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In Memory of John "TotalBiscuit" Bain

Started by Numbers, June 11, 2018, 04:31:42 PM

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Numbers



I was saddened to learn that gaming critic and famed YouTuber TotalBiscuit recently passed away from bowel cancer at the young age of 33.

To be fair, I wasn't his biggest fan. He was far from the first person I would turn to for gaming news. In fact, the first video I saw from him was only two years ago, when he was showering praises on DOOM 2016, a game that I think was vastly underappreciated. There were only a couple more videos I saw after that, one of which was recorded footage of him playing Duke Nukem Forever, carefully explaining how dull the gameplay was without shouting at the top of his lungs the way a critic like Angry Joe would. Another one was his playthrough of Duty Calls, a short parody game made by EA Games that mocked the Call of Duty franchise for its now-formulaic playing style, and which was made in place of a demo for EA's then-upcoming shooter Bulletstorm. He personally found Duty Calls to be actually pretty funny, even while acknowledging that a demo for Bulletstorm really should have been what EA was putting time and effort into.

And that's what stood out to me. This guy recognized quality when he saw it. From what I saw of him, he was always putting the customer first, warning people which games they should be paying for, and which ones to skip. He called out gaming companies for their BS regarding pre-order bonuses, making the players pay money for expensive DLC for games that clearly hadn't been completely finished yet--like Battlefront 2015--and marketing that deliberately misleads the gamers into thinking they're going to get one thing, and then gives them something else completely; for example, the Halo 5 trailers.

He was calm and professional, rarely getting assholish the way fellow British game reviewer Yahtzee tends to be, or for that matter, the vast majority of gaming reviewers out there. And when he got mad, it was a sight to behold. He was unbelievably passionate about his work, and it showed in his rants, especially this one:



He also revealed before the release of Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, that typical gaming review sites were forbidden from obtaining early access to the game, whereas popular YouTube personalities were given copies early while simultaneously being put into a contract that required them to be positive about it. If that wasn't a ballsy move to make, I don't know what is.

Long story short, whether you agree with him or not, he made important contributions to gaming culture, contributions that changed how companies treated their consumers, contributions that will continue to affect us players and those companies alike, now, and for the foreseeable future.

To John Bain, TotalBiscuit, the Cynical Brit...rest in peace.
I have no mouth, and I must scream.

snabbott


Steve Abbott | Beta Tester | The Silver Lining

Numbers

Oh good, a spambot. Just what this forum needed, at these darkest of hours.
I have no mouth, and I must scream.

snabbott


Steve Abbott | Beta Tester | The Silver Lining

Numbers

I have no mouth, and I must scream.