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TotalBiscuit

From Wikipedia, in a visual modern way
TotalBiscuit
Bain in a black suit against a cityscape
Bain in 2013
Born
John Peter Bain

(1984-07-08)8 July 1984
Spennymoor, County Durham, England
Died24 May 2018(2018-05-24) (aged 33)
Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.
Cause of deathBowel cancer
Other names
  • The Cynical Brit
  • TotalHalibut
Occupations
  • Video game critic
  • video game commentator
  • Esports caster
Years active2005–2018
Spouse
Genna Bain
​
(m. 2007)​
Children1
AwardsTrending Gamer (2014)

John Peter Bain (8 July 1984 – 24 May 2018), better known as TotalBiscuit (/ˌtoʊtəlˈbɪskɪt/ TOH-təl-BISS-kit; or sometimes The Cynical Brit or TotalHalibut), was an English video gaming commentator and game critic on YouTube. He was known for his role in professional shoutcasting and esports, and also known for his gaming commentary audio work on WCradio.com. According to Eurogamer, he obtained a large following due to his video commentary on newly developed indie games and analysis of gaming news. Bain voiced strong support for consumer protection in the video gaming industry. In October 2015, Bain announced that he had terminal cancer that had spread to his liver. He continued to critique games after the diagnosis, announcing his retirement only a few weeks before his death in May 2018.

Discover more about TotalBiscuit related topics

Video game culture

Video game culture

Video game culture or gaming culture is a worldwide new media subculture formed by video game hobbyists. As video games have exponentially increased in sophistication, accessibility and popularity over time, they have had a significant influence on popular culture, particularly among middle class adolescents and young adults. Video game culture has also evolved with Internet culture and the increasing popularity of mobile games.

YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is an American global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google and is the second most visited website, after Google Search. YouTube has more than 2.5 billion monthly users, who collectively watch more than one billion hours of videos each day. As of May 2019, videos were being uploaded at a rate of more than 500 hours of content per minute.

Esports

Esports

Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although organized competitions have long been a part of video game culture, these were largely between amateurs until the late 2000s, when participation by professional gamers and spectatorship in these events through live streaming saw a large surge in popularity. By the 2010s, esports was a significant factor in the video game industry, with many game developers actively designing and providing funding for tournaments and other events.

Eurogamer

Eurogamer

Eurogamer is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network.

Indie game

Indie game

An indie game, short for independent video game, is a video game typically created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A) games. Because of their independence and freedom to develop, indie games often focus on innovation, experimental gameplay, and taking risks not usually afforded in AAA games. Indie games tend to be sold through digital distribution channels rather than at retail due to lack of publisher support. The term is synonymous with that of independent music or independent film in those respective mediums.

Terminal illness

Terminal illness

Terminal illness or end-stage disease is a disease that cannot be cured or adequately treated and is expected to result in the death of the patient. This term is more commonly used for progressive diseases such as cancer, dementia or advanced heart disease than for injury. In popular use, it indicates a disease that will progress until death with near absolute certainty, regardless of treatment. A patient who has such an illness may be referred to as a terminal patient, terminally ill or simply as being terminal. There is no standardized life expectancy for a patient to be considered terminal, although it is generally months or less. Life expectancy for terminal patients is a rough estimate given by the physician based on previous data and does not always reflect true longevity. An illness which is lifelong but not fatal is a chronic condition.

Cancer

Cancer

Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bleeding, prolonged cough, unexplained weight loss, and a change in bowel movements. While these symptoms may indicate cancer, they can also have other causes. Over 100 types of cancers affect humans.

Biography

Bain studied law at De Montfort University. While there, he hosted an extreme metal music show on Demon FM.[1] He was diagnosed with dyspraxia.[2]

From 2005 to 2010, Bain ran World of Warcraft Radio, a popular World of Warcraft fan radio station that received special acknowledgment and recognition from Blizzard Entertainment, the developers and publishing team of World of Warcraft. Bain was invited to the annual BlizzCon event in 2005 to provide coverage of the event, where he met Genna Bain, his future wife and fellow YouTube personality.[3] After Bain's tenure at World of Warcraft Radio, Bain began Cynicalbrit.com, where he posted more generalised gaming content.[4]

