Segregation: They sin Mortal Kombat X for particularly ridiculous uses of this, in order to avoid explaining how relatively weaker characters keep beating easily more powerful ones. One example is the very first chapter, when Johnny Cage defeats Sub-Zero, a trained warrior from a clan that is the Chinese equivalent of ninjas, Scorpion, the fighter from an actual Japanese Ninja clan reborn as a demon from a Fire and Brimstone Hell, and even SHINNOK, a former ELDER GOD. The last example is when the Narrator goes from somewhat exasperated derision to legitimate frustration:
    Narrator: Okay, Johnny Cage beating Shinnok. Sell this to me. Justify this. Don't use Story Mode as an excuse. Legitimately explain to me how this happens. I will count this as a sin as I wait for your response. *ding!*
  • Groin Attack: The Narrator pronounces Sonya's use of this on Quan Chi at the end of a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to be the point where the sorcerer stopped being the badass that he had been originally established as.
    Narrator: You have ruined the source of his sorcery! *ding!* (+10 sins)
  • Here We Go Again!: The narrator points this out while sinning Mortal Kombat X when Scorpion( now once again Hanzo Hasashi) approaches Sonya demanding Quan Chi's head. Sonya tries to refuse, but Scorpion isn't taking "no" for an answer. The narrator quickly remembers the last time this happened with Bi-Han in Mortal Kombat 9:
    Narrator: Wow, this is literally Round 2 of "Hey Scorpion, don't kill this guy or else we're all gonna suffer dire consequences later on." Geez, does this fucker not learn? *ding!*
  • Incredibly Lame Pun: These almost always lead to more sins. Such as in Injustice, for example:
    Green Lantern: What I miss? Everything cool?
    Green Arrow: Frosty.
    Narrator: Hey, guys, chill out with the ice puns, okay? They're snow bad. *ding!*
  • It Has Only Just Begun: Subverted in Batman: Arkham Asylum:
    Batman: It's over, Joker!
    The Joker: Over? Why my dear, delusional Dark Knight—-it hasn't even begun!
    Narrator: It hasn't even begun? We're near the end of the game, motherf*cker! *ding!*
  • Jobber: They accuse several Mortal Kombat favorites of pulling this in Mortal Kombat X, saying that many powerful and long-running characters like Sub-Zero, Sindel, and Shinnok are forced by the developers to "exist only to job, and make [the new characters(Cassie, Kung Jin, Jacqui, and Takeda)] look good." The trope itself is name-dropped later in the corresponding sins video:
    Narrator: And Baraka dies just as he lived—-a jobber. *ding!*
  • Joke and Receive: In the beginning of the Resident Evil 3 (Remake) video, the narrator jokes that Capcom is going to "skip Code Veronica and go straight to a Resident Evil 4 remake". Cue a news article detailing exactly that, with the narrator also noting that he wrote the joke in the RE3 remake sins video script two months before the game even released.
  • Joker Immunity: They criticize Batman for taking so long to recognize this for what it is in Batman: Arkham City.
  • Leeroy Jenkins: Invoked in the first part of Mass Effect: Andromeda sins video.
  • Malicious Misnaming: Possibly invoked in the BioShock review when the Narrator repeatedly points out how "Atlus" is no friend. One of the top comments on that video even asks "Would you kindly spell Atlas's name correctly?"
  • Marathon Episode: The Redux version of Mass Effect 3 episode is a whopping 2 and a half hours long. By Narrator's own admission, it really took him over 8 months to complete it.
  • Married to the Job: The Narrator sides with Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat X when Johnny points out to Sonya how she always puts her job over her family, causing Johnny to get frustrated that he can't spend time with his wife and that he is practically raising Cassie by himself. The narrator chimes in by saying that a lot of women he saw that had put their careers over their families caused their kids to be complete shitheads since they basically had no mother figure in their life.
  • A Million Is a Statistic: Applies to the values of sin counter in most videos. While great (and somewhat good) games can get just several hundreds of sins, the others will receive astronomical numbers (millions, billions and even trillions). Justified since most of the reviewed games get a Bonus Round, during which the number on the sin counter can gradually and unexpectedly increase, for example, from several hundreds to many, way too fucking many sins.
    • The only video to get infinite number of sins so far is Everything Wrong With GCN.
