I've come to realise that goals are mostly pretty dumb. They can narrow your thinking on the way to the goal ("If I want to get a million subs, I can only make certain, specific, crowd-pleasing videos!") and then leave you listless and confused after you reach the goal ("What do I do now? 2 million?"). These days I try to focus more on the day to day, just making sure I enjoy whatever I work on and feel creatively satisfied. If that leads to rewards/milestones/etc then great, but if not at least I had fun.
It was only when you mentioned the sub count that I noticed it. I thought your channel would have at least a million followers because in my social circle everyone knows you and consider you a high quality content creator. Thank you for your great work. Now I feel even more privileged to have followed you for years. I guess you are similar to what Bronies would call "Horse famous": Very well known and admired within a specific audience, but you get to live a normal life of not getting bothered on the streets as the general public is not your audience. Thank you for 10 years. Congratulations 🎉
Yeah, I think a lot of people would agree - your work is good and even if you don't get a ton of video views compared to some of the larger channels it remains one of the better ones.
@@GMTK I still think "How do I decide when I am satisfied" was the most profound and thoughtful thing the internet has said in the last decade, and it has to do with this goal-oriented mentality.
Hey, Blips is one of my (if not my) favorite RU-vid series. It's sad that it's not more people's cup of tea, but i really love it when a new episode comes out.
I've been watching for about 7 years and I just love the way you write and think. I also enjoy your sense of humor and your bare honesty. I'd literally watch anything you might make because I appreciate you. Congrats on the 10 years, I'm here for it.
Just wanted to add my voice to the many who have been inspired by the show. The Errant Signal episode on Spec Ops was the first piece of actual game criticism I had ever seen, and I was hooked on the channel and the style from that point on. It got me thinking more critically about games, using Errant Signal as a framework when I didn't really know where to start with more academic sources. And, hell, the books I started reading were ones mentioned in Errant Signal videos. That got me thinking about making games, and I've been doing it professionally for 3 years now. I genuinely don't know if I would have done that if it weren't for that one Errant Signal video that kicked everything off. I really like this video, both because of how it ties into my personal history, and the overall idea of not looking at the world through the lens of a winstate. Glad to know that, after nearly 9 years of watching these videos, I can still get so much out of them!
I appreciate you being here, Chris. Thanks for everything you do. Even if it sometimes doesn't feel like it - you matter a lot and your content also does. Just... Thanks a lot. And have a nice year!
This is one of my favorite youtube channels. I watch everything you out out cause it is interesting and discuss those topics with friends. Whatever this ended up being it is one my favorite things.
Congrats on the tenth anniversary! I always thought of this channel as one of the better ones when it comes to analyzing games, so I never considered that to the one behind it it might feel like it was somehow failing. Puts things into perspective.
When I was in my first year of highschool, I played Bioshock and it blew my tiny teenage brain so much. I almost immediately set my sights on becoming a game designer- I wanted to make stuff that inspired in the same way my favorite games inspired me. Hell, I think that last line appeared almost verbatim on my college application essays. I was almost single-minded; motivated towards a singular goal, thinking that was all I needed to be happy. I of course went to college for a bachelor's in game design. Two years of constant stress and an enormous workload later, I had crippling anxiety- another year after that, I was depressed. For the last 6 or so years of my life I was driven by the dream of being a designer. Now, the mere thought of going into the industry and taking on the responsibility of a professional career terrified me. I didn't know what to do with myself. A few months before I graduated the pandemic hit. Suddenly the world was closing down, and I left school with no direction and very few options for jobs. My productivity flatlined, as did my self respect. I thought my dream was dead, and that I was foolish for ever thinking I could accomplish such as thing. I went back to my parents house for a couple months and worked on my mental health. I realized I spent too much of my life chasing success without a real clear definition for what that meant. It was as if I had an invisible list of boxes to check off. I don't think I ever could've been happy looking at life through that lens. Now, I have a new goal; just live. Just find a way to make a living and be comfortable with myself and where I am. You don't have to reach for the stars, and you don't have to push yourself into uncomfortable territory if you think you can't handle it. Its okay to know your limits and take your time. Maybe one day the passion and motivation will come back- in fact, it probably will. Its more important to make sure that in the right here and now, you're okay. Trying to define success for yourself will only lead to needless judgement and comparisons. Not trying to give advice per say- you certainly don't need that from me. Just felt sympathetic and wanted to share my experience. You make some really great work.
