Nerds Without Pants

Welcome to the first episode of Nerds Without Pants! It’s our annual Game of the Year episode, and we are happy to be joined by Johnny Brandon from the Square Roots podcast. It’s a fun discussion of our top five games that we played in 2020. Since last year was a great year to play some older games our lists don’t exclusively come from 2020. We wrap up with listener top 3s and an impromptu Video Game Cage Match between Final Fantasy VII Remake and Yakuza: Like a Dragon.  Let’s jump right in!

Our theme song “Relax” and interstitial tracks “To the Maxx” and “Moody Grooves” are written and performed by Megan McDuffee.

We’re kicking off the 2021 season of Nerds Without Pants with a comprehensive celebration of the music from the 8th console generation! This is our most ambitious music special to date, featuring 50 incredible tracks along with thoughtful commentary from the Pantsless Ones. Enjoy; this is a labor of love.

TRACK LIST:

Carnival Kerfluffle-Evan Skolnick (Cuphead), Rain on Brick-Bill Kiley (Katana Zero), Chinatown-Bill Kiley (Katana Zero), Necrogenic Bloom-Monomer (The Mummy Demastered), Every Day is Night (VA-11-HALL-A), Skyline (VA-11-HALL-A), Area 1: Perimeter-Savaged Regime (Xeno Crisis), Bullet Dance II-Daisuke Ishiwatari (BlazBlue), In the Shadows- Daisuke Ishiwatari (BlazBlue), Marionette- Daisuke Ishiwatari (Guilty Gear Xrd Sign), The Brume [Ishgard Night Theme]-Masayoshi Soken (Final Fantasy XIV), Fallen Angel [Garuda’s Theme]- Masayoshi Soken (Final Fantasy XIV), Revenge Twofold, Sands of Amber, Stormblood chorus [medley]- Masayoshi Soken (Final Fantasy XIV), Imagination [Aetherochemical Research Facility]- Masayoshi Soken (Final Fantasy XIV), Emil [Despair]-Keiichi Okabe (Nier Automata), Amusement Park-Keiichi Okabe (Nier Automata), The Only Thing They Fear is You-Mick Gordon (Doom Eternal), They Who Govern Reason-Yasunori Nishiki (Octopath Traveler), Primrose, The Dancer- Yasunori Nishiki (Octopath Traveler), Alfyn, The Apothecary- Yasunori Nishiki (Octopath Traveler), Battle at Journey’s End- Yasunori Nishiki (Octopath Traveler), Goin’ Down the Fast Way [Official remix]-Andrew Hulshult (Rise of the Triad), Steel for Humans-Percival & Marcin Przybylowicz (The Witcher 3), The Slopes of the Blessure-Piotr Musial (The Witcher 3), Wine Wars-Piotr Musial (The Witcher 3), Commanding the Fury-Mikolai Stroinski (The Witcher 3), Steam Gardens [8-Bit Version]-Koji Kondo (Super Mario Odyssey), New Donk City [Day]-Naoto Kubo (Super Mario Odyssey), Apocalypsis Noctis-Yoko Shimomura (Final Fantasy XV), Liyue Battle Theme 3-Yu-Peng Chen (Genshin Impact), Wolf of the North Andrius, Dominator of Wolves- Yu-Peng Chen (Genshin Impact), Stormterror’s Lair A Storm, A Spire, and A Sanctum- Yu-Peng Chen (Genshin Impact), Outlaw’s Lullaby-Hidenori Shoji (Yakuza Kiwami 2), Try To Have Some Fun For Me!- Hidenori Shoji (Yakuza 0), Light and Darkness- Hidenori Shoji (Yakuza: Like a Dragon), Sea Shanties (Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag), The Spine (feat. Ashley Barrett)-Darren Korb (Transistor), Good Riddance-Darren Korb (Hades), BB’s Theme-Ludvig Forssell feat. Jenny Plant (Death Stranding), This World Is Not My Home-Ben Babbitt (Kentucky Route Zero), I’m Going That Way-Ben Babbitt feat, Emily Cross (Kentucky Route Zero), The Whims of Fate-Shoji Meguro (Persona 5), Last Surprise-Shoji Meguro (Persona 5), Rich-Megan McDuffee (River City Girls), No Care-Daughter (Life is Strange: Before the Storm), I’m Leaving-Low Roar (Death Stranding), Take On Me-A-Ha (performed by Ashley Johnson) (The Last of Us Part II), Take Control-Old Gods of Asgard (Control)

 

Our theme song “Relax” and interstitial tracks “To the Maxx” and “Moody Grooves” are written and performed by Megan McDuffee.

Oh hey, we finally got to the end of the Nerds Without Pants reading a list of every PlayStation game. In hindsight...this was a poor decision. But you guys seem to dig it, so much so that we'll be releasing a supercut of all five parts in a single episode later on. But we should really never do this again.

You're going to make us do this again, aren't you? Shit.

Nerds Without Pants is still on hiatus, but in the meantime, perhaps you would enjoy part 4 of us going through all the North American (ish) PlayStation 1 releases? Yeah, it's super late. We recorded this way back in July and I think I edited this around October, so I'm not even sure what's in this one. Executive dysfunction sucks. 

 

Welcome, welcome, welcome, to the last Nerds Without Pants of 2020! It's been a brutal year, and the Pantsless Ones will be taking some time off to recharge, relax, and of course play a ton of games. Don't worry though; we have some surprises for you during our break, as well as our big music special!

In this episode we look back at the console generation that was, in a way that only NWP can: a top 5 list! Nobody does those! Ahem. Anyway, while we've talked a lot about these games in the past it's still cool and interesting to see what games made the cut, what games only got an honorable mention, and the many games that were left out of the discussion completely. What were your favorite games of last gen? Did we surprise you with any of our picks? NWP wants to know! 

See you in 2021...assuming we make it that far.

Our theme song “Relax” and interstitial tracks “To the Maxx” and “Moody Grooves” are written and performed by Megan McDuffee.

It’s the final regular-format episode of Nerds Without Pants for 2020, and we go out with a bang. A massive bang! A four-hour bang! Um…wait. Anyway, this is a very special listener AMA show, and we talk about a ton of games before pitting two beloved 16-bit RPGs against each other in a steel cage match. Enjoy!

00:00-06:16 Introduction

06:28-2:14:11 STAGE SELECT: It’s an NWP Listener AMA!

2:14:17-3:38:36 CONSUMPTION JUNCTION: Astro’s Playroom, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Bugsnax, Katana Zero, Yakuza 6, Haven, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, Dragon Quest XI, Cyberpunk 2077

3:39:13-4:06:31 VIDEO GAME CAGE MATCH: Final Fantasy VI vs Chrono Trigger! WHAAAAT?!

 Our theme song “Relax” and interstitial tracks “To the Maxx” and “Moody Grooves” are written and performed by Megan McDuffee.

We’re back with an early, all-Consumption Junction edition of Nerds Without Pants. Just in time for you to hide from your family during Thanksgiving! It’s a really casual episode, but we hope you enjoy it!

 

In this one, we cover Julian rage-quitting Persona 5 forever (maybe not forever), Katana Zero, Yakuza: Like A Dragon, Hot Video Game Tips, video game localization, the Game Awards, Julian’s first PS5 impressions, Astro’s Playroom, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Julian doesn’t like 60fps, and more!

 

NEXT EPISODE:

STAGE SELECT: It’s a listener AMA! We want answers to the following:

What is something you’ve been missing the most in this pandemic life?

What is a movie or book you can’t live without?

What got you into video games?

What is your favorite album?

What would your Transformers name be, and what would you transform into?

How often do you buy shoes?

VIDEO GAME CAGE MATCH: Final Fantasy VI vs Chrono Trigger

SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS BY 8:30 CENTRAL TIME ON 12/11 TO BE ON THE SHOW!

Our theme song “Relax” and interstitial tracks “To the Maxx” and “Moody Grooves” are written and performed by Megan McDuffee.

Ohai! This werk on the Nerds Without Pants Borkcast we have a heckin’ gud tym giving treats to the goodest bois, the bestest puppers, and the frendist doggos. Then we get sum chikem nuggs.

00:00-08:01 Introduction

08:14-1:48:47 STAGE SELECT: We pick the best video game doggos!

1:48:53-3:43:36 CONSUMPTION JUNCTION: Mike Fallek is really good at video games, speed run culture, Cuphead, all things Steamworld, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Firewatch (SPOILERS UNTIL 2:30:02), Genshin Impact, Justin Hamm is a Time Lord, Watch Dogs: Legion, Yakuza: Like a Dragon

3:44:12-4:08:55 VIDEO GAME CAGE MATCH: Final Fantasy X vs Persona 5

4:08:55-4:17:32 Outro and outtakes

NEXT EPISODE: Take a break! We’re doing an early all Consumption Junction episode for turkey day.

Our theme song “Relax” and interstitial tracks “To the Maxx” and “Moody Grooves” are written and performed by Megan McDuffee.

Well hello there! In this episode of Nerds Without Pants we put on our creative caps and brainstorm what we’d like to see in the next Mass Effect game. Fair warning: Julian and Justin are fresh off of recent Mass Effect playthroughs, so the amount of nerdy lore being thrown around is HUGE.

00:00-05:41 Introduction

05:54-1:58:12 STAGE SELECT: We build the next Mass Effect game!

1:58:18-2:44:48 CONSUMPTION JUNCTION: Mass Effect 2, Hades, Watchdogs Legion, Persona 5, Final Fantasy XIV

2:45:24-3:06:48 VIDEO GAME CAGE MATCH: Luigi’s Mansion vs Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem

NEXT EPISODE:

STAGE SELECT: What are your favorite dogs in video games?

VIDEO GAME CAGE MATCH: Final Fantasy X vs Persona 5

SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS BY 8:30 CENTRAL TIME ON NOVEMBER 13TH TO BE ON THE SHOW!

Our theme song “Relax” and interstitial tracks “To the Maxx” and “Moody Grooves” are written and performed by Megan McDuffee.

Another year, another Halloween Havoc edition of Nerds Without Pants. I’ll be honest, I’m not feeling very spoopy this year. Thankfully, we have NWP co-founder, friend-of-the-show, and author Rob here to get us in the scary spirit!

00:00-05:32 Introduction

05:44-1:58:27 STAGE SELECT: Our favorite “haunted houses” in video games

1:58:33-3:17:31 CONSUMPTION JUNCTION: Her Infernal Name & Other Nightmares, Rob’s writing process, Stardew Valley, Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, Destiny 2, Rob’s upcoming projects, Overcrowd: A Commute ‘Em Up, Baldur’s Gate 3, Hades, Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood

3:18:08-3:45:02 VIDEO GAME CAGE MATCH: Left 4 Dead vs State of Decay 2

Rob's book, Her Infernal Name & Other Nightmares can be found where fine books are sold.

NEXT EPISODE:

STAGE SELECT: You’re in charge of making the next Mass Effect. What would you do?

VIDEO GAME CAGE MATCH: Luigi’s Mansion vs Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem

SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS BY 8:30 CENTRAL ON 10/30 TO BE ON THE SHOW!

Our theme song “Relax” and interstitial tracks “To the Maxx” and “Moody Grooves” are written and performed by Megan McDuffee.