Video Hosting Site Bans Game Play Footage as Not "Creative Expression"
Video Hosting Site Bans Game Play Footage as Not "Creative Expression"
July 23, 2008
Want to show off your best GTA IV stunts?
You'd better post it on YouTube since video hosting site Vimeo has decided that it will no longer accept game play footage unless it is of the machinima variety. Currently hosted videos containing "game walk-throughs, game strategy videos, depictions of player vs player battles, raids, fraps," etc. will be deleted on September 1st.
A post on the service's staff blog explains the decision:
The Vimeo staff does not feel that videos which are direct captures of video game play truly constitute "creative expression". Further, such videos may expose Vimeo to liability from the game creator(s), as we have already seen action from popular video game companies against videos such as these... Gaming videos are by nature significantly larger and longer than any other genre on Vimeo...
This decision was not easy, and there was much debate internally; however, we feel this decision will benefit Vimeo in the long run and better benefit the video makers it was created for. Our resources are limited and they must be channeled towards maintaining our goals.
Negative reaction to the decision is beginning to trickle in. From Spinfocalypse:
The reasons cited seem to be a little contradictory and subjective... “Creative Expression” is not something I’d personally want to touch, because it gets into a social subjectivity issue. A game video for one person may not be ‘creative’ and a ‘lip-dub’ video may not be to another...
The second reason cited is the ‘processing time’... This part of Vimeo’s argument is rather weak– and as someone always looking for reliable video hosting– doesn’t give me much faith in the ability of their transcoders or stability of their bandwidth... Game videos can be one second or one hour, the same as traditional video...
What’s a bit disturbing about Vimeo’s decision is that a service is taking the role of editorial... Games, gamers, game videos– however you view them– will be forced into a box and segregated because of perceived notions about the space... I know I’ve personally exposed people to ideas and concepts, by way of games, that don’t require anyone to play or have an interest in games. That just won’t be happening on Vimeo anymore.
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Posted 03/22/10 at 02:42am
ZippyDSMlee: Like most train wrecks it wont help people much and cost us more in the end than what we would benefit from it.....
ZippyDSMlee: Like most train wrecks it wont help people much and cost us more in the end than what we would benefit from it.....
Posted 03/22/10 at 02:37am
TBoneTony: Great to see MA go to the back bench in SA, hope that new AG is more ballanced
TBoneTony: Great to see MA go to the back bench in SA, hope that new AG is more ballanced
Posted 03/22/10 at 02:36am
TBoneTony: Oh there it is
TBoneTony: Oh there it is
Posted 03/22/10 at 02:36am
TBoneTony: Shout is not working for me at the moment
TBoneTony: Shout is not working for me at the moment
Posted 03/22/10 at 02:34am
SimonBob: (Would you like to rent our Green party? We're not doing anything with it.)
SimonBob: (Would you like to rent our Green party? We're not doing anything with it.)
Posted 03/22/10 at 02:31am
SimonBob: hey america: I was watching CNN earlier, and I was thinking, you guys could use a third party.
SimonBob: hey america: I was watching CNN earlier, and I was thinking, you guys could use a third party.
Posted 03/21/10 at 10:12pm
Valdearg: They beat the parliamentary trick. The senate bill is officially law, pending the President's signature. Now they vote on the fixes to that bill, in the next 15 minutes or so.
Valdearg: They beat the parliamentary trick. The senate bill is officially law, pending the President's signature. Now they vote on the fixes to that bill, in the next 15 minutes or so.
Posted 03/21/10 at 10:04pm
gellymatos: Vald: No worries. I do it all the time. Trying to break the habit.
gellymatos: Vald: No worries. I do it all the time. Trying to break the habit.
Posted 03/21/10 at 10:01pm
Valdearg: @Gelly: Sorry for jumping to conclusions, LOL.. I guess I read your text in a depressed voice in my head. :D
Valdearg: @Gelly: Sorry for jumping to conclusions, LOL.. I guess I read your text in a depressed voice in my head. :D
Posted 03/21/10 at 10:00pm
Valdearg: I'm staying up late, watching CSPAN and MSNBC, and cheering each and every democrat victory.
Valdearg: I'm staying up late, watching CSPAN and MSNBC, and cheering each and every democrat victory.
Posted 03/21/10 at 10:00pm
Valdearg: Yes indeedy. Even Abortion rights got gutted. Obama's going to pass an EO ensuring no federal funds are used for abortions.
Valdearg: Yes indeedy. Even Abortion rights got gutted. Obama's going to pass an EO ensuring no federal funds are used for abortions.
Posted 03/21/10 at 09:59pm
gellymatos: Vald: Who said I didn't like it? I'd get a drink out if there wasn't anything where I am at.
gellymatos: Vald: Who said I didn't like it? I'd get a drink out if there wasn't anything where I am at.
Posted 03/21/10 at 09:59pm
gellymatos: Vald:Well, pretty good day, wouldn't you say?
gellymatos: Vald:Well, pretty good day, wouldn't you say?
