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YouTube “Let's Play”s are preserving video game history

rockpapershotgun.com

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Re: YouTube “Let's Play”s are preserving video game history

#2

Post by d33 »

You can only talk about preservation if you actually can pull the content out. It's not like Google doesn't shut down a handful of projects early - at some point they might decide to wipe unprofitable videos as well and we might end up with no preservation whatsoever.

Re: YouTube “Let's Play”s are preserving video game history

#3

Post by velcrovan »

Does YouTube have any incentive to “preserve” anything once it costs them more money than it brings in? If not, maybe it's a little early to say they are actually preserving anything. (The article does kind of acknowledge this.) Maybe its real role is as a link in a chain that leads to /r/datahoarders

Re: YouTube “Let's Play”s are preserving video game history

#4

Post by velcrovan »

d33 wrote: post #2

You can only talk about preservation if you actually can pull the content out. It's not like Google doesn't shut down a handful of projects early - at some point they might decide to wipe unprofitable videos as well and we might end up with no preservation whatsoever.

https://ytdl-org.github.io/youtube-dl/index.html

Re: YouTube “Let's Play”s are preserving video game history

#6

Post by thatannoyingguy »

d33 wrote: post #2

You can only talk about preservation if you actually can pull the content out. It's not like Google doesn't shut down a handful of projects early - at some point they might decide to wipe unprofitable videos as well and we might end up with no preservation whatsoever.

But there are people who are constantly downloading the let's plays of those youtubers, so there will nearly alway be a copy of a video if it isn't on youtube and it might end up on archive.org later on

Re: YouTube “Let's Play”s are preserving video game history

#7

Post by nostalgk »

Owing to that I simply no longer have space or money to repair my older consoles, I've often turned to these let's plays to relive some of my favorite video games.

With every new console generation, backwards compatibility is discussed as one of the main points of contention, yet continually it is shelved. Because of this, I am skeptical of the rumors of the supposed universal compatibility that the Playstation 5 may have.

I will note, as someone who hasn't played since the 360, that Xbox appears to be taking steps in the right direction. I hope that continues to put pressure on Sony to allow their own games to be compatible with the new consoles, and maybe Nintendo as well to offer better virtual console offerings (a long shot, I'm sure).

Re: YouTube “Let's Play”s are preserving video game history

#9

Post by danso »

plibither8 wrote: post #5

Could the story be renamed to 'How YouTube's "Let's Play"s are Preserving Video Game History'?

Good suggestion, and done.

(I originally submitted it with the headline as formatted in the article, How YouTube let's plays are preserving video game history)

Re: YouTube “Let's Play”s are preserving video game history

#10

Post by nostalgk »

thatannoyingguy wrote: post #6
d33 wrote: post #2

You can only talk about preservation if you actually can pull the content out. It's not like Google doesn't shut down a handful of projects early - at some point they might decide to wipe unprofitable videos as well and we might end up with no preservation whatsoever.

But there are people who are constantly downloading the let's plays of those youtubers, so there will nearly alway be a copy of a video if it isn't on youtube and it might end up on archive.org later on

Are there any concerted efforts to archive these videos currently?
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