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Real Talk on My Birthday…
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Jul 7, 2025
Tonight’s not just about me—it’s about all of us. 💖 As I celebrate another year of life, I just want to say how incredibly thankful I am. I’m blessed to be in good health, surrounded by loved ones, and to have the opportunity to create content and connect with such an amazing community. You guys have supported me through so much, and I truly mean it when I say I wouldn’t be here without you. DISCLAIMER: This video contains opinions and humor based on publicly available information. It is not intended to harass or defame anyone. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSxLDHfK2yzL7jhCJWG7EPg/join Follow Me on Social Media: ► Twitter: http://twitter.com/8biteric ► Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/8biteric/ ► Facebook: http://facebook.com/the8bitericshow ► Tumblr: https://8biteric.tumblr.com/ ► Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/8BitEric/ ► Discord: https://discord.gg/mEH2KBs Watch My Content: ► YouTube: http://bit.ly/1SujXqu
View Video Transcript
0:00
I don't know where I'm going with this
0:02
video. I'm going to push record and just
0:04
go off the cuff. This might not be your
0:06
cup of tea because it's a rambling video
0:08
and I'm not talking about a video game
0:10
or giving a take about a trending topic,
0:14
but this is something a little bit more
0:15
personal. I haven't done a video like
0:17
this in quite some time. This one's very
0:19
special to me. It's my birthday and I'm
0:22
41 years old or 41 years young. I do not
0:25
feel like I'm above 40. And this last
0:28
year when I was 40, when the 40th
0:32
birthday hit, I was like, "Oh my god,
0:33
I'm 40 now. I'm already middle-aged. I
0:38
don't have much time left." You start to
0:40
get that feeling of, "What are you going
0:42
to do with the rest of your life? What
0:43
are you doing with the time that you
0:45
have left?" But to be completely honest,
0:50
I feel great. I feel good. I feel happy
0:52
with where I'm at in my life. I've been
0:55
blessed with a lot of things, uh, a lot
0:58
of opportunities, a lot of situations
1:02
where I'm like, "Wow, did I really do
1:04
that?" First and foremost,
1:07
to just be here and able to push record
1:10
on something and give a take, whether
1:12
it's a couple hundred people. I don't I
1:14
don't expect this video to get a lot of
1:16
views, whether it's a couple hundred
1:18
views or whatever. the fact that I have
1:22
a platform where I can talk about video
1:24
games and over the last what how many
1:27
years have I been doing this? I think
1:28
since 2010
1:31
n somewhere around there.
1:33
For guys that have supported like if
1:36
you've been a longtime supporter thank
1:38
you. If you're a former supporter thank
1:40
you. If you're a hater thank you. Either
1:43
way whether you like my content or you
1:45
don't like it. The fact that I have a
1:47
platform here,
1:49
no matter how big or small it is, is a
1:51
blessing. It's given me a lot of
1:53
opportunities. I've been to several
1:56
conventions throughout the years. I've
1:58
met several of you guys, had several
2:00
panels. I've gotten the opportunity to
2:02
take pictures, sign items, you name it.
2:06
Like that alone, hearing people tell me
2:09
how much I've helped them. I've heard
2:11
people say that they've were depressed,
2:14
they were homeless, they were going
2:16
through a divorce, they've lost their
2:17
parents, they've lost their brother,
2:19
their sister, and that my videos or my
2:22
appearances on other people's videos
2:23
like Game Changers helped them. That
2:26
means a lot cuz you guys have helped me
2:28
in my darkest moments as well. Not
2:31
everybody knows, but there's been times
2:33
where life had me struggling a little
2:36
bit. I was riding that struggle bus. I
2:38
wasn't in a good place. And doing this,
2:42
doing live streams where you guys come
2:43
in and say, "Hey, I'm glad you're
2:45
streaming. Hey, thank you for streaming
2:47
tonight. I'm at my work shift."
