There’s nothing more ominous then the intro just being the introduction of the wife arm timer, truly cinematic genius.

The saddest thing about the whole wife arm thing is how easy it would have been to make a good story out of it. Like seriously you barely need to change anything. First, have his arm talk. She’ll be his emotionless navigator AI at first, but as Spencer regains memories she would become more human (laughing at a dumb joke, insulting Mag, letting loose her own one liners). Second, cut the forced foreshadowing. No “Things aren’t as they seem” crap. Last, let the reveal rip and have both Spencer and Emily be shocked. Give a quick flashback about how they essentially ripped out her brain to make the OS for the arm. Audience is quickly surprised, horrified, and understands exactly what the implications are. Plus you get an extra reason to go kill the final boss. Voila! Wife arm becomes Waifu arm.

"Time Left Until Wife Arm" is one of the cruelest tests of patience I have ever endured

There's a big thing to be made of the fact that, without the wife arm, Spencer literally feels incomplete, and the first thing that happens when you get it back and regain the ability to start swinging again is he lets out a joyous shout. It's literally the only time you hear him happy in the entire game. And I genuinely don't know if that was intentional or not. The game has some odd moments where it nails things, but the rest of it is so tone-deaf, it's hard to tell if it was deliberate or if they succeeded in adding some genuine subtext entirely by accident.

Okay, I didn’t know the twist going into this, I had no idea what Bionic Commando was, so when I saw “wife arm” on the timer I googled “wife arm” and got an urban dictionary definition saying “a twist that invalidates the story up to that point” or something along those lines. That is to say, I was not ready for said wife arm to be a literal wife arm.

"Time Left Until Wife Arm" feels like a ticking timebomb, especially as someone who did not know this game existed until today. Edit: Okay, yeah, that was one hell of a timebomb. I've seen some stupid or ass-pully twists in my day, but goddamn that's dumb as shit.

The game deserves a chair, Bumbles. But the one I’m thinking of doesn’t have wheels.

Honestly the Wife Arm could’ve been forgiven if that wasn’t a twist. Imagine the game where it leans into the cheese of such a thing, you have a snarky wife arm and the two make quips and bounce off each other, etc through the game. I feel that would be at least a bit better

Jack, that's people you're breathing.

They turned his wife into a bionic arm, funnies shit ive ever seen.

My arm! My arm! My arm! My arm! My arm! My arm! I summon up the powers of the WIFE ARM!

You know looking at this gameplay,the weird ass lore,Spencer’s design. This feels like it’s a Metal Gear game from a different universe.

Funny how the most infamous game of the "but it's edgy" episodes turned out to be the most enjoyable

Let’s just get this right out if the way while we still have brain cells: BIONIC! AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRMMMM!!!

20:22 "Somehow a major city could be built atop a miles-long cave system" New York City Sewers

It’s amazing how you can get the perfect joke to land within the first five seconds without a word even being said. I knew I subscribed to you for a reason!

You've heard of a character getting "Fridged." From the makers of Mega Man, we bring you getting "Armed!"

I just realized something: Nathan Spencer in the 2009 games looks WAY too similar to Jake from Ride to Hell Retribution. That is NOT a good thing.

Seeing the Wife Arm timer filled me with a fear I didn't know could be invoked by a simple timer

Okay, but now I want a sequel where you and your wife arm bicker like and old married couple throught the whole thing.

The kicker for me is that the bionic lady whose name I can't be bothered to remember's whole deal is how people shouldn't be afraid of bionic technology when it turns out that the in universe bionic technology requires a loved one to die. Of course people are afraid.

My theory about the Wife Arm thing is that the actual connective tissues that lets Spencer control his bionic arm is his wife's nervous system, keeping her "still there" through sci-fi mumbo jumbo

Fun fact: this is the second game released in 2009 with a Wife Arm, the first one being The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match for the PS2.

These videos always have impeccable writing, but I think "Traitor Joe" is such a hilarious and nonchalant joke, I adore it.

