A Brief History of the Metroid Prime Any% World Record

[@AverageTreyVG]

I've always admired the dedication and care the Prime community has put into its game despite how overlooked it's been in the wider speedrunning scene, and that same level of care is reflected in the quality of this video. Only an hour into this video so far and I'm captivated by your style of presentation and creative analogies!

[@spimbles]

this is why youre the goat, Trey

[@Caveberry1]

Sweet! I didn't know you were a Prime fan. Love your SMS content!

[@nick-at-day]

Thank you!!! Your docs on SMS were a major inspiration for me to do thorough, long form content like this. This means so much from you!

[@S0lrFlare]

Nick, thank you for this video. I was SolrFlare from the crew back then. This video brought back a million old memories from a community I consider myself lucky to have been part of for a time. For context for history the whole reason why I created the term sequence break was because I thought the title of that post had gotten too long and it was randomly my turn to recreate the updated version. So, I thought what’s a lazy way to say this in fewer words. And I was all hey we’re breaking the pre-determined sequence of events by the designers. I’ll just call it sequence breaking. LMAO that it ended up sticking and becoming a thing.

[@nick-at-day]

So cool to hear from you!! Can’t believe no one has picked up this post in an essay before, especially as it’s alluded to on the Wikipedia page ;) thanks for all the work you did in the early community!

[@S0lrFlare]

@@nick-at-dayit was a small piece even though the sequence break part became a big thing. I was never able to pull a decent enough time to put up but I loved breaking these games apart and remember the long hours theory crafting in IRC with Kip and the rest and testing countless insane morph ball jump tricks that are now totally obsolete 🤣 Thank you for bringing back the memories!

[@S0lrFlare]

Also Radix’s mystery run did exist footage wise at some point and I remember seeing parts of it. I want to say it just never got publicly posted but was housed unlisted on SDA and a handful of us downloaded it? I don’t have the file though and it’s so long ago I can’t say for certain.

[@Tom_Lube]

@@S0lrFlareAre you in contact with Kip at all? I miss talking to that dude.

[@Tom_Lube]

@@S0lrFlareI thought so too, but i wasn't confident enough to mention it at any point. would love to find this

[@prizm9515]

Metroid Prime definitely deserves such a well made tribute to the game, it's community, and speeding in general. Love the passion. Can't wait for the Any% world record history of Echoes.

[@spimbles]

NO WAY!!! ITS FINALLY HERE! i have followed this scene for a DECADE since i was in elementary school, SO SO SO damn fascinated by every little strat and skip the players come up with. Metroid Prime speedrunners have unmatched respect in my book, you guys are the greatest ive personally ever seen. getting 50 some views for 2 decades just uploading videos for yourselves to discuss, not for any personal or monetary gain, purely to push the game as far as you can. it is seriously so admirable what people have done with this game and i cannot WAIT to watch this, man. i have been wanting someone to make this exact video for YEARS!!! SO HAPPY FOR THIS GAME AND THE PEOPLE WHO PLAY IT :D

[@thepokemaniac996]

I don't have any idea why I've been recommended this video, but I'm 2 hours in and dedicated to finishing it. If the quality presented doesn't ever begin to wane, I think that this may be the best video I've ever seen. I have never seen a speedrun of Prime and have barely played the game, and yet I feel like I understand the game and the topic with how much time the video takes to explain every little detail with creative analogies and diagrams. Great job dude!

[@DoctorSwellman]

This entire video was one hell of a journey. The care and effort you put into crafting this documentary is something that I look up to as someone who is doing work on this space. I knew the history was rich even by just being around and running the game for a bit, but I learned a lot and this did a great job of putting everything out there in a way that even the most casual of players can understand. Thank you for making this

[@nick-at-day]

I love your Prime content!! Thank you

[@Controllerhead]

harder than it looks o7 You guys are doing Gods work: Salt, shorteye, storster, tomatoanus, you, etc... and i watch 'em all!!! Thank you!!!

[@JMGO1999EternalMajorKakoEscoby]

Thank you so much for making this Video. I watched it Live in ZFG's Stream. such a great watch. all the history of this great game so well documented. as well as all the cool interesting tidibits and references to Video Game and world history as whole. It gave me lots of Nostalgia and made me want to play Metroid Prime once again! Thank you Nick for the great work!

