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Streamer Spotlight: A Conversation with NovaBrush!
100 Plays6 months ago
In this episode, Satsunami is joined by the Australian Hydra Knight vtuber NovaBrush! From discussions about indie gaming and what it means to be a Twitch streamer in 2024, this is one interview you will not want to miss!
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Transcript
Welcome and Guest Introduction
00:00:05
Speaker
Welcome to Chatsunami.
00:00:16
Speaker
Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of Chatsunami. My name's Satsunami and joining me for a very special streamer spotlight is none other than the one and only V-Tuber herself, NovaBrush. Nova, welcome to Chatsunami. Hi everyone, thank you so much for having me. It's really great to be here. And can I just say thank you so much for braving the time zones to come on tonight.
00:00:44
Speaker
I say tonight, but for you it's your morning. Yeah, it is. Like right now it's like 9am and I've pretty much just woke up about an hour ago. And would you believe you're the second person to be tuning in from Australia on Chatsunami? Oh really? Yeah, it's like you know that old meme, you know, if I had a nickel for every person from Australia who came on, I'd have too, which isn't a lot.
00:01:08
Speaker
But how strange has happened twice,
Discovering V-Tubing
00:01:10
Speaker
you know? Oh, they go two is better than one. Exactly, exactly. But yeah, how are you doing tonight? Yeah, going good, going good, just starting the day and might do a bit of drawing later because I haven't been really been drawing for like the last few months. So I want to get back on to that again and catch up with friends and just really chill, really. Now, that sounds awesome because, yeah, you, of course, are very multi-talented.
00:01:35
Speaker
oh gosh i mean you're an artist and you are also a vtuber as well yeah honestly i feel as if when the 2020s hit like i honestly had no idea about vtubers but see after 2020 that was it my eyes were opened
00:01:51
Speaker
Oh, yeah, absolutely. I started about two years ago and I remember seeing them floating around on YouTube, you know, just a random video here and there. I'm like, oh, that's interesting. And because I also like to animate and draw, it caught my interest. I'm like, hey, I kind of like the idea of a model. How do I do that? And I just kind of went down this pit hole of VTuber stuff and watching all these videos. And I thought I'd try it because I wasn't really much of a YouTuber where I create content and then edit
00:02:18
Speaker
videos and the whole process because while I'd enjoy that it's a lot of work and I don't have a lot of time on my hands so I thought I'd try streaming and it's funny because I started off I was like oh gosh I don't know what to say and I felt really worried about everything because I didn't know what to expect and I thought I'd try it to get better at public speaking as well so I thought I'd try that and I also got to try like express myself as a model where I started off
00:02:42
Speaker
with a 3D model that was free and it just took the base, made some edits to the hair and photoshopped the dress and then kind of went from there. And then I taught myself how to do the 2D version. So yeah. I mean, I have to say your model is really impressive for your V-Tubing because... Oh God, thank you. And apologies for all the compliments here. Don't worry, Ma.
00:03:04
Speaker
Don't worry, I know your PayPal payments just processed, so you know, I think I've got one or two more now to this day. Right, okay. No, that's fine. Yeah, just one or two more, yeah. But yeah, out of curiosity, you said you started two years ago, and this is a question I always ask every creator that comes on, because something that I've said very often is that when I started streaming in 2020 and then moreover, I started the podcast in 2020 as well,
00:03:32
Speaker
that was born really totally out of the fact that everyone was trapped in their homes due to the lockdowns and everything and the big global panini as they say. But in all seriousness, was yourself starting streaming? Was that because of the lockdowns or was it something you were always interested in?
00:03:52
Speaker
Well, I think it's just the timing is coincidental because I've always been indoors anyway, so the lockdown didn't change my lifestyle too much. So that was okay. It was just more like, you know, the usual stuff where you can't see people at certain times and how many and going to the shops and all those everyday things that we usually like to do or even take for granted.
00:04:12
Speaker
But for me, like with streaming, it just started because I wanted to. I also saw like another Australian Vtuber and I thought she was really funny. And I liked how Twitch was able to do things where you have all these emotes from all these different channels to be subbed to them, rating each other's channels. It just felt very interactive and I liked that interactivity.
Streaming Advantages and Challenges
00:04:32
Speaker
So I just gave it a shot.
00:04:34
Speaker
And how have you found V Trooping recently? I see when you jumped into it, I know you said about how you did it to improve your public speaking and things, but do you feel as if being behind the avatar has made it better for yourself rather than something like, for example, just doing no-face streaming?
00:04:54
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Oh, I guess it's really up to everyone's personal taste, really. Because I think in the end of the day, you're still a streaming still content creator. But for me, I like the idea of it because I don't have to do all this makeup, do my hair and do all the extra stuff before getting on camera and then getting all the equipment for the camera and the lighting and all this extra stuff. Whereas a VTuber goes, yep, I could just sit in my pyjamas and no one will know.
00:05:17
Speaker
And yeah, it's just nice to be able to just do that. And I was able to express myself more because, you know, I'm obviously not a Hydra girl. Sorry to break the immersion.
00:05:29
Speaker
Aww. Yeah, I know. I don't have extra hands coming out everywhere. It would be helpful multitasking, but you know, I just thought it'd be really fun. And yeah, I think I could express myself more as a Vtuber. How curiosity, what was the inspiration behind the Hydra? Because I remember you doing your announcement tweet age as I go forward.
00:05:52
Speaker
And I know you've touched your revamp and your redesigns and things sort of, and it does look absolutely fantastic, but... Oh, thank you. Why a hydra? And I feel bad for asking. I don't mean that bad. Oh, no, no, that's fine. Because I really liked when I made my Dragon Knight VTuber, she was just like an anime girl with some dragon features, like the dragon wing necklace and stuff like that. And I wanted to find ways to improve the model.
00:06:14
Speaker
And I also wanted to like the idea of challenging myself to do like a face that had a long nose, like a snout sort of thing. And I also didn't want to be just a talking anthro character. So I thought I'd try and combine the anime girl with the dragon heads. And while I was looking up for ideas and stuff like that, I remembered when my friends like to play the darkness. As you know, Jackie with the two shadowy eel kind of heads. And I thought, yo, what is that? But Hydra.
00:06:43
Speaker
And that's kind of what started it. And then I watched Godzilla, King of Monsters and King Ghidorah just kind of made my brain explode. So I thought, OK, that's going to happen now.
00:06:54
Speaker
You know, would you believe that that is one of the few Godzilla films I've actually sat down and watched? Oh, fair enough. There's no shame in that at all, because while there's so many over the decades, that's the great thing, because anyone could just pick up anyone and then be like, hey, I like this or I don't like this and kind of brings people together, I feel. Yeah, no, that's fair enough.
00:07:13
Speaker
Well, funny enough, it was actually one of my friends. Shout out to Martin McAllister. You know who you are. He is a massive Godzilla fan as well. And he was going through them and he kept saying, you know what we should do? We should review a Godzilla film. So I'm thinking, all right, well, is it going to be like the 90s Matthew Broderick one? Is it going to be the very first one? And he's like, no, no, no, no. I've got one about time travelers and robots. And I was like, OK, I'm listening. Get the popcorn out.
00:07:44
Speaker
Oh, that's amazing. Would you also believe that that was our very first commentary track as well that we did? I'm not going to say it's our magnum opus, but it is our magnum opus. That's awesome though. That is so awesome. In fact, I'm sure it was you, probably was you actually when they were scrolling through Twitter. You must have posted like a gif of King Ghadira and I was like, was that King Ghadira? Yes.
00:08:10
Speaker
I've done that a couple of times or it could have been your friend as well. Yeah. Yeah, no, it is great. A lot of calling me, a lot of calling me, you know. Yeah, yeah, for sure. No, it is such a unique design because I have to say, and don't get me wrong, I'm not an aficionado on VTubers who are like kydras or things like that because something
00:08:31
Speaker
mentioned earlier, and you're completely right in this, I did find that interesting is that when people start out Vtubing, and there's nothing wrong with this because I've done it as well, is the fact that they usually go forward the standard anime character models through programs like V-roid and even the PNGs. After that, I've just gone straight down the PNG route and decided to portray myself as a red panda. It's been a really rough four years, that's all I'm saying.
00:09:01
Speaker
That's still valid though. But before that, I was like, you know what, I feel silly using a Red Panda avatar. I might as well use an anime person that somehow makes it better. You know, people will take me seriously.
00:09:18
Speaker
as I'm playing Fall Guys yeah when it jellybeans. But it is quite interesting. Do you feel that is quite a common thing within the Vtuber community that they always feel as if they have to go for the safer option as it were like the anime characters or
00:09:34
Speaker
That's a good question. I always thought that a lot of VTuber models have like that anime influence in their design because VTubing originated in Japan and people who love anime, manga, and maybe the culture as well, either they heard of it, got wind of it, of someone streaming as a virtual model, and then it just kind of skyrocketed from there in a way. But that could be an influence maybe, or maybe it's
00:09:58
Speaker
I'm not really sure, really. I can't really speak for everybody. I know I gave mine an anime influence because, kind of like that really, because it was, it did originate in Japan. I thought it'd be like a nice homage and I like Japanese food and anime, manga, all of that stuff too. So I thought, why not? And it kind of works with my style and way too. So it makes it a bit easier for me to draw.
