Topic: Radio Free Nintendo: Episode 156

[Jonnyboy117]

Can you really enjoy Wii Sports Resort by yourself? What's happening to Virtual Console? Are bad games just victims of regretful choices? Listen to find out!
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/podcastArt.cfm?artid=19129

 Episode 156: Through an Emulator Darkly    

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In addition to the RFN Reunion show with Karl and the gang, you also get this stout new episode with the real podcast crew! New Business is dominated by the biggest game of 2009, Ripening Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love, but we also squeeze in a few minutes for Klonoa, Resistance: Retribution, and yet another damn mini-game collection for Wii (something about a resort).    

Part 2 is a thorough investigation into the recent drought on Virtual Console, from the disturbing trickle of obscure games to the downright tragic shut-out of the past two weeks (and counting). Why do we expect new (old) games every week? Why do we really care about Virtual Console at all? Current events lead to a wide-ranging discussion of the service, its early days, triumphs like Sin & Punishment, and regional disparities. Also, how easy and cheap is it to release a VC game, really? Maybe not as much as you think.    

That's already a lot of talking, but we're not through yet. The show ends with Listener Mail from four new names, and their questions are all doozies. Are reviewers being unfair to developers? What happens when WaveBirds go extinct? Can WiiWare games be expanded into disc games? Why isn't anyone talking about Little King's Story? Why does it hurt when I pee? Four-fifths of those questions will be answered on this very show.    

Don't forget, the voting for RetroActive #8: SNES Edition ends Thursday, August 6!      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!  

[Sarail]

No way, guys.  Final Fantasy IX is my absolutely fav FF in the series.  The game has the most charming characters, and a very captivating story, too.  Though, I still say that FFVI has THE best story of all the FFs.

Zidane's the man, and Steiner is a hoot.  Gotta love FFIX.  ^_^

[broodwars]

No way, guys.  Final Fantasy IX is my absolutely fav FF in the series.  The game has the most charming characters, and a very captivating story, too.  Though, I still say that FFVI has THE best story of all the FFs.

Zidane's the man, and Steiner is a hoot.  Gotta love FFIX.  ^_^

I'm not a huge fan of FF IX (I thought much of the cast was completely undeveloped and useless, and the plot's really badly paced), but Zidane is indeed awesome.  As for best story, FF VI is up there but I'm really partial to FF X's storyline.  It's just very well-told with a very elaborate and interesting world, and the party is well-constructed to each add something to the story.  In FF VI there really is only a handful of characters that actually matter to the story and the rest just hang around.

[kraken613]

The Pepsi promotion is actually for Rock Band songs. People just exploit it because it gives you Wii Points.

[KDR_11k]

Rythm Heaven for 13$? They've got EBA for 15€ here but I'm not picking it up because of my lack of rythm skills. Amazon's deals of the week are nice though, I got Red Faction Guerilla for ~30€ only a few weeks after it came out. Prices for console games don't drop fast here though, games tend to disappear before they get a pricedrop.

I give game difficulty the benefit of doubt for the first few levels, they want to introduce people at first.

Klonoa Empire of Dreams is available everywhere for 20€ (or was for a LOOOONG time) here.

I'm saddened that the chance of Tingle 2 coming out here is slim since Tingle 1 is in the bargain bins everywhere.
Tingle seems to have the hots for Pingle or whatever your female advisor is called in Rosy Rupeeland so this Tingle doesn't seem to be as weird as the Zelda one (remember he got Tingle'd because he wanted to be rich, not because he wants to be a fairy).

If you want flying as a separate game there's Wing Island...

[Jonnyboy117]

Oh thank goodness, VC isn't dead just yet. Tecmo Bowl is out this week; seems like a good choice to get people's attention once more!

[NWR_insanolord]

James, if you like 3-on-3 basketball against the computer you're going to love it with people. I was playing with some friends over the weekend and that was definitely our favorite in multiplayer. The only problem is with two humans the steals get harder but it seems like shots get blocked a lot more.

[AV]

Oh thank goodness, VC isn't dead just yet. Tecmo Bowl is out this week; seems like a good choice to get people's attention once more!

