Originality vs Competition in gaming

As I was outside today shoveling, and a Battletoads remix came on my MP3 player, I realized something. Whatever happened to all of our childhood heroes? I mean, I know what happened to Crash Bandicoot and Sonic the Hedgehog, all those crazy, weird, anthropomorphic creatures, but... Why don't they have very many contemporary kin? I started thinking a little bit more about it as I went on shoveling, because well, let's face it, if you think about menial tasks while you do them it'll drive you crazy! 
In any case, I'm out there for a while, and I get to thinking. Back in the 8 or 16-bit days, almost every other game getting released had some character that wasn't human. There was so much creativity in terms of what teams could think up as the star of the show (read: game). There were buttons, hedgehogs, robots, opossums, heck even worms became main characters back in the day! That's not to say that there weren't games that featured human protagonists, of course there were, and will most likely always be.
What I'm trying to get to is that in this age where photo realism is the main goal, the idea of a character that isn't human in a AAA title is just really hard to come by. Instead of showcasing their creative talents, all the people working on huge games, for the most part are spending their time squabbling among themselves over who has the strongest grip on human anatomy. If you want to find a creative protagonist, you've got to go into indie territory. 
I think that's also part of the reason why independent games have such a huge following today, they showcase the kind of creativity that you just can't find anymore walking down the aisles of your typical big chain store. The big thing in AAA titles is not what kind of creature we can play as, but instead what race the character(s) is/are. I'm not saying that there shouldn't be any more human (or in-game lore equivalent) protagonists, but where is the creativity? There are just about limitless things that we could take the role of, yet we seem to be just self-centered enough that all we want to do is be ourselves. What's up with that? 

Filming board games

We actually did get together last Friday to film a run of Superpowerful Bonanza! We had Tethrinblaze, foreverkimberly, GrimJak, JackBauer, The Laundry King and myself, and we played a full game. I thought we were going to have three cameras but as it turned out we only had two going at any particular time. I learned a lot about filming and setting up, so I should be able to put some of that to good use in the near future.
The most important thing about filming board games is that you need to have multiple cameras. The two we had going at any given time were really only focused on the game board, we didn't have an extra camera for the players, so you can't really see any of our boards or what cards we have. Filming a board game IN-PLAY will most likely definitely require at least three cameras. Since the board for SPB is not flat, we had one camera shooting at it on a level field and one camera above it. I suppose for next time we could have one camera on the players and one camera above the board, since you don't really get any good information from the level camera. The level camera also ended up getting knocked down A LOT. 
The real camera I had we used for the sky view of the board. I made a makeshift holder for it out of cardboard and rubber bands, but now that I understand that process, that should actually make it easier to film handheld games, since I can have the camera held aloft above me. I know quite a few people use a shoebox to film handheld games with a regular camera, but... I don't really have any shoeboxes to use and I found that method kind of silly. I did almost the same thing, but I think Homemadegameguru would be proud of me using a piece of cardboard to make the holder. 

Unfortunately, the batteries died in that particular camera sometime within the first twenty minutes, so we're out a skycam for quite a while, until Grim realized he could use the camera on his phone as the skycam for us! There's a long segment without it, but you'll still be able to see the board in some fashion. The other camera, the level one, was my Vita. I learned that night that you can only record video in segments of 30 minutes at a time on the PlayStation Vita. There is somewhat of an abrupt cut in footage around the first 30 minutes as we realized what had happened. The Laundry King also was the one primarily knocking over the Vita, so near the end when he's amassed his massive deck of cards and has them all over the table he knocks it over quite frequently, so I apologize about that! 
I've got a lot more experience under my belt in regards to filming things without capture cards or webcams now, so we'll see where that takes me! I'm still waiting on Grim's video before I can splice everything together, so I'm sorry but you guys will have to wait a bit longer to see the game in action!

Sad news

Hey guys, I'm here to lay some sad news on all of you. As of today (1/24/15), I broke up with Liz. You might be like "Oh hey, why do we care?!" This actually does relate to my channel, though, I swear. Couples' Co-Op is now on indefinite hold as I don't have a partner to film with, so Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons as a playthrough is up in the air. 
Liz and I had a relatively amicable breakup though, so we still plan on playing through the Kaos Doom Challenge in Trap Team at some point! I've actually just gotten to the highlights of us playing Swap Force on my twitch channel, so I will be adding those to the Couple's Co-Op playlist as they are uploaded to my channel as well. I have her permission to keep the stuff up that's already there and to add new videos to Couples' Co-Op as I move them over to YouTube from my Twitch channel. 
Just thought I'd give you guys a heads up! 

