Nintendo's War on YouTube Creators

Yeah a little dramatic of a title, but it speaks volumes.

I didn't know Mario was a warmonger.

I started my Let's Play channel to run parallel with my regular gaming channel. First game I played was Star Fox, which I was awful at. Then I played Mega Man 3, and did even worse.

So I though, what game do I play well? Super Mario World.

So I did a few SMW vids for my channel (the first one I just put up) and lo and behold, the fear of any YouTuber: Matched Third Party Content.

It said it was Nintendo.

They're flagging YouTube videos involving their content, even Let's Plays. They're doing this to introduce something called a Nintendo Affiliate Program, which is supposed to let you partake in some of the revenue you would otherwise have gotten.

I hate this. I will never play a Nintendo game on my LP again.

The Depressed Indie Developer

My newest video. In it I explore why indie developers trend towards depression when successful and what can be done.

My Mega Man 3 Let's Play

I have given in...

Nintendo's Fascinating Troubles

Japanese corporate leaders suffer from a unique case of "we can do whatever we want and not get fired".

In fact, it takes a scandal the likes of teh Olympus scandal to oust any Japanese corporate leadership. The mainstream Japanese media refused to report on the scandal, while it was going on, because Olympus was so tied to several media organizations. 

So, when Nintendo's President said he wouldn't be stepping down over the dismal sales of the Wii U, I was not surprised. To be fair,  the company did shake up their board of directors,  but it took facing complete failure to do that.

Microsoft, Nintendo, and China - Frank Gamer

Is Microsoft giving up on the Kinect? Don't believe the "gaming news"! Find out what Microsoft is planning!

Auto Focus

My camera's autofocus ruined about ten minutes worth of 1080p video! I hate it! I have to reshoot the whole thing, or just recreate it all... The whole video was in and out in and out. Ugh!

Whatever. I'm taking a nap.

Are Video Games Art or Business? (feat. Super Pawsitive)

My newest video. I hope you like it! :)

AI in Games, Part 6 - Doom

1993's Doom was a game I absolutely loved. My grandpa had it on his computer, so I would play it over at his house when I went over there. He didn't care that it was bloody or whatever.

Kids ages 3+.

This game was revolutionary. Even by today's standards, the game was tough. However, there was a sense of... awesomeness? You could enter a room and see forty enemies, all in a group, and open fire. Wiping out a horde of demons brought a smile to my young face.

I never thought about the AI until much later. A single computer had to manage all forty of those demons at once.

Their simple sprites and 2-d shape made them easy to render, so the real challenge was managing their behavior. At this level of AI the enemies weren't really intelligent, but they did react to you. If you were near they'd shoot at you. That was hard enough, but they also moved around. Granted, it was predictable, but it was fun.

That's something else we can learn about AI in games: the point is to add something to the game. Typically this is fun, but it can also be a uniqueness to certain enemies, like a speciality in movement.

What is the point in AI if it adds nothing to the game? Dynasty Warriors perfectly creates the "fun" that Doom had in having hordes of enemies, even if those enemies are mostly stagnant and immobile. If people enjoy it, don't knock it. Just find something you enjoy.

AI in Games, Part 5 - Puyo Puyo

The Puyo Puyo games are some of my favorite games ever made.

In these games, you place tiny blobs named Puyos into patterns, attempting to link four to make them disappear. The key is to make a chain of them, where when one disappears, the others follow suit.

Example of a chain.

These chains are the key to unlocking why these games are so fun!

However, we can learn something from them.

The AI for these games have always been challenging. When they started making a single-player campaign featuring computer opponents in 1992, the game became something other than a wanna-be Tetris.

The AI was challenging, and represented an opponent with a unique playstyle and aggressiveness. These computer players could be hated or loved, and I remember in Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine hating that stupid chicken robot.

Yeah, you know the one...

The AI was able to represent an entity that could be hated, a person in many respects, except : they don't actually exist. I explained this related to the Bloopers in Super Mario Bros.

Because of this, when you played against the AI, you wanted to defeat them. Chains became weapons, bombs you could launch against your enemy to fill their screen with irritating little blobs that had to be cleared to make room.

This shows us something that video game AI was able to effectively do: make a player feel invested in a character.

