Still Loading #360: Final Fantasy X-2 w/ Rick Firestone

Back in 2020 I did an episode on Final Fantasy X. Five years later there is finally a sequel to that episode where I talk about the sequel to that game! Joining me this week is Rick from Pixel Project Radio to help me change in and out of numerous costumes as we discuss the first ever direct sequel in the Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy X-2. X-2 expands the world of FFX in many clever ways while also introducing a really unique battle system that I enjoyed a decent amount. Rick and I had a lot of fun dissecting what makes this game unique, how it feels to play it all these years later and ultimately what we both felt was it's downfall. Follow Rick on Bluesky here! https://bsky.app/profile/pixelprojectradio.bsky.socia Shout-out Song: Sight of Spira Artist: Rifti Beats Album: Chocobo & Chill https://gamechops.com/chocobo/ End Song: Yuna (Tropical House Remix) Artist: Will & Tim Album: N/A https://gamechops.com/yuna/ Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/ Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

As time goes on the games and the consoles we grew up with have a hard time keeping up with modern technology. Plug in your NES or Sega Genesis into a modern HD TV and it just doesn't feel the way you remember it. You may ask, did my games always look and play like this? The answer no. Well sort of... Returning to the show today is my good friend Try from the YouTube channel My Life in Gaming, and we do a pretty thorough overview of what to do to play your retro game systems and retro games on modern televisions. We talk about video signals, resolutions, upscaling, emulation of all kinds and much more. If you ever wanted to learn about how to get the most out of your old game consoles, use this episode as a jumping off point! Checkout My Life in Gaming on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/@mylifeingaming Check out The Backloggery! https://backloggery.com/ Shout-out Song: Dedede’s Theme (from Kirby’s Dream Land) Artist: Karl Brueggemann Album: Micropower https://karlbmusic.bandcamp.com/album/micropower End Song: BITGEN07 [Super Mario Land] Artist: Karl Brueggemann Album: Micropower https://karlbmusic.bandcamp.com/album/micropower Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/ Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

BONUS EPISODE! For a surprise bonus episode, I sat down to chat with Karl Hörnell to talk about his recently released speculative fiction novel Singularity Minus Twelve. Karl is also a game designer who was fairly prolific on the Commodore 64 back in the 80's along with web based gaming in the later 90's/early 00's. His novel Singularity Minus Twelve tries to imagine our world in the future with how AI may be integrated into our lives. It's also a freakin' fun read where it's like the Dirty Dozen (you know that 1967 movie) meets rogue AI. In this gaming adjacent episode (hence why it's a bonus episode) we discuss how his game development career influenced his writing and the themes he wanted to incorporate into the book and what does being sentient really mean. Find Karl's book here! https://www.amazon.com/Singularity-Minus-Twelve-Karl-H%C3%B6rnell/dp/915310482X Shout-out Song: Silly Venture Artist: Ultrasyd Album: Chipsters EP Remastered https://ultrasyd.bandcamp.com/album/chipsters-ep-remastered End Song: Un Croissant S'il Vous Plaît Artist: Ultrasyd Album: Chipsters EP Remastered https://ultrasyd.bandcamp.com/album/chipsters-ep-remastered Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/ Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod Want to buy some Still Loading merch? https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

This month's mini episode involves underworld connections... Specifically of the Triforce variety. Dexter Morrill is back and we take a look at episode 7 of the Legend of Zelda cartoon, Underworld Connections. In this episode one of the Triforce pieces gets broken into 3 parts and Link and Zelda must track them down. We learn that the Triforce can transmit heat and.... wet? to other shards of itself.,Link is a perv as usual, Zelda saves Link's bacon and much more. Will Link and Zelda get back the missing pieces from the underworld of Hyrule!? Listen and find out! In the live action Mario segment we see a young Maurice Lamarche play Inspector Gadget and it's wonderful. Follow Dexter on social media! Instagram BlueSky Shout-out Song: Lost Woods Artist: Mikel Album: Zelda & Chill https://gamechops.com/zelda-chill-complete/ End Song: Hyrule Castle Artist: James Landino Album: Link to the Future https://gamechops.com/link-to-the-future/ Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/ Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

In honor of the Magic the Gathering/Final Fantasy crossover I figured I should bump up this year's Final Fantasy Fantasy Draft a bit early! Four more guests enter the draft to try and craft the best Final Fantasy they can. This year we had a few first time guests and a few returning ones! As usual this was a TON of fun to record and some wild choices were made that I'm still laughing at weeks after we recorded. This year's panelists are.... Geoff Moonen from "Fun" and Games Podcast https://bsky.app/profile/geoffmakesnoise.bsky.social https://www.certainpov.com/fun-and-games James Galizio from RPG Site https://bsky.app/profile/theswweet.bsky.social https://bsky.app/profile/rpgsite.net Annalisa (aka Animalisa Keys) https://bsky.app/profile/animalisakeys.bsky.social https://www.youtube.com/@AnimalisaKeys Michael Berger from Bits of Time Podcast https://www.instagram.com/bitsoftimemedia/ https://www.youtube.com/@bitsoftimemedia https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bits-of-time/id1616941089 Make sure you vote for who you thought drafted the best Final Fantasy! You can find a link to the voting below. VOTE HERE: https://forms.gle/itfGcPcEy3BUxrnX9  (Poll will be open until 6/29/2025)   Shout-out Song: The Prelude Artist: Rifti Beats Album: Chocobo & Chill https://gamechops.com/chocobo/ Break Song: Balamb Garden Artist: Rifti Beats Album: Chocobo & Chill https://gamechops.com/chocobo/ End Song: Terra's Theme Artist: Rifti Beats Album: Chocobo & Chill https://gamechops.com/chocobo/ Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/ Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod Want to buy some Still Loading merch? https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

