Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Game Infarcer: Video Essayist Spends Two Hours Comparing Video Game To Movie
In an astounding feat of mental gymnastics, acclaimed video essayist The Intellectual Gamer's (TIG) latest YouTube video spends two hours and 42 minutes breaking down why Sifu reminds him of No Country For Old Men – the movie, not the book, as specified by TIG at minute 36.
The thesis of TIG's video, opened with a paragraph from Diana Athill's 2009 memoir, Somewhere Towards the End, which fades from the screen too quickly for the reader to finish, is such: "In Sifu, as you progress through the game, you get older and older. And also, you're in a country: China. Which, given the number of people you must fight in Sifu, you might say, is …" At this point, TIG lowers his voice to nearly a whisper to emphasize his point but mostly sounding creepy. "... no country for old men."
Throughout the video, found here at the link, TIG lays out his argument, never indicating what themes from either media are even remotely similar rather than drawing a parallel between the name No Country For Old Men and the fact that Sifu has a mostly-maligned mechanic where the character ages.
Bringing his thesis to a personal level and couched between ad reads for Manscaped and Nord VPN, TIG reveals we, too, are aging. "I'd like to leave you with one thought. All of us will be old one day," TIG astutely says in the video. "When that happens, what country will there be for us? Until then, I'll Sifu on the other side."
At the time of writing, TIG's video, aptly titled, "The fragility of life, as viewed through the lens of martial arts and Tommy Lee Jones," has received almost universal acclaim from various echo chambers around the internet. While some pointed out his core thesis could've been relayed in about 30 seconds – and even then, hardly necessitated a video – the comments were quickly deleted under mysterious circumstances.
In the days since publishing, TIG tells Game Infarcer he's seen unprecedented growth on his Patreon crowdfunding page.
"It's been great to see this video connect with so many people who are happy to support me financially at Patreon dot com slash The Intellectual Gamer," he says and advertises. "I love this community, and I can't wait to see them show up in my Patron Discord server. No, I never check that thing. Are you kidding me? I don't want to talk to those people. I have mods that handle all that – I don't pay them, so it works out great for me. You're not going to print that last part, right? That was off the record. By the way, can I plug my TeePublic?"
TIG says his next video will be an unexpected departure from his previous work. He won't give us any specific details but does hint: "You know, I think Fumito Ueda and Steve-O have more in common than people might think."
Blake Hester contributed to this article.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