In 2010 during the height of the Great Recession, Bain was laid off at his job at a financial advisory company.[5] Bain's unemployment coincided with the beta release of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, and he started producing videos of himself talking over gameplay on YouTube, hoping to earn money through the website's ad-revenue system. In the following weeks, the popularity of Bain's videos skyrocketed. A StarCraft 2 commentator named HuskyStarcraft approached Bain and invited him to The Game Station, a network of gaming channels on YouTube (now Polaris, a subnetwork of Maker Studios).[4]

Cancer diagnosis and death

In late April 2014, Bain announced he had a precancerous mass in his colon, the first indications of bowel cancer, a condition with which two of his grandparents had also been diagnosed.[6] Within the month, Bain revealed that he had "full blown cancer" and was beginning chemotherapy treatments.[7]

Bain reported in April 2015 that a CT scan showed a complete remission of the cancer. However, by October 2015, a newer CT scan showed that while the bowel cancer had been eliminated, the cancer had metastasised to his liver and was determined inoperable, with his doctors giving him a two-to-three-year life expectancy. Bain announced the disbanding of his eSports team Axiom upon this news.[8] By January 2016, Bain had also decided to distance himself from social media, while still focusing on making his game critique videos.[9]

On 23 September 2016, he reported that his cancer had mutated, and a targeted treatment had shrunk his liver tumor by over 50%, from 5 cm (2.0 in) to 2 cm (0.79 in).[10][11]

In October 2017, Bain appeared on the H3 Podcast, during which he discussed at length the current state of his cancer. He described his condition as "stable" (meaning the cancer was still present, but not spreading), and that it was stage IV cancer.[12] On 22 November, Bain tweeted that his chemotherapy had stopped working, but that there were other types he could try. He also noted that the cancer had not spread, but that its growth had started again.[13]

In mid-April 2018, Bain was hospitalised for extreme back pain, from which the doctors discovered that the cancer was growing, applying pressure on his spine. While he underwent a clinical trial to combat the spread, the doctors found that the cancer had become too resistant to medication and conventional chemotherapy would be ineffective; he was also informed that his liver was failing. The doctors transferred him to palliative care with the option to resume clinical treatment if a trial compatible with his failing liver became available. Because of this, knowing he did not have long left to live, Bain announced he was fully retiring from game criticism, believing he was no longer capable of performing his work at a level that would satisfy himself and his fans. He planned to continue his Co-Optional podcast with his wife Genna, with plans for her to take over the podcast in the event of his death.[14][15][16]

On 24 May 2018, Bain's wife Genna announced through both her own and her husband's Twitter accounts that Bain had fallen into a hepatic coma and died.[17][18][19]

Legacy

Multiple video game companies have released media with references and memorials to Bain. On 9 September 2018, Blizzard Entertainment created a commemorative bundle in honor of Bain, with all sales profits going directly to Genna and their son, Orion.[20][21] Two years after his death, the video game Doom Eternal features an easter egg of a top hat and a plaque reading "Slay Cancer", referencing Bain.[22]

Bain was posthumously inducted into the ESL Esports Hall of Fame, and is the first non-competitive player to receive the honor.[23][24]

Discover more about Biography related topics

De Montfort University

De Montfort University

De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body. The name De Montfort University was taken from Simon de Montfort, a 13th-century Earl of Leicester.

Extreme metal

Extreme metal

Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual transgression".

Demon FM

Demon FM

DemonFM is a student radio station based at De Montfort University in Leicester, England. The station broadcasts online during term time. It was established in 1995 by the Communications Officer of the time, Rob Martin. The first licensed broadcast was on 106.4 FM from 29 September 1995 to 26 October 1995 and the second broadcast was on 106.2 FM from 22 April 1996 to 19 May 1996. DemonFM continued to broadcast on Restricted Service Licences until 2008 with the last of the RSL broadcasts taking place on 97.5FM. DemonFM finished their 26th and final RSL on 30 November 2008.

Developmental coordination disorder

Developmental coordination disorder

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD), also known as developmental motor coordination disorder, developmental dyspraxia or simply dyspraxia from the word 'praxis' meaning to do or act, is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired coordination of physical movements as a result of brain messages not being accurately transmitted to the body. Deficits in fine or gross motor skills movements interfere with activities of daily living. It is often described as disorder in skill acquisition, where the learning and execution of coordinated motor skills is substantially below that expected given the individual's chronological age. Difficulties may present as clumsiness, slowness and inaccuracy of performance of motor skills. It is also often accompanied by difficulty with organisation and/or problems with attention, working memory and time management.

