Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast: Recent Episodes
Daniel Reichert & Stian Mathisen
Danny and Stian share stories from a lifetime of playing videogames, with an emphasis on retro games and retro gaming. We span everything from Nintendo and Sega to Atari, PC, Playstation and more, as we analyze all aspects of the gaming industry, and how it’s changed through the years.
We catch up on the retro PC build and we spin off on lots of retro gaming tangents, ranging from CRT screens, how to clean your ball mouse and of course sound cards and game music. We also listen to the Monkey Island theme on PC speaker and compare it with the Roland MT-32. The difference is incredible!
Find Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast in Spotify, iTunes Stitcher or your preferred podcast app. Subscribe so that you never miss an episode, and please leave us a review in iTunes.
You can let us know what you think of the show at Passion for Pixels on Facebook, tweet us @passion_pixels or send us an e-mail at passionforpixels@thesofaiswaiting.com.
We talk about why most movies based on videogames are terrible, but also why movies about games can be great, covering Super Mario Bros., Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Wing Commander, Final Fantasy The Spirits Within, WarCraft, Sonic the Hedgehog, The Wizard, WarGames, Pixels, Wreck-It Ralf, Resident Evil, Uwe Boll and more! Find Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast in Spotify, iTunes Stitcher or your preferred podcast app. Subscribe so that you never miss an episode, and please leave us a review in iTunes.
You can let us know what you think of the show at Passion for Pixels on Facebook, tweet us @passion_pixels or send us an e-mail at passionforpixels@thesofaiswaiting.com.
We finally devote an entire episode to the Nintendo 64! Mario 64, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Goldeneye, Mario Kart 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, Zelda: Majora's Mask and more as we reminisce on the launch of what was first known as the Ultra 64.
Find Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast in Spotify, iTunes Stitcher or your preferred podcast app. Subscribe to have our latest episode downloaded to your device, and please leave us a review in iTunes.
Let us know what you think of the show at Passion for Pixels on Facebook, tweet us @passion_pixels or send us an e-mail at passionforpixels@thesofaiswaiting.com.
This episode covers a few different topics, such as games that didn't quite make our top 50 lists and we also talk about Tharald's new retro gaming PC build. We talk about midi synthesizer modules for retro gaming on the PC, like the Roland MT-32 and the Roland SC-55.
Find Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast in Spotify, iTunes Stitcher or your preferred podcast app. Subscribe to have our latest episode downloaded to your device, and please leave us a review in iTunes.
Let us know what you think of the show at Passion for Pixels on Facebook, tweet us @passion_pixels or send us an e-mail at passionforpixels@thesofaiswaiting.com.
We have a special guest on this episode to talk about 90s PC gaming classics like Command & Conquer Red Alert, Monkey Island, MDK, Simon The Sorcerer 2, Wing Commander, Die By The Sword, Carmageddon 2 and Grim Fandango. We also get into some oddities like William Shatner's Tek War, talk about the lost potential of the Star Wars The Phantom Menace game and discuss classic graphics cards like the 3dfx Voodoo 2 and Voodoo Banshee.
Find Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast in Spotify, iTunes Stitcher or your preferred podcast app. Subscribe to have our latest episode downloaded to your device, and please leave us a review in iTunes.
Let us know what you think of the show at Passion for Pixels on Facebook, tweet us @passion_pixels or send us an e-mail at passionforpixels@thesofaiswaiting.com.
We end up aligning on both Super Mario World, Final Fantasy VII, Tetris and Street Fighter as we count down the top spots of our 50 favourite games! For the number one spot we totally differ, and end up with an SNES and a PC classic. Have a listen to hear the entire lineup!
And as promised in the episode, here is a link to The Story of Tetris by The Gaming Historian on Youtube.
Let us know which games would make your top 50 list at the Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast Facebook page!
Find Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast in Spotify, iTunes Stitcher or your preferred podcast app. Subscribe to have our latest episode downloaded to your device, and please leave us a review in iTunes.
Let us know what you think of the show at Passion for Pixels on Facebook, tweet us @passion_pixels or send us an e-mail at passionforpixels@thesofaiswaiting.com.
We lean heavily into mid-90's Nintendo games in this episode, but also cover some newer PC games as we count down our top 50 favorite games from number 10 to 6!
Let us know which games would make your top 50 list at the Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast Facebook page!
Find Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast in Spotify, iTunes Stitcher or your preferred podcast app. Subscribe to have our latest episode downloaded to your device, and please leave us a review in iTunes.
Let us know what you think of the show at Passion for Pixels on Facebook, tweet us @passion_pixels or send us an e-mail at passionforpixels@thesofaiswaiting.com.
It's a retro gaming bonanza with NES, GameBoy, PlayStation, PC and more as we continue the countdown of our top 50 games! This time it's spot number 15 to 11.
Let us know which games would make your top 50 list at the Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast Facebook page!
Find Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast in Spotify, iTunes Stitcher or your preferred podcast app. Subscribe to have our latest episode downloaded to your device, and please leave us a review in iTunes.
Let us know what you think of the show at Passion for Pixels on Facebook, tweet us @passion_pixels or send us an e-mail at passionforpixels@thesofaiswaiting.com.
We cover classic games for the PC, NES, SNES, PlayStation and more as we continue the countdown of our top 50 games! This time we delve into our favorites from spot number 20 to 16.
Let us know which games would make your top 50 list at the Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast Facebook page!
Find Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast in Spotify, iTunes Stitcher or your preferred podcast app. Subscribe to have our latest episode downloaded to your preferred device, and please leave us a review in iTunes.
Let us know what you think of the show at Passion for Pixels on Facebook, tweet us @passion_pixels or send us an e-mail at passionforpixels@thesofaiswaiting.com.
It's a 1990's videogame bonanza in this episode, where we count down our favorite games from number 25-21.
Let us know which games would make your top 50 list at the Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast Facebook page!
Find Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast in Spotify, iTunes Stitcher or your preferred podcast app. Subscribe to have our latest episode downloaded to your preferred device, and please leave us a review in iTunes.
Let us know what you think of the show at Passion for Pixels on Facebook, tweet us @passion_pixels or send us an e-mail at passionforpixels@thesofaiswaiting.com.
Classic games for the PC, PlayStation, NES and SNES all make appearances as we count down our favourite games from number 30 to 26!
Let us know which games would make your top 50 list at the Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast Facebook page!
Find Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast in Spotify, iTunes Stitcher or your preferred podcast app. Subscribe to have our latest episode downloaded to your preferred device, and please leave us a review in iTunes.
Let us know what you think of the show at Passion for Pixels on Facebook, tweet us @passion_pixels or send us an e-mail at passionforpixels@thesofaiswaiting.com.
Some very famous franchises and a forgotten gem from the early days of 3D platforming are among the picks in this weeks episode.
Stay tuned as we count down the rest of our favourite games in future episodes.
Let us know which games would make your top 50 list at the Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast Facebook page!
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We jump in the wayback machine for most of the picks in this episode, as Stian and Danny counts down from 40 to 36 on their individual top 50 lists of their favourite games.
Stay tuned as we count down the rest of the list in future episodes.
Let us know which games would make your top 50 list at the Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast Facebook page!
DOWNLOAD PASSION FOR PIXELS RETRO GAMING PODCAST FROM ITUNES!
Subscribe to have our latest episode downloaded to your preferred device, and please leave us a review in iTunes!
Let us know what you think of the show at Passion for Pixels on Facebook, tweet us @passion_pixels or send us an e-mail at passionforpixels@thesofaiswaiting.com.
The countdown continues! Stian and Danny compares their individual picks for number 45 to 41, on the lists of their 50 favorite games. A lot of late 1990's favorites have found their way onto the lists this time.
Stay tuned as we count down the rest of the list in future episodes.
Let us know which games would make your top 50 list at the Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast Facebook page!
DOWNLOAD PASSION FOR PIXELS RETRO GAMING PODCAST FROM ITUNES!
Subscribe to have our latest episode downloaded to your preferred device, and please leave us a review in iTunes!
Let us know what you think of the show at Passion for Pixels on Facebook, tweet us @passion_pixels or send us an e-mail at passionforpixels@thesofaiswaiting.com.
We finally did it! Here is the beginning of Passion for Pixels' list of our 50 favorite videogames of all time. Stian and Danny compare number 50 to 46 on their individual top 50 lists in this initial episode. Join us down memory lane as we reminisce about our favorite gaming experiences from the 1980's until today. Also, one of Danny's choices is a real surprise! Stay tuned as we count down the rest of the list in future episodes.
Let us know which games would make your top 50 list at the Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast Facebook page!
DOWNLOAD PASSION FOR PIXELS RETRO GAMING PODCAST FROM ITUNES!
Subscribe to have our latest episode downloaded to your preferred device, and please leave us a review in iTunes!
Let us know what you think of the show at Passion for Pixels on Facebook, tweet us @passion_pixels or send us an e-mail at passionforpixels@thesofaiswaiting.com.
Stranded on a desert island for the rest of your life with only three videogames! Which ones do you pick and what are the considerations you need to make? Stian and Danny talk about their individual choices and what makes a great desert island game.
Let us know which games you would bring to a desert island on the Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast Facebook page!
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Subscribe to have our latest episode downloaded to your preferred device, and please leave us a review in iTunes!
Let us know what you think of the show at Passion for Pixels on Facebook, tweet us @passion_pixels or send us an e-mail at passionforpixels@thesofaiswaiting.com.
Stian and Danny continues their chronological journey through the different eras of computer and video games, figuring out what they appreciate the most and the least about each of the generations and what defines each era of gaming. This time around it's the 16-bit era and onwards, with consoles like the Super Nintendo, Sega Mega Drive, TurboGrafx-16, Sony PlayStation and more!
Let us know which generation of consoles is your favourite at the Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast Facebook page.
DOWNLOAD PASSION FOR PIXELS RETRO GAMING PODCAST FROM ITUNES!
Subscribe to have our latest episode downloaded to your preferred device, and please leave us a review in iTunes!
