Game Dogs: Episode Nine: Crunch

[Shihoudani]

Yiffpile ftw! Hahaha... I have to say Roger is beginning to become my favorite character now. His expression while destroying the action figures was priceless! xD

 

[NMG1]

im sorry guys, but lets get out of ass licking suck-up mode here. Game dogs is shit. its a show thats thinks its funny but isnt, which is cringingly uncomfortable to watch. wow they're dogs, what a novelty, it just doesnt hide the terrible script. I would encourage people to have the balls to admit this sub-standard stuff isnt funny and to discourage this drivvel from the entourage of escaptistmagazine material.

 

[DeviousJ]

Am I insane? Man, the intro is top.
Quick question: Who comes up with the tag ideas? I must admit this is a kind of running-gag I like :]

 

[Kaiser0120]

im sorry guys, but lets get out of ass licking suck-up mode here. Game dogs is shit. its a show thats thinks its funny but isnt, which is cringingly uncomfortable to watch. wow they're dogs, what a novelty, it just doesnt hide the terrible script. I would encourage people to have the balls to admit this sub-standard stuff isnt funny and to discourage this drivvel from the entourage of escaptistmagazine material.

I may point you to my post in the previous page. =3

 

[Vimbert]

Bethany was apparently absent when the Emergency Personality rations were dispensed.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

This is getting better again! The animation now seems more vibrant: What with the fact that they move more and actually have different EYE EMOTIONS! Not a big fan of the 'Yiffpile', but remove that and you got a top notch episode!

 

[Kaiser0120]

Ya know if you really are Kaiserneko of teamfourstar according to your profile, granted this is the internet so I take everything with two packets of salt(and they were delicious). I don't think that the point of this series was to appeal to the furry demographic. Who they are meant to appeal, well I could guess people who work in an office that have to deal with office drama, people who like sitcoms and the dog characters are just meant to offer a different relation that humans assign to animals aside from the character's personality.

Besides, isn't it kinda be a bit harsh that your own work that you are possibly famous for is nothing more than just photoshop and premier over the DVD set of Dragonball? Also doesn't style count more than ever before over the graphics, I thought artists always supported a specific style. Could the staff who have to turn out an episode every week find that simplicity is best even if the character movements are jerky and not fluid? I don't see your series be pumped out as a commercial product to ensure website hits and profit to create the DBZ abridged series? Finally, why would you want to as a fellow movie maker, editor, and voice actor want to destroy another person's idea and series? Worst yet you don't want them to even try and get better over the course of time, doesn't that go against the idea that it is better to try than to do nothing at all?

You are right about your criticisms if you think the animation could be improved from the jerk movements, or the character personality and I'm not the guy to defend that because I have no steak. But like other sitcoms it takes episodes(which I think is the main failing that they are shorts and not thirty minute sitcom episodes) to actually develop characters to be more complex instead of shallow characters. Time is against their side on multiple fronts from making the episodes to actually using the length of the episode to try and flesh out the character's personality.

Like I said I think this series is meant to be more like a sitcom but the timeframe they are pushed into from script to complete production is hard that the episodes time limit also affects the way we the viewer watch these episodes.

First off, I was making no insinuation that the series was aimed towards furries. I was actually talking about those who believe that furries will like this show because there are anthropomorphic animals.

As far as our work, they're not really comparable. We're using footage from another show altogether to make parody, we're not building a show from the ground up. We rely on acting, writing, and effects to make the show work effectively in a parody context, unlike this show which is an original sitcom. Furthermore, we're not presenting it as an original work and we're not trying to get ad revenue. Though I will admit, That Guy With The Glasses does feature us on their site and we pull major hits for him.

Ultimately, though, trying to say that "well, I don't see YOU guys getting any major support to make YOUR show" is a really terrible way to try and discredit my argument or attack the quality of our productions. We're a fan-based parody group, we aren't trying to make it big or present ourselves as anything but such. We're somewhat popular by INTERNET standards, and that standard is incredibly low to begin with. Doesn't mean I can't speak my opinion on another show.

On the topic of style and substance, your writing, timing, and pacing all have to go hand-in-hand with your animation style. Your animation style can be crude or simple, but if it can be an effective outlet for your writing, then it works, for all intents and purposes. The problem here is that the animation just does not work. It's obviously lazy and just not amusing.

Do I think the animators are bad? Do I think the writers are bad? No! I already said I think these guys can do better. But this series has effectively done down in flames from the get go. God, their response to the trailer was miserable. It was just their boss sitting in front of the computer for over a minute, making excuses for the animation and repeating himself over and over. The only funny part was, "What the hell is a furry!?" Beyond that, though, just a miserable exercise in the same, lame joke over and over.

As far as this show goes and why I told them to just up and quit it, it's nine episodes in. The only way they could get better is if they radically overhauled it and at that point, it may be a different show altogether. I honestly don't believe there is any hope for the show beyond cutting the release schedule down to something that allows them to invest more time in the animation and writing.

Also, as far as character development goes, these characters have shown barely any real character as all over 9 episodes. Bethany still has yet to do anything interesting whatsoever and everyone else is a run-of-the-mill cliche in anthropomorphic dog bodies.

This is getting better again! The animation now seems more vibrant: What with the fact that they move more and actually have different EYE EMOTIONS! Not a big fan of the 'Yiffpile', but remove that and you got a top notch episode!

I'll admit, this episode did showcase a bit more movement with the characters. it was nice to see, but it still looks... really limited. It doesn't seem actually funny to me, even though I can see what they're getting at.

As far as Yiffpile goes, I actually find that to be funny. Mostly because it's a very meta way of saying, "Yes, we get it."

