The Art of Sharing: How Twitch is being used to spread gifts & encouragement beyond gaming

Utilizing your gifts to spread positivity is something to admire.  This is especially true of those who have the fame to go along with it.  Presented with a platform in which you can use your gifts to encourage others, there are those who do so that can make some truly a difference to others.  As Twitch has expanded to include many different creative platforms, there are more and more people willing to share their gifts to help make the world a better place.

Jim Lee’s Advice On Pursuing Dreams

Jim Lee is one such person.  Most people may know his name from print media, as he is one of the most celebrated comic book artists of modern times.  Best known for his work on Marvel Comic’s X-Men and characters in which he helped create with Image Comics, Jim Lee has taken his talents to Twitch, creating new images, sharing some of his art through giveaways, and also lending advice to help other artists along in their journey towards their dreams.  It is a practice that you see a lot in many of the more creative sections of Twitch, as since they have opened their platform up to genres beyond gaming, you find more and more celebrities and people of talent utilizing the platform to not only share and display their arts but to encourage and uplift them.  Many people like Jim Lee are shaping a community of creators who are helping to other creative and talented people pursue their dreams in the way that they did.  It is just yet another example of how Twitch as a platform is more about entertainment.

In the End You’ll Get What You Truly Want

Gamers: I really need you to listen to me when I say this here.  Calm down.  Seriously, relax.  It’s okay.  Remember what your passion is: gaming.  And what is gaming supposed to do for you as a hobby that you’re passionate for: bring joy and entertainment.  Yes, I am fully aware of how much more and more the gaming industry is expanding and evolving into one filled with many opportunities from programmers to regular joes to make money off of on top of enjoying themselves.  With the advent of social media, the gaming community has a stronger voice than ever, allowing a place for them to give their opinions and share moments together.  It’s great.  Awesome.  Fantastic.  But some of y’all are completely out of your goddamn minds.  Or are you just pretending to be in order to gain attention?  Who knows these days.  All I know is, with the announcement that the Last of Us 2 will be a single player only gaming experience, a lot of you seem to once again show where a lot of us as gamers have lost perspective on what being a gamer is all about.

So when the news hit a lot of people were upset.  Super pissed.  Not just perturbed or angry, but incensed to a point where one wondered if they were on the brink of falling apart and needing therapeutic care to deal with their anger and emotions.  It was pretty wild.  Looking back, it was more than just wild actually.  It was disgusting.  It was sad.  It was embarrassing for anyone who did not feel the need to behave in such a manner.  But for those of you who raged, pissed and moaned you seem validated by… God knows only what.  I guess because you were given multiplayer the last time and supported it, you should be always given it because of your validation the first time perhaps?  Who knows?  All I know is Naughty Dog’s decision didn’t warrant such a response.

In the end, the decision that Naughty Dog made couldn’t have been easy, but they had their reasons.  As a franchise that was original sold on the premise of its single player campaign experience to begin with, I would have expected people to understand a bit more in Naughty Dog’s decision to focus on single player only this time around, as they wanted to tell a more rich, broader story.  Fair enough, as there will be a lot of work put in to deliver that, and with all the issues of employees being overworked, it’s helpful to know that they won’t be stressing over something that could sum up to extra work.  I guess that’s not enough though.

In the end it was a really ugly moment that reminded  me of how social media and content creation around the gaming industry has kind of given us a warp sense of what gaming is all about.  No more is it just about getting a satisfying, enjoyable experience.  It’s about being satisfied on a more personal level.  Mind you Naughty Dog could put multiplayer in TLOU2 and it can suck.  Then what?  More outrage.  If it doesn’t suck but they don’t add things that people think they should to improve upon it?  More outrage!  Hulk smash!  It’s a no win situation to be honest.  That’s why it is best that companies sometimes just go with the flow of the moment and hope that in the end, as they mostly do, gamers will come around because at the end of the day, they just want to play games and have fun.  Nevermind the content creators; they’ll hop on board if they see an opportunity to make money.  But most importantly those who truly love games, if they truly are interested, will forget their rage and play because again, they just want to enjoy gaming.  And if not?  Well they’re already having fun at what they like most and no multiplayer will give them an opportunity to continue to do so: being pissy, angry and expressing it publicly.  So either way, Naughty Dog will end up delivering what these people truly want in the end.