    • The redux of Mass Effect 3 currently holds the record number at nearly 1.6 septendecillion sinsnote , ousting Metroid: Other M with its much lesser count of 1.3 quadrillion sins.
  • Moment of Awesome: Mostly applies when the games receive a sin reduction. Notable examples include:
    • Deathstroke's badassery in Injustice sins video. All because he is able to trash-talk with Wonder Woman (who is an fearsome Amazon, by the way) with zero fucks given.
    • The opening narration of Bioshock. The narrator acknowledges the fact that this is the segment which other developers could use for their games, mainly because it's short, simple and taken straight to the point.
    • Beating up on Nathan Prescott in Life Is Strange. Every punch delivered to him reducts 1 sin.
    • The first-person dance segment in Mirror's Edge: Catalyst.
    • Alien's inclusion into Mortal Kombat X as DLC.
    • Rapping in Watch Dogs. Previously in the video, narrator sins the rapper because of the weak lyrics while responding with his own. Later, this particular rapper does much better rhymes, and only because of him Watch Dogs deserves its sin reduction.
    • The outright hilarious and badass presentation of Devolver Digital on E3 2017. Lady-Swears-a-Lot included.
    • Mark Hamill at the Game Awards 2015 when he does his iconic Joker voice for a short moment.
    • Metal Gear Solid has several: Revolver Ocelot's introduction and the dialogue between Solid Snake and Grey Fox right before the battle with Metal Gear qualify.
    • The climax of The Walking Dead: Season 1 when Lee Everett is slashing his way through horde of zombies.
    • Kratos managing to calmly discipline Atreus in God of War (PS4).
    • Dante acquiring Alastor in the original Devil May Cry.
    • Praising one of the last cameos of Stan Lee in Spider-Man (PS4).
    • Congratulating Rockstar Games for creating one of the greatest villains in all of gaming history: Dutch van der Linde. That tragic scene before his Disney Villain Death probably helped.
    • Dante going full Michael Jackson in Devil May Cry 5... just because he's Dante.
  • Nephilim: They think the idea of the new Dante and Vergil turning out to be this is ridiculous, as, unlike before, there is now no justification for them to look so human.
  • Oddly Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo: One of Narrator's gripes is when developers release a new game that keeps the original title - especially when the game in question continues the story from previous installments in the franchise. It's evident in God of War (2018) episode.
    Narrator: Call it anything else - God of 4, Dad of War, Boy of War, Old Man Kratos, The Adventures of Atreus: Electric Boogaloo, The Last of the Witcher Elder God of Scroll Wars Wild Hunt for the Tomb Raider of Horizon Zero Skyrim Dawn. Literally anything else than God of War.
  • The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: GCN notes in its sins video for Mortal Kombat 9 that despite the Elder Gods creating the eponymous tournament as an ironclad method of preventing Shao Kahn from merging Earthrealm with Outworld should he lose: they allow Shao Kahn to create a new tournament on Outworld out of the blue, without their knowledge or consent, after already losing the first Mortal Kombat tournament; and simply observe while Kahn invades Earthrealm despite also losing the tournament that he himself created. This causes the narrator to declare the Elder Gods useless and wholeheartedly agree with Quan Chi when he lampshades it:
    Quan Chi: Shao Kahn's victory is nearly complete. Soon he will arrive to Earthrealm.
    Raiden: NO! The Elder Gods will not allow it!
    Quan Chi: (disparagingly) The Elder Gods are toothless.
    Narrator: One sin reduction for Quan Chi speaking TRUTH!!! *beep!*
    • This is given a Continuity Nod in their sins video of Mortal Kombat X, where he notes that despite their ultimate decision to intervene in Shao Kahn's plans at the end of MK 9, they still don't do anything when Shinnok—-a former Elder God himself, and therefore a far more pressing and much more personal threat to Raiden than Shao Kahn—-conducts his own invasion, causing the narrator to declare that the divine forces of the Mortal Kombat Universe have officially been demoted to "Garbage Tier." Mention is also given to the fact that despite the protection of Earthrealm being his sole responsibility, Raiden fails time and time again at this one simple task, thereby allowing the plot of MKX to happen.
  • Plot Armor: One of the tropes which gets sinned on the regular basis.
