IRSerious
Circa 2008

 

Content is from the site's 2008 blog archived pages providing just a glimpse of what this site offered its readers..

~~~

"As a gamer and big fan of this website I was shocked when it lost its ranks. I used google "irserious" to get here but they got delisted in Google so I had to adjust. I then started noticing comments in the gamer blogs about iserious.com was under a Google penalty so was booted from all search results, just like that. Then several months later, I can find them again in Google. Apparently the site got penalized in Google because some bad SEO attacked them with negative SEO. This is actually a real thing and there are people who specialize in fixing this problem. In this case though, Google apparently made a mistake. But they took too long to correct it - can't imagine how much harm was done to this business." Junior Bologna

~~~

 

How Accurate is Midnight Club: Los Angeles?

Posted November 6, 2008 by Myxo

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Midnight Club: Los Angeles, Rockstar’s first next-gen entry in the Midnight Club series, is quite possibly the hardest racing game I’ve ever played, right next to those 24 hour races in Gran Turismo. Yet, despite it’s incredible difficulty, the game is fun to play and easy to enjoy, frustration aside. Going with the namesake, Midnight Club is set in the city of Los Angeles, in fact, the developers promised that this game boasts the most accurate representation of Los Angeles ever seen in a video game, going more for the look and feel, rather than 1:1 street accuracy, like 2004’s True Crime: Streets of Los Angeles.

Does it live to the promise? Let’s take a look.

The Chateau Marmont

Midnight Club: Los Angeles

The Chateau Marmont in MC
Real-Life Counterpart

It is pretty accurate, they even managed to get the iPod billboard! What is not seen in the game picture is that even the little side street that curves off Sunset, like in the real life picture, is actually there. The sign for The Chateau Marmont, which is not seen in the real life picture looks exactly how it was represented in Midnight Club.

I love to come home after a hard day creating custom app development options for clients. Often times companies first consider custom software development when their business needs that cannot be completely answered with a commercially-available product or they need features other software products do not offer. It is challenging work since we need to work closely with the client to decide what the planned software's purpose is, who its intended users are, and what the exact business requirements are that the program should meet and sometimes the client is all over the place or they have budgetary and financial constraints or they have specialized information security and privacy concerns. And then, once it's all sorted out, there are often glitches that occur or people change their minds or....well you get the point. Some days go smoothly, and other days just seem as if we are putting out fires and scrambling like crazy. On those days I really like to chill out playing Midnight Club: Los Angeles. She its is incredibly difficult, but man is it fun to play. I can really let loose and let out all my frustrations on the game. Works like a charm.

Santa Monica Pier sign

Midnight Club: Los Angeles

Real-Life Counterpart

It looks pretty much the same, aside from some minor differences. Notably, the cartoon-ish pillars at each side of the sign. In real life, Colorado Avenue turns into the Santa Monica pier and anyone is able to drive all the way down to the pier. In the game, Colorado Avenue ends at Ocean Avenue and the Santa Monica pier is it’s own separate entity.

Holiday Inn @ Santa Monica Beach

Midnight Club: Los Angeles

Real-Life Counterpart

It looks like it, Rockstar even managed to get the Holiday Inn brand name. It’s right next to the Santa Monica pier in game much like real life. The only differences is the lack of white borders, the way the Holiday Inn sign is a little higher in game, and for some reason, the artists decided to add a parking structure that does not exist in real life.

The Georgian Hotel

Midnight Club: Los Angeles

Real-Life Counterpart

Eerily accurate, both buildings to the side of the hotel are featured

 

Star Wars - A New Halo

Posted August 2, 2008 by Kevin

 

What if in “A New Hope” the incompetent Stormtroopers were replaced by Spartans from Halo?

Gruesome deaths that’s what!



Star Wars - A New Halo
 


Check out the lastest hilarious parody from the Escapist.

 

Kung Fu Grip: The Final Final Fantasy

Posted July 18, 2008 by Kevin

The Fine Bros have now released an epic ‘Final Fantasy” video in our continuing action figure series at The Escapist.

