Sonic Fan Content Flagged As "Made For Kids" On YouTube, Harming Creator Income

Youtube content creators should start swearing more then. Cybershell, the "Sonic lore master", never gets marked as for kids.

I’ve heard from various other creators that the “Made For Kids” flag is pretty much the kiss of death for your video. It just kind’ve shows how broken Youtube is as a platform

Wow balena productions and sonicsong182 are on here!
I love both channels. Sad that YouTube has to mess everything up. I already hate YouTube kids because it’s seems like no matter what video I watch that has the kids mark on it it always recommends the video where phinease and ferb gets busted.

@EarthboundBenjy Like a reverse AVGN? Dude went from a sailor to Barney when his cursing made him lose a few bucks.

My niece and nephew only have access to YouTube Kids and they love Sonic. They may be the few that discovers this content.

@AndyC_MK111 I see your point to some extend, though some of this would absolutely fall under parody (like the bomb one). I do sometimes wonder why some people spend so much time re-editing Star Wars to be more to their liking when they could be using that talent to create something they like better. Then again, fans gonna fan.

@SteamEngenius Man, that channel has dropped in quality. 😞

That’s quite sad. Sonic has some of the most loyal fans out there, so to see their livelihoods taken away will never not be tragic.

@EarthboundBenjy

The problem is that being flagged as mature can have other problems, so it’s a very fine line.

Well yeah. Don't you remember the Adpocalypse from those Spiderman and Elsa videos? Do what some other creators have done and put a disclaimer at the beginning of the video saying "Not for Kids".

@AndyC_MK111 I mean Christian Whitehead helped with some pretty great Sonic fangame work and unofficial ports. People might've said the same about him when his Sonic ports were taken down by Sega, but then he spearheaded Sonic Mania, a game that was by all accounts awesome, and arguably the greatest sonic games since the 90s.
Even if all of these sonic fans aren't developing content for Sega, without their community created content, the fanbase would've died off years ago. Fan created content ends up being free advertising for Sega, and keeps fans invested in the property until the next big release. Obviously the ip is still owned by Sega, but if the company chooses to allow fanmade content to be made, instead of sending the old cease and desist letters, I think it's reasonable to expect that the fan be able to earn some money for that work, especially when considering that the company is turning a blind eye to it.

Laughing out loud

@AndyC_MK111 I can see that, though at least in the US Parody law is pretty clear and parody is allowed. It's no different than what Robot Chicken does on TV. Not that I much care for such stuff, but I think creators have the right to make it. I am generally all for corproations protecting their IP as they see fit.

YouTube has become such a buzzkill. Nowadays, coming across untouched Spongebob clips with the comment section intact is like finding an oasis in a desert.

The fact that South Park videos sometimes get flagged as for kids prove how meaningless this system is.

@AndyC_MK111 so to extend your logic further, absolutely nobody should ever profit from fair use criticism, satire, or parody? That's an extremely black and white take based on nothing other than some arbitrary notion you have that people who would generate that revenue by YouTube's own terms should create their own IP, as if if it's a supplement for a lack of creativity. It's not, it's people who have enthusiasm for the content they're covering, that doesn't make them failed creators themselves.

Either way, it's a good thing you're not making decisions about what content generates revenue and what doesn't, so you're pissing into the wind.

@AndyC_MK111 I agree with you. Fan-made stuff like videos, songs, illustrations, etc shouldn't leave any revenue to creators. How come nobody complained about getting paid when they made fan art on Deviantart or created songs of characters just for the fun of it? There are thousands of fanfics written of lots of shows and not one of them complained about not being paid for it.

@AndyC_MK111 I think the difference is that while fans do make content for these ips, nobody really mistakes them for official content. Sonic unfortunately has a fanbase that work exclusively in making more adult experiences, but you'd never find anyone believing that they're official works from Sega. Same goes for fangames like Sonic Robo Blast 2. They definitely have circles of popularity, but they're not being monetised to the degree that Sega does with their games, while also keeping fans in the aforementioned Sonic loop until the next big budget release. If the ip holder is okay with it, there's really no harm in it happening, and is definitely preferable for the business. In a situation like this I think it should be up to the ip holder to decide if the creator can get monetised, not the YouTube platform. And since Sega has no problem with it, neither should YouTube.

@AndyC_MK111 their right to defend their IPs doesn't mean that any videos which fall under fair use are any more or less valid, and in this case it just shows how YouTube's policies with channel tags have nothing to do with respecting intellectual property at all.

It's really simple: if you're satirizing, parodying or critiquing/reviewing something then you're creating content. If your content generates ad revenue under fair use then you get money for it. It's not any deeper than that. Either way you're fine with someone other than the IP holders being compensated, you just seem to have less of a problem when it's a corporation claiming that revenue and not people making videos for fun.

@AndyC_MK111
Basically, Sega is one of the most agreeable companies in gaming when it comes to copyright. They’ve allowed and even endorsed fan games in the past, and don’t target fan projects. So, these fans have the green light to produce this stuff, do it out of a love of this IP, and then have it all taken away by a third party that’s straight up wrong in their claims. That’s the issue presented here.

@AndyC_MK111 I'd say it doesn't hurt to complain since this work is basically a job to him. I'm sure he could move on to animating other stuff if YouTube remain adamant about making his stuff for kids (which I mean it's clearly not, there's hot potato with a pipe bomb in it), but he might as well voice his concerns first before packing up his bags and leaving the Sonic animation sphere. A few words on Twitter cost nothing, so might as well try it out considering Sega doesn't appear to have a problem with it.

@AndyC_MK111 In the US it falls under "fair use" and it generally permissible if it is transformative or provides a commentary on the work itself. It is a pretty broad protection, and even if someone made something that was very off from brand messaging it would be protected unless it is directly disparaging (i.e. making false claims that are asserted to be true). I'm not 100% sure on the legal stuff, but as I mentioned, shows liek Robot Chicken do some pretty out-there and vulgar stuff with all kinds of IP and they don't need permission to do it.

@AndyC_MK111 but to say they shouldn't 'complain'....if they're following youtube policy to the letter and following the guide lines of fair use and then they lose revenue that they generated, not due to some kind of legal ruling or policy change, but an arbitrary tag, why shouldn't they take issue with it? What sense does that make?

"Oh, I did nothing wrong or unethical and now I'm losing money I had a hand in generating. Ah well."

I would have sympathy if he wasn’t just leeching money off the Sonic brand like what other “content creators” do

If you're still relying on YouTube as your main source of income then you my friend are living in turmoil. YouTube is good as an opportunity to make extra income but to solemnly rely on it as your main income will not go well as things will constantly change and your revenue will not be assure sometimes.

A fate worse than death.

@AndyC_MK111 I apologize for coming off as antagonistic, but people already abuse YouTube's copyright policy as it is and there's often little to no recourse for people who aren't actually stepping on anyone's IP rights.

Youtube has become a horrible platform for animators and just content creators in general.
Their restrictions have become more ridiculous over the years.
If only they didn't have a monopoly.

Maybe people shouldn't make pseudo mature fan art of characters specifically made for kids. Maybe Sega being so loose with their IP isn't the best idea after all much as people so desperately want to trumpet about fan creations outshining the original works. And maybe if parents didn't just park their kids in front of YouTube the For Kids content flagging wouldn't be needed in the first place. There's no simple answer other than people are silly. And annoying.

Some of the crap my friends kid watches pn youtube that gets thrown into the for kids section is extremely sketchy, we have to do double takes on some of what they say and so much is definitely not kid- friendly but it ends up there anyway. One example is youtube does not understand what a character "getting brain" from another character actually means, that really caught us off guard, lol.

Wow, that is so bad especially considering that like 60% or Sonic fan made videos are most definitely not meant for children under 13 or 17. Lots of strong language and mature themes in lots of those videos.

