Replaying A Classic

Super Mario 64 is considered a crowning achievement in video games, opening the door to immersive three-dimensional environments where you can run around and explore. Its nostalgia resonates with every generation, and it’s hard to resist the urge to play it again, which was made possible by my channel, JO ZONE.

Playing it again for 100% completion felt like a new experience. I hadn’t collected all 120 stars since I was around 9 or 10 years old, so doing it again felt fresh and exciting, even though I had played it countless times before. In all those playthroughs, I only did what I wanted and called it a day. It had been a while since I challenged myself with an old game I had played before.

I want to express my thanks to everyone who participated in the live chat. You all make streaming feel alive, like we’re hanging out, except I’m the one hogging the controller. I was surprised to see anyone at that channel since I recently started using it to its full extent, so I wasn’t expecting much. Yet you guys found me, and I’m extremely thankful for that.

As for the main channel, JO ThumbsUpMaster, its live streams and shorts will remain focused on Banjo-Kazooie games only. The videos, on the other hand, will all be high-quality and possibly uploaded once a month. They won’t all be Banjo-Kazooie-related, and some won’t be game-related at all. So, anything that’s a stream or gameplay content not related to Banjo will be at JO ZONE, while the actual projects with folders and files will be at JO ThumbsUpMaster.

Before the end of the year, the main channel’s name (not handle) will be changed back to “JO,” and the picture with Kazooie will once again be me, personalizing the channel the way I want, without bombarding subscribers with live stream notifications. I want to create commentary videos with in-depth information on entertaining topics, such as documentaries, which I can’t do a lot of with just Banjo, Rare, and video games in general.

The Banjo-Shorties reboot this year is something I’ve wanted to do since the video “Banjo’s Birthday” in 2011. It tells a story of manipulation, deception, and obsession, and how we can overcome the greatest challenges. It was meant to be finished for its 10-year anniversary in 2021, about two years ago. However, I lost interest when my channel started losing subscribers almost daily without me knowing why. Confused, my only guess was that subscribers didn’t like being notified about a Banjo-Tooie playthrough. Nothing like that had ever happened before to my channel, and it disheartened me. Alongside my living situation, it became hard to connect with my audience meaningfully, and without criticism, things felt empty, as if everything I had done resulted in nothing.

But around Christmas 2022, after a year of streaming Banjo-Kazooie mods that I missed, I had a burst of creative inspiration and overcame the anxiety to finally work on new episodes. It’s something I wanted to do this year, not in 2024 or later. Banjo-Shorties is a project for 2023, meant to showcase what I can do and see where it takes me. I went back in time, took what was never made, and brought it to light. These ideas are not my own; they’re fragments of what could have been, taken from another universe, and I recreate these visions to the best of my ability. The story itself will conclude later this year, and after that, I’m not giving up; I’m moving on, and it’s important to learn the difference. Overall, my videos will continue to improve and get better with every upload.

Sometimes things can be tough, and where I live can feel lonely when everyone, including my conure and cockatiel, are still sleeping. So, doing what brings me peace and enjoyment matters a lot, and anyone who wants to be a part of it is invited.