Sunday, August 29, 2010

8/29/10 - Back to Work....Unfortunately

Hello everybody, SlimKirby here, welcome to another week of….blogginess? Anyways, lots of things happening this week in the world of SlimKirby, so I’m going to make this entry kind of expeditious. This past week I started my Fall semester of classes, so as you can probably tell, I’ve been pretty busy with that. I swear, for a beginning week of classes, I’ve gotten a lot more work than I should have, but I guess that’s to be expected with the higher level classes. Overall though, I guess it is just something I will have to work with. I’ve done pretty well with my classes through the last 3 years. I’ll just have to step it up a notch. As for my classes interfering with any of my recording time, it really shouldn’t be that bad. I actually have quite a bit of free time considering the difficulty of my classes. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I have nothing until 3 PM and I’m done at 6:15, and because of that late start, on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, I can stay up quite late. I wouldn’t say it was the best result in the world in terms of how my schedule could have gone, but it could’ve been worse.

Besides that, there is not much to report on…just hard work in general.

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Youtube

Majora’s Mask – Well, the main part of the project is over, and dammit, I can’t believe it. It seems like I just started, yet it’s been almost 3 months and now it’s finishing. On the whole though, it was a great project and I’m glad I decided to embark on it. Would I say it’s been my best project? Well, I think it would definitely be a candidate, although I still have a lot of pride in my Hit and Run Let’s Play. Either way, it was a lot of fun, I’m glad I decided to work on it. Extras videos will start coming out in the middle of this week, and will probably be over by the weekend.

PilotWings 64 – Like Majora’s Mask, I also finished the main part of this project as well. Like Majora’s Mask, I also had a lot of fun with this project, despite the limited amount of entertainment a game like would normally get, and I thought it turned out pretty well. I think one of the greatest feelings I get from doing the work I do on Youtube is getting people interested in games that normally may have not been heard of before. That is definitely one of the goals I try to make with my Youtube, especially the more unnoticed games I play. Anyways, enough about that…..I’ve already uploaded some of the extra videos today, and the rest will be up tomorrow, so no more PilotWings after tomorrow.

Donkey Kong 64 – Yesterday I announced in an update video that a replay of Donkey Kong 64 would be my next project. I’m really getting pumped for this replay just because Donkey Kong 64 has always been a personal favorite of mine, and I actually have a lot of history with the game, some of which I’ll definitely reveal during my playthrough. I’m hoping this project will be a lot shorter than the original (especially with the new Youtube time limit), and I can already guarantee better video quality and commentary. Anyways, look forward to this project in September.

CrystalStarStudio – Still not setting anything in stone just yet, but I’ll (or rather, we’ll) probably have some information soon.

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Game of the Week:

Note: There is one thing I would like to keep in mind in regards to this edition of GotW and all future editions. This is not necessarily a review here, despite me writing it like one. When doing these issues, I try to focus on personal experience rather than nitpicking all of the different aspects of each game. If I wanted to write reviews like that, I would write them for a website or something. The only thing “reviewish” I would like to keep consistent is the scoring thing, besides that though, don’t be surprised if I don’t talk about every little thing.

Pokemon (1st Generation)


During this past week, I very randomly decided to pick up my old Pokemon Red Version game pack, and since it’s the only game I’ve played this week that hasn’t been one of the projects I’m currently doing, I suppose that it makes this game a candidate.

What can I say about the 1st generation of Pokemon? Like for many, this game took me on a very unforgettable adventure throughout the world of Kanto, capturing Pokemon and gaining gym badges to become best Pokemon trainer in the land. It was all the rage back in the late 90s, and has kept pretty consistent in the recent years as well. The success of this craze is no-doubt attributed to the first games, which are perhaps my all-time favorites.

Sure, when looking back at the first gen games, they seem inferior to the later games, and my favoritism could be merely for nostalgic reasons, but is there really anything wrong with that? Even if you do go back to these games, after spending years upon years with the new additions and changes to the series, going back to the old games can still be a lot of fun. In fact, a few years ago, my friends and I actually came up with a Pokemon tournament idea where we would revisit our old games with new files and a new adventure, and after a few months had passed, we’d have our own competitions with our Pokemon. We had so much fun with that, even though we never really finished (some of us got way too far ahead with our Pokemon levels, the level cap we set was too high, and many of the people actually dropped out after awhile). This shows that the old games still have quite a bit of charm left in them, even if you had to deal with a lot of the outdatedness of some of the game concepts.

