RetroBlast: A 90's gaming RetroSpective

[WCP]

Well, I've been wanting to do a podcast for awhile now, and I finally got around to actually doing it. The podcast is called RetroBlast: A 90's gaming RetroSpective. Basically the show is about my gaming life during the early 1990's. In chronological order, I go through all the systems and games I purchased back in the early 90's, and what the vibe was like back at that time. Episode 1 starts off with my decision to buy a TurboGrafx-16 in December of 1989. I cover two games in Episode 1, World Class Baseball and Keith Courage in Alpha Zones. The first few episodes will be heavy on TurboGrafx coverage, and then I will get into the Sega Genesis and of course the Super Nintendo a little bit later. If you love the 16-bit era, and the early 90's, then you might enjoy this podcast. It's my first ever podcast, so I can't say that it's an amazing podcast or anything, but I hope to get better and better with each new episode. My plan is to upload a new episode each Tuesday.

Right now I'm just on Soundcloud, but hope to get it on iTunes soon (the podcast is under review at itunes and it can sometimes take a LONG time before they get it on there...)


You can grab it from Soundcloud here:


RetroBlast: A 90's gaming RetroSpective

[Jibbajaba]

The podcast is up on iTunes now.

[WCP]

Episode 2 is now available.

You can click on the link in the OP or find it on iTunes.


Episode 2 features discussion about Legendary Axe, Dungeon Explorer and Power Golf, all for the TurboGrafx-16. The first several episodes are going to be heavy on the Turbo as I didn't end up getting a Sega Genesis till August of 1990. Episode 2 covers January and the beginning of February 1990. I also talk about some other misc stuff that was going on in January and February 1990.

[WCP]

Episode 3 is now up.


Includes in depth discussions on Military Madness, Final Lap Twin and Bonk's Adventure.

[Retronick]

Episode 3 is now up.


Includes in depth discussions on Military Madness, Final Lap Twin and Bonk's Adventure.

Dude... You had me at Military Madness.

You should get distributed through Stitcher. Helps you grab a bigger audience and draws directly from iTunes. I only listen to podcasts through Sticher because I hate downloading them and deleting them later (and I think iTunes playback is clunky and busted).

Kudos on getting the show started!

[WCP]

Dude... You had me at Military Madness.

You should get distributed through Stitcher. Helps you grab a bigger audience and draws directly from iTunes. I only listen to podcasts through Sticher because I hate downloading them and deleting them later (and I think iTunes playback is clunky and busted).

Kudos on getting the show started!

Thanks for the tip. I'll try to sign up to Stitcher right now..

[WCP]

Episode 4 is now up.


This is the first episode where I start talking about non TG-16 games. This episode is covering June, July and early to mid August of 1990. I purchased my Sega Genesis in mid August of 1990, so I get into a discussion about my purchase, and the first two games I played on the system. Pat Riley Basketball and Altered Beast. Bloody Wolf for the TG-16, which I got in July of 1990 also gets some love. I also have a story about the unholy union between Electronic Arts and Sega. Obviously, we didn't know anything about the weird relationship between those two companies at the time, but in interviews done in the last 5 or so years, some interesting tidbits of information came out about how EA basically bluffed Sega into giving them a sweetheart publishing deal ( out of fear ). I talk about that for a while to start the show.

[Retronick]

Thanks for the tip. I'll try to sign up to Stitcher right now..

I see you're on Stitcher . Now that I've gotten my weekly dose of "The Biggest Problem in the Universe", I'll be listening!

Thanks for doing that! Again... I hate iTunes.

[WCP]

Episode 5 is now up.


In episode 5 I talk about:


TG-16 CD player and early TG-16 games
Splatterhouse
Revenge of Shinobi
TV Sports Football



This is kinda the last TG-16 heavy episode that I'll probably have for awhile. I started to make a transition at this point into more of a Sega Genesis gamer, at least until the arrival of the SNES. There will still be some TG-16 coverage sprinkled in here and there, but much more of a Genesis focus going forward...

[calgon]

I'm halfway through the first episode and really enjoying it so far. Your podcast has the distinction of being the first gaming related podcast I've heard that actually talks about sports games! I love retro sports games and it seemed for a while there was little to no representation of them in the retro Gaming world. Enjoying your anneceotes as well.

One piece of constructive criticism I'd offer is possibly making some of the annecdotes a little more "punchy" such as talking about the store you went to, how you got your credit card, etc

Thanks tor taking the time to make this, looking forward to the additional episodes

[WCP]

I'm halfway through the first episode and really enjoying it so far. Your podcast has the distinction of being the first gaming related podcast I've heard that actually talks about sports games! I love retro sports games and it seemed for a while there was little to no representation of them in the retro Gaming world. Enjoying your anneceotes as well.

One piece of constructive criticism I'd offer is possibly making some of the annecdotes a little more "punchy" such as talking about the store you went to, how you got your credit card, etc

Thanks tor taking the time to make this, looking forward to the additional episodes

Yeah, I know there are lots of people that could give a rat's azz about sports games, but I was a big-time sports game nut back in the days. I was always searching for a next-level experience with various sports games. The jump from 8 bit to 16 bit in the sports game world was pretty huge, so each new release of a sports game provided the opportunity for something really groundbreaking.


