A game replay, also known as a demo, is a form of

user-generated content User-generated content (UGC), alternatively known as user-created content (UCC), emerged from the rise of web services which allow a system's User (computing), users to create Content (media), content, such as images, videos, audio, text, testi ...

. In most instances, a game replay is a recording of a battle or race between opponents in a

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

which can then be viewed by other players. However, game replays are also used for single-player gameplay, especially for

speedruns Speedrunning is the act of playing a video game, or section of a video game, with the goal of completing it as fast as possible. Speedrunning often involves following planned routes, which may incorporate sequence breaking and exploit glitches ...

. Some games, such as ''

TrackMania ''TrackMania'' is a series of racing games for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo DS, and Wii developed by Ubisoft Nadeo and Firebrand Games. In ''TrackMania'' the player can creat ...

'', ''

Doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (1934–2020), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitche ...

'', and '' N'', use size-efficient replay files that record inputs to get a 1:1 replay in lossless fidelity. It is most common in

real-time strategy Real-time strategy (RTS) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games that does not progress incrementally in turn-based game, turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time." By contrast, in Turn-based strategy, tur ...

games like ''

StarCraft ''StarCraft'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series, set in the beginning of the 26th century, centers on a galactic struggle for dominance amon ...

'', ''

Command & Conquer ''Command & Conquer'' (''C&C'') is a real-time strategy (RTS) video game franchise created and originally developed by Westwood Studios and currently owned by Electronic Arts. The first game was one of the earliest of the RTS genre, itself ba ...

'', ''

World in Conflict ''World in Conflict'' is a 2007 real-time tactics video game developed by the Swedish video game company Massive Entertainment and published by Vivendi Games for Microsoft Windows. The game was released in September 2007, receiving generally favo ...

'', ''

Company of Heroes ''Company of Heroes'' is a real-time strategy video game series developed by Relic Entertainment. The series is set during World War II. Games ''Company of Heroes'' The first game in the series was released on September 12, 2006, in Nort ...

'', and ''

Age of Empires ''Age of Empires'' is a series of historical real-time strategy video games, originally developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Xbox Game Studios. The first title in the series, ''Age of Empires'', focused on events in Europe, Afri ...

'', as well as some

first-person shooter A first-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre, video game centered on gun fighting and other weapon-based combat seen from a First person (video games), first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action directly through t ...

games such as ''

Counter-Strike ''Counter-Strike'' (''CS'') is a series of multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video games, in which opposing teams attempt to complete various objectives. The series began on Windows in 1999 with the release of the first game, '' Counte ...

'' (via console command). Recently, game replays are being used on non-computer platforms and games, such as ''

Halo Wars ''Halo Wars'' is a real-time strategy (RTS) video game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 video game console. It was released in Australia on February 26, 2009; in Europe on February 27; and in ...

''. A number of websites allow users to upload replays of certain games so that other players can download and watch them, either for entertainment or improving their own skills.

Uses

Game replays are commonly used in the prevention and detection of cheating, especially when used in

electronic sports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...

. Game replays are often watched to develop skill at a game, by watching better players and their techniques and build orders. Replays are also used to raise stature in a particular game's community, and entire websites are dedicated to the replays.

Replay review

Game replays are the driving force behind replay reviews. A replay review can be loosely defined as a review of a game replay by an experienced player to determine what can be done to improve and expand upon the initial gamer's skill. Entire websites are dedicated to these reviews, such as Gamereplays.org.

Methods of recording

Replays are normally saved in

proprietary formats A proprietary file format is a file format of a company, organization, or individual that contains data that is ordered and stored according to a particular encoding-scheme, such that the decoding and interpretation of this stored data is easily ac ...

made by the developers—this can either be in form of video capture or input capture, with the latter being much more efficient in terms of file size. Replays recorded using

third-party Third party may refer to: Business * Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller * Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party * Third-party insurance, such as a veh ...

tools, such as

FRAPS Fraps (derived from Frames per second) is a benchmarking, screen capture and screen recording utility for Windows developed by Beepa. It can capture from software that uses DirectX and OpenGL, such as PC games. Operation Fraps is proprietary an ...

, are a form of

. They capture the on-screen action and compile it into a video format. These replays have the advantage of supporting online playback via

video sharing An online video platform (OVP) enables users to upload, convert, store, and play back video content on the Internet, often via a private server structured, large-scale system that may generate revenue. Users will generally upload video content vi ...

sites, like

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Veoh Veoh () was an American video-sharing website, created in September 2005 by Dmitry Shapiro and Ted Dunning. Originally launched as a virtual television network application, Veoh re-established itself as a video-sharing website in March 2006. D ...

, but take much more

hard disk A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating hard disk drive platter, pla ...

space than conventional replays. Other utilities, such as

Wegame WeGame is the primary gaming platform developed by the Chinese technology company Tencent. It serves as Tencent’s flagship game portal, offering a wide range of games, digital distribution services, and community features for players. History ...

, interact directly with the game and do not record directly from the screen.Wegame
; Retrieved on 7 June 2009

References

{{reflist

External links

Gamereplays.org
a replay sharing site
Wegame
a game replay utility and uploading site
FRAPS
a video recording utility Esports terminology

Uses

Replay review

Methods of recording

See also

References

External links