The Complexities of YouTube's Influence on Video Game Prices

As I sat at my desk, getting ready to call it a night, I couldn't help but think about the recent surge in prices for certain video games. It started with the announcement that Metal Jesus Rocks, a popular YouTube personality known for his "hidden gem" reviews, was selling a particular game for $80 on eBay. What happened to this game, which had once been a humble $10 title? The answer lies not with Metal Jesus, who claims he didn't have any hand in the price change, but rather with the broader influence of YouTube's marketplace.

YouTube personalities like Metal Jesus Rocks have built themselves into influential figures within the video game community. They share their passion for games and often uncover hidden gems that had been overlooked by others. However, this newfound attention can sometimes come at a cost. If someone takes a YouTube personality like Metal Jesus Rocks seriously enough to buy one of his recommended titles, only to see its value skyrocket to absurd levels, it's hard not to feel a sense of injustice. The game in question was Starcraft, an Atari 2600 title that had been long since forgotten by many. Yet, thanks to Metal Jesus' enthusiastic endorsement, it found itself catapulted into the rare and valuable category.

I must confess that I have always admired Metal Jesus Rocks' approach to gaming. He is unapologetically himself, sharing his genuine thoughts and opinions with his audience. His videos are often lighthearted and entertaining, making them a joy to watch for fans of video games everywhere. However, as much as I respect him, I also believe that there's a fine line between recommending games that have been overlooked by others and artificially inflating their value.

When I watched Metal Jesus Rocks' videos, I noticed that he often used phrases like "this game is worth $50" or "it's extremely rare." These statements might be taken at face value, but I wondered what exactly he meant by them. Was he genuinely assessing the game's value, or was he simply trying to get people excited about a particular title? Unfortunately, I've never seen him explicitly clarify these points in his videos. Instead, it seems that many viewers have picked up on his recommendations and run with them.

This brings me to the crux of the issue: YouTube's influence on video game prices is real, but it's not always fair or transparent. When a popular personality like Metal Jesus Rocks recommends a title, some viewers may take him at face value and purchase the game at inflated prices. This can lead to a situation where a relatively ordinary game becomes extremely valuable overnight, simply because of its association with a well-known YouTube personality.

It's worth noting that Metal Jesus Rocks himself has done nothing wrong in this regard. He's built his reputation on sharing his genuine passion for gaming, and he's never claimed to be an expert or a collector. However, as one who values honesty and fairness above all else, I have to wonder: what exactly is happening here? Why are prices rising so sharply, and how can we prevent this from becoming a standard practice?

As I reflect on these questions, I'm reminded of the importance of transparency in online communities like YouTube. While it's understandable that creators want to share their enthusiasm with their audience, they also have a responsibility to be clear about what they mean by certain statements. If someone is recommending a game and saying it's worth $50, but there's no evidence to back this claim up, then that viewer should approach the recommendation with caution.

Ultimately, I believe that we need to be more mindful of how our actions online can impact others. As fans of video games, we have a responsibility to support creators who share their passion with us in an honest and transparent way. By being more discerning about what we recommend and buy, we can help prevent the kind of inflationary pricing that's been happening in recent months.

So, what can you do? If you're considering buying a game recommended by YouTube personality like Metal Jesus Rocks, take a step back and ask yourself: is this really worth $100? Is it truly rare, or is it just a popular title being hyped up for the sake of sales? And if you are feeling pressured into purchasing a game at an inflated price, don't be afraid to speak out. There are plenty of other games out there that might be worth your time and money.

As I wrap up this article, I want to give a shout-out to Metal Jesus Rocks himself. He's built an incredible community around his passion for gaming, and he does it with integrity and humor. While the example I mentioned earlier was troubling, I believe that he genuinely believes in recommending games that have been overlooked by others, without any intention of artificially inflating their value.

To all my fellow gamers out there, let's keep talking about the games we love, sharing our passion and enthusiasm with each other. Let's also be mindful of how our actions online can impact others, and let's strive to create a community that is fair, transparent, and above all, fun.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhello everybody and welcome to another episode of how it's gonna say metal Jesus rocks but this is actually about metal Jesus and welcome to the last game hunter I read a tweet earlier this morning when I woke up and it bothered me and not for its metal Jesus it's towards everybody towards him to be honest I know when you become a big youtuber or or you become semi-famous or where the case may be you seem to be the butt or the problem and in this case it's very unfair metal Jesus rocks I could tell he has passion loves what he does he's gotten really really big since I started watching him in fact he's one of the reasons why I started doing YouTube between metal Jesus rocks rgt 85 love you man you guys all have different things was a happy console gamer three of you that I took different things from and and I've watched so much that I've learned so many different things but today this tweet you know I'm getting some grief lately about hidden gems so basically what's happening is people are saying Mel Jesus mentions a game and the game becomes a lot more valuable well I'm sorry if someone decides that they're going to listen to a show pop a game on eBay and it sells for a certain price now making it a new price that wasn't his fault I mean deep down all he's done is talked about instead of a triple-a title an A or B title that he thought was a really good game that should have been a better game and know everybody else to take this at a complex and then boom it's now a $80 game on eBay instead of being you know the ten dollar game that it was well if somebody was silly enough to buy that game and now the price has changed what are we gonna do about it don't buy the game listen like he says here you know he's not a skull for he's not a reseller he honestly you know doesn't even look at values and I watched his videos so I know he doesn't talk about oh this game is worth $50 and it's extremely rare and you know but okay now I see the game going up the value or the value being that whatever maybe because you know he is big enough that that can happen but it's not him doing it it's not his fault it's unfair and I'm just here to say you know what what happens when I get a little bigger and I mentioned a game as valuable well hold on hold on let me grab one I want my collection to be a lot more valuable I'm gonna grab star crack for the Atari 2600 gotta be worth at least $100 one hundred dollars so now if someone takes that and decides that they're gonna put it out a hundred dollars what you see what I'm trying to say here if if YouTube is controlling the market the video game market I seriously I don't see it I I think this is unjust it's not fair and metal Jesus rocks is doing what he does I think he pretty much started the hidden gem thing I never heard of hidden gems tell him so he's just doing something he's done for so many years I think it says he's been doing it for about eight years and you know all he's trying to do is tell you about a game that he thought was good or that someone has forgotten about that doesn't make it a valuable game or or the game is now all of a sudden you know five dollar games metal Jesus talked about is now a hundred dollar game that's not right and it's definitely not his fault so you know I just wanted to have my piece on this I read this I like metal Jesus I think these guys are really big in the time that I've been watching them and I mean I love you know our GT 85 I think there's there's differences between you know like the metal Jesus rocks the our GT 85 and the happy console gamer the happy console gamer to me is is a genuine you get to know him you get to know who he is and what he's about any shares his emotions and I think that's really cool and I hope that some of that has rubbed off on it and then you have our GT 85 which is your in your face boom boom boom I got the new scoop on the newest game and this that what's happening is it real is it not real and I like that and I hope some of that rubbed off on me and then metal Jesus brought this he's built himself a bit of an empire and I really hope that rubs off on me but I hope one day I'm not picking up a game like Starcraft and saying that this is a hidden gem and someone goes oh that's worth a hundred bucks it's not what it's about we all started this because we love to talk about games we like to play them and we like to share what we think and what we've done with you the audience so please don't blame someone on YouTube for the price of something unless that person is bluntly clarify that you know claims as worthless when it really wasn't and I've never seen metal Jesus Rock to do that one thank you guys just wanted to say my piece just getting home from work and I had to rant I had to you know it's funny I would stand up for any youtuber that was you know not in the right or or they're in the wrong and you didn't do anything at this point and hold the traffic him and say that right did that completely backwards but he's big guy I know he doesn't leave my help and and I'm just a small guy but my opinion counts and little