    Narrator: The power of Plot Armor compels you! *ding!*
  • Precision F-Strike: The Narrator is not afraid to drop these a lot of fucking times. Earlier videos have these censored.
  • Pun: Normally, the narrator adds sins for cases of this. However, he finds Harley Quinn's use of this in Batman: Arkham Asylum to be funny enough to add likes instead.
  • Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: The Narrator lets out an incredibly long one in Everything (Else) Wrong With Until Dawn due to his exasperation of Mike and Jessica having a ton of teasing for several scenes without even having sex.
    Narrator: WILL. YOU. TWO. JUST. FUCK. AL. REA. DY!!!
    • He pulls this off again while sinning one of the episodes of The Walking Dead: A New Frontier.
    • Here comes another (rejected) example from Red Dead Redemption:
    Bill Williamson: Dutch always said you were an arrogant son of a bitch!
    Narrator: You. Were in. The same. Gang. Together. You. Should already. Know this. *ding!*
    • And another one, directed at Mac Walters - the writer for Mass Effect series.
    Narrator: How... in the bloodiest... of all Hells... do you... still have... a job? *ding!*
  • Questionable Casting: invoked Quite an egregious example in Spider-Man (2018) episode. Narrator is not particularly fond of the participation of Travis Willingham and Laura Bailey in the game, mainly because the former "sounds like M. Bison got the best of him again" and the latter "sports her usual Laura Bailey-isms from the book". When it comes to Dave Fennoy:
    Narrator: Lee, what the Hell are you doing in this game? *ding!*
  • Replacement Goldfish: Accuses Helena Harper of being this to Claire Redfield, as she even wears nearly identical clothing to Claire's for a portion of the story.
  • Sequel Hook: In DmC: Devil May Cry, when the human and demon worlds collide into one after Mundus' death, GCN's response is simply:
    Narrator: Uh-oh, sounds like they're setting this up for a shitty sequel... *ding!*
  • Shaped Like Itself: Defied Trope. The narrator continues his Running Gag of "This is as close to teabagging as you'll ever get in this game" in the sins videos of the Halo games. While sinning Halo2(Anniversary), he brings up the fan reaction to this:
    Narrator: This is as close to teabagging as you're gonna get in this game. Oh, what's that you say? Halo invented teabagging?
    (Plays clip of Samus Aran teabagging in Super Metroid)
  • Shout-Out: Lots of them.
    • In Sunset Overdrive video:
    Unnamed Protagonist: I'm a Master Assassin!
    Narrator: Ezio would have a word with you. *ding!*
    • Similar sin was brought up again in The Order: 1886 video:
    Izi: Remember: youth always prevails.
    Narrator: Heihachi Mishima would have a word with you. *ding!*
    • Discount X sins. These apply to mechanics/characters/other things that were obviously and blatantly made to look (and behave) like the original mechanics/characters/other things from well-known games and franchises:
    • This jab at the Star Wars Battlefront II:
    Narrator: If this ending was any more random and unexpected, it'd be like Mace Windu coming back at the end of Return of the Jedi and saying, ''I've had it with this motherfucking Sith on this motherfucking Death Star!" - and then striking down Palpatine with great vengeance and furious anger. *ding!*
    • If some of the playable characters go through stealth sequences in open-world games, they're called Metal Gear X. So far, there are Metal Gear Watson, Metal Gear Marston and Metal Gear Max.
  • Stealth Pun: One in "Everything Wrong With E3 2017":
    Rebecka Coutaz: And we have had since then a full year of support and continuous development of Steep.
    Narrator: You have? Cause as far as I know, that game took a steep dive out of people's conciousness.
  • Strange Minds Think Alike: With fellow video game nitpicker, Dartigan, often reviewing the same games within a few months, weeks, or even days, and occasionally even reacting in similar ways to specific scenes. While neither has referenced the other thus far, the coincidences occur so frequently that one has to wonder if the two channels are connected somehow.
  • Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred!: While sinning Batman: Arkham City, GCN deliberately screws around while controlling Bruce Wayne in the opening level, actively trying to goad Strange's guards into killing him. Due to Plot Armor, this doesn't work, even though Bruce takes enough damage during the opening level alone to ''put him into a coma''.
  • Take That!:
    • Narrator is not impressed by DmC: Devil May Cry's usage of this trope against certain corporate and political parties, saying in response: "We came to play a game, not a lesson in social studies."
