Avid gamer for the past 25 years, I focus mostly on Survival, RPG, and adventure games. I write reviews, and also like to share my general opinion on the gaming industry and where it is headed.
So, you’ve managed your schedule great for your youtube channel so far, right? Great. What’s next to work on? Obviously we can talk about editing and video quality, and we certainly will down the road, but one key factor to having a high quality channel is audio.
Good quality audio can help your videos just as much as recording in 1080p at 60 frames. Nobody wants to hear your crackling voice, or random static cutting in and out. The first place to start of course is your microphone. There are a wide range of mics to choose from, in a wide range of prices. These components can be expensive, but well worth buying a good mic to record with.
Good to professional quality microphones will range in cost from around $70 up to $300 or more. It’s advisable to research a mic heavily before purchasing, depending on the type of channel you are planning to put together. Personally I, along with many others will recommend the Blue Snowball as a solid, easy to use plug and play microphone. With a standard USB install, this mic doesn’t require any real heavy knowledge to get going well, and provides excellent voice capture. You can also pick it up $60-70 which is pretty reasonable. Doesn’t that sound good? There is a great post here at www.ezvid.com highlighting some of the best mics available, and I highly recommend you check it out.
Love this mic, so easy to use.
Now the next thing to think about is sound mixing and background music. As most of us here are recording gameplay, there is usually some background music playing with the game itself. Often times though, especially in the Independent developer industry, or in some of the early release titles I look at, there’s not really much music apparent. This is a great opportunity to mix your own music over your gameplay, or utilise music and sound effects for overall presentation. Intros and outros also need great sound quality and design to be eye catching, fun, and of course unique.
Though most of the recording software packages available have some type of audio recording included, if you are doing heavily edited let’s plays, or walkthroughs, good sound recording software will work for you better. With a range of packages available, from a free lite version to full professional suite you can buy, Pro Tools 12 is a solid package. I would also recommend checking out Audacity as another option for free software with a good range of options for you to try out.
Audacity, a great tool and completely free!
Don’t forget, competition for views on Youtube is incredibly high. If you want to compete and draw an audience you need to present a high quality product. Though we often first worry about the visual, the sound we present is just as important in creating an engaging experience for your viewers.
Have some advice to share, or came across a Youtube channel with great audio? Don’t forget to comment below.
Target Earth, known in Japan as Assault Suit Leynos is an early Genesis game released in 1990. During the era of popularity for Japanese imports in both gaming and media Target Earth was a diamond in the rough. Imported and translated by a small publisher called DreamWorks, the marketing and translation were poorly done, but the core gameplay was saved.
Target Earth is set in the far future, when humanity has colonized space far and wide. Protecting that space is army of men in huge combat suits. You take control of a pilot named Rex just as an unusual race of cybernetically enhanced beings attack earth, known as the Chron. Though the North American version’s story is a bit on the lighter side from it’s Japanese counterpart the way the story develops remains mostly intact. As you move through the 8 stages you eventually find out the truth of the Chron and why they are attacking the Earth. Thought in the English version the characters are simplified, there is still much tragedy and death in this story. Your character often deals with doubts about what he is doing, and why these enemies are here. The enemies you face later the game are often shown as tragic, humans who have lost their humanity in order to survive and gain revenge.
Our story begins here, in this place…
Story aside, it’s Target Earth’s gameplay that is truly more menacing than any villains you meet during the game. During a period where hard games were the norm, this game was hard. I mean really hard. Basically a side scrolling platformer/shooter, even the first level of Target Earth is difficult to get past. Infinite enemies come at you as you progress, firing all sorts of fast moving energized bullets your way. These enemies come to you in the form of enemy suits, jets above and around you, and giant spacecrafts. Your weapon types and ammo are limited outside of your trusty machine gun which fires quick but doesn’t offer much punch. You really feel outmatched in each stage. Later space missions only get harder as you are now looking out in multiple directions for attackers. Your only other assistance is a slow stream of friendly suits that act more as human shields than weapons however.
You’ll be seeing this, a lot.
