Episodes
Thursday Apr 15, 2021
Crash Bandicoot: Can we find a way to love him? | Episode 33
Thursday Apr 15, 2021
Thursday Apr 15, 2021
Today on Never Was A Gamer, Michelle is finally facing up to her most closely held prejudices and playing Crash Bandicoot 1-3! We went on quite a journey, and we've compiled our learnings into our 10 Commandments for 2.5D Platformers.
Timecodes:
1.00 This arc: Games Michelle expects to hate.
5.00 Why do you hate Crash?
9.00 The platform character mascot boom.
20.00 Our journey through Crash 1-3.
30.25 Some baffling design decisions made in Crash 1.
BREAK
36.05 Our 10 Commandments for 2.5D Platformers.
1.11.20 Last thoughts.
Thursday Apr 01, 2021
God of War 2: Will I hate Kratos? | Episode 32
Thursday Apr 01, 2021
Thursday Apr 01, 2021
Today on Never Was A Gamer, we're kicking off our arc of games that Michelle expects to hate with some mid-2000's angst in God of War 2! For the next 3 episodes, we're playing games that Michelle has never played and knows very little about, but somehow still expects to hate. Will these games be redeemed? Can she find something to love? Will her prejudices be validated? Only time will tell!
Timecodes:
Thursday Mar 18, 2021
Snap Judgment: Producing Specific Emotions | Episode 31
Thursday Mar 18, 2021
Thursday Mar 18, 2021
Today on Never Was A Gamer, we're wrapping up our arc on unusual mechanics with another Snap Judgment episode! We're looking at games that produce specific emotions in a small period of time. This one's a real journey!
Timecodes:
0.45 Wrapping up our arc on unusual mechanics.
9.15 Snap Judgment: Producing Specific Emotions!
11.05 Emotion #1: Overwhelmed: Silver Surfer.
17.00 ok how about Contra 3 then?
BREAK
24.45 Emotion #2: Disgust: Boogerman - A Pick and Flick Adventure.
BREAK
42.50 Emotion #3: Peaceful: Harvest Moon.
BREAK
56.30 Emotion #4: Abandoned: LSD Dream Emulator.
1.08.45 Wrap up: Last thoughts and announcement of our next arc - games Michelle expects to hate!
Thursday Mar 04, 2021
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat: Peripherals and Donkey Kongness | Episode 30
Thursday Mar 04, 2021
Thursday Mar 04, 2021
Today on Never Was A Gamer, we're talking about the last full game in our arc on unusual, focused mechanics: Donkey Kong Jungle Beat! It's the closest you can come to owning a full bongo drum peripheral without having to clear a space in your tiny apartment closet.
We're talking about video game peripherals, immersion, the limits of the gamer body, and how the hell Nintendo came to make a mainline Donkey Kong game that you play with a set of damn bongos. Join us!
Timecodes:
1.25 Peripherals and unusual mechanics.
10.40 Donkey Konga.
BREAK (Warning: Kirby break, do not listen)
17.00 Developing Jungle Beat.
30.00 What's it like to play?
BREAK
36.45 Okay but with bongos though?
44.00 But is it a Donkey Kong game?
1.00.00 Standout levels.
1.09.35 Final thoughts.
Thursday Feb 18, 2021
WarioWare, Inc: Toys, Game Dev, and Dys4ia | Episiode 29
Thursday Feb 18, 2021
Thursday Feb 18, 2021
Today on Never Was A Gamer, we played WarioWare, Inc: Mega Microgames, and we have mega stuff to say about it! Join us for a fun conversation about working at Nintendo, games as the opposite of art, going into a hyperfocus trance, and Anna Anthropy's incredible Dys4ia (2012). It's a good one!
Timecodes:
3.45 What is WarioWare, Inc?
5.45 What is Wario, actually?
13.05 How did this game happen?
BREAK
21.30 Playing the game.
36.00 Wario's (mostly) cool friends.
BREAK
55.46 Then, there's Anna Anthropy's Dys4ia.
1.04.00 What, if anything, is WarioWare about?
1.07.55 Final thoughts.
Thursday Feb 04, 2021
Katamari Damacy: Scale, songs, and Takahashi's regrets
Thursday Feb 04, 2021
Thursday Feb 04, 2021
Today on Never Was A Gamer, we're kicking off our second season with Katamari Damacy!
