RetroBlast: A 90's gaming RetroSpective (my new podcast)

[Kid Chameleon]

I know I haven't done all that many posts on here, I mostly lurk in the forums now and then, but figured I'd try to pimp my new podcast anyways...

 

I've started a new retrogaming podcast called RetroBlast: A 90's gaming RetroSpective. You can grab episode 1 here:

 

RetroBlast: A 90's gaming RetroSpective

 

 

It's basically a chronological look at my gaming history starting in late 1989 with my purchase of a TurboGrafx-16. With this podcast, I'm starting in late 1989, and just moving forward from there. Covering every video game system I purchased, and all the games I bought along the way. My hope is that I can talk about these old games and systems, but from the perspective of what it was like to be there experiencing it while it happened. In the very early 90's, I was like 19 or 20 years old, and I got really addicted to video games. I got a TG-16 shortly after launch, and not that many months later I got a Sega Genesis. It just continued from there. So this podcast is going to slowly but surely take you through that time period of what it was like to be a gaming nut in the early 90's. An absolutely glorious time to be addicted to video gaming.

 

My first podcast might be a wee bit rough, but I'm hoping it will get much better as the weeks go by. If anybody enjoys listenting to podcasts, and also likes retro games, especially the early 16-bit era from 1989, 1990 and 1991, then give this podcast a listen, you might like it. I hope to upload a new episode every Tuesday..

 

[ I should have this on iTunes soon, but it has to go through an approval process apparently before it's on the itunes store podcast section. Hopefully it will get there soon ]

[CGQuarterly]

OP is a good friend of mine, and I definitely recommend that you listen to his podcast. As he said, the first episode is a little rough, but it definitely gets better in subsequent episodes. He is full of cool stories from back in the day. I've been hearing them for years, but this is his first time producing a podcast so that everyone else can hear them.

[ferghead]

I can't use Soundcloud on my ancient Mac, but I will listen when it goes on iTunes.

 

EDIT: Which is right now.

Edited October 22, 2015 by ferghead

[CGQuarterly]

https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/retroblast-90s-gaming-retrospective/id1050871456?mt=2

[RJ]

Not a "wee bit rough" AT ALL. Your 1st ep. was as good or better than some 'casts by their 5th show. Your smooth, relaxing radio voice is a big advantage & you dont sound one bit nervous. I love your nostalgic tidbits- e.g. newspaper want ads & Montgomery Wards ("it's like Sears" "Well, what the hell's SEARS??") Please continue to include that nostalgic stuff in future shows!

 

Admittedly I thought at first "great, another Nintendo/Sega kid is gonna try a podcast" & had no intent of listening. I was wrong! When you gave an age range of 18-20 in 1989 I said "hey, that's me!" I was still an Atari fanboy then, but later in '91 I too had a couple buds as housemates & thats where I got started on NES & Genesis (& Saturn & Playstation later on).

 

Have you heard the Retrocity podcast from a few years back? You're the second coming of its host Levi Buchanan, & that's a compliment. A lot of us around here miss him.

Edited October 23, 2015 by RJ

[Kid Chameleon]

 

Have you heard the Retrocity podcast from a few years back? You're the second coming of its host Levi Buchanan, & that's a compliment. A lot of us around here miss him.

 

 

That's crazy that you'd say that! I do remember that show.

 

Levi's show was one of the few retrogaming shows that I got into, and I was pretty bummed when the podcasts stopped getting posted.

 

Thanks for the compliment, being compared to Levi, a legit podcaster at the time, is really cool !

[ferghead]

I second what RJ said, it was a terrific show. I was wary about the 90s gaming aspect of it, but I found out that we are the same age. I think we went in opposite directions gaming-wise, but I am hooked and eagerly await future shows. Thank you!

[Kid Chameleon]

ferghead: glad to hear to you liked the show!

 

 

It's always a bit scary when you first put something out there, especially a solo thing. So, it's a huge relief to at least know it's not horrible, heh...

[CGQuarterly]

New episode tomorrow?

[Kid Chameleon]

Episode 2 is now up. Should be available on Soundcloud and iTunes now.

 

The second episode is mostly filled with discussion about Legendary Axe, Dungeon Explorer and Power Golf for the TurboGrafx-16. I also talk a little bit about some of the popular media and events that was out there in January and February of 1990. Check it out when you get a chance.

[RJ]

Cannot WAIT to listen tonight!

[RJ]

I also enjoy golf games & firmly believe one should have (at least) a golf game for each system in one's collection.

[CGQuarterly]

Episode 3 is out today! Listening right now...

