PixlBit

I was thinking about Jet Set Radio for cell shaded but didn't realize it was anime, cause I rarely played it. I'm mad at myself for forgetting Elite Beat Agents in this discussion.

I should play Hellblade, since it sounds like what I want right now while I'm unable to really get into Horizon. It's just too daunting and I end up playing stuff like Sonic Mania. Having a Netflix backlog with superhero shows isn't helping. I do want to finish Horizon though. It just seems like too much of a time sink now.

For the record, it's odd to hear it said N64 was my first system, cause while it was the first one gifted to me specifically, I definitely played plenty of NES and SNES growing up; I'd honestly SNES impacted me more than 64 growing up.

I played the Atari 2600 and NES first, but my actual first piece of video game hardware was the original Game Boy. I didn't get an NES until about a year before it was discontinued. I would rent the console on special occasions and play it at friend's houses.

That's cool. I actually grew up around NES, SNES and Game Boy being readily available because of my older brother. So while it's fair to say N64 was my first system, it doesn't really feel like it to me. Like it honestly feels wrong to say for some reason. Nostalgia is weird.

I didn't know you played 2600. My older cousins had one, but I've never played one outside of emulators.

Thanks to my 8 years of indie game retail, I have been lucky enough to get my hands on nearly every game console from the beginning of gaming to 2005. I've kept mostly up to date since, although I have yet to play a Switch. 

Also, Halo chief90 has been here a while and Knight Driver was born in the 70s, so your comment about listeners being too young to remember things was funny in that context. Haha. 

You are not a dick, Julian. We just have different tastes based on levels of nostalgia for certain games and you make that clear to us. Lol Great ending song choice.

PS

As it turns out, my favorite 1990 game by far would be Solar Striker on Game Boy. I played the hell out of that thing, but it didn't show up when searching 1990 video games. Uuuuuuggghhh

I know we have listeners older than Angelo and I, but I get an overwhelming impression that a good chunk of our listeners are around ten-twelve years younger than we are, which will definitely make these final Chrono Crossings interesting. Sure, a lot of people have likely played the games made in 1985-1989, but games are not as easy to access in their original forms as movies are.

Oh, I'm not at all trying to say you're wrong to think most listeners are around my age and less experienced with older games; I just thought it was funny it came up after Knight Driver's entry. Lol

Was Mario Bros./Duck Hunt '85? Guessing that's why you're stopping there, cause NES?

Yeah, we're stopping at '85 because what pre-NES stuff we've played is not very comprehensive. We could probably go all the way to '80, but it would all be arcade releases. 

I've been wanting to put more arcade releases down, but 80s would be mostly before my time. I loved Area 51 as a youngling though.

Great podcast guys. How the heck did I miss so many great anime game options? Odin Sphere and Dark Souls should have made my list. Dans always been entertaining in Giantbomb. Hearing him talk himself out of then into something on a dime is hilarious. Most recently him eating a pickle. I have to say that I miss him in Giant Bombcast though. I felt he would really meld great with Beastcast since hes funny and over the top like their crew but it seems like he's been more of a background character on there. It's really unfortunate since he was regular a highlight on Bombcast. What's your thought on that Julian?

I definitely have to check out Hellblade. Seems right up my alley. I will probably wait for a sale on it though since it's digital only. I buy almost all digital only games through sales unless it's something I'm really anticipating. 

Horizon is an amazing game that I feel will always be compared to Breath of the Wild and therefore inferior. Though I'd easily pick Horizon over BotW. The story in Horizon is very interesting and I loved the way it played out. I'm looking forward to a sequel more than Zelda. Hopefully they don't both come out within 2 weeks of each other again. Though that's improbable since Zelda won't come out for another 7 years. 

Stage Select:

1. Samus (Super Metroid): Gamings greatest girl needs a spot on here. 

2. Pyramid Head  (Silent Hill 2): One of the icons of horror games would be awesome. Its practically finished if we can just import it from Egypt. 

3. Tetramino (Tetris): Any shape except the square. Damn you and your brethren square! 

4. Amaterasu (Okami): The Sun goddess deserves a spot and everybody loves dogs right? 

Chrono Crossing: Tetris 

This game defined the game boy. It's gameplay was addicting and the music still plays visibly in my mind. This original version may still be the best version of the game possibly only losing out to the Tetris DS game that sprinkled Nintendo themes into it. 

I actually prefer the Beastcast over the Bombcast now. Vinny was always my favorite, so I was sad when he left the West coast, but with Dan that show has really come into its own. Part of that has to do with me just not liking Ben all that much. I don't find him to be funny, and his voice grates on my ears. The egg discussion from last week's Beastcast is marvelous, and I love how Jeff just can't wrap his head around Dan's weird food stuff. 

Yeah Ben hasn't clicked with me yet either. Hes fine but not a good Dan replacement. I started Bombcast late so didn't even know Vinny. I thought Beastcast was gonna be their 2nd rate podcast so skipped it for a few weeks after I discovered Bombcast.