In this episode we explore another broad-ish topic of game history. Last week was FPS games and this week its Handheld gaming! I'm joined by author Tommy Keough to talk about his recently released book from Pen & Sword Books, "The History of Handheld Game Consoles". We chat about why he specifically chose to write about handheld game consoles, his other book about gamertags, where he sees handheld gaming going and more! Checkout Tommy on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/gamertagstories/ Check out Tommy's Book! https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/The-History-of-Handheld-Game-Consoles-Hardback/p/52025 Shout-out Song: Dedede’s Theme (from Kirby’s Dream Land) Artist: Tudd and General Offensive Album: Smash & Chill https://gamechops.com/smash-and-chill/ End Song: BITGEN07 [Super Mario Land] Artist: Dj Cutman Album: Dj Cutman - Volume I https://gamechops.com/dj-cutman-volume-i/ Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/ Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

Looking at the evolution of a genre is one of my favorite parts of studying game history. I attempted my own version of this with my history of RTS series a few years back but my guest today does a much more thorough look into a different game genre. Joining me on this episode is game developer and author Stuart Maine. Stuart has a new book out from Bitmap books called "Hurt Me Plenty: The Ultimate Guide to First-Person Shooters 2003–2010" and the title says it all! We had a great time talking about his research process, what challenges he faced writing this book, how his work in games helped in writing this book and much more! Follow Stuart on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/stuartmaine.bsky.social Check out Stuart's book here! https://www.bitmapbooks.com/products/hurt-me-plenty-the-ultimate-guide-to-first-person-shooters-2003-2010?srsltid=AfmBOornk4svCtsZRVTGjYm7IKD_jjBn0x8ncshpivHoHjy4KVyffEQP Check out Stuart's first book in this look into FPS games here! https://www.bitmapbooks.com/products/i-m-too-young-to-die-the-ultimate-guide-to-first-person-shooters-1992-2002?srsltid=AfmBOoroxtm8ACjXPZxnrdGS8JchomfDGzzkdPfzIFmZ516YGUqHnc_6 Shout-out Song: Synthetic Demon Artist: Scott Peeples Album: N/A https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00740 End Song: Dark Toxin Artist: Mike Norvak Album: N/A https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR04820 Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/ Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

Sometimes a random online acqauintence from over a decade ago suddenly appears again. This week I am joined by a wonderful guest who is just that (for me at least). This week I am joined by voice actor Sean Chiplock to talk about his career, his approach to voice acting and most importantly, the glory days of Xanga. I had a wonderful time chatting with Sean and am really happy with how this episode turned out. Please go check out his work and follow him on social media! Follow Sean on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/sonicmega.bsky.social Check out Sean's Wife' etsy shops! https://www.etsy.com/shop/BatwixCandleCompany https://www.etsy.com/shop/EraFragrances Shout-out Song: Zelda BREATH OF THE WILD ► CG5 Epic Trap Remix Artist: CG5 Album: N/A https://www.toneden.io/gamechops/post/zelda-breath-of-the-wild-cg5-epic-trap-remix-gamechops End Song: The Riddle Artist: GiGi D'Agostino Album: L'Amour Toujours https://www.gigidagostino.com/ Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/ Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod Want to buy some Still Loading merch? https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

A little late but it's here! I'm joined by Bill from the Gaming and Collecting podcast, 3DO Experience and Geek Addicts to talk about the Sucker Punch Productions game InFamous! This was supposed to come out last month as it was a patron voted topic but due to Punch of Nazi month I pushed it back a bit. Anyway, InFamous rules and it was joy to replay though sadly it is very hard to find a way to play it in 2025 as it is currently stuck on the PS3 and has not been remade as of the time this episode comes out.  Bill and I break down why we both love this game so much, how it was developed, it's gameplay, it's story and much more! If you haven't played InFamous before I highly recommend you go out and buy a used PS3 and play it, that shouldn't be hard right!? Check out the podcast network Bill is a part of, the SuperPod Network at the link below! https://superpodnetwork.com/ Shout-out Song: Hallway to Hell Composer: Joshua Morse Album: VLAD II https://gamechops.com/vlad2/ End Song: Necrosis Composer: Joshua Morse Album: VLAD https://gamechops.com/vlad/ Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/ Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod Want to buy some Still Loading merch? https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast

More Mario is never a bad thing. Dexter Morrill jumps back on the show to break down episode 7 of the Super Mario Bros. Super Show! In this episode we discuss the intricacies of the tax system in the mushroom kingdom, Mario being rude to a foreign exchange student, King Koopa turning into a giant and much more! Follow Dexter on social media! Instagram BlueSky Shout-out Song: Please Select Player (From "Super Mario Bros. 2") Artist: Qumu Album: N/A https://qumu.lnk.to/PleaseSelectPlayer End Song: Overworld (From "Super Mario Bros. 2") Artist: Qumu Album: N/A https://smarturl.it/smb2overworldqumu Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/ Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod