Episode 133: Steamworld & Chip Tanaka's Django (Patreon)

One of my goals with Retronauts for 2017 was to get more interviews with game creators and people in retrogaming into the show's rotation, and I think by and large that mission proved to be a success. One of my goals for 2018, then, will be to figure out ways to make sure these interview segments sound as good as regular episodes — they tend to have great content with iffy audio quality. This episode, for example: The first hour is an interview with Brjann Sigurgeirsson of Image & Form on the origins of the retro-inspired Steamworld games. And it sounds mostly good, aside from some echo. Sadly, though, the second interview here — a conversation with Hirokazu "Chip" Tanaka about his new album Django — sounds pretty (mainly because my voice is barely audible). I had to ditch my intended recording setup for that conversation, because the usual gear I had on hand resulted in some insane feedback with a three-way overseas Skype call. Still, I wanted to run a little bit of the interview to go along with my thoughts on the album, because how often do you get to have HIP FRIGGIN' TANAKA on your podcast? I mean, wow. The man's a musical legend.

My hope is to have many more legends on the show in the future, and for the sound quality to be worthy of their greatness. I do hope you'll grit your teeth and power through the tinny Q&A with Mr. Tanaka, though… and that you'll check out both Steamworld Dig 2 and Django. Both count among my favorite pieces of media released in 2017.

Thanks again for your support, and I resolve to work even harder to create even better podcasts for you in the coming year! — Jeremy