The Irate Gamer

After hearing negative comments on how bad Irate Gamer is, I decided to watch his first episode. After that I now understand why everyone hates this show so much. It's so bad, that I have no interest in watching his other reviews if he couldn't live up to his title.

It's been noted by other people, but I like to say it in my own words. Chris Bores is basically someone who has watched Angry Video Game Nerd and tries to do his own version of the show which falls flat on the floor. If he was going to do his own internet show on reviewing games, he'd have to find his own image and theme, not steal the identity of another successful series.

He's way too boring, Chris Bores spends no time in coming up with jokes that work excellent. He makes James Rolfe look like Robin Williams, who is a natural in throwing out a good joke and punch line. Chris is one of those guys who would use a joke that seems funny to him but to others it causes groaning and annoyance. If he was a stand up comedian, he'd already get bombard by trash on the stage. I can say a lot of things that I would rather watch than watch Chris Bores, but that would make this review too long.

The way he reviews his games are bland and the skits he comes up with are something a kid would come up with. Take his review on the NES Back to the Future game, his bee joke was lame and the part where he goes back to the year 1987 had no effort shown what so ever. I got too distracted by the flat screen computer monitor and modern wireless home-phone, when it was meant to be 1987 not the mid 2000s. Angry Video Game Nerd however, reviewed the same game not once but twice, and delivered the jokes perfectly. Plus Nerd spends a lot of time coming up with his skits for his own series. For Irate Gamer, I can't imagine him doing that well in school if he fails to do well with his projects.

While I do know that the first Angry Video Game Nerd episodes were simple, except Jame Rolf got better as he progressed further with his series. Chris Bores however never has improved, and I could care less if he ever does. If you want to watch a good internet show about an angry gamer playing bad or challenging games, Angry Video Game Nerd is the right show for you. Irate Gamer is not only a disgrace, it's also managed to be in the same level as one of those low budget Turkish films that try to copy an American film. So if you're curious to watch Irate Gamer, do so with caution cause don't blame me if you keep falling asleep.

Whether you see him as a AVGN knock-off (which he was by his own admission) or as the underdog funny-man of YouTube, you have to hand it to Chris Bores for being one of the veterans from the early days of online comedy reviewing to have lasted as long as he has. But with this in mind, is the show any good? Even taking into account Bores' low-fi, DIY YouTube heritage, the "classic" episodes have not aged well and while in the later years, Bores began to develop the show with more characters and After Effects, the quality overall is pretty underwhelming.

Chris Bore has always come off as a forced, frat-boy version of the AVGN character. His comedic range as a writer is limited it is sometimes mildly-entertaining in the same corny way that weird uncle can be at Christmas parties (as with his Woody Allen-eqse Ronnie The Skeleton). But like that uncle after a few to many drinks, it gets old really fast.

Five reasons why The Irate Gamer should not be watched by anyone.

5.Chris Bores can't act. If you are going to make a show with the gimmick that you sit in front of a camcorder and act angry, make sure that you know how to act. Any small piece of acting would be good. Bores is a terrible actor. He can't even make a convincing grunt while he plays video games.

4.Highly unfunny. If you are going to make a comedy show, make sure that you are funny. Bores does a blend of observational humor and slapstick that have it in common to be unfunny and predictable. For example; When reviewing Tetris in a very bland manner, Bores mentions how addictive the game can be but says that he's not affected, just like clockwork, we are treated to a cut of a black screen with the letters 'couple of hours later' where we then see Bores acting like a Heroin Junkie, sweaty screaming out "I want my Tetris". Not only was this joke very predictable to the audience, but it was done in such a manner that I can't imagine anyone laughing at it.

3.He's not a Gamer. If you are going to make a show about video games, make sure that you can play them. Bores might be a couple of things. A Martial Artist, a Ghost Hunter, a college graduate (at least according to him) but he ain't no gamer. This becomes highly obvious when he complains about how some, if not all, of the games that he plays are too hard, and these include games that six year old kids were beating on their first try. Only eight seconds into Contra, he got killed, which he then blamed on the game, for being too hard. This often lead to Bores cheating his way through the game or playing it on the easiest difficulty level. Which is just plain stupid. He's there to review a game, not skip through it on the easiest setting. Would you watch a cooking show where the cook would simply order take-out because cooking is way too hard? I don't think so.

2.He's not a reviewer. If you are going to make a show where you review games, please be sure that you are able to review things. Reviewing is not really a skill, it's just saying your opinion on something in a manner that most people can understand it, Bores takes whatever game he can get his hands on, talks about it's flaws (like, how easy to die it is for him) and then says it's terrible. He often doesn't bother to go into any detail, with most of his episodes ranging from 2 to 5 minutes in length (with maybe some additional minutes for abysmal acting).

