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Alien Isolation: Jumpscares and I Don't Mix

Alien Isolation Jumpscares If you know me well, you know that I am an incredibly jumpy person. Even a host on my Twitch channel often makes me jump and rear my arm back in defense against...a sound. But that unfortunate disposition hasn't been abundantly public until I played Alien Isolation. JFC, I nearly punched my equipment several times avoiding the alien in that game. As much as the game makes me jump like a 5-year old, I enjoy every minute of it and regret that I hadn't purchased it sooner. I actually downloaded it from the Xbox Game Pass. I think it's a fantastic deal for 15 dollars a month since a lot of titles are swapped in and out.
Regardless, my absolute horrid sensitivity to in-game sounds (even non-jumpscare moments make me jump) often serves as a point of entertainment for people on the Twitch channel. In the very beginning moments of AI, I rarely could relax. Puckered butthole? Indeed. Streaming Alien Isolation has been a treat, and for multiple reasons.

A…
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Project Tempo: Amazon's Answer to a Cloud Gaming Service

Amazon's Answer to Stadia: Project Tempo, Their Cloud Gaming Service
It wasn't even a week ago that I thought about how Amazon might respond to Google's foray into gaming. The videogame livestreaming giant doesn't really hold a candle to the likes of Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, or (now) Google when it comes to video games. There was Breakaway, a project that was abandoned, and on the horizon, there's New World and Crucible. If that's the launch lineup for Amazon in the coming years, it pales in comparison to Google's cloud gaming service and the current library it has to offer.

But recently, Amazon announced its Project Tempo, a gaming service that seeks to rival against Google Stadia. In the age where dopamine and serotonin are linked to instant gratification, this is a welcome announcement from Amazon, a company that has dominated livestreaming since its acquisition of Twitch TV in August of 2014. And it's pretty obvious why Amazon could easily fight …
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Doom Eternal: This Ish is Fun

Livestreaming Doom Eternal: This is Some Fun Shit
I haven't had this much fun with a videogame in a long time. 
Doom Eternal works a little differently than what you'd expect from a standard first-person shooter--which is what makes it incredibly difficult to livestream it. 
It's a bit more like a resource management game, where you're constantly using either health, armor, or ammunition. I'm sure there are other resources because I've barely tapped into the game, but with initial looks, this frag-fest is unbelievably fun—and badass.



But Doom Eternal takes this constant resource management and wraps it into an absolute gorefest. I honestly regret at this point not picking up Doom 2016 simply because this title likely speaks volumes about how the previous game was.
And I'm sure with Doom Eternal's popularity right now, this is a sign that the latest release is definitely better. Even watching a livestream of the game is entertaining as hell because ther…
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Ethical Streaming Guidelines: Making Money Playing Video Games

I've always had a bit of an ethical problem with streaming video games. It's one of the reasons why I decided to de-monetize my channel after several years. After running into politics, community neglect, and a metric fuckton of other problems, I decided it wasn't worth it for me.

With that said, I have no problem with others monetizing their own channels. Some people have put mountains of work into their own projects only to see paltry ROI with them.

But, with that said, here's a look into the ethics behind streaming video games for money.
A Look into Ethics on the Latest Videogame Craze It's probably one of the least talked-about questions in this industry because a lot of enthusiasts are seeing their dream jobs come true.

I remember talking with several friends in the past about how big of a dream it would be to play video games for money. It would be our dream job--the reason we wake up and exist.

Now, for many, that's a reality. But is it ethical? That…
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The Death of the Console: Videogame Streaming Services Taking Over

It's much like Bill Paxton said in Twister: "It's already here."

I've been geeking out lately over cloud-based game streaming services such as Google Stadia, GeForce Now, and Microsoft's XCloud. I actually prefer them over having consoles for numerous reasons, even though consoles do have their advantages.

Here, I'll take a look at advantages and disadvantages over cloud-based game streaming services--a more overall approach instead of an individual look, mostly because I haven't had time to look at all of them in-depth. However, a lot of what's touched on here is biased towards Google Stadia.

In the age of livestreaming videogames, it's only a matter of time before consoles disappear. Here's my reasoning why:

Why Cloud-Based Game Streaming Services Will Win In the mid-90s, people often lined up outside of storefronts on release day to get consoles. I mean, why not? Each of them boasted incredibly powerful hardware contained in a compact …
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Twitch Los Angeles Meetup: One of the Best Events, Period

I'm kind of in awe.



About two years ago, I attended a Twitch Los Angeles Meetup in Burbank. Back then it was still named Twitch Hollywood. But I knew I wanted to be a part of this because it was all about Twitch, video game livestreaming, and enjoying ourselves as gamers.

Our last event, Saturday February 8th, was one of the best events I've ever been a part of. Small enough that plenty of folks knew each other, but large enough that we got deserved attention.

Red Bull, Voodoo Ranger Beer, Need for Kneading, Twickle, artists, all sorts of companies came out. It was a fantastic night.


We had a wonderful venue, the Hungarian Cultural Arts Center in Los Angeles. There were a few mishaps with moving in, but thankfully we were able to clear out whatever the previous guests were doing. Which strangely had to do with setting a bathtub on fire.

People lined up around the block after parking about a mile away. We didn't think we'd get the attention we did. Three weeks before the…
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How to Tell if Someone is Viewbotting (and other malicious things)

There's an aspect of livestreaming video games that gets under my skin a bit.

Viewbotting.

 A lot of streamers have done it in the past. In fact, I once caught someone viewbotting and looked at who the bots were "following."

A laundry list of very familiar names showed up, many partnered accounts on Twitch with millions of followers. Well-known streamers making a living. It's definitely abused a lot on streaming platforms, sort of the "black hat" method of livestreaming.

Thankfully, nobody I saw listed from those bot accounts was any streamer that I was supporting. I don't bother supporting anyone trying to find "get partnership quick" methods.

If you want to build a business out of streaming video games, then please don't bother viewbotting. You'll eventually find you wasted your money and your community will likely abandon you.

However, if you feel that someone is viewbotting, here's a few ways you can tell someone is doing it.

How…
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