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Watcha Listening To? Retronauts Episode 48

Posted by Bob Mackey

In lieu of actually playing video games this week, I've spent most of my time contacting local landlords to determine if it's actually possible to live in America on the salary of a teacher/freelance writer <SPOILER>It's not</SPOILER>. So outside of wondering which nearby dumpsters offer the most headroom, I've been filling my mindless travel time with god's gift to commuters: podcasts. And I'll be damned if the latest Retronauts isn't the best one I've heard in quite some time.

If you've never listened to Retronauts, then your woefully empty life is missing out on one of the most specialized and relistenable gaming podcasts to ever exist--and I'm not just saying this because 1UP occassionally sends me money.

When 1UP debuted, it had a great Classics section that went away far too soon; now, most of the articles and features from that branch of 1UP can only be found with Google and a lodestone. Premiering in the fall of 2006, Retronauts was the kinda-sorta revival of 1UP's classic section, albeit much smaller and in audio form.  It's the perfect podcast for those who know way too much about video games or simply envy those who do.

Episodes of Retronauts usually come in one of two flavors: lighthearted, or serious business.  This week's episode is strictly the latter, what with the topic being the world-changing giant known as the Famicom (Japan's version of the NES); it also helps that the entire cast this week are walking Wikipedias and furious Famicom fanatics who came of age when the NES was as common as the household toaster.  In case you were wondering, all of this Famicom brouhaha is over the system's 25th birthday, which Retronauts hosts Jeremy Parish and Ray Barnholt have celebrated further with their series of 50 (yes, 50) articles on the subject.  Since this content is currently stuck in editor blogs, as opposed to being on the front page, it'd be a shame if anyone missed it.

I've listed the relevant links below. Now you have something to do this weekend.

Retronauts Episode 48
50 Fabulous Famicom Articles


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Comments

jp said:

Yo Bob, I put together a roundup of all those links yesterday:

www.1up.com/.../newsStory

August 22, 2008 11:39 PM

Demaar said:

Yar, Retronauts is one of my favourite 1UP podcasts, and 1UP podcasts are my favourite among... well, all podcasts. I missed it dearly during its hiatus, so I'm super stoked that it's been more regular lately, and on topics I find interesting but am not overly familiar with too.

August 23, 2008 4:19 PM

Bob Mackey said:

Thanks; I fixed the link.

August 23, 2008 5:54 PM

About Bob Mackey

For a brief period of time I was Bull from TV's Night Court, but some of you may know me from the humor column I wrote for Youngstown State University's The Jambar, Kent State University's The Stater, and Youngstown's alternative newspaper, The Walruss. I'm perhaps most well-known for my bi-weekly pieces on Something Awful. I've also blogged for Valley24.com and have written articles for EGM, 1UP, GameSpite and Cracked. For all of my writing over the years, I have made a total of twenty American dollars. It's also said that I draw cartoons, which people have described with words such as "legible." I kidnapped the Lindbergh Baby and am looking to do so again in the future.

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John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Hooksexup, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia's prized possession is a certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.


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