It’s That Time Again… Extra-Life 2019 #ForTheKids

It’s almost that time of year again where I begin to prepare for my favorite charity, Extra-Life.  Those who have known me for a long time know how important this time of year is for me.  Even with my current struggles and issues, I still haven’t forgot about it.  Extra-Life has always been something that I have maintained a high level of passion and commitment towards, and this year is no different.  I am once again planning to do an all day stream on 11/02 for National Game Day.  For those who don’t know, National Game Day is the day in which the Children’s Miracle Network has dubbed the official day for gamers across North America to participate in gaming in any form, be it board games, video games, or parlor games, to help raise money for children’s hospitals.  These hospitals are committed to the care of young children as well as working diligently to discover cures for childhood diseases so that they may grow to live long, healthy lives.  Why am I so dedicated to this?  Well it’s because of the lady who’s picture you will see in that link to my donation page, Barbara J. Owens.  My mom worked at Children’s Hospital in Washington, DC for almost 30 years and they were like a family to her.  When she passes, nothing changed, as they came out to support our family in their time of need.  So it is to that that I continue to work year in and year out to help raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network.  If you can please donate and help support me as I head to National Game Day to continue raising even more money.  Anything can help.  Just remember, it’s all #ForTheKids. 

To donate please go to the following link:

https://www.extra-life.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donordrive.participant&participantID=351801

Under the Influencers

Being a content creator is a lot of fun to me.   While I’m by no means known (if you somehow stumbled onto this blog thank you for the view!) I still find pleasure in making videos,  writing blogs,  and doing podcasts.  I find it pretty damn cool that people are willing to pay attention to what I’ve got to say and love the feedback from it.   That being said,  by no means do I feel as if I’m an authority because of it.   I have noticed however that a lot of content creators feel as if they are when in truth they are not. 

I find the attitude of being an “expert” particularly pervasive within the gaming content creator community,  and in the gaming community in general.   Many think because they have spent countless hours of playing a game, have become so good at a game that they feel their skill level is unmatched by others,  and so on that their opinions are well educated on the matter of what makes a good game.   Even more so,  gaming content creators who have a substantial amount of people who view their content, give positive feedback,  and generally agree with them feel very empowered to make a case for why their ideas are extremely beneficial in making gaming better.   In some ways they have merit to those claims but to what level should they be able to influence gaming’s path?

We’re in a very interesting time in gaming where companies are allowing content creators to help steer its course.    Gaming companies seem inclined to take what content creators say and how their communities react very seriously.   You see many promotions involving prominent streamers and video creators being brought in to sit at the table during the development process because of this,  in most cases choosing to make public events out of doing so.

The reaction from this kind of inclusion hasn’t resulted in the best way however,  as now that gamers have been giving more of a voice in how games are shaped we’ve come close to a situation of the inmates running the asylum.  Scream loud enough and publishers seem to willingly go out of their way to appease their consumer base.  Don’t like an idea? Cut a video.  Want something in the game’s meta changed to your liking? Bitch about it on a livestream.  Want a particular type of game made that you feel would be the best game ever? Constantly harass the company or members of its staff on social media. 

And while it’s always good to be interactive with your consumer base and listen,  gaming companies have gone too far with their willingness to acquiesce to gamers’ demands.  This is not to say that other industries don’t allow for consumer opinion to influence their moves,  but gaming seems to bend more than others,  as the level of hands on access content creators get to their product seems a fair bit more significant than others are willing to do. 

This seems to have possibly led to an arresting state in the expansion of ideas within gaming.  Publishers seem to be a lot more willing to concede to trends and social media opinions more than to let the creative energy drive them.  All too often a good idea isn’t given the chance to come to life because it doesn’t fit within the narrative we as the gaming community have publicly built.   Mind you I do believe that a lot of what influences these companies are the loud minority but they’re really loud, leading to a lot of opportunities for growth pushed aside in order to keep the status quo. 