1.RIPP-OFF. The concept of the show came from the much more talented and enjoyable James Rolfe who created the character of the Angry Video Game Nerd back in 2004. After becoming a YouTube sensation in 2006, Chris Bores mimicked him with his show, something that he admitted, although privately to the AVGN Homepage, and has denied since. All comments on YouTube about the similarities are often taken down minutes after being posted and Bores pretty much pretends that James Rolfe doesn't exists, unless he gets pinpointed in a radio interview, where he will say that it's all a coincidence, despite saying in the mail to James Rolfe (that was posted on Rolfe's forum) that he was inspired by his world famous 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle' review, which makes sense, seeing that the Irate Gamer did not only review the exact same game, but he also stole a large portion of Rolfe's jokes, and in order to not come of as a plagiarist, he decided to review the highly popular and well made Konami sequels, which he reviewed poorly, saying that they were just as terrible. Bores has often stolen more subtle jokes from other YouTube NES reviewers, including from the lesser known WizWar, where he stole a lot from his Predator review, including his 'Fists of Fury' punchline and from VideoGamesAreAwesome who did a hilarious dance video with R.O.B. and were badly mimicked by Bores.

And to think I liked this show... LIKED! Boy I was wrong! couple of things...

1) He was BORING!!!!

Oh my gosh, I have never seen any body in any video be this boring... I can understand if people are inexperienced in front of a camera and trying things out and they be boring, but this guy, UGH! Now I know where you people are coming from! His voice is so monotone!

2) The GOD AWFUL ACTING!!!

And before you criticize me of calling him a bad actor, I have a bunch of acting experience, limited in front of a camera, but I have stage acting! And boy, talk about bad movies having bad acting! This guy is HORRENDOUS!!! He can't convince me any longer that he's good!

3) NOT A GAMER!!!

I know you people have gone this way, but, let me give my thing about gaming! I have played video games basically my entire life! Hard games, easy games, difficult games, etc... but when this guy complains about how hard a game is when I could probably beat it in about a day.

4) These aren't reviews...

These are infomercials! The fact he complains a game is hard when it's not, he destroys the games afterward, and he gives them the finger after he shreds them, just proves these are infomercials!

5) TOTALLY UNENTERTAINING!!!

Originally, I would watch his videos with not a care in the world, but then... I read reviews on this site...

The Irate Gamer, the most hated gamer there ever was (As now he done with his career surprisingly). The hate I sorta understand and somewhat agree with. The original episodes this guy made were like most people say, just flap-out ripoffs of AVGN (Angry Video Game Nerd) like his Back to the Future video and his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video. Just stealing a-lot of AVGN's lines such as "Cowabunga piece of S**t" and "What a S**t load of f*ck", and most importantly, the AVGN's popular line, "What were they thinking", this is totally I will agree, is unnecessary, and I'll honestly agree, that he does not have the rights to violating steal lines from AVGN. The jokes that were made, did absolutely nothing for me, and another is that there are a-lot of errors to find in these episodes which I'm not going to go through, especially his most infamous one, "Super Mario Bros. 2", tons of errors in that one, which makes it appropriate to be his most popular. But however, these episodes (According to me) are watchable. The Actor/Director/Writer of this Show, Chris Bores, sure did do a-lot of effort in making these episodes, and I'm not talking about the uncreative Script/Jokes but the action which is both that and his detailing about certain things like Video Game Series, toy lines, and etc., are like the only positive things I could even say about these early episodes. I absolutely loved it when he talking about the confusion of being a "Goonies 2" game, despite there weren't a second Goonies' film, and the example of the earlier Donkey Kong's Games, which was kinda of a nice example to be honest, now this may be a ripoff of AVGN's "Chronically Confused" Video, but it not that unacceptable like the other ones I already mentioned, and yet his "Goonies 2" is probably one of the few best videos of the first season. By the second season, things kinda comes slowly to a change, in which something I'm going to give Bores some credits for, for being smart at this moment, as the Irate Gamer's characters seems to slowly becomes his own, not just a typical Knockoff. His "Predator" review is probably another favorite of mine, and somewhat his Contra videos, but however they're some complaints but I'm going to bring them up however. Now the use of other Characters in this show by now seems to go a bit of a change too, now the previous season didn't seems to have that much of interesting characters, such as Tony, who is pretty much a "S**t pickle" ripoff, but here we have characters, despite they seems to already be characters that seems to be done before, like a Skeleton who seems to be a crazed fan of the IG, and is a obvious Homosexual, and the IG's evil Twin (Yeah pretty common to used) but they're fun to watch however and Bores did a good job writing them, especially Satan, who have just good lines in this show. By Season 3 and beyond, the whole concept of being a AVGN's ripoff is now completely faded away, and this is where things gets so better. This is where Bores prove to those highly Devout, but yet mindless AVGN Fans that he's not a Idiot like they think he is, by referencing the AVGN's review of "Sliver Surfer" in his review of the same exact game by admitting he knows he already done it, now that is GENIUS. His "Kool Aid" review was good, I thought the Kool Aid was kinda funny to see honestly, and his "Aladdin" review was alright, except there are some errors (The same exact ones seen in his early Reviews), but yet it was enjoyable. I truly thought his "Mike Tyson's Punch-out" review was hilarious too, and yet another of mine favorite. It is quite surprising that Bores decide to end this well-conversational series, but yet it was a good idea however, not because it was considered a bad show but it was to just to shut the Haters up once and for all.

Overall, I'm going to get this show not a high score nor a low score, but a average score of about 5, if you seen a episode of this guy that was most likely just a ripoff of AVGN, I suggest you watched a later episode like during season 3-5, I'm sure you'll most likely get a different look on this character from any of those episodes.