Jesus man you've done nothing wrong I just want to say that hey guys last game hunter til next time please like subscribe share with your friends ring my bell game overhello everybody and welcome to another episode of how it's gonna say metal Jesus rocks but this is actually about metal Jesus and welcome to the last game hunter I read a tweet earlier this morning when I woke up and it bothered me and not for its metal Jesus it's towards everybody towards him to be honest I know when you become a big youtuber or or you become semi-famous or where the case may be you seem to be the butt or the problem and in this case it's very unfair metal Jesus rocks I could tell he has passion loves what he does he's gotten really really big since I started watching him in fact he's one of the reasons why I started doing YouTube between metal Jesus rocks rgt 85 love you man you guys all have different things was a happy console gamer three of you that I took different things from and and I've watched so much that I've learned so many different things but today this tweet you know I'm getting some grief lately about hidden gems so basically what's happening is people are saying Mel Jesus mentions a game and the game becomes a lot more valuable well I'm sorry if someone decides that they're going to listen to a show pop a game on eBay and it sells for a certain price now making it a new price that wasn't his fault I mean deep down all he's done is talked about instead of a triple-a title an A or B title that he thought was a really good game that should have been a better game and know everybody else to take this at a complex and then boom it's now a $80 game on eBay instead of being you know the ten dollar game that it was well if somebody was silly enough to buy that game and now the price has changed what are we gonna do about it don't buy the game listen like he says here you know he's not a skull for he's not a reseller he honestly you know doesn't even look at values and I watched his videos so I know he doesn't talk about oh this game is worth $50 and it's extremely rare and you know but okay now I see the game going up the value or the value being that whatever maybe because you know he is big enough that that can happen but it's not him doing it it's not his fault it's unfair and I'm just here to say you know what what happens when I get a little bigger and I mentioned a game as valuable well hold on hold on let me grab one I want my collection to be a lot more valuable I'm gonna grab star crack for the Atari 2600 gotta be worth at least $100 one hundred dollars so now if someone takes that and decides that they're gonna put it out a hundred dollars what you see what I'm trying to say here if if YouTube is controlling the market the video game market I seriously I don't see it I I think this is unjust it's not fair and metal Jesus rocks is doing what he does I think he pretty much started the hidden gem thing I never heard of hidden gems tell him so he's just doing something he's done for so many years I think it says he's been doing it for about eight years and you know all he's trying to do is tell you about a game that he thought was good or that someone has forgotten about that doesn't make it a valuable game or or the game is now all of a sudden you know five dollar games metal Jesus talked about is now a hundred dollar game that's not right and it's definitely not his fault so you know I just wanted to have my piece on this I read this I like metal Jesus I think these guys are really big in the time that I've been watching them and I mean I love you know our GT 85 I think there's there's differences between you know like the metal Jesus rocks the our GT 85 and the happy console gamer the happy console gamer to me is is a genuine you get to know him you get to know who he is and what he's about any shares his emotions and I think that's really cool and I hope that some of that has rubbed off on it and then you have our GT 85 which is your in your face boom boom boom I got the new scoop on the newest game and this that what's happening is it real is it not real and I like that and I hope some of that rubbed off on me and then metal Jesus brought this he's built himself a bit of an empire and I really hope that rubs off on me but I hope one day I'm not picking up a game like Starcraft and saying that this is a hidden gem and someone goes oh that's worth a hundred bucks it's not what it's about we all started this because we love to talk about games we like to play them and we like to share what we think and what we've done with you the audience so please don't blame someone on YouTube for the price of something unless that person is bluntly clarify that you know claims as worthless when it really wasn't and I've never seen metal Jesus Rock to do that one thank you guys just wanted to say my piece just getting home from work and I had to rant I had to you know it's funny I would stand up for any youtuber that was you know not in the right or or they're in the wrong and you didn't do anything at this point and hold the traffic him and say that right did that completely backwards but he's big guy I know he doesn't leave my help and and I'm just a small guy but my opinion counts and little Jesus man you've done nothing wrong I just want to say that hey guys last game hunter til next time please like subscribe share with your friends ring my bell game over