MageCast X

MAGE CAST is back from the dead! On this episode, podcaster and VR pioneer Aaron aka SanityCrypto and I talk Animal Crossing: New Horizons, our new found addiction. We discuss why we were even interested in playing New Horizons in the first place, task-oriented gameplay, Tom Nook for president, Pocket Camp, genre and series context, review bombing and hyperbole, ACNH sales, what the game doesn't tell you, addressing the multiplayer and co-op, the worst, the best, and the missing features, pixel art: the real endgame, how to "evict" villagers, time-traveling, and farming monsters.

Links: 

• storymode.buzzsprout.com/
• thewellredmage.com/2020/03/31/my-animal-crossing-new-horizons-custom-designs/

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Guest: @SanityCrypto
Music: "Welcome Horizons" & "Island Tour (Day - Rain)" composed by Yasuaki Iwata, Yumi Takahashi, Shinobu Nagata, Sayako Doi, Masato Ohashi

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Two experts meet in St. Canard: Nicole (RedAuxPDX) and Ryan (Retrogamebrews) discuss with me the terror that flaps in the 8-bit night: Darkwing Duck on NES! We'll unpack Darkwing's origins and inspirations, Disney+ and the full 91 episodes, RedAux's cosplay and meeting the creators, 2017 DuckTales and Darkwing, remembering the beloved cartoon, the heart of the show, its characters and villains and our favorite episodes, ranking cartoon theme songs, the TurboGrafx-16 game, the tragically canceled sequel, the mobile game, Capcom and Mega Man, the hanging mechanic, late NES games, licensed games and their many woes, and the Disney afternoon multiverse.

Links: 

• https://thewellredmage.com/2016/04/25/darkwing-duck/
• https://thewellredmage.com/2017/04/18/the-disney-afternoon-collection-2017/
• https://www.twitch.tv/redauxpdx
• https://www.etsy.com/shop/RedAuxPDX
• https://www.twitch.tv/retrogamebrews

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Guests: @RedAuxPDX and @Retrogamebrews
Music: "Darkwing Duck theme song" original lyrics by Steve Nelson and Thomas Sharp; "Title theme" by Yasuaki Fujita

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It's time to talk about something that's really old, because old things can be great, too! Pac-Man podcast with the Arcade Mage and the Slipstream Mage. We'll discuss the devs taking a risk with Pac-Man over Rally X, vandalizing "Puck-Man", world records and President Reagan, the killscreen, K.C. Munchkin, how the world of games development has changed, our earliest memories of Pac-Man, ye olde arcades, the infamous Atari 2600 Pac-Man, developers that once struggled to gain recognition and credit for their games, being inspired by pizza, the twin cherries strategy, purchasing arcade cabinets today, deterministic artificial intelligent and the ghosts, Pac-Man's firsts, Pac-Man at amusement parks, Pac-Man merch, Pac-Man spin-offs, Pac-Man pasta!! Everything Pac-Man, plus Ms. Pac-Man, Professor Pac-Man, and Baby Pac-Man, too. Oh and appealing to stereotypes vs inclusivity.

Links: 

• https://thewellredmage.com/2017/02/01/pac-man/
• https://thewellredmage.com/2020/01/17/psikyo-shooting-stars-alpha-2020-switch/
• https://thewellredmage.com/2020/02/06/dawn-of-man-review-2020-ps4/
• http://www.arcadecastle.com/
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6jnXEB5JT4VD3EOybG5LFA

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Guests: @TheArcadeCastle and @JTorto40
Music: "Pac-Man" by Dancing Bros. and "Pac-Man Fever (Club Version)" by Buckner & Garcia

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Dreams do come true! Time for a Nights Into Dreams podcast feat. Andy aka @ProducerBTW and Aaron aka @SanityCrypto, plus what the guys are up to: standing up to cancer and podcasting in VR. We'll talk about Steven Spielberg, the 3D Controller and the invention of the analog stick, Oneirology, Freud and Jung, collecting for the Sega Saturn, the retro gaming market, imports, not missing ultra-fragile jewel cases, playing Nights then and now, sequels and spin-offs, the game's reception, reviewing things from the perspective of modernity or contemporaneous eras, struggling to define Nights Into Dreams, being threatened by walking, the appearance of S-Rankings, over-designing background texture, similarities between Sonic and Nights, a bit about Jung and shadow archetype, the vibe of the 90s and the quality in this OST, revisiting old IPs, expectations, and some of y'alls insane dreams.

