The Nicovideo/Nicolive Index

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cyghfer: 2010-12-29 10:04:21 pm

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cyghfer: 2010-12-06 05:56:41 pm

mikwuyma: 2010-12-06 05:52:54 pm

Josh the Funkdoc: 2010-03-28 06:04:14 pm

2010-02-09 11:12:15 pm

NOTE: Comprehensive overhaul underway (far from done though!)

Nico Nico Douga and its sub-sites (Nicovideo & Nicolive, among others) is pretty much the Japanese monolith of video archival and live streaming. Think of Youtube combined with Ustream/Justin.tv/Livestream/etc. with functionality synchronized between these two types of services (albeit with annoying restrictions littered throughout the site due to its monopolization of Japanese video services). This thread is an attempt to document everything about the site that is useful for SDA.

This thread is also a work in progress - I will continually replace obsolete RTAs and add new ones as they happen, and add more information on Nico's features that may be useful to us as we learn about them.

The most important thing I want to get across with this thread is that Nicovideo is an amazing repository of speedruns and speedrun-related videos. One of the first things anyone starting a new speedrun should do is search Nicovideo for existing runs, and search the RTA Wiki for existing times. There shouldn't be any more cases like Super Mario 64 where the Japanese records are magnitudes better than the existing SDA records and people don't know about it.

Finally, please note that I do not speak Japanese, and thus cannot actually read any of the Japanese text on the site. I've learned all that I impart here in this thread through others (notably 0xwas) and by experimenting with various links & such on the site. I do not know for certain all the parameters concerning the features I discuss below, and I'm sure there are many more features useful for us that are available to non-premium members. If you have anything you'd like to add, or see any erroneous information, please feel free to post in this thread or PM me!

Table of Contents (cntl+F any of these sections to jump to it)

Section A: About 'RTA' and 'TA'
Section B: Registering and Its Benefits / Watching Videos Without an Account
Section C: The RTA Wiki
Section D: Nico Nico Live
Section E: Notable RTAs
Section F: Notable Nico Runners / Streamers
Section G: Miscellaneous Information

Section A: About 'RTA' and 'TA'

Original OP text by Josh explaining RTA and TA:

Quote from JoshTheFunkdoc:

For those not in the know, live-streaming speedruns (called "Real Time Attacks" or RTAs) have become quite popular in Japan as of late, and you can usually find them archived on Nicovideo. These are usually single-segment runs, although some may load from saves (either because of deaths or to save time). The vast majority of them are performed on emulators and a good number of those use autofire, so they are not to be regarded as official records. However, they can still provide a lot of useful strategies and be fun as heck to watch. =)

It's also important to note that a lot of videos labeled "RTA" are not true speedruns but rather marathons or live Let's Plays. Hence the need for a thread to highlight the good stuff!

In addition to the RTAs, there are other speedruns out there which are simply labeled "time attacks". These can be segmented or single-segment. And of course there are TASes, which are labeled "TAS".

Additional explanation by psion0011:

Quote from psion0011:

I'd like to point out that the *only* thing "RTA" means is that you use a real life clock to measure the time as opposed to an in-game clock. Hit "start" when you begin and "end" when you finish. Any rules about loading from saves, single segment, etc etc are all up to the individual runner - like LttP RTAs have both save and no-save categories (no saves being more popular). Conversely the only thing "TA" means is that you use the in-game clock, which means you can reload your save as often as you want to manipulate luck and keep the in-game clock down.

In summary, "RTA" or "Real-Time Attack" means that the run is timed with a stopwatch in real-time (as many RTA streams feature timers in a bottom corner of the video feed). "TA" is a bit more nebulous - it can mean, on the one hand, that the runner uses a game's in-game clock; on the other hand, it can mean that the run was not completed all in one go, e.g. the runner took a bathroom break and paused the game in the middle of the run, or completed the run using saves over the course of multiple days. I am not 100% positive on the exact parameters of the term so if someone can articulate a complete definition that would be helpful.

Note that "RTA" and "TA" are not exactly equal, respectively, to our concepts of "single-segment" and "segmented," though there is overlap between them.

Section B: Registering and Its Benefits / Watching Videos Without an Account

Although there are ways to view Nicovideo video uploads without an account, there are some benefits to having an account anyway:

1. no need to change URL syntax/use an external site to watch uploaded videos
2. ability to watch AND SAVE live streams FOR FUTURE VIEWING (independent of whether the streamer uploads his stream recording to his community page)
3. ability to comment on videos, view video comments, and view 'extended video comments'

Note: I don't know what the proper term for the 'extended video comments' is, but here's an example (you need an account to view, of course): http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/1281529664 The extended video comments include the white text immediately to the right of the video feed.

I particularly want to emphasize the point in bold, which is a functionality I believe unique to Nicolive amongst all major live streaming sites. For more information jump to the 'Nicolive' section of this post.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR REGISTERING

ZenicReverie made a marvelous post translating the registration page and outlining the exact instructions on how to register (it's simple and quick, too, takes like 3 minutes). I have quoted his post here:

Quote from ZenicReverie:

https://secure.nicovideo.jp/secure/register?transition=common

Enter your email address, then you'll get another form. Should be fairly easy to understand:

Username

Male / Female

DOB

Location

Password (and confirm)

Security Question

click the top button and then confirm the information.

Next screen:

enter the captcha to agree to the terms of service. The button to the right refreshes the image. Top button to submit, bottom to go back.

Next:

check your email, find the email from info@nicovideo.jp and click the url inside.

You're now logged in and registered.

If you're not logged into the site and wish to log in, click 'ログイン' at the top of the page, it's the leftmost link in the right-hand cluster of links. Or just click here.

Now, if you're lazy or want to view just a single video listed in this thread, there's a simple way to watch a video without an account. Simply add '.am' after the '.jp' in the video URL, like so:

Code:

http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm13128879

Alternatively, you can use this page to view videos without an account. You can search for keywords in the search box or simply enter a particular video's URL. Additionally, this page allows you to change the resolution of the video feed. (thanks Sillygramcracker for posting this in the Earthbound thread!)

Please note that these two methods will not work for video links that lack 'sm' before the number portion of the video URL (see the above link). Additionally, some videos are disabled for external viewing by the uploader - if you use the '.am' method you will see this image. For these videos you must have an account to watch them.

Section C: The RTA Wiki

The RTA Wiki

This is a separate wiki page unaffiliated with Nico Nico Douga that tracks RTA and TA times for a multitude of games. Links to game pages are listed in the left-hand column, whereas the right-hand column displays new times from the past week and is updated in real-time as times are submitted or edited.

If a large series (e.g. Mario, Mega Man, Dragon Quest) has a lot of game pages listed, then the series will have a drop-down list that reveals every individual game with times listed.

Each individual entry in a game's table features the time, the date of completion, a link to the runner's community page, and any comments the runner might have (including a link to the video, whether autofire is or is not used, if the time is thought to be a world record, etc.). Each game page may display multiple tables accounting for different versions of the game; sometimes a description of how runs are timed accompanies a given table, though not always. On rare occasion overseas records (most often SDA records) are listed in yet another table.

Now, unlike SDA, these times are not verified, and many do not have an accompanying video of the run. Thus, there is technically a chance that a given time is fake, or uses autofire when the comments do not specify so. I have personally not witnessed a time on the wiki that later turned out to be fake, but of course I'm not part of the Japanese RTA community and I have only been browsing Nico and the wiki for a short time now. Take times without accompanying video with a grain of salt, but it is more likely than not that they are legitimate.

You'll notice that there is a lot of activity for certain games and series (Super Mario 64 and the Dragon Quest series in particular!), so obviously these games will feature the heaviest competition.

Section D: Nico Nico Live

The Nicolive sub-site of Nico Nico Douga is the live streaming section of the site. The basic functions of Nicolive are predictably similar to those of Ustream, Justin.tv, Livestream, etc., though the former has some very useful extra features unique to it. Note that you need to be a member of Nico Nico Douga to be able to watch Nicolive streams at all. (In addition, you must be a premium member [which costs money of course] to be able to stream yourself).

Nicolive streams are structured and organized a little differently than those of the major English streaming sites. Nicolive features the Community Page (example) which functions as a sort of deluxe channel page (compared to Ustream's, for example). The community page features a section for the user to publish comments, a section for other users to comment on the page, etc., but there is one area of the page that is very useful for our purposes: the right-hand column, which features the 'scheduled stream,' 'past streams,' and 'community videos' sections.

The way individual stream sessions work on Nicolive is that every stream has its own dedicated web page (example Wink

), whether the stream is scheduled to happen in the future, is currently happening (at which time the page is where you actually watch said stream), or has already happened. Every stream is 'scheduled' in the sense that the time it will begin is set by the streamer upon creation of the stream page; streams can be scheduled to start a few days in advance or to start pretty much instantly. At the time that the stream is scheduled to start, the stream feed will become available to viewers regardless of whether the streamer is actually sending video/audio feed (if they aren't, the feed will simply be black and silent). The default stream duration is 30 minutes; the streamer must pay a small fee to extend the length of the stream past that, which is probably the major downside of streaming on Nicolive (and probably why some Japanese streamers also have stickam/ustream accounts). After the stream has ended, the stream page will remain linked in the user's archive of past streams (indefinitely, as far as I can tell).

Returning to the right-hand column of the community page: the top section, labeled '最近行われた生放送,' shows the user's most recently completed stream. The link underneath and to the right, labeled '【生放送履歴一覧】,' leads to the first page of the user's archive of past streams. The next section down, labeled '予約スケジュール,' features the user's scheduled stream, if there is one (I think that only one future stream may be scheduled at a time, but I'm not positive). Following this section is the 'followers' section, labeled 'コミュニティメンバー'. This is generally not very useful for our purposes but occasionally a user might require that other users be following him in order to view the his videos. If this is the case, click the large yellow button at the top of the community page (it has curved edges, you can't miss it) and then the small black rectangular button on the subsequent page to start following the user (and thus you will appear in the user's 'followers' section!) Finally, the last section in the right-hand column, labeled 'コミュニティ動画,' displays thumbnails/links for a handful of the user's community videos. Clicking '【コミュニティ動画の確認・編集】' will of course bring you to the dedicated videos page, displaying the first page of the user's videos.

Now we get to the really interesting part! The key thing about every stream being scheduled in advance, and every stream having its own page, is that users can choose to save scheduled streams for future viewing! So if, for example, the record-holder for a game you're interested in running has scheduled an RTA stream of that game for a week from now, you can choose to 'save' that stream and be able to watch the entire thing after the actual stream session has ended. To do so, go to a stream page of choice for a stream that is scheduled to happen (premium members, I think, can save streams during or after they've happened). Click the yellow button with the clock in it, and then click the same button in the popup window that appears. Close the popup window, watch the yellow button become grayed out, and voila, you are now saving the stream! For normal users, saved streams are watchable for up to a week after the completion date of the original stream session, after which the stream cannot be viewed again (screencap saved streams that you want a permanent video of). Normal users can have 10 streams saved (including both scheduled streams that are saved and streams that have already finished that are now watchable) at a time.

To watch a completed stream you have opted to save, simply visit the stream page in question and the video will be watchable there. Additionally, there's a convenient page that shows all of the individual streams that: have ended and you opted to save, are scheduled and you opted to save, and whose page you've simply visited (these will not be watchable because you did not opt to save them). You will see a drop-down link labeled 'メニュー▼' in the top-right corner of any Nico page; however, to access the page being discussed, you must be on a Nicolive page (live.nicovideo.jp should be in the URL). The third link in the left-hand column of the site's home page (http://www.nicovideo.jp), labeled '生放送,' will lead to the Nicolive main page. Once you are there, click メニュー▼ and then click the first link in the left column labeled Service, which should redirect you here.

The links at the top of the first table

http://live.nicovideo.jp/search

Section E: Notable RTAs

Here you'll find the fastest RTAs on Nicovideo and/or the RTA wiki of at least semi-popular games. If a game is listed but the fastest time is slower than a run by an SDA runner, it will not be listed. I'll be regularly updating this section with new runs/games/records; feel free to post in this thread or PM me with a run to add here!

For the convenience of the lay reader, all the links are in '.am' format. You can, of course, simply remove .am to view the actual Nicovideo page with an account.

When the timing method for a particular game is known, it is noted in parentheses.

If the fastest run on the Wiki has no video accompanying it, the fastest time with an accompanying video will be listed with the link, with the record run in parentheses.

I Wanna Be the Guy in 18:43
Seriously, even if you haven't played it just watch this, I won't spoil anything!

Mario Series

Super Mario 64 (timed from console on to touching the final star)
Note: this is probably the single most popular game to speedrun in Japan at the moment. As such, competition is extremely tight and a variety of star categories are recognized and regularly speedran.

0 Stars in 9:11 by taka12352 (note: there is a 7:38 run listed on the Wiki under the Emulator category, but the accompanying video doesn't actually show the run...)
1 Star in 8:17 (7:08 SDA timing) by シゲル (Shigeru052) (note: there is a 7:43 run listed on the Wiki under the Emulator category, same as above though, same runner even!)
16 Stars in 16:52 by taka12352 (Fastest time listed is 16:22 by シゲル on console, 16:21 by WWS≠葵 on emulator; this is the most competitive category over there)
[No 30 star times on the Wiki have accompanying video, fastest time is 21:02 by タピオカ on console]
[No 45 star times on the Wiki have accompanying video, fastest time is 39:24 by ひす⇔miyabi on console]
70 Stars in 52:30 by バトラ (batora): Part 1 Part 2
120 Stars in 1:52:02 by バトラ (batora): Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Super Mario RPG in 3:14:20
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11

Super Mario Bros. 3
"No whistles" run in 58:16: Part 1 Part 2

New Super Mario Bros.
Any% run in 34:20: Part 1 Part 2

Super Mario World
Any% run in 10:53.82
100% run in 1:30:30: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Super Mario Bros. 2 JPN (Lost Levels)
8:15 w/ Mario

Mega Man Series

Mega Man 2 in 28:38

Mega Man 3 in 36:39

Mega Man 4 in 39:24

Mega Man 5 in 38:09

Mega Man 6 in 35:23

Mega Man 7 in 44:30 - Part 1 Part 2

Mega Man 8 in 57:57 - Part 1 Part 2

Mega Man 9 in 31:14

Mega Man X2 in 34:17 - Part 1 Part 2

Castlevania Series

Super Castlevania IV in 36:14
Stages 1-7
Stage 8-End

Castlevania: Dracula X (SNES)
Stage 1 (says it's an RTA, but I didn't see any other stages)

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
Warp glitch run in 9:32

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
Maxim run w/ warps in 0:01:40

Normal route in 0:53:35: part 1 part 2 part 3

"Strange" route in 0:49:57: part 1 part 2 part 3

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Warp glitch run in 0:18:59

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia in 1:29:24

Final Fantasy Series

Final Fantasy I in 3:37:14
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8

Final Fantasy III in 2:24:30
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

Final Fantasy IV in 3:38:01 (remember, this is Hardtype + single-segment!)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

Final Fantasy V in 4:28:20 (likewise, besides being SS, this uses the SNES version while the SDA run uses PSX)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10

Final Fantasy VI
There's a 4:48 run but it's segmented. =/ If anyone still wants to see it, I'll link it.

