Poll: Totalbiscuit

[sir neillios]

So I've wanted to write this thread for a few days now but haven't had the time, and now most likely it will be buried under the mountain of Xbone threads.
So anyway, lets talk about a certain personality that has gained alot of fame on youtube over the past couple of years, and is a rather divisive figure in gaming. John Bain, or as he is better known; Totalbiscuit, the Cynical Brit.

So nearly every time he gets mentioned in some regard I notice someone always responds with complete venom, and normally there will be someone to respond in his defence.
Here's an article Eurogamer did last year which offers more in-depth details on him http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-11-14-the-cult-of-totalbiscuit

So how I'd like you to answer this poll. First option is if he is your go-to place for video game information, and you watch pretty much all his content as a result. Second option you would watch his "WFT is..." series for information on a game you are thinking about getting, but not much else besides. Third option you neither know nor care that much about him or his videos. Forth, you don't like the style, length, content or whatever of his videos and thus don't watch them. Fifth option you actively despise his personality.

Go!

 

[hazabaza1]

Watch him occasionally. Eh. Sometimes better than others, but he's pretty much always got that air of PC Master Race shit and inflated self importance. Fairly whiny at times too, but he can be enjoyable enough.

EDIT: Also, the whole "CynicalBrit" thing. For one, ugh using nationality as an advertising point, fuck that.
And for being so "cynical" he's really not. Not in most of the videos I watch. ComplainingBrit maybe. OccasionallySomewhatAggrevatedBrit would work too.

 

[DaedricDuke]

Find his video view pandering annoying at times. However I enjoy the effort he puts into his videos like the patch series.

 

[Fappy]

Watch him occasionally. Eh. Sometimes better than others, but he's pretty much always got that air of PC Master Race shit and inflated self importance. Fairly whiny at times too, but he can be enjoyable enough.

EDIT: Also, the whole "CynicalBrit" thing. For one, ugh using nationality as an advertising point, fuck that.
And for being so "cynical" he's really not. Not in most of the videos I watch. ComplainingBrit maybe. OccasionallySomewhatAggrevatedBrit would work too.

Yeah, I'd say the thing that kind of puts me off to him is his sense of self-importance. Jim Sterling does it as part of a character. As far as I can tell Biscuit's not acting in his videos.

 

[shrekfan246]

I like him.

I don't usually watch more than "WTF Is..." but over the past few days I've been watching his ruining of Magicka and Trine 2 with the Yogscast and of Terraria with Jesse Cox.

He's pretty abrasive to Youtube commenters, but to be honest I don't really blame him. He gets the "PC Gaming Master Race" air every now and then in his videos, but there are some people on these very forums that get it far worse than he ever does, so I can live with that...

Otherwise, I think he's genuinely funny and informative, and I really appreciate how comprehensive his 'first impressions' videos usually are.

 

[Confidingtripod]

I watch him for news, I find alot of his opinions obnoxious though, he made a vid about his fans being mean to him... in which he states he should be allowed to be a dick to them but not the other way around.

He also tends to give very one-sided reviews, if a game has a badly made options screen fine, thats important but it doesn't warrant half the review.

His news is quite informative and I like the layout.

He has a childish tenancy to call games objectively "bad" when its clear he just doesnt enjoy them, which is forgivable if he didnt do it during reviews, a critic should remain neutral

and lastly: whats his issue with larger channels? he belittles the amount of work others do when he doesnt even edit his own videos, once again I dont mind his opinion when he's not shouting it from a soapbox

 

[Aerosteam]

I'm not a PC gamer and I watch pretty much all of his videos. Like Zero Punctuation (which also involves pointing out all the bad things in good games), I watch it to get the opinion of who's speaking in the microphone, not to tell me about the game that's currently being showcased. He has made an impact on my perspective on certain things, such as day-one DLC. (How could I have been so stupid?!)

Although I really wish he would lay off on the console gaming platform.

 

[Andy Shandy]

Even as someone who pretty much exclusively games on consoles besides Civ 5 and Football Manager, I tend to find myself agreeing with him on most things, and I do watch a lot of his content. However, yes I would say he does have the tendency to go very "PC Master Race" at times, and that can irritate me a little - although it isn't nearly as bad as people I've seen of these forums, so it's easy to live with.

All in all though, I would say he's definitely one of the better gaming personalities around at the moment.

