I received a video response from this kid on YouTube. on the final part of my Zelda II walkthrough. Probably because it was the top selection in the "related videos".

Naturally, I rejected it out of hand because it wasn't so much a response as it was an attempt to pimp his video on the back of mine. But there is SO much wrong with it, I have to vent about it.

Here it is:



Problem #1 - The video quality sucks. Recording off a screen is the number one worst fucking way to EVER record video game footage. It looks just fucking awful, and it looks three times as bad on a portable, with the light reflecting off the screen. And halfway through the damn thing, he moves the system. So the right edge of the screen is cut off. The sound is awful too. If you must record a video game, either invest in the equipment to do it properly (either GOOGLE it or ask Knyte or something) or use an emulator.

Problem #2 - Shenanigans seem afoot. Let's forget for a second that this kid isn't playing NEARLY well enough to indicate he could even get to the Great Palace on Life Level 1 and 4 hearts. Check his menu screen. He has 9 keys. How do you get 9 keys? It's possible, but very impractical...to do it, you'd need to go straight after the items in Palace 2, 3, 4, and 5...get the Magic Key...then go back and get a bunch of keys from the first 5 Palaces again. There's no practical reason to do this. My guess is he somehow cheated to get here. If you're going to try some sort of challenge, be honest.

Problem #3 - He didn't actually accomplish anything. Spoilers: He doesn't actually beat it. So what the fuck is the point? That was 9 minutes wasted. And to be honest, he doesn't even try...he points out there's a Red Jar statue just before the Thunderbird that he can use to refill his magic, but he's afraid of going for it because he doesn't want to die and end his run. News flash: Without magic, your run is dead because you need 4 bars of Magic to BEAT the Thunderbird...so you may as well try! It seems his goal was just go get to the boss, and who the fuck cares about that? Don't post your failures, unless they're pretty entertaining or funny, and unless your "challenge" is something people care about, don't fucking bother.

I hate to hold this kid up as an example, because there are so many other bad video games recorded the exact same way. But really. Do it right, or don't at all. Half-assed attempts just make me angry. Feel free to leave him comments.

Note that the game running slow is probably because it's a European version. Stupid PAL.

I didn't even notice the kid's reflection.

I did notice his thumb.