Retronauts

Unravel the legal battle over Donkey Kong's parentage and custody. Dive into Nintendo's transition to video games, collaborations in programming, and their relationship with Ikegami. Explore the legal disputes over game code copyright and the absence of Donkey Kong in modern re-releases.

Let's get technical! With this, the first of a series of Micro episodes focused on specific technologies and how they shape the games we love. We begin here with a podcast-appropriate aural treat: The iconic sound of FM synthesis. Be sure to visit our blog at Retronauts.com, and check out our partner site, USgamer, for more great stuff. And if you'd like to send a few bucks our way, head on over to our Patreon page!

TOSE! Towa Chiki! VAP! Meldac! SunSoft! Atelier Double! These are but a few of the studios we (that is, Jeremy, Dr. Sparkle, and Frank Cifaldi) explore in this look at weird, often terrible games made by vanished Japanese developers in the '80s. Be sure to visit our blog at Retronauts.com, and check out our partner site, USgamer, for more great stuff. And if you'd like to send a few bucks our way, head on over to our Patreon page!

Chris Kohler joins Jeremy and Bob to discuss the highs and lows of the Virtual Console service over the past decade, reminiscing about the early days of excitement and the disappointment of unfulfilled potential. They also touch on NES Classic Edition speculation and explore the evolution of Nintendo's gaming services, including predictions for future classic edition releases.

As part of our post-10th birthday victory lap, friends Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross of Watch Out for Fireballs! (and several other shows) join Bob for a laid-back discussion about the podcasting game, the true meaning of "retro," and why you should get your butt to Portland next October. Thanks for listening, and we swear we'll actually be talking about video games next week! (And, presumably, for several hundred weeks to come.) Be sure to visit our blog at Retronauts.com, and check out our partner site, USgamer, for more great stuff. And if you'd like to send a few bucks our way, head on over to our Patreon page!

It's hard to believe, but the podcast devoted to discussing old games is now old itself! On this special live episode of Retronauts, join Bob Mackey, Jeremy Parish, Chris Kohler, and special guest Scott Sharkey as the crew discusses a decade spent stuck in the past. (Special thanks to twitter user @RPeavyhouse for the cover photo!) Be sure to visit our blog at Retronauts.com, and check out our partner site, USgamer, for more great stuff. And if you'd like to send a few bucks our way, head on over to our Patreon page!

If you lived through the NES era, the words "Fester's Quest" likely make you break into a cold sweat. (Sorry about that.) A few years before Raul Julia and Christopher Lloyd danced the Mamushka, kids of the '80s mostly knew The Addams Family via Sunsoft's 8-bit hit and its absolutely unforgiving difficulty. On this episode of Retronauts Micro, join Bob Mackey, Chris Antista, and Henry Gilbert as the crew works through their shared trauma, and uncovers the fascinating history of this odd little game. Be sure to visit our blog at Retronauts.com, and check out our partner site, USgamer, for more great stuff. And if you'd like to send a few bucks our way, head on over to our Patreon page!

Explore the history of video game censorship with anecdotes from Earthbound, Castlevania, and Maniac Mansion; Delve into controversies like 'hot coffee' in Grand Theft Auto and industry giants' censorship approaches; Compare American and Japanese cultural standards in gaming content; Uncover impacts of terrible crimes on Japanese media censorship and creative adaptations in video games; Discuss the evolution of contentious video games post-9/11 and explore Pokemon's alleged connection to witchcraft and occult themes.

Hey folks, we'll be in Portland this coming weekend for the Portland Retro Gaming Expo, and a special afterparty at QuarterWorld! Here's all the info you need: Our panel: We'll be celebrating Retronauts' 10th anniversary with a PRGE panel on Sunday, October 23 at 3:00pm in Auditorium B. (Click here for the full schedule.) The afterparty: Join us after the panel from 8:00pm - 10:00pm for a party at the great arcade QuarterWorld, located at 4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd. in Portland. To attend, you MUST RSVP at our Eventbrite page, which you can access by clicking here. Please bring either a printout of your ticket, or a digital copy of the RSVP confirmation e-mail via your smartphone. Access to our party is free, but you'll still need to pay QuarterWorld's cover charge, which should be $3.00. If you can't access links via your MP3 player or program, the link to the Eventbrite page can be found pinned to the top of both our Twitter and Facebook pages. Hope to see you there!

Jeremy muses over one of the greatest arcade games of all time: Taito's oddly out-of-time cooperative shooter, Elevator Action II (Elevator Action Returns if you're nasty). Be sure to visit our blog at Retronauts.com, and check out our partner site, USgamer, for more great stuff. And if you'd like to send a few bucks our way, head on over to our Patreon page!