A lot of parentheses this episode.
It’s another massive episode of Nerds Without Pants. Don’t blame me, this is all Justin’s fault. No time to get pithy, here we go!
Or: Burning Questions with Justin Hamm
Welcome to a very special Nerds Without Pants! After two years of Julian CONSTANTLY singing the praises of the No One Can Know About This podcast we are joined by the hosts of that very show: Jeff and Ryan! It’s a short but sweet visit with these awesome dudes, and then Julian and Justin talk about a bunch of fun stuff after the break. Enjoy!
The “Golden Age” started here.
Today marks the 30th anniversary of Final Fantasy IV. Originally released on July 19, 1991, it was a momentous event due in no small part to the fact that this was the first in the series to debut on the Super Famicom. It was released to critical acclaim, and once again several months later when it came to the US on the Super Nintendo as Final Fantasy II (since we missed the first two sequels on the NES). Unfortunately, I didn’t get to play it until a decade later, when it was re-released as part of Final Fantasy Chronicles. And although I was late experiencing my first 16-bit RPG, it was undoubtedly worth the wait.
Or: Justin versus Google
On this episode of Nerds Without Pants it’s all about family, for reasons. Turns out there are some really interesting examples of family dynamics in video games, so this is a pretty good episode I think. Tell the people you love that you love them.
The Great Escape
Out of this World (aka Another World) was initially developed and released for the Amiga and Atari ST personal computers by French game designer Eric Chahi in 1991. The game was later ported to the Super Nintendo, among other home consoles. Out of this World garnered much praise for its intriguing visual style and storytelling ability. In most games from this era, text or dialogue was usually the vehicle used to drive the story forward. But this one did it differently. Instead, the ever-changing situations, dangers, and victories all worked together to tell the story without a word.
More fun than a barrel of monkeys.
It all began on this day 40 years ago, in 1981. Nintendo- a then-obscure arcade machine manufacturer- had a problem with their latest game, Radar Scope. The machines weren’t selling as well as hoped, so the company decided to refit the unsold units with a brand new game. Young staff artist Shigeru Miyamoto was tasked with creating an arcade game that would capture the attention of the American audience. The finished product starred a stressed-out gorilla with an infinite supply of barrels who wasn't afraid to use them. It's the stubborn monkey himself, Donkey Kong.
Journey to the belly of the beast.
If you ever want to know how Konami became so successful, just look at their arcade history of the 1980s. Not only were the games entertaining, but there was also a good chance that their best hits would appear on NES and a wealth of other home consoles. Life Force was no exception. Released initially as Salamander in Japan 35 years ago today, the game came to America as Life Force and received an NES port two years later.
Or: The Three Amicos.
After over a month of not recording, the Nerds Without Pants are back with a new episode! Unfortunately, this episode was cursed, and there are a lot of technical issues that we tried our best to fix in post. Also, this one goes off the rails and stays that way the entire time thanks to Friend Of The Show and Podcast Saboteur Mike Fallek. Strap in, because...dang.
30 years ago today, Sega's blue blur made his debut.
By 1990, Sega was enjoying newfound success with their new 16-bit Genesis system. It quickly became a competent competitor to the NES with popular titles like Golden Axe, Phantasy Star II, and Revenge of Shinobi. But despite the rising success of the Genesis, the platform didn’t have a brand character that could rival Super Mario. Tasked with creating such a mascot, character designer Naoto Oshima came up with Sonic- a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog. Sonic the Hedgehog was released on June 23, 1991- two full months ahead of the Super Nintendo’s debut in America. It was a big summer for Sega, and today marks the 30th anniversary of the moment that made them an icon in the home console gaming space.
We're back on our b.s.
Hey hey! It's weird typing this a month before this episode drops, but here we are. Nerds Without Pants continues its deep dive into the PlayStation 2. I'll be honest, I don't remember what ground we cover here, but I know we hit Final Fantasy, so that's cool. Does anyone enjoy these, really? I guess we'll find out.
