Monday, October 26, 2009

10/26/09 - Hello Everybody, SickKirby Here

Updates:

I am really, really, REALLY sorry for neglecting this blog for the last week. The part of this not updating thing that gets me the most is the fact that when I did this daily, I was doing a really good job of of getting my daily updates in, but now that I have given myself less updates and more time, I can only seem to get one in. I feel really bad about this readers. I'd like to say that I had a good excuse, and while I do think it is an acceptable excuse, I wouldn't say it was necessarily a good one.

Anyways, I'm sure some of you are already familiar with this, especially if you watched my Mario Party 5 board for the weekend, but I caught a sinus infection near the end of last week, and it was also my Fall Break, so right away, I was in a bad place at a bad time. There are also a few other things that put me in a bad and sickly mood, but I'd rather not waste time in naming the details. I knew that updating Thursday was going to be out of the question no matter what, since I had classes smack dab in the middle of my day and I also had to drive home as well. It was almost 8 when I got home, and I really don't feel like updating a blog at that time when I just want to relax, especially when I had to wake up early the next morning for my appointment. On Friday, I had to worry about Mario Party 5 stuff, on Saturday I had to worry about making sure that stuff got uploaded and I also had some family coming over that day, so I wanted to spend time with them. And then yesterday.....well, yesterday was a pain as well since I had to worry about getting back to my college, and I wanted to make the best of what little of Fall Break I had left.

So yeah, they may not be the best reasons to why I was gone, but those were the reasons. I really do apologize for the lack of updates though. Thankfully, there is not really much to talk about.

Lolo:

I thought the first 3 episodes went pretty well (3 up as of now...currently uploading 4th). This confirmed to me though that this will be a very short LP. It will definitely take less than a two week's worth of videos. I'm not going to give an approximate end date, because things can still happen, but assuming the uploads continue as planned, it should be finished by the beginning or middle of next week.

After I finish Lolo 1, I have already decided that I will follow it up with Lolo 2. Lolo 2 is a bit longer than Lolo 1, but not by much (I think it has 55 levels instead of 50, and also the puzzles are a bit harder). After I finish with Lolo 2, I'm not really sure about how to advance from there. I have a few ideas, but let's just wait on that.

Mario Party 5:

Besides a little snippet of trouble with Video #7's upload, this board went pretty smoothly. I only wish I wasn't sick, as that probably hurt the commentary a little. I didn't have any glitches (that I noticed) with the game audio this time, so that was a plus. My main beef with this board was how long it ran after the last 5 turns. I know I want to show everything in this game, but 5 star spaces really hurt my timing frames. Stars were a lot easier to collect, and those "NOW THE STAR IS OVER HERE" scenes are like 15-30 seconds long. Then we had the duel mini-games which also added quite a bit of time. Then there were the Tweester capsules, which added more star moving scenes.....ugh, a timing nightmare. If that didn't happen, the board could have easily ended in 6 or 7 videos. Wasn't crazy about 8....

Other Stuff:

Well, it seems like there is a trend with me and Sunday. For the last two Sundays, I have gotten honors for channel views. This time I was up in the 40s of the Top 50, which is really impressive. It means for that day, I am one of 50 Youtube directors that have the most channel views. And when you think about how many director accounts there are.....that's impressive. I don't see myself going that much farther, but it's fun to just sit back and enjoy the ride. :P And of course, thanks to all my fans for making this possible.

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Anyways, getting back to the update thing.....I think I have decided that I'm going to go to a weekly update schedule now. Not really because Im busy....not really because I hate doing this....but it just seems to make more sense in the long run. I really don't have that much to say about stuff except for my videos and the games I am playing, and usually you get the gist of that in my videos. It just seems like this would be for the best in the long run and in the grand scheme of things. I'm sorry if you really enjoy these blog updates and whenever I do update, I'll try my best to make them as enjoyable as possible, but it is slowly becoming too much for me.

So here is the deal....I'm not going to tell you when I'll switch over to this new update schedule. I'll keep trying to adapt to this current 2-4 entries per week system, but if it becomes too much, I'll just start phasing entries out as time goes on and will start working towards once per week. It will be a gradual process, not an immediate one.

Thank you for your time readers...hopefully I'll get better soon :P

- SlimKirby

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

10/20/09 - "The Adventures of Lolo Revealed!"

Well guys, after a very poorly ran contest, the results and the information is in. My new Let's Play is The Adventures of Lolo for the NES. 44 people were able to crack the code of the contest and determine this next LP for me (and if they didn't crack the code, they at least managed to copy other answers). Anyways, here is the process by which I decided to do this game for my next LP.

I first played this game a few years ago when I was really into using emulators and ROMs, something that I'm not really into very much anymore. I heard about this game through Nintendo Power on a Top 100 list they posted of what they considered to be the best games of all time (I think it was Issue #100) and sure enough, Adventures of Lolo managed to appear on the list. Because of this mention, and since I recognized the characters from Kirby Superstar, I decided I would give the game a try. During that week, I played through all 3 NES games and enjoyed every minute of them.....well, except the parts that gave me a migraine due to the insane puzzles of later stages. Anyways, when I heard that Nintendo was putting them on the Virtual Console, I was ecstatic. You see, this is what the Virtual Console is for....ancient and undiscovered gems like these. Stop complaining about Banjo Kazooie's high possibility of not being available.

After winning a trivia contest held by good friend MegaFreak400, he actually surprised me and gave me a gift of any VC game worth 500 Wii Points. Immediately I went for Lolo and I didn't regret my decision. Later (just recently actually), another good friend... and rival, ShadowMario41 actually gifted me Lolo 2 from my trivia winnings in his trivia contest, so it's nice that I can actually enjoy these games forever now and play them without feeling guilty about not owning an NES and using emulators. :P

Now....my decision to actually LP these games was a very easy one that actually took awhile to register. After the Summer of 2009, I was actually kind of lost on what I would do for upcoming projects. I knew Hit and Run was going to be in the works eventually, and I had 2 other replays to do as well (which are still going to be put on hold eventually), and I had no freaking idea when I was ever going to do Mario Party 5. However, once I started figuring out the scheduling for Mario Party 5 and some other projects I was planning for Fall 09, things started to come together. And sure enough, after looking at my Wii Menu, Lolo was one of the first games to come to mind.

Lolo will be first in line of a bunch of mini-projects I have planned for this season. I figured that since MP5 would be updated during the weekend, and that it would be a pretty long project regardless, that the best thing to do was to fill the weekdays with some filler LPs. Although I don't really like the term "filler," since I try to LP every game to the best of my ability and not put any projects above and below other projects, you can't really ignore the name, because that is essentially what the project is. However, I definitely recommend you give the game a fair chance, because it is honestly a great game. Kind of brain-hemorrhaging at times due to the amount and type of puzzles, but still kind of challenging (in a good way) and quite a bit of fun as well. I definitely don't expect this to be at the top of people's "Top SlimKirby LPs" list though.

I would like to eventually do all 3 of the NES Lolo games. Fortunately, I don't see Lolo 1 lasting two weeks, so expect that project to finish rather quickly. I'd like to do the sequel right after Lolo 1, but from that arises two concerns of mine. I actually am not that familiar with Lolo 2 than Lolo 1 and from my understanding, that game is quite difficult compared to the original, so that will definitely cause some issues, but hopefully not many. Second, I don't want people to get too bombarded with the Lolo series or the game genre at once, because I'm actually planning another Let's Play after Lolo that revolves around a similar gameplay mechanic, but too a much lesser extent. You'll see what I mean when I get to the game, as I'd rather not reveal it right now.

Anyways, the first video will be uploaded tomorrow, so I hope you guys enjoy this new LP! Personally, I don't have much else to discuss, so I think I'll end this part of the entry right here. Once again, I do apologize for the half-assed contest of mine (as talked about in the last entry), just because looking at it from a different perspective, it definitely didn't meet the standards I should have had.

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SlimKirby Shoutout

The shoutout this time actually goes to a person who is not very well known in the LP world.....mostly because he doesn't name his work as "Let's Plays" rather "Talthroughs." My shoutout today goes to Mr. roundthewheel.

His Channel

Round has been doing talkthroughs for quite awhile now...since June 2008. He started with Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins and is now working on his 21st talkthrough, which is Sonic the Hedgehog 2. You find very few people who have done so much through Youtube yet have very few subscribers. RTW is one of those people, and definitely deserves a lot more credit for all the work he has done. I discovered him through his very long and extensive talkthrough of the PC game Lemmings and have been an on-and-off again watcher of his work ever since.

Even though most of his projects are pretty mainstream, there is no excuse not to at least check him out. Like me, he's just a heavy-set 20+ year old gamer wanting to show off the finer points in gaming, and perhaps give you a little help along the way.

Keep up the great work Round! And congratulations on getting married recently as well. ;)

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-SlimKirby

Sunday, October 18, 2009

10/18/09 (Blog Adjustments)

Hello everybody, SlimKirby here!

In a few minutes, I'll get to talking about the first Mario Party 5 board, and maybe a few other things, but first, I want to talk about my blog, and some of the things that have been going on.

As you know, yesterday was the 2nd day in one week that i hadn't updated this thing. Before then, I actually think I did pretty well with my updates. I almost went an entire month without skipping a day, and I think I had the format down pretty well. Then on last Monday, I decided to take a break from the blog since I wasn't really updating anyways, and I also had some homework I had to get done as well. Then yesterday I just completely spaced it all-together, and when I did remember it, I just decided that updating probably just wasn't worth it by that point. Besides, I had such a hassle with the Mario Party 5 editing (moreso than the actual uploading, because the uploading went really smooth considering I had 8 to upload).

So while these two no-update days weren't that surprising, they have gotten me thinking a bit about how I should continue with this thing. Personally, while I do think there is a lot I can talk about, I don't think there is enough to satisfy a whole week's worth of content. Solution? Well, I talked about this when I started the blog, but basically, I think I'm actually going to try a slightly new format.

I'm no longer going to be updating daily, BUT, I am going to be uploading at least twice a week (somewhere between 2-4 updates per week). This way I can keep you guys updated on things maybe once or twice during the week, and then I can talk about Mario Party on Saturday, and then talk about upcoming stuff on Sunday. This might actually work out better for me, considering my schedule during the week is pretty unpredictable, and with a new project starting soon (which I'll get into later), I'm going to need a much less hectic schedule. I think this is fair.

Unless something important comes up, I would never expect a blog entry on Monday or Friday if I were you guys. Monday is kind of the "Ugh, new week...time to feel like crap" day for me, and Friday is either the "I want to come back to my dorm room and sleep for hours due to a long week" day or the "I have to spend an hour packing, an hour getting my car, and an hour driving home, so leave me alone" day. To figure out my weekday blog schedule, check and see if I post anything on Tuesday. If I do, I will probably be updating twice during the week, on Tuesday and Thursday. If I don't update on Tuesday, expect an update on Wednesday, and probably only that one Wednesday update. I will try my best to update on both Saturday and Sunday, but take that with a grain of salt, because with my schedule, I don't even know if I can be counted on. In fact, just keep that in mind for any updates. I'd like to be Mr. Reliable, and while I do come through most of the time, there is not always a safety catch. As I stated before, my real life does and will always prioritize over my Youtube and blog stuff.

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Mario Party 5:

Ok guys, yesterday I uploaded the first board of Mario Party 5, and I have to say that it went pretty well. Sure, it took 8 videos, but 8 is always better than 9, I guess you could say, and that is saying a lot because I remember back in the day when my original MP1 project had boards that were over 20 videos long >_>.

Anyways, perhaps since I am using this blog as a way to give more inside information about the production of these videos, I could share with you guys the process by which I make, edit, and upload them. Let's just walk through those phases right now, shall we?

First we have the actual recording, perhaps the most fun part of actually doing these playthroughs. To be honest, this would be a lot more fun if I actually had a program that could record for more than 17 minutes and 53 seconds. I know that Youtube videos are 11 minutes at most, but with Mario Party, you really don't want to stop and wait, especially when you have a laptop with very small hard-drive space. And before you computer nerds get in my face about getting an external hard-drive, let me just stop you and have Mario explain it in a way you would understand.....

While an external hard-drive would be nice, I just don't have the money, and my parents don't really want to give me money for something that they deem as unnecessary. Besides, I'm also saving up for other things that I would like to have as well. While I don't necessarily agree with my parents, I do agree with them in the sense that if I don't need it, I don't need it because this would be more for convenience. Anyways, I didn't actually start the filming of the board until like 3:45 on Friday. For once I actually had a very busy Friday as I had an exam I had to schedule for the date, and I had to move my car, which is not as easy as it sounds. Anyways, the basic procedure for filming MP5 was recording two 18-minute segments, going into Movie Maker, editing those segments down into Youtube length and saving them as WMVs, deleting the raw computer-stealing footage, putting the new video files onto a Flash drive, and then start recording the second two 18-minute blocks (and the conclusion) of the board. This process took easily 2 and a half hours at least (all of the saving and importing added on to this) and I wasn't done until about 6:30 or 7:00.

The importing, editing, and publishing, although time-consuming, is the easiest to work with. Mostly because while something is importing or saving, I can actually DO OTHER THINGS. I can get caught up with MegaFreak400's quest to find treasure, kill turquoise birds, and talk about the differences between Zelda: Four Swords and New Super Mario Bros. Wii for 10 minutes, or watch ShadowMario41 fail horribly at fighting berserkers. As for the editing, with the way I do it, I just match up the commentary with the game footage on the video timeline(easier than it sounds), adjust for 11 minutes (or close to 11 minutes), and then save it. Not very hard at all....

The uploading is perhaps the least hands-on, but it has the most opportunities to fail. Youtube is definitely far from perfect when it comes to uploading (if the administration and moderation wasn't crap enough). For one, uploads can fail! They may not be the fault of Youtube, and moreso your own connection, but still, it's annoying. Second, if you are uploading multiple videos, there are chances for some of your later videos to upload first. This actually hasn't happened to me very much as of late, but in the past, this occurrence was definitely the bane of my existence. Also...and I don't know how this happens...sometimes if your video is exactly 11 minutes (and sometimes just under), the video will be mistaken for over 11 minutes, and we know what Youtube does with those videos, don't we? REJECTION! Many people have said this, especially LPers, but why does Youtube have a time limit? Wouldn't file size be the bigger concern here? Thankfully though, uploading can be pretty fast, especially at college and high-speed connections, so even if something bad happens, it's just an extra 20 minutes of waiting, most of which can be used to watch other videos or play games or something.

Anyways, that's pretty much how the process goes. As you can see, the recording was pretty bad for me this time, due to all the variables had to deal with. And even when all that was said and done, I still had some recording glitches (at the end of Video #5 and start of #6), so even though I was pretty cautious with my recording, these stupid things are equally likely to happen regardless, which can be a kick in the face. Thankfully it was only 2 minutes worth of footage...

The waking up early, starting uploads, and then going back to sleep process I tried actually worked pretty well. I only got about 3 or 4 extra hours of sleep, and all 8 videos were up by the time I woke up, which is pretty impressive. Let me tell you guys though....on the weekends, 10 AM in the morning is EARLY for me. It really is. On the weekends, I try to sleep to noon, one, or two. Why? Because college classes drain my precious energy. I really do put a lot of work into my studies and my education, almost too much. Because of that, any chance I get to sleep or just relax, I take it, and that's all Im going to say about that!

As for the actual board (finally, we are actually getting to the video content....), damn was that a rollercoaster of "fun." I was definitely glad I was able to achieve victory, but man, I do not like doing it on the last turn during the bonus stars. I have a pretty good track record of getting those stars, but even when it comes down to the nitty-gritty, it's still just about luck, especially considering the annoying capsule system. Speaking of which, Mr. Blizzard, I hope you melt in a fire. Given, I was reluctant to use the Wiggler capsule at first anyways, but still, it would have been nice to have that back-up. Another thing that got me pretty bad was that warp pipe at the very beginning, which pretty much took me away from that first star. Then, after getting Blizzard'd, I had another chance to get a star, but I fell one space short...which happens a lot in the first boards of these playthroughs, ironically. Also, Scaldin Cauldron? That was a knee to the groin in every retrospect.

Either way, there were some upsides during this board. Unfortunately these moments seemed to happen at the very end of game. I will say though, it was nice to win that duel game and completely pwn everybody in coin amounts. =)

That's about all I really have to say about Toy Dream. Sorry I kind of just rambled on there, but I guess that is the point of blogging...or is it? I dunno, but that was definitely an interesting start to a new project, and Im sure some of you can agree.

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New Project:

Ok, the LAST thing I want to talk about is my new project. First and foremost, the new project will begin on Wednesday, the 21st of October. I know I haven't been very clear in my videos, or in my channel description, but I can tell you that Wednesday is and will be, the day. I will reveal the game on Tuesday night with a revelation video, and then I'll have the first video sometime in the afternoon on Wednesday.

I will admit, I didn't organize the contest very well, but at least I can take this as a learning experience. Hell, I also learned that there is a "Pending Comment Approval" feature, something I had no idea even existed.

I will say though, I probably won't have a contest ever again on my channel. I really don't have that much to offer anyone. I'm not crazy about Let's Trys...shoutouts can only go so far...and while I do appreciate your support, Im not crazy enough about letting people I don't know very well do co-commentary with me on my videos. So as far as video-viewer interaction, I'll probably just stick to board polls in my MP playthroughs and if I ever have a situation like in Hit and Run with the clothing. That's all I really want to say about that.

Anyways, looking forward to getting this new project off the ground, and I hope you guys enjoy it!

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Finally....and this is ironic because this actually happened while writing this blog....

