Q&A - October 24, 2016

It's been a while since I did a Q & A and there have been numerous changes throughout my Youtube channel and my other projects so I felt this would help.

YOUTUBE CHANNEL QUESTIONS

Q: Why did you change your channel name?  What's with the new logo and introduction?

A: This one is more personal and I have answered this live on Twitch but I'll put it down here to make it more accessible and permanent.  Steph and I broke up back in 2015 for personal reasons and as such, I felt that the moniker "Jerrynsteph4eva" was inappropriate.  Since I already had notoriety as and consistently used my name, Jerry Martin, I merely switched to that, creating the name "Jerry Martin Gaming".  To reflect this, I created a new introduction.  This was also further necessary as I would start dating my current fiancee earlier this year.

Q: What's the song that you use in your introduction?

A: It's another song I wrote specifically for the introduction.  It doesn't have a name.

Q: What is your overall goal with the channel?  What is your channel about?

A: Overall, I want to create a channel where people can visit and find concise and clear video walkthroughs that will guide you through the entire game and get pretty much all of the optional stuff in an efficient manner.  I am a completionist by nature and I try to make my videos reflect as such.  However, I will not go completely overboard (such as getting all coins in Mario or completing all of the challenges in Mega Man 9) but I will do things like find all 100 CDs in Rockman & Forte or doing warpless runs for Mario.  I try to upload these at 1080p so that they can be clearly viewed as well.  And because I want the games and how to beat them to be the center of attention on my channel, I very rarely do commentary as I don't want to draw attention to myself but rather the games in question.  Basically, I want people to come to my channel when they need help with a game so they can get past where they're stuck and keep playing or follow along with my guides so they can get 100% completion.  I also enjoy bringing obscure, imported or otherwise overlooked games into the spotlight, such as my BS Zelda series or my Yume Penguin walkthrough.  I also enjoy completing series and grouping them together, as you can tell from my Mega Man classic series, Zelda series or Mario series.

Q: Do you make any money for your videos?  Do you monetize?

A: No, I don't receive a cent for any of it.  It's merely a hobby that I enjoy doing.  I also don't plan on ever monetizing for a few reasons (legal gray area, higher expectations, feeling more like a job).  I can't say I never will but for the foreseeable future, the channel won't be monetized.  The payment I get is the enjoyment of playing through a video game and being able to help someone else with it.

Q: I notice that on some videos you have the entire game as one video while others you break up into parts.  Is there any reason for this?

A: Personally, I tend to get overzealous about uploading a new game walkthrough so I tend to do minor editing and put it online.  Also, if the game is shorter or hard to split into chunks that make sense, I'll keep them as one long playthrough (splitting Mario up into world videos would make short 3-4 minute videos that would clutter my channel whilst splitting them into 2 world chunks wouldn't make much sense).  Typically I tend to keep videos under 2 hours (and split them up if they are or longer).  But in many instances, I edit videos in a way that makes sense progression wise (such as splitting Mega Man Zero into missions or Real Myst into ages).  It really just depends on whether the game will benefit from it.  My older videos were cut into 10 minute videos merely for the fact that Youtube would not let you upload videos longer than that but since then has changed to allow longer videos.

Q: Why don't you speak in most of your videos?

A: As stated above, I want the games to be the center of attention rather than me.  I'm not exceptionally good at commentary so I tend to reserve it only when I feel it is necessary to beat a game (or on a rare occasion I want to do an LP, such as with Scribblenauts Unlimited).  I also tend to reserve it more for livestreaming on Twitch.

Q: Is there a reason you cover more retro games than modern?  Specifically the NES?

A: Not really.  I tend to cover a lot of retro games because I grew up with them and have a lot of experience with the libraries.  Regarding the NES, I typically do a lot of them because they're shorter and easier to record and as my free time is a lot less than it used to be (especially planning a wedding), I can do a few walkthroughs in the time it may take me to do a more modern game.  But that doesn't mean I've abandoned more recent games.  I was debating covering the new Tomb Raider.

