N-E Café Podcast

[Jonnas]

I never got around to commenting on Greg leaving, since I didn't know if I had anything to add... So I'll just wish you a nice, pleasant recovery from this videogame news burnout. I understand the feeling, and a rest can do wonders.

As for today's episode:

• There are a bunch of cool sales right now, and because the flesh is weak, I got Blaster Master Zero and Azure Striker Gunvolt for the 3DS... and also Snake Pass on the Switch, after all your recommendations. I'll give you my impressions on it in 8 months
• I didn't know about Mario 64's updated textures. I did think several N64 titles had very jaggy 2D sprites in later releases, so that clean-up adds a lot of value to a collection that I had thought was somewhat disappointing. Thank you for those impressions;
• I don't think either Sony or Nintendo will go for massive purchases/acquisitions like Microsoft. This sort of aggressive takeover seems to be a more viable strategy in the US, but in Japan, these seem to be rare (I figure, for a variety of reasons I'm not fully aware of, like stricter laws, or different corporate culture). Instead, we might see more partnerships, both official and unofficial, in order to achieve a similar effect, though;
  • On a related note, sure, we'd love for Nintendo to start developing for Sega or Konami licenses... But I think acquisitions of IPs are decisions made more with an economic mind rather than an artistic one. In that sense, I can see Sony looking to acquire the likes of Metal Gear or Silent Hill, or even Nintendo gunning the same way for Sonic or Bayonetta, but the fate of something like Castlevania would be more of a wildcard, I think.

Finally, just want to clear something up: the 50th episode PodPals will allow Mario Spinoffs as well, right? You mentioned platformers, but anything from Mario's history (Mario Kart, Paper Mario, etc.) works as well, right?

[Londragon]

2 hours ago, Jonnas said:

Finally, just want to clear something up: the 50th episode PodPals will allow Mario Spinoffs as well, right? You mentioned platformers, but anything from Mario's history (Mario Kart, Paper Mario, etc.) works as well, right?

We were initially going to concentrate on Platformers, but you can talk about any game that has featured Mario, and we'll include your thoughts.

[S.C.G]

N-E Café Episode 46 now available!

Now up on the main page.

Another great episode this week, I enjoyed all the game industry talk with the Bethesda buyout.

Nice to hear about Donkey Kong Country 2, Super Mario 3D All-Stars and Crimsonland.

Episode 47 will surely have an interesting main topic.

Plenty of new game discussion to be had too, especially with Super Mario Bros. 35 just being released.

[Londragon]

 

N-E Café [047] Steve’s Bricking It is now available from all good podcast providers.

Recorded on the 4th of October, 2020.  

Episode 47 of the N-E Café has hosts Lee Davies and Nick Lone joined by returning regular Sam Gittins.  They’ll be discussing the latest Nintendo News, Pokémon and a plethora of other revealed titles; games they’ve recently been playing, including Borderlands, Super Mario Bros. 35 and Super Mario 3D All-Stars, specifically Mario 64 and Sunshine; and our Big Topic, the Smash DLC reveal and presentation.

This is episode 47 of the N-E Café Podcast, an N-Europe Podcast. Enjoy!

⦁ Intro Music: Minecraft - Mutation

⦁ Introductions: 0:00:43

⦁ Nintendo News: 0:03:13

⦁ Episode 50 Plans: 0:44:35

⦁ Download Delights: 0:45:31

⦁ Borderlands: GOTY Edition: 0:58:25

⦁ Super Mario Bros. 35: 1:08:06

⦁ Super Mario 64 and Sunshine: 1:19:14

⦁ Topic of the Week - Smash DLC (and losing Sam): 1:32:19

⦁ Closing: 1:52:30

Can you guess what game the Transition Tunes come from?  If they ring a bell, get in touch with us, or if you have a Listener's Question you’d like us to discuss, contact us right here.

 

[Londragon]

And it's been a really quick turn around by the N-Europe team, our 47th podcast is also available at our YouTube Channel, too.

 

[S.C.G]

N-E Café Episode 47 now available!

Now up on the main page.

(I had the banner already prepared, and the writeup all mostly done in advance this time)

- - - - -

Thanks for having me on the podcast again this week, it was great getting to talk about Minecraft Steve in Smash with you both.

Good all-round discussion I thought, nice recovery at the end after I had that power cut, at least the audio recording wasn't lost, and it sounds like it all edited together well.

Nice choices on the tunes this week as well, I've given it a guess, as I'm pretty certain as to which game the tracks are from...

Spoiler

It sounds like famous Zelda tunes, redone in a rock style, which surely means that it can only be... Cadence of Hyrule which I still need to play.

I'll be sure to put the YouTube embed on the front page article, just as soon as the software allows that function again.

(That may be a good time for me to finally go back and put the YouTube embeds in for all previous episodes as well, which I've been meaning to do.

 

Edited October 6, 2020 by S.C.G

[Jonnas]

Man, I had a hectic day and my brain is fried. Still:

• Final Fantasy VIII is absolutely on my wishlist, but I got so much to play already... I haven't been avoiding it or anything;
• I think you were the first publication/podcast/guys I follow to also report on the actual Minecraft updates. They don't interest me personally, but the discrepancy did highlight how much of a disconnect there is between usual gamer culture and Minecraft's audience. Good to see some overlap still exists;
• I'm totally sold on Minecraft Steve, even if he's not my type of playstyle. I love quirky WTF picks, and he definitely qualifies. Good to see a warmer reception to him, a few days later;
• Also good to see a more open-minded approach to Sunshine these days, now that people don't expect it to live up to Mario 64. I had that realization a few years ago, and now I really look back fondly on that game.

In my tired state, my takeaway is that this was a wholesome episode. And I know the Transition Tunes:

Spoiler

Sam had the right mindset in going for a Zelda spin-off, but Cadence of Hyrule's soundtrack is not rock nor the heavy metal we hear in the episode: it is a beat-heavy trance/techno club mix.

The game with a metal soundtrack is Hyrule Warriors. And I know I definitely heard that Skyloft remix before.

 

[Nicktendo]

16 hours ago, Jonnas said:

Man, I had a hectic day and my brain is fried. Still:

• Final Fantasy VIII is absolutely on my wishlist, but I got so much to play already... I haven't been avoiding it or anything;
• I think you were the first publication/podcast/guys I follow to also report on the actual Minecraft updates. They don't interest me personally, but the discrepancy did highlight how much of a disconnect there is between usual gamer culture and Minecraft's audience. Good to see some overlap still exists;
• I'm totally sold on Minecraft Steve, even if he's not my type of playstyle. I love quirky WTF picks, and he definitely qualifies. Good to see a warmer reception to him, a few days later;
• Also good to see a more open-minded approach to Sunshine these days, now that people don't expect it to live up to Mario 64. I had that realization a few years ago, and now I really look back fondly on that game.

In my tired state, my takeaway is that this was a wholesome episode. And I know the Transition Tunes:

  Transition Tunes (Reveal hidden contents)

Sam had the right mindset in going for a Zelda spin-off, but Cadence of Hyrule's soundtrack is not rock nor the heavy metal we hear in the episode: it is a beat-heavy trance/techno club mix.

The game with a metal soundtrack is Hyrule Warriors. And I know I definitely heard that Skyloft remix before.

 

Currently at 42 Shines on Sunshine and having a blast. Some of the Shines are a tad easy, even compared to Mario 64, but the platforming challenges have had me beat for the most part.

I managed the Pachinko Shine first time, Sandbird too   I even managed to get Yoshi across the boats to the island first time, something that caused me a LOT of trouble on the GC version. I couldn't do the river challenge on the leaf though. I ended up getting game over, so I have all that to do again... 

The game is such a joy to play and not having analogue triggers doesn't really make much difference. Still getting confused by the non-inverted Y-axis however. 

But I agree completely, taking it for what it is, Sunshine is a great game. 

Edited October 7, 2020 by Nicktendo

[Londragon]

 

N-E Café [048] Pick Up A P-P-P-Pikmin is now available at all good podcast providers.

Nearing that 50th episode, so please tell us about a Mario game you've been playing, and take a look at the Mario Questionnaire, so we can include your thoughts on the big 5-0, I'll repost it below.

 

Recorded on the 11th of October, 2020.  

Episode 48 of the N-E Café has hosts Lee Davies and Nick Lone discussing the latest Nintendo News; games they’ve recently been playing, including Animal Crossing, Breath of the Wild, Mario Sunshine, and Cake Bash (Demo); and our Big Topic, Remakes and Demos.

This is episode 48 of the N-E Café Podcast, an N-Europe Podcast. Enjoy!

⦁ Intro Music: Mario Sunshine - Secret Course Acapella 

⦁ Introductions: 0:00:25

⦁ Nintendo News: 0:03:25

⦁ Episode 50 Plans: 0:30:50

⦁ Sales Data: 0:32:37

⦁ Download Delights: 0:35:16

⦁ Animal Crossing, Breath of the Wild: 0:42:25

⦁ Super Mario Sunshine: 0:46:47

⦁ Cake Bash (Demo): 0:56:21

⦁ Topic of the Week - Remakes and Demos: 1:08:02

⦁ Closing: 1:33:37

Can you guess what game the Transition Tunes come from?  If they ring a bell, get in touch with us, or if you have a Listener's Question you’d like us to discuss, contact us right here.

 

[Londragon]

Just reposting the Questionnaire for the 50th Podcast episode, feel free to answer as many as you want.  You'll have the kudos of getting a big shout out on the podcast in 2 weeks time.

50th Mario Episode Questionnaire

1. Favourite 2D Mario Game

2. Least Favourite 2D Mario Game

3. Favourite 3D Mario Game

4. Least Favourite 3D Mario Game

5. Favourite Mario Spinoff title

6. Least Favourite Mario Spinoff title

7. Favourite Mario memory

8. Worst Mario memory

9. Funniest Mario memory

10. Favourite power-up

11. Favourite Mario character

12. Least Favourite Mario Character

13. Best Mini game in the Mario Universe

14. Worst Mini game in the Mario Universe

15. Any other Mario nostalgia you want to share?

[Jonnas]

Already answered the questionnaire and sent it. Very straightforward, all things considered.

Once again, will leave bigger comments for later, but let's see if I can keep the streak going:

Spoiler

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon

First game I played this year. Recognized the first few notes. Great soundtrack

 

[Londragon]

56 minutes ago, Jonnas said:

Already answered the questionnaire and sent it. Very straightforward, all things considered.

Once again, will leave bigger comments for later, but let's see if I can keep the streak going:

  TT guess (Reveal hidden contents)

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon

First game I played this year. Recognized the first few notes. Great soundtrack

 

A streak, think that's about 4 in a row already, isn't it?  Haha.

[S.C.G]

N-E Café Episode 48 now available!

Now up on the main page.

- - - - -

I enjoyed listening to the talk about Super Mario Sunshine as there's a lot from that game which I'd forgotten about, I'm looking forward to going back to that game soon.

It was interesting hearing about how Pikmin 3 Deluxe plays from the demo, it sounds like Nintendo have done their best with the controls, but it might take some getting used to.

I'm liking the music used this week, some great tracks in that title.

All of the previous episodes should now have a YouTube embed instead of the Soundcloud embed, aside from maybe one or two episodes, but most of them are there now.

[Jonnas]

Alright, so:

• I haven't played Hyrule Warriors, merely checked its soundtrack. I'm definitely intrigued by it, the opportunity/excuse to buy it just never came up. Yet;
• It's funny to hear "Overwatch looks like Fortnite" when OW likely had a big influence on that game's aesthetic (OW was marketed and released in 2016, whereas Fortnite came out in late 2017);
• Vouchers can be used on non-Nintendo games such as Dragon Quest XI and Bayonetta 2... but only because those games were published by Nintendo too. Regardless, I don't think Monster Hunter is included, no;
• Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon is a great game. Played it on the 3DS earlier this year (my thoughts). It's definitely better than Castlevania III;
• Petey Piranha is not a very good example of a repetitive boss, because his rematch is pretty different from the first time, in both tactics and setting (I always loved looking around after defeating him, seeing how much the fight wrecked/gooped the village). But maybe you were thinking of those goopy piranhas? There are, like, 10 of these things to fight in the game, and it's always the same tedious dance;
• I was expecting the main topic to be about remakes and demos and general, but it felt like an in-depth look into Pikmin 3. Not complaining, it's the sort of thing that made me want to get it. Thinking about it, haven't played a Pikmin since the first one, so I should definitely consider it.

So yeah, good episode.

Edited October 14, 2020 by Jonnas

[Londragon]

 

N-E Café [049] Falling out of Love is now available at all good podcast providers.

Recorded on the 18th of October, 2020.  

Episode 49 of the N-E Café has hosts Lee Davies, Gregory Moffett and Nick Lone discussing the latest Nintendo News; games they’ve recently been playing, including Splatoon 2, Dead Souls Remastered, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, A Short Hike, and an update on Super Mario Sunshine and Steve in Smash; and our Big Topic, Are We Really Feeling It?.

This is episode 49 of the N-E Café Podcast, an N-Europe Podcast. Enjoy!

⦁ Intro Music: Dark Souls - Firelink Shrine

⦁ Introductions: 0:00:30

⦁ Nintendo News: 0:04:10

⦁ Episode 50 Plans: 0:32:46

⦁ Sales Data: 0:33:37

⦁ Download Delights: 0:38:10

⦁ Splatoon 2: 0:45:42

⦁ Dead Souls Remastered: 0:49:55

⦁ Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2: 0:55:05

⦁ A Short Hike: 1:05:19

⦁ Updating Sunshine: 1:16:06

⦁ Smashing Steve: 1:17:57

⦁ Topic of the Week - Falling Out of Love: 1:21:55

⦁ Closing: 1:50:30

Can you guess what game the Transition Tunes come from?  If they ring a bell, get in touch with us, or if you have a Listener's Question you’d like us to discuss, contact us right here.

 

[Jonnas]

Right now, I'm up to Nick's Sunshine update, and yes, it's Pinna Park.

If you're missing one blue coin in Ricco Harbor, may I suggest you go to the taller pathway (near where the Yoshis are in mission 8) and spray every window there? No joke, I once did a spin jump while spraying just for the heck of it, and a random blue coin popped out of one of those windows.

I'll say more later, but I do need to try and keep my streak, though this might be the end of it...

Spoiler

I don't recognize these tracks, so I'll take a shot in the dark and say A Short Hike

 

[Jonnas]

Well, after the main topic, that's the only issue I can comment on! That went towards many places (the many ways one can lose motivation).

I've had my phases where I don't really want to play videogames. Sometimes I just want to do something different with my time, but just as often I really don't want to start something new, or even fall back into a comfortable game. These hiatuses don't usually last long, but I definitely feel burnout from time to time. I think the biggest one was when I got tired of the Wii because I had to change it to a far more cumbersome setup (seemingly small change, but it did mean I couldn't stand playing it if I thought I'd be interrupted with something within one hour of playtime, meaning I just stopped using it for a good while).

That said, when that happens, I only pay nominal attention to gaming news (check new games being announced and not much else), because there's a lot that just doesn't interest me much, like sales data, info about consoles I don't own, and even a lot of individual industry scandals. How much I care about these depends on my mood. I don't need to keep up with stuff when I can catch up on the relevant bits later.

Sounds like Greg's situation is different (since he's focusing more on PS4 still), but a break from gaming - or some parts of gaming - for however long it takes can go a long way, even if only to figure out what you want from your next game: you don't need to play Snake Pass just because, you should play it if you feel the itch, otherwise you'll dislike the experience regardless.

Backlog woes is something I also feel quite often (and I'm pretty sure I commented on it before in this thread). I do feel overwhelmed by so much choice, but recently I started to do "smaller" goals: do only physical games, or clear what's currently on the Switch, or do a couple horror games for October... stuff like that, to get the ball rolling, a couple of titles at a time. I've had DK Tropical Freeze for more than year, but unless I set a specific goal (like playing it next December), it's going to stay that way.

(The real issue is that I should stay my hand during sales, let's be honest)

Honestly, I think what slows me down more than anything are personal commitments. I can keep a schedule, work normal hours, set goals... and it's all thrown out of whack because I suddenly have weekend commitments I learned about on Friday (so I lose the mood to play, even if I have some time left).

...This entire post felt rambly, but these are the places my mind went to when listening to the episode, I suppose.

[S.C.G]

N-E Café Episode 49 now available!

Now up on the main page.

- - - - -

Another excellent episode, I enjoyed hearing Lee talk about A Short Hike as it sounds like a charming title, listening to Nick's playthrough of Super Mario Sunshine talk makes me want to revisit the game, and it was really great to hear about Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 as it's good to hear Greg talking about a game which he's enjoyed playing.

A really good main topic brought up this week as well, Falling out of Love with videogames, or Nintendo games in general, it's something I can relate to, especially recently, as I have games to play, but I find myself going back to the same titles which I always return to, as beyond playing a few hours of these familiar titles, I haven't really played much at all this week, though this is something I'll be aiming to change soon; but if you're not feeling like playing games, sometimes it's just best not to, for a bit.

[WackerJr]

I completely understand the Topic of the Week this week.  While there have been a lot of good smaller games, the amount of new (ie., non-port) AAA titles have been few & far between on Switch this year, and last, in my opinion.

At least this time has given me more opportunity to start getting through my backlog of titles, as I have a multitude of titles across three platforms to catch up on (Switch, 3DS & PS4).

I do think all three of you do a fantastic job, as does Sam when he joins in too. It’s not the easiest thing to keep things fresh each week. I enjoy hearing different, honest opinions, even when any of you don’t feel you have much to offer. As a listener I think all of your opinions are as important as each other, whether you know much about the subject or not. I know I’m just one viewpoint but just wanted to give you that positive feedback. 👍🏻

[S.C.G]

@Londragon if you're still after last minute Mario Questionnaire answers...

Spoiler

1. Favourite 2D Mario Game

Super Mario World - Around a hundred levels of pure brilliance.

2. Least Favourite 2D Mario Game

NEW Super Mario Bros. 2 - Around a hundred levels of pure blandness.

3. Favourite 3D Mario Game

Super Mario 64 - It's a game which you can just play at any time and know that it's going to be enjoyable, even if you only play the opening stage.

4. Least Favourite 3D Mario Game

Super Mario Galaxy - Conceptually, it's brilliant, Mario in Space... It has some great moments, it's still a great game, but going back to it years later, I definitely don't have that much nostalgia for it, but the new control options available in Super Mario 3D All-Stars definitely make it more playable. (Expect a review soon)

5. Favourite Mario Spinoff title

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door - Its level of brilliance within its series, will likely never be matched, Nintendo are probably prepping the remake after finally realising this, and if not then... at least the GameCube original still exists.

6. Least Favourite Mario Spinoff title

Any mobile title with Mario in it - Not even Mario could convince me to play games on a mobile, when there are plenty of decent console and PC games to play.

7. Favourite Mario memory

Playing Super Mario 64 for the first time. Utterly unforgettable.

8. Worst Mario memory

Playing Super Mario Party for the first time. Forced motion controls... (Grrrr!)

9. Funniest Mario memory

Those races in Mario Kart, when you're crossing the finishing line on the second lap, you stop playing because you thought that was the end of the race, then realising that you've still got another lap to go, you get right back on the accelerator, in an attempt to catch up with the rest of the racers. This has happened on many a Mario Kart N-E league night, it's always amusing when you're almost playing a game on auto-pilot and things like that happen.

10. Favourite power-up

Starman - Getting a star in any Mario game is always a brilliant moment, you always know what you're getting, a brief moment of invincibility, accompanied by a frantic, catchy theme tune.

11. Favourite Mario character

Shyguy

12. Least Favourite Mario Character

Copy-pasted Generic, Multi-coloured Toad. (Not the original Toad, he's brilliant)

13. Best Mini game in the Mario Universe

Mario Power Tennis - Balloon Panic

Balloon Panic is a minigame found in Mario Power Tennis. The goal is to stop Klaptraps from popping any DK balloons. If a Klaptrap is hit three times, it will fall off, and the player will gain one point. There are three Klaptrap colors: green, red and blue. Green ones are slow, red ones are fast and blue ones are very fast. They all follow an electric current of the same color. To change it, one must hit a vine panel to divert a Klaptrap to an empty space.

14. Worst Mini game in the Mario Universe

Super Mario 64 DS - Mix a Mug

Mix-a-Mug is one of Yoshi's minigames in Super Mario 64 DS. To unlock it, Yoshi must capture a rabbit in the Mushroom Castle. To play, the player has to line up three parts of a random character (either Mario, Wario, Luigi, Princess Peach, or Yoshi) so as to make a face (similar to slots) and win coins. However, if they fail to line the characters up correctly, they lose coins. The game ends when the player runs out of coins. It is similar to the slots minigames of Super Mario Bros. 3.

15. Any other Mario nostalgia you want to share?

Super Mario Bros. Game and Watch - I remember buying this Game & Watch at a car boot many years ago, when I was probably around ten years old, at the time, I'd never seen anything like it, as it's an entire platform game, but in G&W form, it has a fair amount of depth to it, for what's quite a simple game on the surface. I enjoyed playing through it, as much as is possible, it's one of those games which speeds up and has more enemies on courses which loop when you get to a certain point, it's a really chamring example of Mario's early history and the alarm on the system is great, as it shows a sleeping Bowser waking up and breathing fire; where else are you likely to see that?