Dragon Quest Series

I have no idea. Seriously, I know next to nothing about DQ and there are a million "RTAs" of it on Nico. If anyone wants to help out here it would definitely be appreciated!

And now the rest:

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
4:27:39 without movement glitches: Playlist

Valkyrie Profile 2 in 1:41:28 (NOTE: Final boss battle is missing)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11

Donkey Kong 64 in 1:13:28
Part 1
Part 2

Donkey Kong Country 2 in 0:49:40 (real time, in-game time is 0:44):
Part 1
Part 2
Trick explanation video

Ninja Gaiden (NES) in 12:34

Solomon's Key:
Good Ending run

Tomb Raider in 2:21:48:
Playlist

Unlimited SaGa in 1:22:50
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

Cadash (Turbografx-16)
30:45 w/ Ninja: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Shin Megami Tensei: if... in 2:25:50 (Partner: Charlie)

Demon's Souls in 1:24:xx (Mage)

...Well, that about does it for now. Like I said, this took a ton of time and effort, so hopefully you'll all enjoy it!

Thread title:

NOTE: Comprehensive overhaul underway (far from done though!)

Nico Nico Douga and its sub-sites (Nicovideo & Nicolive, among others) is pretty much the Japanese monolith of video archival and live streaming. Think of Youtube combined with Ustream/Justin.tv/Livestream/etc. with functionality synchronized between these two types of services (albeit with annoying restrictions littered throughout the site due to its monopolization of Japanese video services). This thread is an attempt to document everything about the site that is useful for SDA.

This thread is also a work in progress - I will continually replace obsolete RTAs and add new ones as they happen, and add more information on Nico's features that may be useful to us as we learn about them.

The most important thing I want to get across with this thread is that Nicovideo is an amazing repository of speedruns and speedrun-related videos. One of the first things [b]anyone[/b] starting a new speedrun should do is search Nicovideo for existing runs, and search the RTA Wiki for existing times. There shouldn't be any more cases like Super Mario 64 where the Japanese records are magnitudes better than the existing SDA records and people don't know about it.

Finally, please note that I do not speak Japanese, and thus cannot actually read any of the Japanese text on the site. I've learned all that I impart here in this thread through others (notably 0xwas) and by experimenting with various links & such on the site. I do not know for certain all the parameters concerning the features I discuss below, and I'm sure there are many more features useful for us that are available to non-premium members. If you have anything you'd like to add, or see any erroneous information, please feel free to post in this thread or PM me!

[size="20"]Table of Contents[/size] (cntl+F any of these sections to jump to it)

[b]Section A: About 'RTA' and 'TA'
Section B: Registering and Its Benefits / Watching Videos Without an Account
Section C: The RTA Wiki
Section D: Nico Nico Live
Section E: Notable RTAs
Section F: Notable Nico Runners / Streamers
Section G: Miscellaneous Information[/b]

[size="20"]Section A: About 'RTA' and 'TA'[/size]

Original OP text by Josh explaining RTA and TA:

[quote="JoshTheFunkdoc"]For those not in the know, live-streaming speedruns (called "Real Time Attacks" or RTAs) have become quite popular in Japan as of late, and you can usually find them archived on Nicovideo.  These are usually single-segment runs, although some may load from saves (either because of deaths or to save time).  The vast majority of them are performed on emulators and a good number of those use autofire, so they are not to be regarded as official records.  However, they can still provide a lot of useful strategies and be fun as heck to watch. =)

It's also important to note that a lot of videos labeled "RTA" are not true speedruns but rather marathons or live Let's Plays.  Hence the need for a thread to highlight the good stuff!

In addition to the RTAs, there are other speedruns out there which are simply labeled "time attacks". These can be segmented or single-segment.  And of course there are TASes, which are labeled "TAS".[/quote]

Additional explanation by psion0011:

[quote="psion0011"]I'd like to point out that the *only* thing "RTA" means is that you use a real life clock to measure the time as opposed to an in-game clock. Hit "start" when you begin and "end" when you finish. Any rules about loading from saves, single segment, etc etc are all up to the individual runner - like LttP RTAs have both save and no-save categories (no saves being more popular). Conversely the only thing "TA" means is that you use the in-game clock, which means you can reload your save as often as you want to manipulate luck and keep the in-game clock down.[/quote]

In summary, "RTA" or "Real-Time Attack" means that the run is timed with a stopwatch in real-time (as many RTA streams feature timers in a bottom corner of the video feed). "TA" is a bit more nebulous - it can mean, on the one hand, that the runner uses a game's in-game clock; on the other hand, it can mean that the run was not completed all in one go, e.g. the runner took a bathroom break and paused the game in the middle of the run, or completed the run using saves over the course of multiple days. I am not 100% positive on the exact parameters of the term so if someone can articulate a complete definition that would be helpful.

Note that "RTA" and "TA" are not exactly equal, respectively, to our concepts of "single-segment" and "segmented," though there is overlap between them.

[size="20"]Section B: Registering and Its Benefits / Watching Videos Without an Account[/size]

Although there are ways to view Nicovideo video uploads without an account, there are some benefits to having an account anyway:

1. no need to change URL syntax/use an external site to watch uploaded videos
2. ability to watch [b]AND SAVE[/b] live streams [b]FOR FUTURE VIEWING[/b] (independent of whether the streamer uploads his stream recording to his community page)
3. ability to comment on videos, view video comments, and view 'extended video comments'

Note: I don't know what the proper term for the 'extended video comments' is, but here's an example (you need an account to view, of course): http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/1281529664 The extended video comments include the white text immediately to the right of the video feed.

I particularly want to emphasize the point in bold, which is a functionality I believe unique to Nicolive amongst all major live streaming sites. For more information jump to the 'Nicolive' section of this post.

[b]INSTRUCTIONS FOR REGISTERING[/b]

ZenicReverie made a marvelous post translating the [url="https://secure.nicovideo.jp/secure/register?transition=common"]registration page[/url] and outlining the exact instructions on how to register (it's simple and quick, too, takes like 3 minutes). I have quoted his post here:

[quote="ZenicReverie"]https://secure.nicovideo.jp/secure/register?transition=common

Enter your email address, then you'll get another form. Should be fairly easy to understand:

Username

Male / Female

DOB

Location

Password (and confirm)

Security Question

click the top button and then confirm the information.

Next screen:

enter the captcha to agree to the terms of service. The button to the right refreshes the image. Top button to submit, bottom to go back.

