The CoNCast: A Caves of Narshe Podcast Kinda Gig

In this episode, we're talking about sequels. It seems like every game is guaranteed a sequel these days, and some of them are warranted, and some are not. Of course, which ones are which are a matter for debate, so Neal, lasz, DP, and I spend some time talking about games that need more sequels, and games that instead need to be put on the shelf.

Today's episode, in honor of both CoNniversary and the relaunch of the Final Fantasy VI section, is just about how great Final Fantasy VI really is. Obviously, this could cover a great many podcasts (and over time, I suspect it will!), but for today we just wanted to talk a little, in broad strokes, about the things that made us all fall in love with it over the years. For this, we got the original CoNcast group together for the first time in a few months, and I, Tiddles, lasz and DP spend an afternoon touching on a few things that keep us coming back to the game. This one is a nice quick listen, so if you've never tried one of our podcasts before, or just love Final Fantasy VI, you should give it a try in honor of the site's 16th birthday. Let us know what you think and we'll be back with a new episode in a few weeks!

This time around, with TheSpeedGamers' Final Fantasy marathon still fresh in our minds, Lasz, Jav and I brought in a former CoN staffer to talk to us a bit about speedgaming. Folks here might remember him as Caesar, but nowadays he plays games very, very fast over at Speed Demos Archive under his real name, PJ. We spend an hour with PJ talking about all sorts of things about gaming with pace, from how his background at CoN romhacking Final Fantasy V helps him in his gaming, to the games he likes best to speed through, to why more people don't try to speedrun Final Fantasy games. We even talk a bit about the competitive and cooperative aspects of speedgaming and how they share some connection to the rapidly-growing field of eSports. We even wrap up with just a little talk about what's coming for this year's CoNniversary. That's next week! Holy cow!

Tiddles, Neal (from Games Bucket!), EvilEye and R51 get experimental by doing a podcast recording-cum-livestream-cum-let's play of Seiken Densetsu 3. The team both enjoys and mocks simultaneously both the game's first hour and the technical difficulties of SNES netplay. Soon to have an extended cut with video!

This week's title sounds a bit like "kneecapping." However, this week's crew was really, legitimately excited about a lot of E3 2013 and as such we mostly didn't turn the snark up to crippling levels. We had some miscommunications around episode eight that ended up nixing our original plans for the episode theme - was lucky for us, then, that we had E3 the week before recording and we had a lot to say about it. Lucky even moreso because the very time we recorded was the time that Microsoft were making their epic turnaround on their always-online, Kinect-watches-you-sleep plan.

Crowdfunding has become a major player in the video games market, for both true indie games and also the passion projects of some big names in gaming. The CoNcast crew talks a little about crowdfunding and how absolutely insane it would be if Squenix moved that direction. Also, there's some chat about what's coming at this week's E3 show, and it's met with meh.

The Xbox One was announced just before this recording, so we spend the hour talking about the revelations contained therein and also what it could mean for Final Fantasy (a bit!). Tiddles also outs himself as a potential eBay scammer.

The gang regroups to immediately digress into chat about Skyrim and Bioshock Infinite, and then remembers what the podcast is nominally about. Moving on, there's some discussion about the new Final Fantasy VI content coming soon, and a chunk of time in which we wax nostalgic about our "Final Fantasy Stories," how we came to the beloved series in the first place.

A change of pace for the fourth CoNcast, with a brand new theme tune written special for the show, and a visit from Jav, the special guest who wrote the theme. We talk a little with Jav about his process and the outcome, and then debate the value of custom ringtones for our mobile phones and why there are awesome gaming ones both from the Squenix canon and in the wide world of games in general. Want to hear everything we're talking about? The full version of the theme tune is at http://narshe.me/17tpcBL and you can see the playlist of all of our selections at http://narshe.me/ZRIWNb

With the first recording post-April Fool's Day 2013, the gang circles back around to discuss a few entertaining pranks from the year, including CoN's "Foolsglade." We also talk about the best prank the CoN has ever pulled off, starring Chrono Trigger, and wrap up the day with an arched eyebrow towards Bravely Default: Flying Fairy, the notion of a PlayStation 4 Final Fantasy game, and the theoretical death and rebirth of Versus XIII.