First, I would like to thank recent donor CidMcTab (a.k.a. Casey Robinson)–thanks Casey! I’d also like to point out that donors are now given the top spot on the About page.

Now, I might be reading it all wrong, but it seems several among you are clamouring for a third Gunstar Heroes video–dare I say it’s because of your newfound obsession with the game? That, or you all felt the episode a mite unfinished, and expect a proper finale… at only 2 parts, it did end on a sort of “successful failure”, leaving much of the game unseen. You all waited a long time for a new ep’, and then gave up twelve-and-a-half minutes to view the things. That’s light-years in Youtube terms.

In any case, I’d like to come out with another Gunstar video starting at Green’s Stage–or the 5th, or maybe even 6th–and just beat the damn thing. Yes, on Hard, with Blue. That way, nothing is repeated.

Let’s hope that includes the Game Over screen…!

Together, they will run, and they will gun, with everything they’ve got.

But a tragicomic turn of events leads to a bittersweet end.

The toil is over, and “Gunstar Heroin(e), Part II” is finally here!! Compared to Part 1–where I *finally* got a hold on comic timing and concision, I know–the length is absolutely colossal, but the laughs should carry you through!

… I hope.

Please enjoy, and give my brother a hand for his full co-starring debut!

It’s been a good learning experience making “Gunstar Heroine”, Pt. II. I learned that Windows Moviemaker isn’t such a piece of crap if you use clips encoded in its native WMV3 and WVC1 codecs (although it will still crash, it will also reload the project 1,000 times faster).

I learned that Camstudio is better than I ever thought possible if you use its native codec; and that Virtual Dub will overlay a border image in a pillarbox area quite nicely, with the proper colors and transparency, if you use Targa (.tga) image files (I actually should have remembered this from the DDR episode).

The technical side might be a tad on the boring side, but rest assured, the episode promises to be really funny!

EDIT: I’m happy to report that production is proceeding according to schedule! It’s been drawn out already from what it would have been by several mitigating factors, many of which arise from the time between the shoots themselves.

Mike thinks I should address the fact that we changed clothes for the latter half of the video, so I’ll do it in advance: I don’t believe the clothes were all that important, and the continuity isn’t really harmed by our changing them. (The change of clothes is so close that it’s likely not to even be noticed.)

I feel that the best material in the video could have only come about when my ideas had had the time to finely ferment, and cement themselves, so I’m actually glad it’s taking this long. (Hope that doesn’t sound too pretentious. It must be the Film courses talking.)

How will my aspirations hold up under a hail of gunfire and a seam-bursting barrage of enemies? You know the answer by now: “only one way to find out”!

(Minus the 2-player and the demos, all the gameplay in this episode is me.)

EDIT: I forgot a credit for the “Land of Chocolate” sound clip, which comes from The Simpsons. It is performed by Homer/Fritz/Alf Clausen Orchestra.

Eye of the tiger, baby.

GRrrrAAHHH.

Ahem. That’s just my attempt to bring this production roaring back to life.

It’s been hard to get back into the groove after my little sabbatical, as always. I’d finally gotten back into the habit of having an Internet presence, and–as always–I’m left wondering if I should have ever stopped the ball rolling…

Well, these things happen. As I’ve said before, “it’s kind of the flipside of being a problem gamer.”

Now, on to actual news. It’s destined to run a wee bit short, but “Gunstar Heroin(e)” (yes, Part 1) is set to air in the next online business day. HOORAY!

My original plans were met with something of a hitch when I couldn’t make it through on Expert–or on Hard, for that matter, with the more challenging of the Gunstar twins. It was kind of a bummer.

But now, a 2-Player plan is taking shape, pushing the game to its true limits, and the players as well–with a full-blown sparring match sure to ensue over one particularly quarrelsome part of the game…

So stay tuned for the prelude to 2-for-1 Gunstar! The future is bright again!… for now.

For anyone interested, this is the kind of thing I write in the script–then, realizing that I’m not making an information video or a review, and repeating what’s written in 5,897 other places, I usually trash it. It’s good for keeping down the running time and for not getting off-topic, but bad for the mental waste basket.

Anyway, this was going to be in the Gunstar episode, but I really need the time to play the game. I’ll try to keep it in in some form (bless those subtitles).

[CUT to pics of konami title screens]
The year is 1992. Over its 10-or-so years, Konami has always made a quality game. But with their commitment to proven vehicles and licensed games, they won’t let their more original employees do as they’d like.

[MONTAGE of Treasure's logos throughout the ages, then all regional box arts]
In late 1992, a cell of Konami alums splinters off to form Treasure. The team of 7 completes work on their first project, a Genesis-only run-and-gun–THIS run ‘n gun–in a mere 10 months.

[vid of self]
All the pent-up creativity from working on endless Castlevanias and Contras had to go supernova somewhere, and the result, thankfully for all of us, was…

[hold out cart to cam]
GUNSTAR HEROES.
(subtitle: seen here with Inferior Western box art.)

As a kid who had followed the progression of games since toddlerhood, I thought I knew the capabilities of any given hardware pretty well. (scale with SNES and Genesis on each end; SNES outweighing genesis slightly)

Apparently not so.

You thought… now this is hard for me.

You thought I was…. cured.

OF ALL THE NERVE!

Joking aside, this announcement’s long overdue, and I apologize. It’s nice to know (or think?) that you still have some time and love for something so passé between all the newest, hottest internet fads

From its origins in relative obscurity, Gunstar Heroes has nowadays become a divinity of the highest digital strata and the oft-anthologized posterchild for Genesis-exclusive action games. With this rediscovered and re-evaluated “treasure” and the art of digital reproduction at its disposal, SEGA has certainly tried to proselytized a younger generation of gamers–which is all well and good, but that isn’t my main concern.

I played Gunstar Heroes on a whim, at a time when people had generally stopped renting, selling, playing, or caring about Genesis games. But if anything is fate, then that visit to the barely-profitable rental place not two doors down from me was it–or maybe it was that free Fruit Roll-Up they promised on the box of the game. I don’t remember.

However, there has always been one feat that has daunted me; one I have oft seen, but never replicated: finishing the game on Expert, alone. The best I may be able to do is beat it down in 2-player… but we’ll see.

I don’t know when I’ll get this video in exactly, but I hope it’s before the Space Channel 5 episode that I’d hinted at previously. Truth be told, I would like that one to be a production to match the game, which was on a galactic scale–but since I’m not likely to win the lottery, it’ll at least make use of Hallowe’en costumes

Thanks to Mike for suggesting the episode title.