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Which one of Mario’s countless adventures was his best?
Mario is the king of video games. He is to video games what Mickey Mouse is to kids’ cartoons, or what Batman is to comics. He has set the standard for what video games should strive to accomplish, and every time he graces our consoles, he sets that bar higher and higher.
We decided to pay homage to our favorite mustached plumber by counting down our five Mario favorite games.
Look, Mario has been in a stupid amount of video games. Also, he has been in an even stupider amount of side games. For this list, we are sticking with main series Mario games. We will not be considering any of his sports games, the Mario Kart games, or the Mario Party games.
Top 5 best Mario games
Super Mario Galaxy
The Nintendo Wii was both famous and infamous for its motion controls. You probably remember playing Wii Sports with the entire family and having a blast. However, you probably also playing games like Red Steel with broken motion controls that made you want to chuck the Wii Remote through the wall.
When we found out we were getting a main series Mario game for the Wii, we were both excited and worried. Sure, Mario rarely disappointed us, but we were worried that developers were going to force the shoddy controllers in the game. Fortunately, Mario soared through his time on the Wii with an incredible game. Mario Galaxy was a lot of fun with all of the things we love about the franchise. It also introduced us to Roselina, who has become a beloved character in the series.
It’s not the best Mario game by a longshot, but we are always willing to dust off our old Wii to play this sucker time and time again.
Super Mario Bros. 3 took all of the things from the NES Mario games and added about 1,000 other things that made this game legendary. Mario has a bunch of new power-ups that fans love. From the Frog Suit, to the Hammer Bros. Suit, to the Tanooki Suit, everyone has a favorite.
This was the first time that a Mario game really got a fully fleshed-out story. You don’t have to read the back of the box to get an idea of what the story entails, you can find out simply by playing through the game. It’s a simple story, but it’s one we will gladly play through over and over again.
Watch: Fastest Super Mario Bros. speedrun in history
In a way, Super Mario Odyssey feels more like another sequel to Super Mario Galaxy. However, the new controls and mechanics in the game make this such an unforgettable experience. There is never a point in the game where you don’t feel like you’re in control. If you can imagine Mario doing something, there’s probably a way to make him do it.
We have to talk about the hat-throwing mechanics. The mechanics allow the player to not only control enemies while taking their abilities, but it also adds another way to navigate through each level. The worlds in Super Mario Odyssey are basically like jungle gyms for Mario, and his hat can make him leap and bound through these jungle gyms like a pro!
The game is a celebration of every Mario game that has come before it. It is uplifting, and will even make the more nostalgic gamer a bit misty-eyed from time to time.
There really isn’t another game where you can choose your own path as flawlessly as you can in Super Mario World. Sure, if you want, you can play through each normal level until you face Bowser in the finale. Or, you can find one of the million warp zones hidden throughout the world so you can skip huge chunks of the game.
If you want, you can beat this game in just a few hours. However, if you want to play everything the game has to offer, it’s going to take you a few days to finish this beast off.
Super Mario 64 is the mac-daddy of 3D platformers. Players have taken this game and have stretched the possibilities to their fullest extent. Don’t believe us? There’s a guy who collected all 120 Stars in the game in less than two hours.
Your average gamer would probably need a few weeks to accomplish that feat, but that’s just how crazy this game has made some of us. We want to see how far we can push it. We want to see if there’s anything else left to be found. We want to see just how much we can challenge Mario. Why? Because time and time again we have seen that the game still has more to offer.
From the field of Hyrule to the Mushroom Kingdom, these games defined a generation.
The Nintendo Entertainment System was a monumental video game system. After Atari caused the great video game crash, consumers weren’t ready to buy back into video games again. However, after games like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda hit the mainstream, anybody who was anybody had to have one of those giant gray boxes.
For this list, we looked at the games that made the NES the legend it is today. If your favorite game didn’t make this list, let us know in the comments below!
Top 10 NES games
10. Metroid
Back in the day, video games had a simple concept: you take your character from the left side of the screen to the right side. Metroid took that concept and threw it out the window. In this game, you navigate a labyrinth with bad guys and power-ups hidden everywhere. Once you get some of those power-ups, you can circle back to areas you’ve already explored and then uncover more secrets hidden in this world.
On the NES, there were dozens of games that mimicked Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda. However, there was only one Metroid and it is still untouchable.
9. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game
The first Ninja Turtles game on the NES is pretty bad, to say the least. It is notoriously difficult and almost impossible to control. Despite that game being a massive flop, the Ninja Turtles were sucking down quarters at the arcade like crazy. Nintendo decided that the best course of action was to port the arcade game to the NES.
Guess what? The game was phenomenal.
The game had much of the same moves and mechanics as the arcade game. The best part of it was that you didn’t need to put in a quarter every time you lost!
8. Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse
The Castlevania games on the NES were notorious for being difficult. However, people who loved these games were willing to brave through the relentless difficulty to reach the best parts of the game. From the gothic ambiance to the phenomenal musical scores, there is plenty to like about the games.
Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse had all of the best parts of the previous Castlevania games, but included another great feature: three new characters. The new characters provided a breath of fresh air from the typical whip-toting Belmont boys.
If you’re willing to play one of the most difficult games on the NES, you won’t be disappointed.
7. Contra
UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT B A START
If you’re a gamer, you know better than anyone that the above cheat code is the secret to “eternal life.”
Well, not really. The above cheat code is the famous method players frantically inputted on their controllers to start Contra with 30 lives. Contra is easily one of the best shooters of all time. You play as a ‘roided-out soldier that’s out to thwart an alien-invasion with nothing but the gun strapped to his shirtless back.
The game was notoriously hard, and the 30-man code was absolutely necessary for first-timers. Pick this game up if you’re ready to lock and load. Also, don’t be embarrassed if you need more than 30 lives.
Punch-Out!! is a right-of-passage. You’re not much of a gamer unless you’ve watched Glass Joe hit the canvas like a sack of bricks. Punch-Out!! was one of those games that really united kids back in the day. These were the days before you could just look up on the internet how to beat a boss. Kids were reliant on playground knowledge. If you didn’t know how to beat King Hippo, you sometimes needed to have your buddy come over to show you that you needed to punch him in the mouth at the right moment.
Punch-Out!! is a legendary game. It hasn’t lost any steam in the time it has already spent on this planet, and we don’t expect it to any time soon.
5. Tecmo Bowl
In the beginning, there were jocks and there were gamers. Then, by a twist of cruel fate, there were video games about sports. Your average gamer doesn’t want to play football, baseball, or soccer when they have the option to stop an alien invasion or save the princess from a dragon. As a result, there was a huge divide in video games between those that play sports games and those that despised their existence.
That’s where Tecmo Bowl came in. Sure, it’s a sports game. However, it’s one hell of a good game. It’s easy to pick up and jump into, and playing it is wildly addictive. Nowadays, there are games like Madden that have insanely huge followings. Madden and its following would not exist if Tecmo Bowl had not paved the way.
4. Tetris
There are games on here with wild storylines, gameplay, and trend-setting mechanics. Then there is Tetris. Tetris is a brutally simple game. If you hand the game to a three-year-old, they could figure it out in a matter of minutes. However, Tetris is brilliant because it is so simple. Any person of any age can play Tetris and be great at it. It doesn’t take any sort of special skill or knowledge to be a Tetris champ; it just takes practice.
Tetris has gone through a bunch of cosmetic changes throughout the years, but the core game has mainly remained unchanged.
Do we really need to sell this game any more to you? Tetris has been around for this long already, and we won’t be surprised if it outlives every game on this list.
3. Mega Man 2
The phrase “ahead of its time” is used so much these days that it has lost a lot of meaning. With that being said, Mega Man 2 was so wildly ahead of its time. It’s downright crazy just how complicated of a game the developers were able to fit on an NES cartridge. The game feels like it came out one or two generations earlier than it was supposed to.
Each level is so iconic from the enemies, to the music, to the boss battle at the end. Even after you beat the game, all you want to do is start over again and replay those same wonderful iconic moments.
Need more convincing? Here’s a mariachi band playing the music from the game:
What can we really say about The Legend of Zelda that hasn’t been said already? It’s one of the most iconic games ever made on top of being one of the best games ever made.
It has all of the best qualities of the rest of the games on this list, and it has so much more. So, instead of talking about why the game is great, we’ll talk about why the game is not the best game on the NES in our opinion.
The Legend of Zelda is cryptic, to say the least. It was a game that made you have to buy a subscription of “Nintendo Power” in order to beat it. There are things in the game that you couldn’t figure out on your own in a million years. The Legend of Zelda is quite literally a living legend, but it is not our top pick.
1. Super Mario Bros. 3
It’s 1989. You dragged your parents to the movie theater to see “The Wizard.” With not much time left in the movie, you’ve realized what your parents probably knew 10 minutes into the movie: “The Wizard” really sucks.
However, all of a sudden the movie takes a turn. It looks like they are showing a new game that you’ve never seen before. How could this piece of garbage movie have such a hidden gem inside? Well, it did. And man-oh-man did it blow our minds:
Movie aside, Super Mario Bros. 3 is a masterpiece. It is simply a cut above the rest, proving to be a once-in-a-lifetime type of game. You do the same stuff you do in the previous two games, but this time there’s more everything. There’s fresh mechanics, new challenges, new power-ups, enemies you’ve never faced before, a new level to the story, and a jolt of electricity in it that makes you hungry for more.
Wrapping up
Did you agree with the list? What do you think should’ve made the list? Let us know in the comments below!
What Zelda game is the best? Check to see if yours topped our list!
Take a look at any list of the best games on any Nintendo console. For each system, you can expect to see a Zelda game at or near the top of the list.
