So I've Been Retsupurae'd...

     If you know what retsupurae is, then you should know what's coming, if not, I'll explain what it is. Retsupurae is an intentionally engrish take on the words "Let's Play," which is a term people use when playing a game alongside commentary and upload those recordings on YouTube (usually). The actual definition of Retsupurae is taking a poor quality let's play and riffing it ala Mystery Science Theatre 3000 style. It started on the Something Awful forums and since then it's been a substantial hit, reaching thousands of views every video. I'm not exactly sure who started, but the main guys that usually do these videos are Slowbeef and Diabetus. Here's an example from someone I actually know who got Restupurae'd:

The YouTube comments tend to be mostly about the argument over how "herb" is pronounced though

     Of course, these aren't the only two guys that do this. Also from SA are Chip and Ironicus, who started out making Let's Plays (same with the other SA Retsupuraers if I'm not mistaken) and started doing them too with ChipCheezumSA. They do nearly identical types of video, but cover their own findings. Here's a fairly recent example of these two:

Do not adjust your monitor, what you are seeing is real

     Now as a fan of MST3K and riffing in general, I enjoy their work and been subscribed to both channels for quite a while. It's amazing sometimes on what they find and hilarious with not only how baffling the person's commentary and/or the person's game quality can be, but also the Retsupuraers commentaries as well. And it's not just let's plays either, they do riffs on other types of videos too, including reviews which, again, you should know what's coming. Remember my Evil Dead Regeneration review? Well...

Yeah...

     ChipCheezumSA did a retsupurae on one of my old reviews. How did I feel...hard to describe. You see, I actually can't stand to look at my older videos I did over two years ago. And this review is no exception. I was an amateur at video and film making like just about everyone who started posting videos on the Internet. I used a very bad quality digital camera as well as my web cam that wasn't really any better, used basic editing programs, stuttered and looked awkward on camera, the script dialog didn't flow at times, I did terrible voice acting during the ending skit, and it was the first time I did live action skits in a review in the beginning and end of the video and it showed. The only decent things that stood out for me was using a capture card for game footage (for retsupurae sake, since most videos that get retsupurae'd have people using camera recordings of game footage), being one of the first scripted reviews, and actually covering most of the game without spoiling the ending. Though it was clear they didn't like that fact I summarised the game instead of giving out more reasons why the game is fun for what it is. Don't worry, I can actually take that as criticism towards future reviews, believe it or not.

     Normally people watching my old shit wouldn't bother me, because despite being one of my most viewed videos, I tend to be obscure, but now I'm exposed to a mass of people that will no doubt ridicule me for this bad review despite the fact the I have improved greatly since Regeneration. However, I have to realise that if I'm going to be exposed in this manner, I might as well try and get my point across and to at least let everyone know that I actually support this in admitting it's a bad review if I want to salvage any dignity and respect. I posted a comment admitting that the review I made was bad and deserves a riffing as well as prove how much I actually despise my old videos. I also explained the lack of proper filming equipment and experience and did the noble thing of saying I didn't get upset by this and that I still enjoy and respect Chip and Ironicus. It's what they do after all. And you know what? It was the highest rated comment and is poof that if you're reasonable, you can still be respected. Hell, I even gotten replies complimenting how noble I was being understandable. Not everyone in the retsupurae community is pack of ravenous hyenas. Let it be known that if you get retsupuraed, try not to get mad or upset, just realise this is entertainment and admit why it was deemed riff-able. It makes you look and feel better, trust me.

     While I may have been surprised and embarrassed by this sudden video in my subscriptions, I've learned to take a grain a salt. In fact, this inspires me even more to shrug off my old habits and focus on improving myself as a reviewer even more. It might be difficult since now my greatest claim to Internet fame is being Retsupurae'd, but I'm still going to press on. Truth be told, as much as my viewers liked my goofy, cheesy antics of my old reviews, I hate it now more than ever and I want nothing to do with them and try to be at least a semi-respective and mature game reviewer. Not to say I won't stop having fun and make jokes in my reviews like my latest ones, it'll still be more or less the same. I just need to do some cleansing, that's all. In fact, I already unlisted or deleted most of my older videos in an attempt to not only cut off people that want to ridicule me even further on my similarly amateur videos, but also to give myself a new image. I don't want "so bad it's funny" I actually want to be legitimately entertaining. I plan to not only redo Regeneration and the whole Evil Dead games arc, but some of the other games I "reviewed" in the past too. Of course, those might take a while to make since they're on top of the other million games I want to review. But hopefully this will get me even more motivated. All I can really do is just get back on the saddle and move on. No need to grovel.

     I guess the final question you might have is; did I find it funny? Again, hard to say personally. It's the usual standard riffing fair and I'm sure others will find it entertaining. But honestly, this was one of the hardest videos I had to force myself to watch. Not because I found it insulting or anything, I was just embarrassed. Though I will admit some of the remarks were amusing to help ease my embarrasement slightly. So to answer the question:

I'm so confused...

     That's about it really. Like I said, I won't try and let this get to me, I'm sure it'll all blow over soon. Hard to believe I finally use my blog again only to tell something like this right?