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Have an opinion? Tweet us @passion_pixels or send us an e-mail at passionforpixels@thesofaiswaiting.com.
Stian and Danny are doing a chronological journey through the different eras of computer and video games, figuring out what they appreciate the most and the least about each of the generations and what defines each era of gaming. This first episode covers the late 1970s until the early 1990s. Consoles like the Commodore 64, Nintendo NES and other classics from the golden age of 8-bit games are covered in this episode.
Stay tuned next time, when Danny and Stian covers the 16-bit era, the first 3D games and more.
Let us know which generation of consoles is your favourite at the Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast Facebook page.
DOWNLOAD PASSION FOR PIXELS RETRO GAMING PODCAST FROM ITUNES!
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We alle love retro games, but which commodities from modern video games would you like to bring back in your time machine and hand over to Shigeru Miyamoto in 1983?
Let us know which game mechanics you appreciate the most in modern games and would like to implement in retro games at the Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast Facebook page.
DOWNLOAD PASSION FOR PIXELS RETRO GAMING PODCAST FROM ITUNES!
Subscribe to have our latest episode downloaded to your preferred device, and please leave us a review in iTunes!
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Have an opinion? Tweet us @passion_pixels or send us an e-mail at passionforpixels@thesofaiswaiting.com.
From the yellow circle with a mouth, via the overalls wearing plumber to the blue porcupine and the marsupial in jorts - mascots in videogames give personality to lifeless hardware.
They embody the whole personality of a console, like family friendly Mario for the Super Nintendo or the rad and edgy Sonic for the Sega Genesis and Mega Drive. They also sometimes spectacularily fail at reaching fame, like Awesome Possum.
We look at which mascots made it and which didn't, how they did so and why they were the most powerful marketing tools of the retro gaming era. We also talk about mascots then and now - from the humanoid animals of the 1990's to the more realistic human characters which are the mascots of today's videogame generation.
Let us know your favorite obscure videogame mascot at the Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast Facebook page.
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We're back! After a more than two year hiatus, Stian and Danny has returned to talk about retro games!
This episode is about classic mini retro consoles such as the Nintendo Classic Mini, Super NES Classic Edition and the PlayStation Classic.
Why did everyone and their grandmother suddenly go nuts for retro games when Nintendo decided to release an official emulator? What games should have been included, and which should have been left off? Which version of Street Fighter II is the best one, and why did they include different versions in Japan and North America/Europe? If Nintendo should have added a hockey game to the NES Classic, should it have been Blades of Steel or Ice Hockey? Who ever requested Balloon Fight? And does early polygonal 3D games from the PlayStation era hold up as well as the 2D pixel classics from the SNES? Listen in and let us know your opinion of the mini retro consoles at the Passion for Pixels Retro Gaming Podcast Facebook page.
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On this episode of retro gaming podcast Passion for Pixels, we have the pleasure of talking to Mo Gallagher, author of the Final Fantasy VII novels A New Threat, The Man in the Black Cloack and the upcoming The Cetran Legacy.
Mo is working on a series of five novels which will span the entire storyline of Squaresoft's classic RPG. This is not your every day fanfiction author, Mo has over 30 000 followers in social media, and is considered one of the greatest video game fanfiction authors of our day!
We talk to him about his love of Final Fantasy, what made him decide to undertake such a massive story, the challenges of adapting a video game into a book and how he has managed to garner a huge following of fans online.
Mo Gallagher's Final Fantasy VII novels are available for free from Patreon.
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For the 50th episode of retro gaming podcast Passion for Pixels, we delve into one of gaming's most classic topics: Nintendo vs Sega.
Before Sony and Microsoft entered the gaming market, Nintendo and Sega dominated the console wars of the 1980s and 90s. With the Master System, Sega tried to take down Nintendo's leading market position that they had gained with the NES in the 1980s. The two Japanese companies kept going head to head with the GameBoy and the GameGear, ramped up the bit wars with the Super Nintendo and the Genesis/Mega Drive (remember the "Sega does what Nintendon't" campaign?), the Nintendo 64 and the Saturn and finally the Dreamcast and the Gamecube.
We discuss who came out ahead in each console generation. As we look at the reasons why Nintendo always sold more consoles than Sega did, we argue that Sega's failure to properly support their own products and the lackluster use of their mascot Sonic were big parts of the reason for Segas downfall.
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Youtuber, speedrunner, video game expert, retro gaming afficionado and world record holder Cornshaq aka Mark Davis is this weeks guest on retro gaming podcast Passion for Pixels!
Mark talks to Danny and Stian about how he has managed to transition from working as a paramedic to making a living from playing video games and how doing video game Youtube reviews pays the bills, how he achieved the world record in Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, why his favorite NES game is the relatively unknown 8 Eyes and how he beat Super Mario Bros. at 2 years old and Castlevania: Simon's Quest at 5!
Make sure to check out Cornshaq's Youtube-channel and his Twitch for all his awesome speedruns and reviews!
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While we work on new episodes of Passion for Pixels, we bring you a rerun of our popular episode about JRPGs
Japanese Role Playing Games (Japanese RPGs or JRPGs for short) used to be one of our favourite genres, but playing a JRPG today is like meeting that friend from 20 years ago who still lives at home with his parents.
