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Radio Free Nintendo | A Nintendo Podcast for Grownups

mrkgoo

Member
No, movie spoilers don't really bother me. I avoid them if it's convenient to do so, but if, say, a film podcast has a spoiler segment for a movie I'm not going to see in the next few days, I just listen right through it. Usually, it makes me even more interested.

As for Phish, they don't write set lists in advance. They discuss and rehearse any special songs or maybe a cool transition, but most of the selections are either rotated through band members on-stage between songs, or they fall out of improvisations that have drifted toward other songs that would make for a smooth transition.

I'm with you on the spoilers. For me, a lot of what makes a good movie good isn't just what happens but HOW it unfolds.

If a movie hinges entirely on something happening without context is argue how gods it was to begin with.

I listen to BOx Office Poison regularly and love the discussion and impressions on films regardless of whether I've seen it or not, and more often than not it's "not", and in that vein it acts as a sort of discovery for films to get me interested in films I otherwise wouldn't have seen myself. Just got done with Whiplash! On the topic of spoilers though, I also listened to the episode outlining Interatellar, which was particularly spoilerific. I didn't care though and Interstellar turned out to be one of my favourite films of the year.
 

Weetrick

Member
I'm with you on the spoilers. For me, a lot of what makes a good movie good isn't just what happens but HOWARD it unfolds.
This made me laugh.

If a movie hinges entirely on something happening without context is argue how gods it was to begin with.
Sure, but films can be greatly enhanced by certain plot points and revelations without it being a gimmick.
 

Somnid

Member
Gameplay spoilers not only exist but can be far worse than plot ones. It crops up in Metroid and Zelda type games where equipment is part of the basic puzzle-solving formula. Sometimes you aren't sure if you can do something now or need a new tool and that discovery is part of the driving force behind the game. These are the ones that drive me nuts.
 

OMG Aero

Member
So Jonny spends the first half of the episode talking about how video game spoilers don't matter, but when it comes to discussing Axiom Verge there are some things he wouldn't want to spoil for people even if he wasn't under an embargo?
I guess that Axiom Verge cheque must have arrived during the break for now playing.
 

Tom_Cody

Member
Regarding Jon's comments about the eye-tracking/super-stable-3D effect in Out Run 3D, the New 3DS does this will all games. If you tilt the screen back and forth you will see the camera change slightly. This was probably just more noticeable in Out Run 3D since the sprites are on distinct layers.

The instantaneous correction works so well that I had originally thought that it was done through the motion sensors and not the eye-tracking, but it definitely is done through the eye-tracking. It works even if you set the 3DS down and simply move relative to it.
 
So Jonny spends the first half of the episode talking about how video game spoilers don't matter, but when it comes to discussing Axiom Verge there are some things he wouldn't want to spoil for people even if he wasn't under an embargo?
I guess that Axiom Verge cheque must have arrived during the break for now playing.

Rewind. Listen again. You didn't understand me on either end of your argument.
 
I was making a sarcastic joke but I guess that doesn't carry well over the internet.
It's possible! Watch this:

The only thing that shows up during Now Playing is Cease and Desist orders.
Now Playing is the pinnacle of audio entertainment, regardless of format or time period. The finest orchestral symphonies in the world can only bask in awe at the greatness of Now Playing. If I were to paint an analogy I would perhaps compare Now Playing to one of Beethoven's finest pieces, however even this would be an insult to the majestic spectacle of the Now Playing segment. When artists across the world hear Now Playing they immediately lay down their instruments/cameras/paintbrushes, knowing once and for all that their relatively petty triflings can no longer be considered art in light of this perfected paradigm.
 

Ondore

Member
Today's New Business is brought to you by ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/rfn/39947/episode-423-a-diaper-too-small
Episode 423 "A Diaper Too Small" said:
Last week's mega-news is still issuing aftershocks through this episode, but things have calmed down enough for us to resume the usual order of events. New Business starts innocently enough as Guillaume picks up Xeodrifter on a sale and finds that the reduced price was just about right. Then everything goes upside-down. Somehow, on the same week (can you smell the collusion?), Lindemann shocks the world with his impressions of... Babysitting Mama, while equally devious James subjects our ears to the metallic whining of... Wappy Dog. It's a kid-friendly gimmick theme that we never saw coming. After that foray into the bizarre, Jonny gets back on track with a fairly glowing report Elliot's Quest, an intensely challenging tribute to Zelda II. With our remaining time, we go back to Gui for a look at the early 3DS "Overclocked" remaster of Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor.

