Happy New Year aaaaaand welcome to the latest installment of our annual “nengajou” round-up from around the Japanese gaming industry! (See also: 2012 and 2011)
What you say?! No idea what a nengajou is? Click here and all will be illuminated. (Short answer: Japanese version of a Christmas card, themed around the new year’s Chinese zodiac animal. This year: The Snake. …Snake?! SNAAAAAAKE!!!)
Super-special thanks to super-talented artisté Kelly Smith and her super-cool co-workers at Capy Games for the super-awesome custom-built Super TIME Force-flavored image. (Look closely and you might even spot a member or five of your favorite podcast ever lurking someplace in the background…)
The only question is, who has the second-best card this year? Let us know your faves in the comments, and/or click on the name beneath each card to tweet them directly!
No news, a few game impressions (Soul Sacrifice demo among them), and no GOTY BS – mostly just one, long, leisurely, holiday trip through the history of video games – PC and console, Japanese and American — as we talk through the career of uber-programmer Gregg Tavares, a man who has worked at just about everywhere (Sony, Sega, Microprose, Virgin Interactive, Cinemaware, Naughty Dog, etc.) and on every system (Commodore 64, Amiga, NES, PC, 3DO, M2, Arcade, PSX, PS2, PSP, etc.) at one point or another, and has the stories to prove it. Happy holidays!
11:05 – Google’s emulated Pac-Man
12:40 – Catching up on recent games
20:04 – Soul Sacrifice demo
39:25 – Rise of the Blobs
43:20 – Gregg’s early programming days
1:14:26 – Gregg’s retrospective on the NES and programming workarounds of its era
1:30:04 – Gregg’s goes 32-bit
1:46:17 – Gregg’s first journey to Japan to work for Sega
2:05:37 – Gregg’s return home to work for Naughty Dog
2:16:41 – Gregg’s return to Japan and Sega
2:19:31 – Gregg’s move to Sony
2:33:45 – Gregg’s second return home to join up with Namco Bandai
2:37:44 – Gregg’s latest adventures with Google
2:43:27 – The 8-4 Team’s holiday plans
2:54:33 – Mainichi no mimi kaki & closing comments
And now…a list of music used in our previous episode!
8-4 Play 12/14/2012: PODCAST OF THE DECADE Intro: Duran Duran – Rio Break: Monster Hunter Data Transfer Theme Ending: The Muppets – Swedish Chef Montage
Here are this week’s links!
Mainichi no Mimikaki for iOS and Android: iOS Android
As always, you can leave comments for us at the “Leave a Comment” link below or via Twitter at @84play. And if you’re new to the show, you can subscribe to 8-4 Play on iTunes right here. Subscribe today!
The cast and crew of 8-4 Play would like to thank all the discussion topics that made this award possible, including Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, the Wii U’s Miiverse, the 2012 Spike Video Game Awards (and its assorted reveals, including Dark Souls II, The Phantom Pain, the new Last of Us trailer, and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2), the final issue of Nintendo Power (rest its blessed soul), the Street Fighter x Mega Man freebie, and that one Vita game where you stroke your unit to make the characters squeal. Thank you all!
2:58 – Persona 4
7:20 – Animal Crossing: New Leaf
13:55 – Miiverse
21:23 – Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
38:35 – VGAs
57:02 – Dark Souls 2
1:03:21 – The Phantom Pain
1:33:40 – Nintendo Power
1:49:19 – Closing Comments
And now…a list of music used in our previous episode!
8-4 Play 11/30/2012: WII LOVE U? Intro: Eddie Money – Shakin’ Break: Eddie Money – Two Tickets to Paradise 8-bit remix Ending: Eddie Money – Take Me Home Tonight
As always, you can leave comments for us at the “Leave a Comment” link below or via Twitter at @84play. And if you’re new to the show, you can subscribe to 8-4 Play on iTunes right here. Subscribe today!
What you are about to listen to is real. The participants are not journalists, they are ACTUAL localizers with a giant project looming over their heads. All parties have agreed to dismiss their work for an hour and 52 minutes and have their disputes (over Wii U launch, Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Destiny, the week in Kickstarter and more) settled here, in our forum, on 8-4 Play.
8:55 – Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney
18:40 – Animal Crossing: New Leaf
23:46 – Mark of the Ninja
25:09 – Wii U
42:08 – NSMB Wii U
54:30 – Zombie U
1:03:14 – Black Friday Sales
1:09:08 – TVii and the Japanese TV market
1:16:48 – Wii Mini
1:21:39 – Microsoft rumor
1:26:38 – Peter Molyneux and Kickstarter
1:41:48 – Square Enix
1:43:00 – Bungie’s new game
1:46:53 – Closing Comments
And now…a list of music used in our previous episode!
