The NES in North America got 677 games. In Japan there was over 1000 games released. In this episode I chat with returning guest Joe Bourrie to talk about a Kickstarter he has going on to get a book he has worked over 5 years on published, it's called "Beyond the NES". Beyond the NES is a curated look at games that came out on the Famicom only in Japan and have yet to be introduced to North American gamers in any meaningful way. This book is Joe's attempt to remedy that unfamiliarity and I would say does so REALLY well.

I tasked Joe with finding comparable Famicom exclusive games to some of our more well known titles on the NES in North America. Love Zelda? There are some cool games we didn't get that you may like. What about Mega Man? There are a bunch of cool games that we didn't get that might scratch that itch. Beyond the NES is a great look into what we missed in North America on the NES and is well worth supporting.

Follow Joe on Bluesky HERE Check out the Kickstarter for Beyond the NES HERE Check out Joe's Etsy shop HERE

Shout-out Song: Trip to the Tropics (Star Tropics) Artist: Dj Cutman Original Composer: Yoshio Hirai Album: Volume III https://djcutman.bandcamp.com/album/volume-iii

End Song: Mario's Rooftop Party Artist: Dj Cutman Original Composer: Koji Kondo Album: Volume IV https://djcutman.bandcamp.com/album/volume-iv

Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/

Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

The Final Fantasy Fantasy Draft is here again! Every year I invite 4 amazing people on the show to battle it out in fantasy draft form to put together their best possible Final Fantasy game. Joining the show this year are Georgie from Press Pause Radio, Andrew Bluett from his YouTube channel of the same name, Ty Schalter from FunFactor Podcast and Patrick Brickhouse from the Retro Blast Podcast!

Once you listen to the episode make sure you go to the Google Form link below and vote for who you felt drafted the best Final Fantasy game! Vote HERE

Make sure you go follow and support all my wonderful guests!

Georgie's Socials/Links Follow Georgie on Bluesky HERE Follow Press Pause Radio on Bluesky HERE Check out Press Pause Radio's website HERE

Andrew's Socials/Links Follow Andrew on Bluesky HERE Check out Andrew's YouTube channel HERE

Ty's Socials/Links Follow Ty on Bluesky HERE Follow FunFactor on Bluesky HERE Check out FunFactor's website HERE

Patrick's Socials/Links Follow Retro Blast Podcast on Bluesky HERE Check out Retro Blast Podcast's website HERE

Shout-out Song: Ahead On Our Way Artist: Rifti Beats Original Composer: Nobuo Uematsu Album: Chocobo & Chill II https://gamechops.com/chocobo-and-chill-2-final-fantasy-lofi/

Break Song #1: Gold Saucer Artist: Rifti Beats Original Composer: Nobuo Uematsu Album: Chocobo & Chill II https://gamechops.com/chocobo-and-chill-2-final-fantasy-lofi/

Break Song #2: Fisherman's Horizon Artist: Rifti Beats Original Composer: Nobuo Uematsu Album: Chocobo & Chill II https://gamechops.com/chocobo-and-chill-2-final-fantasy-lofi/

End Song: Terra's Theme Artist: Rifti Beats Original Composer: Nobuo Uematsu Album: Chocobo & Chill https://gamechops.com/chocobo/

Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/

Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

The finale of our watch along series on the Legend of Zelda cartoon has come to an end, and if you'll EXCUSSEEEE MEEEE princess, I am happy to be done with it. Of course I am joined by co-host with the mo-host Dexter Morrill to break down this last episode. Link becomes a ghost? Gannon just gives up on his plan? What is going on with this episode!? Oh and the Mario live action segment is a repeat one.... Boooooooo

Follow Dexter on social media! Instagram BlueSky

Shout-out Song: Ocarina of Time Artist: Joshua Morse Original Composer: Koji Kondo Album: Zelda Funk https://gamechops.com/zelda-funk/

End Song: Lost Woods Artist: Joshua Morse Original Composer: Koji Kondo Album: Zelda Funk https://gamechops.com/zelda-funk/

Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/

Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

There are many areas of game history that have not been given their due diligence in research. And for a long while I never had a second thought about cheat codes or cheating in video games in general other than the cursory Konami Code Easter egg or the news story about some game hacker. That was until I read my guest's recently published book.

I'm joined by Nate Drake to talk about his book on the history of cheating in video games called "I Am Not Good". I had a great conversation with Nate about his work on the book, his inspiration for writing it, his personal favorite cheat codes and if big head mode should come back or not... And of course much more.

Please note I did receive a review copy of this book.

Check out Nate on Bluesky HERE Buy Nate's book HERE

Shout-out Song: Pie in the Sky Artist: Karl Brueggemann Album: Micropower https://karlbmusic.bandcamp.com/album/micropower

End Song: Telemart Artist: Karl Brueggemann Album: Micropower https://karlbmusic.bandcamp.com/album/micropower

Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/

Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

You all knew this coming. It HAD to happen. It's finally here. My nearly 3 hour episode on the new James Bond game, 007 First Light. I have been anticipating this game for quite some time and I'm not gonna lie ya'll it did not let me down even in the slightest. It lived up to all my hopes for it. Joining me to break down this game in all it's glory is returning friend of the show and fellow Bond fanatic Thrak from The 3DO Experience podcast and the Call of Duty Thrak Ops podcast.

We talk about how this game feels like James Bond in every way possible. We talk about how the gameplay makes you feel like Bond, the sound design, the cinematic nature of the game and so much more. We do a big spoiler dive into the story of the game as well which we do shoutout clearly before we dive in. If you love James Bond like I do you will not want to miss this episode.

Check out Thrak's solo show, Call of Duty Thrak Ops HERE! Follow Thrak on Bluesky HERE!