Eventually I was looking for new stuff to listen to and tried it. I actually wanted to dislike it because another podcast as long as Bombcast (which I appreciate now. BTW thanks for another long episode. I'm sure it's for me, right?) seemed like too much. But Vinny immediately pulled me in and I found myself preferring Beastcast except Dan was my favorite and was on Bomb.

When he announced his heading to Beastcast I was stoked. Now though I feel he hasn't shined as much. Though he does seem to be melding better now than he did the first few weeks. Abby is a solid addition though I can definitely go without the "Margaret" twin sister from Australia. That was a joke that overstayed its welcome, lol. I like her much more than other women in podcasts. Some seem to try too hard or act self entitled but she seems sincere. It's just before I felt they had 2 excellent podcasts and now I feel there's one. Bombcast is still great but I'm not as into it without Dan. I can't wait for GOTY deliberations. I'm dying for next year's as soon as they finish, lol. 

Have you tried CAG Cast or The Co-optional podcast Julian? They are both excellent. Part of what I like about CAG Cast is the trio dynamic. It reminded me of NWP which helped draw me in to it. Also the latest episode is titled, "We Dont Really Wear Pants." Co-optional reminds me of Bombcast and I like the main 3 on there as well. They always have a guest or 2 with them. Though the recent releases the last 30 or so minutes can be skipped. I think it was different before they started adding Steam releases. That like 20 new games a day. TB knows that and is trying to rework that segment which really drags but the rest of the show is great. 

Oh, man, the Giant Bomb crew is my Beatles. If you have a chance, go back and listen to the Game of the Year deliberation podcasts for 2008 and 2010. I miss Ryan so much, and the dynamic of the original crew was amazing. I got to meet Ryan and Vinny at E3 2010 and they were super nice. 

I haven't tried those two podcasts, but I'll have to check them out. I'm way behind on my normal shows right now, but I really want to try some new shows, too.

I just started getting into the Bombcast because I wanted something new to listen to...  I was unsure about adding the Beastcast.  I just started an episode of Beastcast, and I think you may be right.  It has a better feel within 5 minutes than the Bombcast...

Stage Select:

4. John Carmack. I'm admittedly not the biggest Doom guy, because I didn't have a PC in the days when it was huge, but there's something about games being called "Doom clones" for a long period of time, that leads me to believe this guy deserves a spot on the mountain. Can't deny his influence on the industry.

3. Hironobu Sakaguchi. I like Final Fantasy a lot, and I especially like the ones he was involved with. They were just better games, and there were a lot less unnecessary zippers. This guy made RPG's cool to me, and that's special.

2. Hideo Kojima. His games are always cool, and I loved how he was one of the first to really make me feel like I was playing an interactive movie. I think he's influenced the industry a lot, and I don't want to imagine gaming without him... Please don't make me do that.

1. Shigeru Miyamoto. I may not be the world's biggest Nintendo guy these days, but when Nintendo ruled the gaming world, boy did they rule with an iron fist, and this man's games were a big reason why. The fact that he's still making games with crazy new concepts is nothing short of amazing. I actually did a presentation in 6th grade on Nintendo, which basically turned into a Miyamoto shrine. So thanks for that A+ Mr. Miyamoto. Keep doin' you.

Chrono Chrossing:

I'm gonna pick my personal favorite beat em up of all time, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game. I liked me some Ninja Turtles in those days, so this filled my young heart with joy. I have many fond memories of... getting to the third level before dying... I wasn't very good at games then.

My Episode Comment: I sure hope I did Stage Select correctly this week, as the previous post picked... not real people. I thought too hard about real developers at work all day today to not use them, so I'm sticking with my picks. Also, I've only met one other person who played Mendel Palace and I think we were both shocked that somebody else knew what it was and had played it. It's pretty obscure. (I believe it was Gamefreak's first game actually before that whole Pokemon thing happened) And I don't think you're a dick Julian, you're just an honest dude who isn't afraid to give his opinion. I know the struggle, as I'm kind of the same way. Keep doin you bro! OH! And Yakuza Zero is a lot of fun. I completely forgot about that game. It's actually a good place to jump onto the series as it's a prequel story, and the mini games are super great.

You can put whoever you want on your Rushmore! I have a mixture of real people and game characters on mine. 

Chrono Crossing is getting real interesting. We got a special submission for next episode which will shock you!

Yeah, I've been here since the mass of 1up people got here. I only just started listening to the podcast when you guys covered FFXV last year. Had to laugh at the outtakes of this episode, that was something.

Stage Select

1. Mario: Anyone who thinks of video games thinks of Mario.

2. Mega Man: Belongs right beside Marioas far as how good his games are.

3. Solid Snake: Mount Rushmore has lot of old dudes right, Solid Snake would fit right in.

4. Master Chief: He's pretty old as well, and he should be right beside Solid Snake.

Chrono Crossing

Mega Man 2. I missed out on choosing Mega Man 3 last podcast, so I'll choose Mega Man 2 (which is almost as good as Mega Man 3) this week as the best game of 1989.

