MageCast X

It's time to return to the musty neon lairs of old with Rich the Deviot to talk about Street Fighter II's insane sales and its popularity in the competitive scene of the arcades then and the internet now, the console wars, arcade ports bringing classics home, the fighting game explosion, steep skill-based difficulty and therefore inaccessibility, our first experiences finding SFII, version differences and re-releases, the EGM April Fool's gag, balancing and simplicity in game design, comparisons with Mortal Kombat, SFII's massive influence on fighting games, updated editions vs DLC as release philosophies, favorite mains, movies, and music, controllers, endings, adaptations to film and animation, and the oddities of the first Street Fighter.

Links:
thewellredmage.com/
commaeightcommaone.wordpress.com/about/
twitter.com/shinbojack
youtube.com/channel/UCKUGzrE6_IA6CDGbEdutnnQ/featured
youtube.com/user/Miles923
twitch.tv/therenesance
youtube.com/user/Dongled
youtube.com/user/RussLyman
youtube.com/user/BestSpuds
Support: patreon.com/thewellredmage
Merch: teepublic.com/stores/thewellredmage?ref_id=10322
Guest: @TheDeviot

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Let's get back to nature with Matt from Normal Happenings on this Stardew Valley podcast episode, where we talk about our favorite eligible characters, the game's caricatures and stereotypes, marriage, specific games not being for everyone, glamorizing and idealizing real-life work, the relatable premise of this story, actual farming, connection to nature, making big life decisions, simplicity and escapism, why Stardew Valley is addicting, why we keep playing it and the value it offers, Harvest Moon, Rune Factory, Farming Simulator, and infamous Farmville, the "X-Factor", the Community Center vs Joja Mart, end game goals, how Stardew improves upon the Harvest Moon formula, the soundtrack and its greatest achievements, seasons, landscapes, pets, and other pleasantries about different ways to play the game.

Links:
thewellredmage.com
Patreon: patreon.com/thewellredmage
Merch: teepublic.com/stores/thewellredmage?ref_id=10322
Guest: @normalhappening

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On this Final Fantasy podcast, @AncientLitDude and I discuss what is arguably the most important game to The Well-Red Mage as a concept. Final Fantasy (One) unfolds its depths to us with talk on job classes, early proto-RPGs and learning to read, the speedrunner and randomizer communities, FF series context and overview, the sticky point of grinding, the development of Final Fantasy and the legendary status of its title, Uematsu's body of work, comparing Uematsu and Mitsuda, the premise and story of the game, role-playing with blank avatars, telling a tale without character development, precedent in classic and ancient text, the Warriors of Light compared to later heroes and heroines in the franchise, silent protagonists, Final Fantasy as both science fiction and high fantasy, the Hero's Journey, the value of myth and beliefs in light of rationality, learning unity without unanimity in civil conversation on controversial subjects, a word on science vs scientism, the ancient idea of 4 elements, battles, bugs, and the best that we could do with audience questions.

Links:
* thewellredmage.com/2018/02/16/final-fantasy-1987/
* webcitation.org/60hMl5q2z?url=http://www.develop-online.net/news/28960/Sakaguchi-discusses-the-development-of-Final-Fantasy
* wired.com/2009/07/final-fantasy/
Patreon: patreon.com/thewellredmage
Merch: teepublic.com/stores/thewellredmage?ref_id=10322
Guest: @AncientLitDude

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It's time to hop in a modded Dolorian back to the golden age of video games and talk about the Atari 2600 and Yars' Revenge. My guest, Atari enthusiast CJ aka CardiacDrop and I discuss 2600 cover art, dispensing with ageism, games that used to come with manuals, comic books, guidebooks, maps, and extras, bringing your own imagination to the game, "few rules and a tremendous play space" in design, the difference between action and adventure, the objective of an endless game, the story of the vengeance of Yars for Razak IV against the infamous Qotile, Howard Scott Warshaw and his Easter Egg, how Yars' Revenge got its name, playing Yars' at launch, the strength of retro games that were forced to design within specific limitations, E.T. infamy, the North American Video Game Crash, the VCS, the fate and future of Atari, the matter of exclusives, and why you should still play 2600 games for yourself.

Links:
thewellredmage.com/
atariage.com/comics/comic_page.php?MagazineID=48&CurrentPage=1
Patreon: patreon.com/thewellredmage
Guest: @CardiacDrop

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Time to discuss the science of scary with my guest Mike from The Controller Throwers and the game Another World. We break down this title as horror and look at the premise of the unfortunate tale of Lester Knight Chaykin, not being an action hero, development by Eric Chahi and old indies, why the name was changed to "Out of this World", the science of cover art design, Mike finding his long lost cart after decades, why some love the game and why some hate it, the many ways to die and death animations, similar contemporary games, rotoscoping, Max Fleischer and Don Bluth, lacking gaminess, early cinematic and atmospheric storytelling, the question of a boundary between film and game, exposition vs pacing a narrative, re-releases, Heart of the Alien and Heart of Darkness, the idea of needing sequels, influential games and what Another World has inspired, experiencing as playing vs watching, oversaturation, and the definition of a classic.