"#82 - Most Viewed (Today) - Directors"

That may be the first channel honor I have gotten since I've been here at Youtube. Wow...just....wow! I am stunned and speechless. Thanks to everybody who made this possible! I really appreciate your support! =)

Actually, this isn't my first honors. Ironically, my video "I Pissed Off the Wrong Soda" had a really high number of views in Ireland on the day I uploaded. Why Ireland? Well, let's just say an acquaintance of mine....an Irish Captain Falcon....really enjoyed that video. :P

Still though...I really appreciate the support you guys! =)

That's about it for the update. I realize it's kind of long, but think of it as a way to make up for my lack of updates this week :P

And remember, the new blog adjustments take effect after this entry, so don't expect an update tomorrow.

- SlimKirby

Saturday, October 17, 2009

"No Entry" for the 2nd Day in One Week?

Yeah, sorry that Im slacking on the blog guys. I had some stuff to do today, and then the Mario Party uploads cut into some time as well, so I just ran out of time. I will definitely have an entry up for tomorrow.

In the meantime, I did upload Toy Dream, the first board of Mario Party 5 today, so if you haven't checked that out, go for it. It is filled with Mr. Blizzardific moments.

Friday, October 16, 2009

10/16/09

Hello everybody, SlimKirby here!

For today's entry, I'll be doing a special update to celebrate my now-completed LP of The Simpsons: Hit and Run, an LP I've been doing for the last month and a half, but a project that has always had a special place on my channel. I had a good time working on this project, but now it is time to see it go. This may be far from the end of my channel, but this was definitely the end of a very influential project.

Back in 2007, I decided I was going to do a Hit and Run walkthrough shortly after completing my first walkthrough, which was Kirby Super Star for the SNES. It was a game that I really enjoyed from the moment I bought it, and felt that the game was definitely a sleeper hit (a game that is given high marks, but is overlooked by other major titles that are released during the same time) of 2003. Because of this, I wanted to share my enjoyment of this game with the Youtube public, and since the Simpsons movie was due to come out around the same time, it felt like a good idea and try to push the project based on that.

After finishing the project (since I didn't feel like having an update schedule back then), I started to notice that my videos were periodically getting a high number of views. After only a few months, the first video soared to 10,000, 20,000 and eventually, 30,000 views. Of course I don't think the reason was due to my walkthough, but rather the Simpsons name being attached to it. It did feel nice getting noticed, even though it didn't really bring a big # of subscribers with it.

The game quickly became the most viewed project on my Youtube channel, for pretty obvious reasons. As time went on though, and as my video quality improved, the major focus of my channel shifted over to better quality video projects, Mario Party videos, and other Let's Plays. Videos of my old project still managed to stick around on the most viewed list regardless of that, which was still a pretty imprssive feat. The first video, "Episode 1: The Simpsons Go GTA!" remained the most viewed video on my channel until it was surpassed during the Summer of 2009 by the first Mario Party 3 video, and #2 until recently when it was surpassed by the first video of the new project, but before its deletion.

The decision to redo the project occurred in Early 2009, but I was unsure if I wanted to do the game right away, or if a redo was even necessary. I decided that the redo was going to officially happen, along with the other old walkthroughs on my channel, after the deletion of the classic versions of Mario Party 1 and 2. However, if you were subscribed to me back then, you would know that I was definitely a fan of postponing the project longer than intended, due to the fear of copyright claims and putting my channel at risk.

I finally decided, in August, that the project would come into fruition, and decided I would upload the first video on the first day of September. I was worried about my standing in college, but after looking over my schedule and class load, and scheduling recording sessions, the wheels were finally put into motion.

My idea of a schedule was basically to record every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday night. On all of these days, I didn't have to wake up early the next morning for classes, and could pretty much stay up as long as I wanted, assuming that I could get my work done. These made perfect openings for recording, and I would only be getting 2 or 3 videos ahead of myself. Also, Friday night recordings would mean less things to worry about during the weekend. =)

I think the new project went very well with my viewers. If I had to make a rough estimate, I gained approximately 1,500+ subscribers during the course of this project, which is actually quite amazing since it took me almost 2 years just to get that many originally. Videos from the project are already approaching the top of the Most Viewed charts, and my Youtube Insight graphs have never been this high. Clearly it was due to Hit and Run, and only Hit and Run, that this data was able to come into view. Either way, the main point of this is I am really glad you guys enjoyed this project, because I had a fun time making it.

Downsides? Well, besides a few glitches, and recording software glitches and oopsies, I'd say the project definitely had more ups than downs. There were a few episodes where I felt the commentary could have better, and the audio levels may have been a bit inconsistent and not as balanced, but many LPers struggle with those problems. I felt the viewer polls went pretty well, although the numbers for a few of them were insane, and as I said near the end, the last viewer poll crashed Microsoft Word when I tried to copy and paste the comments. I really did enjoy getting the viewers involved in the project, even though I found that the majority of my viewers like to see a grown mid-30-year-old in his underwear.

So yeah, this was a fun project to work with and Im glad I decided to it. Not only was it a tribute to a great game, but it was also a tribute to my old Youtube days as well. =)

- SlimKirby

Thursday, October 15, 2009

10/15/09

Video Summary:
Let's Play The Simpsons: Hit and Run Extra #3


Here it is! The final extra! Time for this project to officially close.

Not much to say about this...just showing the main menu. For those who haven't noticed yet, I did post a video last night to correct some misconceptions and statements about the Bonus Game. Apparently you could change the camera angle and I just assumed that you couldn't. Big mistake on my part, and thanks CuteArceus for the correction =P.

Anyways, tomorrow I will have a special video where I will talk about 4000 subscribers, the end of Hit and Run, Mario Party 5, and the new LP that will start midway through next week. It's a video you may not want to miss!

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Game Chat:


First impressions of Bowser's Inside Story (Mario and Luigi 3)

In one of my first blog entries, I talked about this game a little bit, but remarked about not having it yet. However, I've officially had the game for about a week now, so I felt I would talk about it a little bit. Keep in mind, I haven't been able to play it THAT much, since I have been busy with other things, but I'd say I'm a good 4, 5, or 6 hours into the game by this point.

Warning! I am going to try and not use spoilers, but there is a good chance I may mention one unintentionally, so read at your own risk if you don't want to get spoiled.

First of all, classic Mario and Luigi gameplay still exists. If you are a fan of the first two games, you will feel right at home with this title. One of my main gripes about Partners in Time was that you always felt stuck in one area until you cleared it, and went back to Peach's Castle (the main hub of the game), but even then it still felt like you couldn't really go off and do what you want as you always had to focus on the next part. In this game, there are elements and parts of that, but after they are over, you feel like you have complete freedom. Also, with some in-game conveniences, it is easier to get around the world map, allowing you to revisit older areas with new abilities and to find cool, new things.

Now when it comes to the in-battle gameplay and mechanics, they are as fine-tuned as ever, and it is SO MUCH FUN playing as the Koopa King in battle, with all of his raw power and burning fire breath. In this game, they have combined the ideas of the Bros. Moves from Superstar Saga and the Bros. Items from PiT for the special attacks, so now you have attacks that function like the Bros. items, but use FP/SP (whatever) instead of how many of the item you have. Bowser's special attacks involve him coordinating with his minions, which can be a lot of fun....assuming the stylus works well for you, because so far from what I have seen, all of his special attacks involve the stylus in some way.

At first I was a little worried about Mario and Luigi being stuck in Bowser's body for a great period of time, but the game has actually managed to implement the idea pretty well considering. At random times in the game, Bowser will run into trouble, and it will be up to the Mario Bros. to fix the problem. For example, when Bowser is involved in a feat of arm strength, the Bros. will have to go into his arm cavity and play a small mini-game that will activate the nerves in Bowser's arm to get stronger. Thankfully, a lot of these mini-games can be fun to play, but some can also be difficult, so be careful. When Bowser isn't in peril, you can switch to the Bros. anytime and explore Bowser's body at his your own leisure, but I've found there isn't much you can really do during these times unless you have specific moves. However, I may not be very far into the game to actually know for sure, so don't take my word for it just yet.

Still not quite sure what to think about Fawful being the new villain (not much of a spoiler, you find out at the very beginning). Fawful was a good character in Superstar Saga, but he's given me a completely new look of him in this game. It's not necessarily a bad outlook....just different. He still has some of the most bizarre quotes you will ever hear. "I HAVE CHORTLES!"

So right now....I'd say it's definitely a good game. If you like the Mario and Luigi series, definitely check it out. Otherwise...kind of hard to say. I will always love Superstar Saga, but my opinion may be a bit biased, since that was the game I started with in this series. I'll try to give my opinion later on when I've almost completed the game, or have completed it.

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R.I.P. Captain Lou Albano!

In memory of him, everybody do the Mario!

-SlimKirby

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

10/14/09

Video Summary:
Let's Play The Simpsons: Hit and Run Extra #2


Wow, and I complained about some of the main game mechanics..... this mode is a LOT worse. Top down views of this caliber just don't work. At least the one in Kirby Air Ride was close enough so you could actually see what you were doing. The angles here were just horrid. At least I won the first race, but overall, this mode realy wasn't worth the thrill of that first place.

Only one extra video left, and this project will be.....COMPLETED!

