When you find a non-toxic channel, hold on to it
November 21, 2017 8:24 PM Subscribe
Here's A List of Some Videogame Youtubers Who Aren't Terrible
...with an emphasis on the obscure, unexpected, and off-the-beaten-path. From Liz Ryerson (previously). Non-Patreon link for those interested.
...with an emphasis on the obscure, unexpected, and off-the-beaten-path. From Liz Ryerson (previously). Non-Patreon link for those interested.
This is great. I've been looking for something like for a long time. Great share.
posted by Fizz at 8:39 PM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Fizz at 8:39 PM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
I can vouch for Hbomberguy and Errant Signal, and PushingUpRoses covers a wealth of old and obscure graphical adventure games.
I'm also a hesitant fan of Game Grumps for the same reason I loved Car Talk: I don't really care about cars but the back and forth between two obvious best friends was great. GG has gotten better about not being so bro-y, but the way they comment on the looks of EVERY female character that comes on screen makes me wince.
They seem to be on the right track (and have gotten a fair amount of accusations of SJWs by the usual gamergaters crowd), but I just hope they stop being so lazy with their jokes and comments. I like them, but I can't recommend them without caveats.
posted by AlSweigart at 8:47 PM on November 21, 2017 [7 favorites]
I'm also a hesitant fan of Game Grumps for the same reason I loved Car Talk: I don't really care about cars but the back and forth between two obvious best friends was great. GG has gotten better about not being so bro-y, but the way they comment on the looks of EVERY female character that comes on screen makes me wince.
They seem to be on the right track (and have gotten a fair amount of accusations of SJWs by the usual gamergaters crowd), but I just hope they stop being so lazy with their jokes and comments. I like them, but I can't recommend them without caveats.
posted by AlSweigart at 8:47 PM on November 21, 2017 [7 favorites]
If you're looking for some non-toxic streamers/let's players I'd recommend Jerma985(he's almost as much a comedian as he is a let's player, and none of his jokes or gags rely on being offensive), Lobos Jr(he does a lot of speedruns but is not as intense/fanatical as most speedrunners and him and his chat are very welcoming), and the peeps over at LoadingReadyRun are a band of lovely lefty Canadians who are just generally good eggs and they have a pretty robust screening schedule(I've been a fan of them for years, and I've never heard any of their humour turn offensive, the worst they get is a bit raunchy).
posted by InkDrinker at 9:04 PM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by InkDrinker at 9:04 PM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
I really like Scott Manley’s videos about Kerbal Space Program
posted by chrchr at 9:08 PM on November 21, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by chrchr at 9:08 PM on November 21, 2017 [16 favorites]
I only know Errant Signal and some of the Hbomberguy videos seem familiar - I love this stuff.
Guess I'm not going to bed just now, after all. Thanks, naju!
posted by bigendian at 9:09 PM on November 21, 2017
Guess I'm not going to bed just now, after all. Thanks, naju!
posted by bigendian at 9:09 PM on November 21, 2017
When the hell did "Let's Play" morph from a thing that faceless SA goons did with, you know, puns and stuff into something that shock-jock -streamer "personalities" use as an excuse to be racist assholes in an inset window showing their angry faces?
I feel like I missed a transition here, but I'll be damned if I remember it happening.
posted by -1 at 9:11 PM on November 21, 2017 [7 favorites]
I feel like I missed a transition here, but I'll be damned if I remember it happening.
posted by -1 at 9:11 PM on November 21, 2017 [7 favorites]
Hopefully I haven't missed something that would disqualify Jirard the Completionist, but I've watched a decent amount of his stuff and he seems sweet.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:21 PM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by jason_steakums at 9:21 PM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
I feel like I missed a transition here, but I'll be damned if I remember it happening.
I think it's money, right? If you get enough views, you get a cut of the advertising? I do not youtube, so I don't really know.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 9:22 PM on November 21, 2017 [3 favorites]
I think it's money, right? If you get enough views, you get a cut of the advertising? I do not youtube, so I don't really know.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 9:22 PM on November 21, 2017 [3 favorites]
I feel like that Sonic 2006 LP is a "classic" but it has some aspects that have really not not aged well (what stands out are some weird random homophobic slurs that were more common among the SA LP crowd in those days.)
posted by dismas at 9:23 PM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by dismas at 9:23 PM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
I think it's money, right? If you get enough views, you get a cut of the advertising? I do not youtube, so I don't really know.