[@flayncele]

alá o brasileiro q eu sempre vejo no chat do zfg 😶‍🌫️

[@Tom_Lube]

There's something about Metroid Prime. Thank you so much for the absolutely monstrous and herculean effort that you put into the making of this video. It is insanely meaningful to me and every community member, and hopefully very interesting to outsiders too. Hell, hopefully it gets some additional interest generated in speedrunning this wonderful game.

[@JustinDM]

Not much more to say that hasn’t been said already. Thank you for all the time and effort you put into making this. You’re a talented videographer and gave Metroid Prime the care and respect it deserved. 🙏

[@M092]

Finally got to finish watching this. Wild to see this project come to a close. Really terrific to see the game and community represented so well. And I'm so glad so many people showed up and showed out to help make this thing possible. It truly is a labour of love on display here. So thank you so dearly for that. I can't wait to see what Prime has in store for all of us as well as what you will be making next. Thanks again. o7

[@crysknife007]

This is a great video. You deserve an enormous amount of success.

[@eastprime]

Thank you for the shoutout! But thank you for making such a massive project like this! This is what so many metroid prime fans have been waiting for.

[@greatbigeyeball]

Incredible video - can you do one of these weekly? Thanks! I'll buy this on DVD. All things considered, at first I felt this video was heavy handed but upon a second viewing I think you've made something special. I think this has a lot of charm. I foresee your unique format as a turning point in this style of video. Be proud of your work.

[@neochozo]

I’m only an hour in but I’m thoroughly enjoying the care and dedication you have put into this documentary. I even pointed out to Tom how your repeated use of lowercase arial font seems like a deliberate callback to M2K2’s style. This documentary sparks so much joy in chronicling the progression of a game I’ve played since 11/18/2002 and I love the effort you’ve put into it.

[@nick-at-day]

I’m so glad someone noticed c:

[@neochozo]

@@nick-at-day it’s that kind of little touch that shows the level of care you’ve put into this.

[@stefanvandijke7178]

Yes, one of the first things I noticed when entering Metroid 2002 was Nate not using caps. I even asked Nate why is not using caps and he said it was a waste of time. Funny thing is when I am writing this I am also not using caps but the phone adds them automatically 😂

[@Dasher_The_Viral]

"Brief" But seriously, I love these long form essay style videos.

[@eelis2]

Serious props for making this, every minute of this feels incredibly high quality and polished. Didn't even know anything about Metroid Prime speedrunning before this but now I'm hooked. Amazing video!

[@spimbles]

This was seriously one of the most magnificent experiences I’ve ever had watching something on the internet. You have genuinely fulfilled a longtime childhood wish of mine by creating this video, and I couldn’t be more grateful. I’m not a runner, I’ve just lurked in the community for a long time, but I feel like I speak on behalf of everyone apart of the Metroid Prime speedrunning community when I say you’ve done an incredible service for everyone who’s worked so hard to push the games as far as they have. This is what they’ve needed and deserved, thank you so much for taking this monumental task upon yourself and executing it fucking flawlessly

[@mnoypoiuyt65r4w8]

the amount of effort and love put into this one video about a video game from 2 decades ago is genuinely on of the most impressive things i have come across on the internet

[@jamjalopie9286]

The best speedrun world record history I've ever watched - fantastic job! Wonderful to hear the voices of the participants, those were some good interviews. Also loved how you went over tricks - lots of detail, but didn't get bogged down. Editing was top-notch too, felt like every moment had been carefully crafted, which is understandably difficult given it took 6 hours. I can feel the effort you and everyone else who contributed put into it. Thank you.

[@RaelynYora]

I'm currently lacking the vocabulary/energy to adequately express my appreciation for this monumental undertaking. This series is near and dear to my heart and I've been replaying the game and later duology and trilogy every year since its release. Thank you for this amazing and exceptionally well-crafted video, here's hoping this comment helps boost the algorithm so this documentary gets all the views and exposure it deserves. Much love!

