#it'll just be to compare it to this very much improved version

[mdverse]

churro kiss continues to hold me in a death grip i will never get over it

[cipheramnesia]

This is the process my brain goes through every time I see anything about Netflix Avatar The Last Airbender.

My first reaction is always: Why? The original, although not without flaws, doesn't leave a lot of room to improve. A good remake or adaptation usually involves an updated context or change in perspective that adds to the original work and gives it new meaning. It's a risky undertaking because it usually involves wanting to take on something established as iconic and make it your own. But Netflix is a corporation and seems very risk averse for the most part. Its only investment is in the name recognition of AtLA. It's hard to visualize Netflix deliberately taking a big risk on an expensive show.

My second reaction is: How? The original series is about 1400 minutes over 61 episodes, and it still had to rush the ending. We're looking at 8 episodes of roughly 45-60 minutes per episode for season 1, which would require Netflix to let it run more than 3 seasons, if the series has similar pacing. Historically however Netflix shows have glacial pacing, and rarely make three seasons. Not really sure how they plan to tell the story if the series is anything like the average Netflix series, meaning it either needs to undercut the story or let the series breathe for at least five seasons. But nothing Netflix has done makes me want to watch anything they make as an ongoing series? Why bother, they cancel everything I enjoy. So I wonder how. What's the hook to say "this will be able to provide something new and interesting compared to the original, and will be allowed to tell the complete story."

Which leads me to think, but you can't judge if something is good without seeing it. Except none of this is about whether it's good, I just find myself wondering what are the odds it's worth the effort? They're low, and it has nothing to do with whether or not it's even any good on its own merits.

Following this, I ask myself, what would a good version of this be. Imagine you are making a live action series with eight hour long episodes per season based on a children's cartoon with 20 thirty minute episodes per season. You are trying to encompass a story which was presented over three seasons as a cartoon, and you do not know if you will have more than those eight episodes. It's made for Netflix which, in terms of a company which will protect the hard earned fruits of your artistic labor, is the fox guarding the henhouse. What do you do?

If you are looking to make something good, that respects your audience investment and your own work, you make radical changes to the story. You change the pacing, the character arcs, the plot arcs. You make sure you deliver a complete story in those episodes with as much respect for the original work and as many new ideas as you can.

Except, at that point, what is even the point of a remake. The only way to work with it is either to trust Netflix allowing you to finish the story (which you'd need to be incredibly naive to do), or tell a story so different it may as well be wholly original. And that's where I always end up. Like, it'll probably be fine, but what's the point of it all? Another vanishing digital property to get canceled because of some undefinable failure to return on investment.

I think about it a lot because the two ends of the spectrum seem to be "dunk on every new piece of information" or "wait and see" but the only conclusion I can ever reach is "why even care?" That's been the lesson to take home from digital streaming in general when it comes to series, but Netflix in particular, and honestly for movie series too. If it can't be self contained, the companies who produce and release these kinds of series just cannot be trusted with it, and there are too many good original stories being put out to care anymore about big budget promises that one day they will definitely for sure deliver a finished story, this time for real.

I care enough to think about why I don't feel anything at all about Netflix Avatar. It'll be fine, whatever else. Just fine.

[zariyen]

Do you have any art tips for beginner artists?

hi! i'll do my best to list the most useful ones for me from the top of my head! but if you're asking about something specific, lmk too!

always use references! this is 100% the fastest way to improve quickly! and don't forget if you're posting artworks using references, to always ask for permission if needed and to credit the reference! here's a very good post with links to various art tutorials and references :) try to do things out of your comfort zone!

i remember my sister drilling this into my head as a kid lmao: if you're going to draw people, make it a habit to draw the whole body, not just a face or bust. this way you can improve drawing the face and body at the same rate, rather than perfect the face and have like. a shoddy body HAHAHA (<- speaking from experience - my sister warned me but i still did not listen) here's an example from when i was 12 lol i went so hard on the eyes but my anatomy wasn't great so the drawing looks kind of goofy

if i'm being honest nothing has really changed even now HAHAHA you can still tell i spend too much time on the faces and neglect my anatomy studies a lot 🥲

3. don't worry too much about building a signature art style if you're a beginner! experiment and imitate art styles that you like, and it'll eventually develop into something you're comfortable with

4. speaking of art styles, Naoki Saito-sensei does very in-depth art videos for people looking to develop and improve their art, and he covers a variety of different topics! the link i provided is for his new YouTube account, since his first one was unrightfully terminated :( since it's new, there aren't a lot of videos up yet but he'll be re-uploading all his old ones soon

5. this video by tppo is also a useful tutorial/explanation for style breakdowns, using Mika Pikazo-sensei's artworks! also another good reference for building art and colouring styles

6. unless you're going for a specific art style, try not to use black colours for shading. Instead, try using a darker version of your base colour with the hue slightly adjusted. it's a little difficult to explain so i made a tiny diagram underneath:

it makes the colours pop a lot! Kurahana Chinatsu-sensei and Akiakane-sensei are really good at doing this 😭💖 that can also apply to lineart! but again, only if you're going for this kind of colourful art style :') do what feels right to you!

