Plans For 2020

Since my New Year Holiday at work ended and I'm back to the old grind stone I thought I'd take the time to let you fine people know some plans for Identity Gaming in 2020.

The Stream

Nothing huge really happening to the stream but  I'm hoping to do a marathon at least once a month this year.  What the marathon IS will be dependent on if anything gets donated for but if there are no completed goals I'll probably just do long versions of the current stream rotation.  In case you don't know what that is it's

Variety Stream
NES Challenge
Donation Requests
Speedruns/Variety
Challenges

Speaking of challenges hopefully we'll make short work of FF7 No Materia and I think before the years end I'd like to accomplish FFX Single Character, A souls game deathless and MAYBE depending on how well I can do the previous two, Undertale hitless? We'll see how that goes, maybe I'm being too ambitious there.

The Blog

The blogs been sort of sporadic and inactive since most of my efforts have gone into the stream.  I want to balance things a bit more and get a more consistent posting schedule.  Also I want to add more donation incentives and maybe start doing some actual giveaways to further incentivize charity donations.  I've been toying with the idea of moving from Blogger to a different service but this is a pretty good (and most importantly, free) way to write my silly articles.

YouTube Channel

Completely neglected for a long time now and I want to fix that.  I've got some ideas for play throughs and some other types of video but first I need to organize the channel and cut some of the crap that I uploaded in the sites very early days.  Don't forget if you donate for a playthrough and you'd rather have it for YT rather than done live, just specify that in the donation comment and I'll do it.

Expect maybe some video essay type stuff, some more Japanese arcade coverage and maybe even a hall of fame/shame type show if I ever get time to script anything.

Of course this is all just a rough idea of what I WANT to do in the coming year, I'm sure things will change or I'll have inspiration for more ideas and challenges in the near future.  Of course, on top of all this if we could smash those charity goals that would be even more awesome but just having your support for the above is more than enough <3

2020, lets go!

The Vlog.....As a blog

I've hit another one of those points in my life where I've let the stream of content drop because of real life things.  I've been trying to do Sunday vlogs but last week and today I'm just far to exhausted to get in front of the camera and try and talk about bullshit so instead of doing nothing I'm just delivering the weekly vlog as a written post.

In terms of what I've been playing it's basically my stream rotation and a little bit of Apex Legends.  I've noticed that in Apex, when playing with with the rare Japanese players that actually have a mic, the idea of a not Japanese person playing on what they think is the "Japanese server" just blows their damn minds.  Every game I've had starts the exact same way with "oh my god a foreigner" followed by "Isn't this the Japanese server?"  They aren't being mean though so it's not exactly a problem.

So last week the reason I didn't make a vlog is because I spent a weekend in Osaka and after all that walking around I barely had the energy to move, let alone record a video.  I was mainly there to visit my family who are doing some kind of cruise around Asia but we spent an extra day there to see some other friends and explore.  While I was exploring I came across a surprising number of little retro game arcades.  I put the pictures on Twitter (@Taurinensis) so go check them out there.  The one thing I quite like about Osaka is that everything is quite close together.  I can walk between retro arcades and they also aren't too far away from the main shopping areas so my wife can go off and do her thing while I'm getting a session in.  Nagoya has some cool retro game places too but they are in the middle of fucking NOWHERE.  I'd have to get a train and trek to one or rent a car or something which is WAY more effort than I really want to put in.

I also just had to take a trip to Silver Ball Planet, a really nice Pinball hall found in Osaka's "Ame-Mura" or America Town.  I've actually done a blog post on it previously so check it out

https://identitygaming.blogspot.com/2016/03/silver-ball-planet-osaka.html 

Finally, I've added Persona 5 Dancing Star Night to my collection and I also received Silent Hill: Book of Memories (yaaaay.....) free off PSN.  I'm also finally getting a new computer soon that isn't a complete toaster that struggles to run Chips Challenge so not only does this mean I'll be able to PC game properly once more, but I'll also be able to improve the content of the blog, YouTube channel and even the stream!

I'll try to stop being a bitch and keep the content coming a lot more consistently once more!  Thanks for the continued support!

The Blogger App Sucks Dick

I know this isn't strictly games and I know that no one gives a shit but it's something short and sweet I'm gonna write on a Friday evening because this app is truly a pile of stinking digital shits.

So I usually write all my stuff through the blogger website, which is fine and works pretty well.  I can write a piece, tag it and slam that publish button without many issues.  I can put videos on it and do spell check and all that good stuff too so for a lazy brain dead piece of shit like me, this easy to use platform is pretty good.   The app on the other hand is just weird and crap.

First of all comes the problem of typing on an iPhone.  I'd rather cut off my own hands than write extended pieces of text on that thing because its so small and the auto correct is hot garbage.  It's also deceptive because sometimes I feel like I have written a lot but when I view it on a computer I realise that it's a lot less than my usual article length.  That aside though problems really start to arise when you start fucking with pictures.  Trying to format the documents to make them look nice becomes a fucking a massive pain in the ass and god help you if you want to move an image around.  Also the viewpoint is really weird and writing anything with such a small view of the entire page is really annoying.

There are times when I get busy with work or I'm spending a weekend getting drunk or spending quality time with the wife so I downloaded the blogger app in an attempt to minimize no-post days.  However a no post day would be preferable to the amount of stress this piece of shit causes.  MAYBE if you're only writing short articles or running a blog that posts NOTHING but images it might work, but if you're trying to write anything of substance you'd have better luck hand writing it and mailing it to Google with a post request.

Fuck this app

Regarding the Stream and OBON!

I've been very silly

In my last post I made a big rant about how twitch had fucked up with their latest changes to VODs and recorded audio.  I'm not going back on that, what they have done is complete bullshit and it fucks a lot of people over, including me.

Now I made a big song and dance about moving over to Hitbox.tv and after experimenting a bit with Hitbox I can say that it's actually a pretty good service.  The best part about Hitbox is that I can remove the delay from my stream so I can chat with my viewers in real time, which is nice.

However, let's face it, as of right now Twitch is still the best streaming service and considering I'm doing this stream for charity I want to reach as many people as I can because the more people who enjoy my stuff means more potential donations to the Alzheimer's Society.  So I won't be completely moving over to Hitbox, but I do intend to use it from time to time.  Think of it as as a backup stream for when Twitch is down or dropping frames or something.  Imagine Twitch as a Channel 1 and Hitbox as a Channel 2.

So with that in mind, go and give me a follow on Hitbox (www.hitbox.tv/taurinensis) and maybe you'll catch me or maybe even one of my buddies streaming under the Identity Gaming flag.

Also, next week in Japan it's Obon!

Just to fill you all in, Obon is a time in Japan where people remember their dead relatives.  What this really translates to is everyone going back to their home towns, hanging out with their living family and visiting the graves of their dead ones.

It also means I have a week off work.

This is the first genuine bit of downtime I've had in a long, LONG time so my goal for the week is to get as many of the met donation incentives done as I can.  It also means that I'm going to have plenty of time to stream so hopefully we can finally finish Final Fantasy 5 and move on to the really good ones.  You'll also probably see a new speed run of Ys coming out soon once I stop being shit at it and manage to get past the first few bosses.

So keep an eye out next week and get those donations ready!

Update Time! Moving into a new place! Stuff Incoming!

Right, first of all, you may have noticed that it's the end of October, yet only one game from the October playlist got uploaded to YouTube.....

Well I'm sorry about that, but moving to Japan and having to set myself up in a new apartment kind of ate all my recording time.  Also not really having a proper place to record in made things quite difficult.  Those playthroughs aren't dead though! They are just sleeping.  Silent Hill, Resi 1, Outlast and Amnesia are games I want to play through anyway, it just won't be in season.  Fortix on the other hand......well I'll slog through it one day because I said I would.

Then there is the blog and the stream.  Well, I doubt very highly that I'll have access to the internet straight off the bat, so it may be a while, but once it's up then you can expect a great deal of streaming.  There may be a bit of downtime with posts too, but if I can get to a place with Wi-Fi I'll at least try and upload more Silent Bomber.

Finally, the social media side of things has expanded! Identity Gaming now has a Facebook page!  So go and throw that thing a like!  All future updates will be written there instead of here and it's another place to look to see if I'm streaming or not.  The link for the new page is here!

https://www.facebook.com/identitygamingcharity

So yeah, I'm moving house tomorrow, bare with me for a few days while I sort my shit out

A Big Donation Push

Begging for donations is not something I like to do.  This blog is about video games mainly and sometimes it's about stuff I do in Japan.  Between all the fun time gaming goodness and ranting about industry bullshit, it's very easy to forget what the goal of this blog was in the first place even if it is written on the side bar.

That's right, just over a year ago I think I started this blog with the goal of raising money for the Alzheimer's Society, donated by people who enjoy the content and want to raise money for a good cause. 

Right now, through the posts, YouTube content and Stream effort, the donations have reached a pretty staggering £726 ($1175) but a quick look at the donation page says that the goal is £1000.  We're so close to that first (yes, first) £1000 goal that I can smell the Alzheimer's being cured from all the way in my apartment in Japan.

So yeah, right now, I'm begging for donations.   On my knees begging you to donate even a little something to the Alzheimer's Society and hopefully we can meet that goal before the end of December!