You're now logged in and registered.[/quote]

If you're not logged into the site and wish to log in, click 'ログイン' at the top of the page, it's the leftmost link in the right-hand cluster of links. Or just click [url="https://secure.nicovideo.jp/secure/login_form?"]here[/url].

Now, if you're lazy or want to view just a single video listed in this thread, there's a simple way to watch a video without an account. Simply add '.am' after the '.jp' in the video URL, like so:

[code]http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm13128879[/code]

Alternatively, you can use [url="http://www.mmcafe.com/nico.html"]this page[/url] to view videos without an account. You can search for keywords in the search box or simply enter a particular video's URL. Additionally, this page allows you to change the resolution of the video feed. (thanks Sillygramcracker for posting this in the Earthbound thread!)

Please note that these two methods will not work for video links that lack 'sm' before the number portion of the video URL (see the above link). Additionally, some videos are disabled for external viewing by the uploader - if you use the '.am' method you will see [url="http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/images/404.png"]this image[/url]. For these videos you must have an account to watch them.

[size="20"]Section C: The RTA Wiki[/size]

[url="http://www40.atwiki.jp/niconamarta/"]The RTA Wiki[/url]

This is a separate wiki page unaffiliated with Nico Nico Douga that tracks RTA and TA times for a multitude of games. Links to game pages are listed in the left-hand column, whereas the right-hand column displays new times from the past week and is updated in real-time as times are submitted or edited.

If a large series (e.g. Mario, Mega Man, Dragon Quest) has a lot of game pages listed, then the series will have a drop-down list that reveals every individual game with times listed.

Each individual entry in a game's table features the time, the date of completion, a link to the runner's community page, and any comments the runner might have (including a link to the video, whether autofire is or is not used, if the time is thought to be a world record, etc.). Each game page may display multiple tables accounting for different versions of the game; sometimes a description of how runs are timed accompanies a given table, though not always. On rare occasion overseas records (most often SDA records) are listed in yet another table.

Now, unlike SDA, these times are not verified, and many do not have an accompanying video of the run. Thus, there is technically a chance that a given time is fake, or uses autofire when the comments do not specify so. I have personally not witnessed a time on the wiki that later turned out to be fake, but of course I'm not part of the Japanese RTA community and I have only been browsing Nico and the wiki for a short time now. Take times without accompanying video with a grain of salt, but it is more likely than not that they are legitimate.

You'll notice that there is a lot of activity for certain games and series (Super Mario 64 and the Dragon Quest series in particular!), so obviously these games will feature the heaviest competition.

[size="20"]Section D: Nico Nico Live[/size]

The [url=http://live.nicovideo.jp/]Nicolive[/url] sub-site of Nico Nico Douga is the live streaming section of the site. The basic functions of Nicolive are predictably similar to those of Ustream, Justin.tv, Livestream, etc., though the former has some very useful extra features unique to it. Note that you need to be a member of Nico Nico Douga to be able to watch Nicolive streams at all. (In addition, you must be a [i]premium member[/i] [which costs money of course] to be able to stream yourself).

Nicolive streams are structured and organized a little differently than those of the major English streaming sites. Nicolive features the Community Page ([url=http://com.nicovideo.jp/community/co319444]example[/url]) which functions as a sort of deluxe channel page (compared to Ustream's, for example). The community page features a section for the user to publish comments, a section for other users to comment on the page, etc., but there is one area of the page that is very useful for our purposes: the right-hand column, which features  the 'scheduled stream,' 'past streams,' and 'community videos' sections.

The way individual stream sessions work on Nicolive is that every stream has its own dedicated web page ([url=http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv36567709]example[/url] ;) ), whether the stream is scheduled to happen in the future, is currently happening (at which time the page is where you actually watch said stream), or has already happened. Every stream is 'scheduled' in the sense that the time it will begin is set by the streamer upon creation of the stream page; streams can be scheduled to start a few days in advance or to start pretty much instantly. At the time that the stream is scheduled to start, the stream feed will become available to viewers regardless of whether the streamer is actually sending video/audio feed (if they aren't, the feed will simply be black and silent). The default stream duration is 30 minutes; the streamer must pay a small fee to extend the length of the stream past that, which is probably the major downside of streaming on Nicolive (and probably why some Japanese streamers also have stickam/ustream accounts). After the stream has ended, the stream page will remain linked in the user's archive of past streams (indefinitely, as far as I can tell).

Returning to the right-hand column of the community page: the top section, labeled '最近行われた生放送,' shows the user's most recently completed stream. The link underneath and to the right, labeled '【生放送履歴一覧】,' leads to the first page of the user's archive of past streams. The next section down, labeled '予約スケジュール,' features the user's scheduled stream, if there is one (I think that only one future stream may be scheduled at a time, but I'm not positive). Following this section is the 'followers' section, labeled 'コミュニティメンバー'. This is generally not very useful for our purposes but occasionally a user might require that other users be following him in order to view the his videos. If this is the case, click the large yellow button at the top of the community page (it has curved edges, you can't miss it) and then the small black rectangular button on the subsequent page to start following the user (and thus you will appear in the user's 'followers' section!) Finally, the last section in the right-hand column, labeled 'コミュニティ動画,' displays thumbnails/links for a handful of the user's community videos. Clicking '【コミュニティ動画の確認・編集】' will of course bring you to the dedicated videos page, displaying the first page of the user's videos.

[b]Now we get to the really interesting part![/b] The key thing about every stream being scheduled in advance, and every stream having its own page, is that users can choose to [b][u]save scheduled streams for future viewing![/u][/b] So if, for example, the record-holder for a game you're interested in running has scheduled an RTA stream of that game for a week from now, you can choose to 'save' that stream and be able to watch the entire thing after the actual stream session has ended. To do so, go to a stream page of choice for a stream that is [i]scheduled[/i] to happen (premium members, I think, can save streams during or after they've happened). Click the yellow button with the clock in it, and then click the same button in the popup window that appears. Close the popup window, watch the yellow button become grayed out, and voila, you are now saving the stream! For normal users, saved streams are watchable for up to a week after the completion date of the original stream session, after which the stream cannot be viewed again (screencap saved streams that you want a permanent video of). Normal users can have 10 streams saved (including both scheduled streams that are saved and streams that have already finished that are now watchable) at a time.

[b]To watch a completed stream you have opted to save, simply visit the stream page in question and the video will be watchable there.[/b] Additionally, there's a convenient page that shows all of the individual streams that: have ended and you opted to save, are scheduled and you opted to save, and whose page you've simply visited (these will not be watchable because you did not opt to save them). You will see a drop-down link labeled 'メニュー▼' in the top-right corner of any Nico page; however, to access the page being discussed, you must be on a Nicolive page (live.nicovideo.jp should be in the URL). The third link in the left-hand column of the site's home page (http://www.nicovideo.jp), labeled '生放送,' will lead to [url=http://live.nicovideo.jp]the Nicolive main page[/url]. Once you are there, click メニュー▼ and then click the first link in the left column labeled Service, which should redirect you [url=http://live.nicovideo.jp/my]here[/url].

The links at the top of the first table

http://live.nicovideo.jp/search

[size="20"]Section E: Notable RTAs[/size]

Here you'll find the fastest RTAs on Nicovideo and/or the RTA wiki of at least semi-popular games. If a game is listed but the fastest time is slower than a run by an SDA runner, it will not be listed. I'll be regularly updating this section with new runs/games/records; feel free to post in this thread or PM me with a run to add here!