As for my current file, I really just started out of current boredom. I’m not really sure if it’s something I’ll try to completely finish or not, as I have gotten all 150 on the first gen before. And as rewarding as that was back in the day….now it just doesn’t seem like it’s something I’m 100% set on. It will definitely be something that I might go to though whenever I get bored.

Giving this game a review score is actually pretty difficult, for a variety of different reasons. I would like to give it a score based on how it was back in the day, because of how easy it is to stack the game in comparison with the newer generations, yet on the other hand, you really don’t want to blind it by nostalgia either. For it’s time though, and for its enjoyment in recent years, I think I can feel pretty confident with a 4.5/5.

LP Possibility: SlimKirby! Would you ever Let’s Play a Pokemon game? I will admit, I have thought about it, and I have determined that sometime in the future, I would like to do one, but now is just not the time. The problem with Pokemon is that there are already so many different Pokemon LPs and LPers already, and all of the major games and different versions have already been hit multiple times. Not that I am completely against doing games that have been done before, but still, I think it would be kind of difficult to keep the playthrough unique and interesting……in my opinion at least. With an overdone game like Majora’s Mask, I thought I could at least keep it interesting from my knowledge of playing the game multiple times when I was younger, and not really getting that feeling from other LPs of the game. Oh well, I suppose Pokemon is always a possibility for the future….just not now.

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Well, that is about it for this entry this week…and how appropriate, just when “Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder” ended. I guess that means that it is about time to go to bed! Later folks!

- SlimKirby

Monday, August 23, 2010

8/23/10 - Back to an Old, But Still Somewhat New Routine

Hello everybody, SlimKirby here, reporting from Muncie, Indiana, my 2nd home. Yes that is correct, as mentioned last week, I am back at my college university for another exciting year of advanced education classes and all the drama that is college dorm life. I got back to my dorm last night in the early evening, and as far as I know, everything seems to have made it up here all right, so I was able to settle in pretty quickly. And with my first classes not starting until 3 PM today, I was actually able to stay up pretty late without the worry of missing any of my classes. Missing classes is not something I normally do (unless I know I don't need to be there and if I can get away with not going), but it has happened once thanks to my ability to randomly zone out my alarm clock (was able to sleep through 40 minutes of loud alarm beeping once). Either way, I got up at around 10 AM this morning, after staying up til about 3:30 last night. I know it's probably not very smart to get such little sleep on an important day like today, or stay up so late the night before, but I have my reasons (;]), and I feel pretty awake right now regardless. Besides, it's difficult to get sleep on that first night, just because of how different it is. You've pretty much spent the last 3 or 4 months sleeping in the same bed and in the same environment, and then you randomly switch to a small room in a big building with hundreds of other people living around you, only separated by walls that don't always minimize noises. It's a pretty unique experience. :P

With that aside though, I'm not really sure what to make of this semester or this school year. I think I will really need to start focusing on what I'm doing (not that I don't focus, but I mean "REALLY FOCUS") and not try not to get lost in the drama that is my life and everything else around me. I will still try my best to stay active on Youtube, but try to understand that I can't really guarantee what my updating will be like. I actually got kind of lucky last year with so many open windows of opportunity to do recording, editing, and that kind of stuff. This year, I'm honestly not that sure. I'm hoping the 22-hour downtime between my last classes on on Tuesday and Thursday, and my first classes on Wednesday and Friday (plus the weekend of course) will give me plenty of opportunities, but who knows? I may actually need that time. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens, yes?

Also, I do apologize for the lateness of this entry. I actually meant to do this pretty early on Sunday, but I felt dead tired and kind of sick to my stomach, so I wanted to use that time to take a nap and get well rested before I had to make the nerve-wracking trip back to my university. And then, by the time I got back, I was really in no mood to work on it, so I put it off until Monday afternoon. I will try to keep these Sunday - Monday postponements to a minimum from now on, but I never really know what to expect with my schedule.

Anyways, let's talk about other stuff! =D

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Youtube:

Majora's Mask: I can't believe we are near the end of this project. At the time of writing this entry, the rest of the game has been recorded, and the rest of the videos will be uploaded periodically throughout this week. In the end, the project ended up being 74 videos (again, this is not counting the extras). That number is pretty much what I expected in the beginning and I have no regrets with it taking this long. I mean, to be fair, Majora is a pretty long damn game, and there is so much more you have to do if you want a 100% playthrough. I honestly don't think you would see very many people do that much better with less (in terms of video #s) than what I did (although with the 15 minute time limit, that's not necessarily true now). I actually had a lot of stuff planned out before I recorded so I knew what exactly I would be doing, step by step. There was rarely a time where I was literally doing nothing, and whenever I did have a time like that, I usually spent it on rupee grinding or getting situated for the next thing I had to do. I think in efficiency, I did a really good job. The only thing I will admit is that my organization was probably a little weird, however, that is what I chose to do in my Let's Play, so it was really my call in the end.

