Brotherly Love Gaming Episode 4: May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

In this week’s episode we cover what we’re playing now (it’s mostly Kingdom Hearts III), some news of the week, and finally our impressions of Kingdom Hearts III. If you’ve followed my posts here you’ll have a sense for where I’m at on the game, but Spence is already almost done with it!

Brotherly Love Gaming - Unraveling Kingdom Hearts For Over an Hour

This is the episode where we go DEEP on Kingdom Hearts lore. We pulled this out of the other episode because it’s so long it felt like it needed to be its own thing. We go into spoilers so this is really one for the fans.

And if you want to support Brotherly Love Gaming on YouTube as well, you can hop on over to our channel page. Also follow us on Twitter @BrotherlyLoveG1 for more updates on how the show is going. We have some non-podcast content coming in the near future!

Brotherly Love Gaming - News of the Week 1/25/19

As we’re still figuring out this whole podcast thing, we learn things like “if you have a really big topic to cover, maybe just make that its own episode.” In this case we ended up having to split this episode into 2 parts. This one is the “news of the week” style discussion, where we talk about what we’ve been playing, then dive into current gaming topics. This is the format we really want to get into doing more, but the shadow of Kingdom Hearts loomed over us, and we talked about that for over an hour, which felt like too long to include here. You’ll find that in a separate post and on its own in the feed.

And if you want to support Brotherly Love Gaming on YouTube as well, you can hop on over to our channel page. Also follow us on Twitter @BrotherlyLoveG1 for more updates on how the show is going. We have some non-podcast content coming in the near future!

Brotherly Love Gaming Digivolves to! A Podcast!

My brother Spence and I have been trying to figure out a way to talk about video games together for a few months now. One option you have is to watch this discussion as a video on YouTube! I wanted to get it into podcast feeds though since the format feels more podcast-y, so I think this will be a more regular staple of the show as we tweak what we’re able to do on YouTube.

All this is coming from someone who primarily listens to YouTube rather than watches so… maybe I’m a weirdo and nobody else out there will play an hour long discussion of video games in the background of their browser while they balance their checkbook or do the dishes or whatever other task people do when they listen to things. Hopefully having a lower battery consuming podcast option will attract some attention. You could even play video games while listening to us talk about video games! Now that’s synergy!

Anyway let us know what you think of this first episode, I have no idea how long this will take to land in Apple Podcasts so for now this is technically an alexstrine.com exclusive.

In Which I Try Too Hard to Guess the Rest of the PS1 Classic Games

Last night, Sony announced the PlayStation Classic, for release on December 3rd, 2018. Today, I thought way too hard about what games they would put on it. 20 are set to be included, but they’ve only revealed a mere 5:

Final Fantasy VII

Tekken 3

Ridge Racer Type 4

Jumping Flash

Wild Arms

What about the other 15? Here’s what I’m thinking:

Legend of Dragoon

Hot Shots Golf 2

PaRappa the Rapper

Crash Bandicoot

Spyro the Dragon

MediEvil

Twisted Metal OR Gran Turismo 2

Metal Gear Solid

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Suikoden 2

Mega Man Legends OR Mega Man X4

Street Fighter Alpha 3

Tomb Raider 2

Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2

I came up with this list using a completely non-scientific method of Googling lists of popular PS1 games, and referencing it against PS1 Classics already published on the PlayStation Store. I also checked the publisher of each game - both who published the game originally and who currently owns the publishing rights. I wanted to go for a somewhat balanced mix of high profile games from different genres and different publishers. Licensing rights can be the biggest barrier to getting a game on the system, since many of the best PS1 games were published by companies other than Sony. They may have a ton of money to throw around on licensing, but they might also be trying to cut deals which would end up limiting the number of 3rd party games on the system. Considering they’re only putting 20 games on the system, and charging $100 for it, it’s likely they’re leaning towards the “don’t spend too much option.”

So the games. The first thing you’ll notice is that about half of them are Sony published games. I think that’s a pretty safe number, and they also represent a variety of genres. I’m undecided on Twisted Metal or Gran Turismo, even though they’re not really the same thing, at a glance you wouldn’t want to overload the system with games about cars. If it’s really between the two, it would probably be Gran Turismo though, since the original is the top selling game on the platform, and number 2 is the third highest seller. Any of the Crash and Spyro games could be included here, and I’m sure Sony will include them because both series have seen a resurgence, there are people interested. Even if the remasters cheapen their inclusion here, their absence would be much worse, since both characters were unofficial mascots for a time. Legend of Dragoon gives them a cult RPG that they don’t have to negotiate for, and Hot Shots Golf is an easy sports title that again, they already own. PaRappa the Rapper feels like it’s too iconic to not include, and MediEvil would give them a nice first party action game.

I tried to stay away from rated M games because I feel like they’ll sell more if they can make it appeal to parents with the lower rating, but Metal Gear Solid is an exception because it’s one of the most iconic titles on the system, I would be very surprised if they don’t do it. Symphony of the Night is the best Castlevania game, they’d be nuts to not include it (and considering how both Nintendo Classics featured Castlevania, I think it’s a good bet). Suikoden 2 I think would be the big way to get RPG fans on board, since it’s one of the most expensive titles for the system and it’s so loved. The appeal of the Classic systems to a lot of gamers (me included) is getting access to rare and/or expensive games at a decent price, on authentic feeling hardware. Putting Suikoden 2 on here would show Sony’s understanding of that concept.

I couldn’t decide which Mega Man would end up here, but my gut says Legends because it’s a series that is tied to the legacy of the PS1 (the inferior Mega Man 64 aside). X4 is a good member of the X series, but its style makes it feel less like a true PS1 classic. Mega Man 8 is most likely not happening...I’d be very surprised if that showed up. I chose Street Fighter Alpha 3 over the other Alpha titles because that’s the one I think fans generally like best, and also it’s the one that was remastered for the PSP so presumably Capcom believes in it too. Street Fighter in general will be good to have there as a contrast to Tekken 3.

Now the three black sheep, all from different publishers… Tomb Raider 2 feels like the natural inclusion from that series; they could do the original but since that one’s been remade before I’m less inclined to think they’d do that. Unless they really feel like fans need to have the original. Oddworld I don’t have much to say about except that it’s a popular title that feels like it’s part of the PS1 story, so it gets included. Finally, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 is last because while I feel like it’s an absolute must have because of how much it’s part of that era, I also recognize that licensing all that music is going to be nearly impossible. Maybe Sony will opt for Twisted Metal instead.

And since the Japanese versions tend to have slightly different games, I’d sub in Dragon Quest VII as a virtual guarantee, replacing Tony Hawk for sure. But I won’t go further than that because this is where we really start to see Japanese and American tastes in games diverging, so I’m sure their version of the Classic is going to have a very different set of games.

So what do you think? I tried to balance it as best I could with what I personally want and what I think is most likely. I also tried to limit the number of games per publisher, which is why I didn’t include Klonoa for example, since Bandai Namco already has Tekken 3 and Ridge Racer announced. Funnily enough, Square-Enix now owns a ton of popular PS1 games, since their acquisition of Eidos, so while I would like to go Final Fantasy crazy, I also needed to make it so that Square didn’t dominate the list. My final version only has Tomb Raider 2 from them, but there were many many more. Since I didn’t include any rated M games besides Metal Gear Solid, I couldn’t include games like Resident Evil, or Silent Hill, but those are distinct possibilities if Sony doesn’t care about the ratings of the system.

Basically, it’s really up in the air, so anything goes until Sony makes that announcement. With literally hundreds of games on the system that are at least worth mentioning, I can’t imagine why Sony would limit it to only 20, but that’s what they said. I’ll be waiting for the final tally.

Appreciation for Shadow of the Colossus's Photo Mode

I don’t even have any analysis to offer, this is just cool.

You can tweak both the field of view, which is really like the depth of the shot, and also the zoom on the shot. Then with the right analog stick you can rotate the camera, and with the left analog stick you can move laterally. You can even control the roll of the shot, which rotates the shot itself (compared to moving the analog stick which just rotates the camera).

This lets you get some really cool shots:

Your ability to tweak the field of view is insane.

Also there’s an option to focus on just Aggro, your trusty horse, and I think we can all agree it is spectacular.

My trusty steed.

You can also kind of break the game in a way by dipping into photo mode when you’re confused about a colossus and move around to get a different point of view. It doesn’t work 100% of the time because the camera doesn’t really go through objects so like in my fight with the 3rd colossus I tried to rotate around its arm but it just stopped. There are limits to our ability to cheat!