It sounds like YouTube recently changed things to really put a dent in the money, but I'm not sure on the details.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:23 PM on November 21, 2017
It sounds like YouTube recently changed things to really put a dent in the money, but I'm not sure on the details.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:23 PM on November 21, 2017
I like Joseph Anderson's analysis as well, though it is definitely more in line with a deconstruction than a funny playthrough. Electron Dance also has some excellent stuff if a little experimental. Watch both their videos on The Witness (Anderson and ED) to get a sense of what they do.
posted by blahblahblah at 9:46 PM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by blahblahblah at 9:46 PM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
I only follow three channels, and mostly because they cooperate with each other - Slopes Game Room, Guru Larry and Kim Justice. At this point I don't have a clue which one I started following first, but their retro content is a lot closer to my interests (probably because they're Brits and more interested in Sega than ninty) .
posted by lmfsilva at 11:10 PM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by lmfsilva at 11:10 PM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm a big fan of PushingUpRoses (as mentioned), "Guru Larry" Bundy Jr and Lazy Game Reviews. (And via LGR is how I found Techmoan, which is not a gaming channel, but a fascinating retro-tech channel, esp for audiophile/media format geeks.)
I was a little afraid about Guru Larry, but he seems to be a good guy. (plz be a good guy.)
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 11:24 PM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
I was a little afraid about Guru Larry, but he seems to be a good guy. (plz be a good guy.)
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 11:24 PM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
I can vouch for Hbomberguy; his non-video game videos are quite good as well. There were some issues with him on a social space he and his friends ran; most of the details have been deleted or aren't public record, but the remnants indicate one of his friends who ran the social space treated a trans person badly/prejudicially and his response to his friend wasn't deemed sufficient. If I had more details I'd give them; in terms of his videos, I've seen nothing worrying.
I'd also recommend Shaun and Shaun and Jen Live channels; the Shaun is the same Shaun. He's an acquaintance of Hbomberguy (they recently met in person and did a Letsplay together). Jen is delightful and openly "bad" at games in a way I personally enjoy seeing, his Letsplays regularly have a wide variety of LGBT people on them, and Jen has a few Letsplays she does with other women which I've been really enjoying for the all woman all the time vibe I'm often missing with video game coverage.
The Shaun channel is mostly a Youtube commentary/social justice channel, and he recently removed Jen from the name because she's not interested in getting into all of that. Dirak and Dogstrong are two of their regular friends; though I've not watched their Letsplays, I enjoy them on Shaun & Jen an with Hbomberguy.
posted by Deoridhe at 11:29 PM on November 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
I'd also recommend Shaun and Shaun and Jen Live channels; the Shaun is the same Shaun. He's an acquaintance of Hbomberguy (they recently met in person and did a Letsplay together). Jen is delightful and openly "bad" at games in a way I personally enjoy seeing, his Letsplays regularly have a wide variety of LGBT people on them, and Jen has a few Letsplays she does with other women which I've been really enjoying for the all woman all the time vibe I'm often missing with video game coverage.
The Shaun channel is mostly a Youtube commentary/social justice channel, and he recently removed Jen from the name because she's not interested in getting into all of that. Dirak and Dogstrong are two of their regular friends; though I've not watched their Letsplays, I enjoy them on Shaun & Jen an with Hbomberguy.
posted by Deoridhe at 11:29 PM on November 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
I've been following Quill18's channel for a couple of years now. He livestreams on twitch on Wednesdays (exclusively Civilization 6) and Saturdays ( all kinds of games, for example: DwarfFortress, Factorio, RimWorld, Cities Skylines, Kerbal Space Program) .
He also has a Quill18creates channel, where he has programming tutorials for Unity and C#.
posted by Pendragon at 12:13 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
He also has a Quill18creates channel, where he has programming tutorials for Unity and C#.
posted by Pendragon at 12:13 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
Non-toxic LetsPlay channels was the subject of this Ask.Me.
Poking through my YT subscriptions, since I refuse to subscribe to shitty people.
Innuendo Studies (Ian Danskin, soi-disant 13th most pretentious person on YouTube) does a mix of social-justicey culture analysis & video game exegesis. His series on GG is excellent.
Electron Dance (Joel Goodwin, mostly) is great, but has mostly stopped doing videos to work on his book. Worth a trawl through the back catalogue.
Cool Ghosts Matt Lees & occasional friends do video game reviews & LetsPlays. Both (IIRC) are ex-RockPaperShotgun writers, so that probably gives you an idea of where they’re coming from.
Errant Signal Chris Franklin’s fantastic video essays about games. Don’t miss.
Christopher Odd has a great LetsPlay channel which is friendly & non-toxic. Mostly FPS games.
I remember enjoying Geek Remix’s (Mari + Stacey) LetsPlays of LifeIsStrange last year & they put out a lot of videos.
My gaming subscriptions on YT seem to be very male dominated (unless you include Anita Sarkeesian), which is weird because my Twitter feed is full of women game creators. Random chance? Is YT just male dominated? Have I been subconsiously subscribing to different genders on different platforms?
posted by pharm at 12:25 AM on November 22, 2017 [6 favorites]
Poking through my YT subscriptions, since I refuse to subscribe to shitty people.