Increasing Viewer Engagement

So last night while I was streaming Warframe, someone started watching and they were like "HEY! DO YOU GIVE AWAY FREE PLAT?!" and that got me thinking;

1. Do people actually do that?
2. I bet that's a great way to increase viewer engagement
3. Is that why everyone who doesn't stream regularly is like "OMFG I'M GIVING AWAY __!!!! COME WATCH!"

I haven't really had a chance to brainstorm, though I have actually been streaming pretty regularly, what with the PS4 making it so easy and all that jazz... In any case, I'd like to brainstorm on ways that can increase viewer engagement/tie people into the streams! Are there any ways you've thought of/used before that get people to come and stay and interact with you? This is of course not counting giveaways, I've actually thought about that kind of thing before. I would much rather go ahead and do giveaways on my YouTube channel, rather than my stream, as almost no one watches me when I stream... Unless of course I get the rest of Okamigakure to come and hang out too. 
What other ideas can we come up with to get people to hang out in a stream??  

Board Game Filming

I'm going to be trying something new out on Friday, and that's filming a board game. I've never tried it before, but if it turns out to be simpler than it seems at first glance, maybe I can do it a little more often!
As of right now, we've got GrimJak, JackBauer, Tethrinblaze, ForeverKimberly, The Laundry King and myself set to play, and we'll have at least three cameras. From the board/tabletop videos I've seen on YouTube, there's usually one camera devoted to seeing everything, one for the board, and another one set aside for mock interviews. I'm not 100% sure if that'll be our exact setup, but we'll do our best to work something out. 
The game we're going to be filming is Superpowerful Bonanza (Which I did an unboxing with with Liz you can watch here: CLICK ME!), which is a beta board game (as of right now), created by YouTube's very own Homemadegameguru! We backed the game during its campaign on indiegogo, and we have only played once before. 
Homemadegameguru is asking for ideas and suggestions, and I figured what better way to help a fellow YouTuber than by promoting their work via YouTube! The unfortunate part is that I'm not entirely sure if we'll be able to finish a game. My original description of the game was "Imagine Double Dragon as a board game," but after playing it just once, I think I can add "and the difficulty was that of Metal Slug or Contra." The game is absolutely unforgiving, so don't expect our bunch to survive that long. Hell, I got hit by a car my very first turn the first time we played. I will say winning a battle is hella satisfying in this bleak, dangerous world though!
If you guys have any suggestions for filming or ideas, please let me know, and I'll see what we can do about it!

Warframe Mission Types

Why. WHY WHY WHY does this game not explain what the mission types are?? They just want you to figure it out along the way I guess, but if you're playing alone, you'll probably end up getting screwed. So, I'm just going to make a list here for those of you that are new and having a little trouble with the mission types. I haven't done every kind of mission yet, so this will just be for the ones that I've run into thus far. 

• Survival

Survival seems to be the most self-explanatory of the mission types, but it's actually not really explanatory at all. In survival it's true you have to survive for a set amount of time, but the rules for the mission itself are a lot more confusing. In survival, the life support system of wherever you are is shut down so that the enemies (and you!) have something to deal with, while another Tenno supposedly gains vital information. Every five minutes you gain a new mod. The enemies become increasingly more powerful as time goes on.
Remember how I mentioned life support was down? You need to keep a close eye on the Life support level. Enemies occasionally drop support packages that keep the number up, but Lotus will also scatter life support interfaces around the stage. They pop up on your minimap as the yellow objectives, just like the life support packages. 
When life support drops to 0, you don't die, oddly enough. Instead, you constantly take damage, first to your shields, and then to your health, until you die or get to extraction. In Survival missions, you can get out pretty much any time after the first five minutes, but you must make it to extraction yourself, by following the green extraction waypoint.

• Defense

Defense is a semi-typical horde mode. The enemies come in waves and you must protect some item from their assault. Every five waves you'll get a new mod or other bonus, but the enemies become more powerful after each wave. After you are given your reward at the end of a set of five waves, you are given the option to continue the mission (for another 5 waves), or to extract. You don't need to go anywhere if you choose extraction, you will just leave the mission.

• Capture

In capture missions, you must find one or more high value targets and bring them back with you. This doesn't mean you have to play tag though. You've got to kill whoever the HVT is and then walk over and... basically digitize them and send them to Lotus. The challenge of this mode is that if the HVT(s) see you, they will BOOK for an exit, so you'll have to chase them if you want to succeed.

• Deception

In deception, one player needs to carry a... let's go with... "space briefcase," and use it to interface with some terminal somewhere on the level. In some cases after interfacing with the terminal, the player(s) will need to defend the terminal from oncoming forces for a set duration as if they were playing survival with life support enabled. The player carrying the briefcase cannot use their primary weapon, only their secondary and their melee. After the terminal has been located and used, you need to make it to extraction by following the green waypoint manually. 

