The Punished Podcast

The Punished Podcast: Episode 22 – Nostalgia (For Games That Aren’t Very Good?!)

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In this episode of The Punished Podcast, we’re covering nostalgia in games, not for the games we think are classics… but for the ones that we know don’t quite deserve that praise, but we still love anyway.

I’m not even talking necessarily about games that have aged poorly or were polarizing at the time. These games likely weren’t even beloved as a consensus upon a release, but they still hold a special place in our hearts for some reason. Why is that? Is there room in today’s economy for bad games? Should there be?

Despite not getting the same attention as the timeless classics, these “bad” games are still worth talking about, and maybe we can try to understand more about ourselves as gamers as a result.

– Sam Martinelli, Editor

The Punished Podcast Episode 22
Sam Martinelli | Amanda Tien | Allison McDaniel

MP3 Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

Note: This episode has light swearing.

Timestamps
  • 0:00 – 5:14: Introductions
  • 5:15 – 24:09: Topic Exploration: Nostalgia x Video Games
  • 24:10 – 29:11: Nostalgia x Remasters
  • 29:12 – 41:07: Licensed Properties: Good or Bad?
  • 41:08 – 50:21: Should Kids These Days Play Bad Games? Can They?
  • 50:22 – 55:10: Rapid Fire Game Discussion
  • 55:11: Outro: What We’re Playing
    • Music Credits
    • “Main Theme, Huxley’s Chopper,” composed by Mike Reagan for The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland (1999) for PC and Game Boy Color
    • “Main Theme,” composed by Keith Leary for Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000) for PC, PlayStation 1, Dreamcast, and Game Boy Color
    • “Logo,” composed by Grant Kirkhope for Donkey Kong 64 (1999) for Nintendo 64
    • “Main Title,” composed by Stewart Copeland for Spyro the Dragon (1998) for PlayStation 1
      • Excerpts
      • Amanda:”Being a child, getting to play that game with your siblings…It’s a family experience. Just that excitement of ‘I am a child. I am sitting somewhere. I am totally entranced with this form of media that is maybe kind of new to me.’ It’s hard to replace that kind of excitement — that feeling that if I do X, Y will occur. That I have impacted this content in a way. It feels pretty close to magic.”
      • Sam: “Wow, you really sound like Nicole Kidman in that movie theater ad.”
        • Allison: “Nostalgia is also comfort. Sometimes you don’t want something perfect. It’s okay to broaden your horizons, to try different things. And it’s subjective! To some people, something else might be really, really good.”
        • Sam: “Yes — our tolerance for garbage in any other medium, especially television, is much more highly accepted… I might put on bad television in the background, but video games, we don’t really have that tolerance any more.”
          • Further Reading:
          The Punished Podcast: Episode 1 – Remakes vs. Remasters
          11 Video Game Remakes We Want To See
          The Punished Podcast: Episode 16 – Retro Games
          The Horse In Stardew Valley Deserves Better. Here’s What ConcernedApe Could Try
          9 Polarizing Games We Still Love
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