Innuendo Studies (Ian Danskin, soi-disant 13th most pretentious person on YouTube) does a mix of social-justicey culture analysis & video game exegesis. His series on GG is excellent.
Electron Dance (Joel Goodwin, mostly) is great, but has mostly stopped doing videos to work on his book. Worth a trawl through the back catalogue.
Cool Ghosts Matt Lees & occasional friends do video game reviews & LetsPlays. Both (IIRC) are ex-RockPaperShotgun writers, so that probably gives you an idea of where they’re coming from.
Errant Signal Chris Franklin’s fantastic video essays about games. Don’t miss.
Christopher Odd has a great LetsPlay channel which is friendly & non-toxic. Mostly FPS games.
I remember enjoying Geek Remix’s (Mari + Stacey) LetsPlays of LifeIsStrange last year & they put out a lot of videos.
My gaming subscriptions on YT seem to be very male dominated (unless you include Anita Sarkeesian), which is weird because my Twitter feed is full of women game creators. Random chance? Is YT just male dominated? Have I been subconsiously subscribing to different genders on different platforms?
posted by pharm at 12:25 AM on November 22, 2017 [6 favorites]
I'm also a hesitant fan of Game Grumps
Did you miss the whole JonTron thing?
posted by CheapB at 12:25 AM on November 22, 2017 [4 favorites]
Did you miss the whole JonTron thing?
posted by CheapB at 12:25 AM on November 22, 2017 [4 favorites]
One of my favorite VG channels is that of CarlSagan42, a Mario Maker Twitch streamer who also posts edited versions of the streams to YouTube. He's funny, positive, expressive and extremely skilled at extremely difficult Mario levels, but still fails hilariously and often. He's a scientist IRL and often does science-related Q&A at the tail end of the videos (or even during gameplay). I recommend starting from the older videos to get a better grip on some of the memes, in-jokes, and back references.
posted by jklaiho at 12:27 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by jklaiho at 12:27 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
One I haven't seen recommended yet is Jim Sterling. I particularly enjoy his first impressions of awful early access titles, and he's been non-toxic in what I've seen so far. I hope this doesn't mean I've just missed something.
Also seconding Guru Larry and Lazy Game Reviews!
posted by Nutri-Matic Drinks Synthesizer at 3:32 AM on November 22, 2017 [5 favorites]
Also seconding Guru Larry and Lazy Game Reviews!
posted by Nutri-Matic Drinks Synthesizer at 3:32 AM on November 22, 2017 [5 favorites]
Does anyone have suggestions for a gaming channel for younger kids (8-10)? One of my kids found FGTeeV, which has a sort of Kids TV wackiness about it, but has no qualms about age-inappropriate games, and sometimes veers into obnoxiousness. I'd like to find something that my kid can relate to that's (a) a bit more thoughtful, and (b) isn't problematic in terms of adults behaving like spoilt kids a lot of the time.
posted by pipeski at 3:32 AM on November 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by pipeski at 3:32 AM on November 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
JimSterling used to be ... not great? but IIRC at some point went through a personal re-assessment + came out the better for it.
But I never used to watch his videos, so the above is all 2nd or 3rd hand.
posted by pharm at 3:48 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
But I never used to watch his videos, so the above is all 2nd or 3rd hand.
posted by pharm at 3:48 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
a) a bit more thoughtful, and (b) isn't problematic in terms of adults behaving like spoilt kids a lot of the time.
Just QFT.
posted by saulgoodman at 4:07 AM on November 22, 2017
Just QFT.
posted by saulgoodman at 4:07 AM on November 22, 2017
JimSterling used to be ... not great?
I don't know about his past , but anyone who gets called a SJW by Gatorz/MRA/Incels is all right by me.
posted by Pendragon at 4:13 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
I don't know about his past , but anyone who gets called a SJW by Gatorz/MRA/Incels is all right by me.
posted by Pendragon at 4:13 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
As far as Jim Sterling goes, as long as you aren't a crappy developer, making fun of those Gobbins puppets, are Digital Homicide, unwilling to thank god for him, or mind the occasional ungendered obscenity, you should be good.
posted by Samizdata at 4:25 AM on November 22, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Samizdata at 4:25 AM on November 22, 2017 [4 favorites]
Pendragon: IIRC he started off on the GG side (not absolutely, but leaning that way) & his personal re-assessment involved a change of heart on that front, so they hate him with the passion reserved for traitors to the cause.
posted by pharm at 4:48 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by pharm at 4:48 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'm also a hesitant fan of Game Grumps
Did you miss the whole JonTron thing?
JonTron has not been a part of Game Grumps for a few years now. They've been much better without him.
posted by explosion at 5:11 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
Did you miss the whole JonTron thing?
JonTron has not been a part of Game Grumps for a few years now. They've been much better without him.
posted by explosion at 5:11 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'll second the recommendations of PushingUpRoses and Mark Brown/Game Maker's Toolkit.