00:10:18
Speaker
Oh, no, absolutely. I mean, it is an iconic style, that being the anime style, of course. And especially when you're scrolling through different models and things like that for Vtubers and you see like the same stream, you're always looking for, and again, it's not just for Vtubers. I suppose it's like for the wider Twitch community, I suppose, as it were. You're looking for like that one thing to catch your eye. And of course, with yours, it's, well, I say catch your eye, you catch the eye with three heads.
00:10:48
Speaker
a bit of like, wait, what? I was like, ah, OK. Do you feel as if after you got your Hydra head, and I mean for your character, by the way? Yeah, of course, of course. Of course. Yeah, sure. Wink, wink, of course. Do you feel as if that's helped with the visibility of your channel on Twitch?
00:11:07
Speaker
I'm not really sure to be honest. I don't really pay much attention to how I get traction on my thing. I just be myself and post and see what happens. That could be a possibility maybe because I have had a few people who've raided me and I like to go back in the end of the videos just because I'm curious what they say. Sometimes they say, oh, this person looks pretty cool. They have dragon heads. Let's go raid her and stuff like that. So I mean, it's possible. Some people say they like to stay for my streams because of the stuff I talk about or play. It's a bit of a mix.
00:11:37
Speaker
back I'd
Gaming Experiences and Preferences
00:11:38
Speaker
say. Just to give context to the listeners at home because I know you do quite a few art streams as well because I have to say I have popped into some of them for lurking but then there's sometimes where it's like I'll see the notification pop up and I'll be like yeah yeah I'll check it out and then of course because of the time difference I'm fast asleep and then I wake up and I'm like what damn I've missed so many streams.
00:12:00
Speaker
Oh it happens all the time like it's funny because like most of my friends I follow they're mostly in America so it's like during the day for me or some ungodly hour when they stream so that's why I lurk a lot because I tend to be like sometimes I might be working or I might be in the middle of something I would just tune in say hello and then just lurk for a while so I understand the time zone thing completely.
00:12:23
Speaker
So what kind of things do you stream because is it right to see you're more of a variety streamer? Yeah, I think so because when I stream I just want to like I feel like socializing and playing a game or drawing. I've noticed that most of the time I prefer playing games because when I draw I tend to go quiet and I get a bit conscious about that. I'm thinking well I'll draw for a bit and I try to talk a bit like multitasking drawing and talking doesn't always go hand-in-hand with me sometimes it does sometimes it
00:12:50
Speaker
doesn't, but I tend to stream more games lately. And it's usually something that has captured my focus right now. It's Baldur's Gate. So I've been there for a while. But I also like streamed other games as well, usually like RPGs, narrative driven content as well, I guess. Yeah, because it is quite, I wouldn't say difficult, but it is a question that I think a lot of streamers ask themselves when they go on and they think, OK, what game can I play? And most of the time, I think a lot of people try to choose something that they enjoy.
00:13:20
Speaker
But then on the flip side it might be a game that they're not necessarily going to be very conversational in. You know, it's like they might have to concentrate. See those people out there who can multitask playing games like Dark Souls and Elden Ring and things.
00:13:38
Speaker
whole different level. Absolutely agree. I couldn't do that. At least I would be in between battles or I might get really hype and start swearing stuff like that. But keeping track of chat, especially the ones who have like a really active chat, I don't know how they do it. Half the time I wonder if they have an assistant on hand that helps them keep track of stuff as well because it's crazy. Or maybe they're just really talented. It's probably a bit of everything. I don't know.
00:14:03
Speaker
I mean it's between that and for me horror games and I've played maybe a couple of them on stream but good lord see multitasking in a horror game if you ever played many on stream. Oh it's funny because
00:14:18
Speaker
I'm
00:14:48
Speaker
like maybe and then I started like a hey you know how you do like those goals sort of thing on Twitch or you put in towards channel points or whatever and it says hey if you reach this I could play a horror game if you like and then they reached it I'm like okay I guess I have to do that so now to try and find something scary I worry about it sometimes because I scream it's just not
00:15:11
Speaker
Yeah, same. I'm not even going to pretend and be like, no horror games don't faze me. No, no, no. I am a massive scaredy cat. When I was still streaming, I remember playing Outlast for the full three and a bit hours. Yeah, my soul left my body about
00:15:27
Speaker
Maybe three times, I want to say. Yeah. There's a compilation video on YouTube that documents it very well. It's just in case the neighbours one day knock the door and go, you know that day back in 2020 when we were yelling a lot? What was that all about? And I'm like, here's the link. Just watch.
00:15:45
Speaker
There you go, free publicity, just go watch it. Honestly, I think it's definitely, jump scares always get me, I have to say. Every time. I remember going to see, and I don't know if you've seen this film, The Woman in Black. No, I haven't seen it yet.
00:16:00
Speaker
So it's the, oh I can't remember when that came out but I saw it in the cinema and it was marketed as one of the scariest movies of all time. Oh god. I mean so they say, they also said that about the film Smile and yeah they said about that film the better.
00:16:17
Speaker
That was very good. But I remember going to it and they were like, oh, there's a big jump scare here and there's a big jump scare there. It sounds like the worst version of McDonald's there. There was a scene where someone turned on a tap and this woman in the back of the theatre just screamed a head off. And I was like, could you not? Yeah, you don't need the 4D effect with the audience joining in.
00:16:44
Speaker
Do you know what makes a game even scarier? Is when you've got someone who's even more scared than you. Oh my god. It's funny because I find horror games easier and probably a bit more fun to play when it's multiplayer like Lethal Company or Phasmaphobia even though Gross is like my do not do thing.
00:17:03
Speaker
I was okay to do it with a group of friends. And one of my other friends, when we first met, he was my boss at work in a retail place. And I used to be intimidated by him because, you know, he's the boss or whatever. But as soon as I became friends with him and got out of the work setting, he's such a teddy bear. And then he's more scared at horror games than I am. So like when I hear him scream, I scream. And then I start laughing because it's funny him being more scared than I am because he's like this six foot tall guy with a long beard and long hair. He looks like a Viking kind of guy.
00:17:31
Speaker
And here we go like high pitched and stuff. It's so funny. And it was great. And hearing his wife, who's like a lot braver than both of us combined, he just has a girl with him and she's the brave one. That's great. Because I just had flashbacks there. See when you mentioned Phasmophobia. Oh my god. Again, I've got this incriminating evidence. I mean compilation video.
00:17:56
Speaker
of me and my friend playing it when it was relatively new. And I remember the first time I played it, I was playing the tutorial and I walked into the house for the first time and you know when you walk into the house and there's the ominous music and it was like something out of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. I was just like, no, I was like, no, I'm out of here, I'm out of here. So then my friend came on and it's like, oh yeah, let's play it. And we were both just absolutely dead.
00:18:24
Speaker
just yelling. The entire time I was like, yeah this isn't, well it's fun but also it's terrifying because there was a bit where the lights went out, I was trapped in the house and I was hugging the wall because I couldn't get out. So my friend was trying to coax me out to be like, no no go this way, no no that way. Looking through the window being like, oh I can see you, go go go go go. Oh my gosh.
00:18:45
Speaker
honest-to-goodness. And again, I don't have the beard right enough, but I'm an over-six-foot guy who's, I don't know, I don't think I give off the impression that I'm very brave. Like, on the computer I'm just like, no, no, absolutely ghost. Nah, forget it. I mean, sometimes I often, I even jump when I'm recording or streaming and then all of a sudden you hear this bang in the background and it'll be my dog banging the door or something.
00:19:14
Speaker
I'll tell you something. I was working in one of the rooms upstairs in my house and all of a sudden I heard voices from downstairs. Oh, no. And I just want to make a square. I kind of work alone. It was one of the days when it was just me in the house and me and the dog. And I heard these voices like, you know, a very hushed whisper. And I was like, who the hell's that? So, you know, I bravely scooted down the stairs. I'm like, oh, God, who is it? Who is it? Turns out my dog had caught the remote control and had
00:19:44
Speaker
turned on the TV yeah oh my god oh my god honestly my soul left my body at that point I was just like I don't know what was scarier that or the fact she turned on the news
00:20:00
Speaker
horror games are definitely, they're an acquired taste, aren't they? Mm-hmm. Absolutely. If I had to do anything scary, I have to be like prepared in the zone for it. Sometimes I'd be like really curious or, you know what, I can try something scary, but most of the time it's not. No, I have to build myself up. I'm like, come on, you can do this. Yeah, yeah. And then by the time you get on, you're like, no, I can't do this. No, computer's broken. Sorry, chat. Yep. Yep. Yep. Most in the machine. Oh, would you look at that?
00:20:31
Speaker
But yeah, is there any favourite game though that you would say that you love coming back to and protect your work? The two games right now, because I tend to change my favourites every however many months or years sort of thing. The ones that I tend to go back to right now are Baldur's Gate, Valheim and Banjo-Kazooie. Oh, Banjo-Kazooie, so good.
00:20:51
Speaker
I grew up with that game and that's just something that always fills me with nostalgia and it's always one of those feel-good games where everything's so wacky and fun and solving puzzles and it's just great. It's a classic for me. And right now at Baldur's Gate I've beat it twice and now I'm trying the hardest difficulty to try and get gold dice.
