Into the Spotlight – A Marble It Update!

– August 21 –



Celebrating the Powerless Challenge Winner (spoiler – it’s a sweep!), we get a new Dark Side challenge, and CMurder steps into our very first Community Spotlight interview segment! No time to lose – let’s start this frame-war!

Not-so-Powerless?



Nearly escaping the avalanche in the week prior, it seems this week we’ve been swept by snow… Congratulations to Snwboardr1987 for another Challenge Mode sweep!



Full Speed Ahead

snwboardr1987 – 00:16:22



Sugar Rush

snwboardr1987 – 00:15:52



Totally Tubular

snwboardr1987 – 00:19:27



Icy Ascent

snwboardr1987 – 00:29:20



Retrograde Rally

snwboardr1987 – 00:47:75

Weekly Challenge: Dark Side of the Moon



Reversed levels, low gravity – who needs power-ups?! Good thing we got some practice in last week.



Bonus points this week if you listen through Dark Side of the Moon while playing these challenges. I heard something special happens… but don’t quote me on that.

World Record Updates



We’ll be expanding the way we represent these in a future newsletter, but for the moment, here are the world record highlights for the week!



Big Easy

JRoni – 00:30:61



Transit

Hatchet – 00:20:35



Tangle

Hatchet – 00:04:98

Community Spotlight Interview – CMurder



Fletch: Welcome to the Spotlight, CMurder – say hello!



CMurder: First I’d like to thank Fletch and the amazing Marble It Up team for choosing me in the inaugural Community Spotlight! I’m really looking forward to getting to know our community members as well as expanding the relationships that I’ve already created.



Can you tell us a bit about yourself? Do you have a history with Marble games? When/where did you start playing Marble games?



C: I’m a 32 year old software quality engineer that works for the US Army in New Jersey. I am not active military but part of the United States Department of Defense civilian workforce. I live in New Jersey with my beautiful wife and we enjoy video games (obviously), Philadelphia area sports, binge-watching TV series and hiking.



Outside of Marble It Up, I am very active in club sports. Flag football, softball, volleyball, and basketball are year-round activities for me. Other interests include cooking, finding new music, fantasy football, strength training and board games.



Marble It Up is my 2nd venture into the world of marble games. Back in 2006 I was a sophomore in college. One day while passing by a friend’s dorm room, he asked if I wanted to find Easter Eggs in this interesting marble based game for an XBOX 360 achievement. I sat down, picked up the controller and loaded up Marble Blast Ultra. Over that weekend we found the Easter Eggs and also noticed the global leaderboards for individual levels.



We spent endless hours trying to get the WR on a level named Ordeal. After finally gaining the top spot and posting our triumphs on forums, I knew that I had a healthy addiction with the game. My friends may disagree with the “healthy” part but I was hooked! I played MBU for a few years and always seemed to come back to it while browsing my XBOX library. When I heard that Marble It Up was coming to Nintendo Switch, I was instantly transported back to 2006 and beyond excited to start the grind all over again!

So, how did you get into streaming? What have been your favorite parts of streaming? Any insights into your approach to it?



C: I have always been a huge fan of video game content on YouTube (speedruns, history, lore, etc.). Back in the MBU days I would post routes and cool runs on my YouTube page and somehow they were getting 1000s of views. I figured if people enjoyed those videos then why not take a stab at streaming on Twitch? I was reluctant at first because I had never streamed live before and it was a little intimidating. Twitch was full of professional and polished channels for top streamers and I felt insecure in my setup and abilities. However, if there was ever a game for me to stream (and not make a total fool of myself), Marble It Up was that game!



After the first 30 minutes or so it felt natural and I was truly enjoying playing the game and interacting with viewers. My favorite parts of streaming have been the community. It’s a lot of fun to hangout and chat with everyone. Whether we are discussing routes, laughing at the songs that are requested or just talking, I always have a great time.



I also enjoy adding content to my streams. I made it a goal to add one improvement or feature to the channel prior to every stream. These included custom scenes, song requests, modified alerts, etc. Once I get into a hobby, I like to explore and expand my knowledge in the area. By adding something to the stream each week, I was forcing myself to research and become more knowledgeable about the overall streaming process.



My insight for anyone looking to get into streaming is “do it for yourself.” Don’t stream for anyone else. This may sound backwards but if you are not enjoying yourself your viewers are not going to stick around. Streaming should be a relaxing activity and not a chore. Find a game that you enjoy and can play for a few hours. Start streaming and remain positive. The viewers will come and it will be extremely rewarding.

That’s some great advice! Okay, speed round: What are your favorite foods? Favorite Marbles? Favorite levels?



C: I love all kinds of food so this is a tough question. The perfect meal would be an appetizer of fresh, spicy tuna sushi followed by a bowl of traditional meatballs in a rustic gravy (sauce to most of you) and a slice of pecan pie for dessert.



My favorite marble (besides my custom marble) is Gears. The inside gear animations are awesome especially when cruising around at high speeds. I am pumped for the Pirate Roller marble that was teased in a past newsletter. That marble will definitely be making its way into the rotation.



My favorite levels are Diamond in the Sky and Ex Machina. I’m sure if you ask me tomorrow it will be something different. It really depends on what kind of level I’m in the mood for playing on a particular day.

What types of levels make you want to chase the WR? What does your process/approach look like?



C: Levels that have a calculated flow and fast pacing are my favorites to chase WRs. I enjoy levels that have a few potential routes and require something ridiculous to actually get the top time.



My process is fairly simple. Complete the level a few times and then start looking for tweaks once I am satisfied with my current time/route. The rewind feature is incredible for this because I can try endless variations of a single trick without needing to set it up each time.



I try to avoid looking at the leaderboard times and replays for a while as well. It’s much easier for me to explore with an open mind about the level. But of course there are tons of instances where I’m convinced I found the ultimate route only to see that the top time is 5 seconds faster…lol.

Any upcoming plans for your streaming/youtube channels? Where can people find/follow you online to watch your content?



C: Once summer is over I will continue streaming again. With a full time job, sports and summer plans, streaming has had to take a backseat. I will continue to make the Weekly Challenge videos and post them (as well as any other WRs/cool runs) to my YouTube. If anyone has questions about Marble It Up, streaming, life, or just wants to chat hit me up on Discord! I’m always available to talk!



Thanks again to Fletch and the Marble It Up team for this Community Spotlight. I hope you all got to learn a little bit more about me 🙂



Thank you for spending some of your time talking to us! You can find CMurder’s content at his links below:



– YouTube – Twitch – Twitter –

I hope you enjoyed our first Community Spotlight Interview – and again a huge thank-you to our first interviewee! We’ll be doing more of these every so often, so keep an eye out for more interviews.



In other news, we’re heads-down on what’s coming up next in the world of Marble It Up! – and we’re getting close to showing off some of the goings on behind the curtain. It’s a been a big year for the MIU! Team – and it’s only getting bigger. Getting ready to roll.



What’s in a name? That which we call the MIU! Team by any other name would roll just as quick.



Fletch

– The Marble It Up! Team –