Another Splatfest here and gone! Yeah #TeamCoaster!! It's pretty impressive that even though Water Slides had more participants, Rollar Coasters were the more skilled bunch. It just goes to show that popularity doesn't always guarantee a win!
Aside from the results, the Splatfest 2.0 didn't deviate in any way from the first one--for better and for worse. While it was still a solid, enjoyable experience, none of my criticisms from the previous Splatfest were addressed. The losers still didn't receive an award for reaching maximum rank, a dance button was nowhere to be found, and the three stages didn't rotate for the entire event. In fact, team stability actually seemed worse this time around; I only managed to keep one of the same teammates for five matches at the most. I still had fun though, and I'm willing to overlook the lack of improvement since the two events were only two weeks apart. Next month, though, I'm hoping Nintendo takes steps to improve upon their already solid event. Here's to not staying stagnant! There are still many improvements Splatoon could stand in general. Have a good night guys! See you all tomorrow! Just made it (phew).
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Well guys, this is it! The second-ever Splatfest is going to start in just a hours or so, and I'm pretty excited about it! The first went really well (after the adjustments following the Japanese launch), and there were only a few things I wished could've been different. I know I've been doing a lot of "list posts" lately, so I'll keep this one short and sweet for everyone prepping for the Fest! So, what do we need?
Rotating stages--three is cool, but I'd rather have an interchanging two than a static three. A dance button--Just watching everyone else dance in the Plaza feels so unfair! Reward for top rank--Even if your Splatfest team loses, the ones that put in the hours to achieve the top rank (in the last Fest, that was King/Queen) should still be rewarded with some Super Sea Snails. A lesser amount, sure, but they should still get something for going so hard. Extra communication options--Splatfest is the most competitive event in Splatoon yet (it's arguably more competitive than Ranked modes since you can have consistent teams during Splatfest). With this added competitive element should come better communications options than "Booyah" and "Come On!" Adding two extra options for the remaining directions on the d-pad would be a great touch that would make Splatfest feel even more special. Hopefully these'll be in tonight's version! Either way, enjoy the festivities guys! Let me know how you do throughout the next 24 hours--you can reach me directly @CreamBasics on Twitter. Here's to a night/day of marathoning Splatoon!! Welcome back friends! For today I thought I'd do another edition of my new weekly YouTube recommendation series. Without further ado, here are three of my favorite gaming videos of the past week: Sky Williams: Iwata Tribute As I'm sure most of you know by now, Satoru Iwata tragically and suddenly passed away last Saturday, July 11th 2015. The entire Nintendo community was shaken to its core, and thousands offered their condolences by way of Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and beyond. Sky's was one of the most heartfelt video dedications I'd seen, so I'm really glad to share it as much as possible. PKSparxx: Tough Breaks #8 Tough Breaks is one of my favorite series from PK and is also the only Mario Kart series that I watch consistently. It has a perfect mix of laughs, intense play and silliness to keep me coming back for more every time. Check it out! Nintendo Minute: What's in the Bag?? Nintendo Minutes are usually charming and nicely produced, making them really relaxing to watch. In this one, Kit and Krysta go through a bag of old gaming goodies they discovered after doing some cleaning back at their (respective) parents' houses. It's a perfectly fun and lighthearted way to end off the post! That's all for today guys, thanks for reading/watching! Follow me on Twitter @CreamBasics to know when a new post goes up and to talk to me directly. See you all tomorrow!
