So I want to do reviews on Youtube.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Yeah. Unlike Game Dude or certain other irate people, however, I have no intention of ripping off anyone else's shtick. Especially the AVGN.

The real question is, what kind of advice would -you- offer to someone who wants to start doing this?

I may not go ahead with this but I still want to give this a shot. I'm too shy (read: fugly) to go on camera. But I'm still looking into it.

What would you tell a newcomer, outside of the ever important "don't fucking spam every forum known to humanity" bit?

[Flack]

Here's my advice.

01. YouTube is a visual medium, so use it as such. That means showing me your face, game play, game artwork, etc. Entertain me for the length of the video or I'm turning it off.

02. Make it sound professional. Use a shitty USB mic, and I'm turning it off.

03. Do something original. As you said, there's no point in copying someone else's schtick. I just checked YouTube and there are 158 videos titled "Duck Hunt Review". What's the point of being number 159? Come up with an original angle. It doesn't even have to be a kooky character. Maybe you only review flying games, or platform games, or Genesis games, or something else.

Summary: make it interesting, and make it good.

[buzz_n64]

Here's my advice.

01. YouTube is a visual medium, so use it as such. That means showing me your face, game play, game artwork, etc. Entertain me for the length of the video or I'm turning it off.

02. Make it sound professional. Use a shitty USB mic, and I'm turning it off.

03. Do something original. As you said, there's no point in copying someone else's schtick. I just checked YouTube and there are 158 videos titled "Duck Hunt Review". What's the point of being number 159? Come up with an original angle. It doesn't even have to be a kooky character. Maybe you only review flying games, or platform games, or Genesis games, or something else.

Summary: make it interesting, and make it good.

Yup. Coming in at your own angle is the way to go. I did my own angle on youtube with friends called the Ghetto Gamers, and we reviewed mostly obsure games like 3do and cd-i titles. I believe we are the only 3 person reviewer team out there.

Check these out, and I got more. I'm Phillip. The white guy in the videos.


Thunder in Paradise cd-i review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C76qUOgKIdw

Moonwalker genesis review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Nshf8L9e24

[vivaeljason]

I'd agree with the sentiment of "carve your own niche." Make sure that whatever you do is fun -- it doesn't have to be side-splittingly hilarious, but it DOES have to be interesting and visually stimulating.

And even if you suck, there's no possible way you can be any worse than the Game Dude so go forth with confidence.

[TheRedEye]

If you have no idea what "angle" to go for I'm kind of wondering what's driving you to want to do this? Usually these things start with an idea.

[LiquidPolicenaut]

I wouldn't agree with the fact that we need to see you personally on the video. I rather like seeing just the video game being reviewed itself and having the reviewer speak in a professional yet comforting voice. Sound knowledgeable, but not overbearing or arrogant. Also, it's good to add some humor, but don't try to be a comedian I do agree with not having a squeaky mic or the crunchy, squishy sounds from moving a camera around too much (I literally HAVE to turn those videos off). Those are my two cents...

[mezrabad]

I think finding a schtick is important but I think you've got to do it for yourself. It certainly isn't for the money or the cheap shots (that are inevitable on youtube). If you've got something to say about a videogame that you feel hasn't been said, or that you can say in a unique and entertaining way, then go for it.

Some schtick ideas:

Insane gamer: start by playing the game and talking intelligently about it, but go off the deep-end during it, like some Edgar Alan Poe protagonist... "So, these space invaders keep getting closer and closer and...can't you fools hear it? It's the beating of their hideous heart!!"

Invasion gamer: have the schtick be that you're breaking into other people's homes and playing their games in their living rooms and they come in while you're in the middle of it and chase you out. "I think the art direction in this particular game was handled nicely, if you look at the sprite frames you can see the attention to detai..." "WHAT THE HELL YOU DOIN IN MY HOUSE!!! I'M GOING TO KICK YOUR STUPID ASS!!!" cue the shaky camera as you dive through the living room window and into a waiting vehicle or something....

Gamer with narcolepsy: you could be talking about the game and then just fall asleep and drool for a little bit, the schtick being marks of famous systems imprinted on your forehead when you wake up. The you could make the whole review a set of edit clips in between moments of falling asleep.... nah, never mind.

(remember, no judging in brainstorming)

Games that you compare to illnesses you'd rather have... this is not only in bad taste but a ripoff of some cartoon (The Critic? I think) but I'm pulling this stuff out of my butt, so, whatever.

Anyway, I'd watch.

[Gameguy]

Don't make it sound scripted, that's pretty much why I don't like the Irate Gamer so much. I don't think he's as bad as everyone says, but it's like everyone who's on his reviews(either just him or with guests) all sound like they're reading off a card. As long as it sounds natural it should be good. A lot of reviewers seem to be reading off a script or taking their time to think of something to say, just don't make it sound like that.