Links: 

• https://thewellredmage.com/2020/01/30/top-10-dreamcast-games/
• https://www.twitch.tv/loveretrobtw
• https://discord.gg/QtW3V65
• https://tiltify.com/su2c/su2cstreamteam
• https://twitter.com/ItsVRAPodcast
• https://twitter.com/coinboyspodcast

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Guests: @ProducerBTW and @SanityCrypto

Music: "NiGHTS" and "Dreams Dreams (Instrumental)" composed by Naofumi Hataya, Tomoko Sasaki, Fumie Kumatani

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Presenting an original conversation from the Bookwarm Games podcast! I was invited to the discussion by Wesley Schantz, host of Bookwarm Games. We'll talk about the core principles of The Well-Red Mage, the value of open discussion and conversation free from ridicule, the necessity of communication to learn from each other, some words on systematic theology, agnosticism, impassibility and aseity, ancient individual rights, loving something to understand it, objectivity and subjectivity together in appreciation of video games, context for "best game ever" statements, the relationship between personal favorites and qualities in an object, the evolution of standards in art, the development of Xenogears and Yasunori Mitsuda, suffering artists and the definition of the word "art", the phrases "work of art" and "art form", Final Fantasy VII's rich mythological texture and how it might've introduced a lot of people to theological ideas, schools of thought on theology portrayed in fiction exemplified by C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, how video games handle religious ideas, critically and negatively or not, the difference between doing things "under the title of" and "in the spirit of", popular culture's simplifications vs reading the original material, questions about theodicy, the numinous, biogenesis, and manuscript studies being raised in video games, remakes vs remasters, and stories that take their time.


Links: 

• https://newschoolnotes.blogspot.com/2019/05/bookwarm-games-xenogears.html

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Featuring Bookwarm Games podcast and its host Wesley Schantz

Music: "Light from the Netherworld" & "The Beginnng and the End"
Composed by Yasunori Mitsuda

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Chiptune and rock musician Russell Gordon and I talk about a MONSTER of a game, HUNTING down the best discussions for a WORLD of fun... it's Capcom's best-selling game of all time! We also mention the development and reception of the Monster Hunter series, Monster Hunter Tri on Wii and the day the music died when they closed its online servers, the complexity of these games despite their simplistic premise, viewing Monster Hunter World as a boss rush game, being prepared, crossovers, some thoughts on subscription services as paywalls for online multiplayer, World's design decision to merge single-player and multiplayer gameplay, the awesome absurdity of the weapons, blending comedy and cartoonishness with realism, real-life hunting and how it's not at all like Monster Hunter, poop lovin' Deviljho, being disappointed by Zorah Magdaros, missing Lagiacrus, nostalgia for Jhen Mohran, a word on Iceborne and its scale, the endgame grind, and addressing the question of "animal cruelty" in Monster Hunter World.

Links: 

• https://thewellredmage.com/2018/03/07/monster-hunter-world/
• https://thewellredmage.com/2016/11/24/monster-hunter-tri/
• https://thewellredmage.com/archive/
• https://thewellredmage.com/magipedia-archives/
• https://normalhappenings.com/
• https://soundcloud.com/shredrussell-1
• https://www.youtube.com/user/RussellGHello

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Guest: @rus_gordon

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Can you believe this is our first Pokemon episode ever? This time around, my guest is Cory the senior games editor of Popzara Press and we're talking about Sword and Shield, our first impressions, the game's pacing, version sales, differences, and exclusives, the greatness of the Wild Area, our favorite gym leaders, Pokemon, starters, and types, problems with the story and Pokemon as a utopian society balanced with nature, character development for rivals, formulas and Nintendo, quality-of-life changes, saying goodbye to HMs, fan outrage and "Dexit", missing Pokemon in Sword and Shield and whether it even matters, the boycott, thoughts on gigantamax and dynamax, aesthetic differences between Pokemon and Digimon, the accessibility of the series for all ages, and how that's a great thing and part of the global phenomenon that is Pokemon.