Posted 03/21/10 at 09:58pm
Valdearg: Dont sound so depressed, Gelly. This bill will help people get healthcare, who can't now. It's a perfectly Christian idea.
Valdearg: Dont sound so depressed, Gelly. This bill will help people get healthcare, who can't now. It's a perfectly Christian idea.
Posted 03/21/10 at 09:57pm
gellymatos: Well, it's happened. The House Passed the Health Care Bill. Now things get interesting, to say the least.
gellymatos: Well, it's happened. The House Passed the Health Care Bill. Now things get interesting, to say the least.
Posted 03/21/10 at 09:56pm
Valdearg: YES WE CAN!!! YES WE CAN!!! MAJOR HCR Vote passed!! Assuming no idocy, we could see it as law TOMORROW!!!!!!
Valdearg: YES WE CAN!!! YES WE CAN!!! MAJOR HCR Vote passed!! Assuming no idocy, we could see it as law TOMORROW!!!!!!
Posted 03/21/10 at 06:23pm
Andrew Eisen: No, I think I'll stay safe and warm in my own little world where Provolone is king and that... other cheese... doesn't exist.
Andrew Eisen: No, I think I'll stay safe and warm in my own little world where Provolone is king and that... other cheese... doesn't exist.
Posted 03/21/10 at 06:22pm
JDKJ: I wish the Speaker would ask me for what purpose does the member rise.
JDKJ: I wish the Speaker would ask me for what purpose does the member rise.
Posted 03/21/10 at 06:18pm
JDKJ: Provolone?! Please! Try aged Blue Stilton. Also known as Zippy Ass-Crack Cheese.
JDKJ: Provolone?! Please! Try aged Blue Stilton. Also known as Zippy Ass-Crack Cheese.
Posted 03/21/10 at 06:13pm
Andrew Eisen: Nothing beats Provolone.
Andrew Eisen: Nothing beats Provolone.
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Comments
Slow news day.........
that's pretty...arbitrary. I guess I could understand such measures as a bandwidth control or if they were tight for drive space, but these days, who's got a shortage of drive space? Hell, my home PC alone has probably north of 2 Terra. Don't mistake me, it's their right to post what they want to post, but this "not creative expression" excuse smells a little...flimsy to me.
Small company that no one cares about to begin with being stupid to get some spot light. I have to agree lip sync singing is not "creative" in my mind its 12 year oldish. Granted I don't view raid fraps etc as very creative either but I have seen more creativeness come from those videos than a 12 year old lip syncing to opps I did it again. (Leroy and More Dots More Dots come to mind).
What the hell is a Vimeo?
My thoughts exactly.
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Can you put a Vimeo in a bread basket?
Youtube for trendy people.
Vimeo was cool because it allowed you to host 720p content. Which was great for game footage.
"as we have already seen action from popular video game companies against videos such as these"
Are You Sure?
What's a Vimeo? I'm being serious. Is that a file format or something? And why should anyone care? (I'll assume it's similar to YouTube)
YouTube dropped their movie length to 10 minutes because of video game walkthroughs. There was rampant crying about that, too. Guess what kids? Bandwidth costs money, and your 20 minutes of headshotting newbs in Halo isn't creative.
OT: "Why so serious?"
~~All Knowledge is Worth Having~~
Heretic! BURN THE HERETIC!
/b
YouTube dropped the movie length because of people posting full TV shows. NOT walkthroughs.
Pics or it didn't happen.
(I'm sure this also is partially the reason, but the point is the movie length eats bandwidth on the upload, and each person streaming it. The content is nearly irrelevant.)
~~All Knowledge is Worth Having~~
Oh, Vimeo...
our stories stand alone no matter the landscape. We are the creatives wandering the beautiful commercial worlds that become our landscapes.
Through avatar eyes we tell our stories in creative layers over the virtual landscapes where we play. These are the backgrounds of our stories. We express ouselves in our movement, actions and timing. Our story stands alone as creative expression. We are still the creative layers of the canvas. We are; we express; we stand as creatives.
So will they be taking down all sport video from Vimeo, then?
/b
www.guba.com
SO, they have authority to say what is and isn't creative?
Certainly if they're going to come out with stuff like "Please use a camera to shoot and edit some non-game originated videos and show us your skills." (dalas verdugo)
A lot of the user posts aren't much better, cetrainly with their use of "YouTube" as an insult, and branding all gamers as immature.
The decision I can deal with, it's their company to do what they want with, but given the way they've handled it I really hope it comes back and bites them on the arse.
/b
By the looks of the site, certainly Vimeo was envision by young, web-savvy people that keep up with social trends in websites. And I would expect a large part of these types to be gamers and therefore see eye-to-eye with them. Name any trendy web development firm or boutique, and you would find someone talking about the Xbox or Wii, and maybe they even have a console set up in the recreation room.
Vimeo's argument is weak, as there are many other things that require as little effort as playing video games and still be creative. I prefer to watch gameplay videos over a bunch of anime music videos that have little imagination in the editing and in the choice of music...