Links:
medium.com/@thaisweiller/games-are-not-art-9a7e540e4bf1
twitch.tv/tcthrowers
thewellredmage.wordpress.com/2016/03/06/another-world/
thewellredmage.com/2018/10/23/another-world-20th-anniversary-edition-2018-switch/
Patreon: patreon.com/thewellredmage
Guest: @TCThrowers

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Sing with us the bittersweet Symphony of the Night on this Castlevania episode starring SanityCrypto and Aros Elric. We discuss video game voice acting, both then and now, voice actors and union rights, character impressions, 2D platforming in the 3D era, enjoying the criticism of the things we enjoy, blemishes and flaws giving things beauty, memes and their purpose, familiarity vs popularity and intrinsic quality, the soundtrack and classical music, religious imagery and architecture, putting the -vania in Metroidvania, playing as Alucard, literature and classic art, our favorite bosses, Symphony's new artwork style, Bloodstained and modern Metroidvanias, monsters from other mythologies, the Inverted Castle, our favorite Castlevania games, the Netflix Castlevania series and issues with television entertainment, and our favorite chairs (???).

Links:
teepublic.com/stores/thewellredmage?ref_id=10322
extra-life.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.team&teamID=45204
thecoinboys.com/
twitter.com/theWellRedMage/status/1173809719170854912
thewellredmage.com/2019/07/25/castlevania-anniversary-collection-2019-pc/
thewellredmage.com/2016/10/31/castlevania-symphony-of-the-night/
thewellredmage.com/2019/10/19/sponsor-a-monster-a-halloween-collab-coming-to-get-you/
Patreon: patreon.com/thewellredmage
Guests: @SanityCrypto
@ArosElric

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It's time to put the Slipstream Mage in the driver's seat and talk about Forza Horizon 4! We're discussing juggling multiple games and forgetting where you've left off, how to pronounce "Forza" and what the word means in Italian, the TWRM GOTY Forza vs Journey controversy, the appeal of racing games, immersion, the sense of speed, and wish fulfillment, the importance of finely tuned mechanics, controls, and physics for racing game quality, the question of transferrable skills between real driving and game driving, differences between the Forza Horizon games and their settings, the open-world racing game structure, arcade and simulation gameplay, comparing Forza Horizon with other racing franchises, mixing Forza and Crazy Taxi, what Forza could learn from its peers, innovation and the future of the franchise, multiplayer woes, skill-based rankings, a sportsmanship grade, the Regalia and flying cars, and why you should try Forza for yourself: spoilers, it's about freedom.

Links: https://thewellredmage.com/author/jtorto/
https://thewellredmage.com/2019/07/22/twrmgoty2012-nominees-and-voting/
Patreon: patreon.com/thewellredmage
Guest: @JTorto40

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The eyes of Ganon are everywhere and we're going to talk about The Adventure of Link anyway! Featuring Ryan from Gameswithcoffee and Katy aka Absolutekaty, we talk about bragging rights and the first time we played Zelda II, and how that affected our perspective on the game, no shame and save states, why Zelda II is Ryan and Katy's favorite, the enjoyable action of the combat, the most unique traits in the game and what caught on in the rest of the series, some tawdry tart, the Peter Pan origins of Dark Link, the worst Zelda (by popular vote), a word for people wanting to play Zelda II for the first time, fair and unfair game design, Zelda II's difficulty difference from other NES hard games, patience and RPG elements, fan expectations and criticism, The Battle of Olympus and Faxanadu, what we would fix in Zelda II, and the abuse of the term "black sheep".

Website: thewellredmage.com/2019/09/07/zelda-ii-the-adventure-of-link-1987-nes/
Patreon: patreon.com/thewellredmage
Guests: @AbsoluteKaty @GameswCoffee

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The epic conclusion of our Chrono mini-series is finally here, featuring Gareth from 16-Bit Dad Blog and a discussion on Chrono Cross, which is NOT a sequel to Chrono Trigger (according to its developers). Together, we unpack such ideas as how to set yourself up for disappointment in a follow-up game, comparisons with Trigger and the effects of meddling with the timeline, the handling of time and dimensions, eras and worlds, a new layer of strategy and tactics required to master this battle system, what happened to the cast of the previous game, the unresolved but retconned tale of Magus/Guile, tendencies toward backloading and frontloading exposition, Cross's handling and dismissal of central themes and message, less straightforward storytelling and tonal shifts, differences in development between Trigger and Cross, the pros and cons of such a large cast of recruitable characters, our favorite characters and settings, elements and summons, and a word on the difference between preference and intrinsic quality, psychology, favoritism, definitive reality, our senses, a theory on function, purpose, and intent, and how civilization cultivates critical methodology for analyzing merits and flaws in works of art and entertainment.

Website: thewellredmage.com
Patreon: patreon.com/thewellredmage
Guest: @16bitdadblog

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The 3rd and final episode in our Chrono Trigger podcast trilogy features Chris the Sometimes Vaguely Philosophical Mage, and this time around we discuss the announcement of the new Philosophiraga show, the beauty of convenience for the consumer, playing Chrono Trigger on mobile iOS, Chris finishing the game for the first time just recently. First impressions, expectations, and recent overall thoughts combat dismissing opinions on the basis of nostalgia, plus talk on gaming as a newer form of entertainment and what that means for discourse about it, the phrase "it hasn't aged well", developing a standard of criticism and discussion for gaming, how to avoid disregarding groups and start looking at people individually, the theme of consequences to your actions in time travel, the importance of ideals over substance in this story, postulating why the Entity can't be the player, the equality of significance between visuals AND mechanics, the utility of graphics and sparing use of 3D elements, the techs, double techs, and triple techs, our favorite boss battles, balanced and streamlined game design, the beauty of ATB and the development of action RPGs, the value of leanness in storytelling, and the etymology and morality of nostalgia.

Website: thewellredmage.com/2017/11/17/chrono-trigger/
Patreon: patreon.com/thewellredmage
Guest: @overthinkery

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