Most gamers have a long list of YouTube gaming channels they're subscribed to that crank out great content on a regular basis. YouTubers like Markiplier, JonTron, VideoGameDunkey, and the Game Grumps have all amassed millions of viewers, and are pretty much household names at this point.
Having said that, for people willing to look a little bit deeper, there are amazing content creators that aren't as popular, despite the fact that they make entertaining, informative, and professional videos. Let your inner hipster show, and join us as we take you through the best underground YouTube gaming channels.
Games Done Quick
Despite the popularity of the speedrunning events they host, the Games Done Quick YouTube channel is largely overlooked by the public. If you're not aware, Games Done Quick is a group that hosts speedrunning competitions yearly to raise money for charity. Awesome Games Done Quick takes place in the winter, while this year's Summer Games Done Quick just wrapped up a few weeks ago.
The official Games Done Quick YouTube channel has VODs for all the speedruns from GDQ events both past and present, meaning there is plenty of variety to the content on display. From a hilarious 2+ hour run of Jak and Daxter to an inspiring run of an indie game by a disabled speedrunner who runs games one-handed, there really is something for everybody here, regardless of whether or not you're familiar with speedrunning. It's always fun to see skilled gamers do their thing, and the Games Done Quick YouTube channel is chock-full of that.
Team Four Star Gaming
You're likely aware of Team Four Star, the collective of voice actors behind the insanely popular Dragonball Z Abridged series. Their main channel has over 2 million subscribers, and is absolutely a must-follow for anyone who grew up watching the show as a kid.
Which is why it's so odd that nobody seems to have heard of their gaming channel, especially since it's one of the best YouTube feeds out there. The thinking behind the channel is genius-- voice actors from Team Four Star play through video games and offer commentary, but they do so in character as the roles they play in the Dragonball Z Abridged episodes.
The channel updates very often, and there's a lot of variety to be found, from videos of Vegeta and Nappa arguing over a cooperative game, to Krillin playing through Alien Isolation, to a whole swath of videos that feature the cast of Team Four Star playing through their favorite games out of character. It's a funny and off-beat feed, and it's more than worthy of your time.
SurrealBeliefs
For YouTube gaming channels, more hardcore RPGs and real-time strategy games often go overlooked, despite their popularity. Enter SurrealBeliefs.
SurrealBeliefs' channel is a focused one, centered specifically around role-playing games, real time strategy games, tabletop simulation games, and war games. He has a particular affinity for Warhammer, Total War, and Total War: Warhammer (which you can read more about in our interview with him). That said, although he has carved out a specific niche in those genres, he is not afraid to venture outside his comfort zone, and his videos range from reviews, to mod guides, to let's plays and even walkthroughs. Regardless of your familiarity with these genres and games, SurrealBeliefs does a great job of being both informative and entertaining, which is especially important given that these types of games can be a bit intimidating to first-time players.
Continue?
As the three hosts will tell you, Continue? is not a let's play or a review show. It's a series where three friends hang out on a couch for ten to twenty minutes and give their first impressions of a game, and at the end of their playing time, decide whether or not they'd want to continue playing or not.
It's a simple concept, but what really brings the channel over the top is the fact that the three hosts, Paul, Nick, and Josh, have such great chemistry. The show captures that special feeling of cracking jokes playing video games with your friends better than any other YouTube channel currently out there. You really feel like you're on the couch with these three funny, talented, and smart guys as they make obscure references and joke about the game they're playing. It's a unique thing, and well worth a subscription. Hell, JonTron thinks so. Are you gonna disagree with him?
My Smash Corner
My Smash Corner is a must-follow for anybody looking to get involved in the competitive Super Smash Bros. scene. Unlike many other channels that offer guides to the game, My Smash Corner's videos are concise, and focus on specific techniques and subjects. This makes the channel's content much easier to digest for viewers, and also allows for players to practice one technique at a time. The videos also go into a great amount of detail, often showing slowed-down footage of controller inputs so that viewers can see visually how to perform certain advanced techniques.
Videos range from character-specific tricks and combos to more general topics like controller preference, and the channel updates fairly regularly to keep up with any changes caused by patches. Subscribe and you might just learn something!
Bro Team Pill
I'm going to preface this by saying that this channel isn't really for everyone. Bro Team's channel is vulgar, lewd, disgusting, and sometimes perplexing. It's also one of the straight-up funniest YouTube gaming channels out there.
From videos where he and a colorful cast of characters explore the empty worlds of dead MMORPGs to, well, whatever this is, Bro Team kind of defies explanation. He's kind of like the Andy Warhol of YouTube gaming channels -- if Andy Warhol were Canadian, incredibly vulgar, and had a robotic Twitch-chat-reading voice as a sidekick.
Yungtown
Okay, I lied. Yungtown is the Andy Warhol of YouTube content creators. At once a satirist, musician, rapper, and video game reviewer, Yungtown's YouTube channel is one of the most eclectic ones out there, and his refusal to be pigeonholed has led to some truly amazing videos. From a "drawing tutorial", to a spot-on MatPat parody, to countless songs based on video games, Yungtown rarely misses the mark even when he tries something new.
What is really special about Yungtown, however, is his positivity. Even when he is satirizing fellow YouTubers, each one of his videos comes from a place of love. This is especially evident in his music, where he opens up and tells viewers his struggles in an effort to help us with ours. It sounds trite to say that he cares about his fans, but the way Yungtown crafts his videos-- it's clear that he is reaching out to viewers with a message of positivity and hope. It really is something special, especially when he can pivot from emotional topics to laugh out loud hilarity with such grace and ease. Yungtown is a truly inspiring guy, and his videos are well worth your time.
Do you have any great obscure YouTube channels that you love? Share them with us in the comments! (And speaking of obscure gaming feeds, I heard through the wire that the author of this post might have a Twitch feed that's worth a follow.)
Published: Jul 25, 2016 02:30 pm