World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft (WoW) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the Warcraft fantasy universe, World of Warcraft takes place within the world of Azeroth, approximately four years after the events of the previous game in the series, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. The game was announced in 2001, and was released for the 10th anniversary of the Warcraft franchise on November 23, 2004. Since launch, World of Warcraft has had nine major expansion packs: The Burning Crusade (2007), Wrath of the Lich King (2008), Cataclysm (2010), Mists of Pandaria (2012), Warlords of Draenor (2014), Legion (2016), Battle for Azeroth (2018), Shadowlands (2020), and Dragonflight (2022).

Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, the company was founded on February 8, 1991, under the name Silicon & Synapse, Inc. by three graduates of the University of California, Los Angeles: Michael Morhaime, Frank Pearce and Allen Adham. The company originally concentrated on the creation of game ports for other studios' games before beginning development of their own software in 1993 with games like Rock n' Roll Racing and The Lost Vikings. In 1993, the company became Chaos Studios, Inc., and eventually Blizzard Entertainment after being acquired by distributor Davidson & Associates. Shortly thereafter, Blizzard released Warcraft: Orcs & Humans.

BlizzCon

BlizzCon

BlizzCon is an annual gaming convention held by Blizzard Entertainment to promote its major franchises including Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, and Overwatch.

Great Recession

Great Recession

The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline observed in national economies globally, i.e. a recession, that occurred from late 2007 to 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country. At the time, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded that it was the most severe economic and financial meltdown since the Great Depression. One result was a serious disruption of normal international relations.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is the third expansion set for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft, following Wrath of the Lich King. It was officially announced at BlizzCon on August 21, 2009, although dataminers and researchers discovered details before it was officially announced by Blizzard. The expansion was officially released on December 7, 2010.

Mike Lamond

Mike Lamond

Michael Lamond, more commonly known by his online alias Husky or HuskyStarcraft, is a former sports commentator, YouTuber, director, and voice actor. He is best known for his work in esports, most notably for his commentating on StarCraft II, a video game published by Blizzard Entertainment. He regularly appeared as a commentator at StarCraft tournaments, with his commentary being viewable through various YouTube channels.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherapy may be given with a curative intent or it may aim to prolong life or to reduce symptoms. Chemotherapy is one of the major categories of the medical discipline specifically devoted to pharmacotherapy for cancer, which is called medical oncology.

CT scan

CT scan

A computed tomography scan is a medical imaging technique used to obtain detailed internal images of the body. The personnel that perform CT scans are called radiographers or radiology technologists.

Origin of online nicknames

Bain stated that the name TotalBiscuit was a quote taken from the Terry Pratchett novel Carpe Jugulum: "Besides, thought Agnes, I know for a fact there's people out there called Syphilidae Wilson and Yodel Lightley and Total Biscuit."[25]

The moniker Cynical Brit came from the original introduction to his Blue Plz! radio broadcast: "Ladies and gentlemen, do not be alarmed, a Cynical Brit has been allowed on the air with a microphone. You will listen or the kitten we have hostage will be forced to fight a giant badger. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Blue Plz! Enjoy."[25][26]

TotalHalibut was Bain's online name in PlanetSide: "I started off in the Halibuts which was our old guild from PlanetSide...that's where TotalHalibut comes from. Everyone who used to play in the Halibuts, Halibuts used to be a guild in PlanetSide that anyone could join, and, you basically, you made an alt to play in it and you had to have the word halibut in your name to play."[27]

Internet popularity

The main source of Bain's publicity was his primary YouTube channel, where he posted what he described as "variety gaming content" as part of the YouTube gaming network Polaris. His most popular videos belonged to his "WTF is...?" series, a series of first impressions on video games.[4] He was described by Will Porter of Eurogamer as a "champion of indie gaming" and YouTube's foremost "love him or hate him" personality.[28] The same critic suggested Bain's online popularity was due to his voice having a "tone of authority",[28] while Bain himself believed that his candour and personality were key to his success.[4] Prior to his death in May 2018, Bain had over 2.2 million subscribers to his YouTube channel.[16]

TotalBiscuit was the top Steam curator for several years, with over 800,000 followers at the time of his death.[29][30] Because of his popularity, Valve, which manages Steam, invited Bain and another gaming critic, James Stephanie Sterling, to their headquarters to help discuss how to improve the Steam's storefront and discovery tools in 2017.[31]