    • The (over-)use of loot boxes in Star Wars Battlefront II (2017) is taken as a sign that it's "time to execute Order 66."
    • An early sin in the Resident Evil 7 video is a potshot at Logan Paul. A later one overtly fires at Jared Fogle.
  • They Killed Kenny Again: In Mortal Kombat 9, when Raiden accidentally kills Liu Kang, the narrator's reaction is an exasperated "Jesus, is Liu Kang dead again? Can this motherfucker stay dead this time?" before promptly remembering the character's Mortal Kombat X trailer and giving a frustrated "Ah, crap..."
  • Thrown Out the Airlock: Said almost verbatim by the Narrator while he spent way too much time nitpicking the ending of Mass Effect 3. By his admission, the entire game goes out of its way to abandon the excellent cohesive storyline first Mass Effect had - and suffering for it as a result.
  • Troll: The narrator seems to somewhat enjoy Jake screwing with Piers in Resident Evil 6.
    Chris: (to Jake)...Have we met?
    Jake: (Beat) You jarheads all look the same to me, pal, sorry.(walks off)
    Piers: (gets held back by Chris) You've gotta be kidding me!
    Narrator: What? You mad, bro? *ding!*
    • The narrator also namedrops this in Mortal Kombat X when D'Vorah seems to be willing to spare the protagonists(who have come to negotiate with Kotal Kahn) after Kung Jin foolishly interferes with the execution of a thief, but quickly implies otherwise:
    D'Vorah: You interfere in Outworld matters. The penalty is death.
    Narrator: D'Vorah wishes to learn about their diplomatic techniques only to immediately sentence them to death. Yous a troll, D'Vorah! Yous a troll! *ding!*
  • Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny: Played straight and then immediately subverted during the E3 2015 sins video. The narrator says that the best way to make Halo 5: Guardians awesome on paper would be to have Master Chief go up against Samus Aran instead of Jameson "Spartan" Locke. However, he then admits that it wouldn't work in practice, as Samus beating Master Chief would be a Foregone Conclusion.
    • Played with in Batman: Arkham City when Batman discovers that Deadshot is in Arkham City and hunting down political prisoners:
    Batman: Deadshot's in Arkham City.
    Alfred: What's he doing there? Is he a prisoner?
    Batman: It's unlikely, but I'm not ruling anything out.
    Alfred: So, it's the World's Greatest Detective versus the World's Deadliest Assassin.
    Narrator: Unlikely. Because Batman is not going up against Agent 47. *ding!*
    Marcus: Wrench. Important question time: Alien versus Predator.
    Narrator: Actually, it's not "important question time" because we all know who wins. It's Alien, of course. A single Alien nearly killed an entire ship crew by itself. A group of Aliens nearly killed an entire platoon of some of the most elite marines in the galaxy. And a single Alien almost wiped out an entire prison of some of the most dangerous men on that particular planet. Predator got beat by fucking Danny Glover. Whatever argument you have is invalid. *ding!*
  • Video Game Cruelty Potential: GCN occasionally engages in this when it comes to Non Player Characters, but seems to draw the line when it comes to innocents and/or non-humanoids: in Until Dawn, the narrator sins the game for including a choice segment where you can shoot a squirrel, and additionally counts it as a sin on any player who chose that option (Jeremy actually took that option during a drunken playthrough of the game).
    • Their review of first season of The Walking Dead ended with a montage of Lee's most dickish dialog options.
  • Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Classic Villain Cliches #1 & 2: Torture/imprison their enemies instead of outright killing them, thus allowing the rest of the game to happen.
    Black: (kicks Rain to the ground) You won't touch [Kotal Khan] again.
    Narrator: SHOOT HIM!
    Black: (pins Rain's throat with his foot)
    Narrator: SHOOT HIM!
    Black: (Dramatic Gun Cock)
    Narrator: SHOOT HIM BEFORE SOMEONE STRIKES YOUR HA—-
    (Black takes a sai to the hand from offscreen)
    Narrator: Ope! Too late.*ding!*
  • Worf Had the Flu: They refuse to accept that Quan Chi is suffering from this in Mortal Kombat X, as it somehow even extends to the Netherrealm—-Quan Chi's own home, where he is at his strongest. And later...
