In late 2013, I made a list of a bunch of ideas for content I could produce regularly for YouTube. Mostly comedy sketches and recurring character ideas, of all the ideas the one I least expected to dive into was “video game reviews”. As a fan of guys like JonTron, The Completionist, Brutal Moose, SpaceHamster, and many more, it seemed like a lot of fun. However, I didn’t know how to capture gameplay footage. I wasn’t experienced in reviewing anything and most importantly I had zero ideas on how to convince people to watch my reviews. I disregarded the idea and started in on the others and didn’t make it very far.
Some months passed and a major event happened–my daughter was born! This highly anticipated person was now out in the big wide world, with my wife and I to care for and raise her. (My mind still sometimes freaks out a little!) Dadding was, and still is, amazing. Watching her take everything in, grow, learn, and her smile is unparalleled in making peoples days. I also found that when I did get to sit down and enjoy a video game, my perspective had changed. I started thinking differently about content, related to characters in a new way, became more aware of how long I was playing, and had to be willing to break away at a moments notice.
One day I remembered my list and there was “video game reviews” still there, untouched, cast aside and disregarded as a mediocre idea. Sure I thought it would be really fun, but I also wanted to create something people would want to watch and not be a copycat or rip off of someone else. Then it dawned on me that my experience being a dad and a gamer is fairly common, but no reviewer had approached reviewing from that perspective before. I could still draw inspiration from other reviewers, but at its core I had something that was all my own.
So far I’ve completed two episodes and the third is on its way. I’m honored to have gotten such a positive response from people and the encouragement to keep making more. This show though for me brings together many of my major passions into one, storytelling, creating videos, video games, and of course being a dad. This more than anything ensures I won’t stop making them for quite a while, and as “Lil’ Gamer” grows so will the show, which I hope will result in a great overall narrative about being a dad and gaming.
For those who are interested here are episodes one and two for you to enjoy and get prepped for episode three, it’s going to be epic!
