Vinesauce Explained

Vinesauce should not be confused with Vsauce.

Vinesauce
Occupation:Live streamers
Origin:New York City, U.S.
Channels:
  • Vinny
  • Vargskelethor Joel
  • Imakuni
  • Fred
  • MentalJen
  • RevScarecrow
  • Limealicious
  • Direboar
  • Potato
Years Active:2010–present
Genre:
Subscribers: million (combined)
Views: billion (combined)
Stats Update:December 19, 2023

Vinesauce is a collective of online content creators founded in 2010.[1] The group primarily focuses on video game livestreaming and commentary videos. The group is most notable for content in which video games are corrupted to cause glitches, as well as content covering obscure video games and other media.[2] The popularity of this content has earned media coverage from major video game outlets such as Kotaku, VG247, PC Gamer and Nintendo Life.

History

In 2010, content creator Vinny formed Vinesauce as a streaming community and YouTube channel. Inspired by both the nascent medium of streaming and a dream he had where he streamed the SNES video game Chrono Trigger, Vinny created an account on Livestream to stream the game, eventually learning aspects of streaming over time. Adopting the alias "Vinny Vinesauce" as his online pseudonym, Vinny later founded the Vinesauce website and recruited other streamers and content creators as members of the community.[3] As the years went by, the group has become independent as most of the members focus more on their individual content.

Internet content

Vinesauce's content primarily focuses on hacks and mods of various retro games such as Super Mario 64 and its Chaos mod,[4] [5] The Legend of Zelda,[6] [7] Half-Life,[8] [9] Pokémon[10] and Metal Gear Solid. Their content on retro games, in which they employ ROM corruptions and code manipulation to produce random glitches and effects, have been described as creepy and frightening from various media outlets.[11] [12] Vinesauce's process for game corruptions involves the use of a program called the "Vinesauce Corruptor", which arbitrarily rearranges a video game's source code in order to recontextualize the game with new effects.[13] Several of these effects range from humorous in nature to surprising and ghastly, with some corruptions offering new challenges to older games. Maxwell McGee of GamesRadar detailed the process of Vinesauce's corruption videos, stating that "using the Vinesauce corruptor is like tuning a guitar, only instead of making something sound good you want it to sound as horrific as possible without completely falling apart." The group has also played various other video games such as Cyberpunk 2077,[14] Fallout 4 and Super Mario Maker.[15]

Active Worlds

In 2016, Vinesauce received mainstream attention for their livestream of the 1995 virtual world game Active Worlds.[16] [17] [18] Taking place in March 2016, the stream involved Vinny venturing in the virtual world until encountering a user named "Hitomi Fujiko", a player who appeared to exhibit non-player character traits.[19] Vinny had initially assumed Fujiko was a character intended to guide players through the virtual world, but after various interactions with Fujiko, he slowly realized the character had evinced human-like traits.[20] Vinny and Fujiko's interaction escalated with a conversation where Fujiko knew Vinny's name despite him registering his account as Vinesauce; shortly after, Fujiko left the server. 6,000 people watched the stream unfold with many of them attempting to register accounts in order to join Vinny's session, leading to an overload of the game's servers. The stream had led Vinesauce's fan base to uncover clues about the mystery surrounding Fujiko's actions, with Alex Avard of GamesRadar asserting that "the events that followed were mythologized into one of the internet's best creepypasta stories."[21] In 2018, author Andrew Reinhard cited the Active Worlds videos as an example of archaeogaming in the book Archaeogaming: An Introduction to Archaeology in and of Video Games.[22]

Fake farm game

In 2021, several of Vinesauce's videos were cited in a mystery about a farming game that never existed.[23] [24] The mystery came into existence when a Reddit user named "Sparta123" wrote a thread on r/tipofmyjoystick describing a farming game akin to Harvest Moon that they tried to recall, with the premise involving a man who manslaughters his wife and tries to hide the body while working as a farmer. Sparta123's post led the game rumor to spread to various social media communities, with users attempting to investigate the existence of the farming game. In a video essay, YouTuber Justin Whang revealed that the premise of the game originated from Vinesauce member Vargskelethor Joel, citing a Reddit post from user "PM_MeYourEars" and a Discord post from "AqueousSnake" that identified an animated clip from one of Joel's streams. Sparta123 later confirmed that Vinesauce Joel's video was "likely the source of the game," and Joel also apologized in a Twitch stream.

Other ventures

Philanthropy

In 2014, Vinesauce created the Vinesauce is HOPE charity drive, a variety gaming stream where proceeds go to the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation (PCRF); former Vinesauce member Hootey is credited with the idea for the event.[25] In 2017 the Vinesauce is HOPE stream raised over $137,000 and in 2019 they raised over $218,000.

