Videos on the Internet

Game Play Videographers

A really big new thing is to record yourself playing a videogame. This has become an incredible boon for those of us that enjoy analysing games. It has also become a major question of copyright issues. The Pros and Cons of the issue are a major debate. I thought I would cover how the debate goes out within the comments I have seen.

There have been some really amazing videogame review websites. I don’t think there has been a day passed where I have not enjoyed some Classic Game Room, Angry Videogame Nerd, or even my own meager examples.

To these new websites, a place like youtube, and dailymotion are perfect. It gives them the big server farms that show off the great videos, and an easy way to access them. Mark at Classic Game Room tends to have at least a video review a day. I sort of worry about his sanity.

Many of the videos being shown are from copyrighted works. We get into a legal reality that if the video is just someone playing a game, then are they adding anything to it?

These videos provide a great resource for research, and my own videos. If I don’t have a game, I can show someone else’s video. If I want to learn about the level design of levels, or even follow a story, Game Play videos are great. Heck, someone actually made a video of the entire story for Bioshock Infinite.

Another problem is that these videos can ruin a game for someone. If the game is story intensive, and not a lot of gameplay, then the youtube video of just the story will mean the game makers get nothing. An entire genre of gaming would be at risk of downfall from youtube videos.

Add to this that there are trolls on the internet, and you have a mad dash for giant pain. Many gaming journalists have had videos taken down because some random person said so, and not any legitimate company. In other words, someone is trying to pull a con.

Some game companies are very tight lipped about gameplay for a reason. Let’s say a new controller, or new idea is shown with a demo. If a video of that demo got out, other companies will try to steal it.

Game companies also enjoy hiding gameplay for other reasons. The Aliens: Colonial Marines fiasco has shown that some companies are willing to make videos that do not show any actual game content. If it wasn’t for youtube videos, we wouldn’t have realized all of the faults.

This is a great way to promote a game. Even if the reviewer is a crotchety 50 year old who hates games, it gets the game itself into the public eye. It also means that gameplayers, can see the game, and get excited for it.

When we look at the pros and cons, there are two very different sides. The first side is the Game Companies themselves. The second is the gameplayer.

For a Company, the Pros and Cons of youtube videos look like this.

	Pro	Con
Promotes games	_______
Gives away Story		_______
Gives away gameplay		_______
Stops Bad Promotions		_______
Copyright, IP		_______

The longer the video, the worse it gets for the company. In fact, trying to control what is being released about a game would be the most preferable thing for the company. If they only let a few journalists make videos of the games, then they can control the terms of that video to a greater degree. It also means that Bullshots are more allowable.

Since there are rights for a Free Press, many of the videos are going directly against Copyrights, and Intellectual Property Rights. This means that companies lose a lot more if they don’t try to fight. The question goes like this, Mario is an IP, but a video of a Mario Game is Journalism. Which one has more power?

For a gameplayer, it looks very different.

	Pro	Con
Shows off game	_______
Great for research	_______
Stops Bullshots	_______
Gives away secrets	_______
Copyright	_______	_______

So long as the gameplayer can control what secret he is getting, the idea of videos is great. You can watch the entire story of Bioshock: Infinite, and decide if it seems worth a try. To be honest, after watching the video, I decided I didn’t want to buy the game.

The question of copyright comes up with the fact that so long as the video is a journalistic view of the game, the footage is free to use. A person filming someone else playing a game is journalistic because it informs the players of what the game is like. So long as the videomaker understands this, the videos can be great. It would also be nice if the voice over guy didn’t just scream mad obscenities into the video with a high pitched nasally voice.

As a researcher, the Long Play games, and the Video Reviews are incredibly important. I can find out what a game is like, how it is played, and what to think of it. It also means I can show how a game changes based on what system it is on, or if the game maker is trying to fool everyone with fake shots.

The IP issue becomes incredibly awkward when even a video of someone standing in front of an arcade game can be considered bad.

As we can see, there are a lot of pros and cons within the subject of game videos. A video may reveal secrets that a company wants to keep hidden. The same video might also inform players about tricks the company is trying to pull. It can mean game companies lose IP rights, and even money. The controversy is an interesting one, and has few answers. As this continues, we should expect a lot more arguments, and a lot more questions about what is ok to show, and what isn’t.