Now I’m not saying that we should do away with content creator involvement in the industry or advocating that businesses become totally tone deaf to what the gaming community has to say.   What I am saying however is that in order for gaming to continue to evolve and grow developers and publishers need to focus more on their ability to create and innovate without fear of not fitting their games in boxes that only appease people.  We as gamers and content creators need to understand while we have a right to express ourselves and voice our opinions we don’t speak for everyone.

Gaming is comprised of many different genres and styles and each have their place.  You should never feel that your type of game or your interests matter more than someone else’s.  More importantly,  when you reach a position as a creator to where your words carry weight, remember that it’s still just your opinion no matter how many people agree.  Never dismiss the idea that what you like may not be what everyone else likes, and vice versa.  There’s room for everybody to be heard in the gaming community,  and we all need to respect that more so that we can allow the industry to continue to grow in a positive direction.

A Mysterious Joy

 

Imagine if the first Metal Gear had relied on media coverage alone…

Facing the unknown can be a scary and exciting thing.  It’s always a bit frightening for some of us to take a chance and engage in something that our intuition can sometimes scream at us to steer clear of, but it’s all a part of the fun.  From the perspective of gaming, risk/reward was a staple of the hobby when I was growing up that looking back on I always found satisfying.  Sure, there would plenty times where I would pick up a game that was a complete dud and feel upset at the idea that money was spent on a bad experience.  More often than not however, there were games such as Final Fantasy that fell into your lap and left you with a mind-blowing experience at the end bring you great satisfaction in taking a chance with your money.  Of course, that is something that we have come to experience less and less these days, as the overall advancement of media and people’s desire to know everything that there is to a game before release has all but put a stop to the magic of discovering the next best thing.

With the internet being ingrained in our society, information isn’t that hard to come by these days.  You don’t even have to ask for someone’s opinion on a subject anymore.  Log in to any social media site and there you will find millions of people who will willingly (and forcefully) give you their two cents on anything at any time.  Leaks are constantly published on not on gaming focused media outlets, but on some major business news outlets as well.  Many people take to YouTube as quickly as possible to share the latest bit of gossip and get as many views as possible being one of the first to “scoop” a story.  It’s gotten to a point where it’s hard not to know almost everything there is to know about a game.

Tecmo Bowl wasn’t always a well know product.  Discover and word of mouth grew its legend.

I remember the first time I ever heard of Tecmo Bowl.  It was from a classmate of mine in elementary school who had picked it up over the weekend for his Nintendo.   I remember how excited he was to gush about the game and talk about how cool it was to score a touchdown and see your players celebrate, how unstoppable Bo Jackson was, and so on.  Our fellow classmates and I were more than happy to give him all the attention he desired, peppering him with question upon question, as word of mouth had it that this was one of the best games out, and he was the first person that we knew who had a chance to play it.  He was put on a pedestal by us and he not only knew it, but he relished it, and I can’t say that I blamed him.

In a lot of cases you were that person, however, as more often than not there was a game that caught your eye while perusing the shelves of a game store or the gaming section of a department store that no one you know have referenced before.  You would pick up the box, reading the description on the back and staring at the screenshots of the game, trying to get a sense of what the game might be like.  There was always that nerve racking, intense moment where you would internally debate on whether or not you would take a chance on it or not.  Was this game my precious allowance money that I worked so hard for?

Sure we had access to magazines reviewed games, but there was always something special about actually knowing someone who had hands on experience of a game, as they were the only real quick source of information at the time.  In the early days of gaming, mainstream media did not cover video games, and reviews weren’t available until at least a month after a games release, depending on whether or not they were able to be submitted for publishing in time.  No, your best and fastest source for info on a game was always that first person you knew to get their hands on it, and a lot of times, you were that first person.  Not that you minded, because when you were that person to be able to gush to others about how great a game was and help spread its name like wildfire, you felt great satisfaction in being put on a pedestal by your friends.

Dragon Warrior was another game that while popular in Japan took time to grow a fan base in the United States through word of mouth.

