Metal Slug 3 Review: Behind the Screams

Hey guys!

I know, I know. It's been way too long since I've posted a proper blog entry. The reason behind that is two-fold:

First of all, my light box sort of fell apart somewhere between the last "Recent Pickups" post and moving it out of the way for the most recent game room tour. Clearly it wasn't built to withstand the awesome force of a no-holds-barred SNEStravaganza. But fear not! It's salvageable, and when I get around to it, I've got a mountain of new stuff to photograph and share with you.

Second, and much more interesting, I've been dedicating my daily budgeted blogging time to getting my YouTube channel up and running. If you haven't seen it yet, here's my first effort: a video review of Metal Slug 3. If you have seen it, watch it again. I do a little jig every time the view count goes up.

Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with the results. Of course, I wouldn't have uploaded it if I wasn't. As a bit of a perfectionist and someone who watches a lot of game reviews, I can count a hundred things I'd like to change, but eventually you just have to call it a day and move on, right?

Vegas Pro HD 10 in action.
Only slightly less confusing than it looks.

As my first foray into video production, there was a lot of fumbling and poking at random buttons until something like I imagined in my head appeared on the screen. Heck, when I started, I wasn't even sure whether I was supposed to record the video or the voiceover first. (The correct answer was gameplay, voiceover, then edit, edit, edit.) All told, it probably took eight hours to record everything and then figure out how the hell to put it together. I'd like to think that I could cut that time in half for the next one. We'll see soon enough.

After a lot of wrestling with my capture device (Hauppauge HD PVR), I'm very happy with how the video turned out. A few filters courtesy of Sony Vegas HD 10 really helped to bring out the color and smooth the footage.

That smooth voice you hear comes courtesy
of
this Samson C01U USB microphone.

But more than the video, I've actually gotten quite a bit of positive feedback regarding the voiceover audio. All credit goes to having a half-way decent microphone. I used my brandy new Samson C01U USB condenser microphone to record it. To be honest, I have no idea what a condenser microphone even is, but it sounds nice. And it also smells pretty good, too, sort of like robotic strawberries. (You notice these things when you've had your face all up in it for a couple hours.) Also, I fudged together a homemade pop filter to tone done my popperiffic P's.

Audio recording software is free-and-easy Audacity--the Cakewalk Studio software that came with the mic with is way over my head. That said, I would really like to take some time and learn a few audio editing tricks. There are a few things I'd like to try in some upcoming videos and as of right now, I have no idea how to make them happen.

Well that's all for now! I'd like to get a new video started (and maybe even posted) this weekend, and I have ideas rattling around in my head for several more. If you have any critiques or advice you'd like to share, please drop me a note in the comment box!