Hey you! (Patreon)

It's been too long since I've done a blog, so here I am!  Really though it doesn't feel like it's been that long.  I've been working so much and life is going by so fast that it feels like I did the previous one last week.  Oy.

I'm very happy that I was able to get everything on the agenda done except for my "E3 keeps getting better" video.  Now I'm just going to skip it, as the opportunity to do it has passed, but it's no biggie.  It was never a particularly important topic anyway, just something else that would be fun to cover.  But apart from that one, not only did I complete everything I said I wanted to do in the last update, but I also got all of my E3-related stuff done!  It was a heck of a thing being able to put so much into the event, and it really made it the most special E3 of my life thus far.  It's always hard to wait for June to roll around, but after this one, it's going to be harder than EVER to wait for next year!

Anyway, what am I working on now?  I'm glad you asked, my wonderful friends.

First I'm working on a video about Nintendo's release schedule when it comes to Zelda.  Five years is a REALLY long time to wait for a game, so in this video I talk about how they should focus on making more asset-recycling sequels with shorter turnarounds, a la Majora's Mask.  I talk about how that game was so great despite being in development for only a year, and basically just lay out a plan for a quicker--but just as high quality--Zelda.  Specifically I talk about how a Breath of the Wild sequel could come as early as 2019 if Nintendo manages their time right.  The script for this one is complete, and I was planning on releasing it before my Splatoon 2 review, but I wasn't able to get the time to shoot it and now there just isn't enough time to make it happen.  It actually turned into a much bigger video than I originally intended, and I'm really proud of how the script has turned out.  Every once in a while I'm writing and I sit back and go, "You know what?  This is a good video."  Sometimes I'm just particularly happy about the points I'm making and how I'm articulating them.  The last time I felt this good about a video was "Switch: The Soft(ish) Launch."  So I imagine that this one will come sometime after all the Splatoon stuff, but I can't tell you exactly when yet.

Speaking of Splatoon, that's what's next.  There's a problem though: the game comes out on the 21st and it's probably going to take me at least a solid week to play it and make the review, and that's if things so smoothly (which they don't always do, obviously).  I wanted to release a video well before the night of the 21st so that 1) I could push some last minute traffic to the shirt design finalists video and get some more votes, and 2) so I could keep up with my streak of releasing at least one video per week in order to please the Youtube gods.  Since the "Zelda schedule" video became bigger than I thought it would and I won't be able to complete it in time, I decided that I'm going to do a first impressions video for Splatoon 2.  I'll grab the game digitally on the night of release, which will only be 9pm here on the west coast, and I'll have a few hours to play the game and see what's up.  Then the next day I'll shoot my first impressions and put them out as early as possible, and hopefully that will keep my average going and give the shirt contest just a little bit of love before the poll closes at midnight.  Now, I'm not even sure if that many people are going to be into a first impressions video for Splatoon 2, seeing as they've been reading about it for ages already, and the actual reviews are out even as of this writing.  BUT, this is something I've been wanting to experiment with for a while now, so I figured this was as good a time as any.  Until I can start getting early review copies from Nintendo (I just applied for the Brand Ambassador program for the third or fourth time, so keep your fingers crossed) I need to find a way to get my thoughts out there faster so I'm not completely left in the dust by the rest of the world.  So wish me luck here, as it's going to be a pretty intense day of playing and shooting and editing, and I'm just hoping I can make it happen successfully while the calendar is still firmly on July 21st.

So that's what the next few weeks look like.  Unfortunately, oh look at that, it looks like I might be getting sick again.  My throat burns and I'm getting a little stuffy, which usually means a cold is a pretty good bet, but the last few times I got this it just sort of lingered like this on the verge of a cold for a few days, then went away without going full-blown SICK.  So I'm going to ask for your good thoughts/crossed fingers/wood knocking/etc. one more time, because getting sick would mess things up A LOT.  It would mean a week or more without shooting anything, or shooting a bunch of videos with a stuffy nose and a weird-sounding voice. Neither of those sound very good to me, so here's hoping I can kick it.  *eats more vitamin C tablets*

Now, you'll be happy (or possibly relieved in a half-annoyed way) to know that I've begun planning my Breath of the Wild review!  For those of you who are just joining us, I'm planning on breaking the review up and turning it into a series so that I can give each aspect of the game all the time it deserves.  I want to really indulge and go nuts on it.  So I've written most of the introduction and I've started to plan out the individual parts.  This is still VERY subject to change, but at the moment here are the parts that I'm thinking:

Introduction

Music, sound design and visuals

Story, Characters, and...that ending

Exploration and secrets

Combat and difficulty

Shrines and Dungeons

Physics interactions and “crafting”

Conclusion

This is just my first pass though, so I'm sure things will move around.  Could end up being more individual parts, could end up being fewer.  I'm just going to start writing in each category and see how long each one becomes, then combine and separate chunks as necessary.  It feels great to finally start, though.  I don't know when I'll finally be able to start full production, but when I do I'm hoping I can dedicate myself fully to the review until it's done.

Lastly, if you watched the shirt finalists video you'll know that I showed off five copies of the latest Nintendo Force magazine featuring an interview with yours truly that I'm planning on giving away to five of you amazing folks here on Patreon.  In fact, a number of you are here BECAUSE of that, and while I'm on the subject, a warm hello and innumerable thanks to all my new patrons!  If you are reading this, it means that you are awesome beyond measure.  It doesn't matter if you pledged a dollar or twenty; you're helping me realize my dream and without you I really don't think I'd be able to put half the time into this channel as I do now.  So take a bow and introduce yourself down in the comments!  We always love to see new figurative faces around here!  Anyway, I want to let the shirt contest finish up before picking magazine winners in case new people see the video and pledge before then, but right when it's done I'll post a blog and if you want to enter for a magazine, all you'll have to do is leave a comment.

Okay, I know I already said "lastly," but I just thought of something else I'd like to talk about.  I'm working on a SUPER TOP SECRET project.  Right now it's so early in the planning stages that I can't even tell you what it is.  Especially since I need to finish my OTHER big project--you know, that whole Zelda review thing--before I even consider really getting into it.  But I'll leave you with these tiny tidbits at the very least: it's something that I'm extremely, EXTREMELY excited about...and it's not even a video!  Ooohhh what could it BE???  You'll have to wait and find out.  Naturally though, once things start moving on it and I'm ready to start talking, you guys will be the first to know.  In fact you'll be the ONLY ones to know for the majority of the project.  I hope you can keep a secret!  ;)

Anyway, thanks again to my new patrons, and you all have a wonderful day/week/year/forever!