I remember reading about gamer screencasts in an article posted in techcrunch a few months ago. The article introduced a new gamer screencast web site called Wegame. The concept seemed cool and I thought to myself that finally gamers from around the globe have a new home to post their gaming videos, but other than that I did not see the added value in consumer generated gaming screencasts.
My opinion shifted this evening after viewing a GTA4 screencast that I happened to watch on digg.com.
Not only are some of these screencasts very entertaining (depending on the music the editor decided to use), but have a true marketing (or hype) value that can not be underestimated. I personally after watching this particular gaming moment had a sudden urge to go out and buy GTA4.
The ability of gamers to share video moments from a particular game combined with the ability to spread these videos via web 2.0 platforms has transformed these screencasts into marketing currency that any video game publisher would kill to attain.
Online Observer 