While there are individual topics for each Pilot Week post, I couldn’t find a general one for the entire week so we can talk about what you think did or did not work overall. This is that thread.
The videos posted included:
Monday: “Cardboard: How Much Does it Cost to Add a Single Character to a Fighting Game?” on Vice or on YouTube. Dedicated Forum Post, Here.
Tuesday: “Arcadia: The History of the Nintendo Game Boy” on Vice or on YouTube. Dedicated Forum Post, Here.
Wednesday: “Arcadia: Inside the SEGA Dreamcast” on Vice or on YouTube. Dedicated Forum Post, Here.
Thursday: “Miniatures: A Classic ‘Clue’ Whodunnit” on Vice or on YouTube. Dedicated Forum Post, Here.
Friday: “Cardboard: Tibia” on Vice or “The Secret Door in ‘Tibia’ That Took a Player 9 Years to Open” on Youtube. Dedicated Forum Post, Here.
Feel free to tell me if I missed anything.
What did you think of these new bite-sized videos?
I think the cardboard series was my favorite. Tiny, neat little stories with a unique presentation twist. And the presentation was fantastic, especially the little details like going as far as to record opening the door open and having the character slide in in the Tibia video.
Personally, I definitely enjoyed the last video “Cardboard: Tibia”, the most. I think a short video on a cool gaming story that has since left the current news-focused cycle is a really great idea. The Tibia story also happened to be one that was so specific, it had past me by (whereas the “Fighting Game Cost” one was talked a lot in gaming in general about costs so I was aware of it). I prefer the editing in these “cardboard” videos when each object appears on-and-off screen like puppets (rather than straight cuts to another one).
Not the biggest fan of the Arcadia series, mostly because I don’t really get the exact point of it. It felt a little too short and left me feeling empty like I had neither learned about what makes the hardware work, or the legacy of the console. I liked the editing/design of the pieces though.
I’ll be honest, I did not enjoy the Miatures one. I wasn’t very interested in a highly-streamlined improv. piece.
Cardboard was by far my favorite. It’s such a fun concept for a series.
My problem with Arcadia is i think 1 minute is a little too short? Maybe episodes the length of Guide to Games would be more my speed.
I enjoyed Miniatures but i kinda couldn’t figure out what the series was gonna do going forward? Was each episode going to be a different board game? Would it always be improv comedians or would they try different tones based on the game in question?
But i think this was a good start for all these series! I’m definitely looking forward to more in the future.
I agree. Go more in depth! Talk about the less-known factoids about the Dreamcast after introducing the fairly vanilla stuff. As someone who is a games enthusiast that was all known information to me. I get the idea of perhaps using it to on-board people unfamiliar and not in the know, but I figure those people would also love to hear more about the weirdness that was the 'Cast—Gameboy too! Tell us more about its creator, the different colors it came in. What was the Dreamcast library’s like? The PS2 might have been the nail in the coffin, but there were other factors, too.
My critique then is that I’d like to see it start with the more commonly-known details about a thing or system (seems to be a series focused on hardware), but then dive deeper. Maybe have a companion video or a longer version to pair with it if the goal is for these videos to be short and shareable.
I loved Cardboard and Miniatures. Miniatures is my favorite of the three, but tbh im a sucker for goofy riffs. Cardboard is fun, but of the two eps I preferred the Tibia one because of its custom art. Its a lot more charming compared to the ingame frames and blurred stock photos of the Skullgirls episode.
Arcadia has a cool concept and slick production values, but i have to echo the primary criticism that its just too short.
Overall I liked everything, but I would definitely hop on the “Arcadia is just a bit too short” train. They felt more like an intro piece to a longer section of content. Maybe even like an extra 15-30 seconds per video might be enough to fix that? Not entirely sure what the point of the videos are right now.
Cardboard was really good. Visually interesting, informative, succinct, and very good production.
Miniatures seems like it could be really hit or miss, but the episode we got for pilot week was very good. Funny, decent length, and if you can make me laugh at Clue, a board game that is honestly more of a bored game, then good on you.