7. lastly try to enjoy drawing! if you do what you enjoy, learning and improving will come so much easier to you :) i can understand the urgency to improve (it's like my default state of mind 🥲) but if you keep focusing on that, drawing will eventually just start to overwhelm and frustrate you. try to combat it by doing something self-indulgent! i like to draw my ocs whenever i start getting burnt out :')

8. actually i lied this is the last one!! never give up!! it's so easy to feel bad or frustrated about your art no matter where you are in your art journey, so what i like to do to try and fight that is to look at my old art and compare the improvements! here's one of the earliest oc drawings i could find from my childhood vs my most recent oc drawing :pensive:

[woodchipp]

So, I've read the OMORI manga's first chapter.

All in all, it's already an improvement over the game in my eyes.

SPOILERS BELOW.

Things I Liked

The biggest improvement, of course, is that Sunny isn’t locked in a perpetual resting bitch face anymore. He’s appropriately afraid to open the door, shocked to see Basil, aghast at Aubrey calling him a “loser” and terrified of Aubrey herself. And the mention of Mari actually causes him to freak out! Compared to Game!Sunny, it’s quite refreshing to see he seems to have some semblance of a personality here. Now I’m interested to see how Basil’s bathroom breakdown will be handled 🙂

I appreciate that the manga doesn’t fuck around with its plot and cuts straight to the chase. Headspace is boring as hell anyway, and I'd personally take the manga's breakneck pacing over the game's excruciating length. Starting off the very first chapter with Memory Lane’s very last memory was an interesting choice, and it makes a lot of sense given that the violin is the source of all of Sunny’s woes lol

Likewise, I appreciate that Aubrey is violently confrontational right off the bat. At least she’s proving herself to be as unruly as a real delinquent would be lmao. She even calls Sunny out as the coward he is! Her gang is nowhere to be seen so far, which I see as a huge improvement considering they’re barely characters, and I hope they’re excised from the story so that it could focus on Aubrey more 

Basil briefly changing to his Headspace version to reflect Sunny’s tenuous grasp on reality is a great detail. Where was that kind of detail in the source material?

Sunny zoning out into White Space after attacking Aubrey makes sense. I can see why the shock would cause him to dissociate. It also makes sense that Sunny would dream up a playground if he fell unconcsious at the park. That being said…

Things I Disliked

…the way Headspace is introduced is still rather haphazard. I'm not sure why the chapter ends where Headspace began in the game. Unless the Headspace segments are much shorter here, I'm afraid it'll be just as much of a tumor on the plot as it was in the source material

Again, Kel only calls attention to Sunny’s knife and says nothing about Aubrey’s nail bat. It was stupid in the game and it's stupid here. He also stands by while she holds Sunny at bat-point and monologues about how she'll never forgive him instead of, dunno, trying to tackle her so that she doesn't harm Sunny

The artstyle is. a thing. Everyone’s got haystack limbs, including Kel, who’s supposed to be the physically fittest one in the group. The Same Face Syndrome goes without mention

The implication that Omori stepped in and took control of Sunny to attack Aubrey is the one thing I genuinely hated. Come on, are you really going to shirk responsibility for Sunny’s actions on his Evil Mental Illness again? At least Sunny himself was horrified by the act, but still, that was bullshit. can’t wait for the Epic plot twist that Omori forced Sunny to shove Mari down the stairs 

[wutlaikalikes]

hololive production COUNTDOWN LIVE 2023▷2024 -HOLOSTARS side-【#ホロスターズカウントダウン2023】

just fangirling under the cut:

The stream started at 10pm for me but 11pm in Japan. There was a lot of waiting then surprise, Armis! They were there to introduce themselves and basically notify everyone that the concert is pre-recorded and that there is a possibility that a Holostars talent is streaming. At the time, Aruran was having a watch-a-long together with Shien. Rio and Roberu also showed up. Axel was also having a watch-a-long while making food. I later found out that Hakos Baelz and Kureiji Ollie also had a watch-a-long.

⚙️🟣 怪獣の花唄 (Kaiju no Hanauta) by Vaundy

Gawd, I love this song. I don’t care for the choreography but I guess it's better than just standing there. Anyway, the choreography is very male idol-like, I don't mind it at all.

🌺🍕🦔💨 LADY by 米津玄師 (Kenshi Yonezu)

Everybody is thinking that it'll be a silly performance from them because of their performance of Perfect Human from Temma’s anniversary stream. It would be interesting but this idol-like cutesy dance is just 🥰. Also their vocals are amazing! Aran you have improved a lot!!

