Interview with CrystalFissure

How did you first get into creating YouTube videos?
I started my channel in 2009, while I was in year 8 during middle school. I had recently found a bunch of channels relating to old video games and it made me want to be involved in that community. There were YouTubers from Australia and all around the world playing the games that I played as a child.

It inspired me to download these old games again and talk about them on my own channel.

What went into the process of making your early videos?
I got in contact with some of the people who I watched play old games such as Spyro and Crash Bandicoot. Ratchet5 was a user who was from Sydney and who I was watching frequently. I spoke to him and he told me the programs I needed to record, edit and upload videos.

I would record the footage on my dad’s laptop at the time, and then commentate over it after recording. The first gameplay video I uploaded was a walkthrough of Spyro the Dragon. The quality was decent but my voice was a little drowned out by the game audio. Other videos I would upload at the time were video game soundtracks from my childhood as well, which also included Spyro.

As your channel began to grow, did you change your approach?
From a marketing perspective, what I became known for was my humour and analysis of the old games I was covering. For instance, I am a massive fan of games like Spyro and Crash Bandicoot, but also similar 3D platformer games that I grew up with. Thus my content reflected that passion and viewers saw that. I see positive comments towards my videos on a daily basis and that’s because I love the games that I talk about for the most part.

I didn’t really change my approach at all apart from being a bit more professional in terms of my setup, which includes the software and microphone I used. I also tried to branch out a bit and cover other games that weren’t just 3D platformers on the original PlayStation console.

Any advice for up and coming YouTubers out there?

It’s getting harder and harder to grow a YouTube channel from the start. The market is absolutely saturated. It’s ridiculous how many channels are made per minute. The only advice I can give is to be yourself, and create content that you want to make. If an audience likes it, that’s great. But make videos that you enjoy making, otherwise it’s a job and you may never make any money from it. Treat it as a hobby at first and see where it takes you.