Even in this basic puzzle series, I learned to hate that stupid Sonic chicken. That's because the Ai was designed so that I would hate him. Developers, if you choose to design a hated character, test it out and see if you are sufficiently irritated by the character's playstyle. That chicken will always haunt me.

AI in Games, Part 4 - Super Mario Bros.

Another earlier example of AI in video games would be the behavior of enemies in Super Mario Bros.

The game is simple enough. I don't have to explain the mechanics, so I will get right into explaining the way enemy behavior attempts to challenge the player. Most enemies are simple: koopas (the turtles) and goombas walk in a line, some fall off ledges, others turn around. Simple enemy mechanics.

Some are not so simple.

One perfect example of this are the Bloopers, the squid enemies.

Excuse me, have you heard how squid has a plan for your life?

Bloopers are fascinating in terms of their behavior. Just like the red ghost in Pac-Man, they pursue the player relentlessly. The trick is their movement ability. They move erratically, by bumping up and then lowering slowly. It's possible to easily outrun the Blooper, though it's hard and they can be a little annoying. However, if you go under them it's a bit easier. 

The fact that an enemy can feel real and hated is a perfect example of what good AI in games is supposed to do: simulate a predictable behavior. 

Bloopers are predictable, and because of that they are feared and hated by Mario players. Players could be exposed to a Blooper's behavior and react accordingly to it. That's one of the most important aspects of Ai in video games: players are supposed to see what they see. That's just good AI. 

Everyone's Buying Everyone, Google Might be Buying Twitch?

With AT&T buying DirecTV and (supposedly) Google buying Twitch, we have a situation where large companies are growing larger.

We in the video game community are still reeling over Facebook buying Oculus Rift. Something I made a video for, to end any confused speculation.

So what does this mean for a realm like video games, where small companies can be trusted and big companies can be hated?

Well, nothing.... yet...

As of right now the indie game scene is thriving like never before. We have an easy path in consoles to sell games individuals make, and the PC market is still as strong as it always has been. I would say that unless Valve gets bought, we can expect it to stay that way.

AI in Games, Part 3 - Strong and Weak AI

It's important to note the distinction between strong AI and weak AI.

Weak AI is the one we are all familiar with. A computer operates under set commands and attempts to do simple tasks, even basic learning to get the "correct answer". However, this is the problem with AI in general: we seek to make machines based in logic and math to be creative and learn, but their nature is too far removed from that world.

Strong AI is the one researchers are seeking. A machine with strong AI, or artificial general intelligence, can do any task a human can do. This would be great, except there is no evidence such a thing exists.

John Searle said, "The appropriately programmed computer with the right inputs and outputs would thereby have a mind in exactly the same sense human beings have minds."

I don't believe machines have that capability. They can't dream, create, imagine, or in any way stray from cold logical reality. Because of this, AI research has been stuck building a machine up in logical code into a more complicated imitation of behavior, despite the machine lacking any basis in creativity.

AI in Games, Part 2 - Pac-Man and AI

Okay, let's skip the pointless drivel and talk about important things...

The first exposure I had to AI was in Pac-Man. Yes, Pac-Man.

The ghosts behaved differently and independent of one another, from the player's perspective. In part one we talked about how there's only one computer, so think of the ghosts as the computer's fingers. The computer controls each one in a specific way, and though they be separate, they are connected by the fact that there is only one hand controlling them.

According to Jamey Pittman, the ghosts have three modes of operation: Chase, Scatter, and Frightened. This is their behavior that can be understood by the player and reacted to appropriately. The player will also learn that Pac-Man can do somethings they can't: fast cornering and reversing direction. The ghosts can't change direction except when they change modes, like going from Frightened to Chase.

Each ghost has their own individual behavior as well:

• Blinky (Red) pursues Pac-Man relentlessly. His AI is programmed to target Pac-Man, wherever he be.
• Pinky (Pink) targets the tile four spots ahead of the direction Pac-Man is moving. This is why people always complain that he ambushed them. 
• Inky (Blue) is erratic. He sometimes targets Pac-Man, other times he moves in odd ways, and sometimes targets an area near Pac-Man. 
• Clyde (Orange) changes his behavior. Sometimes he targets Pac-Man, but when he gets close, he retreats away from him. This makes him somewhat unpredictable.

These four give insights, not only into Pac-Man, but into video games as well. They can teach that four distinct characters need four distinct behaviors. This allows the player some challenge, while at the same time allows the player to find a ghost he or she "hates".

