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What Happened to Old School Gaming?

The old school of gaming, when you would invite your friend over to play some Super NES and kick his or her butt in Mario Kart or go on a long journey of The Lost Vikings, or Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. These are all classic games that most older gamers remember but what I miss was having that moment with a friend were both of you are like ‘Whoa.’ What happened to that and is it making a comeback?

Yes a bold question to ask but the time is upon us, it is time for a change, Youtube is a major success, but could their be another source that will be taking away from the viewers that tune in every time something is uploaded from the big channels that are on YouTube? Will it bring that missing experience in gaming that made it so much fun to play with friends watching? Yes you can play online with friends but half the time they can’t see that amazing three-piece you just managed to pull off. You can upload it later and have the effect but settled down. You see people now expect something good when they look at your video which they should be, YouTube has become a place for people who want to show off their editing skills and directing skills.

A lot of people check out Youtube for different reasons, it was a way to broadcast yourself. But is it really broadcasting if its prerecorded then edited? Sure the tutorials, viral videos and gaming montages are all worth tuning in and will always have a place and is why YouTube won’t ever go away. But will there be something else to take up the time between your favorite YouTuber uploads their next video? Answer is yes and is already here. Live streaming is basically in my eyes what Youtube was in February 2005, something raw, new, and different. Your saying, Gator this been around, yes it has but before you had to have high quality equipment, and internet to broadcast, now with things like Xsplit, mobile apps and more. Anyone can go ahead and stream anything from everyday life, meeting presentations, gaming previews and more.

The gaming industry is already jumping on this having events to preview games and answering questions live. Which to the viewers makes you feel more involved rather than reading something that could be edited and scripted. Gaming events from local LANS to MLG are not all streamed giving the chance for those not able to make an event to still experience the live ‘sports’ feel to competitions. Now you may ask, how else could this grow? This has no limits any one can start a show that at noon no matter what you’re doing you go to your phone or laptop and stream and you could vlog about your day live, or answer questions for your fan base. Even in a personal level this can be used, my college used online streaming for my graduation so my parents that where in DC could watch me walk and still get my degree. This is all more personal than letters, pictures and even videos. Yes videos are still going to be around online but I see Live Streaming having a bigger impact. This day people like Kevin Hart, Chad Ochocinco, and other famous artist, athletes, and people in general are using this as a means to connect with a wide range of people.

Now, this won’t be dominated by one source it seems. Last year YouTube tried YouTube Live with its partner Machinima, and the concept is the same, except YouTubers already have the subscriber base so all they need to do is get the word out. They stopped it due to bugs, and to improve it. Lately you see they have brought it back up and Machinima partners are again doing Live streams. Which shows that YouTube knows that this is a source they need to tap into, not they need to worry but I do find myself more likely watch someone play live then videos now. Why might you ask?

I miss watching someone else and sharing that excitement of ‘Did you just see that?’ Tons of games have single player campaign that has me saying that but no one to share it with, live streaming has solved that for me and might for you, now late night when I play a game of Madden Online and throw the winning touchdown in the final seconds or get that half court buzzer beater on NBA 2K12 I’m not the only one saying “Did you see that?” And getting excited about it. This is big for games in general, imagine seeing some one pull out a 3v1 online streamed, yes of course your team mates see it, yes you could upload it and someone thing wow that was good but watching it live is different. It’s in the moment, its more personal you see peoples reactions on chat. I even hold a Skype call with my viewers from time to time so we can voice chat and I can hear there feedback from what they see from the stream. Nothing is better than accomplishing something and having someone else or a group of people there cheering you on or sharing the moment with you.

And that’s just the gaming concept, you can use this for family use when someone is home sick and couldn’t make the trip somewhere and you want to show them something, or you want to have a random open video stream with your fans or friends and talk about somethings in the middle of the day. These things are all things you can do individually with Skype and other programs but doing it to a wide range or people who can tune in for a daily or weekly show or just a time were you take questions live from your fan base could be the way to emotionally connect with your fan base.

So the time is now to start getting familiar with this upcoming trend, every time I go live stream my viewer base gets bigger and bigger at first was 5-10 people would stick around and watch but now 50+ will be the amount that will consistently stay on and watch me play an online game of Madden or 2K, play a single player campaign, and just have fun online with multi-player (even let them join parties to play with me). This is the time to start watching or streaming yourself, don’t miss out on this experience.

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