Episode 557: What's So Great About Video Game History, Anyway? (Patreon)

Jeremy: Here's a topic we surprisingly haven't really tackled before across more than a decade and a half of making these podcasts: Why is video game history worth talking about in the first place? Why even make these podcasts?! There was no monetary consideration in mind when I first started recording Retronauts at 1UP.com; I just knew that all the other podcasts were talking about new releases and current-at-the-time-generation software, and no one was talking about the things that came before. (That's also how I got my start writing about old games at 1UP; I saw a vacuum that, like Nature, I abhorred.)

So, I took some time at Long Island Retro Expo this year to put the question to my fellows at the show, or at least as many as I had mics for: Kevin Bunch, Nadia Oxford, and Kat Bailey. But that wasn't enough! Oh no. Since a bunch of other smart, active, impassioned, and talented game journalists and historians were on-site at Long Island, I decided to put the question to them as well. Rather than listing all the people I managed to pin down, I'll just let them introduce themselves. There are some obvious contributors, but also some interesting people who have never been on the show. And a lot of background babble... 

Enjoy!

Art by Amanda Neipris; edits by Greg Leahy.

• 10:36 - Star Fox: Boss (Titania)
• 18:07 - The Misadventures of Tron Bonne: Favorite Kobun Saves the Day!
• 26:24 - Secret of Mana (SNES): A Curious Tale
• 33:55 - Blaster Master: Boss Battle 2
• 40:36 - Ken Griffey Jr.'s Winning Run (SNES): Game Won
• 49:34 - Gradius II: Gofer no Yabou (X68000): Salamander Boss (OPM + MT-32 ver.)
• 58:50 - Eorzean Symphony: "Tomorrow and Tomorrow" (FFXIV Orchestral Album Vol. 3)
• 1:08:51 - Smashing...Live!: Super Smash Bros. Great Medley (Balloon Fight)
• 1:17:19 - Chrono Trigger (DS): Wings that Cross Time
• 1:23:50 - Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home OST: Main Title
• 1:35:35 - The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition: Introduction
• Closing - Chrono Cross (PSX): Radical Dreamers -Le Trésor Interdit-