Also, thanks to all the users who pointed out my mispronunciation of "Wager Race" as "Rager Wace" in yesterday's video. Now I feel ridiculous! Thanks a lot guys! :P XD

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SlimKirby Shoutout

In this shout-out, I am only going to be giving a shout-out to two individuals, but there is a catch......there is only one project being advertised.

Griff 'n Spack Play Final Fight 3 (griffinlobster and Odinspack33)


I've talked about these blokes before I'm sure, so it was really no surprise that I was going to give them a shout-out, but what can I say...these guys do an excellent job so it is only proper that I give them the praise they deserve.

About a month ago, these two finished a long-term (in terms of updates) co-op project of Kirby Super Star, perhaps one of, if not, the best, Kirby Super Star co-op playthroughs I have ever seen. Because of these two, I am very reluctant to do an LP (or rather, the replay of the game) of the game, because they did the game great justice, a justice I would not want to encroach on.

Now that they have finished Kirby, it's only natural that they would try to get another co-op project going, which is only sensible because great duos like these don't deserve to die. Now instead of sucking, spitting, burning, hammering, and bombing (Kirby copy abilities) their problems away, they are getting a bit more down and dirty as they take the fighting to the streets of Final Fight 3.

I've personally never been the biggest fan of fighting games (besides Smash Bros. and old-school Street Fighter), but it will be great to see what these two manage to come up with in this project. Only one video has been posted so far, so definitely look out for some other videos to come. Keep up the great work guys (if you two happen to read this, anyways).

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

10/13/09

Video Summary:
Let's Play The Simpsons: Hit and Run Extra #1


Ok, these summaries are going to be pretty brief since they are only extra videos.

Anyways, this video has wager races and it also shows you were to use the Level 3 ticket you can get with all the collector cards. That's really all it is. :P

I gotta say though, that Level 7 wager race really rubbed me the wrong way. It seemed like everytime i hit something, my car automatically turned the other way. That annoyed me more than actually hitting anything, because the game is fairly generous with that.

Also, I talked about a trick to getting coins in the video that I never really elaborated on because I was going to give a link to those cheats. However, I don't really remember if the trick is in that section or if it was in an FAQ I checked. Basically, if you read this blog, here is the trick;

"When you go through levels for the very first time, don't destroy the boxes or the vending machines. Instead, kick them twice, get the coins, and then leave the level. Come back and the boxes will be restored. If you destroy the boxes, they will disappear forever."

So yeah, that may actually be the best way to get coins (maybe), but the wager races also help as well. Only thing about the wager races is that traffic can screw you very badly. However, if you have a good car and if you are a decent driver, you should be fine.

That's about it for this video though. See you tomorrow for the 2nd of 3 extras!

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Back in the day, I watched a lot of TV. Whenever I would do something in my house, I always made sure the TV was on. And since my room is the perfect angle from my living room, I can play video games in my room, look through my doorway, and still see the tv perfectly. However, as I have gotten older, I find myself not watching as much tv anymore. I'm not really sure why, but there are really only 3 or 4 shows I watch anymore that I actually turn on the TV to watch; The Simpsons, Seinfeld re-runs, South Park, and the show Im going to talk about today; Hell's Kitchen.

I don't know why I like Hell's Kitchen so much. I've never really been a fan of the premise of reality shows but for HK, it just seems to work, and I have been an avid watcher since the first season. Anyways, tonight, the season finale of this batch of contestants (Season 6, btw) is here and I'll actually have something to watch tonight during a 2 hour block, something that rarely happens to me.

Just a warning, if you have no idea of what I am talking about, you may want to just skip this entry entirely.

Anyways, I thought this season was rather interesting. I thought they had the most unique selection of chefs than they have ever had this time, and what's more is that all of them (or at least a vast majority) had some kind of unique character trait that made it at least a little interesting to watch, and now the finale is upon us and Im finding myself wanting to see how this season closes out.

I think I'll cover the major points of the season (and the major contestants) one by one and give my opinion of them.

1) First of all, bringing Robert from last season back was a huge mistake. I liked Robert last season, but this season he was acting like a bitch the entire time and he made himself look like an asshole. There were some funny moments, but I don't think that justified him being back again. Also, he definitely wasn't healthy enough to warrant that comeback (even if he did lose some weight, he was still at major risk).

2) When Joseph treatened Chef Ramsey at the end of Episode 2, that was just ridiculous and looked really fake and played out. If he was honestly that mad at being tormented by Ramsey, then actually punch him. Don't call him a bitch and look tough if you aren't going to do anything. Or perhaps he was all talk and no fight? Either way, it looked really fake....

3) How many chefs got injured or sent to the medic (or hospital) this season? Definitely more than any other one. What's kind of disappointing is the way they try to make these accidents look more serious than they actually are. I've gone into 3 or 4 episodes now with the impression something bad is going to happen to Dave (who fractured his wrist and can't move an entire arm), and even though I know it's just HK's way of making it look very dramatic when it actually isn't, it gets annoying....very very quickly.

4) Chef Suzanne.....I never want to see her again. She is such a bitch, she is so full of herself, and she has no idea how a team functions, especially in Hell's Kitchen. The contestants were quickly annoyed with her, and so were the viewers. I don't think there was a single person out there who was actually rooting for her, and I'm glad she wasn't the winner this season (although she did make it to the Top 5). Yeah, she was good, but she wasn't the only good one, which she made herself out to be. I really hate people like that. My play-by-play on Suzanne.....she just needs to stop talking.

5) Ok, now for perhaps the most controversial contestant....Tennille. To be honest, I actually didn't mind Tennille. She had some rough moments, and sure, her attitude was far from the best, and of course she talked and complained a lot. However, in the long run, she could cook, she could get aggressive in the kitchen, and she has strong leadership qualities and could possibly lead a kitchen....that is if the kitchen didn't want to destroy her first. She has shown remarkable growth and determination of any contestant I have ever seen and she should definitely consider herself a winner in that fashion.

Ok, I'm sure I could find other things to talk about, but I don't really want to cover thirteen 45-minute episodes worth of content, so I just touched on the major points. Now I'll go on to the finale.

They are doing something a little different this year. Instead of having 2 episodes of the last two contestants, they are having 2 hours of content in one week, the first half being the Final Three, second half being the finals, which I guess they are condensing quite a bit this time. The remaining chefs are Ariel, Dave, and Kevin. Ariel has shown great promise throughout the season, but is still weak in many areas, and her performance lately, I think, doesn't warrant her being in the finals. Dave is great, he is a hard-worker, and he can be a force to be reckoned with and only have 1 freaking arm to work with. He definitely deserves to be in the finals, but I don't know if he can bring a strong leadership role to the table though. Kevin has been consistent throughout the entire competition, has made very few mistakes, and can definitely lead a kitchen better than anyone else at this time. He perhaps has the best chance to win this, but will growth and determination excel over experience? In the past it has, but I think Kevin has a pretty good shot right now. Dave and Ariel will have to overcome their weaknesses, and if they do, Kevin may not win. I will be rooting for Dave though.

So yeah, just felt like giving my opinion on the matter. Can't wait for the finale tonight! Good luck HK chefs! And for my readers, sorry I wasted an entry on this, but since I've been watching, I felt like I wanted to broadcast my opinion in some way :P

-SlimKirby

Monday, October 12, 2009

Blogless Monday...

Hey guys, sorry for no update on Monday. Believe it or not, I was going to make an update and give some project reflections on Hit and Run, but before I knew it, it was 9 PM in the evening and I literally ran out of time. Oh well, no big deal as Ill move that to Friday when the project will actually be over.

Anyways, I will have an update today (although its 2 AM right now, so definitely doing it when I wake up :P)

- SlimKirby.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

10/11/09

Video Summary:
Let's Play The Simpsons: Hit and Run #41


Unfortunately, this great project was unfortunate to land on the devil number, 41. However, when you factor in the ".5" episode and the extras I'm doing, it's more like 45 or 46, but still, it was kind of disappointing to get this horrendous number.

So here it is folks....the finale....the end....the greatest challenge of them all. Sure, it's similar to mission #3, #5, and #6, but still, they did make this fairly challenging. The car you are given isn't the best, the time is as strict as it can be, Hit and Run possibilities, and that avoid segment....definitely things you don't want stacked together. However, in the end, I did prevail and I only had to drive back to the power plant 3 times (2 of the times were small slip-ups), but technically did it on my first attempt.

In my little speech after the game, I meant to mention something about the credits, but it slipped my mind, unfortunately. I don't really have anything to say about them, I was just wondering if anybody wanted to see them in an extra video. Otherwise, just a pretty standard speech to close the main part of a project.

Well, expect some extra videos next week, but I haven't decided what and when to post the videos just yet, so don't ask about that :P

Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed the project!

Video Quote of the Day:
Grandpa: You're not going to sacrifice me for the greater good are you son?
Homer: We'll see dad....we'll see!

"Did that really happen? I thought it was just a bad dream after eating too many raw hotdogs!"
- Homer

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SlimKirby Update:

Ok, it is Sunday, so we have some updates to do!

