Mark from Classic Game Room - Not So Common Podcast #30

Mark from Classic Game Room talks about his upcoming Amazon show, ending his KZbin show, and the shifting KZbin landscape.
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[@PatTheNESpunk]

Are you looking forward to Mark's Amazon Prime Show - Classic Game Room 2085? How much will you miss his YT show? ✅Check out sponsor Dollar Shave Club - Get a razor for $1 with Free Shipping and no commitment! dollarshaveclub.com/pat ✅Help support this content: Patreon.com/PatContri ✅Follow Pat on twitter twitter.com/patthenespunk ✅Listen on Podbean: bit.ly/2p0KENE ✅Listen on Google Play: bit.ly/2oSlUdr ✅Listen on iTunes: apple.co/2oSzs8C

[@JohnnyinCLE]

Dollar Shave Club? GIMME 'DOLLAR TRUXTON CLUB'! BECAUSE... TRUXTON!!!

[@j0daze]

Thanks for the video. I love Mark's KZbin content and look forward to the Amazon content.

[@ChuckieV79]

j0daze ditto

[@MusicDiscoveryNet]

Mark should copyright the tone of his voice.. or maybe it's the high end microphone he is using

[@smenkinsa]

classic game room is the first gaming web show I saw and followed ;(

[@MrYoungHegelian]

Unfortunately most of Classic Game Room reviews this past couple of years are just him being bored giving little effort and inserting unrelated crap like Truxton, Vectrex and El Camino to pretty much every review.

[@Rustoization]

Yea, and he purposely chooses to review games no one has heard of or cares about. Its like hes doing it as revenge in some way

[@Rustoization]

Exactly

[@alomonwo]

so true cgr was really gold before he lost his huge arcade room.

[@DarkCylon]

That's why I unsubbed a few years back. There didn't seem to be much energy in his later videos.

[@FunkMastaMegaFlex]

He breathes Truxton the El Camino he sweats lol.

[@syxx573]

I'm proud to say that I've watched every video Mark has put out on this platform, and followed his old show when I was in college. Love you mark!

[@raphaelrodriguez1856]

CGRs story is pretty sad because Mark either lacked the talent to stay competitive or was just straight up too lazy to improve his content. You can tell from the frustration in his statements and tone of voice that it’s one of these two. He had a good run but was destined to fail.

[@L0L247]

I was a fan of CGR. IMO the reason it went on such a steep delcline is because the format never really changed. Inserting a Sega Genesis cartridge into an SNES is only funny the first time.

[@FunkMastaMegaFlex]

I kinda know what ya mean. He used a lot of cringy and silly humor. It was funny and made the show fun but he never added enough things.

[@locutus94]

I disagree. His dry sense of humor is the biggest reason I kept watching

[@Relugus]

@@FunkMastaMegaFlex He could do great long-form videos like Tim Rogers, if he put the effort in, but he still seems to operate in the old 10 minute KZbin format.

[@felix-ve8jk]

I think it's more that the average viewer on KZbin has degenerated to such a low brow sense of humor and personality that innocuous, "cringey" dad humor doesnt appeal to many of you anymore. I still love his videos and now he's putting out content again. Enjoy your moistcriticals and reddit slop.

[@EnterSandwich]

I like Mark but I don't care about his "how to draw kung fu chicken" or whatever content.

[@adoptedwalrus1133]

Do you even like mark than? It sounds as though you only like his game content instead, not him

[@theovlach]

I heard all the podcast before I start writing this. I've been a fan of Classic Game Room for years and I was watching his content for years. But here is the sad part. 1. He has a point about KZbin. But. When he was posting the same video with just different gameplay footage, but same jokes, same format, same all of them and he did not change the formula or add something new to what he has been doing. Which is fine, but would you watch the exact same movie every day, no matter how you love it? No. Let's be more specific. Take Caddicarus for example. He has a better variety of videos which are both retro and current gaming, movie reviews and funny stuff, half the age of Mark and around 100.000 subscribers more. He doesn't have to post every day something that repeats itself over and over again, just to have activity on his channel. 2. When you have a patreon that touched around 10.000$ per month but you didn't change anything at all, you make the backers think it's a terrible waste of money. And you made numerous Kickstarters for shit that hardly a small percentage of viewers cared. Where did all that money go to? You can try and point fingers all that you want, but just because you have a formula and you wanna stick to it, fine. But don't expect that everyone will back you or continue to support you if they are seeing no effort, no new ideas, no shit given. You keep calling yourself a creator. So... Create. 3. Just because you change the site that will host you, that doesn't mean that it will magically make it better. 4. Taking a snippet for a top 10 video and crediting him for it, is not "stealing".

[@theovlach]

And not only that, he charges AGAIN with Amazon, like the Patreon money was not enough. When will the greed stop?

[@Warrax22]

This guy is traumatized and obsessed with his videos being stolen, this mentality goes nowhere IMO.