🐃🦝🃏 インザバックルーム (In the Back Room) by syudou

Seriously another Stars that improved a lot is Oga. I was banging my table so hard when they did that slight body roll and I happened to be staring at Oga. Sorry table… Also Oga is like my oshi, why wouldn’t I gawk at his presence? lol

🎭🦔💨🍷 オトナブルー (Otona Blue) by 新しい学校のリーダーズ (Atarashii Gakko!)

I’ve discovered Atarashii Gakko! just recently, so I’m kinda excited what Suntempo will do with the song. And I gotta say this is one of my favorite performances. Astel is right for them to perform this song, it just fits their psychopathic tendencies. But seriously, these 3 clowns are so good at singing,

🎨☔⚙️🕯️ 星座になれたら (If I could be a constellation) by 結束バンド (kessoku band)

I will be honest, I kinda tuned out during the collab songs. But this ain’t bad though. Their voices blended well.

🎲🧟‍♀️🍷🖌️ ビートDEトーヒ (Beat De Tohi) by ハマいく (Hamaiku)

This song is perfect for these hyper red talents. Ollie is so cute in this! I really like Roberu’s singing voice so it’s kinda a surprise for him to rap a bit.

🌺🎸🦝 フライデー・ナイト (Friday night) なとり (natori)

This is a nice unit. I’m surprised by this unit. Miyabi is usually bubblegum pop, Fuma is usually cool kpop-ishi and Izuru has that husky voice. I’m just very appreciative of this, they sound so cool.

���🐃🖌️ 第ゼロ感 (Dai Zero Kan) by 10-FEET

This performance was just fire!! They are also moving a lot, but it's not a concern for these guys' endurance since Aran goes to the gym frequently, Oga always rides his bike at night, and Gamma does stream Ringfit Adventure. The only missing member of this unit is Temma, another exorcist enthusiast . But gosh they sound so good together, high energy performance of sorts. Oga is so cool!!

I just noticed, Aran is mainly in the middle cause his clothes are white, green on the left and red on the other. Oga, on Aran’s left, is mainly black and green and Gamma, on Aran’s right, having black and red. It’s kinda nice.

🟣🃏🕯️ スターマイン (Star Mine) by Da-iCE

Grrrrrrrrrrrr. The growls coming from these three!! That ‘brah!’ coming from Rio is so adorable compared to how that other two does it lol

🎸🎭 アイドル - YOASOBI

They have to put these two last. Well justified since they are such good singers and overall performers. I feel this song is so overplayed now but gawd I can’t deny how much I love these two and how they performed this song.

BRING BACK STAR COLLECTION!! I love how they managed to squeeze in Holostars EN in their current form. And of course Miyabi and Machina interaction. I hope they release this part with English translation.

🌟 We are the HOLOSTARS!!

This song never fail to entertain me and now there's a new version?! The surprise of Uproar!! joining them brought me happiness!

H-O-L-O-S-T-A-R-S Uproar!!

🌟 Connecting by halyosy

The transition to this song was kinda lacking. This part I was hoping that EN would be on the screen at least. It’s kinda sad that it didn’t happen. Also seriously what the heck was that note Rio?!

moar thoughts

This is shorter compared to the Hololive side. I mean I don’t care, I just heard Ollie mention it. I had fun watching this. While I’m writing this I’m currently watching it for the third time.

In terms of collab songs with Hololive, I think last year’s Cinema still holds number 1 for me. Suisei and AsuIzu just nailed that performance! 2nd place is Sora, Azki and Rikka’s WASURENA.

I was wishing so hard that at least Axel would be in this. Again, I don’t care if he’ll be a cardboard cutout. Seriously, I don’t care for new outfits for the boys but 3D will be greatly appreciated so they can join Holostars JP for the Countdown Live 2024.

[loneswaggingranger]

I've said this before somewhere, but I think it's important to reiterate that the sooner people accept the sentiment that the books and the show are two different beasts in their own right, the easier it'll be for them to actually enjoy the show. I genuinely do understand the hurt people feel when the characters they believe in aren't portrayed adequately, but like there can be parts in the books that you like, and parts in the show that you also like - one does not have to negate the other.

The show is an adaptation of the books - it doesn't have to follow it word for word to be valid and enjoyable! We all know how much thought the writers, cast and crew have put into telling this version of their story. I honestly don't think I've seen a cast more in touch with their fandom as the SNB crew, nor have I seen a cast that cares for the characters just as much as we do.

The choices that they made to tell this story have clearly been thought out carefully. Specifically, Kaz's story with Pekka seems intended to build up Kaz's formidable Bastard of the Barrel reputation - which was criticised by some last season for making him seem too soft. It serves to give Kaz Brekker some street cred back on his name, and gives non-readers an insight to what makes Kaz Brekker tick.

