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Retronauts Podcast Thread

ToastyFrog said:
There's actually been a fair amount of variety in guests for the episodes we've recorded so far — the overlap in first two full episodes is more a side effect of timing the holiday episode to... be out in time for the holidays. And some of the planned guests for our first two sessions fell through, so in a few cases we had guests from one episode kindly volunteer to sit in for another to make up for no-shows. It's hard to coordinate a large number of guests for these episodes, because we're making demands of their free time on weekends.

The unfortunate reality is that the old days, when the show consisted of a bunch of people who sat at adjacent cubicles chewing the fat, and the only person who normally had to come in from off-site was Kohler, who didn't have a wife and kid and a podcast of his own at the time... those days are long gone. The old format of the podcast is logistically impossible to produce now. We don't even work in an office now! The show was born of the convenience of a bunch of interested people working together in the same space, and it only keeps going because listeners continue to give us incentive to try to keep it happening despite all the complications and challenges.

To be honest, I miss the old podcast more than any of you, because it was part of an amazing period of my life that I really didn't appreciate nearly enough for the short while it lasted. I wish we could still make that show, but we can't, and we've made a commitment (and already put forward a tremendous effort) to make the new season the best it can possibly be. I swear to god we are pouring our hearts into this, and I'm sorry if some of you find the results disappointing. I ask that you give us a few more episodes to see where we're going with this before you write us off, please.
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I realize now that I should probably speak up - I backed the KS but haven't started patreoning yet (but I probably will in the next couple days) - it is definitely different now but I enjoy it as much. I just started listening a couple of years ago but dug through the back catalog and found some great stuff and the newer ones keep pace. I enjoy you guys quite a bit and really the only bummer for me is some Ray-less episodes but hey he's on NMW anyway so there's that.

For real through I spend a huge portion of every work day driving and this podcast helps me not be enraged in traffic and instead start thinking and wondering about what I should play next. Thanks for keeping it going.
 
soxinthebox said:
This was a bit of a dud. There wasn't really anything interesting discussed about the game before it was over.
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It was kind of strange; I don't recall them saying much about the game itself other than it has some roguelike features that people didn't cotton to at the time. Maybe there will be more to say when the 3D version comes out and they can discuss the changes made to make it more palatable to the audience.
 
I feel like they keep overselling just how "reviled" and overlooked Majora's Mask was back when it came out. Sure it was divisive but it was a multi-million seller (and still one of the best selling games in the series) despite requiring the expansion pack and got high critical acclaim for the most part (95 on metacritic).
 
The Micro format is still new and we're trying to figure out what works best (obviously, given how differently Bob's episodes are from mine). Please bear with us while we fine-tune it through experimentation.
 
Great ep.

Man, I totally forgot Majora released the same day as the PS2. Regarding that launch, it's somehow always been fashionable to discredit the PS2 for lacking good games - but I always thought the launch titles were good enough to elevate it beyond being just a $299 DVD player (quick paste from Wikipedia):

Armored Core 2
DOA2: Hardcore
Dynasty Warriors 2
ESPN International Track & Field
ESPN Winter X Games Snowboarding
Eternal Ring
Evergrace
FantaVision
Gungriffon Blaze
Madden NFL 2001
Midnight Club: Street Racing
NHL 2001
Orphen: Scion of Sorcery
Q-Ball: Billiards Master
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2
Ridge Racer V
Silent Scope
Smuggler's Run
Street Fighter EX3
Summoner
Swing Away Golf
Tekken Tag Tournament
TimeSplitters
Unreal Tournament
Wild Wild Racing
X-Squad


EDIT: this just got me thinking. A launch game episode would be interesting.
 
Balb said:
I feel like they keep overselling just how "reviled" and overlooked Majora's Mask was back when it came out. Sure it was divisive but it was a multi-million seller (and still one of the best selling games in the series) despite requiring the expansion pack and got high critical acclaim for the most part (95 on metacritic).
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I worked at a game store roughly around the time of Majora's release, and it had a pretty bad reputation amongst customers at the time—until The Wind Waker came out and it became everyone's favorite whipping boy, also known as "the gay Zelda." (Yes, in my neck of the woods it was largely known by this name.)

I'll also add that a Metacritic score is in no way indicative of a game's success, especially a game released in 2000, since the site is pulling from much less data.

Also, who cares?
 
