Just trying to find my way


wizawhat

! Another cool indie game is in need of support on Kickstarter !

Similarly to Maple Forest, I covered Dono's Tale in my indie spotlight a year back. It's a very charming, cutesy 2D Platformer with an absurdly high skill ceiling and special moves that chain together for some incredibly satisfying possibilities. Join me in backing this if that sounds appealing to you, and if you're interested in more information, check out their brand new demo, or my old video on it "5 Indie Games You Should Look Out For". Dono's Tale is in its final week on Kickstarter, but I'm told late pledges will still be available! I'll leave a link to the campaign in the pinned comment.

And fret not! More content is coming to this channel very soon!

1 week ago | [YT] | 12

wizawhat

If you've been wondering about my thoughts on the Switch 2, post direct, I've got good news!

*TLDR: I've already uploaded two videos detailing my thoughts on both the Switch 2 Direct and Donkey Kong Bananza. They're just up on my newly launched (repurposed) second channel. Click my main channel page (or here ‪@wizzystizzy‬) and scroll down for a link over to the new channel if you're interested.*

And if you're wondering why I'm doing this, allow me to explain! There's been a few things on my mind for awhile, additionally so after the last video. I really enjoy making longform, high effort retrospective and essay content, and I want this channel to remain the space for that, as they're not only my bread and butter, but what has ultimately driven the most traffic to my work. However; I also enjoy engaging in some good ol' topical discussion from time to time! And this is where I'm sensing some problems arising.

When I create topical videos, like my last video, I typically take more time and put more effort than is ultimately necessary to try to reach a level of quality I believe matches the rest of my work. As such, I often feel as though these videos are already severely outdated by the time I'm able to release them. Having also received some feedback that my channel output and structure is a bit too all over the place, I think it makes sense to draw a clearer separation between these two styles of content.

You may be thinking "yaaay another second channel experiment to kill off the main channel." And yeah, that concern is valid. However I'm optimistic doing this will be beneficial in the long run. I'd love to use the new space to deviate from my usual format, while getting certain ideas out there more quickly and in a more relaxed format. There have been many times where I've stopped myself from talking about things I'm interested in because they don't fit the mold of "main channel" in my head, and I think that letting these ideas remain short, fun distractions, I can actually stay more focused on my long term projects.

And if it doesn't work out? No big deal. It is an experiment after all and I can always readjust back to how I was previously running things.

I'd appreciate it if you gave the second channel a shot, even if its just some noise for you in the background (that's kind of its purpose!), but if not, I can assure you that for now, my main focus is shifting back to wizawhat. I've been cooking on far too many projects so I'm going to try my best to get back into a solid rhythm. Thanks for reading!

4 months ago | [YT] | 24

wizawhat

Welp, it appears as though my new video didn't land quite like I hoped it would!

I've spent the past couple of days really mulling over what went wrong. Frankly, a lot of the response I find pretty frustrating, but it is what it is. All I can really do is take the feedback in stride and consider which aspects I have control over and can learn from.

For anyone reading this that hasn't watched it, my idea was to present an honest account of how my view of Nintendo has changed since my big ol' critical video a few years back through the lens of the Switch 2 announcement. I'm actually much more excited now about the idea of a sequel console to the Switch, provided it can preserve what the Switch does so well while fixing a lot of its core issues. With the goal of sharing that point of view with the audience that connected with the ideas in my previous video, I'm confident I explained myself well enough, but not before presenting the topic with a more negative and snarky slant.

One thing that has become frustrating about talking about Nintendo is that the response is often so polarized. Obviously I've played a role in that, but that's why I wanted to use this video as an opportunity to improve and provide a more nuanced perspective that expressed my initial disappointment, followed by a great deal of excitement and a hunger for more. And yet, common responses I've received on both videos and throughout the community are along the lines of "Nintendo is the best its ever been, and anyone who doesn't see that is nostalgia blind and nuts." or, "Nintendo's greed is out of control. They're completely dead to me." That's just not how I think. While my most popular video ever is incredibly critical, even with some faulty arguments, I've also spoken at length about aspects of this generation I think are great, with plans to do more in the future! Thinking that Nintendo should completely reverse course has simply never been how I truly feel, even at the peak of my own disappointment, and I'm confident my video conveyed that.

