Tekdrudge | 126 Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 The title says it all. Do you feel Retro Gaming Youtubers are Good or Bad for the Hobby? I feel it's a mixed bag, but mostly good. What say you? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NESfiend | 1,515 Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Good for sure. Jontron and the likes have made retro gaming appeal to younger people who were too young or not alive when these games were released. Thats why the bubble hasn't ever burst like so many people predicted. Stuff like that and conventions bringing in newer generations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadeye | 1,596 Homebrew Team · Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Good. They have brought exposure to many games and mostly likely brought so many people into playing them / collecting retro games. As @NESfiend said younger generations are playing games that are older than them, those people may have never done so without YouTubers. Speedruners or equally giving exposure to retro games as well. Would GDQ's rise and donating millions of dollars to charities without YouTube and YouTubers be a thing? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammerfestus | 3,833 Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 It’s been going on so long that it just is. Obviously oversaturated but how many collections did AVGN inspire. I can’t do 99% of gaming videos (including new AVGN (trying too hard to stick to a joke that was funny a decade ago)). A lot of retro game vids these days are made by children trying to review shit with before they were born. They are without context. While I don’t hold it against them, I also don’t put a lot of stock into their opinions 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulpa | 3,492 Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 It gets people to get their games out of the attic/closet/basement and onto the market. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrobins | 1,725 Moderator · Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 Depends on what their shtick is. People with a fun personality bringing attention to games worth knowing about, sharing their gaming stories, spreading the word about new games, providing worthwhile reviews to help people decide if a game is worth buying...all good things, but as Hammerfestus said, you have to stand out to justify entering an already saturated market. We have enough people with blasé personalities whose videos boil down to "I like games, I am going to show you games." Either be a personality/character that makes you worth watching, or have a depth of knowledge that rises above more superficial content. Also, if successful, they also need to be able to recognize when they have nothing more to contribute and it's time to stop making content or else risk damaging your legacy. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Splain | 2,563 Editorials Team · Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 I think good. The enjoyable ones, anyway. I didn't think much of the Virtual Boy until I saw a few YouTube videos of people trash talking it. Then I started repairing them and collecting the games. I roll my eyes pretty hard though, when some new kid comes along with no original ideas, and their videos break for ads like 3 times each. Obviously just trying to make money given the size of the viewer base. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austin532 | 467 Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 I see no harm in it. I was inspired by other retro gaming channels (especially MLiG) and well...here I am today. Doing what I love. It brings awareness to old games which unfortunately tends to jack up the price for way more then what it's worth but at the same time it's nice to know other generations are enjoying them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tekdrudge | 126 Posted July 18, 2020 Author Share Posted July 18, 2020 I know some people feel they are the reason the prices of games are going up. If you see a video for underrated/hidden gem games, many comments under it complain about them causing the price hikes. I think there might some truth to that a little bit, but I mostly think prices have been going up over the last decade because more people are joining the hobby of collecting. Twenty years ago I had trouble finding people that collected where I live, now I can throw a rock and hit a collector 50% of the time. The best part of the retro Youtubers IMO is learning how to repair all my broken consoles and games. That is information that all collectors should have access to. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMR | 519 Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 I think they need to play their games more. I like that guys like Mike Mattei not only play games on their streams, but also finish some really knuckle busting hard ones. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarzombie | 924 Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 Both. Early adopters were great. Still love James' early videos. But plenty tried to ride the wave, including incredibly substance-less videos like unboxing and pickup videos. Good god. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strange | 1,700 Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 45 minutes ago, Hammerfestus said: A lot of retro game vids these days are made by children trying to review shit with before they were born. They are without context. While I don’t hold it against them, I also don’t put a lot of stock into their opinions I also wouldn’t hold this against them. A lot of experts in collecting hobbies for industries far older than ours had to research and learn about a lot of stuff that was made before their time. The first ones that come to mind is the motorcycle or petroliana collecting hobbies. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Californication | 1,477 Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 (edited) Classic Game Room, Bit-Head 1000, Kid Shoryuken, Mike Mattei, Cornshaq +1 Edited July 18, 2020 by Californication 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Estil | 1,264 Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 50 minutes ago, Tulpa said: It gets people to get their games out of the attic/closet/basement and onto the market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DefaultGen | 5,401 Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 The only bad they can do is give out bad info, like a video that says there were only ever 200 Stadium Events or a “restoration” video that encourages people to color in worn box edges with sharpie (I’ve actually seen this). Beyond that the worst they can be is uninteresting I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePhleo | 2,184 Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 21 minutes ago, DefaultGen said: The only bad they can do is give out bad info, like a video that says there were only ever 200 Stadium Events or a “restoration” video that encourages people to color in worn box edges with sharpie (I’ve actually seen this). Beyond that the worst they can be is uninteresting I think. I agree with...Wait a minute, guys, don’t take his word at face value. Hes one of those filthy rich YouTube personalities. — On the serious side: YouTube is great for getting people engaged and interested in the hobby. Even when the videos have less than perfect research as long as it’s presented well people will inadvertently be interested in what they’re watching and try to dig deeper. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austin532 | 467 Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 53 minutes ago, guitarzombie said: Both. Early adopters were great. Still love James' early videos. But plenty tried to ride the wave, including incredibly substance-less videos like unboxing and pickup videos. Good god. What's wrong with unboxing videos? I agree that pick up videos don't offer much to the viewer but if people like them, more power to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strange | 1,700 Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 10 minutes ago, ThePhleo said: I agree with...Wait a minute, guys, don’t take his word at face value. Hes one of those filthy rich YouTube personalities. You show some respect to the Retro Gem Miner 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePhleo | 2,184 Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 1 minute ago, The Strangest said: You show some respect to the Retro Gem Miner Never. He’s one of those dexters laboratory Timmy turner pointers. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OLDSKULL | 33 Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 Most of them are BAD for me. The Metal Jesus gang got me a collecting sickness. I'm super judgemental I know, but I found so much pathetism in some of them with countless useless videos that screams : 'I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO SAYYYY' and I did not wanted to be associated with that type of person/collector. But on the good side, it helped me take the decision of concentrate my collection on the 8 and 16 bits and let go of the rest. However I like games, I have less and less time for them and having simple fun with older games is what is the most convinient for me. Gotta love those old school RPG 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarzombie | 924 Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 8 minutes ago, austin532 said: What's wrong with unboxing videos? I agree that pick up videos don't offer much to the viewer but if people like them, more power to them. I don't understand who TF cares and it seems like cheap 'content'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strikezone1 | 154 Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 Way more good than bad IMO. It generates interest, engagement, enthusiasm, information, etc for retro games. People who bitch about “it drives up game prices” are lame. Sure there are plenty of retro game YouTubers who aren’t very good or interesting, but it isn’t hard to just simply not watch their videos. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki | 4,932 Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 2 hours ago, Tekdrudge said: The title says it all. Do you feel Retro Gaming Youtubers are Good or Bad for the Hobby? I feel it's a mixed bag, but mostly good. What say you? I don't want to read this thread before posting this. Mixed, entirely so. The good, at least in the last 5 years are the very few who truly provide a real service. Those who do the research, produce a quality piece. They dig and present history, facts, coverage of a game/some games, roots not just on it but potential predecessors and some of their key makers. Or you have the straight up historian types who produce a solid piece not aping heavily if at all from others before them in the media or print. Then you have those who do the silent full play through of a game, a modern version of the full game maps Nintendo Power once did in case you're stuck on something. Those who present well, but don't go for glory, free crap, sponging blathering about patreon and donations throughout a video, and other skeezy tactics. They may still note something at the end, like Jeremy Parish, or those who really don't bother like the Basement Bros with their coverage of the Neo Geo library, or even the Gaming Historian. But outside that it's more weighted towards a negative mixed bag anymore. People who just troll for cash, troll for attention, steal other peoples ideas and just repeat what was largely already done and probably better anyway(for the time or still) in video. People trying to get free crap, pandering if not outright begging for it. Your MJRs, gamesters, hancocks, and their ilk...bleh and then the second and third tier posers who copy their style, content, pandering to try and scrape a few coins up for themselves. And that doesn't even get into those who just want to troll to make their own collections worth more money by making up bs 'gem' videos, or look what I found at the flea market or hosing some old lady over type videos to build up hype. They suck, and make it where even more think they can make a buck too and it spreads like a virus. So there really is a good and a bad of it, sadly far less good than bad, but what is good shines are brighter for presentation and real value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeldaFreak | 3,600 Events Team · Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 Definitely a good thing. I was hooked on AVGN's content at a far younger age than I probably should've been watching videos like that (I'm turning 19 next month, for context) and I think he's probably what instilled that collecting bug in me early on in life, and I imagine he probably had something to do with my interest in retro games in general. I'm living proof of what a lot of people in here have said, about retro gaming Youtubers getting younger generations interested in the hobby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowser | 598 Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 (edited) 37 minutes ago, guitarzombie said: I don't understand who TF cares and it seems like cheap 'content'. I like unboxing videos of brand new items because when I buy a used CIB game/console it helps me put everything back in it's proper intended place, especially the order of the inserts/manuals. I wouldn't dare ever tell this to a non collector they'll just think I'm crazy lol. Edited July 18, 2020 by bowser 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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