Ghost Rider - Zen Pinball 2

Digital Pinball from Zen Studios - Vengeance and Virtue Pack

Ghost Rider! He's from Marvel comics and his head keeps catching fire. That seems like a valued skill to me and I can't understand why he hasn't been asked to join the Avengers. 

If you've been watching the channel, njenkin, you'll know by now I'm a big Pinball fan. Traditionally every Thursday a digital Pinball game has been uploaded. Most the time being either a table from The Pinball Arcade or Zen Pinball 2. It's not the most popular subject on the channel by some margin and we may take a break from tradition for a little bit. Over 100 tables are available to watch in the pinball playlist so there's quite a big back catalogue if you want a quick fix in the meantime.

The last few weeks, I've been gameplay reviewing the four tables from the Vengeance and Virtue pack from Zen studios which were released on the PS4 in 2014.

The tables offered in this Marvel pack are Moon Knight, Thor, X-men and of course, Ghost Rider.

The character Ghost Rider is an unusual hero who first appeared in marvel comics back in 1972. An interesting choice for a Pinball table, but it works well. All of Zen Studios tables are magnificent and this one is no different.

My full gameplay review of this table is below.

If you want to support the channel, please consider subscribing on Youtube if you haven't already. It's pretty tricky to grow on the platform if you're not already huge and every little bit helps!

Many thanks!

Nick :o)

VIDME - An alternative to Youtube?

Additional opportunities for smaller content creators?

Since the reboot of my gaming channel on Youtube called njenkin around 4 years ago, growth has been steady, but not spectacular. The reason being, I think, the colossal volume of videos being uploaded every second on the site across the globe makes it very difficult to be found. 

I only monetised the Channel after 3 and a half years as I wanted to be certain I had something of quality to offer the viewer and could do it consistently. This I feel I have done and can continue to do so. However, for any Youtube Channel to take that next epic leap forward to professionalism it has to be able to generate enough ad revenue to stand on its own two feet. Looking at the Stats, although gradually increasing, I can see it's going to be very difficult to survive from Youtube Ad revenue alone in the short term unless something incredible were to happen.  A lot of smaller and increasingly medium to large Youtube channels are also feeling the same way.

So what's the answer? Give up?

No!

It's important to make videos for fun if you're passionate about the subject matter. I recently stumbled across a new Video site called VIDME. Founded in 2014, it's much smaller than YouTube, but recently started to offer monetisation opportunities.

I've only put up one video on it so far to test the water. Still finding my feet with it, but the site reminds me a lot of how Youtube used to be before it were acquired by Google. Seems initially more friendly to the smaller creator with the potential for a lot of growth. Whether this will be the case, it's impossible to predict, but I thought it would be worth a test run to see what happens.

In order to monetise content, a member needs to have 50 Followers. At time of writing this blog, I have zero, but the first video was only put up today. Hopefully we'll get there soon so I can give this a proper trial.

At the end of the day, the site is free and smaller channels have got nothing to lose. Below is my first video on the site.

https://vid.me/CbDVc

 
If you get a chance, please take a look. If you sign up on VIDME, then be sure to give me a Follow. It all helps !!  This doesn't mean I'm suddenly leaving Youtube. Should be there for the foreseeable future.

Nick :o)

The Birds and the Bees - ZX Spectrum 48K

Ah the Nostalgia. Times were much simpler back then!

Retro Spectrum gaming from the early eighties. Got a good buzz off this one. Erm, yes.

You can't beat the oldies. It's easy for me to say this though as nostalgia is always a very strong force. You're always going to have stronger feelings for the sort of games you played growing up. Why? Because they're not just games. They're also memories. A warming link to the past. 

So what can we say about this 8 Bit game from 1983? Well, it's a game you certainly couldn't get away with releasing nowadays. But despite it's simplicity and minor flaws, I kind of like it. 

You control Boris the Bee from Birkenhead. It's your job to collect nectar from a row of delicious looking flowers then bring it back to the hive. At the end of the day, it's all about the honey. The more nectar Boris carries, the slower he flies making the task that bit trickier.