When you really think about it you can understand why they made certain choices, and why they had to cut out/rearrange certain parts. And even if there are existing flaws, hey, what story doesn't have flaws? That doesn’t make the show unfaithful to the books, it just allows it room for improvement! You can like a piece of media in spite of, or in certain cases even because of, its flaws.

The SNB cast and crew have done their best to do justice by the core of their characters - even if some aspects of their plotlines are changed - so it's really unfair to imply otherwise.

Just take it as a nice alternate universe treat! Sure, it's valid to prefer the books over the show, but to use one to knock down the other kind of kills the joy of reinvention in storytelling, y'know?

Also, just have fun with it! Compare the scenes in the book and the show - see how they're different, analyse why you prefer one or the other, draw your own conclusions. It makes for a very thoughtful experience of consuming media and I honestly find things just more fun to look at when they're different.

tldr; the books are valid, the show is valid, having a preference is valid but don't knock down the show just because it's different from the books. Difference does not equate to deficiency.

[rosietrace]

H E H E H E

❤️+🖤 for Idol Au! Victoria and Zen with Ellis please heheheeheheh

OHOHOHO, I'M EXCITED TO WRITE ABOUT THIS :)) be afraid, be very afraid

Note: Track 17 is coming at some point, but school's been delaying it TvT

If you'd like, you can tag the others since it's idol AU related ^^

OCs: Victoria Shard, Zenith Devi

{ Apologies for any out of character moments }

Victoria Shard, Shōri 💎

[ ❤️: Victoria's positive thoughts on Ellis ]

Victoria is aware that the members of [ (Co)-connect ] have high expectations for her as their mentor, and she is also aware of Ellis's admiration for her. So naturally, she'll want to get on her good side.

But other than that, she likes Ellis.

Victoria likes that even though Ellis isn't all that experienced in idol industry, she'll still do her best to exceed expectations and become the best version of herself.

She applauds Ellis whenever she's able to pull off something outlandishly difficult. Especially if it's something the average idol wouldn't usually be able to pull off.

If Ellis asks to sing with her, even if it isn't a song that'll be released, Victoria would agree to sing with her. As long as she doesn't have a busy schedule

To put it simply, Victoria thinks Ellis is admirable and capable enough to exceed expectations.

[ 🖤: Victoria's negative thoughts on Ellis ]

As admirable as Ellis may be to Victoria, the latter still has her moments of doubt when it comes to her.

For one, her lack of experience as an idol kind of puts Victoria over the edge. Her determination to persevere is respectable, yet naive in Victoria's eyes.

And sure, Ellis is a capable. She has the potential.

But is all that potential worth working in an industry that's just going to try and drag you down?

Victoria chose to be an idol. She knew the difficulties it'll bring to her life. And she knows Ellis did the same.

She just hopes she doesn't repeat the mistakes she made.

Zenith Devi, (?)carus 💚

[ ❤️: Zen's positive thoughts on Ellis ]

After becoming a mentor in NRC Corp, Zen managed to befriend almost every member of [ (Co)-connect ] much faster compared to Victoria. Not that he'd shame her for that, of course. He specifically got along with Ellis the most.

He finds Ellis to be an absolute joy! He's really happy that he met someone who has a similar type of energy to him who also happens to share an interest in the idol industry!

He likes that Ellis is open to new things, specifically the industry she's in, and is able to improve surprisingly quickly despite her struggles!

Her lack of experience as an idol does concern him, but it's often brushed off with Ellis blowing him away with all the improvements she's made. Zen likes that she's able to learn from her mistakes in order to improve on her career, talents, and sense of self.

To simplify it though, Zen gets along with Ellis wonderfully! He loves her optimism and determination to exceed everyone's expectations of her, even if she's not as experienced as her coworkers/costars.

[ 🖤: Zen's negative thoughts on Ellis ]

He doesn't think Ellis is a bad person, nor is she an untalented idol. Zen's well aware of Ellis's talents, as well as her morality. He cares about her but he can't help but be concerned for her as well.

He actually shares a similar mindset towards Ellis with his best friend, Victoria. And they're both equally as concerned for Ellis because of one thing.

Her (slight) naivety.

Zen knows that Ellis means no harm and wouldn't harm anyone unless they did something that would justify her actions towards them.

But that doesn't change the fact that he and Victoria are terrified at the idea of Ellis being manipulated by someone for their own gain.

Victoria's made several mistakes when trying to succeed as an idol. And Zen's been a witness to all of those mistakes.

And both he and Victoria just hope that... Ellis doesn't repeat them.

[icharchivist]

I'm just so happy about Rising

For as fun as Versus was and is, people leveled a lot of criticism at it. The base game, at least initially, was pretty expensive at 60$ with a very limited roster at first. Djeeta wasn't even playable from the beginning, which upset a lot of people (understandable imo). There were like five stages, with four more also being paid DLC

It just seemed very money-grubbing

It got better over time, the game went on sale and they released a version with most DLC characters already included, but still

But Rising seems to rectify all that!

