Sunday, January 31, 2010

1/31/10 - Some Changes...and No Update Tomorrow

Hey guys, SlimKirby here!

I am going to make this brief, but basically, I have decided to make some changes to how I will update this blog. I will no longer be making updates on Monday, and instead, I will be making updates every Sunday. My Mondays happen to be really busy for me and I feel kind of rushed to make the entry. Plus, I don't think it is fair to worry about it when I also have to worry about classes on the same day. In the long run, I think Sunday updates will be better in the long run, as I have all day to make the update, and if I really wanted to, I could also work on it a bit on Saturday too. Hope this change isn't inconvenient to anybody (although I guess it really doesn't matter).

Also, due to this change and the fact I have to launch a new project tomorrow, I have decided that I am not going to update it this week. But I will be back on Sunday for another update, so don't worry.

Monday, January 25, 2010

1/25/10 - Make Blog, Update Blog

(The title of this entry is a pun on the name of the first level of Yoshi's Island :P)

Hello people, and welcome to this week's first (and only, technically) blog entry. Hard to believe that the first month of 2010 is already coming to an end, but now that winter break is over, and more school is upon us, I'm sure the next 11 months will go slower. =(

Anyways, not much to report on from the world of SlimKirby. School has pretty much been eating up all of my time and work, I haven't been able to play very many games, and any free time I get, I'm usually taking a nap during it. I never knew how stressful college life can be...especially when like 70% of college students are partying all day and night and staying up late and waking up in the afternoon. I can't do that stuff, and can't really afford to do it either. I suppose it just varies from person to person.

Anyways, I don't have very many details to discuss here, so I guess I'll move on to....

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Youtube:

As for Youtube stuff, would you believe me if I said I have footage for the next 11 days recorded already? I don't think I've been this prepared for....well, anything.


Yoshi's Island -

It all pretty much started when I decided that I would record the first half of World 2, to just get it done and out of the way. After doing that, I decided that ZSNES wasn't doing it for me, so I decided to switch to SNES9x in hopes that it would fix the small video skips and lags that have been occurring in the first 10-12 videos of the project. Although there is no big difference, I think it is noticeably better, so I am glad I switched (I start using the new emulator for 2-5 and on....). Then I just recorded the rest of World 2, because I wanted to test the new emulator more extensively, and from there, I finished World 2. So far, the project has been going pretty well. I haven't been completely satisfied with commentary (as I would like to be), but I guess I can't really complain too much. I've done so many videos and projects and I'm a strong believer in consistent and constant improvement, so eventually I would have to reach a limit to how much I can improve something. I've been getting a lot of positive feedback, so i'll take that as a good sign.


New Project (Starts: February 1st, 2010) -

I can't believe the start of this project is now only a week away. I originally got the idea to do this project several months back, but I wasn't confident enough to start it until now. Now I can safely say that the delays are over, and this will start very, very soon.

But, just what is this project? Well, from what I have told you so far, I mentioned that the game is and will be a lot like Fire Emblem, however, I will admit that I may have exaggerated a few things about the game's length. The project may not have as many videos as Path of Radiance did, and it may not last til the end of Spring as I figured it might, but it will still be generally pretty long, given the way I'm updating the project. Each update will generally be 1-2 videos (3 at the very most), and I will be updating the project every 4th day in a 4-day rotation (the first 3 days being Yoshi's Island). I know I made it seem like every update would be about 3-5 videos, but I should have actually paid better attention to how long each part actually was before opening my mouth-hole. Sorry for the confusion and the false information.