Shout-out Song: Switching The Body - from Thunderball (LoFi Version) Artist: Rich Douglas Original Composer: John Barry Album: The Spy Who Chilled Me (A James Bond 007 Lofi Project) https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-spy-who-chilled-me-a-james-bond-007-lofi-project/1808713529

End Song: First Light Artist: Lana Del Rey Album: 007 First Light Soundtrack https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFPy8rDmPLM

Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/

Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

Ten years ago the world felt a little brighter. Ten years ago Pokémon Go came out and took the world by storm. It was a game that crossed generation gaps, got people up and moving and out in their neighborhoods. It encouraged us to explore areas we thought we knew only to discover new things about our own towns.

Jared Moss from Play Along Podcast joins me for this one to chat about all things Pokémon Go! And for it's 10th anniversary we also solicited some clips from friends of the show! So get out the door, put this podcast on and catch some Pokémon, this is an episode you won't want to miss.

Follow Play Along Podcast on Bluesky HERE Check out everything else Play Along Podcast related HERE

A HUGE shoutout to everyone who submitted audio clips for this episode! Go follow them on their socials below! Follow Kevin from Game Sandwich on Bluesky HEREFollow Adam Gumbert on Bluesky HEREFollow Dave Jackson on Bluesky HERE Follow CGDannyB on Bluesky HERE Follow Mike and Neil from Switch 2 the Past on Instagram HERE Follow Mike from the Old Switcharoo Podcast on Bluesky HERE Follow Gen Moonen from "Fun" and Games on Bluesky HERE

Shout-out Song: Pokémon Gym Artist: Helynt Original Composer: Junichi Masuda Album: Super Lofi World 3 https://gamechops.com/super-lofi-world-3/

End Song: Azalea Artist: Ben Briggs feat. Voia Original Composer: Go Ichinose, Junichi Masuda Album: Ultraball https://gamechops.com/ultraball/

Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/

Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

Don't underestimate Toad. He may just get a super star and become... THE TOAD WARRIOR!

It's another Mario Super Show episode! And of course I am joined by my co-host with the mo-host Dexter Morrill to break down this wild episode. Between robotic love interests, eating nothing but dry pasta, pasta sauce being gasoline and so much more, this episode goes (well drives) places you wouldn't expect.

Follow Dexter on social media! Instagram BlueSky

Shout-out Song: Steam Gardens 2 Artist: Helynt Original Composer: Koji Kondo, Naoto Kubo, Shigetoshi Gohara, Shiho Fujii Album: Mario & Chill 2 https://gamechops.com/mario-and-chill-2/

End Song: What The Funk! Artist: Tansunn Original Composer: Koji Kondo Album: N/A https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00456

Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/

Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

This episode's origin is TRACED back to my patrons! See what I did there? Truly awful jokes aside... This week on the show I am chatting about the Nintendo DS launch game Trace Memory which was chosen by my patrons for this episode. I am joined by fellow podcaster Derek Van Dyke to help me break down everything this game has to offer. From gimmicky DS controls (That actually work well?) to a simple but engaging story, we dissect what works and doesn't work about this often overlooked title.

Follow Derek on Bluesky HERE Check out all of Derek's work HERE

Shout-out Song: Brawl Artist: Coffee Date Original Composer: Nobuo Uematsu Album: Wii Chill https://gamechops.com/wii-chill-lofi-beats/

End Song: Shy Around You Artist: Malmen Original Composer: N/A Album: Fakebit World https://malmenmusic.bandcamp.com/album/fakebit-world

Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/

Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

Some of my favorite episode topics are the ones I couldn't think of. This week on the show I am joined by Drew Mackie from the blog, Thrilling Tales of Old Video Games to talk about his recently released article, Mario 101. In Mario 101, Drew lays out a series of 101 obscure and fun Mario facts over the course of 40,000 words. This is the kind of topic I never would have thought of, which makes it the perfect topic for me to cover on the show. This type of super niche, hyper specific research is my jam and I when I reached out to Drew about coming on the show for a game (something we have yet to plan) we asked if we could talk about this and I jumped at the chance to. This was a really fun conversation about a side of Mario you don't really see. This is Mario 101.

Follow Drew on Bluesky HERE Check out Thrilling Tales of Old Video Games HERE

Shout-out Song: Bob-omb Battlefield Artist: Coffee Date Original Composer: Koji Kondo Album: Mario Tape https://gamechops.com/mario-tape-super-mario-lofi/

End Song: Oh Daisy, Daisy! Artist: halc Original Composer: Hirokazu Tanaka Album: N/A https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR04066

Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/

Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

We have made it another hundred episodes! For the past few mile marker episodes Ive been focusing on people that have helped me on my podcasting journey and helped make the show what it is and this episode's guest is no different. I am joined by probably my favorite podcaster of all time for this episode, Matt Gourley.

Matt and I talk about how he got started in podcasting, unexpected challenges in podcasting, how he became a part of Conan O'Brien's podcast and we are even joined by a famous deceased author!

Matt was absolutely wonderful and you should go listen to his plethora of podcasts. Superego, I Was There Too, James Bonding, With Gourley and Rust, Pistol Shrimps Radio, Mallwalkin', Bonanas for Bonanza, Keys to the Kingdom, Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend.

Follow Matt on Instagram HERE Check out Matt's Link Tree HERE

End Song: Fakebit Love Artist: Malmen Original Composer: N/A Album: Fakebit World https://malmenmusic.bandcamp.com/album/fakebit-world

End Song: Sugar Flow Artist: Malmen Original Composer: N/A Album: Fakebit World https://malmenmusic.bandcamp.com/album/fakebit-world

Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/

Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod