Long Ass Video Game Retrospective/Documentaries Do You Recommend?

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Tempa777

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#1  Edited By Tempa777

I just found this Incredible Video of the History of Bomberman.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tCnVuPmHwI&t=26505s

Wit only 80k Views considering the AMOUNT of work he put in ( going through every single game and uncovering every little detail) i am shocked.

Another Video i really enjoyed was how Blizzard ruined WOW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BazitK-ZgDk

So do you guys have any good recommandations?

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Jonnythan12

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The youtuber 'Noah Caldwell-Gervais' does longform videos typically over entire franchises.

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Justin258

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I can second the Noah Caldwell-Gervais recommendation, though I watch his videos in chunks when I do watch them. I also don't always agree with his ideas on gameplay and mechanics, though he and I are on entirely different wavelengths when it comes to that topic, but he still has interesting things to say. He does do entire franchise videos at once, though.

Raycevick has a lot of "...years later" videos. His videos on all of the Halo games up to Halo 5 are probably what propelled his Youtube channel into the stratosphere and they're really good. He dives into the circumstances surrounding each game's development before really diving into those games, which is probably something more in line with what you're looking for.

There's also NoClip, for a Youtube channel devoted to video game documentaries and probably way more in line with what you're looking for than either of the previous recommendations.

For something more along the lines of critical thinking, I'd recommend Errant Signal. He doesn't put out videos as often as most - I'm pretty sure he holds down a full time job and Youtube is just a side gig - but when he does it's usually some great food for thought.

Go diving into GDC talks. There are a lot of videos of developers themselves talking about the games they've made, the challenges presented, and how they overcame them (or failed to overcome them and learned from their mistakes).

Ars Technica has their "War Stories" series, which are good for bite-sized videos describing general issues and how they resolved them, but I haven't often found them in-depth enough to be satisfying. Just some interesting tidbits.

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Gordonzilla

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#4  Edited By Gordonzilla

Yes, indeed. I'm a longtime fan of Looking Glass Studios in particular and there's some great material out there on those folks.

The NoClip vid:

NoClip: Thief

War Story:

War Story

And if you want exhaustive, it doesn't get much better than this ten part podcast retrospective by the MIT Gambit Game Lab:

MIT Gambit Game Lab podcast episodes

The final episode with Paul Neurath basically gives you the whole rise and fall, warts and all.

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Hayt

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Seconding the recommendation of GDC talks. I much prefer "primary sources" when it comes to video game documentary stuff which puts the GDC post mortems and NoClip shows way above most others.

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cikame

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#6  Edited By cikame
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whitegreyblack

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MagnetPhonics

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My primary recommendation is adding the Videogame History Hour podcast (by the VGHF) to your regular podcast listening. A lot of the guests have made the sort of video you're looking for, and the podcast episodes are a great companion/introduction to the subject.

Related to this, personally I highly recommend Kate Willaerts "A Critical Hit" videos. The video on the origins of Metroid and Samus Aran is a particular triumph. I estimate this 25 minutes video contains approximately 3.2 mind-blowing revelations per minute.

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Tempa777

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#9  Edited By Tempa777

Thanks for the Recommandations guys.

However i should have phrased my question a little Different.

What i really meant were Videos which go through the whole history of the game (Every game in the Franchise and obscure things) also why a Multiplayer Game might have Failed (i.e. the videos i mentioned above and Nerdslayers: Death of a Video Game, videos).

I am less interested in the aspect of how the game was developed and developer commentary.

Or in Essays of opinions on a game.

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the_kempire

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@tempa777: Try the Cane and Rinse podcast. Each episode is usually around 2 hours and focuses on a single game. They typically do get around to covering entire series over the course of many episodes.

The episodes typically start with a bit about the history of the devs and production of the game, then talk about release, sales, and reviews, and then the hosts discuss their personal history with the game and lightly critique it.

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mAAArii

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NoClip just put Among Us on Youtube.