Gaming Podcasts: A Thread about Listening to Others

[Nicktendo]

@Hero\-of\-Time and @londragon don't know if you saw it. But the podcast above I think you may like!

 

I've had a listen to a few episodes of this and do enjoy it, though I agree with H-o-T a lot of the Rare stuff was complete nonsense. A good podcast, but I'm not too keen on the lead guy. Enjoyed the episode with the guy who made Mutant Mudds, and it's always fun hearing what people would do if they were in charge of Nintendo.

[dazzybee]

I listened to their latest episode yesterday and thought it was alright until the main guy started spouting absolute rubbish when speaking about Rare. I agreed with the guy who said that letting them go was one of Nintendo's biggest mistakes but when the other guy started underplaying their importance I was getting pretty mad.

 

Microsoft as a whole didn't think they owned Donkey Kong, it was a single guy, which is what the other host was trying to tell him.

 

 

 

The guy started waffling on saying that Rare needed baby sitting and that their output wasn't enough. Rare pretty much kept the N64 running! Not only that but they created some new IPs in that generation, with Jet Force Gemini, Perfect Dark, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Banjo Kazooie and Blast Corps.

 

He then went on to say that you just had to look at Rare's output for Microsoft to see that they weren't worth the money. Again, not true. Viva Pinata, Kameo, Kinect Sports, Nuts & Bolts were all great games that had that Rare charm. It's also been reported numerous times that a lot of Rare's creativity was held back by Microsoft, with various projects being cancelled.

 

The talk of Microsoft swooping in at the last minute with a bag of cash to outbid Nintendo is also garbage. As far as i'm aware, Nintendo had first dibs of buying out Rare but simply didn't want to. At that point Rare started to look elsewhere for the sale. There was no bidding war going on. Nintendo, for whatever reason, just weren't interested in paying the asking price for the remaining shares.

 

The final straw was when he said that Retro were the new Rare and far more valuable. Give over. You wanna talk about needing baby sitting, just look at the mess that studio and Metroid was in until Nintendo sent people over to sort it all out. Retro's output has been far worse than Rare's, in quantity, quality and variety.

 

Haven't listened to that episode yet, though I can imagine the main guy being a bit righteous. And wrong. I do think Retro's games are better than Rare's but Rare produced so many it's hard to argue with how pro folic they were. Though time hasn't been kind to Rare's games, thinking about when they came out they were pretty monumental.

 

I've pretty much listened to the whole backlog now. I like it a lot actually. Don't agree with everything, but like the concept of it, different to any other podcast.

[nekunando]

I haven't listened to the podcast being referenced but I will say that many of Rare's games for the SNES and N64 were excellent with games like Donkey Kong Country, Goldeneye and Banjo-Kazooie in particular really enhancing my childhood

 

After Starfox Adventures, the sale to Microsoft felt disappointing at the time but each year that passed only served to highlight that perhaps the company wasn't making the games that would cater to my tastes any longer. I briefly tried Perfect Dark Zero and Nuts & Bolts but was disappointed, just as I had been with the few moments I had with Grabbed by the Ghoulies. It just wasn't the Rare I had grown up with and, as such, their break from Nintendo no longer seemed so significant to me.

 

Having said that, it would be nice if Nintendo still had access to franchises such as Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark and Killer Instinct to bolster their current output, particularly given that the latter two may fill something of a void in Nintendo's library

[Hero-of-Time]

I'm not keen on the 2 man setup. If you have two people that agree on everything then the banter is a bit stale. If 1 personality dominates over the other then it essentially becomes a 1 man show. PS I Love You suffers from both these problems at times. I much prefer a 3 person podcast.

 

In terms of Nintendo podcasts, RFN is still miles ahead of all the others. They have a nice variety of opinions, cover things over this side of the pond (Greg), funny as hell and they are Nintendo fans and not fanboys.

[Nicktendo]

In terms of Nintendo podcasts, RFN is still miles ahead of all the others. They have a nice variety of opinions, cover things over this side of the pond (Greg), funny as hell and they are Nintendo fans and not fanboys.

