Dear Negative World forum folks,

The past few days I've been listening to Nintendo World Report's latest podcast in their "Radio Free Nintendo" line. It's Episode 200 this past week and the guys wanted to do a big discussion. While they often do have thoughtful discussions, this week's about the DS is not only epic in size but epic in nature. I just really needed to remind people of why they are so great.

This week's episode is over two and a half hours long, which shows you the scope of their love for Nintendo and the scope of their discussion. It's so long I've been listening to it for multiple days. A little while mowing the lawn. Then more on my way to and from work. And I'm gonna finish it up today.

These guys have something that not all podcasts can handle... insight. It's great fun listening to these guys talk about Nintendo and the history of the DS. They touch upon the launch, the transition from GBA to DS, the games that really made the system become a must have, etc. It's so fascinating (considering I wasn't paying this kind of attention to the situation at the time) how the PSP was really a scare for Nintendo initially. The guys explain how Nintendo kept their share of the market and continued to grow it. There's some excellent insight and really, there's no fanboyism either. This is what I would consider a "mature" podcast because these are grown adults having adult conversations about Nintendo and it's interesting. Hell, this is NPR material but for the gaming world.

One of my favorite things too about this episode and the podcast in general is how much these guys get along and have genuine fun in their discussions. They tell jokes and enjoy each other's stories. I don't have a lot of gaming friends, less so as I get older even, but my Mario Kart Wiifing lately and listening to podcasts like these, it just keeps me around a small group of great gamers I can share my grandest hobby with.

I really urge you all to listen to this podcast if you like the DS, or Nintendo in general. They will not disappoint. I feel like I learn a lot every time I listen to a podcast and that makes it not just ambient noise like some podcasts, but it makes it media worth consuming.

That is all. There are 200 episodes to listen to, so get started somewhere!

Nintendo World Report
NWR Podcasts
Episode 200's Page (with download links)

Edit: Just got to the end of the epic podcast and the music they lead out on makes me so happy. It's probably my favorite 'credits' song in Nintendo history. I was always so affected by it in 1996 and through till today.

URL to share (right click and copy)

Heh heh.

Hmm. Well, I'm like halfway into it so maybe I'll get a listen later on.

Anand and I are celebrities!

Like you aren't going to listen to it eight times now...

@Zero
Omigod, that guy is a younger and nerdier Anand than me!! I am defeated (even though I'm now an internet celeb).

So I listened to their response to my letter and... I think they sort of kind of missed the point. I brought Starfox 64 up as an example of Nintendo doing IN-GAME dialogue to tell a story, which is what they were talking about a few podcasts ago. In respect to my comment, they seemed to focus more on the actual quality of the writing and voice-acting, which apparently they think is really bad (which also seems to miss the point, what exactly do they want from Starfox? And I don't think it is one of the most quotable games ever from an ironic standpoint, people actually enjoyed the in-game dialogue.) And then near the end they made some comment about how Starfox 64 is as close to Uncharted as Nintendo has done, and I thought but wait... the point was 95% of the dialogue in Starfox 64 happened during gameplay, which isn't the case with Uncharted at all (still tells most of its story through a ton of non-playable cutscenes.)

Ah well.

@Zero

Write back. They might continue the discussion.

Too lazy. Besides, the discussion just gets boring at that point, because they can either A. misunderstand me again or B. agree with me but then what more can really be said?

Did you guys listen to the Charity show? The Gamecube section, featuring a few insiders, was surprisingly awesome. We should try to get that dude on NWP.

@Anand

Yeah, I finished all nine hours of that bad boy the other day. All nine hours were awesome but I did really love the Gamecube segment. Very very interesting stuff.

^ I liked the "Connectivity" podcast that discussed the Gamecube stuff too. It was a great episode, brought up some nostalgic memories of Nintendo's last-gen console.

@Anand

I listened to the whole thing (split into three parts!), all of it was really well done. I usually post in their forums after hearing an episode, though I don't really know anyone at their forum (I'm definitely not an active poster). It's cool they were able to get so many contributors on the day-long show. Some segments were better than others, though the GCN discussion was definitely a highlight.

@Zero True dat. What's more effective, interrupting gameplay so Zelda can tell you how to beat Ganon? or Farah exchanging banter with the Prince during Sands of Time?

@roykoopa64
You should call in next time!

@PogueSquadron
Rather than Half-Life or Uncharted, Sands of Time (and Super Metroid (and ICO?)) should be held up as an example of how to tell a story in a video game.

@Anand

That would have been great! But I was terribly busy that day and out of the house for the most part.

Rebonack already mentioned it in the Podcasts Thread, but I was on episode 282 of Radio Free Nintendo. I mentioned Negative World although I don't think I did a good job "selling" it to people. I didn't want to take up too much time, plus I was nervous!

The guys were super nice, though, and it was a lot of fun. The recordings are loooong, it went from 8:30 to midnight. The methodology to record it was different from the NW podcast, too: we each had to record our own audio. A necessity, because the quality of the Skype call was pretty uneven, and the lag worse than I expected.

I can't believe Greg edits that together every week-end. What a guy.

@Guillaume

Congratulations! I'm sincerely happy you got the chance to be on the show, and that our community is getting a little bit of publicity. I don't think it matters too much you didn't "sell" NW that much. Sounds like you did enough! (and... there's still PAX East of course!)

And I posted it over in the podcasts thread, but what the hell, this deserves to be posted again:

Radio Free Nintendoepisode 282
A momentous occasion for our Negative World community.. ah, how proud I am to be a member here!

Bravo, Guillaume. Bravo.
(I haven't listened to all of it yet).

@Guillaume

I believe it was a great plug for the site. Well done! This is my first time listening to their podcast.

Currently listening to the podcast. :) Pretty good! Good job Guillaume!

@Guillaume
Why were you nervous? You should have talked up a storm about NW. I would have. Have me do it next time.

Thing is, NW really is one of the best Nintendo forums on the net from what I've seen. The only other Nintendo forum I know of that is as active as NW is IGN's Wii Lobby. And this place probably has a better overall community than there.

Did you at least tell the story of how many of us migrated from IGN's Wii General Board after we all collectively got sick & tired of IGN's crap?

WrathOfSamus777 said:

Did you at least tell the story of how many of us migrated from IGN's Wii General Board after we all collectively got sick & tired of IGN's crap?

-He did.

It was a pleasant surprise to hear Gui on there as I listened last night. Good job, buddy,