Another name I'll throw on the pile is Tony Mo. For the past year or so, he's mostly just been a Titanfall 2 guy, but he's branching out into other games lately as TF|2 winds down.
Also, it's not entirely in the spirit of TFA, but everyone who likes games should be watching Polygon's channel. Their Video Game Theater and SEO Play bits are frickin' hysterical, and they also do more traditional let's play streams sometimes.
posted by tobascodagama at 5:35 AM on November 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
Another name I'll throw on the pile is Tony Mo. For the past year or so, he's mostly just been a Titanfall 2 guy, but he's branching out into other games lately as TF|2 winds down.
Also, it's not entirely in the spirit of TFA, but everyone who likes games should be watching Polygon's channel. Their Video Game Theater and SEO Play bits are frickin' hysterical, and they also do more traditional let's play streams sometimes.
posted by tobascodagama at 5:35 AM on November 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
The Grumps are better post-JonTron, but AlSweigart nailed it upthread about lazy jokes that can be problematic. The comments about female characters, Arin's goddamn "funny" Japanese accent occasionally popping up... but to be honest they could have stopped doing that stuff a while back and I wouldn't know, I just got so burned out on the ARIN FREAKS OUT AND YELLS formula some time around Mario Maker I've barely watched any of their videos since. Also the side project Ninja Sex Party kinda went from annoying because it's just the one joke repeated endlessly to very much a kind of "learn to read the room" thing, the ironic but also genuinely affectionate sexed-up rock sleaze thing is not a greeeaaat look right now.
posted by jason_steakums at 5:38 AM on November 22, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by jason_steakums at 5:38 AM on November 22, 2017 [5 favorites]
I keep mentioning Polygon streams in part because theirs are nearly the only play streams I watch, but I like Polygon's YouTube channel. They've been pretty aggressive this year in trying to diversify the mix of hosts, and the non-LP game-related content is usually a lot of fun too. Unfortunately not particularly kid-friendly because of the swears, but they're socially conscious and it's one of the only host-driven gaming channels I've felt I can watch without having to gird myself to hear something shitty.
Awful Squad, their weekly PUBG stream, usually on a private server, frequently turns into performance art. Yesterday, they played a couple rounds of humans vs. zombies and the final round became a fascinating collapse of gameplay as they continued adding new rules of conduct (eg, players had to speak in a low ASMR voice or else drop and abandon their gun), until by the end the game was nearly unplayable but neither I nor the participants could stop laughing. A few weeks ago they hosted an all-women episode, including a PUBG fashion show.
posted by ardgedee at 5:39 AM on November 22, 2017 [5 favorites]
Awful Squad, their weekly PUBG stream, usually on a private server, frequently turns into performance art. Yesterday, they played a couple rounds of humans vs. zombies and the final round became a fascinating collapse of gameplay as they continued adding new rules of conduct (eg, players had to speak in a low ASMR voice or else drop and abandon their gun), until by the end the game was nearly unplayable but neither I nor the participants could stop laughing. A few weeks ago they hosted an all-women episode, including a PUBG fashion show.
posted by ardgedee at 5:39 AM on November 22, 2017 [5 favorites]
Also, everyone needs to watch Research Indicates' old Let's Play of Trespasser at some point. It's an absolute classic of the genre.
posted by tobascodagama at 5:39 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by tobascodagama at 5:39 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
Does anyone have any good recommendations of good Let's Plays by game developers? I really enjoyed DoubleFine's Devs Plays and Man vs Backlog but neither have had any new content in a while.
posted by ropeladder at 5:40 AM on November 22, 2017
posted by ropeladder at 5:40 AM on November 22, 2017
And oh yeah, Polygon's Monster Factory (with 2/3 of los bros McElroy) continues sporadically, and there was a just-concluded spinoff series too.
posted by ardgedee at 5:41 AM on November 22, 2017
posted by ardgedee at 5:41 AM on November 22, 2017
I got into Pushing Up Roses through Lazy Game Reviews- their joint videos are fun! (Also they both seem to focus on 80's/90's games of different genres that I liked, so both of them being decent folks is very nice.)
posted by Pope Guilty at 5:42 AM on November 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 5:42 AM on November 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
If you are into laid back Let's Play videos, you really owe it to yourself to check out Shirley Curry's channel. Shirley is an 82 year old grandmother of nine who loves games (especially Skyrim) and opens every stream with an earnest "hello grandkids." It's a pleasure watching her play, and you won't find a nicer comment section anywhere on YouTube.
posted by 256 at 5:47 AM on November 22, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by 256 at 5:47 AM on November 22, 2017 [8 favorites]
I think Day 9 is still good, and mostly focused on positivity. Granted he's mostly playing blizzard games, but he does do other series (mostly walking, day 9s day off)
posted by Cannon Fodder at 5:59 AM on November 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Cannon Fodder at 5:59 AM on November 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Wow lots of stuff to try out.
