Has YouTube changed gaming?

crunchyg

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If you're old enough to remember the world without YouTube, how do you think that site has affected gaming?

The biggest change I can think of is that you no longer have to go to Blockbuster (another thing that is disappearing, heh) to try a game out by renting it. Any game you can think of can be studied in detail by searching for "... gameplay" on YouTube. Even the very rare import-only games! It used to be common for people to buy into the hype for a heavily marketed game (especially around Christmas time), only to be disappointed with how it plays a day after buying it. Yes, many of us relied on magazine reviews for guidance, but those were often biased, and not everyone had magazine subscriptions.

When Gamespot and IGN became the giants that started outperforming print magazines with their quality and up-to-date content, it was a sigh of relief for many gamers, because we could not only read about new games but see lots of screenshots online, and then video reviews came along, which was a whole new dimension, even though the videos were very low-resolution, and you had to pay a subscription fee to get the "high-def" version.

Then GameTrailers, a new site dedicated to video reviews, appeared, which was also terrific, but it wasn't until thousands of people started uploading their captured gameplay videos on YouTube that we could finally insure ourselves against accidentally buying terrible games, because all the truth was out in the open.

This is just one of many dimensions in which YouTube has changed gaming. How has YouTube changed the way you play games?
 
It allows me to listen to games soundtracks that I love without searching EBay and other sites for the extremely hard to find soundtracks.

I agree with you that it is a good way to see if you will like a game, although sometimes gameplay videos can be deceiving. Just look at Darksiders, your guy looks awesome in a video, but then it is basically pressing a single button a billion times in the actual game. I think downloadable demos are the new breakthrough in pre buy research. It lets you not only see the gameplay, but play the game.
 
You Tube is a mixed blessing when it comes to games. On one hand, you can see a little about the game and decide if you want it. On the other hand, you might see TOO much of the game for your liking. What I do like about it, is I can go back and watch the endings of my favorite games, and see the endings of games I could never beat.
 
Thomas Ennis said:
You Tube is a mixed blessing when it comes to games. On one hand, you can see a little about the game and decide if you want it. On the other hand, you might see TOO much of the game for your liking.
I agree with this.

I can't even count the number of times I look into a game that I will consider buying only to accidentally find spoilers. However, I do enjoy watching 'Lets Plays.' I find it interesting to watch a game with commentary. It's a different experience and helpful to those who don't want to buy the game to watch someone else play it for free.
 
The Angry Video Game Nerd also makes some interesting videos. He only seems to review the "crap" games however. I guess this makes for a more interesting video, but I'd like to see him do some of the classics.
 
Eh... I don't really think of YouTube in regards to gaming. I mean there are some Let's Play and occasionally I'll look over trailers or gameplay, but generally I don't bother with YouTube in regards to games and in some ways I feel like most people are the same.
 
It has in different ways. You can watch gameplays too see if you like the game, you can see how to do something in game such as an achievements, etc. It can be really helpful for you at times. I certainly make use of it to check how to do things and get the achievements.
 
One one hand, YouTube is great as it's quick and convenient to see what a particular game is like. The downside is that it makes most gamers lazy. I know that there are many who view Let's Play videos because they don't want to invest money, time and effort into a particular game themselves. In many way, YouTube is both a blessing and a curse for the gaming industry as a whole.
 
Yes, no doubt YouTube has changed gaming (as has the Internet in general). It's pretty much impossible to be stuck on a game now, as you can always look at someone else doing it, so gone are the days where you'd spend months trying to figure a part out. Does that make us lazier? Yes and no. I definitely don't have the same amount of time to play video games as I once did. Gaming marathons over the weekend used to be the norm as kids, now I'm lucky if I can string a couple hours together.

The other thing I like is that I just suck at certain types of games so now with YouTube, I can look up speed runs, perfect runs, etc. for games where I'd never be able to play to the same ability. The same with games where I don't own the console, I get to experience them without having to shell out the cash for a console or game.
 
Youtube has changed gaming A LOT. Like the OP mentioned you no longer have to rent a game to try to before buying. You can watch people like the Game Grumps or JonTron play through it first. Plus you get the added benefit of their commentary about it (or the hilarious other comments they make that really have nothing to do with the game XD). You can get the entire soundtrack to just about any game on Youtube as well (I am a firm believer that "video game music" isn't given nearly enough credit. There is some REALLY GOOD music in video games!)
 
Yeah! YouTube changed the game completely. I remember waiting desperately to see what games like Shenmue would play like. I would dream and try to piece together ideas from various magazine previews. It was not an easy thing, as the games always played different than our expectations.

Now we can study any game, or anything for that matter, at the end of a few keystrokes. This is all a part of our declining attention span.

It has changed many things, including gaming, for better or worse.
 
YUP! know that part toward the end of Arkham City when you gotta throw the Batarang over there, turn it around to hit a switch over here? i'd have never figured that out. But yes many times i've looked at footage to see if id like a game. Im called a cheater here at home, but i just say "I aint got time to figure (something) out"
 
I think so. Popular YouTubers influence people's opinions on games from what I see.
 
Definitely agree about the way it made buying games safer. Both of us used to go to Blockbuster or a local store constantly to rent games, try things out and discover new games. It's actually how we got introduced to LoZ. Being able to see someone play a game and get their reaction to it certainly helps you decide if you actually want to buy it or not.

The biggest influence has definitely been to promotion, for sure.
 
I just youtube make gaming industry more popular, just more people share all kinds of game videos here
 

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