So I just started listening to this episode on the way back from my local Japanese supermarket. Scary.

I bought Geist back in the day and enjoyed it, but it is a severely flawed game.  By far it's most notable problem is the just plain random difficulty spikes throughout the last 1/5 or so of the game, culminating in one of the worst-implemented Final Boss sequences I've ever seen (I never did beat the game, largely because the controls are just so horrible for that last battle).  The game in general is also extremely fond of its puzzles having one and only one solution, so there's a very limited set of things you can possess.  The general FPS action was also pretty horrible, but at least the game had a lot of interesting ideas.  A pity it never really takes off with them.

This new "overlooked game" segment instrigues me, and I think I'll have one to throw in the mailbag as well now that's also from the GCN era.

great episode guys. i laughed allot. i was playing metroid prime (trilogy) as I listened.

I'm a winner ! My letter was played on the show  ;D ;D :D :D :D

I'm surprised as I play the game and how much the graphics really hold up. Seriously the art direction is so fantastic. Maybe it's the progressive mode and widescreen but the Phendrana Drifts are just so gorgeous.

Geist is a game that should be revisited on Wii and maybe taken up by Retro/N-Space partnership.

Now that would be a cool idea: Retro doing a Geist sequel using their Metroid Prime Trilogy tech.  It would be the most gorgeous tongue-in-cheek ghost-possession game ever.  Make it so!  ;)

You can't toggle the hint in Shadow Complex at low difficulty? I never played it at below hard but it always said "X: toggle blue line" on the map screen. I also beat it by accident by causing that room self-d but finding the final boss fight did take the hint system for me because I couldn't guess where that thing would spawn.

In a weird way, it's a good thing that the letters were held back for a massive catch-up session, because it made for a lot of interesting discussions that never got stale because as soon as everything had been said about something, the conversation could go completely in another direction. I like the sound of this new weekly Underdog Shout-Out - it would almost be like having a miniature RetroActive every episode, and who knows, I might be persuaded to pick up a previously unknown hidden gem.

Quickly going back to my question about reactions towards remakes, I was spurred on to write in after reading a review for NPC: Pikmin 2 in a magazine, where they gave it a glowing appraisal for the whole double page spread, but in the summary box, the sole con was that it was a five year old game, which lead to them scoring the game lower than when they reviewed it on GameCube. Now, I can understand that criticism if the game hasn't aged well - if GoldenEye or Perfect Dark were remade, I'd agree with that sentiment because the years haven't been kind to them - but Pikmin 2, along with several others that have been redone for Wii (and DS), is more timeless. I can't think of any similar games advancing the formula that much or well in the five years since this came out, so I think these sort of 'old age' complaints are often invalid. In some cases though, it does apply, and you guys covered the spectrum of good and not-so-good rereleases pretty thoroughly.

Last point: I don't think enough people credit you for this, but you four are very funny people. Laugh out loud hilarious sometimes. Especially Jon, he needs to be allowed to talk more. Be loud and assertive, Jon, don't let the others drown you out.

BTW, with all this talk about Spiderman I've ordered it off Amazon. Games aren't as cheap in mainland Europe as in Britain though, we don't get 3 month old games for a tenner or stuff like that.

Now to decide which game I should give a shout out to...

Hahaha, yeah, this is what I always hear: "Talk more, Jon".  I guess if I don't have anything to say, I just don't say it.  Like with the episode a few weeks back in which Greg, James, and Jonny all talk about the intricacies of Wii Sports Resort.  I don't have the game (or even Wii MotionPlus), so I had NOTHING to offer on the matter aside from "Sounds cool...if I knew what you were talking about."  Heck, I didn't even go to E3 so I couldn't even fall back on that experience.

I think what I'll start doing is breaking out into random profanity-laced tirades in the middle of a conversation.

Damn, I was thinking of emailing in to ask if you guys had had any experience with shitty FMV games and was going to ask specifically about Plumbers Don't Wear Ties but you beat me to it!

That's a big difference between Jon and myself... I will interject into any discussion, even if just to ask a question. I consider it part of my job as host, but it's also just a conversational tool I've picked up over the course of doing podcasts.