Apart from his "WTF is...?" series, Bain hosted the "Content Patch" programme (started from 30 October 2012, ended 15 July 2016) in which he addressed gaming news and comments.[32] Bain also hosted The Game Station Podcast and was a host of the Co-Optional Podcast, where he discussed games and gaming news with YouTube personalities Jesse Cox and Brooke "Dodger" Thorne along with a guest. It was live-streamed every Tuesday on his Twitch channel.[33]

In 2016, Twitch added a LUL emoji, sketched from a photo of Bain laughing, which has since become one of the most popular emojis on Twitch.[34] In the 2022 r/place social experiment project hosted on Reddit, a recreation of the LUL emoji was constructed in the middle of the canvas as a memorial for Bain.[35]

Discover more about Internet popularity related topics

Eurogamer

Eurogamer

Eurogamer is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network.

Steam (service)

Steam (service)

Steam is a video game digital distribution service and storefront from Valve. It was launched as a software client in September 2003 as a way for Valve to provide automatic updates for their games, and expanded to distributing third-party game publishers' titles in late 2005. Steam offers various features, like digital rights management (DRM), game server matchmaking, anti-cheat measures, social networking and game streaming services. Users receive automatic game updates, cloud storage for game progress, and community features such as direct messaging, in-game chats and a community market.

Valve Corporation

Valve Corporation

Valve Corporation is an American video game developer, publisher, and digital distribution company headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. It is the developer of the software distribution platform Steam and the franchises Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Portal, Day of Defeat, Team Fortress, Left 4 Dead, and Dota.

James Stephanie Sterling

James Stephanie Sterling

James Stephanie Sterling, also known as Jim Sterling, is an English-American freelance video game journalist, critic, pundit, YouTuber, and professional wrestler. Before becoming independent in September 2014, they were the review editor for Destructoid, and an author for The Escapist. Sterling is noted as one of the main examples of a YouTuber achieving success through crowdfunding.

Twitch (service)

Twitch (service)

Twitch is an American video live streaming service that focuses on video game live streaming, including broadcasts of esports competitions, in addition to offering music broadcasts, creative content, and "in real life" streams. Twitch is operated by Twitch Interactive, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. It was introduced in June 2011 as a spin-off of the general-interest streaming platform Justin.tv. Content on the site can be viewed either live or via video on demand. The games shown on Twitch's current homepage are listed according to audience preference and include genres such as real-time strategy games (RTS), fighting games, racing games, and first-person shooters.

R/place

R/place

r/place was a collaborative project and social experiment hosted on the social networking site Reddit on April Fools' Day 2017 and repeated again on April Fools' Day 2022.

Reddit

Reddit

Reddit is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images, and videos, which are then voted up or down by other members. Posts are organized by subject into user-created boards called "communities" or "subreddits". Submissions with more upvotes appear towards the top of their subreddit and, if they receive enough upvotes, ultimately on the site's front page. Reddit administrators moderate the communities. Moderation is also conducted by community-specific moderators, who are not Reddit employees.

Consumer advocacy

TotalBiscuit (left) in 2011
TotalBiscuit (left) in 2011

In October 2013, Wild Games Studio made a copyright claim against Bain's negative "WTF Is... ?" critique of their game Day One: Garry's Incident, which resulted in the video being taken down, despite having issued Bain with a review copy for the game, and use of copyrighted material for criticism being allowed under fair use. Bain's follow-up video responding to the takedown attracted press attention and leveled further criticism against Wild Games Studio, which resulted in the studio retracting its request.[36][37][38]

In July 2014, an online debate about the ethics of YouTube gaming channels was sparked as a result of a survey revealing that some YouTube vloggers received monetary compensation from game developers or publishers in return for recording videos of their games.[39] In response to this discussion, Bain announced on Twitter that he would "be clearly disclosing promotional videos in a splash screen at the start of the video". Disclaimers had previously appeared in the description fields of his videos, but Bain felt this was no longer good enough because YouTube videos that are embedded or that are displayed with certain apps omit that information.[40]

Alongside his own Steam Curators channel, Bain founded the "Framerate Police" Curator group, intended to review games which reportedly had been locked to a 30 frames-per-second frame rate and determine if a higher frame rate was possible, as higher frame rate games typically look better and may be more responsive to player input. Bain said of the group's purpose "One of the biggest frustrations for people like that is when a game prevents them from getting the performance their hardware is capable of due to arbitrary limitations within the software itself and one of the most obvious and jarring that has such a big impact on how a game plays, is a 30 frames per second (or lower) lock."[41]