The screen with the videos made me want to rewatch a few of them. RU-vid started out as a place for people to upload their stuff. Now it seems like if you can't get a million views a week you're a failure and that sucks. Sure there are channels with amazing production values, but a lot of spontaneity has been lost in the way.
This is definitely a video I'll watch again when I need a pick-me-up. I've really enjoyed your thoughts over the years, and I look forward to more of them.
Hey Chris, I'm one of the video creators you have inspired. I remember watching your channel for the first time a good 5 years ago, when I had quite the different youtube mentality and I very clearly remember thinking "gosh, why do I scream so much? This guy is not only saving his throat, but also he delivering more value per minute than I am." Nowadays, I've embraced a new tone, a new style and you were definitely one of the main inspirations. Thank you for accepting your work as it is, not as you'd imagine it would be. For people like me, your channel is amazing. You make this world better doing whatever you're doing right now. I'm down for your experimentations and even flops, but I'm not so down for somebody else having creative control over you. Hope I'll post a similar comment for the 20th anniversary :)
I discovered Errant Signal sometime late in high school, 2012 or 13. I have been watching ever since. Your words and others of the nouveau-beatnik games crit movement here on RU-vid remains inspiring. Long before enrolling for my half-start at college, this body of work was scaffolding for some kind of critical perspective, a framework yet in progress. I refer to the authors of works in this sphere as "some of my favorite writers." I am 25 now and getting the same stars in my eyes over a similar creative pursuit. Thank you for the reminder to not let glimmering things I want eclipse what warmth I have.
I think there's an inherent beauty to relatively small channels that give me so much to think about enjoy. There might not be much of us here but in our book that's a win
You are a treasure, Chris. Intellectual game content is hard to come by. And your calm and collected approach to discussing games always hits home. You’ve blessed me with your channel more than you will ever know. How can we as a community help you push beyond the limitations of RU-vid and short attention spans?
You are awesome! You are taling about games not just for gamers, you are reaching so many devs and you are helping so many games being made indirectly, thank you so much!
Shit, you made me feel old, as I’ve been watching you from the very beginning. 10 years: finishing school, entering and dropping out of university, starting another degree, starting to work and all of this underscored by your videos. Honestly, I think it would be fair to say that if it weren’t for you, for your facination with understanding both games and the people who play and create them and inspiring others to do the same, my life could’ve been vastly different. To 10 years and many more to come!
There's this random tidbit from a Jordan Peterson talk which has always stuck with me: _“The fundamental definition of racism is to believe there's greater variance across groups than within them.”_ Race entirely aside, I don't know why but there's something so evocative to me about that statement. It eludes to the near-infinite depth contained within something so seemingly predictable or accounted-for from the outside, and how that depth is so casually and astronomically beyond sufficient to completely subvert the assumptions made from its surface. I feel this way about my plans in life and the naivety with which I allocate them time and significance. I don't think the priority is to reject the notion of “win” or “lose” states, but to try and come to terms with the infinitely deep nature of our connection to the universe and each other (butterfly effect, you could say), and how laughably adorable our attempts to confine them, or unearth them as “successes” or “failures”, really is. Ultimately it's little more than tabloid astrology. I'll take the wins and I'll take the losses, and not be inappropriately attached to either, but focus on keeping on participating in and interacting with the world honestly and openly, and watching life unfold. Don't be so hard on yourself. Try talking to your audience as though we've already decided that we like you, because we have. I love the show; congratulations on 10 years and best of luck for the next 10.