Fenster Mayhew said:
I worked at a game store roughly around the time of Majora's release, and it had a pretty bad reputation amongst customers at the time—until The Wind Waker came out and it became everyone's favorite whipping boy, also known as "the gay Zelda." (Yes, in my neck of the woods it was largely known by this name.)

I'll also add that a Metacritic score is in no way indicative of a game's success, especially a game released in 2000, since the site is pulling from much less data.

Also, who cares?
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Sorry I wasn't clear in my post. My metascore comment was in reply to what you said about how it wasn't a critical success, not how it was received by the public. You do make a good point about the number of scores, since there are only 27 scores listed but from what I remember the scores were generally very good (I remember it getting a 9.9 from IGN).

I wasn't trying to be contentious or anything if that's the vibe I gave off. I just feel like the game had its fans even back then and there's a reason why there was a lot of excitement surrounding the 3DS remake's announcement.
 
Balb said:
Sorry I wasn't clear in my post. My metascore comment was in reply to what you said about how it wasn't a critical success, not how it was received by the public. You do make a good point about the number of scores, since there are only 27 scores listed but from what I remember the scores were generally very good (I remember it getting a 9.9 from IGN).

I wasn't trying to be contentious or anything if that's the vibe I gave off. I just feel like the game had its fans even back then and there's a reason why there was a lot of excitement surrounding the 3DS remake's announcement.
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No prob! I appreciate the feedback, but I admittedly get a little grumpy when people get upset about technicalities that seem irrelevant to me. (And I must have misspoke if I said it wasn't a critical success.) To your point, Majora's has definitely gained some fans in the time since its original release—mostly because people like me haven't been able to shut up about it. As I said in the episode, a similar thing happened to The Wind Waker; the response to Toon Link got pretty ugly in the few years following his reveal, but I don't hear a peep about his redesign these days. Time heals all wounds?
 
Retronauts Pocket, Retronauts Micro, how long until Retronautsi XL? Qetronauts? Okay now my joke is no longer funny.

I'll show myself out.
 
I wouldn't mind a Retronauts XL, but I think Jeremy/Bob would shoot themselves in the foot to avoid going to Warning: A Huge Podcast length.
 
Fenster Mayhew said:
I really miss that podcast!
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Well, Christmas miracles do happen.

---------------------------------------------------------

Regarding Majora's Mask episode, it really was short and the lack of content is mostly due to that I think.

BTW did I say here Nihon Telenet episode was fantastic? Thanks guys, it was worth the 5 years of waiting. My favorite episode of 2014 and now I'm looking forward to listening to more of those in 2015!
 
Fenster Mayhew said:
I really miss that podcast!
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They actually had a new episode last week, if you can believe that

biggersmaller said:
Great ep.

Man, I totally forgot Majora released the same day as the PS2. Regarding that launch, it's somehow always been fashionable to discredit the PS2 for lacking good games - but I always thought the launch titles were good enough to elevate it beyond being just a $299 DVD player (quick paste from Wikipedia):

Armored Core 2
DOA2: Hardcore
Dynasty Warriors 2
ESPN International Track & Field
ESPN Winter X Games Snowboarding
Eternal Ring
Evergrace
FantaVision
Gungriffon Blaze
Madden NFL 2001
Midnight Club: Street Racing
NHL 2001
Orphen: Scion of Sorcery
Q-Ball: Billiards Master
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2
Ridge Racer V
Silent Scope
Smuggler's Run
Street Fighter EX3
Summoner
Swing Away Golf
Tekken Tag Tournament
TimeSplitters
Unreal Tournament
Wild Wild Racing
X-Squad


EDIT: this just got me thinking. A launch game episode would be interesting.
Click to expand...

I wonder if we get a PS2 episode this season- it's the 15 year anniversery of the system launch in the US this year, which is how old the SNES was when Retronauts started in 2006
 
ToastyFrog said:
I personally am not ready for a post-Dreamcast definition of "retro."
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The PS2 came out in Japan less than 6 months after the US Dreamcast release!

This fall will be the 10 year anniversary of the Xbox 360 launch.

Also, we are all really old and close to death
 
This week in Retronauts we talk about Perfect Dark Zero, Ridge Racer 6, Kameo and Peter Jackson's Easy 1000 Gamer Score I mean King Kong.
 
bigkrev said:
The PS2 came out in Japan less than 6 months after the US Dreamcast release!

This fall will be the 10 year anniversary of the Xbox 360 launch.

Also, we are all really old and close to death
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Not me, I'm gonna live forever.

LayLa said:
the Retronauts Dreamcast episode came out over 6 years ago, time to recalibrate your definitions!
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But the PS2 was a viable platform for more than seven years after Sega cut off Dreamcast support. Saved by a technicality.
 
bigkrev said:
They actually had a new episode last week, if you can believe that



I wonder if we get a PS2 episode this season- it's the 15 year anniversery of the system launch in the US this year, which is how old the SNES was when Retronauts started in 2006
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Retronauts Live 25 was actually about the PS2's 11th anniversary waaay back in the ancient days of 2011.
 
bigkrev said:
I wonder if we get a PS2 episode this season- it's the 15 year anniversery of the system launch in the US this year, which is how old the SNES was when Retronauts started in 2006
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That's crazy to think about! I'm not one to feel old. I'm happy I've been able to experience it all as it happened. My personal definition of "retro" has always been before the Dreamcast although on balance that generation (gen 6) probably has a lot more in common with what came before it than what came after.

Also - I second biggersmaller's idea about the podcast taking a look at launch games. I've always been interested in launch games and try to grab as many as I can for the systems I collect. There's something really interesting about the titles that -- for better or worse -- were the first to be tasked with showing off the new technology.
 
Anyway, one of our upcoming episodes is about the DS, which launched in 2004. I just can't wrap my poor brain around the idea of PS2 being retro yet. I still haven't beaten FFXII :(
 
ToastyFrog said:
I personally am not ready for a post-Dreamcast definition of "retro."
Click to expand...
It's funny how easily we applied the word "retro" and "classic" to consoles like the NES as far back as the mid/late 90s, when it was just a decade old. When I was browsing early emulation sites, Seanbaby.com and Tsr's NES archive and the like, that stuff was thought of as already ancient.

Now we have people denying that PS2/DC/Cube/Xbox are retro even though they are ~15 years old. Frankly, 360 is almost retro.

Sucks when it was a console that you remember releasing as an industry watcher. My mortality!!
 
ToastyFrog said:
Anyway, one of our upcoming episodes is about the DS, which launched in 2004. I just can't wrap my poor brain around the idea of PS2 being retro yet. I still haven't beaten FFXII :(
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Something you guys should consider doing as a topic of discussion for an episode as this decade continues on is what constitutes a "retro" game or system? I don't think it's necessarily the time that has passed from one console gen to another, I think there's a completely different skill set and design sensibility to older game that has disappeared by the time you get to the PS2 and Xbox era, not to mention how many of the developers and publishers of the Japanese boom period from the 80's ceasing to exist by the mid-2000's.

It's something that seems hard to pin down and obtuse, but I think it could make for an interesting discussion and one that would set a precedent for episodes in the future as to how to talk about the gen that started last decade.
 
I am definitely going to sound like a total jerk for saying this, but I had to skip the Telenet episode because the way everyone (except Jeremy?) pronounces anime ("AH-nimay") drives me insane. Sorry.
 
antibolo said:
I am definitely going to sound like a total jerk for saying this, but I had to skip the Telenet episode because the way everyone (except Jeremy?) pronounces anime ("AH-nimay") drives me insane. Sorry.
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Okay, we'll just call it "Japanimation" from now on. Now look what you did.
 
antibolo said:
I am definitely going to sound like a total jerk for saying this, but I had to skip the Telenet episode because the way everyone (except Jeremy?) pronounces anime ("AH-nimay") drives me insane. Sorry.
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I tend to interchange the way it's pronounced. The one that sounded odd was pronouncing it "Valeese" instead of "Valis".
 
I was just discussing the post-drought Gamecube in another thread, beginning with REmake. Then Eternal Darkness a couple months later and I think the Wavebird and Memory Card 251 that same day. Mario Sunshine in August, Metroid Prime in November. What a year.
 
antibolo said:
Since we're going around in circles here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WznegGPXnb0
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Yes. He's saying ah-nee-may.

I'm pretty sure we actually agree and we've been arguing about nothing. Internet!

Rewinding my memory of the episode (and rereading your complaint), I'm going to guess that you took issue with people over-emphasizing the AH as they attempted to establish that they know it's not "annie-may."

In short, I'm dumb. Sorry.
 
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