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Showing posts from October, 2018

The Scariest Thing to Happen at a Party--And some Advice on Drinking While Streaming Video Games

I was probably about 23 at another house party many years ago. I forget exactly how I ended up there, some friend of a friend of a friend kind of thing. The night was a very big blur, and I remember having far too many drinks that night. To my unfortunate expense. Drinking while streaming video games is a fun time, especially if you can't speak correctly. I typically like to drink a moderate amount of whiskey, then I'll talk shit to everyone (without meaning it). But there's something important that you need to know about drinking while playing video games, and it's this: Twitch, at some point, can consider it "self-harm" under the Terms of Service. Obviously, there are grey areas where if a Twitch mod is watching your stream and decides you've gone too far, it's their discretion to suspend your account for such actions. I would caution against going to far...keep in mind you are in the eye of the public, and what you say and do can be held ag

Advice for New Video Game Streamers: Screen Who You Play Your Games With

I should have seen crap like this coming from a mile away, but I didn't. Maybe about 3 or 4 years ago, I was playing Helldivers on the PS4 because it was one of the F2P games you get with Sony's PlayStation Plus, which I highly recommend. It builds a library of decent PlayStation games for only 60 dollars a year. Regardless, one of the viewers that stopped in my channel while I was streaming video games asked if I wanted to play Helldivers with him. I humbly agreed and invited him to speak over the PS4. I had a mod in my channel and a few other people, so thankfully this didn't go south quickly. I knew I had to do something. My channel guest sounded like he was about ten years old. We logged into Helldivers as I maintained my face, sitting quietly as my mod texted me via Twitch chat. "Is everything okay?" she asked. I calmly replied it was, and that I wouldn't make any adult jokes or references to debauchery or alcohol, which I'm known to do ofte

AC Odyssey and Google Project Stream

There was once a Domino's deal of half-off whatever pizza that anyone could order. I decided to load up my pizza with as much stuff as I possibly could without sacrificing pizza quality. With my extra-large orders, including double cheese, triple garlic, and as much onion as the pizza could hold (including other toppings), my pizza behemoths turned into some hilarious entertainment as some people at my workplace quite literally left my immediate area once the pizza passed through my system and turned into methane. I got the nickname Gassius Maximus because of the level of garlic and onions I consumed on a daily basis. If it's entertainment you're looking for, I would suggest looking at Google's Project Stream . I was invited to try Assassin's Creed: Odyssey out as a beta project, and I was able to stream it over Mixer. Surprisingly, the application ran with hardly a hitch in performance. I kept in mind that I had the fastest broadband service possible, but this

A Full, Extensive, Thorough Guide to Streaming Video Games for Beginners (Part 2)

This is Part 2 of A Full, Extensive, Thorough Guide to Streaming Video Games for Beginners. If you haven't read the first part, I'd recommend it . Without Further Ado... I'm Streaming...But What Else? Good question. The thing is with streaming, you never stop learning. Every streaming market, whether it's YouTube, Mixer , Twitch , Caffeine, Smashcast, Afreeca, whatever platform shifts constantly. The only constant is "change" with digital marketing, unfortunately, and you need to be able to understand the market until you can be considered a trendsetter. That includes looking at and understanding your analytics, making educated decisions based on those, and ensuring your social media has good coverage. I use the program Later  to schedule posts, one a day, for my business accounts that are spread across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. Later is Instagram-centric, so if you're expecting to post across all platforms you'll need som

Streaming Video Games and the Decisions that Aren't the Easiest

Earlier this year, I decided to make the switch from Twitch to Mixer. After a stream team I was on was basically used for someone else's personal gain, I didn't know what to do. Do I make a company move and rebuild? Do I sever some relationships? Streaming on Mixer has been interesting, but I've decided the relationships I've built over several years aren't worth nothing. I've made some wonderful friends I still enjoy talking to, and although we are distant, I'm still happy to call people friends. So I've decided I'll be dual-streaming to both platforms. However, there are some stipulations with this. I'm required to drop the affiliate program specifically because of the stipulations with exclusive content. I definitely don't mind that at all. The bulk of money I've made through Twitch streaming has not been through subscriptions anyhow. Plus, it's never been about the money. I can't justify streaming video games for mone

Screaming "FUCK" on the radio, and Doing an event with Stack-Up

When I was about 23, I remember dialing into a radio station to answer their "question of the day." I thought I was clever and that I had the answer to their trivia question. Normally, radio stations screen their calls and don't air the "bad ones," but to my surprise, they answered my call fairly quickly and I was on the air—live. " Hello there, this is [radio station]! Do you have this week's trivia answer to the trivia question ?" "Yes, is it [answer]?" " Nope, sorry !" "FUCK!"  They immediately hung up, and I heard myself scream the obscenity through the radio. Whoops. Video Games with Stack-Up Just recently I held my first official event. It wasn't really anything big, just some friends of mine and a member of Stack-Up, an organization I hold events with. We headed out to Libations and Gaming, a place where you can start streaming video games if you want (or just play them). I did

Streaming Spider-Man and Acting Like Him at a College Party

It was around the fall of 2004 when I was first asked if I wanted to go to a college party, the first ever invite I had for an official party. My response was, "A-YUH!" So, as one does when you go to a party where the beer flows like wine, you experiment with your boundaries on alcohol consumption. I definitely tested a limit, but I didn't go too far, thankfully. Well, I did go far. And unfortunately for me, there were consequences I never thought about. You see, when I went to Florida State I had a very strong desire to go into film school. Getting an interview for the school was about a 10-percent chance and they accepted 15 people of the 30 interviewees into the program. So, in total, a 5 percent chance to get into this prestigious school. Marvel's Spider-Man basically builds upon a lot of previous games. It's been heavily stated that the game is modeled after Batman: Arkham Asylum, but I hadn't played those games in the past. I didn't cat

A Full, Extensive, Thorough Guide to Streaming Video Games for Beginners

There's no secret. Streaming video games has caught on with many gamers like wildfire. The technology has finally adapted so that anyone, young or old, can start a streaming career even with basic equipment. Some streamers have seen success even with a one-monitor setup, while others who have gone all out on purchasing loads of equipment haven't seen much success at all. It proves that equipment—green screens, high-end sound equipment, multiple monitors—isn't the key to success. So, then what? How does one get from point A, just beginning a stream, to point Z, developing an audience that actually pays you money for entertainment ? It's honestly never an exact science to tell you the truth. A lot of it has to do with personality, who you network with, who you support, and what to expect from all of that. But I would argue the most important thing of all is never get discouraged  with streaming video games. Millions of aspiring content creators all have the same ide