YouTube is overflowing with videos of Minecraft, with hundreds, thousands, possibly millions of hours of footage. Whether they’re tutorial videos, demonstrations or lengthy Let’s Play shows hosted by excited young gamers, you just can’t get away from them. Many of them are similar, a lot of them aren’t all that interesting and quite a few just aren’t… well, y’know, any good. But there are some choice cuts to be found out there, so I’ve compiled this list of the six best ongoing series for the discerning Minecrafter. Enjoy these by themselves, or use them as jumping off points to other shows. You won’t run out any time soon.
The
Minecraft Community Spotlight is not just for Minecrafters, it’s for
the die hard Mojang fan, as it keeps its viewers updated on both the
game and the team behind it. As well as news about the latest patches
and updates, the Community Spotlight has one eye on the official
Minecraft Forum and even lets viewers know what the team behind the game
have been up to.
While
it’s not quite Heat Magazine for Mojang, if you want to know what Notch
or Jeb have been doing and what they’ve been tweeting about lately
(whether that’s Minecraft or not), MCSpotlights will let you know.
The
show also hosts a several guides that don’t just help new players
understand the game, but also explain some of the concepts behind it,
such as how water behaves, or how chunks work.
The Minecraft Update by Curse Entertainment
Although
Curse has only been running this show for a few months, it’s already
established itself as a useful and, more importantly, concise roundup of
Minecraft news. While the Minecraft Update doesn’t have much in terms
of length or depth, it does cover the most interesting and relevant
stuff out there, whether that’s mods or maps or patches. If you only
have two minutes to spare, this is the show you need.
Caveman Films
Much
as I’m not a fan of the many exuberant Minecraft videos out there,
where players chat a little too excitedly as they dash about maps
battering monsters and crying out “CREEPER!” I have to concede that
Caveman Films do a pretty good job of covering many of the best mods and
custom maps that are out there.
If
you don’t have time to try all these, or want to see what a particular
mod looks like before you go to the trouble of installing it, it’s worth
seeing if this channel has covered it first. I usually turn down my
volume a little bit before I press play, mind. If you’d prefer someone a
bit more relaxed instead, you can try…
From
user davidr64yt (who I’ll henceforth call David), X’s Adventures aren’t
nearly so famous, but they’re much easier to watch, often more
demonstrative and definitely less excitable (although a recent Enderman
materialisation incident is something of an exception). The videos date
back to August 2010, when David first started playing Minecraft, and
follow him not only as he gets used to playing the game, but also as
updates are released and as he gets to grip with new features.
Direwolf20’s Minecraft Videos
Direwolf
has tried out quite a few Minecraft mods in his time, covering some of
the more technical and even the more obscure ones that are out there. He
often goes into great detail through his many extended Let’s Play
videos, a series that is now into its fourth season and which has
certainly helped him rack up his 29 million YouTube views. Not only is
this YouTuber a little more relaxed in his attitude, he sometimes
invites friends to join him as he plays, friends that have included
other YouTube broadcasters and even a few Minecraft modders.
After
spending a lot of time with construction-related mods, which seem to be
his particular forté, Direwolf has made video tutorials for BuildCraft,
ComputerCraft, RedCraft and IndustrialCraft.
It’s
a safe bet that at least a few of you have already come across
Yogscast’s irreverent but often very interesting insights into gaming,
many of which simply start right in the middle of something rather
chaotic. While the team play all sorts of titles, they seem particularly
keen on anything in which they can be very, very silly. Of course,
Minecraft is absolutely perfect for this and so the Yogscasters have
covered their fair share of unusual mods or custom maps, sometimes even
managing to avoid death and destruction along the way.
Unfortunately,
Yogscast doesn’t have a single dedicated Minecraft playlist and instead
subdivides their video series according to game modes, so you’ll find
many different Minecraft series mixed with others for the likes of
Garry’s Mod and Mists of Pandaria. I haven’t yet watched all of these so
I can’t confirm if the Yogscasters are behaving themselves any more
when they’re playing other games, but you know what? I wouldn’t bet on
it.