SoraAlfheim

What is Cloud gaming? Cloud gaming, (not to be confused with subscription-based gaming), is the use of powerful centralized servers to render the game remotely rather than on the player's physical console and is currently being pushed by video game publishers as the new way to play video games. The technology allows for things like better graphics, higher FPS-rates, better lighting, all with minimal hardware requirements for the client. You could play the most recent, most graphics heavy game at 4K 60fps from your two-year-old iPhone. At least that's the idea. The problem is... It's still way too early for this to be technologically viable. And the recent release of the Kingdom Hearts Cloud versions prove it. Square Enix and Nintendo decided to go against what most professionals have already said about cloud gaming, and published a cloud version the Kingdom Hearts series at nearly full price on a console designed to be used on the go with limited or no internet connection. Which is actually pretty disappointing as a fan of both the Kingdom Hearts series and Square Enix themselves. The Problem I think the best way to describe the problem is to compare it to traditional video streaming. When you watch a movie on Netflix, the movie is already rendered and ready to go on Netflix's servers, and will be downloaded in real time as you watch, with a few seconds of buffer to give you the most seamless experience. What is a buffer? In streaming, buffering means the platform gives itself a small head start. It starts downloading the content a few seconds (or less) before actually playing it. If the buffer runs out while watching, you might experience a short pause, a temporary drop in resolution, or both. I think anyone that actively watched Youtube 10 years ago are all too familiar with this. As ISP's infrastructure gets better, the need for a buffer decreases, but it's still there in some capacity, and is likely to still be there for the foreseeable future. However in cloud gaming, buffering isn't possible in any capacity. Since your console has to record your input, pass it on to the server, render the gameplay, then send it back to you all within a few milliseconds. There is no room for buffering, at all. Even just half a second of buffering means you'd be playing the game with a ping of 500ms. And I think most people would agree that isn't a great experience, especially when it comes to fast-paced games like Kingdom Hearts. Credit: Screenshot taken from HMK's video about the same topic Conclusion If the Cloud game you're playing has servers within a hundred mile radius, and you have a good internet connection with low latency, you might be able to play it somewhat smoothly. But anyone outside of the most central parts in the most populated regions are out of luck. If video game publishers keep pushing this technology too early, they risk taking huge hits to their image from their intended audience. I hope this outrage turns out to be a learning experience for Square Enix and for other publishers witnessing the outrage. Maybe one day in the future, we'll have fast enough connections that most of the world will be able to experience and enjoy cloud gaming as it's intended, without having to live right next to the data center. But we're not quite there yet.

An unexpected but welcome surprise struck Kingdom Hearts fans' timeline yesterday as voice actor Erika Harlacher released a short musical puppet show based on our favourite video game franchise Kingdom Hearts. The Disney x Square Enix collaboration is no stranger to adaptations outside the video game world with it being adapted into novels, a Manga series, and at one point it was almost made into a cartoon series. Now, although not official, it has been adapted into a musical puppet show. Who could see that one coming? The short was created by longtime voice actor Erika Harlacher. Harlacher is most known for voicing Ann in Persona 5. But she has also provided her voice to well over a hundred different projects, including additional voices in several Square Enix titles like Final Fantasy VII Remake, NEO: The World Ends with You, and of course Kingdom Hearts III. The short, titled Puppet Kingdom: Musical Hearts was published on both Youtube and Twitter, and retells the first chapter of the original Kingdom Hearts game where Sora first meets Donald and Goofy in Traverse Town. The song is titled The Trio Song, and according to Harlacher she has 5 more songs already written that she may publish later assuming Disney lawyers don't put a stop to it first. Harlacher, who herself is an avid fan of the Kingdom Hearts series, states that she's been on and off working on this project for a year and a half. With the project being so well made, it has received praise from other known members of the community and fellow voice actors. Including a shoutout from Goofy's official voice actor for 30+ years, Bill Farmer. If you're a fan of Kingdom Hearts, or just appreciate great puppet artistry, we urge you to check out the project! With enough support, maybe we'll see more of it!

In less than 3 days, on August 3rd, Chirithy 4 Charity will hold their second 12-hour charity live stream over on Twitch and Youtube. The stream will consist of 5 Kingdom Hearts community members playing and performing various challenges within the Kingdom Hearts series, including various Super bosses, Speedruns, and Picture hunts. All donations will go to the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals via Extra Life. You can find a full schedule for the event below. For more information, you can follow them on Twitter @ChirithyCharity We hope to see you there! \(^-^)/

On July 26th, 2019, Russi Taylor [the English voice of Minnie Mouse, Huey, Dewey, Louie and Fauna in the Kingdom Hearts series] passed away in her home in Glendale, California due to complications from diabetes. She was 75 at the time of her passing. Russi Taylor was born on May 4th, 1944 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She began voice acting in 1980 and took over as the official voice of Minnie Mouse in 1987 as well as Donald's nephews Huey, Dewey, Louie in 1990 for the series Ducktales. She was also married to Wayne Allwine, former voice actor of Mickey Mouse, from 1991 until his passing in 2009. Rest in Peace Russi Taylor and thank you for your 30+ years of voicing Minnie Mouse, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and several other Disney characters. You will be dearly missed.

KH13's "The Road to Kingdom Hearts III" is out now on KH13's Youtube channel. Make sure to check it out! Organized by KH13 and in collaboration with content creators KeybladeSarah, KZXcellent, and more, this 48 minute long film will take you on a trip through the history of Kingdom Hearts leading up to the release of the highly anticipated Kingdom Hearts III. Starting with the first game's inception, then moving over to how the franchise director Tetsuya Nomura got involved, the famous elevator story, character licensing, voice actors, the announcement of Kingdom Hearts III at E3 2013, and much much more. Each topic will feature various content creators known within the Kingdom Hearts community, where they will talk about their experiences with the franchise and how it has affected them. The film features a bunch of amazing content creators: Aaron Elliott - co-host at Blind Wave Productions Toominator & SeaSaltShelby - Hosts of KH13's podcast "The Usual Spot" Samurai Kibiji, KHCentral, Lost in Adventures, Frustrated Jacob and OfficialMoChocolate

KH13 are proud to announce "The Road to Kingdom Hearts III", a documentary about Kingdom Hearts and our community! Organized by KH13's HaakonHawk, and in collaboration with content creators KeybladeSarah, KZXcellent and more, this 45 minutes film will take you on a trip through the history of Kingdom Hearts leading up to the release of the highly anticipated Kingdom Hearts III. Starting with the first game's inception, then moving over to how the franchise director Tetsuya Nomura got involved, the famous elevator story, character licensing, voice actors, the announcement of Kingdom Hearts III at E3 2013, and much much more. For each topic, we'll feature various content creators known within the Kingdom Hearts community, where they will tell us about their experiences with the game and how it has affected them. We hope you'll tune in when it premieres on KH13's Youtube channel on January 19. 2019. You can watch the official trailer for the documentary below. Alongside the two people mentioned above, the cast also includes 6 other creators: Aaron Elliott - co-host at Blind Wave Productions Toominator & SeaSaltShelby - Hosts of KH13's podcast "The Usual Spot" Samurai Kibiji, KHCentral, Lost in Adventures, and OfficialMoChocolate "Please be excited!" - Shinji Hashimoto The documentary is being directed and produced by KH13's HaakonHawk and co-produced by Billy Lawrence. Below you can find some useful links if you want to know more about the project before its debut. Official Website & IMDB And if you want to stay updated on the project up until release, you can follow their Twitter @RoadToKH or you can join KH13's official Discord and ask questions directly to the films Director and Co-Producer > https://discord.gg/Ke3DecM