 

[MysticSlayer]

For the most part I don't care, but the few times I've watched his videos when it gets post in a forum's thread, on Facebook, etc., I really get turned off by his personality, even if I agree with him at times. I don't mind if the smug, rather arrogant personality is used in character for comedic value, like Jim Sterling (or Yahtzee on occasion), but it's very hard to listen to when that really is the person's personality. Perhaps he's a nice guy in real life and with people he knows personally, but I can only judge videos based on the personality presented in the video.

 

[Karoshi]

I like his videos and find his reviews quite informative, but I don't agree with some of his opinions. Like - "Dear Esther is not a game". Wonderful argument. Does being a not-game make it automatically bad? Different kind of games for different people.

There have been some other things which I didn't agree with, but as long as he keeps it civil, I do not really mind.

 

[General Twinkletoes]

I like his videos and find his reviews quite informative, but I don't agree with some of his opinions. Like - "Dear Esther is not a game". Wonderful argument. Does being a not-game make it automatically bad? Different kind of games for different people.

But... that's what he said. He doesn't like Dear esther because it's not a game. He never said it was bad or people are dumb for liking it, just that he didn't like it and thought they marketed it wrong.


OT: He's a bit of a dick sometimes, but his video's are pretty informative and I like how indepth he goes. He's introduced me to a lot of games I really like, and his playthroughs with the Yogscast and Jesse are really funny. The content patch is one of the best gaming news series on youtube IMO.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I watch his WTF series for games I am unsure about, but his constant bitching about FOV and "unacceptable framerates" can irk me. I am one of those PC gamers who only has a mid range PC, and as long as I am getting 20 FPS or higher, I am satisfied, whereas TB will scream his head off if he has anything less than 70.

 

[Metalix]

Why isnt there an option which mixes the top and bottom choices?
because thats what he is.

but i do like most of his videos..... except when he goes off o the deep end and says games are broken because they dont have the almighty FOV slider of destiny.

[EDIT]
and id say as far as how cynical he is.... he about average for a Brit if that

 

[Karoshi]

I like his videos and find his reviews quite informative, but I don't agree with some of his opinions. Like - "Dear Esther is not a game". Wonderful argument. Does being a not-game make it automatically bad? Different kind of games for different people.

But... that's what he said. He doesn't like Dear esther because it's not a game. He never said it was bad or people are dumb for liking it, just that he didn't like it and thought they marketed it wrong.

As I said, he keeps it polite, supports his opinion with arguments and presents it with style, and I respect him for that. But if I want an opinion on state of gaming or whether a game is really good, he's not going to be my first pick. Still, I occasionally check out his videos for lesser known games.

Finally remembered what the second topic was on which I disagreed with him. Pre-orders. Imo, preordering every single game is stupid, but in some cases it's well-worth the risk. Granted, I did not watch the full video of his about this issue, but in the end I think I've heard most arguments.

 

[scorptatious]

He has made an impact on my perspective on certain things, such as day-one DLC. (How could I have been so stupid?!)

Same here. I couldn't really see the disadvantage of pre-ordering before, but he brought up some really good points on that subject.

From now on, I'll wait for the reviews before I purchase a game.

 

[Mullac]

Haven't really watched many of his videos, as I never need to or want to. They few I have seen have been funny, although I do sometimes think he stresses and almost 'puts on' his cynical side.

 

[Mr Cwtchy]

I think he's a guy who talks about stuff on Youtube. Can't say I have much more of an opinion of him than that.

 

[spacewalker]

He does seem to try to be constructive in what he does, which i can appreciate.
I do occasionally get useful information from watching the shows.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Well, you know. The guy has a strong opinion. He's also not swayed by ad revenue and gives you his honest, unfiltered impression of the games he plays.

Like Tom Chick, Total Biscuit is the kind of game reviewer people should want MORE of. Not because he's a nice guy, or because you agree with everything he says, but because he'll give it to you straight, even if "it" is a complete skewering of a game you think merits praise.

 

[Smooth Operator]

I find he really tries to be honest, intelligent and informative to the extent he finds necessary, seems to be pretty much the only one realizing games have technical aspects that are crucial to the bloody experience.

But he is still human so he is prone to outburst of pure ego, and he often takes the anti-popular opinion role and starts (t)rolling with it which can get pretty damn grating, also a bit too obsessive with business and that can lead to some really bad ideas down the line.
However he still keep a healthy attitude towards criticism and improvement so he might just be fine, or end up running a tyrannic media conglomerate that will dwarf EA itself... we can never really know.