Jamesblack47

Patreon Early Access - Palworld: Revelations of Pokemon

The actual title of this video will probably be something like "Six Months Later: What Palworld can teach us about Pokemon". The Cities Skylines video that I made with a similar title did very well, and obviously the video isn't a "first look at new game" kind of deal, we are in fact, about five months into release.
Moving further from the hayday of the JamesBlack channel doing videos that are nominally reviews for your wallet's sake, this video was mostly an opportunity to vent my frustr...

Revisiting Tarkov, and Fixing it.

I took a couple of comments from my last few of videos to heart, and revisited Tarkov over the last couple of months, and I also took recommendation from Uncle Funkle, and explored some... alternatives to the main Tarkov experience. Tarkov has quite a few problems that haven't gotten fixed over the years, and it's high time somebody did something about that. So, in this video, I explore those problems and discuss some possible solutions.

Yes, there just happen to be clips from public d...

Ready or Not video - Early access

Greetings all!

Since I am mainly done with it, I'm going to post here the very-nearly-finished Ready or Not video that I've been working on the past couple of months. You guys will get early access to the video for a couple of days, I plan on releasing it to the public on Sunday. The "final" version will have two or three fixes, I have to re-photoshop the mask and gun for the homogeneous shooter, and I want to replace audio near the middle of the video, changing "drastic AI rebalance" t...

The Rumors of my Death - Mostly False

I think it would be difficult to write a "coming back" post no matter how I started it. I think I summarized my thoughts fairly succinctly in the video I just posted on the channel, the one where I turned a review of a Gas Station Simulator game into a discussion of working life in the United States, you know, that one. My last post here on Patreon described some seasonal burnout I experience every summer, but this time was different, it lasted for three years.

I've talked to many of yo...

On Social Media and Hiatuses

I just realized last week that I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus. I haven’t made a video for the last two months (coming on three), and it’s part of a pattern. Last summer I got caught up playing STALKER, the year before that it was Fallout 4; it seems that every Summer I get un-glued from Youtube and take my time on things. Part of this is laziness, spending more time outside with friends and family, but another equal part is sitting back and taking a look at things as they s...

How Apex Legends made One Boomer like Batle Royale (re-post)

Apparently the boomer-dom has spread to my ability to push buttons correctly. Patreon did not monetize this post for last month, as far as I can tell, so I am re-uploading this post. IF YOU GOT CHARGED for the last post, please LET ME KNOW. I am not in the game of double-charging for content, and if this issue is on Patreon's end, I would want to know. Thanks for your patience with my derp, and I'll see you soon!

VO for next video

While I'm working on the next SIAIPI, I wanted to see if you guys wanted to give me some feedback on a VO I just did for my next video. I know that some of you don't want to hear previews of new stuff, because it spoils you, but for those of who don't mind that kind of thing, I would love to hear some feedback on this script.

This video I planned to be a shorter, far more concise script than most others, and I know that could make it suffer. Shorter scripts actually need more...

ATOM RPG review

Ladies and Gentlemen, this -month's- video is out. Creative slump has been somewhat more challenging to overcome this month, but I still managed to get something out before the end of the month. Thanks everybody for their patience, and as a reward, I'm putting this up a few days before it hits the masses. While you're watching, if there's anything that stands out to you as wrong or odd or incorrect, definitely let me know! Not like this is a beta-read or anything, but it seems like I can't ge...

Fallout 76 was the game that Bethesda always wanted to make

2 Months later... and Fallout 76 is still a broken mess, but not for the obvious reasons. In this video I go over why I think that Fallout 76 is the obvious conclusion to years of Bethesda titles.

Ending a channel hiatus, and diversifying off Patreon

Hallo, Hallo, all of my bright, shining Patrons! If I did not wish you a happy new year when it was the appropriate time, I wish you that now. 

It has been a very busy new year for me personally, but not for the channel, as you may have noticed. I managed to get all of one video out for 2019 as you are reading this, and seeing as it was a video regarding Fallout 76, it was remarkably, and characteristically, very late to the party.

To a certain degree, I feel lik...

December Update! (Say It And I'll Play It plan changes)

 Hello Patrons!

Thanks for your support, for the people who just joined, and for the long-time patrons. I wanted to send you an email to update you on the progress on projects, and other stuff related to the channel. 

I informed you a little while ago that I would be contracting with an editor, who would be helping me manage some of the workload for the videos. Sadly, this editor did surrender his position just the other day. He did however find a replacement, who I have contac...

Goodbye Payday 2

This is certainly not the end of Payday 2 content for this channel, but Payday 2's story has ended, and I assume that's the end of big, named updates which a majority of this channel's (popular) content has been based around. I know a lot of you guys joined up at a time when Payday 2 content was almost the only thing on the channel, but I have to call it when the time is right, and... the time is right to step away from making Payday 2 content.

Hopefully all you guys enjoy the video, and hopef...

SCUM - An Early Access Game with less Content than it should have had

SCUM is clearly a passion project from a smaller set of developers, as usual, my cup of tea. However, it is very ambitious, and while that can create good outcomes, for you as the player and -consumer-, you must settle on whether the price is worth it to you. In this video, I'll be going over whether or not that is is the case, and going a little bit in depth to some of the mechanics and why they may not work as well as promised. 

Should You Pre-Order Overkill's The Walking Dead?

It's a steep price tag, but we gotta go over whether or not The Walking Dead seemed like it was going to be worth 60 dollars, based on the performance of the beta.

It is to be noted that this is the first project that I had assistance on from an outside editor, who is credited at the end of the video. He's an Italian college student, and work on the channel is assisting him with his graduation!