[@artbell259]

'You Owe me a Living' - youtube changed, but so did Mark at least. Amazon showed up, he risked some money to do Subtitles on a batch of them, and now, well you are correct, he is like a dog, he holds on to pain. I think he is very self-aware. He can in NO way compete with the new Actor-Types, who can force joy and fun and being happy about content. He is get off my lawn, after paying me everything you possibly can. It poisons the fun we showed up to view. Paywalling videos, removing most of them from his Tome of Infinity channel he left up.

[@projectgoatse]

The problem with Mark is that while he's a well meaning guy, he can't see his own faults. There are other retro game shows that cater to his demographic with similar or better production values, that have a quarter of the total subscribers he has, but they get ten times the views he does. Why is that? Simple. People got bored and stopped watching.

[@RP_Williams]

Who are these other retro game channels? I've been looking for other channels (besides CGR, that put out good content) and I haven't found any

[@hwogrillo]

@@RP_Williams Check out Game Sack, Cinemassacre, Rerez, Top Hat Gaming Man, The Game Chasers, Stop Skeletons from Fighting, Happy Console Gamer, Guru Larry, Gaming Historian, Classic Gaming Quarterly, LGR. you should find at least something in those channels that tickles your fancy.

[@FunkMastaMegaFlex]

Some of his last reviews for the Sega games were decent, though the shitty comic book videos, how to draw, and lack of change for his comic reviews things did get boring.

[@locutus94]

I never got bored of Mark. I could take in his dry sense of humor all day long

[@NottJoeyOfficial]

I always preferred CGR Undertow and Derek over Mark. Sad to think that channel has been dead for over 5 years now.

[@locutus94]

I miss his dry sense of humor. No one else on KZbin seems to deliver that for me

[@AlexKidd]

I think what's happened is all the people 10 years ago making gaming videos were getting all the views because there were a lot less of them, now there are so many more gaming channels the audience is a lot more spread out

[@seangalvin3196]

Mark is obviously very jaded. I understand his POV, but his issue with his footage being used in TOP 10 review/channel type videos is odd. The "top 10" video is not a format with a lot of substance, but it can help gain new potential eyes on his channel.

[@chimkinNuggz]

sean galvin do they post the link of his channel in the descriptions of their videos?

[@seangalvin3196]

RuggedALAN I have no idea. My comment was just to the general idea. I'm only commenting on particular videos that may use clips. I.e. "top retro game channels". Ones where they are being clear about who's video it is.

[@Saniss48]

If its accredited to the source, it's publicity. If there is no citation of original sources, it is by definition, plagiarism.

[@seangalvin3196]

TheeSophisticatedCarrot /_\ exactly. Those particular videos are not actually trying to steal his content.

[@Horzzo]

It's watchmojo. They have stole dozens upon dozens of clips from Mark's videos without permission and with Mark asking not to be used in the videos. They have not complied nor have been penalized for it. They are a huge clickbait channel that generates a ton of views/money for youtube and so they are allowed to do so which is a violation of several of youtube's policies. It's pathetic.

[@Fred_PJ]

I get the feeling that to Mark the videogames stuff is strictly entertainment business and zero real passion.

[@derekhart410]

Fred Almeida Eh people are ripping him apart in the comments here but I can't blame him. The guy is absolutely passionate about what he does, but he's got to make a stable living for himself. Believe me i went to art school myself and the starving artist thing is a passion killer. He's making a smart decision to leave this platform and join a much more fruitful one so he can live comfortably and actually focus on what made him sucessful in the first place- his passion for videogames and film

[@Fred_PJ]

You see, the thing is that I question Mark's supposed passion for videogames. Of course KZbin is a business for these guys and they have to make a living, but he speaks here about videogames in such a disconnected way, like they're just props of the set of his show, a mere journalistic topic du jour, or like he'd rather do a show about gardening instead if that's what made money.

[@artbell259]

@@Fred_PJ +1 Reward keeps motivation going, but he says here in this solid interview, he was worn out on games as the topic after a while. Admits he fell out of love in 2013 when his videos were not pushed. KZbins changed 2013+ it hid GCR's low-energy videos. A+ video called 'Demonetized? good.' if you look for it, he is happy that low energy, low value video makers were punished again in 2017. Burned out, un-motivatedlow value video deserved punishment vs lifetime rewards.

[@crawlingamongthestars3736]

Fred Almeida I think he has a passion for video games, but only in a casual, nostalgic, beer-drinking late-night session sort of way. He doesn't want to have to put in the serious effort to offer in-depth, journalistic assessments of games and hardware, at least not anymore, and he apparently is also content with recycling the same old tired, and in some cases, half-assed, jokes endlessly. He became complacent and burnt out, and expected the money to continue rolling in regardless. Big mistake.