I still need to film the extra videos at this time, not mention, figure out what I am even going to put in the extra videos. I have lots of things written down though, and I'm sure my viewers will probably have quite a bit to remind me of when it comes to the final video, with their "Will you show this?" and "Please show this!" comments. Plus, I also have the entire Let's Play to look through and see if there would be anything worth showing based on similar comments I've gotten throughout. It'll more than likely be an annoying process to plan out, but that's kind of what I signed up for.....

PilotWings 64: The main part of Pilot Wings 64 should actually be finishing up pretty soon as well. Today I will be posting Part 7, and on one of the days for this week, I will post Part 8 as well, which will include the final main mission and the credits. Overall, it's been a nice project to work on, and I've gotten a lot of positive feedback from the LP as well, so I'm glad there are people who are actively enjoying the game for what it is. I actually got a comment on yesterday's video, which actually made me smile a bit; "I don't like this game, but you are really doing a great job with the project." Now, I guess that doesn't really do the game any justice, but one of the goals I kinda had for this Let's Play was that I wanted to show that even the most dull-sounding and dull-looking of games can be enjoyable to watch and/or play, or at least that was bet with ShadowMario41 (since one of the reasons why I LPed this game was because he said it was a terrible game and I wanted to prove him wrong =)). Although, when looking back at the comment, I guess it's moreso favoring the commentary and the project itself rather than the actual game (which I guess is good thing in its own right, considering how little faith I have in my audio commentaries). Either way, I think the project has been going pretty well regardless and I'm happy to see there are some people out there who are enjoying it for what it is.

Like Majora, I also have extras for this project as well. I'd say there will be about 3 videos worth of extras (since I have to cover all of the side games and all of their levels. I still have to film them as well, but they will also be posted throughout the coming week (not this week, since I still have to finish the main part of the project).

CyrstalStarStudio: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is finished....sans extras. It was a long road of 92 videos, me being responsible for the majority of the last 18 or so, but we have most certainly finished. Now, the other members of CSS and I are looking to have a nice break from the action and drama, but I assure you guys that we will be back again soon (once we figure out what we are going to do next).

New Project in September: I will be revealing my project in an update video I have planned for this coming Saturday, but just be aware of the fact, for the current time, that my next LP is decided. =)

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Game of the Week:

This week's GOTW is going to be treated a little bit differently from all the others. Usually when I do GOTWs, they are games that I haven't LPed on my channel before. However, I'm going to bend the rules a little bit and talk about a game I have LPed before...twice actually. The only difference between this entry, in contrast with others, is that instead of talking about the possibility of LPing it (since I have already LPed it), is that I will give my thoughts on that project, looking back on it, and comparing it with my current projects.

Mario Party


I can't stress how important Mario Party has been to my channel over these last few years. It has easily become perhaps the series I am most known for doing and has been the source of many of my best moments throughout my entire Youtube longevity. For those who don't know what Mario Party is, it's basically a mash-up of a classic board game, lots and lots of mini-games, and the whackiness that is the Mario universe. Since the release of the first game back in 1999, Hudsonsoft, the developer of the series, has released 9 other games (7 console, 2 handheld) into the series, but many argue the first is where most of the magic happens and where the magic has remained for the last 11 years.

I'm not going to talk about the gameplay mechanics or any of that stuff as I've been through that a number of times in my many Mario Party projects. Besides, I'm willing to bet the majority of my readers come from my channel and are already aware of the Mario Party madness that ensues there, so I probably don't need to go into very much detail. One thing you can say about this Mario Party game though, in comparison with the rest, is because this is the first game in the series, you can generally expect it to be a bit more tame when looking at the rest. And for the most part, that is true. A lot of the mini-games are pretty easy to follow and have very simple premises, and this was also before the series got crazy with the item system. You can almost look at the straight-forwardness of this game to be a very distinct advantage. Most of the complaints that are given in future titles are that the games end up being way too random and luck-based, and having the right item could potentially bring the game in your favor. In this game, pretty much what you see, is what you get, and your plan of attack is going to be pretty obvious; win as many mini-games as you can, and get as many coins as possible so you can buy stars and afford board events. However, that doesn't necessarily mean, that luck will always be on your side, quite the contrary. You will still have to be prepared for anything, whether it's an annoying happening space event or if your opponents plan to gang up on you and steal your stuff. However, besides that though, it's pretty straightforward and I think that's why people tend to prefer that game to others. I personally think Mario Party 2 is the best, just because the item system in that game was fair and not off-the-hook, plus it had some of the best mini-games. Mario Party 1 still pretty much set the standard though.