I wonder if the five people who didn't know about that twist were really confused when that counter came up

You know if Capcom takes cues from the Marvel Spider-man video game and mixes it with the Just Cause series, than I believe Bionic Commando could make a solid comeback.

I have waited for Wife Arm my entire life

I can't wait for the "bomberman but it's edgy" video

When I first saw that timer, I was so confused and intrigued. "What the hell does he mean by 'wife-arm?'" was the first thing that popped into my head, it's so uniquely random and investing, until you forget about it after a while but then notice the timer still there. And then the revial... What. The. Fuck.

Ok, i think i finally figured out the wife arm! Its made with Remnant

Ah, Bionic Commando, the home of that guy from the greatest Marvel vs Capcom 3 clip ever and nothing else

Daemon Clarke in Xenoverse is a treat. He clearly didn't give a crap about the subtitles, he was there to voice Perfect Cell and have fun doing it, and have fun he did.

Oh man, I see that wife arm counter. Yeah, I don't understand it either. It's a dumb twist, plain and simple.

Genius comedy for the intro being nothing but just slapping on the counter and letting that say everything that needed to be said before getting right into it.

I had somehow completely forgot about wife arm until right before the timer hit zero, I wish once again to forget about it

23:01 That line has the same amount of confusing energy as the "I'm a goddamn onion, Mason" line from Black Ops: Cold War.

6:01 to be fair, Donkey Kong for the NES has 3 levels Donkey Kong for the Game Boy has like 100 levels withmore intricate mechanics more detailed art and more movement options

I don't get why society would think this kind of augmentation is something to be afraid of. Imagine how great society could be! "Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?" " I do." "Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?" "I do." "Then, I now pronounce you man and wife. Now, by coin flip, we will decide...Yup, congratulations to the new wife, you are getting a new pair of robot arms. Lay down on the table, Sir. I'll get the bonesaw."

24:10 The best bit, that edit sounds so clean

I love telling people that there is a game with wife arm in it. So dumb I love it!

I'd only ever heard of the wife arm, so it's a welcome surprise to hear the game actually plays well (when the level design allows it) Honestly, a game with this type of movement and gameplay with better level design, and a story and writing similar to MGRR, where it's all awesome and stupid and campy and full of bombast while covering something incredibly philosophical, like what it means to truly have a connection with another person (who happens to be your wife (who also happens to be your bionic arm)), sounds incredible. Everyone would want it. They could even write in the wife arm, because: 1. It could be explained as they turned her into an AI/her brain is physically in the arm/nervous system (or a clone of her nervous system) was implanted in the arm/etc. so it would control/handle better And 2. They _need_ to include the wife arm. How could they not? Nothing else in this game matters. _Give us the wife arm, CAPCOM, YOU COWARDS_

17 seconds before the big thing, and I see where they got the inspiration for Spencer's Level 3 in MvC Infinite. Perfect. As for the Wife Arm thing, I thought it had an AI in it and that would be it, but I guess it doesn't? All I can guess at this point is they ripped out some bones and put it in the arm as construction material.

17:17 Wormy Squirmington is my new favorite character in the Bumbles universe.

Finally, the origin story of that one guy from Marvel vs Capcom and nothing else. Edit: Interesting to see this game has more potential then I expected. Feels like something that could have gotten a really good sequel if they got the chance. Wormy Squirmington is the best character, and also I now want you to do a video on MvC Infinite, or the story mode at the very least.

I think the breathing people comment means the dust kicked up could very likely be the ashes of people destroyed in the nuke.

I don't know why I love this man so much. He's just so god damn funny, bro.

I always felt Bionic Commando was seriously lacking in wife arm, so I’m glad the revival provided on that .

Honestly the swinging mechanic looks super fun and has loads of potential. Could be the perfect mix of Spider Man PS4 and Just Cause. God, i'd inject that into my veins.

i shit you not Morty they turned his wife into his bionic arm funniest shit I've ever seen

USE WIFE AS ARM.

