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Back by popular demand… or an editor's will, it's another episode of the Negative World Podcast!! This episode, listen in as Ploot, Guillaume, and DrFinkelstein discuss Dillon's Rolling Western, Rhythm Heaven Fever, and Wario Land Shake It in the Now Playing segment. Stick around to hear the answers in another rousing round of "What Do You Fink?"

Finally the guys discuss the importance of release-date timing, their favorite Squaresoft titles from yesteryear, and if or why gaming merchandise has any importance to a gamer.

As usual, the theme music comes from Negative World's owner and dictator, Zero. The music throughout the podcast is taken from Rhythm Heaven Fever, so be forewarned of the delightfully weird interludes.

Comment on the topics, the podcast, the guests, the host, etc. on Negative World! Or, be go ahead and post them on Facebook or Twitter instead.

You can find an enhanced version of this podcast with chapters and art at Negative World Podcast Enhanced or on iTunes.

Full list of episodes

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You know eventually I'll not only download these but I'll actually listen to them.

Posted by

chrisbg99

on: 03/02/12, 08:17

@chrisbg99

Might I recommend starting with this one and working retroactively!?

Posted by

DrFinkelstein

on: 03/02/12, 08:22

Does it really matter as long as I download them though?

Posted by

chrisbg99

on: 03/02/12, 08:26

Listening to it this instant. Hopefully this will help me get through the night. :) Got to work hard! Ploot's talking about Dillon's Rolling Western. I might be interested in this one. We'll see.

Posted by

Davoid

on: 03/02/12, 11:31

Maybe i'll listen, all these topics interest me.

Posted by

anon_mastermind

on: 03/02/12, 15:55

Will listen to this after work while I'm at the gym. I'd like to be on an episode some day but I have no idea what I'd talk about.

Posted by

Scrawnton

on: 03/02/12, 16:08

@Scrawnton

You and others shouldn't be so worried about such a thing. We all love gaming and have our own special interests within it. Just look there for an idea. You're not supposed to be some supreme intellect dissecting gaming at it's core, we're just having fun talking about games! So think of something and come on and join us!

Posted by

DrFinkelstein

on: 03/02/12, 16:57

@DrFinkelstein what's the method of recording? Maybe I'll jump on some week.

Posted by

Scrawnton

on: 03/02/12, 17:08

@Scrawnton

Fink or I record the whole skype conversation, you don't have to do much except try to optimize your connection and have a decent mic.

Don't dilly-dally! People who keep delaying their appearance on the podcast might regret it one day...

Posted by

Guillaume

on: 03/02/12, 17:10

@Guillaume okay, maybe I'll make an appearance soon.. But if ima be sittin on a computer talking, I require a beer lol. So as long as you don't mind a buzzed Scrawnton, I'll do one.

Posted by

Scrawnton

on: 03/02/12, 17:15

@Scrawnton

Just make sure you aren't incoherent and I don't see much a problem with that. We don't want drunk guests lol.

Posted by

DrFinkelstein

on: 03/02/12, 18:54

@DrFinkelstein oh no, I won't be drunk or anywhere close to it. I just like the one beer feeling when hanging out.

Posted by

Scrawnton

on: 03/02/12, 19:00

I literally suggested the same thing when we recorded this episode, lol so I understand.

Posted by

DrFinkelstein

on: 03/02/12, 19:26

Good title! Made me click to see what the heck was going on with "Two and a Half Canadians" lol. :)

Posted by

-JKR-

on: 03/02/12, 23:16

I never knew you could restart from the beginning of the running sequence in Shake It. That will be a lifesaver when I go back and 100% it.

I'm definitely burned out on Mario this generation. We've had five of them in the past six years.

Posted by

Secret_Tunnel

on: 03/04/12, 01:06

Loved this podcast especially the Squaresoft section. Its really funny because I didn't play an RPG on consoles until Final Fantasy X, I missed out on a lot of games, some never made it to Europe but I think it was always a cultural thing. I didn't really know anyone who played these games, we played our platformers and multiplayer beat em ups but RPGs were an unknown until probably the PS1 when everyone was playing Final Fantasy VII. Great to hear about why these games hold such a place in people hearts, I doubt RPG's will every really light my fire and this is probably why, the link to my childhood just isn't there. Lengthy games for me and friends tended to be point and click adventure games like Monkey Island and their ilk.

As for Mario I don't think i would ever complain about too much Mario unless it got so bad i couldn't afford them all. Then it would become a problem.

On merchandise I have had to call it quits on buying stuff, I have loads but it now just goes up the attic collecting dust as theres no room for it anywhere else. I do like to bring down the plushies for the kids though. My eldest loves his Luigi plush.

Posted by

warerare

on: 03/04/12, 09:07

Edited:

03/04/12, 09:10

I love the enhanced podcast as always. Dr. Fink, the DK monster truck looks pretty sweet!

Now one quick thing I wanted to mention: is it just me, or was Dr. Fink's voice volume too low? I was having a hard time hearing him sometimes, then when Guillaume and Ploot would talk I'd have to adjust the volume.

Anyway… Good episode! Great to hear some of you guys gush about Rhythm Heaven Fever. I didn't know much about Dillon's Rolling Western, it sounds interesting. And yes, Shake It is a fantastic game and I need to go back and get all the treasures!