The reason why this game was chosen as Game of the Week is that I actually went back through the game recently just for old times sake and did another playthrough of all 8 boards. In my recorded project, I had a Win-Loss record of 6-2 (losing at DK's Jungle Adventure and Mario's Rainbow Castle, both ironically 1 star difficulty boards X_X), but in this playthrough, I actually managed to pull of a perfect 8-0 record! You see, I told you guys that I don't suck as much when I'm not recording. I guess when the camera turns on, the atmosphere changes. :P A lot of the boards in this playthrough pretty much went down in the same exact way; 1) I get a bunch of coins from mini-games and from not stupidly spending them and 2) Later use those coins to pretty much dominate the rest of the game. I also managed to get quite lucky with the chance times (something that doesn't happen very often for me), which actually helped me pull out a very late victory after getting screwed so hard by the stupid luck factor of Yoshi's Tropical Island. Another close call was Bowser's Magma Mountain, a board that literally decided to give me warp blocks at the worst possible times, whenever I was right next to the star. However, once I finally made it to Boo on the second to last turn, I had way more than enough coins to steal what I needed to gain victory. I also had perhaps the least efficient playthrough of Eternal Star ever, with one of the stars on the first set of 7 not being gotten throughout the entire 35 turn game (since you are originally given 7 star spaces at the beginning, and once you get all 7, they will create 7 more). It was a pretty interesting ride with a pretty nice result, and I'm glad I decided to play through this classic gem of a game again.

Mario Party definitely set the standard for all future Mario Party and board games to come. I think it's far from a perfect game, but it excels in perhaps the most important department, pure fun and entertainment. I think because of that, it's appropriate to give this game a 4.5/5 on the SlimKirby scale. :P

Original Playthrough: And by original playthrough, I mean the playthrough that is CURRENTLY on my channel, not the bad camcordered version I did back in 2007 that doesn't even exist anymore. All in all, I think it was a good project, despite its problems. The main issue with the recorded project is that I brilliantly (sarcasm) decided to not fix the audio desync issue I had until near the end of the project, making some of the playthroughs kind of awkward. I mean, when you hear my reaction to something before it actually happens, that kind of takes away from the experience a little bit, and because of that, I do kind of apologize to my viewers if that annoyed anyone. However, this was still a fairly early project of mine, and I was still learning. :P I think just because it is Mario Party 1, I probably won't need to redo it (especially since I've technically already redone it already), just because it is technically the first of the series, and it's understandable that there would be some problems. If anything, the only MP projects I should even consider redoing are 3 and 4, and even that is a stretch. Overall though, it was a great project and experience, and I'm glad the success of it has carried throughout my channel.

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That's about it for this entry! I'll see you guys next week for some more fun and excitement. Later folks!

- SlimKirby

Sunday, August 15, 2010

8/15/10 - Things Will Soon Be Going Down!

Hello everybody, SlimKirby here!

Once again, another week has passed, which means I will once again deliver a giant pile of text to you guys. You know, it seems like just a few weeks ago I was excited to be out of classes for the summer. Little do I realize now that it has actually been 3 ½ months now, which means that I only have one week before I go back to the old grind. It’s kind of disappointing, to say the least, but at least the ride has been a bit more enjoyable this time around. I’ve seen old friends, gone on trips, spent quite a bit of time with family, embarked on some interesting experiences, and have met some new people and friends. Basically…..it’s been the best summer vacation since I’ve been at college. =P

Anyways, this past week has brought something “interesting events” to say the least. I actually got the pleasure to meet fellow Youtube user and CSS partner PowerToMario in person last Tuesday for breakfast. He was in the area this past week during a little family expedition of his, and we arranged a little meeting as he was en route back to his home base in Floridaland. The meeting itself was kind of awkward at first (keep in mind, this was our first face-to-face meeting, and regardless of the 3 thousand times we’ve talked before online, it’s a lot different in person), but in the end, it went well and was pretty cool. PTM is a really genuine person and a really nice guy. He can be a bit of a jokester at times (and sometimes, not in a good way =P), but in the end, aren’t we all? Either way, if you are reading this, it was great meeting you buddy, and take care! And also, good luck in your first year of college! Make all of CSS proud!

