Today we discover how much money you can make streaming games (If you’re famous), learn how to win a fighting game while dead, talk about secret parking spots and more! It’s another installment of Morning Checkpoint.
Great Kotaku Content From The Past Week
Like most weeks, Kotaku was filled with some great stories. Here are a few of my favorites!
Dear EA, I will play Apex Legends for less than a million dollars. I can even stream it if you want. I’ll have to quit writing for Kotaku, but I think the folks around here would understand.
I always love digging into old memory cards and game saves. Sometimes I find that I’ve totally blocked out a game from my memory. Once I loaded up a PS2 memory card and found data for Just Cause. I don’t remember ever playing the PS2 version of that game, but I guess I did.
Every week it seems there are another 20+ games to buy on the Switch. For those trying to save some money or for those who already spent their cash on other games, this is a great post showcasing some free-to-play titles for the Switch.
Mark Hamill crashed a scooter before Empire Strikes Back started filming and he bounced back from that. Hope this streamer recovers soon and can go back to playing video games for hours and hours every day and totally not burning himself out.
Tweets!
I would watch more fighting game tournaments if the included silly games like this. Actually, I probably wouldn’t. But I do love this clip.
I love the idea of spite influencing a game’s development. “Oh, you assholes thought the cart was too slow...watch this!”
Potential Tweet of the year right here, folks.
News
- Halo: Master Chief Collection Is Coming To PC, Adds Halo: Reach
- Valve Says It Will Remove ‘Off-Topic Review Bombs’ From Steam Scores
- After Cocaine Arrest, Sega Halts Sales of New PS4 Game [Update]
- No Man’s Sky Is Getting A ‘New Multiplayer Experience’
- Firestorm, Battlefield V’s battle royale mode, will launch on March 25th.
Some Good Comments
- Group Maneuvers
Tiberian Sun didn’t do it (it used the jostling), but some RTSes would use smarter group logic which would try to move units while keeping them looking nice and being smart about moving through small gaps. For instance, if you’re moving three tanks abreast when they turn you can have them all pivot around the middle tank to keep them in a straight line. When they go through a small gap they can go one at a time and reassemble on the other side instead of all jostling to get through. You can optimize movement through the gap. But this wasn’t very popular because it’s a hell of a lot of work for something most players won’t be looking for.
And there’s always quantum computing
-Sarusa from “To Create Smart AI Command & Conquer Devs Made Units Stop Acting Stupid”
Sarusa left a long comment all about pathfinding in RTS games and how they implemented different features. It is really interesting and worth reading the whole thing! Any comment that mentions quantum computing is probably good.
Fun RE4 moment- play the entire game, get about 80% through and get the thermal scope. Beat the game, carry the scope with you. Play a quarter through the game until you get to the crocodile/lake monster. Beat it, and wait for the thunderstorm at the end of the battle. Look at the lightning bolts with your thermal scope- they leave heat trails in the sky.
Just in case you wanted to take a briefly needed very bulky item and carry it with you for 30 hours just to see a heat trail on the only lightning strike in the game
CAPCOM HAD YOUR BACK
-Cowwwwww from“I Can’t Stop Buying Resident Evil 4"
I love to think this was included by someone who originally planned on having a lot more lighting bolts in the game and then those areas all got cut and they realized they had wasted time on a feature nobody would notice. Except, we did notice random developer at Capcom. You didn’t waste your time. Thank you.
And as a little bit of trivia for those who have actually visited or lived in DC, you know how bad the parking situation is near the Mall. Back in the late seventies I was visiting in August, a pretty busy time. I don’t know how I found out about it, but I learned that while most of the parking underneath the Air & Space Museum was for employees, there were a few spots for tourists on a first come, first served basis. No fees or anything, just grab a spot. I was staying down in Springfield, Virginia and for five days I drove into DC and beelined right to the Air & Space, grabbing one of the few spots, on one day actually getting the last one. So I was able to park for free, undercover, and was nicely positioned to see the nearby museums.
The reason I mention this is that in TD2, there is a mission in the Air & Space Museum, but you enter it through the ramp on the west side that goes down into the parking garage. I just played the mission and verified that this is the same ramp I used forty years ago (yikes!). Of course, I didn’t go in back then armed to the teeth ;)
-jztemple from “The Division 2's World Is So Satisfying To Explore”
The secret parking spot is maybe one of the best things in life. Knowing that one area where nobody else parks is incredibly satisfying. You feel like you know some secret and forbidden knowledge. There is an area around the Kansas City metro that my girlfriend and I love to visit and she knows this super cool spot that is always open. It’s just out of the way for most folks, but close enough to walk to the shops and restaurants we want to visit. I will never tell you where this is. I will die with this secret parking knowledge.
Trailers & Videos You May Have Missed
Who wants 7 minutes of Hearthstone information? Well do I have the trailer for you! I haven’t touched Hearthstone in an over a year now, but this looks cool.
More Captain Toad is always a good thing and the low price on this DLC really makes it hard to pass up.
Yes, it is easy to joke about Fallout 76. But for players who are still enjoying the game and want more, I’m glad to see Bethesda bringing some new content to West Virginia.
I hate Yoshi. (I know, I’m a monster.) But even I can’t look at this trailer without smiling. Look at him! LOOK AT THAT WORLD!
Tell Me More!
Based on the secret parking spot comment, share with me your best parking spot story. You don’t have to give up any locations, but do you have a spot you keep to yourself?
Morning Checkpoint is all about catching you up on the past week, getting you ready for the next week, answering some questions, sharing stories and having a good time. You can email me anything you want or drop a comment below. Suggest tweets, comments, ideas, new sections and more for next week and thanks for reading!