It's no surprise that listeners had a lot of thoughts and questions relating to Nintendo's pivoting, so we start the email segment with some hardy speculation about the timing and initial games for the NX launch. (Some of those comments were made obsolete a day after recording by the delay for Zelda on Wii U, because Nintendo always rewards the cynical.) We also continue a recent trend of "advice column" emails by considering how to balance your life when co-habitating with someone who doesn't share your love for video games. Next up is the timely return of an age-old question: could Nintendo make their own, gaming-centric mobile phone? And finally, one poor chap's purchase of a 3DS home menu theme ignites a firestorm of debate over RFN's own Now Playing feature. Comment on any topic from this episode, or ask us anything related to video games, with yonder email form.

As of this posting, there are just a couple more days of voting on the next RetroActive -- be sure to make your mark by Wednesday, April 1st, and that ain't no joke! This is probably the only time we'll put Mario, Zelda, and Metroid up against each other.

We want everyone to participate and hopefully play along with us, whichever game wins.

Time: 1'55"05
Downloads: MP3 | AAC
Wappy Dog: Swear to Goddish, I thought that was a nightmare developers told newbies in new-hire training.
 
Well that New Business was... interesting!

I'm a little disappointed no one has dug into Code Name S.T.E.A.M. yet (beyond Jonny's initial impressions). I'm looking forward to some in depth impressions.
 
We ran out of time. I'm still playing and will revisit CNS soon.
No rush, I know that feeling. I'm kind of surprised James didn't make it a priority though, given his love for Fire Emblem and everything.

In other news, looks like your opinion on Axiom Verge is shared by the majority! Can't wait to check it out.
 

GuillaumeNWR

Neo Member
I was super hyped for it, but I've been holding off for various boring reasons (wanting to use RZ certificates but the closest Best Buy is hard to get to, wanting to get more into Monster Hunter 4 before buying another game, etc.).

That, and game prices have shot up in Canada, so you might hear more about my backlog from me in the coming months (and keep hearing about whatever eShop indie games coming out).
 

Crimm

Member
No rush, I know that feeling. I'm kind of surprised James didn't make it a priority though, given his love for Fire Emblem and everything.

I'm still really interested but I have a nagging concern about that game. I'll get to it soon, I'm on final sweep on 3 JRPGs right now.
 
I was super hyped for it, but I've been holding off for various boring reasons (wanting to use RZ certificates but the closest Best Buy is hard to get to, wanting to get more into Monster Hunter 4 before buying another game, etc.).

That, and game prices have shot up in Canada, so you might hear more about my backlog from me in the coming months (and keep hearing about whatever eShop indie games coming out).
Very understandable! It's tough to find time to clear out all (or even half) of the games I buy so I'm sure it's even tougher for you guys trying to balance that and playing new games for the show. I really enjoyed your talk on Persona Q, it's always nice to hear multiple reports throughout the weeks as you guys work your way through a long game.

I'm still really interested but I have a nagging concern about that game. I'll get to it soon, I'm on final sweep on 3 JRPGs right now.
I think you'll enjoy it. I was worried it would be a watered down Valkyria Chronicles/XCOM but the smaller map/team size allows for some really smart and dense design that you don't get in those games. Setting up combo attacks with multiple units becomes very involved as you progress and the maps are designed to take advantage of each character's unique attributes. It's a very smart game and I'm surprised with how good it turned out.

Anyway, looking forward to you guys' thoughts whenever they happen to come! In the meantime I will enjoy hearing about diamonds in the rough like Wappy Dog.
 

XDDX

Member
Episode 423 was one of the funniest RFN episodes. Laughed way too much at some the things! Keep it up guys.
 

Jhoan

Member
Oh boy is the next RFN episode gonna be super good. I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys thought about the bombs that Nintendo dropped during today's Nintendo Direct. James' reaction to the Fire Emblem x Shin Megami Tensei reveal trailer is going to be so good.

Loved the Eat That Frog discussion on 422. I played that listener mail portion for my brother who's in a similar situation. Some damn good stuff/advice. Will definitely be checking out that book.

Last episode was hilarious. The Babysitting Mama and James letting Wappy Dog introduce itself had me rolling with laughter. The former reminded me of the Giant Bomb Quick Look of Babysitting Mama (RIP Ryan Davis) with the how funny it was.
 
Oh boy is the next RFN episode gonna be super good. I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys thought about the bombs that Nintendo dropped during today's Nintendo Direct. James' reaction to the Fire Emblem x Shin Megami Tensei reveal trailer is going to be so good.