Red Vox

Vinesauce should not be confused with Revox.

Red Vox
Landscape:yes
Origin:New York City, U.S.
Years Active:2015–present
Current Members:
  • Vinny
  • Mike
  • Joe
  • Bill

Red Vox is a rock band formed by Vinny and drummer Mike (Jabroni Mike) in 2015.[26] Their music is primarily alternative rock with influences from psychedelic rock. Vinny has stated that rock bands such as Radiohead, Nirvana, Pink Floyd and Tame Impala were inspirations for the group's music.[27] Their second album Another Light was released in 2017 and peaked at #13 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart.[28] They have released 6 albums and 2 EPs in total.

Other work

In 2014, Vinesauce interviewed video game developer Edmund McMillen to discuss secrets surrounding his game The Binding of Isaac.[29] [30] [31] In 2020, Vinny appeared in an episode of the Boundary Break web series focused on the out-of-bounds content of .[32] [33] In 2022, Vinesauce interviewed the actor Jack Mulcahy for starring in Creating Rem Lezar and discussed topics relating to insight on actors and film production. They also discussed the emotional aspects of the film and how Rem Lezar was specifically designed.[34]

Impact

Vinesauce's videos have been credited for popularizing Internet memes, such as The Daily Dot citing Vinesauce member Joel's Rollercoaster Tycoon videos as bringing various memes to a wider audience.[35] Vinny's level creations on Super Mario Maker have also inspired similar creepypasta-based levels in the game.

TechRadar cited Vinesauce as one of the 10 best YouTube channels playing games in a 2016 listicle, noting Vinny's Active Worlds videos and the channel's focus on esoteric games and mods. In 2021, Vinesauce was cited as an example of a "comfort creator" in an article from The New York Times.[36]

