James "AVGN" Rolfe and friends enjoy STREEMERZ

[tepples]

AVGN long ago reviewed Action 52.

AVGN plays STREEMERZ in the first volume of Action 53. (Via koitsu; F-word warning) Video description claims that the next video will cover other included games, such as those in the Compo 2011 section.

[tokumaru]

Interesting how they consider the game to be a "mod" of Bionic Commando...

[Drew Sebastino]

I'm not trying to promote Cinemassacre, but I'm sure many of you have seen the AVGN and I thought it was interesting that they were playing a homebrew game that I often hear get mentioned here. It also says "INFINITE NES LIVES" on it, and I know he's a member here. It's kind of cool that someone semi-famous like James would be playing a game I presume was made by people here.

Anyway, this is the video. I haven't actually really watched it yet though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWxfoIhWnk4

[koitsu]

https://twitter.com/koitsu2009/status/7 ... 5381563392 -- be sure to click "View other replies" to see Tepples'.

[Drew Sebastino]

Shoot, I've never even played Bionic Commando or ever really seen the NES version, and I could already tell it wasn't it. It seemed more like the grappling hook was more like the hookshot or something of Zelda than an actual rope like in that game.

[tokumaru]

Those guys from Cinemassacre are gamers, so you can't really expect them to look at things from a coder's perspective. On the other hand, if they're playing something and sharing it on YouTube for hundreds of thousands of people to see, it wouldn't hurt to do a little research on the specific game they're playing to make sure they don't say anything stupid.

[tepples]

You don't have to be a programmer to see 90 degrees of difference between Bionic Commando and STREEMERZ: Super Strength Emergency Squad Zeta. There's a vast difference between these kinds of jumpless platformers.

Before there was STREEMERZ, there was "Streemerz" from Action 52, but even before that, there was Roc'n Rope. It's essentially a diagonal version of the "portable ladder" mechanic from Rod Land. In these games, the player moves primarily in a straight line along the rope.

Pitfall!, Bionic Commando, the Spider-Man games, and the Wrecking Ball Boy tech demo use a different paradigm in which the player moves perpendicularly to the swinging rope.

[Drew Sebastino]

if they're playing something and sharing it on YouTube for hundreds of thousands of people to see, it wouldn't hurt to do a little research on the specific game they're playing to make sure they don't say anything stupid.

Yeah, they don't really do that. What's really strange to me is how they'd never really heard of Metal Slug before they played it. (James did vaguely.) What drives me up a wall though is when they get information wrong and they're probably not to sure but they present it as fact. I know they probably don't do this on purpose and they seem like nice people, so I'll let it slide.

[Drag]

Maybe I'm alone in my stance, but they're just three gamers. They're not programmers, they're not hardcore NES tech enthusiasts, I wouldn't expect them to know the difference between a "hack" and a "homebrew", and I don't think the majority of their fanbase knows or cares either. It reminded them of Bionic Commando (as the designer seems to have intended), and if anyone likes that style of platformer, then they'd see this and might check it out. Besides, they didn't mean to downplay the game, and they even mention in the video description that there are "16 different homebrew titles such as the iconic Streemerz" (emphasis is mine). If the description didn't say that before, it says it now, meaning James or Mike noticed and updated it.

It's just really weird to get upset over our niche terminology that most people wouldn't know or care about.

[Alp]

Those guys from Cinemassacre are gamers, so you can't really expect them to look at things from a coder's perspective. On the other hand, if they're playing something and sharing it on YouTube for hundreds of thousands of people to see, it wouldn't hurt to do a little research on the specific game they're playing to make sure they don't say anything stupid.

But saying stupid things without research, is what made them famous!

[Great Hierophant]

James and Mike (and guests) videos are just a couple of gamers talking about games while playing them. They do not have a script and their memories are often nostalgic, so I expect the occasional error. They cannot be expected to be omniscient when hanging out and having fun. When James wants to do a review of a game or a movie, he is pretty accurate (his Dracula commentary is worth listening to). James still captures composite video from his systems, does not generally use emulators or reproduction games and still has wood paneling in his basement even though he can afford wainscoating.

[rainwarrior]

When you take footage like that, in some cases you know what you said was wrong by the time you're editing, but there's no clean way to cut it out without losing something else you want to keep. It's often a choice to keep the wrong thing in favour of something else, because re-filming it is not an option you want to exercise.

[Punch]

It's not stupid, mod implies modifying another person's work. Creating your own is in another league entirely. If I were the creator of the NES port my reaction would be:

beggining: AWESOME! They're playing my game from start to finish!
middle: Wait don't skip that that's my favorite dialog piece... hey you're supposed to do x not y... sigh.
end: Man this sure was fun, what an honor to have them... wait what, bionic comm-- IT'S HOMEBREW NOT A MOD!!! HOW COULD YOU? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA



I'm sure they could do minimum research on something that gives them a significant amount of revenue.

[Drag]

No matter what you release, people aren't always going to play it the way you want it to be played, and they won't always think what you want them to think. It's not worth getting so hung up over, because all you're doing is discouraging yourself if you think that way.

[rainwarrior]

No matter what you release, people aren't always going to play it the way you want it to be played, and they won't always think what you want them to think. It's not worth getting so hung up over, because all you're doing is discouraging yourself if you think that way.

This is very true. As a game developer, I might be disappointed if someone has a bad experience because of something I didn't expect, but otherwise as long as they're enjoying themselves overall, I'm happy.

I'm especially baffled when people complain about others using things like game genie or cheat codes or TAS or weird exploits. It's their experience, what's wrong with them having fun on their own terms? (...as long as they aren't cheating dishonestly, e.g. in a competitive game, but dishonesty is a separate issue.) The whole point of games is that you can choose what you want to do; if there's no choice, it's not a game. This stuff is a natural extension of that, and actually as a developer I'd generally be excited to see someone trying things with my game that I didn't even intend to be possible.