Loved the Eat That Frog discussion on 422. I played that listener mail portion for my brother who's in a similar situation. Some damn good stuff/advice. Will definitely be checking out that book.

Last episode was hilarious. The Babysitting Mama and James letting Wappy Dog introduce itself had me rolling with laughter. The former reminded me of the Giant Bomb Quick Look of Babysitting Mama (RIP Ryan Davis) with the how funny it was.
Fire Emblem: Other M
 

Ondore

Member
Should've mentioned this up there, but Jon was out this week. #PleaseUnderstand
https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/rfn/40022/episode-424-dont-say-pumped
Episode 422 "Don't Say Pumped" said:
So much happened in the last week that we knew it would be difficult to cover everything. On top of that, Jon was out on business travel, so we were playing with a man down. Donald to the rescue! Yes, returning guest and brand new NWR staff member Donald Theriault steps up to assist with this challenging and fun episode.

We kick it off with a sampling of Nintendo Direct news -- certainly not enough time to cover it all, but we offer some analysis on Nintendo's continuing DLC plans, the colorful revelation of Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem, the surprise localization of Fatal Frame 5, expansion of Wii U's Virtual Console platform, and the ambitious new Fire Emblem game for 3DS. If we didn't get around to discussing something that interests you from that humongous Direct, just send an email requesting more on the next episode.

Even with all that news (and more to come in the last segment), we had to share some game impressions lest they be lost in the chaos of Nintendo's surprisingly active spring quarter. Donald shares a few thoughts on SMT: Devil Survivor 2 Record Breaker, weeks before the game's release for 3DS, and we also hear that Guillaume has turned around on the previous game in that series after not quite connecting with it by last week's episode. Another one Gui has come to appreciate is Cloudberry Kingdom, the procedurally-generated 2D platformer that works shockingly well as a multiplayer party game for Wii U (and other platforms). James horrifies everyone by actually playing and explaining Conception II, the tacky but maybe half-decent Atlus RPG (because we must eventually talk about every single one). Jonny tries to put out that fire and restore honor to the show with Valiant Hearts, a game about one of the least honorable conflicts in human history. Can a video game truly convey the horrors of World War I? Should it? And why the hell isn't this game on Wii U, when its companion (Child of Light) already is? No answers here, but there is plenty of praise for Ubisoft's melancholic (and informative!) adventure game.

Oh, were you worried we might skip over amiibo? Maybe we ought to, but nah, Listener Mail gives us the perfect opportunity to look at Nintendo's newest retail obsession and what, if anything, could pull us into that vortex. Zelda gets a spotlight too, of course, as we largely skip past the delay (for now) and focus on Eiji Aonuma's looming influence through a decade-and-a-half of running this beloved franchise. Finally, a fortuitously timed email gives Donald a chance to explain and promote his own podcast, Nintendo Free Radio. Check it out!

If you haven't yet heard the announcement, here it is: our next RetroActive game is... The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess! It's been over two years since we tackled this series for RetroActive, and y'all must want more, because the cross-generational Twilight Princess won (barely) over both Mario and Metroid in our biggest poll ever. Thanks so much to all who voted! It's going to be several weeks before we can play through this big game and discuss it on the show, but it's not too early to join the discussion in the official RetroActive forum thread. Remember, we'll quote some of the best comments on a future podcast.

Time: 2'10"33
Downloads: MP3 | AAC
Making your first major review game two Atlus RPGs: Like learning to swim by diving into the Pacific, I know.
 

Tomohawk

Member
Words cannot describe my face when James said Class Mating.

edit: Got to the Valiant Hearts talk, being from Canada I learned a lot about world war 1 in high school, maybe more than world war 2. Probably because Canada's national identity was developed a lot during world war 1. Jonny's description really got me interested in playing the game, it would be interesting too see world war 1 without the Canadian educational systems bias.
 

Tom_Cody

Member
I'm enjoying the episode so far.

I can't wait to hear Guillaume's thoughts on DK64 on a future episode. That game nearly broke me in half when I played through it in 1999.
 

Crimm

Member
Words cannot describe my face when James said Class Mating.

I don't need words, I've been making that exact same look about once every other hour. It actually bums me out when the game goes into "serious JRPG" mode for a few hours and the dumb garbage stops happening. As uncomfortable and dumb as it is, it makes me laugh.
 

Tomohawk

Member
I don't need words, I've been making that exact same look about once every other hour. It actually bums me out when the game goes into "serious JRPG" mode for a few hours and the dumb garbage stops happening. As uncomfortable and dumb as it is, it makes me laugh.