I know I always hated the red one. Now I know I was supposed to hate the red one.

Developers, think about a character behavior you are trying to design. Consider examples from Pac-Man for your thought processes, and ask:

Who do I want the players to hate?
Who do I want them to feel sorry for, and why?

AI in Games, Part 1 - Basics

No, not the feasibility of AI as a construct. Rob Ager did a magnificent series describing that in detail; I would highly recommend it if you haven't checked it out.

I'm talking about the AI that controls enemies and allies in games; characters represented on screen that the player can interact with.

There are a few things you should know going into this:

1. There's only one computer controlling the AI. The characters, as far as programming goes, are not really separate entities, but appear so to the player for immersion into the game environment.

2. A lot of invisible calculation and planning goes into AI that the player doesn't see. In fact, most of it is invisible to the player.

3. What the player does see, the player is supposed to see by design.

As for number 3, I recall my first time playing Halo and running into the Flood and the Covenant fighting. I was tripping out! Now I realize it was by design, but I was naive back then and assumed it was just because the AI was that sophisticated or something.

Now that these introductory things are set, we can go through my series on AI in Games!

Kinect Isn't a Lost Cause

I'm sick and tired of video game journalists bashing Kinect like it's some lost cause. It isn't.

Let me explain: Microsoft is innovating. There's nothing wrong with that. The Kinect is a good move that Microsoft pulled. Last year their numbers hit 24 million.

However, Microsoft is a business. While Kinect was an attempt to counteract the strides Nintendo was taking (and then Sony), it was because Microsoft took a different approach and tried to perfect voice command technology and motion controls.

Now Microsoft is eyeing China as a new market, and needs a cheaper console, one without a periphery that requires a large play space, something Chinese apartments are severely lacking. So is this an attempt to gain more hardcore gamers who just want FPS games and don't want to lose weight with Kinect?

That's their secondary market. Their primary market is the Chinese consumer they're all but drooling over.

Why PS4 has Outsold Xbox One

This is a simple question, one that people are bickering over. Yusuf Mehdi claims it's because the 360 users are more happy with their product and less inclined to upgrade. But if that's true, why have the PS3 users upgraded? Are they unhappy with their product?

Well... maybe. As a PS3 user (and not a 360 owner) I can honestly say I hate watching movies on my PS3. Everytime I do, the PS3 makes a horrific noise like a starship engine. I feel like one of those businessmen on an international flight trying to watch the in-flight movie over the engine noise.

But the 360 isn't much better. I love the PS3 games better than the 360 games, short of some of the Halo series (despite my popular videos complaining about gritty games).

No, I think the real issue is the amount of games available. Sony is king when it comes to game selection. PS2 had some of the best games of its generation on it, and PS3 was decent in quantity. PS4 clearly followed suit, and now Microsoft needs to get more games on it to raise more revenue. Simple as that.

The Problem with KIA

KIA is going the route of Hyundai, also their company, in pushing luxury vehicles under a brand known for affordability. This is a mistake.

There is no reason KIA can't pull a Lexus and setup a new brand of differentiation, one that they can push as the new source of luxury. Even Nissan has Infiniti, their luxury brand, to push their higher-quality vehicles to the public.

So why isn't Hyundai and KIA doing this?

Because they haven't yet associated the losses with poor branding. They may want to raise up their brand as more than just affordable cars, and set it up for quality as well.

They want to have their cake and eat it too.

Unfortunately, a hybrid strategy will not serve them well. Soon KIA and Hyundai will find the issue and hopefully come to the correct strategy: rebranding.

Microsoft is Not Doing Badly, IGN

IGN reported that Microsoft is finally surrendering and admitting their numbers aren't as hot as Sony's. I'm sorry, but this is crap.

You think Microsoft cares about sales in units? What they care about is sustainable revenue; they take a loss on each console sale! What they've done is setup a system where Live payments and game purchases earn them their revenue, pushing their numbers into the black.

Check out Microsoft's financials. Even thought they have sold only 2 million consoles in Q3 this year, last quarter they sold 7.4 million!

IGN also reported that they "finally accepted that the market doesn't want Kinect". Bull crap. Someone who knows nothing about business is obviously writing this... oh wait.. it's Colin Moriarty, the hated writer who threw a temper tantrum when people wanted BioWare to change the Mass Effect 3 ending.

