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Episode 200: Up Where We Belong

by Jonathan Metts - July 4, 2010, 5:46 pm EDT
Total comments: 50

We celebrate four years and 200 episodes with a gigantic discussion of Nintendo DS and how it rose to dominance.

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For this special anniversary episode, we skipped special guests, clip reels, and sappy remembrances. Instead, we decided to celebrate six years of Nintendo DS, on the eve of its true successor (or the fourth pillar?), the Nintendo 3DS.

Even our New Business segment is DS-centric. Jonny's addicted to Puzzle Quest 2, while Jon dusts off his DSi for X-Scape. Greg catches up with Jam with the Band, mysteriously released in Europe after years as a popular import. James wraps it up with Mega Man Zero Collection but also sneaks in a PC game with Tropico 3, which he describes as a sociopathic version of Sim City.

The lopsided conclusion is our feature topic, outlined and navigated by Mr. Leahy. Greg takes us through the early DS announcements, the playable debut at E3 2004, and the American-led launch (full of third-party titles, oddly). We each discuss the moments in 2005/2006 when we realized that DS might actually deliver on Nintendo's wild ambitions. And we ponder the larger significance and ubiquity of this tiny gaming system -- how it has affected our lives, our gaming habits, and the entire industry. It's a sweeping feature on an even bigger topic, but we covered as much as possible! Please send in your personal DS stories and comments on the feature, to be read on a future episode.

Finally, don't forget that the RetroActive: GBA Edition poll is ongoing and highly contested! Make your voice heard by voting before Thursday's deadline.

This podcast was edited by Greg Leahy.

Music for this episode of Radio Free Nintendo is used with permission from Jason Ricci & New Blood. You can purchase their newest album, Done with the Devil, directly from the record label, Amazon (CD) (MP3), or iTunes, or call your local record store and ask for it!

Additional music for this episode of Radio Free Nintendo is copyrighted to Nintendo, and is included under fair use protection.

Talkback

greybrickNathan Mustafa, Staff AlumnusJuly 05, 2010

Congrats you guys! 200 is a big milestone, and I am glad that my favorite podcast (sorry, Newscast) continues :)

No apologies necessary.  I wouldn't be here as a writer or podcaster if not for RFN.  Congrats, guys.

Great job on 200 guys, 4 years of awesome coverage and stories all led up to this amazing episode. My biggest regret however is not sending in a drunkcast story, if only i hadn't been lazy.

KDR_11kJuly 05, 2010

I got my DS as an import from Japan along with Wario Ware, mostly played GBA games like Ninja Five-O on it until it got a proper release here. I went for the DSi when that came out since my mother wanted her own DS to play the Ace Attorney and Prof Layton games and it was a better idea for me to buy a new one and give my old one to her. The DSi was a no-brainer since here the DS Lite cost 150€ and the DSi 170€.

happyastoriaJuly 05, 2010

I have the DS for three years and the only game I own is New Super Mario Bros. I still play it.

Kytim89July 05, 2010

Two genres that have not seen too much time in the lime light on the DS is fighting and sports. For years I was saying that a Super Smash Brothers game for the DS was coming. With the advent of the 3DS, I think it is only a matter of time before we see this game come fourth. Sports, on the other hand, have seen a little bit presecence on the DS, but I have never noticed any kind of professional sports games on the DS, so, this genre will also have a bigger presecence on the 3DS.

As for the Dragon Quest series on DS and 3DS, I forsee Dragon Quest seven and eight being ported to the 3DS and we will have the entire series at our disposal. Secondly, I do not want to see Dragon Quest 10 on the 3DS because the wii needs all the RPG firepower it can get and it diserves to have that game. The DS and soon to 3DS already has enough RPGs or will have plenty of its own.

How does the RFN crew feel about a virtual handheld service for the 3DS? I have heared you guys talk about it, but you never elaborated on it too much. What games and consoles would you like to see emulated?