I'm glad you can put up with the bad parts, makes for an entertaining listen.
 

Cindro

Member
I know I'm a week late here, but I just saw a vision or terror from the blackest recesses of the gaming void.

Wappy Dog:

B00542ZDYW.01.lg.jpg

and Flappy Bird:


formed an unholy union to create...

Floppy Snake:


Once Playtonix throws up their Kickstarter for Project Ukelele, I will donate any amount of money to reach a "create a character" tier so I can rescue Floppy Snake from the darkness of his degenerate ancestors and usher him into proper, safe video game canon. Hang in there, Flops*! You'll be where you belong soon!

*
I have already filed a patent for the Flops nickname and all related Floppy Snake merchandise, including but not limited to a plush pet accessory to keep the Babysitting Mama doll company during the decades of neglect she's about to experience at the hands of Jon Lindemann.

Keep up the great work, gentlemen - RFN always makes two hours of each work week immeasurably better.
 

Cindro

Member
Did I hear that right... the guest on the most recent episode was Ondore? You did a great job, buddy! Your personality was such a natural fit with the rest of the crew (which I guess is unsurprising, given your background).

My favorite takeaway from "Don't Say Pumped" was Jonny's point about Aonuma taking risks with Zelda that sometimes fail is far preferable to someone else being at the helm of the franchise who only pum....
wait, i can't say that word!
... spits out iterative, by-the-books entries. I've been so entrenched in the grips of the Zelda franchise for the past two decades that I've become staunchly critical of each entry. The standards by which I judge Zelda are far higher than the standards by which I judge most other games, but it that discussion segment allowed me to take a step back and appreciate the flaws of the series as necessary. This certainly doesn't excuse poor game design, like the immense pacing problems in Skyward Sword, for example, but it does at least give me a more helpful perspective.

Can't wait for the next retroactive feature!
 

Crimm

Member
The funny thing about the pacing issues in Skyward Sword was having the chance to talk about it with the guys while the game was still so fresh the issues weren't "public knowledge." I don't think I had a firm grasp until I saw how they were impacting us differently based almost entirely on how far we were in the game.

It's a shame, because the idea of this secluded space up in the sky, and this ruined ground eons removed from human interaction, should lend itself to nearly infinite discovery. There's a temple in Twilight Princess that plays with this idea, and it does show up in the desert temple in Skyward Sword, but those are both localized experiences. This game had potential to have this as a global conceit.

However, in a sense they played it like a 3D Mario game - Skyward Sword doesn't feel like a "world" as the zones aren't connected. Instead it's a hub/spoke, with a lot of totally sealed off zones accessible only from the central hub world. This greatly limits the appeal of exploration, as even the sense of (if not the actual act of) expanding your reach isn't presented in the traditional "you know there's something back there, you just can't get by", but rather "this portal is now active."

I don't think this explicitly impacted the pacing of the game, but it tremendously impacted the PERCEPTION of the pacing. Time spent traveling between areas was just a hike, not an adventure.

Even a game like Wind Waker does this better. While it does get old sailing the seas, your initial trips across the ocean almost always lead you to being distracted by islets or ghost ships, or what-have-you. By the time you've hit most of them you should have the warp song, and then much of the travel can be bypassed.

Skyward Sword almost started at that later phase of Wind Waker, which is a real shame.

...I think I got distracted.
 
The trouble with Skyward Sword is that it's an amazing game that just needs to get out of its own way. I played it on a hacked Wii and took full advantage of tweaks that sped up the flying, sped up the text, disabled Fi's "helpful" pop up features and made the "you've collected X spoils messages disappear. It was like playing a different game.

Luckily for us, it seems they took that stuff on board for ALBW and trimmed the fat like a dieter ruining a slice of bacon.

Speaking of ZeldaGAF, the choice of Twilight Princess as the Retroactive game is actually a bit disappointing as it's the only one of the three I don't have immediate access to,having sold it years ago. New copies around here are selling for $50 retail and second hand copies are still going for ~$30 a pop (thanks Tony Abbott!).

Thing is, as soon as I heard the announcement and for every moment since, I haven't been able to get the Hyrule Field theme out of my head. I do have a cousin who collects Nintendo games, however. I might have to hit him up and see if I can't borrow his copy.
 

GuillaumeNWR

Neo Member
The trouble with Skyward Sword is that it's an amazing game that just needs to get out of its own way. I played it on a hacked Wii and took full advantage of tweaks that sped up the flying, sped up the text, disabled Fi's "helpful" pop up features and made the "you've collected X spoils messages disappear. It was like playing a different game.