Each stage rewards your success with a box full of new weapons and ammo. Like most games of the era however, Target Earth is full of secrets and cheats that can help you get through the game. It’s fun trying to discover how to gain access to all the weapons in the first stage, or of course gaining invulnerability. With the level of difficulty in the game, it almost feels fair to cheat.
The game also comes with it’s own kicking electric sound track. Though it does get a little repetitive during some of the longer levels, the music switches to surprisingly somber tones during some of the deeper story moments.
Target Earth was not a well ported Japanese import, but where it failed in it’s translation, and poor marketing, the core gameplay remained intact. The fun factor here was in it’s ridiculous difficulty level, and it’s completely unforgiving style. This game is a true call back to the era of super tough games with really straightforward intentions. With a solid but softened story, it’s certainly worth the toil of playing through, or discovering the secrets to help cheat yourself to the amazing end credits.
Sometimes you just have to walk away from your past.
For those of you with a Sega Genesis you can dust off, or another retro console that is compatible, you can usually find Target Earth available on ebay in the $20.00 – $25.00 range.
I hope you enjoyed this Review Rewind, be sure to comment or share below and let me know what you think!
War is a terrible thing. It affects the lives of millions both directly and indirectly. It tears families apart, destroys homes, and people. It also brings people together for a single purpose. It creates life long friendships from those who have toiled to survive. Valiant Hearts: The Great War is a story about all of these aspects of war.
The adventure into war begins
Taking place between 1914 and 1918 of the first world war, on the surface Valiant Hearts is a simple puzzle platformer. Taking control of a variety of characters, you interact with objects and other characters on a 2D plane. Solving puzzles, taking part in quick time events, while dodging incoming attacks and finding hidden items. All of these will lead you not only through the story the characters, but also through some of the major events of the war itself.
Valiant Hearts is as much a fictional story as it is a documentary. As you enter into new areas, or complete certain tasks the historical events of relevance to your location are slowly revealed. These are brought to you with actual photos of the various scenes, and historical facts about the impact of the war on each one. Throughout the story you will also find various hidden relics of the war, all with a story of their own.
Action shot with our cast of heroes!
The rest of the story is brought to you through a comic like perspective. Beautiful hand drawn art brings the characters and each environment to life. Character models are incredibly detailed and alive. The backgrounds share the same detail, with particular backdrops of some of the war torn environments bringing a weight to each task. Crumbled buildings, distant explosions or bodies strewn about demonstrate the impact of the war you are living. Colour is made good use of here. Happier moments in the story are filled with vibrant colours, which quickly turn to gray tones as the serious nature of the war emerge. One scene early on in the story particularly shows this as you carry the flag into battle, watching your allies fall all around you, and the landscapes subtly change from green fields to gray, barren no man’s land.
The art style and colour also take part in the gameplay. Colour is used well here to create depth in the 2D environment and highlight objects you can interact with. Mixed in with the wonderful score filled with era music you can really get the sense that you are in France during the war. The terrific orchestral score highlights each environment, and the various puzzles and adventures you face. The sound effects are just as suitable as explosions are crisp and clear, and background noises make the environments bristle with even more life.
The humanity is apparent here.
Though there is no real dialogue in Valiant Hearts, a narrator reviews each scene and chapter you begin. The characters in the game speak to each other in gibberish forms of French, or German, or whatever other language accordingly. These little snipets of language are clever and funny, and just enough to know what each character is trying to say, without actually ever hearing a full sentence.
The puzzle style gameplay is often broken up by different activities. Quick time events, mini bosses, and even towards the camera races where you have to avoid incoming obstacles from off-screen are thrown in. This change of pace keeps the game interesting throughout. The puzzles are all relatively simple, but often require a bit of try and fail before you can succeed. Though death comes occasionally, I never felt frustrated by it. Except the times of course where the obvious answer to a puzzle eluded me.
Isn’t this a little bit overkill?
With multiple characters to use throughout your adventure, Valiant Hearts does a good job of building both puzzles to be solved by one member, or larger puzzles that the entire cast of characters are required to help solve. Each character receives a short intro which helps connect them all together. Though from different countries or even on different sides of the war, the story interconnects well on the principle of them all just trying to make it home to their loved ones safely.
