Game Grumps (channel)


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Game Grumps is a webshow/YouTube channel originally created and hosted by Jon Jafari (JonTron) and Arin Hanson (Egoraptor), where they play games while doing live commentary, with the first episode airing on July 18, 2012. On June 25, 2013, after about a year's (or 342 day's) worth of episodes, Jon left the show, and was replaced by Leigh Daniel Avidan, also known as Danny Sexbang, the lead singer of the musical comedy duo Ninja Sex Party. Around the same time, a Game Grumps spin-off show entitled Steam Train was introduced. The show features the new member Ross O'Donovan, Danny and/or Arin. The premise of Steam Train is similar to that of the original Game Grumps formula, with the only difference being that the games played are exclusively on the PC platform, often through the digital game distribution software Steam, hence the show's title. The regular upload schedule for the channel in 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. PST for Game Grumps and 12 p.m. PST for Steam Train. Other special episodes, like Table Flip or announcement videos are often uploaded sometime in this period as well. The channel consists of many series:, Game Grumps VS, Game Grumps Animated, Guest Grumps, Steam Train, Steam Rolled, and Table Flip; as well as occasional holiday-themed versions of their shows: Ghoul Grumps and Scream Train (Halloween), Jingle Grumps and Steam Sleigh (Christmas), Date Grumps and Single Train (Valentine's Day), Stout Train (St. Patrick's Day), and Cat Grumps and Meow Train (Aprils Fools day).

History
The Game Grumps began as a result of an argument between Arin and Jon. They were playing Super Smash Brothers Brawl with friends and had an intense debate about whether the characters Wolf and Fox were clones or not. When someone complained that the two should stop being so grumpy over the game, Arin suggested he make a podcast called Game Grumps, and the idea evolved into the creation of Game Grumps.

The Game Grumps channel was created on July 10th, 2012, and their first video was posted on July 18th. Since beginning the channel, they have accumulated a huge fan following from Egoraptor fans, JonTron fans, and gamers in general. The Game Grumps play games and commentate them in the same vein as a "Let's Play" channel, though they usually insist they aren't a Let's Play channel (there has been at least one occasion where Jon refers to Game Grumps as a Let's Play channel). Given the fact that the Grumps do not complete most games they begin, this holds true. The Grumps discuss various topics, usually revolving around the game they are playing, game design, their channels, social lives, and pop culture. Currently, the channel has over 2,000,000 subscribers and over 900,000,000 total video views.

Early in Game Grumps, Jon and Arin generally played games that one had played before, and wanted to share with the other, such as Jon's Banjo Kazooie, and Arin's Mega Man 7, or both had played and enjoyed, such as Kirby Super Star. In September 2012, the Game Grumps began receiving games in their PO Box from fans, and even more as time went on. Their variety of games became more diverse, and the amount of time spent playing each game generally decreased; many games played were only one-offs, or series only lasting about three episodes.

Since beginning Game Grumps, they have had a strong and creative fanbase. Their fans have made a lot of Game Grumps-related content. Game Grumps fans have made a lot of fanart for the Grumps. The fanart is generally either an illustration of a moment from an episode, or simply drawings of Jon and Arin. The fans have also made a notable amount of Rule 34 fanart of the Grumps, which they have acknowledged. Some fanart has been posted on the Game Grumps Facebook page. Another form of fan content is remixes. The remixes are generally created by editing audio from Game Grumps episodes. The first notable example of a fan remix is Waterflame's pause balls remix, which was mentioned and sung in an episode of Game Grumps. Fanmade Game Grumps Animated have become a very common creation among fans. These animations show parts of the Game Grumps' playthrough, generally either placing Arin and Jon inside the video game, or showing them on their couch playing the game. These animations were done even before Arin had made some for the Game Grumps channel, although they became more common afterwards.

When Game Grumps began, Jon edited the videos, and he and Arin shared management of the Game Grumps channel. Late in September 2012, Barry took over the role of editor of Game Grumps, as well as every role besides the actual recording, including uploading videos and managing playlists. This was done to allow Jon and Arin to focus more on their main channels. Barry copied Jon's style of editing to keep his role a secret, in fear that fans would not feel comfortable with somebody else editing the videos. Fortunately, fans responded positively to Barry, and he has become as popular as Jon and Arin.

In January 2013, the Game Grumps attended their first convention together, MAGFest 11 (Arin had gone to conventions before, without Jon). They held their first Game Grumps panel, where they answered many questions about the show and announced many upcoming events.

Shortly after MAGFest, the Game Grumps had their first guest star on the show, Grant Kirkhope, a composer for many Rareware games, in a new series called Guest Grumps. The episode was released on March 25, 2013.

On June 25, 2013, it was announced that Jon was leaving the show, and that Danny Sexbang of NinjaSexParty was taking his place. On the same day, the Game Grumps channel received a spin-off show, Steam Train, starring Danny and Ross O'Donovan.

The original trailer for Steam Train was uploaded (but taken down shortly after) on Ross's Channel. In this trailer it was revealed that Danny was originally only supposed to appear on Steam Train with Ross, while Arin and Jon continued Game Grumps. However, when Jon left the channel, Danny was asked to fill in as the new Not-So-Grump. Jon stated on his own channel that he left to concentrate on his main channel as his video schedule was very slow during his time on Game Grumps. Jon has confirmed several times that he will not be returning to Game Grumps.

On August 23, 2013, Steam Rolled was launched. Originally a competitive version of Steam Train, similar to Game Grumps VS, the first episode featured Quake III Arena, with Arin, Danny, Ross and Barry as players. Suzy Berhow also joined Steam Rolled shortly after this episode, replacing Danny, on August 26, playing Mario Party 4.

On October 25, 2013, a temporary Halloween themed Game Grumps and Steam Train series called Ghoul Grumps and Scream Train began. This saw the beginning of several holiday-themed spin-off shows. On December 22, 2013, another spin-off series was aired; Jingle Grumps and Steam Sleigh. There has been similar spin-off series on Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day, suggesting that there will be other holiday-themed series as well.

In January 2014, the Game Grumps attended MAGFest 12. Arin, who had previously expressed uncertainty about another convention, hosted a Game Grumps panel with Danny. There was also a NinjaSexParty/Steam Train panel with Danny, Ross, Barry, Suzy and Ninja Brian.

On February 7th, 2014, Table Flip (which was previously hosted on the Polaris website) began on the Game Grumps channel. Table Flip is a series featuring Barry and Suzy playing board and card games. With every game they play, they have several guests with them, such as the other Grumps, Markiplier, CaptainSparklez and Belated Media.

On November 21, 2014, Kevin was announced as the new editor for Game Grumps and Steam Train so Barry can focus his work on Sequelitis and other sketches. This announcement was made on the Domino Rally one-off. Kevin was generally welcomed as a positive thing for Game Grumps.