In October 2014, whereas traditional video game review outlets were unable to obtain early access to the video game Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, Bain revealed that YouTube vloggers had been offered early access to the game in exchange for agreeing to a restrictive contract which required them to be positive about it.[42][43][44] Federal Trade Commission rules require paid promotional deals on YouTube to be disclosed.[45][46]

Bain became involved in the Gamergate controversy after discovering that a YouTube vlogger had received a DMCA notice for a video in which Zoë Quinn was discussed, arguing that removing the video would cause another instance of the Streisand effect.[47][48] Bain subsequently discussed the ethical and professional concerns relevant to the video games press, and stated that he believed that many of the ethical concerns raised during the controversy were valid or deserved to be addressed.[49][50][51] He stated that the harassment associated with Gamergate was the result of lone actors who wanted to provoke conflict among the people involved in the controversy.[52] Bain interviewed Stephen Totilo of Kotaku about the Gamergate controversy in general, and specifically about Gamergate supporters' concerns with regard to Kotaku's ethics and professionalism.[50]

On 3 April 2017, Gearbox Publishing announced a partnership with G2A for exclusive collector's editions of Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition, to be created and sold by G2A.[53] Bain was critical of this move, citing G2A's negative press coverage as well as accusations made against the company, and threatened to withhold covering Bulletstorm, or any other Gearbox game, unless Gearbox cancelled the deal. On 6 April 2017, one day before Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition was due for release, Gearbox published a list of ultimatums made together with Bain for G2A to accept, or else it would back out of the deal. The ultimatums focused on G2A's Shield service, an open API for game developers, and G2A's payment system.[54] The following day, Gearbox Publishing publicly announced that it was ending its cooperation with G2A, due to a lack of response from the company concerning the ultimatums.[55] G2A responded to the assertions on 10 April 2017 stating, "All of the requests made of G2A.COM in the ultimatum have in fact long been part of our marketplace", and ascribed the problems to the unfamiliarities that Bain and Gearbox have in regard to how G2A operates its marketplace.[56]

Discover more about Consumer advocacy related topics

Day One: Garry's Incident

Day One: Garry's Incident

Day One: Garry's Incident is a PC survival game developed and published by Wild Games Studio in Mascouche, Québec, Canada and released on 25 September 2013. The game received primarily negative reviews from critics, including TotalBiscuit, who published his review on YouTube; Wild Games Studio then had the video taken down using the site's automated copyright complaints system. In response, TotalBiscuit uploaded a response/follow-up video claiming that the copyright complaint was part of a deliberate attempt to censor online criticisms. After receiving negative attention for their copyright complaint, the game's developers apologized and withdrew the complaint. The developers were also accused of astroturfing online reviews on Metacritic.

Fair use

Fair use

Fair use is a doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to first acquire permission from the copyright holder. Fair use is one of the limitations to copyright intended to balance the interests of copyright holders with the public interest in the wider distribution and use of creative works by allowing as a defense to copyright infringement claims certain limited uses that might otherwise be considered infringement. Unlike "fair dealing" rights that exist in most countries with a British legal history, the fair use right is a general exception that applies to all different kinds of uses with all types of works and turns on a flexible proportionality test that examines the purpose of the use, the amount used, and the impact on the market of the original work.

Frame rate

Frame rate

Frame rate is typically the frequency (rate) at which consecutive images (frames) are captured or displayed. This definition applies to film and video cameras, computer animation, and motion capture systems. In these contexts, frame rate may be used interchangeably with frame frequency and refresh rate, which are expressed in hertz. Although in the context of computer graphics performance, FPS is the rate at which a system, particularly a GPU, is able to generate frames, and refresh rate is the frequency at which a display shows completed frames. In electronic camera specifications frame rate refers to the maximum possible rate a frame could be captured, but in practice, other settings may reduce the actual frequency to a lower number than the frame rate.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is a 2014 action-adventure video game developed by Monolith Productions and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. An original story based on the legendarium created by J. R. R. Tolkien, the game takes place between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings film trilogies. The player controls Talion, a Gondorian Ranger who bonds with the wraith of the Elf Lord Celebrimbor, as the two set out to avenge the deaths of their loved ones. Players can engage in melee combat, and use wraith abilities to fight and manipulate enemies. The game introduces the Nemesis System, which allows the artificial intelligence of non-playable characters to remember their prior actions against the game's protagonist and react accordingly.

