RamblePak64 Archive
This category contains all posts relating to the RamblePak64 video channel. Each video posted comes with additional notes and commentary. Sometimes it pertains to content left on the cutting room floor. Other times it involves my thoughts and feelings working on that video.
My latest video review on a game with a troubled development history.
I went through some introspection during the process of crafting this video. While the response to it has been positive so far, watching the completed product leaves me with little more than a dissatisfaction within myself. This should not have been the final draft of the video’s script, and the next pass should have been willing to delve more deeply into many of the game’s flaws that I briefly reference. Instead, I wanted to try and get this video out as soon as I could, though a lack of faith in it only contributed to delaying its completion further and further.
I’ve felt stressed every week my blog is missing a post, I don’t put a new video up, and/or I go without a new article on GamersWithJobs. I put pressure on myself to try and be productive, but I ultimately end up feeling burnt out. This leaves me feeling animosity towards my day job, which only succeeds in burning me out even further by time I get home. The energy to do work diminishes and the desire to escape increases. My mental state collapses, as does my diet, which only contributes to further plummets down emotionally draining holes.
The latest episode of RamblePak takes a thorough look at Capcom's reboot of the Devil May Cry series.
It feels good to have finally moved on from Resident Evil 6. Though I still believe the experiment was well intentioned, of analyzing the game in separate videos in order to keep it from being one huge monster of a time sink, I also think it killed a lot of interest in the series. Even disregarding the amount of time that had passed and therefore additional stray views here and there, my view count plummeted as Resident Evil 6 progressed on. I don’t know if it was dedicating such a length of time to the game or it was the choice of game altogether, but it has certainly taught me a fine lesson.
I am, however, still paranoid of making overly long videos. I feel like twenty minutes is the limit I want to aim for, and any further will drive potential viewers away. That, and it will only take so much more time to put together such an episode. Is such a limitation wise? I don’t know, but I also don’t believe I have to worry all that much from here on out.
The fourth part of this long video analysis is finally available for viewing.
I think I’m finally starting to enter a place of satisfaction with my work, as well as understanding of just what sort of voice I want the RamblePak series to have. I don’t want to try and make jokes, for example. I’m not so good at it and I don’t really have a voice for comedic rage. The best humor from my videos comes from smaller moments that don’t distract from the overall message I’m trying to make.
I’ll also be removing the censorship, though this will likely have greater impact on the footage I use as I have little reason to cuss or swear myself unless I’m trying to be funny. Seeing as I don’t want to try and force humor, I won’t need the censorship any longer.
The first part of the Resident Evil 6 video review is finally complete, covering most of the shared gameplay elements across all campaigns.
This video should not have taken as long as it has to complete. I’m still getting used to writing a script for video, and while I avoid some mistakes, I continue to make new ones. There are some issues that I should not have groaned on about as long as I had, such as tripping over bodies, or mentioning specific moments like a foe diving for cover as soon as a shot is lined up. There is hours of gameplay footage to shuffle through, and when you’re looking for a single moment of three second gameplay, well, a lot of time gets wasted. That is when making a video goes from being fun to a grind.
There are some items I also forgot to mention, though perhaps I’ll bring them up in Chris Redfield’s campaign analysis since that’s when it first becomes prominent. The transformation of enemies into weird monsters seems to lack a real system. It’s like a game of chance, where shooting them in certain body parts is more likely to cause their body to morph somehow. Shooting them in the arm is likely to cause their arm to become a long, club-type weapon that they can strike at you with, or perhaps a tough shield type of object. Getting headshots should be how you reduce the chances of this happening, but that’s part of the problem. A headshot can still lead to the enemy transforming into something else, and then you have to use even more ammunition to destroy it.
Headshots are supposed to be difficult yet rewarding. A skilled and possibly patient player can save ammunition by aiming right for the head, though in this game you’re just as likely to waste your rounds. Instead, no matter how well you pull it off, you run the risk of morphing the monster into something even harder to kill.
