Update: November 26th, 2024

Hey everyone!

Having (not quite) fully recovered from Laryngitis, and archiving everything from my trip to the East Side of North America visiting weddings, friends, and family, I'm back working on all my projects that were started before I left!

Though that is the key the word.... Projects.

Yesterday in particular, I ended up writing a whole lot for not one video, but three videos, and not like when I was bouncing back and forth on whether or not to make something about Blitz The League, there seems to be a fire behind all of these that's even leading to me digging up old family photos; my regular visit with Dad on Sundays was spent combing through archives instead of playing Assetto Corsa mods.

I'm about to leave to visit Mom and do the same thing, but before I do, lemme talk about said projects...

A) This Game is Perfect, Please Don't Buy It
This is the video I wanted to release before leaving. Unfortunately, during the recording process my footage got corrupted, and I lost 2-3 hours of footage. Not having the time to acquire everything I needed for the trip (thanks American Airlines...) and write and record footage all at the same time, I hopped on the plane annoyed about not releasing anything.

However, maybe it was a blessing in disguise, because I changed the structure of this video on that flight.

It's about Rollerdrome, a game that I should've played when everybody told me too. I put myself on such a rollercoaster, being annoyed at the games proposed design in the tutorial, only to then fall in love with it not even ten minutes after that.

I can't really think of the last time I've clicked with a game this much that is also so difficult to fault in any particular aspect, everything from the art-style to the music to gameplay mechanics and pacing is just masterful... but there's the elephant in the room of a Developers viral tweet.

The original idea was "what is a perfect game?" and it's quickly evolving into "what is the point of a perfect game?"

However, it's not my intent to make this a depressing video about the state of the industry, in-fact, I rather want to accomplish the opposite, to highlight, credit, and show how powerful it is to make an amazing piece of art, and that the reasons to make it are worth it even when the system doesn't acknowledge it.

B) I'm Not Going To Defend Perfect Dark Zero...
Upon returning home, and going through the Tablet I typed scripts on during the trip, I realized rather embarrassingly, I wrote effectively the same spiel about 007 Goldeneye's gameplay in both the script about Rollerdrome, and this one about Perfect Dark Zero.

It made me realize though that there is perhaps a pattern to what I'm trying to write about that is best accomplished through these two videos.

Perfect Dark Zero has always lived in my head rent free ever since I played it in 2006, and that's definitely not because it's a good game. It's just one that has enough weapon designs, bitchin music tracks, and unique ideas that make it more than similarly bad games that don't have a 1/10th its creativity.

Perfect Dark Zero never the less moves me, even at something as simple as song on the soundtrack starts playing.

What really made me think about it though was the reveal of the latest Perfect Dark by The Initiative & Crystal Dynamics, and how the first thing I'm seeing is a total inverse of Perfect Dark Zero, which is certainly going to be more enjoyable to play, but I wonder how much that'll mean in the long run if everything else is forgettable.

C) Disappointment
Yeah... there's not really a title for this one yet, however, I wrote the intro for it a while ago, and it's one I like enough that I'm visiting my Family members to see if there's actually family photos to support what I've written, or if I'm just hallucinating...

The photos I've posted are from before Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2 had even released, let alone Underground 2, so it's entirely possible that my mind has just merged the memory of these photos with the ones of playing Underground 2... but I could swear that I also wore this helmet while playing that game, so that's why I'm visiting Mom later.

In the meantime, here's the intro...

This is me, playing Need for Speed Underground 2 at my Dad's house, sitting on his Cadillac Captains Chair with a Logitech Driving Force GT.

I wanted to be a racing driver at the age of five; losing not one but two childhood heroes, one of them a blonde haired blue-eye pale-kid from British Columbia, did make even single-digit me realize why my Mother was so hesitant about the idea, and change career paths, but the fascination of it never died, and while I couldn't have that physical rush of speed regularly…

I could find a proxy.

Hence, the gloves, helmet, and visor.  

While my Hands sweat from the lack of ventilation in a static sim-rig they were never meant for, I dreamed of what games would be like in the future.

Specifically, I wondered if you could take a TV and stuff it into a pair of googles, placing me in the cockpit, turning my head to see the incoming competitors, walls, and hazards. It seemed impossible, but I couldn't help but dream it anyways…  

And now I have it…  

[Pull from Editor View]

It's right there.

For over five years across five devices, whenever I want, I can do exactly what my ten year old-self dreamed about.

In-fact, Virtual Reality, is more than what I dreamed of.

My wish back then was quite literal, a TV strapped to my forehead, I wasn't thinking about Finger, and Face Tracking, I didn't imagine waving to friends in Multiplayer, or walking physically in these spaces to slice-up enemies as a Cyborg Ninja.

It is incredible what I can do in video-games today… but you know what I don't have today?

A proxy of Need for Speed Underground 2.

There is more, but I don't wanna give everything away.

The main challenge with this third video is walking into the minefield of there already being a million videos about why "modern gaming is no longer fun" and I don't want to pour gasoline onto that fire. I'm interested about really identifying what it is that's frustrating many people about gaming, when it's pretty evident it's not there being a lack of quality in the games itself, especially not in the last two years.

But yeah, that's what I'm currently working on, and I promise that I'm more disappointed about not releasing something yet than anybody. I wanted that Rollerdrome video to be out Oct 23rd on my Birthday, and what just happened to be the day before I left for my friend's wedding, but while personal delays and technical issues are getting me closer to digging into my savings account, it will result in a better video, and now maybe, three better videos!

Your support really is the reason this situation leaves me with hope rather than panic. Not being entirely reliant on YT's algorithm and ad-revenue has given me back years of my life, and I'll be walking to my Family's home not just taking that for granted.

Thank you, and for all the Americans, have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Best wishes,
Raycevick