I always thought the "No targeted ads on videos marked for kids" was a very unfair double standard for YouTube. Do you think that when kids turn on their favorite cartoons on cable tv, the commercials aren't very deliberately targeted at the core demographic of that show? And for all the hyped stories about how the social media networks can perfectly target adds to your interests... Why do I get so many You-Tube ads for feminine products and urban brands? I have no need for the one and no interest in the other. This perfect targeting seems a bit overhyped.

@AndyC_MK111 I think it's great that Sega allow this. Although I agree Sega should earn a percentage of any income generated. Remember, although this is Sega's IP, it's this guy's video, so he is creating his own thing.

The win win win here would be that he creates something great using Sonic, the fans get great Sonic content, Sega earns and he earns.

I'm sure there are fans that can make better Sonic games than Sega at this point. I'd love to see a fan made game that's actually great and where both Sega and the game maker earn. It's essentially what's happened with the movie, except it's a large company producing a movie with Sega's IP and Sega earning. The issue for me isn't that someone can earn from the IP, it's that SEGA doesn't also earn.

@Kyloctopus I were on the safe side on my 3 YouTube channels years ago, and set all of them to "Not for kids". This also gives more freedom on content.

My favorite videos to show to ones younger than me...
Sonic Zombies

People should be rewarded for making good kid freindly content, not punished.

YouTube Kids was one of the worst changes ever made to the site. That, and requiring a Google account and hiding dislikes.

I used to love looking through comments on clips of old cartoons I watched as a kid. YouTube has really dropped in quality over the last 10 years.

Even some of Sega's official Sonic videos, gets flagged as YouTube Kids, and it's frustrating as I can't see what other fans reactions and thoughts are in the comments. I want to point out that some of Sega's own videos are flagged as YouTube Kids.

@Dingelhopper Similarly, I love animated movies and cartoons, some of which are family and kid friendly (Disney, Trolls, etc). I can't even read comments on stuff like Movie Clips for those movies to see what other fans thought or their reactions.

Just earlier, I was listening to a song from Frozen II, comments were off. Couldn't see anyone talking about the scene of the movie or anything.

YouTube Kids hurts us fans too.

@AndyC_MK111 this is the part where I tell you that you’re 100% wrong

Were Jehtt's videos changed?

COPPA strikes again!

YouTube, you did it again. You ***** up.

wow, who would have known

@AndyC_MK111 I was about to say something about how messed up it is, but you actually got a point, but sometimes animations that look like it’s for kids gets flagged down, even when it’s there own stuff.

Sonic the hedgehog is & always has been made for kids , I enjoy it now as an adult because I played it as a child doesn't change the fact that it's made for kids 🤷‍♂️

@BrianJL Because one guy who did that got hired by LucasFilm Digital to improve Luke's appearance in the next season.

It's a showcase of talent that the bigwigs have eyes on.

I think we all understand too well how defamation works nowadays. These videos are not made for kids, the people who made the videos said so themselves, which makes the statement "Made For Kids" a lie, and also this is clearly negatively impacting the creators.

Anyone else noticing a correlation between the absolute glut of mediocre "Content creators" in 2022 and the retail video game scene in 1982 right before the crash?

With any luck the Content-For-The-Sake-Of-Content bubble will burst in 2023, then we can get to work as a society increasing the quality standards of our arts and sciences as we usher in the New Renaissance.

Some might call me a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.

COPPA was basically the final nail in the coffin for my channel. YouTube was the one who willingly violated the law, and yet they forced the burden onto their creators. It's like if Disney put a red band trailer for Deadpool onto a screening of their latest Pixar film, but forced Ryan Reynolds to take the blame.

And anyone who has navigated the Content ID algorithm in the past could have told you in 2019 that YouTube using algorithms and "machine learning" to police videos for kid's content would be a disaster for creators, for this exact scenario.

As much as I would like to create content again, it's just not worth it to stay on YouTube. I might migrate over to Twitch, once I can get a proper streaming setup and a VTuber model.

