Analysis: Video Game Commentary

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Twitter: @CoreAGaming

My deepest thanks to Abdulaziz alhatlani, Abdullah Dakhaikh, Alexander Baumgarten, Alexander Korolev, Amatiramisu, Andres Patino, andrew busby, BlueWaterBlueSky, Cassidy Mrowka, Chris Field, Christian Davis, Clinton's Mom, Daniel Boynton, DantesLink, Darius Longmire, Dekapact, DFC-72, DR.DVD, Elliott Seifert, Erik Fredriksen, Flan, Gart, Gilbert Tang, Greyson Hummel, Hazayami, Jack Vurinars, Jake Garanito, Jamaal Graves, Jamel Adilia, James King, James Moos, Jarred Rodriguez, JD, Jorge Gutierrez, Juan Diego Tavares, Jubs, Justin Mills, Justin Sison, Kajaanan Mahendrarajah, Kameron Monk, Ken Lang, Kevin Verweyen, KILLYIS, Kintuse, Koungnak Baek, Kyle Fisher, LazyMaybe, Lorentz, Macster085, Matt Bahr, Matthew Riley MacPherson, Miguel Obando, Mohammed Jameel, mzrx7, Nathan Palmer, Nogarremi, Octavian Bancescu, Patrick Werner, Pendual, Peter Paik, phil, Play Skullgirls, QWE, Real Soviet Bear, Robert Lara III, Ruined Vision, Ryan Underwood, Sam Sam, Sandro Limaj, SHAD0W, SonicKurosaki, Souk Thongthep, SturmWyvern, Syahir bin Selamat, Thomas White, Toni Pflaum, Tyler Oxtoby, WoodenFence, Yu Gao, Zmaster91, and everyone else who pledged on Patreon!

Thanks to everyone who did an interview with me! Follow them on Twitter!
Clinton 'Paperthin' Bader: @paperthinhere
Max 'Atlus' Anderson: @Atlustv
Spag: @SpaghettiRip
Stephen 'Sajam' Lyon: @Sajam
Nick 'Tasteless' Plott: @CallMeTasteless [Tasteless Podcast: @Tasteless_TV ]
Dan 'Artosis' Stemkoski: @Artosis

Sources:

BGM in order:

Punch Planet - On The Run
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike - Makoto Theme
L'Orange - Antique Gold (Instrumental)
Starcraft II - Heaven's Devils
Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact - Ken & Alex Theme
Punch Planet - Training Stage
Tekken Tag Tournament - Xiaoyu Theme
Starcraft II - Terran 04
Starcraft II - Terran 02
mintcheerios - Ida's Song

[Brian_F]

Me: *jab jab jab jab*

Sf4 announcer: "I'VE NEVER SEEN A COMBO LIKE THIS BEFORE!"

[joshuaworden]

TL;DR: That weird announcer line made sense in Japanese.

For those interested, that weird "the weak lose and the strong win" line from SFIV is (iirc) a translation of 弱肉強食, which is what's called a "four-character idiom." Japanese has a lot of these four-character idioms, and they are usually little bits of wisdom, which is why it got called an "axiom" by the announcer. As an example, one that got absorbed into english is 一石二鳥, literally "one stone, two birds." This one from SFIV gets translated in a lot of weird ways because, if you do it literally, you get "weak meat, strong eat, " which while hilarious, lacks the soul of the original. The translation that I think sounds the best in english is "The weak become food for the strong." Anyway, point is, it didn't sound so weird and awkward in the original language.

Belated edit circa April 2021:
A few have rightly pointed out that the origin of "one stone, two birds" (and the many similar idioms across a variety of languages) is contentious, possibly spreading from Greece, possibly, as I was taught, from China (the birthplace of the four-character idiom), or possibly independently in many places.