    Narrator: And Quan Chi died just like lived in this game... a bitch. *ding!*
  • Worth It: The narrator's reaction to Harley Quinn's Game Over screen in Batman: Arkham Asylum is to burst out laughing, shout "WORTH IT!!!", and considerably inflate the game's "Like Counter."

Tropes That Apply to GCN:

  • Captain Ersatz: They are essentially this to CinemaSins in all but the fact that they cover video games, not films.
  • Catchphrase:
    • Saying that a particularly bad mechanic is "a FAILURE OF GAME DESIGN," or that a certain sales or developing tactic is "a FAILURE OF THE GAMING INDUSTRY."
    • "DETAILS, man. They are important." Whenever a game glosses over crucial plot details.
    • Whenever a certain scenario unfolds in an extremely improbable manner, or someone invokes a set of circumstances just as far-fetched: "Unlikely."*ding!*
    • Whenever Bottomless Magazines comes into play: "UNLIMITED........AMMO!!!"*ding!*
    • Whenever someone makes an Incredibly Lame Pun: "Puns! Quips! Jokes!"*ding!*
    • Whenever any form of law enforcement makes an appearance: "F*ck the police!"*ding!*
    • Whenever a Sequel Hook appears: Obvious setup for an obvious sequel is obvious*ding!*
    • Whenever a character uses a gun and shoots it for no reason beyond its intended use: "What a waste of ammo." *ding!*
    • When a character sees how absurd someone or something is that also resonates with the player: "X would be excellent at GCN. We'd hire him/her if they were real." *ding!*
    • When a game being sinned is made by WB Games: "WB Games." *ding!* (Also applies to Konami and Electronic Arts)
      • The major companies are sinned by name every E3 by name alone, whether it be the worst offenders (EA, Bethesda or Ubisoft) or console developers like Microsoft or Sony. Hilarity ensued when the sin counter for E3 2017 went rogue and refused to sin Nintendo.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: The Mass Effect 3 review went a lot farther into background details than they usually do and maintained a distinct "by fans, for fans" feel (with attendant refusal to explain anything) that the show would later abandon.
  • The Faceless: Kidd Atari - the narrator of sins videos himself.
    • Averted by this video. And he turns out to be a nice and funny guy.
  • Follow the Leader: Although, they do use a more bombastic and less objective style than CinemaSins' sarcastic, neutral commentary.
  • Hypocritical Humor: During the sins video for Resident Evil 6, the narrator says that God doesn't exist to mess with fanatical viewers. While sinning The Order: 1886, when Galahad offhandedly denies God's existence, the narrator calls blasphemy and adds a sin.
  • Irony: They're the first channel to dedicate a consistent series to video games in a manner identical to CinemaSins' deconstruction of films. In other words, they were pioneers of imitation.
  • Large Ham
  • Pet the Dog:
    • While sinning E3 2015, GCN comes across a speaker who is very nervous about promoting his game and actually brings a puppet on stage to help with the anxiety. The narrator acknowledges that the viewers are probably expecting him to sin the guy's lack of composure, but ends up actually commending the speaker for showing actual investment in his product, saying that it's an attitude that the industry needs more of, and continuing without adding any sins.
    • During E3 2017, the narrator realized that Sony did not mention The Last of Us 2 at all and, because they wanted to throw people off guard from time to time like they suspected Sony did, deducted a sin.
    • Also during aforementioned E3, the sin counter goes rogue and refuses to sin Nintendo, bringing up the Metroid Prime 4 announcement trailer in response; the narrator was delighted to hear Nintendo was not neglecting Metroid after all. The announcement trailer, on grounds of not being an actual gameplay teaser, was still sinned, however.
    • While they sin Capcom at the start of the Resident Evil 7 video, they don't use the Crapcom name, plus they admit that it was the best RE game they played in years, thus immediately retracting the sin.
  • Punctuated Pounding: Used to remove several sins from Life Is Strange when Warren is beating the shit out of Nathan Prescott (who really has it coming at this point in the game).
  • Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The narrator mentions that at one point, GCN was a group of twelve thinking of starting its own gaming enterprise—-now it's three best friends who like to pick apart games.
