Gaming History You Should Know – Video Game VHS Tapes March 26, 2017

I wasn’t planing to make the Gaming History You Should Know series a Sunday staple on this website but I’ve been so impressed by a lot of great video content that has been coming out recently, I may end up making this a weekly feature.

For as long as video games have existed, there has always been a supplemental market for game videos. These game videos can function either to promote upcoming games or to assist players in completing a game that’s already out. Producing a video back in the 90s was no small feat, and so gaming-centric videos required some production value and a unique style which should be further explored.  Let’s face it, showing live game play on video is a great idea.

Nowadays, when video game publishers want to drum up interest in an upcoming game, they’ll simply release a video of it online, but that hasn’t always been an option. You have to remember this was before the wide adoption of the internet and even people who had internet access at the time suffered with unbearably slow download speeds (trust me I know).  What to do?

Well, while not everyone had decent quality internet access in the 90s, practically everyone had a VCR.  After winning the format war against Beta, VHS was the dominant media format for home video, and because of that the format had a very high home install base.  VHS tapes were cheap enough to mass produce at this time, and the prices of new VCRs were quite cheap throughout the decade.  It was the perfect time to release video game content on VHS.

My Life in Gaming did a really in-depth look at video game VHS tapes that were released in the 90s. These guys really did their homework, as they got their hands on nearly every VHS promo tape I had heard of, and even talked about some videos I was completely unaware of.

If you have any interest in 90s nostalgia, you should give this video a look.

If you want to see more of this VHS content, My Life in Gaming has archived all of it on a backup YouTube Channel.

Gaming History You Should Know – Halo…Years Later March 19, 2017

I absolutely love watching independently created video game retrospectives, and recently I have been addicted to watching the …Years After video series produced by Raycevick.  The series was originally released on the COGconnected YouTube Channel, but it has now become a staple of Raycevick’s personal YouTube Channel, and new episodes are being released on a regular basis.

In this unique series, Raycevick looks at every single part of a game, and talks about what worked and what doesn’t work. Whenever he can, he will shed some light on the history behind the game’s development to try to figure out why a game has turned out the way it has, and if it still holds up so many years later.

So without further ado, here is his analysis of the first Halo game, Halo: Combat Evolved.

Here’s his analysis of its sequel and my personal favorite game in the franchise, Halo 2.

Here’s his video about Halo 3.

After he concluded his look at the original Halo trilogy, he talked about the other two Halo games produced by Bungie, and the first was Halo 3: ODST.

The final game produced by Bungie Studios, Halo Reach.

Now we are going to get into the work done by 343 Industries, here’s his look at Halo 4.

And most recently, here’s his in-depth analysis of Halo 5: Guardians.

If you’re a fan of Raycevick’s videos, I recommend checking out his official YouTube Channel to watch his new analysis on the Mass Effect Trilogy!  With the imminent release of the new Mass Effect game, Mass Effect Andromeda, this is the best time to give those videos a watch.