Hit and Run: As said above, extra videos over the course of next week. After that, the game should be finished.

Mario Party 5: Mario Party 5 starts Saturday. This time, however, I won't be able to do my famous "overnight" upload, and will have to do it in the morning when I wake up. What I may do is wake up, start the upload, and then go back to sleep, because I usually wake up in the afternoon on weekends. Anyways, the point of this is that I really don't want my laptop running all night because I need this computer to get through college. Hope you guys understand.

Just a reminder that a board will be uploaded every Saturday (or Sunday, depending on my mood), and I'll take the other day off. It is the weekend, and I don't want to worry about videos. As for what I'm covering, I mentioned that in my October 4th update, so if you don't mind, just go back to that update and see. Also, I'm pretty sure I'll go over that in my intro video as well.

New LP: Ok, I gave some hints on what my next LP would be last Sunday, and I also said I would give you some more hints today. However, after thinking about it, instead I will have a video posted sometime next week about everything that is coming up and I'll give a greater number of hints in that video and then let people guess. Then I'll plan to do something with the winners (probably nothing bigger than a shout-out though). Anyways, still don't have a determined starting date JUST yet, but it will begin sometime during the week of the 19th-24th. I'd like to start it as soon as possible, but I'm also trying to make sure I stay focused with other things as well.

I think that is it for the update.

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-SlimKirby

Saturday, October 10, 2009

10/10/09

Video Summary:
Let's Play The Simpsons Hit and Run #40


Well, even when we are at 40 videos, this project still seems to move right along, but it shouldn't be moving around for much longer as we are literally at the final stretch. Only 3 missions separate me from the finish line, and this video will consist of the first two.

I would talk about each mission in separate paragraphs, but is there really any need to? The missions are basically the same thing, but tweaked a little and you are forced to use different cars in each part. Anyways, really angry that I failed Mission 5 at the very end, but since time doesn't really seem to be a factor anymore, I left my 2nd attempt in the video (I had some stuff to talk about as well). I feel ashamed for crashing, but I accomplished what I set out to do so I'm not going to complain too much. 6th mission was nothing but success, which is nothing knew to me. It seems like of those 3 parts, I have no trouble with Snake's version, yet I have trouble in some way for the other two...weird.

I also ended up buying the Gil-owned vehicles as well, just so I could have at least one "100%" for one level.

Anyways, stay tuned tomorrow for the game finale of The Simpsons Hit and Run! Although there will still be some extras next week, the main game will be completed!

Video Quote of the Day:
Mr. Burns: Is that you Mary Weather? Come to haunt me again? I killed you once...
Homer: Mr. Burns! It's me! Homer Simpson!
Mr. Burns: So you're not the ghost of my former partner? Phew....Wow! That was....wow!

(I don't know why but Burn's response to that is just hilarious for some reason).

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SlimKirby Shout-out:

Sometimes when I'm working on, or doing a project, I may check out my fellow "competition." I put emphasis on that word because I realize I'm not actually competing with the other people, but it is nice to see the differences between projects, learn and adapt new strategies and techniques for the game, and sometimes even learn how you could improve your own videos (mostly in terms of structure). For this shout-out, I have gone to a fellow subscriber of mine, someone who was not shy to ask for help, but also not stupid enough to ask for a shoutout either, so I decided that I would give him a shout-out.

Yes, I am advertising another Hit and Run LP, so you may only want to check it out if you are not tapped out on this game just yet. It is a fun game though, so I wouldn't be surprised.

Let's Play The Simpsons: Hit and Run by NickMatt07


I'm not really going to give a description of the game, because you should all know what this game is about by now, but I will say that NickMatt is taking a slightly different approach to his project. In his project, he's actually going straight through all the missions and saving the bonus content (wasps, coin locations, cards, etc.) for bonus videos which will occur in between each level. This way, if you just want to listen and see what the main game is about, you can just skip those videos and watch the game straight through. I take a more casual approach to the game because that is the way I play. In terms of structure, NM07's approach is definitely more professional.

However, unlike me, NickMatt is balancing a little more than just this one project, and he also started his H&R project a few weeks ago, so he is a bit further behind in his project. I suppose it was never exactly a race to begin with though, but I will talk about some other things you can find at his channel. On the side of his Hit and Run LP, NickMatt has also done an LP of Pokemon Brown, a ROM hack of Pokemon Red, and Pokemon Liquid Crystal (a hack of Pokemon Crystal obviously). Personally, I didn't even know ROM hacks of Pokemon games even existed, so I'll definitely have to check those out as well.

So yeah, if you have the time, if you want to relive Hit and Run, or if you want to see some Pokemon Hack LPs, don't be afraid to check this guy out. He seems to be a LPer of good quality.

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That's about it for this blog entry! See you guys tomorrow for the finale of the Simpsons: Hit and Run! Also, since it will be Sunday, I'll probably go over some stuff for my upcoming projects!

-SlimKirby

Friday, October 9, 2009

10/9/09

Video Summary:
Let's Play The Simpsons: Hit and Run #39


This is perhaps the the most work I have ever done with creating an episode for this LP.....even moreso than when I had to redo the commentary for #14, and the armored truck nightmare back in #29. There were just so many things I had to cut, and it had to get to the point where I actually had to cut out part of a mission. Thankfully it was a fairly easy mission that revolves mostly around just driving from Point A to Point B, but still....

Ok, first we have the checkpoint race. I had no real problems with it though because it was a simple drive to the power plant. Then I had to do the circuit race, which is probably the most difficult of the three in this level. Those blue and white barriers.....those will completely screw you up, even if you gently nudge them, and some of those turns in the race where just brutal to deal with. Once I hit that car though on the final lap....I knew it was over, so I just stopped there. Second attempt went much better, and boy do I mean "MUCH BETTER.

4th mission is really uneventful; drive to a location and avoid a car on the way. Wasn't that the premise for Mission 1 in level 2? Personally I don't feel bad about making a cut there because I was literally, for lack a better word, short on time. Damn Youtube...making things difficult.

Anyways, two videos (or days of videos) left before this game is completed. Definitely looking forward to the grand finale, which should be on Sunday. Hope you can stick with me until then ;)

Video Quote of the Day:

Once again...any quote involving the zombies is classic.

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Ok, as some of you are probably aware (mostly to the video I posted Wednesday night), the beta channel has unfortunately arrived at Channel SlimKirby, so things kind of suck for the time being.

Again, because I can't state this enough, I personally don't think the Beta Channel is that bad, or at least in terms of the channel look and design. However, it controls horribly. As I said in that video, my major beefs with it are playlist arrangement and literally no control over channel comments, things that make no sense not to have.

Thankfully there were a few users who were able to help me with these problems. Apparently your playlists can be arranged, but only up to a certain point. Again, not very sensible, but at least it is meeting us half-way. But seriously, why can't you just arrange your playlists in the order that you want them to (and for all of them)? You can arrange 12 of them (the max), but then they just determine the order randomly.....and the order literally makes no sense at all. It's like they took the projects, randomly chucked them in a certain direction, and determined the order by how far each project was thrown.

I can handle the channel comments thing now because I am now giving updates through the "Recent Activity" feature, which still has a character limit, unfortunately, but at least I have room now. It's just a pain because I am a "big" updater. My updates are literally packed! After all, very few LPers I know are keeping a blog in addition to their projects.

But seriously though Youtube......fix the character limit for "Channel Description," "About Me," and "Recent Activity," PLEEEEAAASSSSEEE!

Anyways, some other things I have noticed about the design is that it is having a harder time sorting things. If the playlist ordering wasn't screwed up enough, but when you sort videos by views, some of them are completely out of order. Videos with 900-1000 views are higher than those with over 1000. Sure, it's just a small bug and it may take some time to adjust the numbers, but the orginal channel format NEVER had this problem....at least in its later stages.

In the end though, I think we can all agree that it is an average design, with many bugs, and a completely unfriendly user interface (which is ironic because we were promised it would be anything but unfriendly). Personally, why force us to switch to something that you know isn't completely full-proof? Hell, why force us to switch at all? I still never saw a counter argument from them on why we needed to switch......

Oh well *raises glass* here is hoping that things will settle down in the world of "You-to the extent that it's your channel, yet you have no impact on the design and how it runs-Tube"

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- SlimKirby

Thursday, October 8, 2009

10/8/09

Video Summary:
Let's Play The Simpsons: Hit and Run #38


It's time for Dirty Homer to take lead in this video! It may not be the funniest costume, or the most bizarre costume, but frankly I was kind of disappointed that it got so little votes. Oh well, THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN!

Anyways, on to the summary, as I am sure that is why you are here....

Not much to really say about this video because not much happened during it. We got a sneak peak of what we'll probably be doing for a great majority of the time in Video #40 and #41 with Mission 3. The 3rd mission isn't as hard though because in the later missions, stuff actually happens WHILE you are taking the waste back, which can be REALLY ANNOYING, but I'll get to that later on.

