Rage Select – The Classiest, and Funniest, Video Game Website

Over the next few months we are going to be bombarded with video game news and releases, especially with the impending releases of the Xbox One and Playstation 4.  There are many video game websites out there throwing in their two cents as to which system is superior and which video games are required playing, but most of them stick to a primarily informative standpoint.  Rage Select is not only one of the most informative video game websites; it is also by far the funniest website you’re going to come across.

In 2010, Rage Select founders Jason and Jeff first worked together on-air for the Austin, TX based website Spill.com reviewing “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2” for the site’s video game podcast, “The Loading Bar”.  The chemistry between the two was so rich that they became the stand outs of the five man review team, creating a two man offshoot that would do video playthroughs of new and classic games with their hilarious, and definitely NSFW, commentary called “Happy Hour”.   In May 2013, Spill’s parent company Hollywood.com enacted budget cutting layoffs and The Loading Bar was an unfortunate casualty.  However, a few weeks later, Jason and Jeff decided to continue on their own in the spirit of The Loading Bar, and Rage Select was born.  In the months since its creation, Rage Select has taken all that was great about The Loading Bar and made it that much better.

The dynamic between Jeff and Jason has always been the greatest strength of the team, with each one playing their part well.  Jeff is the closest they get to having a straight man of the duo, taking the more analytical approach to the playthroughs and reviews.  Jason is the crazier side of the Rage Select coin, with his trademark rage and hypothetical questions, dubbed the “Kobayashi Murphu” (a combination of Jason’s last name, Murphy, and the unbeatable test from Star Trek, the Kobayashi Maru”), an either/or scenario so insane that the only way to win is not to play.

Rage Select runs on a solid routine, releasing content every day of the week…

Monday through Thursday – The Dojo.  Jason and Jeff, with occasional guests Grant Davis from Lounge Geeks and Brian Brushwood from Scam School, play new release games with running commentary, usually running 30 to 40 minutes each.  Recently, the Dojo videos started including intros and outros with puppet versions of Jason and Jeff.

Friday – Indie Friday.  Jason and Jeff feature an independently released game or occasionally a game still in the alpha/beta test stage.

Saturday – Sequential Saturday.  While the Dojo playthoughs only go two or three videos before the next game, Sequential Saturday is meant to play an entire game, start to finish.  In honor of their Red Dead Redemption playthrough that was cut short by the cancellation of The Loading Bar, Jason and Jeff have been playing Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare, which will be concluding this Saturday.

Sunday – Sparkle Fandango.  Taking a break from playing, Jason and Jeff hand over the controller to Jason’s wife Allison and Allison’s friends Kristen and Kayla.  Sparkle Fandango stands out from the rest of the Rage Select content as the only video to feature live video of the players, featured on the bottom left of the screen while their game is projected on the green screen behind them.  While the Dojo playthroughs include a rage of games from light hearted to intense, Sparkle Fandango focuses on the more light hearted games.  But don’t think the commentary content is equally light hearted.  Allison is still Jason’s wife and proves herself to be his equal in every way.

Jason and Jeff have not only created a terrifically unique video game website, they’ve created intense loyalty in their fanbase, including the Cocaine Princesses and the Lady Boy Tequila Slaves, two fan groups named after references to the original Red Dead Redemption sequential playthrough.  While it’s not rare for a website to try to blend humor into its basic mission statement, it is difficult to find one that pulls it off as effortlessly as Rage Select, integrating humor without skimping on the technical or informative side.  Rage Select has quickly become a stand out website in the video game community, and you would be doing yourself a disservice by not checking it out immediately.