Stage Select:

I've seen two approaches to this question: actual gaming figures and gaming characters.

If we do the former:

1. Shigeru Miyamoto. Probably the single most powerful individual in video gaming.

2. Hironobu Sakaguchi. Popularized RPGs into the mainstream. Not to take away from the likes of Richard "Lord British' Garriott who did a lot of the early pioneering work in the genre.

3. Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari. He didn't invent video games, but he did bring them into the mainstream.

4. Kojima. I'm not as big of a MGS fan as other people here, but Kojima has earned his place.

For characters, I'd put up Mario, Link, Pac-Man, and Sonic. Those four characters put a recognizable face on gaming, but I realize that others might think that Geralt of Rivia, Snake, or some other less cartoonish character might be more appropriate.

Chrono Crossing: Although there were great games like TMNT, Dragon Warrior, and Faxanadu released this year, I'm going to go with Super Mario Land for the Game Boy. Sure, it was a half-sized Mario with a lot of weird concepts that never made it into mainstream Mario canon. The reason why it sticks out to me is that in 1989, it was incredible for 11-year-old Andrew to be able to play a handheld Super Mario game. The Game Boy was one of my favorite Christmas presents of my entire life. I still have my old Game Boy that's now nearly 30 years old. I guess the "correct" answer to this would be "Tetris," which is more universally known and could be argued to have more universal appeal. But the novely of Tetris has been long gone for me, while Mario is still as awesome as ever. I have a PS Vita and a 3DS now, plus every handheld that Nintendo ever made... but Super Mario Land was a miracle of technology in a time when most portable games were of the primitive Tiger/Game & Watch ilk.

I'm also sorry I missed out on contributing to this blog. "Anime games" is a massive, massive category in my game library. My top three would have been Valkyria Chronicles (which someone else covered), Sakura Wars: So Long My Love (made by many of the same designers), and probably Lunar, a game I've mentioned here before. I could probably do a top 20 of this one.

Life got in the way, sadly.

Just letting you know, every Ace Attorney except Apollo Justice and Miles Edgeworth is on the 3DS eshop. And Apollo hits there in November

Stage Select

My picks are going to have characters which best represent each of the presidents we have on Mt Rushmore.

Pac-Man for Washington- I'm not sure if Pac-Man was the first video game character, but he's definitely the first mainstream character and the earliest who is still relevant today so he's up.

Solid Snake for Thomas Jefferson- Jefferson was a guy known for his great writing skills. Metal Gear was the game that changed how video game stories are done forever. Also both are probably the least iconic of the four, even though gamers and history buffs will respectively go on about how awesome each is.

Sonic the Hedgehog for Teddy Roosevelt- Teddy was a great president, but he isn't half as important as the other 3. He wasn't even the most important Roosevelt. But he had a big personality, which wasn't that common at the time for someone in his position, and handled the position differently than his predecessors so everyone loves him. If that's not Sonic, I don't know what is. 

Mario for Abe Lincoln- Games existed before Mario and America existed before Lincoln. But both saved everything from collapsing and changed how they function on so many fundamental levels. Plus they both have awesome facial hair.

Also, if Trump ends up putting his face up there (you know he'll try), I nominate a Dark Souls knight for his spot. Because both have the worst fanbases.

Chrono Crossing

My 1989 Chrono Crossing pick is Tecmo Bowl. Nearly 30 years later and I still have more fun with this than Madden or 2K. The simplicity of it holds up so well even though like every other sports game at the time, the cheap computer ruins playing solo.

Stage Select

4. Naked Snake with amazing mullet and headband on

3. Lara Croft

2. Ellie from The Last of Us

1. My canon female paragon Commander Shepard

Chrono Crossing 1989

We're getting back to when I was a baby in the the early 90s and my parents bought us an NES and I came home from school to play crappy games all day without knowing better. The games from 1989 that I played the most were Drakkhen and Astyanax on NES so that shows you what kind of shitshow we're talking about. Sim City also came out and I remember in elementary school our teacher in computer class let us play Sim City one day and it was fun, so I'll pick Sim City because it's either that or Astyanax!

The Mt. Rushmore 4 shall be:

Mario for the 80s.

Doom's Space Marine for the 90s.

Master Chief for the 2000s

Minecraft's Steve for the 2010s

My 1989 pick would be Golden Axe. I didn't play it in '89 but probably in the 90s on Genesis. My favorite thing about it is riding a creature and slapping those fools with my tail. 

Don't forget about your guys' other tagline.

"We aim to be your number 2(after Giant Bombcast)"

Hey folks. Well, we missed a recording night because of me. Apologies! I'm out of town next week, so I guess we are missing an episode. We had a good two year streak without missing a show though! We'll be covering all of your great selections when we come back. Thanks for your patience!