Kings and Queens of Geekery

Ladies and Gentlemen in the Playground.

Being a geek/nerd has become something different in our culture today, even to the point where certain people have been able to profit greatly off of hosting things as simple as a series of online shows, webcomics, or other media.

Coming from the Starcraft community, the people I'm referring to are Day9, HuskyStarcraft, and DjWheat.

I'm kind of looking to expand my horizons, so can you fine folk recommend people who are just generic geeks who specialize in their area of geekdom for the enjoyment of others?

If you come from the StarCraft background, you'll likely have heard of husky's roommate Rosanna Pansino, who has a regular show called 'Nerdy Nummies' where she bakes cakes and other foods with a distinct nerdy/geeky theme (for instance Captain America cake, StarCraft cake, Pokemon cupcakes and she even made a complete Settler of Catan board setup with cupcakes with the help of Day[9]).

One regular Youtube show that I've started following is TableTop, hosted by Wil Wheaton and part of the Geek&Sundry project started by Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton.
Every second Thursday, Wil hosts three YouTube celebrities or other geeky celebrities (past guests have included Steven Jackson (the creator of Munchkin, amongst other games), Sean "Day[9]" Plott, Mythbuster's Grant Imahara, Bill Prady, the co-creator of Big Bang Theory and Felicia Day to name but a few) where they try old or new board games and have a generally good time.

Geek&Sundry has other shows as well, such as 'Written by A Kid' where they take a story as told by a kid, and actually make a film out of it, and also the Flog, where Felicia Day does stuff that interests her.
G&S has plenty good stuff to watch, including Swords and Lasers, a show that is like a book club, and Dark Horse Motion Comics.

Hope that gives you a bit of inspiration. :smallbiggrin:

The fellows on the BlueXephos channel on YouTube, namely Simon and Lewis, are a very popular source for all things Minecraft. Although Minecraft may be their meat and potatoes, the channel isn't solely dedicated to that game as they do expo other games, like an alpha of the upcoming Paradox Interactive game, War of the Roses.

I'd nominate Rym from the Geeknights podcast. The range of geekeries is so broad on that show and the things he gets up to in his personal life range from running a corporation, travelling the world to convention panels and sports. He's a future David Xanatos I tell you!

Doug Walker, aka Thatguywiththeglasses has profited quite well. He started with a webshow called Nostalgia Critic where he reviewed old movies in a humorous fashion. Now he seems to make quite a bit of money with his web channel, which is hosting dozens of webshows, has its own studio and placed him on magazine cover as the young entrepreneur of the year.

Gabe and Tycho of Penny Arcade are huge as well. I haven't read the webcomic in ages, but they host several web shows as well, now, and they have their own game convention.

I personally enjoy Graham Stark and Paul Saunders' (and their assorted friends') web show LoadingReadyRun on The Escapist quite a bit, and they are hosting several things, now. Among them video game news/comedy hybrid Checkpoint on Penny Arcade.

Man every time I start feeling like I can safely call myself a geek I hear a bunch of people go way geekier then I have ever been (probably). Will I ever truly belong to this culture?

Do you also assume that you can't possibly play sport because there are people who are better at it than you? :smallconfused:

As for geek culture, I also follow the Yogscast (Sjin and Sips are arguably better at the whole geek culture thing than Lewis and Simon are) and TotalBiscuit--the latter looks at things from a much more serious perspective.

Psy (PsyStarcraft) and Zai (ZaiSC2K) (brothers) both commentate for Starcraft 2, they're awesome and funny. Especially since Zai is often drunk :smallbiggrin:

Also TotalBiscuit 'cause his Terraria Play with Jesse Cox is amazingly hilarious. Haven't finished it yet though, so more hilarity to come! :smallbiggrin:

Does it count for geekyness if I'm subscribed to 'ForOrchestra' 'cause they change modern songs into awesome Orchestral version? :smalltongue:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mynxae

Does it count for geekyness if I'm subscribed to 'ForOrchestra' 'cause they change modern songs into awesome Orchestral version? :smalltongue:

---

*listens to ForOrchestra. Passes out from awesome. Awakens some time later.*
I say yes.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mynxae

Does it count for geekyness if I'm subscribed to 'ForOrchestra' 'cause they change modern songs into awesome Orchestral version? :smalltongue:

---

Have you heard of the Vitimin String Quartet? They have a huge library of covered pop songs that are absolutely awesome.

