These past few weeks, I’ve been playing around with Twitch and YouTube, trying to stream games to them. This has not worked out well because our internet connection is pure shit. We’re working on getting that fixed, and today we signed a contract with another provider who in theory will be installing a fiber optic line in the next few weeks. (I say in theory because transitioning from one provider to another in Italy can sometimes take several months.) In the meantime, I can’t really stream without the video quality being horrid.
However, I got in my new PC, and I can record videos to the hard drive and upload them to both Twitch and YouTube. The quality is much better, and now you can see me play games instead of just talking about them in my reviews. I’m starting off with Dark Souls because I apparently still haven’t gotten tired of it.
You can watch my videos on Twitch or YouTube, but be aware that Twitch archives only last for 14 days. Also, if you want to know what I’m playing and when, it might be a good idea to follow me on Twitter if you haven’t already.
You may wonder why I’m bothering with YouTube when they’re screwing over lots of gamers with decreased ad revenue, and the answer is, I don’t really expect to make any money out of this. To even get ad revenue, I’d have to pull in a lot more viewers than I could reasonably expect with my tiny social reach. (Also, I’d have to work at being “family friendly” and I drop way too may f bombs for that to ever happen.) I don’t even care about getting ad funding. I like to play games, and if you want to watch me play them, great. I’m using YouTube because they won’t delete my videos unless I say something offensive like the McRib needs to go away forever, and that means you can watch them whenever you like. Yes, I’d prefer if you watched my videos on Twitch, but if you watch them on YouTube, that’s cool with me.
Maybe in the future, if I build up enough of an audience, I’ll set up a Patreon to help me cover the costs of a premium Twitch account and buy new games as they come out instead of waiting for sales. The premium Twitch account will keep videos up for 60 days, and I like that. I just can’t afford it right now, so I’m stuck on the basic plan while I sort out all this streaming stuff.
For now, the “stream” will be all Dark Souls all the time. I got all three games on sale on Steam this weekend, and there’s quite a few mods I’d love to experiment with. But first, I’m just playing them with a few graphics fixes and that’s it. Now once I get switched over to the new ISP, that will allow me to stream from the PS4, and that’s when you’ll see more variety. Just on the list of games I can stream for you, there’s Absolver (Love this game, and even sprung for a PS Plus account to play it online), Horizon: Zero Dawn (Another amazing game, the glowing review is coming soon), Fallout 4, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt. (Side note: video game makers sure do love them some colons, don’t they?) There’s a lot to look forward to in the coming months, and a whole lotta Dark Souls in the coming weeks.
For now, there’s just one video to watch, but after I post this, I’ll be recording another episode and uploading it. The video sizes are a bit of a problem for my crap connection, so what I record tonight will probably turn up sometime tomorrow afternoon. But I’ll keep at it until I beat the game, and I’d love for you to join me on the journey to link the fire and save the world, again.