Even though I'm begging I'm not expect to get donations for nothing.  If you look a little to the right hand side of the blog, then you may see a new text box that reads "Donation Incentives".  Most of these pertain to the stream so if you want to know when I'm streaming I suggest following me on Twitter @Taurinensis

However, all charity money is good charity money, so if you would like to see something streamed or something done for the YouTube channel or even just something you want me to write about feel free to request it!  Just type out your request with your donation, or send me an email with the name you used to donate with with your request.  Generally speaking, a donation of £10 will get me to play or stream most things as long as they aren't god awful sacks of crap.  If I feel your donation is too small for something then it won't be ignored, it'll become a donation incentive and then you can convince all your friends to make up the extra! 

But I'm a nice guy for the most part, I took on a Daikatana run for £10, so yeah.

So please, share this link with any gaming friends you have, or even anyone who just wants to help get rid of Alzheimer's Disease.  Let's hit that goal and move on to bigger, badder and better goals!

Update Regarding the Stream and Twitter

If you have looked at my Twitch page recently, you may have noticed that the stream has been offline for quite a while.

Really I'm just making this post to assure you, the fans, the Final Fantasy stream isn't dead, it's just on a break.  The reason for this is that the internet in my current apartment isn't good for things like gaming or streaming so it would probably lag to shit.  I might give it a go in the next few days but I can't promise anything until I move into my new apartment which will (hopefully) have sick internet.

Also, if you follow me on twitter you may have noticed that I've been putting up a photo of something in Japan, well that's going to become a daily thing along with the blog post so follow me on Twitter if you want to see something interesting from my Japan travels.

@Taurinensis

Back From Italy!

OK! I am back from my little trip to Italy! The hotel didn't have free interent so I've had to go these last 4 days living like it's the stone ages, but now I'm back and all is well.

I'm tired as fuck right now so I'm not going to make any big posts today, but I'll give a quick overview of whats coming.

First, I plan to get all the episodes of the They Bleed Pixels playthrough I've got waiting on my desktop to YouTube over the coming days, so keep an eye out for that.  Also, there will be a stream session tomorrow from 9pm Sweden time as usual, but on the 20th, the 24 hour stream will be happening so keep an hour or two free for that.

Aside from that it's business as usual, so I'm now going to chill with some games as I've been starved for the last 4 days.

An article on Speed Running....On another website!

Today I'm posting an article I wrote about my experiences getting into the world of Speed Running with They Bleed Pixels but this time I'm not posting it on the blog, I'm posting it on a website called Kinda Awesome.

While not primarily a gaming site, there is a lot of gaming stuff on there but their writers cover all sorts of topics.  Recently they have very kindly invited me to do some guest writing for me, so this little article on Speed Running is my first post for them.

I don't want anyone to worry that I'm giving up on Identity Gaming because they have very kindly said that they have no problem with me doing my own thing and writing for them on the side.  So once you've read my article, go and have a click around their site, they are cool people who write some good stuff so give it a look.

So here begins a hopefully long and healthy partnership with the guys at Kinda Awesome! Here are the links to their site and my article

THE SITE!
http://kindawesome.com/

MY ARTICLE!
http://kindawesome.com/?p=1524

Going on Adventures

Well sadly, due to the fact that my current visa is going to expire very soon, I must leave Japan and set forth on new adventures elsewhere for the time being.

What I mean by adventures, at least for the short term, is spending a lot of time on planes and for other personal reasons, doing an absolute shit ton of paper work.

So what does me moving out of Japan mean for the future of Identity Gaming? Absolutely fucking nothing!  The posts will continue, the videos will continue when I get round to it and the charity effort will continue. 

All this move really means is that there may be a period of a couple of days next week where I can't post much.  Then again, there is also the chance where I'm not going to be quite as busy doing things as I expect to be and I'll have plenty of time to keep posting.

Either way, next week, if nothing happens for 2 or 3 days there is no need to freak your shit, once I finish relocating it'll be business as usual.  I'm sort of hoping that with the flight being as long as it is, I'll be able to sink my teeth into some kind of portable game and then talk about it upon touchdown.

Anyway, don't go anywhere and keep supporting me, it means a lot.  Thanks!

I'm not dead!

This is just a place holder post to let the world know I've not just dropped off the face of the earth.

It's been a super hectic weekend with people coming to visit me and me going to visit people and I've barely had any time at home.  There are a lot of new things coming though so watch this space.

Identity Gaming Stream!

Well tonight I was messing around with Sonic 1 on Master System.  I ended up attempting to stream again since one of my buddies is a big old school Sonic fan, and it worked like a charm!

So the Identity Gaming Livestream begins here!  Basically, whenever I play something worth streaming, I will.  Come at laugh at me as I die at things or share in my joy when I win at something. 

Don't forget, if you're enjoying all the content don't forget to throw something to the Alzheimer's Society, because as fun as all this is, I am trying to raise money for a good cause after all