 

Couldn't agree more, RFN is miles ahead of anything Nintendo related. I've been listening for 2 years now and love every show. The only person I'm not keen on is occasional guest Serene (sp?) McNulty, her voice really irritates me and she tends to talk too much. I still listen to NVC every week but only really enjoy it when Peer and Brian are both on the show, Jose is a bit "meh", but I do enjoy hearing what he has to say, the regular Pokemon talk bores me to tears...

 

I absolutely LOVE the Famicast as well, it's by far my favourite podcast, but to call it a "Nintendo" podcast would be pushing it. Ty and Danny almost NEVER have Nintendo games in new business, only really James talks exclusively about Nintendo. The banter and discussion is always top notch though, the insight into life Japan and the rapport between the presenters is unmatched in my opinion. Love it when they do quizzes and fake or real or when James rips on everyone in an OTT British way. From an entertainment perspective, it's the best out there, but those looking for Nintendo news would probably not get much out of it

[Londragon]

...'If We Ran Nintendo'...

 

Just started listening to it. And am trying to marathon through the earlier shows. Like always it does take a little while to get used to the characters, but Canadian Sean and New Jersey 'Joisey' Bobby have excellent chemistry, and are funny together. They come across as Nintendo lovers, but with that edge to call them out for some of their misdemeanors. Enjoying so far, and will keep at it. It reminds me of the Power Pros podcast with 2 hosts, The Hoff and 'Too Hot' Scott, who get on well together, and having a variety of different talking points each week keeps me coming back.

[Hero-of-Time]

I tired listening to the Nintendo Direct episode of If We Ran Nintendo but couldn't make it through the whole thing. The main guy just annoys me too much.

 

When he started waffling on how Nintendo dropped the hammer with this Direct I instantly rolled my eyes. Now, it was a very good Direct but lets take a good look at what was shown and what he was praising.

 

• Yoshi is a Wii U port. That visually looks a lot worse than the Wii U game...obviously.
  
• Mario Maker is a Wii U port with key features that are missing from the original game.
  
• Mario Sports Superstars features 2 games that are already available on the 3DS, these being Golf and Tennis.
  

 

The way both of them went on was as if these were all brand new, original games that had never been seen before. I found their reactions to a lot of the stuff flat out cringe worthy.

 

I just can't take biased hype like this. It's a big reason why I can't stand Jose from IGN. I doubt i'll bother anymore with the show and just stick to the GOAT that is RFN.

[Londragon]

I tired listening to the Nintendo Direct episode of If We Ran Nintendo but couldn't make it through the whole thing. The main guy just annoys me too much.

 

I listened to a lot of them now. The premise of if we ran Nintendo was good at first, they stuck to it and came up with grievances and pros, etc. Recently the newer episodes, it's as if Sean has given up and let's Bobby do all his spiel which is getting repetitive and boring. His summary, Bobby, of a game is to say it's phenomenal, and that's it, no reasoning nothing. And, the amount of errors and hyperbole he's prone to, with Sean correcting them, and then only to defend his stance when he's clearly wrong, is inexcusable. That ND podcast was the worst of the bunch, it feels as if Sean has given up and is sick and tired of Bobby as well. Will try the latest, well start the latest, if it's the same, I'm done.

[Nicktendo]

I tired listening to the Nintendo Direct episode of If We Ran Nintendo but couldn't make it through the whole thing. The main guy just annoys me too much.

 

I also switched off halfway through, if I wanted to hear this much nonsense I'd go to the NX thread

[punio75]

RFN- still enjoying it but Syrenne continues to annoy me when she is on.

 

Her knowledge is without question but man, its SO tiresome to hear how many hours she has played on a certain game i.e finishing it on every difficulty. She comes across as boastful- a trait I can't abide.

Annoying!

[Hero-of-Time]

RFN- still enjoying it but Syrenne continues to annoy me when she is on.

