Nate, Sebastian, and Ryan gather to discuss THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND, a piratey point-and-click from LucasArts that still stands up as one of the funniest games in the medium. Nate discusses his love for interface jokes, Ryan seethes over a particular kind of gag, and Sebastian tells some heinous lies about episodes yet to come. Come for the discussion of comedy in videogames, stay for the rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle. 

SHOW NOTES:

Play the original Monkey Island at the Internet Archive:

https://archive.org/details/012360 

Or buy the Special Edition on Steam:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/32360/The_Secret_of_Monkey_Island_Special_Edition/

Here's Sam & Max Hit the Road:

https://www.gog.com/game/sam_max_hit_the_road 

David joins Nate and Sebastian to discuss FIRE EMBLEM: SHADOW DRAGON AND THE BLADE OF LIGHT, the Japan-only title that first blended the delicious chocolate of tactics with the peanut butter of JRPGs. Nate laments the lack of kissing in this first entry, David wonders about abstraction and scaling, and Sebastian takes every opportunity to turn the conversation toward SHINING FORCE, the tactics RPG that shaped his childhood. Come to hear the origins of one of our favorite genres of game, stay to listen to the legend of Jogurt.

SHOW NOTES:

Gaze upon the face of Jogurt:

https://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/shining/images/6/60/SF_Yogurt.png/revision/latest?cb=20160325141857

Nate, Sebastian, and Ryan gather to discuss JOHN MADDEN FOOTBALL, the 1990 game for the Sega Genesis. Join us as we discuss how football is a hybrid real-time/turn-based strategy game! Mourn as we reveal the childhood trauma caused by being Cleveland sports fans! Hear a story about Sebastian's job interview! 

SHOW NOTES:

Madden NFL 18 - "Longshot" trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBZwjP6MpZo

Madden NFL 15 - "Madden Season":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJGhwKMax3I

Nate, Sebastian, and Ryan all gather - in one place this time! - to discuss SIMCITY, the revolutionary open-ended city simulator by Maxis Games. Come to hear about the bias inherent in the simulation, stay to learn which one of us compulsively added island prisons to his cities as a child. 

SHOW NOTES:

SimCity at the internet archive:

https://archive.org/details/msdos_SimCity_1989

"Micropolis":

http://www.graememcc.co.uk/micropolisJS/

SimCity SNES manual PDF (note Mr. Wright on the cover!):

http://www.gamesdatabase.org/Media/SYSTEM/Nintendo_SNES/manual/Formated/SimCity_-_1991_-_Nintendo.pdf 

Paolo Pedercini's essay on the bias inherent in the Sim-ulation:

http://www.molleindustria.org/blog/multiplicity/

Nate, Sebastian, and David gather to discuss POPULOUS, the progenitor of the God Game. Thrill at the raising and lowering of land! Hear Sebastian shout "Volcano!" several times! Find out whether we think its creator, Peter Molyneux, is a visionary or a huckster! Discover what it means to "Shoot the Hooch!"

SHOW NOTES:

GDC Postmortem on Populous featuring Peter Molyneux -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIaK6y5kdro

Nate, Sebastian, and David spend some time reminiscing about FINAL FANTASY, a game near and dear to their hearts. Come for the discussion of how the game unfolds itself before the player, stay for the sordid tale of the boys' proudest and most shameful undertaking. Also, we discover how much it would cost you to buy an intact box of Swedish Chef-themed breakfast cereal "Croonchy Stars."

SHOW NOTES:

Here is that picture Sebastian insists that Nate share with the listening audience. A truer portrait of pride and shame was never captured on film. 

https://gobackandplay.tumblr.com/post/162679733026/the-podcast-hosts-having-just-finished-a-five-day 

Nate and Sebastian are joined by newcomer David to discuss MANIAC MANSION, the game that put LucasArts on the map and spawned a new genre: the "point-and-click" adventure. Come for the jokes, stay to find out which one of us microwaved a hamster. 

SHOW NOTES:

YouTube playlist of Maniac Mansion TV series episodes: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqA06yA79_IkUWxugT-RSkP6diKpo1Hib

Hint poster:

http://www.maniacmansionfan.50webs.com/images/pc%20hint%20poster.jpg

Alarm book cover:

http://www.maniacmansionfan.50webs.com/images/nukem2.jpg

Nintendo Power cover:

https://countzeroor.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/magazine-nintendo-power-maniac-mansion-v3-2-of-6-_9-page-1.jpg

Nate and Sebastian have a quick discussion about R-TYPE, one of the best shmups of the 1980s. Learn about Nate's encounter with Edward James Olmos, Sebastian's favorite game box art of all time, and how games can be overwhelming in a way much different than other media. 

SHOW NOTES:

Sebastian's favorite game box art of all time:

https://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/9/93770/2364533-snes_phalanx.jpg

Nate, Sebastian, and Jordan gather to discuss METAL GEAR, a game about being sneaky and talking on the radio. We discuss donuts, the commonalities of codec conversations and Shakespearean soliloquies, and how a game can be anti-war but pro-soldier. Jordan tries not to get too deep into the weeds of Metal Gear lore. 

SHOW NOTES:

A picture of the Metal Gear cover next to a promotional still from Terminator:

http://www.cannotunsee.net/post/1051633464/metalgear

A Kotaku UK article about "Worlds of Power":

http://www.kotaku.co.uk/2015/07/21/the-metal-gear-novelisation-is-super-weird 

Nate, Sebastian, Ryan and Jordan all gather to discuss Dragon Warrior, one of the earliest breakout JRPGs. Come for discussion of grinding and exploring, stay to hear a long digression about slow TV and to find out who drank an entire boot full of beer this weekend (it was Sebastian).