8-4 Play 11/16/2012: 8-4 DIRECT Intro: Kazumi Totaka – Animal Crossing: New Leaf Theme Break: Wii U Main Menu Ending: Neil Davidge – Haven (Halo 4)
As always, you can leave comments for us at the “Leave a Comment” link below or via Twitter at @84play. And if you’re new to the show, you can subscribe to 8-4 Play on iTunes right here. Subscribe today!
Hi again, it’s JJ from 8-4. While much of the world waits for Wii U, there are millions of gamers looking for new adventures for their video game systems. And that’s what this 8-4 Direct is all about. This episode, we talk about Animal Crossing: New Leaf, a game where YOU get to be the mayor and design your town in any way you want. We also talk about Halo 4. You control Master Chief to do battle against a whole new race of aliens called “the Promethians.” We haven’t forgot about the listeners out there that care about news either. We discuss the hardware features of the Wii U, Grand Theft Auto V, Final Fantasy XIV, and how sometimes karma is a bitch. There’s never been a better time to be an 8-4 Play listener.
Time – Topic Discussed:
6:00 – Animal Crossing: New Leaf
32:08 – Halo 4
49:51 – Grand Theft Auto V
56:26 – All about the Wii U
1:18:13 – Zelda for Girls, 3DS Twitter Web app, Last Guardian, Dragon Quest VII
1:24:20 – Final Fantasy XIV, Karma News, Master Chief in Israel
1:34:08 – Curiosity
1:36:30 – iTunes Reviews
1:38:50 – Closing Comments
And now…a list of music used in our previous episode!
8-4 Play 11/2/2012: EPISODE LXI: A NEW HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL Intro: Nintendo – Grassy Field (Paper Mario: Sticker Star) Break: Koichi Sugiyama – Memories of a Lost World (Dragon Quest VII) Ending: Peter McConnell – Imperial March (Super Empire Strikes Back)
As always, you can leave comments for us at the “Leave a Comment” link below or via Twitter at @84play. And if you’re new to the show, you can subscribe to 8-4 Play on iTunes right here. Subscribe today!
Let’s be honest: You don’t give a crap what we write here, you just want the list of what we talked about on the podcast, right? Fine then: Crashmo, Punch Quest, Paper Mario: Sticker Star (a bit), Dark Souls (a bit more), Dragon Quest X (John bought a house!), Nintendo sales projections (down!), Nintendo Wii U projections (up!), Dragon Quest VII for 3DS, Retro Studios Zelda (?), and a bunch more news. There, you happy?!
Time – Topic Discussed:
9:47 – Crashmo
14:36 – Punch Quest
19:05 – He-Man: The Most Powerful Game in the Universe™
19:54 – Dragon Quest X
28:17 – Paper Mario: Sticker Star
33:14 – Dark Souls (Brendon almost played the DLC!)
39:03 – News: Dragon Quest VII Remake, Nintendo Investors Meeting, Disney/Lucasfilm, Dorito-gate, Retro Studios Zelda
1:22:15 – Closing Comments
And now…a list of music used in our previous episode!
8-4 Play 10/19/2012: STRAIGHT UP DAWG TIME Intro: Revo – 光と影の地平 (Bravely Default: Flying Fairy) Break: Kazumi Totaka – K. K. Cruisin’ (Animal Crossing) Ending: Takenobu Mitsuyoshi – Akira’s Theme (Arranged) (Virtua Fighter 2)
As always, you can leave comments for us at the “Leave a Comment” link below or via Twitter at @84play. And if you’re new to the show, you can subscribe to 8-4 Play on iTunes right here. Subscribe today!
Everyone’s playing it! Everyone’s talking about it! It’s this fall’s hottest game! It’s…Bravely Default: Flying Fairy?! …Uh, okay, sure, why not! We breakdown Squeenix’s excellent new 3DS RPG, then chat about continuing adventures in Dragon Quest X, PSN store stuff, Zynga, Kevin Butler, Thriller Instinct (that’s right), and more, with a brief detour into old-school Nintendo Power with former editor (and current 8-4 collaborator) Alan Averill.
As always, you can leave comments for us at the “Leave a Comment” link below or via Twitter at @84play. And if you’re new to the show, you can subscribe to 8-4 Play on iTunes right here. Subscribe today!
Barry? Where’s Barry? Who knows. But the internet’s biggest Resident Evil fan, Alex “cvxfreak” Aniel? He’s right here, talking highs and lows (and lows…and lows…) of RE6 for a solid hour. (That’s almost 15 minutes per point it got on many review scales!) But first: Kokuga, DQX, To the Moon, Earth Defense Force 3 Portable, Wii U-pdates, Nintendo Directs, and various Monster Hunters (‘natch).
