2021 Year In Review (Patreon)

2021 is the year where changes certainly happened! We got Nintendo Directs back, Mario got executed and replaced by Chris Pratt, and the world kept chugging on despite you-know-what. And for me personally, it's been quite a year if I haven't detailed it enough already, so I'll spare all the babble about graduating, working full-time and whatnot from the previous reports (For the public folks reading: I do monthly reports on Patreon!).

Despite all this, I still managed to put out some videos, some of which I'm definitely still proud of! While I haven't been able to clear out the backlog of big video ideas I mentioned at the end of 2020, there were still other interesting topics to look at in the meantime, so once again I'll be looking back at the stuff I put out and share some fun facts along the way!

Dumb Things to Try with the Famicom Switch Controllers 

I was actually surprised that this video was as well-received as it was! Then again, even though some people do own the NES-equivalent of these controllers, the Famicom variants are most likely less heard of, and yet the differences they have like the microphone made this video a more interesting twist on the standard controller/accessory review. I feel the authenticity of the Switch NSO controllers are very much under-appreciated, so both this and the N64 controller video (that I'll talk about later) have been very neat looks at the possibilities of said controllers beyond the NSO apps!

I didn't mention this, but it seems that the voice detection on the Switch app is a lot more picky than the original Famicom. For example, a loud yell on the Famicom would be enough to kill the Pols Voice in Zelda 1, but on Switch Online the microphone seems to specifically detect multiple plosives in a row in order to count as an input. It's a little weird.

I'll also admit that the R.O.B. trick at the end of the video has already been done prior by someone else! But hey this is the Famicom version, it's technically still unique.

Color TV-Game 15: Nintendo's 1977 Pong Clone 

The new oldest thing in my collection (and still is)! The Color TV-Game 15 video was the first time I had to deal with recording footage from a console that only outputs via RF. While there are things like VCRs that could theoretically record these signals, I unfortunately don't have any within immediate access, so had to stick to recording directly off of a CRT screen, which can be a nightmare of flickering if done incorrectly, so this took quite a bit of tinkering to get looking right! I know there are folks like LGR who have recording CRT screens down to a science, but with my limited equipment and settings I am still just trying my best to reduce the 'ugliness' as much as possible. In the end I think it turned out well, and I felt this was a very comprehensive and concise dive into the system compared to the majority of unscripted videos on the system out there!

I mentioned the differences between early and later revisions of the console, specifically the addition (and lack thereof) of analog inputs in the paddles. To be honest, I am slightly bummed that I didn't get the later revision with analog control, but I only learned of the differences after getting my hands on the system, so what can you do. :p

Near the end I mentioned possibly taking a look at even Nintendo products in the future, like their toys from the 50s-60s. While I still don't have any as of this post, the ones I definitely wish to cover if I could are probably the Ultra Hand and Ultra Machine! Maybe someday.

Using the SNES Mouse & Famicom Keyboard...on a Computer 

I've noticed that a funny trend in my videos this year has been "using <Nintendo item> outside of its intended purpose", and this is probably one of the more notable examples of that! I imagine this ended up as a more fun video topic than just taking a look at the mouse and keyboard separately as part of Things of Interest, but there is absolutely a lot more to talk about regarding the keyboard and the Family Basic software that it came with in a future video! And also, hopefully the LGR inspiration didn't feel too blatant with this one, haha.

Some commenters expressed disappointment that I did not try playing Mario Teaches Typing with the Famicom keyboard. I probably would've if the game actually worked on my Windows XP virtual machine, but it freezes on startup every time. :[

As a follow-up to the keyboard issue I mentioned while using it on a Mac, while Raphnet has responded to my emails asking for more details, I don't believe the firmware software has been updated to fix the issue in question yet. I guess I could ask them about it again sometime?

The Virtual Boy Cart with a Built-in Screen

This video has certainly been one of my favorites to make last year as a casual Virtual Boy enthusiast! This ended up being the one biggest video I was able to draft and produce this year, and I think it turned out exceptionally well given the circumstances. I expected that the developments in the Virtual Boy homebrew scene haven't been well-known outside of that bubble, so I wanted this video to be a quick look at the dedicated community it has garnered. A flashcart for the system with a built-in e-ink display just struck the perfect balance between familiar topics and a new developments, and it also served as a very cool showcase for the homebrew scene as well! And who knows, there may be more opportunities to take a look at several other obscure homebrew scenes in the future...

Since this video, Mellott has announced an alternate Virtual Boy flashcart named the HyperBoy! It's essentially a HyperFlash32 but without the built in screen and controls, in order to make a cheaper alternative.

I didn't mention this in the video, but there was a prototype of Galactic Pinball originally showcased in Shoshinkai released online, featuring radically different tables! Playing it on actual hardware via the flashcart was a very interesting experience, and I could probably mention it again the next time we take a look at Virtual Boy games on the channel!

The number in the HyperFlash 32's name represents its 32 megabit cartridge size, being able to fit some larger homebrew games such as Hyper Fighting. However, some homebrew titles like this tech demo of Bad Apple are still too large for the HyperFlash -- those require a 128 megabit cartridge to fit!

I may or may not still have that prop manual from the booklet-eating joke stored somewhere. No, I'm not giving it away.

