Eric Morino (born January 21, 1998),[3] better known as PointCrow, is an American YouTuber and Twitch streamer. He is known for online content surrounding video games—most notably The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom—and other real life productions. He has completed several challenges based around Breath of the Wild, and has received media attention for offering a US$10,000 bounty to whoever created a mod that allowed the game to be played in online multiplayer. The mod was released on April 4, 2023, and some of Morino's videos making use of it were issued YouTube copyright strikes by Nintendo shortly after.
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| Born | Eric Morino January 21, 1998 | |||||||||
| Nationality | American | |||||||||
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| Followers | 650 thousand | |||||||||
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Last updated: September 25, 2023 | ||||||||||
Internet career
editIn September 2019, Morino completed The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild while only making use of shields.[4][5] In February 2020, he organized a tournament in which 20 live streamers raced to complete a Breath of the Wild speedrun in which the player must feed all 16 dogs in the game as fast as possible, with the winner being awarded US$1,000.[6][7] On March 6, 2020, he completed Breath of the Wild while prohibiting Link, the game's player character, from being able to walk.[8][9][10] A week later, he held a livestream in which roughly 600 concurrent viewers completed Breath of the Wild in a format evocative of Twitch Plays Pokémon, though Morino occasionally offered assistance to his viewers.[11][12][13] After struggling with burnout, Morino decided to expand his focus beyond just Breath of the Wild into both a variety of games and real life content in early 2020, though he continued to make content based around Breath of the Wild.[2]
Eric has also created content based around video game mods—in July 2020, he played through a compilation of 30 different Breath of the Wild mods,[14] and in that October, he created a version of Breath of the Wild in which every enemy was replaced with the one considered the most difficult by fans.[15] In November 2021, he announced that he would be offering a US$10,000 bounty to anyone able to create a mod that allowed Breath of the Wild to be played in online multiplayer, with several limitations, including that it must be completed before the release of the game's sequel, and that he must be given exclusive access for a short period of time before the public release.[16][17][18]
On April 4, 2023, eight months after Morino released the first video demonstrating the multiplayer mod, it was released for free to the public.[19][20][21] The development of the mod was financed by Morino in addition to the bounty payout, and Morino served as a creative director of the project, according to one of its developers.[22] Shortly after the public release of the mod, Breath of the Wild owner Nintendo issued YouTube copyright strikes and copyright claims to Morino's videos based around the multiplayer mod,[19][23][24] as well as those utilizing other mods.[25][c] In response, Morino delisted the multiplayer mod from public download.[26] In a statement, Morino claimed that the removed videos did not breach Nintendo's guidelines on creating content based on their games, nor did it violate the principle of fair use.[25]
Morino's videos are frequently based around concepts popularized by others with his own ideas, such as edited videos of fan games to differentiate himself from other Let's Play videos. He has further implemented random elements to pre-established challenges, including a Nuzlocke Challenge of a Pokémon video game, a subathon with a randomized timer, or a Breath of the Wild version of the "Minecraft Manhunt" series created by Dream and Wilbur Soot.[2]
After the release of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet in November 2022, he uploaded a video of the games in which he showcased many of the games' exploits and glitches.[27]
During Ludwig Ahgren's chess boxing event on December 11, 2022, Morino fought fellow content creator Disguised Toast,[28] in which Morino lost by checkmate.[29]
Awards and nominations
edit| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | The Streamer Awards | Best Speedrun Streamer | — | Won | [30] |
| Best Streamed Event | "PointCrow Party" | Nominated |
Notes
edit- ^ Subscribers by channel are as follows:
2.28 million (PointCrow)
242 thousand (PointCrow VODS)
116 thousand (PointCrow Clips)
31.6 thousand (PointCrow Playthroughs)
22.7 thousand (Eric Morino) - ^ Views by channel are as follows:
362 million (PointCrow)
41.8 million (PointCrow Clips)
35.3 million (PointCrow VODS)
42.7 thousand (Eric Morino) - ^ According to Morino, one video issued a copyright claim did not involve any mods[25]
References
edit- ^ a b "About PointCrow". YouTube.
- ^ a b c Michael, Cale (September 26, 2022). "Burnout, creating a niche, and crossed fingers: PointCrow lays out the depths of content creation". Dot Esports. Gamurs. Archived from the original on September 27, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
- ^ Morino, Eric [@PointCrow] (January 21, 2022). "I'm 24 today 🥳" (Tweet). Archived from the original on June 11, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022 – via Twitter.