What I don't get is why creators can't take the flag off themselves. There are creators who do videos intentionally designed for kids, so it's not like having creators remove the flag if they don't want it wouldn't suddenly make Youtube Kids barren.

@Ventilator The problem is, if you live in the United States, if you mark your video as "not for kids," and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) decides that it is, in fact, for kids, even when it's actually not, you could be fined over $42,000 PER VIDEO!

So you either mark it as being for kids and lose out on almost all of the ad revenue, or risk declaring bankruptcy because some old farts in the federal government with no idea how the Internet works thought a video with gaming content (even a Rated M game) was for kids when it was really for adults.

Now I know why so many big-name YouTubers, like Markiplier and Jacksepticeye, are actively seeking out sponsorship deals lately. COPPA ruined their revenue stream as well.

I sincerely could not care any less about the plight of youtube creators. They make videos on the back of actual creators and profit from them. If they all go broke tomorrow or god forbid have to do real things for a living the world continues to spin and good games continue to be made. Nothing of long term value has ever been created from a video game youtube personality and it never will.

YouTube automatically flagged at least one of my videos as "Made for Kids" in a series that had "s***" in the title. Good algorithm! LOL

@AstroTheGamosian I have never heard of FTC having jurisdiction over YouTube videos.
And I don't see how they can decide a video is being "made for kids", as opposed to a general audience unless it's following some rather distinct criteria.

When in doubt, throw a few f-bombs in the commentary?

@RupeeClock Worst part: Can't listen to Pokemon Johto without having to hear it pause everytime I go look through more of the page on the app because it's "for kids" :/

I feel pretty bad for Balena, hope they manage to get it off if EVER. At least more kids will finally see the masterpiece that is about Sonic zombies...

@AndyC_MK111
Keep in mind, how the owner of intellectual property decides to take action is entirely different between companies. Sega is an example of a company that openly encourages fans to create their own content using that intellectual property, even if it means generating some form of revenue. To take it a step further, Sega is open to paying said creators and crediting them. Just take a look at Sonic Mania.

The picture of that crude looking cartoon has elsagate vibes.

@AstroTheGamosian "The problem is, if you live in the United States, if you mark your video as "not for kids," and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) decides that it is, in fact, for kids, even when it's actually not, you could be fined over $42,000 PER VIDEO!"

This is insanity. There is no human right that everything must be for kids. Also. Who have 100% knowledge about what kids are allowed to watch or not?
Those rules change now and then too. BLM for example. A lot of famous children songs worldwide became banned because of that. I live in Norway and the "Woke" crap started here too.
It's very hard to get fined for anything online in Norway at least. In fact i never heard of anyone ever get fined for online content here since Internet started to become popular in 1991. Norwegian laws still protects the population quite strict.
In fact Norway were a forerunner in the world for Nintendo's stupid eShop and pre-ordering rules. I remember Germany joined Norway vs Nintendo.

I refuse to earn money on YouTube as i need to use licensed music which 100% of record companies worldwide allows me to on my 3 YT Channels as long as channels is non profit. My gaming channel have music videos from many games rated for 18 year olds, so no one could ever mark it for kids anyway. My concert channel have lots of recordings with explicit lyrics. Again, impossible to mark the channel for kids. My channels is for these reasons blocked for all kids.

If i ever wanted to make money on YT, i would need to set up a fourth channel following rules 100%...Which i never will.
I prefer to have full freedom on my channels, and that works perfect as long as they are non profit.
I think 100% of my over 1000 videos on YT have copyright claim.

YouTube screwed creators in both ways.

If your video has too much adult content like cursing, blood, violence and lewdiness, you will lose sponsors.

But if your video is too family friendly, you will get marked as a video for kids and lose views.

YouTube is like an abusive relationship, you hate it, but you can't just leave.

@AndyC_MK111 Wow you're absolutely heartless. Fans make things that they love. Some of those things cost time and money to do. It isn't hurting anybody at all. If Sega really thought their stuff was being stolen they would've taken it down. You're completely disrespectful to these individuals.

