ScrewAttack

ScrewAttack Entertainment LLC is a production studio that creates video game entertainment on YouTube, as well as their website, ScrewAttack.com, which launched February 15, 2006. In addition, ScrewAttack holds a yearly convention dubbed "SGC" in the Dallas, Texas area. Labeled as "The Biggest Party in Gaming", SGC features an array of panels ranging from gaming industry tycoons to YouTube celebrities, as well a 24-hour free-to-play arcade, exhibitor hall, and video game and cosplay tournaments. Recently, ScrewAttack can be found at other various gaming conventions, hosting a smaller free-to-play arcade similar to the ones at SGC.

The ScrewAttack.com website features various original content as well as a variety of third party content from partners. The name and logo are derived from a spinning jump attack of the same name in the Metroid video game series.^[1]

History

Craig Skistimas, founder and former general manager of ScrewAttack

ScrewAttack was created in 2006 by Craig Skistimas and Thomas Hanley. The first show featured on the site was an audio podcast called SideScrollers. Viacom Media Networks acquired rights to some of ScrewAttack’s programming (Top 10's, Video Game Vault and the Angry Video Game Nerd) adding it to their GameTrailers service.^[2] Since working with GameTrailers, ScrewAttack's features have been downloaded over 245 million times from 2007 to 2009.^[3] Overall ScrewAttack's content has been viewed over 1 Billion times through its website and various syndication partners including YouTube, GameTrailers, IGN, Revision 3 and Escapist Magazine.^[4]

In September 2011, ScrewAttack.com launched its new version, "The New ScrewAttack", which features several overhauled interfaces and designs to the website. Another website version, "Phase 2" was officially launched on May 22, 2012. Some of the new features of Phase 2 include the ability to customize profiles and the ability to "subscribe" to other members. Also included is the ability to create shows by uploading videos from the user's preferred video player. On the new profile is the "wall" (similar to the Facebook "wall"), allowing users to post items or comments in a similar manner to social networking sites. There is also a "feed" tab, showing the recent activity of other users that the user has subscribed to.

On March 28, 2014, ScrewAttack was acquired by Fullscreen. With the acquisition, Fullscreen rebranded its gaming-focused hub, Fullscreen Arcade, to ScrewAttack Network.^[5][6][7]

On November 4, 2015, ScrewAttack announced that they would be partnering up and becoming part of Rooster Teeth's family.

On September 26, 2016, ScrewAttack released a video on their YouTube channel titled "EVERYTHING CHANGES", with the video itself just stating the date October 10, 2016. On that day, at 10 am CT, they released another video explaining how Craig, along with employees Shaun Bolen, Bryan Baker, and Parker Bohon, would be leaving the company, and making a spin-off brand known as "Game Attack", named after a gameplay series that had been airing for a few months at that point.

Shows and featurettes

Original shows

• ScrewAttack's Top Ten - A series in which the staff rank the ten best examples of a certain topic.^[8]
• Death Battle - ScrewAttack's most popular series, in which fights to the death between different popular fictional characters are depicted, using research to determine a winner.^[9]
  • The Desk of Death Battle - A show discussing interesting facts learned while researching different Death Battle competitors.
  • DBX - A show in which two combatants are pitted to fight against each other to the death with no rules and no analysis or research to determine the outcome of the fight. Created to replace the previous show One Minute Melee.
  • Death Battle Cast - A weekly Death Battle-themed podcast.

Partner shows

• Talking Classics - mockumentary that follows video game fan Keith Apicary, starring and created by comedian Nathan Barnatt. Keith Apicary (called the "Borat of the gaming world")^[10] is a 28-year-old gamer who favors Neo Geo, Virtual Boy and Sega. Barnatt has stopped making the series since 2012, but will continue to use his Keith Apicary character in future projects.
• brentalfloss - a New York-based musician who makes videos for ScrewAttack. His most famous creation is his "with LYRICS" series, where he takes a classic retro gaming song and gives it lyrics, typically referring to the subject matter of the game itself.
• Game Overthinker - Bob "Moviebob" Chipman rants and speaks about video game phenomena purposely in too much depth. Chipman formerly had shows titled Escape to the Movies and The Big Picture, hosted on The Escapist. In his show, the Game Overthinker chooses to talk about topics ranging from how originality in modern games are more of an exception than rule, violence in video games, the longevity of video game characters, racism in games and more. In a related show In Bob We Trust he talks about just anything that isn't video games.
• Black Nerd - André "Black Nerd" Meadows rants or has opinions on pop culture, news, current events, geekdom, and 80s-90s nostalgia. The show features ScrewAttack appropriate rants on the website. The show has a lot to do with Nintendo-based stuff since André is a big Nintendo Fan.
• The Completionist - Jirard "Dragonrider" Khalil reviews classic games, placing heavy emphasis on their replay value, what getting 100% completion on a game gets the gamer and whether or not it's worth it to complete the game, ending each review with a rating of (in increasing value of positivity) "Burn/Donate It", "Look at It", "Play It", "Finish it", or "Complete It".^[11][12]

