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Episode 355: Gratitude: The Adventure

by James Jones, Jon Lindemann, Jonathan Metts, and Guillaume Veillette - October 19, 2013, 7:01 pm EDT
Total comments: 9

Here are a few of our favorite things... about Nintendo.

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This week's show has a very positive vibe, overall. It helps that our feature topic is Things We Love About Nintendo, Right Now. But even New Business kicks off with radiant impressions of Wind Waker HD from Jonny, who wasn't really expecting much from that package. Positivity takes a temporary dip for Gui to talk about the abysmal Castlevania: The Adventure (old school Game Boy on 3DS Virtual Console), and it's murky at best for a Ni No Kuni update from James. Jon is back on the bright side for Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (he's still obsessed with the portable version, for now). With some time left in the segment, we roll back around to Jonny for the subtly updated Toki Tori 2+, which he now thinks is one of the year's best Wii U games. Gui is also cheery about the Rayman conversion for Game Boy Color, also available digitally, which may be the best edition of that classic franchise-starter.

After the Now Playing break, and perhaps in honor of Thanksgiving (sandwiched between the Canadian and American observances), we spend over half an hour espousing some trends with Nintendo that fill us with glee. The idea here was not to lean on nostalgia, or even to get excited about what's coming soon, but rather to balance out our typical cynicism with a litany of things we really do love about Nintendo, happening right now. We honestly weren't sure how well this would go, but it played out wonderfully and left us feeling really good about some things, even though we may still hold reservations about the company's status.

Don't miss the happy train -- send in your own positive thoughts about Nintendo, or any other ideas/questions, for an upcoming edition of Listener Mail. And please mark your calendar for the 4th Annual NWR Live Telethon for Child's Play! It's coming up on Saturday, November 23 starting at Noon Eastern and running for (hopefully) several hours. More details are coming soon!

This podcast was edited by Guillaume Veillette.

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

RodrigueOctober 19, 2013

Playing a (good) Nintendo game makes me feel happy like nothing else. There's some kind of warmth to it. And I usually prefer to play on Nintendo platforms because they are mostly free of the money grubbing bullshit of Sony, Microsoft, and the third parties that bring the big Western games to their platforms (season passes, paid subscriptions for online features, etc.). So everything people dislike about Nintendo? The way they're behind on technology and business practices? I fucking love it. That way, they stay on their little island and I get to play fun games without the third parties jumping on board and ruining it all for me.

TheXenocideOctober 20, 2013

I feel you man! Finally playing wind waker again felt like seeing your spouse when they finally make it home from a businesss trip.

mereelOctober 20, 2013

Quote from: TheXenocide

I feel you man! Finally playing wind waker again felt like seeing your spouse when they finally make it home from a businesss trip.

Hmm. Best not share that analogy with your spouse.

TheXenocideOctober 20, 2013

So I got caught in 5 mph traffic on the interstate/highway (pick your preferred colloquial term) on my way home from work and what is normally a half hour drive turned into an hour and a half drive and this episode of RFN saved my sanity. Thank you so much, guys!!!

azekeOctober 21, 2013

Really glad to hear even more Toki Tori 2 love. What a brilliant game.

Also it's kinda sad how you have to make up a new segment where you try to keep yourself positive.

Games are supposed to be entertainment, as in something that you enjoy, something that gives you positive emotions.

If all you get out of activity is whining, schadenfreude and outright bile then you might want to rethink if doing that activity is even worth it. And no, reveling in cynicism and hatred isn't enjoyable and worthwhile by itself. You will just turn into miserable jaded fart by going own that path.

I agree with Guillaume about how great it is that Nintendo keeps resisting against Hollywood-isation that is going on lately. Nintendo's lighthearted games make a great contrast with rather gung-ho/macho/angsty/artsy-fartsy white noise that third parties keep releasing.

Their latest collaborations were also great with that: mentioned Kid Icarus: Uprising, Lego City Undercover and Wonderful 101. These kind of games don't even try to be Oscar Bait of videogames, the only thing they're laser focused on is fun.

To be fair, I think we always have positive comments on a variety of things sprinkled throughout the show (especially in New Business, which is self-selective). I just wanted to have a dedicated segment this once, especially to highlight things we may take for granted because they are ongoing.

I remember really liking Rayman on GBC back in the day. I looking forward to hearing Gui's thoughts!

...I still think Kid Icarus is a bad game...

motangNovember 26, 2013

I love the "I heart Nintendo" segment. I loved it when you guys were talking about the good things about Wii U, I don't have one myself yet, but do plan on getting it in the coming months.  :cool;

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