I actually made the suggestion that the 3DS could easily emulate Neo Geo Pocket Color games because of the similarity between the NGPC and the slide-pad of the 3DS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoLyr5hWS4s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy1FwpidHGE

I'd like to see Saturn games emulated, for the simple fact that you really don't see them available very much.

My guess is that Project Sora's next game will be Super Smash Bros. 3D, and we'll see it in early to mid-2012.

Kytim89July 05, 2010

Quote from: NWR_Lindy

I'd like to see Saturn games emulated, for the simple fact that you really don't see them available very much.

My guess is that Project Sora's next game will be Super Smash Bros. 3D, and we'll see it in early to mid-2012.


I want Saturn emulation too and the other people on this forum chew me up for it. Now I feel specieal because I have a friend in a high place who wants the same thing as me. Now I can always say that boss of NWR wants Saturn emulation too.

In fact, SEGA is interested in doing Saturn emulation.

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/06/30/sega_saturn_downloads/

Quote from: Kytim89

Quote from: NWR_Lindy

I'd like to see Saturn games emulated, for the simple fact that you really don't see them available very much.

My guess is that Project Sora's next game will be Super Smash Bros. 3D, and we'll see it in early to mid-2012.


I want Saturn emulation too and the other people on this forum chew me up for it. Now I feel specieal because I have a friend in a high place who wants the same thing as me. Now I can always say that boss of NWR wants Saturn emulation too.

In fact, SEGA is interested in doing Saturn emulation.

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/06/30/sega_saturn_downloads/

Emulating the Saturn is a fools errand, you'd be better of just porting the game.  It's such a stupid architecture that it is difficult to do.

adadadJuly 05, 2010

Wow, you guys always make me feel terrible for not owning a DS, but especially so today listening to the podcast. Also any clue as to when the precious few of us listeners who sent in our creative attempts should expect to receive the precious audio file of the true tale we butchered in text form?

Oh, and great episode by the way, congrats on making it to 200 and many more to come I hope!

YoshidiousGreg Leahy, Staff AlumnusJuly 05, 2010

Quote from: adadad

Also any clue as to when the precious few of us listeners who sent in our creative attempts should expect to receive the precious audio file of the true tale we butchered in text form?


The audio should be going out to the brave few sometime on Friday, as I want to take some time to clean up the raw audio of the story that I saved from RFN 194. I would have liked to do this over the past weekend, but editing RFN 200 was such a marathon that it just wasn't going to happen. Patience my friend, soon you will know the (in every sense) awful truth...

I really wish I could let everyone experience the true horror this story is when you get it over a cell phone, standing in line at a greasy diner for breakfast.

Twice.

happyastoriaJuly 05, 2010

Quote from: Crimm

I really wish I could let everyone experience the true horror this story is when you get it over a cell phone, standing in line at a greasy diner for breakfast.

Twice.

Can it be any worse than the story I submitted?

SouthForkJuly 05, 2010

Congrats guys. Great title for the cast. What was that outro song? Sound familiar but can't place it.


~Where the eagles fly, on the mountain high.

YankeeJuly 06, 2010

Congrats on 200, and a great episode as always. It reminded me of all of the great games I should have played on my DS a long time ago. One of these days I am going to have to use the James method and just grab five random games out of my local Gamestop in search of a winner, hopefully without any anger as a result of course.


Now I regret not sending in some kind of wild interpretation of what could be contained in the secret audio because I am extremely envious of those who are soon to be enlightened by the supposedly magical clip. I guess that is what I get for being part of the problem.

Kytim89July 06, 2010

I bet the RFN crew would like to see a Eternal Darkness port over to the 3DS, or some kind of seqeul? Imagine the game playing with your mind by automatically reajusting your 3D. It would be totally awesome if it were to happen.

Do not use the "grab 5 and pray" without a smart phone to make sure you're not about to, as the kids these day, "shit the bed."

Kytim89July 06, 2010

I was a little dissapointed you guys did not mention that Sonic the Hedgehog made his RPG debut on the DS. Yes, the Sonic franchise is not looked upon very nicely, but it still diserved some kind of recognition.

Quote from: Kytim89

I was a little dissapointed you guys did not mention that Sonic the Hedgehog made his RPG debut on the DS. Yes, the Sonic franchise is not looked upon very nicely, but it still diserved some kind of recognition.

No it didn't.

Kytim89July 06, 2010

Quote from: Crimm

Quote from: Kytim89

I was a little dissapointed you guys did not mention that Sonic the Hedgehog made his RPG debut on the DS. Yes, the Sonic franchise is not looked upon very nicely, but it still diserved some kind of recognition.

No it didn't.


What do you mean? This was a good game and no speaks about it.

Retro DeckadesJuly 06, 2010

Congratulations guys! Can't thank you enough for the hours of entertaining discussion.

Quote from: SouthFork

Congrats guys. Great title for the cast. What was that outro song? Sound familiar but can't place it.

I believe it is "Staff Roll" from Super Mario 64. I suppose in this case, it could possibly be Super Mario 64 DS.

KDR_11kJuly 06, 2010

In the recent article about 3DS vs Sony 3D glasses Rob Fahey mentioned the Nintendo stock crashed after the DS unveiling. Everybody expected the PSP to win.

Quote from: Kytim89

Quote from: Crimm

Quote from: Kytim89

I was a little dissapointed you guys did not mention that Sonic the Hedgehog made his RPG debut on the DS. Yes, the Sonic franchise is not looked upon very nicely, but it still diserved some kind of recognition.

No it didn't.


What do you mean? This was a good game and no speaks about it.

No it wasn't.

I know this is getting into opinion at this point, but I really didn't like that game.

Chad SexingtonJuly 06, 2010

I'm beginning to think I'm going crazy when it comes to Puzzle Quest.  I've mentioned this on another forum (a long time ago) and no one else confirms it and everyone happily ignores it:

Puzzle Quest is unplayable.

I actually loved Puzzle Quest until I realized that there were only a handful of patterns that the gems are assembled at the beginning of every match.  And when I say "assembled" I also mean the pattern in which each additional gem is dropped down onto the playing area.  The replacement gems are all queued up in the same order for the handful of patterns.  They are not randomly scrambled.  The next time you're playing, pay attention to the beginning of each game.  Soon enough you'll find the same gems in the same places.  If you make the same move, the same gems will replace the ones that disappear.  Also, if you make the same move, the AI will make the same counter move, and that pattern will continue.

Once I noticed this and confirmed it, I put the game down and never touched it again.

Is this fixed in Puzzle Quest II?

I guess I was a lot more of a fan of Puzzle Quest: Galactrix than Jonny was. It was plagued with technical issues, and that drove me away from it, but a version of it without the bugs and the slowdown and the loading times would be one of my favorite DS games. Thankfully, Puzzle Quest 2 incorporates a lot of the improvements that Galactrix made. I'd still prefer the sci-fi setting of Galactrix, but that's just personal preference; in every other way, Puzzle Quest 2 is just as good a game as Galactrix, except of course the technical areas, in which it wipes the floor with it.

abeJuly 06, 2010

WHAT A SHAME!!!!!!!!!!!!

You just celebrated your 200th. episode by talking about SOME of the history for ONE Nintendo platform. Although I must say very thoroughly and informative. It is always a joy to hear about the stuff behind the platforms and games. ALWAYS. and here is my quote for the DS: I wasted 53 hours of my life with Nintendogs: Chihuahua and friends but I will never forget the day when Abi my Chihuahua bitch  ran away from home by itself and returned with a present in it's jaws. THAT MADE ME HAPPY AND I WILL NEVER FORGET YOU ABI

DrStilesJuly 06, 2010

Quote from: Chad

I'm beginning to think I'm going crazy when it comes to Puzzle Quest.  I've mentioned this on another forum (a long time ago) and no one else confirms it and everyone happily ignores it:

Puzzle Quest is unplayable.

