Is this yet another effect of the ongoing pandemic? I already indulged in a couple of impulse buys, justifying them in my mind because we haven’t been going out as much. At the same time, British Columbia is now firmly ensconced in “Phase 3” of the re-opening plan, so it’s not like we’re totally stuck at home. And yet, here I found myself on Canada Day, streaming on Twitch because it felt like a good idea at the time. Here’s one of the highlight clips where the five-year-old makes a cameo.

Looking through my channel’s video archives (follow me at twitch.tv/beyondtherhetoric), the last time I streamed on Twitch was five years ago. At the time, I was playing Ultra Street Fighter IV. It wasn’t until one year later that Capcom released Street Fighter V. Microsoft also ported Killer Instinct (2013) from the Xbox One to Windows PC in 2016; that’s the game I played and streamed on Canada Day.

Killer Instinct, for those of you who don’t know, is a reboot of the fighting game of the same name from 1994. You might remember it best for its groundbreaking combo system. The new version of the game is just as fun, and possibly even more satisfying when you pop out an especially effective or stylish combo. Better still, you can get it for free from the Microsoft Store on your Windows 10 PC. Well, at least free to start. You’ve got to pay to unlock characters and such, but you have full access to all the modes, including online multiplayer.

It was great to whip out that old arcade stick again. And it’s quite convenient that I have that cheap webcam I got earlier this year too. I’ve been using it extensively for Zoom calls, like so many people. Now, I guess I can use it while streaming on Twitch too. Whenever I do it again, I suppose.

On some level, this is totally weird. Aside from showing you my underwear, the vlog has been pretty dormant. We haven’t been going anywhere or doing anything terribly exciting, so I haven’t felt compelled to shoot any video. Maybe that’s where videogames can come into the picture. We’ll see how it goes. If you missed the live stream (which you probably did), I exported the whole thing over to YouTube. I’ve embedded that video below.

Are you on Twitch? Go ahead and drop your link in the comments!