We try to figure out what made JRPGs especially appealing to us as teenagers, talk about what sets them apart from other RPGs, how crude graphics was a benefit for Tetsuya Nomura's Final Fantasy designs and how we still enjoy the beautiful soundtracks by Nobuo Uematsu and Yasunori Mitsuda for games like Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger and Xenogears.
We also look at how stuff gets lost in translation, both because of limitations in the ROM file, like the case was with Ted Woolsey's infamous Secret of Mana translation, but also in a more cultural way. Like what the hell is going on at the Honeybee Inn?
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We continue our countdown of TIME Magazine's Best Games of All Time list, working our way from number 25 all the way to number one. We complain about too many First Person Shooters (FPS), are surprised at finding two Final Fantasy games on the list, complain some more about the lack of Street Fighter and then we complain a little bit about the Nintendo 64 as well, before we applaud TIME's choice of greatest game of all time.
See the complete list at TIME's website.
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'Best Game of All Time' lists are far from a new phenomenon (we've even had a few on this podcast!) - debating the games that didn't make the cut and the ordering of those that did has become an internet past time. Many gaming sites have feasted on the popularity of these lists by issuing perennial revisions to keep the discussion flowing. Most of these lists probably wouldn't warrant an episode (let alone two), but when the venerable Time Magazine weighs in, Stian and Danny just can't help themselves.
On this episode we discuss the bottom half of TIME's top 50 list, going from King's Quest III at number 50 to Star Craft II at number 26. We'll be back in two weeks with our opinions on the top half of the list!
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Back in episode 42 of retro gaming podcast Passion for Pixels, we criticized The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo 64 for being overrated. We didn't feel that it was a bad game, but that the game was receiving more praise than it was worthy of. Some of our listeners agreed, but a lot of them did not.
So we decided to find out if maybe we were too hard on this old adventure classic, and played it again all the way through for the first time since it was released in 1998.
And to make things a little more interesting, we played the whole game with someone who has hardly ever played video games before, a complete newbie, to ensure that our new verdict is not seen through the veil of fandom and almost 20 years of praise.
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Which retro console has the most impressive library of games? We look at the most classic consoles and games from both Sega, Nintendo and Sony, when we decide which gaming system we would want to bring to a deserted island, on this episode of retro gaming podcast Passion for Pixels!
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Does the Power Glove get unfairly dumped on? It didn't work well and was the centre piece of Nintendo's early 90's marketing strategy featuring prominently in The Wizard - a movie that only deserves ironic praise. That said, it was a proof of concept for the motion controls that ultimately propelled the Wii into a cultural powerhouse.
Stian and Danny consider some of the oddball peripherals that hit the market (plus a few that didn't) and weigh whether they ought to be banished to obscurity as gimmicks or if they really are the product of genius. The Sega Activator, the Atari Mindlink, the NES Zapper, the Game Gear TV tuner and something that lets you play the Wii in your car are among the gadgets we get into on this episode of retro gaming podcast Passion for Pixels!
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While we work on bringing you a new episode, we hope you'll enjoy this rebroadcast of our episode dedicated to Final Fantasy VII. Originally released in April 2014.
A full episode dedicated to talking about one of the most well known games of all time - Final Fantasy VII. Stian and Danny discuss the impact this seminal title has had on the gaming industry, dissect the story and consider modern remakes.
We talk about the game was originally meant to be set in New York. This and other early ideas for the game ended up in other Square RPGs.
How character designer Tetsuya Nomura's style differs from earlier Final Fantasy artist Akira Toriyama is another topic we get into in this episode.
Remember the materia system? We talk about how this fully customizable character system gave players full control of how they wanted to develop their characters, and how it is related to Final Fantasy V's job system.
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Retro gamers seem to love collecting old games and consoles, so for this episode of retro gaming podcast Passion for Pixels, we decided to sit down with Simon Pophale to talk about how he went about collecting 40 different video game systems, and nearly complete sets of several console's gaming libraries.
We go from Simon's first experience with video games on the ZX Spectrum, to almost completing a set of Sega Megadrive games and, talk about his latest endeavour, a complete Sega Saturn set, and lots more.
Simon gives his best advice on how to build your retro gaming collection and other retro gaming advice, like using old wine boxes to stack your systems.
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We've made a lot of people very mad. On the previous Passion for Pixels episode, we talked about how Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Goldeneye and Warcraft 3 were overrated. Now the people have spoken. And they say we're a bunch of clueless jerks. Or as one of our listeners puts it: "Overrated my ass". For this short update, we go through some of our listener feedback from our episode on overrated video games.
This is not a regular episode of Passion for Pixels, but we'll be back to our normal schedule of one hour (ish) episodes in two weeks!
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On this episode of Retro Gaming Podcast Passion for Pixels, we talk about games that history have treated too kindly. Even though we love Nintendo, they have released games that have been unduly praised, and we take a look at why titles like Goldeneye 007, Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Donkey Kong 64 need to be knocked down a few pegs. We also get into overrated PC games like Baldur's Gate, and we discuss whether Warcraft 3 is as innovative of an RTS as people seem to think.
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The 8-bit era of videogames spawned many of gaming's greatest icons, like Mario, Link and Sonic. On this episode of Retro Gaming Podcast Passion for Pixels, we talk about why the simplicity of 8-bit graphics is still so dear to gamers, and why many think it has aged better than the more advanced pixel count of 16-bit graphics.
We also get into how the graphical limitations of the time forced game developers to think in creative ways that has since become obsolete, due to hardware improvements.
We discuss what we consider the best looking games of the era that was dominated by the Nintendo NES, the Atari 7800 and the Sega Master System, and get into smoothly animated ninjas, adventurous ducks, talking frogs and more!
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Rune Fjeld Olsen is a Norwegian journalist with over a decade of experience reporting on video games. Recently, he's transitioned from his steady gig at VG (a major newspaper in Norway) to self-directed content on his YouTube channel. In this candid interview, Rune delves into his career in print, the trials of running a video game YouTube channel for a living, the state of game development in Norway, his thoughts on the future of the industry, and all manner of other topics!
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Real Time Strategy (RTS) was one of the major gaming genres in the 1990s, with amazing titles like Command & Conquer, Warcraft, Dungeon Keeper, Age of Empires and Starcraft. What happened?
On this episode of retro gaming podcast Passion for Pixels, we look into what defines an RTS, why they suddenly owned the PC gaming market in the 1990s, how well they play on consoles and what happened to Westwood, one of the most renowned RTS developers.
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What happens when Batman and Superman, two of the most iconic superheroes, square off? We'll finally see how the action unfolds on the silver screen but no need to wait to find out how the respective video games of Superman and Batman stack up, because that is what we will get into on this brand new episode of retro gaming podcast Passion for Pixels. But how can this possibly be a fair fight when we struggle to even name three good Superman games?
Comparing the best overall, worst overall, and most interesting use of the characters - Stian and Danny tally the blows covering everything from 80's arcade games to Superman 64 to the Arkham series and beyond.
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Have you ever wanted to squeeze more life out of your favourite game? Have you ever felt the compulsion to gather every last collectible strewn about the game world? Or maybe you've just wanted to a find a way to compete at a single-player game?
From completionists to speed runners, on this episode Stian and Danny dissect the unique ways to play games.
We also scratch the surface of modding and the fine line between enhancing an experience and breaking it entirely. Finally, why the hell did it take Nintendo so long to release Mario maker and who actually wants to play a level that plays itself?
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The Atari Jaguar, the 3DO, the Philips CDi - the list of failed video game consoles goes on and on. On this episode of retro gaming podcast Passion for Pixels, we look at why some consoles fail, and why others suceed.
Does the Sega Dreamcast qualify as a failure? It sold almost 10 million units, which sounds like a lot, but when Sony sold 150 million units of the PlayStation 2, it wasn't enough to keep Sega in business as a console manufacturer.
We also talk about the obscure Halcyon system by RDI, makers of Dragon's Lair. The system sported voice activation, a Laserdisc player, a planned price tag of 2500 dollars in 1985, and was based on a famous and murderous movie AI. Does it sound like a good idea for a gaming console? Listen to the full story and judge for yourself.
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Remember dodging those laser beams on the Quickman level of Mega Man 2, working up a sweat trying to beat the underwater level of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, running around in your underwear in Ghosts 'n Goblins, playing Battletoads in two player mode or pretty much any level of Ninja Gaiden?
Classic games often have a high difficulty level because they were built to mimic arcade games, which needed players to lose lives frequently enough to make them keep shovelling quarters into the machine. This caused many a Nintendo NES and Sega Master System controller to go flying across the living room back in the day.
We talk about our memories of incredibly difficult retro gaming moments, and how gaming has become a lot more accesible and less frustrating in modern times, but that part of the challenge has been lost in the process.
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We list our top three favourite games of all time. The only game to end up on two lists is Tetris - listen to find out which other classics made the cut! Also, Tyma is back (but he forgets to introduce himself).
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We talk about our favourite classic retro multiplayer games, from great hockey games like Blades of Steel, Ice Hockey and NHL 95 to Street Fighter II, Goldeneye for Nintendo 64 and of course the Nintendo NES Four Score four player favourites RC Pro Am II and Nintendo World Cup, plus lots more!
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We're taking some time off for Christmas, so this week we're rebroadcasting an old fan favourite, our episode on Japanese game director, producer, writer and designer Hideo Kojima. We talk about the games that inspired Kojima to become a game developer, his earliest work (ever heard of Penguin Adventure or Policenauts?) and how his most well known series of games, Metal Gear featuring Solid Snake, came about. Once again it's a story of how the limitations of the console's hardware forced the developers to think outside of the box, when the game was developed for the MSX2 and later the Nintendo NES.
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Japanese Role Playing Games (Japanese RPGs or JRPGs for short) used to be one of our favourite genres, but playing a JRPG today is like meeting that friend from 20 years ago who still lives at home with his parents.