All the best, for the fiftieth episode, I'm looking forward to listening to it.

[Londragon]

10 hours ago, S.C.G said:

@Londragon if you're still after last minute Mario Questionnaire answers...

  Mario Questionnaire answers (Reveal hidden contents)

1. Favourite 2D Mario Game

Super Mario World - Around a hundred levels of pure brilliance.

2. Least Favourite 2D Mario Game

NEW Super Mario Bros. 2 - Around a hundred levels of pure blandness.

3. Favourite 3D Mario Game

Super Mario 64 - It's a game which you can just play at any time and know that it's going to be enjoyable, even if you only play the opening stage.

4. Least Favourite 3D Mario Game

Super Mario Galaxy - Conceptually, it's brilliant, Mario in Space... It has some great moments, it's still a great game, but going back to it years later, I definitely don't have that much nostalgia for it, but the new control options available in Super Mario 3D All-Stars definitely make it more playable. (Expect a review soon)

5. Favourite Mario Spinoff title

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door - Its level of brilliance within its series, will likely never be matched, Nintendo are probably prepping the remake after finally realising this, and if not then... at least the GameCube original still exists.

6. Least Favourite Mario Spinoff title

Any mobile title with Mario in it - Not even Mario could convince me to play games on a mobile, when there are plenty of decent console and PC games to play.

7. Favourite Mario memory

Playing Super Mario 64 for the first time. Utterly unforgettable.

8. Worst Mario memory

Playing Super Mario Party for the first time. Forced motion controls... (Grrrr!)

9. Funniest Mario memory

Those races in Mario Kart, when you're crossing the finishing line on the second lap, you stop playing because you thought that was the end of the race, then realising that you've still got another lap to go, you get right back on the accelerator, in an attempt to catch up with the rest of the racers. This has happened on many a Mario Kart N-E league night, it's always amusing when you're almost playing a game on auto-pilot and things like that happen.

10. Favourite power-up

Starman - Getting a star in any Mario game is always a brilliant moment, you always know what you're getting, a brief moment of invincibility, accompanied by a frantic, catchy theme tune.

11. Favourite Mario character

Shyguy

12. Least Favourite Mario Character

Copy-pasted Generic, Multi-coloured Toad. (Not the original Toad, he's brilliant)

13. Best Mini game in the Mario Universe

Mario Power Tennis - Balloon Panic

Balloon Panic is a minigame found in Mario Power Tennis. The goal is to stop Klaptraps from popping any DK balloons. If a Klaptrap is hit three times, it will fall off, and the player will gain one point. There are three Klaptrap colors: green, red and blue. Green ones are slow, red ones are fast and blue ones are very fast. They all follow an electric current of the same color. To change it, one must hit a vine panel to divert a Klaptrap to an empty space.

14. Worst Mini game in the Mario Universe

Super Mario 64 DS - Mix a Mug

Mix-a-Mug is one of Yoshi's minigames in Super Mario 64 DS. To unlock it, Yoshi must capture a rabbit in the Mushroom Castle. To play, the player has to line up three parts of a random character (either Mario, Wario, Luigi, Princess Peach, or Yoshi) so as to make a face (similar to slots) and win coins. However, if they fail to line the characters up correctly, they lose coins. The game ends when the player runs out of coins. It is similar to the slots minigames of Super Mario Bros. 3.

15. Any other Mario nostalgia you want to share?

Super Mario Bros. Game and Watch - I remember buying this Game & Watch at a car boot many years ago, when I was probably around ten years old, at the time, I'd never seen anything like it, as it's an entire platform game, but in G&W form, it has a fair amount of depth to it, for what's quite a simple game on the surface. I enjoyed playing through it, as much as is possible, it's one of those games which speeds up and has more enemies on courses which loop when you get to a certain point, it's a really chamring example of Mario's early history and the alarm on the system is great, as it shows a sleeping Bowser waking up and breathing fire; where else are you likely to see that?

All the best, for the fiftieth episode, I'm looking forward to listening to it.

Thanks for taking the time to answer those Sam.  Looking forward to recording the 50th, too.  It's going to be fun, and different.

