July Report 2023 (Patreon)

A bunch of things have been underway! I have some news to share down below, so let's start this month's report with main channel updates.

FlashBoy Plus: The $95 Virtual Boy Flashcart | Things of Interest

The FlashBoy Plus video is now out! I want to thank Vintex 64 again for the opportunity to check it out, and it is legitimately cool to once again see availability for the most affordable Virtual Boy flashcart! The video topic probably reaches a new level of niche (Virtual Boy, flashcarts, do the math), but I'm happy it's being received well! Just surprised there are still people who weren't aware there were flashcarts for the Virtual Boy at all, since the HyperFlash32 video actually ended up doing pretty great numbers!

With that, I'm taking a little breather from the obscure and niche topics, aside from the next TOI episode about the GBA TV Tuner! (which is not the next video planned, but will be tackled eventually.) As I mentioned, I wanted to go back to the core videos and cover more mainstream topics for a bit, and I made a poll for Expansion Pack patrons last month on what they'd like to see next. In case you didn't see it though, the winning topic was...

Nintendo DSi/3DS Camera & Sound

Finally, the good bird apps!

This next core video will continue what I did with my Game Boy Camera video, and be an exploration of Nintendo's (as of now) last regular camera and music applications, including their beginnings on the DSi! I used to play with the 3DS apps a lot as a kid, so it'd be a lot fun to share my own anecdotes, as well as some of the secrets or less-used features in these apps that people may not have known! It's not as off-the-walls of the Game Boy Camera, but this was definitely still Nintendo giving their own personality spin on what would be basic tools, and it all perfectly took place at a time before kids were carrying their DSi/3DS systems around instead of having a smartphone in their hands. I definitely have quite a bit to say about the legacy of these apps.

I'm currently still writing the script, but what I've written has been very fun, and is hopefully going to be a good balance between informative and funny! Having some of the joke ideas come into my mind while writing this kind of gave me nostalgic feelings for the past core videos, funnily enough.

This is currently estimated to come out in September. Normally, I would want this to be made within August, but I didn't want to get people's hopes up because...

I'm traveling to Japan in August!

Yes, in case you haven't heard from my Discord server, I'll be on a trip to Tokyo from the 11th to the 20th of August. This will be my first time visiting Japan since 2017, and my first time visiting Tokyo since...uhhh...I actually don't remember because I was definitely 7 or 8 at that time, so I might as well be seeing it for the very first time!

I'll basically be there to take in the sights and familiarize myself, since it would be my first time on what is basically a solo trip. (I'm going with my brother, but our schedules do diverge on occasion!) Of course, there are the obvious places I'm planning to check out, including Akihabara, official Nintendo stores, the Kirby Café (got my reservation already!), and perhaps an arcade or two!

I probably won't be documenting my trip all the way through vlog-style or anything, but I'd definitely like to share my findings in video form eventually, either on the main channel or Plus channel, since I think a lot of folks would be interested in seeing it! But yes, that's partly why I'm not super confident about being able to have the next core video out within the month, so thank you for understanding!

Plus videos

Two videos this month on the Plus Channel!

First, the Chinese Mario Movie DVD! I basically bought this for collection purposes, since there are absolutely better ways to watch this movie for me. I would've also collected a Blu-ray, but I literally have no convenient option of playing those at the moment, so yes, DVD would have to do, and it made for the fun (albeit frustrating) experience of trying to play it on a hacked Wii! And all that aside, I hope it also at least satisfied any small curiosities about the international/Chinese home releases of the movie.

Next, I unboxed a copy of Space Invaders Extreme for the DS! I wasn't planning on doing more sealed game unboxings on the Plus channel, but if the opportunity magically presented itself again, I wouldn't refuse! (I mean, I have some sealed Wii U games lying around still but I don't think those would be as eventful to open.) The two Space Invaders Extreme games are part of the four total games that supported the Taito DS Paddle Controller, so I'd like to find the rest of the games and eventually make a Things of Interest episode out of it on the main channel. Hey, maybe I can use my Japan trip as an opportunity lol

Recent pickups

A few days ago, I attended a retro game swap meet at the HK retro museum hideaway! Here's the stuff I got from the event:

Yes, that's quite a few things, more notably the Game Boys you see scattered around! Those are mostly working units but with missing battery covers and screen blemishes, and since I recently modded my own Game Boy Color with a backlit IPS screen, I wanted to try my hand at modding these other Game Boys as well! If you're interested in the process, perhaps I can make a Plus channel video out of that as well.

So that'll be it for the month! I'll be working on the script for the DSi/3DS Camera & Sound video (I really need a better way of phrasing that if you have ideas let me know) when I'm able to, so if you'd like to see more regular updates on that, stay tuned to the #expansion-pack channel on my Discord server! The next report will be after I've done my Japan trip, so let's see if I have anything fun to share then!