WebVideo How to be a failure. (Take a tip from Bores.)
So, Irate Gamer seems to have garnered a lot of hate since his inception to the Youtube Universe, And I was curious to see why. I watched his series, and had my mind blown to He(ck).
Was it that he was actually pretty good? NO. Was it that he could argue an unfavorable opinion that he may have? NO. Was it that he was perfectly able to play video games despite the fact that he whines about many being too hard? NO.
Since I imagine you would like to know what surprised me about him, it was the fact that he has fanboys and doesn't have a lawsuit leveled against him.
This guy is AWFUL. Despite being a "gamer", the footage Bores uses in his reveiws are just him sucking it up on purpose/BLATANTLY cheating. He rips apart classics, Like Contra, Super Mario 2, Ghost 'n' Goblins, HARDY ET CETERAS, despite the fact that many of his "flaws" are standard to every video game!
Why I mentioned a lawsuit is the fact that he can't come up with his own jokes, without them being out of context; like that "Death, after Death, after Death..." In The Silver Surfer Review is obviously a knock of AVGN's "Die, Die, Die, Die, Die," When he reviewed the same game!
In Short, This fool gives a bad name to everybody who claims to be a gamer, take him OFF Youtube.
WebVideo Understand the hate, but don't share it.
Let's start with the facts. Is Chris Bores a good comedian/reviewer/whatever he's trying to be? No, he isn't. His biggest problem is that he simply can't act well enough to sell most of his jokes (and not to be mean, but his baby face does not lend itself to expressions of anger). When he's trying to just be informative, he gets his facts all wrong. Every character is played by him, his release schedule is terrible, and he seems to believe that he must call every product he reviews "bad", even if he's been shown to enjoy or at least be indifferent to it earlier in the video. He doesn't seem to know where he's going with his poorly-written storyline either.
I'm undecided as to whether Bores is just unfit for what he does, or if his style just never "evolved", in contrast to say, The Nostalgia Critic. His Back To The Future review, while not anything original or off-the-charts hilarious, isn't terrible for 2007. It's just that while superior reviewers improved their schtick and changed over time, Bores either didn't realize he needed to, or couldn't be bothered.
All that said, the sheer amount of foaming at the mouth, seething hatred the Internet seems to have for this guy comes across as overkill. His being a poor web reviewer hardly makes him deserving of such attention. Is Chris Bores a bad person? Beats me; I honestly don't care either way, since I'm only concerned with what he delivers.
Final verdict? Bad. Not scum of the earth horrible, just bad.
WebVideo One of the greatest, unintentional comedians the Youtube generation has ever spawned
At first glance, the title may be a little misleading, though don't worry; we'll soon tackle what Chris Bores has really brought to the table when it comes to the video game reviewing scene.
Mr. Bores work (his last name being the most adequate indication you're gonna have a hard time trying to enjoy his videos) is not what you could call "stellar". His flaws have been addressed a lot of times, so I'm gonna pass listing all of them again (but quick reminder just in case: poor research abilities, lack of charisma, poor scripting, and most important: tries too hard to be funny without actually pleasing anyone).
Then what is Bores' real addition into the mix? What's the reason why I'm addressing him like one of the best things Youtube (and internet in general) has brought to the world?
Two words: Parody. Reviewers.
Irate Gamer's videos have been addressed as the main source of inspiration for a lot of people mocking his work, and actually succeeding in doing so. Taking the "comedy" element into account here, I'd say a lot of these guys are such a blast to watch. Whether it's Third Rate Gamer, Save State Gamer, Irritated Gamer, etc. I'm surely forgetting at least another 5 or 10 of them, but that's what happens when there's so much high quality material all around the tubes: you only take to remember the ones you've watched the most.
Making intentionally wrong remarks for the purpose of comedy is one thing, but making intentionally wrong remarks to remark the intentionally and unfunny wrong remarks Bores remarked in the first place to make fun of them/him is taking things to the next level. The way these reviewers take some liberties to even fire shots at everyone else (EG: AVGN, Game Dude, Nostalgia Critic and the Screw Attack team among others) is so blatantly obvious and bile you can't help but have some laughs. Only in Chris Bores' mind would he have thought to be so influential to the game reviewing scene he's almost the Trope Codifier for a whole new genre. And that's never a bad thing, right?
Overall, the source material may not be that brilliant (as in, not at all), but that's exactly the reason why those parody reviews work so damn well. I'd say: go on, give 'em a try. You can't be wrong when you have a good time, as long as you're aware they're intentionally making fun of everyone else.
WebVideo The Weird Warrior takes a...umm..."Weird" Stance!
I'm definitely no fan of Caustic Critics or the Cluster F Bomb, but this guy has enough good points to keep me coming back for more (for now anyway, I'll get back to that later). Yes, you heard it right. I genuinely enjoy the series and I think that Chris Bores does a good job.
Let's be honest though. He is a knockoff. A knockoff isn't necessarily the same as a ripoff though. A knockoff is simply someone trying to jump on the bandwagon (a lot people tried to do this when the Nerd first came out; Chris happened to be the most successful). A ripoff outright plagarizes. Is Chris also a ripoff? Well, I'll leave that for the rest of you to debate. I'm just going to focus on pure entertainment value here.
I feel that Chris has a real knack for comedy (acting, writing, editing, the works). His Contra Series reviews were priceless, as was his Monster Party video. From the ongoing, faux-serious story arcs to the hilarious supporting cast, I generally leave with a smile each time I visit his channel.
Even moreso, I enjoy his comics reviews and his top 10/top 5 videos. I think Chris's more natural personality is that of a gushing fanboy rather than a caustic one (another reason why it might be a mistake for him to copy the AVGN's format). When he reviews something he likes (or something he hasn't seen yet, but is excited about), I genuinely feel he's at his best. It's in these vids (sadly too few in comparison) that he truly comes across as One Of Us.
For bad points...well...
Even though he thankfully doesn't cuss as much as the AVGN, he still cusses too much. I really don't enjoy hearing that kind of stuff and have somewhat shied away from him, the Nerd, AND The Critic because of this. He once tried to create a no-cussing version of one of his reviews, but instead of not cussing at all, he simply edited the swears out, which gave the video several awkward cuts. Hopefully, he'll give it a more serious attempt in the near future.
Second, although he has the right to delete any comments he wants, it doesn't make him look good. It indicates he has an ego. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I have to call it as I see it.
In closing, if you're someone who can take the bad with the good, you just might enjoy his channel. Otherwise, give it a miss. Either way, you win.
Peace.
WebVideo Oi...
Okay, so it's come to this, somebody finally reviews the Irate Gamer, wish me luck.
Basically, Chris Bores is the Irate Gamer, he reviews bad games... Or, games he thinks are bad, and usually expects to get praise from viewers, the problem is, he seems to think that outright insulting the game is what gets viewers, no, how you get viewers is honest opinion and explanation, he gives too much opinion, he never exactly explains anything about the game, he just does not stop insulting it, and he seems to pick games at random, including games that are beloved, and then he insults them for problems that make the game challenging, which is what is good about a game usually, he sometimes does things that Serious Business gamers consider serious Taboo, and even casual players, such as using a Turbo Controller in his Contra review, and his research problems, Dear god, his research...
In each of his reviews, expect him to give out a lesser known fact that isn't fact, he seems to either do minimal research or come up with something on the spot. The blatant stealing of jokes, I will not go there, watch his reviews yourself, and take a shot every time he uses a stolen joke. Speaking of his jokes, his original ones just plain suck, and when they are... Well, they are, but his bad acting really makes most of his jokes dull sounding.
And there is also, his ego, he refuses to take criticism, whenever he sees a comment that gives criticism, he outright deletes it to make his video seem better, there was at least one case where he closed off every comment of his Contra review, because it was mostly criticism, and the person who noticed it got removed from his friends list.
He's no Angry Video Game Nerd knockoff, he's an abomination on his own, even if I didn't give much positives, I don't know what positives to give him, and if I did, he probably doesn't even deserve them, this review may not have been detailed, but he's just someone who's just trying to bottle up the Nerd's fury for fame. So, try to steer clear of his reviews, unless you're looking for Research Fails or Wallbangers.
WebVideo So Bad It's Adorable
There's just something so enjoyable at how Bores makes his show. He's terrible at research, and has a short temper for anything, but at the same time he's a bit endearing. He really wants to make a good show, and while he has tried ripping others off to do so, it only proves how much he wants to fit in.
Maybe I've grown soft from Linkara's show. He's a child in an adult's body, and creates the silliest, zaniest scenerios to act out his dreams. Same with Bores. The two are almost identical in quality, and if we just give the Gamer a chance, you might open your hearts up to him.
Don't get me wrong, if I want a good game review, I'll stick with the Angry Video Game Nerd. But if you're looking for some serious Narm Charm, I suggest you give Boring Man a try.
For the reviewing portions of his episodes, I give him a 2/10, since they are ill-informed and full of holes. But for the candid moments of Bores being Bores with his imaginary pals, I give him an 8.5/10.