OddballGreg - Video Game High School (A RocketJump Production)

An image of the Video Game High School logo, nefariously borrowed from http://lazytechguys.com/news/vghs-is-on-netflix-now. Muhuhuhuhuhuhua. 

Ever wondered what it would be like to go to a high school that was all about playing video games and being the best at them? Welcome to Video Game High School, the low-budget but fantastically awesome and entertaining web-series from Freddie Wong.

About 3 years ago when I was still fairly new to being able to watch video's on YouTube at any time,(Uncapped internet at decent speeds costing what they do in South Africa), one of the YouTube channels that drew my attention quite significantly was what was, back then, simply called "Freddie W". Freddie W would make video game skits where he would take situations typically found in video games and the like and record a live action version of those type of events, which he then edited afterwards to give it that awesome video game appeal. Of all the countless channels I have watched on YouTube, only his channel, which is now called RocketJump and another channel called Corridor Digital, had done anything like that. At least as far as I know.

In any case, fast forward to the present, and things had changed since I'd last watched Freddie Wong's channel. (For starters it's called RocketJump now.) Having been busy with a wide variety of other things, blogging included, the kickstarter funded web series Video Game High School had eluded my attention until today.

Let me just be frank and say it. This show... IS AWESOME. Made on a budget several times smaller than most series these days, Video Game High School, or VGHS for short, is a well made and thoroughly entertaining take on the idea "What would it be like to go to a school for playing video games?"

Complete with a talented selection of actors, a fantastic storyline, some great use of gamer jargon and brilliant video graphics makes for a well rounded and thoroughly entertaining series complete with equal parts humor and intensity which honestly left me leaning in close to my screen to see what comes next. (Something that few shows do these days.) I will admit I'm probably biased because of all the gamer styled inside jokes and references makes me giggle like a schoolgirl who know's more than she should about male anatomy, but that's part of the appeal. If you consider yourself a gamer than you will definitely enjoy what is one of the few pieces of fiction these days which really focuses on gaming as it's central plot device. (Gamer and Noobz being the only others that readily come to mind.)

In any case, I'm going to stop sounding like a fanboy and let you watch the epic first episode of Video Game High School above, and then place a convenient link to the RocketJump YouTube page so that you can go watch all the other episodes in one day like I did today. (Teehee) It's definitely worth watching.

Of course, if it wasn't (which I doubt), or it was (which I mostly guarantee), do make sure to let us know down in the comments below, or via Facebook/Twitter. We here at TCSA love to hear your feedback. And if you have any gamer friends who you think would enjoy watching a gamer oriented show, feel free to share this article with them aswell. I'm sure they will appreciate it. Of course, if you yourself would like to read more articles about awesome stuff on the web like this one, consider liking the Official TCSA Facebook page and/or following us on Twitter using the associated buttons on the bar to the left to get all the latest posts, as they're published. Regardless of what you do, I thank you for having taken the time to read this post; hope that you have/had and absolutely FANTASTIC day, and I will speak again soon.

Enjoy the show my friends.

OddballGreg - Late Night Gaming Sessions

Payday: The Heist banner from http://starbreeze.com/games/payday-the-heist/. Complete with Hoxton rocking a clown mask and devil horns hand gesture. You can just feel the friendliness as a new batch of coulrophobia sets in..

Any gamer will tell you how easy it is to lose track of time when you're having fun. Recently, we here at TCSA discovered that Late Night Gaming Sessions aren't the greatest of idea's when you've got work to do and blog posts to write. Let's talk about that.

A few days ago, I noticed that the Starbreeze made game Payday: The Heist was going for the absolute steal of roughly R50 for 4 copies on the (in)famous game online distribution store, Steam. (I say roughly because that's a rounded number from after we converted the price from dollars.)

Of course, having heard about the huge reputation Payday has for being an awesome co-op game, and having played games like Left 4 Dead which are very much similar in gameplay, I saw no reason as to why we should pass up the opportunity to net 4 copies of a great game on the cheap. (I do not regret this decision.) Steam sales are notorious for the way they encourage people to open their wallets. (Or beg their friends to open theirs such as in this case. Teehee. Thanks JovialJman.)

In any case, a day or so after downloading Payday, backing it up to a flash and distributing the game files to my fellow would-be-criminals who were gifted the additional copies of Payday, it was decided that it would be fun to at last, try the game out and play a couple games while talking over Skype. Now, I don't mean to say we weren't thinking at this point. I will however, point out that Payday is a disgustingly huge amount of fun to play with friends, and the cumulative result of what supposed to be a couple games was a nine hour long Skype call and gaming session which resulted in myself, JovialJman and my brother being severely incapacitated for the next few days. (Friday, Saturday, Today to a lesser degree.)

As it turns out, planning bank heists, leveling up your criminal characters and just having a regular ball as you realize, for the 10th time in a row, that someone just hit a panic button and the S*** has just hit the fan again, can become rather addictive, even when we all knew we had things to do the next day. My brother and I were going to a friends place for the weekend and JovialJman had to work the next day. Suffice to say, I was unable to stay awake any later than 7pm and JovialJman was unable to work properly or write his already late post. Unfortunately, since I was not at home and had ruined my ability to write any posts while I was still at home, it would not be until today that I could finally write this post and finally publish it late. JovialJman is also in the process of, or already has, published his post from Friday as well.

Suffice to say, one 9 hour gaming session was the most schedule damaging thing we had ever done (yet.) Thankfully, part of the joy of the job is that we aren't getting yelled at for it. Though we are sorry for letting anyone down if they were looking forward to reading some new posts these past few days. On the upside, you'll be getting all the posts that should have been up, as well as the new posts as per our schedule in the next couple days, so better late than never right? (Please don't hit me.)

In any case, perhaps I shall do a proper review of Payday: The Heist in the upcoming few days considering it has the honor of being the first game to actually put us here at TCSA behind schedule. If you would like us to do so, or simply wish to moan at us for being so silly, do be sure to do so down in the comments below, or via Facebook/Twitter. If you have any friends who might be interested in reading up about Payday and perhaps seeing if it might be a game that they would enjoy playing, consider sharing this post with them so that they can see just how fun it can be. Of course, if you yourself would like to read that review, or any other of our posts, as they come out, consider liking the Official TCSA Facebook page and/or following us on Twitter to get all the latest posts, as they're published. Regardless of what you do, I thank you for having taken the time to read this post; hope that you have/had an absolutely FANTASTIC day, and I will speak again soon.

Work hard and work first my friends.