Topic: Radio Free Nintendo: Episode 194

[Jonnyboy117]

Karl pops in to help us talk about games and stuff.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/podcastArt.cfm?artid=23084

 Episode 194: The Greatest Story Ever Tolled    

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It's a five man cast for the duration of this week's show, as current and former RFN hosts Jonny Metts and Karl Castaneda both call in from the Sunshine State of Florida. New Business is nonetheless brisk aside from James' extended impressions of the unsettling Fragile Dreams, as the crew covers some classic Sonic, the faux-classic 3D Dot Game Heroes, Assassin's Creed 2, DJ Hero, and more.    

Next, it's onto a marathon catch-up session of Listener Mail as we field your questions on such diverse topics as our favorite side-scrollers for Wii, storytelling in games, the merits of a portable Smash Bros., Nintendo's preoccupation with the Japanese market, and which was the bigger affront to civilization: RFN Episode 103, or the Drunkcast? Finally, Karl gives us the scoop on the next edition of Reset Button, and a tale from the past is exhumed against Jonny's wishes that may just be too dreadful for public consumptionÂ…    

  We're always looking for great Listener Mail to read and discuss on the show, so please send your questions or comments! (We really love seeing your praise and feedback regarding the show itself; however, in the interest of time, we may edit your letter to be read on the podcast.)      Credits:    

This podcast was edited by Greg Leahy.    

Music for this episode of Radio Free Nintendo is used with permission from Jason Ricci & New Blood. You can purchase their newest album, Done with the Devil, directly from the record label, Amazon.com, or iTunes, or call your local record store and ask for it!    

Additional music for this episode of Radio Free Nintendo is copyrighted to Nintendo, and is included under fair use protection.  

[Jonnyboy117]

I'm trying to decide which is the worst episode title: my original lame movie reference "The Fifth Man", the awful pun Greg substituted, or the shameful catchphrase... "Grapple Them Titties".

[NWR_Karl]

Haha, oh man, I can't believe Greg cut the story. It's probably for the best, I suppose. Still, what a tease!

[Shaymin]

After all the buildup, when the slow fade kicked in at the end I nearly whipped my iPod across the room. Now to find out who to blame for this...

[Yoshidious]

You can interpret the episode title as one or both of the following:
 
1) My ultimate tribute to Jon's pun-tastic sense of humour;
2) A passive-aggressive response to having to write the article after editing the show all weekend.
 
As for holding back "the story", of course I'm responsible for that, and that is the key word here - it was the only responsible thing to do. This Radiohead video depicts what would happen if someone were to allow such information to be shared with the public -
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIFLtNYI3Ls
 
Now, I do still have the audio of "the story" being told. I have made arrangements so that if anything unforseen should happen to me, the information is to be released to the world's major newspapers and security services.

[happyastoria]

Jeez, Greg had to slowly take us out of our listening pleasure, but you could of done what the Beatles did with their song "Helter Skelter" - The song fades out then slowly creeps back.

[Halbred]

... "Grapple Them Titties".

Helloooooo DIY idea!

[TJ Spyke]

Do you guys know how many countries you have listeners in? There was a letter this week from someone in Saudi Arabia, last week I think there was one from someone in the United Arab Emirates.

[Crimm]

To my knowledge we do not. I could ask Aaron if he has metrics on such things. We host the file, even for iTunes, so in theory we could figure it out.

[gbuell]

I was really glad to hear some Killer 7 love from Karl in this episode. I find it a bit disheartening - and telling - that in the midst of a discussion of why video games don't have more interesting stories, one of the very few video games that has a truly dense, unique and thought-provoking story gets dismissed as simply being "crazy". Keep the Killer 7 love alive, Karl, you're not alone!

Also, has anyone told Karl he sounds just like Merlin Mann?

[Halbred]

Karl's only 21?

I am officially old.

[NWR_Karl]

Also, has anyone told Karl he sounds just like Merlin Mann?

I just looked up Merlin Mann on YouTube, and after 10 seconds I actually totally got what you're saying. We have very similar speech patterns.

It could just be that I have one of those voices, though - I've also been told that I sound like Kevin Rose and Dan Trachtenberg.

Also, eff yeah @ more killer7 praise. I'll always love that game for being the quirky jumble of ideas that it is.

[noname2200]

Great show as always, and fantastic edit at the end there.

I'd add that while Fallout 3 is a fantastic title that has gobbled up nearly 200 hours of my time, it's even worse than Oblivion in terms of character creation.  Half the skills sound good but are borderline useless; good luck knowing which ones those are in advance though!

[yoshi1001]

Jeez Jonny, why doesn't your friend like "Ice Straight Up Baby"? That's my favorite mix in the game (seriously!). By they way, great chapter art for that Greg.

[NWR_Lindy]

Karl's only 21?

I am officially old.

Poppycock.  I'm literally old enough to be Karl's father (assuming I fathered a child at 15).

[ShyGuy]

Fathered a child at 15? I know I always assumed you knocked up a girl in your sophmore year. Karl came out 9 months later!

[Crimm]

I could have fathered Karl, if I conceived him at two and a half.

Also, two notes.
1. When I listed Shooters with "the same story" I listed Fallout, I meant to say Resistance.
2. Nice job by Greg white-washing his defense of Imperialism. Kipling ain't got nothin' on this. 

[NWR_Lindy]

Fathered a child at 15? I know I always assumed you knocked up a girl in your sophmore year. Karl came out 9 months later!

Apocryphal.

[broodwars]

I enjoyed the discussion about Nintendo's seeming lack of interest in catering outside of Japan, considering I was going to pose a similar question as well.  Honestly, over the past couple of years I've seen my interest in Japanese-developed software waning as their creative output steadily declines, so if all these Japanese software companies want to keep catering so hard to the homeland I get the feeling that's going to affect me very little.  I didn't know Nintendo of America was that small at only roughly 100 employees (you'd think Treehouse alone would be that big).

[TheYoungerPlumber]

In response to the question on critically acclaimed or at least popular games I just don't get, I could include pretty much any first person shooter, including Perfect Dark. To me, it's all about Goldeneye. For some reason, PD doesn't do it for me, even when playing with Bond levels & guns. But on the Nintendo side, for the life of me I couldn't get into Animal Crossing in spite of paying full retail price (at least I got a memory card out of it), and I've never really been a WarioWare fan.

[Yoshidious]

Nice job by Greg white-washing his defense of Imperialism. Kipling ain't got nothin' on this. 

If it's a choice between Imperialism and this I'll take the old Empire any time.

[Kytim89]

Also, has anyone told Karl he sounds just like Merlin Mann?

I just looked up Merlin Mann on YouTube, and after 10 seconds I actually totally got what you're saying. We have very similar speech patterns.

It could just be that I have one of those voices, though - I've also been told that I sound like Kevin Rose and Dan Trachtenberg.

Also, eff yeah @ more killer7 praise. I'll always love that game for being the quirky jumble of ideas that it is.

In high school a kid in my class was a MGS fan, myself included, and he once told me that my voice sounds like a younger Snake. My voice does sound a little like him, or his voice actor David Hayter. You are not alone.

[greybrick]

I could have fathered Karl, if I conceived him at two and a half.

I could have fathered Karl, as long as he was born during or after October.

[Chad Sexington]

Who fathered Karl?

I demand a poll.

[noname2200]

Who fathered Karl?

I demand a poll.

Karl's father is.....
Karl's mother!