I wrote about Lockirby2's challenge runs last year. In short, his videos have been a huge source of delight for me in the years since I started watching, and his Facets playthrough blew me away with its exquisite play and attention to detail. His latest videos have focused on commentated damageless tutorials of Mega Man Powered Up stages. Give 'em a look!
I'm writing a follow-up because of his beautiful new website. All his challenge runs are documented here. It's a joy to read his excellent playthrough commentary on clean HTML pages with embedded videos, instead of navigating a maze of YouTube playlists and description boxes. I think the Final Fantasy challenge runs will be most of interest to my social circle. I'll of course also plug his Facets commentary. But poke around the site, it's just a very cool thing. If you've gotten deeply invested in HideOfBeast or Jaimers videos before, you'll find something to enjoy here.
Small specific sites like this mean a lot to me. When I get invested in a community resource that's only on a single centralized corporate platform like YouTube, I get anxious. What if the channel gets struck down for some arcane reason. What if the platform itself suddenly dies? We've been given plenty of cause to worry about these things. Seeing Lockirby's challenge runs get a home outside corporate ecosystems makes me happy.
Here's some funny timing — shortly after Lockirby messaged me about his new site, my friend Polly started work on a new home for her games to supplement her Itch page. She's posting a new page/commentary each day for the next few weeks, and they've all been really fun to read. Itch.io is a wonderful resource, and this isn't meant to replace it. But now she has a backup, a place for her games that belongs just to her. Just in case. As someone that adores her games, I think that's really nice.
If you're reading this, there's a good chance I personally care about work you've put online. If it vanished forever, I'd likely be sad. You don't necessarily need to make a whole site for your art. But consider exporting your YouTube videos or your Tumblr Archive. Make an extra copy of that source code that's sitting on a single eight-year-old hard drive. Give some love to that piece of yourself you shared online years ago and forgot about. A little extra care goes a long way.