For the convenience of the lay reader, all the links are in '.am' format. You can, of course, simply remove .am to view the actual Nicovideo page with an account.

When the timing method for a particular game is known, it is noted in parentheses.

If the fastest run on the Wiki has no video accompanying it, the fastest time with an accompanying video will be listed with the link, with the record run in parentheses.

[u]I Wanna Be the Guy in 18:43[/u]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm8407589]Seriously, even if you haven't played it just watch this, I won't spoil anything![/url]

[i]Mario Series[/i]

[u]Super Mario 64[/u] (timed from console on to touching the final star)
Note: this is probably the single most popular game to speedrun in Japan at the moment. As such, competition is extremely tight and a variety of star categories are recognized and regularly speedran.

[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm12887548]0 Stars in 9:11[/url] by [url=http://com.nicovideo.jp/community/co60980]taka12352[/url] (note: there is a 7:38 run listed on the Wiki under the Emulator category, but the accompanying video doesn't actually show the run...)
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap3xorCvU3o]1 Star in 8:17[/url] (7:08 SDA timing) by シゲル ([url=http://www.youtube.com/user/shigeru052]Shigeru052[/url]) (note: there is a 7:43 run listed on the Wiki under the Emulator category, same as above though, same runner even!)
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm10484898]16 Stars in 16:52[/url] by [url=http://com.nicovideo.jp/community/co60980]taka12352[/url] (Fastest time listed is 16:22 by [url=http://com.nicovideo.jp/community/co290869]シゲル[/url] on console, 16:21 by [url=http://com.nicovideo.jp/community/co61787]WWS≠葵[/url] on emulator; this is the most competitive category over there)
[No 30 star times on the Wiki have accompanying video, fastest time is 21:02 by [url=http://com.nicovideo.jp/community/co252974]タピオカ[/url] on console]
[No 45 star times on the Wiki have accompanying video, fastest time is 39:24 by [url=http://com.nicovideo.jp/community/co15035]ひす⇔miyabi[/url] on console] 
[b]70 Stars in 52:30[/b] by [url=http://com.nicovideo.jp/community/co106965]バトラ[/url] (batora): [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm13012944]Part 1[/url]   [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm13013749]Part 2[/url]
[b]120 Stars in 1:52:02[/b] by [url=http://com.nicovideo.jp/community/co106965]バトラ[/url] (batora): [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm13128879]Part 1[/url]   [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm13130817]Part 2[/url]   [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm13131491]Part 3[/url]   [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm13131732]Part 4[/url]

[u]Super Mario RPG in 3:14:20[/u]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm8971739]Part 1[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm8972925]Part 2[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm8975913]Part 3[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm8977000]Part 4[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm8978281]Part 5[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm8979336]Part 6[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9008044]Part 7[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9009458]Part 8[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9009691]Part 9[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9009922]Part 10[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9014360]Part 11[/url]

[u]Super Mario Bros. 3[/u]
[b]"No whistles" run in 58:16:[/b] [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9524483]Part 1[/url]   [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9524915]Part 2[/url]

[u]New Super Mario Bros.[/u]
[b]Any% run in 34:20:[/b] [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9123254]Part 1[/url]   [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9123424]Part 2[/url]

[u]Super Mario World[/u]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9904421]Any% run in 10:53.82[/url]
[b]100% run in 1:30:30:[/b] [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9914721]Part 1[/url]  [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9915607]Part 2[/url]  [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9916235]Part 3[/url]

[u]Super Mario Bros. 2 JPN (Lost Levels)[/u]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9553760]8:15 w/ Mario[/url]

[i]Mega Man Series[/i]

[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9179685]Mega Man 2 in 28:38[/url]

[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm4070474]Mega Man 3 in 36:39[/url]

[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm6492910]Mega Man 4 in 39:24[/url]

[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm3559178]Mega Man 5 in 38:09[/url]

[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm3395342]Mega Man 6 in 35:23[/url]

[u]Mega Man 7 in 44:30[/u] - [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9159829]Part 1[/url]   [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9160002]Part 2[/url]

[u]Mega Man 8 in 57:57[/u] - [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm5153995]Part 1[/url]   [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm5154082]Part 2[/url]

[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm6401578]Mega Man 9 in 31:14[/url]

[u]Mega Man X2 in 34:17[/u] - [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm7083635]Part 1[/url]   [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm7084093]Part 2[/url]

[i]Castlevania Series[/i]

[u]Super Castlevania IV in 36:14[/u]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9293229]Stages 1-7[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9302361]Stage 8-End[/url]

[u]Castlevania: Dracula X (SNES)[/u]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm8393664]Stage 1[/url] (says it's an RTA, but I didn't see any other stages)

[u]Castlevania: Circle of the Moon[/u]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm8937966]Warp glitch run in 9:32[/url]

[u]Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance[/u]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm8388038]Maxim run w/ warps in 0:01:40[/url]

[b]Normal route in 0:53:35:[/b] [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm8148626]part 1[/url] [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm8148702]part 2[/url] [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm8148793]part 3[/url]

[b]"Strange" route in 0:49:57:[/b] [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm8460473]part 1[/url] [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm8460509]part 2[/url] [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm8460540]part 3[/url]

[u]Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow[/u]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm7465437]Warp glitch run in 0:18:59[/url]

[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm6529834]Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia in 1:29:24[/url]

[i]Final Fantasy Series[/i]

[u]Final Fantasy I in 3:37:14[/u]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm4300992]Part 1[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm4301343]Part 2[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm4301622]Part 3[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm4301953]Part 4[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm4302368]Part 5[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm4302628]Part 6[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm4302923]Part 7[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm4303097]Part 8[/url]

[u]Final Fantasy III in 2:24:30[/u]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm4808238]Part 1[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm4809046]Part 2[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm4809635]Part 3[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm4810121]Part 4[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm4814087]Part 5[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm4814226]Part 6[/url]

[u]Final Fantasy IV in 3:38:01[/u] (remember, this is Hardtype + single-segment!)
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm6628737]Part 1[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm6645434]Part 2[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm6667112]Part 3[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm6691523]Part 4[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm6713826]Part 5[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm6735357]Part 6[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm6793901]Part 7[/url]

[u]Final Fantasy V in 4:28:20[/u] (likewise, besides being SS, this uses the SNES version while the SDA run uses PSX)
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm6926136]Part 1[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm6926448]Part 2[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm6926659]Part 3[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm6926875]Part 4[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm6927020]Part 5[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm6927134]Part 6[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm6927238]Part 7[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm6927344]Part 8[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm6927441]Part 9[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm6927575]Part 10[/url]

[u]Final Fantasy VI[/u]
There's a 4:48 run but it's segmented. =/  If anyone still wants to see it, I'll link it.

[i]Dragon Quest Series[/i]

I have no idea.  Seriously, I know next to nothing about DQ and there are a million "RTAs" of it on Nico.  If anyone wants to help out here it would definitely be appreciated!

