I made game walkthroughs for about a week.

Recently I needed to transfer some old Sony Hi8 video tapes onto a contemporary format, all videos of my childhood. This proved to be the perfect excuse to spend money on an Elgato Game capture HD, and thus I would finally make a foray into the world of YouTube videogame walkthroughs. Here's what I learnt in the two weeks or so that I actually made videos:

It's finally acceptable to talk to yourself whilst gaming

Initially, during my first few videos which covered Alien: Isolation, I didn't quite know what to say. It was strange, essentially forcing my subconcious thought process into speech; "Oh crap", "I wonder what that was" and "[Various expletives]" were common phrases I would suddenly blurt out as if anyone cared. It was fairly difficult, and it immediately felt forced and unnatural, and consequently none of my videos are particularly entertaining. 

It is as easy as you think!

If it were possible to do this in lieu of a full-time job (which I am nonetheless lacking) I absolutely would. Just playing for two hours would give me eight episodes to instantly upload. I could even schedule them to come out once a day and just leave them to upload at their own pace, leaving me to get on with whatever else I wanted. So if, for any reason, you thought the life of a (successful) YouTube gamer was difficult, think again.

Everyone thinks you're infringing on various copyrights!

Despite being a small channel just starting up, within a week several of my Alien videos were flagged for copyright claims by the usual Content-ID scalpers trying to make money from other people's content. Disputing claims is something you'll have to get used to doing work like this!

It ruins your hobby!

Whilst constantly talking into a microphone didn't decrease the tension of Alien: Isolation, it was admittedly distracting. If you want to enjoy a particular game, it would be wise not to do a recorded playthrough straight away. The stress of trying to find something engaging to say is enough to completely break you out of the experience and atmosphere.

What's the damn point?!

Whilst I do generally have a terrible attention span anyway, sometimes bordering on mere seconds, I became disinterested in the whole concept very quickly. Sure, I was actually getting surprisingly decent views and somehow have 500 subscribers, but overall it would never get me anywhere in life, you gotta stay true to yourself, and I should probably steer clear of using my precious time on earth supporting an unpopular gaming channel on a site full of gaming channels without anything creative or interesting to say. 

Why did you write this blog, Ben?

I'll tell you when you're older. For now, however, why not subscribe to my real YouTube channel, with all my actual work on which my hopes and dreams to be a full-time filmmaker are pinned, right here.

LOOK WHO CAME:

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