Just last week I finished my Master's degree focused on Ludology and the Arts and a massive part of what influenced me to take on this topic was your videos! Thanks so much!
I remember talking to my brother about various RU-vid channels we watched that dealt with video games. We listed off Game Theory, Jim Stephanie Sterling, Dan Olson and so on but I was surprised he's never heard of you. Your video on win states kinda stuck with me. I played games my whole life, which made me not pay attention to how they are constructed. When you said that win states contextualize play, I went "Oh! Yeah, they do..." Sometimes just putting a name on a thing makes you realise it's been there all along. It's what poets do all the time. Here's the willingly and happily surrendered praise: Thank you for keep on doing this. Thanks to you and other people I began thinking about what I play and that's left me with years of fun. Here's to the next ten years. I'll be here for them for sure :)
The first thing I watched of yours is I think either Half Life or Deus Ex Human revolution (its been so long I literally can't remember) and in that time I've changed from an edgy and depressed 16 year old to a currently jobless but engaged 25 year old who changed countries. And a long the way I've obviously changed a lot and in part its thanks to this channel, which has informed my thinking about art as whole and also encouraged me to watch and read more criticism of art in general. I know almost for certain I've watched every episode on this channel at least 3 times (most likely way more) and you have introduced me to one of my favourite games of all time (The Beginners Guide). I guess what I am trying to say is, thank you for all the years of entertainment and critical thinking hope for many years to come. Also side note as struggling dyslexic, who speaks a foreign language, I honestly welcome those accidental vocal screw ups, makes it feel more human and definitely more relatable. Sincerely, Some dude you have never met lol
I want to say your line "She sees all and will be seen" from your We know the Devil review still sticks with me to this day. I also continue to watch and lament your use of "per se" in each video like a hawk, and look forward to ever more content, Uncle Signal.
I just wanna say that even if this didn't work out the way you were hoping, you really changed the way I thought about and approached games. This channel is the first thing that ever made me think really critically about games, and it took me from "yeah games are probably art in a technical sense I guess" to really wanting to understand how their mechanics and themes function and got me interested in doing indie dev. And just among the people I know, I'm not the only person I know who's had a reaction like that to your channel. Even if Errant Signal never got the reach it deserved, it's made up for it in some ways with the depth of impact it's had. Thank you for doing this. It matters more than you know.
This is the first video I’ve ever seen of yours. It’s so true that life is not win/lose, succeed/fail, black/white. Goals are, for me, just a tool to provide structure so I don’t wallow in indecision and inaction. It’s cheesy to say but it really is all about the journey. And the less I’m hard on myself for not “achieving” something, the more inspired and creative I am, and the more I end up achieving anyway. Cheers to 10 years of doing something!
I still occasionally return to your video on Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor and Night in the woods. I really appreciate your work and it reminds me to think more about the games I play. Thanks ES.
It might not be the most popular channel out there, but it's definitely one of my favorites. I've learnt so much from you Chris; not just about games, but about life too. It might not be feasible to do this as a full time job, but its still enough to make a huge difference in the lives of your viewers. Your passion inspires me to keep creating regardless of the amount of likes and subscribers I receive. So please keep up the good work! We're counting on you.
I've always found this show to be the most compelling game criticism available, and I'm truly happy to find a new video released every single time. I know that it's going to be thought provoking and informative. No pressure on released dates, quality work takes time. This channel would make a great fit on Nebula I would think.
Happy channelversary! I, for one random viewer, am happy and excited to see the channel blossom into what it already is: uniquely personal thoughts on various interests that I share with a guy I never met! Thank you for doing this for 10 long years, and congratulations!