[@buhshmuh]

Mark is such a conceited diva. We get it you’ve made videos for years big whoop, the way he talks incessantly about the business side of KZbin video making shows his passion has been long gone and it has been affecting his content for years. Leaving KZbin ? Good riddance

[@versnellingspookie]

The only reason that i stopped watching CGR is because he stopped making gaming related content, whilst uploading Comic reviews, reviews of Art supplies, trailers for new merch, basically anything unrelated to the old CGR stuff we all knew and love. I would happily support him on Patreon is he made episodes the way he used to do

[@kirestus]

i have been watching mark since about 2010 or 2011. cgr was huge for me back in the day, but around the time he moved his studio into the big warehouse i kinda felt like the show lost most of its magic. reviews were super half assed and the competition had grown some serious chops. I kinda feel like mark doesn't want to be doing the show as much as writing comics or books. i got in on the pateron and bought a bunch of merch when he said the show was going down, then he rebooted it and cgr mark 3 and it was brutal. it was more of an advertisement for his books I hope mark finds more success producing long form content or maybe just drop cgr and go on to something else. but blaming youtube for everything is just not fair.

[@kirestus]

i know i sound like im harshing cgr and mark in here, and thats not what i'm saying. mark has always been a huge inspiration to me, and for those few years cgr was something absolutely amazing

[@RP_Williams]

" and the competition had grown some serious chops." - what other good retro game review channels are there?

[@artbell259]

@@RP_Williams Audio podcasts are where the retro stuff thrives, for newer games Pat and Ian are champs, but spawnwave and nintendo prime do daily video, which is extreme commitment that might put Mark's health in jeopardy, I agree burnout set in. I like that other retro channels take their time. Even Pat has laid back from doing NES content I noticed, maybe youtube is tough with him even ?

[@BlayzedBlue]

@@RP_Williams you obviously have been out of the loop for a long time. There are TONS of Retro Gaming shows infinitely better than the crap Mark puts out.

[@RP_Williams]

@@BlayzedBlue "you obviously have been out of the loop for a long time." - um no, the fact someone is asking about other good game reviews would indicate they're actually NEW to the loop. "There are TONS of Retro Gaming shows infinitely better than the crap Mark puts out." - I wasn't asking about 'shows' in general (ive been a fan of AVGN and Pat for years), I was asking specifically about REVIEWS (because i'm getting more into emulating retro games lately, and I want more reviews on which roms I might want to check out). And I've since found some others, but I have to disagree that Mark's AREN'T crap (they're usually at least a bit funny, and fairly informative and objective). You kind of strike me as an idiot (with a reading problem), so I think i'll pass on holding your opinion with any sort of regard.

[@JazzMachine77]

The funny thing with this guy is that he have been quitting KZbin a couple of times and always come back. The truth is that his show is not that good and anyone think it is worth watching his videos outside of KZbin. To not mention all the drama he started saying that he was shutting down the channel and stop making videos, after a week there was a new video up again. With that said, he will be back very soon.

[@Abel-Alvarez]

Well this time he legitimately left youtube for good sadly.

[@CoolHandJames]

@@Abel-Alvarez nah, he didn't lol. He always has a tantrum and comes back, he's like a child

[@RejectedManiac]

He doesn't know what KZbin did? Mark can blame the death of CGR on KZbin, but we all know it went to shit when he shut down CGR Undertow and fired everyone. He then started pushing products to his fans and was drawing blocks and fucking ice cream cones. We subscribed for video game reviews, not a QVC drawing session.

[@infinitesand9397]

Too bad they didn't touch on CGR Undertow. I wanted to know more about it.

[@travissheldon4641]

Probably best that Mark isn't doing KZbin vids anymore, since he seems to resent everything involved with the platform. His inability to adapt to a changing climate or manage his channel effectively is telling.

[@xmaverickhunterkx]

I think people don't understand really how old KZbin was. I can only imagine how frustrating it was for Mark to see it change. But a big part of the problem was Mark not knowing how to deal with the times.

[@Drinkabeerandplayagameofficial]

I still like Mark's content but he comes off so bitter in this interview. He sounds like "It's not my fault, it's theirs" when it's actually somewhere in between

[@joshuanorris5860]

Meh he didnt blame the viewers. Just stating where his viewers are! If they dont click his videos thats all you can do because he didnt want to cater his content to youtube. He wanted to find a better venue for the content he wants to make. Without comprimising the content

[@Alianger]

Yeah, afaik YT isn't making money even after all these changes towards c-tier entertainment and catering to tv networks. They can't put in the kind of resources he expects.

[@gigicestone4902]

But he's right, none of this mess is his fault.

[@theovlach]

Desolate Justice If his content is in decline, part of it is his fault, since that's the same video, different background.