Of course that satisfaction hasn’t really gone away; it’s just changed to something different.  Still, there was something special to me to be able to purchase a game without a clue as to what to expect because of the lack of information.  Going in blind had its appeal but alas it is damn near impossible to do so today unless you remove yourself from the internet completely.  It also leads to a lot of good games getting passed up as well.  While it definitely can be helpful in the financial department by saving you money, knowing what to expect from each game also can lead to deterring some players from stepping outside of their box and not giving certain types of games a try.

I encourage you that the next time that you are in a store looking to pick up a game, look around for that game that you have no idea about and take a moment to look at it and let your intuition guide you.  You’ll find that sometimes when you go with your gut you’ll be rewarded with a satisfying experience that is much better than that you get when you pick a game up knowing exactly what to expect.   The mysterious joy of finding a gem in the sea of gaming is something I highly recommend every gamer experience at least once in their lives.

Inspirational Community Magic: How A Gaming Community Did The Unexpected

Recently I saw something that was amazing and extremely humbling. While on lunch I decided to log into Twitch and see what was going on. For those who don’t know what Twitch is (shame on you if you’re a gamer and you do not know) it is a website dedicated to hosting video game streaming (albeit recently they’ve expanded to a few other creative categories). You’ll find all types of wonderful personalities as well as special events being hosted on the website, including tournament for some of the most popular games in competitive gaming.

This particular stream that I decided to watch was a charity stream by the Destiny CommunityCon channel. It consisted of a community of Bungie’s Destiny, a game that for a time was considered to be a total disappointment by many. The channel was created in support of the Destiny Community Convention, an event started in 2015 by two of the community’s most popular members, KingGothalion and ProfessorBroman, in the Tampa Bay, Florida area of the United States. At the event streamers come together with their viewers and fellow Destiny players to meet and have fun with fellow Guardians (a term adopted from the game’s playable characters). The stream, dedicated to raising money for St. Jude Children’s Research hospital, the event was to take place over the span of a week before the start of the convention.

Even with all of its problems Destiny has able to build itself a strong community of players that have weathered the storm of the early days and continue to play and support the game as Bungie continually updated it with new content over the past two years. It has grown so much that this year’s convention is said to expect between 3000-4000 people to attend, a big step up from the over 1000 that showed unexpectedly to what the event creators had assumed would be just a slighter larger than normal meet up. The community of players on Twitch who stream and watch the game truly reflect the strength of the community, and anyone who has seen any Destiny streams could tell you that the pool of players are perhaps one of if not the most friendliest and family orientated communities in gaming that you ever will see.

So naturally, as a consistent viewer of Destiny streams, I was expected to see them raise a fair amount of money for charity, as several times before I’ve seen members do so over the past two years. With the initial goal of $250,000 and over 40 streamers working 24 hours over the course of a week’s time to achieve the goal, I definitely felt that they would be able to reach their goal. With a community as strong as that one who wouldn’t think that they could make it happen? What they did make happen however was something much more that I could not have expected to say the least.

By the time the event had reached its end at 4:00PM EST on August 25th, 2016, not only had the raised the $250,000 that they had initially wanted to raise, but also sprinted by their initial stretch goal of $350,000, reaching just over $500,000 (and for those who saw the event happen and want to nitpick it officially happened a little after 4:01PM EST but meh…stop nitpicking). It’s an amazing number to see, one that on the way to it drew national attention from media outlets such as Forbes and CNN. It was said to be the largest gaming charity event ever put together, making a huge impact in helping a worthy cause. In a matter of a week, the Destiny community helped provide St. Jude with a significant amount of money to help aid them in their research to help prevent cancer and other terminal diseases from effecting children, allowing them to reach adulthood. But with all that said, that wasn’t even the unexpected or amazing part about the whole thing.

There is a lot that can be desired in the online gaming community these days. Spend enough time on Twitch (or even more so on YouTube) and you’ll see that there is a lot of toxicity that exists. More times than not you will see people segment themselves off, preferring to breed contention among themselves, and others who streamed or created content, especially when it was content similar to their own. Those who became successful would rarely commune with others unless they were at least equally as successful as they were, and when doing so seemingly in a business fashion only. It generally an everyman for themselves approach taken by so many that for some (like myself) can be very off putting.