 

http://apple.co/1NOSSPj

[RJ]

That Bonk "invincible" music was really catchy, moreso to me than the elevator music.

 

Listening to this podcast makes me want a TurboGrafx! But Im sure the closest my wife would let me is the original Wii Virtual Console- is that still active? All the games you discussed so far (except Final Lap Twin) are on there at $6 each. I have Blazing Lazers & Gate of Thunder, which kick all kinds of ass.

 

Then I recall the Gamecube Star Wars game I've yet to start, plus all the BASIC games I plan to type into my Atari 800XL this winter.

 

Oh, & that PS3 I bought last May & its games I dont play.

 

*sigh*

[Kid Chameleon]

Episode 4 is now up.

 

 

In this episode, I talk about the unholy marriage between Sega and Electronic Arts. It's not really directly related to the show per se, but June of 1990 was when the very first Electronic Arts carts started arriving for the Genesis, so I kind of look at it as a gaming news story for the time. I also have a pretty long discussion on Bloody Wolf for the TG-16 and then I get into my decision to add a Sega Genesis to my stable. The first two Genesis games I played on my new console were Pat Riley Basketball and Altered Beast. I have pretty lengthy discussions about both games.

[Kid Chameleon]

Episode 5 is now up.

 

 

This is the last episode that is really heavy with TG-16 coverage. After this, it will be mostly Genesis stuff unitl the SNES comes out. I will cover a few TG-16 things here and there, but for the most part, the bulk of the TG-16 coverage is in the rear view mirror.

 

Here is what I cover on this show:

 

TG-16 CD player ( did I have one ? did I know about it back then ? what were my thoughts on it..)

Splatterhouse - one of the best TG-16 hu cards (imo)

Revenge of Shinobi - A classic Genesis game, but I have a somewhat embarassing story to tell about it...

TV Sports Football - this is actually the game that originally got me to buy a TG-16 system in the first place. Did it live up to the hype ?

[davidmt]

This podcast is quickly becoming one of my favorites. The early 90's were such a great period for video games and one I have fond memories of. I love the "personal" touch of this podcast and all the various stories.

I'm looking forward to the SNES episodes and how you approach that console. As we all know, many gamers at the time sided 100% with either the Genesis or the SNES, not often someone had both (I was one of the exceptions, though-I had both).

 

Great listen for anyone interested in this era of gaming.

[Kid Chameleon]

davidmt - thanks for the compliments!

 

 

Episode 6 is up.

 

On this episode, I take a quick look at 4 games I "wished" I bought during 1990, but didn't end up getting for various reasons. Super Monaco GP, Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, Neutopia and Phelios are covered briefly.

 

The two games that I cover really in depth are two sports games.

 

Unfortunately, that is going to turn 80 percent of the audience off. Most people don't care about sports games in general, and even less care about old sports games from the past. But I really think if anybody has enjoyed any of the episodes so far, the two discussions I do on Lakers vs Celtics and John Madden are pretty interesting. I mean, at least I'm hoping they are interesting. But it's two stories that I remember vividly. Some of these games memeories are more concrete than others. Both of those games (Madden and Lakers vs. Celtics) are burned into my brain, The memories of their arrival.

 

So try not to skip the sports game part, cause I think it's actually the most interesting part.

 

If I'm totally wrong and it still sucks, then let me know, cause that will be interesting as well, lol

[davidmt]

Anthony, I don't have any interest in sports games (or sports in general), but you tell the stories in a very interesting and entertaining way. If the podcast was simply a review of the 2 games, I'd probably fast-forward past then, but you do a great job in painting a picture of what the early 90's were like. Plus, Madden has a lot of historical importance it makes sense to cover it. You don't hear games being reviewed the way you do it, and its a very fun listen.

[Kid Chameleon]

Anthony, I don't have any interest in sports games (or sports in general), but you tell the stories in a very interesting and entertaining way. If the podcast was simply a review of the 2 games, I'd probably fast-forward past then, but you do a great job in painting a picture of what the early 90's were like. Plus, Madden has a lot of historical importance it makes sense to cover it. You don't hear games being reviewed the way you do it, and its a very fun listen.

 

Thanks man, really appreciate it.

 

Hopefully a decent percentage of the listeners will just hear the whole thing rather than skipping the sports stuff. I'm sure tons of peeps will just skip it, but there really isn't anything you can do about it. I know sometimes I will look at a podcast feed and read the descriptions and skip certain shows because they are talking about something I have zero interest in. So, it's totally understandable for somebody to want to skip it.

[RJ]

iTunes 5-star review submitted. Sorry it took so long. I started thinking about writing one a few weeks back but kept forgetting.