Now, before I start dropping some more hints, I'm also going to state that the first week of this project is going to be a little different (so in other words, the 4-day rotation doesn't start until February 6th). The first 5 days of this project will just feature the new project, and I'll be taking a 5-day break from Yoshi's Island to get started with this new one. The first 5 days will deal with some pre-game content (basically content that is part of the game, but not part of the game's main story/adventure/etc). Think of this as a prologue, if you will (they don't call it a prologue though, so don't make assumptions here). This "prologue" will take me more than 10 videos though, I hate to say, so expect a lot of videos to be uploaded next week (Monday - 2, Tuesday - 2, Wednesday - 3, Thursday - 2 or 3, Friday - 2 or 3, just as an estimation). It really depends on how long the final recording session ends up being (in terms of time). Basically, I will be in an uploading frenzy next week, so if you like when I upload a lot of videos, you will really like next week (that is, if you like the project anyways).

So what exactly is my next project? I've been hiding it for months, nobody has correctly guessed what it is.....should I just come out with it and end all of this waiting around? Nah, I'll let you suffer some more. I've never gone this long without someone guessing what it is, and it feels good that I can actually keep a secret from you guys, but for those of you who must pry the hints out of me, just keep in mind all of the previous hints I have given. The game is very similar to Fire Emblem, but is not Fire Emblem. Just think about what kind of game Fire Emblem is and go from there, and knowing the developer isn't a bad idea. Also keep in mind my restrictions in the games I do (specifically systems from where the games I do come from). I'm sure someone will figure it out...


Crystal Star Studio -
Not much to say about this, as MegaFreak400 is still doing an excellent job with navigating us through Chapter 1. We predict he will be finished by the middle of next week, and then we will hand it over to KManRules1331 (GOD HELP US ALL!).

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I think that is about all I want to discuss this time, so I guess I'll submit what I have here and see you next week. I'll try to have something else to discuss next time, as I know there are a few individuals who enjoy my entries where I talk about more than just Youtube and LP stuff....

later folks!

-SlimKirby

Monday, January 18, 2010

1/18/10 - I Don't Have a Dream, but I Do Have Ice Cream!

Hello everybody and Happy MLK Jr. Day! Welcome to this week's blog entry. I was fortunate enough to not have class today, although since I did go home, I do have a long drive ahead of me, so that should be interesting (to say the least). I spent my day pretty much finishing some homework assignments I had over the weekend and I had a wonderful lasagna meal provided by my awesome mother. You would think no-meat lasagna would be bland and boring.....but not when my mom cooks it. =)

Anyways, once again I don't have much to report today for this week, which makes me a little sad because I gave such an extensive Christmas entry two weeks ago. Speaking of that entry, I finally got Dynasty Warriors 6 in the mail this past week. We aren't sure what took the game so long to arrive, but apparently our original order was faulty and got canceled, and then our second order came almost immediately. Sometimes you gotta love Amazon.com, and other times you just have to despise it.

I'm still in the middle of Zelda: Spirit Tracks and that Pokemon Platinum file. I'm not quite sure what caused me to drop those two playthroughs all of the sudden, although getting back into Dynasty Warriors was definitely a factor, and I've also been trying to fully complete Helper to Hero mode in Kirby Super Star Ultra (two more helpers left, Burnin Leo and Birdon (the latter of which I'm convinced is nearly impossible)). Speaking of Kirby, I picked up Air Ride again this weekend and finally managed to complete the Air Ride and Top Ride checklists. I'm not really proud about Top Ride since it is considerably easier than both Air Ride and City Trial, and a lot of the challenges are more time consuming than actually difficult. I am really proud of the Air Ride checklist though, because that took some considerable amount of work to actually finish, since the majority of them are basic time trials and tests. I'm good with Mario Kart time trials, but definitely not Air Ride ones. I'm not done with the City Trial checklist just yet, but only because the challenges I have left are cumulative and time-consuming tests ("Drive over 200 miles" and "Play Free Run for 2 hours"). There is also another very annoying checklist item to get which revolves around getting lucky in the actual city and getting a good combination of the right star and the item modifiers.