What we saw in the DestinyCommunityCon stream however was something totally different. It was something beautiful and heartwarming to behold. What we saw was a group of people who brought themselves together in not only just support of a cause but in support of each other. We saw streamers, big and small, individually and collectively work tirelessly around the close to give back and aid their fellow man. We saw them do their own streams while other streamers came through to lend support in any way possible, be it in chat or live on stream or sharing their streams through social media. We saw people commit themselves to some strange and wonderful things, from singing Backstreet boys, to dressing up as Batman, to shaving off their own hair, to encourage people to donate to the cause.

We also saw people watching willing to donate any amount of money they could, regardless of whether there were incentives to do so or not. We saw some give thousands, some give hundreds, and some give tens of dollars, but regardless of the amount we saw them all do the same thing: show willingness to give what they had to help support these streamers that were working tirelessly to raise money for charity. The viewers’ support also went well beyond just giving money also, as they were just as willing to promote and encourage each other to give, to promote the cause through social media, and volunteer in any way possible to see the goal reached and beyond. That is what was unexpected, and what was so beautiful and moving about the entire charity event to me: seeing a community full of positive people working hard for not only one common goal but for each other. It was uplifting to see people come together, through the power of their love for a video game no less, and show the world what can be done when people actually support each other. For me, I saw a shiny example of what humanity could be like when it is at its best.

Looking back at it all, I am sure that for some, this event was just as moving for them as it was for me, as I look at it as something well beyond just a bunch of people raising money for charity. I look at it as a sign that having faith in the idea that the gaming community can be much more than so many seem to want to make it out to be: a place full of negativity. Not only that, but it was also a sign that having faith in humanity as a whole was something that wasn’t farfetched, either, and that there are communities who still stood as examples of what the world is like when we come together. Hopefully the DestinyCommunity Con charity event and its community will not just be looked upon as a great moment within the gaming community but as a model for others to follow.

Beyond the Gaming

Twitch has had a long, interesting road to get where it has since its beginning.  What was first a subsidiary to a streaming service that offered  a lot more than just gaming has now turned into…well… a streaming service that now once again offers a lot more than just gaming, but is mostly known for and dominated by video game content.  Even with its roots deeply planted in the world of gaming, Twitch has been able to outdo better backed and larger competition that offered a whole lot more over the years, including YouTube, drawing in a large number of viewers throughout a wide array of content throughout the world.  Of course, and as mentioned before, Twitch has grown so big that it has grown well beyond just a bunch of gamers displaying their skills or personalities to the masses, but has become a place where people from those who love to do art in the Creative section to those who like to do more topical discussions on gaming than they do playing in the Gaming Talk Shows directory can find a place to gain an audience.  Now there are some that may not feel that the direction Twitch is going with the expansion of directories is a good thing, I for one generally look at it as smart, as the more venues Twitch offers people to express themselves, the more they will continue to grow and prosper.  Enter Social Eating.

Recently Twitch announced and opened up a new directory known as Social Eating.  It’s pretty simple: turn on the web cam, grab that bag of Wendy’s you just picked up on the way home, hit the live button on your preferred streaming software, and go to town on that Bacinator.  Now I’m sure that you’re thinking, “it’s not simple” in more ways than not it is.  Having seen people openly fat shame themselves while eating pizza to others asking for viewers to decide what they want for dinner so that they could share themselves enjoying it while they watch, I’d say it’s a pretty safe assumption that the purpose of this channel is to eat while in from of (hopefully) a live studio audience.  Of course, being something born of the internet, you can inspect some crazy times within this directory, even despite Twitch making rules to address some of the more provocative issues that may arrive in the director (no slow banana eating people!).  Still it is interesting to think that a person can create an entire channel dedicated to eating food and possibly end up with a partnership from Twitch along with legal representation to help guide and protect them as they live stream themselves busting down on a Doritos taco from Taco Bell.