I actually loved Puzzle Quest until I realized that there were only a handful of patterns that the gems are assembled at the beginning of every match.  And when I say "assembled" I also mean the pattern in which each additional gem is dropped down onto the playing area.  The replacement gems are all queued up in the same order for the handful of patterns.  They are not randomly scrambled.  The next time you're playing, pay attention to the beginning of each game.  Soon enough you'll find the same gems in the same places.  If you make the same move, the same gems will replace the ones that disappear.  Also, if you make the same move, the AI will make the same counter move, and that pattern will continue.

Once I noticed this and confirmed it, I put the game down and never touched it again.

Is this fixed in Puzzle Quest II?

In the DS version of Puzzle Quest 1 there was a glitch that caused the same starting board and gem drops for the first puzzle after booting up the game.  I would guess that this is caused by the program not seeding the random number generator.  I didn't notice the AI always making the same moves, so the first puzzle was different every time after the first few moves.  The problem goes away after the first puzzle.  This was fixed in puzzle quest 2 (and galactrix).

Kytim89July 06, 2010

Quote from: NWR_Neal

Quote from: Kytim89

Quote from: Crimm

Quote from: Kytim89

I was a little dissapointed you guys did not mention that Sonic the Hedgehog made his RPG debut on the DS. Yes, the Sonic franchise is not looked upon very nicely, but it still diserved some kind of recognition.

No it didn't.


What do you mean? This was a good game and no speaks about it.

No it wasn't.

I know this is getting into opinion at this point, but I really didn't like that game.


I lost a whole lot of interest in the Sonic franchise, but when I found out Bioware was developing the game I immediatly went out and bought the game. That is why I want to recommend this game to James Jones because he likes RPGs.

James, I have to warn you against ever playing that game. It might be in line with you "All RPG, All The Time" mantra from March, but it's a crappy RPG. It doesn't matter if Bioware developed it. It's like Super Mario RPG crossed with Elite Beat Agents...if both of those games kind of sucked and starred Sonic and his shitty friends.

Kytim89July 06, 2010

Quote from: NWR_Neal

James, I have to warn you against ever playing that game. It might be in line with you "All RPG, All The Time" mantra from March, but it's a crappy RPG. It doesn't matter if Bioware developed it. It's like Super Mario RPG crossed with Elite Beat Agents...if both of those games kind of sucked and starred Sonic and his ****ty friends.


Yes, it did have issues, but the sci-fi elements of the game were enjoyable.  It is no Final Fantasy for obvious reasons, but I a lot of reviewers claim that the Sonic's shitty friends are not as annoying in this game as they are in the other Sonic games.

As they pointed out in this episode, there are so many great RPGs on the DS; there's no need to settle for something like that.

Kytim89July 06, 2010

If I had a gaming series I would want it to have a debut on the DS.

AVJuly 06, 2010

My family had a vacation to Galveston beach for 4th of July and we returned today.


I had some other podcasts I listened too but I needed to make sure I had RFN 200 to listen on the drive back. I was hoping you would mention Meteos, and you did when I was playing it on my DS.
My blasted Meteos card keeps failing me, i don't know why but occasionally the DS just refuses to recognize it when I try to play it. I have to clean the cartridge to get it to work, and thats odd when all other games work fine. Anyway it's cool you guys talk about DS when I played with mine.
Great discussion on the history

Great show guys. I love playing my DS,during the car ride back to where I live as my brother drove but listening to RFN was a real treat.

The reason Sonic's RPG debut is not worth special mention is the franchise is no long worth special recognition.

That's all I'm going to say about it; if you have an issue with that position you can put the blame purely at the fault of Sonic's handlers.

Mop it upJuly 07, 2010

At first I was surprised Nintendo was so willing to give up the Game Boy name, after all the success they've had with it. But it started to make sense after seeing where the DS was headed. They were targeting all audiences, including adults and females, and a name like "Game Boy" isn't very appealing to them.

Quote from: OneTwenty

I believe it is "Staff Roll" from Super Mario 64.

It sure is.

Kytim89July 07, 2010

Quote from: Mop

At first I was surprised Nintendo was so willing to give up the Game Boy name, after all the success they've had with it. But it started to make sense after seeing where the DS was headed. They were targeting all audiences, including adults and females, and a name like "Game Boy" isn't very appealing to them.