They seemingly fixed rollback and online play, which was a great concern, the base game is 50$ with a larger roster of characters than Versus ever had, there seem to be new stages, more content with more story, not to mention Grand Bruise and the photo studio and then there's even a free version. Or you get the Deluxe Edition which includes the first six DLC characters as soon as they're released and it's only$ 15 more. Now I can't say that's a good deal or not yet, but it is definitely an improvement

So it just feels like they listened to all criticism

The interface is more pleasant, some of the features later patched into Versus are included from the get-go, it just feels more like a complete package, they fixed long-standing issues and included more content at a slightly lowered cost

It's just nice to me

The two betas also tell me they're looking for feedback, which is always a good sign

All in all, it seems like a great improvement compared to its predecessor

It's Versus Rising indeed

YESSS FOR REAL.

it's very on brand for GBF in general tbh. Early Mobage Years also had a lot of problems that they had to work to fix eventually after some feedbacks.

like Granblue IS the reason there's a pity system in gacha and that gacha are forced to announce the odds of their banners. Because someone spent way too much money on the Andira banner then and didn't get her and it was kind of the scandal about gacha odds and while the gov did get involved it's mostly Granblue that took matter into their own hands to try to rework this system, and they created the pity system, that then became strongly recommended into any gacha. I mean ofc it's not specifically out of goodness of their hearts - but ultimately Granblue has a trackrecord of, if they see a problem? they're going to address it.

gbvs (and Relink when it'll come to that) are also some of the first triple AAA of the company if i'm not mistaken? And the mobage team itself has been working very closely on both of them to not delegate too much and still keeping the Granblue Brand intact. (which is why Relink has been in development hell for years, they tried to delegate it to another studio but in the end the results didn't match what they wanted so they took it back in)

So it really gives me the impression that they're learning as they go, and ready to make mistakes along the way as long as they can improve on it later.

everything you mention about Rising really showcases that. GBVS was a clumsy launch with a lot of problems that are obvious to Fighting Games fans, but it learnt what it could from the experience.

and it really makes Rising a better game in general by the end of it because they actually take those things into account.

like i'm not trying to worship a corpo since all the plan is still to get money still lol but it's nice to see a company go "yeah we fumbled, my bad" and improve their work as a result. So many companies dig their heels and talk about how fans are ungrateful or something. it's a nice change.

so happy for the launch!!

[speedofsoundsketches]

How to draw Elise

Ooo sure!

When starting with any human, I always begin with a basic outline of the figure. Since I draw Elise with Anime proportions versus realistic ones like her original version, I can bend the realism a bit more to get that effect I want.

Just a note, I can mostly eye things at this point due to just drawing so much for so long and having done many studies of realistic and anime figures, that this sort of thing I can whip up thanks to having a trained eye for it. I recommend reading up figure drawing books and tutorials for learning from real life first before studying into anything stylized like Anime. Learn the rules before breaking them!

Satisfied with the base figure proportions, I start roughing out the clothing and facial features. Normally I'd do the hair with the face but for the sake of this tutorial, I felt it's easier to see the face without adding it. The base outline helped me know how to fold the clothing around her so it looks believable as to how it drapes on her body. Note that I'm forgoing any details as this is just about charting out how it's functionally going to look before I define things too much.

The face is a tougher subject to explain since it's all based on my collected knowledge gained from studying the human figure. I tried to condense it in this little diagram but I strongly recommend doing studies of your own to improve your internal visual library on how faces work. Broadly speaking, this is about how it's broken down from realism to Anime-ish proportions. (I hope this spaghetti makes sense haha)

Since I'm pretty satisfied with her face, I'll roughly outline the hair and get that sorted out. Elise is a very dainty character with wispy features so her hair should be close to the head versus having too much volume. It ties well with her overall theme of "feathers" and lightness, like someone who is easily guided around by the wind (aka Sonic).

Thematic things like this are informative because for me the artist, I want to capture that quality of her since it's strongly indicative of how she's presented. Too many harsh, dark lines or clunky details could easily make her appear too heavy which takes away the "airy" aspect she emits, if that makes sense.

With everything now charted out, I can THEN start refining the edges of things with heavier lines where it'll help for eventually rendering this if I choose to do so. For a sketch though, I think this is enough. I changed her left hand to suit the angle her arm was at and to feel daintier/more comfortable.

Her feet and hands are larger than a regular person's simply because that's the Sonic way :^)

I also keep in mind that Elise is a teenager. I'm not a huge fan of how elongated and tall she looks in Sonic 06 because it makes her feel too adult for her age (This is mostly due to how small her head is compared to her body). I gave her more youthful features like a bigger head, slightly shorter figure and large anime eyes to hint that she's quite young without being AS young like Maria.