I wanted to also point out one notable piece of Virtual Boy homebrew that has released since this video: the first public demo of Formula V, a top-down racer made in VUEngine! I haven't given it a try yet as of writing this report, but please remind me to sometime.

How I Dump Data From My Game Cartridges

I was experimenting a little with small-scale topics this year, and I thought this was still a very informative topic to tackle despite the scale! I've tangled a bit with the game dumping community on occasion, but this is more of a look from a super casual retro gamer point-of-view where I just share ways to conveniently backup/restore saves between multiple systems. There are obviously more professional and accurate methods than the ones I've described in this video, but I figure for someone who's totally new to this sort of thing, this serves as a nice beginner's nudge in the right direction!

Really, the only barrier of entry is the uncommon nature of certain cartridge readers because they're mostly hand-built or produced under a strict timeframe and budget, and while the dedication of the community members behind these things is something to be admired, I do wish there was more documentation and support down the line for the more casual folks who need it! In my case, I sometimes had to scour old forums just to find answers to issues I've encountered, and that isn't always the most fun thing if you know from experience.

Keen-eyed viewers might notice that during the Game Boy Camera save backup section, one of the photos I've backed up is the very first Game Boy Camera photo I took back when I made an unboxing and first impressions video in 2015!

I guess I'll also point out some new dumping methods that have surfaced since this video was published! Most notably, the GB Operator from Epilogue is a new straightforward solution for dumping GB, GBC and GBA games I might have to look into it if shipping wasn't pricey. :p

Using the Switch Controller on the N64 

And finally, something I legitimately wanted to try out for myself and make a video on in the meantime in case other people were interested in doing so! This is more of a recovery project for me after all the personal stuff I went through in the last few months, but like I said with the Famicom NSO controller video, it's still fun to do a twist on the standard controller review. I suppose it is kinda funny that both the first and last scripted videos in 2021 deal with the NSO controllers!

If you didn't catch it, I experimented with just using my phone as a camera for this video! It honestly seems to have a better image quality than my almost 10-year-old Sony Alpha camera as well, so I guess I might be sticking with my phone for future videos just for the convenience lol

Some of you noted at the beginning that I didn't give my thoughts on Genesis Online. It totally wasn't because I legitimately forgot about it while writing the script. But the selection of Genesis Online titles is...serviceable as a bonus, considering the bajillion other Genesis rereleases on the Switch that already exist! The controller being $20 more expensive than the SNES controller is still absolutely wack though.

Other things that have happened!

Aside from the major scripted videos, there has been a lot of other things happening as well! The return of Nintendo Directs giving us multiple golden reactions to a new 3D Kirby and WarioWare, I recited the entire Nintendo 3DS user agreement, made a brief return to WarioWare D.I.Y., and that one thing I did on Christmas.

If you're in my Discord server (which is a semi-closed server for reasons you can look at here), you can probably tell that activity in it has grown quite a bit over the year! Multiple events such as VRChat hangouts and movie nights have made it quite a cozy place to just chill and talk about gaming things. If you haven't been in the server yet and think that sounds fun, here's a 25-use link as a thank you for reading all the way to the bottom! And of course, don't forget that patrons can get immediate, permanent access for as little as one dollar a month, in addition to...

...new content on my second channel, which has been renamed into Akfamilyhome Plus! For those who missed my update video on the subject, I've been expanding my Patreon catalog by making new unscripted content on topics that may fit the scripted video format less well, such as a quick look at the Starter Edition 3DS (which is a free public preview!), the Chinese Mario 64 strategy guide and the Hong Kong Famicom. Reception so far on these has been great, and I'm looking forward to checking out more small topics for the new year!

While in terms of channel growth there hasn't been too much advancement this year, I was still satisfied with the amount I've put out, even with the disclaimer at the beginning of the year that I may not be able to work on large-scale core videos and the like. Not to get overly personal, but there definitely have been moments throughout this year where I've personally doubted the future trajectory of my personal life, but so far those doubts have mostly subsided for now, and stuff like working on smaller videos along the way as well as being able to be part of the Discord server more often definitely helped a little bit, so thank you for continuing to enjoy my videos!

And as for next year...

Will 2022 be as uncertain as 2021? Probably not. As I'm going to be balancing both YouTube and a full-time job (thankfully it's something related to video-making and not a boring regular 9-to-5), I can't definitively tell how much more time I'll be able to put into videos, but it should be a lot more than I had during 2021 when I was still occupied with finishing up university and job hunting. With that in mind, I am pretty confident that regular programming, including work on core videos, will resume this year!

I said at the end of the 2020 Year in Review that a lot of potential video ideas were floating around in my mind, and that still is the case, so here's hoping I can get some of those long-held ideas out of the way this year and provide some informative and fun commentary while I'm at it! My dream is still to make YouTube a sustainable hobby-job yet fun at the same time, so part of my goals this year is to continue growing both the channel and Patreon. During the parts of the channel's history when I started making core videos on the side while starting university, there was quite a bit of incredible growth from only 4000 subscribers to around 20k, and it's something that I'd like to try and recapture again through continuing to showcase interesting topics. I hope you guys can look forward to what I have in mind, and I wish you all a safe new year!

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