Dadpod GamesCast Podcast - podcast cover

Dadpod GamesCast Podcast

Two and occasionally three dads discuss gaming with kids while also reliving their experiences growing up with games.

dadpod.substack.com
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Episodes

Episode 038: Hardest Games of our Childhood

Welcome back to the new episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! What’s the only thing more challenging than trying to record a podcast on a Sunday afternoon with the entire family at home going about their own noisy business while fending off an invasion of technology gremlins? How about NES games from childhood?! Join Joe and Ryan as they take a bruising trip down memory lane and reminisce about the hardest 8- and 16-bit games that drove them right to the brink of insanity! Music by Damage Trax . Artw...

Dec 19, 20241 hr 1 min

Episode 037: We're Thankful for Retro Games

Welcome back to the new episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! It’s the most thankful day of the year, so here at the DadPod GamesCast, we’re super thankful for all of our listeners, and we’re really darn thankful for retro video games—especially collecting them! Hang out for an hour while Joe and Ryan reminisce about their 30+ years of definitely-not-hoarding old video games from the 80s and 90s. Grab some leftovers, pull up a chair, and get comfortable! Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scot...

Nov 28, 20241 hr 7 min

Episode 036: Collector's Editions

Welcome back to the new episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! Did you miss us?! Rik and Joe have returned after a long month of illness, work, and the unfortunate encroachment of "adult life." This week, Rik and Joe talk Collector' Editions! What about them draws us in? What makes a great collector's edition? What are some of our favorites? Tune in and stay a while to find out! Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creative . Find Joe at twitter and Rik at his retro youtube channel . Email ...

Nov 14, 20241 hr 2 min

Episode 035: The Year 2004

Welcome to the new episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! If 1998 remains near the top of all contenders for the title of Best Year of Video Game Releases in History, then 2004 is absolutely in the same conversation as well! Join Rik and Joe as they talk about the best games across all consoles and PC from that year—no platform left behind! Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creative . Find Joe at twitter and Rik at his retro youtube channel . Email your questions to the show at dadpod.bl...

Oct 03, 20241 hr 15 min

Episode 034: The Year 1998

Welcome to the new episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! Perhaps the best year of game releases ever? We sure think so! Sure, there are a lot of stacked years that came before and after, but 1998 was a true convergence of platforms and software the likes of which we may not see again. Or maybe we will. Who knows! Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creative . Find Joe at twitter and Rik at his retro youtube channel . Email your questions to the show at dadpod.blankcast at gmail.com. Dadpo...

Sep 19, 20241 hr 15 min

Episode 033: Sea of Stars

Welcome to the new episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! Today we’re talking about Sea of Stars! This was Joe’s Game of the Year for 2023, but eddy had a different reaction to the game. We talk about gameplay innovation, storytelling, and more! Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creative . Find eddy at his newsletter and Joe at twitter . Email your questions to the show at dadpod.blankcast at gmail.com. Dadpod GamesCast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support ...

Sep 05, 20241 hr 12 min

Episode 032: Remasters & Remakes

Welcome to the new episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! We missed last week! That’s life, however. We’ll be back to our regular schedule next time. Today we’re talking about remasters and remakes! We include some of our favorites and also end up tackling the somewhat murky difference between the two. Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creative . Find eddy at his newsletter and Joe at twitter and Rik at his retro youtube channel . Email your questions to the show at dadpod.blankcast at g...

Aug 29, 20241 hr 18 min

Episode 031: Castlevania 2 & 3

Welcome to the new episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! Today we're talking about Castlevania! Because what does Zelda II have in common with Castlevania II: Simon's Quest?! Not as much as we'd hoped planning these two episodes, so we're also talking about Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse! Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creative . Find Joe at twitter and Rik at his retro youtube channel . Email your questions to the show at dadpod.blankcast at gmail.com. Dadpod GamesCast is a reader...

Aug 08, 20241 hr

Episode 030: Zelda II

Welcome to the new episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! Today we’re talking about Zelda II! The often denigrated member of the illustrious Zelda family. We discuss its connection to Dark Souls and Castlevania and how it puts you through a gauntlet of difficulty to get you onto your feet and ready to play the rest of the game. Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creative . Find eddy at his newsletter and Joe at twitter . Email your questions to the show at dadpod.blankcast at gmail.com. D...

Jul 25, 202450 min

Episode 029: Never Enough Time

Welcome to the new episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! Today we’re talking about finding time or running out of time for the hobby, not having the energy to pick up a game after the kids finally going to bed. Along with that, we discuss the eternal, ever growing backlog. Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creative . Find eddy at his newsletter and Joe at twitter and Rik at his retro youtube channel . Email your questions to the show at dadpod.blankcast at gmail.com. Dadpod GamesCast is...