• Exterminate

Exterminate is probably the easiest of all the gametypes. You jump into a mission with a set number of enemies to kill (All of them on the stage, basically), and the nearest enemy to you appears on your minimap, so it's basically a hunt. After you've finished all the enemies, you must get to the green extraction waypoint manually. 

• Mobile Defense

Mobile defense is like a combination of gametypes. The fact that it has another word tacked onto another gametype only makes it more confusing. It involves hacking terminals, which requires someone to carry a space briefcase. After the hacking, you'll need to survive for a set amount of time. Once that's done, you move to another terminal and do the same. Extraction is manual here too. 

• Interception

Interception gametype is the absolute worst-named of them all. It's a capture the point/king of the hill-type game mode, which is definitely not something you would get from the title. I personally wouldn't attempt an interception without at least one other person.
There are generally four points in interception, A, B, C and D. The gametype functions on a round system, whereas if one team can get to 100% via holding the points longer than the other team, that team wins the round. After each round you are given the option to extract or continue the battle, like the every five wave model in defense. The enemies here become increasingly more powerful with each round as well. 

• Sabotage

Sabotage involves you finding something and destroying it, depending on where you are/who you're dealing with. Afterwards you may end up having to race to extraction, but not always. Either way, you'll need to head to the green extraction waypoint manually. 

• Assassination

The most straightforward of the mission types. This one usually involves a boss fight, and generally speaking, allows you to gain some kind of Warframe parts. You must fight your way to the boss, and upon their defeat, make it to the green extraction waypoint manually. The actual boss does not drop warframe blueprints, they are instead rewarded to the player upon completion of the level. 

• Rescue

Rescue missions are no less fun than they are in any other game here in Warframe. In rescue missions you'll have to find a prisoner somewhere and escort them to the green extraction waypoint. I've only run into these missions as part of the story so far, but then again, I've only been playing for five days or so, ha.

• Spy

Spy missions involve you accessing a terminal and then carrying a space briefcase (they're really called "datamasses") all the way to extraction. There can be 1-4 total datamasses within each level, but not all of them need to be carried to extraction if there are not enough players for each of you to grab one. You just need to bring as many as you are capable of to extraction manually.

Streaming Directly from the PS4

IT WORKS. IT ACTUALLY WORKS.

Unlike YouTube's streaming features, what with them being incredibly slow and barely functioning in the best case, streaming from the PS4 actually works. If you have a twitch account already and you'd like to stream, the way to do it is thus: 

1. Hit the Share Button
2. Go to the Option for broadcast your games (3rd option right now)
3. Login to Twitch
4. Choose the name of your stream (WHICH MOST LIKELY WILL NOT APPEAR ON THE ACTUAL STREAM-- you'll need to edit it manually on the actual site with a computer, unfortunately), and the quality of your stream Note: The PS4 does not automatically know what game you are running, so you'll need a computer or other device nearby to choose the game you are streaming anyway 
5. Edit your party settings for voice chat (whether party members will be audible or not. Though, I chose yes, and they were not audible in the stream)
6. Profit!

The PS4 has its own interface for Twitch streaming which is actually really interesting. It shrinks the game's screen size just a little bit and adds a chatbox to the right side of the screen. It also lets you see how many viewers you have and keeps track of the number of comments. If you leave the game application while you are streaming, the video will cut to black, but audio will be there, which is kind of strange, but I guess it keeps you from changing things too much. 
My only real gripe right now is that as usual twitch is not really that accepting of new information cuz their interface is slow as hell in regards to stream name and what game you're playing and all that jazz. Also I find it weird that even though the PS4 knows exactly what you're playing, it doesn't relay that information to Twitch. I streamed Warframe for 2 hours or so yesterday only to find out as I was closing the stream that the stream said I was playing Trap Team...
I'll probably be utilizing this streaming feature quite a bit in the future, in any case!
EDIT: I've discovered that instead of cutting to black, the stream plays a little video with the playstation face button symbols and an icon for no camera. Also, when you get alerts from the PS4 itself, they appear as weird glitchy blobs on the side. I guess that they want to keep some kind of personal info (in case you're using real names) safe?