 

Her knowledge is without question but man, its SO tiresome to hear how many hours she has played on a certain game i.e finishing it on every difficulty. She comes across as boastful- a trait I can't abide.

Annoying!

 

In the past I have enjoyed her input but I find her annoying now as well. She harps for far too long and often it seems like she hasn't a clue about the point she is actually trying to make.

 

I was listening to Easy Allies this morning and was baffled when some of them didn't know about certain games. When it's a fan podcast then it's understandable as they are doing that in their spare time, outside of their working life. Surely when it's your actual job and you are getting paid then you should know what games are what. I have a full time job yet I knew more than they did. Crazy, especially as there are 4 of them on the show.

 

The topic came up about whether the home console market in Japan is fine or not and I think it was Ben who said it was. I have to massively disagree with him. You have the One doing less than 1,000 units a week, which is no real surprise, but Wii U doing around 3,000-4,000 on average a week and the PS4 doing just slightly better (it has had a spike due to the Slim arriving over there ) is very much a cause for concern.

 

The market over there has shrunk by a tremendous amount this generation, as has the dedicated handheld market. Mobile is really eating into the traditional gaming scene, which isn't that surprising given the lifestyle and work orientated culture over there.

[Nicktendo]

No Nintendo Voice Chat this week.... NX presumably being announced next week...

 

COINCIDENCE??? I think not

 

In other news, looking forward to sinking my teeth (ears) into 13 hours of RFN goodness this coming week.

[nekunando]

No Nintendo Voice Chat this week.... NX presumably being announced next week...

 

COINCIDENCE??? I think not

 

It's more likely that there isn't an NVC because there's absolutely nothing at all to tak about..

[dazzybee]

THey've said there is but it's delayed. Conspiracy theorist me was thinking maybe they're delaying it as they know Nintendo are going to announce NX event today and they talk about it....

[Nicktendo]

As far as I know they've only skipped one show this year, while Jose was in Japan a couple of weeks ago. Usually they would just let Kallie bore us to tears instead of cancelling with no explanation

[Nicktendo]

Keep your ears peeled for this week's Famicast which includes an n-europe forum member trying (and failing) to participate in guessing 8-bit remixes of video game soundtracks

[bob]

Oooh, which one!?

[Hero-of-Time]

There was an interesting discussion on the latest RFN about the amount of garbage games being released and how to get your game noticed in the sea of rubbish.

 

Personally, I think there is far too much tripe out there and it bogs down things like the eShop, PS Store and Steam. The fact that 40% of the entire Steam library was released in 2016 shows just how easy it is to stick any old game on certain services.

 

It's not just the RFN crew that have picked up on this either. In the past year, both Colin and Greg from PS I Love You have both been very vocal about just how much garbage has started appearing on the PS Store. Colin was calling for some kind of screen process to be put in place and was saying that things like PS Store should be seen as a place to get hidden gems or lesser games noticed, rather than it being a dumping ground for any old game.

 

The eShop is just as bad, if not worse. The amount of tripe on there is insane. It seems like anyone can get a game on there, regardless of the quality.

 

I think the mobile market has a lot to do with this. We've all seen just what a landmine of trash those stores have become and it sadly has seeped into the console/handheld space.

[Nicktendo]

There was an interesting discussion on the latest RFN about the amount of garbage games being released and how to get your game noticed in the sea of rubbish.

 

Personally, I think there is far too much tripe out there and it bogs down things like the eShop, PS Store and Steam. The fact that 40% of the entire Steam library was released in 2016 shows just how easy it is to stick any old game on certain services.

 

It's not just the RFN crew that have picked up on this either. In the past year, both Colin and Greg from PS I Love You have both been very vocal about just how much garbage has started appearing on the PS Store. Colin was calling for some kind of screen process to be put in place and was saying that things like PS Store should be seen as a place to get hidden gems or lesser games noticed, rather than it being a dumping ground for any old game.