Jul 11, 20241 hr 10 min

Episode 028: Hard Emulation/FPGA

Welcome to the new episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! Today, we’re wrapping up our discussion on emulation by tackling the hardware side! What flavors do YOU prefer? Open source or boutique? MiSTer or Analogue? Those questions discussed and so much more! Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creative . Find Joe at twitter and Rik at his retro youtube channel . Email your questions to the show at dadpod.blankcast at gmail.com. Dadpod GamesCast is a reader-supported publication. To receive...

Jun 27, 20241 hr 11 min

Episode 027: Soft Emulation

Welcome to the new episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! Forgot to post this yesterday. Oops! We’re back to the whole crew! And today we’re discussing emulation! Also piracy and preservation. We ran out of time and never got to hardware emulation, but expect that soon! Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creative . Find eddy at his newsletter and Joe at twitter and Rik at his retro youtube channel . Email your questions to the show at dadpod.blankcast at gmail.com. Dadpod GamesCast is a r...

Jun 13, 20241 hr 6 min

Episode 026: The Bestselling Game Franchises

Welcome to the twenty third episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! Today, we’re talking the bestselling videogame franchises of all time as reported by this Paste article . Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creative . Find eddy at his newsletter and Joe at twitter . Email your questions to the show at dadpod.blankcast at gmail.com. Dadpod GamesCast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to ...

May 30, 20241 hr 22 min

Episode 025: Open Worlds

Welcome to the twenty-fifth episode of the DadPod GamesCast!Today, we’re tackling Open Worlds and the disparate games that inhabit them! From The Elder Scrolls, to Spider-Man, to Grand Theft Auto, and many more, we give you all the freedom to 'go anywhere' without sending you on any pointless fetch quests, we promise! Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creative . Find Joe at twitter and Rik at his retro youtube channel . Email your questions to the show at dadpod.blankcast at gmail....

May 16, 20241 hr 15 min

Episode 024: MMOs

Welcome to the new episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! Today, we’re going whole hog on Massively Multiplayer Online games! From World of Warcraft to Destiny and a whole lot in between! Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creative . Find Joe at twitter and Rik at his retro youtube channel . Email your questions to the show at dadpod.blankcast at gmail.com. Dadpod GamesCast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscr...

May 02, 20241 hr 10 min

Episode 023: The Smorgasbord

Welcome to the twenty third episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! Today, we’re tackling a bunch of different topics, from AI to videogame layoffs and consolidation, and so on. Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creative . Find eddy at his newsletter and Joe at twitter and Rik at his retro youtube channel . Email your questions to the show at dadpod.blankcast at gmail.com. Dadpod GamesCast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a fre...

Apr 18, 20241 hr 17 min

Episode 022: Games with Parents, Games with Kids

Welcome to the twenty second episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! Today, we’re discussing our own history with videogames, the games we played with our parents, and the games we now play with our children. There are a few brief hiccups with the audio early on but nothing major. Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creative . Find eddy at his newsletter and Rik at his retro youtube channel . Email your questions to the show at dadpod.blankcast at gmail.com. Dadpod GamesCast is a reader-sup...

Apr 04, 20241 hr 13 min

Episode 021: Dragon Quest XI

Welcome to the 21st episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! Last week Akira Toriyama died and we thought this would be the time to finally talk about Dragon Quest. Today, we’re talking Dragon Quest XI, one of the best and most joyful JRPGs you can pick up. This is a spoiler filled episode so if you want to avoid the twists and turns of one of the wildest rides around, maybe check out the game first. Or not! Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creative . Find eddy at his newsletter and Joe a...

Mar 21, 20241 hr 11 min

Episode 020: Limbo/Inside

Welcome to the twentieth episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! Forgot to post this yesterday. Oops! We’re back to the whole crew! And today we’re discussing Limbo and Inside, the first and second games by the Danish studio Playdead. We talk about the things that make these games great, the things less successful, and what it feels like to play these atmospheric, opaque, macabre games. Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creative . Find eddy at his newsletter and Joe at twitter and Rik at ...

Mar 08, 20241 hr 15 min

Episode 019: House of Leaves - Part III

Welcome to the nineteenth episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! We’re continuing our exploration of Mark Z Danielewski’s monumental postmodern horror novel House of Leaves. In this episode we discussing from Chapter XIV to the end of the novel. Here we run through the final third of the novel and discuss a wide spectrum of topics brought up by this conclusion, including the structures, styles, and genres at play here. Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creative . Find eddy at his newslet...

Feb 22, 20241 hr 57 min

Episode 018: House of Leaves - Part II

Welcome to the seventeenth episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! We’re doing something quite a bit different this time. We’re discussing Mark Z Danielewski’s monumental postmodern horror novel House of Leaves. In this episode we discuss chapters IX-XIII. Here we tackle the meat of the novel and delve deep into the labyrinth. Below are some images from these pages to help illustrate what we’re talking about. Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creative . Find eddy at his newsletter and Joe...