00:21:11
Speaker
That's not going too well. I've been on my fifth attempt now, and in Valheim it's just so nice to just go exploring. The music's so serene most of the time, and just crafting houses and other things you need, especially with friends, because I'm on a community server with some of my
00:21:27
Speaker
friends and it's just really nice that we built like a little village where we each have our own house and whenever we want to go find a boss or explore somewhere we'll take turns and give each other roles and I like to be the cook for the village so like I'd do all the cooking and farming stuff because the repetitive task of doing that is really relaxing for me for some reason because I know in real life I wouldn't like to be farming every day but I think it's just something different when it's just in a game setting I guess and yeah those are the three I tend to go back to
00:21:56
Speaker
Just going off what you said there, it reminds me of... Have you seen The Simpsons? Yeah. Yeah. There's an episode of that that always reminds me of when I think of video games like that, where, you know, you do chores and kind of menial tasks, but you get some enjoyment out of it, seeing everything flourish. But when you look at your own garden or house or something, you're just like...
00:22:15
Speaker
Yeah, no, I'll do it tomorrow, I'll do it tomorrow. And it reminds me of that scene at the Simpsons where Marge is trying to get Bart and Lisa to do the garden and they wouldn't do it, but then they go to think it's a carnival or something and they want to try. Oh, yes, yes, I know what you're talking about. Yeah, they want to try the yard work some year later.
00:22:36
Speaker
And it's just like, but you weren't at home. Exactly. You know, I had the same thought when I was playing Unpacking. Oh, that's such a good game. And I'm like, I have my own rooms to clean up right now, but I don't want to do that. This is more fun. So I just do that. And I'm a lot more tidier in that game because it makes you. Whereas in real life, I'm more like organized chaos is probably the best way to put it. Stuff is everywhere, but I know exactly where they are. And then when I start putting them on shelves and stuff like that, I don't know where they are.
00:23:10
Speaker
No, I know exactly what you mean there. I mean, I have to say for unpacking, one of the things that I wasn't a big fan of in the game was when it was like you put something in a particular place and the game was acting like a very angry parent or not angry, but disappointed parent when it's like, that's not where it goes. And it's like, I want it there. I want to put it in that cupboard. And it's like, exactly.
00:23:29
Speaker
I know it's like T-Rex version. It's like, where did it go?
00:23:35
Speaker
We want to be creative, at least we're organising and putting it away and not leaving it on the floor. Or maybe I want to put it on the floor, that's where I know where I'll find a random stapler. Why do you have everything under the bed and it's like, this is my vision, okay? It's a piece of art you don't understand. Look, you didn't question Picasso, okay? Don't question me. Exactly. These indie games, I want to stick in this.
00:24:06
Speaker
Oh no, it is such a good game because I have to say I went down an absolutely indie game rabbit hole. I think a couple of months ago I was playing games like Edith Finch. We did an episode as well on Papers, Please return to Obra Dinn, those kind of games. Oh nice, I have those to my wish list actually. So it's like my to play list. Oh they are so good. Well, sorry, I say so good. I feel like a monster saying that Papers, Please is so good.
Emotional Connection to Indie Games
00:24:34
Speaker
I'm sitting here going, oh, it's a great experience. You get to micromanage whether your family dies. It's such an immersive game, you know that way where it sucks you into the world and everything despite it being pixelated graphics and things. They're just masterfully done. Again, my friend and I, we did an episode on it and I think we just sounded very tired as if we had been on a shift.
00:25:04
Speaker
in the Art Stotzka fictional place where it starts and it's like just off the ticket barrier. Oh my gosh. Yeah, I guess that game surprised me. I haven't played it yet, but I was surprised like how where I was saved it was in terms of how immersive, as you said, it was because I thought, oh, you're sitting behind a counter and you're pressing approved and I approved. I was kind of judging it a bit too harshly, I think. And then I started watching some of my friends stream and I'm like, oh, I get it.
00:25:31
Speaker
I get it. So then I just added it to the list and that'll be a to play thing for me. You're just like approved. Yep, you go. I just stepped the approved button right there. Now it is. It's one of those games that you get into rhythm with it and you just go autopilot and that is one of the scary things about it because I know there's a commentary in there somewhere.
00:25:54
Speaker
But it's like initially you really fret about, oh, should I let this person in? Should I not? Should I waste the first citation? Because I think you get one warning per day. You can let somebody in, even though they're not supposed to go in, but then you stamp their passport and everything and
00:26:11
Speaker
you have to kind of juggle that. You have to decide, oh, am I going to be a good guy or am I going to provide for my family and everything? And it is just so... It gets to the point where you are just like stamp, stamp, stamp. No, that's not right. Stamp, stamp. But no, it is. It's an absolutely fantastic game. You're completely right, though, in terms of games that you look at initially and you think, I'm not going to have any emotions for this. And then by the end of it, you're just like, man,
00:26:41
Speaker
Oh, yeah, absolutely. I was like that with Undertale when it first came out because I thought like, oh, the music and I kept all the music on the chat list because, you know, it's amazing. Playlists on YouTube or whatever. I started playing it and I remember my first reaction seeing Flowey and I'm just like, oh, this is so cringe because it was just like overly, hi, I'm so happy and welcome to this fantastical world sort of thing, you know? And then I started realizing the game is not everything's what it seems. And then I got so invested in it. I even started RP'ing and drawing and everything. I was like, oh,
00:27:11
Speaker
Oh my God, I love this game so much. And it got me through a lot of difficult times around the time as well, you know, stay determined sort of thing. And it had a really nice message about friendship and try to be good and that kind of thing. And I was just like, Oh my God, I love this game so much. It was nice that it started with simple mechanics and a pixel game without, you know, AAA graphics sort of thing. And it's so beloved as well, which is nice too. I have to say the one for me was to the moon. Oh my gosh. Yeah.
00:27:39
Speaker
Oh have you played it? I've started playing it and I could already feel the emotional investment in it. I started it and I could not initially understand why so many people were saying, oh it's the most emotional game you're ever gonna play and this and that and I was like
00:27:55
Speaker
I mean, I've cried out of the games before, you know, you're going to set a high bar here. Long story short, four hours later, I was a sobbing heap on the floor. Oh my gosh. It honestly got such a beautiful ending. And I mean, it was so good that I went out and bought the other two games in the series. Finding Paradise and Postifactory, those were the two. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:28:18
Speaker
I didn't think they were as good story wise but I still teared up because you always go into them unprepared and it's like you know that meme where it's the guy going up to the computer saying right that's it I'm gonna go on I'm not gonna cry yep yep yeah you see those games and he's just a sobbing wreck yeah that was me I was just like these are such beautiful games and it's just so surprising especially what you were saying with Undertale which again it's on my backlog I really need to play it but
00:28:48
Speaker
Yeah, it is. It's just amazing how games like that can really tug at your heartstrings and get you. I mean, especially compared to some, you know that way. Like, have you ever played a triply game where it's got the swelling music and the very dramatic scene, and you're like, haha, nice try.
00:29:05
Speaker
Yep, I remember I was playing the telltale game version of Borderlands and they're trying so hard to ship the main character with this girl character. And I really didn't like her. And there's all these props where they go into this park with these magical plants that are glowing. It's like Avatar movie kind of-esque sort of setting. And, you know, they're saying, oh, wow, this is so great. And there's props that are like, hold her hand, look into her eyes and lean in for a kiss. And I'm like, nah, we're not doing any of those. We're not romancing anybody. We're going to be ace in this game.
00:29:35
Speaker
And the game got so bad at me for not shipping them because you're like, no, you're supposed to ship them. I'm like, nah, we're not doing that. I don't like her.
00:29:44
Speaker
I don't want it. I don't want it. She's got this really cringe attitude. I don't like her and she's so like out there and we're not doing that. If we're going to ship, I want to have a choice.
Character Relationships in Games
00:29:55
Speaker
No, not her. And the game is like, you want to look into her eyes. I feel like by the point of me rejecting those choices over and over, I may as well put it in bold and caps lock because I do it. You know, you have to. And then by the end of it, I found out I was in the five or 10% of people who didn't go with the romance option.
00:30:13
Speaker
I mean, you should get a trophy for that. I should. I agree.
00:30:19
Speaker
I have to say, I actually played the Mass Effect trilogy for the first time a couple of months ago. They are amazing. They have actually shot up to some of my absolute favourite games of all time. Oh, absolutely, yeah. And I want to give a shout out to Marie from the Two Girls One Usable Cup podcast and Dan from Casting Views, the two people and fellow podcasters that semi-bullied me into playing them.
00:30:45
Speaker
Nice, nice. Because they were like, you know what we should do in the episodes and long story short, we're actually organizing a month's worth of Mass Effect content soon. Amazing. Is there a character that you particularly like so far? Oh, there's so many, I have to say. There's far too many. Rex, absolutely amazing. Absolutely love Morden. RIP.
00:31:08
Speaker
There's just so many, but it actually reminds me of what you were saying there about the game pushing you towards a particular character, because when I played through 2 and 3, I romanced Tali. Oh, she's great. Oh, she's such a good character, and I just loved the storyline that went along with that. And you know you have Goddesses as well, Goddesses.
00:31:29
Speaker
amazing, and all the other characters are so good. But I remember playing the first one, and I think it was maybe the order that I actually played it in, because when I was playing it, I got Liara last. And I remember a couple of missions later, and all of a sudden she's like, Sheppard, I think I love you. And I'm like, that's plenty. Pushing this blue face away from me like, nope.