So if you’re not asking yourselves this, then I ask you this:  what could be (if any) the repercussions of many people eating on camera to possibly profit?  Is this just a flash in the pan trend or anomaly, or is it something that could become big enough to rival competitive gaming live streams such as EVO or a *insert recent Blizzard game here* tournament?  Time will tell what this directory will shape up to be.  Still we must remember that the Creative directory itself was perplexing to some until many artists started to share their graphic design work, or their cooking skills, to the masses.  The Music directory can now be seen with some pretty popular DJs such as Deadmau5 showing up on a regular basis to DJ a music block of theirs every so often.  Sure it may seem crazy as hell but with people looking to connect with people more than ever in this period in which internet social media seems to dominate, who knows just how many people will buy into this as a thing.  Mind you all it took was for Creative to have access to Bob Ross to completely blow up; it wouldn’t be a surprised if some Food Network personality that’s popular with the people would make a splash (not as big as Bog ross though because Bob Ross is the man).  The one thing that can be guaranteed possibly is that so long as Twitch continues to grow and more non-gaming directories show up and capture some type of appeal to the masses, we haven’t see the last of an idea that we think is crazy show up in the list of Games you can watch on Twitch.  Just do me one favor: make sure you notify me when the Social Writing directory shows up and I’m on it.

Guilty Until Proven Innocent: The Harsh Reality of Creative Media & Their Claims Systems

What most people who know me don’t know is that in addition to being into writing and video games, I also do creative content on YouTube and livestream myself playing video games on Twitch.  It’s a strong passion of mine (one that I’m slowly but surely growing into more than that) that I enjoy immensely.  So the day they both were taken away from me was very frustrating, as I was banned from both not because of something I did, but because of how easy it is for someone to abuse the system in order to dismantle someone’s hobby, dream, or career of making shareable media on the internet.

Now I can only speak from my experiences and the perspective of YouTube and Twitch, as I’ve never experience such a thing before on the internet on any other form of social or creative media.  I can tell you that what I learned on the day that both my YouTube channel and Twitch channel were banned was that the systems in place are incredibly easy for anyone who wants to report someone for the wrong reasons to exploit.  What’s even worse is that while it is almost effortless for someone to get a channel taken down, it’s seemingly hopeless for that content creator to reestablish themselves, no matter whether claims are true or false.

So one night I was streaming on Twitch when I get a few trolls (what the kids call people who intentionally harass and/or make fun of someone for their own amusement, as well as to get a rise out of their target) in the room.  This is something I’ve gotten used to, as anyone who does any type of creative media on the internet will tell you that it is something quite commonly dealt with.  On this particular night, there was a roving group of people who would continually come through and throw out racial slurs, using numerous false accounts in an attempt to generally make my experience as miserable as possible.  Now anyone who knows me knows that I’m very laid back yet can be a very sarcastic person, one who will either take things in stride or fire back with extreme sarcasm in order to get a rise out of someone who contends to upset me.  This particular evening I decided to have a bit of fun with the kids and calm drop overt and subtle insults, amusing those who actually came to watch and enjoy the stream as well as giving the trolls fits.

Well this particular group apparently wasn’t pleased that constantly spouting old racist jokes would only illicit me to question their lack of creativity and intelligence, as well as question their lineage, suggesting that they were perhaps the product of incest or a regrettable mistake that somehow managed to grow up to find the internet to try to make themselves feel worth something by attempting to marginalize someone else, a task at which they were failing miserably.  Granted, I probably didn’t put it as eloquent (or as kind) as that, but hey you get the gist.  So after they go quiet, having being properly put in their place, I continue to stream until minutes later my stream suddenly shuts down.  At first I thought it was my internet having issues, but suddenly realized what had happened as soon as I saw the e-mail notification pop up in my Gmail box from Twitch, stating that I had been shut down because I was reported by one of the people harassing me.  The report they filed on me stated that I was streaming porn.  Porn.  I then immediately got a notification from YouTube stating that my channel was suspended and my account was blocked from creating another, this time claiming that that my Walking Dead TV show reviews contained offensive and derogatory material.  Yes, you read that right, my thoughts on a TV show was considered offensive and worthy of banning me.