[kupomogli]

I've actually been thinking of reviewing the games I own. Starting with some of my favorites. I thought of also just starting with the Final Fantasy series which would actually give me more hits, that way when I did start doing more reviews those ones would get more people to watch them as they were interested in my first reviews. Overrated games first then when more people knew me then I'd start going to the more obscure. I'm sure my games would never be as obscure as most of the hardcore collectors here, but somewhat obscure for atleast well known systems.

However I've yet to do it. I actually did record playing the original Final Fantasy all the way through, thought of a lot of stuff to say and then before writing it down I was going to go through the cutting process. For me I was only going to show video of the game itself as I thought of it and I'm like, well, just sitting in a chair and having myself being pictured would look stupid, but also could take out each version and show each, meaning I would have had to record Origins and then Dawn of Souls.

Anyways. When going through the cutting process it was honestly taking a lot longer than I thought it would take to get various different things and various different areas. I didn't want to just show straight gameplay through the one area, etc. So that's where I quit, deleted it, and then never picked it up again. Another thing is because I really suck with creation software. I was using virtualdub because it's free and it's good for atleast the ones I've used, but it's really time consuming. Windows Movie Maker is good but it seems to have much lower output quality.

Then there's the last thing. I knew what I would say. But then I started thinking of it, and I'm honestly as straight forward as they come. My personality kind of sucks so that's all it would be is a review. The humour wouldn't be there. I'm still going to try later on.

[Kitsune Sniper]

If you have no idea what "angle" to go for I'm kind of wondering what's driving you to want to do this? Usually these things start with an idea.

What drives me is this: I honestly feel that I can do better than a lot of people. I don't intend to become the next big thing. I don't want to become the next big thing. But it kills me to see people who don't do anything but curse at games and claim they suck without actually giving them more than five minutes of gameplay to say "LAWL DIS SUXXORS".

Two people in particular inspired the hell outta me to do this. These two people reviewed games that have been considered by the majority to be godawful, but actually spent the time to explain why they sucked, instead of outright dismissing them:

r2daz's Bad Boys Miami Takedown (PS2) review: Parts 1, 2, 3)

TonicBH's Made Man: Confessions of the Family Blood (PC demo) review: Parts 1, 2

Both reviews made me consider playing the games. In the former's case, I beat the game and actually uploaded the whole runthrough to Youtube. In the latter, I had a chance to get the game for free, so I got it and enjoyed the hell outta it. Both games are obviously flawed but nowhere near as bad as so many reviewers claim.

A lot of reviewers, both amateur and professional, have this attitude towards games. I've never liked that. I won't deny that there's genres that I really hate (I'm lookin' at you, bullet hell shooters) but if I'm going to review something I dislike, I'm going to at least give it a try before outright dismissing it.

I've mentioned on this forum in the past that I hate Terminal Reality for their botched SNK compilations on the PS2. Well, I pulled out SNK Arcade Classics for the PS2 tonight after a year of not touching it to get my bearings straight and realized that not all games are broken, and that I was being very unfair towards the compilation (hey, at least Baseball Stars 2 and that Golf game work!). So while I still dislike Terminal Reality, I can at least say "it does have its good points and I'm enough of a man to admit I was wrong for outright dismissing it."

I haven't read all replies yet, but I'll get to them. I appreciate all the thoughts and advice, really.

[Flippy8490]

Best thing I can tell you is make it look professional. Stray from the cheesy, awful audio, crackly garbage many game reviews on youtube are composed of. As long as it is, as previous posters said, "visually stimulating" and looks like its something official, you should have no problem being successful at reviewing!

[phreakindee]

When I started off doing my Lazy Game Reviews weekly review show, I wanted to make reviews that I personally would like to watch. Between watching too many online reviews and working in production for local TV shows, I got started with editing, shots and audio by simply doing, so I slowly learned what looks good and what sucks to watch.

I was tired of people not giving a game a chance, overuse of foul language, not really talking about the GAME so much as random tangents or "being angry/cheery", making horrible quality videos with bad sound and overbearing music or cheesy effects, forced humor, scripts, the list goes on.

I tried to simply be myself (which is somewhat lazy and laid-back, overly into PC games) and review things that interested me, without excessive language - I don't mind language but it gets old quick for many people. I also don't try to "advertise" on forums or anything. Honestly, if you like my stuff you'll hopefully tell someone else. I started off doing a few games I hadn't played too much and it sucked. Then I started doing games I enjoyed or were so bad they were enjoyable to some degree and I've hit my sweet spot, judging from the feedback I've gotten in recent months. Mostly I just really enjoy doing it and I think it shows in many of my reviews.