This season, we're changing our format a bit. Instead of spending 2 episodes on each game, we're organizing episodes into "arcs": groups of 3-4 episodes where we tackle games that explore a certain theme. Katamari Damacy is the first game and episode in our first arc, which we're calling "unusual mechanics-driven games" - games that stood out for their focus on their own distinctive mechanics, mostly from the early 2000s. Join us - this one is pretty special!
Timecodes:
1.00 Introducing Season 2, this arc, and Katamari Damacy.
BREAK
23.10 How it feels to roll for an entire game.
BREAK
51.08 The music though.
BREAK
1.00.25 Takahashi's regrets.
1.20.25 Last thoughts.
Thursday Jan 21, 2021
Snap Judgment: Unexpected Collaborations | Episode 27
Thursday Jan 21, 2021
Thursday Jan 21, 2021
Today on Never Was A Gamer, we're taking a break from big iconic games for our first Snap Judgment episode! We're taking a look at a few games that resulted from surprising collaborations between established franchises and developers that wouldn't normally touch them. And boy, there are some doozies in here!
We'll be back in 2 weeks with our official start to Season 2.
Timecodes:
1.00 What's a Snap Judgment?
4.00 Unexpected collaborations!
8.00 Star Fox Adventures (Rare, N64).
BREAK for a great song.
35.50 Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (Platinum, PS3).
57.45 What is our mystery game?
BREAK
1.01.15 Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood (Bioware, 3DS).
Thursday Jan 07, 2021
Dark Souls (Part 2): Walking a mile in Smough's Toe Shoes | Episode 26
Thursday Jan 07, 2021
Thursday Jan 07, 2021
Today on Never Was A Gamer: it's finally time to talk Dark Souls, baby.
Timecodes:
2.00 What is Dark Souls?
6.20 Runs?
9.30 Exploring.
14.45 Locations & world.
20.45 The Blight Town Special.
BREAK
24.55 Difficulty.
32.35 Combat.
BREAK
44.00 Bosses.
52.45 Ok but boss balance (aka Ornstein & Smough).
1.00.25 Duels.
1.07.00 Cheesing.
1.09.30 Narrative.
BREAK
1.15.40 Verdict on Dark Souls.
1.22.07 Predictions.
1.24.11 Score.
1.26.25 Wrap on Season 1!
Thursday Dec 24, 2020
Holiday Awards and Gift Exchange 2020 | Episode 25
Thursday Dec 24, 2020
Thursday Dec 24, 2020
Today on Never Was A Gamer, it's the holidays and we are going to be festive if it kills us! In honour of our favourite year-end traditions (retrospectives, GOTYs, and the hot corny mess that is The Game Awards) we are settling to give out some awards, exchange some gifts, and toast to the end of 2020 and Season 1 of this show and the start of something new.
In this episode we chat about the original Pikmin and one of Michelle's favourite indie releases of the year, Signs of the Sojourner from Echodog Games.
Timecodes:
0.00 Intro.
3.15 Best Child.
5.50 Naughtiest Boy.
7.53 Fans Are Wrong.
BREAK.
11.30 Dimitri's gift to Michelle: Pikmin.
30.55 Biggest Boss.
34.30 Best Villain.
38.30 True Villain.
BREAK.
43.00 Michelle's gift to Dimitri: Signs of the Sojourner.
58.45 What's Old Is New Again.
1.04.05 The Black Spot.
1.06.25 Best Moment.
BREAK.
1.12.10 The NWAG Games of 2020 Tier List.
1.19.10 What's coming from NWAG Season 2.
We'll be back in 2 weeks with the conclusion to Michelle's Dark Souls saga. In the meantime, we wish you all a safe and healthy new year - hang in there, everybody.
Thursday Dec 10, 2020
Dark Souls (Part 1): I'm sure it's not that hard | Episode 24
Thursday Dec 10, 2020
Thursday Dec 10, 2020
Today on Never Was A Gamer: we're nearing the end of Season 1, and it's time for Michelle to face off against the From Software classic, Dark Souls! She'll have to apply everything she's learned this season to this final challenge.
Timecodes:
0.00 - Introduction.
3.15 - What Michelle knows about Dark Souls.
BREAK
23.40 - History of Souls.
BREAK
40.00 - Putting all of Michelle's skills to the test.
53.50 - Predictions.