And now the rest:

[u]Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time[/u] 
[b]4:27:39 without movement glitches:[/b] [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp/mylist/17319343]Playlist[/url]

[u]Valkyrie Profile 2 in 1:41:28[/u] (NOTE: Final boss battle is missing)
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm7766144]Part 1[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm7766498]Part 2[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm7766692]Part 3[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm7767366]Part 4[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm7767479]Part 5[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm7767607]Part 6[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm7768532]Part 7[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm7768650]Part 8[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm7768808]Part 9[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm7768985]Part 10[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm7769079]Part 11[/url]

[u]Donkey Kong 64 in 1:13:28[/u]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9621115]Part 1[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9621884]Part 2[/url]

[u]Donkey Kong Country 2 in 0:49:40 (real time, in-game time is 0:44):[/u]
[url=http://polsy.org.uk/play/nico/?vidid=1263314443]Part 1[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9275916]Part 2[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9281269]Trick explanation video[/url]

[url=http://polsy.org.uk/play/nico/?vidid=1261192352]Ninja Gaiden (NES) in 12:34[/url]

[u]Solomon's Key:[/u]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm1091455]Good Ending run[/url]

[u]Tomb Raider in 2:21:48:[/u]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp/mylist/14375901]Playlist[/url]

[u]Unlimited SaGa in 1:22:50[/u]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm7855167]Part 1[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm7855263]Part 2[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm7855333]Part 3[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm7855403]Part 4[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm7855476]Part 5[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm7855532]Part 6[/url]
[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm7855592]Part 7[/url]

[u]Cadash (Turbografx-16)[/u]
[b]30:45 w/ Ninja:[/b] [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9611176]Part 1[/url]   [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9611656]Part 2[/url]   [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9616102]Part 3[/url]   [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9616974]Part 4[/url]   [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp.am/watch/sm9619644]Part 5[/url]

[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp/search/%E7%9C%9F%EF%BD%A5%E5%A5%B3%E7%A5%9E%E8%BB%A2%E7%94%9Fif%20rta]Shin Megami Tensei: if... in 2:25:50[/url] (Partner: Charlie)

[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp/search/%E3%80%90%E3%83%87%E3%83%A2%E3%83%B3%E3%82%BA%E3%82%BD%E3%82%A6%E3%83%AB%E3%80%91%E9%AD%94%E8%A1%93%E5%B8%AB%E3%81%8C%E3%82%BF%E3%82%A4%E3%83%A0%E3%82%A2%E3%82%BF%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF]Demon's Souls in 1:24:xx[/url] (Mage)

...Well, that about does it for now.  Like I said, this took a ton of time and effort, so hopefully you'll all enjoy it!

Sir VG

2010-02-10 06:18:59 am

Fucking Weeaboo

Quote:

Donkey Kong 64 in 1:13:28

Wait, WHAT?! How did they beat the time on here by over 3 hours?

moooh

2010-02-10 06:31:53 am

Exoray

Quote from Josh the Funkdoc:

And finally, for those who don't already know, Nicovideo requires you to register an account. I've seen some other sites use community accounts...could we make one for SDA?

There's a handy way around this that is still working.
For any nicovideo you have a link to, replace 'watch' with 'v' and replace 'www' with 'dic' and you will be able to watch the video without having an account.

For example, turn:

Quote:

http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8884465

into:

Quote:

http://dic.nicovideo.jp/v/sm8884465

and you have a working video.

neskamikaze

2010-02-10 08:22:39 am

Quote from Lord_VG:

Quote:

Donkey Kong 64 in 1:13:28

Wait, WHAT?! How did they beat the time on here by over 3 hours?

Ask Manocheese, his goal time is 1:13 and he's already managed a 1:15.

Manocheese

2010-02-10 10:33:29 am

Yes, a cucco riding the ground.

Quote from Lord_VG:

Quote:

Donkey Kong 64 in 1:13:28

Wait, WHAT?! How did they beat the time on here by over 3 hours?

Quite a few tricks have been discovered, including skipping 95/100 Golden Bananas and skipping all regular bananas. As neskamikaze said, my goal when I was working on the run (it's on hold temporarily) was 1:13 and I've gotten 1:15 several times, so 1:13:28 is believable. With some more tricks that I haven't tested thoroughly yet, the time might go below 1:10.

Essentia

2010-02-10 10:39:41 am

Everything's better with Magitek

I just want to point out that RTA's aren't necessarily single-segment. As I understand it, in an RTA you're allowed to save and reset, but the time it takes to do that is still counted. Also, I think RTA's use real time instead of game time (hence the name).

BTW, is there a link to that 4:48 FFVI run?

Sir VG

2010-02-10 02:02:23 pm

Fucking Weeaboo

Quote:

Mega Man 7 in 44:30 - Part 1 Part 2

I've started watching this one. It's any%, but the sfx are off, like with jumping. I'm thinking it's done on an emulator. Probably not SNES9X 1.43, since Freeze Man's stage sounds too good for what it typically sounds in there (maybe 1.51?). Plus he's likely using turbo too - watch the weapon switching in the first elevator in Junk Man's level.

mikwuyma

Edit history:

mikwuyma: 2010-02-10 05:37:48 pm

2010-02-10 02:43:01 pm

My feelings on The Demon Rush

I'm probably the only person who cares about the Cadash run, but then again, I'm probably one of the few people who had a Turbo-Grafx 16 when growing up (I know there are also Genesis and Arcade versions).

The Cadash run was good, but there was way too much leveling, IMO. I think the leveling in the first stage was okay because you need to have enough life to survive the second stage without the mermaid's thingy (you might be able to pull it off at level 3 though), but the leveling in the third stage was just ridiculous. The leveling took around 7 minutes, and the last two levels were almost half that time IIRC. By the time the guy reaches his target level, everything hits him for a pathetic one damage, which seems to suggest skipping at least one or two levels would have been okay. If more leveling is necessary, there has to be another area that gives better experience than those rock monsters.

Unfortunately, the armor does seem necessary if you want to kill the last boss quickly, but I'm not sure how much time being on the right saves.

Also, there's no way you can buy that many hp extensions in the US version because they cost 900 gold, as opposed to the Japanese version's 500 gold. Sad

It's definitely a good start with some interesting ideas, but I feel there is a lot of room for improvement.

Josh: If you're wondering why the guy used the Ninja, I think it's because the Ninja has the fastest walking speed and firing Shurikens is probably faster DPS than sword swinging. I would have to test out which character is stronger though. Maybe the Wizard outstrips both of them with his quick boss kills? Seems unlikely though.

EDIT: stickied this for good measure. Also need to find the Mario RPG RTA.

I'm probably the only person who cares about the Cadash run, but then again, I'm probably one of the few people who had a Turbo-Grafx 16 when growing up (I know there are also Genesis and Arcade versions).

The Cadash run was good, but there was way too much leveling, IMO. I think the leveling in the first stage was okay because you need to have enough life to survive the second stage without the mermaid's thingy (you might be able to pull it off at level 3 though), but the leveling in the third stage was just ridiculous. The leveling took around 7 minutes, and the last two levels were almost half that time IIRC. By the time the guy reaches his target level, everything hits him for a pathetic one damage, which seems to suggest skipping at least one or two levels would have been okay. If more leveling is necessary, there has to be another area that gives better experience than those rock monsters.

Unfortunately, the armor does seem necessary if you want to kill the last boss quickly, but I'm not sure how much time being on the right saves.

Also, there's no way you can buy that many hp extensions in the US version because they cost 900 gold, as opposed to the Japanese version's 500 gold. :(

It's definitely a good start with some interesting ideas, but I feel there is a lot of room for improvement.

