The famous American YouTuber Logan Paul has caused controversy with a new project: he cast 15 old handheld consoles from Nintendo in epoxy resin and built a table out of them. Some hate him for it – others don’t understand where the hate is coming from.
Who is the YouTuber? Logan Paul is considered an extremely controversial YouTuber and internet personality. His name has been known worldwide since his boxing match against fellow YouTuber KSI in 2018. The fight was repeated and even Twitch stars like xQc wanted to follow in his footsteps.
The YouTuber follows many trends to strengthen his personality and name. In 2018, for example, he got into Fortnite, even though he had never been interested in it before. In February 2021, he bought Pokémon cards for 2 million US dollars.
Paul often attracts trouble with his videos and posts and seems to provoke intentionally as well. In 2017, for example, he bought a functional GameBoy Color just to smash it on the street moments later (via Twitter.com).
What has he done now? In one of his latest videos from December 2021, he cast 15 GameBoy Color consoles in epoxy resin. He then framed it all with metal and created a stylish table:
The action has attracted a lot of attention – both from people who think the table is cool and from angry users. Even other well-known names like Seth Everman joined the discussion. The post received over 7 million views within a few days.
GameBoy table sparks discussions
This causes anger: The biggest criticism of the action seems to be that the YouTuber has irreparably destroyed the devices through his action. They could only be removed in a functional condition from epoxy resin with extreme unlikelihood.
Behind this seems to be a significant portion of nostalgia from users who see a part of their childhood in the GameBoys. Some think the table is cool but wish it had been built sustainably.
Plexiglass panels, for instance, would have achieved the same effect without destroying the consoles. And they would have been replaceable as well. @adzetko wrote on Twitter: “GameBoys are no longer produced and are becoming increasingly rare and expensive. But you’re sitting in your ivory tower. Drowning them in epoxy was unnecessary to build a table.”
Is it really that bad? Many users do not understand where the hate is coming from. They see it as a project that other YouTubers would never have received so much backlash for. After all, it’s Paul’s money, and he can do whatever he wants with the GameBoys.
It’s not even hard to get the devices. On eBay, for instance, there are used handhelds starting at $30, and in Germany, the devices can sometimes be auctioned for as low as 10 € (via ebay.com). GameBoys are also not really rare.
Moreover, no one knows if the devices even work anymore. Of course, one could have thought more sustainably here – but this is his project. Twitter user @Kl3XY wrote:
“I don’t understand what people’s problem is. He bought the GameBoy Color, he can do whatever he wants with them. There aren’t just 15 GameBoy Colors in the world.”
Whether one likes the action or not ultimately depends on the individual. In any case, Logan Paul has caused massive attention with this. And at least his 15 GameBoys can no longer be used for any crimes:
