Episode 119 - Why Always-a Me?

Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Dry Bones. From the Super Mario Brothers Movie. (c) 2023 Universal.

With such a huge week for Nintendo, who else could we get to talk about it but Andre Segers (@andresegers) from GameXplain?

Of course, we start with the juggernaut that is the Super Mario Brothers Movie. On the day of recording, it had just passed the $500 million plateau, and still hadn’t opened in Japan yet. In a spoiler-filled chat, we discuss the plot (does it matter it was straightforward?), the voice acting (such a talking point prior to release) and some of the criticisms the picture has gotten from mainstream film critics.

From there, we talk about the last trailer for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom before its release in about a month. We look at the new elements in this version, including finally getting some clue about the plot, the game mechanics and how silly the idea was that it was “just a $70 DLC for Breath of the Wild.”

Andre tells us about his trip to the opening of Super Nintendo World in California, although he still hasn’t had the change to go to the park in Japan.

We end with the pain Andre went through to replay Paper Mario Sticker Star on its tenth anniversary. He famously hated the game when it came out and we chat about why there may have been extenuating circumstances then and have his feelings toward the game after all this time.

It was obviously a big week for GameXplain, so we thank Andre for finding the time to do the show again.

Episode 102 - My Coffee with Andre

Chillin’ with Andre in the Roost. I don’t think he has an iced latte.

We’re happy to welcome back Andre Segers (@andresegers) from GameXplain, depsite Nintendo doing one of their famous stealth drops a few hours before our scheduled recording time.

We talk about that announcement, an update for Mario Karl Live, as well as some of the other games Andre has been playing recently. He’s been playing Mario Party Superstars just about every day with fans on the GX Youtube channel, so we chat about how that has been going so far, future additions and how conectivity has been, since he is playing with folks around the world.

There’s also a deep dive on Animal Crossing, both the 2.0 update and the Happy Home Designer DLC. Andre has only dabbled with them so far, so I give him a run-down on stuff like the Roost (see above), Harv’s Island, the Kap’n tours, gyroids and more. We also discuss the DLC, some of its features and not needing to burn through new content as quickly as possible. We also talk about the new Nintendo Online Expansion Pack, the reaction to it online and our opinions on the pricing and its future.

We also talk about a variety of other topics, including the new OLED Switch, a year of the next generation Xbox and Playstation systems, the Game of the Year nominees for 2021 vs 2020, Big Brain Academy, the upcoming new Pokemon game and a lot more.

Big thanks to Andre for still doing the show in the middle of hectic few days.

Episode Sixty - Dangerous Va-K-tion

Tim gets a handshake from Kawada, instead of a stretch plum. Photo courtsey Tim Livingston

Tim Livingston (@mrtimlivingston) joins the show to talk some basubaru and puroresu. First, we discuss his trip/vacation to South Korea and Japan, why he went and what he did while he was there. Plenty of talk about video games, baseball (in both countries) and pro wrestling, when Tim went to some famous venues and ate at some famous places. He even got to meet his favorite Japanese wrestler, Toshiaki Kawada. Then, we talk about his career in baseball, from working for the Dunedin Blue Jays to being the play-by-play voice of the Sonoma Stompers @sonomastompers). We chat about how he got the gig for his hometown nine, their progressive philosophies on and off the field, how Francis Ford Coppola fits in to the story and hanging out with "the Spaceman" Bill Lee.  

Tim did a write-up for Place to Be Nation. You can also catch Tim as the voice of Phoenix Pro Wrestling (@PPWPetaluma).