This Month In Retronauts: August 2024 edition
Added 2024-09-01 11:00:11 +0000 UTC"August? Shouldn't you call it Last Month In Retronauts?" Silence! I, Diamond Feit, am your Community Manager and you will respect my travel schedule!
Sorry, sorry, I'm still a wee jetlagged this weekend, but I managed to turn this episode—recorded in my Hartford hotel room on August 24th—around in record time. Since they were with me attending Retro World Expo in that very building, I had the pleasure of chatting with Jeremy Parish and Nadia Oxford this time. Stuart couldn't make it on account of his remote location but fear not, fans; you'll hear a small snippet of his voice to whet your appetite for our next community podcast.
I hope you enjoy the question I came up with totally on the spot! I shall endeavor to better prep for our September episode which I sincerely hope to complete before October. Likewise, my weekly columns should resume next Sunday. What's the topic? Let's peep that calendar, shall we?
Specific items mentioned in this episode include:
Crow Country
Doctor Who
specifically The Horror at Fang Rock
Nadia counters with Polka Dot Door memories
Steamworld Heist II
Isles of Sea and Sky
Borderlands vs Deadpool & Wolverine (the latter of which I have since watched)
this triggers a sidebar about manzai comedy and the Rockman X manga
Beyond Shadowgate
movie announcements: Eternal Champions & Madden?
the game I bought as a joke is simply titled Mr. President
pour two out for Game Informer and Nintendo Times
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp packs it in this November
RIP Atsuko Tanaka
the Japanese quiz show I forgot the name of is America Ōdan Ultra Quiz
I also fail to recall the title Kowloon High-School Chronicle
shoutout to Bill Mudron's Springfield map project
Art, photo, & edits by me. Music heard in this episode:
12:21 a recreation of Nadia's childhood TV trauma
20:44 manzai duo Pack'n Mack'n performing in English
28:31 excerpt from The Simpsons' "Sunday Cruddy Sunday"
37:04 "Sasoi" by Atsuko Tanaka
54xx classic sellout moment from Harrison Ford
1:04:18 "Crystal Flash" by Jake "virt" Kaufman
1:19:52 main theme from Escape from L.A.
Finale: a multi-layered reference to Jeremy's current home state, Nadia's Canadian heritage, and the city of Hartford, CT, all in ONE SONG
Comments
Nuno, you must break this habit of replying after we record the next monthly episode! (DF)
Retronauts
2024-09-23 20:37:18 +0000 UTCOk a Simpsonsless Simpsons game. How about a game about the meme bush, that bush that often houses a Homer? The bush now finding itself in a deHomered Springfield, starts to go crazy and crave blood, Springfield blood. You control the bush/hedge and are tasked with hunting down every last denizen of Springfield, each providing their own unique challenge and skill set to overcome.
Nuno Amaral
2024-09-23 19:54:09 +0000 UTCI have a Simpsons Spinoff that doesn't feature the Simpson family! One of those bar & restaurant simulators where you're working for Moe Szyslak. Part of the game is resource management where you are upgrading the bar into various fly by night concepts based on Moes idiotic ambitions. Another aspect is a fast paced food/drink prep game like Cook Serve Delicious, but with plenty of oddball requests from the simpletons of Springfield. Finally the Visual Novel section that takes place after closing time, where you have dialog options with staff and favored regulars. This could be used to really show off the writing of golden age Simpsons, assuming you could reassemble that staff.
Virtual Balboa
2024-09-13 14:01:11 +0000 UTCMy pitch for a Simpsons game without the Simpsons is one based on The Simpsons Spinoff Showcase where Chief Wiggum and Skinner are in a noir in New Orleans, and it would be a Shenmue clone. Like how in Shenmue you have a time limit of in-game days to learm about Lan Di before you get a game over, in this game you must find clues about Big Daddy before a set date. There will be collectable issues of Parade magazine.
