Hello folks. I'm looking for critique on a show idea I've been kicking around that I finally got up and running. Multiplayer Showcase is a show designed around reviewing video games to play with other people. You'll get an overview of the game, footage of me playing the game with friends and a round table discussion on what we thought. The focus is not to show the best player skill nor will it give you painstakingly dense detail. I deal with people of varying degrees of familiarity with video games and genres. Each person will show different habits, learn differently or just become flat out frustrated because there's a concept they don't grasp. So to properly review a game you play with others, it only seems fitting to let more than just one person to talk about it.

While the recording during the discussion and reaction footage I feel was not strong for a first episode, the presentation of us just sitting at a table works best to bring up the social element that became kind of lost as modern video games. I will strive to get the best possible picture from the games by using real hardware and looking for the best versions of a game. For example the PC version of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing was recorded featuring 60fps video at 720p. You may occasionally see a game working through an emulator but for the most part, I will use actual hardware to avoid players facing issues due to undocumented compatibility.

When you see a review for a game on YouTube it avoids the multiplayer component either because they don't have a setup that allows them to do so or, to put it more bluntly, the reviewer has no friends to play the game with.

Some games that will be covered in the future will show and talk about more complicated setup processes that involve multitaps LAN configuration, obscure peripherals and more as the show continues on. There are some great multiplayer experiences that have become lost to time due to innovation leaving behind methods that are viable and some that were even unusual at the time. For example is an older video of mine that worked as an idea for the show I wanted to show off.

Systems like the Game Boy Advance had a plethora of four player games that could be played with others that for the most part have been ignored. Outside of Pokemon, I didn't really know anyone who had games we could play together let alone a link cable to plug in to each other. This livestream covered the four player mode in Sonic Advance 3 with me and my friends playing the game and sharing our experience with each other. I won't sugarcoat the fact that this was made possible through emulation methods, and while there may have been some inaccuracies in the game due to this process, the base game is still shown off in ways that not many people have seen before, including myself. You can see other multiplayer streams including Jet Set Radio on Game Boy Advance as well as the Dreamcast version of San Francisco Rush 2049.

So with a round table episode and a livestream under the belt, the show will continue with more games in the future. The main episodes will primarily feature a focus on all things SEGA and Atlus due to my partnership with Sonic Retro and SEGAbits. Livestreams will showcase games from other publishers. The next multiplayer livestream I have planned will make use of a console-specific system link option from the mid nineties on one of the best versions of a popular first person shooter. As for the main show, I will reveal here that the next episode covered is Saturn Bomberman. This episode will focus on the setup process using the multitap adapter and talk about it's place amongst the dozens of Bomberman games out there today. The episode is currently being edited and will feature improvements over the first episode.

If you've seen the show, what do you like about it? What do you think could be improved upon in the future? Are there any suggestions for games you want to see on the show? It does not matter if its on consoles, handhelds or even on PC. I will eventually cover games outside of Sonic and SEGA, but this is done in order to give the show some exposure for the time being.