That came out forever ago. I have it sitting on the SD card as I speak.

I really enjoy 3x3 basketball too. It's simple and fun. I loved the discussion on Virtual Console . The dialog about reviews and game developers was excellent too.

Seriously amazing job. I rated RFN 5 stars right now on iTunes. I reviewed it a while ago but I rated it on the info page as well.

[NWR_DrewMG]

There's a scene in the movie "Hot Rod" where Andy Samberg's character is talking about a safe word for his stunt.  The safe word is "whiskey" but he pronounces it "hwhisskey" and when his team members ask him why he's saying it that way, he reponds "hwhy am i saying it hwhat hwhay?"

I was reminded of that scene listening to Jonny talk on this episode.  He really enunciates the crap out of those wh sounds.

[AV]

There's a scene in the movie "Hot Rod" where Andy Samberg's character is talking about a safe word for his stunt.  The safe word is "whiskey" but he pronounces it "hwhisskey" and when his team members ask him why he's saying it that way, he reponds "hwhy am i saying it hwhat hwhay?"

I was reminded of that scene listening to Jonny talk on this episode.  He really enunciates the crap out of those wh sounds.

now he is going to be self conscience of this quirk and it will annoy him.

[Nick DiMola]

Oh thank goodness, VC isn't dead just yet. Tecmo Bowl is out this week; seems like a good choice to get people's attention once more!

That came out forever ago. I have it sitting on the SD card as I speak.

This new one is the Arcade version.

[Jonnyboy117]

There's a scene in the movie "Hot Rod" where Andy Samberg's character is talking about a safe word for his stunt.  The safe word is "whiskey" but he pronounces it "hwhisskey" and when his team members ask him why he's saying it that way, he reponds "hwhy am i saying it hwhat hwhay?"

I was reminded of that scene listening to Jonny talk on this episode.  He really enunciates the crap out of those wh sounds.

Greg could speak to this, but that may be a result of audio post-processing. My summer living arrangements have resulted in a lot of Skype lag and more ambient noise, which has to be removed in editing. Sometimes these fixes make someone's enunciation sound different. It could also be related to your audio player -- when I play a podcast over my car's tape adapter, there's a lot of sibilance ("s" has a hissing sound) that is not heard over my high quality headphones.

[TofuFury]

I wanted to say I really enjoyed this episode. The VC feature was passionate and makes me wish the RFN crew had a say with how Nintendo ran the service. Releasing VC and Wiiware games on different days makes so much sense.

Also, the discussion over the first listener question was one of the best yet. I thought there were a lot of great points made.

[Jonnyboy117]

Thanks, everyone! This episode did turn out well, even better than I realized at the time. Much credit goes to Greg -- not only for the snappy title, but also his editing toils that make us sound so good. What most listeners (hopefully) don't realize is that the wireless connection at my summer residence has caused some intense Skype lag all summer, and Greg is working overtime to compensate for the conversational awkwardness that frequently arises from that lag. James and Jon also deserve credit for being patient with my lag problem, which is frustrating for all parties involved.

[ejamer]

Great show as usual!  Content is top-notch, editing is consistently good, and the technical extras that you provide (including pictures, chapter breaks, and additional text) are always appreciated.

While glowing compliments like these don't offer much discussion, hopefully they do make your hard work with the show more rewarding.

[Nick DiMola]

Regarding Little King's Story: We just got the review copy in. So keep your eyes out for a review in the near future.

[Sundoulos]

The collective dismissal of Final Fantasy IX pained me.  It's among my favorite RPGs.

[Jonnyboy117]

I can't dismiss a game that I played for over 80 hours. I just think it's the worst Final Fantasy (though I haven't played X-2 or XI).

[noname2200]

I can't dismiss a game that I played for over 80 hours. I just think it's the worst Final Fantasy (though I haven't played X-2 or XI).

Wow, that's surprising, especially since many fans of the older Final Fantasies apparently thought it was something of a return to form (granted, that's not a universal opinion). In any case, it does seem like that style of story/characters/gameplay is going to be abandoned entirely by the series, so at least you'll be happy.