I was just scrolling through my subscriptions for a video to put on while I play a game and I just so happen to see yours. If I didn’t I might’ve simply never watched this. And that realization that there is someone on the other side, who’s spent quite literally a decade of work to create videos he’s passionate about, only to simply be background noise for some teenager on a lazy night just hit me. I’ve always thought of creating things that move people or change someone’s ways of thinking. But now I have to wonder, could I create things if other people don’t really care? I always arrogantly compare my ideas with the greatest works, the 1984s and the Mockingbirds. But we only call those the greats because they were the ones that became popular. The best book I could ever read is probably dusty and dilapidated. I don’t know the taste of success or failure. I’ve barely started anything. But I hope that I can find the intrinsic joy of creating that you have found, even if I never become greatly influential. Also thanks for giving me this existentialist nightmare on a lazy night you jerk
You've influenced countless numbers of creators, both in games and around it. Don't sell yourself short because you don't have "the numbers". Your videos and your way of reflecting on the things games can do have contributed so much to our culture. It's quality over quantity. Thank you. And congrats on ten years 🥳
First of all, Happy Anniversary! In a world of shouty intenet white noise, you are one of the voices of reason in gaming critic circles, and I appreciate that. Secondly, just a little anecdote. There was a series of stories I had been wanting to complete, basically since 2002 or so, when I was a Freshman in high school. It was an on and off project, and it evolved and changed so much that whereever that first Word document is stored, it was hardly recognizable anymore. At the end of 2017, I completed, for the second time in this series, a NaNoWriMo, and discovered that 50K was a good length for these stories. Also, that I had six more to write, to really bring it all together. So, I decided, screw it, every other month in 2018, a new one would be written. I was on fire, cranking them out, to the point where I started writing the last one without waiting another month. And by the end of the year, the task was done, the story was told. But then I looked back on how much I grew, not just as a writer but as a person. Beliefs had changed, writing style had changed, I finally got the critical eyes on the first story that I desperately needed, and I realized how dated some of the stories were. And while I still think that the stories were good (my fiance loved reading them, but that's hardly an unbiased viewpoint), I realized that I could not bring myself to publish them because I had grown past the stories' themes. After a couple of years thinking about it, though, it was not a waste of time or a failure. I wrote, I became a writer doing this, even if I am yet to be published by anyone but myself. So, while publishing them is a tall order, to say I failed wouldn't be correct either. I am proud that I did it, that the story, was put on paper, that I had an audience, one person who cherished them. I have no awards but for one person's smile, but that is enough. And I have moved on. I still write, I recently hired an editor who gave me the feedback I needed for a new storyline, and currently trying to publish it. My brother, my fiance and I do these videos (to, admittedly, like, 20 people). I have no idea how far they will go, but it is impossible to know until then. Sometimes, it is an itch that needs to be scratched, whether or not something will come of it. Maybe I "lost" in the world of publishing, but I have clearer ideas of what kinds of stories I want to write and my writing style is more refined. So, best of luck on wherever the future of this channel takes you!
Errant Signal is one of the most intelligent games analysis channels I've ever found. Your work partially inspired my podcast, and if I can flounder in half as much obscurity as Errant Signal over the next ten years, I'll call that a win. Thankfully the only metric for success in life is how much you enjoyed the ride. (Speaking of rides, do that Jurassic Park video. JP is my favorite thing.)
your videos have been a lovely constant for the last five or so years of my life, Chris, and i’m grateful you’ve kept at it and continued to make videos that are true to your views and vision for the channel. it’s not a silver lining, it’s a virtue all its own. cheers, and here’s to a good long while more of your excellent work.
You can be proud of your work, and I'm glad to hear you now are. Thank you for your videos over the years, and I hope you continue to make them in any way you see fit.
Man y'know. The fact that you've been making videos this long hit me like a truck. Looking back on it, I think you've been a massive influence on me that I never really considered. My style of explanation, the game concepts I value and don't, a lot of stuff you've done made a huge impact on me as i grew up with you. I think regardless of how big your audience is, or how much money you make off your content. Your art affects people and that's a win. Cheers to 10 years bud.