Feb 08, 20242 hr 1 min

Episode 017: House of Leaves - Part I

Welcome to the seventeenth episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! We’re doing something quite a bit different this time. We’re discussing Mark Z Danielewski’s monumental postmodern horror novel House of Leaves. In this episode we discuss chapters I-VIII. This is our biggest episode yet and, in our humble opinion, one of the best. More on that soon. Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creative . Find eddy at his newsletter and Joe at twitter . Email your questions to the show at dadpod.blan...

Jan 25, 20241 hr 48 min

Episode 016: DnDnD

Welcome to the sixteenth episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! It’s Dungeons and Dragons and Dads, oh my! The low-hanging fruit writes itself here, folks. This week on the DPGC, Joe is hosting solo, venturing forth into the theater of the mind that is dungeons and dragons! It would be dangerous to go completely alone, however, so he brought friend of the show (and his best friend since 3rd grade), Ryan O’Callaghan, along for the adventure! They talk about finally getting into D&D much later than ...

Jan 11, 20241 hr 12 min

Episode 015: GAME OF THE YEAR

Welcome to the fifteenth episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! Today, we’re talking our favorite games of the year, more commonly referred to as GOTY! Rik had to hop out early and Joe was the only one who kept his list to 2023 while eddy had none from 2023, but that’s just how life goes as a dad. We also mention a plan for the upcoming year, which will involve some episodes about books and possibly a whole new, sister podcast! More on that soon. Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creativ...

Dec 28, 20231 hr 22 min

Episode 014: To the Moon

Welcome to the fourteenth episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! Today, we’re talking To the Moon! The little indie RPGMaker game that could, exploding into the public consciousness and apparently in the works to become an animated series. Along the way, we discuss games as art, whether or not this had to be a game, what is gained by the decision to tell this story through the medium of a game, and stretching boundaries. Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creative . Find eddy at his newsl...

Dec 14, 20231 hr 9 min

Episode 013: Superhero Games

Welcome to the thirteenth episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! Today, Joe and Rik are talking superhero games! We go from the NES up to the current generation, touching on Batman, TMNT, X-Men, Superman, Spider-Man, and so much more. What games got it right and which ones feel more like a miss opportunity. Sadly, no one mentioned Superman 64, which was the funniest game eddy ever played. Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creative . Find Joe at twitter and Rik at his retro youtube channe...

Nov 30, 20231 hr 19 min

Episode 012: A Medley of Short Games

Welcome to the twelfth episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! Today, we’re talking about a bunch of short games! In general, we’re categorizing a short game as around 10 hours or less. Joe’s List: * A Short Hike * Ape Out * Doki Doki Literature Club * Gato Robato * Grapple Dog * Huntdown * Infernax * Limbo * Inside eddy’s List: * Into the Breach * Thomas Was Alone * Unfinished Swan * Journey * Abzu * Gris * Gorogoa * The Stanley Parable * Limbo * Inside * To the Moon Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by ...

Nov 16, 202358 min

Episode 011: Doki Doki Spooky Club

Welcome to the eleventh episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! Today, we’re talking Doki Doki Literature Club! This is the first visual novel eddy’s played, though Joe has more experience with the genre. We discuss the genre, Takashi Miike’s Audition, and House of Leaves to tackle Doki Doki Literature Club’s style, structure, and texture. Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake at Scott Creative . Find eddy at his newsletter and Joe at twitter . Email your questions to the show at dadpod.blankcast at g...

Nov 02, 20231 hr 20 min

Episode 010: Castlevania - Symphony of the Night

Welcome to the tenth episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! Today, we’re talking Symphony of the Night with our sometimes third cohost Rik Johansson! Symphony of the Night is one of the all time greatest games and we just blow past our usual time limit talking about it. We talk about some of the other Castlevania games, the music, the way the series changed in feel and fairness, and how this specific games caused thousands of indie Metroidvanias to come to life. Music by Damage Trax . Artwork by Jake ...

Oct 19, 20231 hr 20 min

Episode 009: Super Metroid

Welcome to the nineth episode of the Dadpod Gamescast! Today, we’re talking Metroid with our sometimes third cohost Rik Johansson! We discuss the non-gameplay elements that create and develop this world. Including the importance of getting lost, exploring, and its difficulty. Of course, any discussion of Metroid spills into metroidvania as a concept and genre, and eddy’s radical opinion on the genre! Joe comes up with the genius idea for a Mega Man Maker game, which would sell wildly. Capcom, gi...

Oct 05, 20231 hr 18 min
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