So how could this happen, and so fast?  First, Twitch has over the last year become very vigilant against punishing streamers who use overt sexuality (revealing clothing, sexual content, etc.) while live.  Of course, I wasn’t doing any such thing, and never had, but Twitch took the report so serious that they banned me before even checking to see if I were doing such a thing.  The same thing could be said of YouTube, but only worse, as YouTube has a policy of automatically agreeing to any claims that the reporting party issues, including allowing outside parties who have no legal right the ability to claim and profit off of your created content as their own.  They only way to get anyone on YouTube (and apparently Twitch as well) to actually do any investigation on the claim is for the accused party to file a claim, writing out a response and detailing as to why they feel they were wrongfully hit with an infraction.  Mind you, to report someone, all you need to do is choose an option, and in some cases give a brief description.

So as you can see things were totally imbalanced as to how and why I had my channels taken down.  Thankfully, being the person that I am, I immediately filed a counter claim, giving more than enough details on each case as to why I should be reinstated.  What took those clowns a few minutes to do took me hours prepare and state my case, as well as days to be reestablished.  While I was happy to get my channels and content back, I was still angry, and extremely disturbed, that as a content creator all of my hard work was so vulnerable to being destroyed like that.

Flash forward to now, and things have not changed much for content creators, especially YouTube.  Content creators still are struggling with having to fight off the trolls of the internet, as well as bigger entities and companies who feel that they have the right to your material unfairly or worse, use claims to effectively censor the opinion of those who they feel hurt their product.  Too many times you see a channel get a strike after a negative opinion is given to a game by its developer.  Size doesn’t matter as well; if there is someone out there big enough (and more importantly, bigger than you) that wants you to be punished, they will be allowed to do so.  Granted, it’s a lot easier for damn near any and everybody to clip someone smaller, but no one is safe from the system being abused.

Hopefully in the near future YouTube, Twitch, and any other creative media company will take a serious look at their flawed systems and correct them so that everyone can be treated fairly in the process.  A system in which all claims are thoroughly verified before having a decision made on them would be a start.  By no means should someone be granted approval on a claim if there isn’t any due diligence done by those who these companies charge with controlling the system.  Could you imagine if everyone accused of a crime were immediately sentence before a trial?  The same principles should apply when it comes to media claims.  Until that change is made however, it will be hard to come up with any type of system that is worth trusting in as a content creator.

Who knows though; perhaps one day content creators will get a system that is more just and fair, but it won’t come easily, and it won’t come without a fight.   All content creators need to understand this: in order to evoke the type of change that you feel is need, it is up to you to speak out and make your voices heard.  For every content creator that you know that has been effected by the claim system abuse, you should speak out and let it be known that you do not agree.  The more we come together on this and stay vigilant, the better things will become.

How Much Does E3 Matter Anymore?

     Earlier this year, Electronic Arts announced that they will not be hosting a booth at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, more commonly known as E3.  Instead, they were going to shift their press presentation to the Sunday proceeding E3, leaving their normal Monday slot behind, along with hosting a public event from June 12th to June 14th in a venue separate from (but near) where E3 is held (as well as simultaneously in London, England).

     More recently, Activision announced their plans to abandon their booth at E3, instead opting to have their games presented by their platform partners (namely Sony, who they announced will be showcasing Activision’s games during their presentation and booth) instead.   Soon after, we got announcements that Wargaming, the makers of games such as World of Tanks and World of Warships, and Disney were removing themselves from hosting booths at E3 this year as well. 

     While it has been common for companies to occasionally decline hosting a booth (Activision has done it as recently as 2008), this year’s exodus of two of gaming’s biggest publishers, as well as many of those who have left also expressing a desire to host their own, more public focused events, many are wondering: are we seeing a beginning to the end of E3?

     Since its inception E3 has been a big event for the gaming industry.  Born due to the lack of gaming centric trade shows for publishers, manufacturers, and developers to showcase their products, E3 has been viewed as the most important conference for gaming, as there have been monumental announcements and unforgettable moments there on an almost yearly basis.  Sony’s pricing of the PS3 sending shockwaves through the industry (and years later, their pricing of the PS4, albeit in a more positive way).  Sega utterly confusing and confounding every one with their announcement and release of the Sega Saturn in the United States on the same day of their presentation.  The potential of moments like those have kept us locked in for years at E3.