Microsoft isn't ditching Kinect! They're trying to sell cheaper consoles because they have to compete with Nintendo as they both enter the Chinese market! Microsoft has done market research and determined their pricing is too high right now, so they want to lower it. That's it.

Now if IGN could actually interpret the news correctly, I'd appreciate it.

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones

I really really liked this movie. I love the series, but I think 4 was crap. For me, Marked Ones makes up for it.

I can't explain why people hate this movie. Maybe the lack of suburban, rich, white people in a large house who pointlessly record themselves was too jarring?

I would recommend people to rent it if you like found-footage horror movies. This is one of the better ones.

New Graphics!

I've updated my blog and YouTube channel so that everything has my new pictures and such. I am SO EXCITED!

Everything looks great! Please, take a look and tell me what you think!

Watch Dogs

Will Watch Dogs be everything we hope it is?

I really hope so. It seems like the delays are to polish it further, to bring forth something great from something unknown and yet untested. The multiplayer aspect is very interesting in this game, but there's other things to be concerned about: single player.

The story sounds fine. It's your typical hacker-turned vigilante setup, it sounds like. However, I think the way you do hacking is streamlined better in this game, and the fact that players can enter your world at any step makes it even better!

I'm excited for Watch Dogs. Really, I am!

I'm also worried, though. It seems like a lot of hype to live up to.

So will it live up to the hype? There will probably some problem with it. I already did a video on player expectations in Mass Effect 3, so take that as you will.

I don't think Watch Dogs will suffer from "bad writing" as much as "bad preconceptions".

YouTube Evergreen Content

When marketing people mention "evergreen content" they mean content that people will find over time. This kind of content gains more views as time goes on, instead of losing views like normal content.

...Apparently my video about Mass Effect 3 resonated with people. It gained like a thousand views over night!

I did advertise it on some social media pages I frequent. Some that may be interested in it. Som that may or may not be a little debated when it comes to "retake gaming" or "demand a better ending to Mass Effect 3" so I don't know.

My Love of Godfather

I absolutely love movies. If you couldn't tell from my Artist Intent and Interpretation video.

The Godfather is one of my favorites. I'm going to share a few things, NOT related to games for once.

So my family is Italian, we're loud and rambunctious, but we care about family. So, we naturally gravitated towards The Godfather. It helps that we're Sicilian.

I actually identified more with my Alaskan Native side, as I'm of mixed blood, but I still accept the Italian side of me.

As a kid, I watched that bloody movie and loved it. I didn't know why. I didn't know what was so good about it, but when I got older I could articulate it.

It's almost a perfect movie.

There's a few things I don't like in the movie, and a billion things I do. Some of the things I do like, I like because I see the artistry in them, the skill in writing, and amazing acting.

I hated how Marlon Brando didn't accept the Academy Award.

Yeah, yeah, he did it for American Indians, or something. But in reality, I read he was just upset at the studios.

All that to say, I love The Godfather.
12/10!
Highly Recommended!
18 stars!
Three giraffes!

Stylized Video Games

When Team Fortress 2 came out, everyone was surprised by the stylized aesthetic. It made it much easier to identify what class a player was, and what to do because of that.

I think this is the future of video games. As developers grow as artists and business people, they will realize the need for stylized video games. If VR takes off, stylized games are the future for that technology. 

Sure, realism is great. 

But would you like to actually tell the difference between characters? Would you like some creative design, and artistry in your developers?

Realism will still be around. I'm not saying that. But I am saying that stylized video games will increasingly grow more common.

Player Expectations and Mass Effect 3

Wondering about player expectations in video games? Look no further than Mass Effect 3!

YouTube Copyright Claim

I was hit by my first YouTube copyright claim last Monday. Strange. I hadn't been hit yet.

Sorry, some jerk claimed your stuff.

All of my music comes from MusOpen, an online repository whose goal is the accumulation of public domain classical music. I love classical, so this works fine for me.

However, I found out I was hit by some disreputable business that apparently puts claims on all kinds of things. Deciding it wasn't worth my time, I let it go and deleted the video. I uploaded the new one later, on Oculus and Zenimax. But still, I was annoyed.