Quote from: OneTwenty

I believe it is "Staff Roll" from Super Mario 64.

It sure is.


In my mind I always refered to the DS as the Game Boy DS. It is still a Game Boy in all facets but name. Basically the DS and soon to be 3DS are Game Boys in stealth mode. But like you said, they removed the name to appeal to a broader audience, but it is still a game boy. This might be why they have yet to release a new addition of the game boy because technically they already have one at their disposal.

What do you guys think of my avatar?

NWR_KarlKarl Castaneda, Contributing EditorJuly 07, 2010

For the record, the PAX East Post-Drunkcast story can be found elsewhere on the internet, as told by myself and Mike Sklens.

I just listened to the story told by Karl and Mike, that must of been one exciting night. However, I still want to listen to the original audio when crew is present.

Kytim89July 08, 2010

Quote from: Crimm

The reason Sonic's RPG debut is not worth special mention is the franchise is no long worth special recognition.

That's all I'm going to say about it; if you have an issue with that position you can put the blame purely at the fault of Sonic's handlers.


All that matters is how one feels about a particular game regardless of whether it is good or not. I guess beauty is in the eye of the behold and I apologize for wasting your time. All that counts is that I like the game and that makes it a winner.

While I like that you're so emotionally invested in the game you really need  to take what I say less seriously. I do maintain that the game isn't really deserving of special mention for simply existing, but that extends to 99.99999% of DS games. Hell, if you're not Brain Age or Nintendogs the fact you exist is not inextricably linked to the narrative that is the life of the DS.  I love a lot of DS games that I didn't mention.

King of TwitchJuly 10, 2010

:Q :confused; hahaha  ;D

SundoulosJuly 10, 2010

I was always surprised that they didn't have more RTS games on the DS.  Yes, Starcraft wouldn't have worked that well on the DS, but a game similar to Warcraft 3, with a focus on smaller groups and more micromanagement, probably would have done very well.

For that matter, I think the Wii might still have been a good choice for an RTS game.  I've been disappointed there as well.

Starcraft 2 notwithstanding, RTS games seem to have dwindled a lot in prominence in the last several years, though, and I don't think they've ever been all that popular in Japan.

I'm pretty sure the only DS RTS are Revenant Wings and Heroes of Mana. (OMG MUSHBOOM RUSH)

NWR_KarlKarl Castaneda, Contributing EditorJuly 10, 2010

There was an RPG/RTS on DS called LostMagic that was sort of decent - it had terrible routing, though. If there was a tree in front of a troop, they basically walked in place until you pointed them away from it. There was a cool rune-drawing system, though.

Quote from: NWR_Karl

There was an RPG/RTS on DS called LostMagic that was sort of decent - it had terrible routing, though. If there was a tree in front of a troop, they basically walked in place until you pointed them away from it. There was a cool rune-drawing system, though.

From what I remember, that was one of the main problems of both Revenant Wings and Heroes of Mana as well.

KDR_11kJuly 11, 2010

There's also Ecolis (and some shoddy GBA port, I think it's called Command & Destroy or something). I think Japanese RTSes rarely ever bother with pathfinding. Consider that the old Warcraft and Command & Conquer games ran on hardware less powerful than the DS and had pathfinding that's just pathetic.

It really is a shame more developers haven't tried making RTS games for the DS. The iPhone has a pretty decent RTS library, but I'd think the stylus touch screen on the DS would allow for more precision.

KDR_11kJuly 11, 2010

Even the iPhone has a very limited RTS library, you get a ton of tower defense but full RTSes are rare. Land Air Sea Warfare is one of the few real ones.

I suppose with the wasteful resource handling these days people just can't get enough performance out of the DS for a proper RTS.

Kytim89July 11, 2010

Bue Dragon Plus was an RTS for the DS similar to Revenant Wings.

Shogun Empires was the game I was thinking about.

Trying to figure it out I googled: "samurai RTS DS."  First result was actually an NWR Mailbag from years ago!  Good info on it!

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