Once upon a time, video games contained something called “surprise” and “challenge”. These are archaic monkey caveman words that you and I no longer use, because they have been replaced by words like “Google” and “smartphone”. However, there is one word that trumps all others in ruining the fun, excitement, and general interest of everything everywhere at all times. That word is “YouTube”, and it wants to let you know someone else already did it better than you.
YouTube was founded in 2005 and immediately purchased by Google as a powerful tool to post pirated VHS rips of old music videos, and broadcast violent ranting diatribes about your ex-girlfriend. Eventually, as with all things, FOX News found out about the site and it was officially ruined. Along with the advent of fairly cheap digital cameras, every jerk in a first world country decided they had to chime in on any product they had ever purchased with a video review. Because the Internet wasn’t clogged up with enough bullshit before you decided to review those freeze-dried apples.
Eventually YouTube caught up to video games and decided that, they too, needed to be ruined. Almost as a slap in the mouth to anyone who pays the sixty dollars to buy a new game, YouTubers began creating poorly crafted video walkthroughs. Not to be outdone by itself, YouTube then decided it needed to create a video walkthrough for each video game in history. This eliminated any sense of excitement or challenge to any game that has been or ever will be created. Just can’t beat that final boss in The Adventures of Lolo? Don’t worry, there is a nine minute video to help you with that.
The problem with these videos is that they cheapen the overall experience while simultaneously validating the creation of more videos with “hits” on YouTube. Unlike a written Strategy Guide or an online FAQ that tend to guide you in the proper direction while still allowing you to actually play, a YouTube video will show you exactly how to do something by watching another person do it for you, completely eliminating the need to actually play the game yourself. It is the 201X equivalent of using a Game Genie to cheat your way to victory so you don’t have to fight with your local video store over late fees on the copy of Mega Man 4 you rented.
Many people might argue that YouTube walkthroughs exist to help people achieve goals they otherwise wouldn’t be able to on their own, and save them hours of frustration. I would argue that these are the same people who buy those pre-made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in a plastic bag. They are widely known as “failures”. Being able to freely create and publish video content may have revolutionized the way we as a society view epically bearded men, but it also opened the door for would-be coaches to devalue the challenge of games.
Stellar Blade’s combat may take some getting used to at first, but when it gets going Eve becomes an unstoppable force in the PS5 RPG.
"The Jyväskylä-based (Finland) indie games developer Act Normal Games today announced with great delight and thrill that their isometric post-apocalyptic point-and-click adventure “Rauniot“, is now available PC (via Steam, GOG, and GMG." - Jonas Ek, TGG.
The game, which has launched in early access, has been in development for years with more than 3,000,000 wishlists on Steam.
Youtube is the #1 website to just watch losers fail, but yet I could spend hours and hours sitting on my computer watching it all. It's kinda sad.
i watch long-plays of ancient games i will never, ever play or the endings of games i'll never beat. oddly they also help put me to sleep. i toss a long-play on the ps3 browser and pass out on the couch lol.
as for the walk throughs, it is kinda handy to just watch it instead of deciphering a faq or dropping 20 bills on a strategy guide.
That was a fun read. But it may've been a little harsh haha. You're not forced to watch walkthroughs, but sometimes when you're playing a shitty game (like Mario Sunshine *quivers*) and you're at a point where you absolutely cannot continue if you don't do this one thing you haven't been given directions on, a guide helps.
Also, video previews and reviews work as guides sometimes, too. I have such good memory when i see things that when I've seen a review of a puzzle platformer, even weeks before playing it, I can remember how the guy in the gameplay footage of the review/preview solved the puzzle. Helped a ton with LIMBO.
So much truth, but the walkthroughs don't ruin games for people, people ruin them for themselves by looking for the walkthroughs, it isn't forced apon them. Sometimes in games I get truly stumped and spending 1hr backtracking to and from the same locations trying to figure out how the hell I trigger the end of a quest in a game, a walkthrough can come in handy.
In RE5, I didn't know wtf I had to do to beat the last boss. It follows you and I made the mistake of getting it down on a lower platform where it doesn't perform a certain action to initiate the ability to actually hurt it...so I went around and around for over an hour, I jumped online, found out how to do it, and went to bed at 3am pissed off that the game had such a stupid QTE boss battle that made no sense. Those hours I spent fighting that boss were a waste of time. If it's between a walkthrough and a half hour battle and a challenge and sleep deprivation....i'll have to take the walkthrough. I don't use then often, usually only after i've beaten the game to find hidden extras on my second playthrough.
That was a nice read.