  • Rule of Cool: Even though they usually sin this in games, not even the members of GCN are always immune to this. While sinning Mirror's Edge, the narrator considers the Slow Motion unlocking of the "Sweet Goodbye" achievement(which entails jumping from a high place, pulling a 180, and nailing the British equivalent of Flipping the Bird while falling backwards) to be so cool that it's worth taking off 300 sins.
  • Rule of Funny: This contributes greatly to their sin counts, as many of their sins are sly references, astronomical multiplications due to things that they just don't like, or just stuff that they make up(for example, choosing to shoot a garden gnome in The Last of Us, and then sinning Joel for being "a d*ck to gnomes" and for wasting a bullet). On the other hand, things that are enjoyably hilarious can have sins taken off, like the 200 sin deduction at E3 2017 courtesy of Devolver Digital's presentation.
  • Rule of Three: GCN is a channel run by three people (the narrator and his two partners), and they have three listed enemies of modern gaming (cinematic letterbox, first-person cutscenes in third-person games, and QT Es). Also, the first game that they ever sinned was Mass Effect 3.
    • See No. 6 and No. 8 in the Cliché list above.
  • Running Gag: Many, both borrowed and original:
    • Often uses CinemaSins' "X is a d*ck to Y" sin.
    • "Turret Cliché".
    • Sinning Regenerative Health in Shooter Games.
    • FAILURE OF THE GAME DESIGN/GAMING INDUSTRY(See Catchphrase above).
    • The three enemies of modern gaming: cinematic letterbox, first-person perspective at critical plot moments, and Quick Time Events.
    • Calling Capcom by a nickname given to them on the Internet: Crapcom.
    • Saying that Batman should be able to easily do something awesome BECAUSE HE'S BATMAN!!!
    • In any game that doesn't allow Halo-style teabagging, the narrator will play a clip showing the Player Character performing the closest approximation possible, say "This is as close to teabagging as you'll ever get in this game," and add another sin.
    • When GCN comes across a particularly awesome or hilarious scene, said scene will usually be followed by Shao Khan's laugh and either an increase in likes, a decrease in sins, or both depending on the quality.
    • '''UNLIMITED...... AMMO!!! *ding!*'''
    • "Not so subtle foreshadowing."
    • Inclusion of the "Andrew Wilson's Bullshit Sin Counter" in each E3 sins video.
    • The Resident Evil 7 video has one where every jump scare is prefaced by the video draining out while the Super Mario Bros. death music plays.
  • Self-Deprecation: They frequently label themselves "sarcastic assholes" and mock their supposed status as a rip-off, although, most of the time, it's really meant to mess with the Hatedom on the Internet.
  • Shout-Out: Many times. Often to emphasize how much better a certain change would make a game, or just to make a snarky joke. Several examples are noted above.
  • Sincerity Mode: Will occasionally engage this if a game impresses them enough. Examples of note being:
    • After spending about 10 minutes straight destroying DmC: Devil May Cry, the narrator admits that the dream sequence where Dante uncovers more about his past while also learning to use his new weapons is actually a pretty efficient game mechanic and takes off four sins. He also sympathizes somewhat with the villain at the end, saying "Gotta admit, he's got a point" and taking off four more sins when the antagonist lays out his motivations.
    • The narrator sins The Order: 1886 extensively for its paper-thin plot, two-dimensional characters, and constant showing off of its advanced graphics to try and hide its failings. However, he does later acknowledge that the game's textures and transitions from cutscene to gameplay are seamless, taking off a sin and saying that this, at least, is an advancement in gaming.
    • See the E3 example for Pet the Dog above.
    • The narrator goes into this frequently during his sins video of Metal Gear Solid, often noting certain elements of its story and gameplay that are so intricate that they put modern-day games to shame.
    • This rant about Aiden Pearce at the end of Watch Dogs sins video:
    Narrator: Really, game? Did you seriously decide at the last moment to treat this like a superhero origin story? You really expect me to sympathize with this colossal shitlord? As if he actually changed? This fucking guy, who has not learned anything of value, who has not paid for any of his crimes, who has constantly lied to his own family, who has hid the truth from his own allies, and who has used anybody he could just to gain a little bit of information, and you expect me to side with him? Fuck you. Fuck you a thousand-times over, game.
  • Take That!: This is a channel inspired by a guy who tears apart movies, but without the general objectivity that CS displays, so we're going to need a list for this:
    • Their sins video of DmC: Devil May Cry is full of quick, yet frequent, uses of these against Dante's new character, the developers of the game, and the game itself.