 If you don't like that the videos are being worked on by people other than yo...

Everything we know about CLICKBAIT (Fallout 76)

And, in this special video, we find out why I love my Patrons so much, due to a copyright strike on the video! Apparently you can't use the middle of "Rain must Fall" from the Fallout 4 soundtrack without UMG claiming it. I'm not gonna fight that one, music is particularly weird on Youtube, and I don't think I would win. Next time, strictly McLeod and Dysphorid!

Further coverage on Freeman: Guerrilla Warfare! (Like you asked for it or something)

Dunno exactly why, but this game keeps pulling me in like crazy. So, please do enjoy a little update video on their update update while you wait for the next real content.

Project priorities: What I can do and what I can't do

Hello dear Patrons! Just wanted to update you on the work I'm doing during this week. We may not see a video come out this Tuesday-Friday period, mainly because I'm halfway done with several scripts (those being the Icebreaker script, a Frostpunk review, my MGSV video I'm doing for West, a second episode of MINIMAL! and a very early draft for a Monster Hunter: World script that is going to read more funny than informational. I didn't have that much time this week to play Payday, so the Joy scrip...

Trying to balance long-form and short-form content.

As you guys may know, I really like to make long videos. A lot of my earlier work was pretty short, very concise, cut right to the point. I meander a lot more now in my script-writing process, and I often write scripts that are around 40 minutes long. I know people like that, it's more bang for your buck as it were, but I can probably only do a video a month that's that length, leading to some months where I get just that done, a video a month, and that has killed my numbers on the site. There a...

The Betrayal of Storyline Mechanics in Kingdom Come: Deliverance

Kingdom come has a strange grip on me. Despite doing a lot of things wrong, the game seems to rectify every bad step with two good ones, and things I thought were bad previously, I've come to change my mind on. The big plot twist in the middle of the game was one of those things, and despite the fact that I've given it away a little bit in the thumbnail, I won't say a peep more about the video so that you can choose whether or not to spoil yourself on the story.

Say It And I'll Play It - Escape From Tarkov

Thanks to Tonis for sponsoring this video! In this one I cover Escape From Tarkov, which is a great concept which currently has some problems, but is being built up fairly rapidly by fantastic Russian developers. Sounds familiar, right? Well, if you wanted a multiplayer STALKER, Tarkov might be your best bet for the time being.

James's E3 2018 - GTFO

Today, I cover another title I saw at E3 this year, and what I thought of the presentation. GTFO has been on my radar for quite a bit of time, and it looks like it's shaping up to be an awesome title.

An update to the channel (creation process)

Hey there everybody!

I just wanted to write an update to everybody who was currently supporting me on Patreon (thanks by the way) to keep you in the know about how the channel is going, what stuff might be changing, and how I'll be reacting to those changes.

It may not be clear from the outside, but viewership on the channel has been going steadily down since I stopped doing majority Payday 2 content. I know that's what a lot of people subscribed for, and they may not be as interested in...

James's E3 2018 - Overkill's The Walking Dead

In this first episode of a little mini-series, I go over what I thought about The Walking Dead game that Overkill has been making, and teasing, over the last several years. A lot of people thought it looked really, really bad, but I had my own take on the footage that we got to see, and I go over that in this video. The next video in this little series will focus on GTFO, of what we saw of it at E3.

Why Spring Break 2018 wasn't as successful as you might think

This video was a summary of the Payday 2 Spring Break 2018 event, which tried to introduce, and in some ways complete, some of the myriad stories that Payday 2 has attempted in the last year and a half or so. Several animations in this one, kids, so check it out!

Interview with Simon Viklund about GTFO - Upcoming Horror/co-op shooter - including Exclusive Track from GTFO

For all you marvelous Patrons, I have the full audio of my interview this afternoon with Simon Viklund, formerly of Overkill, now of Ten Chambers, about the game his company is now working on: GTFO. The game looks amazing, from what we've seen so far, and I was able to ask Simon a few questions regarding the game, what it might be like on launch, and what we can expect from them over the next few months.

Late to the Party - Kingdom Come: Deliverance

Better late than never, right? I mean, that's what I think, but Youtube's algorithims probably say that since I haven't uploaded in a while, I shouldn't get any views. That's why I love you guys! You are providing me more incentives other than straight view count to do these longer reviews. If you liked this one, for sure leave a comment, either here or on Youtube!

Update on this month's progress, and a key giveaway!

I haven't spoken to many of you in a short while, so I wanted to update you all on how the progress on the next video is coming.

Right now I'm around 2/3rds done on my Kingdom Come review, which is obviously quite late, but those are the breaks. Life does indeed happen, and I am greatful to all of you who have stuck around and continued to support the channel. At this time I estimate that I will have the video done before the weekend, and we will be doing the (now) standard Twitch r...

Freeman Guerrilla Warfare - Worth $14.99?

My third and final video for this month (wooo, I actually got three out!), we're looking at what I think is going to be a gem of indie game design. It's really rough right now, but I think in 6 months, Freeman is going to be a classic.

The 27 Games I Never Reviewed in 2017 (Part Two)

This was a fun one to make! Mostly because I got to talk about a lot of games, and didn't have to spend a week on each of them. I'm for sure going to be doing one of these again, and I hope you enjoyed part 1 and 2!

Insurgency - The Bones of the Realistic FPS

This video was sponsored by one of you! Clutch Moves On, who is participating in the Say It And I'll Play It tier, and I appreciate his contribution very much! Insurgency has been a part of Steam's background noise for quite a while, and in this video, I go over why that is, and why you should play this game.