Saturday, October 27, 2012

In Memoriam: Bandai and G4


Death is not a pretty thing to every one's eyes... well to the minute minority that think it's great, go eat a ham you sick bastards. To many things, humans cherish life as a thing that happens and keep on striving to keep that life. However, among the darkness something is going to pull the rug under whatever and eventually it will shrivel up, decay and inevitably cease to be.  It's different for businesses, but the philosophy is still the same.

Today I am mourning not one, but two entities who I have acknowledged an existence to which I shared myself with: G4 and Bandai.

First let's get the nitty gritty out of the way. Rumor has it that G4 is dead. The people behind the scenes are planning to restructure it to be more GQ-eque and for the "modern men" of today, but still keep on the "roots" of what it was. In other words, less Spike Jr. MTV and more Style/Bravo. It is unfortunate to me that G4 has lost it's life, but long ago it lost it's soul in my eyes. Sad also that it has to die at times like this.

Back in 2002, I was but a naive 18 year old attending high school. In my small room with but a small black and white TV did I tune to channel 44 in which there was a preview of a new channel hitting cable named G4, TV for Gamers. It was very exciting because as a gamer, I have yearned for programming that catered to my gaming lifestyle. In April 2002 G4 was born with 13 original programs that went to specific parts of gaming that I never explored before. Judgement Day was one of them. If it weren't for G4, I wouldn't have met Tommy Tallarico with his in your face attitude and lineage and wouldn't have inspired me to break out of my shell and become more vocal with my own opinions. A trait that everyone on the Internet now has made some kind of capital off of. The other shows which I checked out such as Blister with The Sindelar, Arena's competitive gaming that exploded in other countries later on, Portal which was about a loosely written story about someone fighting against an AI or villain in certain MMO worlds such as Anarchy Online or Sims, Icons which was like E! True Hollywood Story but with games, and many more. It was a gamer's paradise and I couldn't have it any other way.

Come 2004, G4 was struggling to keep in ratings. Sounds typical of cable TV since nights were dedicated to infomercials. Then comes in TechTV a channel located near my home of San Francisco. I saw it had a better history with a more experienced crew behind it. Adam Sessler was among them who I grew to respect as a journalist. G4 bought TechTV and merged. It was alright to combine both the shows of games and tech since they kinda go hand in hand, but something started rotting from within.

Back in 2004, months after the merging, there was this game which I have had some history with selling called Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. It was a game that popularized the "urban" setting and began a slew of run of the mill games that cashed in on that fad. Not just games, but everyone else too. It got so out of hand that G4techtv started showing something called the Whip Set. Import cars basically. Then came more sad news that more shows began to lose their balance and got cut. Judgement Day/Reviews on The Run was also one of them. After the Xmas rush of 2004, more sad news came in the form of "changes" in the channel's lineup. Every single show that was part of the programming list was scrapped for more "male orientated shows" and in 2006 did it lose me to the now superior Screwattack. For the stragglers that kept on despite the fact that it wasn't the same game anymore, it took you this long to realize this was once a channel about video games?

So with one fell swoop of DirectTV saying gtfo to G4 and a few more people losing interest, I can now purify a headstone with G4's logo on it. I know I joked about having a grave with G4 on the headstone in my backyard, but it was real and it was starting to laugh at me. Good riddance to Network Decay.



It was unfortunate that all those rumors have been confirmed by a few reputable gaming sites and Xplay/Attack of the Show will be canned by the end of the year. One wonders though what the switch to a channel catered towards the "Modern Man" would be. Could it be the Yuppie type? The Redneck...I'm sorry Country Music Star type? The Jock? The people of a certain village in San Franciso who loves the smell of their own farts? The lazy rare game hunter/college student? Those loud "Harley Riders" outside my house who won't shut the hell up? Or are you going for the hipster scene which consists of high brow noses and unironic clothing that make even the most uncouth clothing look more sohpisticated? What about the tomboys of the world? As far as I'm concerned, they are as modernly manly as anyone else. Heck even those who watch Princess Tutu while drinking tea eating a manwich reading Equestria Daily with their pinkies up are a god among the manliest of men. Will I see what this switch has in store, probably not. Dead is dead, best move on.



The other loss for the American shores is Bandai. Rather sad that they decided to cut with the us market and focus more locally in Japan. For over 10 years, Bandai was the place that provided some quality dvds of anime with dubs of "high caliber". It was through this that many voice actors got their start. Through Bandai did many start considering it as an entity rather than a company. You know, like a hypothetical anthromorphized high school student. Some of the acquisitions were great, and then there were some duds *coughcoughTekkenBloodVengeancecoughcough*

Back in the day when I was the innocent naive tender age of... 16, I saw Bandai for the first time at a Suncoast. Back then it was known as Anime Village which has actual VHS releases of shows that briefly appeared on Fox Kids. Shows like Escaflowne were the real deal since I didn't know the show was censored beyond unwatchable, so I thought I check it out in it's entirety on tape. Maybe it was the prudent self inside me that preferred to see things uncut, but watching the show made me appreciate not only the fact that the show was more violent then led on, but Dilandau sounded like a girl in both languages even though he was a guy who was actually Allen's sister... It's been decades, everyone should know it by now, get over it damn it!

Years later Bandai grew as a legitimate company despite having a small presence to a niche market compared to, oh movies and music. On the other hand, anime is no different than any show that appears on TV. It's just a TV show that aired in Japan, and TV shows have their own market of selling box setsand merchandise... that is until now.

In between 2004 till now, even older than that I guess, Bandai had to combat fansubs which became dominant as the go to place for instant gratification of watching anime. Sure the debate of dub vs sub still rages on, though it shouldn't because on this side of the pond someone minor as say Michael Sinterniklaas aka Dean mofo' Venture and... what the! A Lost Child in 13?! Are you serious?! goes on to make a career of his own, and succeeds.

Not only did Bandai have to struggle with pirates and a small market, but it was just too much to invest and they eventually announced earlier this year that the US division is closing it's doors. There's still the toy division and Namco/Bandai is still a thing. It's only at this point in the future that we see some things perish due to negligence, heel turns, and losing the battle against opposing forces (pirates). Why couldn't Bandai fight them with Ninjas or legal ways?

And so as we depart with 2 influential entities to the great beyond, I have this to say to each of them. G4? You done fucked up. You could have prevented this and kept on your original lineage, but you didn't and you mocked Keith Apicary at E3 by booting him out! All he was looking for was the Dreamcast 2 you bastards! I'm glad your dead. Screwattack Banzai! 1 Chinko machine hit to the nads... out of 5

Bandai, it was a fun ride. You bought joy to many and a plethora of politics and debates among the community and fanbase. For that I thank you. This Suzaku Seal of Awesome is hereby yours. See ya space cowboy. Bang.