This week we set sail for adventure here on the Still Loading Podcast. Joining me is new friend to the show Supertendo to talk about the originally maligned but now beloved Zelda game, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

Despite being more beloved now, Wind Waker had a very polarizing launch back in 2002 when it came out. This was not the Zelda most fans were looking for at the time, myself included. But a gutsy choice from Nintendo back then has proven it's staying power. Wind Waker is significantly more popular now than it was back when it released and I would like to feel like that is largely because it's intended audience grew up a bit and played the game on it's own merits and not based on their expectation.

Supertendo and I discuss all of this on the episode along with how we feel the gameplay holds up, is sailing fun? Which is better the OG or the remake? Is the Triforce quest THAT bad? Listen and find out!

Follow Supertendo on Instagram HERE https://www.instagram.com/supertendo_/

Shout-out Song: Windfall Island Artist: Helynt Album: Super Lofi World 2 https://gamechops.com/super-lofi-world-2/

End Song: Outset Island Artist: CG5 Album: Smooth McGroove Remixed 3 https://gamechops.com/smooth-mcgroove-remixed-3/

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You ain't nothin' but a groundhog! This month's cartoon episode is on the Super Mario Bros. Super Show Episode 8, "Love 'em and Leave 'em". Dexter is of course back and we had a lot of discuss on this one. We chat about the observational skills of our intrepid heroes, what hot pepper pistacio ice cream would taste like, why love potions are super problematic and much more!

Follow Dexter on social media! Instagram BlueSky

Shout-out Song: Fossil Falls Artist: Helynt Album: Mario & Chill 2 https://gamechops.com/mario-and-chill-2/

End Song: Mushroom Bounce Artist: bLiNd Album: NESteryears https://gamechops.com/nesteryears/

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Whip sounds abound in this episode of Still Loading. I'm joined by TroytlePower of Geek to Geek Media and Thrak from the 3DO Experience to go on a rip-roaring adventure of punching some nazis. And no, this is not a continuation of Punch a Nazi month, but it is kind of a spiritual sequel to it.

We are talking about Indiana Jones and the Great Circle this week. The three of us chat about our first experiences with the iconic archeologist, how this game surprised us in ways we weren't expecting, bizarre evangelical media and much more!

**Please note this episode was recorded before Microsoft's announcement of massive layoffs so it was not brought up in this episode.

Follow TroytlePower on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/troytlepower.bsky.social

Follow Thrak on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/thrak.bsky.social https://bsky.app/profile/gandcstudios.bsky.social

Shout-out Song: Opening Theme Composers: Michael Z. Land, Peter McConnell and Clint Bajakian Album: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis Sountrack https://retro.sx/music/301

End Song: And the Journey Begins Artist: xdeviruchi Album: 8-Bit Fantasy & Adventure https://xdeviruchi.itch.io/8-bit-fantasy-adventure-music-pack

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Back in 2020 I did an episode on Final Fantasy X. Five years later there is finally a sequel to that episode where I talk about the sequel to that game! Joining me this week is Rick from Pixel Project Radio to help me change in and out of numerous costumes as we discuss the first ever direct sequel in the Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy X-2.

X-2 expands the world of FFX in many clever ways while also introducing a really unique battle system that I enjoyed a decent amount. Rick and I had a lot of fun dissecting what makes this game unique, how it feels to play it all these years later and ultimately what we both felt was it's downfall.

Follow Rick on Bluesky here! https://bsky.app/profile/pixelprojectradio.bsky.socia

Shout-out Song: Sight of Spira Artist: Rifti Beats Album: Chocobo & Chill https://gamechops.com/chocobo/

End Song: Yuna (Tropical House Remix) Artist: Will & Tim Album: N/A https://gamechops.com/yuna/

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As time goes on the games and the consoles we grew up with have a hard time keeping up with modern technology. Plug in your NES or Sega Genesis into a modern HD TV and it just doesn't feel the way you remember it. You may ask, did my games always look and play like this? The answer no. Well sort of...

Returning to the show today is my good friend Try from the YouTube channel My Life in Gaming, and we do a pretty thorough overview of what to do to play your retro game systems and retro games on modern televisions. We talk about video signals, resolutions, upscaling, emulation of all kinds and much more. If you ever wanted to learn about how to get the most out of your old game consoles, use this episode as a jumping off point!

Checkout My Life in Gaming on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/@mylifeingaming

Check out The Backloggery! https://backloggery.com/

Shout-out Song: Dedede's Theme (from Kirby's Dream Land) Artist: Karl Brueggemann Album: Micropower https://karlbmusic.bandcamp.com/album/micropower

End Song: BITGEN07 [Super Mario Land] Artist: Karl Brueggemann Album: Micropower https://karlbmusic.bandcamp.com/album/micropower

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

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BONUS EPISODE! For a surprise bonus episode, I sat down to chat with Karl Hörnell to talk about his recently released speculative fiction novel Singularity Minus Twelve. Karl is also a game designer who was fairly prolific on the Commodore 64 back in the 80's along with web based gaming in the later 90's/early 00's.

His novel Singularity Minus Twelve tries to imagine our world in the future with how AI may be integrated into our lives. It's also a freakin' fun read where it's like the Dirty Dozen (you know that 1967 movie) meets rogue AI. In this gaming adjacent episode (hence why it's a bonus episode) we discuss how his game development career influenced his writing and the themes he wanted to incorporate into the book and what does being sentient really mean.

