Famicom Dojo Video Game Podcast

Vinnk was never really one for shooters. But that's before he played Splatoon. Vinnk and Sean discuss the history of shooters, how Nintendo was able to put its own spin on a genre, and then make that previously uninteresting entire genre more appealing. (At least to Vinnk.) Oh, and Sean tries to convince Vinnk to play Mass Effect again, if shooters are his thing now. "Famicom Thrash" and "RPG" the...

Satoru Iwata, President and CEO of Nintendo Co. Ltd., died last Saturday at the age of 55. We recorded this mere hours after hearing the news, and it shows. Please understand. Sean and Vinnk grapple with the news of Mr. Iwata's untimely passing, how he made Nintendo what it is today for good or for ill, and what this means for the company's future. "Famicom Thrash" and "RPG" theme songs by the Ima...

After our Stuff Vinnk Sent Me video about showing off an A/V mod of a Famicom, we got a lot of feedback for why the quality isn't better, and renewed calls to try RGB mods. Also, despite that the Winter Dojo is over, we have a new spike in viewership, and a tremendous amount of new subscribers thanks to (inadvertently) the Angry Video Game Nerd and his review of the Famicom version of The Legend o...

What do we do now? Every game since Duke Nukem Forever that we were sure would never come out is now coming out. Mother? Shenmue III? Final Fantasy VII Remake? The Last Guardian? Check, check, check, and check. Plus, if you want to play your Xbox 360 games on your Xbox One, Microsoft is going to start allowing that with 100 titles this fall. Vinnk and Sean weren't right about anything predicted ah...

We take your questions from our Facebook page, and find some surprisingly deep answers! Yeah, even for the kind of silly ones. Somehow. We just hope we don't change our minds later, and go back in time to undo it, blowing a hole in the universe the size of the Small Magellanic Cloud. Vinnk and SeanOrange pixel art by Louis Lloyd-Judson: https://louistrations.co.uk . This podcast is brought to you...

The Wii U was and continues to be a great system. Unfortunately, third parties don't seem to see it that way, and even more unfortunately that's backed by sales numbers. Console gaming in general is in a decline, but the Wii U's decline may already be underway. Not for lack of great titles, but in ovrall volume. Sean and Vinnk talk about their favorite Nintendo system since the Super NES, and how...

We answer questions asked during the 11 weeks of Winter Dojo 2015, track down some promising leads for new videos, talk about our behind-the-scenes experiences, and tease what's coming up later this year on our YouTube channel. Vinnk and SeanOrange pixel art by Louis Lloyd-Judson: https://louistrations.co.uk . This podcast is brought to you by the Little Podcast Network. Sponsor an episode, or lis...

It's a strange thing that's been happening at Konami, not least of which is the public, ugly divorce between the company and Hideo Kojima. But what is happening to them can happen to any AAA publisher -- and more specifically their development studios. What will the gaming landscape look like when the titans of the industry have perished, and will it be better for consumers? Vinnk and Sean talk ab...

Sean (in person) and Vinnk (via Skype) crash the ball pit of the No Mercy Room at No Brand Con to answer your burning questions, and meet up with old college friends. Maybe more of the latter. Vinnk and SeanOrange pixel art by Louis Lloyd-Judson: https://louistrations.co.uk . This podcast is brought to you by the Little Podcast Network. Sponsor an episode, or listen to other great shows at http://...

Sean is gone this week, but Vinnk found someone even better to step in and talk video games: his wife! Vinnk and Misako discuss her gamer past, and -- in a stunning reversal of what usually happens on Famicom Dojo -- Vinnk explains the Nintendo Entertainment System and North American gaming to someone who grew up only knowing the Famicom. "Famicom Thrash" and "RPG" theme songs by the Imari Tones:...

We talk about the six episode of the Famicom Dojo Winter Dojo we've released, and Midwest Gaming Classic 2015. Plus, answer several listener questions in between! Vinnk and SeanOrange pixel art by Louis Lloyd-Judson: https://louistrations.co.uk . This podcast is brought to you by the Little Podcast Network. Sponsor an episode, or listen to other great shows at http://LittlePodcast.com .

It may be difficult to explain, because Game Boy wasn't the best from a technical standpoint, and not all of the games were the best, but somehow the Game Boy was just the best. Sean and Vinnk fondly remember 25 years of handheld gaming with Nintendo's little gray dot matrix box that could. For Future Retro Vinnk shares his stories of Quarth, and Sean jumps to the iOS ship to talk about Framed. "F...