Q: Why don't you livestream often?

A: The biggest reason is because I'm an organizational freak and want my videos to be clear and concise and it's hard to do that while livestreaming.  Plus I don't enjoy doing commentary as well as the non-livestream-friendly environment of my current living arrangement and growing lack of free time.

Q: What are your plans for the channel?

A: My plans for the channel at the moment are as follows.  Firstly, I want to go back to my old videos and put custom thumbnails on all of them to match my newer videos.  I also plan on adding timestamps to my older videos to ease viewers in finding what they need easier.  Content wise, at the moment, I'm working on finishing the Mega Man series.  I've just started recording Mega Man 10, Rockman & Forte 2 and Mega Man X and will likely continue by recording the remaining Zero games and completely finishing the classic series.  I also have a list of games I plan on covering (which is more concise than the one currently on the blog) and will likely continue until I run out of games, time or passion, only the middle of which is foreseeable.

Q: Do you have a favorite video?

A: There are tons of stories and quite a few videos I'm proud of.  Strong Bad would be one, as it was the first video walkthrough I completed (and I did it pretty much blind, though the editing and various other things I've grown on make me slightly cringy about it).  I like my BS Zelda walkthrough as it actually garnered the attention of Did You Know Gaming, who featured it in their Satelliview video.  Dragon Warrior is one I'm extremely proud of because I had to edit that game tremendously to get it into a presentable format (and fought with myself for a while on how to do so).  My Mega Man & Bass video is also one I'm proud of as I put a huge amount of effort into it, recording it over the course of a week and it was the first series I created custom thumbnails for.  Finally, Mega Man 9 because I recorded that game a full three times, each time with major audio and video desync, before finally discovering a way to make it work.

Q: Were there any memorable stories that came about from recording?

A: Plenty.  For example, on the Broforce co-op video, it took Baird and I hours to get everything set up.  We called each other on Skype, set up his microphone to work with the PC, fiddled with controllers and finally got it set up so the two of us could play together on the internet with both of our voices streaming.  Needless to say, the lag induced by this led to a very memorable video, with the two of us lagging to the point where we could not continue the game.  There have also been several times I thought I was recording only to find out I wasn't (or conversely recorded over something accidentally) and there was one time I forgot to pause the recording during the SMB2 All Stars recording and had to edit out over 45 minutes of down time.


GAMEFAQS QUESTIONS

Q: You've completed a lot of reviews!  Why so many?

A: My friends always used to tell me that I could sell a video game either way because I'm passionate about gaming and tend to explain what makes a game great or suck to them.  Eventually, I learned to transcribe this into words to help others make a decision about games they're on the fence about.

Q: What do you focus on when writing a review?

A: I try to list the facts about the game neutrally so that people can make their own decision based off of what the game is about.  I then interject my thoughts into it so the reader can inflect how I felt about the game.

Q: Why have your reviews/walkthroughs stopped?  Are you expecting to put out any more?

A: Predominately because my focus has shifted to my Youtube page and most of my free time goes to that.  My current environment also makes it difficult to focus to write but I do plan to do more.  To add to this, it seems like lately my reviews have been getting nothing but negative feedback (which seems to be a trend on GameFAQs) so it makes it less inviting to review.


STORIES QUESTIONS

Q: Why have there been no story updates for a while?

A: See above.  Also, when I do write, I've been writing personal projects with my fiancee.

Q: Are you planning any more stories?

A: Yes.  I do plan to do another Harvest Moon challenge and a sequel to Rural Beginnings but I haven't progressed very far with them.

