Youtube. Both Helping and Hurting video games.

Video games have changed since their first appearance more than 20 years ago. Graphics are constantly being updated and every company is looking for something to give them the edge over another company. However one of the biggest revolutions in video gaming came not from gaming companies, but from a couple guys in a garage. Youtube. Eventually Youtube was created and people immediately saw the potential it had to completely change not only video games, but the world as well.

Video games had trailers then just like they do now. The only difference was that the trailers would be shown on Tv and than you couldn't find them again. If you were lucky you could tape them and rewatch them if you wanted. But unless the trailer was a commercial once it was shown it was gone. You tube revolutionized this. Game companies now instead of putting the trailer on Tv simply post it on Youtube and people will rip it and repost it later. Creating a steady stream of simple and free advertisement. Companies no longer have to spend money to put commercials on Tv. They can put a trailer on Youtube and withing ten minuets there will be hundreds of people posting the same trailer, and it only continues to grow as the day goes on. Sort of like a ripple effect.

Back 20 years ago, long before Youtube people still played video games, and people still looked for secrets hidden in these games. There were only really two ways of getting information on how to find hidden gems in games; find it yourself, or buy a magazine which sometimes had hints or strategies. Over the years strategy guides have become more or less obsolete due to the Internet revolution. Guides are being posted online, often times with more detail and pictures. With Youtube people can post detailed video walkthroughs of every secret in a game or how to complete any puzzle, or even just a walkthrough of the entire game, often referred to as LP or lets play.

Finally there is video game commentaries, popularized by Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. Skilled players video taping the games they play and talking about whatever they want with the game as a back drop. These can be great fun to watch, both for the commentaries and for the gameplay. It's also cool that they get payed by Machinima do make them.

For each of the points where Youtube helps it also hurts games.

While trailers may be easier to find it can also become annoying to search for them. Say I wanted to watch the Halo 2 e3 tech demo. I would wind up searching through hundreds of Halo related videos until I finally found what I was looking for. People could get easily frustrated or distracted and decide to stop looking. A good example of this was Gears of War 2. Before Gears of War 2 was released and when I was looking for trailers the same thing would happen hundreds of times until I found one trailer. People would take one pic from a screen shot of Gears of War 2 and make that they thumbnail (pic of the video displayed) and instead it would be a Rick Roll.

Walkthroughs and LPs are great, don't get me wrong. The main reason why I think that Youtube is hurting games is because it takes away people's desire to play the game. There have been several games that I haven't wanted to buy, but wanted to see, so what did I do? I went on to Youtube and watched someone play the game from start to finish. Indigo Prophecy (Fahrenheit), Saw, the Mass Effect DLC, the Red Dead Redemption DLC, Fallout DLC, Wet, Dark Messiah, and Fallout NV DLC, just to name a few. While for the most part I enjoy the experience of playing the game some people just want the story. This leads to other problems. If someone gets stuck in a game they could say forget it I'll look up the ending on Youtube. Or another common one is a game with multiple endings. A person could beat the game once and not want to go through the trouble of beating it again so they just look Up the endings on Youtube. (Examples from me: Fable. All of them.) This is shortening the overall experience and life of the video game if you even buy it at all.

Lastly Commentaries. While they are entertaining to watch I find them to be draining. After watching a couple commentaries I don't really feel like playing that game anymore (COD mostly). This might partially be because I watch these commentators and see them performing feats and skills I'll never achieve. They get great games and always seem to have wired reflexes. I know most of this is because they only show games which they do exceptionally well but still I never get any games as good as theirs. I'll watch what they do, and what weapons they use than try it myself and get destroyed, get annoyed, and quit playing for a bit. This last one is purely just me, but I'm willing to bet I'm not the only one.

While Youtube may help it also hurts. It has made gaming media easier to get as well as harder to find. It has revolutionized strategy guides while simultaneous taking away the drive to finish the game to see the end. It has allowed us to watch the skills of other people while denying us the ability to repeat their successes. I think that in the end Youtube does more good than it hurts.