Federal Trade Commission

Federal Trade Commission

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction over federal civil antitrust enforcement with the Department of Justice Antitrust Division. The agency is headquartered in the Federal Trade Commission Building in Washington, DC.

Zoë Quinn

Zoë Quinn

Zoë Tiberius Quinn is an American video game developer, programmer, and writer. Quinn developed the interactive fiction game Depression Quest, which was released in 2013. In 2014, a defamatory blog post by their ex-boyfriend sparked the online harassment campaign known as Gamergate, during which Quinn was subjected to extensive harassment including doxing, rape threats, and death threats. The following year, Quinn co-founded Crash Override, a crisis hotline and resource center for victims of online harassment.

Streisand effect

Streisand effect

The Streisand effect is the way in which attempts to hide, remove, or censor information can lead to the unintended consequence of increasing awareness of that information. It is named after American singer and actress Barbra Streisand, whose attempt to suppress the California Coastal Records Project's photograph of her cliff-top residence in Malibu, California, taken to document California coastal erosion, inadvertently drew greater attention to the photograph in 2003.

Kotaku

Kotaku

Kotaku is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier.

Sponsorships

In February 2012, Bain announced that he would be sponsoring Team Dignitas player BlinG: "The StarCraft community has given a lot to me and in turn I've had the opportunity to give back with SHOUTcraft Invitational. Now it is time to take it one step further and directly support a UK talent that I believe has the potential to be one of the best foreigners in the world."[57]

Team Axiom

In August 2012, Bain offered to sponsor CranK, formerly a member of team SlayerS, to compete in the MLG Pro Circuit 2012-Summer Championship.[58]

On 26 September 2012, Bain and his wife Genna announced the creation of Team Axiom, with Bain and HuskyStarCraft as the team's sponsors and CranK, renamed to AxCrank at the time, as their first player.[59] The group joined with Team Acer to form the team Axiom-Acer to participate in the GOMTV Global StarCraft II Team League.[60] The Axiom roster consisted of AxCrank, AxAlicia, AxHeart and AxRyung.

On 15 October 2015, Bain announced the dissolution of Team Axiom because of the return of his cancer and a lack of recent success for the team.[61]

Awards

Bain was a runner-up in the Golden Joystick 2012, in category Greatest YouTube Gamer.[62] He has been recognised on several prominent gaming sites including Technorati[63] and Eurogamer.[28] Bain won the 2012 Battle Royale organised by King of the Web and donated his winnings to the non-profit organisation Charity: Water.[64] In 2014, he was an entrant in MCV's Brit List.[4] TotalBiscuit has been nominated for a Shorty Award.[65] On 5 December 2014, Bain received a Fan's Choice The Game Award in the category "Trending Gamer".[66]

Source: "TotalBiscuit", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 22nd), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TotalBiscuit.

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Further Reading

Esports

Randy Pitchford

Bulletstorm

Let's Play

PewDiePie

Day One: Garry's Incident

Linus Sebastian

Jesse Cox (YouTuber)

Disguised Toast

Alpharad

Keemstar

Ludwig Ahgren

Dream (YouTuber)

Cr1TiKaL

Technoblade
References
  1. ^ JP McDaniel (23 June 2012). Real Talk with TotalBiscuit. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2013 – via YouTube.
  2. ^ Bain, John. "Sorry, diagnosed dyspraxic with a step-son who as you probably know has adhd and aspergers. This is a topic I care deeply about". Twitter. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  3. ^ Bain, Genna. "YouTube Playlist Depicting Genna's Adventures Living With John". YouTube. Archived from the original on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d e Calvin, Alex (6 May 2014). "WTF is... TotalBiscuit?". Archived from the original on 28 February 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  5. ^ Bembenek, Mike (5 March 2014). "The biggest celebrities of eSports". Red Bull eSports. Archived from the original on 5 February 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  6. ^ Jaworski, Michelle (30 April 2014). ""I almost got myself killed"—YouTube star TotalBiscuit opens up about cancer". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  7. ^ Tach, Dave (23 May 2014). "Web broadcaster John 'TotalBiscuit' Bain diagnosed with cancer". Polygon. Archived from the original on 25 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  8. ^ Votta, Rae (17 October 2015). "YouTube gamer TotalBiscuit reveals inoperable cancer, disbands esports team". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 25 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
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