Yeah there’s a lot of weird info you can dip into with consoles like the Dreamcast and Gameboy. People are still making games for the Dreamcast for example and playing them online, talk about the weird subculture around it still!
To be blunt why should I watch the arcadia videos instead of something like Did You Know Gaming? I like videos that are nothing but factoids but it needs to at least contain something that isn’t obvious.
Personally, I enjoyed Cardboard the most out of all of them, in both editions. I was a little hesitant about some of the editing choices in the first one (particularly cutting some of the detail, going into an ‘and so on’ regarding to the costs that go into making a new character), but the Tibia one was a cute little detail/way to explain a story in a short space of time. I think it makes a cute counterpoint to Guide to Games (which is about summarising and breaking down what makes a game interesting) by focusing on specific stories within specific games.
Yeah I thought the ones that were more about industry info (arcadia, the first cardboard) only seemed like intro paragraphs to more satisfying content. Like I really would like to know more about the full process of designing and creating a new fight game character… Building movesets, defining a personality that matches its role in the roster, balancing against the other characters, and you could associate each of those things with a cost, but all I got from the first cardboard video was “it costs a lot of money because there’s a lot to do.”
As for Arcadia, I don’t know how much story we can really glean from hardware, but the more that each component can mean something in the context of the video, the better. What was different about the graphics card in the Dreamcast? Can we open up their controllers? The gameboy had more going on, but would it be possible to move from the physical object of the gameboy to what it meant culturally? And if these videos are going to stay at this length, maybe try to add one of those poetic little bows that tie up the “Guide to Games” episodes. I’m thinking of the end of the one on Watch Dogs… “and that’s something.” I think I could find this Arcadia series satisfying at this short length if it felt like they were making some point about what the hardware meant rather than just what the hardware was.
Anyway, psyched about this site all around and this pilot week is more in the right direction of trying interesting things to make something new and good. Congrats to the team!
All of them were pretty interesting. I liked the short burst of information. But I think the Arcadia features could benefit from being longer. I think Cardboard was pretty spot on and really cute and fun in style. I really dig that sort of thing. And Miniatures was probably my favorite. Downright hilarious and I really connected with it cause this was about how much I understood Clue! Haha.
I like cardboard as is pretty much. I think Arcadia definitely needs to be longer and have more information in it. Like, I got absolutely nothing out of watching it. I turned miniatures off after like, a minute because it just wasn’t my thing. I kind of found it annoying.
I definitely liked Cardboard the best. I liked the focus on a specific, anecdotal videogame story. Like Dixavd mentioned, I like that it was a specific news story that was easy to miss. And I enjoy that it was creative and crafty.
I agree with pretty much everyone here that Arcadia was too short, but I would add that in addition to making it longer, it would help to say something about the components of the machine as they are being dissected. I like learning about the systems and seeing them being disassembled, but I have no idea what I am looking at. If you’re going to tell us specific information about this systems, perhaps relate it to what we are seeing.
And I have to go against the consensus regarding Miniatures. I like the idea, but I did not find those comedians to be funny. I was groaning.
Cardboard was my favorite. Great stories that I’d like to share with people in a more entertaining way than me trying to remember an article Patrick wrote.
I think for Arcadia, I’d like to see more obscure consoles or arcade cabinets dissected and discussed.
Miniatures was my least favorite. I didn’t really enjoy it or think it was funny. So not for me, but I can see why some people would enjoy it. Maybe I’d enjoy it more if it was scripted and not improvised? I’m not sure…
I mostly echo the thoughts above, cardboard is my favourite (especially with the new graphics and more obscure stories).
I do like the potential of Arcadia, but if possible I’d like it to be longer. I don’t know much about the Dreamcast, and showing the modem while that was being explained was a fun visual representation about an unusual fact of the console. Deeper dives into that stuff, like detailing the Gameboy’s green shades would really add a lot for me.
I’m pretty much going to echo everyone else I think, but while I really enjoyed these pieces, would really love some deeper dives. I feel like somewhere in the 10-20 minute range with more deeper detail would be super awesome on these things. I feel that’s what separates Waypoint from other sites - they offer overviews, WP gets to the grit. Apart from that, the entire week’s worth of ideas have been great! Very good work