[@765craven4]

I'm about 4 hours in and I've loved the video so far. Even if I haven't watched everything (it's been on for background noiae while I work with me occasionally looking down at the screen) this has been very informative and has given me greater appreciation for one of my favorite games. I'm not active in the community and don't pay much attention to the speed runs normally but I've always admired them. The metaphors and tangents often helped me with understanding some parts of the story and often provided some reprieve from data or explanation heavy parts where the quantity of information could have otherwise been overwhelming. Great video!

[@venmissa]

I have been a speedrunner of Metroid Prime since 2016 and it has a very special place in my heart. I just started watching and considering it’s 6 hours long, I am so excited to watch.

[@marathoneternal]

Absolutely amazing video. Easiest sub all year, man. Will be sticking around for whatever’s next. Thank you for putting in so much time and effort for something that must have been a killer to work on.

[@njahnke]

fun fact! my mom worked as a typist in the early 80s. when i was in high school in the late 90s, she went to college (nontrad). although she was now working on the family computer rather than a typewriter, she nonetheless submitted her school papers set in courier. i thought it was cool and "retro" as we would say today and started doing the same. over time, the typeface began to feel like my own personal style, and i don't recall considering any other when i created metroid 2002. 1:01:25 a few lucky people other than me did have capture cards back then. cal and kip both did, though we didn't see cal's run until after kip's, when the former realized it would be good to capture and archive it for you working on this video 20 years later. 1:18:43 your bandwidth calculation is correct and hints at how different things were then. my server's monthly transfer limit in 2003-2004 was 1000 GB. i remember thinking "that's crazy! there's no way i'll ever use that much." oops! shoutout to andrew mills for tipping me off about unmetered bandwidth plans in 2007. 6:05:12 no problem. 6:05:32 sure, just shoot me a pm on the forum.

[@Tom_Lube]

Holy fuck Nate thank you so much for everything. You probably don't remember but back in like 2005 you helped set me up with a file space on m2k2 servers to upload various Metroid Prime bits and bobs I was working on and share them with people like Kip and sparky. You shaped such a huge part of my life for real. Thank you so much

[@nick-at-day]

Nice avatar ;) That’s an awesome story about your mom. The look and feel of m2k2 were an obvious choice for me to emulate and bring forward into this video. I know I said a lot about how great the website is in the video, but it’s definitely timeless design and still an amazing resource (beside all the amazing community it facilitated!) Thanks for all your work over the years and helping make this a game worth taking about. I’ll send a PM presently!

[@neochozo]

Ah, I incorrectly stated it was arial, not courier in an earlier comment. Good to see you again Nate. Much love and thanks to you for taking all of our disorganized stuff from GameFAQs, MPD/MHQ, etc and giving it a home on M2K2.

[@gdvertigo]

dont think ive ever had my eyes glued to a screen for 6 hours straight like this before lmao. what a fantastic video. thank you so much for making this

[@spimbles]

no, man. thank YOU for what you do for this game. people like you, JustinDM, FusionVaria, Draconif, Erik Seastead, are all why this game is so much fun to see speedran. heres to your guys LOOOONG overdue and deserved growth, boundless respect for all of you. dont undersell yourselves because youre all amazing folks for your dedication

[@eastprime]

@@spimbles not sure how I made that list but I appreciate it haha 🥰

[@236JS]

I'm a metroid fan who enjoys speedrunning content. Put this on before bed and then was absolutely flabbergasted seeing outdoor scenes I recognized? I live 5 minutes from the Capitol trail and have run or biked on it hundreds of times.

[@nick-at-day]

Oh good at least one central VA person representing! Glad I could give one person a local jumpscare. Cap trail ftw.

[@daveyg8420]

This is an absolutely brilliant video. I always loved Metroid Prime, but never got into running it. However, being a huge fan of speedruns, this video answers everything. Extremely well done, informative, and entertaining !! You should be very proud of this achievement. Also I f*ckin nearly died laughing at “AND HIS NAME IS T3 !!”

[@agressivejello]

This video is an example of why I think KZbin is the greatest artistic platform in history. I know little about this game and less about its community, yet I'm captivated. You've found a genuinely innovative approach to a type of content that has grown somewhat formulaic. I love all the elements you combine to tell this game's history. To shoutout a few in particular: watching your growth over three years and hearing you reflect on it; the use of a physical journey to represent the timeline; the tangents, like explaining movement and contextualizing it in the history of game dev philosophy; the sense of humor infusing every minute of video and voice over; the golf balls and other motifs... I could go on. All these layers woven together in support of the core narrative, which itself is well told! To do all this for six+ hours (a limited TV series!) with such consist sound, video, and graphical quality is truly remarkable. Congratulations and thank you.

