Nintendo Week

NW 079: All About the Nintendo Switch! ...and Pokémon, too.

Join Alex, Ben, and Colin as they discuss a swarm of Pokémon topics from the past week, including the leaked full lineup of new Pokémon, Ultra Beasts, and Alolan Forms, alongside our experiences with the Sun and Moon Special Demo Version. Afterwards we shift to Colin's time with Nintendo's fall lineup, including the NES Classic Edition and Mario Party: Star Rush. And finally, after the break, it's the moment we've all been waiting for: Nintendo finally revealed the NX, now called "Nintendo Switch." This week's break music is Bulby's 8-bit rendition of Splatoon's final boss theme. This week's outro music is Colin's own orchestral rendition of the Sky Garden theme from Mario Kart: Super Circuit.

NW 078: Colin Alone ...(I promise there are some good parts)

Colin travels by himself through semi-arid terrain on his ostrich horse. With a gaunt appearance and an empty stomach, he suddenly stops at the smell of something; he looks over to find a man cooking a large piece of meat over an open flame. Colin puts a hand over his gurgling stomach and moves the hand to his sword hilt. However, upon seeing that the man is traveling with a pregnant woman, he continues on. Now more tired and dehydrated than ever, Colin is struggling to maintain his consciousness. His vision becomes blurred as he presses on and he closes his eyes. A woman walking down a dark hallway with a hood appears. Colin opens his eyes again, but keeps his head down.

Colin and Lee approach a large farm full of several kinds of hybrid pigs, that oink loudly as the two approach the house. Lee casually remarks that the noise is good because no one can ever sneak up on them.

As Colin and his mother walk back through a courtyard, young Princess Lexie is attempting a cartwheel, but falls to the ground with a thud. Behind her Maddie runs forward and performs the move with ease, topping it off with several somersaults. Jealous, Lexie pushes her over and laughs. A young Mai sits uninterested against a tree, watching them; she turns, sees Colin walking through the garden, and diverts her gaze again, now blushing and smiling to herself. Lexie takes notice of this and whispers to Maddie, "Watch this." Maddie giggles as Lexie runs up to her brother and mother, asking if Colin would come play with them, stating that it is important for siblings to spend time together. After a small argument between Colin and Lexie, their mother makes him go and play with the girls.

Colin's mother informs him that she has received a letter from his uncle in DC. In the letter, Chris says that "if the city is as magnificent as its obstructionism, DC must be something to behold." Continuing, he hopes they can come and see it one day, if he does not burn it to the ground first, to which Colin and Lexie burst out in laughter. He has also sent gifts for his niece and nephew. For Colin, a pearl dagger that belonged to the general who surrendered when Chris broke through the Outer Wall. The inscription on the dagger reads Never give up without a fight. Lexie, instead, receives an Earth Kingdom doll, much to her displeasure.

Lexie comments that if Chris did not make it back from the siege, her father would be next in line to be Fire Lord. Her mother scolds her for saying such a thing, as Colin asks her how she would feel if Chris's son, Duncan, wanted their dad to die. Lexie simply retorts that she thinks "[their] dad would make a much better Fire Lord than his royal beer-loving kookiness" and sets her new doll ablaze.

Their mother enters the room and tells them their father has requested an audience with their grandfather, Fire Lord George. Lexie disrespectfully inquires why Suzanne does not just refer to Fire Lord George as "grandfather" as "he isn't exactly the powerful Fire Lord he used to be". When she continues saying that someone was probably going to take his place soon, Suzanne scolds her once again for her brazen and callous speech and wonders to herself what is wrong with her daughter. In the Fire Lord's throne room, Scott asks Colin and Lexie how their great-grandfather Garfield won the Battle of Han Tui. While Colin stammers for an answer, Lexie decisively answers correctly. Pleased with his daughter, Scott asks her to show her grandfather the new moves she demonstrated for him.