Clearly there's a ton of resentment flying around between both sides of this debate, and perhaps my mistake was not properly predicting who I was speaking to - Nintendo fans that are abundantly excited for Nintendo to keep the train rolling. If you've ever been frustrated by other creators having to over explain things or make a bunch of disclaimers, situations like there are why I think that often happens. I either need to be more careful in the future, or simply feel more comfortable with harsh disagreements or things getting misinterpreted. This wasn't a great experience, but I'm not going to let it dissuade me from doing my thing.

If you liked the video, I appreciate ya. And if you're a hater reading this - sugondeez

5 months ago | [YT] | 60

wizawhat

Should I post more here? To be honest, 2024 was a rough year for me creatively. I know its already March but my plan is to get out of my own way and just allow myself to create more, and in doing so, ease off some of the pressure and recapture the joy I had for creating before some of my other videos blew up. Expect to see some more Shorts like the ones I've already posted in addition to some streams here on YouTube as we get closer to the Switch 2.

And oh yeah, new video tomorrow.

*John Wick voice* Yeah, I'm thinkin I'm back.

5 months ago | [YT] | 65

wizawhat

Would you guys be interested in hearing my initial thoughts on the Switch 2? I was originally going to wait until there was more information, but as I've given it some more thought, the speculative cogs in my head have been turning and it would give me the chance to reflect on some of the thoughts I posed about Nintendo in my previous "I Miss the Old Nintendo" video. I think it could be fun, but what do you think?

7 months ago | [YT] | 11

wizawhat

Remember all those cool indie games I spotlighted earlier this year? Well guess what, Maple Forest has finally hit kickstarter and it's almost 50% funded in less than an hour! Natsu Kaze has been working tirelessly on this and the quality shines through. If you're interested in checking out the campaign, here's the link!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/natsukaze/maple-fores…

10 months ago | [YT] | 23

wizawhat

Just want to say thanks for joining me on this journey of mine. For the old heads you'll know that this milestone was much harder fought compared to my last, and I fully intend to keep pushing. If you're new here, thank you for giving me a chance and I hope you consider checking out some of my other videos and see more of what you like. Have a great day everyone!

1 year ago | [YT] | 81

wizawhat

Hello everyone!

Regardless of if you're new here or an existing viewer, I want to say thank you for watching my new video. I wanted to make a post here because I got an impression from my first video of the year that some people forgot why they even subscribed during my absence in uploads. I usually try to keep community posts brief, but I'd like to give a state of the channel update for people who are interested but don't follow me on other platforms.

2023 was a wild year - 2 of my videos did incredibly well on release, but not before 2 previous videos blew up in the algorithm months after they were uploaded. Chances are you found me from "I Miss the Old Nintendo". The rush began to slow down near the end of the year, as I released a couple of Nintendo videos and took 3 months to finish my Sea of Stars video which unfortunately didn't do very well for the channel at all.

2023 was clearly a very Nintendo focused year for me, but I've always wanted my channel to be focused on both Nintendo and indie games, and I'm still trying to figure out how I can best make that happen. I know very few people watched my Sea of Stars video, which was a bit crushing given how much effort I put into it, but in reflection I think I made a few critical errors and it was a great learning experience in the end. The result of which is my latest video - something I feel is a bit tighter with less barriers to fully enjoy. The response has been great so far. If you let me know in the comments that you were interested in more videos like that - thank you. I'm definitely interested in continuing this as a series and am going to continue to find fun ways of covering more indie games.

That being said, I'm already in the early stages of a new project. This time last year I began working on my Pikmin retrospective, and I've been itching to dive into a new one. These videos take a long time to make, and I crunched very hard to get my Pikmin one out on time which led to some burnout. There is a lot of game to play, research to be done, and video to produce, but they're also probably my favorite type of video to make, and with two under my belt now I'm going to try my best to manage the scope and deliver this in a reasonable time frame.

I know its not ideal for a burgeoning YouTube channel to be 'absent' for several months at a time, and while its a reality of the content I want to produce, I'm trying my best to find balance in the future. My goal right now is to share what I'm continuing to learn about the reality of game development - discovering and interpreting the intent while analyzing the results. There's way too much tension right now between players and developers and it needs to change. I'm trying to use my passion to make it all interesting. So if that's something you're interested in, keep an eye on this channel.

That's all I'd like to share at this time. Let me know if you're interested in more periodic updates like in the future. I promise not to spam. Also, here's a pixel snake I made while dealing with some burnout. It's nice to have side hobbies!

1 year ago | [YT] | 75

wizawhat

We go agane next year folks.

1 year ago | [YT] | 47

wizawhat

Nintendo Direct tomorrow. Get your nanners ready.

1 year ago | [YT] | 26