[punhodragao]

Core-A: uploads

Me: there is still hope for 2020

[BurnoutFighter]

In the FGC, if a certain tech or combo was discovered, it would become '(insert player's name) special'
Justin Wong's 'Wong Factor' was a thing as well as the 'Daigo Parry'

[ygypt]

"passes it to the man, shoots it, and boom goes the dynamite"

this dude landed the wrong job and he just rolls with it

[SkyTowerKurogane]

Commentary is a really underated part of a lot of different types of media. I remember a few years ago, watching this cliff diving competition, a sport that I think it's kind of neat, but nothing out of the ordinary. But then, the commentary, was so good, they explained the intricacies of the sport, the background of the competitors, tidbits about interviews with the competitors. I stopped what I was doing just to watch. It really makes a big difference.

[tveaux]

As a Starcraft player who recently became interested in fighting games, seeing/hearing Tastetosis was a treat. And that quote about Geoff from Blizzard gets me every single time. Thanks for the feels ❤️ and keep up with the stellar content!

[THEFRISKIESTDINGO]

That line about rewarding the listener for paying attention is spot-on. When a commentator says "there it is again!" you _feel_ like you both watched it together the last time and this time. You're watching this together, _almost like you're friends, _ and why would you leave a friend hanging by tuning out?

[nelozk]

"LOOK AT THE TIME! LOOOK AT THE TIIIIME!"

[Bllyk]

I was like "Woohoo! He uploaded a video finally."

[vDeadbolt]

I know Professional Wrestling is fake, and the reason why commentary exists is that they need to make the match as believable as possible. But I would like to use this time to show some appreciation for commentators.

  Jim Ross is a beloved play by play commentator because of his expressions and how much he is able to "sell" the match to the audience watching at home. His commentator is so good, he makes his partner, Jerry "The King: Lawler sound good. Lawler isn't a good color commentator because most of the time, he makes a ton of misogynistic quotes, and he just randomly yells stuff. He is pretty much a hype man. When he worked with Michael Cole or Joey Styles (Another beloved play by play guy), you can clearly tell that Jim Ross carried him. People claim that after Jim Ross left, matches started to become boring.

   But going on from that, Michael Cole and Tazz are my favorite commentary duo, especially when they both worked on Smackdown. Cole gets a ton of hate for his commentary work today, because of many reasons. It's either that his catchphrases were horrible, he is constantly forced what to say by the higher-ups or his stint where he became a heel (Aka The Bad Guy). Heel commentators work only if it's the color commentator hyping the bad guy up. It creates a yin and yang feel. But when the play by play guy does it, it makes the product even worse. But going back to the duo, Michael Cole and Tazz don't get a lot of appreciation at all when it comes to commentary. But when you look at the older stuff from 2002-2005, you can clearly see how well the two synergized with each other. Cole was able to call his matches, while Tazz actually knew what went on because he recently retired around that time. They made guys like Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guererro, Chris Benoit, Edge, And Kurt Angle much more credible, especially how those guys were not considered to be the top guys until the two commentated their godlike matches. Without those two, Smackdown wouldn't have been a popular show if two less credible guys did the commentary. It made Smackdown much more believable, while Raw was over the top.

[BBQsaucemix]

7:45 "Make some noise for STAAATS!!!"
You split my sides so hard!

[sgm]

me at the start of the video: hell yeah tastosis is in this
me at the end of the video: *crying about incontrol again*

[reinnfrux]

This channel got me into the fgc, while I'm awful I still have a lot of respect for it.

[Xgriphon]

We do love the Artosis pylon... Thank you for including starcraft in this analysis 😊

[Biouke]

I remember when SFIV came out in France we had the amazing Ken Bogard commenting and his energy, passion and style inspired by Japanese commenters was one big factor in the regain in interest to the fighting games genre here. So big shout out to him and the French e-sports community. Also, obligatory

[tekgeekster]

"Ability to stop talking as soon as someone else starts talking"

I would make a great commentator!

[corn]

*Feels like Christmas every time we get a new upload from Core-A...*

[SireOblivion]

Man I was hoping Yipes would have gotten a feature in this. Wonderful video as always.

[duchi]

*"When you love the game enough, you can become a part of it"*

Truest words a Gamer can ever hear