Hey, it’s your boy Joe Miasma here.
As you probably know, I’m one of the greatest gamers to ever game (if you want to friend
me on Steam, add me at steamcommunity.com/id/JoeMiasma), so naturally, I watch a ton of gaming channels
– namely Vinesauce, RTGame and LGR.
Recently though, I found out about another gaming channel, one that has garnered controversy
for its, let’s just say, ‘woke’ takes. So when a few people brought their latest
video to my attention (especially DuelingDuelistDrew, thanks again) and I watched it, I see its
critics’ points. Not only that, the channel creator is a huge hypocrite, with him emotionally
abusing his ex-wife.
That’s right. Today, we’re gonna talk about why you shouldn’t watch Extra Credits.
But first, I have a confession to make. When I said that I’ve never heard of them before,
I was kinda lying. I did watch one of their videos once, while I was wondering if I should
go into game development (nothing came of this).
So what is Extra Credits, anyway? Well it’s basically a channel with 2.13 million subs
that specialises in theoretical discussions on the video game medium and industry. While
I may not be interested in this sort of content (too dry for my taste), I have seen their
videos been featured on other channels I watch (I can’t recall exactly, though) and they
can put out some insightful analysis.
However, they have their low points as well. Recently, they have been accused of showing
a bias to the left. And while I don’t think that is a bad thing on its own (I lean a little
left myself), it is when massive logical leaps and fallacies are used to justify that position
that it becomes a bit of a problem.
And no video demonstrates this better than their recent video, titled “Stop Normalizing
Nazis - Socially Conscious Game Design”.
If you’ve been living under a rock, here’s some context: White nationalism (or Neo-Nazism)
has exploded in the wake of Donald Trump’s ascendancy into power – and to say that
it has become a hot-button issue would be the understatement of the century.
In the opening moments of the video, we see the narrator of the video commit one of many
logical fallacies, being that him saying that you did not choose to become a Nazi.
...Mate. That’s not how it works. You bought the game. YOU. SUBSCRIBED. TO. THIS.
But we’re just getting started. About 38 seconds into it, you can see a spectacular
fail of historical research. They use the Iron Cross, a symbol that has been around
since the 19th century, to represent the Nazis. You see how ridiculous that looks? Imagine
that, but sprinkled throughout the entire video. That’s right. They double down.
But oh no, it actually gets worse. They talk about desensitisation, but before we get to
how they talk about it, I want to let you know that it is a thing, though how much of
it is directly caused by the violent content itself vs outside factors is up for debate.
So, how does Extra Credits talk about the concept
of desensitisation? Well…
That is a logical leap if I have seen one. For one, there is virtually no, and I mean
NO, evidence to suggest that playing as a certain team makes you sympathise with the
beliefs of said team. Because people, for one, can distinguish between reality and fantasy,
and are able to play as the Axis without, you know, holding Nazi beliefs. (In the case
of WWII games)
And naturally, there has been a solid response to all this bullshit, with the dislikes nearing
100k and many videos detailing the many logical leaps and flaws of the video are already out
– I’ll publish links to these videos in the description box below.
But if that was the only reason you should stop watching Extra Credits, I wouldn’t
have made this video in the first place. Since, well… let’s take a little breather before
we get into it.
Because it’s gonna get heavy.
On the 10th of June, 2018, Soraya Een Hajji (aka. Cavni), in response to another prominent
figure being outed for sexual harassment, posted her experience with James Portnow,
who just so happened to voice the preceding video.
And it’s not pretty. She starts off by saying this:
“This is why I left Extra Credits. This is why I cut people out of my life. I trusted
a few enough to reach out to them for help, and while some tried, no one could change
anything. The man who holds all the cards controls the situation. And James Portnow
holds all the cards.”
She then talks about how when she ended her relationship with James, he would harass her
to no end, trying to gaslight her and ultimately filling Extra Credits with people that did
not dare accuse him of behaving badly (possibly out of fear or simple cowardice).
She also mentions that James had “made a career out of being a Progressive Voice in
video games” - I want to talk about this for a second. You see, when the whole ProJared
situation came out and I made a few videos on him, I didn’t mention that he repeatedly
referred to himself as a feminist since, well, it wasn’t really that relevant. But I’m
starting to notice a pattern here – guys who style themselves as woke types who ultimately
get outed.
Anyway, in conclusion, the Extra Credits video is ultimately the symptom of a larger problem
– the problem of James Portnow, a known abuser and manipulator.
And like ProJared, you can ensure he gets his just desserts. How, you might ask? Simple,
by hitting him where it hurts – he does public speaking, so email every game development
conference, university etc. and let them know what James has done. Or just simply unsubscribe
from Extra Credits, that’ll work too.
And that is the end of this video – if you enjoyed this, make sure to drop a like, and
if you want to see more like this, make sure to sub with the bell on. Let’s get some
justice.
This has been your boy, Joe Miasma, reminding you to not be like James Portnow.