Ummm... this got kind of lengthy when I jotted down my thoughts, so please bear with me, heh.

The release-date timing topic seemed to focus entirely on the Mario series, which is ok. I think Guillaume has a good point. Before, Mario fans would have to wait a long time in between Mario releases, and that didn't always make me happy, though it made each new release a momentous occasion. I do not feel overwhelmed at the moment with the Mario series. I'm sure there will be a hook to NSMB Mii that we don't know about yet (haha, loved how you guys got frustrated by having to read the entire name and resorted to just saying N. S. M. B. W.).

Yeah, I would love it if we went back to a time when a new Nintendo system launch = new Mario game as well. But in the end, it doesn't matter too much when you eventually have such a good variety of Mario titles to pick from. I'm happy Nintendo was able to bring out Super Mario 3D Land so soon within the 3DS launch, after having only announced it prior in the year at GDC.

That's awesome how invested you were with the Game Boy FF Legends titles, Guillaume, and I remember you mentioning before how these kinds of games motivated you to become more proficient at the English language. I always had a great desire to increase my vocabulary as I came across new worlds in my video games. Anyway, on the topic of Square, I wasn't a huge fan of their games at the time of their big releases, but I think the first game I played that I fell in love with and was discussed in the episode is Super Mario RPG. It didn't take long after that before I played and loved their big games, like F.F. IV and VI and Chrono Trigger.

I love my Nintendo merchandise, much like Ploot and DrFink. I've got the t-shirts I wear proudly, I've got the figurines and the plushies (Mario, Pokemon, Zelda, and more), the posters (framed even)… I just love it for some reason. Maybe I'm just proud of the company that has kept me entertained and passionate for all these years. I do see Guillaume's point, and I applaud him for making the effort to read and learn more about the company and its detailed history through books. Ideally, I would be reading them too!

I have a small house and I'd rather not seclude one little area for my gaming stuff. Up to this point my living room is somewhat modest though I do proudly display a bunch of my Nintendo stuff. I never really thought about reducing the Nintendo presence in the living room, especially since I don't have many visitors. However, a recent event happened where I had surprise guests: my wife's classmates came over, and according to them, my collection was pretty cool. Hhm, were they being honest? haha. I don't know, maybe I should be more like Ploot and have a more 'normal' area, we'll see.

Also, I've been to Nintendo World Store twice so far. It's a great place to be and to shop. Yeah, Dr. Fink, there really should be at least one more store, maybe several more. Not only do I like the store for its very cool merchandise, but also for the sense of community among Nintendo fans. If there were more places like this across the country, I would be greatly pleased. You'd have a place to go meet up, play Brawl, StreetPass, etc.

Posted by

roykoopa64

on: 03/04/12, 22:44

@roykoopa64

The audio was bad because I spent a majority of the podcast thinking I was recording from the headset mic, but it was in fact the iMac mic which was farther away. When I was editing I didn't sense much of a problem despite all that room tone but perhaps I should have upped my audio a bit. It was probably too inconsistent to logically deal with. My apologies good sir. I know what happened though and next time wont be a bother.

And yeah! I didn't even consider the whole streetpass thing. I would love a place to go where I could rack that shit up. Get on in Nintendo!

Posted by

DrFinkelstein

on: 03/04/12, 23:15

SPEAKING of game instruction manuals, Illusion of Gaia came with the best one ever. I think there was a standard manual, but there was also an adventurer's journal of sorts. As a kid, I loved it, because it helped me become a little more acclimated with the game and its world. If we ever wind up playing it, you guys should definitely see if it's available online to download anywhere, just to check it out.

Edit: I also once got an NES tin filled with mints. I called it Mint-endo.

Posted by

PogueSquadron

on: 03/05/12, 02:53

Edited:

03/05/12, 03:01

Still listening through the episode. Awesome stuff.

I was motivated to post based on my experience with Final Fantasy that is touched on in the podcast. It is true that, at one time, the name's Squaresoft and Final Fantasy really held a LOT of weight. From FF1 to FFX the games were just stellar and, much like with first party Nintendo games, you just KNEW you were going to get a good experience. You didn't even have to look at reviews or previews because the quality was just a given.

Somewhere around FF11, things got off track .... I never played FF11... it wasn't what I was looking for from FF. Later, someone gave me the special edition of FF12 for PS2. It is still sitting on my shelf unopened. By that point, the characters had crossed over from having "quirky anime/japanese style" to just looking like some strange fashion show for androgynous models. FF13 was even worse in that respect and FF14 is an abject disaster.

Thank goodness the Enix part of Square-Enix is around so that at least the Dragon Quest franchise is still around kicking ass and taking names.

FF7 still stands as my favorite game of all time. If you played it in its day, you know the impact it had. And that level of quality just seems like nothing more than a distant, distant memory. I still think Square can make good games and will in the future. But the FF franchise and name? My confidence is lost.

FF Chrystal Chronicles on the other hand? Much, much better stuff. Even Crystal Bearers was a ton of fun for me!

Posted by

Chocobo_Rider

on: 03/05/12, 22:42