YouTube Gaming: What Are You Watching?

I slam my laptop shut as a flatmate walks into our shared kitchen. I could have sworn there was nobody else in… But it’s too late now. She saw what was on the screen, even heard a little bit of dialogue.

“...What are you watching?”

Those dreaded words. She knew plain well what I was watching. I stare defensively for a moment, formulating a plan of escape. Nope, I’m going to have to do it. I’m going to have to come clean.

“People playing minecraft.”

The words are out.

“Interesting.” She pauses. “Minecraft... I think I have heard of it. My little brother plays it. He’s 9.”

...To be honest I might have got a better reaction if it had been porn.

Yes, it’s true. World, I am ready to come out. I watch videos of other people playing games. Why? I don’t know. But I look forward to the next daily fix from my favourite YouTube channel more than any TV show. Yet, when I think about it, why is it such a secret? The most viewed channel in the world is PewDiePie, The Yogscast have created a media empire using the platform, and gaming channels are responsible for over 79,232,223 YouTube subscriptions [source] -the once ‘subculture’ has risen to the surface.

I got into YouTube gaming when I asked my sister, sometime in early 2011, what she was watching. The voices of these two guys had been filling the house for a few days, and I’d catch myself every now and again hovering behind my sister as she watched a blocky spaceman and a ginger-bearded dwarf struggle their way through the weird world of Minecraft. I pretended not to be interested. I tried, world, I tried. Anything to appear cooler than my sister, but alas, I was hooked. The series that sprung from ‘How To Survive The First Night’ ended up being one of the most famous playthroughs by the Yogscast, and Shadow of Israphel has since become part of YouTube lore (And its conclusion, incidentally, the bane of every Yogscast Q&A)

From this I began branching out as Lewis and Simon collaborated with other gamers. Could it be true that there were more of these people out there? People who dedicated themselves to producing this very specific style of YouTube content? I started watching Duncan's channel, and then Sips & Sjin, Hannah’s channel, which lead to watching Kim, which lead to InTheLittlewood, to name just a few. Their collective YouTube output during the Yogscast Christmas livestreams was the final nail in the coffin as I was introduced to Hatfilms, and made it my mission to watch their entire back catalogue of videos. (Yes Hatters, that’s right. All 300,000,000 trials videos.) Collaborations are what made the Yogscast, and it has been an absolute pleasure watching them all grow, inspire each other, and create such a colossal fanbase. (However, I have come out the other end as a bigger Hatfilms fan than anything else!)

But back to my initial attitude: It is not cool to like these things. I used to be worried about what other people would think. All the pressures and patterns of behaviour you learn from school are all about fitting in, so much so that we leave school as adults with these very real fears of being ‘caught out’ as a fan of something ‘nerdy’. Gaming culture used to have a stigma of introversion attached to it, but now these YouTubers are showcasing all that is hilarious and wonderful about gaming with other people, and turning it into massively successful entertainment.

I realised that it was okay to like these things when I finally found somebody in the ‘real world’ who was also a Yogscast fan. I noticed he was playing minecraft, and casually began a conversation about it, searching for any clues, anything that would give me the ‘all clear’ to reference that fact that I watch people game. Then, he said the magic words. “Yeah, I play minecraft.” He sounded almost apologetic. “And you know what’s worse? I watch people playing minecraft.” –It was as if he’d done the secret handshake of our people. I recognised the guilt, the guilt of a man who had a hidden secret. I paused and raised my eyebrows, relishing the moment of reveal that I, too was a Yognaught. “Yeah that is weird… I’ve never even heard of Simon and Lewis, or Sips and Sjin, or Duncan or Hannah, or any of those people.” This opened the floodgates of nerdism, where we enthusiastically shared our favourite moments from all the videos, as if some barrier had been lifted. I have since found another Yognaught in my social circle, and the same occurred; The wide-eyed, overenthusiastic conversations that happen when you finally find a kindred spirit. (It was this kind of interaction that made me think "Fuck it! I'm going to EGX Rezzed on my own because why the hell not!")

I love gaming. But it is an expensive hobby. Given a good enough computer, I would be on Minecraft all day every day, I want to be part of the wonderful community I experienced very briefly when I joined the Hatventures Minecraft server. But it is difficult to do any amount of mining or crafting on only 2 FPS. (7 on a good day) -nevermind making friends or getting involved in a project. I can just about run a Steam version of Don’t Starve on my laptop (Inspired by a playthrough by Sips) –But even then, my machine becomes so laggy that it’s hardly fun anymore. 

Those wonderful people who upload their gaming trials and tribulations allow me to be part of the experience, and for that, I thank you, you wonderful, wonderful YouTubers. 

Thanks for reading! Follow me on twitter @ProbablyLucy for more Hat and Yog related chat. I'd love to hear from you!