Angry Gamer

Angry Gamer is a community-based gaming website established January 2, 2006 and is updated twice every weekday by the site's moderators. It boasts a much darker, cynical nature than its peers and predecessors though its editorial stance of being an independent publication, angry at their favourite hobby. The site also features a derogatory remark against a long standing games publisher in its mission statement. Its editorial style is different from some other gaming publications with its focus on retrogaming, independent game development and the substitution of in game screen shots with pictures of Alyson Hannigan. Though the site does include bitter reviews and editorial opinions on both current gaming culture, industry news and game releases.

A weekly podcast has been running on the site since February 2006.

Notoriety

The site has gained a level of infamy as a result of its editorial policies, and news stories it reported. On several occasions various fans have written in and attacked Angry-Gamer for its review policies and opinions, as have varying sizes of development and publishing houses.

One such incident took place in August 2006 with Electronic Arts posting a $97m loss for the previous financial quarter. Angry Gamer held a virtual telethon on the site, and all advertising revenue and donations were forwarded to the company. A total of $3.02 was raised. [ [http://www.angry-gamer.net/ag/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46&Itemid=46 Angry-Gamer.net - We Really Sent This ] ] The aftermath of this event brought about mixed critism with Angry Gamer and only helped to prevent EA's support of the review website in the future.

Additionally, the review of Trackmania United drew criticism from the game's developer, Nadeo, due to its score of 0/10. [ [http://www.angry-gamer.net/ag/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=353&Itemid=46 Angry-Gamer.net - About All This Trackmania United Nonsense ] ] This score was awarded on the basis that the game used StarForce copy protection. Nadeo proceeded to allege that the review was based on inaccurate information, despite multiple letters of endorsement for Angry Gamer's review and hundreds of witness accounts. [ [http://www.joystiq.com/2006/12/12/starforce-causes-0-10-review-for-game/ StarForce causes 0/10 review for game - Joystiq ] ]

A news story about the small text used in the multiplayer demo of Capcom's Lost Planet drew attention from fans of the game and the game's developers. [ [http://kotaku.com/gaming/capcom/capcom-screws-sdtv-users-the-sequel-217066.php Capcom Screws SDTV Users: The Sequel ] ] While Capcom did not attribute Angry Gamer as the reason,verify credibility|date=December 2007 the company issued a story saying the text size will be increased in the final version of the game a short while later. This issue would again show itself with Capcom's release of Dead Rising, an issue again attacked by Angry Gamer and the same story being stated again by Capcom.

Last year, Angry Gamer covered the Australian PlayStation 3 launch, describing it as "an unmitigated disaster". The story drew attention from other gaming news sites, [ [http://www.ps3info.co.uk/australian-ps3-launch-unmitigated-disaster/ ps3info.co.uk » Blog Archive » Australian PS3 Launch - Unmitigated Disaster ] ] despite Sony claiming the launch was a success. This marked Angry Gamer's first product coverage launch and herald wide fan support due to Angry Gamer being the only people to cover the Brisbane launch. This incident would soon be followed by a Dear John letter to Sony, marking the end of Angry Gamer's relationship with the company. [ [http://kotaku.com/gaming/angry-gamer/i-will-sony-no-more-forever-angry-gamer-dumps-the-big-s-199079.php I Will Sony No More Forever: Angry Gamer Dumps the Big S ] ]

Recently Angry Gamer has popped up again with their coverage of the Auran rumour regarding their forclosure. The article providing wide spread debate and industry buzz being the first to report the news. [ [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/79680 The Escapist : News : Auran Sticking Around For Awhile, CEO Says ] ] [ [http://kotaku.com/gaming/rumor/auran-on-life-support-%5Bupdated%5D-330643.php Rumor: Auran On Life Support? [UPDATED ] ]

In relation to its size, Angry Gamer is surprisingly well connected to the enthusiast gaming press, the site even having participated in the 1UP Yours E3 2006 podcast. This is probably a result of the fact the sites founders are employed in the game development industry, a fact that is downplayed on the site but not ultimately denied, much like with its peer sites, One Life Left, Player One Podcast, UK Resistance, Old Man Murray and many others.

Review style

Angry Gamer's review policy differs from other gaming websites in many ways.

Firstly, it gives equal billing to reviews written by its editorial staff and its readership. Additionally, it has been stated that if a publisher sends game in, Angry Gamer guarantees to review it, along with if a publisher/developer has advertising on Angry Gamer, that this fact gets mentioned at the start of the review. Secondly, the review style is more conversational in tone than a regular review. It has been claimed that the editor advised writers to "write as if you're drunk, or talking about your favorite game with your friends at the bar". Thirdly, review scores are largely ignored or used as parody. Some games are rated by how many copies of Halo 2 the reviewer would trade in for the game, while others are rated in accordance to how many drinks were required in order to enjoy it. A numerical score out of a million has become standard, a play on the arbitrary numbers used in conventional review scores, though the permanent review staff have since amended this stance, now refusing to provide review scores at all.

Podcast

The Angry Gamer Podcast is released every Monday. It is typically between ten and fifteen minutes long, though recently the show has been climbing to thirty minutes. The show is currently in its forth season.

Season one featured reviews, impromptu rants and fake gaming celebrity guest appearances with the show hosted by Cameron, Clint, George and Michelle. In season two the show lost Michelle and moved to an almost entirely pre-scripted format, with Cameron, Clint, George and Tina. Now in Season 4 (with the Angry Gamer crew swearing never to do Season 3), the team of Cameron, Clint & George are back (Tina having left during the break) and the show has returned back to is previous format of gaming news, impromptu rants, fake gaming celebrity guest appearances and some scripted comedy.

The show is perhaps most well known for its impersonations of video game developers, including:

*Peter Molyneux, who once stole Cameron's taxi cab at the 2000 E3. The fictional version then proceeds to steal everything else within reach, including other people's ideas.
*Mike Hunt, a knock on the Sid Meier and American McGee pastime of adding the designers name to the start of a video game title.
*H.R. Huffenstuff, a slick viral marketer who always wants to give a shout out but is rarely met with enthusiasm.
*Nintendo President Reggie Fils-Aime. The Angry Gamer Podcast version depicts him as a maniacal extreme sports loving, pro-wrestler type.
*PlayStation creator Ken Kutaragi, who continually tries to think of new ways to destroy the Angry Gamer crew for bad-mouthing his products.
*Gamestradamus, an all knowing prophet of video games, boasting success and failure of gaming titles and industry movement before it happens.
*King Bowser, villain from the Super Mario Brothers series of video games. King Bowser answers questions from the listeners.
*Professor Manfred of Manfred gaming university. He know everything, at least, that's what his website says.

Recognition

The site was named "Website Of The Month" by the Official Australian Xbox Magazine in its October 2006 issue. [Official Australian Xbox Magazine, October 2006]

References

External links

* Angry Gamer's [http://www.angry-gamer.net Website]