However, luckily I broadened my horizons into lots of other genres besides sports. Action/Platform games ended up becoming my favorite specific genre, but I certainly was still excited for various sports games that came down the line. It's unfortunate that so many gamers couldn't care less about sports, I hope they don't skip those parts of the podcast, because I think the discussions are pretty interesting, even if you can't stand sports. Of course, I'm sure some listeners are just going to fast forward past those sections, but I think they are doing themselves a disservice to skip them because the stories I have surrounding some of the sports games I got were the most interesting stories of the games for that particular month.

I

[WCP]

I'm halfway through the first episode and really enjoying it so far. Your podcast has the distinction of being the first gaming related podcast I've heard that actually talks about sports games! I love retro sports games and it seemed for a while there was little to no representation of them in the retro Gaming world. Enjoying your anneceotes as well.

One piece of constructive criticism I'd offer is possibly making some of the annecdotes a little more "punchy" such as talking about the store you went to, how you got your credit card, etc

Thanks tor taking the time to make this, looking forward to the additional episodes

Hey man, you should really check out episode 6. On episode 6, I talk about two sports games in depth, John Madden Football and Lakers vs. Celtics. I know the vast majority of retrogamers out there could give a rat's azz about sports games, but I really think the two discussions that I have on Lakers vs. Celtics and John Madden are somewhat interesting. ( at least I'm hoping they're interesting ) I think even somebody that hates sports games might actually enjoy listening to it, just because these are two stories that are burnt into my mind. The memories are strong with those two.

I also cover Super Monaco GP, Neutopia, Michael Jackson's Moonwalker and Phelios.... Not long in depth discussions, more of a quick hit at the beginning of the episode.

[WCP]

Episode 7 is now up...


Episode 7 starts off with a personal story of some major drama that I was involved in back in December of 1990. It's the type of story that you'd normally think would be better left forgotten, but there are some ramifications from the fallout of this story that helped shape the gamer I was to become during the early 90's. As embarrassing as the story might be, I feel like it needs to be told, although the payoff from the story probably won't really hit till episode 9.


There are two big game discussions on this episode, both for the Sega Genesis.

In late November 1990 I bought Sword of Vermilion. A couple of weeks later, in early December, I pick up Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse. Both games are discussed in detail on the show.

[calgon]

Wow crazy story in episode 7, curious to find out what happens

[WCP]

Episode 8 is now up....


The episode starts off with part 2 (of 3 parts) of a story that I started in episode 7. Part 3 will be in episode 9. If you're new to RetroBlast, it's recommended to hear episode 7 before listening to the story at the start of episode 8, otherwise it might not make a ton of sense.

After the opening story, I get into discussions on 3 Sega Genesis games. My final purchase of 1990 was Strider in mid to late December. In January 1991 I played two somewhat obscure Genesis releases. Sword of Sodan and Hard Drivin'.

____________________________

calgon: Hey, sorry for not responding to your post earlier... Yeah, the story in Episode 7 was pretty crazy, no doubt. The story in Episode 8 isn't really that big of a deal, so you'll have to wait till Episode 9 for the true payoff. Sorry about that... The story in episode 8 is just trying to catch things up to the timeline. Episode 8 covers late December 1990 and all of January 1991, so I just wanted to catch listeners up on what was going on with the "drama" during that period of time. The real story will come with episode 9....

[WCP]

Episode 9 is now up..



Episode 9 starts off with a long personal story that is a continuation from episode 7 and 8. Basically it's part 3 of a three part series. If you haven't heard episode 7 and 8, it's recommended that you listen to those episodes first, otherwise it's like watching the last 3rd of a movie and not having any idea what happened in the first two parts. Of course, you can skip ahead to the one hour 26 minute mark, and just hear the specific video game coverage. This episode includes discussions of Aeroblasters for the TG-16 and Dick Tracy for the Sega Genesis.

[WCP]

Episode 10 is now up...


Episode 10 starts off with a story about my discovery of an import game shop on Ventura Blvd. in North Hollywood back in the Spring of 1991. I was temporarily living with my brother in L.A. at the time, and I kind of accidentally stumbled upon this game import shop. I tell the story of what it was like not knowing too much about the import scene, and then randomly discovering this game store. It was slightly mind blowing for me when I first walked into the place. A whole new world of video games was opened up to me.

Later in the episode, I talk more in detail about the first two import games that I played. I rented a PC Engine converter for my TG-16 and a copy of Power League 3. (The newest baseball game in Japan at the time). I also ended up renting a Megadrive converter and the Megadrive version of Batman. At the time, Batman on the megadrive was a really big deal. (nobody had any idea that it would actually end up releasing in the USA).

[WCP]

Episode 11 is now up.


On this episode, I'm joined by special guest Chris Alaimo from Classic Gaming Quarterly (YouTube channel and website). He has a few questions that he thinks other listeners might also being wondering about, in regards to some of the stuff discussed in previous episodes. We go over that, and then we get into the classic Genesis shooter Gaiares. After that, we talk about issue #22 of Electronic Gaming Monthly. The May 1991 issue with Sonic the Hedgehog on the cover. We close the show with a discussion about PGA Tour Golf for the Sega Genesis.

[calgon]

About to start in on it now. I also have enjoyed the little I've seen of cgq. Cool to hear about some of the music and movies that were hitting the scene at the time, helps paint a good picture of that era.

[Emperor Megas]

Episode 2 is now available.

"Guh-lag-uh"? Have I been pronouncing Galaga (Gal-luh-ga) wrong all this time?