Delayed Input 601 Post-Show Assessment

This was a weird episode. There was some old news I figured would probably be worth covering, like Square Enix selling off Crystal Dynamics and Eidos, or maybe I could do like a pre-E3 check-in on all the big rumors. But then there was this Cracker Jack thing.

It was a tiny dumb idea that grew. I was going to show that weird game off on a live stream, good for a quick laugh. Then I thought, "hold on, this is perfect for a Delayed Input after-credits bit." And then dipping in a little deeper, I realized there was enough going on there for a whole episode. 

Here's a couple of cool things that didn't make it into the episode: Microsoft actually has a SkiFree clone called Surf that's part of the Edge browser. At one point I guess as a limited event you could wear a skin to look like SkiFree guy and even the classic yeti came to chase you. That stuff is gone and Surf kinda stinks so I cut it out. It is a seemingly important part of the story though, I probably should have found a way to make it work.

Also look at this crazy thing:

SkiFree and Minesweeper on Game Boy Color, just wild. I was feeling the SkiFree talk was a little bloated and the real fun was checking out the other Cracker Jack games, so this absolutely freaky package didn't seem as relevant.

I also learned during my stream on Friday that the Minesweeper clone I believed to be made of mostly original assets was a much more direct clone of Pop! Pop! Win!, an open source game that someone in the live chat actually worked on: https://dart-lang.github.io/sample-pop_pop_win/

Something we don't talk about too often here, and something I frankly don't get too concerned about, is views and analytics. This video though, was ranked 10th out of my 10 most recent videos. YouTube makes a point of telling you these things, so I had to click in and see what's up. Here's what's weird about this particular ep: total views are fairly down, but viewer retention is a decent chunk above average. Basically there are much fewer people who wanted to click on it, but those people who did watch found it more interesting than usual. One for the die-hards.

I have a couple of theories for the low viewership. I don't think SkiFree Robbery is a particularly appealing title if you don't know what SkiFree is. I already joked in the episode that it wouldn't be a broad-interest topic. Secondly, I think this YouTube comment actually provides considerable insight:
"Had a much more difficult time clicking on this episode's thumbnail given Kyle's bizarre getup"
So obviously I treat my wardrobe as a goof, but I do wonder if it's legitimate thumbnail poison. I might try doing a little something else with the thumb next week. The costume won't change.

QUESTIONS FROM YOU!

Are you actually wearing suspenders or was this a confusion of braces/suspenders?
They're complete overalls. I got them kinda small and they're super uncomfortable.

Why didn't you want to eat the whole hotdog? / You don't like hot dogs? What stream did this become canon?
In real life I just don't eat hot dogs. I think it's nasty squishy meat.

Would you agree that Chex Quest was, in fact, better than DOOM?
We're talking about DOOM 2016 right? Yeah Chex Quest is better than that.

Julia Stiles is the female Jesse Plemons. Thoughts?
I simply disagree

Do you feel prepared to be the person who blew the whistle on Cracker Jack?
I kind of feel like in the end I failed to prove Cracker Jack did anything wrong. I expect their arcade to remain exactly as it stands for 3 or 4 more years.

And that's it for today. I think we're still two weeks away from the expected "Pre-E3" video, so next week's ep is still up in the air. It might be fun to a completely out of nowhere episode, like even more out of nowhere than Cracker Jack and SkiFree. I think perhaps if I'm not focused on what's hot in the world of gaming, I may find the clarity to discover one good joke.