@Tandy255 Soooo shouldn't you be against this then? Because I assume the point is to give them only access to content made for kids, and this content is not made for kids.

Unless you don't agree that your niece and nephew should have this limit?

@Ventilator @KingMike The problem is, what the FTC would do is just assume something is for kids without ever really understanding what it's really about.

Think of that movie Sausage Party from a few years ago. It's Rated R for profanity, violence, and "adult" (wink wink) content, but it's an animated film with anthropomorphic food items.

Taken at face value, without actually watching beyond the first five minutes, you'd think it was a movie for kids. Parents actually brought their kids to see this movie, thinking it was going to be a kid flick, only to take them out of the theater once the first piece of obscenity flashed across the screen.

In the same vein, people with no idea of videos games for adults automatically assume that all video games are meant for kids. So if you're recording yourself playing GTA V, and you mark your video as not being for kids, and the FTC thinks you're lying, they'll fine you over $42,000 per video that they determine you're lying about.

@s0nicfreak Yes, I was mostly just commenting on their Sonic fandom.

There are two issues here: Content rating and visitor traffic. If it isn’t appropriate for kids, it shouldn’t be flagged “Made for Kids”. And creators should not be restricted to just YouTube Kids if it is flagged “Made for Kids”.

If I were being fined 42k per video, I'd be calling lawyers.

@AndyC_MK111 to be fair Sonic as a franchise would be completely dead if it wasn't for community made content. Sega has essentially abandoned it for almost two decades by releasing only borderline shovelware garbage. One could argue that if it wasn't for community made content Sega wouldn't be able to profit off of Sonic anymore. It's a two-way relationship and for many years Sega has been taking noticeably more than it was giving.

@AstroTheGamosian Yeah. FTC don't exist here at all. Besides that, those fines don't apply to non profit channels.

There is many dumb parents out there. Same happened with "South Park" movie. It had to be for kids since it were a cartoon...
Team America...Kids movie, because it had dolls..

Millions of parents buy Call of Duty for their kids every year.
If it weren't for dumb parents, Call of Duty franchise would probably be dead as 80-90% of COD Players is kids.

@Ventilator I know. It's part of the reason why I don't play COD.

And some people just don't deserve to be parents, if they're not going to raise their child responsibly. As the old saying goes, every child deserves a parent, but not every parent deserves to be one.

I was shocked enough when I saw that some of my adult cousins (as in, they were in their 30s-40s) allowing their prepubescent kids play games like Halo or Five Nights At Freddy's. Those games are NOT for children under ANY circumstance.

@AstroTheGamosian I many cases parents are kind of forced to buy COD for their kids, because their friends have it.

I tried some COD games online years ago, but i couldn't stand all the screaming. Some kids even had siblings screaming in the same mic. Then you heard the voice of their mamas complaining about something.
It were like playing a kindergarten game online.

"Five Nights At Freddy's"..They probably though it were a Winnie the Pooh", so they bought it for their kids.
To me it looks like parents only look at the covers and ignores the age ratings and warnings.

I'm almost surprised "Manhunt 2" or "Mad World" didn't become big hit games among kids. I wonder how many kids are playing Mortal Kombat 11...
I played violent games as a kid, but back then no games had age ratings.
In fact only "nerds" and kids played games back then. You were an outsider if you played games.

I think Mortal Kombat 1 and Moonstone 1991 were the reason why they started to look age ratings.

Moonstone on AMIGA 500 got huge media attention for it's violence.
The blood and kill sounds in that game made Mortal Kombat sound like a Mario game.
Unlike the bad sound on consoles and PC back then, Amiga had sampled sounds.
Then add the brutal bloody animations to the sounds.

@Ventilator I think the most "violent" game I played as a kid was either Super Smash Bros, Melee or Shadow the Hedgehog, although Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II could also be a contender. Same with Metroid Prime.

As a really little kid, I only had an NES with six games (seven, if you count the Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt combo cartridge as being two games). Of those games, the most violent would probably be Duck Hunt, but I could also say the same with Super Mario Bros. or The Legend of Zelda.

