Last updated on September 25, 2015
This week, let’s do something a little different. I’m the kind of person that likes to listen or watch the experts play games. Or, at least, the kind of people we might have called “experts” in an earlier age. So, since this was featured on the Theology Gaming University wall, where things often get lost in the shuffle, I figured I could re-post this with more than a few written additions along with the videos. Here comes the links!
Shooting Game Weekly – It’s an in-depth look at certain shmups, from scoring to commentary on nearly perfectly runs (or, “superplays”, as Japan calls them). Absolutely fascinating stuff! I probably would not have bought Eschatos…twice…once on Xbox 360 and once on Steam…if not for these guys. The videos are long, but do you ever learn a lot! Also read Blackbird’s guide to starting in this genre!
Superbunnyhop – Also known as game journalist George Weideman. His videos are pretty insightful, especially on Metal Gear Solid as a series. The Critical Close-up videos are really the best, but he’s done similar stuff for The Witcher, Dark Souls, and other things I enjoy. I especially like his objectivity regarding his critiques – he usually gets to both sides of a contentious issue, and I like that when I’m hearing about such things.
Trump (not the real-estate dude) – The pro helps people learn Hearthstone through watching him play, and really useful tutorials. Super useful stuff! Take special note of Trump’s Teachings – these are literally the best tips to actually start playing Hearthstone in any capacity, and it will make entering the game a whole lot easier.
Matthewmatosis – Really in-depth mechanical critiques of various games, specifically the 3D Zelda games, 3D Marios, and others. When I say “in-depth”, I mean that if you did not actually play the games, you will probably need to know a lot about them to get anything out of these videos. Exhaustive doesn’t begin to describe the approach, but they are well-worth seeing the design of each game in each series with comparison and contrast. Definitely worth your time.
Jeremy Parish (of 1UP and USGamer fame) is reviewing every Game Boy game ever made through his project Game Boy World. There’s 50 videos so far; maybe he’ll complete it before he dies, hard to know! It’s like a video history of the Game Boy’s various releases over time; not surprisingly, there’s tons of puzzle games, and also some truly awful ones. Still, he discovers some surprising gems you won’t find anywhere else, and that’s a commendable enterprise.
Brendan Keogh – to copy the description directly from his blog, Brendan Keogh is a critic, journalist, and academic. He is a PhD candidate at RMIT University, Melbourne, where he writes and researches about both the phenomenological and textual entwinings of players and videogames. His blog is equally fascinating on a number of levels; I found the blog while looking for Metal Gear Solid V information, and he actually (seriously) has one of the first pieces of positive critical writing about Final Fantasy XIII I’ve seen. Give him a read, seriously!
That’s more than enough to keep you occupied, I suspect!