[@TheJacklikesvideos]

this was such a labor of love, even watching it is. except if you do what you love, you never work! this was an incredible video on a deserving subject. can't wait to see what you publish next in three years :p

[@rpg_haven]

Wow, what a great video. As an old school m2k2, SDA, and GDQ guy who knew many of these dudes like Nate and DJGrenola personally back in the day, this held me captivated throughout. I appreciate your years of hard work putting this together. Fair, thorough, and accurate. Long live Metroid Prime speed running!

[@shawnjones2095]

This is smilingjack13 - speed runner from the mid 2000's that did hard 22% segmented, and as you mentioned in the video, some of the first single segment runs. Awesome video! Your dedication to this project really shines through. And for myself, having been away from the community for nearly two decades, it fascinates me to see how much further the game has been pushed. Thanks for the effort you put in documenting all of this!

[@itsPersonnal]

You've always been an inspiration, thanks for the work and creativity you put into the game way back in the day

[@shawnjones2095]

@@itsPersonnal Thanks! I love your TAS's. Have never worked on a TAS myself but it strikes me as an incredible amount of work and creativity.

[@Tom_Lube]

SamusRox/Baby Sheegoth here. You were a huge inspiration for me always and it was such a wonder watching you play the game back in the day. I watched your 3 tank VMR like 500 times as a kid.

[@shawnjones2095]

@@Tom_Lube Thanks Tom!

[@GoatFelon]

Awesome video man! This is so well done and I loved watching every minute of it.

[@jimothyslim7332]

Two hours in and I can say this is one of the best made KZbin videos I've ever had the pleasure to watch. You have a great style in speaking, script writing, and editing.

[@grifftown]

here after the ZFG stream what a great video bro!

[@ActuallySamuel6710]

Now *this* is some good goddamn content. Thank you for making this video.

[@Pouloririri]

great great video, thank you for the time you spent on it. Imagine the rollercoster of emotions of the guy who found the item loss skip in fregate, then realizing the check is done twice, man.

[@redrook3331]

Just finished watching the whole thing. I've literally never played a metroid game in my life, but it was really cool to get a glimpse into the world of metroid prime speedrunning and its history. Thank you for making this.

[@tammy-0]

really good video. the amount of time and work you've put into this really shows. great craftsmanship. thank you for making this, and best of luck with whatever you'll work on next :3

[@ein123456789]

Yeah, this is the best video on Metroid Prime I've seen. Thanks for going over the history of it, even if I was mostly a lurker it's still crazy how much this game continues to engage us all

[@neochozo]

Nick, after a number of days spent absorbing each chapter (longer than I should have), I have finally finished this gargantuan beast of a video and I cannot contain the excitement I had watching you chronicle nearly every aspect of the development behind the any% Speedrun. I felt almost reunited with old friends seeing old forum posts and replies from the GameFAQs boards where we discussed those very early speedrunning and sequence breaking tricks. This documentary is truly something very special, and the time you took to document everything along with interviews from Tom, Oats, Justin, FusionVaria , et al was very indicative of how much you care about this topic. Some of your humorous inserts made me cackle with glee (Master88 and Justin’s OOB in Frigate trick to name a few), and overall this hit all the right notes. I can’t wait to see you do more Metroid Prime content. So… a history of 100% and Low% next? 😉

[@thequackoZ]

Seeing the Richmond segments is so bizarre. Didnt expect to see so many locations i recognize from my home in a random Speedrun video

[@Neiloss1er]

You did it :O i was waiting for a video covering MP any% progression for years... "Brief" ? 6h... duuude, here we go

[@spimbles]

In the grand scheme of things, especially covering all categories and the skips people have come up with inside those, there could easily be like a 50 hour long series covering the entire history of what these runners have discovered and optimized

[@Neiloss1er]

@@spimbles no doubt about that ;)

[@redyoshi777]

thank you zfg for bringing me here, what a fantastic video

[@pastainthebay]

I was banks17 thanks for making the vid. Nate sent me a cgi mockup of the triple bomb jump my parents had framed at the time. The only person i ever met from irc was Calfoolio who came to my house to play ikaruga.

[@nick-at-day]

That’s amazing!! I’d love to see that haha.

[@neochozo]

It’s surreal to think about how it all was back then just partaking in multiple GameFAQs topics. When you posted about your TBJ it was like a floodgate opened. Good times.

[@Bon__Gripper]

Im willing to donate extra golfballs for another video like this, Mad impressive, great depth, and great editing, feels like you’ve done this for years

[@jordan8199]

The editing on this is incredible love this video.

[@RipTheAnglerFish]

This might be the most professional, and enlightening video game doc I've ever seen. Beautiful work. Not only insane amount of research, but the bike path used as a timeline, the very detailed interviews. I hope you keep at this, because this is a work of art in itself.

[@Bulleta]

Thanks for the shoutout at 57:10! -RS

[@Tom_Lube]

Your run was legendary and it's a joy to have you here!

[@Bulleta]

Thanks, it's a pretty great video and I'm just 2 hours in. Liking it a lot better than the SS SM one.@@Tom_Lube

[@jeddd12_]

Incredible work on this. As a newer runner I'd been waiting for something like this to catch me up on all the context I was missing, but this was so much better than I could've hoped. When telling my friends about this hobby I've struggled to articulate what makes the game so captivating yet impenetrable to the uninitiated, and you and those you interviewed summed it up perfectly.

[@MrAran2]

i was active in the m2k2 forums from 2003-2008, dropped out as i went off to college and interested shifted. i was never contending for wr times and i struggled with having to record vhs tapes but sequence breaking/speedrunning made my favorite game ever at the time feel unlimited in content, and i was mostly active in the forums in trying out the other metroid games and speedrunning all the games rather than focusing on one game/time. this whole video feels like my whole teenage internet history. TY!!!

[@MrAran2]

heck, there i am 3:04:34

[@nick-at-day]

That’s awesome! Glad you ended up with a small cameo 😁 yes, it was my hope to not only document the history but also capture something of the essence of the community in those days.

[@grimranger4177]

This video is incredible - thank you for all the hard work that went into bring back great memories of playing this game! I remember seeing your name in the community discord years ago when I used to keep up with it, but forgot about your project and had no idea the lengths you went through to completely document the history. This makes me want to pick up speedrunning again and try to improve what I used to do as a cool party trick for friends back in school.

[@panunderscore]

Amazing work. You did such a fantastic job at representing how much groundwork had to be put in by the community over the years to get the game where it is today while simultaneously demonstrating that your explanations really only scratch the surface of what makes this game so intriguing. This may not get hundreds of thousands of views, even though it probably deserves to, but metroid prime has always been about those dedicated few who do what they do because they have long been captivated by that ‘something different’.

[@Sponsie1000]

l'm glad you guys could keep this relatively brief, as a businessman l dont have too much free time to watch speedrun history videos during my lunch breaks.

[@drewbabe]

long ass lunch break bro, must be a manager smh

[@ToxicxEternity]

Amazing documentary! My favorite game of all time 😊 (well lets say tied with mp2 ;))

[@Maedas]

Shoutout for letting ZFG bring this to attention, amazing work! As someone who has been interested in watching Metroid Prime speedrunning but unable to appericiate the complexity of it, this is highly entertaining and informative. Congratulations on finishing this behemoth!

[@wompastompa3692]

Is this what he streamed the other day?

[@Maedas]

Yeah this is that documentary @@wompastompa3692

[@Tom_Lube]

@@wompastompa3692yes

[@tjblankinship9964]

I consume a lot of longform content and I'd put this video up there with the best of any of them. There's a lot to praise here - the scope, the depth, the information, the humor, the community involvement. All excellent. I'll just give one particular compliment, I love your illustrations. There were several times you gave illustrations for concepts I already had a grasp of but I never lost interest because the illustrations themselves were engaging (speedrunning golf and the table of boxes are two examples that come to mind). Making a concept accessible to a newcomer but still interesting for someone already familiar is a great skill for any communicator and you do it very well. Wonderful job!

