Game Informer's Replay, or just Replay, is a weekly webseries run by the gaming magazine Game Informer that began in 2010. The cast of each episode revisits older video games from previous generations and plays through them for about thirty minutes while discussing them.
The show has changed video editors/producers multiple times, with the original (Dan Ryckert) establishing many of the tropes used. Most editors working at Game Informer have appeared at least once, but the main cast has included Andrew Reiner, Tim Turi, Dan Ryckert, Phil Kollar, and Jeff Cork.
Some episodes have a second segment that focuses on games not worth their own episodes:
- "Replay Roulette": Playing a game picked at random
- "Stress Test": An editor tries to beat a notoriously hard section of a game
- "Reported": Looks at games that have suffered from No Export for You in the United States
- "You're Doing it Wrong": Editors take turns playing certain parts of beloved games, but in a different way than normal
- "Moments": Looking at sequences of certain games that have gained notoriety for being either prolific at the time, or completely ridiculous.
The spinoff Super Replay is basically Game Informer's version of a Let's Play.
Game Informer's Replay can be found on their website here
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Game Informer's Replay provides examples of:
- DVD Commentary: Released as an April Fools' Day joke, the crew recorded an episode of them giving commentary on one of their old episodes. It's synced so that, with headphones in, the new commentary plays in one ear while the old audio plays in the other.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- The first episode was supposed to be a retrospective of the Twisted Metal series on the original PlayStation. As a result, this episode looks at the first four installments of that series as well as the game Critical Depth and Rogue Trip. The usual two segment formula was established in the second episode.
- The first two episodes, the ones for Twisted Metal and Bushido Blade, include a "Rewind" symbol on their picture icons, falling in line with the first season's intro which featured a scratchy rewind sound. These, as well as any other ties to VCR technology were done away with by Season 2 when it was realized that these allusions made no sense.
- The Lancer: The Five-Man Band has had more than one with cast changes:
- Dan Ryckert was a cross between this and The Big Guy prior to his departure. Known as "The Father of Replay" among fans (since he posted the first episode), he is just as important to the history and development of the show as Reiner. He is also one of the more charismatic cast members, and definitely the show's Anti-Hero, having referred to himself as a "Heel" on several occasions. His ability to be Too Dumb to Live is played up for laughs.
- Phil's replacement, Jeff Cork, has taken the mantle of being The Lancer crossed with the Team Dad. This due to his simultaneous egging on of Dan's Sneaky Guy antics and his older age than many of the other cast members. Possibly has the most Hidden Depths of any cast member, having previously worked as a fireman.
- The Leader: In the Five-Man Band, Andrew Reiner is this and Big Brother Mentor. Not always a player on the show, but he is very much the mastermind, often leading the show's production. Due to his long history in the video game industry (he started at Game Informer in 1994), he often also acts as the wise one.
- The Medic: In the Five-Man Band, Tim Turi is a cross between The Smart Guy and The Heart. Despite having a strong competitive streak, Tim is often the one determined to keep the peace among the cast of an episode, acting as a mediator on several occasions. He is cited as being the "most nerdy" of the cast members due to his love of video game music. Once trained to be a cop.
- No Export for You: Video games that have been subject to this are the subject of the Reported segment, such as Rhythm Heaven for the Game Boy Advance. Also the reason they did a blind Super Replay of the sequel to OverBlood; the curiosity about it was too intense to ignore.
- Non-Answer: Another character quirk of Dan Ryckert is to answer questions in this way. If he were to asked how a game like Perfect Dark played today, he might answer "it plays like a thing like other things from this time". Causing the ire of other cast members, he has been called out on it several times. Notably during the Replay of the Nintendo 64 game based on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.
- Recap Episode: Not an episode really, but between seasons one and two of Replay, a list of the cast's ten favorite episodes was released, along with a viewer's choice and a podcast talking about how the show got started, where it went, and where it was going.
- Sixth Ranger: In the Five-Man Band, this role is usually taken by either Ben Hanson or Jason O, the members who more than often than not just act as video producers. They're not always acknowledged on the show despite being in the background, making sure the recording goes well. Hanson has become known as the Team Pet and the go-to Butt-Monkey when Dan is around due to his perceived weirdness and peculiar interests by the other members. On the other hand, Jason has become known as The Voice when he isn't in an episode as a cast member. This is due to his habit of telling the editors to do something without the audience knowing, as well as his interjections that the audience can hear.
- Special Guest:
- Over the years, the show has had a few guests like Frank Caliendo and Riff Raff, along with people in the gaming industry like Randy Pitchford.
- In addition, though not famous, Tim Turi's mom has appeared on a Replay, as has Dan Ryckert's father, Paul.
- Too Dumb to Live: Former cast member Dan Ryckert had the ability to tell embarrassing stories about himself (or have stories told about him) while he taking all criticism thrown at him in stride. Stories include:
- Purposely ruining his eyesight as a kid by wearing glasses to the point that he can't see without glasses.
- Thinking that egg whites were actually the shells of the eggs, then trying to fry up the shells of several eggs in order to eat them.
- Eating things, like giant pastries and endless amounts of candy, despite knowing that doing this could very well kill him.
- We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties: Has happened a couple times, most notably during during their Sonic Adventure episode during the Blue Stinger Replay Roulette segment. Arguably a reason they eventually played the game for a Super Replay. This has been cited as a reason why an episode may be canned and redone at a later date. Not that it stops the cast from bringing up these episodes once in awhile anyway.
