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© Copyright 2018 Wade W. and Kaiya L. All rights reserved.
Description
Join Wade and Kaiya as they replay iconic video games from their youth and discuss how they view them through the double lenses of childhood nostalgia and grown-up analytical critique.
Wade Williams grew up in the golden age of SNES RPGs. Although he didn’t play as many as he would have liked, the games he did get to play have always held a special place in his memory. As an adult, most of his free time is taken up by sandbox/management style games or nearly anything involving a spaceship. But the call of the classics is never far away.
Kaiya's childhood gaming experience was limited and clandestine, consisting mostly of sneaking in an hour of SNES ROMs after school or taking a stab at Super Smash Brothers at friends' houses. As an adult, she has been working to make up for lost time, and she spends much of her free time today in World of Warcraft, Stardew Valley or Civ 6.
Wade Williams grew up in the golden age of SNES RPGs. Although he didn’t play as many as he would have liked, the games he did get to play have always held a special place in his memory. As an adult, most of his free time is taken up by sandbox/management style games or nearly anything involving a spaceship. But the call of the classics is never far away.
Kaiya's childhood gaming experience was limited and clandestine, consisting mostly of sneaking in an hour of SNES ROMs after school or taking a stab at Super Smash Brothers at friends' houses. As an adult, she has been working to make up for lost time, and she spends much of her free time today in World of Warcraft, Stardew Valley or Civ 6.
33 Episodes
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Wade and Kaiya are on hiatus this week! We will return on September 2nd with the first episode of our season 2 game - Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals. In the meantime, please enjoy a bonus outtake from Episode 8 (wherein Kaiya's husband becomes an Uber driver), check out our brand new FAQ page (and contribute some questions if you have any!), read about the EarthBound cartridge that went into space, and drop a comment or like on this fantastic piece of EarthBound fanart by @jackfruitchips_ on Twitter!
Wade and Kaiya jump right into playing EarthBound, the classic 1994 SNES RPG! Follow their adventures as they explore the town of Onett, discuss the illusion of choice, ponder bathroom placement, and critique gang fashion.
Wade and Kaiya leave Onett and make their way into Twoson! Along the way, they discuss the psychology of police officers, the Blues Brothers, chickens as vehicles of profit, and the power of teddy bears.
Wade and Kaiya make their way through Happy Happy Village on their way towards Threed. They discover the difference between sprites and walls, the one weakness of teddy bears (it's trees), and... the use of children for money laundering?
Wade and Kaiya join Paula in judging Ness's decisions, steal birthday cookies, discuss an ongoing theme of absent fathers, and finally fight a GIANT SENTIENT CIRCUS TENT!
Things we don't discuss in this episode:
Kaiya's awesome new microphone
The meme Wade created while procrastinating on audio editing (join our Discord server to see it!)
Wade and Kaiya wander into terra incognita, discuss the bizarre North America marketing campaign for the game, and demand to know about the society, hierarchy, and manufacturing capabilities of sentient piles of vomit. They close out with their thoughts on the game so far over a refreshing cup of coffee.
Let us know about your thoughts on the game and/or the podcast on Facebook, Twitter or Discord!
Wade and Kaiya know you are very busy today and many of you have plans with your families. Therefore, they're doing their part to speed you back to your holiday activities.
Wade and Kaiya encounter a recording mishap which means that Kaiya must rerecord all her audio FROM THE FUTURE! But they manage to hold a temporally-disjointed discussion about black market weapons cartels, workplace harassment, and finding Twitch chat in the desert.
Wade and Kaiya welcome you to Moonside. Welcome to Moonside. Wecomel to Edinsoom. Wel come to Moo nsi ns dem oons ide
Also, click here for the promised guide to the monkey caves, courtesy of the Starmen.net Earthbound Walkthrough!
Wade and Kaiya set a mushroom on fire, get a taste of the lives of the rich and pretentious, endure gratuitous amounts of brutality in the name of Buddhism, and finally... pursue a rat in a sewer? Just another day in the world of EarthBound!
Wade and Kaiya dodge a whole lot of lightning, take a ride with the worst sea captain ever, discover the hotel that offers the least bang for your buck (it doesn't even have doors!), and finally discover how to make Jeff useful!
Wade and Kaiya mourn the deregulation of the dungeon maintenance industry, evaluate the limitations of the local phone system, reflect on the unique economics of swamp-based usury, attempt to talk about baseball and/or literature, and agree that they're narratively lost.
Wade and Kaiya witness the sped-up crumbling of a monkey relationship, discuss self-chosen nomenclature (twice!) and discover that the game devs are waving at them from the 1990s! Along the way, Kaiya determines that she's not playing Assassin's Creed, Wade tries (and fails) to beat the odds, and Kaiya manages to turn Wade's understanding of the ontology and ethics of EarthBound completely on its head.
Wade and Kaiya speculate on Ness's paternity, compare the network coverage of psychics vs. bird-phones, navigate a figurative minefield of foreign relations and then navigate a literal volcano! They finish up the episode by coming full circle and taking a peek back at the beginning of it all.
Wade and Kaiya help Ness with the deepest introspection, take a world-spanning shopping tour, and confront the most polite siege ever undertaken. It's the second to last gameplay episode of EarthBound!
Wade and Kaiya become monsters in order to fight monsters, and gaze into the abyss which gazes also back at them.
This is the last gameplay episode of Earthbound, but don't go anywhere! We have a special retrospective episode coming up for you next time, and a lot of exciting things planned for the future!
Wade, Kaiya, and special guest Marshall get together to talk about all things EarthBound! They discuss their childhood memories of the game, swap some crazy conspiracy theories, go on a hunt for twenty-year-old fanfiction (condensed into a montage for your convenience), suggest some baby names, attempt to reform society... and reveal what game will be played next!
Thank you for following us through this wonderful journey so far! We will be taking a brief hiatus between games, so there will be no full-length episode on August 19th. Instead you can look forward to a few extras, including a newly revamped FAQ page and a bonus clip from Episode 8. We'll see you again on September 2nd with a brand-new game to exchange!
Wade and Kaiya are back with the beloved 1995 SNES classic Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals! Embark on a new adventure with them as they navigate the dangers of dramatic economic inflation, small-town nosy neighbors, a dinner date with a Machiavellian mogul, hostile tectonic forces, and an unusual abundance of fish.
Wade and Kaiya deal with hilarious amounts of incompetence in romance, rulership, and robbery. Along the way, they also demonstrate their Boy Scout credentials, terrify a small child, and exchange union cards with a guy.
Wade and Kaiya continue to build their party in Lufia 2! This week they also discuss optimal hostage-taking strategy, shake their canes, justify a scam by falling back on neoclassical economical principles, ponder the value of a woman's tears, and... split the party. (And it isn't a disaster!)
Note: In this episode we stated that the Camu Armor heals each member of the party by 75% of the wearer's max HP. This is incorrect. It actually heals each member of the party by 25% of the wearer's max HP. The values cited for the Holy Wings are still correct.
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