Find Karl's book here! https://www.amazon.com/Singularity-Minus-Twelve-Karl-H%C3%B6rnell/dp/915310482X

Shout-out Song: Silly Venture Artist: Ultrasyd Album: Chipsters EP Remastered https://ultrasyd.bandcamp.com/album/chipsters-ep-remastered

End Song: Un Croissant S'il Vous Plaît Artist: Ultrasyd Album: Chipsters EP Remastered https://ultrasyd.bandcamp.com/album/chipsters-ep-remastered

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

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

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This month's mini episode involves underworld connections... Specifically of the Triforce variety. Dexter Morrill is back and we take a look at episode 7 of the Legend of Zelda cartoon, Underworld Connections. In this episode one of the Triforce pieces gets broken into 3 parts and Link and Zelda must track them down. We learn that the Triforce can transmit heat and.... wet? to other shards of itself.,Link is a perv as usual, Zelda saves Link's bacon and much more. Will Link and Zelda get back the missing pieces from the underworld of Hyrule!? Listen and find out!

In the live action Mario segment we see a young Maurice Lamarche play Inspector Gadget and it's wonderful.

Follow Dexter on social media! Instagram BlueSky

Shout-out Song: Lost Woods Artist: Mikel Album: Zelda & Chill https://gamechops.com/zelda-chill-complete/

End Song: Hyrule Castle Artist: James Landino Album: Link to the Future https://gamechops.com/link-to-the-future/

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In honor of the Magic the Gathering/Final Fantasy crossover I figured I should bump up this year's Final Fantasy Fantasy Draft a bit early! Four more guests enter the draft to try and craft the best Final Fantasy they can. This year we had a few first time guests and a few returning ones! As usual this was a TON of fun to record and some wild choices were made that I'm still laughing at weeks after we recorded.

This year's panelists are....

Geoff Moonen from "Fun" and Games Podcast https://bsky.app/profile/geoffmakesnoise.bsky.social https://www.certainpov.com/fun-and-games

James Galizio from RPG Site https://bsky.app/profile/theswweet.bsky.social https://bsky.app/profile/rpgsite.net

Annalisa (aka Animalisa Keys) https://bsky.app/profile/animalisakeys.bsky.social https://www.youtube.com/@AnimalisaKeys

Michael Berger from Bits of Time Podcast https://www.instagram.com/bitsoftimemedia/ https://www.youtube.com/@bitsoftimemedia https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bits-of-time/id1616941089

Make sure you vote for who you thought drafted the best Final Fantasy! You can find a link to the voting below.

VOTE HERE: https://forms.gle/itfGcPcEy3BUxrnX9 (Poll will be open until 6/29/2025)

Shout-out Song: The Prelude Artist: Rifti Beats Album: Chocobo & Chill https://gamechops.com/chocobo/

Break Song: Balamb Garden Artist: Rifti Beats Album: Chocobo & Chill https://gamechops.com/chocobo/

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

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

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

Want to buy some Still Loading merch? https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

In this episode we explore another broad-ish topic of game history. Last week was FPS games and this week its Handheld gaming! I'm joined by author Tommy Keough to talk about his recently released book from Pen & Sword Books, "The History of Handheld Game Consoles".

We chat about why he specifically chose to write about handheld game consoles, his other book about gamertags, where he sees handheld gaming going and more!

Checkout Tommy on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/gamertagstories/

Check out Tommy's Book! https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/The-History-of-Handheld-Game-Consoles-Hardback/p/52025

Shout-out Song: Dedede's Theme (from Kirby's Dream Land) Artist: Tudd and General Offensive Album: Smash & Chill https://gamechops.com/smash-and-chill/

End Song: BITGEN07 [Super Mario Land] Artist: Dj Cutman Album: Dj Cutman - Volume I https://gamechops.com/dj-cutman-volume-i/

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

Looking at the evolution of a genre is one of my favorite parts of studying game history. I attempted my own version of this with my history of RTS series a few years back but my guest today does a much more thorough look into a different game genre. Joining me on this episode is game developer and author Stuart Maine. Stuart has a new book out from Bitmap books called "Hurt Me Plenty: The Ultimate Guide to First-Person Shooters 2003–2010" and the title says it all! We had a great time talking about his research process, what challenges he faced writing this book, how his work in games helped in writing this book and much more!

Follow Stuart on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/stuartmaine.bsky.social

Check out Stuart's book here! https://www.bitmapbooks.com/products/hurt-me-plenty-the-ultimate-guide-to-first-person-shooters-2003-2010?srsltid=AfmBOornk4svCtsZRVTGjYm7IKD_jjBn0x8ncshpivHoHjy4KVyffEQP

Check out Stuart's first book in this look into FPS games here! https://www.bitmapbooks.com/products/i-m-too-young-to-die-the-ultimate-guide-to-first-person-shooters-1992-2002?srsltid=AfmBOoroxtm8ACjXPZxnrdGS8JchomfDGzzkdPfzIFmZ516YGUqHnc_6

Shout-out Song: Synthetic Demon Artist: Scott Peeples Album: N/A https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00740

End Song: Dark Toxin Artist: Mike Norvak Album: N/A https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR04820

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

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