Grant Baxter
2024-09-12 19:34:41 +0000 UTCQotM: I also think 22 Short Films about Springfield would make for an excellent WarioWare-esque minigame collection. My version would just be a DLC for Very Tall Man, though. (Obviously.) The game would consist of situational foibles faced by the very tall: ducking when entering rooms, failing to find clothes that fit at retail stores, finding a sleeping position that keeps your whole body on the bed, and my personal favorite, walking face-first into cobwebs. At 6'6", these and other moments fill my days.
Tall Rob
2024-09-08 21:59:42 +0000 UTCGetting to this episode late and I did not expect to hear the Polkadot Door theme song. I missed him again!
Sebastiano Gerace
2024-09-08 18:38:19 +0000 UTCProps to Nadia for name dropping Slay the Spire. Such a great and addictive card game!
Jeremiah Jones
2024-09-08 10:08:03 +0000 UTCHey Diamond, I appreciate your valiant attempts to pronounce my last name properly. It's French and is pronounced "koo-shay". I can count on one hand the number of people who got it right the first time (sadly, my high school French teacher was not one of them). QotM: I would love to see a Kamp Krusty Manager game. You'd be filling the role of "Mr. Black" and would be tasked with running a profitable summer camp exploiting the name and likeness of Krusty the Clown. You'd have to balance aggressive cost cutting while keeping camper injuries and fatalities within an "acceptable" margin (lest you be dropped by your insurance provider). But too much frivolous spending on things like "safety" and "edible food" will result in you not hitting your seasonal earnings goal and being fired. What are the campers' crafting projects worth on the open market? Can their activities be used to generate electricity? Was building the camp on an ancient indigenous burial ground financially prudent? How much can you redact from the children's urgent letters home before people start to get suspicious??? All the horrors of late-stage capitalism on full display as you make Kamp Krusty good enough again.
James Couche
2024-09-05 20:03:23 +0000 UTCMy pitch: A game based off of 22 Short Films about Springfield. Each segment would be its own mini game. As Smithers bike to the hospital while suppressing your allergic reaction. As Snake hide from Wiggum so you don't have to exchange insurance information. Milhouse squirting condiments on cars becomes a simple puzzle game. And finally Steamed Hams becomes a music rhythm game (yes I stole this idea from a YouTube video). Where appropriate the Simpsons can be present for a minigame but not playable.
PurpleComet
2024-09-04 05:55:54 +0000 UTCI think everyone enjoyed themselves! Looking forward to where we might journey in 2025.
Diamond Feit
2024-09-01 21:18:28 +0000 UTCRe; the QotM, a Simpsons game without the Simpsons... Since the most beloved Simpsons games have always been rooted in other genres, my mind immediately went to a visual novel game "inspired" by the Ace Attorney series. You would play as Lionel Hutz, squaring off in the court room against the blue-haired lawyer and trying not to evoke the wrath of judges like Snyder or Constance Harm while cross-examining assorted Springfieldianites as witnesses. Eventually, you'll uncover the mastermind behind a series of bizarre crimes... (AAHHH! Sideshow Bob!) Of course, just as Phoenix Wright would be nothing without Maya Fey, Hutz would need an ace assistant to help him in his investigations. Principal Skinner? Princess Opal? Lenny? The possibilities are practically limitless...
Taskbaarchitect
2024-09-01 17:02:18 +0000 UTC(Deleted my original answer) QotM: An interesting Simpson family less Simpsons game would be a parody of Papers Please set at the DMV starring Patty and Selma. It would be all a put the ridiculous reasons they would deny the licenses for the various Springfield residents that pass by their counter while thinking of ways to sneak off for a cigarette.
Patrick McClafferty
2024-09-01 16:01:02 +0000 UTCJokes aside, I sincerely hope that you and your family had a fantastic vacation, Diamond
Jeff Peterson
2024-09-01 11:52:08 +0000 UTC