00:31:57
Speaker
away with you brave heart, away with you. Again, it's like, I feel as if Mass Effect genuinely wants to push Liara, as you know the name. Yeah, I think so too. Yeah, I wasn't vibing with it. It just came across as just, you've been on my ship five minutes. Simmer down, take a drink. You're the protagonist. You've got that plot armour. You've got that natural 20 charisma going on there, you know? I don't blame her at all.
00:32:26
Speaker
But I mean, the awkward thing is it was between her or I think it's Ashley as the other one because you can't romance Tali or Goddess in the first game, which I think is terrible, mind you, but I was laughing at that because I was like, okay, I don't want to romance Liada because this is moving a bit too fast, you know? So I'm like, who else have I got? And I go, oh, I've got Ashley. Then I look at who I left behind in Vermeijer and I'm like, I sacrificed her back in Vermeijer so, Jesus, she's gone.
00:32:57
Speaker
So all I've got is a needy asari in the other room where I'm like, no thank you. Even the game was like, Jesus Christ.
00:33:10
Speaker
I'm like, what are you doing? I'm like, my job. Oh, that's so funny. And apparently, I think, lore-wise, the Asara is supposed to be the most attractive race out of all the alien races that all the other races really want to be with sort of thing. I haven't played it for a long time, but I do remember that vaguely. So it's probably, it's like you're rejecting the lore. How dare you reject the lore. And I will reject it forever more.
00:33:36
Speaker
That's the thing, you're completely right. In Mass Effect, they always come across as, oh, look at us, look at how attractive we are, blah, blah, blah. And then you see what they do, you know, their eyes turn black and they're like, oh, I'm into my mind palace. And I'm like, nope, nope.
00:33:54
Speaker
No, no, no, thank you. Oh my god, I don't blame you. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am, but this is a Citadel. Thank you, but no, thank you. Ma'am, this is a Wendy's, you know. No. Oh, I don't know what it is. I think it's because I saw, you know the, I can't remember her name off the top of my head, but you know the other asari that you have to hunt down in the second game and it's the daughter of Samara. Oh yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And yeah, that was a really intense scene.
00:34:24
Speaker
The fact that you can get mind-boggled to death, I'm just going to say. For the PG audience, mind-boggled. But I mean, obviously I didn't do that, but I saw the scene on YouTube and I was like, that's as freaky as hell. People like the assorte. Apparently. And it's like, okay, who am I going to choose? And I'm like, I'm going to choose the person with a face mask at least. I'm going to be safe here.
00:34:52
Speaker
I don't know. Maybe COVID and the lockdowns broke me, but I'm like, okay, someone with a mask. I'm safe. Okay. Oh gosh. And I think Tally just has a really nice personality where it's kind of casual and sweet and you just want to learn more about her kind of thing. So yeah, she's great. Like I romance Garris because oh my gosh, Garris and his voice. Oh my gosh, his voice.
00:35:15
Speaker
But like, you know, I've always liked that tough exterior and then they're just a softener deep down. And I love that. That's why with them, the Garris rap, if I didn't romance him, I probably would have gone with Tally. She's just really great. Yeah, to be fair, Garris is pretty damn good as a character. Like, I feel as if in the first game he's very much a, oh, I don't play by the rules, I'm a badass. And you're like, sit down, drink out your sippy cup, you'll be fine.
00:35:39
Speaker
Yeah, like he's just written so well. Like he works really well as just your best friend or your partner kind of character. And I think they did the same treatment of Tally as well. Yeah, I guess it depends on how much focus and how much depth they decide to give each character. Because I have to say the one that absolutely broke me when I was looking that up was apparently you can romance Thane from the second game. Oh yeah.
00:36:01
Speaker
I was talking to a friend and she was like, oh, I romance Thane and I barely completed the third game because of what happens. And you know, I was like, what happens? You know, he meets an unfortunate end for semi-spoilers, but he meets the unfortunate end. But what I didn't realise was see if you romance him in the second game, in the third game, and then you play the Citadel DLC. He comes up as a force ghost.
00:36:27
Speaker
Oh, okay. Oh, do you not know about this? I didn't know because, you know, I was really chaotic when I played Mass Effect. I started with the Citadel DST and then I played two and then three. And it was also in different consoles. Cause I was like going from like PlayStation three to four at the time, something like that. I didn't have that connected lore, but I did know that there was a connectedness to it sort of thing. The forest ghost. That's hilarious.
00:36:51
Speaker
that's the only way I can describe it because it's like at the end of the Citadel DLC you have all your crew members beside you and you're looking out to the Normandy and depending on who you romance they come up beside you and you know they say oh this was the best time and everything and if you don't choose a partner you'll just be talking to Joker and
00:37:14
Speaker
I will say, oh it was the best time. A few romance then and of course you get to that point where he's no longer in the game and after you have his funeral, there's a scene where everyone vanishes and his ghost just appears behind you and you get a sting of him saying things like, oh I'll meet you across the seas here. Oh no!
00:37:34
Speaker
I'm sitting here as a guy just like, I'm not crying, you're crying. You're exactly like, I'm getting emotional right now. And like, I wasn't that connected to thing, but damn. Because, oh, that's the thing about Mass Effect and see games like this where you spend hundreds of hours just absolutely invested in the world. You know, by the time you get to the end, you don't want it to end. It got so bad that I ended up playing Andromeda after it. Yeah, I've got to say, not my favourite.
00:38:02
Speaker
Unfortunately, I didn't even pick up the game because I played Mass Effect for the characters and the cast for Andromeda didn't really capture my attention very much. And then I started the reviews coming in and I was like, oh, I might give this a miss then. Yeah. Well, the only reason I played it is because it's free on the game pass. And even then, if you're as if I paid too much. Oh, fair enough.
00:38:24
Speaker
Again, this is the thing I think that everybody says about it. They always say, oh, it's a great game. Gameplay wise, it's the best. And you're turning around to the person and you're going, tell me about the story. Yeah, exactly. Oh, the gameplay. The gameplay's great. No, no, no, no, no. Story, characters. Come on. Oh, but the gameplay. No, no, no. It's always the gameplay. It's never. I have never heard someone say, do you know who's better than Shepard? Ryder.
00:38:52
Speaker
No one has said that. Honestly, see if there's a listener out there who is brave enough to admit it. Please reach out because I would love to interview you. I don't believe it personally. I think people enjoy it and that is perfectly valid. Yeah, that's fair. I was just curious, do you have a preference for male or female shipping?
00:39:11
Speaker
Honestly, it's a tough one because I did sit for a good while thinking, should I go for male? Should I go for female? You know, back and forth, because I know the game is completely, well, not completely different, but it does play differently compared to certain things like
00:39:27
Speaker
the way you interact with people and the way other characters interact with you. And I'm going to be honest, when I saw Tali and I thought, okay, I'm going to romance her, but I can't romance her as female Shepard. So I had to go with a male route and I really want to replay as female Shepard. But now I've got the dilemma because I want to go back through the game and play it as a Renegade. Oh, yes. Yeah. Because that was a good paragon boy, I'm going to be honest. No, I did the same too.
00:39:55
Speaker
But now I've got the option, and I know there's a lot of Garris fans probably listening to us going, what the hell do you mean there's only Garris? Do I go for Garris, the safe option, or do I go for Thane, which is the more emotional option? It's such a stupid thing to think of because you're thinking, oh, you go for the plot, you go for this and that, you don't go for the romance sim.
00:40:17
Speaker
I don't think it's stupid at all like it's part of the experience really the characters you invest in along the journey it's not just peel peel shoot and move on to the next area it's the journey you make with them so that's a completely valid thing to wonder because I was like that too with games like Mass Effect and Baldur's Gate as well because I was thinking about what kind of experience am I looking for which characters interest me and how can I make that work sort of thing yeah no that's completely valid nothing wrong with that at all
00:40:43
Speaker
I have to say, for games like that, it's really an investment, isn't
Gaming Backlog and Relaxation
00:40:48
Speaker
it? One of my friends absolutely loves Persona 5. I remember buying it ages ago and being like, okay, I'm going to sit down, I'm going to take a couple of hours a night, I'm going to play it. Long story short, it's still sitting on my shelf.
00:41:02
Speaker
Yeah, fair. Honestly, not because I'm adverse to playing it or anything, but it's just like I am terrible for seeing when the game gets really popular. I've got Baldur's Gate, someone kindly gifted it to me and you know, absolutely a fantastic gift. But I've still to play it because I just haven't found the time to actually put it on. No, it's fair. Are you the same with games or do you just immediately buy the game and then play it outright?
00:41:29
Speaker
It depends on how I feel. Sometimes when I see a game that's been talked about a lot and I see a lot of gameplay about it, I tend to buy it right away before I actually think about it too much. Like, Palworld was one of them. There was like a big hype about that and all, whether it was controversy or something funny. And I saw the gameplay. I'm like, well, I like the cute creatures. I really like crafting games and I like open world. I'm going to go for it. And then I streamed it with my first gameplay and it was great. Some games
00:41:55
Speaker
I do put on the waiting list for quite a while before I'm ready to buy them, but some games, I don't know, it just depends how I feel and most of them go unfinished. So yeah, I do understand the time investment thing because it's just, I wish I could stream more. I've just recently got off hiatus and before that I can only stream like once a week or if I do stream during the week, it's like at nighttime. So I completely understand. It's just so many games and you know, the good things are going to be there. So whenever you're ready.