 

The eShop is just as bad, if not worse. The amount of tripe on there is insane. It seems like anyone can get a game on there, regardless of the quality.

 

I think the mobile market has a lot to do with this. We've all seen just what a landmine of trash those stores have become and it sadly has seeped into the console/handheld space.

 

Jim Stirling has been fighting this kind of thing for years. Definitely worth checking out his YouTube Channel if you are interested in seeing it in action. He's been sued by "devs" and annually releases his Top 10 worst games of the year which always provides a laugh. The Jimquisition is easily one of the best gaming shows on YouTube, where he calls out shady dev practices from the Steam garbage to the big names like Konami, Sony and Nintendo.

[Hero-of-Time]

Jim Stirling has been fighting this kind of thing for years. Definitely worth checking out his YouTube Channel if you are interested in seeing it in action. He's been sued by "devs" and annually releases his Top 10 worst games of the year which always provides a laugh. The Jimquisition is easily one of the best gaming shows on YouTube, where he calls out shady dev practices from the Steam garbage to the big names like Konami, Sony and Nintendo.

 

That's another great example.

 

I watch the Jimquisition every week. Even though he can be brash and vulgar at times, he is usually on point with every topic that he discusses. I don't really watch that many YouTubers, mostly because many of them are idiots that have no business being in front of a camera, but Jim always gets my time due to how good his topics are and how he's not afraid to have a go at the big boys.

[Ike]

The eShop is just as bad, if not worse. The amount of tripe on there is insane. It seems like anyone can get a game on there, regardless of the quality.

 

I can't believe they were still DSiWare titles even in 2016, they seem to have died down now (or I haven't noticed them).

 

I always wonder if people end up actually actually buy these kinds of games and if they actually make money.

 

There's always been shovelware, but I guess having a digital platform makes it easier to get published.

[Hero-of-Time]

Colin dedicates an episode to the subject we were recently discussing.

 

 

@S\.C\.G, @Nicktendo you may enjoy this video.

[Nicktendo]

Colin dedicates an episode to the subject we were recently discussing.

 

 

@S\.C\.G, @Nicktendo you may enjoy this video.

 

Excellent video, and he is bang on the money. I remember when then Nintendo's "seal of quality" actually meant something and was proudly displayed on the game's box. I remember owing a lot of SNES games as a kid, which in all honesty were pretty shit (Krusty's Fun House, I'm looking at you), but they were almost always at least playable. Now, I can't comment about Sony or Microsoft as I haven't owned those systems in years, but the amount of shovelware on the Wii U's eShop or the 3DS' is somewhat disturbing. I'm not even going to mention Steam...

 

Something obviously needs to be done, but I think the ease of accessing development tools and the fact that games can be easily published over the web, as opposed to getting a license and a cartridge based medium, has made this all the more a simpler and cheaper process in comparison with the early 2000s for example. I think all console makers / service providers have an expensive and uphill battle in tackling the shovelware, but one that could end up saving the industry as it clearly can't be headed anywhere good in its current form.

Edited January 13, 2017 by Nicktendo
Spelling

[Nicktendo]

Anyone else have problems with this weeks NWR? I had dead audio in the middle and then the last 30 mins seemed to be a repeat of the middle of the podcast...?

 

Very excited after some of the positive things Syrene was saying about the console from a dev perspective. She really sold me on some of the features.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Hero-of-Time]

Anyone else have problems with this weeks NWR? I had dead audio in the middle and then the last 30 mins seemed to be a repeat of the middle of the podcast...?

 

Very excited after some of the positive things Syrene was saying about the console from a dev perspective. She really sold me on some of the features.

 

I couldn't play the original version that I downloaded, so I had to delete it and then download it again. I've only listened to the first half of it but i've had no issues so far.

 

It's a shame they done a live show. I'd much rather had a one recorded after all the news, both good and bad, had filtered out and then got some opinions on what was going on. Some of the info they were discussing was incorrect at the time so it will be interesting to hear what they think now that things have settled down. Hopefully this weeks episode will be what i'm after.