Topic: Episode 954: Thangsgiving

[NWR_Lindy]

RFN will never stop coining phrases that should never be coined.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/rfn/73467/episode-954-thangsgiving

This episode took a while to record because we spent a a long time planning the remainder of our work for this year.

Despite the rampant unprofessionalism, this show is work.

• We spend about three hours recording the show, starting at roughly 9:00 Eastern and wrapping up early the next day.
• I can't speak for how long it takes Guillaume to edit a show, but when I do it, every hour of the final runtime takes about two hours to edit. I do suspect I'm very slow.
• It takes me about an hour to write the article - particularly when I decided to put more thought into the exercise.
• The image takes between 30 minutes to an hour and a half. There are the odd moments where I go completely overboard and spend two or even three hours on it. Last week was an example of an extraordinary effort, but that was an outlier.

This adds up to an investment of between 18 and 20 man hours per episode.

I mention this, because that time investment becomes more difficult as people have plans tied to the holiday season. We travel to see family and friends, have events, and sometimes just need to unwind.

It is the one time of year I, as host and alleged producer, have to actually plan for the show - rather than relying on almost two decades of momentum - to make it happen.

And now, I'll share that plan with you!

We are recording two episodes between Dec. 18 and Dec. 22. I suspect they'll be shorter, and likely recorded in a single (very long) session. The first (Episode 957) will be a "normal" episode - with Prime 4 having been out a couple weeks at that point we'll likely be talking end game content. The other (Episode 958) will be our next RetroActive.

957 will drop the following Sunday, Dec. 21, just like always.958 will drop two weeks later on Jan 5.

We wont drop an episode on the week of New Years. Historically, this is one of our lowest listened to weeks - people listen to the week of Christmas travelling or finishing up work before the holiday. People listen to the week after New Years, returning to work.

And frankly, we just wont be around to record, edit, and publish.

On a personal note, I'll also be missing 959, to be recorded the week of Jan 6. I'll be leaving you to the tender mercies of your host Jon Lindemann. Despite me writing it here, he wont be aware of this fact. Greg, please remind him when you record it.

But this week, we are here. We start the show with Guillaume disliking another fan-favorite game: Ball X Pit. Beyond Ball and Pitting, he's been playing Arcade Archives Cadash - a 2D Platformer with RPG elements and some attributes more typical of a brawler. Finally, he finished Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which is a fan favorite that he DOES like. Jon is bummed with the Black Friday offerings in 2025. He's correct, they were significantly lesser compared to recent years, and pale when compared to the era of riots in the Best Buy. Greg got Sakurai's latest "never ask me for anything again" "everything is here" project Kirby Air Riders. He has some fairly early impressions of the game's abundance of modes. He also has a brief update on Age of Calamity, which James adds to now that he has cleared it. Lastly, James reviews the second Donkey Kong Bananza DLC challenge. He has, sadly, unlocked Lanky Kong's statue.

After a break, we reveal our next RetroActive game. As mentioned above, we needed to record this quicky - which means it needs to be available and not particularly long. The game we picked to meet these criteria: Link's adventures in Soulcalibur II for the Gamecube. It's available on the NSO service. Get to work.

James expected this reveal to take a lot longer. Suddenly, we were confronted with the horror that is a five minute second segment. Into the breach marched a second round of Jon Lindemann trivia.

At one point Jon had a negative score.

You can send your trivia here.

• (00:01:34) New Business - Ball x Pit. Cadash.
• (00:16:33) Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
• (00:27:09) Disappointing Black Friday deals.
• (00:31:01) Kirby Air Riders.
• (00:53:03) Hyrule Warriors - Age of Calamity.
• (01:07:23) Gameshare. Donkey Kong Bananza DLC challenges.
• (01:17:39) The next Retroactive.
• (01:27:46) Another Jon Lindemann quiz.