00:42:21
Speaker
because I have to admit the other one that is sitting in my backlog, giving me the angry eyes, is City Yakuza games. Oh yeah, that's been on my shelf too. I get it. And the words of the cool fans at home, it's the Big Dammit Anay moment. Because it's like, I've got that on my Spotify playlist.
00:42:40
Speaker
Have I played the game? Have I, heck. And again, it's not because I don't want to play it, because I've played similar games and, you know, I've absolutely loved them. And again, it's just a time investment for them because... It is, yeah. I mean, I'm kind of glad, years and years ago, I played Sleeping Dogs. Is that one you've played before? No, I haven't played it yet. Oh, that's one I'd definitely recommend. I mean, granted, it's a bit bloody, but at the same time, you know, it's like
00:43:06
Speaker
I don't want to undersell it and be like, oh, it's like GTA and Hong Kong, but it's a fairly decent game. But again, you can play Sleeping Dogs, but why can't you invest the hours up or so now or Yakuza or whatever? I just don't have the time. Being an adult sucks. That's all I'm saying.
00:43:21
Speaker
I agree and also if you've got a really full on schedule and you're tired at the end of the day you just don't really want to think, you just want to enjoy and it's what I tend to do with the games I play. I tend to hyper focus on a game for a while because it's just something that's not too much, I'm not investing too much energy into and then like when something new comes around I usually play that when I have a fresh day like on a weekend for example.
00:43:40
Speaker
I completely understand when you have limited time and if you have a new game that you could play but then it's also a game you're more familiar with its style or maybe it's just something that makes it nice and relaxing to play. It's all about the experience really. I have a curiosity just thinking back to the sphere of content creation. Do you ever play a game and you know you play it and you think this is a fantastic game and then you have that brief moment where your inner voice says this would be great to stream.
00:44:08
Speaker
All the time, pretty much any content creator will be thinking that and those who do it professionally for a career, it's like definitely dominant on your mind sort of thing. I like the idea of streaming it because I like sharing experience with people and sometimes it's fun to capture my reactions to some things. Whether if it's like something emotional and unexpected happened, I just start crying or if it's something that's really unexpected and funny and then I just
00:44:30
Speaker
I remember when I was playing Lethal Company with some friends, it was one of the first times I played multiplayer. Well, I mean, it is multiplayer game, but one of the first times I played the game and I go into blind because I thought the game would be more scary and fun if I didn't know anything. So I didn't look up anything at the game except for how the controls work. And that was it. I didn't know anything else. And when I went in, it was a stormy map. It was like thunder and lightning. And I didn't know that you shouldn't pick up metal items.
00:44:56
Speaker
Because I was inside the base of the building, my friends were like being scary, making spooky sounds and trying to jump scare me. And I'm just like, you know what? I'm out, bye. I leave the building, pick up the items and go towards the ship. And then the lightning struck me. I went flying into the air and I was like, oh my God, what the hell just happened? So, yeah.
00:45:16
Speaker
I know, it's always creative learning from experience, isn't it? Absolutely. That's just half the fun, really. Probably going to date the episode by admitting this, but I have to say that's the exact same way I feel about Sea Helldivers 2. Yeah, I've been cautiously watching from afar sort of thing. I'm saying, hmm, should I play? Looks like fun.
00:45:35
Speaker
I have to say, I was the exact same. I was like, I don't know. And then a couple of friends bought it and they're like, come on, come on. And now half of the people in the podcast group that I'm in, the Podpack collective, they're like, oh yeah, it's such a great game and everything. And you're like, okay, fine, I'll buy it. So I caved in, I bought it. I thought, right, okay, this is my supporting the indie developer of the month.
00:45:56
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Absolutely loved it. I'm not going to lie. It ran absolutely fantastically on my computer that I did a couple of years old. If you're into that type of gameplay and things, it is just absolutely fantastic. But I'm glad I didn't stream it though, because the amount of times I died in such embarrassing ways, I may or may not have friendly fired on my friend by accident. Oh my gosh.
00:46:20
Speaker
because there was this mission that we did, and it was like, oh, you have to plant this particular bomb there, and you have to set it off. And it turns out that while it's counting down, if you shoot it, it won't set it off. But you know what does set it off? If you call in a supply drop right beside it, so all of your perks and things come in through airdrops and things, and they just smash into the ground. And me not thinking, I was like, you know what?
Community Influence on Gaming Decisions
00:46:46
Speaker
I'm thirsty for more ammo than I plan.
00:46:51
Speaker
I mean, I got the ammo, but was it worth it? No. I was about 10 feet in the air. That sounds amazing.
00:47:00
Speaker
Yeah, it's one of these games that has been going absolutely vital, a bit like when Colorado came out, you know, it was everywhere, but you see so many funny clips and the community for it just seems so amazing to order. Is that something you look for? So even you're looking for a new game, especially multiplayer games, do you ever look at the community to get a kind of gauge at how you're going to enjoy the game?
00:47:24
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Power was the first example I could think of as well. I don't usually rely on reviews whenever I play games or watch movies and stuff. I like to just give it a go sort of thing. But when it comes to games, especially if they're like a new release AAA game, a lot of money now. The inflation
00:47:39
Speaker
games over the past five, ten years been crazy. So yeah, I don't know. I tend to look at the community and what they like, what they think of it. And if it's usually majority, it's good. I like to give it a go. I don't usually do that very often with games I don't normally play. I used to play a lot of fighting games. I love Soulcalibur and Dead or Alive and games like that, but I haven't played that for a very long time. So a new fighter game came out that's completely unfamiliar with. I'd be reluctant to buy it because I like to invest my money in something that I enjoy sort of thing. And
00:48:08
Speaker
I guess also if you're a content creator, it kind of shapes what kind of audience and yourself as a personality sort of thing, what games you like to play and what to expect from the experience of watching the streams. So I just usually go with what I like and then branch out here and there for something new.
00:48:23
Speaker
No, you're completely right though because, and again, as you said, it's most likely because of inflation and everything, but AAA games nowadays are such an investment, both in time and monetary value as well, but it's the fact that you go to get a new game and you're like, is it going to be worth paying upwards of, yeah, like $60, $80, or some of the prices are ridiculous.
00:48:49
Speaker
Over here, Dragon's Dogma is $100. And if you get the deluxe addiction, it's $120. And I'm just like, oh god. I don't know if I would play this game that much because I haven't played it before. Yeah, I definitely understand about the investment of games.
00:49:04
Speaker
I have done that. I'm probably the person who stands outside game shops like, you know, is it Mike Myers from Halloween waiting for the sales? Be like, have you got a sale yet? Same as Steam, like, have you got a sale yet? Have you got a sale yet? No? Okay,
Ownership and Digital vs. Physical Games
00:49:20
Speaker
I'll come back later. You guys just do your thing.
00:49:22
Speaker
Absolutely. Don't mind me, I'm just watching in the corner, they're like, you okay? I know what you mean. I think you take it for granted, see when you were younger and everything and you were able to go to physical game stores because I know, in fact, that's what I thought actually. T4 physical game stores, are they still as prevalent over there?
00:49:40
Speaker
We still have them around. They usually tend to go to ones where they're not a lot of small ones. They're a lot of more iconic ones like EB Games or you go to a biggest general store, JB Hi-Fi or Kmart or not Kmart anymore, but bigger stores that sell games.
00:49:55
Speaker
specialty games, you tend to go to the one type of store. I guess like in America, it'd be like GameSpot. So the Australian version of GameSpot, I'd say would be roughly Eevee games sort of thing. But other than that, you get smaller ones like Game Traders and not many people go to it by comparison, especially if say, for example, people who aren't usually gamers, they're not going to know about that sort of thing. So like you kind of have to be, I guess, aware if you're in that community of gamers sort of thing, you know where to go. But yeah, yeah.
00:50:25
Speaker
I mean over here and you know I'm just speaking from someone in Scotland right enough but the more prominent shops that we used to have was one called Game and I think they went to like the Madonna school of naming things with just one name. They just thought
00:50:40
Speaker
Should we call it something else? No, just call it game because that used to be its own independent shop and then all of a sudden I think it got absorbed by whoever the guy was that runs a sports store here called, I think it's JD Sports or Sports Direct, one of the two.
00:50:57
Speaker
basically now those kind of shops are at the back of those shops so it's like you have to wade through all of the joggy bottoms and trainers and things just to get to the gaming section and even then it's like mainly Funko Pops and trading cards and things. I mean even we had another in a multimedia store called HRV and HRV still around but it used to have like a big section at the back for video games but I genuinely can't remember the last time
00:51:26
Speaker
I saw a video game in HMV. I think they've genuinely started to either phase them out or they're just not turning as much of a profit from having them there. And I was just quite curious to see just if it was the same over there because I think people just buy it off of either Amazon or off the storefront or just go completely digital, which is a whole other argument in itself, mind you. That is definitely one of the big things I think that's been popping up that a lot of people are quite concerned
00:51:55
Speaker
Oh absolutely like if the servers went down for whatever reason or I think a recent one was when I can't remember which company it was but I remember when you buy the game you don't actually own it anymore or something and you just own the right to play it or something and it was only temporary and if you don't have an account or subscription anymore it's no longer yours or something or other I could be wrong I remember vaguely seeing something like that and I'm just like then you know
00:52:19
Speaker
If you buy it, it's yours. It's a product. It shouldn't be a subscription service. I know there are some games like that and they're really fun, but I prefer just seeing games as a product rather than a subscription service. Because I mean, I think one of the recent ones was when Nintendo shut down the, I think it was the 3DS and Wii U store. I think that was last year, granted, but they were starting to wrap up and be like, okay, we're going to shut these down slowly and everything.
