For a long time, I'd never been one to listen to podcasts. That is, until I took a vacation to Japan back in April of 2007. Faced with a twelve hour plane ride, with only so much battery power in my DS, and a shattered attention span leaving me unable to read books, I quickly burnt some CDs of 1up's Retronauts, which is probably the only podcast I'd figured I'd actually enjoy. It's a bit sad, I suppose, but the voices of Jeremy, Sharkey, Kohler, Shane, and others kept me awake through the groggy transpacific flight. Shortly after I got home, they'd gone on hiatus, which was unfortunate - so what better way to fill the void than to get some of the HG101 contributors together and form our own! I went out, bought a mixer and some microphones from Radio Shack - we would record these live with everyone in the same room, none of that Skype nonsense - and it would rock.
Then we did two podcasts and didn't do a third for another nine months or so. Ooops. In the meantime, of course, Retronauts came back from the grave.
Anyway, the HG101 podcasts, much like the site itself, focuses on gaming outside of the mainstream, both retro and recent. We try to have set topics, although we usually go off on tangets, like much any regular conversations with a bunch of gaming nerds. We hope you enjoy them!
Episode 6:
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Posted Date: 5/05/09 | Length: 210 minutes
Myself, Andrew "Vysethebold" and Rob "Quickpaw" sat down to talk at length about the Sega Master System. And when I say "at length", I mean, AT LENGTH. Including music, the total running time is three and a half hours, which suggests we may have gone a bit overboard. But it's also an extremely extensive podcast, as we discuss pretty much everything related to the system - its origins, its accessories, and its most notable games, including Alex Kidd, Zillion, Wonder Boy, Miracle Warriors, Phantasy Star, Shinobi, Cyborg Hunter, Fantasy Zone, and many, MANY more. (Looking back on it, we forgot to discuss Snail Maze as we mention earlier on. D'oh.)
Music selection:
Way too much Master System stuff
Episode 5:
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Posted Date: 4/16/09 | Length: 90 minutes
This podcast is solely 100% devoted to the 3DO. We discuss why it's the most 90s console in existence, as well as some of its best titles - Star Control II, Total Eclipse, Return Fire - and some of its worse, mostly Plumbers Don't Wear Ties and Virtuoso.
Music selection:
Star Control II
Episode 4:
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Posted Date: 1/31/09 | Length: 2 hours
This time we discuss some of 2008's best games, along with a number of overlooked stuff, jam a bit about Mother 3, lament other recent RPGs that haven't been officially translated, discuss Gamestop and how independent game stores can combat its menace, a bit about the death of EGM, and the Video Games Live! concert.
Music selections:
Intro: Paleozoic Era from Dragon Spirit, doujin remix from Magical Trick Society
Zwei!! 2 - Secundum Abandoned Mine
Mother 3 - Fun Naming, Mom's Hometown
Tales of Hearts - Mysterious Arms Soma
Death Smiles - Burning Halloween Town
Pink Sweets - Svolta!
Devil Summoner: Kuzunoha Raidou vs. King Abbadon - Decisive Battle
Etrian Odyssey - Battle
Civilization 4 - Main Theme
Episode Gaiden
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Posted Date: 5/21/08 | Length: 30 minutes
Myself, Vyse, Joesteele and Sotenga live from the Too Many Games expo in Reading, PA. Here we talk about some of the video game stores in the tri-state (NYC) area, some quick musings about Mario Kart Wii and GTA4, and some discussion on the recent SNK Arcade Classics pack, a handful of Treasure games, and R-Type Command.
Music selections:
Intro - SSH remix of the battle theme from Dragon Quest IV
Ending - X-Multiply - First level
Episode 3:
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Posted Date: 4/30/08 | Length: 90 minutes
Myself, Vyse, Joesteele and Onyx discuss rogue-likes like Baroque and Shiren the Wanderer, some of the Sega Master System's better titles, Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, Persona 3: FES, Arcana Heart, The World Ends With You, along with brief bits about Hokuto no Ken, Contra, Ninja Gaiden and Hanjuku Hero.
Music selections:
Intro: Blue Dragon - Eternity
Shiren the Wanderer - Old Cedar-Lined Highway
Baroque - One Foot in the Grave
Zillion - Planet
Super Dodgeball Brawlers - Japan
The World Ends With You - Calling
Hanjuku Hero Vs 3D - Intro
FFVII: Crisis Core - Theme of Crisis Core
Outro - Space Giraffe - Theme 2
Episode 2
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Posted Date: 7/8/07 | Length: 60 minutes
In this episode, myself, Vysethebold, Neo Rasa, Pitchfork and Joesteele briefly discuss releases like Grim Grimoire and Doki Doki Majou Shinpan, before moving onto our main topic: the waning popularity of 2D fighters and shooters, and what developers could be doing to get them back in the graces of the public.
Music selections:
Random stuff from Doki Doku Majou Shinpan (it's good, I swear!)
Episode 1
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Posted Date: 6/23/07 | Length: 80 minutes
In our first podcast, myself, Joesteele, Vysethebold and Onyx discuss Odin Sphere, Princess Crown, Senko no Ronde, Warzard, Shenmue, Elevator Action (and the Taito Legends 2 pack), Contra 4 and Ouendan.
Music selections:
None