WebVideo The Wolf Boy 007 Reviews: Brain Scratch Commentaries
As a diversified critic (Aspiring, to be honest...), one thing I'm proud of is my unprofessional approach. The same can be said for my subject today: Brain Scratch Commentaries, a ragtag group of twenty-somethings who each day live to entertain their growing fanbase. And I can honestly say, in my opinion, that they are the best thing to happen to You Tube since Chuggaaconroy. The story goes like this: One day, Nayrman214 (Ryan ) was poking around the Sonic Retro forums looking for a partner to start a commentary group with, fresh off the heels of Hell Fire Commentaries. He pitched the idea to fellow Forum user Solaris Paradox (Lewis), & in return, Solaris pitched the idea to Somecallme Johnny (Johnny, obviously) of the Super Gaming Brothers, a duo of game reviewers with a decent fanbase at the time. It was their banter of video games, movies, and even books in their first commentary over Super Mario Bros. (the All-Stars port) that earned them a damn impressive fanbase that's still growing to this day. Three years of commentaries later, a new fourth member in Exand Shadow (Ted), and the rage-induced insanity only they can do best, they earned themselves a well-deserved You Tube Partnership and nearly 20,000 subscribers. An epic tale that's far from over. Okay, enough backstory, time for Character Analysis! Ryan is the pseudo "Leader" of the group, officiating the commentaries and managing the channel page. He can get pretty dull at times, but when he gets moving, it's almost impossible for him to stop, especially with his Black Humor mixed with knowledge of all things Mega-Man. Lewis is the snarky, deadpan, Sonic the Hedgehog fanboy (Technically, they're all Sonic fanboys, but Lewis most of all). He has a tendency to go off on numerous tangents, but they fit his style of comedy. Johnny is a game reviewer himself, so he can get pretty cynical, but he is fucking hilarious. Out of the four, he's my favorite. Finally, there's Ted, the "Kid." He loves Pokemon, has a pretty biased look on things, and is a nice fit in the group. There are guest commentators as well, affiliates if you will, but to talk about all of them here wouldn't fit the 400 word limit. All in all, these guys deserve way more than they have. It's not all pandering to the fans, it's honest love for what they do. No cheap gimmicks or lousy quality. Great entertainment and quality opinions.
WebVideo Commentator Criticism
First off, I will say that I generally enjoy the channel as a whole. But now I will go into the people who run the channel and critique them individually.
Ryan: I'm mixed about him. On the one hand, he is prone to excessive complaining, and he himself admits that he's kinda dull. On the other hand, there are several times when he can still be funny.
Lewis: His constant questioning of logic in video games that clearly disregard logic can be somewhat annoying when overdone, but his snarkiness can be funny in moderation. Too bad he doesn't show much.
Johnny: Undoubtedly the most popular of the four, and it's easy to see why. He has by far the most active personal channel, he's the best at humor, and his complaining is the most controlled, generally only happening within the commentary of the game itself and only significant hatred when the game is of objective negative quality. Even when he doesn't like a game not generally deemed bad, he just plainly states his opinion in a respectful manner.
Ted: You have probably noticed from several edits that I can't stand this guy. He can get even more whiny than Ryan, but he won't tolerate the slightest criticism towards games he likes, biased or objective. He's downright condescending to people whose opinions conflicts with his own. Pokemon in particular has him antagonizing people for being big fans of Gen 3 or so much as liking Gen 4, while flipping out over anyone who has even the slightest issue with Gens 2 and 5. He's way too pretentious when he talks about the metagame for someone so incompetent. His preachiness about politics rivals Brian Griffin. Many of his flaws can be attributed to a massive ego that cannot acknowledge his own wrongdoings while hypocritically lecturing others about respecting opinions, and he cannot take correction when he says something that's genuinely wrong. His voice is honestly quite irritating (he sounds like he's always whining, and he usually is). And all of this would be easier to bear if he was at least entertaining, but I only laugh at his expense (ex. Zelda 1, Tedoof). I've never hated anyone else on this channel, not even common targets like Spax and Amanda, so that just goes to show how loathsome Ted is.
So yeah, great channel, but fuck Ted.