Of course, on route there are a number of nasties trying to stop good old Boris. Birds, insects, unfriendly caterpillars, they're all strongly against the process of honey manufacture it seems. Maybe a bug spray would have been good. The farmer of this place really hasn't thought this through. 

Bit of colour bleed in this game when Boris flies over other objects or a Bug Byte advertising plane flies across clouds or the sun. Overall though, a nice piece of gaming history.

Above is my full gameplay review type thing on njenkin. As usual, it's all about fun and sharing the memories. With retrogaming, I find it's always a greater experience once shared. If you have any thoughts or views about this game or similar then feel free to comment below or on the Youtube video if you have an account.

The Birds and the Bees published by Bug Byte in 1983.

Nick :o)
 

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle

SEGA Megadrive Ultimate Collection on the PS3

I never owned a Sega Mega Drive back in the day. I started in the eighties with a ZX Spectrum then later the Commodore Amiga in this era and the Sega Mega Drive sadly passed me by. Being a big fan of Retro Gaming I was later pleased to get hold of the Sega Megadrive Ultimate Collection on the Playstation 3 so I could try out all these great classic games I had missed.

 There are a number of absolute gems on this collection. I've already covered some on my Youtube Channel njenkin for you to take a look at. These include the amazing Golden Axe and Streets of Rage trilogies which are definitely worth a watch for nostalgia alone. This week I played and reviewed another classic, Alex Kid in the Enchanted Castle. A cute platformer released on the Mega Drive back in 1989.

Did you own it? Did you play it? Have any good memories? Let me know what you think.

Nick :o) 

Finish Him !!! Game Boy Advance Style

Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance

Enjoyed reviewing this one. Hasn't aged brilliantly when you look at the latest Mortal Kombat releases, but at the time in 2002, Deadly Alliance was a big leap forward over previous GBA titles in the series. 

 Published by Midway Games in 2002, the game offered a whole new fighting engine which worked really well. 12 playable characters, although some need to be unlocked. The game also offered Link cable support. Below is my gameplay review. Never full walkthroughs of course as you know. It's all about nostalgia and having a bit of fun.

  
Enjoy! Feel free to leave any comments below or on Youtube!

Nick :o) 

DriveClub - Italian Performance Cup

Darkness in Italy

If you've been watching the main channel njenkin, you will know by now we are slowly playing through the game DriveClub on the PS4. Published by Sony in 2014, the game is absolutely breathtaking. Graphics and sound are superb with so many different vehicles and challenges to unlock.

What stands DriveClub out from the crowd for me is how welcoming it is to the newcomer. Arcade in style, but with simulation style graphics. You won't be spending hours and hours setting up the car here or need a degree in car mechanics. It's instant play, instant action.

 This time I take on the Italian Performance Cup.

Thankfully you never have to pay for car repairs! If you can get hold of this game at a good price, I would definitely recommend a purchase.

Nick  :o)

 

A New Blog - First one on the Internet I'd Imagine

Hello there!

As the Blog description says, thank you for stopping by. My name is Nick and I run the Youtube gaming Channel njenkin which was rebooted around 3 and half years ago.

It's main aim was not to deliver detailed walkthroughs of old games, but instead to blunder my way through them, review them of sorts and to have fun with an audience who had similar interests. The Channel covers games from the ZX Spectrum, Commodore Amiga, Game Boy Advance and more modern PlayStation. It's good to get a comparison through the generations to see how games have evolved.

Over time the Channel has grown steadily and gained a knowledgeable and friendly audience of which I am most grateful for and I hope this will continue.

It was suggested I start a Blog to further promote the Channel so here it is!  Still doing a bit of tweaking with the design, but I'm sure I'll get it eventually. :P

I also a run a smaller channel called DataPurge which is updated less often and tends to focus on non-gaming issues and Top 10's. Links are on the top right (Well.. I hope so anyway), so if you're on YouTube and want to subscribe, that would be very helpful. Alternatively however, all new videos will be posted onto this Blog also as well as the new FaceBook page at Facebook.com/njenkin7.

Hurruh, well that's the first post done then. Why does Bloggers's spellcheck not recognise the word Blog? It's a mystery. Anyway... Have a great day!

Nick   :o)