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Episode 534: Demonstrably False

by James Jones, Greg Leahy, Jon Lindemann, and Guillaume Veillette - August 6, 2017, 6:05 pm EDT
Total comments: 6

We habitually say things that aren't true; sometimes we know it.

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While planning this week's episode, we quickly determined that nobody had much New Business going on and the segment was doomed to be boring. A change was in order! While another mailbag-only episode may have been a perfectly acceptable solution, a revisiting of the 20 Questions format gives the show an extra dimension.

Four emails this week cover: how long Nintendo can wait to announce a Switch port of Smash Bros.; how Nintendo dodged the stink of Pokémon GO Fest; what other Nintendo games could be made into VR experiences; and what portable-only experiences are made possible by Switch. Between each email we play a round of 20 Questions. Coming into the episode we've successfully guessed all previous games. Do we manage to keep the streak going? You can send your 20 questions (or just one) to our inbox.

Some news this week: we're going to take next week off. It's been a while since our last vacation, and giving us a week apart will allow us to come back with a newfound appreciation for one another, full of the piss and vinegar you know and love. So far, our next RetroActive game, Super Mario Sunshine, has been doing a good job fueling us. To that end, we'll be recording our RetroActive on August 24, so get your comments in via the inbox or in the talkbalk thread.

This episode was edited by Guillaume Veillette. The "Men of Leisure" theme song was produced exclusively for Radio Free Nintendo by Perry Burkum. Hear more at Perry's SoundCloud. The Radio Free Nintendo logo was produced by Connor Strickland. See more of his work at his website.

This episode's ending music is Treasure Town from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of the Sky. It was requested by NWR's Adam Abou-Nasr. All rights reserved by Nintendo Co. Ltd.

Talkback

"Time... no beginning, no end; An endless procession that humbles our mortality."

                                                                        ~"Classy" Freddie Blassie, Wrestlemania XV

sorry to double post, but I have to comment on the rest of the episode.

Jon, you better pray that somebody never transcribes this podcast into japanese for Masahiro Sakurai's consumption, because your words this episode would WOUND him. remember that podcast a couple of years back that got that oen treehouse guy fired for talking candidly about Sakurai rebalancing Ness to be bad in a smash bros. game because the guy beat Sakurai? yeah.

Sakurai does the character design and balancing. he lords over the artistic teams to make sure they capture the essence of what little things like what the Hitsparks look like are consistent. he at the very least sits in on meetings about game balance and personally hashes out how to impliment these sorts of things. His wife does the UI for these games.

Now, it'd be foolish to say that there isn't young talent in japan that could emulate or even surpass Sakurai's work. I mean, if you want an example of what Smash Bros. looks like without Sakurai, look no further than Project M, Brawl Minus, the myriad Smash 4 mods out there, or games like Rivals of Aether, which does a pretty good job of making a sprite based game that captures the Smash Bros. Spirit pretty effectively.

What I'm saying though, is that you are suggesting prying a man's BABY away from him. I think he'd actually be happy if it wasn't the corperate-consumer juggernaught that it is, that he could let this behemoth lie, but he knows in his heart of hearts that Smash Bros. could potentially lose it's SOUL if he's not there to shepherd it through the pitfalls of such a game. I think at this point, as maddening as it is and as unhealthy as this is, Masahiro Sakurai has resigned himself to this fate; as long as he draws breath, as long as he has passion for what he does, he's going to ride this bull into the sunset.

MASBAugust 07, 2017

I'm glad you guys brought back 20 Questions and I hope you'll play it again in the future. I loved the agony and the ecstasy of guessing Jon's game. About halfway through the questions I had an idea about what the game would be after consulting the JLA (Jon Lindemann Archives aka my memories). After the licensing question, I was 99% certain. After the publishing question, I was 100% and Greg came in at the last minute to confirm!

For VR game ideas, I say have a version of the SNES game Uniracers. Imaging popping wheelies in virtual reality in that game! Or Geist VR. Hmm, hmmm?

When James said there may be something released to the RFN feed next week that isn't a normal epsiode, I immediately thought of one thing. I won't say it, because I don't think it will happen and I don't want to jinx it if it is on the table.

I noticed that two weeks in a row, the episode clocked in at under 2 hours. When will Gui's reign of terror end? ;)

I like how the RFN Crew picked the next RetroActive game, yet do not seem that anxious to play it. "Clean is better than dirty" boys, as me old mother used to say. Or maybe that was a magazine ad. The mud in the game always looked like chocolate pudding to me. So just pretend Mario is having the time of his live gorging on dessert. The Shadow Mario is really just Luigi trying to steal someone's cherries. Why wasn't he invited on the plane trip to paradise?  It may make for a more enjoyable experience.

I really should get around to playing SMS. I got about two-thirds through it during the mid 2000s, but gave up, not having the requisite amount of "git gud" at the time.

LemonadeAugust 07, 2017

Another Code/Trace Memory is one of my favourite DS games. I always like the rare occasions when it is mentioned on the show. The sequel on Wii is even better.

I'm not denying that Sakurai will go down with the ship. I just don't want him to. I'm looking out for the guy!

I was really surprised they didn't get it after I mentioned the licensing. That hint COMPLETELY threw them and had them going down all sorts of dead-end roads. It was delicious.

yeah, it would truly be a shame if he unraveled over Smash Bros, but I feel like he's set in his ways, and I can't begrudge a true artist and savant like Sakurai for pouring everything he has into his work to cement his legacy. Even if I or you feel that this is clearly not the place for him to be spending his creative energy, If he still has a passion for it (even if it is born out of something like say... Spite, which it's been recently revealed in interviews that that's the sort of beast Tetsuya Nomura is.) I feel it's not my place to advocate for him to step down... especially since Smash Bros. has yet to really stagnate... and that'd be the real fear from me. Even if people dog on Brawl, it's scope, it's ambition dwarfed the previous project, just as Smash 4 did after it.

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