Besides that though, it was actually a pretty boring week. It was the kind of week where it really starts to hit you that something big is coming up (for me, moving back into dorm life again and starting classes), and you aren’t really motivated to do anything but just focus on that upcoming event. I really hate when I let that happen because I always feel like I have something else to do, and I just shouldn’t have the time to stare at my Simpsons character poster and name as many characters as I can. I feel I must at least give thanks though to the Blargg Pit chatroom for at least making things interesting in those late after-hours that take place in my daily life after I spend most of my day doing work around the house, recording and editing videos, or even both. Not only do they give me a great deal of support for what I do, but they are a lot fun to chat and hang out with. We’ve seriously got some great people in that community, and if any of you guys or gals are reading, just letting you know how fantastic you have been.

But, enough ranting about that…let’s move on to something else!

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Youtube:

Majora’s Mask – The other day, (Friday to be exact) I finished recording another set of videos which consisted of the entirety of Stone Tower Temple, and pretty much all of the extra stuff outside of Clock Town. The end of this project is so freaking close, I can almost taste it. All I have to do right now is finish finalizing those videos and I could pretty much just film the rest of the game. However, I would like to do something special with the big thing I will be covering the following cycle, so I might devote a little time to that. Either way though, predict Majora to end somewhere around the Video #80 mark.

PilotWings 64 – The reception of this project has been nothing outstanding, but the response has been incredible for what it is, and definitely not what I expected. I knew walking into this game that I was taking a big risk with the interest of my fans, but that risk has actually been paying off so far. It will definitely be a short project, but maybe the best mini-project I have done thus far.

CrystalStarStudio – Paper: Mario The Thousand-Year Door is almost complete and will actually be completely finished by the next blog entry. Only 4 videos remain of the project, and I will be uploading twice on Friday, so the project will officially end on August 20th. It’s been a fun ride with this game, but the rest of CSS and I are ready to put this project to rest, or at least the main part of the project.

New Projects: People have already started to wonder what exactly I will have planned for the months following Majora’s Mask, and I will tell you guys that I have given it a lot of thought. I wouldn’t say I have a full grasp on what I’m going to do or when, but I have a plethora of ideas in mind, and it will basically come down to what I feel like doing when the time approaches. I will say that I do have my next Let’s Play decided at this point (after Majora and Pilotwings) and I will be announcing it very soon.

15,000 Subscribers: Wow, when summer vacation started for me, I didn’t even have 10,000 yet, and I managed to pick up 5,000 more in only a period of 3 months. I really have to give you guys a lot of thanks for that. I’m glad you are enjoying my videos and I’ve glad you have been very supportive of me and my work for so long. Since 1,000 milestones don’t seem as big anymore, I probably won’t be planning a special for this particular milestone, but I did want to take note of it just because of how swiftly I obtained it. Thanks again guys!

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There will not be a Game of the Week this week mostly because….I haven’t played any games….. seriously. Normally when I do a GotW, I choose a game that I had been playing recently or randomly decided to pick up and play again just for the hell of it, but no major candidates come to mind. I’ll definitely have a GotW planned for the next entry, but for this one, I’m afraid I’m going to run empty on you guys. Although, with classes quickly approaching again, my time for gaming will continue to diminish, so maybe GotW will have to turn into Game of the Month, or something…

Well, since there is no Game of the Week, I guess that means I’m going to call it quits for this entry. I’ll see guys next time. I’m not sure if “next time” will be next weekend though, just because I will have a lot going on next Sunday, but surely I’ll be able to find some time to write something. I guess we’ll just wait and see…

Later folks!
-SlimKirby

Monday, August 9, 2010

8/9/10 - I Hate Being Late

Hello everybody, SlimKirby here, and welcome to my Sunday blog update! *looks at calendar and sees that it is Monday* oh crap….

Yes, once again I had a bit of an issue with timing for this blog, but this time, I literally forgot about it. Usually when my updates are late, I at least have them somewhat written already, or have the blog in the back of my mind throughout the entire day. This time, I was literally in bed trying to get to sleep when I realized that I forgot. Oh well, it’s something I can get done while I’m waiting for my videos to upload today.

So, there is not much to really catch you guys up on in my real life. I can’t believe in only just two weeks I’ll be back in school for my 4th year of college classes. I’m honestly not completely sure how to feel about that, but it needs to be done, I guess.

