What are the odds?! The same weekend I decide to try out my 60 fps capture device, YouTube announces support for 60 fps video!

After a bit of compression trial and error, I've figured out what to do to get a truly full quality video uploaded. This is a great comparison of the best in 2014 consumer video capture technology versus the same thing from 2007.

Back in 2007, the best I could do was record 480i video at 30 fps through an analog capture device, deinterlace it, and heavily compress it using the very early h.264 algorithms.

The new setup allows an all-digital, 1080p up-rezed 480p capture at 60 frames per second using 60 mbps. The video is (slightly) zoomed to fill the whole screen, making it conform to modern video aspect ratios. I also ran a color enhancer that will pull out some of the details from the game's rather dark rendering style. (The latter two changes help mitigate some of the artifacts of the way old video game consoles output analog video.)

Check it out! Be sure to select the highest quality setting available in the gear menu.

Pretty good, huh? Compare that to the original upload garbage.

The change is so drastic that I've decided to remaster all the Krystal cutscene videos from both Adventures and Assault. This is THE best quality you can get without emulating the games to run at a different resolution. I've already recorded almost all of the Adventures cutscenes. It's just a matter of cutting up the parts, compressing them, and uploading them to YouTube. As always, the full quality versions will be available for download here. That way, you can see the video's quality before YouTube recompresses it to a lower bitrate.

Finally, I am planning on doing a midnight stream of the Star Fox parts of Super Smash Bros. Wii U once I get it on November 21st. More details coming soon.

Update

I've made an image comparison of the same frame using different capture techniques. After looking at it again, I think I'm going to go with the Remastered (widescreen) version.

I bit the bullet and purchased the ExtremeCap U3 capture device and the Wii to HDMI Converter. The ExtremeCap allows me to record 1080p HD video at 60 frames per second using 60 mbits per second. It's real-time too, so I can actually play games using the preview window, no noticeable lag. Meanwhile, the Wii to HDMI converter allows me to play GameCube and Wii games at 1080p resolution through HDMI, which I then capture with the ExtremeCap. This means: 1080p scaled GameCube games with no emulation.

I didn't think it would make all that much difference, but it really, really does! Just look at this comparison!

First, the old, compressed capture, using the best possible in-game lighting conditions and a relatively high bitrate. The result is a very compressed looking video at 720 × 480.

And then, the upscaled version recorded fully digitally. Even though the lighting is terrible by comparison, you can still see almost double the detail on the staff, in Fox's fur, and his wrist computer. You'll have to click the image to see the full resolution (1862 × 1011, cropped 1080p).

This is amazing, but I'm sure you're wondering, "Why now? What is he recording this for, and what's that little red bar in the Staff energy bar?" Excellent questions. I spent my entire evening testing out the ExtremeCap on my Star Fox Adventures Preview Disc, the disc they put in store kiosks. I will soon use this footage to make a video about the differences between the final game and the preview version. There are a lot of subtle changes, and a couple of mysteries solved. This is a video I've been wanting to do for years, and now it the perfect opportunity. Keep a lookout for it!

The Krystal Archive Podcast goes live and in-person for the first time at Furry Fiesta 2015 in Dallas, Texas! Today, I received confirmation that my panel idea - "Krystal Archive Podcast Live" - will be accepted as a panel submission. I plan to do a live recording of a Krystal Archive Podcast episode, but this time focusing on questions, comments, and discussion topics from the audience members. There will be video of the whole event as well. I hope you all can join me, so mark your calendars for February 20th - 22nd, 2015.

Remember, this is also the convention where Ayano plans to debut her Assault outfit, complete with gatling gun. Who knows, maybe Ayano can drop by during the show!

I will post more details as I get more information.

It looks like the wizards at Nintendo are going to be doing DLC for Smash after all, for both the 3DS and Wii U versions of Smash Bros! You know what that means!

Mewtwo won't be available until next year, which is explained by reaffirming that new characters take a long time to make. Be sure to watch the rest of the video too, it's got tons of awesome stuff!

One last thing, the Lylat Cruise stage that originally appeared in Super Smash Bros. Brawl will be re-appearing here in the Wii U version, which will no-doubt contain the secret Star Fox taunts.

UndyingNephalim sent in these new alternate costumes for Krystal for Star Fox: Event Horizon. They include a variation on the Assault jumpsuit and a variation on a very popular fan costume by Adam Wan (one of my personal favs).

Remember, you can help fund the game at the Patreon page.

To commemorate the latest Smash Bros. release, a group of talented musicians, singers, and remixers have come together to create a massive album, Harmony of Heroes. It has 101 tracks covering every character to have been in Smash Bros, and a few nods to gaming history (Tetris, for example).

Star Fox gets plenty of representation

• Defending Corneria by Sean Haeberman
  Orchestra
  A mixture of classic Star Fox and Smash Bros. Melee Corneria Stage themes
• Watch Your Step Fox! by garlagan
  Rock, 90's Sci-Fi Style
  Star Wolf theme from Star Fox 64
• Star Fix: The Expedition into the Dark Beauties of Space by Mr. Kapow
  Piano, SFX, and some jazzy instruments
  Slow and fast, this song goes all over the place
• Space Defender by Akmigone
  Piano
  A slow, thoughtful song covering several Star Fox themes
• Space Canines on a Plane by Pontus Lundén
  80s "Futuristic" Electronic Rock
  The Star Fox SNES Corneria theme, complete with 80s audio filters and simulated bad recording equipment, I love this one!
• Harmony of Heroes (skip to 10:22) by Rozen
  Orchestra
  The Star Fox portion of this Smash Bros. medley is an epic rendition of the Star Fox 64 Credits theme

Just want the Star Fox portion of the album? It can be downloaded separately.

But you wouldn't want to do that. You want the whole album, I can tell. Get it now!

YouTube user SuperIanGamerHD posted a video containing spin-around profiles of (supposedly) all trophies in Smash Bros for the 3DS. I've jumped the video ahead to the Star Fox section. You can see Fox, Wolf, Falco, and, of course, Krystal. It looks like Krystal's is the Brawl trophy with a different pose.

Sakurai posted this a couple days ago, but it's worth mentioning. This is going to be a highly dynamic stage like the Star Fox Assault stage in Brawl. This one will likely feature stage hazards that can actually hurt you this time. You battle atop Arwings, Missiles, and the Great Fox.

I hope to see hidden cameos featuring Krystal on this stage.

From Sakurai on Miiverse via GoNintendo

Here's a new trailer from UndyingNephalim showing of two new characters for Star Fox: Event Horizon, with a bit of Krystal thrown in for backstory. James McCloud, Fox's father, and the wizard Randorn, a character from the unreleased Dinosaur Planet. In UndyingNephalim's game, Randorn is Krystal's father. He pilots an extremely odd Krazoa Palace-like ship. There's even a possible spoiler that helps relate Krystal to the mysterious new Cerinian fox character, Falyf.

These two characters will only be playable for backers of the Patreon project who donate $7 or more per month.

We previously talked about doing this, but I've made it official. The Krystal Archive now has a Twitter account. All posts on the Krystal Archive will get published there automatically, or at least, that's the claim of TwitterFeed, the app I'm using to do this. One way or another, I'll make sure it works. For now, here's the link.

https://twitter.com/BlueVixenNews

In case you missed the story on the podcast, the "KrystalArchive" Twitter account is suspended. Apparently someone had registered it a few years ago and began posting as me, using my RL photo and everything. I have no idea how they did it or why. Freaky.