I'm a bit peeved I didn't get EITHER of the street races done in this video, but I definitely wouldn't have fit the circuit race, and I wasn't really sure about the checkpoint race either. So, I talked about K-Man instead. :P He really is an awesome guy though. I talk to him on skype ALL the time, and he is one of the funniest guys you will ever meet, and this is coming from someone who is like 5 years older than he is.

Anyways, tomorrow's video should see an end to the rest of the game extras. So it'll be the last time I destroy a wasp camera, last time I collect cards, and the last time I do a street race (although there is a racing segment in one of the final missions). So yeah, nothing but regular missions til the end! This project will no doubt end soon!

Video Quote of the Day:

Homer: What a hero! And I never knew his name....
Frink: It's Professor John Frink...
Homer: ARE YOU STILL HERE!?

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I'm afraid Im not going to make a 2nd section today because I have so much other stuff to do today and I really don't have the time. Sorry =(

- SlimKirby

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

10/7/09

Video Summary:
Let's Play The Simpsons: Hit and Run #37


And thus the zombie madness continues.

This episode was actually a bitch to work with, pardon my language. First time I try recording it, my software crashes, which is strange because Pinnacle Studio has NEVER done that to me before. Guess the software isn't as fullproof as I thought, eh? Second time, I record it, but due to time constraints from the 2nd mission, cutting pretty much HAD to happen. I wasn't very happy about that.

First off, the bonus mission.....pretty much a one chance scenario for that 2nd item. Really difficult to get if you go too fast. Otherwise, fairly easy mission. I do take back what I said about the wasp cameras during that mission though. It might actually be better to avoid those and just finish ASAP, because looking back at the video, the time it takes to get the last item is actually timing you getting the item, and then back to Smithers. Also, the fact that Smithers was standing right next to my car door didn't help with the timing...as I almost failed the mission.

Street race = Easy! All I have to say about that. If I remember correctly, the checkpoint is not that bad, and the circuit is ok, but long as hell. I'll probably cover one of these in Video #39 and the last in #40. Not sure if I'll have time in #38 or not. We'll see what happens....

Mission 2 is the most difficult "follow" mission by far, just because of how long you have to follow it. I guess it's technically not that long, but with all the stuff you can hit (and with the ever-increasing H&R meter), it can be challenging.

The one thing I will mention though is that I accidentally cut a wasp camera I got during the footage cut, but I think I still have it on film, so I'll show that first (or last) in tomorrow's video.

Video Quotes of the Day:
"BRRRRRAAAAAAAIIIINNNNNSSSS!"
"BRAAAIIIIIIUGGGHH?"
~Zombies

"Thank you, I do have nice brians!"
~Homer

Comic Book Guy: The car runs on human brains.
Homer: I've got plenty of those!

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SlimKirby Shout-Out

I honestly didn't plan on doing two Pikmin sections on back-to-back days, but honestly, I didn't know what the K-Man was planning. Anyways.....

Let's Play Pikmin (Trailer) by KManRules1331


The K-Man is back to dragging and throwing Pikmin around. After taking a break from the series from his very long, but epic, Pikmin 2 LP, K-Man is going back to the Pikmin world, but this time in the original. He did a great job with the 2nd game, and I'm expecting great things from him in this one.

Although this is a game I have LPed, I definitely recommend you check out this one when it comes out (as he says in the trailer, October 12th is the starting date). K-Man is awesome at Pikmin and he knows what he is doing (probably a lot more than what I would).

K-Man is up for the challenge in this classic Gamecube game. When asked how many days he'll complete this, he stated "I might try for 13 days." What's this? 13 days? Is K-Man actually saying he can complete the game faster than what I did? If so, can he actually live up to it? Well...considering it is K-Man, probably! :P

But still, and I can't state this enough, I can't wait for this project to begin. Good luck buddy!

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And that is it for the update!

-SlimKirby

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

10/6/09

Video Summary:
Let's Play The Simpsons: Hit and Run #36


AAAAGGGHHHHHH! ZOMBIES!!!!!!!

Welcome to Level 7, where zombies walk the Earth, the missions get harder, and Homer can have a costume that changes his head to look like a donut (that has been picked at and eaten (by himself, of course)). At least I can say that this IS the final stretch, and this project should be completed within the next week. Kinda sad....but also relieving.

Mission 1 is actually pretty easy. I only failed it because I forgot that the time carries over to the second and third parts, which resulted in me failing. Definitely talk to Flanders as soon as possible, otherwise, FAIL AHOY! That was more of an oversight than an actual fail though. Although, I ask why would you need a time limit for going next door? I know the zombies are coming, but still...

Anyways, this is going to be a short entry just because I didn't really do that much. Hopefully in tomorrow's video I can get a street race, the bonus mission, and Mission 2 completed.

Quote of the Day:
"It's the top of the 7th and....OH GOD....ZOMBIES! They're devouring the crowd! Now...NOW THEY'RE EATING MY BRAIN! OH, THE PAIN! AGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!"
- Kent Brockman

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Look to the Past:

Although not the exact date (and since I can't think of anything else to talk about for this entry), around this time last year, the end was seen for a certain LP. However, not just any LP. On October 8th, the very first Youtube LP of Pikmin was brought to an end.

Let's Play Pikmin


For the longest time, Pikmin was considered by myself, to be my biggest accomplishment on Youtube. Now I look back on it and barely remember anything about it. XD Ok, maybe I remember a few things, but it seems like such a long time ago. Anyways, for this entry, I'm going to talk about how this LP came to fruition, some of the things I'll never forget about it, many of the trials I had to overcome with it, and various other fun-facts.

The idea of a Pikmin LP actually started a few months before the actual LP started. In July 2008, I had a poll for what my next LP would be, and Pikmin was strangely the most voted for choice in the poll. I was glad that a game I added at the last minute was considered to be a good LP candidate. I thought about it for awhile, but then decided to do something else. So instead, I chose Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, a game that wouldn't take me very long, and a game I could just enjoy for the last part of summer vacation.

However, the Pikmin idea definitely wasn't dropped. A few months later in September, I finally decided that I would do the Pikmin LP, but I had to solve a few other problems. At the time, I still didn't have a compatible movie-making program with my capture card on my laptop. However, in the end, I decided to contact my college's Apple support center, and they helped partition my Macbook hard-drive so I could use Windows software. =)

After that, things kind of started to go my way. I got a few videos up of the LP, but then immediately I ran into another snag. My Windows Movie Maker just wouldn't capture footage from my capture card. I tried again and again and again, but I just couldn't get it to work. I tried asking around and Rainiac666 from the Let's Play Forums actually recommended that I try a program called Camtasia for capturing. I took his advice and downloaded it, and thus, the LP was saved.....

.....However, Camtasia actually ended up causing more problems. First off, it wouldn't record the game audio, for whatever reason (a problem I still can't figure out to this day), and then I also chose a very bad video quality file type, which completely botched the video quality. The quality wasn't terrible, but it definitely looked very pixely. Nevertheless, I kept going, and I tried to fix the problems as best as I could. I added game music into my videos (although that never solved the issue of missing sound effects), and people didn't seem to mind the pixely quality. I was happy that near the end of the LP, I was able to record the episodes on my computer at home, so I could have both the sound and good video quality again, but I just wish I could have gotten to that earlier....oh well.

Some of the things I'll never forget? Well, first there is the famous "leading blue pikmin into fire" incident, perhaps the biggest mind blank in the history of my LPs. I just didn't think about that at all, and then all the sudden....I saw a bunch of blue Pikmin on fire. I also remember getting creative with the project and adding those half-day messages in, which I had a lot of fun with (although some people got angry with me rickrolling them). With a project that had numerous trials and errors....there were a lot of great moments as well.

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Entry done.......Slimmy leave! =)

-SlimKirby

Monday, October 5, 2009

10/5/09

Video Summary:
Let's Play The Simpsons: Hit and Run #35


Doo, Doo, Doo, Another level bites the dust!

After spending 4 videos and a half of two videos (about 5 videos total) in this level, I can proudly say that Level 6 is done! Yeah, I had some difficulty here and there, but why put any emphasis on that? No gamer is perfect....that's why people are still fighting over speed run records.

I knew Mission 6 was going to give me trouble, but I didn't expect it to give me so little trouble. Yeah, I failed at the very last moment of the first part in my first attempt, but the fact it only took me two tries is pretty extraordinary, if you ask me. Getting back to the studio in under 50 seconds is no easy feat. You have to not only drive nearly perfectly, but be very effective in taking the shortcuts. I was rather heart-broken though when I just barely failed on that first attempt. That car just didn't want to cooperate with me.

Mission 7 gave me more trouble than Mission 6, ironically. What you saw on video was me failing that ramp jump and then me cutting to a future (and the final) attempt. I did this mostly for time though because I wanted to get started on Level 7 in the video as soon as possible. However, I felt it was a good cut that actually fit the clips together pretty well. All of the cut content consisted of was me getting ridiculously unlucky with me barely nudging a wall and then getting stuck in the process.

