Aaron Strife
Banned
I forget if Jon got the voice part as a Kickstarter reward (there was a certain tier, well into the thousands of dollars, that let you be a voice-over in the game) or if they just offered it to him.Dude, I played Banjo Kazooie back in the day! The game was the least political game you could ask for in a year that delivered Resident Evil 2, Metal Gear Solid, and Tekken 3.
It blows my mind. Are these the same people who were up in arms over censorship in games after Columbine, because ironically, they now seem to align with the Jack Thompsons of the world.
I, and I'm sure, many others here have grown up on coarse entertainment mediums that were anti politically correct. I watched Married....with Children and Benny Hill. I was a fan of Bill Hicks and Sam Kinison, and was a regular fan of Howard Stern back in the 1990's. I, and many others, were what you'd consider a nerd in all the classic sense possible. But I never verged into racism or misogyny. I did find solace in videogames, yes, but I was never consumed by them to the extent that my life centered on them exclusively. But at the same time, I never had multiplayer options. Anyone Genesis owners back in the day remember how Sega would market their forthcoming modem? It was like this sublime innovation that would change everything. I'm still that way. I never liked online gameplay and felt that it hobbled the singleplayer version of a game.
It's really fucked up how this hobby has grown and degenerated over the past decade. Not that I ever needed this hobby to be validated by the mainstream to give meaning to my life, but it was kind of cool to have it acknowledged in pop culture without all the usual baggage associated with the hobby, and it's a shame that we're almost back to square one in that regard.
I have to admit that Gamergate flew under my radar. But the particular details that I've since brushed up on really seem to amount to petty shit. I can't believe that this became what it ultimately became. So I am paying some attention to how this present situation will play out with Yooka Laylee.
I really loved Banjo Kazooie back in the day and wish Playtonic nothing but success for Yooka Laylee, but this almost seems like a self inflicted wound that they could have otherwise avoided. I'm not blaming them. It was a naive mistake on their part, but what were the net positives of bringing aboard a Youtube personality in the first place? I support their desire to distance themselves from anyone that could taint their product, but it concerns me that this could end up becoming another alt-right fiasco.... over a fucking Banjo Kazooie clone no less.
Jon hasn't been a stranger to PC-related controversy (first "episode" I seem to remember was him flipping out at people asking him not to use the word "retarded" like three years ago) but the fucking batshit alt-right, white supremacy stuff didn't really rear its head until recently.
He's also friends with Grant Kirkhope, one of the composers for the game (who also composed Banjo-Kazooie). Although Grant is fairly left-leaning so who knows if that's the case now.