I really have appreciated this channel in the same way you appreciate home-cooking, there's a guaranteed comforting quality that may not always be here but is just as good every time I come back. I really appreciate the work you do, and that kind of fear of failure your talking about feels intensely relatable to me. I'm still a young guy with a lot to learn, but where other channels might make me like games more, your channel makes me passionate about them. Every video you do makes me pause and debate with myself for 5 minutes and as a games student, the kind of critical thinking on systems you go into is sorely missing and much appreciated. Whatever is next, I'm on board, and here's to another undisclosed amount of time making some of the best content on this website. Cheers!!!
I think Errant Signal is the only games criticism show I've actually kept up with since getting interested in any kind of game discussion that wasn't angry video game reviews. While I haven't been watching for the full 10 years, I'm glad to have caught 8 years of it. Keep on truckin'.
I honestly always thought your channel was your job, just because of how nicely produced all your videos are and how your channel comes up A LOT when people are talking about in-depth looks at games. And while when it comes to objective analysis you sometimes miss on relevant research, every single video of yours where you're passionate is pure joy. You and your channel, to me, seem very emotional, and talk about how things feel and make you feel and think, rather than about what they are. I see these flaws in objective information as byproducts of the sentiments and subjectivity that make up the meat of the actual point. By the way, Blips is probably my favourite series on RU-vid, I've found plenty of very fun games through it. Anyway, very happy that you're feeling good about this part of your life now. And I hope your day job brings you joy, too! (Also, if you stop and look at how many people are subscribers of yours -- 164 THOUSAND PEOPLE! While that may not be enough people to make a living off of RU-vid, it's an insane amount of lives you've influenced and enriched!)
Your early work showed me how themes can permeate both story and gameplay, I can't say my life would be totally different without that experience but I do know that I would at the very least be more gameplay or presented narrative focused. So uhm thanks I guess, happy 10 year anniversary here's to expanding horizons.
You've been making video essays about games for longer than I've been a game developer. And there's a non-insignificant chance that at some point in the future, you'll make a video essay about a game I worked on while thinking about one of your videos. [insert Lion King Circle of Life] But really, I know how strange it can be to get older as part of the entertainment industry. I work with quite a few childless 50-something year olds who've been making video games since the 1980s, and I never think about them as pathetic or cringey. This industry is extremely harsh (that goes for critics, reviewers and commentators as well, not just devs), and the people who manage to grow from their years of experience and stick around to share that knowledge are incredibly important. Your videos have done a lot to inform my perspective on game making, even if they don't always have perfect wording :P So, thank you! And cheers to ten years of videos!
I came here for the video on Spec Ops The Line and to me, it was the only one at the time that gave the game the thought I believed at the time it deserved. Your analysis, opinions and even editing has always brought me here again to watch and share with friends I thought would enjoy it as well (Heck, I became obsessed with KittyHorrorShow's oeuvre thanks to your video on Anatomy). I've never been one to engage with creators I admire, not even comment on content I admire and love. But I wanted to thank you for every single second you've dedicated to share your thoughts with us. So... Thank you. Take your time and take good care of yourself.
I tend to look for people with good videos with alot of introspection. Your channel is among those. I don't care if it is games or movies or whatever else, I just enjoy the insight I wouldn't have on my own on any subject you may prefer. Also, thank you for this gem of a video, it helped me with some awful anxiety and I slept well for the first time since, well, this global house arrest.
A friend of mine sent me your video about win states, and it did spark interesting conversations about games and game design and life in general. I subscribed to the channel, and after all these years we are still both subscribed. I've never thought about the fact that you weren't one of the "big" creators, your work fell in line with other content I was following. Although it is worth noting that while I've since unfollowed most of those creators, I still follow you. In a way, I think that if you'd continued making video essays on general game theory like the videos on game states and kinematics, rather than going into game "reviews", you probably would have grown significantly bigger. Research or no research. But that wasn't the direction you wanted to take this on, and that's all good and well. So from a long time viewer, I'm happy you've kept up this series. And I don't think you need be afraid at all of branching into other topics. It's your deeply pondered analysis and subtle and pleasant reassuredness we are here for, not the specifics of content that sparks the discussion. If anything, I think that reframing your self image from a game critic to a video essayist might well even help you reach a broader audience. Happy anniversary!