- ^ Plunkett, Luke (September 22, 2019). "Breath Of The Wild Player Beats Game Using Only Shields, No Weapons". Kotaku. G/O Media. Archived from the original on June 11, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
- ^ Craddock, Ryan (September 23, 2019). "Video: Beating Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Using Only Shields". Nintendo Life. Hookshot Media. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
- ^ Craddock, Ryan (March 17, 2020). "Video: 20 Streamers Compete In Zelda: Breath Of The Wild 'Feed All The Dogs' $1,000 Speedrun". Nintendo Life. Hookshot Media. Archived from the original on November 23, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
- ^ Hernandez, Patricia (March 16, 2020). "Breath of the Wild fans held $1K 'feed all the dogs' race". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on March 17, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
- ^ Hernandez, Patricia (March 6, 2020). "Man beats Breath of the Wild without walking". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on December 5, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
- ^ McFerran, Damien (March 6, 2020). "Random: Zelda Fan Beats Breath Of The Wild Without Link Taking A Single Step". Nintendo Life. Hookshot Media. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
- ^ Lopez, Jalen (March 6, 2020). "Player beats The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild without walking or running". Dot Esports. Gamurs. Archived from the original on September 25, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
- ^ Hernandez, Patricia (March 13, 2020). "Twitch beats Breath of the Wild, against all odds". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on September 5, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
- ^ Doolan, Liam (March 14, 2020). "Random: Twitch Chat Just Beat The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild". Nintendo Life. Hookshot Media. Archived from the original on August 23, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
- ^ Alford, Aaron (March 14, 2020). "Twitch chat beats Breath of the Wild". Dot Esports. Gamurs. Archived from the original on September 25, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
- ^ Hernandez, Patricia (July 7, 2020). "Breath of the Wild with 30 mods is pure chaos". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on June 27, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
- ^ Hernandez, Patricia (October 26, 2020). "Breath of the Wild, modded so every single enemy is a Golden Lynel". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on November 28, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
- ^ Moore, Jared (November 26, 2021). "YouTuber Offers a $10,000 Reward to Anyone Who Creates a Multiplayer Mod for Zelda: Breath of the Wild". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on July 28, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
- ^ Chavalier (November 26, 2021). "Ha értesz a modkészítéshez, 10 ezer dollárt kereshetsz" [If you know how to make mods, you can earn $10,000]. GameStar (in Hungarian). Webedia. Archived from the original on January 18, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
- ^ Doolan, Liam (November 26, 2021). "Random: YouTuber Offering 10K To Anyone Who Can Create A Multiplayer Mod For Zelda: Breath Of The Wild". Nintendo Life. Hookshot Media. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
- ^ a b Zollner, Amelia (April 7, 2023). "Breath of the Wild Multiplayer Mod Lets You Explore Hyrule With Friends". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on April 10, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
- ^ Colbert, Isaiah (April 6, 2023). "Rad Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Multiplayer Mod Released". Kotaku. G/O Media. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
- ^ Gutierrez, Luis Joshua (April 7, 2023). "Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Adds Online Co-Op With New Mod". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on April 10, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
- ^ Fenlon, Wes (April 10, 2023). "In 2021 a YouTuber offered $10K to whoever could make a Breath of the Wild multiplayer mod, and now you can play it". PC Gamer. Future plc. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
- ^ Bailey, Dustin (April 7, 2023). "This Zelda: Breath of the Wild multiplayer mod is so good that Nintendo's taking down videos of it". GamesRadar+. Future plc. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
- ^ Gach, Ethan (April 7, 2023). "Big Breath Of The Wild YouTuber Hit By Nintendo After Multiplayer Mod". Kotaku. G/O Media. Archived from the original on April 10, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
- ^ a b c Michael, Cale (April 15, 2023). "PointCrow, Zelda creators struggle with Nintendo YouTube takedowns ahead of Tears of the Kingdom launch". Dot Esports. Gamurs. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
- ^ Fenlon, Wes (April 14, 2023). "Aggressive Nintendo copyright claims on YouTube push Breath of the Wild multiplayer modders into taking down mod". PC Gamer. Future plc. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
- ^ Snavely, Adam (November 30, 2022). "PointCrow proves Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are even more broken than you thought". Dot Esports. Gamurs. Archived from the original on December 12, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
- ^ Michael, Cale (September 24, 2022). "All content creators and matchups for Ludwig's Mogul Chessboxing Championship". Dot Esports. Gamurs. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
- ^ Polhamus, Blaine (December 11, 2022). "Ludwig Chessboxing event: Final results and standings". Dot Esports. Gamurs. Archived from the original on December 12, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
- ^ Polhamus, Blaine (February 20, 2023). "All 2023 Streamer Awards nominees". Dot Esports. Gamurs. Archived from the original on February 21, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2023.