[@chillvibes375]

I agree. Yt gets some blame, this new algorithm thing that he speaks of....most people never talk about this. sounds like he making excuses....... but at the same time, other people have come forth and said yt basically chooses who to blow up, promote etc. so you are lucky if u have 2 mill subs or even 1 mill. But also understand, back then 2008-2010 (i found cgr in 2010) there was less competition for game reviews.....and mark always sounded bored anyway...never really explained the games, he just assumed u were familiar with the tittle. so then why would i want a review? exactly. and overall sooooooo many channels do what he does but better. blame yt all u want for not advertising the channel on people feeds...but all he started to do was review games nobody gives a fuck about in a monotone way while barely explaining it....sounds to me like he should be grateful he even got millions of views, did he really think this channel would last for 20 years?? you had a good run now sit down. face it, kids and teens today don't know about this channel, i was in 12th grade in 2010, no way this channel comes back now. People wont care where they get a game review from these days, he is very lucky to once have had the success he had, channel was in its prime in 2010 still, now its dead. like u said somewhere in between...nothing last no matter how good it may have been

[@kabukimanindahouse]

i didn't unsub from cgr because of youtube. i just got tired of having 20 videos a day in my inbox reviewing some crappy xbox games in a half-assed way. that was years ago. good luck anyway, the bitterness won't get you anywhere, though

[@SPQR101010]

plus all the el camino, vectrex and truxton jokes, the reviews are just really bad, boring and no real insight or give any background on the games.

[@user-md1ol7nj7h]

@@SPQR101010 some of his reviews are pretty funny though like the DT racer

[@thespiralmatrix]

Tell mark to unhide his Pateron monthly total. Was a huge fan even through all the book shillings but going to Amazon is my final straw. I cancelled my pateron donations and unsubbed his channel.

[@zebunker]

It's none of your business. How much do you make at your job.

[@BawesomeBurf]

If someone is stealing full CGR videos and uploading them to their own channel, that sucks. However, it sounds like people are cutting it up to put in Top 10 videos. While that still sucks, it's not something to whine about, and it certainly doesn't steal views from his own content. Nobody looks for an Uncharted review and says, "Gee, I could watch this review of the game I'm interested in, but I think I'll watch this Watchmojo video instead." When Mark got rid of all his staff and the website, his content really went downhill. I don't think I'd want to watch 45 minutes of Mediocre Mark. Which is a shame, because CGR was one of the big reasons I wanted to make my own channel.

[@BawesomeBurf]

Also, I find it ironic that the guy who I've NEVER seen respond to comments is butthurt over the comments section in his recent videos and is now disabling them.

[@projectgoatse]

Mark comes off as extremely entitled here. No one is stealing his content wholesale. And Pat diplomatically called him out on two key things - that he's too lazy and entitled to report content violations like everyone else does, and won't submit his content to the Content ID system so that his intellectual property will be automatically detected and protected. That's like crying over the fact that he got into a car accident and someone else should have to pay for it, but he drove away from the scene of the crash before the police ever showed.

[@rogermoss5754]

BawesomeBurf Watchmojo has used his clips multiple times

[@kebbinator]

Sure; but to be fair he has put a lot of money and effort into collecting and capturing footage of his game library, and to see larger channels making more money and more views off of his hard work, for free, would be very frustrating.

[@hwogrillo]

Mark will respond to you (maybe) for only $1.99 per month over at Patreon. Or if you pledge to his Kickstarter of the week.

[@rodnigalloway1781]

Unfortunately, it sounds like Mark hasn’t evolved his content. Can’t put out the same content for 10+ years; then, expect to have the same results.

[@zebunker]

Yes you can. Look at all the stupid sequels and remakes of games and movies. Be got screwed by KZbin, not his videos

[@soulzombie6972]

@@zebunker I disagree, of that were entirely the case then other channels that have a tone closer to his such as Game Sack wouldn't still be successful to this day. There are a lot of small things he could have done to improve his videos such as showing actual game footage in the console reviews and not making the pauses during the gameplay SO long that they're kind of awkward. I know they do this in documentaries and maybe that's why he did it, but a game review is not a documentary and requires different techniques.

[@heathers6508]

I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE HAS TO SAY ABOUT MARK! I LOVE YOU MARK! CGR FOREVER!

[@everyoneeatsthebox2475]

Just put the show out of its misery and move on, Mark. Should've happened two years ago.

[@PastoKage]

I love CGR and Mark is right on most of things, but damn, he is butthurted.

[@zebunker]

KZbin took lively hood. People used to get murdered for doing such things.

[@konradwroblewski2115]

He had his livelihood taken away, CGR was also a small business which at one point employed something like 15-20 people. And that's straight from Derek from Undertow himself. They were making a living doing what they loved and had it ripped away. What's he supposed to do or feel? Should he have a party about it? Gotta be realistic. Anyone would be bitter if this happened to them.

[@RallyLancer95]

He's the son of a millionaire lmao

[@philosophyoftrucking]

I wish nothing but the best for Mark.

[@Horzzo]

Watchmojo has stole Mark's content over and over without penalty. It's disgusting.

