Famicom Dojo Video Game Podcast

Does allowing gamers to create their own worlds within a game make that game better, or does it just excuse the developers from having to create any content themselves?

Vinnk and Sean discuss their first experiences with user-generated content (on the NES!), the wonders of the Famicom Data Recorder, and which games they thought were helped or hampered by being able to draw dongs on the sides of racecars.

"RPG" theme song by the Imari Tones: http://imaritones.net

This podcast is brought to you by the Famicom Dojo Video Series. Train Your Game at https://youtube.com/famicomdojo.

It seems like it's getting harder to play video games all the time: an especially embarrassing realization when you've

gone halfway across the country to attend the tenth annual Music and Gaming Festival aka "MAGFest"

Sean is joined by guest panelists

Justin "JewWario" Carmichael

(@JewWario),

Brenna "Sindra" Wilkes

(@TastesLikeSin),

and Powet.TV founder Zac Shipley

(@ZacShipley)

discuss the potentials and pitfalls of the Wii U, the events of the first day of MAGFest, ruminations on the seeming necessity of the waiver policy in light of ninja refrigerator attacks, and the importance of personal hygiene -- even if in Pikachu form. Also, Vinnk (unable to attend due to living on the other side of the planet) regales is with HIS version of a fun convention!

"RPG" theme song by the Imari Tones: http://imaritones.net

This podcast is brought to you by the Famicom Dojo Video Series. Train Your Game at https://youtube.com/famicomdojo.

What a year! 2011 brought its share of good games, bad weather (including a tsunami that devastated parts of Japan),

and lots of changes for Famicom Dojo.

Sean and Vinnk discuss what games they're looking forward to in 2012, if the PS Vita is already a failure before

it's even been released in the US, and if the Wii U will be making its appearance before the end of the year.

"RPG" theme song by the Imari Tones: http://imaritones.net

This podcast is brought to you by the Famicom Dojo Video Series. Train Your Game at https://youtube.com/famicomdojo.

The Christmas season, in the video game industry, is more about big sales of blockbuster titles, console launches,

and a bit of rubbing-it-in-the-face for people who perennially spell Nintendo's doom. (The 3DS is already outpacing

sales of the DS in its first year.) If you're a kid, subsequently, it means new video game time!

Vinnk and Sean talk about their favorite Christmases, the games they got, their favorite Christmas games (yeah, there

are a few), their most HATED Christmas games (there are even more), and more!

"RPG" theme song by the Imari Tones: http://imaritones.net

This podcast is brought to you by the Famicom Dojo Video Series. Train Your Game at https://youtube.com/famicomdojo.

With a slow shift to digital-only content, and the inability to share such content like you would lend a book or a disc,

and publishers deliberately devaluing their game content through the use of activation codes and central server

authenticaion, will there ever come a time when used games become a thing of the past?

Sean and Vinnk explore why console games cost so much, why iOS games cost so little, and the ruin that would be

visited upon the gaming industry if no one could lend out their games or buy used ones ever again.

"RPG" theme song by the Imari Tones: http://imaritones.net

This podcast is brought to you by the Famicom Dojo Video Series. Train Your Game at https://youtube.com/famicomdojo.

Operation Rainfall is so far one third successful, but the only way we'll be getting Xenoblade Chronicles is through GameStop or the Nintendo online store.

Sean and Vinnk explain their misgivings with GameStop, why they're sure Nintendo expects Xenoblade to fail (or at least doesn't care if it succeeds), and actual precedents that should exonerate Nintendo for being so cautious.

"RPG" theme song by the Imari Tones: http://imaritones.net

This podcast is brought to you by the Famicom Dojo Video Series. Train Your Game at https://youtube.com/famicomdojo.

Should Nintendo be scared? Since the launch of the iPhone -- which encouraged the rise of the Android platform --

smartphone gaming is set to become a majority of the handheld market, eclipsing Nintendo for the first time since

the release of the Game Boy in 1989.

Vinnk and SeanOrange take a look at the data, how the mobile gaming pie is growing, why smartphone gaming has

been so successful, and what (if anything) Nintendo can do about it.

"RPG" theme song by the Imari Tones: http://imaritones.net

This podcast is brought to you by the Famicom Dojo Video Series. Train Your Game at https://youtube.com/famicomdojo.

Is the Wii U touch controller a naked attempt to try and compete with the iPad, and if so does it stand a chance

to succeed?

Sean and Vinnk go through a brief history of touch panels in consumer devices, from the Apple Newton to the Tiger Game.com,

the Nintendo DS, and -- of course -- Apple's iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.

"RPG" theme song by the Imari Tones: http://imaritones.net

This podcast is brought to you by the Famicom Dojo Video Series. Train Your Game at https://youtube.com/famicomdojo.

Is there a right way to introduce your child to the world of video gaming? It might be a more difficult proposition

for the children of adult gamers, whose boundaries are a bit less clear on the subject, but their non-gamer

spouses (if indeed they are non-gamers) might keep them in check. Maybe.

With Vinnk already a father of a 2 year old daughter, and Sean a father-to-be in 2012, we try to tackle those questions.

How young is too young? How much is too much? What's appropriate, and what's deemed okay? Plus, in an audio bonus exclusive to the website, Sean tells the tale of how a camcorder gave birth to Puppy Star Trek, and helped to shape the rest of his life.

"RPG" theme song by the Imari Tones: http://imaritones.net

This podcast is brought to you by the Famicom Dojo Video Series. Train Your Game at https://youtube.com/famicomdojo.

After a recent performance of Video Games Live, Sean and Vinnk talk about the merits of bleeps and bloops,

the chiptunes musicians who still love them, hidden music in Nintendo's titles (including one hidden for the last

nine years in the GameCube menu screen), and the more symphonic offerings of the 16-bit age and beyond.

"RPG" theme song by the Imari Tones: http://imaritones.net

This podcast is brought to you by the Famicom Dojo Video Series. Train Your Game at https://youtube.com/famicomdojo.