Dan Olsen (foldable human) does games, movies, and politics. He's like HBomb but more earnest and less British and better.
posted by fleacircus at 6:29 AM on November 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Dan Olsen (foldable human) does games, movies, and politics. He's like HBomb but more earnest and less British and better.
posted by fleacircus at 6:29 AM on November 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
I've been following Quill18's channel for a couple of years now. He livestreams on twitch on Wednesdays (exclusively Civilization 6) and Saturdays ( all kinds of games, for example: DwarfFortress, Factorio, RimWorld, Cities Skylines, Kerbal Space Program) .
Was coming in to see if anyone had mention quill yet; he's pretty solid I think. He just plays the games, and talks about them, and his decision making process. Which, if you enjoy 4X type games (Civ or Stellaris seem to be his mainstays) or grand strategy games (EU IV, Crusader Kings, etc) or base builders, is great. Expect to hear "What could possibly go wrong?" and "That's going to be ok" a fair amount.
He's pretty relaxed about it all, but he does swear occassionally - usually when things turn out to not be ok, or when something goes wrong.
posted by nubs at 7:40 AM on November 22, 2017
Was coming in to see if anyone had mention quill yet; he's pretty solid I think. He just plays the games, and talks about them, and his decision making process. Which, if you enjoy 4X type games (Civ or Stellaris seem to be his mainstays) or grand strategy games (EU IV, Crusader Kings, etc) or base builders, is great. Expect to hear "What could possibly go wrong?" and "That's going to be ok" a fair amount.
He's pretty relaxed about it all, but he does swear occassionally - usually when things turn out to not be ok, or when something goes wrong.
posted by nubs at 7:40 AM on November 22, 2017
I also like Christopher Odd - my favourite, though, is KoolGoldFinch, he is pleasant to watch, polite, and never gets vicious or toxic. Frustrated sometimes, and he does swear, but that never translates into calling his fellow players vile names or giving out death threats or anything like that. He's having some hard times right now so you should go give him some love.
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 7:49 AM on November 22, 2017
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 7:49 AM on November 22, 2017
Yesterday , they played a couple rounds of humans vs. zombies and the final round became a fascinating collapse of gameplay as they continued adding new rules of conduct (eg, players had to speak in a low ASMR voice or else drop and abandon their gun), until by the end the game was nearly unplayable but neither I nor the participants could stop laughing.
The first "Bazinga" was goddamn magical.
posted by kmz at 7:51 AM on November 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
The first "Bazinga" was goddamn magical.
posted by kmz at 7:51 AM on November 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
I was a little afraid about Guru Larry, but he seems to be a good guy. (plz be a good guy.)
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but nope, he's a Gater.
posted by NoxAeternum at 7:52 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but nope, he's a Gater.
posted by NoxAeternum at 7:52 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
Innuendo Studies (Ian Danskin, soi-disant 13th most pretentious person on YouTube) does a mix of social-justicey culture analysis & video game exegesis. His series on GG is excellent.
Cool Ghosts Matt Lees & occasional friends do video game reviews & LetsPlays. Both (IIRC) are ex-RockPaperShotgun writers, so that probably gives you an idea of where they’re coming from.
Errant Signal Chris Franklin’s fantastic video essays about games. Don’t miss.
I want to ditto these, also add the following to the list:
Noah Caldwell-Gervais
Satchbag (though it's been a good while since he's done something video game related)
Games as Literature
Joseph Anderson
Cloth Map (Drew Scanlon, formerly of Giant Bomb)
Noclip (Danny O'Dwyer, formerly of Gamespot)
posted by juv3nal at 7:53 AM on November 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Cool Ghosts Matt Lees & occasional friends do video game reviews & LetsPlays. Both (IIRC) are ex-RockPaperShotgun writers, so that probably gives you an idea of where they’re coming from.
Errant Signal Chris Franklin’s fantastic video essays about games. Don’t miss.
I want to ditto these, also add the following to the list:
Noah Caldwell-Gervais
Satchbag (though it's been a good while since he's done something video game related)
Games as Literature
Joseph Anderson
Cloth Map (Drew Scanlon, formerly of Giant Bomb)
Noclip (Danny O'Dwyer, formerly of Gamespot)
posted by juv3nal at 7:53 AM on November 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Ryukahr
TheDa9l
Quill18
Arumba
Flabaliki
Keralis
Shenryyr2
I'm sorry I have no links
I'm sick in bed.
posted by omegar at 8:06 AM on November 22, 2017
TheDa9l
Quill18
Arumba
Flabaliki
Keralis
Shenryyr2
I'm sorry I have no links
I'm sick in bed.
posted by omegar at 8:06 AM on November 22, 2017
Does anyone know anything about Kripparrian in this regard? He definitely makes jokes that seem like Internet Nerdbro Jokes--like, "Nice top draw, bro." But he seems a bit tongue in cheek doing so and I've never seen him go on vile rants or the like.
posted by overglow at 8:11 AM on November 22, 2017
posted by overglow at 8:11 AM on November 22, 2017
Also, everyone needs to watch Research Indicates' old Let's Play of Trespasser at some point. It's an absolute classic of the genre.
