I think we can all agree that if 2016 were remembered for anything, it would be Loading Artist’s consistent posting and growth.

Between launching the Twitch stream with the Loading Artist theatre overlay system, actually updating the YouTube page, actually posting on the Tumblr page, launching a new shirt store, and going hard on sharing my comics all over the place, I’d say 2016 was pretty damn good for Loading Artist!

I’m changing the way we do this year’s ’top 5 comics’ post. I used to sort these out by which comics got the most views on the site, but I realized they’re all pretty consistent. Most of the views that would determine spikes in popularity are usually off-site like on imgur/reddit.

SO INSTEAD I’ve decided to look through the archive of this year and pick out my top 5 personal favourite Loading Artist 2016 comics. I’M PROUD OF ALL MY BABIES, but these are ones that particularly stand out to me. In no exciting order:

Fish Outta Water

Punstoppable Punishment

Nobody's Problem

Emergency Service

Spray and Slay

And there we go!

Did my favourites line up with your favourites? Maybe I’ve forgotten one. Which ones do you choose?

– Gregor

We streamed a bunch of games in November on Twitch so I thought I’d write up some thoughts on each game!

Overwatch

Tried out the new Arcade modes (1v1 and 3v3), another great update to an already great game. Blizzard are absolutely spoiling us with these updates. It’s one of the reasons it replaced CSGO as my go-to game these days. (Surprisingly, the ‘paying to spray a tag’ update did not bring me back to CSGO).

Golden Eye: Source

This is pretty great for a free standalone mod (you can get it here), and I’m really impressed that there are people out there who are so dedicated they’d recreate a classic from N64 with such detail. I never really played the original much so I didn’t harbour much nostalgia for it, but it was still good fun shooting you guys in the face.

Garfield Kart

Forget Mario, if you’re in the mood for karting you know you gotta play as a cartoon cat that’s notorious for being lazy and not moving around at high speeds. I love Garfield, and I love capitalism, but damn is this game a desperate money grab (then again what Garfield game isn’t? (Well, actually Garfield: Caught in the Act was really good)).

I wouldn’t have had as much of a problem with the game if it wasn’t so obviously just a quick port of an iPhone game. I think the only change they made was ripping out the ‘BUY COIN PACKS’ menu, but still kept all the gameplay orientated around grinding coins to continue.

Antichamber

Alright, maybe I’m not THE SMARTEST GUY OUT THERE, I’m perhaps not even in the top 10, and this game has definitely made me aware of that possibility. 0/10

Battlefield 1

Man.. when that first trailer dropped, I watched it a dozen times. I was worried they’d continue with the modern combat style, or even do 2141 2 (lol) with that easter egg they included in that map. But I’m glad they didn’t because then we’d have Call of Duty, Titanfall, AND Battlefield all doing sci-fi. Zzzz.

Personally I was hoping it would be set in the 80s (with an in-vehicle radio with 80s hits, like they did with BF Vietnam). But WW1 is also great.

Watch me play more games, and/or watch me draw these comics by following me on Twitch! See you in the chat!

Have you ever looked in your closet and thought:

“Damn I don’t have any Loading Artist related shirts.”

Or maybe you already have some of my shirts, but still you thought:

“Damn I don’t have ENOUGH Loading Artist related shirts.”

Well today is your lucky day because I have just put together a new collection of NEW DESIGNS. These designs are so new, even the old designs are new. (I gave those a face lift.)

Check it out now! There’s even a sale on! Totally planned!!

So I realized I have to adjust my gaming stream schedule a tiny bit: instead of streaming games at 10am NZT Saturday, I’ll be streaming 2 hours later at 12pm NZT. Which is pretty much right now as soon as I post this. (Sorry, Europe!) Check here to see my streaming schedule in your local timezone.

Last week we finished Layers of Fear (a very trippy scream fest), and because that wasn’t enough today we’ll be playing the DLC called Inheritance. I don’t know too much about it other than you play from the point of view of a child (SEEMS LIKE I’M ALREADY PLAYING THAT GAME AMIRITE HA HA).

Apparently it doesn’t take too long to finish, so after that we’ll be jumping into some Overwatch and I’ll finally get to open some loot boxes! I stopped opening them a while back when I realized it’d be better to save them for the stream, and now that day is finally here! SEXY WITCH MERCY HERE I COME.

See you on Twitch!

Now that the drawing stream is running smoothly with the new overlay, it’s time to start GAMING again!

Join me on Twitch tomorrow as we return to the nightmare and play the new demo of the long awaited sequel: Outlast 2 (Outlast II?). The first Outlast was one of the best games I streamed last year, so I’m very excited terrified to see what this little demo has waiting for me.

If my little heart is still beating after that I’ll jump straight into another horror game (hey it’s October!) called Layers of Fear. I don’t know much about it other than it’s about an artist who goes insane. MAY AS WELL JUST BE MY COMIC STREAM AMIRITE HA HA.

I’ve also updated my schedule to be based on New Zealand time (for I am in New Zealand). This saves me a ton of headaches trying to figure out daylight savings for everyone, so now you’re on MY time. Clicking the image below will take you to my new Speq calendar which will tell you when I’m streaming in YOUR time zone!

See you tomorrow!