Valiant Hearts tells a story of family and friendship. With it’s great artstyle and easy to understand characters who just want to be with those friends and families, it does a great job having us connect with, and understand the story. The back drop of war helps set the tone as we witness the many deaths that these characters face to simply survive from one area to the next. Even with the sometimes bright and cartoonish look of the game, this tone remains apparent throughout. Valiant Hearts is a story worth experiencing in it’s entirety.
We shall overcome
Valiant Hearts is currently available on Steam for $14.99, as well as on PS4, PS3, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Don’t forget to share and comment below and let me know what you think about Valiant Hearts: The Great War
As a regular feature to the blog, I will be looking back at some of my favourite games from the past. Come and join me as I relive some of these classics, and some of the other more obscure games I’ve come across over the past 30 years!
From Dust brings the term sandbox game into a whole new meaning. You are literally dropped into a giant side box. A sandbox that you can control and manipulate in order to help your tribesmen find the promised land. Developed by Ubisoft, and release in August of 2011. From Dust gives you god like powers over the elements.
The premise here is simple. With your various powers over the sand, wind, water and fire, guide your tribe from totem to totem in order to unlock a portal to the next zone. Each level gradually introduces you to new powers and concepts. The first few levels are pretty straight forward and act as tutorials to help you develop an understanding for the game’s basic mechanics and controls. You can literally take your godly hand and scoop up areas of terrain, or water, or even lava to mold and manipulate the land.
Maybe I should build a castle in the sand?
As you proceed farther into the game, these powers are used not only to lead your tribe forward, but also to protect them from the earth itself. Whether it’s fire, floods, giant waves or massive eruptions, you must continually alter the earth in order to keep your tribe safe. This is where the interaction of the various powers comes to fruition. Though sand can be piled up and prevent waves of water from flooding the area, the force of the water can eventually erode the sand away. Combining lava and sand can create rock to solve this problem, but accidentally redirecting lava in the wrong direction can be even deadlier.
This balance of powers, and the addition of various power ups as well map unique quantities like hidden underground springs and other surprises keep you adapting often. The maps often adapt as well. Several levels in From Dust change part way through and throw new obstacles your way. In a first play through these events create greater challenges as now your well planned out modifications to the world need to quickly be changed before your tribe is flooded, or burned alive.
Are we powerful, or is it powerful?
The look and feel of the earth and it’s elements is also just a lot of fun to play with. Terraforming the earth with your various powers is intuitive and the elements react in fairly realistic way. Water and lava combine into clouds of steam, cooling into ever growing mounds of rock. Rivers slowly cut their way through sand at the lowest points creating rivers and peninsulas. It’s truly a wonder to just play in the sandbox that is From Dust just to see what will happen.
Is this the end, or the beginning?
Throughout all this, a charming story of the cycle of life unfolds. From Dust is definitely a game you want to give a full play through of to gain the full experience. The beautiful graphics and physics hold up today against more modern games. The story, though a relatively simple one of life and death is told mostly visually as you proceed from level to level. This is a great game, and a gem to try if you have a chance.
From Dust is currently available on Steam for $14.99
Check back next week for another Review Rewind! And don’t forget to comment, and share below.
TransOrbital miner license? Sense of adventure? If you said yes to both of these questions you are perfect for The Cosmos is Mine!, a real time strategy game from Playcorp. A small Australian developer focusing primarily on strategy games. The Cosmos is MINE! is a real time strategy game focused on zone control and resource collection.
Dropping you onto a small 3D planet, The Cosmos is Mine! tasks you with competing against other players for the valuable resource of Animus. The hexagon based maps though seemingly small, are full of detail and various biomes. Mountains, lakes, forests, and frozen hills cover the landscapes to give each planet a unique look and feel. The game takes advantage of the unique 3D environment to affect game play. Line of sight and the various defence towers gain advantages based on their elevation. Units slow down, or must find new routes to get into zones due to impassable mountains or other obstacles like the oceans.
