Shovel Knight is more than a retro-styled game made to make you wistful of a bygone era — it makes you wish that era had never ended, and gives a glimpse of what it may have been like if it hadn’t. From emulating an actual Famicom sound chip to sticking almost entirely within the capabilities of the NES hardware, Shovel Knight is nothing less than a work of art. It’s also pretty fun to play! And it learns lessons from the last three decades that its proper 8-bit brethren never had time to internalize. Vinnk and Sean share their views on Yacht Club Games’ maiden voyage, heap praises on the Metroid series and Sakura Wars in Future Retro, and try to talk themselves into taking some more games off their pile of shame.
Leave your own voicemail at 608-492-1923, or just share your thoughts in the show notes at FamicomDojo.TV: http://famicomdojo.tv/podcast/101
The thing about being a gainfully-employed adult and parent is that time becomes your most precious commodity. So any time you use for games can only be used on the good ones — if you can figure out which ones those are. Vinnk and Sean reveal how they balance their real lives with gaming life, how the Wii U is great for that, and get all excited over Future Retro that’s really just a quasi-remake of a 20 year old game.
Leave your own voicemail at 608-492-1923, or just share your thoughts in the show notes at FamicomDojo.TV: http://famicomdojo.tv/podcast/99
by William Talley, filed in Lost Classics on Jun.25, 2014
Admit it: If you played Nintendo as a kid, this was your ultimate fantasy. Whisked off to a world inspired by your favorite video games, teaming up with your favorite characters, and scoring with a hot princess. From 1989 until 1991, Nintendo, DIC Entertainment, and Saban made it a reality, although the execution was a bit off. [Read the rest of this entry…]
It’s amazing how things looked a year ago, with Nintendo all but left for dead by the gaming press. Now, with a much-needed lift by Mario Kart 8 and a killer showing at E3, Nintendo looks like it might earn the title of number one console (in Japan) — and not just because the PS4 is selling so poorly there. And perhaps do better in America too. Whatever works. Sean and Vinnk skip Future Retro and Pile of Shame to dedicate the entire episode to E3 reactions. And maybe pepper that stuff throughout the show anyway. You better believe we won’t be letting Ubisoft off lightly, either.
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Nintendo appeases the hardcore Super Smash Bros. tournament crowd with a wired adapter for GameCube controls, playable at the Smash Bros Invitational. The newest Mario Kart was released last week, selling out Pro Controllers everywhere, crashing the Club Nintendo website, and increasing sales of the Wii U in the UK alone by 666%. In less than a week, Mario Kart 8 has sold 1.2 million copies worldwide. YouTube announced a monetization scheme for users uploading Nintendo videos. Is Nintendo finally listening to its fans, or did it just take this long to unlock the Wii U’s potential? Vinnk and Sean put down Mario Kart 8 long enough to discuss what Nintendo is doing right, and if there are bigger things on the horizon. The Wii U is having a renaissance, and it’s not even E3 yet.
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We’ve long been wary of digital services on consoles at Famicom Dojo, because every time one shuts down there’s the inevitable pain that follows, and features that can never be recaptured. This is what is happening with the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection going dark this week, which takes with it all online multiplayer (and related features) for not only Wii and DS titles, but anything that relied on GameSpy for online connectivity. Similarly, Microsoft has continued its Xbox One backpedaling and has decided that the Kinect 2.0 isn’t required hardware after all. Sean and Vinnk wonder if this change to the Xbox One will make them more likely to get it over the PS4, and decide how best to go out on Nintendo’s original online service. Also, we discuss the Amplitude Kickstarter by Harmonix (which, by now, should be fully funded). We review a brand new game in Future Retro, and Pile of Shame isn’t about video games at all!
Leave your own voicemail at 608-492-1923, or just share your thoughts in the show notes at FamicomDojo.TV: http://famicomdojo.tv/podcast/96
NES Remix 2 is chock full of sequels to games from NES Remix 1, and of course NES followups to other games not seen in the series before. Conventional wisdom dictates that sequels are mere cash-ins of a great idea, but sometimes they can perfect that idea in fun and surprising ways. Sean and Vinnk discuss the sequels we think are better than the originals, some clearly superior, others more controversial. Vinnk touches a game designer’s hair in Future Retro, and pile of shame goes digital-only… kind of like this podcast!
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