Why is that?
It’s because Nintendo knows that The Legend of Zelda series is special. Each entry in the franchise is a game-changer in terms of gameplay, puzzle-solving, and graphics.
With that being said, there is so much contention to which Zelda game is the best. Arguably, there is more debate as to which Zelda game is the best than any other series of games ever created. As lifelong fans of the series, we took this list very seriously, and we are open to further discussion in the comments below.
Top 10 Zelda games
10. The Legend of Zelda
It’s kinda crazy just how much the first Zelda game was able to cram in that NES cart. Along with a huge amount of power-ups, dungeons, and secrets, the game even had a save feature. Think about that: the Mario franchise (which was Nintendo’s golden child for years) have just as much to cram in its games but didn’t include a save feature.
As popular as the game was when it first came out, it’s still a jam today. There are even a ton of gamers who play the game with various challenges.
If you’re a fan of the franchise, you need to go back to where it all started. The Legend of Zelda is still just as fun today as it was back in the day!
9. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap has really fallen under the radar in terms of Zelda games. It’s definitely not a title you hear brought up often when people discuss their favorite Zelda games. However, that’s a crying shame because The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap is a phenomenal game.
The game takes elements from other Zelda games such as enemies, characters, and power-ups, but it tells a creative story and adds an original mechanic to the series. Link now has to solve puzzles both in his normal size and also while the size of a bug. Sometimes, in order to get to a boss’s weak point, you’ll have to shrink like Ant-Man to get past the armor to its weakness. The shrinking mechanic is a ton of fun. The best parts of the game are just exploring the world in your shrunken state and seeing how you can now interact with the world around you.
8. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
The Nintendo DS received two Zelda games: Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks. When compared to other DS games, they’re not bad. When compared to other Zelda games, they’re trash. They employed heinous controls for Zelda standards paired with extremely sub-par stories and dungeons. Yeah, there’s a reason why they aren’t on this list.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds truly learned from the mistakes of its predecessors. A Link Between Worlds has great controls and great dungeons that all tie in with a great story!
7. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
There simply isn’t another Zelda game like Link’s Awakening. It has a story unlike any Zelda game and introduces characters extremely dissimilar from your typical Zelda game.
Link is trapped on an island and is planning his escape. While on the island, the community takes him in and treats him like one of their own. Unfortunately, the island is only an illusion in the mind of a giant flying fish. If that sounds weird it’s only because it is.
Link has to make the choice about whether he should live in this dream world with his new friends, or escape the island to return to his home. This wildly emotional story somehow fits entirely on a small GameBoy cartridge.
6. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Let’s go back to E3 2005 really quick when we first saw the trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
Oh man, this trailer is still incredible. When this trailer first dropped, fans went ballistic. The internet erupted with speculation about what Link would be facing, why he turned into a wolf, who the children were, and what on Earth was happening to Hyrule.
Unfortunately, Twilight Princess didn’t quite live up to the hype. Him transforming into a wolf was by far the weakest part of the game. The wolf mechanics weren’t as polished as they should have been, and the collecting missions you did while you played as the wolf were insanely boring.
However, beneath all of that, there is still a really good game. Some of the dungeons in this game are the best in the entire franchise. New weapons like the Double Clawshot and the Ball and Chain have become series favorites. Also, the game’s new character Midna is so beloved that fans are begging for her return.
5. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
When we first saw trailers and screenshots of Wind Waker, fans were pretty upset. The more cartoony version of Link just wasn’t what anyone was expecting. The games always had a more adult and serious look, so seeing Link look like a cringey anime character was disheartening.
The hatred was so loud that a lot of fans boycotted the game and refused to buy it. However, those fans missed out on something truly great. Wind Waker has quite possibly the smoothest combat mechanics in all of Zelda. Link works his sword like an artist. It always seems like every time you get hit, there was something you could’ve done to parry it, or to avoid it altogether.
If you can look aside from the artistic choices the game made, you are in for one of the best games in the franchise.
4. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Oh man, here comes the controversy.
No, we don’t think Link to the Past is the best Zelda game. We don’t even think it should make the top three. However, it is still a darn good game.
In many ways, Link to the Past set the framework for every game to come. At first, you think that the game is going to be relatively short. After beating only three dungeons, you go toe-to-toe with the game’s main villain. However, you then discover that you aren’t even close to being done. You now have to rescue seven maidens (one of which is Zelda) from being trapped in the Dark World, and then face the game’s true final boss, Ganon. No other Zelda game had that same shift in tone. However, so many other Zelda titles have followed that same formula since: (Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, Wind Waker, and Skyward Sword just to name a few).
Link to the past is an incredible game. However, it missed the top three by just a hair.
3. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
It’s so weird but Majora’s Mask feels both dead and alive at the same time. The game takes place in this extremely somber world where all of the characters are facing certain doom. There aren’t a lot of happy moments. Instead, there is an over-arching feeling of dread encroaching on this world. However, everyone still goes about their day like everything is normal.