Trying something new

So for a while now, I've contemplated how to publish RPG walkthroughs for my channel.  I started out livestreaming them on twitch (Final Fantasy Origins) but unfortunately ran into the problem of hours of grinding mixed with lack of commentary making the videos boring.  I then tried live commentating over Dragon Warrior and simply cutting out the video when I was grinding but I'm not much of a commentator (which is why I prefer to record my videos without commentary).  But finally, I've come up with a solution that I feel will work best for everyone.  I've recorded the entirety of the game and edited out the boring grinding segments.  In it's place, I've left text instructions (similar to my Maniac Mansion video) which explain how long to grind and where to head next.

Using this technique, I've recorded the entirety of Dragon Warrior for the NES and am currently processing the video to upload to Youtube.  The series is one of my favorites and one of the few series I've actually imported for (I have the imported versions of the first 7 games on FC, SFC and PS1) and naturally, I wanted to cover it on my channel.  But as most people who have played DW1 are aware, the game is 90% grinding and 10% gameplay/exploration.  To reiterate that, the raw footage I took from the game clocked in around 9 hours.  After editing out the grinding, the final video is about 1 hour long.  That's some serious grinding!

However, it's just the first of many RPGs I have lined up to record soon.  I plan to go back to Final Fantasy 1 (and hopefully 2-10 later) as well as finish up the Dragon Quest videos.  I'm also planning on doing the Ys series and have the first Mana game already recorded and ready to edit.  As always, however, I hope these videos are helpful and show you guys how to beat the game.  And it will not interfere with any other games.  I still plan to bring you Mega Man 9 & 10 (and the X series), Zelda: OoT, Super Mario World 2, etc.

Where I've been

So I'm sure you've noticed that for nearly a year, I've been pretty inactive with all my venues.  I haven't contributed any new stories, my reviews kind of staggered off and my last uploaded video was in July of 2015.  For that I'd like to apologize but I'd also like to explain myself.  The biggest reason I've been gone from Youtube and my other ventures is because of my internet.  I moved in July of 2015 and unfortunately, the place I moved to had unreliable internet that was clocking speeds of a whopping 50KBps.  But I finally saved up enough to get a new router and it's worked wonders and I finally have internet capable of streaming/uploading once more.

The second reason is because of life.  I've been working six days, fifty hour work weeks since last year and it's been really kicking my butt to the point where I feel too lethargic to do much of anything besides responsibilities.  While I did upload at varying points last year, the collective fatigue mixed with the crappy internet made it pretty hard for me to get stuff out there.  And I really apologize for that if you enjoy my content.

But if you take a look at my Youtube, you'll notice eight new videos have been uploaded and I am currently editing seven more for upload in the coming days.  If you read my post a year ago or kept track of my Backloggery, you'll know I have five games completed that need to be edited and uploaded.  The first of which, Startropics 2, has finally been edited and published online so if you're stuck on that game, feel free to check out the videos and find all the big hearts and Tetrads.  The next video, currently in the process of editing, is Zelda 2, which is a 100% playthrough and will be uploaded in full probably by tomorrow afternoon.  The remaining three are Parappa the Rapper, Dragon Ball 2: Shenron no Nazo and Final Fantasy Adventure (also known as Sekken Densetsu).  The last two will require some major editing as they contain lots of grinding.

I'm also in the process of recording new videos for you guys.  I'm very nearly done with my Castlevania video, I've started a Dragon Quest playthrough in a new style and I'm very nearly done with a FF1 Origins playthrough.  I'm also in the midst of recording Link to the Past, Mega Man 9 and 10, Ocarina of Time and Super Mario 64 walkthroughs to add to the channel, which I hope will be coming soon.

I'm also in the midst of adding Timestamps to most of my videos.  While a fair amount of them already have Timestamps, many do not so I'm going back to these older videos, such as the Ninja Gaiden series and Mega Man 7 up, and readding in timestamps so you can easily find what you're looking for.

Again, I apologize for the massive delay in new content but I have a plethora of new content planned and now that I have the internet and the time for it, I hope to push these out soon.  Thanks for reading and supporting my channel.