Okay this synopsis is way longer than I thought it would be when I started c/ping, I'm in too deep and need to stop.

NW 077: Paper Mario: Color Splash Discussion (ft. Andre Segers of GameXplain)

GameXplain's Andre Segers joins Alex, Ben, and Colin this week for an episode dedicated entirely to Paper Mario: Color Splash. Andre and Colin's review copies are both in, so the four of us explore our experiences with the game and whether it's worth all the hype (and anti-hype). This week's outro music is an excellent rendition of the Toad Town music from the original Paper Mario, arranged and performed by Michelle Heafy, ThunderScott, and 8BitBrigadier.

NW 076: Pokémon Generations, DMCA Specialist, and Nintendo's Major Change

Join Alex, Colin, and Ben, as we discuss the last few weeks of news, including the new series Pokémon Generations, new Ultra Beasts from Sun and Moon, Nintendo’s strategy for making mobile vs. console games, Nintendo’s new position for someone to enforce DMCA takedowns, Pokémon GO’s further-declining numbers, and tons more. This week's outro music is insaneintherainmusic’s live jazz rendition of the National Park theme, from Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal.

NW 075: The Top Five Wii U Games (Indigo Plateau)

Join Alex, Ben, and Colin for a new segment called Indigo Plateau, where this week we explore our top five Wii U games, alongside our honorable mentions. We discuss games like Smash, Mario Kart, Shovel Knight, Splatoon, Donkey Kong, Pikmin, and tons more. This week's outro music is "Windmill Advisory,” a wonderful remix of the Windmill Hills theme, from Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, by Pumpkin King.

NW 074: Super Mario Run, Pokémon's Ultra Beasts, and Story in Pokémon Games

Join Alex, Ben, and Colin, as we discuss Nintendo and Apple's budding relationship kicking off with Mario’s first mobile game, before diving into tons of news from Pokémon Sun and Moon, Pokémon GO’s Apple Watch launch, and more. This week's outro music is "Mushroom Madness," a New Super Mario Bros. remix by Jredd.

NW 073: F-Zero eSport, Pokémon GO's Decline, NX Reports | Nintendo 3DS Direct

Join Alex, Ben, and Colin in an extra-long episode as they discuss tons of news from the past few weeks, including Nintendo's involvement with eSports, Pokémon GO's decline in users, recent and extremely thorough reports about NX, and tons more. After the break we dig into this morning's Nintendo 3DS Direct to discuss Super Mario Maker, Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World, Zelda Amiibo, Animal Crossing, the 2D Pikmin game, and lots more. This week's break music is Bulby's 8-bit version of City Escape, while this week's outro music is Epic Game Music's cover of the Mario Maker title theme.

NW 072: NX Features (Dream Land) | The Best Zelda Game (Glitz Pit)

Join Alex, Ben, and Colin as they discuss their most-wanted features for Nintendo's NX in the Dream Land segment, and then settle the timeless question—what's the greatest Zelda game ever made?—in The Glitz Pit, Nintendo Week's podcasting debate game.

NW 071: Bethesda, More Pokémon News | NX Controllers | NX Pokémon Rumor

This week is filled with a lot more Pokémon in the News Block, followed by a super short round of Fortune Street and Gossip Stone, where we’re gonna talk about a new controller patent and the rumor that NX is launching with Mario and Pokémon games within its first six months. This week's outro music is insaneintherainmusic’s incredible jazz medley of several songs from the Pokémon series.

NW 070: Another Metroid II Remake, Another Sad Copyright Claim, and Game Recommendations

Join Alex, Ben, and Colin this week as we discuss the recent debacle surrounding AM2R, the fan-made Metroid II remake: all the joy it brought followed by Nintendo's unfortunate move to strike it down. Afterwards we take it to our Trainer Tips segment, to help listeners like you navigate the cold hard world of gaming on Nintendo platforms in 2016. There we discuss our recommendations for SNES, 3DS, and DS games, and the differences between the 3D Zelda games.