Analog Control is a Let's Play channel founded in late 2015, originally starring MJTR (real name Michael Roby) and Thayne (Thayne Henderson). The channel consists of three main series:
- Analog Control- Focused on MJTR and Thayne playing console games. As a result of working with a very limited budget, the series is filmed entirely in analog (using AV cables and VHS tapes,) hence the title.
- Analog Control Showdown- A competitive show where the duo either play multiplayer games or attempt to outdo one another in single-player. These are followed by Humiliating Wagers.
- Flashback- A show carried over from MJTR’s other YouTube channel that is focused on PC related games. The original intention of the series was to play flash games, but has expanded to other kinds, making the name something of an Artifact Title.
.These Let's Plays provide examples of:
- Abusive Parents: While playing Sportsball, MJTR at one point tells a bogus story about his father chastising him for being too affectionate with his giant pet bird, and forcing him to kill it because he’d never be a winner riding on such a pampered creature.
- Antichrist: MJTR is firmly of the belief Prince Tricky is the spawn of dinosaur Satan, given his Offscreen Teleportation and Breath Weapon powers together with the hosts
Alternate Character Interpretation of the Krazoa and the dinosaurs. - Archnemesis Dad: [[spoiler: Krakzoa Palace, the hosts' character in Habbo Hotel, spent her life searching for her father's killer and eventually fought him to the death. Only after the fatal blow did she realize he was his own killer all along.
- Boomerang Bigot: Michael is rather open that he dislikes cultural aspects of Romanian Gypsies, while also acknowledging that, digging far enough back in his ancestry, he’s got some Roma himself.
- Camp Gay: Thayne is bisexual, and is always open to making jokes regarding characters on that front. Notably, however, he never shows MJTR any interest. By contrast…
- Camp Straight: MJTR is straight, but will jokingly flirt with Thayne regularly. In contrast, any address toward Phoenix is always completely platonic.
- Captain Ersatz: In reaction to Derek Savage’s (then recent) attacks on content creators using footage from Cool Cat Saves the Kids, the hosts attempt to reference the film, but decide they were thinking of “Fun Feline”, who was created by “Dick Ravage” instead.
- Chubby Chaser: Thanks to the food-related haircuts mentioned to be favored by the Beardy Baldy's daughter in Fable, Michael and Phoenix theorize she's probably rather rotund. Michael is excited by the prospect.
- Death Is a Slap on the Wrist: MJTR gets to be pretty horrendous at ‘‘Beyond Good and Evil’’ due to the fact that the game doesn’t really punish failure besides sending the player back a few paces. Thayne refers to this as “Headbutting the problem” while MJTR prefers “Throwing your corpse at it.”
- Demonic Possession: According to one anecdote, MJTR once scared away a phone scammer by claiming he was possessed by Satan and delivering a Humans Are Bastards speech.
- Don't Explain the Joke: Attempted at least once. After at one point making a joke about the fetish of saline use, MJTR innocently asked Thayne to explain why he was so disgusted. Thayne, in order to keep from digging himself deeper, refused to cooperate.
- Dreadful Musician: MJTR occasionally breaks into song and does so in an intentionally grating fashion. Both hosts belt it at their worst when singing along to “i lvoe u” in Habbo Hotel.
- Eat That: Michael lost two separate showdowns that brought him to take a shot of apple cider vinegar and a dollar store steak.
- Following Phoenix's permanent arrival on the show, their first showdown involved her consuming a mix of sweaty sock tea and lemon juice.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Alcoholic bastard though he may be, Arseface refused to allow Albion's one and only whorehouse continue its lude practices, and eventually allowed it to be turned into a refuge for fallen women. Subverted because he performed this task of incredible good will in the hopes of using, "Did I ever tell you about the time I freed a whorehouse?" as a pickup line.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Throughout their playthrough of Star Fox Adventures, the hosts propose various religions the dinosaur races are supposed to represent-
- The Krazoa were either ancient polytheists or possibly Zoroastrian.
- The Earthwalkers, being the ones who killed most of the Krazoa, basically rule the world and claim they are being subjugated are Christians.
- The Snowhorn, being constantly beaten up and in the wrong place at the wrong time, are Jewish.
- The Cloudrunners are either Gypsies for being adorned in gold or are atheists for being pretentious.
- The Sharpclaw, who the hosts suggest are not all evil but judged by the horrible actions of a select few, are Islamic.
- Fantastic Racism: MJTR once suggested that the Shapclaw race probably weren’t all evil, but were being judged for the evil actions of a few. This was followed by a comparison to Islam.
- Fantastic Religious Weirdness: It is at one point questioned what is considered Kosher or Halal on a planet without notable pigs or shellfish.