I didn't get my other consoles until around 3rd or 4th Grade, when I got my Game Boy Advance for Christmas. I got my GameCube a year or two later, also for Christmas.

I did once play some Halo 2 at a friend's house, but I had no interest in it until years later, when I was finally an adult and bought my first Xbox, the 360.

@AstroTheGamosian I only had NES 1 year or so, because at the same time Amiga 500 had way better graphics and sound than NES. In fact nothing could compete with Amiga at the time in gaming.

If you live in USA, you probably don't know this.
By 1990, AMIGA were as big as IBM in Europe.
Americans sure missed on great gaming hardware there.
Funny thing is that AMIGA were designed and produced in USA, but only became a mega success in Europe. In fact Amiga is still being made in 2022, but the market is niche nowadays.

All gaming computers were superior to consoles for over 35 years. The benefit with gaming computers were that there were no control on anything. Everything were allowed in games. Even Adult games were sold with no age rating as far as i remember, because no one cared back then.

Anyways. I own Switch, but my main gaming system is PC.
In fact my PC is a lot more powerful than PS5 and Series X, so i don't need any of those consoles.
You can say computers is still superior to newest consoles for gaming. PC costs more, but games costs way less on PC.
Over time Gaming PC don't cost more than consoles.

@Ventilator I do live in the United States (although the way we're going, it might not be for much longer; thinking of moving to Canada or Japan; basically, any country that is more politically and socially stable than the United States, but I digress), however I am well aware of the Amiga line of computers and the enthusiastic fanbase it has.

I am a fan of Eric W. Schwartz, a furry artist famous for the Sabrina Online webcomic, and his Amiga animations from the 1990s. He is quite the Amiga enthusiast, as is his character from the aforementioned webcomic, Sabrina. If you haven't checked out either, I highly recommend them.

Although, Apple computers also were pretty good for PC gaming back then as well. Quite a few hit games were released for Apple computers back then. But with the rise of Windows, especially since Windows 95/98, more game developers started making their games for Windows and not Apple.

I also own numerous game consoles, as well as the Switch, but lately, I've also been exclusively playing PC, because of Genshin Impact. I started playing it about a year ago, and have been playing every day since. I don't have much time to game on console anymore, but I do have time to log in to Genshin Impact on PC for a few minutes and take care of the daily commission quests before I have to leave for work.

@AstroTheGamosian Canada is the easiest place to move too. Japan culture is way too different.

My Promodule expanded CD32 with HDD console have a full Workbench made by Eric Schwartz.
I haven't seen his web comics, but i should do.

MAC had some good stuff back then, but were still lagging behind Amiga. VideoToaster were Amiga exclusive, so that were Amiga's entrance into the Movie industry.
Scala on Amiga for the TV industry.

Windows 95 and 98 were both terrible, so it never made sense that they set the standard for PC as better OS'es existed back then. Windows 2000 were great. XP became great after years of fixing.

PC is a neutral platform, so Sony trademarked "Playstation PC" and will release a lot of 1st party games there.
PC get 100% of games on Xbox too, so getting Series X is pointless. I own PS4, and since PS5 is basically a repeat of PS4 i will never get PS5. PS3 is the only Sony console i ever liked, and also played most on.

I recently got some free DLC for Genshin Impact from NVIDIA, but i haven't tried the game yet.
The games i play every day is "Lost Ark" and "Knockout City".

@Ventilator Oh, jeez, I heard about the CD32 from the Angry Video Game Nerd. Obviously, his job is to rip apart games and consoles (even good ones), but was the CD32 really as bad as he says it was?

My experiences with Windows 95/98 were primarily as a child, so my memory of them is very limited. Same with the old Macintosh computer that my mother had.

I eventually plan on getting the PS5 and Xbox Series X once stock becomes more widely available. Even if the Xbox games can run on PC, there's still something about playing it on a console that appeals to me.

And you should really try out Genshin Impact. I know a lot of people say it's a Breath of the Wild clone, but it's actually a lot more complex than they give it credit for.

It's really only a clone in the sense that it has a cel-shaded anime art style and is an open-world game. Everything else about it is completely different from Breath of the Wild

Plus, it has an original world, original lore, and the characters are numerous and endearing. On top of that, there are frequent updates to the game to add content and numerous limited time events, with more of both on the way.

I've been playing it every day for almost the last year, and I don't plan on stopping any time soon. I would not say I'm addicted to it, but it's almost the only game I've played in that timespan.

@AstroTheGamosian CD32 were not bad at all, and had a long list of great games not on other consoles. Liberation, Banshee, Heimdall 2, Elite 2, Gunship 2000 AGA and a lot more.

In fact CD32 even have the only full version of Super Stardust ever made. It had 3D tunnel sequences and FMV which were not in other versions. The 25 track CD Studio Audio were also CD32 exclusive, and one of the most praised game soundtracks ever.
Also. Many of the most famous gaming composers, ever made CD Music only for CD32 console versions.
Since it's basically a modified A1200 with 2 new chips, Secondary firmware, CD etc. Amiga developers were all over the console.
Every CD32 console ever made were actually sold btw. It were a hit for years in Europe.

It's predecessor, CDTV from 1991 sold only 80.000 even when it only costed 500 bucks at the time. Even then that one got over 500 CD Titles, only because it were made by Commodore.
Anything Commodore made got great support.
People still made CD32 games as recent as 2021, or maybe even 2022. Still a beloved console.

That "Angry Game Nerd" don't know much about the library and great support on any of these 2 consoles. Secondly, he had none of them during their prime.

As for Series X.. I use Xbox 360 gamepad on all Xbox games and PC games on PC.
I have a big TV connected as a second screen on PC, so i can play on PC like it were a game console.

If you like complex games with like 1000 features, you should also try "Lost Ark". Released internationally as recent as february 2022. Free 2 play. So much is free in that game you can easily play 1000 hours in it for free. Whole story mode up to level 50 is free too. It ends at level 50, and then rest of the game opens up. There is probably 100 events daily spread around game world. Many of the events have 30 player co-op too which is a mayhem on screen when everyone uses spells at the same time. It never slows down on my PC. Full speed no matter how much happens.

Another thing is that Lost Ark have some kind of Mario Kart event every day, Alternative Bomberman and lots of other things.

"Fenyx Rising" also looks like Zelda BOTW, until you progress in it. Quite a different game too. I completed it on PC last year.
I will try Genshin Impact later.
Sniper Elite 5 is coming to Game Pass on release next week.
Will drain x amount of hours online and offline.

At the moment i'm farming rewards in Destiny 2 on PC before the 3 week event ends in 6 days.
Recent had to farm in Rainbow Six Siege event too..
It's like i have some FOMO problem. hehe

@Ventilator Glad to hear it. Although, I have heard that it was THE system to put Commodore out of business for good, even though their financial troubles had been building up over the years.

And in terms of video games I need to try, I'm putting getting any new ones on hold until I get my student debt paid off. Plus, I spend most of my gaming time playing Genshin Impact, especially when events are going on (and they are ALWAYS going on), so I don't have much time for other games.

@AstroTheGamosian Commodore would go out of business anyway. The new boss who took over for Tramiel had no clue about economy and didn't know how to control any company. He wasted all Commodore money in only a year or so and lived like a Arabian oil mogul while it lasted. Who knows what would happen if Tramiel continued as boss, as he ran it properly with iron hands.
Escom who bought Commodore had CD64 console in development, but Escom went bankrupt because of their failing PC market. At least Escom managed to mass produce more Amiga 1200 before they also went bankrupt.
Escom were a great owner who had a clue about continuing Commodore and had resources for innovation.

There is too many new games all the time, and these online games sure can drain too much time.
Long time since i played much single player.

@Ventilator Are you talking about the same Tramiel who bought out the remnants of Atari after they went bankrupt? I've heard rumors that the sword from the unfinished Swordquest series is at his house, hanging above his fireplace, or something.