[@Horzzo]

Also, I'll continue to watch CGR wherever it's presented. Even a space volcano. watchmojo has stole dozens upon dozens of clips from Mark's videos without permission and with Mark asking not to be used in the videos. They have not complied nor have been penalized for it. They are a huge clickbait channel that generates a ton of views/money for youtube and so they are allowed to do so which is a violation of several of youtube's policies. It's pathetic.

[@fnjesusfreak]

That's *A TURBOVOLCANO!*

[@targetrender9529]

Horzzo his content is crap, and he doesn’t own the rights to the games he makes videos of. Stop whining. You just me Mark.

[@bonggzilla]

Really want to watch the new classic gameroom. Iam a fan since 08 But i have to admit the last year was rough to watch. Way to much old running gags And mark seemed not happy

[@chrisrunyon2372]

To me Mark was the best game reviewer out there period.

[@nottrash9034]

Im glad to see Mark go on from KZbin. I hope he does well! He was doing internet content creation on games and retro gaming before it was cool and when Amazon was known more for selling books. I feel it's only right that he ascends further. Godspeed my guy.

[@DeckyStrikesBack]

I respect Mark and am a fan of cgr but just check out his recent vectorman 2 review. He gives zero fucks. I could barely finish it. Still - huge respect for his body of work.

[@infinidominion]

In the past couple yrs, the wavy voice thing at the end of vids was torture. If I was watchin a review, listening while doin other computer stuff, I'd have to quickly stop what I was doin and get another vid goin to not hear that shit. I understand shoutin out supporters but that was awful.

[@zintosion]

Christopher Rowe I think those people pay $100 to get their name shouted

[@infinidominion]

I'm just talkin about the sound tho. especially when you have headphones on.

[@OldsXCool]

I couldn't follow Mark after he started flooding his channel with filler content like the "who defeats" videos. However I understand completely why he had to reinvent the show because he couldn't. You Tube's content heavy handed content ID plus people falsely claiming your content really drains the desire to make content. Mark's videos always had the full content of the game he was reviewing, music and all. Look what you get now. You get no music and most of the time no sound at all with very limited footage because everyone is afraid of content ID. Modern You Tubers talk about video game news with a shitty review of a up coming game or emulator box coming soon that the manufacturer sent them for free. They all have the same crappy thumbnails with the stupid questions like "does it suck?" or "Best SNES clone ever?" or "should you buy?" all with the same stupid look on their faces in each. I'm pissed at what we've had to settle for because You Tube along with Nintendo had to be huge dicks and the fact that You Tubes content ID has no statute of limitations. When the content ID rules change your 10 year old video could become a violation! Mark is 100% right about all of that. Can you still make money on You Tube? Absolutely, but you have to make it a certain way which often terriby alters its original state to where it's not recognizable anymore. Mark has a right to rant, and I was very sad to see what happened and how his channel went down. I miss Classic Game Room.

[@Maverick.D.]

Mark is 100% right about the whole clickbait culture.

[@WHATISUTUBE]

He's right about KZbin treating its userbase like shit He's wrong about Top Tens using his clips taking views from him He's confused as to why his vids aren't more popular on youtube. Certain type of content doesnt fail just because its on youtube, it fails because its unpopular. He's bitter about his lack of popularity and enthusiastic about large corporate censorship that will ban the content that is more popular than his.

[@MorganNye]

Blame Susan Wojcicki

[@MrJaakob13000]

I really hate to hear you talk about Pewds and adpocalypse, because you dont realize how misinformed you really are. Felix just recently addressed this farce, after hearing Joe Rogan throw out the same conjecture

[@nlberglov8458]

Still watching this great content in 2020 Pat!

[@Tihi92]

End of 2021 here. ;)

[@cyborgslayer8083]

Nov 2022 here

[@dextersbeard3472]

Man I miss Mark and his Intergalactic arcade room

[@Technosphile]

“Gene Wilder doesn’t work that much anymore!” Yeah you got that right, Pat

[@MasterFallenHero]

Huge fan of Mark's and I wish he didn't come off so bitter. I imagine a lot had to come to it behind the scenes. Personally I've been a fan for 8 years. I will say that I don't watch a lot of his uploads lately because his videos are sort of repetitive. You see one and you've seen them all. For someone who blames the system he's done little to change.

[@GAMECLOSET]

I too miss CGR. I’ve seen what Mark has said about KZbin and the adpocalypse killed channels that has millions of viewers and subs. My channel is tiny now, and if I wasn’t getting paid, I would flee too.

[@Rustoization]

I always thought CGR had high production value in their videos....but then I just re-watched some videos, and its just Mark talking over gameplay footage. Thats it. No wonder he lost his audience.

[@whodatninja439]

Most of it is but he also did on camera reviews.

