Hey folks, I just wanted to let you all know that I helped make some YouTube videos!  Now, I didn’t help out THAT much, but I think I did enough that it’s worth sharing here.  The videos that I helped with were a two part series on the history of Pac-Man…because of course I would!  I hate to brag too much and make brazen statements and things like that, but I think it’s safe to say that if someone is going to make a video on the history of Pac-Man, they really should consult with me first.  Again, sorry to make such bold statements, but I think I’m probably one of the biggest Pac-Man fans out there.  If you think you’re a bigger Pac-Man fan than I am, please let me know!  I’d love to hear about other big Pac-fans!  Anyway, so in this blog I wanted to share the videos I helped make, as well as how I got involved and exactly what I did.

Anyway so here’s how it all got started.  A few years ago while surfing YouTube, I came across a YouTuber that I really liked.  His channel is called “Slopes Game Room” and he does a lot of videos on the history of video games and characters, and other interesting gaming facts.  I really like his videos because he employs a lot of good journalistic practices like checking facts and using lots of quotes, and I usually learn a few things from his videos, too, which is a hard feat to do!  I also like his videos because he speaks clearly and gets to the point without wasting too much time, and he doesn’t curse very much either.

So one of the videos that he did a long time ago was about some video game based theme parks and rides.  Really interesting stuff.  One of the things he talked about in that video was how back in the day, before Six Flags Over Texas had Looney Tunes Land as their children’s area, their kid’s section was called Pac-Man Land for a couple of years!  Yeah, it’s true!  Did you know that?  But he didn’t have a lot of information about it and since he lives in the UK, he never got to experience it!  Well, I DID go to Pac-Man Land at Six Flags Over Texas when I was a little kid.  In fact, Six Flags Over Texas is only about 45 minutes away from my house!  So I decided to reach out to the guy who does “Slopes Game Room” and share with him my experiences and memories of Pac-Man Land.  He replied and said that some day he plans to make a video on the complete history of Pac-Man.  I told him that if he does that, he’d better ask for my help!  He said he would, and luckily a few years later, he stayed true to his word!

So here’s how I helped out in the videos.  A couple of months before he posted these videos, he sent me a rough draft of his script, and asked if I could correct anything and add stuff he might’ve missed.  It took me a LONG time to go through it all, as his script was 45 PAGES LONG!  He also sent me a rough draft of his video, too.  Now, I’m sure I didn’t do THAT much to help him, and he probably had other helpers that did more than me.  But I’m sure some of my suggestions made it into his videos.  He did credit me in the first video under the name “GamerDad” and I had to correct him and make sure he knew that I wasn’t THE GamerDad, I just write for the site.  Sorry Andrew Bub (if you are reading this), but this kind of thing happens a lot, but I make sure to correct anyone who does this.  It’s a shame he wasn’t able to correct this and credit me in the second video, but he does have LOT of Patreon contributors to thank, and money talks and all that.  So oh well, it is what it is.  I’m still glad I got to be involved in it, in a small way.

Anyway, here are the completed videos.  They’re so long he had to split them into two parts!  Even then you might have to come back when you have more time to watch them all.  But I really encourage that you do so when you can.  They’re really good, and I don’t know if I could make these videos much better myself!

Pac-Man: The Complete History: Part 1

Pac-Man: The Complete History: Part 2

So by now you may be asking, “Cary, why aren’t YOU making YouTube videos?”  Well I have my reasons, most of them are just me making excuses, but I think they’re legitimate excuses.  A lot of it has to do with timing, really.  When I was in college, I was already writing for The Dallas Morning News, so I majored in Journalism because it seemed like a good idea at the time.  So most of my skills are in writing, not making videos.  When I graduated college, lots of companies were already asking me to write for them, but then the dot com bubble burst and I had to find new lines of work.  Luckily I was able to start writing for GamerDad.com then, so I’ve been able to keep my foot in the video games industry that way.  But game reviewing no longer paid the bills, so I had to find new lines of work.

While I was trying to rise the ranks (and ultimately failing) at my next to last job, I really didn’t have much time to watch YouTube.  So I didn’t really realize how popular it was becoming between 2006 and 2015.  But when I was forced to quit that job, I had more time to watch YouTube, and that’s when I discovered how popular it was.  This is also about the time I discovered YouTubers I liked, such as Slopes Game Room, as well as ones I didn’t like, such as Angry Video Game Nerd.

I have absolutely NO clue about making videos on YouTube, so it’s a little intimidating to try and start.  And I hear you have to worry about stuff like monetizing and ads and other stuff I’m sure I don’t know about.  So I think to get started, I would really need some help.  I’ve asked some of my friends and family several times if they would help me, but they hem and haw about it and nothing comes of it.  I know they’re all busy too, I just wish we all had more time to do stuff like this with one another.

So basically, I lack the knowhow, skills, and maybe even money to start doing YouTube videos.  Time plays a factor, too, because I still have a full-time job and write game reviews at GamerDad.com.  But I’m still going to try whenever I can.  I might have to start small and help out with other videos, or maybe do a podcast instead, or just stream games.  I don’t know.  I’m just trying to do the best I can with what I have!  Anyway, I hope you do get to watch these videos I helped with a little bit, and I’ll catch you all later!  –Cary

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