Streaming!, It's a new thing, I hear... Options

[Peter]

So I'm not sure how many of you are into the whole streaming fad, but I know I personally have started to dabble in it a little bit. As I slowly get myself more and more versed with the ins and outs, I plan on doing more and more games (right now, I'm limited to just PC games).

I recently saw a post on Twitter (which was also copied to Tumblr) that CeeCee is looking to watch people who are streaming Natsume related games. This could be a really good opportunity to get her to re-tweet and reblog any events we hold, and garner up some viewership and participation in the forums. :)

The trick would be figuring out how to make a Harvest Moon game an interesting stream. The only style I can think of would be a full on "Let's Play."

http://ceecee-natsume.tumblr.com/post/7267...r-other-harvest

[Darth-Paper-Boy]

Ooo. That would be a really great event. Shame I don't really know how to stream anything. I've watched a few though, so I may be able to bring in some insight on how to make a good show. The key things to follow are simple: Know the game, interact with the audience, and try to prevent dead-air as best you can.

Knowing the game in-and-out is a good thing to have, but it's not necessary. You just at least need to have some modest experience with it. It's just frustrating whenever someone plays something and has no idea what to do, and whenever fans of that game come in they're more annoyed than likely to share the stream with other fans of the game.

For interaction, just be sure to look over at what they have to say every so often and comment on it. Engage in conversations, answer questions to people who may not know the game at all, and let the audience pick things when there's a choice. An immediately obvious thing for HM is to pick a girl/guy to woo, but if the participation is strong enough you can even ask them for minor things like what seeds to buy that season or whatever. So long as they feel involved, they should stick around.

Both of those go hand-in-hand with preventing dead-air. Chit-chatting with the audience, sharing random facts about the games some people might not know when you reach relevant points in the game, talking about the community, etc. If you have to leave for a bit, try to put on some music or something. There are some bad things to do with preventing dead air though. Like talking over cutscenes and I've also seen a lot of people try to do their own voice over for dialog and just end up being irritating.

[Peter]

I'm working on getting the materials up and ready for it. I recently just invested in a nice headset. I think the only thing that would help me out now is a secondary monitor, but it's not an absolute requirement yet. I've streamed a couple of things now (two of which I saved on my account), but I've far from gotten it perfected.

I posted about something a little while ago called Rollplay R&D, and I think doing something like that with either a legitimate ruleset or even a made up Harvest Moon scenario would be a ton of fun.

As I thought about my streaming options, I'm thinking I should focus on three types of streams:

1) Live Role Plays, similar to what Role Play R&D did.
2) Multiplayer sessions for pure amusement and joy (there's usually chaos with stuff like that).
3) Single player "Let's Plays" or game analyses.

If y'all want, follow me on Twitch and download the app (if you have a smartphone) and it will let you know anytime I go live. Once I get comfortable enough with the process, I'll pull in a game like Harvest Moon and give it a go to see how well it can be streamed.

[Peter]

So this happened last night:



Be sure to subscribe to my channel here, or follow me on Twitch here to stay up to date on all of my latest streaming efforts... and maybe join in on the chat! :D

Thanks in advance!

[Peter]

More streaming goodness. I've pretty much got a handle on everything at this point, so expect nothing but quality content. :)

[Peter]

Just an update, I've now been streaming for somewhere around four months now (two of those without a capture card, and two with), and has hands down been one of the coolest experiences of my life. The people that I meet have been simply wonderful. It really makes for a truly unique experience.

There have been highs and lows in my gaming (in terms of interest), but I think we're at a high right now. I'm playing through Final Fantasy X HD, and man that game is just blowing me away all over again. In fact, during the one scene, I actually cried right on the stream. Unbelievable, right?

Anyway, more positive thoughts; Kimahri is given to you as pretty much an open book. On the sphere grid, he sits pretty much where you can access any of the other characters' sphere grids. One of my viewers made a strawpoll for me to see how I should build him up, so I wanted to share that with y'all.

http://strawpoll.me/1637332

Don't mind the eccentric choices; that's just the personality of that specific viewer. :) But if you haven't been to my twitch channel in a while, it's worth another look -- I've gotten a ton of support from the viewers who make me new graphics and things, and my current channel banner is actually Harvest Moon themed. :3

While a HM game isn't on the docket just yet, they are games I'm evetually going to play through, so I'll keep you posted when that happens. Currently, after FFX I'm thinking Dark Souls, Katamari Forever, Dead Space 2, and Portal 2 (both single player and co-op).

[Oscar]

So this is what you meant by streaming, Peter, huh. This is so awesome. I really would love to do something like this. I just am not sure how to do it. Streaming/YouTube videos has always sounded like a lot of fun.

Anyways, I watched your Tomodachi Life video. Very cool, l liked it. You are naturally good at "hosting", not many people are when they start off. I'll try and watch some more!

[Peter]

So this is what you meant by streaming, Peter, huh. This is so awesome. I really would love to do something like this. I just am not sure how to do it. Streaming/YouTube videos has always sounded like a lot of fun.

Anyways, I watched your Tomodachi Life video. Very cool, l liked it. You are naturally good at "hosting", not many people are when they start off. I'll try and watch some more!

Thank you sir, and thank you for watching! Yes, this has been pretty much my recreational life for the past four months. It's been a ton of fun, and I'm making more steady progress in my games than I've ever done in a while. It's not hard to do, but you need to have the right hardware. I'd be more than happy to help you through it, if it's something you'd like to pursue. :)

I hope you do keep watching (subscriptions make me love you forever!) and I hope that there is some content in there that you really end up enjoying!