     Over the last few years however there has been somewhat of a shift in how and when announcements such as those are made.  Companies are now doing more to set the table on their own accord when it comes to disseminating information to gamers.  With the growth and popularity of gaming in the mainstream, many companies are recognizable enough to strike out on their own and privatize their announcements, doing them on their own time at their own accord.  Think back to 2013, where both Microsoft and Sony announced their new consoles at private events.  Normally we would expect those types of reveals to happen at E3, but those happened months ahead.

     Also, more and more conferences are taking a more public turn, allowing more than just the press to attend.  For years we’ve had events like PAX that were geared to the fans, but now individual companies are taking that idea and making it their own.  With the creation of the Playstation Experience and its success, Sony showed us the appeal of a company hosting a more public event that allowed fans of a particular brand or community to come together to celebrate and get hands on experience with that company’s latest and upcoming products (and most likely working as the inspiration for EA’s decision for this year’s E3).

     With the internet and social media becoming more accessible by the masses, companies aren’t limited coming together at one mass event to share information with the press so that they could in turn share it publicly.  Nintendo Direct shows us how a company can constantly keep its fan base engaged and in the know without even having to concern themselves with making a big splash at a particular event.  Twitch has allowed companies to be more intimate with their fans as well, as you see more and more companies host reveals, announcements, and updates, along with living gaming events with fans, allowing them an easier way to interact and talk to the people behind the games.

     So going to the question we started with: are we seeing the beginning of the end of E3?  I would say not, as it is still a big event to a lot of viewers.  While it’s mainly a press and vendor only event, they have let in a small number of the public, and the requirements to be considered for a press pass have loosened a bit (more and more YouTube personalities have been given entrance over the last few years, whereas before it was next to impossible for this to happen).  Still, companies are recognizing that they no longer have to plan their reveals and announcements around these large scale events as there are a ton of options for them to do it at events where they can dominate or run independently.  This may not cause the death of E3 but it will certainly diminish its place in the gaming universe.

A More Personal Look Back At Gaming In 2015

2015 was an interesting year for me.  There where plenty of personal problems to tackle throughout the year.   Even the final day of 2015 was filled with drama,  putting a perfect end to what was perhaps one of if not the worst years I’ve had in my life.  But while I struggled personally there were  three things that kept me going: family, friends,  and gaming.

Last year reminded me of just how this passionate hobby of mine could be something that is not only entertaining but healing as well.  For much of the year I suffered from depression and financial strife, still trying to pick up the pieces from 2014, where I both lost my job and my mother.  As things seemingly got better,  new issues would arise to weigh on me causing me to have to deal with an endless cycle of problems on top of the things that I was already dealing with or moving beyond.  Through this all,  my family and friends supported me,  despite the fact that I was never one to want to burden others with my issues.   The one thing I did lean on however was gaming.

Gaming has always provided a means of escaping into a world where real life problems no longer exist and your mind was allowed to escape into a place of enjoyment and wonder.  Being a person who has always had a huge imagination, as well as someone who is massive kid at heart, it’s not surprising that gaming is a passion of mine.  What it surprisingly brought me this year was a place that not only let my big inner child run wild,  but also a huge support system as well.

Diving into the world of my favorite superhero in Batman: Arkham Knight for the final hurrah of the Arkham series – a great game marred by some questionable storytelling elements – helped carry me through a part of the summer that was highlighted by crazy,  unexpected problems.   Hours of  Rocket League put a smile on my face at a time a big financial decision was staring me down.   Even the Order:1886 – a decisive new IP which while it didn’t establish anything new to gaming creating a promising world if the series is carried forward – provided enjoyable hours of diversion during a month filled with anniversaries that were not happy occasions to say the least.

In all of those moments and more,  gaming helped me in ways that I couldn’t imagine.  This makes it hard to look at this year as a bad year for gaming.   Mind you, even without the therapeutic aspect, I’d still rank this year as a very good if not great gaming year.   With titles like Mario Maker,  the Witcher 3, Mortal Kombat X, and more we’ve had some really good experiences to look back on.   Still,  this year in gaming was more fulfilling to be on a very personal level,  and I am thankful for that.   With things slowly turning better for me,  I will be able to reflect more on the “business end” of things 2016, but for now,  I am more than happy to give gaming my deepest gratitude for what it has done for me.