Camera manipulation is ironically still important
July 11, 2021 5:52 PM Subscribe
Is it possible to complete Super Mario 64 blindfolded? Not only is it possible, it's a speedrun category, as recently demonstrated by Bubzia at SGDQ 2021.
That was damn impressive.
But this run of Maimai Finale was probably the star of SGDQ.
posted by wotsac at 6:20 PM on July 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
But this run of Maimai Finale was probably the star of SGDQ.
posted by wotsac at 6:20 PM on July 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
But this run of Maimai Finale was probably the star of SGDQ.
But they aren't even blindfolded.
posted by Literaryhero at 6:22 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
But they aren't even blindfolded.
posted by Literaryhero at 6:22 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
44:50 is quite a surprise, he's pulling off a frame-perfect trick blind-folded that I couldn't do even if I wasn't.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 7:27 PM on July 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 7:27 PM on July 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
And here I am looking at my video games, like some sort of chump.
posted by mhoye at 7:35 PM on July 11, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by mhoye at 7:35 PM on July 11, 2021 [6 favorites]
this run was so good! I invited a bunch of people over to watch GDQ with me yesterday & I always worry that my normie friends are not going to be into it, but this run was so obviously impressive & the commentator did such a great job of explaining the context for each star & how the audio cues worked that the, uh, two people who did not cancel on me were actually really into it*
definite top five favorite runs at a GDQ for sure
* ok to be fair a couple nerd friends showed up later & were really into Dark Souls, which was fun
posted by taquito sunrise at 8:50 PM on July 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
definite top five favorite runs at a GDQ for sure
* ok to be fair a couple nerd friends showed up later & were really into Dark Souls, which was fun
posted by taquito sunrise at 8:50 PM on July 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
I know just what you mean taquito sunrise, it is a judgement call every time something speedrun-like comes up whether I should post it here or not. I'm glad this one is generally enjoyable.
posted by JHarris at 10:05 PM on July 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 10:05 PM on July 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
That run was so great! I also really enjoyed Dayoman's Spyro run even though I've never played Spyro myself. But Dayoman's commentary and awesome dorky energy made it a great watch.
posted by sveskemus at 5:36 AM on July 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by sveskemus at 5:36 AM on July 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
The Nintendo 64 happened during a time when I wasn't paying attention to video games and I've never actually seen the game before. But, this is pretty neat. The serious blindfolding and monitor behind the player is a nice touch of stagecraft. (I'm also intrigued, when panning through this, that the game very clearly references SMB3 music. Which is a game I loved and everyone else I've ever met hated.)
I want to see the 3 minute edited and accelerated version with Pinball Wizard as the soundtrack.
posted by eotvos at 7:58 AM on July 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
I want to see the 3 minute edited and accelerated version with Pinball Wizard as the soundtrack.
posted by eotvos at 7:58 AM on July 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
And I thought I was pretty badass when I memorized all 30 scenes of Dragon's Lair.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:41 AM on July 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:41 AM on July 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
And here's the video of Bubzia reviewing and commenting on his run the next day, while seeing it for the first time.
posted by teraflop at 11:49 AM on July 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by teraflop at 11:49 AM on July 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
Holy shit. This is totally insane.
When SM64 first came out I was living with someone who was one of the biggest console video game fanatics I've ever even heard of. Back in 1995 he has basically every console made at that point in time, and mostly complete libraries for each system. I mean everything. Vectrex, Fairchild Channel F, all of the Atari Systems (including Lynx and Jaguar), all the Sega systems, 3DO. All of the Nintendo systems including imports, the Famicom, the disk systems, etc.
If it was a console system he probably had at least one copy of it, if not multiple copies.
The living room at this house was set up with 3 giant 36" Sony Trinitrons and a rear projection big screen TV, and a couple of smaller screens or monitors with something like a dozen or two different consoles set up at any given time, and every square inch of the walls were covered in shelving to store games carts or discs.
So when the N64 was first released in Japan he was essentially the first private owner of a N64 in the US a full year before the official domestic release and was second only behind Electronic Gaming Monthly. Like he had an N64 in the house for a full year before the 1996 US domestic release. He worked at a video game store and used his connections to import the Japanese release, which is important to this story.
Well, the N64 and SM64 was, of course, totally revolutionary in many ways, including 3D platforming game play, and it had a pretty steep learning curve even when you could read the hints and instructions - which we could not because all of his games were in Japanese, and it's not like Google Translate was a thing yet because Google itself wasn't even a thing yet.
And there were basically no guides at all, at least in English. No web pages, no walkthrough videos, no EGM playthrough guides. Nothing.
So we went into SM64 totally blind without any hints or clues at all about the goals for any given stage or levels, and it ended up being a huge team effort with a log and notebook trying to figure out what the hell we were even doing, where the hidden coins or stars were, what the objectives even where and so on.
At some point in the first few weeks that Japanese edition SM64 cart came to be known as "Satan in a box" because it was pure evil to us, especially considering the really frustrating nature of the dodgy camera controls or how the camera would unhelpfully shift right in the middle of some difficult jump.
It also didn't help that he had some major anger management issues, and so this guy in particular had a nasty habit of getting super pissed off, yanking the cartridge right out of the N64 and hurling it at the brick fireplace and mantel in the living room. I think he smashed about a dozen N64 controllers in the first year just trying to finish SM64 - which was a huge problem because you couldn't even go to the store to buy new controllers and they all had to be imported in an age where eBay or online sales didn't really exist.
