Today I started editing part three of the video! This section talks about the North American video game market before the Super Nintendo came out and all the wild rumors about the SNES and Super Mario World.
In one part, I talk about Nintendo's 1989 CES show, where they showed a film about how amazing the NES is and how 16-bit consoles were not the future. Unfortunat...
2022-04-08 20:43:50 +0000 UTC View PostPatrons, it has been a crazy week. That's a good thing and a bad thing.
I also want to let you know that I will be taking part in the Preserved Play charity stream this weekend! We are raising money for the Video Game History Foundation. On April 2nd from 7-9pm, I'll be checking out some whacky Mario Maker 2 levels with Jirard the Completionist. You can watch on his Twitch - http://www.twitch.tv/thecompletio...
2022-04-01 19:44:41 +0000 UTC View PostApologies, I meant to post this blog on Friday but I completely forgot!
Today was a risky day of filming! I had to shoot b-roll for various Mario toys. One of them is this little boat. It has a battery-powered motor and shoots bubbles out of the top of the blue tank.
I thought I could film this from outside the tub, but the angle was awkward. I nee...
2022-03-28 15:07:55 +0000 UTC View Post
Notice anything...odd about this screenshot?
So I recorded this footage months ago, but I must have accidentally had some overlay on in the settings. The Elgato software lets you stream as well, so this must have been a pre-built overlay that I accidentally turned on. Needless to say, all of my footage from the Super Famicom version is like this.
So today, I had...
2022-03-18 20:13:21 +0000 UTC View Post
I finished the rough edit of Part one! This was a difficult section because a lot of these stories don't have visual aids. I think it turned out really well. But now, I need to go back and clean it up. I've started adjusting the pace of narration and inserting music.
I'm still waiting on some additional music and animations for this section. But in the meantime, ...
2022-03-11 23:40:04 +0000 UTC View Post
It's the last day of February! I hope everyone had a great weekend. It was super-cold here in Kansas City. But today, it is a lovely 65 degrees. I'm all for it.
I continued editing Part one of the Super Mario World video. Today, I focused a lot on the early iterations of Super Mario World. In this screenshot, I'm comparing Super Mario Bros. 3 sprites to early Super...
2022-03-04 21:32:49 +0000 UTC View Post
Here is a photo of my recording studio. Can you find Kiki?
Happy Monday, everyone. With the script done, it was time to start production.
This script is pretty large, so I felt it wouldn't be wise to narrate the entire episode in one day. My voice would be shot by Part two. So today, I only narrated Part one.
There are a few things I do befo...
2022-02-25 21:11:49 +0000 UTC View PostHello Patrons! Here is what I've been up to this week.
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! I hope it was magical. Kristin & I usually keep things pretty low-key. We typically like to order a pizza and watch a movie. This year, we watched "I Want You Back" on Amazon Prime. It was ok; it had some funny moments. But it's a rom-com, ...
2022-02-19 17:12:00 +0000 UTC View PostHello everyone! This past week has been pretty uneventful as far as variety. I spent most of this week finishing/revising my script. So instead of a day-by-day breakdown, here are the highlights.
On Tuesday, I wrapped up the first draft of the Super Mario World script! I worked through the weekend on this one. Right now, it's about 9,000 words long, which I would estimate to be about a 1-hour, 20-minute video.
I think th...
2022-02-12 22:31:13 +0000 UTC View Post
Today, I officially launched "Footnotes," 1-minute video game history videos! You can view these videos just about everywhere (including Facebook and Twitter, which I forgot to mention in this image). Hope you check it out! Let me know what you think. My goal is release a new video every week.
By the way, I'd lik...
2022-02-04 21:48:25 +0000 UTC View PostToday I finished up research on the last remaining magazines. So, it's time to outline!
My outlining process is pretty simple. First, I set up the basic structure of how the story will be told. In this case, the basic structure will be:
Part 1: The End of an Era
- The Famicom Era is Over
- Announcing the Super Famicom
- A New Mario Team
- Learning the Super Famicom
- The Super Famicom is Coming
- De...
As I do research, I keep a running list of questions I come up with while reading articles. I decided to tackle a few today.
When did Nintendo first start teasing the Super Famicom?
According to an article in the Famicom Hissyoubon magazine, Hiroshi Yamauchi first teased about a "Super Famicom" in September of 1987, a full 3 years before the system released. Coincidentally, he made this tease a mont...
2022-01-21 22:45:23 +0000 UTC View PostHello Patrons! This week is going to be a pretty boring blog. Remember when I said I wasn't going to go back and update my sources? Well, I decided to go back and update my sources.
This took a long time. But when I go to outline, it is going to be so much easier. It's also going to make future research so much easier.
In addition to updating sources, I also got several Japanese news segments about the Super Famicom launch translated. ...
2022-01-14 21:38:28 +0000 UTC View PostHello Patrons and welcome to 2022! I'm finally back at work and diving into the Super Mario World video again. Let's do it!
Generally, when I find a source, I'll take bullet point notes from it to just grab the important information I need for my research. I noticed in my Zotero app I had about 20 sources with no notes. So I spent a good chunk...
