So the new Retronauts went up today. It is, I hope, the only time we will ever, ever exceed two hours. Honestly, I’d prefer if the podcast were kept to about an hour, so it sort of weirds me out that most of the people listening to our shows feel the more the merrier. Me, I don’t have that much free time. I’m surprised that this episode seems to have gone over so well, because in my mind it’s a total trainwreck. It’s one very focused and interesting new angle on a topic we’ve explored before surrounded by a lot of aimless talk that’s only sort of tangentially retro, so I kind of feel like I’ve failed on some primal level. The kids seem to like it, though, so who knows.
Equally surprising: our relaunch of 1UP’s underpinnings seems to have gone off with remarkably few hitches. The site’s a little glitchy, but it’s running much faster than before, and frankly given the enormity of what they did this week — namely, completely switched over to an entirely new technology platform for the site — I’m amazed it’s gone this well. And, mercifully, no more numeric grades. I’d be happier without the plus/minus increments, but it’s still a welcome, reductivist step in the right direction.
My apologies to the cult of 8.5. But not really.
thanks again.
but don’t let sam catch you saying the relaunch went without a hitch! then again, you know, i am contacted by readers who encounter the same glitches as we, with enough frequency that it’s a little nightmarish.
i’m excited about the new scoring system, though.
It seems to work better as before, although the letter grade images seem somehow sterile. I suspect it’s just a matter of getting the graphic design peoples on them.
Don’t mind the +/- myself, I suspect they won’t get used too much because they’re modifiers on the A-B-C-D-F scale.
I will probably also have haughty unasked for opinions on the new Retronauts, but I haven’t plugged in my iPod for the last few days so I haven’t heard it yet.
You did not go into detail about how Nintendo turned Rare’s Dinosaur Planet into the (beautiful) monstrocity that it is today (and how it might have had something to with Rare leaving)…
But I understand.
80s cartoon Link did kick ass.
I can’t wait to see what the first “F+” game is.
personal reason for “more the merrier”: one-way, 45-minute, standing-room-only bus commute.
B+ WHY SO LOW?!?!?!??
But seriously, it was the most unique Retronauts ever, even if the non-Marathon portions were all over the map and unfocused. I kind of loved that, but I also–mistakenly–assumed talking about Smash Brothers would involve talking about the two previous games. I mean heck, even Melee is, what, more than 5 years old??
So here’s the thing about podcasts in general for me. I listen to them when I’m doing something else. It’s not so much about having time to sit down, relax, and listen. It’s “Oh, I’m playing this game I don’t need to listen to, might as well throw on a podcast,” or “I’m driving to class, might as well listen to a podcast.” It doesn’t take up any extra time, it just enhances time I’m already using. And since I like Retronauts, wouldn’t it be better to enhance my time with more of a podcast I like instead of something mediocre? Thus, longer Retronauts is good.
Similar to poetfox, I like longer Retronauts episodes because I listen to them while doing other things or at times of seriously high stress for me, like while driving or trying to get to sleep on bad nights, so if they go long, that’s all the better.
I think I liked the GIA’s scale of 1-5 (no decimals) best, but they were strict about 3 being a good game.
As for podcasts, I tend to listen to them on my computer at home. And if I don’t pay attention, I lose track and have to rewind. I hope there are plenty of good places for pauses…
And I haven’t listened yet, but personally I have to actually, like, pay attention to podcasts, otherwise I can’t follow what’s going on. Since I have no commute where I can just listen to something for an hour or two, I find the long podcasts
Err. I was editing myself and forgot to delete the half-written paragraph I cut down to three sentences. Oops.
Hey, was that mean lady the same one who used to have that small dog on the 1up Show?
Next Retronauts should mention Chex Quest just so you can then do a post entitled “More games about old food”.
Actually to do it proper-like we should include Rampage and complete the circuit: “More games about buildings and food.”