[@SeedyZ]

This was an incredible documentary. Well done! It came out beautifully

[@schmuben8580]

This video has so much charm and quality. I hope the algorithm gives it its due

[@waschbaerjohann]

Thanks for the video, it is an amazing work and I can´t wait for the next one! You absolutely managed not only to capture that feeling that one can have when starting to get into speedruns, but you also made the viewer feel that excitement what is so amazing about speedrunning and everything it involves! I absolutely loved the presentation of the timeline, driving a road along by bike. I´ve never seen a brief history video like this and I think your effort over all these years to complete this projekt is admirable, to say the least.

[@osukarui]

Took 4 days to watch but happy I watched all of it. Great stuff! Loved the roadmap idea!

[@AutumnValenta]

I don't often jump in to comment because I'm usually on a tv, but thank you for this labor of love!

[@JamJam117]

Bro came out of nowhere and dropped one of the greatest speedrunning documentaries of all time. This is good. I like this

[@GarnitrexGaming]

An hour in, and so great. A friend of mine came over sometime in 2004 telling me about someone speedrunning Metroid prime in under 2 hours. Prime was the first game I learned to speedrun, and m2k2 was probably my favorite site ever. I've been a speedrunner ever since

[@Rmazer555]

After pretty much lurking since 2004 and doing dozens of Prime Rando seeds in the past year, this video makes me want to get involved in the community and maybe start helping out with the prime Wiki. You are a pro, congrats on finishing this great project!

[@joeroeder3742]

This was a joy to watch. As a fan of Prime, but not a Prime speedrunner this was informative. As a viewer, the video was compelling, heartfelt and genuinely funny. It was a great backdrop to playing through another lap of Prime 1. Thank you for your hard work and letting us look in on it!

[@VisorakMark]

I finally picked up MP Remastered over Christmas and told myself I would look up a speed running documentary after I finished it to see how far runners had taken the game. This was EXACTLY what I was looking for. AMAZING work. Incredible video. I enjoyed every second of it. Well done, Nick!

[@XiumPrimordium]

This was absolutely incredible, and I just love seeing the depth and care put into the video by you; and just the love from you and this community for this game. And I really am so astonished and just how deep everything really goes and this long history behind just one aspect of one of my favourite games; even though too I've never tried to run, I've only ever enjoyed watching the runs people have done. It also did make me want to play through the game again though, which honestly paired perfectly with this video, especially in terms of length. Also being from the DC area myself, hearing about the sniper attacks led to my own separate rabbit hole to dive down since that was so local to me. Oh and I'm glad I got to make a little cameo in there when you mentioned discord and I do not apologize for my discord status haha

[@Ghodyst]

This hit my recommended last night and I did a double take at how few views it had. Lo and behold it's more than tripled since then. Haven't watched the full thing but it's spectacular so far! Cheers friend

[@flamancipator21]

Yo wtf this is amazing Time to go on a nostalgia trip instead of have Christmas with my kids

[@Kawaiilolrofl]

I was wondering how you'd talk about metroid prime for 6 hours, but when I scrubbed through and heard about bin laden, bush and Steve jobs, I understood. Rather odd video, but a very welcome one. 3 hours in and I like it

[@omegax1289]

This is a beautiful video that shows the depth of history that Metroid Prime. It's crazy to see so many things that I saw on just the edge of the community (stuff like the secret worlds, discovering Metroid 2002, practicing scan dash to get space jump early) all put in context. I want you to know that you've enriched my appreciation as a Metroid fan for this wonderful game. Thank you for making this video.

[@stefanvandijke7178]

Was sitting at the edge of my seat for six hours to watch this, it was interesting the whole way through. Was a world record holder of the PAL version with a 1:09. Also was crazy enough to run 22% single segment and segmenten which maybe those world records still stand, i dont even know. I'm happy to share my insights on the game if you even need them. Metroid Prime holds a special place in my heart. I am from the Netherlands and meeting community members never happened for me. It was truly an online experience mostly on metroid2002. I noticed the forum was dying over the last few years bu didn't know about discord. Thanks for bringing it up and I will for sure register there. Thanks again for making this video, it is like a dream that someone made it and so detailed and immersive. Very very well done!