i love love love this rejection of "constant growth above all else". there's more value in well made, enthusiastically produced, well thought out vids than in whatever shit makes a robot at google gain 0.1% more happy points. i've played a lot of the little indie games you've recommended, maybe only for an hour or so, but they're all cool and interesting and help ME grow. i occasionaly remember a random idea from an analysis of yours that colours in my worldview a little more. that shit isn't being judged or promoted by an algorithm, except in so far as it can make google more ad revenue. big numbers ain't the goal, valuable creative works are the goal. and bud, you do that well. i appreciate your creative drive and hope you keep creating in exactly the direction you want to.
I think I started watching your videos about 9 years ago, when you uploaded that Bastion video. I still look forward to any upload to this day. Happy Anniverdary!
Jesus, dude! Did you have to hit me in feelings like that? I’ve been laboring in relative obscurity for a long while now, waiting for something to really break through (Not so much on RU-vid anymore. I’ve moved on to comics). I’ve had a lot of heartache, insecurity, and existential crises over why my audience hasn’t grown more, and I’m still working to digest those feelings. This has been tempered somewhat by the fact that I have a small circle of supporters who seem to understand and appreciate what I’m doing. Congrats on ten years! I’ve been watching for about half of that, and I always smile when I see you have a new video.
I'm a bit late to the party but I just wanted to share that your channel helped me succeed in graduate school and helped me really figure out my voice when it comes to theory criticism while applying it to video games. Thank you for your channel and videos. I can't wait to see what you continue to do!
Really thought-provoking perspective, Chris. Great video. I've been watching ES since your video on Far Cry 2 back when I was in high school. That game, and your analysis of it seriously changed my relationship with video games and gaming quickly evolved into being my favorite and most rewarding past time. Since then, I've almost religiously watched everything you've put out so it kind of blows my mind that it's been a decade now. My taste in RU-vid channels has evolved and expanded so much in the last 10 years but ES has always consistently been one of my must-watch channels. So it's really a constant in my life too. Really glad to hear that you've no interest in quitting any time soon. Looking forward to seeing whatever it is you decide to talk about next.
Gosh, what an incredible milestone! I have no idea what the first video of yours I saw was. I used to always conflate you and GMTK together because I discovered you both at the same time. I feel you definitely deserve that level of success as well!
This was beautiful for many reasons. I came to Errant Signal when I became interested in game design--much as I came to other channels at that same time--but I've stayed with these videos (watching the new and revisiting the old) because of the sincerity and depth of your introspective inquiry. You have a remarkable capacity at representing the ebb and arc of your thinking, of letting yourself be unsettled by a thought you cannot fully resolve: in particular, your videos on Fortnite and on author intentionality. It is honest and wanting, and that openness is rare in this attention economy. Keep producing what you will; I--at least--will keep watching however much of yourself you're willing to give. Thank you.
Thank you for making this series. Some of these episodes have been formative to me in the realm of critical thinking, and to this day some of the episodes consciously or unconsciously form the foundation of my thinking on a subject. Especially on gameplay and story, between the hotline Miami episodes and the debate that never took place. Your videos sometimes filled niches that I very much needed, forming critical bridges between surface level thought and the deeper critiques I've come to love. Even if your content is sometimes messy, it has at times stood in exactly the right place between academic and casual thought to allow me to cross back and forth from one to the other, sometimes *because* it was using rough terms and on-the-fly terminology. I think there's concepts I only have a decent understanding of because you used language I could see you building up on the fly, so I could follow along with the concept as a practical line of thought and have a basis on which to set more specialized thinking from myself and others. When I reach in my mind for a framework on how to think about a concept, or about some ideas in general, your videos are sometimes what I come up with, and that is tremendously valuable to me. So thank you for doing what you do. I'm excited to see what kinds of weird, niche videos you'll make while embracing your freedom in what you can create. I'm stepping away from this video with a smile on my face, and I look forward to however many more of your videos I'll get to watch over the years.