The world is mine!
The current gameplay is simplified with 4 distinct units. The engineer builds towers and mining facilities. The prospector scouts ahead and can capture new zones and bases. You can engage other players in combat with the assault class, or the artillery class. Each class is upgradeable via some of the excess Animus you collect. You must take advantage of each unit, along with the various defensive towers to control zones on each map, as well as guard your Animus collectors. Every few minutes of a match you are required to reach a certain quota of Animus in order to keep your license and stay in the game. This mechanic forces you to play a balanced game of attack and defend so as not to miss your quotas as they arrive.
Though you can play a solo campaign, it’s doubtful you will do so more than once to get your bearings. The multiplayer is where the fun is here. Currently only 1v1 and 2v2 game types are available. The 1v1’s have you pushing to quickly get as many zones as possible, or cut off your opponent before he can do the same. 2v2’s on the other hand are hectic affairs as the maps feel small and you must quickly react and work together to avoid being double teamed and watch your quotas be missed.
So much to learn
Though the current build of The Cosmos is MINE! feels like it lacks a little bit of content, what’s here works well. The environments are lively and interesting. The learning curve is very low, and it doesn’t take long to get into the game. There is a great deal of room here to add some more units with differing abilities, and possibly planetary effects that can impact gameplay. The main concern here is how to add the type of content that will keep players coming back to play over and over again.
I recently came across this gem from Elf Games. Little Briar Rose is a classic point and click adventure with an entirely unique look. Set amongst the basic story of Sleeping Beauty. Little Briar Rose takes us on a beautifully designed adventure.
The art of Little Briar Rose is what sets it apart from any other point and click adventure you may have enjoyed recently. Each area you explore is artfully crafted to appear as living stained glass. This unique approach adds an incredible vibrancy to each scene. Every new area you enter is incredibly detailed and colorful. Characters and interaction points pop to the foreground, even though the entire game is two dimensional. The nature of this art makes it fun to explore each scene for hidden details that you can play with. Even game overs are handled with a unique crack of the glass, that quickly sends you back to your last save point.
Oops, I think I broke it.
Game play in this adventure is handled through these picturesque scenes. Each area is filled with characters and items to interact with. It’s up to you to figure out how to use each character or item to win wishes which will unlock new scenes to explore. The puzzles in each scene are complex enough to have you fail from time to time, but never to frustration. The more complicated puzzles have you moving back and forth between unlocked scenes and triggering events in the right order or finding the right set of items.
Though the current playable build of Little Briar Rose is a very early demo, you can see that the developer has really taken their time complete each scene. Though the story is not a new one, it is still a lot of fun just to witness the various detailed stained glass environments. The dialogue ranges from comical to downright not so good, but it doesn’t really put a hamper on proceedings.
I may have chosen poorly here.
I am really looking forward to seeing the full game develop. The bright and colorful environments astound. The quiet orchestral music flows nicely in the background. And the overall optimistic nature of the characters and story is a nice change from the generally dark and gritty games we often play now.
For more on Little Briar Rose, visit their developer blog
Grave. Grave is spooky as hell. Grave is currently available as a very early demo awaiting Steam greenlight for early release. An atmospheric horror game, Grave will lull you into rest, then throw you for a loop. The game is developed independently by Broken Window Studios. This is their first venture into full development, and went the crowdfunding way to get Grave started.
Set near a seemingly abandoned mining town, Grave will challenge you to keep your wits. With a solid visual style, you will slowly traverse through the desert and mines to explore your surroundings. Though it starts out bright and hazy, things quickly change for the worse. While exploring an abandoned house, I found my first set of matches, leaving the mostly empty desert behind as I entered. As I came back to door of the house, the environment around me had shifted and there were giant half destroyed structures everywhere. These images quickly dissipated like a mirage. These visual cues are sometimes the scariest part of Grave.
Explore the abandoned building? Sure, why could go wrong? I mean what… what could go wrong?