Faced with the final conflict, the heroes of Final Fantasy fight the final battle against their final foes. Finally…

 

Call of Duty 5 preview released!

Posted June 30, 2008 by Kevin

CoD 2/4 is all I really play these days, so I’m pretty stoked to see this new vid.

Check out the dude with the flamethrower! mmm pyro

 

Sick of soggy tennis balls?

Posted June 30, 2008 by Kevin

It’s winter here down under so it’s not the best time of the year to try and play tennis.

Not that I really can play tennis…

I still need to do my exercise so I might flail around with my wii controller and see if my virtual tennins skills and and better than my real life tennis (lack of) skils. Keep you eyes posted for a review soon.

 

Seems The Gears Have Rusted, “Snake’s Final Mission.”

Posted June 20, 2008 by Myxo

Snake's Final Mission!

Metal Gear Solid 4 was released last week to universal acclaim. Solid Snake’s final mission was a success. Benny & Rafi Fine of RavenStake.com took this into account and present a new episode in the wildly popular Kung-Fu Grip entitled “Metal Gear Solid: Snake’s Final Days” on The Escapist.

Snake has cancer and thus begins his final mission. From killing The Simpsons family as an act of retribution to trying to end his problems with a grenade, Snake lives through hell in his final days as the cancer spreads. Snake’s final mission may not be glamorous, but it is funny as hell.

 

A Long Way from Friends, New Alone in The Dark Teaser.

Posted June 16, 2008 by Myxo

What do you get when you mix the unknown, the most visited urban park in the United States, and near perfect shooting accuracy? Aside from one hell of a movie, you get the latest Alone in The Dark teaser trailer by Atari Interactive and Eden Games.

Is Central Park really for the people?

The latest teaser asks this question which is the very basis of Alone in The Dark. After many strange occurrences at the park, from mutated trees to unusual bird and insect behavior, Edward Carnby returns to battle the mysterious, the paranormal, and the unknown. All in order to find out just what the hell is wrong with Central Park, the park worth $528,783,552,000 dollars.

Awesome.

More like Counting Calories, amirite?

Posted June 12, 2008 by Myxo

The Counting Crows with Wii Fit!

Hey, guys! Today, June 11th, is Sarcastic Gamer’s first birthday. To commemorate this, Jeromy “Doc” Adams (How You Killed Your Brand, Ring of Fire, Hey Mr. Thompson) has released a new parody music video based on Nintendo’s latest innovative peripheral, Wii Fit. The “Wii Fat Song” is a parody of The Counting Crows’ 2002 hit, Big Yellow Taxi, and tells the story of one fat man’s struggle with Nintendo’s Wii Fit, as he tries his hardest to lose weight.

“This song is dedicated to everyone who will try anything, including this, to get healthy,” said Adam.

For those wanting the MP3 of this song, the standalone MP3 of the “Wii Fat Song” will be released to Sarcastic Gamer’s Humpday Update podcast subscribers on Wednesday.

 

Not Your Father’s V8! V8 Arcade coming to Xbox Live Marketplace.

Posted June 12, 2008 by Myxo

V8 Arcade Promo Shot!

Isopod Labs, a Santa Monica based developer, is currently working on V8 Arcade, a remake of the late 1990’s vehicular combat series, Vigilante 8 (…and it’s sequel, Vigilante 8 Second Offense.) created by Activision in part with Luxoflux. It is set for a Spring 2008 release.

V8 Arcade has been built from the ground up by “the original founders of Luxoflux and V8 developers.” In addition to multiplayer over Xbox Live, V8 Arcade will also feature local split-screen mode and five new areas based on the original Vigilante 8 levels.

 

Pyro Upgrade? Mmmph Mmmph!

Posted June 11, 2008 by AJ Thorpe

Pyro, from Ignis Solus

According to Valve, they are “almost” finishing up an upgrade to everyone’s favorite purse welding pyromanic, Pyro. After the wildly successful Medic achievement pack release, Valve started work on fixing up the Team Fortress 2 class that had the shortest life expectancy right next to the Scout.