00:52:47
Speaker
And you know, at first you kind of think, all right, okay, maybe it's their time, but then you look into it further and you think, oh my God, I've got all of these Pokemon or, you know, all these things that are now trapped in my 3DS and they're probably going to shut
00:53:03
Speaker
down the five services that they had to transfer them over. So it honestly feels quite weird that companies are doing that. And you can see why, but again, it's that idea that a lot of companies have. I suppose they get to decide what you're playing almost. Maybe I'm being a bit dramatic by saying the apologies, but there was one I saw recently, and I think it was for Spec Ops The Line that got delisted recently.
00:53:29
Speaker
Yeah it was something to do with I think it was the music they used in the game and the license ran out so they weren't allowed to sell it anymore and that just absolutely shocks me because I would say it's definitely a game worth playing but nobody can play it now because I mean unless you get a physical copy or you've already bought it but if you haven't then kind of up the creek without a paddle as a player.
00:53:51
Speaker
That's a shame and makes me wonder, say for example, when you said that you had a game that was trapped in your DS, I don't know if I have it anymore on the store. Do you think there might be something in the future where I have a collector's item DS because no one else has this game or something. Very few people have this game by comparison.
00:54:07
Speaker
Well, see, you say that, but we've already seen that happen with Silent Hill PT. Do you remember that? I think it was just a demo, wasn't it, for Silent Hill PT? Oh yeah, that's right. Yeah, that's why when you're walking through the hallways, right? That's the one, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There were loads of people selling their PlayStation 4s.
00:54:25
Speaker
because they were like selling them for ridiculous amounts of money because they had Silent Hill Petey on it. I could be wrong in this, but I'm pretty sure Sony, I don't know about other companies, but I'm pretty sure Sony is the only company that have worked out how to take your games off of your console.
Nostalgia for Classic Games
00:54:46
Speaker
And again, you know, this might be like scaremongering in terms of gaming, but I think if you updated your PlayStation, then it removed the game from your library. And it's just a scary thought to think that companies can just do that, you know, and say, Absolutely. Oh, you bought this game or oh, you downloaded this game. Now you're all right. We are going to take it back, kind of thing. It's just it's definitely different from the days of getting like the N64 cartridges and things.
00:55:13
Speaker
Oh gosh, yeah, definitely. I mean, do you think that gaming companies just don't feel as if it's worth investing in nostalgic properties and like nostalgic games to bring them to modern hardware? Yeah, I don't know. It's a bit of a tough one.
00:55:29
Speaker
I think that question, but I think with the attitude of seeing games as a product, once you buy it, it's yours and it should stay like that. So I guess I'm not really sure how to answer that question. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know if it's not worth it, but I also think it's a shame that we lose the opportunity to replay something we really like.
00:55:45
Speaker
But if we look at a comparison to a physical copy, for example, some of the Pokemon games I've had on my Game Boy Color, one of the batteries on the little cartridge thing just died and I could no longer play it anymore. So I guess even physical copies would have their shelf life in a way. It's just a lot longer than it would be on a digital, I think. It's not Pokemon silver or gold by any chance, is it? It is silver. Because I've got a copy that did the exact same thing. Oh, no. It's happening now.
00:56:14
Speaker
happening to everybody and I'm like oh no! It's like Logan's run, it's just after a certain point it just goes off. Oh gosh. What was worse was I remember completing the Pokedex in silver. Well up to 150 right enough there was one missing but I couldn't get it. Yeah one day I switched it on and it was like new game and I'm like no no no no no you know me you know me game. He's like
00:56:39
Speaker
No, I don't know. That was devastating. Oh, I can only imagine. No, I know what you mean. It's a shame, I suppose, to leave them in the past, but it is good when companies do bring it back, as it were. For example, you were mentioning Banjo-Kazooie as well, where I'm assuming you mean the 361? The one that, oh, yeah. Yeah.
00:57:06
Speaker
Oh no, sorry, not nuts and bolts. No, no, sorry. I'm in the real replay for legal reasons. Oh okay, gotcha, gotcha. I'm looking at the red panzer lawyer in the corner and he's just shaking his head, going, what are you saying? Yeah, oh God, I keep forgetting that game exists. I pretend that it doesn't exist. I remember The Day, actually. Sorry, I just love how you call it The Day.
00:57:34
Speaker
Oh, because it was so, I have a terrible memory, like a memory of a goldfish, right? But I remember the day when Microsoft bought it from Rare and I was devastated and said, I don't have an Xbox. I only have a Nintendo 64. And I was so upset because I had strict parents growing up and I could only have one console and I chose the 64. And I said, now I can't play Banjo Kazooie 3, because you know how they tease 3 at the end of 2E? And I'm like, oh no!
00:58:01
Speaker
And then I'm still waiting for three to come out. The real one, yeah. The real one.
00:58:09
Speaker
because I remember the announcement trailer and they made it out as if it was going to be this big platformer and everything. And I remember being in a shopping centre and I was walking along and I looked up. There was this huge banner right across and it was like, oh, can't wait for Banjo-Kazooie nuts and bolts. And I remember looking at the character models going, that is some of the ugliest models I've ever seen in my life. What did they do? You're not the Godfather.
00:58:40
Speaker
Oh my god. That is how I felt. I was like, this is wow. I don't know what they were thinking with it. And I'm not going to say that I hated the game. Z for what it was. It was a fun enough game, but as a bad joke as a game, absolutely not. Yeah. And it wasn't great that they just kept on the fence to start. And it's just like, oh, no one plays this game because it's so tedious collecting all these items. And it's like one note after the other in a straight line. And I'm just like, come on.
00:59:09
Speaker
they were practically fat shaming the audience. They're like, come on, I'll make all those jiggies. And you're like, wow. Yeah, I know. And it's just like, why do you do that to the fan base that supports you in this game? You know what I mean? I am shocked and appalled. Dear Mr. Rareware.
00:59:29
Speaker
What did you think of Yooka-Laylee? Did you get to play it? You know, I still haven't played it yet. But again, I bought it and it's on the backlog and I saw the reviews for it. I'm actually really surprised that they'd managed to get another platformer in.
00:59:44
Speaker
especially in the same kind of vein as Banjo-Kazooie, but what I found really weird was that they made a sequel for it, I think, and it was like a side scroller, or not a side scroller, but it was like more 2D or 2.5, I think. You know, it's like 3D models, but it was more 2D, actual VDR kind of style. And I was like, that is a really weird shift from big open spaces and platforming to this, but what about yourself? Did you play it when it came out?
01:00:14
Speaker
I did play it because I was like, oh my God, it's all the original creators from Rare and I was just so hyped for it. Personally, I did enjoy playing all of it. I thought the first level was the best one, mostly because I felt it was the most fleshed out world sort of thing. It seemed more full of life than the rest of the game I felt.
01:00:30
Speaker
but made me feel like I wanted to play Banjo-Kazooie more after a while because I didn't really get that completionist feel to it for me. The characters are fun and collecting all the items were fun as well, but not as well integrated as it was in Banjo-Kazooie and Tooie. But it's still worth a play. I have to admit, it is quite a shame. See, when you play a spiritual successor to a game, you kind of think, oh, I can't wait to play this. And then you're like, I just want to play the original game.
01:00:57
Speaker
Yeah, pretty much. This won't come as any shock or surprise to any listeners or long-term listeners out there but I'm a massive Sonic fan and I think because when I was younger I played a lot of platformers so like Mario, Sonic.
01:01:12
Speaker
Andrew Kazooie, especially, that was my main one that I played for hours and hours. But for Sonic, I love games like Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2. Those are the kind of the two that I would always go to. So whenever someone comes to me and says, oh, you should really play this Sonic game, it's like the next best thing. It's the best one in the series. And I play it and, you know, I relatively enjoy it. But I can keep thinking that the back of my head is, you're not the same. You're the same as
Indie Games and Creativity
01:01:40
Speaker
yours. Yeah, that's fair. That's fair.
01:01:43
Speaker
I mean, even when you get other indie games, I think that is, at least in the last couple of years, I want to say the last kind of five to maybe eight years where a lot of indie games are taking inspiration from these popular games and then they're trying to make their own IPs like with Yooka-Laylee and in the sphere of Sonic, I remember there was a game called Spark the Electric Jester.
01:02:07
Speaker
Oh yeah. And they also have this other game that was with like a purple dragon girl. And she worked a lot like with Sonic characters and she was meant to be for a Sonic fan game, but then somehow the developers went to make their own game with it. And she has her other friends, like a green cat who jumps and you can tell which characters are meant to be if they were in that universe, but because they made their own thing out of it, it was pretty cool to see. I forgot what it was called, but you probably would like that game too, actually.