I feel like I really caught the sadness of having a sword jammed into your skull.

It doesn’t appear like you can take control of the camera during cutscenes to get cool shots, which is fiiiine I GUESS but I get why they wouldn’t want you to hijack it in those instances.

Realizing I could mess around in the shrine was my first exciting moment.

Shadow of the Colossus is an excellent game and this photo mode really lets you dig in and appreciate it on a deeper level. Happy photographing!

Onward!

Here’s How I Scored 3 SNES Classic Pre-Orders Without Bots

If you poked around the video game loving corners of the internet at all last week, you may have noticed how many people were going bananas over the Super Nintendo Classic. Pre-orders went up and disappeared almost immediately multiple times throughout the week. You might even get the impression that these things were impossible to find, that Nintendo screwed up and limited the stock, and that the average pleb’s hopes of ever ordering one were pretty much dashed. But when you break it down, how hard was it really to order one?

I’d argue it wasn’t as hard as the first impression makes it seem. I managed to order three without the use of bots or computer trickery. Here’s what happened.

Upfront disclaimer that all three units were bought for real people, myself and my two brothers, not to scalp on the internet. I understand your frustration, you don’t have to believe me, but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

The somewhat official timeline of pre-order availability went like this: Amazon and Best Buy posted pre-orders in the middle of the night on Tuesday, August 22, around 1:00 am EST. These pre-orders were shrouded in mystery for days, and some Amazon orders were ultimately cancelled or reduced, while a few Best Buy orders may have met similar fates. Walmart opened pre-orders at 1:00 pm EST on Tuesday, August 22, followed shortly by Target. Around this time, GameStop announced that units would be available in-store only, and stores took orders sporadically as their allocations were confirmed. Some reports indicate stock at certain stores actually increased as more orders were placed. Around the same time, GameStop shut down their website entirely, replacing it with a link that redirected you to their sister site ThinkGeek, where you could buy bundles of SNES related memorabilia that also happened to include a Classic. Later that day, around 5:30 pm EST, Target opened orders again, which by varying accounts were open for as many as 5 minutes. Finally, Walmart reopened pre-orders on Friday, August 25 around 6:30 pm EST, and they sold out in about 10 minutes.

I honestly thought I was over prepared for the pre-orders to come; I followed two different Twitter accounts (@Wario64 and @NinWire) that promised speedy information, as well as a stock tracking app (i4u News Tracker), and individual notifications from various retailers (you can find them on the actual stock link). This would be my first attempt at securing a pre-order for such an in demand item, but I had a good track record with things like concert tickets and limited edition vinyl; how different could this be? I found out when I woke up on Tuesday to a string of tweets and stock updates, indicating that both Amazon and Best Buy had listed the SNES Classic for pre-order in the middle of the night, while I had made the mistake of following my normal sleeping schedule. I checked the SNES Classic page on Nintendo’s own website, and discovered that the section previously titled “Retailer info coming soon” now listed the names of six retailers: Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, Target, Toys R Us, and Walmart (an update that is curiously gone now, just a week after it first appeared). This could only mean one thing: it was really happening. The Amazon and Best Buy releases may have been premature, but the pre-orders themselves were really here.

I opened up every retailer stock link on my laptop and my phone, making sure I was signed into every account I had, to streamline the checkout process. Having to re-input necessary information wasted precious seconds, during which someone else could snatch your inventory. I double checked that my notifications were working, so that I could know immediately if pre-orders opened. Then I did a few Hail Marys and hoped that pre-orders would stay closed until my lunch break.

They didn’t. I got the Walmart notification while in line at the post office, which didn’t matter anyway because they were gone the second I added one to my cart. By all accounts, they vanished as soon as they were listed. Was this the work of bots, or a demand so high that a million people flooded the site and the precious thousand who were fast enough won?

If you checked the main SNES Classic subreddit at this time, you would see the general consensus leaning towards bots. Post after post came from angry fans who just wanted to buy this piece of electronic plastic, but seemingly lost out to machines that could order faster than any human. How could Nintendo do this to its fans? Why didn’t they release more stock? I tried to stay positive, remembering that it was still early in the day, so all I could do was hope more inventory would become available.

It did, just a few minutes later, and I missed it again. This time Target had them, but for whatever reason my saved username and password was not actually correct, and by the time I reset my password... well I’m sure you can guess I had no chance. Lesson of the day: loading previously saved credentials is only useful if you know your username and password are actually accurate.