It's simple: remove the "Animal Crossing" label from it. Welcome back to another post guys! Today as I was thinking over ideas for new posts, my mind drifted back to some of Nintendo's least favorable games of E3. Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival caused virtual groans throughout the Nintendo community, and yet it wasn't really such a bad core idea--it just needed some tweaking. We already know that amiibo Festival is only one part of the larger free amiibo-centered AC game coming later this year, but even so, it has the potential to be a solid stand-alone title. Here's how: 1) Make the game playable with all (or most) currently-released amiibo. 2) Make the environments change based on which amiibo you use. This is actually much more reasonable than it might sound at first. amiibo have only been released for a few games so far (with several character amiibos, like Mario and Zelda, functioning with multiple titles), so having Mario Kart 8, Smash 4, Hyrule Warriors, Splatoon, and Yoshi's Wooly World game boards along with an Animal Crossing one would make for a healthy board variety. This would also encourage gamers to buy more amiibo to unlock more boards--if they only have, say, Fox and Link, they'd only be able to play the Smash 4 and Hyrule Warriors stages. The more they'd have, the more they could play. 3) Make these boards special and dynamic enough to motivate gamers to buy more amiibo. As it is now, the Animal Crossing version is extremely dull. Nintendo could spice things up by making it less like a real board game and more like an old-school Mario Party game. There's some really strong potential here! If you have six unlockable boards to choose from--each representing a different franchise--there could be 15 unique minigames per board. Mario Party 10 only had 75 minigames; if Nintendo were to follow this 15-per-stage model, amiibo Festival would only be another 15 away from that. Aside from the board-specific minigames, of course, there'd also have to be certain events, items and obstacles unique to every franchise represented. 4) Keep it as a free download! Gamers who've already collected a few amiibo (and opened them) have probably grown bored of them as an in-game accessory, and might feel disappointed that they didn't keep them sealed. With amiibo Festival, though, those figures could be given new life, and their purchase would be more justified. And by making it free for all who have amiibo, those who only have a couple might enjoy the game so much that they'd be interested in getting other amiibo just to unlock more boards and minigames. It'd serve as both a free thank-you to loyal fans and a smart business move to entice those still on the fence.
If anyone from Nintendo reads this, feel free to take the idea! I think it'd really be a fun and interesting way to take advantage of the amiibo technology. But hey, that's just me. What do you guys think? And if you liked this, check back again every weekday for more thought-provoking write-ups. See you all tomorrow! New map? New Impressions post! And it's actually really exciting this time--I absolutely love this map!
This is the first map in Splatoon that really takes things to new heights...yeah, I couldn't help it. The verticality of Moray Towers is really innovative for online play and introduces a few new possibilities to the standard Splatoon formula, just like Kelp Dome did before it: 1) Finally, chargers have a bonafide paradise map. There's literally nothing more annoying than an experienced charger peering down onto the center and sniping everyone as they try to cross sides. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that a charger is downright essential for this map in Ranked battles. I played Splat Zones on Moray for a few hours on Saturday, and the saltiness was real! If my team didn't have a charger and the other team did, it was almost impossible to get a Knockout (except for when the charger was just terrible). Chargers felt so important that I actually bought one and began learning how to snipe! Rollers are also great on this map, but are more useful in Turf War than Ranked. Heck, the ramps are sized almost perfectly for rollers! 2) It's hard to corner another team on Moray Towers. Maps like Walleye Warehouse and Urchin Underpass make it easy for one stronger team to keep the lesser contained in their base, thus resulting in savage overkills. Moray Towers, however, lends itself to jumping headfirst into the action and avoiding anyone trying to corner you at the top. There's less of a real base with this map, so if you want to just go for it and plow forward into neutral territory, you can get there fairly quickly (whether or not you'll stay un-splatted, though, is an entirely different matter). 3) Moray Towers shows off the graphical capability of Splatoon well. The backdrop for the Towers is right up there with SaltSpray Rig as one of the most beautiful maps in the game. The dreamy vista in the distance shines as you look over to the sprawling highways against the sea. The lighting effects against the adjacent buildings and the cars whizzing by below really bring life to the city. Not only is it beautiful in its own right, but Towers--just like Kelp Dome--also provides some much-appreciated contrast to the many water-or-concrete-centric maps Splatoon has to offer. At the end of the day, playing Moray Towers just makes me happy. Aside from Bluefin Depot (still a little iffy on that one) Splatoon has been delivering some consistently knockout maps since launch. I'm especially excited to play this one during this Friday's Splatfest! Here's to more innovative, beautifully-designed maps from the beautifully-creative people behind Splatoon! If you enjoyed this post, check back again tomorrow for another! If you enjoy me and want to keep up to date with smaller things I find interesting in gaming, follow me on Twitter @CreamBasics! Happy Monday guys. Welcome back to Cream Basics! This is Part 2 of my short "What YouTube Gaming Needs" series. If you haven't seen Part 1, check it out below! Otherwise, let's get right back to it--here are some of my other hopes for the upcoming YouTube Gaming service:
Reasonable Paid Options As it stands right now, Twitch gives you the option to either Follow your favorite streamers for free or pay $5 per month to Subscribe to them. Following is just like YouTube's (free) subscription system, simply allowing you to find all of your faves in one place. Spending the money to Subscribe on Twitch, though, grants special bonuses like Subscriber-only emoticons, private chat, and other privileges that streamers can customize. YouTube has never had such a paid tier, and I'm not sure if they need to--just look at how well some YouTubers do with the basic subscription system. If YouTube decides to forgo a paid option altogether and makes the typically paid features on Twitch accessible for all on YouTube Gaming, it would be a no-brainer for streaming fans to switch platforms. As long as the same people are doing the streaming, it all comes down to user experience. But if YouTube Gaming does include a paid tier, it'd have to be one that has more/better features than Twitch's. Great Mobile App This is something that both Twitch and and YouTube are currently lacking. If YouTube Gaming is going to be a smash, it'll have to have a better-functioning app than YouTube itself. Fingers crossed YouTube takes this into consideration--there are so many people who watch videos on their phones and tablets, and it'd be a huge missed opportunity to fail to service them. Fully-featured Chat One issue many streamers have with the current YouTube streaming option is its slow, feature-lite chat. Now that YouTube plans on making a dedicated effort in the streaming business, however, it's essential that they study Twitch's chat extensively and build upon it (or, at the very least, match it equally). This means lightning-fast speed, specialized and customizable emoticons, moderators, etc. YouTube has to make the chat a feature that's appealing to both the streamer and the viewers, and that'll take some serious improvement over the current model. Distinct style from both YouTube and Twitch Lastly, but perhaps more essentially, YouTube Gaming will need its own identity and aesthetic. It would be a mistake to simply make a second YouTube site reserved for streaming. YTG needs to be something cool and unique, something that has a slicker layout than Twitch but that's just as accessible as YouTube. Google owns YouTube (and subsequently YouTube Gaming), so I have no doubt that their search engine will be on point. What's really in question is design and accessibility. These guys have millions to invest in top notch design companies, and they also have the advantage of being late to the party and seeing what they're up against, so that should be a smooth step as well. We'll get to see how it all goes soon--YouTube Gaming is in a great position to rip the rug out from under Twitch if they consider every one of these essential facets of launching a solid streaming service. Those are all of my thoughts so far, but I'll be sure to post more on it as more info is released on the platform--and you'd better expect Impressions and Comparison pieces once it comes out! Until Monday, though, have a great weekend guys, and thanks for following me on this great blogging journey! Peace! Welcome back guys! You know, I really only started following some of my favorite YouTubers on Twitch last month. Once I did, though, I was hooked. There's something really relaxing about watching other gamers play through some of your favorite series--it's a fun, addictive experience. The only things that bug me about Twitch are: 1) It's dearth of quality options and 2) its less-than-stellar mobile app. That being said, it's a great platform, and millions of gamers and spectators flock to it on a regular basis. YouTube knows this and, seeing no other major platforms going up against Twitch, decided to throw its hat in the streaming ring. It's supposed to release this summer, and though we don't have too many specifics of how it'll work and what YouTube features it'll take advantage of, a guy can dream, right? In fact, I thought up so many possibilities that I decided to make this a two part mini-series. Check back tomorrow for even more ideas! Here are some of my hopes for YouTube's answer to Twitch, and I'll continue covering any updates as the info becomes available.
Video Quality Options YouTube Gaming needs to have the same quality options available as regular YouTube. Do that, and it'll already have a step up on the competition. Infinitely Archived Content Twitch allows for regular broadcasters to archive their past broadcasts for 14 days before they're automatically deleted, and Twitch partners get 60 days. YouTube, however, never automatically deletes videos--just look at the oldest vids on some of your favorite channels and you can see some dating back to 2006 and 2007. Could the same concept be feasible for YouTube's dedicated streaming service? Well, why not? Even if there are some technical limitations, YouTube Gaming could surely at least extend the life of archived streams far past two months. Easy YouTuber Transition Interestingly, many gamers on Twitch also have YouTube channels. This must cut especially deep for YouTube as a company (Google) since it's seeing millions in potential profits go next door. For YouTube Gaming to win back its native streaming content creator base and convince them to stay on YouTube for all of their streaming needs, YouTube will have to make the transition between services as simple as possible. The best option? Allow everyone who has a YouTube account to connect it to YouTube Gaming (like your YouTube account is connected to your G-Mail), thus eliminating the need for make a new account. Established YouTubers can then tell their audiences "Hey guys, check me out on YouTube Gaming