Man I thought I was geek, but I haven't heard of any of this stuff.

I only just discovered Vi Hart, but her fun mathy videos are completely awesome, such as Doodling in Math Class: Squiggle Inception, How to Snakes and What is up with Noises?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by factotum

Do you also assume that you can't possibly play sport because there are people who are better at it than you? :smallconfused:

As for geek culture, I also follow the Yogscast (Sjin and Sips are arguably better at the whole geek culture thing than Lewis and Simon are) and TotalBiscuit--the latter looks at things from a much more serious perspective.

---

I never really got how people enjoyed the Yogcast. They seem utterly pedantic about what ever they cover and filled with forced enthusiasm. It's like they're playing characters that don't really care for all the time. I prefer the Dead Workers Party or the Mindcrack group (Specifically Pauseunpause, Vintage Beef and Guude Boulderfist) for Minecraft related stuff.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tebryn

They seem utterly pedantic about what ever they cover and filled with forced enthusiasm.

---

The only one of the Yogscast who I would say fits that description is Lewis, but then, you need somebody to counterbalance Simon's tendency to go loopy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by factotum

The only one of the Yogscast who I would say fits that description is Lewis, but then, you need somebody to counterbalance Simon's tendency to go loopy.

---

Ya, I don't particularly know the names of them both since I don't frequent them but I find Lewis's straight man to be the less annoying of the two by far. Simon is really the aspect of the Yogcast that I can't stand. I understand they're well respected in the minecraft community and some of the things that build are awesome but I can't sit through even a minute of Simon screeching.

I'm amazed the Escapist hasn't been mentioned yet... At least watch for Zero Punctuation by Yahtzee (you Charismatic stallion) on gamereviews and Movie Bob for movies and cinematics.

I'm not sure I like the concept of 'kings an queens' of geekery. It rather pigeon holes media industry workers and works as 'geeky', making it harder to introduce them to people who might be initially leery of them.
At least that's my thoughts on the matter.
To continue my blasphemy, Joss Whedon is meh to me, My Little Pony is . . .not my thing, and Ben 'Yahtzee' Croshaw needs to go back to making horror games with Adventure Game Studio.

Wait...there are people who actually LIKE Yahtzee :eek:?

Yahtzee is quite a lot of fun at times. His reviews are often pretty good for telling me if I'll like a game or not (even his negative ones are good - some of the negative reviews have me thinking "Ooo, sounds fun" and they have been.)

Yogscast has been mentioned - I like Duncan for his ability to know stuff, Like Simon and Lewis because I find Simon amusing, and Hannah for being ridiculously adorable.

Tabletop is another good one, although it's hit and miss on whether the guests are good or not - most of the time I like them, but some (*cough* munchkin with Felicia Day and Steve Jackson) were stupidly annoying.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Maxios

Wait...there are people who actually LIKE Yahtzee :eek:?

---

Ya? Or he wouldn't have a web series.

Plenty of webseries that no one really likes. All you need is a youtube account.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SDF

Plenty of webseries that no one really likes. All you need is a youtube account.

---

Said web series don't usually end up having thousands or even millions of views, though...unless you're suggesting there are an awful lot of masochists who watch stuff they don't like just for the lulz? :smallsmile:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Maxios

Wait...there are people who actually LIKE Yahtzee :eek:?

---

guilty

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Castaras

Yahtzee is quite a lot of fun at times. His reviews are often pretty good for telling me if I'll like a game or not (even his negative ones are good - some of the negative reviews have me thinking "Ooo, sounds fun" and they have been.)

snip.

---

His reviews are definately funny, Especially the Fifa 13 one, I laughed my freaking balls off

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SDF

Plenty of webseries that no one really likes. All you need is a youtube account.

---

Now this is normally true, but I think, a web magazine wouldn't pay you money to just review games on their site, with their media, with their money if no-one would like you doing that...

I mean he's on the Escapist, not on youtube...

H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society has songs like

I saw mommy kissing Yog-Sothoth

Go Summon Up the Dead Ones

Silent Night, Blasphemous Night

I'm Dreaming of a Dead City

Great Old Ones are Coming to Town

All I Want For Solstice Is My Sanity