IF Bionic Commando ever does dig itself out of the grave this game dug it, I think the best tone in terms of story would be a cheesy 80s/90s action hero movie type tone. Now on to my other thought: you how in the 2000's Anime picking up in popularity, not to the popularity it has now, but things like Yu-gi-oh, Pokémon, DBZ, Naruto, etc were starting catching the interest of the young, so a some western companies tried to half-heartedly copy the look of anime, but all it ended up being was what middle-aged suits in the 2000's thought anime was. Capcom's "appeal to the west" initiative was basically their version of that. things like Bionic commando xb360 and DMC: Devil may cry were just semi-hearted attempts at what Japanese developers thought Americans/westerners liked. And I just find it a little bit funny that portions of both the west and east tried a half-hearted attempt at copying each other and both mostly failed.

So the arms are basically EVAs but wives instead of moms. Gotcha.

That wife arm counter is the most ingenious bit of video design I've ever seen holy fck

24:10 “Spencer, there’s no way out, you’ll just have to f*** it.” Jack: “Sir, it would be an honor to f*** that worm **unbuckles belt and unzips his flies** FOR THESE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” Why is it so funny lol🤣

WIFE ARM WIFE ARM WIFE ARM LETS GOOO

From my introduction to this installment of the series, I think I know what the reward is. Getting every collectable seem to lead to the classic Spencer skin.

I began this without knowing what the hell the wife arm was. I probably should've have guessed by the time that it was revealed.

The funniest part about the wife arm is that it implies that ALL bionics require some sort of human sacrifice of a loved one. Even in 2009, when prosthetics were still being researched, that’s stupidly unrealistic. And yes, it was trying to be realistic, because the game explains that Spencer had to get his spine reinforced in order to carry his wife arm’s massive weight without becoming permanently lopsided.

every time you upload, I almost don't wanna watch the video, because I know that at some point the video will end. it's like a three star meal, you need to savour it

My revelation today is that Wife Arm is basically "The Forging of Vampire Killer" but for people on some kind of substance. It doesn't have to be a narcotic, but they could not have been in a chemically stable mindset.

"I predict in the year 2007, people will still be talking about Bionic Commando."

Every day i'm thankful I was born a Strider fan. We got all the fun of the amazing early-mid 2010s 2d remake, and none of the...everything else. .....Stiiiiilll just as much suffering in terms of the whole "Dev who made that 2d remake immediately died afterwards and there hasn't been a game since" deal though....

Yknow, this actually made me want to give the game a shot. Considering it’s way better than the rest of the late 00s/early 10s trite that was being pushed out, I’m fascinated by the mechanics despite the whole story thing. The fact that the ENTIRE GAME has been reduced to “wife arm haha lol” seems like an effect of the culture around the time, and yet… as much as I’d love to shrug that off, the wife thing DOES leave that much of an impression from such a ridiculous (brilliant?) twist. I mean, it’s WHY we remember this game anyway - it’s unbelievably bonkers in so many ways, and yet somehow it keeps us coming back to it. Weird. Great video as always, Jack. :>

very excited for the inevitable bomberman but edgy video

Not the bionicle video we wanted but the bionicle video we needed…thanks bubbles Also amazing video as aways, keep it up king!

Beat this game on hard on my first try. It basically ups the difficulty by ten and cuts the fun by a hundred. Would not recommend. Also shame on you for not mentioning the dedicated "SHUT THE FUCK UP" button in the groeder boss fight.

2:01 I have a sinking feeling the Bumbling Fumbler has some Ghosts n' Goblins trauma.

Damn what a coincidence, I just finished watching altered beast but edgy

24:20 EVERYBODY GO HOME THIS IS THE EPITATH OF COMEDY IT WONT get any better than this

Starting the video seeing the time until the rant makes me so happy instantly since I know will be full of quick jokes it'll take multiple replays of the video to laugh at all separately

Ah yes, the only protagonist that regularly gets his wife to give people...y'know what I'm gonna shelve that joke, save it for if Marvel ever shows up here. I DO remember when it first came out and my Xbox died *right* before I went to rent it, because apparently it decided to use its RRoD to help break me out of my edgy phase.