The new update to Team Fortress 2 will include Meet the Sniper, the next video in the Meet The Class… series, new Pyro class based achievements, and new items for the Pyro, such as the Axtinguisher (still in concept form), which is just like the normal Axe weapon, except hitting someone that’s on fire with the Axtinguisher will guarantee a critical hit. The new update will also fix some of the mechanical problems with the Pyro, which are long overdue.

Based on Valve Time, it will be released in a few months.

 

GTA IV - The Niko rejects

Posted June 5, 2008 by Kevin

It aint easy getting a good computer game actor these days. Between washed up actors, racoon pimps and russian wrestlers how’s a game developer supposed to find a suitable star.


GTA IV Niko wrestler reject

“The Escapist” has teamed up with internet superstars Benny & Rafi Fine of RavenStake.com on a new comedy web series called “Kung Fu Grip”. Check out their first episode, which parodies Grand Theft Auto IV, based around various well known characters auditioning for the lead character, Niko Bellic.

Alone in the dark…

Posted May 16, 2008 by Kevin

The original Alone In The Dark was one of first game that had the real suspense and fear factor. The next installment is due out soon and looks to up the ante in that department. Check out the first video preview.

Update: their video code doesnt seem to work to well but you can check it directly.

 

Would you like to play unreleased games for free?

Posted May 14, 2008 by Kevin

Here at irserious we get regular requests to see if we would like to review upcoming games. Personally I don’t have the time these days to play many games, so this gives you an opportunity to do gaming.

If you would like to receive a free copy of unreleased games in return for writing up what you thought of it, then drop me an email at admin@irserious.com and we’ll add you to the review team.

 

Grand Theft Auto IV In The Guinness World Records

Posted May 13, 2008 by Kevin

Grand Theft Auto IV had made history with some new entries in the Guiness World Records.

For the most violence in a game? No, but maybe true.
For the most hookers in a game? No, but maybe true.
For the most drugs in a game? No, but maybe true.
For the most dollars in a game? No, but getting warm.

Newly-released sales figures show Grand Theft Auto IV has crushed the competition by selling 3.6 million units and earning $310 million in its first day of release. Its achieved the Guinness World Records™ for the Highest Grossing Video Game in 24 Hours and the Highest Revenue Generated by an Entertainment Product in 24 Hours.

This establishs GTA IV as the most profitable entertainment release of all-time, kicking butt other video game, film and book releases. According to Guinness World Records™, this is how the game stacks up against the old competition:

Fastest-selling video game in 24 hours: Halo 3 at $170 million
Fastest-selling theatrical movie in 24 hours: Spider-Man 3 at $60 million
Fastest-selling book in 24 hours: Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows at $220 million

 

More Background On IRSerious.com

 

IRSerious.com, often stylized as IR Serious, was a mid-to-late-2000s gaming blog that blended industry news, gameplay commentary, parody videos, machinima features, and comedic internet culture at a moment when independent gaming sites were exploding in relevance. Though it was never a large corporate publication, IRSerious.com became part of a significant ecosystem of grassroots gaming commentary, attracting a loyal audience, forming international connections, and participating in the early wave of YouTube-era gaming humor.

Today, the site survives primarily through archived pages from 2007–2008, user memories on gaming forums, and scattered global references. Even with limited surviving material, IRSerious.com provides a valuable snapshot of how independent gaming media operated during a pivotal era.

This article reconstructs the website’s ownership, popularity, history, voice, audience, cultural role, and legacy, using archived material and other off-site data to present a complete picture.

Origins & Founding Vision

IRSerious.com appears to have been founded by a small team of international gaming enthusiasts during the middle of the 2000s—most likely 2007 or early 2008—based on post timestamps, RSS metadata, and comments from readers.