Josh: If you're wondering why the guy used the Ninja, I think it's because the Ninja has the fastest walking speed and firing Shurikens is probably faster DPS than sword swinging. I would have to test out which character is stronger though. Maybe the Wizard outstrips both of them with his quick boss kills? Seems unlikely though.

EDIT: stickied this for good measure. Also need to find the Mario RPG RTA.

Bablo

2010-02-10 11:04:51 pm

I'm a flippin' ninja

Thanks a lot for finding and posting these runs. I'm sure there are a bunch more though. It'd be nice if anyone who knows how to would post some more links here. Josh could then update them to topic post.

Mega Man 4 run was damn good. It had really good strategies. One could just copy those and easily improve SDA run's time.

IWBTG was.......fuk

Super Castlevania 4 was also very good run. However there are some little things that he missed so the time could be even lower. I may try to speedrun this game sometime soon. Seriously.

neskamikaze

2010-02-11 12:27:06 am

Quote from Bablo:

IWBTG was.......fuk

Agreed. That's one of the most intense looking games I have ever seen.

xarugas

2010-02-11 03:52:45 am

PSP zealot

The IWBTG run was great. The MM runs are sick as well.

I registered to nicovideo a few weeks ago to search for Prinny speedruns only to find some random gameplay that lasts for 15minutes+ per stage. I probably haven't searched enough though. Great thread, I hope the list grows Cheesy

ktwo

2010-02-11 04:43:50 am

I can only concur that it's a great idea making an index of these runs. Good for planning, but also gives a reference to the verifyers for some games.
By the way, I think the "100% smb3" is more a "no-flute smb3". Going under an hour without skipping any levels seems to be a bit strong, even for these superplayers. Still a very good time of course.

DK28

2010-02-11 01:33:08 pm

General Kong - Bullets and Bananas

The Castlevania IV run was very good. I notice there wasn't as much lag though, particularly in the big trouble spots, i.e. the big red caterpillar. But very well done. Also, for being the Japanese version, the castles just outside the castle looked like the ones from the NTSC version. Wierd.

Quote from mikwuyma:

I'm probably the only person who cares about the Cadash run, but then again, I'm probably one of the few people who had a Turbo-Grafx 16 when growing up (I know there are also Genesis and Arcade versions).

Not the only one Mike. Wink

I still have my TG16 and play it regularly.

FinalDragoon

2010-02-11 01:33:37 pm

The Valkyrie Profile 2 run is missing the final segment; part 11 ends just before the final boss. Other than that, awesome runs.

mikwuyma

2010-02-11 02:26:00 pm

My feelings on The Demon Rush

Well I found a lot of stuff today because I found the RTA community on niconico through the Maxim run below!

All of the runs listed are RTA to my knowledge.

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance Maxim run with warps in 0:01:40

Harmony of Dissonance normal route in 0:53:35: part 1 part 2 part 3

Harmony of Dissonance run with a "strange" route in 0:49:57: part 1 part 2 part 3

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow with the warp bug in 0:18:59

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia in 1:29:24

Castlevania: Dracula XX stage 1 (says it's an RTA, but I didn't see any other stages)

Tomb Raider in 2:21:48 (run says otherwise, but that's real-time being displayed, not in-game time) Playlist

Donkey Kong Country 2 in 0:49:40 (real time, in-game time is 0:44): part 1 Part 2 trick explanation video (I couldn't get this one to work)

Zelda: Ocarina of Time without movement glitches in 4:27:39: Playlist

Ninja Gaiden in 12:34 (pretty sure it would be a second or two faster in SDA timing)

Anyone who wants to check out more videos, here's a list of videos that are part of the RTA community: http://com.nicovideo.jp/video/co5167 I know there's some Resident Evil and Onimusha (the Onimusha 3 run is segmented) stuff on there, and some of the videos are even SDA runs!

For anyone curious, there's no Contra RTA, I checked.

Well I found a lot of stuff today because I found the RTA community on niconico through the Maxim run below!

All of the runs listed are RTA to my knowledge.

[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8388038]Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance Maxim run with warps in 0:01:40[/url]

Harmony of Dissonance normal route in 0:53:35: [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8148626]part 1[/url] [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8148702]part 2[/url] [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8148793]part 3[/url]

Harmony of Dissonance run with a "strange" route in 0:49:57: [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8460473]part 1[/url] [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8460509]part 2[/url] [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8460540]part 3[/url]

[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm7465437]Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow with the warp bug in 0:18:59[/url]

[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm6529834]Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia in 1:29:24[/url]

[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8393664]Castlevania: Dracula XX stage 1[/url] (says it's an RTA, but I didn't see any other stages)

Tomb Raider in 2:21:48 (run says otherwise, but that's real-time being displayed, not in-game time) [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp/mylist/14375901]Playlist[/url]

Donkey Kong Country 2 in 0:49:40 (real time, in-game time is 0:44): [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/1263314443]part 1[/url] [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm9275916]Part 2[/url] [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm9281269]trick explanation video[/url] (I couldn't get this one to work)

Zelda: Ocarina of Time without movement glitches in 4:27:39: [url=http://www.nicovideo.jp/mylist/17319343]Playlist[/url]

[url=http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/1261192352]Ninja Gaiden in 12:34[/url] (pretty sure it would be a second or two faster in SDA timing)

Anyone who wants to check out more videos, here's a list of videos that are part of the RTA community: http://com.nicovideo.jp/video/co5167 I know there's some Resident Evil and Onimusha (the Onimusha 3 run is segmented) stuff on there, and some of the videos are even SDA runs!

For anyone curious, there's no Contra RTA, I checked.

MASTER-88

2010-02-11 02:34:52 pm

Master-88

Most videos seems TAS.

I can,t believe SM 64 0-star run. As far as i can tell there is not way got 0 star run on console. Most peoples haved insane troubles make 1 star run and as far as i can tell it is much easier than 0 star.

Also it is fact internet haved a lot fake video WR sites where is used several cheats. I just can,t believe with this site. These vids not seems real and language are something weird. Tongue

Not even english here.

ZenicReverie

2010-02-11 03:49:22 pm

Waiting hurts my soul...

Quote from MASTER-88:

Most videos seems TAS.

I can,t believe SM 64 0-star run. As far as i can tell there is not way got 0 star run on console. Most peoples haved insane troubles make 1 star run and as far as i can tell it is much easier than 0 star.

Also it is fact internet haved a lot fake video WR sites where is used several cheats. I just can,t believe with this site. These vids not seems real and language are something weird. Tongue

Not even english here.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there's no guarantee that these RTAs are played on actual consoles.
Also, it seems like he may have used slowdown based on this: タイムシフトからなので若干コメのラグありです. The mention of "time-shifting rice" suggests it (thanks google translate).

It's just like youtube, can't really trust what you see, especially when the descriptions are all in a different language.

Emptyeye

2010-02-11 04:12:44 pm

Talk to the Hand

Quote from ZenicReverie:

"time-shifting rice"

I'd just like to say that "time-shifting rice" absolutely needs to be a power-up in some video game. Preferably one that would feature neither rice nor time-shifting in any logical capacity otherwise.

But yeah, someone more fluent in Japanese would have to say for sure. I know what an "RTA" is as regards console running, but is there a sub-category involving tool assistance (Like how "Tool-Assisted Speedrun" would technically be a subset of "Speedrun" even though we think of them as being two completely different things, someone not well-versed in the community may not realize that)?