After the first few months the case of that poor cartridge was cracked and shattered in multiple places and to Nintendo's credit it just took the abuse and kept working. Like if this had been a disc based system I'm certain that he would have had a tantrum and snapped that disc into little pieces in the first few weeks. That's how high the frustration levels were.
If you told me back then that eventually people would start speedrunning SM64 blindfolded, I would have thought you were totally insane and/or really high on something. There was no way we would have believed that or thought that it was even remotely possible.
Yet here we are and what the fuuuuuuck.
posted by loquacious at 11:59 AM on July 12, 2021 [14 favorites]
When SM64 first came out I was living with someone who was one of the biggest console video game fanatics I've ever even heard of. Back in 1995 he has basically every console made at that point in time, and mostly complete libraries for each system. I mean everything. Vectrex, Fairchild Channel F, all of the Atari Systems (including Lynx and Jaguar), all the Sega systems, 3DO. All of the Nintendo systems including imports, the Famicom, the disk systems, etc.
If it was a console system he probably had at least one copy of it, if not multiple copies.
The living room at this house was set up with 3 giant 36" Sony Trinitrons and a rear projection big screen TV, and a couple of smaller screens or monitors with something like a dozen or two different consoles set up at any given time, and every square inch of the walls were covered in shelving to store games carts or discs.
So when the N64 was first released in Japan he was essentially the first private owner of a N64 in the US a full year before the official domestic release and was second only behind Electronic Gaming Monthly. Like he had an N64 in the house for a full year before the 1996 US domestic release. He worked at a video game store and used his connections to import the Japanese release, which is important to this story.
Well, the N64 and SM64 was, of course, totally revolutionary in many ways, including 3D platforming game play, and it had a pretty steep learning curve even when you could read the hints and instructions - which we could not because all of his games were in Japanese, and it's not like Google Translate was a thing yet because Google itself wasn't even a thing yet.
And there were basically no guides at all, at least in English. No web pages, no walkthrough videos, no EGM playthrough guides. Nothing.
So we went into SM64 totally blind without any hints or clues at all about the goals for any given stage or levels, and it ended up being a huge team effort with a log and notebook trying to figure out what the hell we were even doing, where the hidden coins or stars were, what the objectives even where and so on.
At some point in the first few weeks that Japanese edition SM64 cart came to be known as "Satan in a box" because it was pure evil to us, especially considering the really frustrating nature of the dodgy camera controls or how the camera would unhelpfully shift right in the middle of some difficult jump.
It also didn't help that he had some major anger management issues, and so this guy in particular had a nasty habit of getting super pissed off, yanking the cartridge right out of the N64 and hurling it at the brick fireplace and mantel in the living room. I think he smashed about a dozen N64 controllers in the first year just trying to finish SM64 - which was a huge problem because you couldn't even go to the store to buy new controllers and they all had to be imported in an age where eBay or online sales didn't really exist.
After the first few months the case of that poor cartridge was cracked and shattered in multiple places and to Nintendo's credit it just took the abuse and kept working. Like if this had been a disc based system I'm certain that he would have had a tantrum and snapped that disc into little pieces in the first few weeks. That's how high the frustration levels were.
If you told me back then that eventually people would start speedrunning SM64 blindfolded, I would have thought you were totally insane and/or really high on something. There was no way we would have believed that or thought that it was even remotely possible.
Yet here we are and what the fuuuuuuck.
posted by loquacious at 11:59 AM on July 12, 2021 [14 favorites]
Yeah, N64 carts are built like bricks. Carts for many systems are light enough that you can guess that they are largely empty inside, but N64 cartridges are solid.
posted by JHarris at 12:26 AM on July 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 12:26 AM on July 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
Oh my Lord, the very first song in Maimai Finale is blowing my mind. I'm currently trying to creep into the "Extreme" level songs in Project Diva Future Tone, and I just can't imagine how any human can do what this runner is doing.
The Mario 64 run is also incredibly impressive. In both of these runs I can hardly believe that humans can memorize and reproduce such long lists of detailed procedures.
posted by sixohsix at 7:16 AM on July 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
The Mario 64 run is also incredibly impressive. In both of these runs I can hardly believe that humans can memorize and reproduce such long lists of detailed procedures.
posted by sixohsix at 7:16 AM on July 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
Now, I had posted my first comment when I was about halfway through watching the run, and I had to pause and do other things. I came back last night to watch him finish the run, and heard the commentator say that he is working on figuring out a full 120 star run, and that he's already routed 110+ stars... wow.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 7:55 AM on July 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 7:55 AM on July 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
It makes you wonder what's so awful about those 10- remaining stars, if the guy can beat Bowser three times without looking at the screen.
posted by JHarris at 6:20 PM on July 13, 2021
posted by JHarris at 6:20 PM on July 13, 2021
It makes you wonder what's so awful about those 10- remaining stars, if the guy can beat Bowser three times without looking at the screen.
I'm guessing they're some of the hidden stars and some of the coin stars, like the some of the flying star collection where there aren't as many solid walls and sound feedback cues to orient yourself.
I'd love to see the breakdown of which ones he couldn't finish.
posted by loquacious at 4:30 PM on July 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
I'm guessing they're some of the hidden stars and some of the coin stars, like the some of the flying star collection where there aren't as many solid walls and sound feedback cues to orient yourself.
I'd love to see the breakdown of which ones he couldn't finish.
posted by loquacious at 4:30 PM on July 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
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posted by JHarris at 6:09 PM on July 11, 2021 [2 favorites]