Gods, yes. Imagine Tom Bodett from the Motel 6 commercials being amazingly chill, non-offensive, and critically analyzing one of the worst games ever made (it is - I used to own it) while almost being TOO soothing.
This is what made me a fan of LPs in the first place.
If you need a rabbit hole to fall down, Baldurk's LP Archive is a good place. Unfortunately, he can't completely self-host everything, so some of the older LPs have bit rot. (Also, if you look up the one for Wolfenstein 2009, you can see how completely abysmal original Samizdata fan art really is.)
posted by Samizdata at 9:01 AM on November 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Gods, yes. Imagine Tom Bodett from the Motel 6 commercials being amazingly chill, non-offensive, and critically analyzing one of the worst games ever made (it is - I used to own it) while almost being TOO soothing.
This is what made me a fan of LPs in the first place.
If you need a rabbit hole to fall down, Baldurk's LP Archive is a good place. Unfortunately, he can't completely self-host everything, so some of the older LPs have bit rot. (Also, if you look up the one for Wolfenstein 2009, you can see how completely abysmal original Samizdata fan art really is.)
posted by Samizdata at 9:01 AM on November 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Did you miss the whole JonTron thing?
Fortunately yes. I've only been watching Game Grumps for the last few years, so I haven't seen the JonTron episodes when he was part of the show. They occasionally come up in the sidebar, but even if I didn't realize what a garbage fire that guy is, those episodes just aren't that good from the few that I've seen.
posted by AlSweigart at 9:09 AM on November 22, 2017
Fortunately yes. I've only been watching Game Grumps for the last few years, so I haven't seen the JonTron episodes when he was part of the show. They occasionally come up in the sidebar, but even if I didn't realize what a garbage fire that guy is, those episodes just aren't that good from the few that I've seen.
posted by AlSweigart at 9:09 AM on November 22, 2017
I love watching Aavak—though I haven't much recently—mostly because I love his speaking voice. I cannot recall a time that I've ever heard him say something problematic.
posted by defenestration at 9:10 AM on November 22, 2017
posted by defenestration at 9:10 AM on November 22, 2017
Thank you so much for linking this. My 15 yo daughter LOVES watching game YouTubers, and I keep popping up with her, "Nope, no more PewDiePie, no more..." It is going to be such a pleasure to look through these, to give her positive suggestions!
posted by headspace at 9:16 AM on November 22, 2017
posted by headspace at 9:16 AM on November 22, 2017
Good time to mention here Direwolf20 since he just started a new "season" for his Minecraft play series. I'm not sure how objectively "good" the videos are, but they are a great gateway to the world of FTB "Feed the Beast" and adult/modded Minecraft, which focuses on the crafting, automation and optimization aspects of the game. The pinnacle of game play for all with OCD tendencies.
posted by BigBrooklyn at 9:41 AM on November 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by BigBrooklyn at 9:41 AM on November 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'd like to find something that my kid can relate to that's (a) a bit more thoughtful, and (b) isn't problematic in terms of adults behaving like spoilt kids a lot of the time.
How old is your kid? A couple of suggestions:
Might not appeal, as it’s a bunch of grown ups making light, entertaining videos about games ("8 things you didn’t know about Game X!") but definitely non-toxic: the Eurogamer channel is pretty good.
Worth trying the Game Theorists? My kids seem to have watched a ton of those - I’ll ask the eldest if he’s picked up on anything off, but they seem upbeat + positive and I haven’t noticed anything untoward so far. (If anyone has, please let me know so I can bring down the ban hammer :) )
posted by pharm at 10:24 AM on November 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
How old is your kid? A couple of suggestions:
Might not appeal, as it’s a bunch of grown ups making light, entertaining videos about games ("8 things you didn’t know about Game X!") but definitely non-toxic: the Eurogamer channel is pretty good.
Worth trying the Game Theorists? My kids seem to have watched a ton of those - I’ll ask the eldest if he’s picked up on anything off, but they seem upbeat + positive and I haven’t noticed anything untoward so far. (If anyone has, please let me know so I can bring down the ban hammer :) )
posted by pharm at 10:24 AM on November 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
I am also a fan of PushingUpRoses. If you want Let's Plays in those genres (Sierra/LucasArts-style graphic adventures), I like Resulka and hercrabbiness (who has tentatively returned after a long hiatus).
posted by eruonna at 10:43 AM on November 22, 2017
posted by eruonna at 10:43 AM on November 22, 2017
PortsCenter is one of my favorite internet things. Ben Paddon looks at games ported from their original system, for better or worse, and with dry British delivery.