[@Tom_Lube]

Holy shit Stefan! You were a huge inspiration to me as a kid as well, watching the low% runs you did and other things you helped contribute all the way back in the day. You might be thrilled to hear that the current low% is in fact 21% and skips space jump, and the current record for that is 1:38 single segment

[@Kahdoom64]

This is such a well constructed video and you can really tell the effort that's gone into this. Top marks for this I really enjoyed every minute of this. Thank you!

[@andyb3522]

"Wii-u, Wii-u, Wii-u call an ambulance - I cant believe I wrote that" and yet, I'm so glad you did xD as well as the myriad of other moments you added that gave me extra little laughs throughout this awesome journey. Seriously mate, this video was SOOOO well done, I started watching this video expecting that I would skip large chunks to get to the "exciting parts" but I was so drawn in by your style of exposition that I literally couldnt help myself but to watch the entire thing. Huge respect for both, the time and effort you put into this project, and having the dedication it takes to see something like this through to the end. There are so many little nuances that you included that make a big difference to the end result, like keeping small speaking errors in the final cut instead of editing them out, it really felt like something between you giving something akin to a TED talk, and having a personal conversation with me about the game, which really made the whole thing more appreciable in so many ways. It didnt necessarily feel like you were simply teaching me about the history of the games speedruns, I felt like I was on the journey of discovery WITH you. Amazing job. You might have legitimately put more effort into this project than many of the people featured put into practicing and executing the speedruns themselves. Which is just incredible. I don't think I've ever watched a "world record history of..." video that was this well done. Thank you so much for this. I just have one more thing to say about this. I think its appropriate to describe what you did here as being... (I'm sorry, I have to do this)... "harder than it looks"

[@BlueHarvey]

3:09:20 got to be one of the funniest bits I've ever seen in a Speedrun History documentary.

[@MaskedTAS]

Amazing video, thanks for all the work you've put into this

[@Lilybun]

I'm usually a big fan of long videos like this and its obvious that a huge amount of effort went into this so I feel like you deserve honest feedback: this video seriously lacks focus. It's a video essay parody at this point to start about the founding of the town of the place where some guy grew up who is related to the main thing somehow and that's how this unfortunately comes across, except the skit lasts for the better part of an hour which completely kills any so ridiculous its funny aspect. To make a deep dive its important to frame whats being dived into so there's no filler and stuff left that could be safely left on the cutting room floor without impacting the message you're ultimately trying to get across. Hope you keep making these high effort videos in the future.

[@lookatdemijipers]

yeah, sure would be nice if he talked about speedrunning at some point in the 6 hour video about speedrunning lol

[@ctrlaltdestroy91]

It's the forced humor bits that grind the pace of this behemoth of a video to a halt for me. Just talk about the speedrunning my dude.

[@creek6457]

I have to agree. With all the time wasted on completely unrelated subjects he could have easily covered some of the things "requiring their own separate video." When he does maintain focus it's good content but the constant irrelevant cut-aways and attempts at humor make this feel like family guy's version of a speed running documentary.

[@Gunert125]

man I'm late hehehe, but congrats on finishing the video! I've been looking forward to this ever since you first popped into the discord and announced the project. Absolutely amazing work here, thank you so much for putting in all this work for the game and community!

[@nick-at-day]

Thanks chief. Super thankful for how well this has been received by the community old and new

[@maxwellnormandy7521]

I really like your approach to long form content! It's evident that a lot of work was put into it, but I can't fathom the actual amount; thinking about structuring this video alone makes me tired 😂 awesome video dude, I hope you're proud of the final product

[@controlschemekeaton]

thank god, i was running out of things to listen to on my drive to work. Amazing quality man!

[@nick-at-day]

Well then I have some great news and a new 12 hour video for you

[@FrazerSmithsChannel]

Anyone with enough dedication to create a six hour video over three years about a subject that I love gets my sub.

[@haldadrin233]

What an impressive work. This is really pleasant to watch, you don't realize so much time passed when you are on it ! Congratz on that, excellent travail !

[@knight_quill]

This is the longform content I'm here for. Amazing video.

[@roljamas]

Tired: attempting to watch this video in 30 minute increments before going to bed after a long day during the kids’ winter break. Wired: watching the entire video in one sitting driving 500 miles back home after the holidays. Single segment for life. What a great video! You did a tremendous job of going over every nuance over the 20 years. GameFAQs, Metroid2002, and SDA were staples of my college days in the mid 2000s. What a trip down memory lane!

