DeviantArt Catch-up 04/05/18

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Nintendo Direct 01/11/18: Not-so-live Impressions

Wait, what? We're just announcing that Nintendo Directs have already happened via email now - emails that spoil FREAKING EVERYTHING!!? Not even a full Direct, but a Mini??? And I thought I was upset seeing that Chibi-Robo amiibo being set ablaze on Twitter yesterday:

Brothers and sisters.

I have made the sacrifice.

The #NintendoDirect shall come forth. pic.twitter.com/Oirsl2pPsp

— VJ (@VikingGamesLive) January 10, 2018

Hoo boy. This is what watching snuff must be like.

Hey, it's all spoiled, but I guess, let's take a look anyway? Damn it, Nintendo!!

• 00:13 - Oh, what? No Koizumi even. Just Annoying Voice-over Guy. This sucks. :D

• 00:22 - A Nintendo DS classic? Huh, well I guess they didn't spoil EVERYTHING in the email. The World Ends with You, maybe? I've always wanted to give that a try.

• 00:32 - Oh shit! I'm right.

• 00:45 - This is great. As a renowned portable hater, remaking DS games for the Switch is something I can very much get behind. This came out TEN YEARS AGO though? Holy crap, I'm old!

• 00:59 - I was a little worried about graphics given they were only showing the game inside a frame up to now, but this actually looks pretty good.
• 01:07 - Oh? A rare Switch touch-screen game. Regular controls too, so big screen TWEWY here we go!

• 01:22 - 2018. Cool!

• 01:28 - New Pokkén fighters. Who could care? :D Oh wait, hold on a sec; they've dropped the headlines list from this Direct. I won't have to be looking off-screen at random stuff to avoid spoilers any more. Hooray!
• 01:30 - In fairness though, they did still spoil a ton of announcements in that announcement email, but I guess they're learning. Maybe?

• 02:20 - Remember kids, this DLC is totally not a season pass. You just pay for it up front, and then it gets released in 'waves', alright? (At least they're being very upfront here though about what this season pass actually includes, unlike Breath of the Wild.)

• 02:26 - A Dragon Quest Builders demo - another demo I'd actually download if I could. I'm still Switchless right now though. That Bayonetta 3 announcement at The Game Awards certainly moved the needle a little on that, but I'm still holding out for a better deal at the moment.

• 02:40 - New copy abilities for Kirby? Oh boy! Please explain them all to me in excruciating detail. (Oh, I'm sure this game will be fun, but come on...)

• 02:46 - Big fan of Kirby's Noddy Holder hat here.

• 03:43 - A Hyrule Warriors port for the Switch. And there I was predicting back at E3 that Wii U ports were just about done. This is more than all you Wii U haters; all you casuals deserve! :D

• 03:53 - Hell yeah, Linkle! Have to say though: the graphics here not looking especially polished-up from the Wii U; not in the slightest actually.

• 04:16 - Breath of the Wild outfits too; along with all the DLC. This is a pretty nice package for anyone who hasn't played this yet. It's a pretty fun game. Maybe it helped that I hadn't played any Warriors games previously, and the Zelda setting certainly contributed too, but I had a blast with this.

• 04:34 - Mario Tennis Aces. Hmm, hard to get too excited for another one given how Ultra Smash, and the last few Mario Sports games in general turned out, but who knows, maybe this will be the one to buck the trend.

• 04:51 - I don't know This looks a lot like Ultra Smash though. Where's all the fun Mushroom Kingdom stuff?

• 05:05 - Okay, now this is what I'm talking about! Story mode too? You have my attention, Nintendo.

• 05:17 - Spring? Wow, they've been working on this one on the quiet for a while. Camelot back again judging by the copyright up there.

• 05:33 - Ys VIII. These games are supposed to be really great. I have a bunch of them on Steam, of course. Unplayed, naturally.

• 06:20 - Yikes! We're still doing this Japan, huh?

• 06:40 - Luigi's Balloon World - well, that sure sounds like a realm of nightmares. Do go on.

Video: The Toy Show 2016 Supercut

The Late Late Toy Show - one of the TV highlights of the year here in Ireland. Having not seen one in at least thirteen years, I finally gave into the peer pressure and the FOMO and tuned into to last year's show, and boy, I don't know what I was expecting, but this is pretty much what I got. :D

I don't know, a two-hour show of kids reviewing toys I think I could get behind, but that's just not what this is. The toys are more or less a sideshow here to all the musical numbers, celebrity appearances, awkward audience interactions, and a volume of promotional tie-ins so large, it would make Geoff Keighley blush. Well, probably not, but...

Even the toy segments themselves - and I may get thrown out of the country for saying this - I think are kind of bad. Ryan just doesn't seem that that into the toys, or even particularly engaged in what the kids have to say most of the time. If he's not rushing them along to get to the next segment, he's half ignoring them while trying to score a few cheap laughs from the audience. Sometimes even at the kid's expense, which kind of shocked me to be honest. That bit in the video where he's grilling the kid about his dead pet lamb: my jaw was hanging open. And he only kept going from there! Come on, man, they're kids, and they're doing their best; you can really see in the show just how much they've prepared for their bits, and you're just blowing through them, making bad jokes? Not cool.

Overall - and I have to admit, musically talented kids didn't do anything for me even as a kid - I found watching this a gruelling experience. :D The cringe levels here were easily up there with the worst of E3. I mean, hence the video. Within minutes of watching I knew that this demanded the supercut treatment. I don't know how long this is going to stay up. I'm kind of expecting a copyright strike, but for the moment, please enjoy some of the very finest moments last year's show had to offer.

Tumblr Doodles: Jul-Dec '15

For more doodley nonsense, check out jilik1.tumblr.com.

Photos: Picking Blackberries

One of the major perks in living out in countryside the middle of nowhere: blackberries! Every year from about the middle of August into October they grow in vast numbers on hedgerows all around here. I spent a fair bit of time picking them as a kid, but it's only since I got into this whole gardening thing that I've gotten back to it, stockpiling them in the freezer for pies, jam, ice cream and more. I grabbed my camera to take along with me, out into the wilderness, the last couple of times I went picking them and, of course, never got around to posting any of the pictures I took. But hey, let's take a look now:



Oh, you thought I was kidding about the wilderness part? No, this is for real the middle of nowhere.



Quite a dramatic sky, even if it is a bit spoiled by the phone lines. Hey, people out in the country need to watch E3 cringe compilations too. I assume.



So I only brought this little container for my first time out in 2014, which would have been hardly worth my while. I came back to a different spot a couple of weeks later with two huge bucket to do things right. That lot actually lasted me right up until last year...



... where I found myself replenishing my supplies, on a much more blustery day in the middle of this semi-flooded cattle path.



Very much a wellies-only job.