In the latest episode of RamblePak64 I analyze how Marvel executed the Mandarin and why I'm a fan of it.
I completed this one a week ago, and rather quickly as well. I think this is the one video that I am most happy with. While I feel I can delve into greater detail on the subject, and have in the comments section, the video says all that needs to be said within the ten minute time frame.
It also turns out that I can basically do all the editing for a ten minute video in a single weekend. I’ll be keeping that in mind for the future. I’m sort of paralyzed with indecision, though, as there are a variety of games I’d like to discuss right now. Resident Evil 6 is still on the table, yet I want to make a video for Bioshock Infinite and The Walking Dead as well. I also would like to visit games like Catherine and Halo, or non-game topics such as the Scott Pilgrim
The Amazing Spider-Man, or go more in-depth to my analysis of The Dark Knight Trilogy.
There’s no shortage of topics, just of time. In any event, expect at least some of those topics above to be covered this year. I’m already in progress of writing the script for Resident Evil 6 and have all the footage captured already, so I’ll likely do that next. I may need more time to reflect on Bioshock Infinite, so I’ll probably sit down and replay The Walking Dead to get the footage and get it fresh in my mind as well. So those are the next to videos you should expect to see. Hopefully you’ll find them enjoyable.
Until then, let me know what you think of The Mandarin video in the comments below (either here or on YouTube). Don’t forget to share if you like it.
After two months of work, I've finally completed my video review of Aliens: Colonial Marines.
It took a long time to complete and a lot of sifting through recorded footage, but I finally managed to complete my review of Sega and Gearbox’s Aliens: Colonial Marines. The overall impression: not as bad as everyone makes it out to be, but not really worth anyone’s time to go through and play. The story, meanwhile, is pretty damn terrible.
I’ll be honest, one of the reasons it took me so long to finish this video was because I became less and less pleased with it as time progressed. It doesn’t help that it was also so long, and what little progress I could make in a single night seemed like hardly a dent. As a result, I will not make a video longer than fifteen minutes in the future. If I have a topic that needs more time to discuss, I’ll separate it into segments and create multiple videos for it.
I have already begun work on the next video, however, which should be available a lot sooner.
In episode two of RamblePak64, I take a look at games that teach you how to play without telling you how directly.
Not as much to say about this one. I learned a few more technical lessons in creating a video, and I feel the audio is a lot better than the first. In fact, with the exception of a few awkward sentences I didn’t catch during rewrites, I’d say everything about this video is superior to the first.
Okay, well, maybe not everything. I’m still cringing at some of my attempts at humor.
The premiere of new video series RamblePak 64, as well as a look into the lessons learned while developing it.
After two months of effort I have completed the first entry in my new video series. I introduce to you RamblePak64.
It is a lesson I learn repeatedly, but it is a good one to constantly be reminded of. Even a terrible product can have a lot of hard work and effort put into it. While I do not think the video I made is terrible, it is flawed in many ways. The technical aspects of it are an easy fix, such as wearing the microphone headset properly next time or rendering the video at the same frame rate that I captured the footage in.
Yet the argument itself seems flawed to me. It is obvious I wrote the script in a single draft, and while I made a few edits here and there while recording, it didn’t give me the chance to see all the large problems. My argument is not properly structured to support the thesis. I promise to return to a point that I forget all about. Most of all, I open up the opportunity to destroy my credibility with a poorly written conclusion.
Aside from “delightful feeling hooks” being one of the worst things I’ve ever spoken, let alone written, the very statement “games aren’t supposed to be immersive” is the sort that gets crowds on the Internet fully of fury and fire.
On the plus side, embellishing on my meaning would make for an excellent episode, giving me another idea to jot down for a future date.
I learned many lessons with this first experiment. Don’t try too hard to be funny, always write multiple drafts before recording, render at the same frame rate you recorded, and so on. Yet the most important one to keep in mind, especially if I’m going to criticize the work of others, is to remember how much effort goes into it. It’s easy to demand that someone else respect my time as a consumer, but I should also respect the greater time they spent creating something.