Originality in Games

As a gamer, one of the things I fear the most is developers running out of ideas. Now, I'm not saying that there isn't theoretically an infinite amount of ideas that could be worked on, it's just that for the most part, developers like to stick to concepts that they know will work, as opposed to exploring new ideas, challenges and forms of gameplay. There's also something I realized last night that could also help abate that whole "nothing is new ever again" feeling that's always sizzling away on the back-burner of my mind. 
I got a PS4 for christmas, and I went onto the PSN and was searching for games that I might not have heard of but were available, and one of the ones I discovered was Rollers of the Realm. From the title I figured it was going to be like... Rock of Ages or something like that. After that I thought it was an RPG because of the characters' silhouettes on the title screen, you could definitely tell there were your typical RPG fare, knights, rogues, wizards and the like. When the game started, and I sat through the first cutscene about witches and knights and curses and a little thief, I thought without a shadow of a doubt, this was definitely a role playing game. And then, the first map booted up. 
Flippers? a plunger? What the heck is this? The most interesting hybrid I've ever seen in my entire life. An engaging story that takes place in a fantasy world, yet all of the major characters interact with the environment as PINBALLS. The board is actually made of towns and other areas on your quest to unite the land in peace, and you do meet people and interact with them. There are hidden paths on the board as if it were a real pinball machine and you can even get into battles with enemies by slamming into them and dealing damage! The voice acting is actually REALLY good, which also surprised me. I was very confused as to why someone was talking, but once I realized that all the characters were actually the pinballs, things started to make a lot of sense. 
I'm not actually a really big fan of pinball (besides that one pinball game that came standard on all XP computers), so I don't think I'll be giving this game a purchase, but I was very pleasantly surprised to see something new. The content of what's going on isn't really new by any stretch of the imagination, what with the orphan hero making a new family and all that, but the way it's presented is something totally new and amazing. I'm really glad I just randomly decided to click download and I got to experience something I couldn't have elsewhere. This is the kind of thing that gives me hope for the future of the industry!

Starting the Year Off Right!

Hey guys and gals! A new year has dawned, welcome one and all to 2015! I plan on starting this year off right, both personally as well as via my online persona! That means there's a couple changes coming down the line.
More often than not, since I left for college, I've just been uploading and more recently streaming random crap that I've been playing, there really hasn't been much thought to it. That changes, now that I'm all caught up to exactly where I want to be, and I've finally got my hands on some new tech to roll out! I finally went the extra mile and picked up an HD Capture card, an Elgato HD60, to be precise. I've got the HDMI Splitter (and *cough* HDCP stripper *cough*) right next to me, so you can expect some true HD console streams in the near future! It's been a long time coming, hasn't it? 
Besides that, I'm well on my way to getting Unfair-Y Tales up and running. The first episode, not counting the pilot, will most definitely be out by the end of January. I'm working on the intro right now, so I can plop it down in front of every episode. I'm looking at a 20 episode season at the moment (Shhh, I know that's not a regular number of episodes for a season of something!), but I'm trying to figure out what the release schedule will be like. As of right now, I'm looking at an every other week release, on the same schedule as Twitch highlights, since the original plan for my upload schedule was to have a video uploaded on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday of each week... This will help me make that a reality, so my uploads aren't all up together. Gotta thank Kenbei for that suggestion, gotta spread the content out!
I'm also looking to finish off a couple older series, and to stream more regularly! It should be easier to stream now that I'll have a setup upstairs as well as downstairs for console pretty much ready to go at all times. As I'm writing this the plans are to stream Trap Team and Wrath Unleashed on and off for a while. Wrath Unleashed has been one of my most requested games on YouTube of all time, but the matches are so long that I don't really see it befitting of YouTube videos, and consequently, that's probably why there isn't a lot of content there. I think the game is far more suited to streaming, so I hope to get some of my audience from YouTube to move on over to Twitch as well! 
I've got one more episode of the DMTV movelist to put out, and then I'll be moving on to something else rather similar, but also that I feel there is a huge lack of content for on YouTube, and that's path guides for skylanders. The only person I know that does them is actually really obnoxious, and he basically says in all his videos "You are stupid if you don't pick the path that I chose," and that's just not the kind of attitude I can get behind. I mean, there's also the fact that I am, for all intents and purposes, a gaming hipster, so I never go out of my way to do what other people are doing. I've decided the path guide videos will stick strictly to the actual paths, as anyone and everyone can get all the regular moves leading up to the paths and the soul gem abilities. I'll also make a mention and an explanation of the Wow Pows where applicable, since choosing which series Skylander to buy is also a decision that you generally can't go back on. 
In regards to me, as a person, I intend to try and go as far as I can with my eBay store, while I look for other means of employment. I've got tons of geeky goodness, especially in regards to variant skylanders up in my store, so check it out! I've got tons of comic con promo posters there too, so if your walls happen to be bare, I think we can come to a mutually beneficial agreement. 

2014 was a pretty good year for me, but I intend to make 2015 even more awesome, how about you guys?!