I'm at a point where I can do most of these things without breaking it down into such specific steps but for a beginner, it helps to try doing things in this way to help you learn how everything is built on top of basic shapes without getting overwhelmed with details and busy work. Build it up a step at a time. Over time you get a feel for how you're doing it!

[it1776]

https://it1776.com Free shipping from USA! Buy cheap affordable gamepads, gaming keyboard, headsets, gaming mouses, sound bar, sports headphones, wireless headphones

- Hey, guys, this is Austin.

This is the brand new Series 2 Edition

of the Xbox Elite controller, which has got me thinking.

Kevin, what is the best controller that I can buy right now?

- Well, we got a different couple options to talk about here

so let's round 'em up and see.

(imitates music)

? Kevin Kenson music, Kevin Kenson music, ?

? Kevin Kenson music, do do doo ?

The benchmark that I compare every single controller to

is the current generation Xbox One.

Now, it's seen some updates over the last few years,

like Bluetooth and an audio jack,

you also have the Design Lab.

But this is always what I compare things to.

Kev, why am I wrong?

- I mean, look, the standard Xbox One controller

is a great controller.

When it comes to just the baseline models

that come with systems

this is honestly my my personal favorite as well.

- [Austin] Same, yeah.

- But there's a lot of room for improvement still

and there's a lot of things that have kind of become more

common and popular amongst pro controllers

that aren't necessarily feasible

in an affordable regular baseline like this one.

- Such as.

- Such as Microsoft's own Xbox One Elite 2.

Honestly, we could talk all day

about the special features and things.

I think the main kind of take away points

aside from just general build quality,

multiple sticks you can use, multiple D-pads, back paddles.

Which are pretty common across a lot of these ones.

The big stuff for this too though

is the unique customization features

that are in the Xbox Accessories app

where you can do things like button remapping,

adding a Shift button options, stick acceleration,

lots of crazy in depth stuff.

- And of course, this works across the Xbox

as well as the PC and those settings that you sync

will actually work across consoles as well.

Or across, did I just call PC a console?

I mean, across systems, across platforms.

- Identity crisis.

So aside from the Elite 2

the other one we have here is the Prestige.

Now, this is the newest one from Scuf

I'd mentioned earlier

and the main thing with this

is that this is a modified Xbox One controller

so it still has the same core base in it,

which is really cool actually

'cause that means you can use it with the Xbox One,

the upcoming Project Scarlet, PC, whatever,

if it works with Xbox controller it'll work with this.

One of the cool things about it

is how you can further modify it.

If you wanna change the sticks or anything

you actually just pop off the faceplate.

- That's cool.

- And this is how you can swap out the sticks.

You can also switch out the D-pad,

although I think you can just do that

from having this faceplate on as well.

So this one has four adjustable paddles,

you can take them off if you don't wanna use them.

- [Austin] The problem though

is that this is expensive, right?

this is actually around the same price

as the Elite controller?

- So, it's 20 bucks cheaper

if you just buy the base model unmodified.

But one of the big things about Scuf

is how you wanna customize it to make it your own design

so depending on if you want certain colors,

special designs, different sticks,

depending on all the things you modify and do to it

it can end up adding up to being quite more money.

- So I get that you're really excited

about your controllers and everything

but really everyone knows the superior way

to play any kind of game is using a mouse and keyboard.

Which I so helpfully have provided

with the Razer Turret.

- [Ken] You said this was controller video.

- This works with an Xbox, I can control my games with it,

I think that counts.

- [Ken] What is wrong with you?

- Can I bring in a racing wheel next then?

- There's a cursor inside the game.

It's almost as if I'm playing on a PC called the Xbox.

- Now to be clear, this is because the Xbox

actually does support keyboard and mouse,

it doesn't have to necessarily be the Turret

but the Turret is an awesome controller design

specifically for the Xbox in mind.

- 'Cause essentially you're getting

like a proper Razer keyboard

that's built into this little platform.

And then you have the mouse which is magnetic

so you can actually kind of.

You have a little like mousepad.

So if I was sitting.

- Come on, do it, yep.

Yeah, squat work out!

- This is the way all true gamers play.

So the Turret is certainly not cheap.

At $250 this is probably the most expensive thing here.

So the thing with the Turret is that

you really shouldn't use this

as purely like an Xbox controller.

I mean, you can use it like that, certainly.

But it sorta makes more sense

if you have like a PC and an Xbox

and you wanna have everything

kind of unified into one setup.

- Or if you just really love playing

just Fortnite all the time

and you wanna keyboard and mouse set up.

- And you don't wanna use a PC.

- And you don't wanna use a PC.

- Yeah, that's really popular.

Now over on the PlayStation side of things

we of course have the DualShock 4.