too! Just type in the same username and it'll pop right up" and there'll be no issue with the transfer. Viewers on YouTube will also appreciate it; those who were reluctant to follow their faves to Twitch because they couldn't be bothered to go through the "new account" process would now be able to watch them with the press of a button. Speaking of which--if the team behind YouTube Gaming is smart, they'll allow YouTubers to have a button on each of their videos (like the "Subscribe" button) that'll direct viewers right to their streaming channel. Imagine what a beautifully seamless experience that could be! That's it for Part 1 guys! Check back tomorrow (Friday) for several more features that YouTube Gaming would need to go neck and neck with Twitch. Hope you all have a wonderful night! Hey guys! So since YouTube is such a massive part of my gaming life (and the gaming community in general nowadays), I figured I'd start a weekly series highlighting some of my favorite recent gaming videos. I'll work out a special day for these in the future, but for now it's happening today! Here are this week's top picks: IGN: 18 Minute No Man's Sky Gameplay Demo I've been fiending for more info on how NMS actually plays for awhile now, and that's exactly what Hello Games founder Sean Murray provided via this exclusive IGN coverage. The 18:33 seems to fly by, but it's definitely a treat that'll have me checking back for more all updates month. GameXplain: Star Fox Zero Analysis Star Fox Zero was, for me, one of the most uninteresting games of Nintendo's E3 Digital Event. I never finished any of the other games in the series, and the on-rails gameplay just never appealed to me. This GameXplain break down of all the potential clues and secrets within the game actually made me more hyped than the trailer and Treehouse gameplay did combined. Check it out! PKSparxx: Splatfest Gameplay I loved the first Splatfest (see my last post for more on that) and few other YouTubers captured my experience better than PK. I might be a little biased because I was also Team Cat, but if you're searching for a fun, hyped look at what Splatfest was all about, look no further than this video. And those are the Top 3 videos in gaming this week! Check back next week for absolute must-see gaming videos you might've missed, check every weekday for new gaming posts, and follow me @CreamBasics on Twitter to connect with more directly. See you all tomorrow!
Ahhh, Splatfest. How real the hype was! We all finally got to enjoy Splatfest last weekend after it was pushed back from its original date in June due to matchmaking issues with the Japanese version. Now that it's all over, was it actually worth the wait? In this humble blogger's opinion, it sure was! SplatFest is really more of an aesthetic change to the game than anything else. All Splatfest matches and celebrations take place at night, and I was pleasantly surprised at how different this small change makes the entire game feel (was it me, or did the ink look extra shiny in the moonlight?). Callie and Marie's chart-topping hits substituting for the usual battle soundtrack was also a nice touch--they're so catchy! Another smart idea was only allowing Splatfest shirts to be worn during the event; this encouraged players to spend time leveling the gear up before the event so they'd have all their abilities available when it was time to throw down. And, of course, outside in the Plaza you were able to attend a totally awesome Callie and Marie concert (complete with choreography and Miiverse fireworks!!). However, hands-down the best feature of Splatfest by far was the team matchmaking feature. You were automatically grouped with your faction (Team Cat for this guy) and faced off against various opposing teams. The cool thing, though, was that you were able to keep your team throughout a series of matches! Normally the teams switch members every match or so, but during Splatfest I literally played with the same powerhouse team for at least 10 matches in a row. It was amazing to actually develop a strong group dynamic over the course of our matches, and to learn how each other played and how we'd all tackle a map. Since teams are usually jumbled up every match in normal play, it's impossible to develop consistently as a team. After the fourth or fifth match with Laura, joeyat, and sajan, however, we were strategizing and outplaying the enemy almost every match, and it felt great! When you usually play Splatoon it oftentimes feels like you're doing your own thing, getting your own points, etc. Being a part of a real team completely changes that--and, for what its worth, our little cheers of "Come on!" and "Booyah!" were used more often than ever during my Splatfest matches. (above: the ultimate team players!)
There were a couple areas where Splatfest could use some improvement though, despite all its overwhelming awesomeness. There were three stages available to play on instead of the normal two, which was great and a huge surprise, but those three never changed. As someone who detests Urchin Underpass with a passion, this was not good news for me. Sure, I learned how to better play those stages and work through them more effectively with my team, and I definitely got better at the game because of that, but I still wish we could've had more stage variety. Aside from that, the only other request I'd have for Splatfest is a dance button we could all push to see our characters dance with everyone else in the Plaza. Remember how you could make your villager in Animal Crossing: New Leaf do four different little dances at the nightclub depending on which d-pad direction you pressed? Yeah, we need that feature active during Splatfest. I felt so left out watching everyone else! How did you guys enjoy Splatfest? Did you reach King rank? What would you like to see changed in the next one? Tweet me @CreamBasics and let me know. See you all tomorrow guys! |
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