Oh, wow, I need to do this.
 

GuillaumeNWR

Neo Member
Guillaume, I'm surprised you aren't a Fire Emblem guy considering your love for JRPG's. What turned you off from the series?

It's a combination of things. The random number generator is a big one: often, a 90% hit chance feels more like it hits 30% of the time. And because the games encourage you to face equal or stronger enemies for maximum XP, missing often means you character will die.

The RNG strikes again when leveling up. I've had many instance when trying to play Path of Radiance where I'd level up and I wouldn't get points in anything, not even an HP increase.

Another pet peeve is the length of the later missions. They ensure that if you're unlucky and a character dies or you get junk stat increases, starting over is a very tedious option.

I love Advance Wars. Even in the missions where your units aren't disposable, at least you always know precisely how hard you'll hit an enemy, and how hard you'll get hit. And I'm loving Devil Survivor, because it's more like an RPG, the missions are short, and you can easily grind or fuse new demons if all else fails. But I can't stand Fire Emblem despite trying many times.
 

Somnid

Member
RNGs are interesting. They are random but it can make you feel a particular way because human brains aren't good at understanding them. For example if an enemy had a 90% change to hit your mage and missed, it's seen as a big victory, because technically you played poorly but got to live another day, but when you have a 90% chance and miss it's frustrating because even though you played well you still failed. These happen in equal amounts but you'll likely never attribute the enemy missing as a problem with the game.

You can grid in Awakening thankfully, in fact there's a rather transparent grind DLC map. Have you tried just cranking it down and playing casual mode? It might help take some of the tedium off.
 
It's a combination of things. The random number generator is a big one: often, a 90% hit chance feels more like it hits 30% of the time. And because the games encourage you to face equal or stronger enemies for maximum XP, missing often means you character will die.

The RNG strikes again when leveling up. I've had many instance when trying to play Path of Radiance where I'd level up and I wouldn't get points in anything, not even an HP increase.

Another pet peeve is the length of the later missions. They ensure that if you're unlucky and a character dies or you get junk stat increases, starting over is a very tedious option.

I love Advance Wars. Even in the missions where your units aren't disposable, at least you always know precisely how hard you'll hit an enemy, and how hard you'll get hit. And I'm loving Devil Survivor, because it's more like an RPG, the missions are short, and you can easily grind or fuse new demons if all else fails. But I can't stand Fire Emblem despite trying many times.
Very interesting, thanks for the response.

I can understand your frustration with the RNG, it can be pretty annoying at times, especially when it's something like a 1% critical chance that does one of your units in. Overall I enjoy the slightly unpredictable element it brings to the series but it does keep me from trying anything too crazy (like playing on Lunatic in Awakening). For me Advance Wars is a little too rigid, to the point where you can literally follow a step by step walkthrough to beat a stage. It feels like more of a puzzle game to me which I don't enjoy quite as much.

I love the thrill that comes with rolling the dice from time to time. "I have a 70% chance to hit but if I miss I'm dead as dirt. Is it worth it?" Even the thrill that comes with an enemy missing a potential killing blow is exhilirating, especially if they have over a 50% chance to hit you! Of course, these thrills are counter-balanced by the agony of taking a 30% shot to the face or missing a 90% hit, but I guess that's just part of what makes FE FE. It's totally a personal preference thing though, I can understand why you wouldn't like it. I do agree with your complaint about leveling, I wish the RNG wasn't so involved with that aspect. When players are replaying stages just to get better level-ups you might need to reassess that aspect of your game design, haha.

One thing I do appreciate in FE is that it at least tells you exactly how much damage you'll do if you connect. It always kind of bothered me in other SRPG's like Tactics Ogre and FFT when you didn't know the exact damage.
 

Crimm

Member
Ogre Battle takes that to the logical conclusion and gives you literally every stat you need to calculate EXACTLY how ever engagement will go. It works in this instance because you're dealing with such large sets of combatants in real time. While you CAN pause the game and plot every single engagement, it's not really something you're going to want to do. It provides the "unknown" by simply denying you information. The game has both traditional fog of war (can't see the enemies) and statistical fog of war (can't see enemy stats before initial engagement).
 
The trouble with Skyward Sword is that it's an amazing game that just needs to get out of its own way. I played it on a hacked Wii and took full advantage of tweaks that sped up the flying, sped up the text, disabled Fi's "helpful" pop up features and made the "you've collected X spoils messages disappear. It was like playing a different game.
What tweaks are these and is there a mod I can download for it :O
 
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