A perfectly respectable controller, it's good, fine,

but it's not really great, it's really super impressive

which is why I'm really curious,

especially to play with this Raiju.

- So actually, real quick before focusing in the Raiju,

I think something that's interesting about PlayStation

is that on Xbox you saw some similarities

with the two controllers we were trying,

they were both based on the standard Xbox design.

All three of these are very different.

All three pro controllers we're looking at

are very different approaches

of how to make a pro controller.

- This doesn't work.

- Does it not work or did you not log in properly to...

- You would be correct, I didn't log in correctly.

- There you go.

- Kevin Kenson, PlayStation expert.

- So the deal with the Raiju is that

at least out of the different pro controllers

we're looking at today,

it's the least physically customizable.

There's a little bit you can do,

you can swap out that D-pad, it does have some other sticks.

But the really heavy focus is on

just straight up the build quality.

- It's so sturdy, this to me out of all these controllers

is the only one that feels on par

with the Xbox Elite controllers

as far as just like, it's beefy, it feels heavy,

it feels like this is something I can throw across the room

in a fit of rage after I lose in Fortnite

and it'll be just fine.

- The table that it hits won't be, but yes,

the controller will survive.

- Now, you know, I totally get that customization is great

and for some people, especially with like the Scuf stuff

you can go really over the top.

But for me, I'm one of those guys

who wants to walk into Subway

and order the sandwich just as it comes.

When I go into Blaze Pizza I'm like,

I just want a pizza with pepperoni on it.

I get overwhelmed with too much choice and you know what,

this doesn't have too much choice.

I just pick up the controller, I'm like,

look, someone smarter than me designed this.

Sweet, I'm on board.

- Of the controllers we have out here today

I think this the only,

is this the only one that we're talking about?

- [Ken] Yeah.

- This is the only one we're talking about

that is actually not available normally in North America.

You can get it, you just have to import it

which also means you're probably gonna spend

a little more money than the actual MSRP lists.

- How much is it if I wasn't importing it,

like say if I'm in Europe,

how much does this controller cost?

- Well you know, that was something I planned on checking

when we weren't filming earlier and hold on a moment please.

- That's fine, I gotta kill some droids.

- Now the Scuf Vantage, really almost the opposite

of what the Raiju is.

While the Raiju is focused on minimal physical customization

but having lots of just high build quality,

the Vantage is all about modular design.

Kind of like what we saw with the Prestige,

you can take the faceplate off.

- That's cool.

- But on this one you can swap the sticks, the D-pad,

and even take out the rumble motors if you want.

Kinda like we were talking with the Prestige earlier,

with Scuf things are so customizable

there's not really one set price.

There's a starting price.

If you get a wired version of this it starts at 170.

If you get a wired wireless version it's 200.

- I will say that so far this is still my favorite.

- I will admit, personally, that's my top as well,

for the PlayStation at least.

And actually let's go ahead and talk about

this last guy then.

- [Austin] So, you need a screwdriver

to work on this guy I see.

- Yeah, so there's a faceplate that locks in,

it keeps all the modules, as they pop out.

So you can do things like, lets say you like offset sticks,

you can have this set up.

Or if you don't, take that off, swap 'em,

and now you have symmetrical.

But I like offset so I'm gonna put it back.

- [Austin] I'm afraid to ask,

how much does the Astro C40 cost?

- Well the C40 is $200 for the base design

and it does not include all the different swappable parts.

So if you wanna get all the different D-pads

and all the different sticks it's gonna be a little more.

We have fewer controllers to talk about for Switch

than we do for Xbox and PlayStation

so I came up with a solution, I got one more.

- Okay, I mean, you've done a video

on every like Switch controller ever so.

(electronic music)

What is this slime thing?

- That, my friend, you are holding the one, the only,

HORI Slime controller for Switch.

- [Ken] I love that!

- Why? - It's adorable.

- This is not meant for human hands!

- It is not comfortable but it is amazing.

I should note that I guess kinda like the Raiju

we were talking about earlier,

this is a Japanese exclusive so if you want one of these

you are gonna have to pay top dollar to import it.

- How much is this really?

How much did you pay for it?

- I wanna say I paid 80.

- Oh.

After these $200 stupid controllers

$80 for a joke is, well, it's actually wait,

no, that's still a joke.

Can we look at some real controllers now?

- How dare you, how dare you. - Insult me.

So for the Switch when it comes to pro controllers

I think the one that really comes closest

to kind of at least capturing the idea right now

is the SN30 Pro Plus from 8BitDo.

- That actually really surprises me

because it's obviously a Super Nintendo style controller

but it has the grips as well as you have the sticks.

And this also works with a pretty wide variety

of different devices, right?

It's not just a Switch controller.

- Yeah, so 8BitDo controllers are designed to work

with the Switch, with PC, Mac, and Android.

