Ninjas, Japan’s historical hitmen, were originally meant to be stealthy assassins, striking in the night and then disappearing into the shadows. I’m not sure what changed between 12th century Japan and 1980s Hong Kong, but by the time cult movie director Godfrey Ho was through with ninjas, they were white guys wearing bright red and yellow Halloween costumes, racing to the top of mountains and bellowing “NINJAAAA” into the sky. That’s one of many bizarre, hilarious scenes that pops up again and again like a meme in the mixtapes of Forgotten_VCR, a Twitch channel that mostly eschews videogames in favor of pulp cinema streamed from actual VHS tapes three nights a week.
The Forgotten_VCR Twitch channel started as a convenient way for the streamer, who has asked me to refer to him with the simple nickname ‘VCR’, to watch video tapes at his desk—he’s currently a university professor by day—without hauling the hardware into his office. “I thought it sounded like a Metal Gear-y name for what I was doing,” he says. “I did that for a couple months, and then people started tuning in.”
VCR tested the waters with a compilation of toy commercials he’d play on Saturday mornings, and then in mid-2019, he started making mixtapes, cutting together absurd scenes from infamously bad ninja movies, ’80s tech commercials, wrestling, super sentai, and other oddities lurking in his tape collection. A year later he’s made more than 50, and 200-300 viewers will tune in on a Sunday night eager to see a new tape played live.
Denne historien er fra December 2020-utgaven av PC Gamer US Edition.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra December 2020-utgaven av PC Gamer US Edition.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Special Report- Stacked Deck - Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big.
Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big. Four years later, its successor Inkbound’s launch from Early Access was looking more like Sandwich Big.I’m not just saying that because of the mountain of lamb and eggplants I ate while meeting with developer Shiny Shoe over lunch, to feel out what the aftermath of releasing a game looks like in 2024. I mean, have I thought about that sandwich every day since? Yes. But also, the indie team talked frankly about the struggle of luring Monster Train’s audience on board for its next game.
SCREENBOUND
How a 5D platformer went viral two months into development
OLED GAMING MONITORS
A fresh wave of OLED panels brings fresh options, greater resolutions and makes for even more impressive gaming monitors
CRYSIS 2
A cinematic FPS with tour de force visuals.
PLOD OF WAR
SENUA’S SAGA: HELLBLADE 2 fails to find a new path for its hero
GALAXY QUEST
HOMEWORLD 3 is a flashy, ambitious RTS, but some of the original magic is missing
FAR REACHING
Twenty years ago, FAR CRY changed the landscape of PC gaming forever.
THY KINGDOM COME
SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE is the culmination of decades of FromSoftware RPGs, and a gargantuan finale for ELDEN RING
KILLING FLOOR 3
Tripwire Interactive's creature feature is back
IMPERFECTLY BALANCED
Arrowhead says HELLDIVERS 2 balancing patches have 'gone too far'