Sean explains where new episodes of the Winter Dojo are being published, and where you can go to be the first to see them. Vinnk and SeanOrange pixel art by Louis Lloyd-Judson: https://louistrations.co.uk . This podcast is brought to you by the Little Podcast Network. Sponsor an episode, or listen to other great shows at http://LittlePodcast.com .

Nintendo announced a historic deal with Japanese mobile developer DeNA to create a new device-agnostic ecosystem for its unified account system, an ecosystem that will now also include mobile games. Nintendoes what Sega also does, and is going to develop new software on third party hardware for the first time since Atari. Oh, and then there's something about a new Nintendo NX console too. Vinnk an...

Sean and Vinnk share their holy grails of gaming, why retro consoles and their media have been skyrocketing in price (related to the first topic), and have... a proposal for you. Vinnk and SeanOrange pixel art by Louis Lloyd-Judson: https://louistrations.co.uk . This podcast is brought to you by the Little Podcast Network. Sponsor an episode, or listen to other great shows at http://LittlePodcast....

Sega will go where no Nintendo has gone before, and only release games on mobile from now on. How is it possible a once-great power in the gaming industry has fallen so far (without being responsible for its near-totall collapse, that is)? Sean and Vinnk lament the passing of this once-great developer, Vinnk discovers a Super Famicom game he'd never heard of before made by HAL, and Sean... well, t...

We talk about why the Konami code exists, answer some other questions from Facebook, and tease what's to come with the Winter Dojo 2015 videos. Vinnk and SeanOrange pixel art by Louis Lloyd-Judson: https://louistrations.co.uk . This podcast is brought to you by the Little Podcast Network. Sponsor an episode, or listen to other great shows at http://LittlePodcast.com .

The PC Engine was big in Japan, but not so big in the US as the TurboGrafx-16. In the years since the demise of Hudson Soft, the love for one of the smallest consoles on the market is still going strong. Why didn't it get tracking abroad, and why do people love it now? Vinnk and Sean opine about the most overlooked console of the 16-bit generation, and go through Sean's massive Pile of PC Engine S...

For our first new Denshimail installment, we answer questions about whether AV modding an original Famicom is sacrilege, what we've been doing since we last released regular videos in 2013, and we chat about the history of Vinnk-Con and its latest installment for 2015! Vinnk and SeanOrange pixel art by Louis Lloyd-Judson: https://louistrations.co.uk . This podcast is brought to you by the Little P...

GameCube Adapters and Amiibo are still sold out everywhere. Club Nintendo in North America, whose physical rewards never equaled those of other territories, is about to shut down worldwide. The New 3DS is finally coming to North America, but XL only -- and without a charger -- and region locking keeps alternative inaccessible. If you don't get your 3DS or games new, they're probably out of print (...

It's year five of the podcast, and we're looking to make a fresh start! New format, new segments, new podcast network, and a new logo, but the same old banter about contemporary video games and how they relate to retro game history. Oh, and herbs gathering. Lots, and lots of herbs. Vinnk and SeanOrange pixel art by Louis Lloyd-Judson: https://louistrations.co.uk . This podcast is brought to you by...

There are problems with announcing new hardware that's not available everywhere, such as the New 3DS coming out in Japan but not the US, including features that the regular 3DS does not have, yet Nintendo claims that because the North American market hasn't peaked yet with the old hardware that it will hold off releasing it. Instead, we're getting a line of special 3DS designs (never minding that...

Problems with video games are already something of a first-world issue, but some of the specifics can be so much worse. Which controller to get for Smash Bros. Wii U? GameCube or a GameCube-like HORI pad? Buy a PS4 on Black Friday, or do it some other time so we don't feel icky? How are we supposed to organize our video game collections when the labels don't wrap all the way around? Sean and Vinnk...

Magazines have themselves become a retro medium, but what if someone could use that to their advantage in a dying industry? Double-win if you can tie it to retro video games. That's exactly what we have with our guests this week! Vinnk and Sean welcome co-founders Mike Kennedy and Mark Kaminski of Retro Magazine to talk about their Year 2 Kickstarter, and their favorite retro games. They also stic...

What are your favorite scary games? How about just ones that remind you of Halloween, or are about traditional "scary" critters, but are just too darn cute to be scary themselves? Or, depending on what actually scares you, extreme isolation? Sean and Vinnk invite Sindra and David back to the podcast for this special Halloween episode! And we may or may not discuss the P.T. Silent Hills demo... JUM...