Main points for me:
Don't force anything. Don't try too hard. Try hard not to fall into "YouTube peer pressure" like overdoing shoutouts, announcements, vlogs and subscription statuses - do reviews if you want to do reviews. Don't worry about what people think, but take valid critiques into consideration. Do what you want because YOU want to. Sometimes less is better. Avoid overdone or "obvious" choices for reviews, unless you have a truly unique take. Use a really quick, simple intro/outro. Don't use copyrighted music. Don't copy the AVGN/Irate/Whoever.

[Raedon]

Yeah. Unlike Game Dude or certain other irate people, however, I have no intention of ripping off anyone else's shtick. Especially the AVGN.

The real question is, what kind of advice would -you- offer to someone who wants to start doing this?

I may not go ahead with this but I still want to give this a shot. I'm too shy (read: fugly) to go on camera. But I'm still looking into it.

What would you tell a newcomer, outside of the ever important "don't fucking spam every forum known to humanity" bit?

My degree is in film/video production but you wont find me in front of the camera. I like to be in behind the camera or doing post production. My advice to you is keep it simple and don't do the same thing everyone else is doing.

1) Don't be angry. That slab of shtick is beyond well done.

2) Tripod shots

3) good lighting

4) invest in a good audio recording separate from the camera and sync it later. Nothing I hate more then crackly poor digital camera audio. I suggest Sound Professionals.

5) Worry about the killer intro AFTER you get a following. Nothing worse then seeing a 'OMFG 3D FX IN YO' FACE' intro that took someone 40 hours to make with a high quality soundtrack in the background then *PHHT* crappy camera audio, low light, shaky camera video that's 9 minutes long.

[Raedon]

The general purpose powered microphones I use for sound recording are oldies but goodies. The SP-SPSM-1.

Audio clip. Voice clip.

In fact I have two of them because they have these on sale Buy 1 get 2 probably 4 times a year. I use them to gather a very realistic Digital 5.1 track.



I use a mini disc recorder but there are good digital recorders now. Back before 2005 a good digital recorder with line levels you could set cost $600 but now they are around $100. My newest MD recorder cost $30 shipped from Ebay. I only use Sharp MDs because they allow you to manually adjust the level while recording. Still not the way to go these days though ... moving parts break and they haven't made a new MD recorder in 5 years at least.

[OldSchoolGamer]

Be yourself, don't over think it. Let your natural enthusiasm for classic gaming come through. No gimmicks, just be honest and you will be fine. Oh and IF possible, try not to video games by pointing a camera at the screen, I find those annoying at best, IF YOU MUST then use a tripod and center the screen as best and as close as possible. My vids are no means perfect, especially early ones but since then I bought a cheap standalone DVD recorder and I use that to capture games. Many of the positive comments I have gotten were about how my natural love and enthusiasm and excitement comes through and I have never been compared to or called a rip off of AVGN or anyone else. I guess, what I am saying is, do it for love lol!

Good luck! Look me up once you start it, just search for MAXIMUMRD on Youtube.

Oh, as Phreakindee mentioned try to think of what you'd like to see. Like me I try to come up with different things, I try to look at lesser known consoles/computers/games, why should review Sonic or Mario like a million other people? I don't do it for hits, I sincerely do it to put some of the less known items (good or bad) in the spotlight to be unique and hopefully interesting.

[Pezcore343]

I'd have to say if you want to see how to do it right, watch phreakindee's reviews or spida1a's "Turboviews". Both are excellent youtube reviewers, and the Turboviews are entirely without him being on camera, yet still entertaning. Definitely good examples to follow.

[Raedon]

If your looking for something different, check out R.O.B. the robots channel. Dude is just reviewing common games everyone has already played but is doing it in a way that is original. Low tech but still high quality.

[tubeway]

Masturbatin' Gamer. This concept is self-explanatory. An alternative name would be Masturgamor.

[ryborg]

Remember, it's okay to not be funny! There is absolutely nothing worse than an unfunny doofus who thinks he's hilarious. I'm not saying you personally aren't or can't be funny; just overarching advice to anyone wanting to create videos. You seem to have the knowledge and the desire to make some worthwhile reviews, so I can't wait to see what you come up with.

PS: do the opposite of teh game duderrrr

[Raedon]

Remember, it's okay to not be funny! There is absolutely nothing worse than an unfunny doofus who thinks he's hilarious. I'm not saying you personally aren't or can't be funny; just overarching advice to anyone wanting to create videos.

Trust us. We'll tell you if you suck. That's what we are here for.