 

[RAWKSTAR]

I'm just going to sit here and not bother explaining what's shit about this show again.
But I'll give you one hint, try making it fucking funny for once.

Motherfucking *sigh.*

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

I think they may have jumped the shark with the last one. Some of the set pieces are starting to repeat themselves like "Sigh..." and Roger freaking out. Even the pushy boss isn't going anywhere. Some new lines and more character development might save this series but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Rand-m]

NOOOOO!!! BETHANY DID IT AGAIN!!!!

"Sigh."

GAH!!!

Other than that, good stuff guys. Whatever you're doing, you're getting better at it.

 

[GuiltBlade]

The only escapist cartoon I can watch, why?
Because it's fantastic, funny from start to end and it's fun to spot the way the animations style is changing slowly over time.

 

[Frozengale]

I actually think they're getting worse. My least favorite thing about this site without a doubt.

 

[Guy Montag]

I almost snickered. ALMOST.

Why would you ruin the opening line?! Just having him say "Am I insane?" would have been perfect. Going beyond that kinda ruined it.

 

[Goenitz]

Weak ass weak.

 

[Kaiser0120]

I almost snickered. ALMOST.

Why would you ruin the opening line?! Just having him say "Am I insane?" would have been perfect. Going beyond that kinda ruined it.

See, I'd RATHER they have a new line every opening. It'd feel fresher and funnier than just the same line over and over.

snip 2

Woah woah woah, hold up Kaiserneko. I'm not trying to be a jerk here and if anything I like your work and encourage you to do more. I just hate it when people try to tell other people to just not do anything at all than actually try to do something because they are only limiting themselves. I'm sure you of all people in your work in animation and editing would know this.

I'll say it again. I like teamfourstar's DBZ abridged. Your work is very well done and deserves to be recognized and has been recognized from Anime Conventions, Thatguywiththeglasses.com (transmission awesome), and even your voice actors are going out of their way to encourage other people who want to become more wellrounded and more educated individuals on voice acting like Masavox to have a proper set up for voice acting and really try to make a career. You guys have done a lot more than being "popular by INTERNET standards" and you really sell yourselves short if you think the bar is that low in comparison to actually creating a great portfolio that would lead to multiple career paths.

But I also agree with you that the show does suffer but to tell them to pack it in is going over the line. Yes there are a lot of problems but the only way to learn is to try. Yes the characters need more interaction with each other instead of commenting on each others action like at the end of this episode, they need other locations that get them out of their working role but there are problems with only having about five minutes.

I made the comparison to your show because the skeleton is already there. We know who Goku is and Krillian and Vegeta and seeing their character take a slight twist and the plot taking a slight twist in the name of comedy is a gold mine especially to those who have nostalgic memories growing up with Dragonball and DBZ. Game Dogs on the other hand has no skeleton to actually build a parody from and so if anything I think they are still working on the skeleton because of how flat we see these characters. I was a huge sitcom watcher when I was a kid and I can tell you that if you saw only five minutes of Family Matters, Step by Step, Boy Meets World, Newsradio, Murphy Brown, Cheers, Fraiser, or Wings then chances are you are going to think all the characters are flat as well. But time and plots allow characters to be fleshed out and when you only have five minutes compared to thirty minutes, you aren't going to have much time to actually even build some real ties between the characters making them more complex. The characters are meant to be mundane but the situations are not which makes the sitcom the sitcom.

If anything I think they need to start having the characters talk about their past and actually have more character interaction but having three characters at work doesn't allow that interaction and where in the time frame they have to create the wacky situation.

I wasn't interpreting you as being a jerk, so don't worry about that.

The thing is, I'm not telling them to quit. I think I was very open and clear that I think they should continue doing what they're doing. Just not with this show. This show is nine episodes in and most of it's inherent flaws are still there. They could be improved upon, yes, but then you'd still have nine episodes of unfunny, finished, published material and an established canon going on. Perhaps they could start over, but one of the big problems with the show is also the really, really terrible gimmick of them all being dogs. It serves absolutely no purpose besides to, as I said before, set itself apart from others. It's really distracting, awkward, and unfunny.

I'll totally acknowledge that we have already established characters to work with, as well as footage already available for us to edit. This really frees up our workload to focus on the scripting, voices, and editing. But at the same time, I don't feel like I should be comparing our show to theirs, and neither should you. Whether or not ours one is funnier then the other, it just isn't a fair comparison. The bottom line is, I don't think their production is very funny and it needs to be either totally overhauled or abandoned so they can focus their talents on something that could actually work well for them.

One of the reasons their work suffers is because their pacing with the jokes is really off. These characters don't bounce off each other and their jokes are usually pretty weak. Every time I hear another bad dog joke, like with the squeaky frog, I cringe. Whenever the boss repeats himself, I cringe. Whenever I hear that stupid "Sigh", I cringe and DIE a little on the inside.

On the topic of character development, I agree that there needs to be time allowed for characters to come into their own. The problem is, none of these characters ARE coming into their own. Over NINE. EPISODES. Sure, they're only 5 minutes each, but that means they should be better utilizing those five minutes instead of people making excuses for them. Roger snapping every time someone pushes him around is not funny, nor are Chet's slacker antics. Don't even get my started on their damn boss again.

Again, there are talented people working on this, that is obvious. I feel, however that the show itself is a black hole for them all.

It's also nice to see you find us influential and are a fan of our work. Thanks for that.

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

'Kay, Chet is now officially the biggest bastard in the entire series. Five-hundred points goes to Roger.

Also, STOP THE FUCKING "Sigh..." THING! It pisses me off to no end.