[@konradwroblewski2115]

What you described is most review channels. They talk while showing footage and showing a bit of themselves. Some review channels don't even show the person reviewing and only show footage they talk over. Imo KZbin algorithms killed his channel, plus the fact that as the years went on retro gaming and gaming channels became far more popular and a lot more people began doing it. In the earlier days there weren't as many channels fighting for a piece of the same viewer demographic. But who knows, maybe he said something that rubbed YT the wrong way and they decided to kill his channel. You don't go from getting 50-100k views for years on end to getting 10k in a span of a few months without there being an x factor.

[@SeekerLancer]

He lost interest, plain and simple. He turned a hobby into a career and sucked all the joy out of it. It's just a shame he showed such disdain for his fans in the process.

[@crystalwater505]

Indeed. I've never seen him respond to one comment on his YT videos.

[@pepomega]

But he could have still keep making videos at least 1 or two times a month as a hobby without caring about making money. But in this era, people on internet cares more about making money than their hobby.

[@noelspyro7473]

classic game room forever

[@reploid2953]

CGR has been terrible for years.

[@Dragonborn-dc4uj]

Reploid no it was still great

[@arsenixa]

1000s of movies never released on any other format and awesome cover art are positive reasons to own VHS

[@megawutt]

Hopefully he got a real job and makes a decent living now. Depending on KZbin for revenue is not a good idea.

[@zebunker]

KZbin is a real job. Good luck on the morning chump change you get at "real jobs".

[@MicahBuzanANIMATION]

Holy Cow, I have to admit I was not expecting that KZbin smack down from mild-mannered, Zen master Mark. I thoroughly enjoyed that.

[@KevinJamesVideo]

Having battled KZbin's algorithm and watched great content suffer in recent years, this interview spoke to me.

[@MrRatherDashing]

Howdy Kevin, I've been a fan of yours since 2007. I'm enjoying the guaranteed* videos.

[@KevinJamesVideo]

Another Wasted Afternoon Thanks! That means a lot.

[@justiny.5795]

Maybe you should take a look at your content before you start complaining about "algorithms".

[@Seth______]

Its sad to see him go, but youtube isn’t a place to call home for decent content anymore

[@ShdxW]

I was a fan of cgr at the start, but I lost interest in retro gaming for a few years around 2009. Once I got back into it I checked out all my old favorites again, cgr included. It felt like an unsatisfying nostalgic look back into what used to fly as top-tier content on youtube watching his vids (the same weird feeling watching gamelife gives me nowadays, but not quite to the same extent.)

[@soulzombie6972]

If I'm being honest I feel like sometimes Marks videos suffered from a lack of quality. For example, I was excited when I discovered his console vs. console videos and console review videos, but then I was disappointed when he wouldn't show any footage of gameplay to pack up the personality of the system, and that's what he always said he liked best about the older consoles, their personality. In contrast, although they aren't good actors I am never disappointed by game sack because they always did put such effort in their videos.

[@DeLorean4]

Remember when the worst thing about KZbin was clickbait and not crippling misinformation? Pepperidge farm remembers.

[@terrythe2dmaniac71]

A great show and a very funny guy, thanks Mark for all your efforts and all the fun you gave all of us.

[@JasonVectrex_187]

Completely agree with everything he said about youtube. We wish you luck mark, I will actually join in I'm interested in the old stuff, and I never have followed you but I definitely see the older stuff dying out in popularity on youtube.

[@JasonVectrex_187]

I see it turning into a completely paid service, monthly fees, like tv, with way more rules imposed on the creator as far as what they put out.

[@andrewthompson1405]

This is amazing and such a great guest. Thanks pat!

[@SlipKnoTfreak1456]

I'll miss ya Mark, had some great times with your videos big fella

[@Omn1Slash]

One of the best episodes yet Pat

[@shootshoot]

I currently watch Pat more than anyone else on KZbin, at one time it was CGR, I know all of Pat's videos don't hit my front default page, despite the fact that I watch his videos more than anyone else's.

[@Raiden3651]

cant wait for Mark's Amazon series. That charisma and ability to make a bag of potato chips sound like the most life changing product oughta get him mad bank.

[@GeoffSBuffalo]

After listening to the podcast a few days ago in the car I wanted to come back to this interview so here I am. I think the comment section is very much calling mark out for this Interview and I am not sure why in my opinion he is transitioning from one job (KZbin) to another (Amazon) and is at the point where he is asked about KZbin and of course he is going to point out dislikes. If you were moving on from something its easy to lose track of why you liked doing it in the start or at the high point. I wish Mark luck and for the people who enjoy his work just follow him into the new platform or don't and he will have to find a new audience or change.

[@TBustah]

The media blew the whole Tide Pods thing out of proportion. It was really only two or three kids doing it on KZbin until the evening news started wagging their fingers at them.

[@scottp.548]

Nice to hear em' talk about what this site has turned into lately.