The game runs on a schedule where everyone makes their in-game appointments. You always know that the Goron is going to make a reservation at a certain time, you know that there is a wedding scheduled mere minutes before doomsday, and you know that aliens are going to invade a farm at night!
The game is made with all of the same bones of Ocarina of Time, so sometimes it feels like you’re playing a really good ROM Hack. However, the completely original story, mechanics, and gameplay make for a truly refreshing game.
2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Breath of the Wild isn’t just a Zelda game; it’s a celebration of Zelda. It takes pieces of core Zelda traditions and turns them into a masterpiece. There are only four main dungeons (minus the DLC), as well as a final battle in a castle filled with booby traps and easter eggs.
The game is centered on exploration and charting your own course. You decide the order in which you take down the dungeons, and you decide how you will tackle each obstacle. Do you want the Master Sword? Go get it! Do you want to skip all of the dungeons and go straight to Ganon? It isn’t optimal, but you can do that too!
On top of all of that, there are dozens upon dozens of mini-dungeons in the form of shrines throughout the game. You simply can’t play this game for just an hour. You will only be satisfied if you spend hours upon hours taking this monster apart.
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
We had to. There simply isn’t a better game.
Not only can you see the change in the Zelda franchise from before and after Ocarina of Time came out, but you can also see it in the history of video games altogether. This is the type of game that makes other game studios go “What are we even doing with our lives?”
Ocarina of Time is the embodiment of everything that’s great about video games. It is universally loved and adored by gamers everywhere. It’s not just the greatest Zelda game, but it’s also the greatest video game ever created.
Mic drop.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time turns 20. Here’s how it changed gaming foreverRead Now
DLC characters and more have been announced for Mortal Kombat 11!
Mortal Kombat fans rejoice!
We finally got to see the DLC characters for Mortal Kombat 11, and we are hyped. Joining the world of Mortal Kombat, we have Joker, Spawn, and the Terminator. Also, Shang Tsung, Nightwolf, and Sindel are also returning to the arena! Each character will be getting new skins and gear that will also be in the DLC. There will also be 19 additional skins for other characters.
This isn’t Joker’s first time entering the carnage that is Mortal Kombat. In 2008, he appeared in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. That game was decent, but the lack of gory fatalities upset hardcore fans of the series.
Speaking of the Joker, we have to talk about his new look:
Although he isn’t sporting tattoos and grills like in “Suicide Squad,” this younger-looking Joker still looks… off-putting. He doesn’t look much like the Clown Prince of Crime, and instead kinda looks like some weird kid’s cosplay.
Shang Tsung and Nightwolf are available now. The Terminator will be available in October. Sindel is coming in November. Joker is coming in January and Spawn is coming in March.
Never miss an assignment or forget a permission slip with Remind!
With the final days of summer dwindling down, it’s time to get focused on going back to school. Whether you are still in school yourself, or if you’re a parent who needs to keep track of their kids’ education, you need all the help you can get. In the age of smartphones, there is a laundry list of apps out there that can help you out. However, Remind is the best one out there by a mile.
Remind: School Communication gives students, parents, and teachers tools for communication. Now, you no longer have to worry about missing an assignment or getting in contact with your teacher to ask them a question.
Remind: School Communication is changing the education game
Keep students up to date
Teachers can use remind to send notifications to students about things going on in class. For example, if your teacher is missing class because they are sick, they can let you know that class is either canceled or that there will be a sub.
Also, if permission slips are due for a field trip, teachers can send students a reminder that the due date to turn them in is approaching.
If you’re a parent, Remind is an invaluable app for you. You can stay on top of your kid’s assignments, and never miss signing another permission slip.
One of the best parts of the app is that you won’t have to wait until parent-teacher conferences to hear from your child’s teachers.
At first glance, this app may seem a bit sketchy. Private messaging between young children and their adult teachers at any hour of the day sounds like a recipe for disaster. Also, there are tools for sending money such money for field trips, so that also opens another ethical can of worms. However, Remind has plenty of tools to help keep users safe.
If your school does not have an account with Remind, then it can’t help you. However, if you’re a teacher, you can set up a free account yourself! You can register up to 10 classes on Remind so all of your students will be kept in the loop!
You might have downloaded an app infected with adware. Here’s how to fix it!
More than 80 Android apps infected about 8 million Android users’ phones.
The apps in question were fakes impersonating photo editing tools and games.
All of the apps in question were removed from the Play Store, so you don’t need to worry about downloading them going forward.
What do adware apps do?
As the name suggests, adware apps deal with advertising. While you surf the internet on your phone, adware clicks on ads in the background, which generates money for advertisers. This might not sound bad, but you can be bombarded with ads as a result, and your phone will also waste battery and data in the process.
The best thing you can do is to download a trusted antivirus program like Avast. If you run Avast, you can delete all traces of the adware. Just make sure you restart your phone after you run it.
However, from now on when you download apps on from the Play Store, make sure that you know the app comes from a trusted publisher. If an app has thousands of downloads and positive reviews, you can probably assume that you’ll be safe. According to the TechCrunch article, pretty much all of the apps in question had awful reviews on the Play Store. However, weekly virus scans are a great way to make sure you are safe from adware and other viruses.
Your phone number contains more personal information about you than your name does!
When you’re on an app like Tinder, you already know better than to just slide anyone your digits. The last thing you want is to be harassed by some crazy person with obnoxious texts and unsolicited pics.
With that same logic, you wouldn’t give your phone number to some random website that says they need it to create an account for you, right?
Well, that’s where a lot of people fall off.
What can someone possibly learn from me just by having my phone number?
To state the obvious, if someone has your phone number, they can harass you and bombard you with ads. To some degree, that has probably happened to you.
You’ll be lounging around your home when suddenly you get an unsolicited text telling you about a deal on clothes, shoes, or food.
The writer discovered that a hacker could find out more information about him with his phone number that with his full name.
With this information, the writer discovered that someone with malicious intent could now attempt to answer his security questions. He and his family members could also be targeted with phishing ads. A hijacker could even trick his phone carrier into getting a new SIM card with his number. This means the hijacker would have access to the writer’s phone number and do with it as he pleases.
To make matters worse, this information wasn’t very hard to find at all. By using Whitepages Premium, a totally legal online tool, most of this information was uncovered from public records. Although using this information for nefarious deeds is illegal, obtaining it is not.
Why do so many websites ask for our phone numbers?
In a lot of cases, giving a website your phone number makes perfect sense. For example, food delivery apps like Grubhub or the Papa John’s app and website ask for your phone number. They need it in case they show up to your residence to deliver your food and nobody is answering the door.
At this point, you might be thinking, “Instagram and Twitter don’t deliver me food, so why do they need my number?”
Well, they use it for a legitimate reason as well. For one, it makes logging in a whole lot easier. Be honest, are you more likely to remember your own cellphone number or the random username you created for a website? Also, many websites and apps require a cellphone number to make sure that you’re an actual person and not a bot.
What should I do?
You don’t need to get a new phone number or throw your SIM card into a blender. However, you should start thinking twice before you give a person, app, or a website your cellphone number.
You should also consider upping your game when it comes to your online security. Make better passwords, and use two-factor verification whenever possible.
Start treating websites and apps like they’re a potential new match from Tinder. Genuinely ask yourself whether you can trust this site (or person) enough to give them access to personal information about yourself. If the answer is “no,” do the smart thing and swipe left.
Grade papers quicker and more efficiently with Google Assignments!
If you have any friends or relatives that are teachers, they’ll tell you that easily the most grueling part of the job is grading papers. If you’re an English or composition teacher, reading 20+ papers on the same material gets old fast.
These tools can also help make sure that the work you are receiving from students isn’t plagiarized, and it will also provide feedback to your students. It does this by using technology from Google Drive, Docs, and Search.
You can sign up for the Google Assignments beta. However, in order to integrate with your school’s learning management system, you must sign up using your school-issued Google account.
Assignments is also part of G Suite for Education. If you have an account there, no setup is required.
Once you’re all signed up, you can get started! This can be a very valuable tool and a lifesaver for teachers around finals. Talk to the head of your department and see if your school can get started with Google Assignments!
Becoming a Twitch affiliate might seem like a pipe dream, but this guide can make your dream come true!
If you’re a gamer, you’ve probably had the fantasy of quitting your job to pursue a career of streaming video games on Twitch. However, an endeavor like that sounds too good to be true. Also, learning how to record and stream live gameplay sounds like a daunting task. On top of all of that, you need to not only figure out how to become a Twitch affiliate, but also if you can realistically support yourself through this new career path. Not every Twitch streamer is going to make $3 million playing Fortnite.
You need to set realistic expectations for yourself as a streamer. You’re probably not going to be the next Ninja, but you can still make a name for yourself.
The first thing you need to do is to decide what games you’d like to stream. Weigh how popular a game against how much you enjoy playing it. Sure, games like Fortnite are really popular, but if you don’t find the game fun, nobody will want to watch you.
Also, don’t become a streamer just because you like to play video games. A lot of people like to play video games, but they don’t make money from it.
Become a Twitch affiliate because you like the idea of interacting with a community of gamers that you will gather.
We would recommend watching popular streamers to get ideas for your own stream. You shouldn’t copy another popular streamer entirely, but you can learn how to set up your streams, how to engage with your community, and how to stay interesting to your audience.
In order to be eligible as a Twitch partner, you need to stream 500 minutes of content every 30 days. That boils down to a little bit more than one eight-hour shift. You also need to stream seven times every 30 days. If you stream for an hour every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, you’ll knock that out easily.
You might think that you need thousands of followers in order to qualify to be a Twitch affiliate, but you don’t.
In order to be eligible, you just need three concurrent viewers for your streams over the past 30 days. Finally, you need at least a total of 50 followers altogether. This means that you probably can’t just have all of your buddies follow you on Twitch, but you still don’t have an unobtainable goal in front of you.
Create the perfect streaming setup
Aside from the money you’ll need to spend on consoles, games, controllers, and other gaming peripherals, there are a few things you are going to need to buy. Luckily, we have included links to some of the best products you can buy to create the perfect streaming setup.
This stuff can get pretty expensive, so don’t feel like you need to buy it all at once. However, if you want to really make it big in the world of streaming, these are all necessary and are used by the top dogs in the world of streaming.
Consider these things an investment into your future on Twitch. They can up the quality of your streams which means you can potentially gain more subscribers which means more money. The amount of money, time, and effort you put into your stream will determine what you get out of it.
Twitch affiliates basically have four ways of making money on Twitch:
Ad revenue
Paid subscriptions
Donations from fans
Sponsorships
Ad revenue
Twitch streamers make money from the pre-rolled ads run before their streams. Also, streamers can choose to run ads during their streams, which they also profit from. However, Twitch Turbo members and grandfathered-in Twitch Prime members won’t see these ads after a Twitch Prime change last year.
Basically, you can’t quite rely on ad revenue to bring home the bacon.
Paid subscriptions
If you want to subscribe to a streamer on Twitch, it costs $4.99. The good news is that Twitch streamers do get a cut of that money. Basically, if you have a few hundred subscribers that resubscribe every month, you got quite a chunk of change coming your way.
Twitch takes 50% off the top for paid subscriptions. However, if you average about 10,000 viewers per stream, Twitch only takes 30%, according to an article from Tubefilter. That extra 20% is a great incentive to try and grow your viewership.
You need to create incentives for your viewers to want to subscribe to you. A common thing streamers will do is to create custom emoticons that your subs will be able to use in the Twitch chat. These custom emoticons typically are related to your content or your personality.
You can hire someone to illustrate some emotes for your channel. Fun emotes can attract other viewers to your channel, which means more subscribers.
Donations from fans
It isn’t uncommon to make money on Twitch by receiving donations from fans. However, you shouldn’t base your entire Twitch revenue stream on hoping that you’ll receive donations from fans.
Create a link on your channel to for your viewers to donate money. Affiliates typically label this button as either “Donate” or “Send a tip.”
If you’re a Twitch affiliate, you can also receive donations by getting bits. Bits are sort of like Twitch currency (you know, aside from the actual real-world money on the site). Prices sometimes vary, but 100 bits typically costs $1.40. However, first-time bit buyers get a discount, and you get a discount the more bits you buy. If a viewer donates bits to you, you do get a cut of the profits.
Sponsorships are a great way to make money as a Twitch streamer. The way they work is that you’ll apply to be a sponsor of a company that’s typically gaming related. If you’re a big-shot streamer, companies might reach out to you, but, more often than naught, you’ll need to do the hustling yourself. If you’re accepted after applying, the company will send you instructions as to how your viewers can buy their products while you make a cut of the profits.
Typically, you’ll be sent a coupon code that your viewers can apply at checkout on the company’s website. For example, if your Twitch name is “GamerBoiJakeyyyy” they’d enter coupon code “Jakeyyyy” to get a discount on your sponsor’s product. Every time someone enters that coupon code, you’d get a cut of the sale.
A great company to try and partner with is G FUEL. G FUEL is an energy powder you mix in with your drinks to keep you energized while gaming with no threat of crashing (allegedly). Also, they sponsor with loads of smaller streamers so they’re a great one to partner with if you’re on the smaller end.
Altogether, how much money you make as a streamer depends on the amount of time and energy you invest in your work.
Payout and payout schedule
Twitch has a $100 threshold in order to be paid out. Also, payouts take place around the 15th of every month.
This might be a bit of an issue for some potential affiliates. If you earned $75, you not only can’t access that money until the middle of the month, but you can’t get it unless you earn at least $25 more. If you need some money for groceries or another expense, you’re out of luck. You can receive money through checks or through PayPal.
If you want to earn some extra money from your gaming content, there are other websites you should consider. For example, you can take your Twitch streams and upload them to a YouTube channel. That way, your fans can watch older streams of yours. If they’re YouTube Premium members, they won’t even have to sit through ads!
An added benefit is that if they see you interacting with your subscribers in the chat, it might inspire them to want to subscribe to you on Twitch.
Can I realistically have a career as a YouTube content creator?
Working as a Twitch Affiliate full-time is not easy off the bat. If you have pressing bills to pay, you might want to consider another source of income before devoting all of your time and energy into working as a full-time streamer.
There are good DCEU movies? You’ll have to read to find out!
While Marvel kept making hit after hit with its cinematic universe, DC just never seemed to get it right. While some of the films have small, cult followings, most people agree that pretty much every film in the DC Extended Universe is hot garbage.
From bad casting, to bad writing, to REALLY bad special effects, there is a lot of muck to sift through. However, the DCEU does have a shining light amongst all of the trash. What is that shining light you may ask? You’ll just have to read to find out.
This movie is about as far from “squad goals” as you can get.
“Suicide Squad” was a movie that was ruined by its production team. Basically, the MCU was making tons of money with movies that were universally loved. The DCEU was turning into a laughing stock after “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” deflated any interest fans had in the series.
What was the result? One of the worst superhero movies ever created.
The movie made next to no sense. It’s about Amanda Waller (played by Viola Davis) wanting to create a league of meta-humans that would be able to take down a Superman-level threat. The problem is that her plan is stupid!
First off, trying to make a team of heroes out of a bunch of villains is a horrible idea. Aside from Enchantress, none of the members of the Suicide Squad really seem that threatening. The rest of the members just feel like a typical Tuesday for Batman.
Also, adding Harley Quinn to the squad (who has nothing to bring to the table) just means that you will have Joker on your tail. Speaking of the Joker…
This was the worst on-screen Joker we have ever seen. When we first saw him with his tats and grills, we knew something was wrong. Think about it: can you picture the Joker, the most clinically insane individual on the planet, sit perfectly still for multiple tattoos? The answer is “absolutely not.”
From the awful story, to the poorly executed characters, to the sub-par action, “Suicide Squad” failed to be DC’s saving grace and instead became their ultimate nightmare.
Let’s go back to 2012 when “The Avengers” was coming to theaters. At the time, it was one of the most highly anticipated movies in history. For the most part, it lived up to the hype. However, when looking back on the MCU as a whole, it was a bit middle-of-the-road. Despite all of that, the movie still made a boatload of money and was the MCU’s highest-grossing film at the time.
When “Justice League” came to theaters, it had one of the worst box offices in the entire DCEU. This was absolute proof that the hype was dead. Fans have been begging for a Justice League movie for years. Even though we finally got one, fans knew that these filmmakers were going to screw it up. As much as the fans didn’t care, the filmmakers clearly cared even less.
The movie was awful. It had an incredibly forgettable villain, a forgettable story, and beloved characters played by forgettable actors. Heck, when crafting this list, we actually forgot this movie was even made!
The movie just seemed incredibly poorly timed. Only half of the members of the Justice League had prior movies establishing their characters. Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman had none of that. Instead, the filmmakers had to hope that the people that actually came to see this trash were all fans of the comics and had done their research. Unfortunately, even if you read the comics, you were going to still be confused throughout the movie.
It’s not as unwatchable as “Suicide Squad,” but it’s two hours of your life that you’ll never get back.
5. “Aquaman”
I didn’t know Shredder from Ninja Turtles was in this movie!
“Aquaman” felt like it was made by a bunch of frat boys one step away from flunking out of school. The movie is basically just one-liners and Jason Momoa smoldering for the camera. Just watch this:
The acting is absolutely atrocious. If “Game of Thrones” taught us anything about Jason Momoa, it’s that he is at his best when he isn’t talking. Every line out of the lord of the bro-cean’s mouth is ridiculously cheesy.
That’s not to say that the movie isn’t garbage. It’s painfully hard to get through. Do yourself a favor let this flick sink to the bottom of the ocean.
4. “Man of Steel”
The S stands for “Sucks,” because this movie really really sucks.
Superman is a hard character to get right.
He’s a god living among men and he’s trying to find out how to fit in the world. To be fair, that’s what “Man of Steel” explores. The only problem is that it gets everything wrong in the process.
While Superman struggles to find his purpose in “Man of Steel,” we as the audience struggle to get through the movie. “Man of Steel” was the first movie in the DCEU, and boy-oh-boy did it give it a rocky start. Need an example? Watch the most pointless death in any superhero movie:
The movie is infamous for being overly dark, joyless, and even colorless.
The main problem with the movie is that they hired the brainless robot Henry Cavill to play Superman. He’s definitely no Christopher Reeve, but he’s also just not a very good actor. Granted, the writers don’t give him much to work with:
If you think Cavill’s acting as Superman is hokey, just take a look at Michael Shannon as General Zod:
Director Zac Snyder watched that line delivery and said, “Yeah, that was good. Let’s go with that take.”
“Man of Steel” could have been the start of DC’s golden age of comic book movies. Instead, it was the start of a long series of disappointments.
Could you imagine what would’ve happened if HIS mother’s name was Martha?!?!
It’s really easy to hate this movie.
From start to finish, “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” is poor decision after poor decision. From casting Jesse Eisenberg to play Lex Luthor, to the world’s greatest detective falling for a middle school level scheme, to… “Martha,” the movie is awful.