01:02:33
Speaker
I think I know the one you're talking about, yeah. That is something amazing, I have to say, about a lot of these games that they start out as fan games and then they just, as you said, they develop a life of their own, they develop their communities and things and it's absolutely amazing to see. Out of curiosity, would you say that you're more of a fan of, and I know technically you've said you're playing through Baldur's Gate and that's not
01:02:58
Speaker
necessarily an indie title or anything, but would you say nowadays that you're more likely to lead into an indie title? Or would you say you're still invested slowly in AAA games? Well, I think in my library, I think most of the games I've been playing have been indie games because I tend to do a bit of a mix of indie and
01:03:19
Speaker
AAA, but I think a lot of the reason why I go towards indie most of the time is not just the cost, but they just seem to work outside the box in a way where you can't really predict everything or expect something to happen a certain way because of legal reasons or how a company wants to build a safe formula so they know that they won't lose a lot of money sort of thing. For example, Pokemon, we know what to expect.
01:03:41
Speaker
immediately when a new Pokemon game comes out but because we like the formula so much we still play it and look forward to it but if you pick up a random indie game you don't know what to expect and sometimes it might surprise you or some things that you were pretty sure that wouldn't happen in a AAA game so yeah. I have to say that is one of the beauties of the Game Pass but again we're not sponsored by the Game Pass
01:04:04
Speaker
This is me solely saying, yes, okay, all right. But there's been a lot of games that I've played through that that I probably wouldn't have otherwise. There was Edith Finch, one of my friends, recommended to me to play it. And I saw it on Game Pass. I don't think it's on there anymore. But when it was on there, I was like, yeah, sure, you know, I'll give it a go. Absolutely loved it. Coffee Talk as well. I have to say, I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed Coffee Talk. I think so much so that I bought it on sale. Nice.
01:04:32
Speaker
It's literally just a game where you play in a kind of sci-fi fantasy setting where there's hybrids of fantasy creatures and things like that but they're just coming in for a coffee and you get to learn about the life story and it's such a chill game but it's just so amazing the way it's structured and everything. Oh it's awesome.
01:04:51
Speaker
But without Game Pass, there's some games that either I would never have played like Gone Home or Firewatch, I have to say. It was another one I really enjoyed. Creepy as hell at times. But I think it was another one I played called Last Stop. That was an interesting one. That was one where you play three different stories and then it culminates like a really bizarre ending.
01:05:12
Speaker
Not gonna lie, I feel as if the ending is where they kind of put the bed, but that's my whole other story. It is quite cool that without Game Pass that you might not get the opportunity because I think I was the same with Pal World as well that they got released onto Game Pass and they just shot right up. They were constantly getting an influx and flow of players just coming in constantly. Yeah, they really did. It's amazing.
01:05:36
Speaker
and I've been considering that they've still managed to maintain a healthy number. It's really impressive because I mean usually with games like that, because another game I got into was that cassette beast. Have you ever played that? No, I haven't. That's another one I would recommend. It's like a... I don't want to say it's a Pokemon clone that's more like a monster catcher game.
01:05:55
Speaker
It's nothing like a really amazing 2D art style, like a kind of sprite art style with 3D elements mixed in. Honestly, I would wholeheartedly recommend it. It's such a fun game. You're the way you play a game to begin with, you're like, oh, I don't know, I don't know. And then by the time you're at the end, you're like, yes, 10 out of 10. What's this game recommended?
01:06:14
Speaker
Yeah, I definitely have that quite often actually with some games like Stray was one of them actually because when I saw it, I'm like, Oh, cute cat game. I'm more of a dog person, but like cute cat game. And I thought that'd be just fun to put on and play for a bit. And then I didn't realize how deep it got. And I'm like, damn. And I was really invested in the world. And I decided I really loved exploring and find out what happened to the world, to the characters and where to find things and stuff like that. And also still have the fun whimsy of being a cat.
01:06:41
Speaker
So I love that mix. That is the best type of game though. I have to say when you play it and you don't know what to expect and then you're like, damn, this game's got emotional hands. It just keeps throwing them. Some of the games I've played and you just think, oh, this is a silly game. And then by the end of it, you get really emotionally invested. Oh, yeah, absolutely. I have to say the weirdest one I had for that was Deadly Premonition. I don't know if you've ever played that one.
01:07:09
Speaker
I've seen it floating around but I haven't actually played it myself. Personally, I would struggle to recommend it. It's like it's held together with duct tape and prayers. Oh god. That's what we'll say. It's like a game that's considered really bad but at the same time it's like so bad it's good. It's a bit like one peaks the game. I think people describe it as though. Oh gosh. Take that as you will.
Video Game Movies and Generational Gaming
01:07:32
Speaker
Yeah, fair, fair. I'm kind of like that with some movies because I remember I watched the Dead or Alive movie years ago and I went in and I'm like, it's going to be a silly movie. And I know that I think only the only people that would really enjoy it, say it's a decent movie or a good movie, a stretchy and same good movie, but would be fans of the game. So when you go in, you're like, oh, there's that character, there's that character. And it's so funny how close they get or how far they miss the mark. And then, you know, the movie is bad. Like the plot is just so predictable.
01:08:00
Speaker
It's very factory line kind of storyline, right? And then when you watch it, it's like, it's so good because you know the characters in the world. I definitely get that. That's probably like one of my guilty pleasure movies that I watch every once in a while because it's just so wacky and bad, but it's good at the same time. I mean, I have to say you do get some gems of bad video game films. I think the favourite one for me is See the Street Fighter album. Oh, yeah. I haven't seen that yet. How did you find it? So bad it's good. That's all I'll say.
01:08:28
Speaker
So there you go, the same Street Fighter, Dead or Alive, they're both fighting games and you can only go so far of fighting games storyline for most of them. I mean, even the Mortal Kombat film, that is... Oh yeah. That is a spatial film. Oh yeah. Absolutely. That's a get your friends round, get the popcorn, get the pizza and then just, yeah, f**k apart because you're not getting out of it without saying, who was that? What was that?
01:08:55
Speaker
Basically, yeah. You kind of have to know the game to know the story for that kind of movie, I feel. All I'll say is I am so glad that video game films have come a long way and the best possible way. Oh, yeah, absolutely. I've even watched things like Alone in the Dark. That was a tough watch, I'm not going to lie. Because we did it for the review and I was like, oh, how bad can it be? And then I was like, you know what, not worth it.
01:09:24
Speaker
stop. There, there. Thank God that they have gotten better because I don't know if you would have, you know, the video game films that you have nowadays like the Mario film or... Oh yeah, I watched the Mario and Sonic movies and they were great. I love them.
01:09:39
Speaker
Did you go to the cinema to see them at a curiosity? Yes, I did for both of those. And even like Detective Pikachu watched that as well. I was surprised at how much I liked it because I thought, oh, it's live action. And they usually tend to be, I was going to say, creative. It's the opposite uncreative with the storylines. But I ended up being pretty invested in those movies and they were pretty great.
01:10:00
Speaker
I mean, I have to say, as a third to something, I went with people. I'm just going to point that out. When you're sitting there and you're looking round, and I didn't go see the Mario film, I have to say. And I didn't see the first Sonic film because I wasn't really sure whether it was going to be any good or not. And I think I caught it later on, but see for the second film.
01:10:24
Speaker
I may or may not have dragged my partner to see it, so we were just surrounded by all these kids, like, flossing and things like that. Oh my gosh. It was worth it though. It was worth it to see the film, but at the same time it was just like, yeah, I am no longer the demographic for this film.
01:10:42
Speaker
Yeah, fair. Fair. I don't know how folks see the third one. Well, I mean, I want to see the third one, but you know, are you going to see the third one? Possibly. I've kind of fallen out of the Sonic circle for quite a while, but I did enjoy the movies. I liked how they had their own take on Sonic. He's like a kid who just wants to be friends and he's hyperactive because he's young sort of thing as opposed
01:11:02
Speaker
to. Oh yeah, I'm fast, let's go. It was just a fun take, I guess, but it felt like without sounding bad. tennis made me think of a four kid structure of a cartoon, but a movie because you have your main character who everyone's come to see, which is Sonic. And then you have his friend who's he's not the Chris character, but he's a bit better than the Chris character.
01:11:21
Speaker
If you know what I mean, like Chris Thorndyke was a sonar, I forgot, but it was still appealing for, I feel like it's like a family kind of movie. So you can introduce the next generation of people or fans into it that way. Cause one of my friends, she has three kids and her eldest loves Sonic. When I come over, she goes, oh, it's auntie Nova. And they'll come running out and they give me a hug. And they're all telling me like all this stuff at the same time and wrote down a schedule and then they'll spend time.
01:11:47
Speaker
with me because it's like I go there to see mainly their mom and you know it's always nice to hang out with her kids too but they all want to hang out with me so like we have this little schedule thing it was like I want to play you have to play with auntie nova here and and I remember playing the sonic games with him and he was just so fast in terms of not the game itself but how he was playing like he was rapid fire really good at the game and I'm just terrible at sonic games I'll say it now I like to take my time in games and think I'm not really a go person
01:12:14
Speaker
But my gosh, I kind of lost track where I was going with that, but it's nice how it kind of appeals to a lot of different people. I have to admit, it is quite nice how you see a younger generation who are coming up and they are enjoying the same things that we enjoyed growing up.
