The Rest of the Year! (Patreon)

We're long overdue for an update blog, and I tell ya, there's a looooootttttt of stuff in the pipeline. In fact the rest of the year is booked absolutely solid. So let's jump right into it! Here's what's goin' down in Arlo town! Or something!

First off, MY BREATH OF THE WILD REVIEW IS FINALLY HAPPENING. The first two parts are basically done and editing is underway for the rest. I hope to start posting them in November and post the last one as early in December as I can manage. I'll be giving all the parts to my $10+ patrons nice and early, but as a little bonus I'll be giving part 1 to all of you early as soon as it's done. It's finally happening, guys. And I'm so, SO stoked to see it finally come to fruition. Just remember to keep all this a secret though; people ask me about the review so often that I think it will be funny to just drop part 1 on them randomly one day.

I just did the first of two sponsored videos for Starlink, so you can expect the second one in mid-November. On top of that though, I want to do a review. I can't fit a full edited, scripted review in, so I'm going to experiment with something of an "off the cuff" review, where I just talk about the game for a while without a script, similarly to an impressions video but much more thorough. It's not ideal, but it's the only way I can make the review happen without waiting months for my schedule to open up. We'll see how people react to the more casual style.

I'm still waiting to see if I'll be getting a copy from Nintendo, but even if I don't I'm considering getting Dark Souls tomorrow and doing an impressions video. I definitely don't have the time to do a full review, but I know there are a lot of people who have been wanting to hear my thoughts on the game, so it seems worth an impressions video at least. But we'll see.

Smash is coming so soon that this is really my last chance to get out a Smash video or two. I love Smash, and I've got a lot of really great memories with it, so I would love to talk about it more while the hype is still high. My goal is two videos between now and launch, though I might have to settle for one depending on how things go. My current idea is having one where I go back and play all the old Smash games and reminisce about them, and another where I play through Subspace Emissary and talk about how cool it was, and how unusual for Nintendo to make something like that. If all else fails I can combine those into one video and just talk about SE in the Brawl section, but I hope I can do two.

Then of course in November will be the Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee review. I'm hoping that Nintendo magically starts giving me games early for some reason, even though I'm doubtful. Though I have been meaning to talk to them about that. I mean I've been an ambassador and getting review copies at launch for a year now, so I'm hoping I've reached a point where they trust me enough to give early copies. Don't know though. Thinking about how to bring it up with them.

December's gonna be a crazy one. You've got the Smash review, and again I can only hope and pray that they decide to give me that early. The review will do well whatever the case, but it's going to be really really hard to get the timing right if I don't have early access to the game, and it's going to interfere with the other videos I've got planned that month.

Speaking of which, I did a number of end-of-year videos last year that everyone seemed to like, so I see no reason not to make it a regular tradition! First there's the prediction video where I talk about what we might see in 2019. Then there's the wishlist video where I talk about what I want to see in 2019. It seems a little silly to do those both separately, but hey, like I said, people like it! And I like to do it! So why not? I probably won't do another top 5 or 10 or whatever because I really didn't play enough games this year, but joining the end-of-year lineup I'd like to do a sort of year-end review of 2018 as a whole. It will be particularly interesting holding it up against Nintendo's unusually stellar 2017, and I think people will enjoy the discussion.

So, if everything goes perfectly and nothing changes (and Nintendo doesn't make some huge announcement or do another Nintendo Direct or something) we're looking at 17 Arlo videos between now and the end of the year. That's not even including the one I released today. Sooo....yeah. That's a lot of videos. It's only possible because I've got Farfetch'd editing the Zelda review, but that means I'm on my own with the other content until it's all completely done, and I've grown so accustomed to having his help that I'm daunted by the idea of doing most of these videos myself! So it's looking like I'll be working working working for the next few months. I'm slightly stressed by the prospect, but it's also pretty exciting, much like E3. I've been treating myself well and trying not to overwork myself, so I'm not too worried by a few months of slightly crunch-ish scheduling. I can manage it every once in a while as long as I don't overdo it, you know? And it's nice that by the time Christmas rolls around things will be done and posted for the most part and I can just relax for a few days and celebrate all the work we got in.

That's it for the update. I hope you guys are as excited as I am about everything that's happening on the channel. And I know I'm making a habit of promising an Arlocast and not delivering, but it really is coming soon now, and man, it's gonna be a long one. I've probably got two or three Arlocasts-worth of stuff to talk about, and I'm just gonna do it all in one. Retropalooza and Arlopalooza just to name two big things to talk about. So look out for that soon.

Thanks so much to any new patrons since last time! I'll talk to you all soon!