One thing that might be worth mentioning is that I may actually be meeting up with Youtube user and fellow CSS member PowerToMario tomorrow, which will be the first time I’ve seen a fellow CSS member face-to-face. Tonight we still need to discuss some details (like, where we will be meeting, and so on), but it’s completely plausible. I guess we’ll see how that goes (if it does) and then I might have to talk about it next week. There is also the possibility of meeting up with MadameWario as well (since she also lives in the area), but I’m not sure how much information she has gotten about this. Again, I guess we will see what happens.

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Youtube Stuff:

Majora’s Mask seems to keep on going, and going, and going, and going, and going (not that I expected anything else). Although, it is comforting to know that I am approaching the end of the wire. In terms of video numbers, I’d still expect around 75 or 80 overall (for the main project anyways), but I think the only thing I can say for certain right now is that it will definitely not go over 100. Maybe if my time limit was still 11 minutes, it might be, but even then I have my doubts. The new 15-minute time limit has done wonders for this project, it really has.

Also, for anybody still in the dark, I actually started a new project yesterday, Let’s Play PilotWings 64. And the reception I got from the first video was actually kind of surprising. I got a few “What the F is this?” comments like I expected, but the feedback was mostly positive and there seems to be a lot of interest despite the type of game it is, which is what I was hoping for. It’s good to know that people are willing to give the project and the game a chance, because you never know what you are going to like. I for one, never would expect, as a child, that I would end up enjoying a game where you fly around with different air vehicles and try to do simple tasks like fly through rings and pop balloons, but then Pilotwings 64 showed up. As mentioned before, this project will only be updated on a “When I want to” basis, so I can’t really say when certain updates will occur. I am going to try and record the entire project before I go back to college though.

For CrystalStarStudio, we are currently in the process of uploading Chapter 8 videos. Because there have been so many trips and wisdom teeth removals as of late, getting together for commentary has been hard, but that’s why we recorded 6 videos last weekend (even though it was a pain getting everyone together, but I won’t get into that now). We just have to record 4 more videos, and the project should actually be finished by the end of next week, surprisingly. Then we have to decide what else we are going to do. =P

Also, as some of you might be wondering (I have gotten a few PMs about it already), I was actually a director of the new cooperative NinBuzz channel for a short period of 12 hours. For those who are unaware, Ninbuzz is basically a cooperative channel that is hoping to get an elite group of Youtube gamers together in order to create a haven of Nintendo goodness on one Youtube channel, and I actually got an invitation to be a part of it. Originally, I accepted the invitation, but decided against it after thinking about it for a little while. A reason for this is just because I have so much on my plate already, and adding a 3rd channel to which I submit stuff would not help those matters in the slightest. Another reason is that I would be working with complete strangers and people who I don’t know very well. With CrystalStarStudio, it’s different because I’ve known these guys for 2-4 years now and I actually trust them. NintendoCapriSun, who is one of the channel directors for Ninbuzz, while he seems like a nice, down-to-earth guy, doesn’t change the fact that I really have no idea who he even is as a person (besides the personality he shows in his videos). There are also a few other reasons to why I declined, but they are more personal and are reasons I don’t really feel comfortable with bringing up in a public blog. In the end though, if this channel is for real and if it’s legit (NO CHEATS), I wish the directors of NinBuzz good luck in their endeavors.

That’s really all I have to say about Youtube stuff for now. Next week, as we get closer and closer to the end of Majora’s Mask, I might start bringing up some possibilities of future projects and things I might start doing for the fall season. I’m not going to make any major promises or guarantees that I will reveal a whole lot, but I will try to spend some time talking about it.

Also, I’m not going to be posting the video schedule for the following week like I have done in past entries. The way I see it, I only have two projects, one of which is updated daily and the other of which is updated whenever I want it to be updated, so there really doesn’t seem to be a purpose to post the schedule when half of it is pretty much something you can expect on a daily basis, and the other half is random.

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Game of the Week

I actually haven’t done a GotW for awhile, but now it is time. This time I will be talking about a game I’ve gotten and completed recently.

Kirby: Squeak Squad (Mouse Attack)


Oh Kirby, Kirby, Kirby…..you are such a pimp (pimp? Oh dear, I guess I have been spending too much time chatting with MadameWario that I’m using her words now XD). Anyways, it’s actually been quite awhile since Kirby’s last ORIGINAL (so Super Star Ultra doesn’t count) platforming adventure, and with the announcement of Epic Yarn during the last E3, I felt it was time to go back and actually give Squeak Squad a try, since I actually haven’t played it before. I got the game from a local gamestop a few weeks back and I’ve been casually playing through it these past few weeks, completing it just a few days ago.