As for real life, and the non-video game variant, not much has really been going on; just trying to get adjusted to my new semester schedule and trying to take it easy so I don't go insane with my work load. My mom also got me The Simpsons: Season 20 on DVD, which was a really nice gift on her part. Although, I'm still a bit confused on why exactly they released the 20th season when they still have seasons 13-19 to release on DVD. Oh well, I've always found Matt Groening and the other Simpson producers to be, in a simple word, nutcases. They are almighty nutcases though for creating one of the longest running and literally the best and most influential animated television show in history. That's why I paid tribute to them in my LP of Hit and Run! =D

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Streaming:

I meant to talk about this last week, but I kind of neglected it. I wanted to quickly make some comments about the two streams I had during Winter Break and then the possibility of having streams more often during the next few months.

First of all, I have to say that the stream on the 30th of December went pretty well, considering I only played 3 games, and there were a few technical issues as well. New SMB Wii was kind of an average way to start, and the second part of it was kind of stale due to various amounts of failure in World 2, but neglecting the star coin challenge kind of got things back on track. The next part of the stream was Banjo Tooie, which disappointed a lot of people, despite that being the highlight of the night (in my eyes). I don't blame them though due to the fact that a majority of my subscribers are probably subscribed to NintendoCapriSun, and seeing Banjo Tooie on top of Banjo Tooie and with even more Banjo Tooie can get boring. Anyways, I did have fun playing the game despite that, and I would also like to give my thanks to largo233 for also playing a part in the stream as a special guest commentator. The final game was Mario Party 2.....and why was that game chosen in the poll? Haven't you seen enough Mario Party from me? Bah, you Youtubers and you wanting to see me in pain. Anyways, despite the highs and lows, the stream turned out really well with quite a huge turnout.

The second stream on January 8th was a bit different. Not only did I start that stream earlier, I also ended later as well, so I was able to play a lot of games. Once again I started out with New SMB Wii, which, kind of went in the same direction as it did in the first stream. Second, for some reason, I played Pokemon Stadium. I started with an attempt on Gym Leader Castle which went horribly after fighting a certain Pokemon of Brocks. So for the rest of the hour, I just played the Kid's Club mini-games, where we got to hear Clefairy's sing, and see our Metapods harden...no bad jokes please. Then for some other, bad reason, I played Crash Bash. Why did I play Crash Bash? Did I really need to play Crash Bash? Well, it was basically me playing mini-games....very repetitive mini-games, so take that however you want. Next game on the list was more Banjo Tooie, which I thought once again was the highlight of the night. However, a freak happening with my Internet caused me to go offline for 15 minutes, which was kind of a bummer, but I'm just thankful the problem got fixed. The next three games I played only lasted an hour, another hour, and 30 minutes respectively for Kirby 64, Sonic 3 and Knuckles, and Goldeneye 007. I didn't even come close to finishing the first two (nor do I have plans to finish them on stream), and during Goldeneye I just messed around and failed missions on purpose. Kind of an uneventful 2 1/2 hours, but still...Kirby was kind of fun.

All in all, I won't say the streams were very "successful," but they were still nice, despite the technical glitches and the annoying skype callers (which shouldn't be a problem anymore since I changed my Skype name for good and won't be giving it to people publicly). If you weren't at the streams and if you would like to see the videos from the stream, or if you want to watch them again for whatever reason, follow the link below. I haven't edited the video names for the January 8th stream just yet, but they should still be there and they should bewatchable (I may do it after posting this entry if I remember).
http://www.ustream.tv/SlimKirby/videos

Because of these streams, I have decided that I will definitely do more streams in the future, but they won't be very often. Definitely expect a stream during the 2nd week of March when I have my Spring Break, and possibly whenever I come home and have access to my wide variety of systems.

Hope you guys enjoyed!

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Yoshi's Island and Crystal Star Studio

So today I started Yoshi's Island! I only wish I had something to say about it, but honestly, since it just started, I really don't have much to say about it. I've already recorded most of the first world and so far it hasn't given me really any problems at all (not that I really expected it to or anything). As I finish up the first world this week, maybe I'll have something to talk about next week? We'll see what happens, I guess...

