Game OverThinker

I thought he was a Troper.

I can't say I'd disagree with him if he was anti-piracy, but he's probably still going to sound condecending.

I think the point was to link us into this greater trend which funnily enough we would just call forgetting, as our front page says, "Tropes are not cliches".

Yeah, we really don't do that, taken as a whole (and I don't think Campbell said there was only one sort of story, just that there was one very common kind of story). We know works pass tropes around like a dutchie to the left hand side.

Tropes Are Tools, and TV Tropes is a repository of tools. As such, our repository can be used for good, or for stupid.

Yeah, the last episode about Bayonetta was pretty much just him gushing over the character.

I have followed him for years and while sometimes he has a point, he need to get his head out of the rectum of nostalgia

True, though I see him as balancing out Zero Punctuation. It would probably be fun to stick the two of them in a room.

Instictively I think Yatzhee would win that argument. I think it will be, metaphorically speaking, like a thousand pointed spears being thrown at one very large soft smothering pillow.

I've always thought that if Moviebob and Yahtzee (or at least, the personality put on display in Zero Punctuation) were meet, that the results would be disastrous; I can only imagine the world being obliterated in some sort cheeseburger/anticheeseburger annihilation reaction.

More seriously, I... pretty much like Moviebob. He can become irritatingly devoted to his own opinion, but that's not really a deal-breaker, and as all his works are monologues rather than discussions, it's understandable that he wouldn't argue stridently against himself.

All in all, I do put The Game Overthinker into... not quite the same box as Zero Punctuation, but at least on the same shelf:

An amusing and interesting look into another point of view, but not something I trust to reliably come to the same conclusion as I would.

he has become an egotistical-self absorbed bastard. I mean just look at the video he did after screwattack hired him

Brief summary or link, please? I'm going to have difficulty figuring out which one that is without going through them all or having some description of the life events of Movie Bob to know hen screwattack hired him.

^^Please, all he did was a make a self-appreciation joke. I do it all the time. Inflating your ego without actually inflating it may be new to you as a type of humor but it does exist. Besides, he doesn't change in the slightest.

I personally enjoy The Game Overthinker because he intellectually analyzes all those things about video games I think about all the time but I never saw anybody bother to tackle. There are quite a few topics I wished he'd go into further, but we can't all be perfect. All in all he's a good voice as an itnellectual spokesperson for the video game industry.

Besides the minor flaw that he's a bit of a retrogamer with an obsession with Shigeru Miyamoto and the Mario games, he's still pretty good and always brings up excellent points. At least he acknowledges his bias and explains why certain concepts he brings up may be leaning a certain way.

Though I must ask, why are people comparing him to Yahtzee? Their styles are similar (Voice and pictures) but what they cover are so vastly different that the comparison seems a little strange. Yahtzee reviews games and Movie Bob analyzes aspects of games, gaming culture, and reception of games and gamers.

I sent a private message to moviebob on the Escapist asking him if he has anything against TV Tropes users. I had a hunch he was only referring to a small percentage of Tropers on his TV Tropes article, and this was pretty much confirmed by his response:

Okay, here's the thing...

I got a couple of these, so I'm probably going to have to put a clarification out at some point... but until then, if you wanna take this response back to the "TV Tropes community" in some way, I'd greatly appreciate it ;)

Short version: I obviously failed to make it clear enough in the article, but I have NOTHING against TV Tropes. I love TV Tropes. I'm on there all the time, it's a lot of fun, a great resource, very well maintained, can't say enough nice things about this site or it's community.

My "problem," in the article, is with people who ABUSE that resource. I'm talking about people who use TV Tropes links in place of arguments on forums, as though their ability to recognize a trope renders the movie/book/whatever in question an item of scorn. This was not, in any way, meant as a denunciation of TV Tropes itself.

I'd be interested to know if that person actually exists versus someone who uses it to disprove the claim of originality

So.. Who else Thought this was the Bobbo's crowning Moment of Awesome?

My thought was Okay, DAD.

^^Definitely.

I thought it sounded like a mix of Hypocrite, Viewers Are Morons and Captain Obvious.

edited 9th Mar '10 9:34:17 PM by Indigo_Dingo

I watched it and thought that such massive over-generalizations does not quite make for a compelling argument, even if made with the best intentions. I am quite sure that many people do not fit into his stereotype, and I am quite sure that there are people who serve in the military and play FPS games - though I suppose they are not trolling X Box Live as much as this 12-year-old boy in the video did.