You’re probably asking yourself, “If this movie is so bad, then why is it so close to the top?” Well, a lot of it has to do with the fact that it doesn’t have much in terms of competition. Secondly, the movie does have a few redeemable qualities. First off, Ben Affleck does a phenomenal job as Batman. The character’s worst qualities clearly aren’t Affleck’s fault, but the fault of the writers.
Secondly, although a lot of the action is pretty lame, this scene is awesome:
This one scene of Batman kicking butt is the best action scene in the entire DCEU.
What made this movie rub so many people the wrong way is because this could have been the greatest superhero movie ever created. Buried beneath all of the bad CGI and awful writing there is a good movie somewhere in here. Those who watch DC’s animated movies will tell you just how good “The Dark Knight Returns” is. The two movies contain what most agree is the best on-screen confrontation between the Son of Krypton and Bat of Gotham.
Dawn of Justice couldn’t even channel a fraction of that film’s energy, and instead became the living meme we all know today.
The film’s biggest issue lies in how much it tries to cram in. It has to establish Batman, establish Lex Luthor, create the Batman versus Superman story, set up the Justice League, introduce Wonder Woman, introduce and execute Doomsday, and then play out the Death of Superman storyline. It fails on all accounts and just comes off as a bloated mess.
Eat some chocolate, Professor Lupin. You’re not you when you’re hungry.
“Wonder Woman” is far from a perfect film. However, it does deserve most of the praise it gets.
The story and characters were the best the DCEU had given us by far up until this point. Wonder Woman was likable, and she was thrown into a story that made perfect sense for her character.
The movie plays a lot like “Captain America: The First Avenger,” as it takes place during a World War with the main character out to defeat the overwhelming German forces. However, it is also a fish-out-of-water story as Wonder Woman struggles to learn how to live in our world after being raised with the Amazons. In this sense, it’s a lot like “Thor.”
The movie does have two pretty big issues. The first is the special effects. A lot of the action scenes look pretty bad.
Gal Gadot’s fight choreography is fine, but when she jumps around fighting people, the special effects look about as convincing as middle school theater.
The second worst part is the villain. Wonder Woman believes that the God of War Ares (sorry, Kratos) is the cause of all the suffering going on in the world. At first, it looks like Ares isn’t real. At this point, you think the movie is going to actually be pretty smart by showing that humans are flawed and that there aren’t always supernatural causes for our misdoings. However, Ares then reveals himself resulting in quite possibly the worst villain casting of all time.
Who was chosen to play the God of War? Why, Professor Lupin from Harry Potter, of course!
He isn’t the least bit threatening. He looks like a complete dork throwing a hissy-fit. Rather than feeling scared, you just laugh at the screen as the poindexter tries to act all-powerful.
All in all, “Wonder Woman” is a decent flick by DCEU standards, but it is far from a great superhero movie.
My face when I made a better movie than Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Joker, and Aquaman.
If you were to have gone back in time to when we were in elementary school and would’ve told us, “In the future, there is going to be an Aquaman movie, a Batman vs. Superman movie, and a Justice League movie, but they’re all going to suck. However, there is going to be an awesome Shazam movie,” we would’ve called you insane.
However, that was exactly the case. “Shazam!” is a blast from start to finish. The DCEU filmmakers decided that rather than trying to make a cinematic universe, a dark film, or a something monumental, they would just make something fun. “Fun” is the best way to describe this flick.
If we had to nitpick at one part of the movie, it would be the special effects. Sometimes the movie looks like a PlayStation 2 game.
However, it doesn’t take away from the rest of the film.
Zachary Levi does a great job of playing a child in a superhero’s body. He’s believably cocky and arrogant while also being hilariously awkward when trying to interact with people.
The main character Billy Batson is a likable kid with a rough past. It’s very easy to get invested in him and to root for him to succeed. When he gets his powers, he does what any other kid with superpowers could do; he tests them and makes YouTube videos. This results in quite possibly the best scene in the entire DCEU:
If “Shazam!” were an MCU film, we would probably put it between “Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2” and “Spider-Man: Far From Home” on our list. The fact that we think this movie is better than almost half of the movies in the MCU is crazy given the fact that pretty much everything else on here would plummet to the bottom of the list.
“Shazam!” is far from a perfect movie, and it is nowhere near the level of movies like “Avengers: Endgame.” However, it is easily the best movie the DCEU has to offer.
Wrapping up
If you happened to like one of the movies we ripped apart, more power to you. We’ll just agree to disagree. There are a ton of Marvel movies with issues, but the DCEU just seems to get it wrong over and over again. With that being said, we would like nothing more than to see great movies involving these characters.
The main thing DC needs now is time. The movie industry is so saturated with superhero flicks that DC needs to wait for things to die down before throwing their hat back into the ring. Once some time has passed, they should be able to get some fresh ideas on what to do with these beloved characters.