Some highlights:
Super Mario Advance/Super Mario Brothers 2
Resident Evil 2 for Game Boy Color
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for Amiga
Sim City for SNES
Final Fantasy VI
posted by gc at 11:11 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
Some highlights:
Super Mario Advance/Super Mario Brothers 2
Resident Evil 2 for Game Boy Color
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for Amiga
Sim City for SNES
Final Fantasy VI
posted by gc at 11:11 AM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
I loved Car Talk: I don't really care about cars but the back and forth between two obvious best friends was great.
Strangely I fell down a weird rabbit hole of watching videos made by 2 middle age physio therapists, Brad & Bob. Went to figure out a stretch for my back, ended up watching all their videos as they seemed like really pleasant guys who seem really happy being physio therapists. Almost memeable in their earnestness.
posted by Damienmce at 11:33 AM on November 22, 2017
Strangely I fell down a weird rabbit hole of watching videos made by 2 middle age physio therapists, Brad & Bob. Went to figure out a stretch for my back, ended up watching all their videos as they seemed like really pleasant guys who seem really happy being physio therapists. Almost memeable in their earnestness.
posted by Damienmce at 11:33 AM on November 22, 2017
Strangely I fell down a weird rabbit hole of watching videos made by 2 middle age physio therapists, Brad & Bob. Went to figure out a stretch for my back, ended up watching all their videos as they seemed like really pleasant guys who seem really happy being physio therapists. Almost memeable in their earnestness.
Make sure you get your kickback. I subscribed after their intro video.
posted by Samizdata at 12:21 PM on November 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Make sure you get your kickback. I subscribed after their intro video.
posted by Samizdata at 12:21 PM on November 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
One of my favorite VG channels is that of CarlSagan42, a Mario Maker Twitch streamer who also posts edited versions of the streams to YouTube. He's funny, positive, expressive and extremely skilled at extremely difficult Mario levels, but still fails hilariously and often.
Carl has a really bad habit of using the word "bitch" loudly and often. I can't watch him anymore over it. YMMV.
posted by TypographicalError at 12:34 PM on November 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
Carl has a really bad habit of using the word "bitch" loudly and often. I can't watch him anymore over it. YMMV.
posted by TypographicalError at 12:34 PM on November 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
I'm seeing several mentions about Lazy Game Reviews (LGR,) which makes me kind of curious... are y'all sure about him? I used to subscribe to his videos until he made a completely off-hand joke about a DVD drive being PC-only, "like everything else these days." Paraphrasing, of course, as the ol' memory's hazy.
To some that may seem like an overreaction over one joke, but when it comes to YouTubers where there's even a whiff of smoke there's usually a burning trash fire. (Though I'd be happy to be proven wrong in this case.)
posted by OMGTehAwsome at 1:04 PM on November 22, 2017
To some that may seem like an overreaction over one joke, but when it comes to YouTubers where there's even a whiff of smoke there's usually a burning trash fire. (Though I'd be happy to be proven wrong in this case.)
posted by OMGTehAwsome at 1:04 PM on November 22, 2017
Worth trying the Game Theorists?
Yes, yes, yes. MatPat is every bit as sweet and friendly as he looks on first view. He's on his way to being the Mr. Rogers of youtube game blogging.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 1:05 PM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
Yes, yes, yes. MatPat is every bit as sweet and friendly as he looks on first view. He's on his way to being the Mr. Rogers of youtube game blogging.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 1:05 PM on November 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
Aw, I was hoping Guru Larry wasn't a Gater. Like, I know he talks about Ethics In Video Game Journalism, but I don't think he uses that particular dog whistle, and, well, actually seems to talk about video game journalism mistakes rather than just "THEY LIKE A GAME BY A LADY."
Booo...
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 2:27 PM on November 22, 2017
Booo...
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 2:27 PM on November 22, 2017
Yes, yes, yes. MatPat is every bit as sweet and friendly as he looks on first view. He's on his way to being the Mr. Rogers of youtube game blogging.