All in all, if gamers really were as stupid as makes them out to, there would be no chance for them to even follow his instructions. I wonder though, can I consider myself a gamer if I do not fit his stereotype and have played for about five hours in this month?

Heavily preachy, but otherwise a good episode. I found it sort of a wake-up call that I couldn't name some of the authors/movies/politicians he listed.

Barkey plays a lot of FPS to my knowledge. He's an MP in the air force I believe.

Ninja, I could name about half of those politicians much to my dismay (I blame Pundit Kitchen). Actors, not so much, but I read about half of those authors. That said, I still prefer my little ghetto to what's "popular" or "classic".

edited 10th Mar '10 10:39:31 AM by Deboss

I really think the majority of what he said is just common sense. A lot of the things he said are good ideas, but I really think a lot of it isn't as much an issue with the community as he makes it out to be.

Goddamnit. I told myself I wouldn't watch any SMG 2 footage, and he puts some in his video... I tried to quit watching, but once it started I couldn't look away!

As for the video itself... He's pretty much right, but it was just kinda boring.

Indeed, much of what was said was common sense (exercise, refrain from snacking on unhealthy food, do not let your knowledge be a victim to Crippling Overspecialization), but those things are hardly endemic to gamers. People can be asshats without even seeing a video game console once in their lives, and one can be an asshat even if he knows all about the current political trends and is fit. Also, it was stupid of him not to even add a line saying "I am sure not all of You are like that, and I salute to those who are not", instead of saying "No BUTS! OBEY MY RULES! You are all ignorant fat asshats" (hyperbole etc.)

Ironically enough, he proposes to exchange an extremely extreme stereotype (really, I have never heard such an extreme view, but maybe I should read more about "how are gamers perceived") of an ignorant gamer while making an extremely ignorant statements about how the USA is the only country in the world - this is the Internet, and I am sure that not only Americans have it, no? I have read books by quite a few authors from his list, and also watched quite a few of the movies, but the title was "Building a better gamer", not "Building a better American Gamer". Now then, if I read none of the author from that list, but have read every Polish book perceived as "classic", I am still ignorant by his standard. Quickly, Mr Game Overthinker, name the juries of Polish Supreme Court, or the parties of Polish Parliament, or famous (contemporary or not) Polish writers and their books.

Just a disclaimer saying "I am mostly talking about the USA, those who are not Americans should get informed about their country's cultural heritage and political trends." would be nice.

Edit: there were some, punctuation errors. Also lousy writing.

edited 11th Mar '10 4:31:02 AM by Cormoran

I do agree that some of his statements in the latest episode consisted of unnecessary hyperbole, and he could have laid off the "I don't like saying this, you don't like hearing this" disclaimers, but as much as you guys believe what he's saying to be common sense, he's got some good points. You may exercise and eat healthy foods, but looking at the rising obesity rate in Western countries, many other people don't. You may have read the authors, watched the movies, and heard of the politicians he mentioned, but look at some more impoverished school districts or, hell, some of the stuff that hits the bestseller lists and top of the box office. Clearly not everybody is so quick to read the classics as they are Twilight.

Is some of that personal taste? Sure, of course. Does it apply to gamers exclusively? No. Bob admits that and also says not all gamers fall under his criticism, but it's safe to say there's a fair amount, and even if you don't fall under the extremes of his argument, I'm sure some of his advice can be taken to improve one's gaming level. I can certainly say, from experience, that reading more books of literature has made gaming a lot more fun (recognizing where the name Peter Stillman in Metal Gear Solid 2 comes from, for example). Not everything he says should be taken as a personal insult against your gaming habits, by any means.

Granted, I might have a bias in that he's one of my favorite internet entertainers, up there with the Nostalgia Critic, but I really do think he has a right to say what he did, that at least somebody is addressing it instead of assuming everybody knows it. I don't understand why some people get in a huff when he explores a certain subject and they don't agree with how he does it, because there was one episode where he pretty much said whether you agree with him or not, he just wants to get you thinking. To me, that's what gaming needs more than another Caustic Critic who tears apart a game just for humor's sake. He's doing something not many other people are willing to do and I respect that. It's all right if you don't, but hey - to each their own, I guess.

I do not think that anyone is going into a huff, but if he makes a video that is supposed to be some sort of epiphany, then he should cover all of his bases (the disclaimers I mentioned above).

Then again, I too am of an opinion that some things need to be said, even if they are painfully obvious. Even so, if American gamers really need to hear so obvious an advice, then theirs is a sad lot.