Ive been watching you more or less since the beginning when totalbiscuit referenced your win states video in one of his. Between the two of you i learned a lot about games and Ive since ended up getting a job in the games industry which has been the best thing to happen to me. It also opened up the door to many other creators like Noah Gervais whove become staples in my watching. So thank you for everything youve done over the last ten years and for making the stuff you want to make :)
10 years ago, I've decided that I want to be a videogame developer. I went to university to study computer science and got a diploma. Then I went on to work in web development for 5 years, doing some gamejams and messing around in Unity as a hobby. After that I was like "I really should be way more ahead than I am right now. After all I want to be the greatest gamedev that ever existed." So I left my job and took a year (worst year choice of all time, 2020) to make a game and become a legend. Then I ran out of money. 2021 came around an I was left without money, without a game and without fame or any kind of recognition to speak of. So I took yet another job (this time mobile app development, still not games) and I'm now toiling away at this job thinking "when does it start? when is life? when is me?" but it doesn't. And most probably it won't. This video helped me realise a couple of things and now I just want to finish a game and release it to the public, whatever the reception is. I just want one single person to say "Thanks, it was fun." That's my new goal. Thank you
Listening to your reflection on this channel, it both reflected on my hobbies and my various small projects that I always knew would not blossom into any sort of massive recognition, even though I secretly hoped it would, and on my professional life as an academic. I mean, do I want to become a public intellectual or founder of a school of thought which gets called by my name? Yeah! Will it happen? Probably not. Is my research thus a failure? I don't know! I make money doing it and occasional gigs where I get to nerd out, but I'm not gonna be the lever that shifts the boulder, at least not me alone. It's a lonely thought, but the idea of letting that pressure go and focusing on what is fun and engaging is comforting in it's own right. Happy anniversary, I always watch when your video gets on my feed.
The Beginners Guide video you did amazes me to this day. It is a wierd but cool meta construct of a video, that I find myself coming back to time after time!
Happy Anniversary! :) I came across your channel when it was recommended by Total Biscuit some 6-8 or so years ago. I've had your videos on my notifications and have watched them on release day ever since. I don't have they spare income for patreon, so being an avid fan is all I can do - but I can't summarize how much I enjoy your videos, your writing and humor, and your analysis that is always deeper than anything I could imagine and forces me to look at games - both ones I've played and have never heard of - in new light.
🥳🥳🥳 CONGRATS ON TEN YEAAAARS!!! this was a great look back-- it made me think about how i've watched practically every video on this channel [is that weird to say?] and how much its influenced me. I'm so happy you can still find joy in what its become, even if its not what you expected. Thank you for all your hard work and also making a small generation of nerds weirdly verbose about vidya games.
Please make more videos about movies, books, theme parks, or anything else that you're interested in. I've been a fan of Errant Signal for a while, but this video really hit home for me because I've been in a similar situation for a while. I'm currently studying Computer Science because I had some ambition and an idea that just because I liked the aesthetic of computers, I would be able to do programming professionally with few issues and, if not, I would be able to do my Dream Job in some other field. After 23 years of living and experiencing so much, I'm gradually getting to a similar realization of that I'm a pretty multi-faceted human being that has a billion interests and I'm not especially good at any of them. This ended up being more ramble-y and personal than I expected but my point is thank you for uploading this video and I'm looking forward to future videos.
The honesty here is admirable. 10 years. I wonder if you ever had a period where you ditched a day job altogether for the channel, or circumstances never allowed it. Not to up every aspects of the production, but simply getting them out quicker with all the time you're allowed to control. Anyway, I'm glad you've come to such conclusion and the path ahead seems clear in you.
speaking as an audience member, I've never really thought about what errant signal should be, I've just looked at it and thought "oh cool! excited for the next video!"
