I already forgot what we talk about in this one.
Welcome to a (relatively) short news edition of Nerds Without Pants! Julian was on vacation when we recorded this, and is still in “away” mode as this goes up, so please excuse the brief show notes this week
A whole new world.
Witnessing the leap from the NES to the new 16-bit Super Nintendo in 1991 was downright magical. The console had an eye-catching futuristic design (in the eyes of my six-year-old self anyway), and the hardware produced higher-quality graphics and sound that delivered an experience impossible for the previous generation. And what better title to lead the charge than Super Mario World? I remember seeing the game for the first time at a graduation party for a friend going to middle school. We all huddled around her TV, taking turns playing the game. As soon as that giant Banzai Bill streaked across the screen, I was hooked.
Platforming perfection
On October 23, 1988, Mario series creator Shigeru Miyamoto and his crack team of Nintendo EAD ninjas released Super Mario Bros. 3 in Japan. To coincide with its US launch 16 months later, Nintendo produced a commercial featuring kids clamoring for the game like it was the second coming of Christ. The hype was intense, and it worked exceedingly well. The game went on to exceed the first one in sales, fandom, and legendary status. Mario and the crew had undeniably hit their stride.
As Told by Gunpei
The Game Boy- created by the late Gunpei Yokoi- was Nintendo's first handheld system to mix the portability of the Game & Watch with the seemingly infinite possibilities of interchangeable cartridges. Although Tetris was the pack-in game with every unit, Nintendo still wanted to have at least one title in the 1989 launch lineup that their consumer base would instantly recognize.
Next-gen is on the way, baby!
On this edition of Nerds Without Pants we pretend to be pious by talking about our favorite video game religions. Also, we get down with the PS5 reveal, and things get heated with one of the most contentious Video Game Cage Matches so far! This one is a doozy!
Witty comment goes here!
Welcome back to another jam-packed edition of Nerds Without Pants! Technical difficulties can’t keep us down, and we’ve got a lot of fun shenanigans all set up for you, including the introduction of the Mega Buster of Destiny ™, some of Patrick’s worst jokes ever, and more!
Figures that Julian had the most examples. What a fatty!
After a monumentally long episode of Nerds Without Pants, the Pantsless Ones bring things down to normal show length. Which is to say, still pretty damn long. Maybe Julian should host up and reign these guys in, eh?
I made a terrible mistake coming here.
Welcome to our next (an likely final) special from E3 2017! Angelo steps out of the woods and hasn't heard a speck of E3 news, so the bulk of the show is Julian filling him in on everything he's missed. Enjoy the hilarity as Angelo reacts in real time to the Xbox One X, that odd Shadow of the Colossus remake, and the announcement of not one, but two new Metroid games.
Ninception
If you told me when I was a kid that Super Mario Bros. 2 was merely a localized version of a pre-existing game from Japan, I wouldn’t have believed you. But in fact, that’s precisely what Nintendo did for the US release of the next chapter in the Mario series. This was mostly due to the fact the original Japanese sequel was nearly identical to Super Mario Bros., only with slightly improved graphics. There was also concern that the game’s high difficulty would be off-putting for American audiences. The solution? Take Doki Doki Panic, swap out the main characters, slap a “Super Mario Bros. 2” label on that bad boy, and you’ve got yourself Nintendo’s best-selling game of 1988.
Mario Paint for the 21st Century, if it allowed your childhood dream to come true.
Most of us have played a 2-D Mario game at some point in our lives, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one that really wanted to make a Mario level and have others play it in years past. Granted, people have made attempts to make their own Mario levels with varying degrees of success, but Miyamoto and friends finally granted my wish for Mario’s 30th anniversary in the form of Super Mario Maker. As far as level creation tools go, Super Mario Maker is a great level creation tool that has seen over six million levels created since its launch last year. Needless to say, the game is a hit with Mario fans everywhere. However, there are still flaws it has to iron out.
