Online games and news from Japan take the spotlight in this three-dude episode.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/rfn/40868/episode-438-spiritual-predecessor
You know it's going to be a weird one when James starts off with Samba de Amigo for Wii. Yes, it's the terrible sequel to Sega's beloved Dreamcast rhythm game, except this one was developed by Gearbox and doesn't work. Next up is Jonny, who has ventured deeper into Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate and also started Ori and the Blind Forest... on his new Xbox One. That should really help with the backlog. Jon is up last with a return to Destiny, and yet, we do find some common ground between that online experience and Nintendo's own Splatoon.
After the break, we round up several fairly fresh news topics that seem to be focused on Japanese games. You'll hear about the latest updates and optional content for Smash Bros. and Splatoon. There's the complicated announcement of Dragon Quest XI for 3DS, PS4, and... NX? How about those latest Super Mario Maker details! Would you be interested in bizarre Kickstarter exploits for Mighty No. 9 and Red Ash? Well then, maybe the best we can offer is Final Fantasy Explorers coming to the West.
Don't forget to play and comment on the classic Blaster Master for RetroActive Jr. -- time is running out! Also, be sure to catch the important announcement at the end of this episode. We'll see you next week, and the email link is here if you feel like giving us something to talk about when Guillaume returns.
Always know it's good news when the talkback is filled with gratuitous spoiler tags.[SP0ILER]JOIN THE SPOILER TAG OCCULT!!!!![/SP0ILER]
The final 3 minutes is the kind of sparkle that RFN has perfected over the years with the sensible (Gui, Greg, Jonny), borderline crazy (Jon), and hyper-crazy (James). I was sad but was too busy laughing along with them to notice.
And that's really the way to remember it: endless laughter. Thanks all (not just Jonny) for the laughter.
I gotta be honest: there are certainly plenty of excellent panelists left, but I'm not sure a post-Jonny RFN is something that altogether interests me. I love Greg & James and John can certainly be amusing, but to me the glue that held the show together was the level-headedness & insightfulness of Jonny. I'll certainly check out an episode of the "new" RFN, but given that I didn't really start to listen to RFN until Jonny was the host, perhaps it's fitting that I stop listening to RFN when Jonny takes his final bow. *sigh* I dunno.
I will say - James as new host is what really intrigues me. James has played the role recently of topic derailer & coming up with oddity games to talk about, but he's certainly more than capable of being a point of knowledge on business, & I find him to be the biggest authority on that for the podcast.
Thanks to Greg too for being willing to enter the fray, it definitely softens the blow a little to know that he's saddling-up again, and I know it was a big commitment for him when he decided to leave.
I'm glad Greg is returning. I'm not sure anyone else was ready for the RFN primetime slot(maybe Alex Culafi) and replacing Jonny cold without the trial run Gui had was going to be really hard.
I'm ready for this brave new James Jones led world of RFN.
For folks who feel like they might not want to keep listening with j00ny leaving (if you're all going to misspell it as "Johnny" then I'm at least going to roll that old nickname out), I'd ask that you be patient and let the re-organized panelist group find their footing. After Mike and I left in 2007, Jonny and the gang probably took a dozen or so episodes before things clicked, and in the 7+ years since then, the show's gotten better and better every year to the point where, other than some structural similarities, the show I used to host isn't even the same podcast, and RFN is so much better for it.
Honestly, James, Jon, Greg and Gui changing things up is probably the best news you could ask for. RFN is going to be 10 years old in less than a year, and things stagnate. You have to shake things up and reorganize the board or the show gets stale. Jonny did amazing work as the host, and now it's time for James to change the recipe a little. Since everyone involved is still a veteran of the show, I'm sure it'll be in great hands.
And... I actually agree, Karl. I'm hella excited for show evolution, even if it doesn't go in a way that I prefer. I don't think the growing pains will be as bad as the first RFN reboot because these guys are already friends and talk with each other all the time. I did in my half-awake stupor call for an RFN rebrand in my last post because my thoughts are abuzz with just what in the heck James could do to change the face of the show. The reality is it probably won't be that drastic, but we'll see going forward!
I think the next big monster you face (big ugly beetle looking thing that flies around most of the time) will be the first one where you can cut a piece of it off and it'll be the horn.