Welcome to the cKotch.Com blog. I’m Christopher Kotcher, and this is one of my favorite YouTubers.
How I Enjoy YouTube
YouTube has become one of my key sources of entertainment. The platform’s especially great for me as a gamer. Few other places offer the sheer variety of gameplay, reviews, playthroughs, and satire that YouTube offers.
However, my interest in particular YouTubers tends to wax and wane over time. Typically, I discover them with random videos recommended to me during another video. I then go through these new YouTubers’ old videos and watch new ones for a few months.
Very few YouTubers stand the test of time past those few months.
One of these exceptions is Arlo.
Who is Arlo?
Arlo is a blue monster who talks about video games.
Most viewers compare him to Cookie Monster. Others compare him to Sesame Street’s other blue monster Grover. Some people would even go far enough to call Arlo a puppet.
This last group of people would be accurate. But unspoken rules exist within the Arlo fandom. We believe that we are witnessing a real life fuzzy blue monster talking about video games.
This trend is one of many running gags for Arlo fans. It stands along such tireless Arlo memes as “Yeah, but Solid Snake,” and “Butternut Squash? Yes Please!”
After all, Arlo is a fun character. Any community which forms around him should also be fun.
All this being said, Arlo is not merely a provider of mindless gaming content to the masses. He offers a good deal of insight into video games and the things which surround them. His presentation may be silly and fun, but his ideas always remain on point.
A good example is the first Arlo video I saw. In fact, it was the very video which pushed Arlo into his initial growth on YouTube.
Of course, to understand my experience with the video, we first need to take a brief step back in time.
A Beloved Series Gone Bad
One of my favorite games as a kid was Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door.
This role-playing game (RPG) was a great adventure filled with charming characters, clever gags, and twisted storylines.
In one chapter alone, Nintendo’s mascot saved townspeople turned into pigs, defeated hordes of ghosts, befriended a former enemy, and fought an evil doppelganger.
Later Paper Games though, they did not have that same spark. I still had some fun, but something felt lacking, even as I sealed black holes and used stickers to stop evil.
Soon another Paper Mario game was announced, Paper Mario Color Splash. Now Mario needed to use paint to restore a color-drained island. I was annoyed by this game’s very announcement, but I could not fully understand why.
I watched the new game’s trailer over and over again. I wanted to discover what made me so annoyed one of my favorite series was getting a new game.
Finally, watching the trailer so many times made a particular video appear in my YouTube recommendations.
Finding Arlo
The video was titled “The Problem with Paper Mario.”
Arlo began with a surprisingly deep philosophical discussion of letting go of false hopes. In a slightly funny transition, he then said the time had come to abandon his decade-long hope for a true Paper Mario sequel.
In Arlo’s words, Paper Mario was meant to be the space for grand worlds and memorable stories in the Super Mario universe. The main Mario games were simple stories attached to simple gameplay, but the first two Paper Mario games were for anyone who wanted Mario games to go a bit deeper. Here is where people could see Mario testing friendships and facing ancient evils.
For whatever reason, Nintendo did not seem to understand why people loved these original Paper games. The company first replaced “refined, addictive turn-based combat” with “substandard 2D platforming” in Super Paper Mario. Then the company stripped the series of “interesting plots and characters” in Paper Mario: Sticker Star.
New Paper Mario games were focused on gimmicks surrounding the paper aesthetic. Old Paper Mario games only used the paper aesthetic to make the world look like a storybook. The series’ original title in Japan was not even Paper Mario. It was Mario Story.
Through his whole video, Arlo never screamed, ranted, or raved. He even gave credit where Paper Mario Color Splash actually looked good. He noted the paper look was essentially perfected and painting seemed like it could be a fun mechanic.
Still, Arlo emphasized that neither of these things were the heart of Paper Mario.
The series’ heart was unique stories, characters, and locations in the world of gaming’s greatest icon. And sadly, all these things disappeared in the series’ later games.
Arlo then ended his video on a pretty good joke. He rapidly listed his other wishes for Nintendo if they should somehow see his video.
A Fan Ever Since
Arlo had me hooked. This blue monster was fun to watch, and he helped me understand my frustrations with the Paper Mario series. I watched every Arlo video I could.
Soon I started following Arlo’s Facebook page. When he posted about all the new viewers his Paper Mario video had found, I replied it was because he spoke from the heart instead of screaming from it. That reply earned me a like from the blue monster himself.
I have enjoyed every one of Arlo’s videos, even when if I may disagree with the odd point or two. Each video always seems to have something worthwhile.
One of my favorite Arlo videos is actually one of his update videos. This would be his 2017 year-end update titled “A Very Merry Arlo Christmas Spectacular!”
Here Arlo used the theme of a Christmas special to outline future plans and thank his fans. He even discussed a few relevant personal details so people could better understand how YouTube fits into his life.
I have seen other YouTubers discuss similar things. But I better appreciated Arlo’s discussion of them. Partially this is because the vague details of his family situation sounded somewhat similar to my own situation at the time. Maybe I had also become a big enough fan for anything to seem better when Arlo did it.
No matter what, you have to love a video where a blue monster sings “I’ll Have a Blue Christmas.”
The Inspirational Stuff
As creators, there are definitely clear differences between Arlo and me.
He is a YouTuber commenting almost exclusively about video games. I am an aspiring writer turned blogger. Video games really only come up for me as one of many sources of inspiration.
Still, there are a few things things I have learned from my favorite blue monster.
- Arlo’s fun, honest, and open nature has created a good-natured fandom. I look at what Arlo’s made for himself, and I see something similar to the kind of community I want to create around my writing.
- Arlo maintains great communication with his fans. He uses Arlo Direct segments to provide updates at the end of the videos. While end-of-video updates are common among YouTubers, he is somewhat unique in presenting them as official segments. This is partially why I call my blog posts’ update and link sections “Kotcher’s Call to Action.”
- Arlo has earned his success after years of hard work. On Twitter, Arlo revealed it took him seven years and several avenues to finally find what worked for him. If I want my writing to achieve any success, then now is the time to start that lengthy process. The key is to keep working and find what people want to see.
To conclude, Arlo, if you’re reading this, please make another episode of “The Gamer’s Brief”! Please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please! (For everyone else in the audience, this would be a reference to the end of Arlo’s Paper Mario video.)
Kotcher’s Call to Action
If you liked my content and want to make sure you read all my new blog posts, be sure to like my Facebook page and share it with your friends. I post a link there whenever a new blog post goes live each Friday at 5:00 PM EST.
For all who wish to join me as Arlo fans, here are links to his original Paper Mario video and his 2017 Christmas update.