As for CrystalStarStudio, the prologue is finished, and MegaFreak400 has started up with his first video today for Chapter 1. MegaFreak400 is a very informative guy and that really shows in his videos. For those of you who don't really like the informative type and like moreso the casual talker type, I still say don't let that turn you off. There is always something about Mega's videos that just get me thinking, in particular when he goes on his many rants about video game music and other relevant (and even irrelevant) topics, so definitely check the guy out. It will still be awhile before my chapter comes up, but I'll be ready when it is =).

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Anyways, that's all I really wanted to talk about today. Next week I may start dropping hints about my new LP project, so be sure to drop by to check it out. If all things go according to the current schedule, it may be here February 1st, which is only 2 weeks from now.

See you later folks!

Monday, January 11, 2010

1/11/10 - School in Session....Again

Hello everybody, SlimKirby here.

I don't have a very extensive entry today, mainly because this is my first day of classes for my Spring semester, but also because I'm honestly just not doing anything of note right now, in both YouTube and real life.

Being back on a class schedule is in a way, relieving and a bummer. Relieving because I prefer to have my schedule known ahead of time, and I'm not much of a spur of the moment type of guy. Also, it feels like I'm actually doing something, rather than sitting around the house waiting for something to happen. However, it's a bummer, because it felt like my winter break was very short lived, even if it was only for 3 weeks. It felt more like I had only one week, to be frank. Also, I have a real bad feeling that this semester could end up being my most difficult yet, just from the classes I'm taking. I think this is the farthest I've been in my major, especially compared to my last two majors, so I'll really have to step up my game. Also, since it is required, I'm taking a Calculus class, which I'm definitely not looking forward to. Just be warned guys and gals, if I don't update, it's because I'm sitting in the corner in the fetal position. At least all of my classes are in the morning, and I'm pretty much done by 2 PM, and even a little earlier on Tuesday, so I should have plenty of time for assignments and projects.

Speaking of projects, you are probably wondering about good ol Youtube next. Well, I don't want to go into much detail about it, mostly because I will have an announcement video this week that would explain pretty much anything I would talk about here, so I'll just briefly sum up Kirby Super Star, and talk about CrystalStarStudio.

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Kirby Super Star

Well, this project is finally done, and I have to say it went pretty well. There were a few instances of, in my opinion, stale commentary, but for the most part, you can't really expect everything to be perfect or near-perfect. It only took 23 videos, which is 7 less than the first (technically 22 videos due to the extra video, but still, that point is kinda irrelevant), so that's nice, and as far as my own playing, I think I did pretty well, having fewer deaths than in the first.

It's great to have this project under my belt though, especially with only one more redo project to do. Stay tuned for the next replay, which is Yoshi's Island, starting on the 18th.

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Crystal Star Studio and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

FINALLY! Crystal Star Studio has finally started releasing videos. It took several weeks, but last week, we were finally prepared to release our first video to the public. For our first project, it was pretty easy to figure out what game we would start with, but we did have some other ideas as well, so don't think we had no original ideas and only went with the obvious choice. It's something we were all set on doing, and we are glad we have started it.

As we have stated in our first video description, don't expect all 7 members to be in every video, because you will get pretty much the opposite of that. The way we have decided to go with this project is that each chapter will be done by one member of Crystal Star Studio. Each member will record, edit and upload each video that is a part of their chapter. If they wish to have guest commentary, then they can invite some of the other CSS members to commentate with them on a video, as long as the # of commentators doesn't exceed 3, and the majority of their videos have commentary with just them being alone.

I personally have to work with Chapter 7 of the game, so my part won't be coming up for a long while. It's a bit of a relief for me, because with my long upcoming projects, I'm going to need as much time as I can get, and I don't want to be concerned with with recording yet another project. Still though, it should be a lot of fun to work on when it is my turn. I will just have to remember to keep up with my file so when it is my turn, I can get ready and knock it out of the park.

If you would like to see the first videos of the project, check it out at our channel at the following link;


Otherwise, I hope you enjoy.

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Ok, I think I am going to cut the entry here. See you next week on Martin Luther King's Birthday! =)

Later folks!

Monday, January 4, 2010

1/4/10 - Happy 2010!

Hello everybody, SlimKirby here!

Once again, sorry for no entry last week, but I just couldn't handle it due to all the stuff that was going on. Thankfully, things are a lot calmer now.

I have nothing really to report in current events, which is a good thing, because my life is pretty boring as it is. Unfortunately, it seems like every one of my relatives have been getting sick, moving away, or going to the hospital. My parents have been fighting off sinus infections and the flu for several days now. The 2 cousins I talked about in the last entry, well, unfortunately for my uncle, he lost the custody battle for them, so now they moved away with their mother to Arizona, so instead of being in the same state as me, they now live like 10 states away, which kind of sucks. I've been told that I'll still get to see them during holidays, so that's a good thing, at least I'm not losing complete contact with them. My grandmother, who I think I have mentioned a few times in my videos, is at the hospital now, unfortunately. A few years ago, she had a few incidents that eventually led her into a state where she was 200% less mobile, so basically she can't really walk without the use of a walker, and even then she has trouble getting around without someone assisting her. Eventually she got to the point where she was able to move back into her own house last year, and has been doing pretty well since, but after a few nasty falls, she's back in the hospital. I'm not sure what to make of the situation though, because she is one strong lady, and for all I know, could be back home in no time. Still, kind of unfortunate that it happened now, and even more unfortunate that all of this other crap happened, especially around the holidays.

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Christmas/Birthday Review

For my Christmas and Birthday, I got a few new games and a new system of sorts, so I thought I would take a section to talk about some of the things I got.

Nintendo DSi - My original DS (as some people call it, the DS Phat) has been in pretty bad shape for awhile now. One of the hinges had fallen off, and the 2nd one wasn't far from dropping as well, and don't even get me started on the touch screen, so when I opened the present that contained my new Nintendo DSi, I was kind of relieved that I had a new replacement. I'm personally not big on systems that have that "multiple-use" and "OMG! MY CELL PHONE HAS A CAMERA" type of features, but from what I have seen, the DSi is definitely more oriented to just gaming, even if they removed the GBA slot. The new DSi menu, and the ability to download DSi Ware games are very welcome additions to the system, and the system feels great to just hold and play. I'm still getting used to the stylus holder being under the system, but that'll grow on me in time. I also really appreciate the brighter screen. I'm not sure of the difference between the screens of the DSi and DS Lite, but for someone who has been using an original DS for the last 6 years or so, seeing the brightness of the screen....I nearly passed out from the awesomeness and prettyness. My only real complaint of the DSi is....WHY IS THE POWER BUTTON LITERALLY A FEW CENTIMETERS AWAY FROM THE DIRECTIONAL PAD? I'm always worried that I'll accidentally turn it off, and that is something you DO NOT want to do, especially when playing Pokemon Platinum. I haven't accidentally turned it off yet, but that concern is still there.

Anyways, my verdict, it's a cool system and if the features interest you, specifically the DSi Ware, definitely get the system. However, if you are just looking for a replacement to play DS games and don't care about the downloadable content, a DS Lite will probably fulfill your needs.


Psychonauts (PS2) - A game that caught my eye ever since I started watching griffinlobster's LP of the game. A very fun and creatively made platformer that will have you laughing from beginning to end.....at least it did for me anyways. The controls are a bit awkward on the PS2 at first, but you grow into them as you play the game. I will warn you though, if you ever decide to play or get this game in the future....don't make your first playthrough a 100% run, because that kind of took away some of my enjoyment in the game at first, but still, the more you collect and rank/level up (since most collectables increase your rank), the more powerful your abilities become so it is rewarding....just not when you are crawling through levels to make sure you got everything, so keep that in mind. Still though, I really do recommend this game, and I'm glad I got it. Really hope they make a 2nd, even though most die-hard fans of the game say that a sequel would ruin the story.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks - I was just wandering around Best Buy when my dad said he wanted to get me a game for my birthday, and since there really wasn't anything else I wanted, I just found Spirit Tracks and figured..."What the hell, I'll get it." Although at this point I haven't even come close to finishing it, so far I've been enjoying it. You would think a touch-controlled Zelda would feel to weird and awkward, but you would be surprised, and the use of the DS microphone is pretty unique, although a bit tedious to switch between touch controls and mic. Now, the question on everybody's mind is..."WHAT ABOUT THE FRICKIN' TRAIN?" Honestly, I think the train controls work well with the game. Like the boat in Wind Waker, the transition segments can get kind of long and boring, but once you get a specific upgrade to the train, they become a lot more fun than you would think, and have given me some guilty pleasures >=). I'll talk more when I actually finish the game, but for now, I'm impressed with what I see.

Dynasty Warriors 6 - I give Amazon a 0/10 for failure to deliver this game, because it hasn't come in the mail yet. As for the game, I obviously can't review it yet. =(

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Kirby Super Star

Still going along in Kirby Super Star land. I started Milky Way Wishes today, which means that I am at pretty much the final stretch, but it really depends on how long this game will actually last. So far, I've managed to get 2 planets done in every video recorded thus far, and I've recorded 3 videos, so on my "To-Do List" I got one planet left, and all the ending stuff, which will probably mean.....2 more videos, 5 videos in total...one of the videos a slightly shorter video that has the final boss and credits, so I'll end Milky Way on Video #20. Arena should take only 2 videos, and I may have an extra video of sorts as well. Expect this to be a #23 video project (including extra video) and for it to end on next Monday.

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Future Projects

On January 18th, 2010, I will be starting my final, planned replay project of Yoshi's Island. Like the original project, it will be a 100% run through the game, which means I'll be going through red coin and star hell as I get 100 points in every level. Also, I plan to do the same thing I did in my original project, which means each video will have one level. This will really shorten a lot of the videos, but I'm not trying to do a speed run here, and trying to fit in more than one level in every video will look more sloppy if anything. This of course means that there will probably be 50+ videos in the project, so I may be doing this game for quite awhile. Not that it bothers me...but just be prepared for that.

And if Yoshi's Island isn't enough, I'll be starting another long-ass project along with it, only this one won't start until February, just due to the fact that I'm starting my Spring Semester, and I don't want to be completely boggled with Youtube projects at the very beginning. This other project will more than likely be longer than Link's Awakening, more than likely be longer than Simpsons: Hit and Run, more than likely be longer than the Yoshi's Island replay, and will more than likely be longer than my Super Mario RPG LP. But...it can't possibly be longer than Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.....could it? Well, even I have my doubts. Honestly, I don't know how long this project is going to be, but it's going to be big, and I MEAN BIG! Not only that, but it will be a nightmare when it comes to updating, but I'll talk about that more as we get closer to its release. I will say that it isn't Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, I can assure you of that.

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Crystal Star Studio

Wait.....CSS? Am I actually talking about CSS? That's right folks, it is about time for CSS to release its first project, and it could be released in less than a week if you guys are lucky (and if we don't encounter any problems whatsoever with the recording and editing processes). I know it has been a VERY long time since we have done anything, but if you knew the truth of what we have had to do and work with, it would seem like we'd been working on this for months. You'll find out more about this process as we try to bring it together for our first videos.

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Anyways, I think that is about all I wanted to discuss. I made this entry a lot bigger than normal, just because I didn't give anything last week, but things will be back to normal next week. Hope to see you guys then! =)

Later folks!