The sound here is on equal footing with the visuals. The music and environmental effects have you spinning around often to make sure there isn’t something behind you. When the first real monster arrives, the horrible shriek had me nearly toss my headphones. The combination of sound and visual effects make for a very harrowing journey through the dilapidated buildings.
This being a very early demo, there isn’t too much to see and do yet. You are given a few tools to help fend off the horrors. A flashlight is probably your most useful tool. There is no combat in Grave, but light is used to fend off the enemies that appear in the town. Trying to stay in the light as monsters randomly spawn around you is quite frightening. The initial visual queue of all the light suddenly shrinking away outside generally has you scrambling for your matches, or flashlight.
Pretty sure that wasn’t here before
As someone who doesn’t generally play horror games. Though this short demo lacks any real guidance, I found it was pretty easy to figure out what I needed to do. Not that it made it any easier to get done mind you. The procedurally generated maps ensure a different play through each time. I Am almost looking forward to the full release giving me plenty of both subtle and extreme jump scares.
Grave is currently scheduled for release in Q4 of 2015, for PC, Xbox One and PS4.
Becoming successful running a Youtube channel often comes down to one important word, schedule. Keeping regular, and consistent with your content is necessary and incredibly challenging. Most people starting off a gaming channel are part timers. To make it work you must be a master of time management.
There are all sorts of important factors surrounding a successful channel. Content, marketing, finding a niche and a fan base. Time management however can often trump all of this. Most people starting off a channel may have enthusiasm but no real experience. Bringing out consistent high quality product requires you not only take the time to plan your channel, but also in creating it.
Take the seemingly simple task of prepping a video file for upload. Compressing, decompressing, uploading, processing. All of these steps take time. Heaven forbid the Youtube servers slow down or cough out your content and laugh at you. Have fun watching the upload and processing bars load up all over again. And we haven’t even begun to talk about editing. If you want to put out high quality content, you need to painstakingly edit each second of your video before upload. even short 10 minute videos can take hours to properly edit and format, fix sound glitches and add graphics or annotations no less.
Please don’t crash, please don’t crash…
Take @weirdwizarddave for instance. He painstakingly edits each of his videos to a very high standard before release. Quick cuts, narration, setting up scenes for his often story driven playthroughs. Adding music and graphics cause more delay. How does he handle this time concern? Through strict scheduling.
Weird Wizard has adopted a TV like schedule for his various videos. Sticking to a pre-determined format helps him keep on time. This also gives his channel a unique feel as you can choose when to ‘tune in’ to see your favourite show. Hey, it worked for cable right? The downfall of course is what happens when life strikes and he misses an episode of Retro Friday? Well not unlike our favourite tv shows, that go on hiatus, he risks losing viewers. It is critical that once your schedule is set you maintain it. Don’t over stretch and find yourself consistently missing your regular release times.
Depending on a the type of channel you run, scheduling also creates and controls another conflict. This is the conflict between the type of viewers you have. Are your viewers the type who want to binge watch entire series, or like regular but differing content. Another fairly popular youtuber, namely @markiplier is an example of the latter. Though he offers a fairly regular schedule, there is not much consistency in the type of content he puts out. You may find a few episodes of a playthrough in a row, or a mix of these and some short one shot games as well. Though this style offers a lot of differing content those viewers hoping to see someone they enjoy play through their favourite game, or a game they just want to check out often have to wait some time to see the series to completion.
Another great example of a very popular channel with a unique schedule is @jackscepticeye. Jack has a very consistent schedule but chooses to release episodes at a very controlled pace. This gives his channel a ton of variety with dozens of different games being featured every week.
All of these scheduling techniques have their own way of drawing regular traffic to your channel. Either through a strict schedule, and knowing when your favourite episode will be on, or by drawing you to check back often in hopes your favourite Youtuber uploaded episode 2 in their most recent playthrough.
One of my favourite series from Jacksepticeye, just wish it was more regular!
Now, we’ve gotten our schedule sorted out, we’ve edited our videos, we may have even remembered to go interact with our audience some, but we forgot one important time sync. When are we going to actually play the games we’re recording? This is where the scheduling piece can really kill your ability to be consistent. Some of the Youtube channels mentioned earlier are full time, others are part time endeavors. Choosing the right schedule to fit your availability really comes into play with the part timers.