We try to figure out what made JRPGs especially appealing to us as teenagers, talk about what sets them apart from other RPGs, how crude graphics was a benefit for Tetsuya Nomura's Final Fantasy designs and how we still enjoy the beautiful soundtracks by Nobuo Uematsu and Yasunori Mitsuda for games like Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger and Xenogears.
We also look at how stuff gets lost in translation, both because of limitations in the ROM file, like the case was with Ted Woolsey's infamous Secret of Mana translation, but also in a more cultural way. Like what the hell is going on at the Honeybee Inn?
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The holiday season is upon us and spearheading the charge of AAA titles vying for your gift-giving money is Star Wars: Battlefront. While reviews are suggesting that Battlefront may be a bit weak in the force, the Star Wars franchise has done pretty well over the years and has spawned some most impressive classics, like Star Wars for the NES, Super Star Wars for the SNES and Tie Fighter and Knights of the Old Republic for the PC. On this episode, Stian and Danny delve into the treasure trove of Star Wars games and pick their favourites. Did Yoda Stories make the list? No. No it did not.
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From Mario to Mirror's Edge, platformers are one of gaming's oldest genres. Why have platformers enjoyed such longevity and what does the future hold for them? How did the prevalence of 3D graphics affect the genre? Mario 3 or Super Mario World?
Stian and Danny try to answer all of these questions and more on the an episode dedicated entirely to the Def Leppard of gaming... what?!?
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There are more superhero movies coming out than you can shake a stick at these days, but if you wanted to see superheroes on your TV screen back in the day, you had to pop in a videogame.
Superheroes are overpowered, so how do you make a game that is both challenging and fun to play, while keeping it true to the source material? Superman games are notoriously bad, and this is because nothing hurts Superman, and that makes for a bad game. So what is it that makes some superhero games work, while others don't?
We delve into this topic by looking at the classic Ninja Turtles games of the late 1980's and early 1990's, Batman for the NES and more modern Batman games, we look at how the aestethics of 8- and 16-bit games are closer to the still images of a comic book than modern games are, and we look at how Silver Surfer on the NES got it all wrong.
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Casual games have become huge the last few years, with Candy Crush Saga netting more than a billion daily plays in 2015, but casual games is not an invention of the mobile phone age. We look at casual gaming through our retro tinted lenses, and start with 1980's Pacman.
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We talk about our vivid memories of buying games back in the day when brick and mortar stores were the only option, and games didn't have a release date, so you'd have to come back again and again to see if a game was out yet.
Tyma reveals why purchasing a japanese copy of Final Fantasy VIII was a bad idea, Danny tells of how he got ripped off purchasing his first ever game, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 for the Sega Genesis, and Stian is crowned winner of first time videogame purchases, when he tells of his bundle of sweet classics purchased second hand 25 years ago.
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Expansion packs - the DLC of the 1990's. Danny, Stian and Tyma talk about their favourite expansion packs from back when games came in huge cardboard boxes. Topics include Blizzard's brilliant expansions, the horrible way of making expansions work on disc based consoles (with the worst one being Grand Theft Auto London for the Playstation) and the very first expansion pack. Also, Tyma gets to host (kind of).
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We're hot off the heels of Square Enix' announcement at E3 2015 that they are remaking Final Fantasy VII, and we get into what we expect, hope and dread regarding the new version of one of the most beloved videogames of all time.
How will the Honeybee Inn sequence play in HD, will Cloud still fight a jumping house and ride a dolphin and how will the combat system look? This and much more in this spoiler filled episode of Passion for Pixels (and clunky polygons).
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Some games just can't be beat. No matter how frantically you try to clear the lines, those Tetris blocks WILL fill your screen. Your Sim City city will be struck by an earthquake. And your Lawnmover Simulator... well, listen and find out.
Danny, Tyma and Stian talk about games with no end, games that can't be won and the nature of what makes a game a game. Is playing the lottery a game? At least one of our hosts think so. And one absolutely disagrees.
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Danny, Stian and Tyma try to figure out what happened to the beloved 80's genre of the shoot 'em up. What has taken it's place, and is there a possibility of seeing a shmup resurgence in the future? Even though it has no space ships, is Ikari Warrior's a shmup? Why can you not take bathroom breaks if you want to become the world champion at Life Force? This and more in episode 23 of Passion for Pixels.
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Is retro collecting all about reliving your childhood, is it a way to invest in stuff that's going to be worth a fortune down the line or is it hoarding mania? Tyma joins Danny and Stian to tell their stories of retro collecting, battered Nintendo's that still work, the feeling of finding a mint Castlevania Symphony of the Night at a yard sale and how awesome discovering a Legend of Mana US import in a Scandinavian store was before the advent of online shopping.
Where is collecting going to be in a future of all digital downloads?
Lastly Tyma realises that his passion for collecting music games has been explained in a poop related psychological theory by Sigmund Freud.
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Why do we celebrate film directors but can only name a handful of game developers? How does player agency shape character development in games? Why is Ben Affleck Passion for Pixel's paradigm celebrity? Stian and Danny try to answer these questions and more as we discuss the notion of fame in gaming.
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The music game genre has been around for almost 30 years, and in this episode we trace the genre from it's birth until today, along with our special guest Tyma.