 

One thing I tried to emphasize was that I'm pretty sure you said it'd be bi-weekly (once ev. 2 weeks) but gladly it's been releasing WEEKLY regularly, I appreciate that. Most of my other subbed gaming 'casts went the 2-week route, I'm thinking because they have research to do & are more fact-based, whereas memories dont really need researching...just remembering.

 

But yeah, keep up the good work- you're in a very close race for my POTY vote.

[Kid Chameleon]

iTunes 5-star review submitted. Sorry it took so long. I started thinking about writing one a few weeks back but kept forgetting.

 

One thing I tried to emphasize was that I'm pretty sure you said it'd be bi-weekly (once ev. 2 weeks) but gladly it's been releasing WEEKLY regularly, I appreciate that. Most of my other subbed gaming 'casts went the 2-week route, I'm thinking because they have research to do & are more fact-based, whereas memories dont really need researching...just remembering.

 

But yeah, keep up the good work- you're in a very close race for my POTY vote.

First off RJ, thanks so much for the good words about the show. Comments like that are my fuel to keep going.

 

However, when you listen to episode 7 (which is now up by the way), you're going to start laughing, because well.... just listen to episode 7...

[RJ]

& I also like that you dont swear excessively, but when appropriate, to stress a point or emotion. Many podcasts (that I DONT listen to) take advantage of the freedom & let it fly, due to what I call the "because I can" factor. Doesnt help, & often hurts their show.

[RJ]

After listening to ep. 7:

 

Bad news: the schedule change. Et tu, Anth? Stab me through the heart with your bronze sword, why dontcha. That's one of the main things about your show I just got done extolling!! Take a star off my iTunes rating. Just kidding.

 

Good news: your awesome crime story makes up for it. Maybe the best story I've ever heard on a podcast.

Edited December 2, 2015 by RJ

[Kid Chameleon]

After listening to ep. 7:

 

Bad news: the schedule change. Et tu, Anth? Stab me through the heart with your bronze sword, why dontcha. That's one of the main things about your show I just got done extolling!! Take a star off my iTunes rating. Just kidding.

 

Good news: your awesome crime story makes up for it. Maybe the best story I've ever heard on a podcast.

 

 

Yeah man.... heh

 

That's why reading your post the other day was so funny, cause you were talking about how RetroBlast was one of the few shows that was actually doing weekly podcasts, and I knew in Episode 7 that I would have to bring some very unfortunate news to the forefront.

 

I'd love to do a show every single week, but I just don't have enough time to be able to do that. I mean.... I could do a weekly show, but it would be 1 hour, rather than 2 hours, and it probably wouldn't have the deep dive type discussions that it has now. It would be just another 1 hour podcast that scratches the surface of stuff. I'd rather have a one week delay and keep it the way it is. I know I'll probably lose some listeners because of this, but that's just the way it goes.

 

Truth be told, before I started posting episodes of RetroBlast, I already had a number of episodes that were 80 percent finished. That's really the main reason that I was able to squeeze a show out every single week. I only needed to do some touch up editing and volume balancing, and then I could post them up. But my backlog of shows has run out now, and I actually have to get these things cranked out in real time. Creating these shows actually takes way more time than anybody would realize, but I'm sure a big part of that, is that I'm not that good with the technical aspect of it. It seems I'm always having some type of recording problem, and editing can be a long and laborous process. I actually do have to do some research prior to each show, mainly trying to figure out release dates, and trying to accurately as possible determine the exact order in which I aquired these games. Release dates in the early 90's are extremely inaccurate. I also spend a good deal of time playing the games and looking at old gaming mags from the time. My memory is actually one of my strong points, but it really helps to play the games and read the mags I was reading back then to help jumpstart some memories.

 

Many of these games I haven't played since I played them originally, and I'll start playing a game, and I will notice something that will remind me of how I was feeling about the game during it's actual release window. So, I'll take notes and stuff. I do some basic research on the game to try not to say too many things that are completely wrong, but the focus of the show isn't really on the hard facts of the time, more the feel of the time, so I don't worry too much about saying things that are completely off base. There are plenty of other shows that focus in on the facts of who the specific designers were and the music composers and stuff like that.

 

Sometimes I'll be reading an old EGM or GamePro from the time, and I'll notice an advertisment or a review or a story that instantly takes me back to the early 90's, and I'll take notes about that stuff as well. So I do have to spend some time doing some researching and playing the games again. Editing is the primary time sink. If only I was a multi-millionaire, and I could just hire some people to do all the editing. Hopefully I can eventually get better with the technical side of things, and then i won't have to spend as much time doing all the editing.