What’s the deal with so many games pretending to be made 20 years ago? And why are so many of them showing up on portables? We take a look at “new retro” games in this episode.
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KC [at] thepocketplayers.com
JV [at] thepocketplayers.com
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KC is a freelance writer and Editor-in-Chief of The Pocket Players. He has been an editor for numerous magazines and hosted several podcasts, including The Pallet Tribune and GameStation Radio. He believes a black hat is a sure sign of great character. @Skeith27
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January 7, 2013 at 12:17 AM
Is it just me, or was the music in this episode really loud compared to you two? o.O
January 7, 2013 at 3:55 PM
I had some technical issues with the volumes in general in this episode. I may need to invest in a new microphone and/or mic stand to keep it steady.
January 7, 2013 at 4:47 PM
Sounds like you guys had a better holiday week than I did. Came down with gastroenteritis and strep. It was *not* a fun week XD
I’m satisfied with the length of time spent on each segment this week. :) It felt more balanced; you started transitioning into the main topic about half way in, and that felt more natural to me.
I noticed that weird problem with the audio levels as well, especially in the beginning of the podcast, though it seemed to work itself out a bit ten to twenty minutes into the podcast. At the very least, it wasn’t as fluctuating as it was early on as the episode progressed.
You may find the event mode in Theatrythm will grow on you over time. I wasnt crazy about it myself at first, but a few of my favorite songs are event songs, so I had to get used to it. I do agree that the battle stages are the most fun. They feel pretty epic, plus there’s that mix of nostalgia with the older songs. I enjoy the field songs too, especially the chocobo sections when I first started playing; I thought they were really cute. I’m curious to know what songs you fail at the most, if any. I can generally get an S or higher on most songs, but there are a few that I’ve actually failed a few times on Expert and had to practice to win.
Your discussion on the more visually intense graphics of that old school style FF game had me wondering if “retro” is supposed to include 8-bit only? I took a look at the graphics on the game and do agree that they maybe tried to smooth them out too much. But for me, I get the same sort of retro nostalgia with 16 bit style graphics as I do 8 bit, if not more so, since it was the SNES that I really grew up with as opposed to the NES.
I think that’s why some indie games like Minecraft and Terraria appeal to me, especially the latter. Terraria felt like a mash-up of Castlevania and Super Metroid, and I absolutely loved that about the visual style; it benefits from modern styles of art, but it’s definitely got that old style feel, at least for me.
And if those two games can count as things I play multiplayer, then that’d be it, and mostly minecraft. It’s fun to build things together with friends, especially the folks I’ve come to know well on the net. Otherwise, the most I ever did online was visiting other people’s towns in Animal Crossing and selling my items in Castlevania.
I don’t think my taste in games have changed much at all over the years. My favorite genre is still RPGs, I still enjoy a classic platformer, and sprited graphics are still my favorites. Even after twenty years of gaming, I’m still not that into shooters or beat ‘em ups, and if I’m looking to reply a game, I’m pretty likely to default to a pokemon or Final Fantasy title, though Square Soft games only, pretty much. I’m not a huge fan of where Square Enix has taken the games and have not played any since XII, which I did not enjoy and did not finish ^^’
January 7, 2013 at 10:04 PM
So you don’t hate us?! :D
Also, if you don’t mind (and if we end up remembering), I’d like to mention a few great points you made on the podcast. Would that be ok?
January 10, 2013 at 5:13 PM
Well, you already horrified me by reading my last comment on the podcast, so why not :P
January 10, 2013 at 10:14 AM
Ohhh, gastroenteritis…the kissing disease. Tehehe.
January 10, 2013 at 10:16 AM
Oh, man, totally forgot to bring up the Penny Arcade game, “On the Rainslick Precipice of Darkness” that recently made its way to iOS. That game is also pretty “Newtro.” Is that a good term for it?
January 14, 2013 at 12:05 AM
I like it. We’ll use it in the future.
January 10, 2013 at 8:51 PM
I feel like that music you were talking about from FFXI is alot like the Great Sea music from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. That is such a good song, but the one flaw in that game is that you have to spend SO much time on the sea, and you just want to kill the song after you finish half the game.
January 10, 2013 at 8:57 PM
oh and i could have sworn that I sent you guys an email with my answer to the fortnight question, but you guys said you only got one…
January 14, 2013 at 12:06 AM
I’m sorry to hear that! Why don’t you send it again, and we’ll try to address it next episode?
January 19, 2013 at 7:55 PM
Thank’s KC.
January 20, 2013 at 9:31 PM
Anytime, little cuz!