I was actually there a couple days ago watching some gameplay videos in hi-def. I don't know where else I'd have access to that much stuff for free.
Here's what you do:
Turn your walkthroughs into machinimas.
Problem solved.
Now that's creative. It might be a little hard to do for some games but could be really fun to do.
Where do you draw the line?
I am a big fan of team roomba's video on vimeo, they are the ones that do team fortress 2 griefing for hilerous effect, and while this can hardly be called creative expression its still quality entertainment and bloody funny.
"...since video hosting site Vimeo..."
Who?
vimeo its sux if make whis desision !!!
You suck for raping the English language.
if they are worried about being sued they should close up shop as a vid hosting site....
I is fuzzy brained mew =^^=
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
(in need of a bad overhaul)
Vimeo suck! They just dont want their bandwidth/resources used for these videos.
Nobody is aware of it. Nobody uses it. I'd wouldn't be suprised if Vimeo did this on purpose to drum up press for themselves.
i can see things i may have missed while playing and learn maps etc. and my videos have helped others that was stuck in a game. most folks that view my videos are from the site
in the 45- 60 year old age range. vimeo just spit in the faces of them folks. i post for my self not for others or for comments ratings or friends.
So I go and google this "Vimeo" thing and i find my self asking, "WTF is this Thing?" no really i've seen youtube i've seen a few other sites of the same style. but H*!! Qtube is better and thats for Conservitives.
God dammit, Vimeo was my favorite video hosting site. It loaded fast and the quality was excellent.
And what did I used to watch on it? These things called "Lets Play!"s, where people would play a game with commentary. They were great to watch, and all the other sites that people used to host either used that terrible DivX player that more often than not doesn't work or a page so full of ads that Firefox would throw a fit.
Dammit Vimeo, that was the only reason I visited your site.
i wondered when this type of garbage was going to happen. First the hosting companies (inclucing isp's) don't upgrade their networks, then blame it on posters (which is BS.) Add to that a copyright law that was never supposed to be and walla! This crazy crap.
well i do not care about vimeo. and i think my pc game play videos and walk through's are more creative then poor reality tv junk and people trying to be cute or be seen or noticed or looking for a date and friend lists. and if the videos are with in time and size limits what does it matter if it is a game video or not. if they are being viewed a lot means more traffic on its site. common sense stuff.
ha ha game play videos are a pretty large market. and its redord programs made just for us gamers. so vimeo is kind of silly really. and i can care less about them or a stupid frame of mind. a video is a video period. i make and post my videos for study and to help my game play as real war rooms would and or sports teams and players would. i can see things i may have missed while playing and learn maps etc. and my videos have helped others that was stuck in a game. most folks that view my videos are in the 45- 60 year old age range. vimeo just spit in the faces of them folks. i post for my self not for others or for comments ratings or friends. my 5 minute videos average 55mbs. i use ZDSOFT Game Recorder. youtube has the worst play back on the net. but it is practical and user friendly and has play list functions. other sites have better players but no play lists or album functions. no way to orginize your videos. so. until i can find a site with near same features and a better player than youtube. i guess i am stuck with it.. have fun see ya
sorry. i should have added. i have some 1400 videos on youtube. and complete play through play lists of stalker [480 stalker videos alone over 3 play lists]- mohaa- prey- hl2 and hl2 epi1. i have some 175 ut04 map videos. im recording far cry and ffow and hl source now. but soon will be recording rtcw- and fear platinum collection and many more that i have. my youtube screen name is the same as here. well i use the same screen name on all of the video sites i use. i have some videos on viddler.com and gamevee.com too. both viddler and gamevee have great players. but lack basic play list or album functions.. msn soapbox is not bad but to many ads and multi uploads is poor. yahoo video is nice. but yahoo videos only half works and multi uploads is poor. see ya.
1 more lil bit of info and then im gone. the pc gamer alone pushes the pc hardware market. mother boards cpu's and video cards. computer tech flips every few month right now. and 98% of all of it is geared to the high end gamer. you dont need the most new tech to run a server or surf the net or for general multi media stuff or chat and look for a date or porn site or reality video garbage. ha ha vimeo trips me out and to hell with them.
and another thing. any pc game worth a crap already has demo record built in. just they take forever to convert to say avi and then file sizes are huge. and if you wanted to post the videos on line you have to convert or resize them to more small file sizes etc. thus the 3rd party game recorder's. real time conversion and smaller file sizes. vimeo sucks..
just so you stupid vimeo folks know.. 1 game alone is pushing the whole entire pc hard and software market [[ CRYSIS ]]. all companies are scrambling to make hardware good enough to play CRYSIS at high and or smooth frame rates. ha ha not even government or super computers to date can max out or push the game.
im not sure what rock you folks live under. but you should take note. and not all of this world cares about your liberal tree hugging junk.. you would have got more ears had you said something like. playing video games make ya fat. we do not like them so we protest them.. freaken idiots.