Has anyone else had any kind of YouTube copyright issues? Content ID or anything?

Please leave me a comment, I'd actually love to hear more from you guys.

Is Oculus Rift a Rip-off?

Probably not.

Oh, you want a longer answer? Okay...

Zenimax is claiming that John Carmack skipped out with knowledge from their company that he developed while working for Id. Most likely, they're not claiming he stole information or code or anything like that, but that Oculus Rift was developed based on techniques or knowledge he learned while at Zenimax.

Now, I find that hilarious. Zenimax told him NOT to pursue VR, so he left them to pursue it. Then, they come after him claiming he ripped it off, anyways!

I'm not keen on taking sides, but jeez, Zenimax... you guys are relentless. You want Facebook to slip you a couple million, don't you?

Return to Ice Climber

I did a review of Ice Climber as one of my first videos. It's not a good review. My jokes are bad, my audio sucks, the video is almost as sucky.

Yeah it isn't great.

But the thing I like is that I spent time on it and got it how I wanted it. Those early reviews took forever. I wasn't yet used to recording and editing within an hour. Now I can crank out a video quickly!

That doesn't mean I can just put off everything and make a video. I have a wife and daughter, school full time, and a part time professoring gig. It's tough.

All that to say: I tried to play Ice Climber again.

Still sucks.

I think maybe if I play with my wife it'll be more fun, but until then I have only the single player experience to go off of. To be honest, it is pretty lacking.

I get why Nintendo didn't touch this franchise for years.

The Future of Gears of War

Yeah, I expressed intense hatred of the grittiness aesthetic in the past.

But the Gears of War franchise was bought by Microsoft, and the fanboys reacted poorly.

Pic not related.

But here's the thing: they may be right. The GoW series may now suck!

Microsoft passed the game off to Black Tusk, and apparently, as of February 2014, needed a new writer. Let that sink in. They have no story yet, but have begun development. To them story is an afterthought.

So where does GoW go now? Well... no one knows. The games series will live again under Microsoft's derpy care, and we all loved their handling of Halo 4.

That was sarcasm.

Encouraging Creativity in the Workplace

Yeah, yeah, I mentioned this briefly in my video.

Here's the thing: businesses love to stomp on creativity more than Mario in a turtle farm.

How dare you think a free thought!

Why!? Why is it like that!? Managers: your employees' creativity reflects positively on you! The more creative a business, the more strategically you can think. The more strategic your business is, the more successful it is. Simple math.

So what can be done? Well, my video already explained a few ideas.

Okay, I'll stop hocking the video!

Here's a simple idea: open communication. Try actually talking to your employees, opening up meetings for them, asking them for ideas, brainstorming, or anything that will allow a two-way communication to open up.

But that's the key: two-way communication is open communication. If you listen as much as talk to your employees, the business is better for it. 

Why do I say this?

Because programmers tell me they hate not being involved with what happens at work. So, managers, open up and listen! By doing so, you save your job. 

The Video Game Feminist

This movement has been moving along since not that long ago.

Is it bad? Is it good? Misguided?

Meh, I don't know. I'm not a woman.

Here's my take on the whole thing: there is an issue with female under representation in video games, because most video games target males aged 18-34. As more women become gamers, video games are going to become more inclusive. Games like Last of Us (where the story is what mattered, not sex appeal) target men and women as their players. And that's okay.

When you run into an issue like the damsel in distress or the female version of the male character, you have an issue. However, these specifically target male fantasies, and therefore have little to no bearing on the situation. Is that to say they're okay? Of course not!

What we need is to include women in the design process, or else nothing will change.

So how about it, men? Encourage your daughters and wives in their programming. Encourage your female friends to try 3d imaging and textures.

I swear, if you men belittle a female developer who is trying her best simply due to her lack of Y chromosomes, I will hunt you.

That's the real problem in video games.

I hope you enjoyed this. Watch my videos! 

News: Oculus and Zenimax - Frank Gamer

So why are Oculus and Zenimax fighting? Find out below!

Script Writing

It's so hard to think of ideas for a script. I started this Film school book, where the author describes exercises for script writing, but it's so hard!

The recent advances I've made with my YouTube videos is awesome, but I need to do more. Coming up with ideas is hard!

If any of you have suggestions for video ideas, please let me know!

Game Business: Creativity at Work - Frank Gamer