26:09 Holy cow, that made me crack up. 27:03 And Spencer’s punch made no noise whatsoever!

Ok Bumbles is just alternate universe Scott the Woz at this point. The wife arm and mk8's battle mode are their canon events.

I had no idea what the “wife arm” was previous to watching this video. You mentioned a moment that is apparently talked about quite a lot, so I was just left in anxious anticipation to see what “wife arm” meant. Is there a gruesome scene where the wife’s are is chopped off and replaced with a bionic arm? Was it the inverse, with her being a cyborg and the only organic part is her arm? I just had to sit and wait. Watching… Fearing…

I still think they should’ve played the wife arm as a horror thing. Like that should’ve been an “oh god, she’s fucking dead” moment for spencer. They could’ve made something really disturbing if they played it as this distraught moment where he realizes that the woman he loves, the person he’s been searching for this entire fucking time, his only goal, had been turned into this mechanical monstrosity, twisted and broken to fit a purpose.

You'd think they'd, like, at least spend some more of the end about the wife arm there. Even just a few lines...

Time left until Scott bitches about battle mode

Spenser ! I turned myself into an arm, Spenser ! I am wife aaaaaarm !

I sure do love watching bumbles mc fumbles and getting king crimsoned.

"That's people your breathing"? WAIT THERES DUST AROUND IT IN THAT SCENE the funniest part is after that is you are told to fuck a giant robot worm that looks like a big eggplant, definitely just a eggplant

Remember that era of gaming where everything was an edgy reboot, because men in suits thought that was the cool thing? Actually that could warrant a whole video.

This game is one of my favorite games to play over and over.. Idk why but it scratches some itch in my brain. I love this game!

So, flash back to three months ago. I get a new bumbles mcfumbles vid in my reccomended. "Bionic commando but edgy". "Oh cool" I think to myself. "The next entry in the 'But Edgy' series we were promised!' I click on the video. [29 minutes until Wife Arm] I have never heard anything about bionic commando. I am confused, but continue on regardless. I keep watching the video, and eventually the timer fades into the background. I am merely entertained by the funny man doing his funny thing. Eventually, I casually see the timer has reached 5 seconds. 29 minutes of anticipation suddenly hit me all at once. I have no idea what's going to happen. "They turned her into his Robotic arm." I am taking Intro to Human Anatomy. I am utter confusion. Great experience overall though, 9/10 vid, would completely confuse my friends with it too.

in the background you slowly hear me chanting "WIFE. ARM. WIFE. ARM. WIFE. ARM. WIFE. ARM. WIFE. ARM. WIFE. ARM. WIFE. ARM."

Hope to see Wormy Squirmington more often

It was only a matter of time. Great video, Jack!

Enjoyed the vid, wife arm for life arm

I would so love an episode where you talk about the foley and sound effects you make for these videos because that part with the worm and the flub was fantastic.

I cant stress enough how much these videos improve my days, keep doing you man, and have a great one !!

EVERY BUMBLES POST IS A GOOD POST

I've only ever seen this character from marvel v Capcom 3, so it was cool to learn about his history :)

I would say it is impossible to do a twist like this and make it at all possible to take it seriously, but Witch from Mercury had a recent plot twist that showed something like this can be chilling with the right framing.

4:40 by the lord’s hubcaps, it’s PERSONA 2! gad dahm. this was the last place I expected to see persona 2 in… maybe this is a possible sneak peak of an innocent sin review? that’d be pretty amazing ngl

29:45 * clears throat * Remnant.

0:03 GOD I wish I didn't know the twist beforehand.

God the timer is such a funny touch. I remember this game and had to pause and laugh when I saw it.

I swear every random wrestling reference gets a pop outta me

If this countdown doesn't come back for the Open Season on Gamecube episode I would be mildly disappointed.

I am indeed only here for the wife arm

Lemme get this straight. This game, straight up, coulda been to grapple gameplay what MGR was to cutting, and *is* as cool in certain sections (the worm, the copter chase)... and we just ditched it because a truly stupid plot point exclusive to the last minutes of the game. ...I'm so disappointed in us.