Pathfinder, this area can be mined for resources.
Hey friends! Nerds Without Pants is back with another fun episode. This week, Casey joins us to talk about game developers, disappointing games, 1996, and Crash Bandicoot. A lot of Crash Bandicoot.
I channel my inner '90s mascot attitude and explore a recent troubling trend.
At last year’s PAX East I attended a panel hosted by one of the marketing magicians for Sega of America in the '90s, Al Nilson. At that panel I got up to ask a question about the NEMO project he worked on in the late '80s, but before I did I told this quick story about the time I borrowed the first Sonic the Hedgehog game off my friend when it was first released: While I was at home being blown away by the technical achievement of Sonic Team’s new baby, my friend called me and said his mother was mad he lent out his new game and was making him come by in a couple hours to pick it up. Since my time was now limited to how much of this amazing new game I was going to be able to play, I decided to hunker down and try to beat the game before he came to get it. I focused and played as carefully as I could. I ended up beating the game without continuing and with all the Chaos Emeralds. I had the honor of telling Al Nilson it was one of the best "Gaming Zen" moments of my life. He appreciated my story and my love for Sonic.
The band is back together!
Hey folks, it’s Julian. Man, it really sucks that Angelo has been out and we didn’t have Patrick on our last episode. We’re about to hit episode 100, but where is—OH DAMN, SON! ALL THE NERDS WITHOUT PANTS ARE HERE! That’s right! We’re finally all back together for a short and sweet Consumption Junction edition of NWP.
It's time to shake things up a bit!
I enjoy watching E3 every year and trying to see the “theme” of each show. From second screen experiences to asynchronous multiplayer, there is always something that ties everything together. For E3 2016 that theme seemed to be that of change. While there may not have been a lot of surprises at this show thanks to a lot of companies pulling out and a record number of leaks, we did see a lot of high profile projects that looked, well, different. So let’s take a look at some of those well-worn properties looking to impress us by shaking things up.
And so is this podcast!
Hey folks! Welcome to another technical issue-laded episode of Nerds Without Pants. Apoligies, but once again the internet has conspired against us, and this episode is not up to our normal standard of quality. Hopefully you stick around though, because there is some good stuff in this episode!
A Street Fighter veteran, pro, and rookie walk into a bar...
Welcome back to another edition of Nerds Without Pants! We are joined by JD this time to get into some deep talk about Street Fighter V, but we save that for the end of the show in case fighting games aren't your thing (like Angelo).
It's an open world. We just play in it.
Welcome to another episode of Nerds Without Pants! We have our first topic episode in ages, thanks to a thought-provoking blog from regular listener transmet2033. Before that, we of course have Consumption Junction.
The greatest JRPG of all time?
In today's daily ephemera of new releases and dazzling technologies and breakthroughs, it's easy to forget about the Golden Age of the PSONE -- or, as we knew it at the time, the PlayStation. This is especially true of the JRPG's of the system, which today still have no parallel. While many consider the SNES as the glory days of the JRPG, to me, that has always been just a prologue to what we saw on the PlayStation. It is true that many of us cut our teeth on Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger, but the explosion of the genre catalyzed by Final Fantasy VII is a whole different matter. Not only were we treated to Square's trilogy of FF VII, VIII, and IX, but we also had Xenogears, Grandia, Wild Arms, Chrono Cross, Suikoden, among others. This was when the JRPG truly matured into an art form, and while we have had great games since, the depth and variety of them has never eclipsed what we saw on the PSONE.
Numinous Games presents us with a gut-wrenching experience that elevates the interactive medium.
"That Dragon, Cancer," is a game about hope -- its presence, and its absence. While forged in the anticipation of triumph, the end result is a meditation on failure and loss that is pretty hard to take, and without a doubt breaks new ground for the interactive medium. Created by Brian Green and his company, Numinous Games ("numinous" means "having a strong religious or spiritual quality"), this "game" (we have no other word for it that's adequate) is both gut-wrenching and an incredibly simple exploration of a young boy's four year battle with cancer. But while it takes on loss in a new way, it is also a commentary on games in general that is both surprising and profound. It is not without flaws, but the all-encompassing heart of it more than compensates for its failures.
Seeing a new episode of NWP is available fills you with determination.
Welcome to 2016, and welcome to the first Nerds Without Pants of that year that I just mentioned! The Pantsless Ones come back from break with all sorts of goodies and games to talk about, so let's just jump into it.