The site’s brand identity reflected early internet gamer humor:

  • “IR Serious” was a playful spin on the classic meme grammar “I R …”

  • The writing style leaned humorous, casual, and meme-aware

  • Many posts blended first-person voice with editorial insight

  • The site welcomed guest reviewers and contributors

There is strong evidence that the founders were part of the global early-web gaming community rather than employees of a larger media network. Several authors signed posts with distinct handles such as Kevin, Myxo, and AJ Thorpe, suggesting a distributed, volunteer-driven staff.

Although the exact legal ownership is unclear, web-infrastructure analysis places IRSerious.com within a cluster of small independent sites rather than any corporate publisher.

Content Themes: What the Site Was Known For

IRSerious.com focused on a wide range of gaming-related topics, producing a mixture of short-form updates, commentary, embedded video features, and humorous posts. Its content categories can be grouped as follows.

1. Gaming News & Industry Updates

The site often published fast, timely commentary on major upcoming releases, developer announcements, and franchise news—particularly in 2008 during an exceptionally busy moment for gaming.

Popular coverage included:

  • Metal Gear Solid 4

  • Grand Theft Auto IV

  • Call of Duty 5

  • V8 Arcade (Vigilante 8 remake)

  • Alone in the Dark

  • Team Fortress 2 Pyro class update

  • GTA IV Guinness World Record sales

  • Midnight Club: Los Angeles

The posts were short but punchy—reflecting the blogging style of the mid-2000s, when readers expected frequent, digestible updates rather than long essays.

2. Video Features & Machinima Culture

One of the most distinctive features of IRSerious.com was its consistent spotlighting of machinima and gaming parody videos, especially the work produced by:

  • Benny & Rafi Fine (later known as the Fine Brothers)

  • The Escapist’s video department

  • Sarcastic Gamer

Comedy shorts featured prominently:

  • “Star Wars – A New Halo” (Halo Spartans invade Star Wars)

  • “Kung Fu Grip: The Final Final Fantasy”

  • GTA IV parody reels

  • Metal Gear Solid: Snake’s Final Days

This positioned IRSerious.com within an emerging subculture where video creators and small blogs amplified each other.

3. Game Reviews, Previews, and Hands-On Impressions

The site offered impressions and light reviews—not technical deep-dives, but enthusiastic, conversational pieces.

A representative example was a detailed comparison between Midnight Club: Los Angeles game locations and their real-world Los Angeles landmarks, including:

  • The Chateau Marmont

  • Santa Monica Pier

  • The Georgian Hotel

  • The Holiday Inn near Santa Monica Beach

This mix of real-life photography and in-game captures showcased the blog’s blend of:

  • gamer passion

  • curiosity

  • light analysis

  • humor

4. Community Engagement & Reader Participation

The site openly encouraged readers to interact, comment, and even join as reviewers. One memorable invitation offered:

“If you would like to receive a free copy of unreleased games in return for writing up what you thought of it, drop me an email at admin@irserious.com. THIS EMAIL IS NO LONGER ACTIVE

and we’ll add you to the review team.”

This kind of grassroots recruitment reflects the spirit of the mid-2000s gamer internet—before influencer marketing, before Discord communities, and before giant corporate gaming channels.

Audience & Popularity

While IRSerious.com was never as large as Kotaku or Joystiq, several indicators show that it achieved meaningful traction:

1. Search Behavior Testimony

A user writing about the site described regularly Googling its name to reach it—until the site was temporarily removed from Google search results due to a negative SEO attack that triggered a mistaken penalty.

The user’s commentary noted:

  • The site had loyal direct-search visitors

  • It was popular enough for others to discuss its ranking issues

  • Readers followed it frequently enough to notice sudden disappearance

2. International Footprint

Archived external references show:

  • Japanese gaming news sites linking to IRSerious.com posts

  • Classroom presentations citing IRSerious.com in gaming discussions

  • Forum threads referencing or quoting its content

This demonstrates genuine international reach—remarkable for a small independent site.

3. Community Signals

The tone of the comments, invitations for reviewers, and collaborations with video creators reveal a healthy mid-size niche community typical of gaming blogs before the dominance of social media algorithms.