- But you said this is 50 bucks, right?

- I believe so, yeah.

- That's not bad, especially considering, I mean,

I've got like $1,000 worth of controllers

on the table right now.

- Yeah, and in terms of what

kind of makes it a pro controller versus say,

using the official pro controller from Nintendo

is that this does offer some of those

special features that people equate with pro controllers,

like you can do things like actually remapping

what all the buttons are.

So if for whatever reason you really want B

to actually be the right trigger button

you can set that up if you like.

- [Austin] Now, obviously this is not as full featured

as the proper pro controller

since you don't have NFC for Amiibo

and you don't have rumble, or do you?

- [Kevin] No, this does have rumble, that's right.

- [Austin] Oh, that's awesome, okay, cool.

- You do have motion controls though.

- Oh, that's cool, okay.

- So this is the Split Pad Pro from HORI

and it's meant to be an alternative to Joy-Cons.

Now, because it is a third party option

it doesn't actually have all the features

that you might get used to seeing in a Joy-Con.

You don't have rumble, you don't have the ability to use

Amiibo scanning, you do have the motion controls still.

But the big trade off for that

is that you actually have a longer--

- It fits your hands. - Yeah.

It's a longer controller that's actually designed

to fit in your hands.

- I mean, look at the difference, right,

it's not even close.

Now, that doesn't necessarily fit in a bag as well

or anything like that but these,

to me the Joy-Cons are fine for a quick game

or if you wanna do some like Just Dance or whatever

but this is not a super comfortable way,

especially when you're using them

even in like a Joy-Con grip.

It's not that great for long periods of time.

- Well, and especially being used in handheld mode

I gotta say that it's not just a matter of the size,

it's not just that the thing is simply bigger,

it's that it actually does have contoured grips

and is designed to fit in your hands a specific way.

It does have remappable buttons on the backside.

Because these are each individual units

you can only remap buttons that are on the same side.

But still, that's better than not having

any remappables at all.

And because it's a HORI controller it has a turbo function.

- Because turbo is what we need.

You can't non-turbo game.

- I mean, if you like turbo, the slime does it.

Wanna use that slime, it's got a turbo button.

- I'm good, you have at it.

Now, if you actually want to use some of these controllers

you might find the sponsor of today's video useful.

This is the brand new Optoma CinemaX P1.

This is a 4K ultra short throw projector

which can go all the way up to a full 120 inch picture.

And the cool part about this

is that you don't have to sacrifice your space.

Even if you have a smaller room or apartment,

you can still get the maximum out of the projector

by putting it just a few inches away.

The picture quality is incredible too.

Not only are you getting an insane amount of brightness

for a projector but it even supports HDR10.

You're also getting an integrated Dolby Digital 2.0 soundbar

with a full 40 watts of power.

Now of course, if you want you can connect it

to a full speaker set up,

but honestly just the way it comes,

it actually works really well

as an all in one entertainment center.

It also supports a variety of streaming services,

you have voice control using Google Home as well as Alexa

and you can also take advantage

of the Info Wall app to fully customize the experience.

If you're looking to up your home theater game

then you should definitely be sure

to check out the Optoma CinemaX P1

at the link in the description,

and again, huge shout out to Optoma

for sponsoring this video.

This excellent bit of consumer advice

has been brought to you by Kevin Kenson,

you can feel free to subscribe to his channel

at YouTube.com/KevinKenson.

Kev, can you please play us out with a little tune maybe,

a song and dance, perhaps an ode to the slime?

- [Kevin] I can set things on fire.

- That's a great alternative.

- [Kevin] Oh, this doesn't have

super reactive environment, I forgot.

- Are you complaining about the Witcher on Switch?

The greatest port of all time

according to everyone on YouTube?

- [Kevin] I mean, it does run great considering.

- It does look like Vaseline was smeared on my TV though.

[petite-madame]

Hey! Could you help me please? I read you'd worked with both PS CS4 and CS6. I'm working with CS6, but my computer's not very new, so Photoshop keeps freezing a lot. Does CS4 I dunno much worse than CS6 for drawing? I'm just considering buying an earlier version and I don't know if it'll be ok. Thanks!

Hi anon ^^

CS4 is very good and if it’s the solution to keep drawing CG art, go for it (or for something like Krita, that is a free software). In fact, CS6 is more of an evolution compared to CS4 (and CS5) than a revolution. What I love about CS6 is the “dark gray environment” and a couple of new features but otherwise, when it comes to CG art, CS4 is a very good software. I used it during years. I drew this artwork and this one with CS4.

I found these forum threads (HERE and HERE) that explain things pretty clearly. Apparently, CS6 seems to be a great improvement for photographers because of contents aware healing brush and patch toolsbut to be honest, I don’t use these tools a lot as an illustrator. ^^

I hope it helped! Enjoy your weekend ❤