This last one affects even the likes of me! Putting the time aside to commit several hours to a game to finish it as a playthrough, or gather enough information to formulate an opinion for a review is a task in itself. The approach here simply differs depending on your time commitments. Fulltimers gain the advantage of being able to spend a day or two, or however long to complete a game. The important factor for them is making sure they are playing game far ahead enough in advance to have ready content for their channel. You need to be 2 or 3 games ahead of the content your are editing and uploading.
Us part timers have it different. We may not be able to set an 8 hour block of time aside to commit to one game or another. Between jobs, family and whatever else that may come up, it might be hard to free up even and hour some days. Scheduling and time management here becomes the ultimate key to your success. How well can you manage your time in order to have a steady flow of product. No different than a manufacturer, you need to know what you have to do far in advance. You also have to balance game time, and episode length to best stretch each play through, without robbing viewers of content. You must avoid a myriad of short 4 minute videos that may extend your content a few more days, and find the balance between that and long video lengths that may bore some viewers.
So what can we say about scheduling? Consistency is key. Over extending against your time limits will only lead to disapointed viewers. Be sure to plan and think carefully about who your audience is, and what their expectations are. One major factor to consider beyond just your analytics is feedback from the viewers. Decide on a schedule, but don’t be afraid to go with the flow so long as it keeps your audience and community happy. Hopefully you managed your time well enough to get through this post!
Thanks and don’t forget to comment below. Are you working on a channel? How do you deal with scheduling?
Life is tough when your name is Forrester. TellTale’s Game of Thrones: Episode 3 brings us deeper into the intrigue surrounding the Forrester House’s plight. Though it feels as though this episode has less action set pieces, the story here pushes forward much faster than in the earlier episodes.
Spoiler alert, this episode revolves around the same time frame as everyone’s favourite character’s most timely death. While wedding bells and death bells are ringing in King’s Landing, the Forresters’ story really get’s going. While sticking with the same characters in episode 2, each segment is filled with important circumstances.
So I guess we won’t be getting that drink later?
In earlier episodes of Game of Thrones, Mira Forrester’s character seemed the weakest link story wise. Her interaction here with the major influences at King’s Landing feel less forced here. Choices became interesting due to my knowledge of the overarching story. Having some of the action scenes take place here also helped balance the gameplay.
Along the walls, secrets spoken of early in episode 1 are starting to come together in intriguing ways. We also get to see better development of some of the side characters that got tacked along with the story before. There is also a chance for a little redemption here in Gared’s climatic scene.
I swear that tree is looking at me.
Asher’s story here has the most action and tense decisions. TellTale’s classic “choose the one that will live” timed choices come into play here. The results though are sometimes surprising, or may be seen as a bit of a let down, depending on your views.
Sometimes in our life, we all need, someone to lean on.
TellTale’s Game of Thrones continues to share a solid story. Each character’s plight is unique, and as I’ve played through from episode to episode I have gotten quite attached to them. I am also very curious as to how my characters’ decisions will tie in together. I am looking forward to seeing how TellTale is able to add impact to these new Game of Thrones characters knowing that the plot shown on television won’t be altered.
Have you played episode 3 of Game of Thrones? Like this review? Comment below or reach out to me on Twitter @micbemac88
Continuing the Star Wars mania launch that previously featured new footage from Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, EA has released a trailer for the upcoming reboot of the popular Star Wars Battlefront franchise. If there is anything remotely as highly anticipated as the next part in the Star Wars movie franchise, it is the revival of the Battlefront game franchise.
While the trailer is all in CGI, it is asserted to be representative of the PlayStation 4’s capabilities. Considering this is the first official trailer for Battlefront‘s November 17, 2015 release, it’s not surprising there is no gameplay to be seen. With any luck, we’ll get that soon, too.
Jump down below to watch the trailer and keep your eyes peeled for more Battlefront goodness as it lands. Or, if you’re Force savvy, make them release this game faster.
MicBeMac Games 