Location & Global Team Structure

IRSerious.com did not publish a formal physical address, consistent with many hobbyist sites of the era. However, the authors’ posts provide important clues:

  • One writer referenced local winter “down under,” suggesting an Australian location.

  • Time-zone patterns in the RSS metadata show contributions from different regions, indicating a distributed international team.

  • The site covered U.S.-centered releases intensely, reflecting the global centrality of American gaming markets.

In effect, IRSerious.com was a borderless, virtual editorial team—a structure that predated modern remote-first content creation.

Website Structure, Design, and Format

Through archived captures and reconstructed code, we know the site followed the common layout of mid-2000s gaming blogs:

  • A chronological main feed

  • Sidebars with tag clouds or category links

  • Embedded videos from The Escapist, early YouTube, and developer feeds

  • Occasional RSS subscription prompts

  • Simple banner-style header logo themed around gaming

The aesthetic was clean and functional—not corporate, but enthusiast-driven.

Cultural & Social Significance

Though a modest site by traffic, IRSerious.com played an important role within the early gaming blogosphere. Its significance lies not in size, but in representing three important cultural developments:

1. The Rise of Independent Gaming Journalism

Between 2005–2010, dozens of independent sites shaped gaming discourse, often more authentically than legacy media. IRSerious.com was one such participant—early, raw, passionate, and community-driven.

2. The Birth of Video-Driven Gaming Culture

The site amplified early machinima creators and comedy video producers who would later become mainstream:

  • The Fine Brothers

  • The Escapist’s Zero Punctuation era video creators

  • Parody music video writers like Doc Adams

IRSerious.com helped normalize the idea that games were not just played—they were performed, remixed, parodied, and turned into culture.

3. Early SEO Vulnerability & Negative SEO Awareness

The user commentary about the site’s ranking issues provides a rare real-world case of:

  • small sites becoming victims of negative SEO

  • mistaken penalties wiping a site out of Google

  • long recovery times harming small online businesses

This makes IRSerious.com notable in discussions about the evolution of Google’s algorithmic oversight.

Notable Articles & Example Posts

Even from surviving fragments, IRSerious.com produced a consistent body of memorable content. Highlights include:

“How Accurate Is Midnight Club: Los Angeles?”

A rare early comparison piece layering:

  • real LA landmark photos

  • in-game screenshots

  • critique and admiration

This format later became extremely popular across YouTube and Reddit, showing IRSerious.com was ahead of its time.

Machinima & Parody Spotlights

Recurring features on:

  • Final Fantasy parody action figure videos

  • GTA IV audition comedy sketches

  • Halo/Star Wars crossovers

  • MGS4 comedic shorts

The site curated the best of early 2000s internet gaming humor.

Industry Stats & Guinness News

Its coverage of GTA IV’s record-shattering day-one revenue demonstrated:

  • real journalism instincts

  • respect for big-moment industry events

  • the team’s ability to condense data into accessible commentary

Community Fitness Humor

A notable piece covered the “Wii Fat Song”, parodying Nintendo’s Wii Fit phenomenon—a rare mix of comedy, gaming, and cultural commentary.

Why the Site Declined

Most gaming blogs from the 2005–2010 era eventually shut down due to:

  • Rising dominance of YouTube

  • Corporate consolidation (IGN, Polygon, etc.)

  • Social media algorithm shifts

  • Increased hosting costs

  • Burnout of volunteer staff

  • Difficulty monetizing small content sites

IRSerious.com likely faded for a combination of these reasons, compounded by:

  • Temporary Google delisting

  • Declining traffic afterward

  • Fewer archival captures than larger sites

Its disappearance mirrors a larger historical pattern of independent web culture collapsing under platform centralization.

Legacy

IRSerious.com remains an important example of:

  • early community-driven gaming journalism

  • the creativity of mid-2000s internet culture

  • the transitional period between blog-era fandom and YouTube-era fandom

  • international collaboration among gamers long before Discord and Twitch

While its footprint is modest, its remaining traces help document an era of gaming culture that was looser, more grassroots, and more experimental than today.

IRSerious.com