You being a bumbling fool who makes these videos is exactly why it’s so engaging. You set yourself apart because you don’t care about trends since you don’t have to. So far my favorite video was “gaming in the quarantine years” because it hits so close to home it hurts which is why I loved it.
Thanks for the video! I think I needed to hear this a bit. The short of it is that I didn't want to get up today, feeling depressed and anxious, and I kind of slogged through this day so far feeling like a loser. While I'm only a year younger then the you that started Errant Signal I already feel like my dreams have been dashed if you pardon the melodramaticness of that phrasing. My thesis is that games use narratology to give those Binary states meaning. But like you explained life shouldn't be viewed in those ways and what may in a game be a losing state in life has no one particular way of looking at it. It's kind of a lession I'm sure your 26 year old self probably already knew about but maybe didn't internalize it. So even if you dropped of the face of the internet for 10 more years, I like to think that when you came back I would be around to watch your content. Happy 10 years!!!
I used that video on win states as an example of good argumentation in a class about writing on video games that I taught at the University of Rochester. It’s great stuff, and I’ve loved listening to the other ones! Thanks for that!
I've been watching you since I started my career in games like about 10 years ago and watching you in my earlier years really got me to think more critically on game design. I can't help but relate a little as I always imagined by now I would stop working at other studios are start my own. Your series is stellar. Happy Anniversary!
Hey I don't usually leave comments on videos but dude you're my single favorite gaming channel on youtube and I've gotten a spike in excitement every single time I saw a new video of yours pop up for years now. I just poured a glass and I'm raising it to 10 more years of insight from Errant Signal.
I think Errant Signal was the second (maybe third) channel I ever subscribed to (after Idea Channel, which I'm pretty sure is also how I found you). Not sure how long ago that was, but I'm still here, digging your vibes and ideas. Congrats on 10 years. (PS: I'd definitely listen to you talk about Jurassic Park...)
Very late to this party but I'll just yell into the void that Errant Signal is excellent and a delight when it appears in my overburdened subscription feed.
Really nice vid man, and congrats on the anniversary of this channel! I remember way back when I first found your channel, and your video on the game Detention, because I was starved for vids on neat game analysis, and especially analysis on horror games that wasn't just jumpscare compilations Your vids always bring forth so much knowledge and thought-provoking ideas not just on the baseline of the games, but on the underlying messages, implications and character backstories, that not a lot of people are doing these days and I'm grateful that you do! I personally would love to see your analytical mind diving into movies or novels, not just games, and I look forward to what spark your creativity next!
Well, I always enjoyed your half-baked content. I always found it thought-provoking and I felt like I learned something new. You're a good writer, I think you can turn that talent into something else and be "successful" in other places.
Cool how you answered your own question ten years ago! The down side of social media is that it forces to compare yourself always with that anomalous case that got a few million hits, so you feel you're doing poorly no matter what. But what matters is that we keep coming back to your video because some are super funny, and generally they are more thoughtful than most (like this one!) "Spartan" 's fine. I thought you were going for poetic! ; )
Happy Anniversary! 🎉 I think being able to do whatever you want is the best place to be. :) I'd love to see you cover other stuff, particularly as I feel like I remember you saying something about having Halloween Horror Nights thoughts a while ago 👀
Bloody hell... 10 years? I remember watching you, not from the beginning, but close enough to that it feels... Strange thinking about that. But hey congrats, you've done allot better then me or most other creators. Take pride it what you have accomplished, even if its not what you dreamed!
I love your channel and all your videos! The Halloween horror game ones are my favorite, and I'm really enjoying Children of Doom! I wish you all the best!
Mate i love your channel, you changed my perspective on games. View them on a systemic lvl. And at one point i started to become interested in a systemic approach to our sociecty, started studieing economics and now i'm into critical theory and marxism. Thanks
Hey, you owe me nothing, and I’m always excited to watch your content no matter the themes That being said me and my associates are gonna have a problem if you stop producing quality art analysis so don’t let this get messy