2:49
Whatever. That makes me feel like
2:53
my platform is worth something. Okay, I
2:55
know it's just a middle-aged 41-year-old
2:58
sitting here talking video games, giving
3:00
takes about Sweet Baby Inc. and
3:02
Assassin's Creed and reviewing Switch
3:04
stuff and all that. Yeah, on paper it
3:07
sounds ridiculous, but behind the
3:09
scenes, guys, it it carries a lot more
3:12
weight with me emotionally than you guys
3:14
will ever know. And I'm glad for some of
3:16
you guys, it's it's also a mutual
3:19
feeling. Thank you. Whether you're still
3:22
a supportive fan, whether you gave up. I
3:25
know some people have moved on. I have
3:28
94,000 subscribers. Not everybody
3:30
watches anymore because the content has
3:32
shifted several times every couple
3:35
years.
3:37
I get it. Not everybody tunes in to
3:39
people that they've subscribed to. But
3:41
if you've been here for the long haul,
3:43
thank you first and foremost. I am not
3:46
entitled to a fraction of your daily
3:48
life. If you click a video and watch it
3:50
for a minute, 10 seconds, an hour,
3:55
that is a part of your life that you
3:57
cannot get back. that I appreciate for
4:00
you giving me that chance. If you hit
4:02
that like button, if you hit that
4:03
dislike, if you've commented, you
4:05
subscribed, if you sent a super chat, a
4:07
donation, whatever, thank you so much.
4:09
If if you've ever come to one of my
4:11
panels, if you've ever uh asked me to
4:13
sign something, take a photo with you,
4:16
thank you. Uh because of this, I've had
4:18
the opportunity to write a book. I wrote
4:20
a book a couple years ago about my
4:23
wrestling experience and that is
4:26
constantly like in the top 100 books of
4:28
wrestling biographies which is amazing
4:30
to see that on Amazon. I've gotten to be
4:33
in movies, multiple movies, Adventures
4:35
in Gamechasing, S, uh, Bachelor Party,
4:39
uh, several others just whether they
4:41
were starring roles or cameos. I feel
4:44
amazingly blessed just because of that
4:46
opportunity.
4:48
And at 41 years old, I don't think I'm
4:52
going to be stopping anytime soon. I'm
4:53
going to still be here making videos
4:58
because I like doing it for you guys.
5:01
And we had an amazing live stream last
5:02
night. People were coming in. We had
5:04
fun. Thank you everybody who sent
5:07
birthday super chats, donations,
5:09
whatever. I try not to live uh an
5:13
ebeggger's life where you see people
5:15
that are constantly begging, begging,
5:16
begging, stuff like that. So, it feels
5:19
good to see appreciation, even if it's
5:21
every once in a while. Uh because I I
5:25
don't think I'm as big or as much of a
5:28
star as some people that are on here.
5:31
Okay? I It's not exactly imposttor
5:33
syndrome, but I definitely feel like I'm
5:36
not entitled to it. I'm not worthy to
5:38
it. And whether you think that my
5:40
content is garbage or slo or whether I'm
5:43
your cup of tea or not, that's your
5:45
opinion. Okay? I know sometimes I might
5:48
have a polarizing opinion of something,
5:50
whether it's politically or whether it's
5:52
something a video game. I get it. Now, I
5:54
hope you guys have seen that the shift
5:56
has gone a little bit more towards
5:58
gaming content. It's always been gaming
6:00
content, but I'm trying to focus back
6:03
into that shift, especially with the
6:04
Switch 2 coming out. I kind of have like
6:06
a rejuvenated sense of gaming. Um, and
6:10
on top of that, I've just been trying to
6:12
uh have a little bit more fun with it,
6:14
right?
6:16
In all honesty, sometimes being a little
6:18
too over negative sometimes gets into
6:20
your brain. It gets into your psyche.