    • Their E3 sins videos are pretty much made to facilitate this trope. In their video for E3 2015, the narrator calls Call of Duty the "HIV of Gaming Industry", says that Mirror's Edge was wasted potential, simply sins Minecraft without comment, and verbally tears into several presenters at the events. They even dub EA's CEO, Andrew Wilson "The Son of Satan" and give him his own "Andrew Wilson Bullshit Sin Counter."
    • Every time they sin a Capcom game, they sin Capcom itself, calling it "Crapcom."
    Narrator: Crapcom. Oh, I'm sorry. Capcom.
    • Konami gets a lot of this for their marketing practices during the Metal Gear Solid sins video. GCN repeatedly asserts that Hideo Kojima was the real brilliance behind everything that made the game great. How much do they hate Konami, exactly? Despite the narrator making it clear that Metal Gear Solid is his favorite game of all time, he gives it 100 sins right off the bat just for being associated with Konami.
      Fuck Konami, fuck Konami, fuck Kona-na-Nazi!!
    • Electronic Arts gets this just as badly as Konami, if not worse.
      • Among numerous examples throughout the E3 videos, GCN also shows its contempt for EA early on in its sinning of Mirror's Edge: despite saying that they actually liked the game, they still give it 500 sins just because EA was involved in its production.
      • They also give E3 2016 500 sins at the very start just because of EA, and E3 2017 got that plus an additional 80, one for every minute it ran, and then the Andrew Wilson Bullshit Sin Counter for 320 extra sins.
      • E3 2018 gave us 800 sins right off the bat, plus 90 more for its runtime, plus an extra 670 for the Andrew Wilson Bullshit Sin Counter — that's over 1500 sins, all because of EA!
        Narrator: EA. (500 Sins) Actually, can we make an exception this one time? (800 Sins) That's more like it.
      • Despite EA's side event and Andrew Wilson's no-show at E3 2019, they earned E3 2019 itself another 1500 sins right off the bat.
    • WB Games gets this as well, as their association with a game is automatically a sin. The Mortal Kombat X video goes in depth into this by listing the DLC for the game and saying "And if you ever wondered why WB Games gets counted as a sin it's because they are directly responsible for the bullshit business practices I just listed. So now you know!" before getting into sinning the actual game.
  • Take That, Audience!: GCN gave one to a good amount of their viewers at one point. As soon as they started their channel, despite the fact that they openly acknowledged their connection to CinemaSins and told people to "Check out the originals (and superiors)," many commenters still complained that they were just a rip-off. They later responded by publishing "Everything Wrong with GCN," purposefully using many of the same jokes that CS used in their "Everything Wrong with CinemaSins" video, and even having the exact same bonus round (1 sin for every fanboy that they pissed off, which subsequently broke the sin counter, and resulted in the sin total being infinity).
    • In the same video, they put in a Take That! through a Call-Back to their Resident Evil 6 video, where the narrator responds to Leon's offhand comment that it seems that God isn't watching over them anymore with the declaration that "That's because God doesn't exist" and a sin. In EWWGCN, the narrator reveals that they put in that line just to antagonize fanatics, puts up the hate comments that they received, says "And like the good sheep they are, they fell for it," and gives the channel another sin.
  • Tropes Are Tools: They assert that they like many of the games that they sin and sometimes end up fully admitting that they enjoy many of the things that they count as sins, even noting some exceptions to patterns that they generally despise. One example is their policy on Sequel Hooks, which they still sin in Mortal Kombat 9 and Until Dawn, but still follow up with their votes of confidence in any sequels actually being really fun and their considerable anticipation of new additions to the respective franchises in question.
  • Villain Has a Point: They actually absolve DMC (which they have stated repeatedly that they hate) of four sins when Vergil lays out his arguably reasonable intentions behind wanting to rule humanity. That may be a meager subtraction, considering how many sins they would sometimes add, but the fact that they actually acknowledged the villain's motivations as valid in a plot that they are completely biased against is impressive in and of itself.
    Narrator: Wow, this is some good stuff. No, really. Lucan speaks TRUTH. The only problem? It took SEVEN HOURS for the game to get that good! *ding!*

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