It all started with the NES title Dance Aeorobics and the obscure Famicom Disk System release Otocky, which we take some time to talk about. Following this was a hiatus of a few years before Parappa The Rapper became a huge success when it was released in 1997, and we talk about our memories of playing the game and the waves it made in the videogame press at the time. As Tyma puts it: "Parappa is the music game that every music game strives to be."
We also devote some time to talking about Beatmania, an arcade series which has seen yearly releases for almost 20 years and cover some obscure titles like the terrible Stepping Selection for Playstation 2. You'll have to have an absurd love of karaoke to enjoy this particular title.
Tyma makes a good argument for why the Game Boy Advance title Rhythm Heaven is the most important game ever made. If you want to know why, all you have to do is click play and join us for the 20th episode of Passion for Pixels.
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Have you ever bought a game because the box art looks awesome? Hopefully not, but if you only use box art as your buying criteria you've probably played some pretty awful games. On this episode, Stian and Danny try to dissect the phenomenon of bad games that sell well. Also, we try to see why some amazing games never made bank.
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On this special episode, Danny and Stian welcome their first guest to the podcast! Tyma, a Neo Geo guru, covers everything from why the system has enjoyed such longevity to how to get into collecting and playing. Did you know that, despite its popularity, Metal Slug is actually one of the rarest titles to find? Also, Tyma counts down his top ten non-fighting Neo Geo games mixing some lesser known titles with outright classics.
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We're delving into an area that a lot of us don't know much about: the homebrewing scene. The homebrew scene contains everything from remakes and demakes of popular games, ports of old games from one system to another to brand new games for all consoles imaginable. Imagine getting your hands on a brand new NES game in 2015 - that's homebrewing for you.
We touch upon all of this and more, and marvel at KHAN Games recently released port of Leisure Suit Larry for NES.
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What really counts as a violent game? Do we really need to worry about the children? What's really at stake? On this episode we tackle the nebulous issue of violence in video games and do our best to provide our answers to these questions and more!
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Did you know that the first computer game to have boss fights was a dungeon crawler called DnD, that ran on a computer called Illiac, owned by The University of Illinois? Boss fights have been a staple of video games ever since, so we decided to dedicate a whole episode to our favourite (and least favourite) boss fights. Which are the cliches we can do without? What are the criteria that makes a boss fight a fulfilling challenge? Who tops our list of most memorable boss fights? Download or stream the latest episode to find out!
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From the ludicrous Jaguar pad to the sublime DualShock for the Sony Playstation, on this episode we dissect the evolution of controllers. Find out our thoughts on the best overall pad for retro gaming with a modern setup along with our feelings on the best and worst ergonomics. Also, did you know the Sega Genesis/Megadrive pad works out of the box with the Atari 2600?
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Passion For Pixels is back from summer holidays! In this episode we catch up on what we’ve been playing the last couple of months, before we delve into our main topic: classic racing games.
The legacy of racing games goes back all the way to the early days of computer games, and we talk about how the genre has evolved from 1972’s Speed Race. We also devote some time to our classic racing game favorites, like OutRun, RC Pro-Am, F-Zero, Micro Machines, Super Mario Kart and more!
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As the gaming industry took off in the mid 1990's, so did gaming trade shows. From E3 to Blizzcon, this episode covers the good, the bad, and the ugly of gaming trade shows. Are they really all they are cracked up to be or is it just useless hype?
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Few companies have dominated the gaming scene as Blizzard Entertainment has for over 20 years, and their logo has become synonymous with top-notch innovative games that are unquestionably worth your money.
Blizzard, known as Silicon & Synapse in the early 1990's, are today known for franchises like WarCraft, StarCraft and Diablo, but we also take a look at their older classics, like Lost Vikings, Rock n' Roll Racing and Blackthorne.
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Point and click adventure games like Monkey Island and Broken Sword had their heyday in the mid '90's. After having been more or less dead for the last 15 years the genre is now seeing a small resurgence, with among others, Tim Schafer getting back to making adventure games. In celebration of the return of the adventure game genre we get into our favorites of the golden age of adventure gaming, and it turns out that Stian and Danny don't have the same games at the top of their lists.
In an attempt to see the genre without nostalgia tinted glasses, Stian gets some hands on time with an old classic he never had the chance to play back in the day: The Dig. How it holds up and whether this genre can hold the interest of 30 year olds and not just kids with a ton of time on their hands, are among the topics of the tenth episode of retro gaming podcast Passion for Pixels.
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For this episode of Passion for Pixels we finally turn to PC gaming and talk about late 80's and early 90's shareware gaming.
The shareware gaming era started with bedroom programmers making their own games and shipping them out to their customers. It grew from there into a profitable business, and one of the main innovators of the time was John Carmack. Carmack was one of the founders of id Software, the company behind shareware titles such as Commander Keen and Doom.
As opposed to game developers like Shigeru Miyamoto and Hideo Kojima, John Carmack was actually a programmer, and we talk about how that might influence someone's perspective when creating games.