6:22
Not that I didn't mean anything that I
6:24
was saying with any videos or anything
6:25
like that. I'm never afraid to tell it
6:28
like I see it. I'm never afraid to call
6:30
it like I see it, give my opinion, and I
6:33
never will be. Okay. Uh again, this
6:37
platform is for you guys. If it stays
6:40
small, stays big, whatever,
6:43
that's perfectly fine. My main goal that
6:46
I have left, because I've done a book,
6:48
I've been in a couple movies, I've gone
6:50
to conventions, I've I've done a lot of
6:53
things. My main next goal is to try to
6:56
hit that 100,000 subscriber plaque. So,
6:59
if you guys aren't subscribed, that
7:02
would mean the world to me. That's
7:03
always been my biggest goal for YouTube
7:06
for me to accomplish. And we're almost
7:09
at 95,000 here. I'm not going to try to
7:12
sit here and beg for subscriptions or
7:14
stuff like that. You know that if you
7:16
enjoy my content and you like watching
7:19
it, you're already going to make the
7:21
decision of whether you want to be
7:22
subscribed or not. And I've had a lot of
7:24
people come and go as far as viewers
7:26
goes. And I've always been appreciative
7:29
of each and every single one of them.
7:31
And on my 41st birthday, uh I'm just I
7:37
think I still have a lot of gas in the
7:39
tank. There's a lot of uh things left in
7:41
the basement, so to speak, as far as
7:43
life goes. And I'm not going to take it
7:46
for granted. This next year is going to
7:48
be a banger for me. I 40 had me scared.
7:51
I'm not going to lie. When I hit 40, I
7:52
was like, "Oh my god, I'm 40 years old.
7:55
I'm middle-aged. My life is done. Uh
7:58
what am I doing?" But there's no rush,
8:00
guys, in life. There's absolutely no
8:02
rush in life, and you should never feel
8:04
like that. Everybody's journey is
8:06
different. Everybody's path is
8:07
different. It's about what you do in it
8:10
that makes it um worth it to you. And I
8:13
have zero regrets in this life. I mean,
8:16
sure, give or take, maybe one or two
8:18
mistakes that I wish I didn't do, but
8:20
overall, I'm in a good place. And
8:23
there's been times where I really
8:25
wasn't. And a big part of helping me was
8:29
this, was doing this, was live
8:31
streaming, was making the content, was
8:32
talking to you guys, meeting you guys,
8:34
uh, keeping busy.
8:37
And with that, I want to thank you guys.
8:40
I've I've again, I'm not entitled to it.
8:43
I know I've said some stupid I've
8:46
done stupid I've made mistakes. I
8:48
might have pissed you off at some point.
8:50
I might have made a video about a
8:52
creator or two that you disagreed with.
8:55
And you know,
8:58
that's just how it goes. All right.
9:00
There's whether you like it or not, that
9:02
is perfectly fine. That is perfectly
9:04
fine. Uh I'm going to stay true to who I
9:07
am. Whether people think, "Oh, that's
9:09
just a leech. He's a clutch." No, this
9:12
is who I am. This is my platform. This
9:14
is what I'm going to do. And u I'm going
9:17
to make the most of it. Now, not to get
9:19
into YouTube, but life. Um, my family,
9:24
we're all healthy. I got both of my
9:26
parents still. My father's 86 years old.
9:29
I love them to death. My mom is still
9:32
here. My older brother's still here. My
9:34
little sister's here. I got my nieces. I
9:36
got my cousins. Um, life is great. Are
9:40
we a perfect family? No, by no means.
9:42
You know, every family has their
9:44
bickering and their, I guess,
9:46
dysfunctional side to it, but life is
9:50
good. I'm in decent health. I'm still
9:52
wrestling all the time. I just had four
9:55
matches this past weekend for Fourth of
9:57
July, which is why I was kind of missing
9:59
and and didn't stream or anything like
10:01
that. Then my birthday is today, which
10:04
and within the next hour or so, we're
10:06
probably going to go out to eat dinner
10:07
as a family. Uh there's this nice burger
10:10
joint I want to go to. And then uh last
10:12
night we had the countdown stream. We're
10:14
going to probably have a live stream
10:15
tonight actually. Uh while you're
10:17
watching this, if it's already 10
10:19
o'clock central time, come through.