2022-01-07 23:43:49 +0000 UTC View PostHappy new year, Patrons! As 2021 ends, I'd like to share my goals for 2022.
I have three videos in my backlog that I'd like to put out this year. They are...
The Story of Super Mario World
I was on a 2-year streak of making "Story of Mario" videos, but the streak ended in 2021. A majority of the research on this video is already done, plus all of the game capture. This will be my first video for 2022. I would expect it ...
2021-12-31 16:22:35 +0000 UTC View PostHello Patrons. The new episode on light guns is now live! You can check it out here: youtu.be/keyDD-Eqom0
This past year, I've been filming everything in my basement. It was a nice-looking setup with the brick, but it had a few issues...
The floor was not level
By about 3 inches, actually. That means every time I filmed something, I had to shim up my furniture to make it look level. It made even...
2021-12-15 15:12:27 +0000 UTC View Post
No, that's not deja vu you are experiencing! The first version had 75% of the narration gone. It should be fixed now.
Enjoy!
2021-12-07 18:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostOver the weekend, Kristin & I edited the script, and I recorded part of the narration. I'm estimating this video to be 1 hour (!!!) long, so I'm breaking this behemoth up into sections.
As I mentioned in the last blog, this video has a sponsor, so there is a hard deadline - December 10th. I'll be working on this video every day to make sure it comes out on time.
Sports update: The Miami Dolphins won. They are now 4-7 on the year!
Sports update: The Miami Dolphins won, bringing their record to 3-7. A 2-game win streak!
Today, I sat down and did write-ups on all the "zapper required" games. This includes...
This past weekend, I went to Retroworld Expo in Hartford, CT! I got to hang with my good friends, Pat & Dan, and meet a few Patrons as well. I'm already looking forward to the next convention.
In sports news, the Miami Dolphins...won? They are now 2-7 on the year!
I usually spend my Mondays after a convention recovering from the ...
2021-11-12 22:02:13 +0000 UTC View PostSports update: The Miami Dolphins lost to the Buffalo Bills, 26-11. They are now 1-7.
This week was a little different, so I don't have a day-by-day breakdown. But here is a little rundown.
Sports update: The Miami Dolphins lost again. They are now 1-6.
Editing continues on the Mega Man Universe video. Today, I worked on the section about the art style. Did you know Capcom wanted the game to appeal to Western audiences, so they based the art off of cartoons such as The Powerpuff Girls?
Unfortunately, noth...
2021-10-28 20:42:57 +0000 UTC View Post
In 2010, Capcom announced an exciting new game for Mega Man fans: Mega Man Universe. The game contained a remake of Mega Man 2 and character customization. But the most exciting feature was stage creation. Players could make their own Mega Man levels and share them online!
With Mega Man Universe, Capcom believed there would no longer be a need for traditional Mega Man games anymore. The fans could sustain the franchise. But a series of events behind the scenes put this once promi...
2021-10-28 20:19:12 +0000 UTC View PostA sports update: The Miami Dolphins lost again.
I had a great weekend. I spent most of it in my basement, putting together a little workshop so I can build/repair furniture. It's a hobby of mine.
On to the work week!
This morning, I finished editing and revising the Mega Man Universe script. A...
2021-10-21 22:47:26 +0000 UTC View PostMy weekend was pretty uneventful, and sometimes that is a good thing! On Friday, I picked up Metroid Dread. I still haven't had a chance to sit down and play it yet. I might save it for a Twitch stream.
My interview with Brian from Rockman Corner got pushed back a day, so I thought I would spend today just doing some more prep work. I...
2021-10-14 00:04:19 +0000 UTC View PostOn Thursday, I helped a friend of mine move to his new home out in the country. His new house came with chickens! They were super friendly. Now I want chickens.
Last week, I posted a poll about what episode you all would like t...
2021-10-06 21:41:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Whew, the rough edit is finally done! That Donkey Kong section was a beast, mostly because it dives into a lot of documents, which means lots of highlighting effects.
I still need to add music, shoot a few b-roll shots, modify for pacing, and add end credits. I'd say this video will be around 20-25 minutes.
If everything goes smoot...
2021-09-29 20:50:58 +0000 UTC View PostHi Patrons!
I'm honestly torn on what video to work on next. So I thought you could help. Let me know what video you would like to see the most. Keep in mind, all of these are going to get made. It's just a matter of what comes next.
I'm also still working on the big Super Mario World video on the side.
Microsoft's 3 Biggest Mistakes
Like Nintendo, Sony, & Sega, we look back at Microsoft's time in the industry and pinpoint 3 ...
2021-09-29 20:36:27 +0000 UTC View Post
Is Luigi named after a pizza parlor? Who came up with the name Donkey Kong? Why is Bowser named after a bowl of soup? All this and more in the latest episode of The Gaming Historian!
Hope you all enjoy it, let me know what you think!
2021-09-27 01:42:50 +0000 UTC View PostWelcome to this week's blog! My weekend was pretty relaxing. I played some video games, I did some woodworking, and I got excused from jury duty! All in all, a great weekend. Let's get back to work.
As you may remember from last week's blog, I had to re-record my narration due to audio issues. So this week, I finally get to sit down and start ...
2021-09-22 21:33:18 +0000 UTC View Post