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This episode starts off with us talking about Japanese game director, producer, writer and designer Hideo Kojima. We talk about the games that inspired Kojima to become a game developer, his earliest work (ever heard of Penguin Adventure?) and how his most well known series of games, Metal Gear Solid, came about. Once again it's a story of how the limitations of the console's hardware forced the developers to think outside of the box.
We also talk about the pros and cons of Kojima's style, which draws heavily on his fascination for films. Does his games feel too static at times, when the cut scenes drag on for too long?
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This episode we're talking classic console launches, starting with the launch of the NES in the US in 1985. We talk about figures and facts from launches spanning the NES to the Dreamcast, reminisce about our memories of the different launches and talk about how the advertising impacted us in different ways.
The videogame crash had put the industry in shambles, and Nintendo was trying to bring their console to an almost dead market when they released the NES in 1985. Did you know that it took more than a year from the NES was launched in New York until it was available nationwide - more than three years after the Japanese release of the Famicom? Console launches back then were not surrounded by the same amount of hype and propaganda as they are today.
We talk about the launch of the Sega Master System and the Sega Genesis. Stian tells about his memories of the Super Nintendo launch as a kid in Norway, and how this put videogames on norwegian TV for the first time.
We also talk about the launch of the Phillips CD-i and conclude that the console was actually way ahead of it's time, but very poorly marketed (and had terrible games).
We talk about the launch of the Panasonic 3DO, the Sony Playstation, the Sega Saturn, the Nintendo 64 and the Sega Dreamcast as well.
Did you know that the Sega Saturn was released in the US the same day that it was first shown to the American public at E3? Someone at Segas advertising department would probably get fired over that decision if it happened today.
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A full episode dedicated to talking about one of the most well known games of all time - Final Fantasy VII. Stian and Danny discuss the impact this seminal title has had on the gaming industry, dissect the story and consider modern remakes.
We talk about the game was originally meant to be set in New York. This and other early ideas for the game ended up in other Square RPGs.
How character designer Tetsuya Nomura's style differs from earlier Final Fantasy artist Akira Toriyama is another topic we get into in this episode.
Remember the materia system? We talk about how this fully customizable character system gave players full control of how they wanted to develop their characters, and how it is related to Final Fantasy V's job system.
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On this episode Stian and Danny talk about the godfather of gaming Shigeru Miyamoto and his indelible impact on the industry. Did you know that Nintendo's programmers meant Miyamoto's ideas for the original Donkey Kong were impossible to recreate with the hardware they had available? We talk about this and much more regarding Shigeru Miyamoto's early career.
Also, we cover video game journalists and spitball on the conspiracy theory that they're all corporate shills. Stian claims that the term journalist does not describe the job most people who write about videogames do - they are merely reviewers and not the watch dogs of the gaming community.
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What is the difference between an evolution of a videogame series and a reboot? Danny and Stian look at differences between the Mario and Sonic series in this regard, and talk about how much the gameplay has to change to be considered a reboot.
While a reboot in other media, like movies and comic books, is a reboot of the storytelling, this is not necessarily true of videogames, where the game mechanics is what gets changed. While games like Punch-Out and Street Fighter have not been rebooted, classic gaming series like Metroid and Mega Man have, with variying degrees of success.
We also look at the Zelda series, and whether A Link Between Worlds is a reboot of A Link to the Past, how Spirit Tracks and Phantom Hourglass for the Nintendo DS differ from the rest of the series and how Zelda made the transition from 2D to 3D with Ocarina of Time.
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Stian and Danny talk about the appeal of retro graphics and try to define what old school graphics are. Most people think of pixels and sprites, but how about those clunky old polygons? The guys also talk about why retro games has such catchy and memorable songs and melodies, and why the SNES destroyed the Genesis in sound quality. Lastly Stian and Danny reminisce about Street Fighter, and talk about their memories of playing what was the most popular game of it's time.
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Follow Passion for Pixels on Facebook to join the retro gaming discussion!
Have an opinion? Tweet us @passion_pixels or send us an e-mail at passionforpixels@thesofaiswaiting.com.
Talking old school graphics, emulators, Square-Enix (or Squaresoft as it used to be known back when Final Fantasy was all pixelated or polygony) and more! Want to weigh in with your own opinion or have a topic you would like us to cover? Leave us a comment below!
ALL OUR EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE IN ITUNES!
Subscribe to have our latest episode downloaded to your preferred device, and please leave us a review!
Follow Passion for Pixels on Facebook to join the retro gaming discussion!
Have an opinion? Tweet us @passion_pixels or send us an e-mail at passionforpixels@thesofaiswaiting.com.
The inaugural Passion for Pixels Podcast is finally here! Stian and Danny talk about what it means to be 'retro', some of our early gaming memories, and Mario as the mascot for all gaming. It's early going and a bit rough around the edges, so leave a comment to let us know where we can improve.
ALL OUR EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE IN ITUNES!
Subscribe to have our latest episode downloaded to your preferred device, and please leave us a review!
Follow Passion for Pixels on Facebook to join the retro gaming discussion!
Have an opinion? Tweet us @passion_pixels or send us an e-mail at passionforpixels@thesofaiswaiting.com.