Couldn’t they do both YouTube and another means of distribution?

I remember doing the warthog jump an awful lot in Halo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGQIQljaAc0

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shareware

Ah yeah Carmageddon! They definitely encouraged exploration. I remember never winning by racing, but instead killing the other drivers.

Shareware!

Yes. I did this with Monster Truck Madness and still remember the opening announcer guy.

I also did this with Big Red Racing, Diddy Kong Racing, and Rallisport Challenge.