By this time I had basically accepted that I missed my chance and would have to camp out at 5am on release day if I wanted one of these. I had done it before for Black Friday deals (I bought last year’s limited edition New 3DS for my brother) so I was confident I could do it again. I just hoped it wouldn’t have to come to that. My prayers were answered moments later, when I walked out of the office for lunch. GameStop tweeted official confirmation that their physical store locations would have pre-orders available throughout the day. Could this be my chance? There were two GameStops in my area, close enough that I could visit one and be back within the hour. But I would only have time for one. They were in the same general direction, but at a certain point I had to choose one. I started driving, instructing Siri to call my main store. They had not opened pre-orders yet, but they would “some time” that day. It could be five minutes, it could be hours. I called the second GameStop at the local mall. They told me yes pre-orders were available, but they were already selling quickly and they couldn't guarantee them even past the next ten minutes. It would take me fifteen minutes to drive there.

As I approached the split that would lead me to a single store, I called the first store again on the chance pre-orders had opened in the last ten minutes. My gamble paid off, and I turned towards this store, arriving just five minutes later. Hopefully that was fast enough.

I was the fourth person in line at this store, but as luck (or fate. Calling it fate makes me feel better about it) would have it, the first two people weren’t even ordering Super Nintendos. Counting the man in front of me, who had no bags in hand so was most likely there to order, I considered myself safe. When it was my turn I blurted out a mess of something like “Super Nintendo. Please. Available?” I held my breath, unsure if my quest had been worth it.

This is what Nintendo had done to me. I sacrificed my lunch break so I could stand in line just for the chance to order a piece of my childhood. But deep down I knew: if I got one, it would be worth it.

“Yep,” the clerk said, “Just give me your rewards number.” I completed the transaction too giddy to believe it had happened.

What about the other two Classics I mentioned ordering? Well those stories are less dramatic but possibly more useful. After arriving home on Tuesday night at about 5:30, my phone buzzed to inform me that Target had stock available again. I shocked my wife as I ran to where I had left my wallet because Target was asking me to re-input my credit card information. The first time I had missed out because of a password issue, now it seemed like I would miss out a second time. Thankfully, this round lasted much longer than that morning's first attempt. I'm not sure how long it took me, but I was able to complete my order. SNES number two confirmed.

The third and (so far) final console was purchased on Friday night as I was taking out the trash. Once again my phone buzzed and I pulled up Walmart’s website, thinking that if it was anything like last time, I probably already missed it. For whatever reason Walmart had not saved my address information, so I even had to put that back in again. By most accounts orders were up for around 10 minutes which may explain why I was able to get my order done. Classic number three confirmed.

So what's the lesson here? It may sound like I’m humblebragging about how I went to a lot of trouble to obtain the first one and then got extremely lucky on numbers two and three. Honestly, that's a little bit of how I feel. The reality is that I was incredibly lucky, but the lesson is that I was also prepared. I knew what I had to do if I truly wanted a SNES Classic. That’s my tip to anyone who was unable to pre-order but still wants one: be prepared and be ready to do some work for it. Don’t blow off your job or other commitments for it by any means - I wouldn’t have made the trip to GameStop if the time hadn’t been convenient - but be ready for the 5:30 Targets and the 6:30 Walmarts. We don’t know for sure if pre-orders are totally done, or if a retailer will reopen them. Rumors about additional Best Buy units abound, and since the first Amazon pre-order was kind of a mistake, they technically haven’t done an official pre-order yet. Then of course there is launch day, and Nintendo’s promise that stock will be plentiful. I know a lot of people don’t believe them, but if I was able to get three of these, I feel like maybe they’re not totally tricking us. If you need tips for launch day camp outs, I’m happy to help. Until then, be vigilant, and you too can have a piece of curated nostalgia.

5 Tips to Start Shooting a Dance Film on Your Phone Today

Today I'm featuring an article I wrote over at The Dance Journal.

It's a short little piece about how you can get started shooting a dance film with nothing but your phone to guide you. Most of the advice here applies to anyone interested in film without a formal education.

More than anything, I just want you to believe in yourself and just do it!

Read the full piece on my column: 5 Tips to Start Shooting a Dance Film on Your Phone Today

-Alex