Unfortunately, after watching his videos, every time you hear someone say the word "theory" you will mentally append it with "...A GAME THEORY!"
posted by jason_steakums at 3:15 PM on November 22, 2017
Unfortunately, after watching his videos, every time you hear someone say the word "theory" you will mentally append it with "...A GAME THEORY!"
posted by jason_steakums at 3:15 PM on November 22, 2017
Vic Lucas of the Electric Playground Network is a solid choice for daily content about games, movies, comics, and, "everything cool, every day." He's eschewed Patreon because he doesn't want another thing to have to keep up with, but has recently started taking advantage of YouTube's sponsorship features. He also sometimes streams live Let's Play sessions or podcast style long form pieces. Very much worth a subscription.
posted by ob1quixote at 4:04 PM on November 22, 2017
posted by ob1quixote at 4:04 PM on November 22, 2017
I hope JackSepticEye is decent. I just found about him, and he seems adorable, based on his enthusiastic playthrough of Dream Daddy. He's also the only Irishman I've ever seen to say "top of the morning to ye," so there is that.
posted by Countess Elena at 4:30 PM on November 22, 2017
posted by Countess Elena at 4:30 PM on November 22, 2017
Since we're talking about Jack, I'd like to also say that Dan Middleton of The Diamond Minecart is a good sort, based on the 10,000 hours of him my boys have watched. If he's an asshole or a nazi or whatever he keeps it well away from his public face. He doesn't even curse on his videos, which is something I can't say about Mr. SepticEye.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 5:27 PM on November 22, 2017
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 5:27 PM on November 22, 2017
Hey, are there more women?
posted by lauranesson at 9:07 PM on November 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by lauranesson at 9:07 PM on November 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
Geek Remix is good & I’ve enjoyed Aoife Wilson’s reviews & playthroughs on the EuroGamer channel Laura.
Other that I’m coming up short, which I’d like to fix: Anyone?
I’ve have noticed quite a lot more women on Twitch / YouTube live - certainly more than pop up in my YouTube feeds, but don’t have any specific recommendations there.
posted by pharm at 2:42 AM on November 23, 2017
Other that I’m coming up short, which I’d like to fix: Anyone?
I’ve have noticed quite a lot more women on Twitch / YouTube live - certainly more than pop up in my YouTube feeds, but don’t have any specific recommendations there.
posted by pharm at 2:42 AM on November 23, 2017
YES, Aoife Wilson's great. I love her and Johnny Chiodini's Let's Play Life is Strange: Before the Storm videos.
posted by Pendragon at 2:59 AM on November 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Pendragon at 2:59 AM on November 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
I’m less about the streaming than I am about produced youtube videos and women that come to mind in that space tend to be attached to an outlet like Eurogamer (Aoife), Polygon (Simone de Rochefort, Allegra Frank), Kotaku (Heather Alexandra, Patricia Hernandez), or Waypoint (Danielle Riendeau).
In the tabletop RPG actual play space I could name you a bunch of streamers though. Misscliks tends to have parity or better in terms of women representation (though they’re all about the D&D which is not really my bag) and the folks at Geek Space TV have a show with a cast that’s 5/6 women
posted by juv3nal at 4:28 AM on November 23, 2017 [4 favorites]
In the tabletop RPG actual play space I could name you a bunch of streamers though. Misscliks tends to have parity or better in terms of women representation (though they’re all about the D&D which is not really my bag) and the folks at Geek Space TV have a show with a cast that’s 5/6 women
posted by juv3nal at 4:28 AM on November 23, 2017 [4 favorites]
My kids watch Sqaishy Duck and LDShadowLady and it all seems fine from the samples I hear. They are mostly Minecraft people but do branch out.
Elder just wandered in and says StacyPlays is also really good.
posted by hfnuala at 12:51 PM on November 23, 2017
Elder just wandered in and says StacyPlays is also really good.
posted by hfnuala at 12:51 PM on November 23, 2017
Kate Stark does live streams on Twitch full time (mostly PUBG.) She's created a chat/viewer community that is very welcoming and inclusive, and shitlord-free. (Her brother is Graham Stark, co-creator of LoadingReadyRun, and I think she used to contribute there as well, or maybe still does, I don't know the details.)
posted by Rhomboid at 7:20 AM on November 24, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Rhomboid at 7:20 AM on November 24, 2017 [2 favorites]
Yeah, "Fallout 3 Is Garbage, And Here's Why" is the best feature film I've ever seen :D
Some random recommendations that weren't mentioned here:
MsMadLemon Amiga and C64 stuff (not only games, but also music, hardware mods etc.)
DOS Nostalgia (should be obvious from the name) (haven't uploaded in a while)
SpudMuffins Trans Gaming very nice livestreams (I rarely get to watch them live because it's usually about 5AM in my timezone when they stream D:)
BountyHunterSAx used to upload very good Crawl videos, last year was just occasional random stuff
posted by floatboth at 3:01 PM on November 25, 2017
Some random recommendations that weren't mentioned here:
MsMadLemon Amiga and C64 stuff (not only games, but also music, hardware mods etc.)
DOS Nostalgia (should be obvious from the name) (haven't uploaded in a while)
SpudMuffins Trans Gaming very nice livestreams (I rarely get to watch them live because it's usually about 5AM in my timezone when they stream D:)
BountyHunterSAx used to upload very good Crawl videos, last year was just occasional random stuff
posted by floatboth at 3:01 PM on November 25, 2017
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posted by DoctorFedora at 8:32 PM on November 21, 2017 [2 favorites]