The game itself is quite like any Kirby game you’ve already seen before numerous times. In this game, a group of intergalactic mice steal Kirby’s prized Strawberry shortcake (wait, what?), and Kirby’s goal is to re-obtain it along with collecting any other treasures he can find. Yeah, the story is kind of lame, but you can’t and really shouldn’t expect a “Final Fantasy-esque” storyline from a Kirby game. After all, it’s the gameplay that matters, right?

Right off the bat, when playing this game, I actually notice quite a few similarities to the Great Cave Offensive from Kirby Super Star. You can play the game straight through if you want, but you are going to be tempted to collect all of the different treasures you can find and that Kirby can get his cute, little, greedy hand-stubs on. As you would expect, getting all the treasures is an intuitive process, as they are not all in plain sight right in front of you. Sometimes you will have to hit switches or have a specific copy ability to obtain the treasure. However, if you thought Great Cave Offensive or getting all the crystal shards in Kirby 64 was challenging, it’s pretty much the exact opposite experience for this game. You really don’t have to do that much thinking in order to obtain any treasure. Usually if you need a power-up to get through an obstacle or hit a far-away switch, the power-up is 98% of the time in the same room you are in. And for other treasures, usually if you just explore every crevice, and every nook and cranny (nook’s tranny cranny….again, too much time with MadameWario XD), you’ll find the treasures pretty easily. I honestly did not really get that much of a challenge from this game, not that I was really expecting a Kaizo Mario World or anything, but it almost seemed like just a baby version of the Kirby games. It was still a lot of fun, just really easy.

Some of the new power-ups you can get in the game are actually pretty cool. In fact, I think one of my new favorite Kirby power-ups is Magic Kirby, a form where Kirby wears an awesome magician top-hat, and can send playing cards or magic white doves as projectiles. A lot of the old, classic Kirby power-ups are also in the game as well, including Beam, Fire, Ice, Sword, Wheel, and two of my Kirby Superstar favorites, Hammer and BOMB! I also thought the concept behind Metal Kirby was kind of cool, although I hated using it.

And as usual, after you beat the game, you can expect a lot of different features and extra games, which does give the game some extra replay value. I wouldn’t say it’s a lot of replay value, but if boss endurances or level times trials are your thing, it’s delivers in that area.

Overall, as I mentioned earlier, it’s a decent game and worth checking out if you are into the Kirby genre, but if you are looking for a DS Kirby game, Kirby Superstar Ultra is obviously the better deal in the long run. This game just felt a little too easy, and I thought it could have given just a bit more replay value. Overall, I would give it a 3 out of 5. It’s nothing terrible, but nothing extraordinary, just averagely good.

LP Possibility: If I could play DS games on a console, hell yes. But for now, hell no!

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And that’s about it for this blog entry! Again, I do apologize for the lateness, but I think this entry actually came out pretty well besides that, so hopefully that makes up for it. Before I go, there is one more thing I want to mention.

PowerToMario has also started a blog of his own, and is the 2nd CrystalStarStudio member to have one. I felt that since he is a part of the CSS gang, and is now the world of blogging, that I would give him and his blog a little plug, so here is a link to his blog if you want to check it out.

A Day in the Life

I think MegaFreak400 is also considering starting a blog of his own, so once he gets his first post up, I’ll probably give a plug to him as well.

Anyways, that’s about it for this week’s entry. See you guys next week where again, I will probably be late at updating. However, I have an excuse this time because I’ll be going on a small weekend trip to a place that has no Internet connection. I still should be able to get a post up on Sunday night though, but don’t be surprised if it’s late.

Later folks!

Monday, August 2, 2010

8/2/10 - Cutting it Short...

Hello everybody, SlimKirby here!

I would say "Welcome back to another exciting entry," but this isn't exactly going to be my usual type of entry. For one, if you couldn't tell, this is being updated on Monday, so I'm already a bit late to the game, and unlike last time where I was working on it periodically through the course of the day, I didn't get anytime to work on it whatsoever (although I did try to, I just couldn't get any alone time with the laptop). Secondly, as much as I hate complaining about everything else I have to do along with this blog, this time it's just too much. Since my stream last Wednesday, let's just say I haven't had a day where I could just sit back and not worry about what I need to get done until today, and even then I'm not as ahead as I could be with Majora videos and I need to start filming my new project as well. When you put my Youtube stuff together with CrystalStarStudio, general updates on the Blargg Pit, Blargg Pit chat moderation, this blog, trivia contests and gaming night events (to attend, not control) and stuff I am expected to take care of in the real world....it's a lot of stuff. I'm surprised how much free time I normally get (which is normally not a lot).