[@Tom_Lube]

Were you in the community?!

[@roljamas]

@@Tom_Lubejust a guy that loves watching speed runs from afar!

[@Headshot-TAS]

The love and passion that was put into making this video warms my heart. Thank you for all of the time and energy that you've put into this project! This game and its speedruns have always meant a lot to me and I am really happy that there is finally a video that does it justice. Thank you.

[@VisceralSerenity]

Huh, I tried commenting on this last week but I guess it didn't make it through KZbin's filters? Either way, what I originally wrote was, awesome video! I'm about the same age as you are, and Metroid Prime having been my favorite game growing up by far, I am also thankful to my parents for letting very young me play a T rated game about shooting space aliens lol. Its atmosphere and music had a big affect on me during my formative childhood years I think, and it still influences how I view videogames and music and art today. My 0-00 copy of Prime, complete with all the manuals and everything, is probably one of the most sentimental things I own that I've kept all these years. As a sidenote, I'm also a big fan of the metroid 2002 website, and I absolutely love that it's still just the same as it was back in the early 2000's, color scheme picker and all. (Baby Sheegoth theme was always my favorite one when I was young.) I'm a web developer today as a career and I'd like to think that site along with other sites of the time with that early web charm are a part of the reason I grew an interest in that kind of thing.

[@Gamechamp3000]

Only about an hour and a half in, but wanted to make a minor correction: original DOS Doom supported keyboard+mouse controls at launch. The specific button mappings are a little obtuse by modern standards (right mouse button is walk forward, double right click is Examine?????) but otherwise it works as a modern player would expect. It's very much a dev-intended method of play, and the manual directly states you should try it out since it allows for smooth aiming.

[@paulakroy2635]

Is this what gamechamp listens to not go insane while grading Pokemon

[@Blueharrybro]

I had the pleasure of watching this live on Twitch with ZFG and his chat, and I have to say this video was an absolute pleasure to consume. Thank you for taking that time to make such a thorough and entertaining piece of content, and I hope you take a bit of a break before you go on to make whatever you plan to make next. Good luck Nick, and great video.

[@antgrantrant]

I think something fundamental about any metroid game's presentation is how it builds anticipation. The reoccurring trick is how they show you the areas you cant access the moment you first see them. I cant imagine anything more alluring to a speedrunner/sequence breaker than to taunt the player by showing them a ledge only a couple feet out of their reach.

[@nick-at-day]

Absolutely. This is definitely a point I should've picked up on more at some point- Metroid's "double back and interact with something you already saw" is a prerequisite in many ways to the amount of work people have put into solving puzzles and bypassing obstacles in unique ways.

[@cyanokhaar]

There really is something special about Metroid Prime. It’s peak ambience and mood. Same goes for Echoes. It’s up there with Resident Evil 4 and Half-Life 2 for me

[@judastheman]

Welcome back to your youtube channel. Great video bro. Keep it up and youll have a shitton of subs

[@nystrata]

I'm still working through the video, but it's a great watch so far! Thank you making this and thank you for everyone contributed!

[@Thechozochampion]

Man just THANKS for this amazing video, I would love to see a Prime 2 and Prime 3

[@Zethoro]

What an insanely inspiring passion project of a video. Nicely done!

[@jimmyjohnjoejr]

Took about a month but i finally finished the video. It was amazing. Two years well spent.

[@BlueHarvey]

I wish I could even remotely produce something as incredible as this! Insane undertaking! Good job man!

[@TOMahwk707]

Great video man! Love your narration style

[@samusaran1692]

Great Video, so easy to watch and surprisingly calming :)

[@mcaaronice]

I watched the whole thing! This is my favorite game, I skipped class in college when I picked up the game and booted to the title screen and realized there was no way I was gonna turn it off. I found what must have been kip's segmented run in late 2003 or so, probably the first speedrun I've ever seen, and loved it. I downloaded the whole thing and then I even burned it to DVD to watch. Good times.

[@enthusigasmOSRS]

Bro should've titled the video "A brief history of me, virginia, my home city, and some sprinkled bits of Metroid Prime"