Time – Topic Discussed:
9:54 – Kokuga
15:55 – Bravely Default Demo
17:48 – Dragon Quest X
20:45 – To the Moon
25:00 – Super Crate Box Vita
25:47 – Earth Defense Force 3 Portable
30:05 – BaraBariBall
31:47 – Tokyo Jungle
33:06 – News: Nintendo Direct(s), WiiU Survey, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, Kojima on Silent Hill, Playstation Mobile, Cliffy B Leaves Epic
1:26:59 – Resident Evil 6 / Biohazard 6
2:35:46 – Closing Comments
And now…a list of music used in our previous episode!
8-4 Play 9/21/2012: TOKYO GAME SHOW 2012 Intro: Monster Hunter 4 Trailer music Break 1: Huddleston and Smith Jr. – Torgo’s Theme Break 2: Depeche Mode – Wrong Ending: wowaka – World’s End Dance Hall
As always, you can leave comments for us at the “Leave a Comment” link below or via Twitter at @84play. And if you’re new to the show, you can subscribe to 8-4 Play on iTunes right here. Subscribe today!
TGS! Metal Gear Solid Rising! Monster Hunter 4! Dragon Quest X Wii U! Mega Man X Over! PSO 2 Vita! Tank Tank Tank! Lost Planet 3! Soul Sacrifice! EX Troopers! Ace Attorney! Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z! Box! Open Me! New PS3 hardware! New Vita colors! Jeremy Parish! Mike McWhertor! Russ Frushtick! 4 hours! Listen! Now! Excite! Exclamation mark!
Time – Topic Discussed:
9:42 – Sony Press Conference
46:05 – Picotto Knights
49:08 – Box! Open Me
56:34 – Soul Sacrifice
1:09:39 – E.X. Troopers
1:18:25 – Lost Planet 3
1:27:03 – Biohazard VS.
1:28:24 – Metal Gear Social Ops
1:32:17 – Assassins Creed Utopia
1:33:32 – Assassins Creed Liberation
1:37:13 – Megaman X Over
1:42:49 – Layton vs Ace Attorney and Ace Attorney 5
1:46:45 – Project X Zone
1:49:19 – Monster Hunter 4 / Ultimate
2:20:59 – Dragon Quest X
2:38:25 – PSO2 Vita / iOS
2:45:10 – Yakuza 5 (SEGA booth)
2:48:04 – Kingdom Hearts 1.5 Remix
2:49:02 – Tank! Tank! Tank!
2:55:50 – Tekken Tag Tournament
2:58:53 – Metal Gear Solid Rising Revengeance
3:17:33 – Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z
3:22:25 – ZOE HD
3:24:14 – Ys Celceta Sea of Trees
3:25:10 – Fist of the Norht Star: Ken’s Rage 2
3:28:04 – Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle
3:28:37 – Earth Defense Force 4
3:32:59 – Malicious Vita
3:36:18 – Level 5 / Ni no Kuni
3:38:48 – Fantasy Life
3:41:00 – News: Mizuguchi Leaves Gaming For The Moment, So Do The Bioware Doctors, Kickstarter Policy Changes, Megaten 4, Shexagon
3:47:21 – Closing Comments
And now…a list of music used in our previous episode!
8-4 Play 9/14/2012: PLAY U NEXT WILL HOW? Intro: Mega NRG Man – Megaton Man Break 1: Koji Kondo – Zelda Link to the Past Opening Break 2: Masanori Adachi – Bloody Tears (Super Castlevania IV) Break 3: Hip Tanaka – Snowman (Earthbound) Ending: Koji Kondo – Super Mario World Ending Theme
As always, you can leave comments for us at the “Leave a Comment” link below or via Twitter at @84play. And if you’re new to the show, you can subscribe to 8-4 Play on iTunes right here. Subscribe today!
To be honest, none of us remember recording this episode — after the deluge of Nintendo’s Wii U announcements (prices! Dates! 2 SKUs! Monster Hunter Ultimate! Toki Tori 2! …wait, I mean Bayonetta 2!), we woke up the next day, and it was just THERE. We took it as a sign to add on part two of our Super Nintendo 21st (more or less) Super-anniversary retro-sode, focusing on the system’s epic game library (OCD bonus: in chronological order!).
Time – Topic Discussed:
3:56 – Wii U News Dump
1:27:30 – SNES Games Part 1
2:12:31 – SNES Games Part 2
3:47:07 – News: Mourning Andriasang
3:50:20 – Closing Comments
And now…a list of music used in our previous episode!
8-4 Play 9/7/2012: PLAY IT LOUD! Intro: Koji Kondo – Super Mario World Theme Break: Yuzo Koshiro – Act Raiser Opening Theme Ending: Nobuo Uematsu – Terra (Final Fantasy VI)
As always, you can leave comments for us at the “Leave a Comment” link below or via Twitter at @84play. And if you’re new to the show, you can subscribe to 8-4 Play on iTunes right here. Subscribe today!