However, with that being said, and with the blog probably being the least relevant of those things, it's still not something I want to give up. Deep down, I am actually a writer at heart, if my long history of being a, as I like to call myself, "message board junkie" doesn't show otherwise. For those not really understanding what I'm referring to, before I started doing Youtube videos, I was a very common visitor and sometimes poster of major video game message boards. The most prominent one was the Nintendo NSider Forums where I had over 75,000 posted messages, various Post of the Week awards, and hosted a variety of different contests and wrote a variety of different reviews as well. Anyways, my point is that during those days, I had an outlet where I could vent my ideas and post what I had on my mind. Now, I could technically still do that, but with the way I do my Let's Plays, the way that works for me is the informative game approach, where I put a lot of attention into the game I'm playing, because I feel that is the reason why people are watching the videos in the first place, not to find out how sad I am for the most recent celebrity death or for my opinion on who is going to win the next season of Hell's Kitchen. Now, every now and then, especially when it comes to the Mario Party projects, I try to put a little discussion out there just because it can help clear out some of the "uhhh.....uhhh....yeah, so uhh..." moments of my videos where I may not be saying anything relevant in the slightest, but even then, some of that can easily clash with my video standards, leading to such disasters as my E3 2010 rant (which I'm still probably being too hard on myself for, but leaving out details and certain explanations can really lead people into making swift judgments about another person, judgments that may be incorrect, but understandable as well based on the way I presented my discussion). So in a way, I try to use this blog as a way to talk about those things that I normally wouldn't be able to touch on as much or as well in my videos. The only problem is now the blog is slightly becoming a chore to do and I don't seem to have as many things to talk about as I normally would. It's a shame that this blog has to suffer because of that, but I'm doing my best to make sure I have something to share with you every week. It's just a shame I have to balance it along with everything else I'm doing...

Anyways, this entry is not going to be a very long entry, nor am I going to be using the format I've been using in my last few entries (so there will be no "Game of the Week" for this week). I'm just going to touch up on a few things, mostly involving Youtube stuff, and then call it an entry.

First off, as I'm sure many of you are wondering; I am going to be pushing my new project back a bit, because I just haven't really had anytime to film it. I'm going to try and get some episodes recorded this week, and hopefully I can get it out there by next Sunday, but we'll see what happens. Until then, just expect normal Majora's Mask updates.

CrystalStarStudio has started Chapter 8, and we are very thrilled to bring you guys the final chapter of the game. Expect the main part of the project to come to a close on August 20th. As for other parts of the game, we are still trying to decide what to do, so please keep questions about that to a minimum.

For the big Youtube issue that is currently going on (the false-flagging/suspension thing), as I said during my stream and past entries, don't let that bother you guys in the slightest. Users like chuggaaconroy have already started to return from their suspension (not sure what is taking NCS so long though), and things seem to have definitely slowed down if not stopped completely. It was all honestly just a matter of time before this lost steam, and as I said a few weeks ago, Youtube could only ignore the issue for so long. The only advice I have for you guys still worried about the situation, just try not to think about it so much, and keep in mind that if it does happen again (and happens to me for that matter) it will not be a permanent thing.

Finally, as for my stream last week, since I always tend to share my thoughts on the blog following the stream....I have to say I was kind of disappointed. However, this disappointment is not directed at just one source.....really all sources that played a factor including myself. I made some really bad decisions during the stream, and I really lacked direction with what I was doing, so in some parts, things got really hectic and probably a bit boring in other parts. I really want to thank my moderation staff though during this particular stream because they were on the ball in so many ways. Problems were taken care of, posts were being removed when they should have been, and they just did a great job overall, so thanks to MegaFreak400, GaiaCrusher9, K-Man, ShadowMario41, PowerToMario, darkmindedsith, Odinspack33, ShotzRox, RockedSolid, and the always lovely, and always fierce MadameWario. I'm glad you guys (and gal) were there to have my back. Anyways, with that being said, I don't think there are going to be that many more stream events for the rest of this summer. I originally had plans to host two more streams, and an all-day stream (like I do every summer), but I'm hesitant to do so. I would like to give it one more shot to see if maybe things will go a little smoother, but another issue is finding the time to host one. There will definitely be at least one more stream in the next month, but at this time, I can't tell you when.

That's about all I wanted to discuss for this entry. Next week I will try to return to my blog format. Later folks!