Darkwing Duck

2010-02-11 04:55:36 pm

Highly Evolved

Quote from Emptyeye:

Quote from ZenicReverie:

"time-shifting rice"

I'd just like to say that "time-shifting rice" absolutely needs to be a power-up in some video game. Preferably one that would feature neither rice nor time-shifting in any logical capacity otherwise.

Has to be an Earthworm Jim game.

Bablo

Edit history:

Bablo: 2010-02-11 10:38:54 pm

2010-02-11 06:24:57 pm

I'm a flippin' ninja

Quote from DK28:

The Castlevania IV run was very good. I notice there wasn't as much lag though, particularly in the big trouble spots, i.e. the big red caterpillar. But very well done. Also, for being the Japanese version, the castles just outside the castle looked like the ones from the NTSC version. Wierd.

The dude was actually a master at avoiding lag. I could tell where he did that and how (for example throwing only two crosses at stage 3 boss instead of three, and jumping over enemies instead of killing them).

I'm not sure about all the differences between NTSC and J-NTSC versions. But at least the whip sound, title screen, red blood and nudity were there.

That said, I'm quite positive this was done on console, and is legit.

andrewg

2010-02-11 08:51:39 pm

Hi! I'm andrewg!

Quote from MegaDestructor9:

Thanks for making this thread Josh. And also thankyou, moooh, for showing how to watch a video, probably wouldn't have been able to watch anything without that trick.

These videos are awesome. That guy beat my 28:42 Mega Man 2 run on DIFFICULT. There's a lot of extra tricks and stuff he's doing. Anybody planning to speedrun these games should definitely watch these videos. Every Mega Man run on there is quicker than the SDA runs. Most of the others are too. Just do what moooh posted to watch the video if you're not registered.

iirc, I've been told these runs use turbo and slowdown, that is all RTAs... (and are seen as valid tactics) for an RTA. Many of these runs are done on emulator, so it's tough to judge the real legitimacy of the runs, however, I think most are real if not all.

The Lost Levels run is very impressive, but I can definitely beat that time. Same goes for the mario 3 "100%" time. They are very impressive too but still, very difficult to judge the validity of them. Maybe they were played in real time with rerecords, who knows? Because they certain LOOK like they have been played in real time at least.

[quote="MegaDestructor9"]
Thanks for making this thread Josh. And also thankyou, moooh, for showing how to watch a video, probably wouldn't have been able to watch anything without that trick.

These videos are awesome. That guy beat my 28:42 Mega Man 2 run on DIFFICULT. There's a lot of extra tricks and stuff he's doing. Anybody planning to speedrun these games should definitely watch these videos. Every Mega Man run on there is quicker than the SDA runs. Most of the others are too. Just do what moooh posted to watch the video if you're not registered.
[/quote]

iirc, I've been told these runs use turbo and slowdown, that is all RTAs... (and are seen as valid tactics) for an RTA. Many of these runs are done on emulator, so it's tough to judge the real legitimacy of the runs, however, I think most are real if not all.

The Lost Levels run is very impressive, but I can definitely beat that time. Same goes for the mario 3 "100%" time. They are very impressive too but still, very difficult to judge the validity of them. Maybe they were played in real time with rerecords, who knows? Because they certain LOOK like they have been played in real time at least.

ZenicReverie

2010-02-12 12:15:47 am

Waiting hurts my soul...

Quote from MegaDestructor9:

It seems like they're played legitimately, but regardless of legitimacy they offer some nice strategies for us speedrunners to use and hopefully improve SDA's runs for those games. Smiley

Why did Seth Glass's Mega Man 2 runs get taken down? Huh?

His runs were a great asset to the site. Sorry if this is inappropriate discussion. Maybe other people are wondering also.

He probably asked for them to be taken down.

MASTER-88

2010-02-12 04:54:46 am

Master-88

Quote from ZenicReverie:

Quote from MASTER-88:

Most videos seems TAS.

I can,t believe SM 64 0-star run. As far as i can tell there is not way got 0 star run on console. Most peoples haved insane troubles make 1 star run and as far as i can tell it is much easier than 0 star.

Also it is fact internet haved a lot fake video WR sites where is used several cheats. I just can,t believe with this site. These vids not seems real and language are something weird. Tongue

Not even english here.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there's no guarantee that these RTAs are played on actual consoles.
Also, it seems like he may have used slowdown based on this: タイムシフトからなので若干コメのラグありです. The mention of "time-shifting rice" suggests it (thanks google translate).

It's just like youtube, can't really trust what you see, especially when the descriptions are all in a different language.

Yeah i see this is not real TAS site, because these times are crap if these are toolassist. But is there even theory how got beat SM 64 with 0 star on console? also SMB 3 100% time sounds impossible. Its beat SDA WR by several minutes. And IMO SDA run is nice but beatable. But serilusly this beat it about by 20 minutes.

Seriously i can,t believe this site. Also i not believe all what i see in youtube. There is a lot fake videos too.

[quote="ZenicReverie"]
[quote="MASTER-88"]
Most videos seems TAS.

I can,t believe SM 64 0-star run. As far as i can tell there is not way got 0 star run on console. Most peoples haved insane troubles make 1 star run and as far as i can tell it is much easier than 0 star.

Also it is fact internet haved a lot fake video WR sites where is used several cheats. I just can,t believe with this site. These vids not seems real and language are something weird. :P Not even english here.
[/quote]
Correct me if I'm wrong, but there's no guarantee that these RTAs are played on actual consoles.
Also, it seems like he may have used slowdown based on this: タイムシフトからなので若干コメのラグありです. The mention of "time-shifting rice" suggests it (thanks google translate).

It's just like youtube, can't really trust what you see, especially when the descriptions are all in a different language.
[/quote]

Yeah i see this is not real TAS site, because these times are crap if these are toolassist. But is there even theory how got  beat SM 64 with 0 star on console? also SMB 3 100% time sounds impossible. Its beat SDA WR by several minutes. And IMO SDA run is nice but beatable. But serilusly this beat it about by 20 minutes.

Seriously i can,t believe this site. Also i not believe all what i see in youtube. There is a lot fake videos too.

Blubbler

2010-02-12 01:13:12 pm

In the 0 star Mario 64 run you can see a mouse at ~0:29, so I think it's save to say it was done on an emulator.

About turbo: that makes sense, you just have to press a button.
slowdowns/rerecords: Those would be visible in the video, wouldn't they? Also no increases of speed are used to pass cutscenes etc.
cheating: It's always there, but I see no reason to trust this site less than any English site. How do you know that a run with extreme luck manipulation wasn't just done with a hacked rom put on a rewritable cartridge (like the chance for a ciritcal hit being 90% instead of 10%)?

Hellfish

2010-02-13 04:39:07 pm

I <3 my Xbrick

Maybe I just havn't played IWBTG enough (havn't even gotten to Mike Tyson :-[ ) but from what I've seen others do that run just looked like a poorly edited screwing around-vid. Impressively few deaths,though. Eh, what do I know.

Also, thankfully, nicovideo seems to be heading towards some amount of international accessibility, as they have a german portal now. Helped me tons in registering, that's for damn sure. (If anyone needs help registering, just ask! The only public accounts available I know of (from BugMeNot) doesn't seem to work anymore)