Gameplay
The bread and butter for all of games media video content.
Scroll ↓
Gameplay is a fascinating form of video when considering how it was used over the years at GameSpot depending on which company we were with at the time.
CBSi let us expand our GameSpot Gameplay channel growing from marginal numbers to breaking past the 100,000 subscriber mark within my second year. Whatever gameplay was required we would seek out and publish on the channel from previews and early-access titles to developer or PR provided footage. Gameplay that wasn’t provided by a third party would be captured in-house with various equipment, capture cards or software such as Nvidia Shadowplay, Elgato, Aver, OBS, Black Magic, and more. Sometimes we would be invited out to capture events where developers or publishers would give us an early-access look at the game alongside any relevant embargo details. During the pandemic this transitioned to virtual events where we would use Parsec or watch pre-recorded presentations to inform our coverage of the game. Now it’s a hybrid depending on the discretion of the game developers or event coordinators.
Red Ventures prioritized “advice” content: videos that could inform our audience. This was a challenge when it came to gameplay but an easy and consistent winner were our comparison videos. With these videos we could compare and contrast two games or platforms which tied in beautifully with the increasing demand for content surrounding the release of the latest-gen consoles: the PS5, and the Xbox Series X|S. Features like load times and graphical fidelity were consistent points of curiosity for our audience and we were able to deliver. As one of the only editors on staff that is passionate about sports, nearly any and every video involving sports games became my responsibility as well as popular live-service games such as GTA Online.
However we could always make room for any viral news or ongoings that would occur. A great example is I recognized the potential for engagement when Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hopped on with famous influencers and streamers such as Hasan Piker, and “Pokimane”. In the video above I collated the entire stream into a compilation of highlights, alongside some creative flairs using simple effects which kept the turnaround on the video within a day without compromising the video’s humor. The video was a smashing success on our main YouTube channel and we had the opportunity to repackage it to our social platforms as well.
Fandom wanted more consistent shows to be published on a regular weekly cadence to help build a loyal audience. Nearly every show required some form of Gameplay but the intensity varied by show. Certain preview gameplay or early-access gameplay was business as usual like the Dead Space Remake video.
On the other end for a show like Expanded Experts we had to factor in the expert we were interviewing. Billy Billingham is an intense ex-SAS operative but needed something more cinematic to properly appreciate what he was seeing. Which meant during capture I would move through encounters a particular way, trying to minimize the arcade nature of the game and trying to simulate something more that a special ops soldier could properly engage with.