[@MrSEA-ok2ll]

It literally kills me how cheap arcade machines were literally 20 years ago compared to today. I grabbed a blue Donkey Kong machine for $1200 in 2010, after King of Kong. Before King of Kong I could have picked one up for probably $400. Regarding Classic Game room, I bought some DVD copies of earlier episodes when it was a two man beer drinking team 10 years ago...very cool.

[@dronegaze3433]

I love mark and classic game room but I have a few issue with him in this interview. I think he has a pretty broad definition of what fair use is. Someone taking part of his video and putting it in another video isn't theft especially when you are taking footage of a game you didn't make it. I also thought think his view problem has less to do with youtube and more to do with his content. CGR makes increasingly niche content and he has continued to churn out very formulaic reviews. You aren't going to exactly grow your audience when you are using the same style over and over. As much as he he says he is grateful it doesn't sound like it. Dude had a successful small business, doing something people would kill to do. I wish him the best and wanna see him put out quality content but I think putting the blame solely on youtube is disingenuous or ignorant.

[@gunpuncher3817]

You should still credit footage that you take. Not doing so is pretty scummy.

[@dronegaze3433]

uhhhh have you seen the watch mojo videos ? they do give credit to classic game room with a large visible on the screen. I don't agree with them using marks footage without his permission but its not like they are taking the videos and just re-uploading them they are using 10 seconds of footage here and there. If anything they are promoting his videos by exposing to a wider audience. more than thing can be true at the same. I agree its scummy but it isn't theft like mark says it is. No one watches watchmojo to get there classic game room fix

[@ThisIsPete]

It's been a couple of weeks since I watched a CGR video, and I hadn't realised how much I'd missed hearing Mark's voice. I know what I'm doing later! Thanks for recording this, Pat and Mark, it was an interesting discussion.

[@attackofthetheeyecreatures3472]

The shittiness of VHS actually helps when you're watching horror movies.

[@zebunker]

No

[@attackofthetheeyecreatures3472]

@@zebunker Yes

[@FunkMastaMegaFlex]

MUSHA! Truxton! You must launch another attack classic game room and the intergalactic space arcade hasn't been destroyed?! Oh..... Wait never mind this is from 2018, good it's destroyed. Lol. I never took Mark seriously, though I liked some of his game reviews, then he became this elitist snob with changes to his show structure and leaving KZbin, which just made him more silly and goofy lol.

[@JamesBrown-oz5bl]

Mark should have just let Derek doing the reviews, loved that guy's review style.

[@zebunker]

It was a company, not just mark

[@an3582]

I love Mark, as soon as I can, i will support him on his platform of choice. Thanks for the podcast Pat.

[@PyramidgodMeekman6]

Just gotta say; You can watch all the Prime stuff and CGR 2085 for 2 bucks (I think) on Patreon. You don't have to have Amazon Prime.

[@WildVoltorb]

Love the rant

[@coveredinthorns7185]

He was good and one of the earliest youtuber with reviews on retro stuff. I liked his content a lot back in the day. I think he brings up some good points on how youtube changed(like copyright) but I also don't know if there is enough game content out there for him to make a living off of forever. Either way smart guy and good to know what happened, loved your content the way it was.

[@PipScotland]

Here's a small saying that many men and women have used before ADAPT OVERCOME. KZbinrs need to realize THEY chose this life they weren't hired or even asked for THEY decided to just do it.

[@OaksCU1]

KZbin channels using clips from your videos in top 10 lists for example, doesn't that fall under fair use? Granted I don't know exacly how much can be used under fair use, and they of course should give credit to the creator.

[@lo1bo2]

Watching the video, Mark is the best ventriloquist ever!

[@terraspent]

i just subscribed to amazon prime because i missed cgr so much

[@hwogrillo]

You subbed to Prime to see a show that ended after like 4 months and 8 episodes? When there's like 15,000 CGR episodes on youtube?

[@terraspent]

@@hwogrillo yea, get over that pal! lol. fun fact there is tons of other stuff there too also on 30 day trial also, shad ap!

[@hwogrillo]

@@terraspent I mean I don't care what you spend your money on. It just seemed odd

[@terraspent]

@@hwogrillo OOOOH REALLY HAHA, you are openly contradicting yourself next to your actions and you are quite hilarious. inadvertant knack for funnies lolz

[@hwogrillo]

@@terraspent I don't think you understand what the word contradiction means. And judging by your horrendous spelling and grammar, I'd be willing to wager that it isn't the only word you don't know.

[@kemy6775]

Already on my Amazon playlist. This will be awesome.

[@ranchman693]

It's a real shame. I love and watch classic game room but they don't come up on my home page anymore. Same as James and Mike Mondays. Pat you're safe for now lol.

[@monos33]

Gotta say i miss Marks videos on youtube. I was a fan of the guy for several years

[@Sakanakao]

This is a interesting interview!

[@RetroGamePlayers]

I'm going to wear my Classic Game Room hat all week. Keep It Retro Mark!

[@common_c3nts]

Why is this mark guy so pissed off and bitter???