Always good to hear from "Bearrorism Expert" James. What was that sound effect you played over his comment regarding Mario & Sonic? Sounded metallic. Speaking of sound effects, you should use the Duck Hunt "duck caught" sound effect as a stinger transition sometime.

Interesting to hear that Fossil Fighters isn't a complete Pokemon clone. I played the demo on the Nintendo Channel, which only included the cleaning portion. It seemed okay.

A new commercial format that makes sense, metroid/dinosaur/cho aniki discussion, lots of reader mail... a very robust podcast experience. Can't ask for more

I'm not too far in but I didn't expect to hear about the ExciteStrike.... how many weeks has it been now? 17?

20 I think.

Great episode! The surplus of letters provided a nice varying discussion. So many references in this episode, and the zingers were funny too.

You know, in Mexico they refer to RFN as "El Podcasto Robusto".

It's true.

Drunk confessions of Jonny. Has any fan sent you guys liquor? That seems to be a popular thing to do with podcasts. Booze or candy.

BEYOND!  ;)  Yeah, an "all drunk" podcast would be interesting...if we hadn't already had it in 103.  Problem with that episode, though, was that everyone was sober.  :)

No, would you like to be the first? If you can't send it to all four of us (in separate states/countries), you can just ship it to me, and I'll drink enough for the whole group.

...in all seriousness, I am not a heavy drinker and rarely have any alcohol before/during RFN. This was my last episode to record from Texas, and I was trying to get rid of some vodka that I bought early in the summer and never got to use.

An all drunk podcast with the normal crew would be the last time I'd ever listen to RFN. One particular member on the crew better not get drunk anytime soon period on the podcast!

There was a section in it where Greg just had such a weird outburst. I htink it was where someone said "The Bear Jones" and Greg just went "oh for fuck sake" but it was semi covered over the laughter. What was that about?

I did not catch this.

I had to listen about 5 times to make sure i hadn't misheard.

I think Greg needs to explain himself!

I'm re=listening to the whole thing again now to find it.

If you listened to it so many times, I'm surprised you only remember it coming after "The Bear Jones" and not after James said "Mario and Sonic--BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG". I left in my genuinely horrified reaction (alongside Jon's gleeful laughter and Jonny's simple "ouch, ouch, ouch") to James' remark for comedic effect, though apparently that didn't work unfortunately.

When we recorded the episode, I worked out that it was then ExciteStrike week 18 (i.e. 18 weeks since the game came out in the US without an EU date). Motorstorm Pacific Rift Platinum actually comes out this week, not next as I thought at the time, so that will be during week 19.

THERE IT IS! I only remembered The Bear Jones but completely forgot what happened after that.

I only remembered you swearing like that because it was so unexpected and you rarely swear and your voice is the most attention-grabbing of the RFN crew.

Don't suppose there'd be any chance of someone spreading some light as to what James actually said? Ha ha it must've been pretty bad by the sound of the aftermath (you don't swear often on the podcast Greg!)

It is tough, I am going to say it had some homosexual connotations.

OK I give in: James finally revealed what was in the briefcase in Pulp Fiction, and I determined that the world just isn't ready to know what that is yet.

Bearrorists?

Hmm I hope whatever it was could be said to be morally upstanding at least! 'Mario & Sonic: Holocaust Denier Hunters' anyone?

Was it really so bad it needed to be removed Greg?  In my defense, I was baited into it. 

Did James Jones say the N word or R word or something? THIS IS BIGGER THAN JANET JACKSONS WARDROBE MALFUNCTION

What happened to the RetroActive poll?

FREE JANET

I just thought it would be funnier if the listeners didn't hear what it actually was, only our reactions to it. As ever, the imagination is so much more powerful than plain, boring, borderline-offensive reality.

I asked the same question a week ago.  I received no response.

Either Jonny's just busy or they're spacing out the RetroActives thanks to all the pansies who complained in the last TalkBack thread.

Limited to one per customer.

Hey sorry to leave you hanging on RetroActive. We're working on some special plans that may or may not use up the next RetroActive slot and push the Genesis poll back to the one after that. I think most people will be very happy with this if it works out, but I'm not going to jinx it by promising something specific just yet.

All aboard the RetroMachoActive express

Lindy finally doing the Cho Aniki love fest? Can't wait.

"Very happy" (wink wink nudge nudge)

If you love Cho Aniki it will love you back.