Should Nintendo be scared? Since the launch of the iPhone — which encouraged the rise of the Android platform — smartphone gaming is set to become a majority of the handheld market, eclipsing Nintendo for the first time since the release of the Game Boy in 1989. Sean and Vinnk explain their misgivings with GameStop, why they’re sure Nintendo expects Xenoblade to fail (or at least doesn’t care if it succeeds), and actual precedents that should exonerate Nintendo for being so cautious.

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Should Nintendo be scared? Since the launch of the iPhone — which encouraged the rise of the Android platform — smartphone gaming is set to become a majority of the handheld market, eclipsing Nintendo for the first time since the release of the Game Boy in 1989. Vinnk and SeanOrange take a look at the data, how the mobile gaming pie is growing, why smartphone gaming has been so successful, and what (if anything) Nintendo can do about it.

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Is the Wii U touch controller a naked attempt to try and compete with the iPad, and if so does it stand a chance to succeed? Sean and Vinnk go through a brief history of touch panels in consumer devices, from the Apple Newton to the Tiger Game.com, the Nintendo DS, and — of course — Apple”s iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.

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Is there a right way to introduce your child to the world of video gaming? It might be a more difficult proposition for the children of adult gamers, whose boundaries are a bit less clear on the subject, but their non-gamer spouses (if indeed they are non-gamers) might keep them in check. Maybe. With Vinnk already a father of a 2 year old daughter, and Sean a father-to-be in 2012, we try to tackle those questions. How young is too young? How much is too much? What’s appropriate, and what’s deemed okay? Plus, in an audio bonus exclusive to the website, Sean tells the tale of how a camcorder gave birth to Puppy Star Trek, and helped to shape the rest of his life.

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After a recent performance of Video Games Live, Sean and Vinnk talk about the merits of bleeps and bloops, the chiptunes musicians who still love them, hidden music in Nintendo’s titles (including one hidden for the last nine years in the GameCube menu screen), and the more symphonic offerings of the 16-bit age and beyond.

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Six months on, how is the Famicom Dojo Podcast doing? Vinnk and Sean take some time out to answer listener mail, reflect on some of their past episodes, and give updates on some of the information that may have gone out of date or had developments since the original episodes were released. Also, Vinnk got a 3DS.

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Women in gaming have made tremendous strides, both onscreen and off, behind the scenes, or playing the games. Fans of the Female Shepard in the Mass Effect series — male and female alike — encouraged BioWare to finally put her in their advertisements and materials just so that other gamers would know she exists. It’s 2011; are women still being overlooked in gaming? Sean talks to guest panelists Sindra and Megan about what it’s like to be such a minority in gaming culture, and discuss their favorite heroines from the aforementioned Shepard, to “Lady Hawke” from Dragon Age 2, Samus in Metroid, Alex Roivas in Eternal Darkness, and more! And Sean tries to avoid saying “that’s what she said” for almost an entire hour.

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The recent passing of Steve Jobs has left us to reflect on how he and his business ventures have affected our lives and the rest of the world. For us retro gamers (at least our age), that means looking back on the Apple ][, Apple //e, and that line of PCs that literally made “computer” a household name. Sean and Vinnk recall a time when “Apple” was still synonymous with “gaming” — before the iPhone, before the Macintosh, and (in some cases) before Nintendo. Also, a history of Apple’s rise to dominance, Steve Jobs’ gig at Atari, and why the original iPod came with free copies of Breakout.

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