Social Platypus

Opinion Youtubers and Twitch streamers make the best video game advertisers. By Josiah Sapp     The best advertisements are the ones where you believe the people trying to sell you something. You can always tell something is off when someone doesn’t believe in the product that they’re selling. This is why I think old infomercials and door to door salesmen are so easy to dismiss. They lack passion and belief in a product or service. Video game commercials have typically been very vivid and over the top. Created by older generations trying to appeal to what they think kids like. You can see this in the early ads for systems like the Playstation and Nintendo 64 . Today’s advertisers are more subvert and more entertaining to watch. You’re probably already subscribed to them.     Gaming on YouTube and Twitch has taken off in the past few years. People have made a full time living off of making videos about games and playi...

Opinion Video game exclusives: A relic of the past that’s losing its value. By Josiah Sapp     In the early nineties, there was a famous dispute between Nintendo and Sega. Nintendo had an iron grip on the gaming industry and Sega wanted to be the ones to rival them first and take them down. This is known as the console wars and it’s effects can still be felt today. During the “wars”, both companies had a champion for their cause. A mascot that would represent them to the masses. Nintendo had the loveable Italian plumber Mario and Sega had the fast paced, edgy Sonic the hedgehog. Both companies screamed from the mountaintops “You can only play this character on our console!” Thus pitting customers against one another forcing them to choose one gaming console or other. This is where exclusivity began and gaming companies are still trying persuade use with the same argument today.  Sony vs. Nintendo vs. Microsoft     The...

Opinion Video game HD remakes; The power of memories. By Josiah Sapp Remakes make the gaming industry go round. It’s like their bread and butter . If a game was popular back in the day, it more than likely has a remaster, remake or HD release. Those terms are interchangeable and they essentially mean the same thing but one thing is for sure, when a remake gets announced the fans go nuts. At 2017’s Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) a remake of Team Ico’s classic hit, Shadow of Colossus, was announced and a trailer was even shown. Fans lost their minds. The original was released in October of 2005 for the Playstation 2 and nothing like it had come out but this time around there are already games that are similar. God of War, The Last Guardian, and even Uncharted 4 has elements that are pulled from Shadow of Colossus. The question is, what makes this remake (and remakes in general) so special? Our memories do. Gamers long to experience their...