- Freudian Excuse: A favorite discussion point in Fable. The hosts' player character, Arseface, is stated to only be the complete bastard that he is because he saw his hometown destroyed and was promptly kidnapped by the Hero's Guild shortly thereafter with no say in the matter. The timeskips in-game are stated to be traumatic blackouts Arseface legitmately can't remember.
- The Ghost: MJTR and Thayne occasionally refer to “Mark”, who they have stated is their cameraman. “Mark” actually refers to the way their VCR signals recording is about to start, meaning he’s not their cameraman, he’s their camera. They also sometimes refer to “Mike the sound guy” who is their microphone.
- Humiliating Wager: The aptly named “Analog Control Showdown” pits Michael and Thayne against one another in gaming related challenges, with the loser engaging in painful consequence.
- Keet: Thayne has had a lot of adorable excitement while playing Beyond Good and Evil. Michael has his moments, but is usually more reserved.
- A Lighter Shade of Grey: Though both enjoy their share of vulgar humor, MJTR is always quick to go to darker, more openly disrespectful places than Thayne. As Trey and Phoenix end up proving, just about everyone is lighter when put next to Michael.
- Only Sane Man: When invited to play along for an episode of Flashback, Thayne’s ex-girlfriend Phoenix quickly proved herself the most down to earth of the three in-game. Her subsequent promotion to lead has revealed she's Not So Above It All. She's largely given into the madness by the time she becomes the show's second in command.
- Original Character: When playing John Cena's Sexy High School Adventure!!!, MJTR created his own John Cena variant named “John CEmo,” who talked about going home to listen to Linkin Park and wore a t-shirt reading “I’m Not Ok.
- Painful Body Waxing: Thayne’s consequence for losing a round of Smackdown Vs. Raw was to have a section of his leg hair ripped off with a piece of duct tape. MJTR later admitted this was a rather harsh bet for a match he was very obviously going to win.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: Thayne is not well versed in movie history, so references from Alien to Batman (1989) fly over his head, though he is more versed in MJTR’s love of Highlander references after watching Highlander: The Search for Vengeance. In his defense, MJTR is just as likely to go for obscure references.
- Preacher's Kid: Thayne is the son of a preacher, and is both highly vulgar and always ready to hop into Ho Yay.
- Precursor Killers: While slowly developing their head canon for the unspoken backstory of Star Fox Adventures, MJTR proposes the Krazoa were the original inhabitants of Dinosaur Planet, but were almost all slaughtered by the current, dino inhabitants.
- Pun: Recurring gags based on seals. See Running Gag.
- Pyrrhic Victory: The fate of Krakzoa Palace, the channel's Habbo avatar. After deciding to take revenge on her father's killer mere seconds after it was introduced as part of her character, she kills him by ripping out and eating his kidney. Only as he is in his death throws does her opponent reveal he is her father, having killed himself but later got better. Krakzoa got her revenge, but killed the person she was out to avenge in the process.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: MJTR is red to Thayne’s blue. And then the red to Trey's blue. And then the red to Phoenix's blue.
- Random Event: As pointed out by the hosts, they had no way of knowing what oddities they would run into in Habbo Hotel. MJTR’s favorite moment, a Habbo singing a bizarre, horrible love song, had absolutely nothing to do with their presence. They were just in the right place at the right time.
- This did once prove advantageous with a partiularly improv-minded group of Habbos, leading to the hosts bringing Krakzoa Palace face to face with her father's killer.
- Running Gag: Whenever technical issues take place, an image of a seal is put over the problem, with an appropriate pun about “sealing” up the crack, or something similar.
- Self-Imposed Challenge: Michael attempted twice to complete playthroughs of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask without reseting the timer more than the one time it was necessary. Despite claiming he has done so before, no attempt on the show was successful.
- Sincerity Mode: The hosts refer to this as “Dino-talk”.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Every host has been very vulgar, but MJTR eeks out ever so slightly.
- Stylistic Suck: A number of factors. Despite shooting in analog primarily being a budget constraint, the hosts have stated they think it gives the show a certain retro appeal. Neither of their singing voices are actually as bad as they imply either.
- MJTR occasionally draws images in Microsoft Paint to accompany statements made in the show. They’re about what you’d expect.
- Squee: Simply put, Thayne has ‘‘wholeheartedly’’ fallen in love with Beyond Good and Evil since the duo started playing it.
- Sugar Bowl: The hosts’ consensus after a single episode of ‘‘My Little Pony: Pinky Pie’s Party’’.
- Tempting Fate: The Let's Play of Slender was filmed in the forest behind Michael's house. It is acknowledged, repeatedly, that Michael and Trey may as well be asking for Slenderman to kill them and they react to every russle in the woods or odd sound with what sounds like actual fear.
- Token Black Friend: Several jokes were made about Trey during his stint on the show, particularly that Michael could count on him to distract Slenderman if they encountered him thanks to Black Guy Dies First.