[nekunando]

11 hours ago, Londragon said:

Thanks for taking the time to answer those Sam.  Looking forward to recording the 50th, too.  It's going to be fun, and different.

..and LONG 

[Londragon]

..and LONG 

It was a long one, and that’s before Nick edits in all the extra chats we had with our forum members here. So, a big shout out to all the hard work that Nick puts in all year round. The 50th episode should be going up at the regular time, but as Greg said it is a long one, so long in fact it’ll do for 2 episodes. And, because of that we are going to take a week off to recuperate after a first successful and rewarding year of podcasting for N-Europe. You’ll have plenty to listen to with all our Mario reminiscences, and a fun little quiz at the end.
We’ll be recording back in 2 weeks, so episode 51 will be up on the 10th of November.

[Nicktendo]

3 hours and 55 minutes of aural pleasure coming up soon.

Please to enjoy. 

Thanks to everyone who contributed to our anniversary celebration! 

Edited October 26, 2020 by Nicktendo

[Londragon]

 

Our 50th Mario extravaganza is here.  And before posting it, a big thanks to all who took part in making this last year, and in particular this podcast happen.  The three hosts, of course, the stuff in the background that doesn't get seen still happens on a weekly basis. It's been a continuation of what we did in the past, but that doesn't detract from the fun us three have on a weekly basis sharing our stories about our passion through its ups and downs.  So, thanks @Nicktendo and @nekunando, here's to the next 50.

Thaks also to @S.C.G who allows us to produce the podcast in the N-Europe name, a fact that I've never taken lightly, and for his, getting more regular appearances, on the show.  Always a delight to hear from his knowledgeable background.  In this episode alone, we had contributions from our forum members, and I'd like to thank all for taking the time out of your busy schedules to make this podcast the nearly 4 hour behemoth that it is, @Will, @Vileplume2000, @Jonnas, and @WackerJr.  Hope you like your inclusion, your segments are timeline tagged in the description, if you want to listen straight away, or skip over, Will .

And the last huge thanks, goes to all who listen, give us feedback, we accept both forms as a way of growing, and we'll continue to produce the same carefully crafted content on a weekly basis from November 10th.  Yes, that's right, as I said above we're taking a week's respite.  A time to breathe, and let the 4 hours of the 50th sink in.  Enjoy!

N-E Café [050] The Forum is in Another Castle is now available at all good podcast providers.

 

Recorded on the 25th of October, 2020.  

Episode 50 of the N-E Café has hosts Lee Davies, Gregory Moffett and Nick Lone quickly running through the news of last week before hitting our Big 50 topic of the year, our history with the Mario franchise.  This includes a lot of input from the N-Europe forum, including a questionnaire, reminiscences, interviews, and ‘The Hardest Mario Quiz Ever!’

This is episode 50 of the N-E Café Podcast, an N-Europe Podcast. Enjoy!

⦁ Intro Music: Super Mario Galaxy - Gusty Garden Galaxy 

⦁ Introductions: 0:00:22

⦁ Nintendo News: 0:03:11

⦁ Download Delights: 0:24:50

⦁ Interview: Sam: Super Mario Bros. Advance: 0:30:29

⦁ Mario’s Early Years: The 80s: 0:47:34

⦁ Mario Questionnaire 1-5: 0:53:29

⦁ Interview: Jonnas: Donkey Kong 94: 1:24:50

⦁ Mario Hits His Teens: The 90s: 1:40:42

⦁ Mario Questionnaire 6-10: 1:44:37

⦁ Interview: Mike: Mario Golf (GBC): 2:10:44

⦁ Mario’s Getting On a Bit: The 2000s: 2:25:18

⦁ Mario Questionnaire 11-15: 2:28:43

⦁ Interview: Will: Super Mario Land + Sega: 2:48:18

⦁ Mario’s Long in the Tooth: 2010s to Present: 3:06:04

⦁ Interview: Dennis: Super Mario World + Mario & Luigi S’star Saga: 3:10:16

⦁ Mario’s Hardest Quiz Ever!: 3:24:09

⦁ Closing: 3:49:06

⦁ Podcast Extras: 3:53:16 

Can you guess what game the Transition Tunes come from?  If they ring a bell, get in touch with us, or if you have a Listener's Question you’d like us to discuss, contact us right here.