[@itachi9kitty]

KIds have changed youtube. My friends kid is only 2 and she will sit there and just click through video after video and even leave them playing after she sets her ipad down, so all these garbage videos are getting views and playtime.

[@ukxvc]

I'll be with Mark over on Amazon. All my favourite YT channels are being propped up by Patreon these days. Times are a changin'!

[@hensan5150]

He sounds like a disgruntled ex employee, i get it they took away the money, so just be glad you did make money and just keep up your hobby and make your videos and keep it original and have fun.

[@johnmccormack6253]

Mark's Monthly Chat on the Pat the NES Punk channel. Every Month Once A Month. "Keeping Gaming Friendly" idk but god damn I'll have it

[@kylelee1191]

/ I was wandering what happened to Mark . I have been Subbed to him for so long and all of a sudden I just stopped getting Notifications from Classic Game Room . ???? I have missed his Reviews so much .

[@JetSetTyler]

i liked a lot of his old stuff

[@FrottyZaoldyeck]

No offense, but I just checked mark's content. The CGR episodes are just very slow paced and you sound more bored than invested or simply over the top. Even the old videos with millions of views have a relatively small amount of likes and comments, heavily indicating that it's more due to hype than actual viewership. They were published at a time where retro was in high demand and people would watch almost anything retro related. Now the "market" of such mundane reviews is over saturated and there are also many channels available that do what you are doing, in better/a more interesting style. The same happened to all those copycat "angry reviewers", except very few that established themselves with more than just being angry. From what I see, you havn't changed improved much, if it all, except for audio/video quality. While I'm against click bait, I also despise low effort editing. Your problems with youtube are mostly understandable, but I'm sure it's not just youtube's fault you are losing viewers.

[@seangalvin3196]

I agree with pretty much all you said. I loves marks content and youtube does have issues, but he came off as a very angry and jadded person in this interview. His anger might be legitimate, but its being pointed in a lot of wrong directions. It was, overall, a very depressing interview.

[@Tihi92]

So true... :(

[@artbell259]

@@seangalvin3196 I loved the interview 'why I left. why youtube is cold towards my stuff' just sad that he won't cop to being a cranky old guy who won't adjust his way, who is fearful to invest and hire staff for an ever changing platform. He cares more about money reward than what we think, but at least was brutally honest why he left, unable admit that he could not compete at all when everyone showed up.

[@RNorthex]

Clickbaity and over-the-top are absolutely not the only way to succeed, see: LGR. Amazon will not be better than youtube. Maybe until they need to build up a userbase, but once that happens, they will do what any other large business/corporation does. If any company, amazon should've made that very clear at this point. KZbin is not the issue, it's just simply how any business in the west works, it's sad, but I hope mark will be able to cope with it and get back to focusing on himself than to let the 'it's not fair' get to him.

[@kaiserrino8774]

Nothing but excuses and bitterness from Mark. This dude couldn't evolve and adapt, but yeah blaming others is always easier.

[@zebunker]

He's right about most of it. People think they have no responsibility for watching free content. They did not show support with money or going to other channels. Hard to win when system is rigged.

[@hwogrillo]

@@zebunker Yes. They did support his channel. Very, very generously in fact. At the time this video was posted, Mark had 711 people backing him on Patreon. His peak was 1419 patrons, and he was pulling in 11k per month. So if you assume half the revenue left with half the patrons, he was still making 5,000 a month. And that's BEFORE ad revenue, merch, and the multiple other sources of cash he had flowing into his bank account from CGR. That's a pretty damned good living for making some 5 minute videos and repeating the same 5 jokes over and over for 10 years.

[@werdman24]

Someone's bound to make The REAL Ultimate NES Guide Book in the vain of Ghostbusters.

[@Zoliqa]

Sorry folks but he is just moaning. If you have a degree in marketing or even you just learnt something from a book, you should know how to make this profitable or make money from it. Crying about a free platforms algorithm change is ridicilous.

[@PutYourQuarterUpGaming]

My question is what other platform can we host video content on other than KZbin

[@Megaphro]

Twitch

[@msbae]

Vimeo, Vid.Me, Minds.com, etc.

[@louskunt125]

Nowhere if you want people to actually watch it

[@caligoclarus]

Remember when vid.me was a thing? Lord Publius remembers...

[@Alianger]

vimeo and minds

[@blastedmcgraw152]

Great podcast. Best wishes to Mark! Looking forward to the Prime content.

[@wingsofrichard1393]

So he was too lazy to adapt and change on YT from what I gather. Such a shame his biggest enemy was himself

[@zebunker]

Nope. KZbin screwed him.

[@Wallyworld30]

I remember when Mark moved his review videos to Daily Motion. He still released KZbin video's but they only promoted his video's on Daily Motion with a link to said video. I unsubbed from him soon after which was a few years ago. I don't know what he has been up to since so this interview should help catch me up.