@AstroTheGamosian Yes, it's the same Tramiel.
Original Atari went bankrupt 2 years before Commodore, and Tramiels Atari went bankrupt 2 years after Commodore.
Two legendary hardware companies gone in short time.

It's not unlikely that he had the sword from Swordquest.

@Ventilator Yeah, Atari (or whatever is considered Atari now) has never been able to reclaim their glory from their arcade and 2600 days (and that's not saying much, considering the glut of bad games that led to their initial bankruptcy). Not even their new VCS console can live up to the name.

I've heard, however, that the remaining prizes from the Swordquest contest (the crown, the Philosopher's Stone, and the sword) were the property of Warner Communications, not Atari or Jack Tramiel, and would have been returned back to the Franklin Mint, where they were made, and would have been melted down into their base components to be reused elsewhere.

Those who say that they saw a sword hanging on his mantle possibly saw a family heirloom, not the sword from Swordquest. A case of mistaken identity, so to speak.

@AstroTheGamosian Atari today can never get back to the glory, because it's a dead brand like Commodore. Even if you slap the logo of both on anything, only a minority will buy it.
None of the brands have any market power at all.
Atari VCS. I knew about it for years, but no one ever talks about it and media ignores it. It's also pricey for what you get. It were bound to fail before it even started.

In fact the Amiga 500 Mini console released in 2022 will probably outsell the VCS, but the 500 won't be a big success either.
Amiga 500 Mini is sold everywhere in Norway, but no one ever here sold Atari VCS at all. I guess Commodore nostalgia is easier to sell than Atari nowadays.
A500 Mini also costs only 1/3 of the VCS.

As far as i remember, there is at least two different companies who owns various Atari brands today.
AMIGA were sold as a separate trademark, and someone else owns Commodore brand.
Another reason why it's impossible to revive the brands as too many is involved.
Not even IBM would have any effect on the home market anymore. They are all only nostalgia brands today, but they had a chance around 2000. After that it were too late for revival.

You would be surprised where old game, movie props etc. exists today.
Original creator of props gave away the props for free, some were sold, auctioned, lost, stolen, broken etc.
In 1990's props didn't have that much value, and could end up anywhere.
It's not unlikely at all that Tramiel had that sword.

Original prop creators still give away olds props for free.
Like that guy from Mythbusters who got the Aliens Assault gun movie prop for free only 1-2 years ago from original creator.

@Ventilator Let's just hope Nintendo doesn't fall into that same trap, eh?

@AstroTheGamosian That won't happen in near future.
Even if their hardware sale fails, they still have way more valuable franchises than Sega
Mario Kart, Pokemon and Animal Crossing would sell 10's of millions each as multiplatform games. Then add Zelda, Mario, Metroid and lots of other games.

Sega managed to survive with far less. In fact PC is the main market for Sega. Most Sega make is PC exclusive.
Sega owns Creative Assembly and Relic Entertainment which is probably 2 of the 3 best RTS makers on the planet.

It's weird, but Sega were a PC company for many years now. ~50% of Sega games is never being released on consoles.
In fact around half of Sega developers makes only PC games.

@Ventilator Still, you get the sentiment, right?

By the way, I am looking at possibly getting an Amiga computer somewhere down the line, to see what it's like, considering the enthusiastic fanbase it has. Any suggestions on models?

Yes. Who knows. Many giants have fallen.

Amiga 1200 with 68030 CPU with at least 4.MB Fast RAM and a HDD.
A1200 runs everything, while A500 is limited to A500 games.
In fact you can run most CD32 games from HDD on A1200 too, but CD Audio will be missing.

Also get a A1200 VGA Adapter so you can connect it to a PC Screen with VGA input. Those cost only around 10 bucks or less.

I made this video 100% on CD32 console in June 1996. PS1 and Saturn could never do this back then, and they could never run SCALA later either.
https://youtu.be/c4ObnoRev5U