Sequelitis

I've already written about the hyperactive and crude youtube personality Egoraptor, but failed to express his passion for video games that fuels his ridiculous parodies.  Years ago, Egoraptor began a short series of videos that broke down games from a game design aspect.  Focusing on the game experience as a whole, 'Sequelitis' takes a game through a point by point analysis and shows exactly how a game fails or succeeds.  Despite the raw and immature humor, the thought that is put into these videos is incredible.  Egoraptor really highlights the subtle and elegant nuances that build a player's experience.

Egoraptor had a fresh perspective and an eye for detail so it is unfortunate that he only made four of these videos.  Still each serves as an example on how thoughtfully and honestly critique a game's basic design.  As mentioned in an earlier post there are other videos that have gone further to discuss game design.

Currently, Egoraptor has taken his love of video game parodies and now performs with Starbomb, a group of parody artists that focus in on video game culture.

DJ Jazzy Jeff - Peter Piper Routine

Following the incredible Mix Master Mike from last week, I decided to do a post about another amazing DJ from back in the day.  The Fresh Prince (Will Smith), was a phenom of raw talent which he honed into his acting career, but what ever happened to Jazzy Jeff?  Staying true to his name, DJ Jazzy Jeff continued on the music path and continues to DJ today.

To display his talents, Jazzy Jeff was invited to perform his 'Peter Piper' routine for the Serato channel.  In the video, Jazzy Jeff shows off the skills that helped launch the success of 'The Fresh Prince' and how he never lost them.

Currently, DJ Jazzy Jeff continues to tour and has a web series that goes behind the scenes during his shows around the world.

Extra Credits

A while back my cousin, an aspiring game developer, gave me a link to a youtube video about game design.  I was dabbling with the idea of game design, so I figured I'd check it out.  It was right then and there I fell in love with Extra Credits.  The channel provides weekly episodes that discusses a game design topic or concept for up and coming game designers.  I have since tried to find more information on game design through podcasts or other videos, but everything pales compared to what the Extra Credits crew does.

When it comes to video game development, passion and creativity are in no short supply.  What sets these guys apart is the amount of thought and effort that goes into each video.  Watching the videos you can tell that the topics chosen are very deliberate, and are explored deeply before being recorded.

I find that when I start talking about games from a design standpoint, there are so many moving parts that  it is easy to get side tracked.  The Extra Credits videos avoid this with a great deal of prep work and come out with clear and concise themes that are truly educational and fascinating.

I would say that even as a person that plays but has no interest in making a video game can get a lot out of this channel.  Topics based on general concepts like how women are portrayed give an insight on the gaming market in general.  More technical topics like the difficulty curve of a game shine light and help you appreciate the amount of factors a game has to consider when being designed.

Extra Credits is consistently good, and is one of the few youtube channels that I seriously debate rewatching from beginning to end.