Prior shows

Original shows

• SideScrollers - The site's weekly news podcast.
• Video Game Vault - A show where the host gives a brief review on a video game about why it should be remembered and "stored in the vault".
• Unaware Steve - Steve (played by Brad Skistimas) has not played a video game since 1992. He awkwardly goes around interviewing people, or talking nonsense about video games.
• Metal Gear Ben - A live-action series that parodies Metal Gear Solid.
• The Scoop! - A review show run by Ben Singer that shows several pros and cons in video games.
• Jose's Puntos - Jose Mejia shares various tips on how to be "leet" at video games.
• Hard News - A daily news show telling recent video game-related news.
  • Trailer of the Week - A weekly Hard News segment. It shows a standout video game trailer that was unveiled in that week.
  • Hump Day - A weekly Hard News segment. A humorous video from the internet is shown.
  • Cheapy D's Cheap-Ass Corner - A weekly Hard News segment. David Abrams (CheapyD) shares various video game sales and deals going on at the moment.
  • Corey's Corner - A weekly Hard News segment where Corey Petit provides news on an assorted gaming topic.
  • Rapid Fire Rundown - An occasional Hard News segment. Several video game news were told in rapid succession over a brief period of time.
• How-to with Chad - Chad James shows viewers how to do various mechanical tinkerings with game systems, such as repairing an NES.
• Life in a Game - A live-action show about a guy named Guy whose life turns into a video game.
• Nametags - A live-action show created by Jared Knabenbauer. It follows the daily life of a video game store employee.
• The Digital Forecast - A weekly show run by Nick Cramer (later by Ben Singer). It provies a rundown of several video game trailers that were shown during the week.
• Reboot or Retro - A show where the host compares two games of the same series. One being a retro (NES, SNES, etc) game, and the other being a recent reboot.
• The Armory - A show run by Destin Legarie where he reviews several notable video game weapons.
• Totally SCREWED - A show that uses the video game WWE All Stars to show various fights between ScrewAttack crew members.
• The Clip of the Week - A live-action show where a random commercial, scene, or clip is shown, followed by a skit based around that clip.
• Newsroom - A live action comedy series parodying conversations between Jared and Lauren.
• Great Moments in Video Game History! - A show where various iconic moments from gaming history are showcased.
• Out of the Box - A show in which the staff unbox and play a title shortly after release, giving their first impressions.
• ScrewAttack Live - A live let's play series in which the staff play a random selection of games.
• Real Trailers - The crew makes their own trailers for various video games with sarcasm and brutal honesty.
• The Industry - A live action series focusing mostly on crew member Shaun Bolen and his exploits around the ScrewAttack office.
• Reasons We Love - A series in which one of the editors lists off a number of reasons why they love a certain game, character, developer, etc. in a short amount of time.
  • Reasons We Hate - A companion series released alongside each "Reasons We Love" episode in which "Evil Craig" lists off the reasons why he hates the same subject.
• Is It Good? - ScrewAttack's poke at the arbitrary nature of game reviews, featuring a brief synopsis of a game followed by a random video clip to serve as a rating.
• The Best/Worst EVER! - A series in which various ScrewAttack staff members and occasional guests discuss their personal favorite, or least favorite, examples of a certain topic.^[13]
• Five Fun Facts - A weekly series, bringing viewers facts about various popular video game franchises.
• Available Now - A weekly podcast where the crew discuss about recently released video games.

Partner shows

• Angry Video Game Nerd (often abbreviated as "AVGN") - a series of farcical retro gaming reviews by James Rolfe, an independent filmmaker and professional video editor.^[14]
• Cinemassacre Mailbag - James Rolfe (The Angry Video Game Nerd) reads fan e-mails.
• GameJew - a former ScrewAttack series featuring Jonathan Mann, a Jewish fan of Mario. In the story, The GameJew dons his red Mario hat and his red overalls, all while existing in real life situations and composing songs relevant to games.^[15][16]
• Captain S - Sega enthusiast Captain S (a parody of Captain N) goes through a series of misadventures in Video Land.^[17]
• Awesome Video Games - Retro brothers Ace and Chet review various NES games and accessories. Produced by Far From Subtle TV.
• ScrewAttack Europe - Introduced in late-2006, ScrewAttack Europe, located in Northwood, London, United Kingdom, was the name used by video game enthusiasts and TV presenters, Guru Larry (Larry Bundy Jr) and "UK" Wez (Wesley Lock), for voluntarily-created, video game-related content for ScrewAttack.
• One-Minute Melee - Animated battles between fictional characters with no research done, all of which last no longer than one minute each. While Season 1 and 2 of the show were featured on Screwattack, future episodes will be on Hyper Gauge. The series is directed by Mali De'lisser and features a number of animators who have also contributed to Death Battle.

Events and other media

SGC

Formerly known as "ScrewAttack Gaming Convention", SGC is a live event ScrewAttack produces annually for its fans. SGC was originally held in 2009 and 2010 and after a three-year hiatus to allow ScrewAttack to focus on other business opportunities the event returned after being successfully Kickstarted^[18] by the ScrewAttack community. SGC 2013 was held at the Hyatt Regency in Dallas, Texas in June 2013. Its attendance topped 3500. SGC 2014 took place July 11–13, 2014 at the Sheraton Dallas with nearly 5000 in attendance. SGC 2015 took place July 17–19, 2015 at the Embassy Suites in Frisco, Texas.^[19]

SGC was merged into Rooster Teeth's RTX expo following parent company Fullscreen's acquisition of both companies.

DVDs and Other Merchandise

ScrewAttack has created an abundance of merchandise, namely DVDs, of some of their and their partner's online content.

ScrewAttack Games

ScrewAttack Games is a separate brand within ScrewAttack that focuses on digital titles.

References

External links

• Official website