10:21
We're going to be having a birthday live
10:23
stream. Uh you can come hang out, say
10:25
hi, uh shoot me some birthday wishes,
10:28
throw me some money if you want it,
10:31
super chats, any of that. No, just
10:33
that's all optional. But um we're going
10:36
to have a little bit of a birthday
10:37
hangout. Things won't get as wild
10:39
because I have an early morning uh
10:41
tomorrow. But, uh, I just wanted to take
10:44
this time and again, like I said, I'm
10:46
not expecting this video to get a lot of
10:47
views. I'm not expecting this video to
10:50
get traction because it's just me off
10:52
the cuff talking about real life. And I
10:55
know a lot of times when people see
10:56
their favorite creators do videos like
10:59
this, it's kind of not interesting. You
11:02
guys, for the most part, and I'm not
11:04
saying you you don't care, but at the
11:06
same time, you're not here for this,
11:09
right? You're you're for video game
11:11
content. you're here for takes on stuff
11:14
and and getting information, but it
11:16
feels good once in a while to drop that
11:19
and and talk to you guys because, you
11:22
know, I don't do it often. I I don't
11:24
remember the last time I did a rambling
11:25
vlog or a rambling video or an update.
11:28
Uh, but I felt right now was just as
11:31
good a time as ever to do it. So, yeah.
11:35
I I mean, last year was great for the
11:38
channel. you know, I hit a record
11:41
milestone with the views for the whole
11:43
entire year. This year has been a little
11:45
rocky and I think because the direction
11:46
of the content, YouTube might have
11:48
changed the algorithm and decided not to
11:51
push the topics that I was talking about
11:54
or or whatever. Either way, whether I'm
11:57
getting five views or 5,000 views or
11:59
whatever on a video, that's
12:01
inconsequential. Okay? I was on this
12:04
platform for over five years not making
12:06
any kind of money because I wasn't
12:09
monetized. So, I'm I'm fine with that.
12:11
It's not about the money. It's not about
12:14
the views. It's not about that. It's
12:15
about having fun with it. Even though I
12:17
do want that 100,000 subscriber plaque,
12:20
that's my ultimate goal. If we can get
12:22
that this year, I would be happier than
12:25
a pig in in mud, right? Um, but
12:29
regardless of what how big or little the
12:31
support is, I'm going to be who I am.
12:34
I'm going to be here. I'm going to be
12:35
doing it for you guys. And I appreciate
12:38
the opportunity to be able to do that.
12:40
Whether it's to make you guys laugh,
12:42
make you guys angry. I mean, last night
12:44
we had a diddy party with with with the
12:47
baby oil because I hit a uh $500 tip
12:50
goal. That don't never happen ever. You
12:53
know, I'd never ever really get that
12:55
much money donated to me. And that was a
12:57
blessing because,
13:00
you know, that's money that you guys
13:03
work hard for. And for you to decide,
13:05
hey, this guy's worth it. That is a huge
13:10
gesture in my opinion. I don't think I'm
13:12
entitled to. You see people on the
13:15
internet that have their tier goals and
13:17
their donation goals and their uh all
13:20
this crap, you know? You see certain
13:21
streamers, I'm not going to name any.
13:23
It's all about the money, right? And I
13:27
don't see you guys as as dollars or
13:29
cents, right? Uh and I hope it's never
13:33
come across as that way. Uh but as far
13:36
as like YouTube stuff aside goes, thank
13:39
you guys for for being there for me. You
13:42
guys have no clue. And uh I hope this is
13:45
a good year and I appreciate it uh very
13:48
much. Um thank you.