In any case, you seriously should look into Little King's Story. It's a fantastic title that's unfortunately flying under far too many people's radars.

Also, as always, the four of you did a good job on the podcast.

[TheYoungerPlumber]

I like Final Fantasy 4, and FF7 for $10 on PSN is mighty tempting, but I can't see what aspect of it I would enjoy. That game is forever an antithesis of Nintendo in my mind due to the Great War, everything I've heard about it suggests it's a departure from what I enjoy about FF4, and it's not like the 3D graphics will hold up well. Thoughts?

[GoldenPhoenix]

I can't dismiss a game that I played for over 80 hours. I just think it's the worst Final Fantasy (though I haven't played X-2 or XI).

Wow, that's surprising, especially since many fans of the older Final Fantasies apparently thought it was something of a return to form (granted, that's not a universal opinion). In any case, it does seem like that style of story/characters/gameplay is going to be abandoned entirely by the series, so at least you'll be happy.

In any case, you seriously should look into Little King's Story. It's a fantastic title that's unfortunately flying under far too many people's radars.

Also, as always, the four of you did a good job on the podcast.

I've never personally played FF9 though I did watch a friend play it but I got the impression it was Square trying pacify fans of the old games. Not saying that is good or bad though.

[Nick DiMola]

I like Final Fantasy 4, and FF7 for $10 on PSN is mighty tempting, but I can't see what aspect of it I would enjoy. That game is forever an antithesis of Nintendo in my mind due to the Great War, everything I've heard about it suggests it's a departure from what I enjoy about FF4, and it's not like the 3D graphics will hold up well. Thoughts?

Time has done FFVII no favors. I greatly enjoyed the game back in the day, but in a recent attempt at a playthrough I had to quit because the graphics were so atrocious they were hindering my enjoyment and my vision.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I like Final Fantasy 4, and FF7 for $10 on PSN is mighty tempting, but I can't see what aspect of it I would enjoy. That game is forever an antithesis of Nintendo in my mind due to the Great War, everything I've heard about it suggests it's a departure from what I enjoy about FF4, and it's not like the 3D graphics will hold up well. Thoughts?

Time has done FFVII no favors. I greatly enjoyed the game back in the day, but in a recent attempt at a playthrough I had to quit because the graphics were so atrocious they were hindering my enjoyment and my vision.

The funny thing is that I found the graphics pretty bad (excluding the CGI scenes) even when it was new. It had no depth perception and I had a really tough time being the least bit impressed.

[adadad]

Just listened and was happy to hear you guys gave some really good conversation out of my email about devs and reviewers! Probably one of the bigger divides I've heard among the crew too. I will say though I was only summarising/paraphrasing what was said on Out of the Game, and Jeff Green for example did say that he wouldn't change any of his old review scores and would only change something that was unconstructive criticism or something like that (as in he hadn't actually looked back at his 1UP reviews and found great reams of "OMG this game's art director is a retard"...that's what it sounded like anyway - I don't read 1UP).

I imagine that a licenced game is more susceptible to poor design decisions and it must be extremely difficult to project manage as there are an even greater number of outside forces and obstacles affecting development, it's no wonder there are so few licenced titles that achieve greatness, Goldeneye has turned in my eyes from being a great game to being a colossal achievement. As you duly mentioned on the podcast though it's all assumption and speculation so I hereby from now on preface all statements with an If.

Anyway enough rant, good podcast!

[Jonnyboy117]

FF9 is a failed attempt to appeal to fans of the pre-FF7 games. It plays just like FF7, FF8, and even later games like FF10. The main difference is the art style, which is supposed to look like the earlier games but in 3D. Unfortunately, the super-deformed character designs look very strange in 3D, especially with the graphics capability of PSone. Other than the characters themselves, the art design is quite similar to FF7 and FF8, and the graphics technology is obviously the same -- pre-rendered backgrounds, polygonal characters and overworld. Oddly enough, FF9 uses very detailed textures, which look grainy on the PSone -- in that respect, FF7's flat-shaded graphics are more cartoon-style.