Links:
https://thewellredmage.com/2019/11/19/demo-disk-pokemon-sword-and-shield/
https://thewellredmage.com/2017/09/09/vagrant-story/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thewellredmage
Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/thewellredmage?ref_id=10322
Guest: https://www.popzara.com/

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Welcome to the lost episode of MAGE CAST... All the way from the land where women glow and men plunder comes Patrick Arthur, my special guest for this episode. We'll talk about how VVVVVV took inspiration from the Commodore 64 and how to pronounce the title, as well as discuss limitations from big budgets, the indie scene and trends developing over time, our favorite indies, the problem of discoverability for games, what makes VVVVVV stand out, platforming without jumping, room names, the game's challenges, accessibility vs difficulty and how to avoid ad hominem when talking about tough games, the beauty of a simple premise, learning your colors and the sad elephant.

Links:
thewellredmage.com/2017/11/25/vvvvvv/
thewellredmage.com/2018/09/02/asking-big-questions-011-is-game-quality-improving/
thewellredmage.com/category/magipedia
normalhappenings.com/
rspodcast.net/
Patreon: patreon.com/thewellredmage
Merch: teepublic.com/stores/thewellredmage?ref_id=10322
Guest: @retpodcast

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MAGE CAST Season 2 is here!! We're putting our worst foot forward with what is considered to be one of the worst games ever made: the Wand of Gamelon, plus there's talk on the Nintendo PlayStation, some of the historical firsts accomplished by Wand of Gamelon, the Philips CD-i and how my guest was nearly talked into buying one instead of a SNES as a kid, why anyone should play Gamelon, games preservation, YouTube and meme culture, what to weigh in reviews and weighing in on reviews, judging a game by modern or vintage standards, objectivity in graphics, reviews at launch and allowing criticism time to function, what the game is about, its vices and virtues, and the evolution of a beloved franchise.

Links:
thewellredmage.com
thesixthaxis.com/2020/01/02/nintendo-playstation-rare-sale-console-snes-auction-2020/
Patreon: patreon.com/thewellredmage
Merch: teepublic.com/stores/thewellredmage?ref_id=10322
Guest: @TeacherBloke85

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I hope you came hungry! We'll devour another Super NES JRPG classic in Breath of Fire, this time with Hungry Goriya! We'll talk on Capcom's self-admitted first attempt at a traditional RPG, the passionate fandom of Breath of Fire and the middling experience of playing the first game, first impressions and expectations with vintage gaming, the roots of the BOF series, the first game's lack of refinement and its innovations, playing it blind, BOF's music, comparing versions and contemporaneous JRPGs, purely stats based RPGs and review scores, BOF's biggest emotional beats and the difference between drama vs melodrama, relating to characters, localization woes, "cause" and party members, our favorite and least favorite playable characters, villains and Capcom cameos, an overview of BOF's premise and a small word on how the games in the series connect, thematic elements, pros and cons, inventory management and hilarious abbreviations, and the future of the series.

Links:
thewellredmage.com/2017/03/20/breath-of-fire/
youtube.com/c/hungrygoriya
hungrygoriya.wordpress.com
twitch.tv/hungrygoriya
breathoffire.neoseeker.com/wiki/Chronology_of_the_Breath_of_Fire_Series
Patreon: patreon.com/thewellredmage
Merch: teepublic.com/stores/thewellredmage?ref_id=10322
Guest: @hungrygoriya

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