Ok, so level 7! I have something planned for this level involving the costumes, but I'm not going to tell you guys until tomorrow's video, so stay tuned for that. I'd really like to see this project end on Video 39 or 40, but if I go one video farther, it will be fine. I hope I can piece all the extras together in a fine fashion.

Video Quotes of the Day:
"Well what do you know, you were telling the truth. You've tought this
old clown a lesson. Uh, blah, blah, blah, excetera, excetera, stay in school.
I just wish you told me before I let them set up those free laser gun stands."
- Krusty

"Oh man, that sounds cool! (sarcastically) I mean, oh no, I hope their plan fails."
-Bart

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SlimKirby's Top 5:

Top 5 Favorite Simpsons Characters

Since Hit and Run is ending soon, I figured I would start talking about something Simpsons related, starting with my Top 5 favorite Simpsons characters. Now, I just want to say that this was a very hard list to make because there are so many great characters in the series, and they are all done by very, very talented individuals, so it's very hard to leave out anybody, so before I actually get to the list, I just want to give kudos to the very talented voice acting team behind the work of this incredible series.

5. Lenny Leonard

"OW! MY EYE! I'm not supposed to get pudding in it."

Lenny is perhaps one of my most favorite characters, mostly due to just how random he is. To me, he always just seems to be at the right place at the right time (as well as all jokes relating to him).

4. Ralph Wiggum

"Me fail English? That's unpossible!"

Although a bit overrated, Ralph is a classic character in every right and retrospect. It's a shame they really overdid it though in future episodes. No one can deny though all the classic quotes and moments this 2nd grader has brought to the series.

3. Sideshow Bob Terwilliger

"*shudders* Rakes, my old arch-enemy!"

This character is perhaps the only thing that Kelsey Grammar has done that I actually enjoy. Like Ralph, this character is a bit overrated, but that is mostly due to the writers thinking they can have a Sideshow Bob episode every year. All of the old Sideshow Bob episodes are classics, and they really haven't been bad until "The Italian Bob," an episode where they decided that he must have a wife and a kid, both who want revenge on the Simpson family as well, for whatever reason. I understand them wanting to try and keep it fresh, but was this really a good attempt? Oh well, I stick to my original statement of the old episodes being fantastic.

2. Troy McClure

Hi! I'm Troy McClure! You may remember me from such films as "'P' is for Psycho" and "The President's Neck is Missing"."

God bless the late, great, Phil Hartman. He was such a great man, who had amazing talent, and it was sad to see him go, because this character (as well as Lionel Hutz) also disappeared with him. Troy McClure was such a great character, and he was a hilarious, yet accurate depiction of a TV/Movie personality. The episode "A Fish Called Selma," (an episode where he was in the spotlight throughout the entire thing) is perhaps one of my most favorite episodes of all time, just because his role throughout the entire episode was brilliant and entertaining.

1. Homer Simpson

"Oh yeah....I was at the flower shop too! Yup, getting drunk at the ol' flower shop."

Kind of a cliche choice for #1, but seriously, this man leads the series. I don't think I could go one day without remembering the Duke of "D'ohs!" and how much he has impacted television. No one can deny the greatness of this character. He may be the funniest guy on television, no doubt!

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That about does it for today's entry, see you guys tomorrow!

-SlimKirby

Sunday, October 4, 2009

10/4/09

Video Summary:
Let's Play The Simpsons Hit and Run #34


I'm sorry guys, but I really love progress, and when I make a good amount of it, I really don't have that much to say here. Oh well, I'll try my best.

Mission 4 was a lot easier than I remember it. I guess the flight to the Brewery can be pretty tough if you don't avoid a lot of cars, and that road leading to the brewery, with all the twists and turns, can be lethal if not careful. Even though I hit two cars, I still drove that part pretty well.

The street race.....now that was annoying. In my first attempt I got pretty lucky midway through, but that didn't justify my poor performance in the beginning. I think I probably could have taken that if I just stopped hitting things, but it was originally Homer's fault since he got in my way when I was trying to turn into the shortcut. Then, I also didn't take that 2nd shortcut very well either. It was just a giant mess. I really don't like cutting my footage like that, but that is a pretty long race and I didn't want my video time to suffer because of that.

Mission 5 was a joke......a big joke. That was way too easy.

Ok, that about does it for this summary. Next time, prepare to see an end to Level 6, and maybe a beginning to Level 7, the GRAND FINALE!

Video Quote of the Day:
"I can't believe I have a working laser gun and I'm using it for good. I'm such a sell-out!"

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SlimKirby Update:

Ok guys, the majority of this update will be about Mario Party 5 since that will beginning in less than 2 weeks. That’s right! Less than 14 days from now, Mario Party 5 will be here, a project I started planning back in February. Unfortunately, due to some technicalities with copyright, it got pushed back and pushed back, but now I will be starting it very, very soon.

First though, I’ll address the Simpsons: Hit and Run progress. We are almost done with the game, as tomorrow should bring us some Level 7 progress (not much, but enough to start). At this rate, the game should be completed by the 10th, 11th or 12th (not counting the extra content I have planned). I have to admit, I really have enjoyed doing this game for you guys, but I’ll talk more about my personal reflections as it closes (and during the week of extras).

Ok, some other things I will address very quickly are some small hints of my next LP, which will happen after Hit and Run officially ends (after extras), and after the first board of Mario Party 5. I will be going into more detail next week as far as starting dates go, but for now, I don’t want to talk about it too much. I will say that I am kind of looking forward to this game. Here are two preliminary hints of what the game will be:
- A very obscure game/series that started on the NES.
- It’s a series I haven’t done, but the main characters are related to a series I have done.
I have some other hints to give, but I’ll hold that for next week. If you already have some ideas, feel free to comment on your impressions of what they could be. I won’t tell you if you are right or not (yet anyways), but it’s a great feeling to find out that you made a correct first prediction, isn’t it? :P

Ok, on to Mario Party 5! As I have stated in other playthroughs, Mario Party 5 is actually pretty far down on my favorite MP games list. Will that influence the project in any way? It’s hard to say. The thing about Mario Party 5 is that it is a very slow paced game. Not only that, but it is perhaps the most random of the bunch with the capsule system. Not only are there a lot of capsules, but most of the time, it doesn’t matter who uses the capsules and anyone and everyone can be effected by them. It is pretty much a giant cluster**** of randomness (excuse me for censored language). Also, the boards are pretty unexciting as well, so it just seems to drag on forever without any sort of idea of what’s going to happen.

The thing I do give credit to MP5 for is the mini-games, because those can actually be pretty fun. There are a few of them that are bad though (particularly the ones where you randomly press a button and someone wins), but there are a lot of good ones as well. Those are a saving grace in this game, and I can generally live with the blandness and randomness if I get a good turn or game every now and then. Also, the CPUs still have that wonderful charm of stupidity, so that will definitely provide some enjoyment as well.

For the project I will be covering all 7 of the story boards with either 20 or 25 turn games (leaning more towards 20). I will also cover some of the extra modes and games you can play for the title as well (Card Party, Volleyball, etc.). Some people are more than likely going to ask me about Super Duel Mode, and at this time I have NO plans to do that because it is so different from the standard Mario Party gameplay style (and for me, not very enjoyable). I may do one video covering the basics, at the very most, but I’m definitely not crazy about doing a set of videos on that.

Ok, now, when should we expect to see this Mario Party mayhem? Well, expect the first board to be uploaded on either the 17th or 18th of October. I know that seems like awhile from now, but think about this; I have one more week of Simpsons, and another week of Simpsons extras. I’d also like a few days off as well after finishing such a big project. Just stick with the current pace and MP5 will be here before you know it.

Also, I guess I should talk about scheduling as well. Right now, I am currently planning to do one board per week. I know that doesn’t seem like a lot, but keep in mind I will be doing other projects during this time, and I’ll be uploading about 5 or 6 videos per board. I think that will be more than fair to me and my schedule for college. I think this will be a good approach for me, and this will also open a door of opportunity for me on Sundays to have a day off (since it would be the beginning of the week).

I’ll talk more about scheduling as other projects come into play, but for now, you can start counting down the days to Mario Party 5!

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That about does it for this entry. I hope you enjoyed the update and are looking forward to my future projects. I also hope you enjoy the final videos for The Simpsons: Hit and Run!

- SlimKirby

Saturday, October 3, 2009

10/3/09

Video Summary:
Let's Play The Simpsons: Hit and Run #33


I knew we were getting to this street race eventually, and boy is it a pain. As done in the video, you do want to use the Car Built for Homer no matter what, I'd say. It's got the speed of the Bandit, but the turning of the Longhorn, making it fairly competent of making that hairpin turn. I was actually kind of surprised to see the car do so well, because I still remember struggling with that race even when using that car. Maybe I'm just used to its attributes?

The mission is very easy stuff. Frink's driving path is rather strange though, but I guess they did that to challenge the impatient ones, and also those who crash a lot (like me). The only danger I really had in this mission though was missing the dam jump at the very end.