On September 30, 2022, Vinny was invited by CNN to speak about his experience with the musical-comedy game Trombone Champ.[37] In November 2022, he was again invited by CNN to speak about his experience with the video game Placid Plastic Duck Simulator with Rick Damigella.[38]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Vinesauce & Red Vox. Louis. Brierley. HEAVY Magazine. August 18, 2017. April 11, 2022.
  2. Web site: Give Yourself Nightmares With The Best Vinesauce Video Game Glitch Videos. Nathan. Birch. Uproxx. December 3, 2013. April 11, 2022.
  3. Web site: Twitch Streamer Vinny Vinesauce Speaking With Lawyer After Misconduct Accusations. Brittni. Finley. Game Rant. April 5, 2021. April 11, 2022.
  4. Web site: 'Mario 64: Chaos Edition' Is The Horror That Happens When Mario Overdoses On Game Genie Codes. Nathan. Birch. Uproxx. November 7, 2014. April 12, 2022.
  5. Web site: A Terrifying New Way To Play Mario 64. Nathan. Grayson. Kotaku. November 6, 2014. April 17, 2022.
  6. Web site: Majora's Mask Looks Better When It's Broken. Luke. Plunkett. Kotaku. December 28, 2013. April 12, 2022.
  7. Web site: Nintendo 64 Games Had Some Of The Best Glitches. Gergo. Vas. Kotaku. September 8, 2013. April 17, 2022.
  8. Web site: Half-Mind mod gameplay video shows Gordon Freeman's brush with madness. Omri. Petitte. PC Gamer. October 8, 2012. November 9, 2021.
  9. Web site: Broken Half-Life Is Scary Half-Life. Nathan. Grayson. Kotaku. March 9, 2015. April 12, 2022.
  10. Web site: Glitched Out Pokémon Is The Best Kind of Nightmare. Patricia. Hernandez. Kotaku. October 30, 2014. April 12, 2022.
  11. Web site: Weirdness: Super Mario 64 Corruptions Yield Hilarious and/or Terrifying Results. Tim. Latshaw. Nintendo Life. December 2, 2013. November 9, 2021.
  12. Web site: Super Mario 64 As A Glitchy Nightmare. Patricia. Hernandez. Kotaku. December 12, 2013. November 9, 2021.
  13. Web site: Make old games feel new again by ruining everything. Maxwell. McGee. GamesRadar. August 10, 2015. April 12, 2022.
  14. Web site: Cyberpunk 2077 players show game is still a mess despite hundreds of fixes. Patricia. Hernandez. Polygon. March 30, 2021. April 12, 2022.
  15. Web site: Behold the Horror of the Mushroom Kingdom with These Creepy 'Mario Maker' Levels. Heidi. Kemps. Vice. November 1, 2015. April 20, 2022.
  16. Web site: YouTuber's Journey Into Abandoned MMO Is Creepypasta Material. Patricia. Hernandez. Kotaku. March 28, 2016. November 9, 2021.
  17. Web site: A spooky encounter in an abandoned 90's MMO. Brenna. Hillier. VG247. June 17, 2016. November 9, 2021.
  18. Web site: YouTuber explores abandoned virtual world, ends up inside a creepy nightmare. Jacob. Siegal. BGR. March 30, 2016. April 12, 2022.
  19. Web site: Who Is the Last Active Player in This Long-Dead MMO?. Sarah. Emerson. Vice. March 30, 2016. April 12, 2022.
  20. Web site: Streamer delves into 1995 MMORPG, finds one person still haunting the servers. https://web.archive.org/web/20191015121659/https://www.technobuffalo.com/old-mmo-one-person-still-there-video. Eric. Fredricksen. Techno Buffalo. March 29, 2016. October 15, 2019. April 12, 2022.
  21. Web site: Destiny, Battlefield, and the strange, surreal horror of revisiting abandoned multiplayer games. Alex. Avard. GamesRadar. January 25, 2018. April 12, 2022.
  22. Book: Reinhard, Andrew . June 18, 2018 . Archaeogaming: An Introduction to Archaeology in and of Video Games. Berghahn Books. 158. 9781785338748.
  23. Web site: The 5-Year Mystery of the 'Evil Farming Game' Has Been Solved. Radhamely. De Leon. Vice. June 21, 2021. April 17, 2022.
  24. Web site: Mysterious 'Evil Farming Game' Never Actually Existed. Ari. Notis. Kotaku. June 15, 2021. April 17, 2022.
  25. Web site: Vinesauce is HOPE 2019. Luke. Plunkett. Kotaku. July 22, 2019. April 17, 2022.
  26. Web site: [INTERVIEW] Basking in ANOTHER LIGHT with RED VOX]. Louis. Brierley. HEAVY Magazine. January 19, 2018. April 17, 2022.
  27. Web site: The engrossing sounds of Red Vox's 'Ozymandias' and a discussion with the band's lead vocalist. Adam. Alvernaz. The Highlander. March 10, 2020. April 17, 2022.
  28. Heatseekers Albums: Up and Coming Musicians Chart. https://web.archive.org/web/20180328081226/https://www.billboard.com/charts/heatseekers-albums/2018-01-03. January 3, 2018. March 28, 2018. March 4, 2023. Billboard.
  29. Web site: The Binding of Isaac's New Secrets Sound Completely Nuts. Patrick. Klepek. Kotaku. November 3, 2015. April 17, 2022.
  30. Web site: The Binding of Isaac's Biggest Secret Nearly Broke The Guy Who Made It. Patrick. Klepek. Kotaku. February 3, 2016. April 17, 2022.
  31. Web site: Team Meat and Rebirth dev talk about the woes of fans datamining The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. Chris. Carter. Destructoid. November 13, 2014. April 17, 2022.
  32. Web site: Boundary Break discovers secrets in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Jamie. Sharp. Destructoid. April 3, 2020. April 17, 2022.
  33. Web site: Video: Areas You Weren't Meant To See In Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Ryan. Craddock. Nintendo Life. April 3, 2020. April 17, 2022.
  34. Web site: Creating Rem Lezar: The Bizarre Cult Classic Lands an Anniversary Blu-ray. Noah. Dominguez. CBR. September 5, 2022. May 12, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20220905095818/https://www.cbr.com/creating-rem-lezar-anniversary-blu-ray-release/. September 5, 2022. live.
  35. Web site: What it really means to 'nut' and 'succ'. https://web.archive.org/web/20160827192220/https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/nut-succ-meme/. Jay. Hathaway. The Daily Dot. August 26, 2016. August 27, 2016. April 5, 2022.
  36. Web site: What Is a 'Comfort Creator'?. https://web.archive.org/web/20211227214036/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/29/style/what-is-a-comfort-creator.html. Ezra. Marcus. The New York Times. November 29, 2021. December 27, 2021. February 20, 2022.
  37. Web site: September 30, 2022 . 'Trombone Champ' hits some funny notes . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220930172218/https://edition.cnn.com/videos/entertainment/2022/09/30/trombone-champ-videogame-music-baboons.cnn . September 30, 2022 . October 3, 2022 . CNN.
  38. Web site: Vinny on Placid Plastic Duck Simulator. December 12, 2022. CNN. 25 November 2022 . live. https://web.archive.org/web/20221212142027/https://edition.cnn.com/videos/entertainment/2022/11/25/hollywood-video-games-plastic-duck-simulator-twitch-streamers-vinny-vinesauce.cnn. December 12, 2022.