01:12:29
Speaker
Yeah, and I feel like with our generation versus new generation, it was a bit different to the Brimmer generation, where I think a lot of them weren't really into games, but we grew up with it, so we were. And now that our generation has kids, they get to be closer in terms of sharing what they like growing up, maybe. I think it's quite nice. I don't know if it's big for everybody, but that's just an observation I've seen.
01:12:50
Speaker
No, I totally see what you mean because there is that overlap of I suppose accessibility in terms of gaming. It's definitely a lot easier because all this to goodness see whenever and this is a rare instance but on the few occasions that I have played video games with my parents it's honestly like trying to teach a second language. Yeah, it's the same for me.
01:13:15
Speaker
It's like, no, you have to go that way, you have to go this way. And even my brother, who's a couple of years older than me, I mean, he grew up with the NES and the SNES and things like that. And we were going to play that overcooked game together. I was like, OK, the point in the game is you're supposed to get these plates, cook the dinner, blah, blah, blah. And of course, he was very much in the attitude of, well, why don't I just do that in real life? And, you know, I'm like, well, way to suck the fun out of the game.
Content Creation and Social Media
01:13:47
Speaker
I know, sometimes you win, sometimes you don't. Yeah, yeah. He wasn't a Sonic fan, I think that's why. That's fair.
01:13:56
Speaker
But before we wrap up, I suppose I should ask first, what is coming up for you in the future for your channel? Well, I'm currently working on a new outfit for my model later this year. And I'm also working on a very short lore video for it too. And next year I'm going to be making, hopefully I have time for it, an all new
01:14:19
Speaker
Hydra model to improve on what I have currently. And I think I'll change up the theming a bit, see if I can get the design to work, because I'm excited to get back into the swing of things and improve on what I've already done. So yeah, that's pretty much it in terms of my Btuber model-wise. And for content-wise, it's mostly going to be games, talking about just general everyday casual chatting and some art and animation streams here and there. Pretty much keep going as I have been really.
01:14:48
Speaker
I was going to say, I can't wait to watch them in Virginia. We can't wait to see what you put out there. But at the same time, I'm also very wary about the time zones as well. So also, yes, I will try my best. Oh, look, there's no obligation for anyone to show up. I appreciate the thought. And as long as it does interfere with your real life stuff and all that kind of thing. And the VOD's going to be up anyway. So either or.
01:15:12
Speaker
Well, in all seriousness, either way, I can't wait to see what you put out there in the future. Oh, thank you. Nova, thank you so much for taking the time to come on tonight to talk about all things gaming and all things YouTube. Yeah, of course. Thank you again so much for having me. It was a nice surprise and I look forward to seeing more of your content as well. Before we wrap up, where can these lovely listeners at home find your content?
01:15:37
Speaker
Ah, well, you can find me on Twitch where I'm nova underscore brush. And on Twitter, it's just nova brush. That's where I mainly post that. And I also have a Discord server, but I can give those out as people ask for them, I guess. I don't have like a huge wide net of social media. I tend to focus on the two for now. To be fair, that is a very smart move because
01:16:01
Speaker
Yeah, I feel as if nowadays everyone's on everything and it's like, oh, it's not like an even spray to that, like, nope. Oh gosh, I have a lot of respect for full-time content creators because I couldn't keep up with all the different social medias, how the updates on the algorithms and posting videos and posting streams here and there. And it just gets so overwhelming.
01:16:22
Speaker
And I can understand why some people even have teams for this when they do it full time, because it's just so much to do. So I just manage what I can on my own without it feeling like another job, because I want to be able to just sit down, relax and hang out with whoever shows up and just make content based on enjoyment, really.
01:16:41
Speaker
I have to admit, I just put out tweets and you know that meme where it's like, look mom, I had tweets. Every so often there's always one where you're like, oh, one tweet took off out of 500. Okay. Yeah, no, I get that. I really liked the tweet you posted where it's just like when you completed a podcast and then you have to sit down and edit the video and you put like the Rick and Morty crying video. I thought it was funny.
01:17:04
Speaker
See, that's the thing because, well, as you know, by this audio only podcast, I don't really show my face a lot on social media as a whole. TikTok is very much a very visual place. So I'm like, right, what can I do without showing my face or anything and without wearing a helmet or anything like that? What can I do? And I was like, OK, CapCut exists. There's some green screen content there that I can just pluck from there and just put my logo in the background. And I was like, you know what, I'm going to shitpost the
01:17:34
Speaker
loving Hello TikTok. Actually, would you believe that there was one video on my TikTok before they decided to mute it because I think they lost the license rights for the song? But do you remember there was a meme ages ago for the boys that was going around? I think so.
01:17:52
Speaker
Ironically enough, it went by really fast, but the idea was that someone would be going about their day, then someone would race by them super fast and knock someone over. The title The Boys would come up, and I did that with a Kung Fu Panda clip.
01:18:09
Speaker
It was completely random. It's like the scene where the main character's eating these dumplings, but his master steals them in mid-air and he looks to the camera in one of the shots and I thought, okay, that's a kind of funny video. We'll just put that in. It's the only video that's had a million views.
01:18:30
Speaker
This is the thing though, you look at these and you think, has any of my other content got that? Any of my clips from the podcast? Not even close, not even. Maybe a couple of hundred, maybe a thousand that I push, and I'm like, that's going to be my legacy, essentially when the archaeologists dig up my page. They're going to see a Kung Fu Panda meme that's muted.
01:18:52
Speaker
It's so funny because it's funny how the algorithms can catch you off guard sometimes because that's happened to me recently too. Back in December, I just did a short animation loop of Stolas from Hell of a Boss and for some reason, YouTube's got 41,000 views. I'm like, what the hell? It's just a three second video.
01:19:11
Speaker
It's amazing what it takes off, though. Again, not to bash on the creators. I don't know why we're wrapping up, but we really can't criticise any other content creators. But there's just some really air-basic content you see, or just completely random stuff. And you watch it and you're like, all right, that was weird. I don't quite get this. I think there was a video of a piece of bread falling over, and that got hundreds of millions of views and things. And I'm like, you know what? You see all these gurus and things and content creators who are like,
01:19:41
Speaker
have to study the algorithm hard, you have to analyse it, you have to have a cork board on your wall and everything, you know, like, pinned all these things together, partly? I think part of it, yes, absolutely, but I think the other part of it is sometimes it's just random depending on what takes off and what doesn't. And I'm not saying, like,
01:20:00
Speaker
don't try hard or anything, but you do get some days where you're like, why is that succeeding? Because this is something I moved about on Twitter the other day, and I don't know if you saw this. I went onto Instagram and I had an uptick of about 900% of non-followers on the page, and I was like, wow, what is this? Am I an algorithm guru now? No, they were liking a Starbucks mug I posted.
01:20:25
Speaker
Yeah, I guess it's because sometimes white people follow trends because they want to kind of hop on that ride. And I think that would make sense for my case and specifically because when I did the Stolis animation, it was around the time where they teased the just look my way animation where it's like, it's him singing like a really sad, dramatic song and the animation is gorgeous.
01:20:45
Speaker
And I think that's the reason why mine picked up a lot with it because it was posted around that time by chance. And I find that man-made
Podcast Promotion and Closing Remarks
01:20:51
Speaker
stuff or any characters or videos that are from franchises tend to do better as opposed to original content, because people like to look for what they like as opposed to actively looking for something new by comparison, at least anyway. And I guess, yeah, it's just funny how it happens.
01:21:06
Speaker
It's the look of the draw sometimes. But yeah, I totally know what you mean. It's that sense of familiarity that people see a character and they're like, oh, this is character from so and so. And yeah, they find that it's quite nice seeing them in whatever video or audio content or whatever they're in. So yeah, one day, one day. I just have to learn how to draw first. You'll get there. I know it. Legend of the stick figures. You know, coming soon. Coming soon to an audio only based platform. I'm sure nothing can go wrong with that.
01:21:37
Speaker
I could be a trendsetter, who knows? But on that note, thank you Nova once again for coming on. No worries at all. Thank you again for having me. It's been really fun. And if you want to check out more content from ourselves, as well as more interviews, then you can check us out our website Chatsunami.
01:21:55
Speaker
I also want to thank our amazing Pandalorian patrons RoboticBattleToasted and Sonya, thank you once again for supporting the show. But if you also want some exclusive content then of course you can head over to Patreon, patreon.com forward slash chat tsunami for some early access episodes as well as exclusive episodes even some twitch vods you know throwing a line out there.
01:22:17
Speaker
my content so yeah go over there and feel free to check it out but until next time thank you all so so much for listening stay safe stay awesome and most importantly stay hydrated
01:22:29
Speaker
Welcome to Chatsunami, a variety podcast that discusses topics from gaming and films to anime and journal interests. Previously on Chatsunami, we've analysed what makes a good horror game, conducted a retrospective on Pierce Brosnan's runs James Bond and listened to us take deep dives into both the Sonic and Halo franchises.
01:22:47
Speaker
Also, if you're an anime fan, then don't forget to check us out on our sub-series, Chatsunani, where we dive into the world of anime. So far, we've reviewed things like Death Note, Princess Mononoke, and the hit Beyblade series. If that sounds like your cup of tea, then you can check us out on Spotify, iTunes, and all the podcast apps. As always, stay safe, stay awesome, and most importantly, stay hydrated.