Anyways, next video will cover quite a bit of ground. I will attempt 2 missions and the final street race (since I have everything else now). If all things go according to plan, Level 6 should end Monday, and if lucky enough, I'll get to start Level 7.

Video Quote of the Day:
Patty: You're a regular Lance Murdock Bart, without the full-body cast of course.
Bart: Give it time...

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I'm actually not going to have a special section today because I'm going to be giving a lot of information tomorrow (some info about Mario Party 5, and then I'll start dropping hints about my next LP that is following MP5). So I'm going to leave it at that for now.

See you guys later! =)

-SlimKirby

Friday, October 2, 2009

10/2/09

Video Summary:
Let's Play The Simpsons: Hit and Run #32


Thank God it's Friday, and thank God for progress!

I really mean it though, a considerable amount of progress is made in this video. Maybe not in the sense of story missions, but definitely for the extras. I think I have a good handle on this level so I can actually just cruise through the next 2 or 3 videos. I still got those street races to do though, and I remember those being a bitch (like a good majority of them), but we'll see what happens (footage cuts are my friends =)).

Not much to say about Mission 2....well, except for maybe the ending. I did get rather lucky with getting nudged into the finish line. I thought it was over when I saw the limo's arrow go flying towards me and the line, but thankfully I lucked out. That jump is actually pretty dangerous when it comes to the races in this game. I think you have to do that jump in 3 races (1 being the Ralph race), and the computer's do it well nearly all the time. We'll see more of that later on though. As for the street race....it's the Time Trial, so there is literally nothing to worry about. Those pier turns can be risky though.

That's about it, look out for more Bart craziness in upcoming videos!

Video quote of the day:

"Control human behavior? No beverage can do that.... OH NO! I HAVEN'T HAD A DUFF IN 2 HOURS! MY LIFE IS OVER!"
- Barney

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What SlimKirby is Watching:

Here is another idea I had for a section. I generally watch a lot of LPs on my downtime, and I figured every now and then, I would talk about what I watch. Maybe give a little review, and possibly a shout-out to the user involved (if they need one (I'll explain why I say this in a second)).

Ok, so the user I am going to be talking about today...well, he really needs no introduction or shout-out. He is a big name in LPs and game playthroughs with a whopping 48,000+ subscribers.

chuggaaconroy (Let's Play Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and various other projects)
http://www.youtube.com/user/chuggaaconroy

To be perfectly honest, I had never heard the name chuggaaconroy until I was doing "Ask SlimKirby" last summer when someone asked me if I would ever do a co-op Mario Party game with him. Curious about this, I went to his channel, expecting to see Mario Party videos. Turns out this guy was asking me if I would do a co-op with perhaps the biggest playthrougher on Youtube...that and the asker couldn't really comprehend that we don't live in the same area and that idea was pretty much impossible XD.

Looking at his projects, I wasn't surprised by his subscriber count. The entire Mother series thus far, two Paper Mario games, Super Mario RPG, and Pokemon (he hadn't started Sunshine by this point)....these are games that will generally and more than likely draw a crowd no matter what ("Paper Mario" is after all, one of the "pre-typed suggestions" that pop up when you type "Let's Play" in Youtube Search). Plus, the fact he had good video quality helps as well.

Was/Am I jealous of his popularity? Not at all...I am merely stating facts here. If you look at trends, playthroughs of very popular mainstream games get this kind of attention. And while the "Mother/Earthbound" series isn't necessarily mainstream, it is unique enough to draw a crowd (especially with Mother representation in Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Ness and Lucas). Then, video quality tends to add on to that. Also, chuggaa has been doing this for a long time. I've technically been doing walkthroughs for longer, but when he started, I was still doing camera->tv recordings. In terms of good video quality recorded LPs/Playthroughs, he has got me beat.

So chuggaa's popularity is not surprising in the least, and I hold no jealously towards that. He does what he does, and I do what I do. I'm not trying to compete here...I'm just trying to share my love for video games with you guys. :P

Anyways, this past week, I finally decided that I was going to watch a chuggaa project for the very first time. I was kind of familiar with his style by this point, but only in bits and pieces. I chose to watch his TTYD project first, because I've been on a Mario RPG high lately (due to Mario and Luigi 3 being released), and I didn't have TTYD with me. I'm not finished watching the project yet (it is a very long game, after all), but I'm about like....70% through with it. Anyways, here is what I have to say about chuggaa now....

...now I'm even less surprised that he has that many subscribers. Why? The great quality in both video and audio (specifically the commentary), the energy, commitment, humor, and personality he puts into every video, and the great deal of professionalism he brings to the table (he knows what he is talking about, and he even goes the extra mile through clever video editing, and annotations and pop-ups). I have to admit that I am really impressed with the amount of work this guy does, and not just any work....great work. He definitely has the SlimKirby seal of approval, in my eyes.

So yeah, if you are one of the very few individuals who haven't heard of chuggaa, definitely consider checking him out. I'm not saying you will like and enjoy him, or that you have to, (so don't go in there expecting to be blown away), but I do think he is definitely worth a mention in my book through all the hard work he does for Youtube. If you are anti-chuggaa or think he is overrated, that's perfectly fine and acceptable and you have every right to think that. We all have different opinions and observations, and it wouldn't be fair to argue against them among each other because we all have personal feelings and beliefs.

And chuggaa, if you are watching/reading this (which I highly doubt), keep up the great work!

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That's about it for this update/entry! Have a great weekend guys!

- SlimKirby

Thursday, October 1, 2009

10/1/09

October!

Video Summary:

Let's Play The Simpsons: Hit and Run #31


All right! Time for some Level 6 progress!

Bonus Mission: This is definitely one of the easier bonus missions, although....I guess all of them are pretty easy when I think about it. I find "destroy" missions to be the easiest missions in the game (besides maybe the armored truck) and all this mission is about is destroying two of them. Not very hard, plus you get one of the best cars in the game. =)

Mission 1: Again, not a very difficult mission, the only obstacles are the controls for the school bus and then the possibility of getting Hit and Run at the Squidport.

Fun Fact: This episode, or at least the episode where I did Mission 1 (the school bus mission), in the old project has a little controversy surrounding it. When I did the old project, there was an error in the uploading process and I didn't catch it until about three weeks after I finished the project, so I had to re-upload that video. It's strange because I thought I remembered it being uploaded, but I also saw no reason for it to be taken down either. In the end though, I did re-upload it and everything ended up being ok.

So yeah, not too much progress in this video, but enough progress to really get things moving for the next videos. Surely I'll get stumped on a very difficult mission :P

Video Quote of the Day:
"Up, down Up, down! Go Hotdog! Button my undershirt, blah blah blah!"
~Apu

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Well, it's October, so you know what that means? Well, I guess this date really doesn't have that much significance, but yesterday was supposed to be the day that the new Youtube Beta channels are supposed to go up and take place of the old Youtube design. I am definitely sad to see the old layout go, because I've had that design for over two years now and it has treated me well.

One thing that does make me angry about this move though is the way Youtube is blatantly ignoring the mass audience who are against the new design. Now, I wouldn't say I'm against the new design (I do think they should give you the option to keep the old or go to the new one, but as far as hating it, I don't really hate it), but whenever I read one of their "update" posts about the new design, I cringe a little bit.

"We're excited to finally roll this out, and it's been very helpful to have your comments and bug reports from the past few months to help us shape and grow the product. And things won't stop here -- we'll continue adding new features and making changes over time based on your feedback. Please keep it coming!"
~Most recent update post

Ok, here is what is bothering me;
"it's been very helpful to have your comments and bug reports from the past few months to help us shape and grow the product."
"we'll continue adding new features and making changes over time based on your feedback."

Now, is it just me, or is that just completely wrong? Last I checked, there were a great deal of people (I'd almost say a majority, or pretty close to a majority) that hated the new design and pleaded for an option to at least allow you to switch and use the other/older/classic option. It's almost like Youtube just picked out what they wanted to hear and disregarded what everyone else had to say. I mean really, how hard is it to just have an option that allows people to use what they want? Surely it's not THAT hard to program. I know I've seen message boards that allow use of several completely different post layouts before.

Another thing that kind of irks me, or at the very least, makes me roll my eyes, is that these updates continue to point out and mention that Youtube partners have 2 extra weeks before they have to change. Not that I'm jealous or anything, nor really that annoyed with it, but it's more of the fact that they mention it several times in a way that makes the partners seem more important or really that different from everybody else. They are no different from us....they just make ad revenue and are willing to be slaves to this site. Seriously, is it that hard to just say "it will take several weeks to get all of the channels to this new format," and just say nothing about the added time that partners get?

Oh well, again, I don't really see myself doing Youtube stuff forever, nor do I really care about making money from it or any of that other fancy stuff, but it is still quite fun to notice this kind of craziness. Maybe the Youtube staff just loves creating controversy???? Who knows? :O

Well, I guess I better start thinking about a beta design. If any of you guys have any ideas, feel free to let me know, because I would love to hear them. :P

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That's about it, have a good start to October guys! And remember.....
86 days til Christmas! =D
and
87 days til my 21st birthday! =D =D

- SlimKirby