Pursuing Pixels
Episodes
Monday May 31, 2021
Save it for the ‘cast! — Issue #1
Monday May 31, 2021
Monday May 31, 2021
Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels. We're trying something a little new this week, after announcing a slight change to the format of the podcast at the beginning of last week's episode! We'll be bringing you our traditional, 'core' episodes on a bi-weekly basis, while every other week, we'll be bringing you a multitude of other gaming-related goodies—conversations from the cutting room floor, guest interviews & discussions, and more...we're still brainstorming!
With that out of the way, this week, we're bringing you a Game Boy focused conversation that Kevin, Randall, & John got into before 'pressing record,' on last week's episode. We're still discovering new hidden gems & playing through the classics, even all these years later!
Thanks so much for taking the time to listen! If you'd like to find us elsewhere on the internet, you can find us at:
pursuingpixels.carrd.co
Join us on Discord
Support us on Ko-fi :)
Monday May 24, 2021
102: What is a Sphere?
Monday May 24, 2021
Monday May 24, 2021
Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels. We’ve got a whole bunch of games to talk about this week of all shapes & sizes, so let’s get right down to business!
John kicks things off with an update on his ongoing adventures in Monster Hunter: Rise—he’s seen the credits roll at this point, but that doesn’t mean he’s anywhere near being done with this game! Sounds like there is ALL sorts of post-game goodness to dig into, so there’s a good chance it’ll come up again in the future!
From there, we dive right into a discussion of the recent Ludum Dare 48 game jam, taking some time to highlight some of our favorite entries & discoveries so far, including a few from some of our favorite indie developers! There’s also a really good chance we’re gonna talk a little more Ludum Dare action next week—there are just TOO many incredible games!
While we’re on the subject of game jams, Randall & Kevin dig into Space Gulls, the latest new NES game from Morphcat Games, made for the NESdev competition. Morphcat is definitely a developer to keep an eye on, for retro & indie fans alike.
If you’ve listened to the podcast before, you already know how much John loves a good metroidvania, and he’s been playing through his favorite entry in the Castlevania franchise, Circle of the Moon. And while we’re on the topic of the Game Boy Advance, Kevin mentions a couple of import titles that never made their way over to North America—alongside Ufouria: The Saga, a quirky metroidvania on the NES that also never made its way overseas.
Timestamps:
Monster Hunter: Rise - 00:02:17
Ludum Dare 48 spotlights - 00:07:20
↳ Holey Hell - 00:10:00
↳ Underneath - 00:14:09
↳ Grapple Tongue - 00:18:30
↳ Frog - 00:20:13
↳ Tooth Toss - 00:22:24
Space Gulls - 00:24:49
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon - 00:32:32
↳ What brings ‘you’ to a metroidvania? - 00:36:58
Import game streaming - 00:42:34
↳ Ufouria: The Saga - 00:42:42
↳ Densetsu no Stafy series - 00:45:54
↳ Kuru Kuru Kururin - 00:48:19
Thanks so much for taking the time to listen! If you'd like to find us elsewhere on the internet, you can find us at:
pursuingpixels.carrd.co
Join us on Discord
Support us on Ko-fi :)
Monday May 17, 2021
101: Apparently, I Need Sodium
Monday May 17, 2021
Monday May 17, 2021
Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels. We are ALL over the map this week after celebrating our Two Year Anniversary, so let’s get this show on the road…
First things first, John’s got a new laptop!?! He hasn’t had a PC in ages and can’t wait to start combing through all of the (many) games he’s accumulated over the years through various bundles, crazy Steam deals, free Epic Store goodies, etc. No Man’s Sky is the first thing on the docket, and it sounds like John has found yet another game that is speaking his language!
Kevin gives his first impressions on Kunai, and it’s nothing but high praise so far for this stylish pixelated metroidvania! He also talks about his Bit.Trip Beat stream from a little while back, after DJ brought up the series a few weeks back—and we get into a bit of a rhythm game discussion from there.
Randall’s been sinking a lot of his ‘background gaming’ time into Hand of Fate 2, and has been thoroughly enjoying its balance of tabletop gaming & hack ‘n’ slash action. It’s been the perfect fit for him on Nintendo Switch to cozy up with on the couch with his favorite show on in the background.
Finally, we talk a little bit about playing older handheld games in the modern era, both on emulators or various licensed (and unlicensed) hardware peripherals. We also tease a few more ‘white whales’ that we’re looking forward to checking out—whether their price tags are out of reach, or they never made it over here to North America.
Timestamps:
No Man’s Sky - 00:03:36
Kunai - 00:15:10
Hand of Fate 2 - 00:21:30
Bit.Trip Beat - 00:30:44
Retro games on emulators - 00:38:55
Thanks so much for taking the time to listen! If you'd like to find us elsewhere on the internet, you can find us at:
pursuingpixels.carrd.co
Join us on Discord
Support us on Ko-fi :)
Monday May 10, 2021
Episode Number: Two Year Anniversary Edition
Monday May 10, 2021
Monday May 10, 2021
Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels. It’s hard to believe it’s been a full two years since we started up this project!?! We’re gonna break the mold just a little bit this week and take a little time to discuss some of our favorite games that somehow haven’t come up on the podcast yet. But before we get to that, we’ve got another franchise we need to revisit…
On the very first episode of the podcast, we discussed the first ‘season’ of the current-gen Hitman trilogy in an effort to step out of our respective indie & retro comfort zones, so we decided to take a look at the subsequent entries in the franchise to kick things off—plus, we NEED to get John’s opinions!!
After that, we move into a discussion of our ‘comfy cozy’ games: our aforementioned favorites that have yet to come up on the show! Unsurprisingly, we spend the majority of this discussion hanging out in retro land, looking back to some of our favorite gaming memories, many from the N64 era.
We wrap things up with a brief chat reflecting back on the last two years, and also looking forward to the years to come! We’d truly love to get your feedback on ways you’d like to see us grow and expand this project in the future, so PLEASE don’t hesitate to drop us a line at: pursuingpixels@gmail.com—we’d love to hear from ya!
Monday May 03, 2021
100: Sega Fever Dream
Monday May 03, 2021
Monday May 03, 2021
Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels. Can you believe we’ve been at this nonsense for (over) 100 episodes?!? We’re not doing anything special for the occasion this week—we’ll be celebrating our Two Year Anniversary on next week’s episode—but we do have a bunch of recently released & relevant games to talk about for a change, so let’s dig into it!
We kick things off with Pac-Man 99, which surprisingly dropped on the Nintendo Switch Online service, shortly after we ‘mourned’ the loss of Mario 35. This might be the our favorite iteration of the ‘99’ series from Nintendo so far, and we’re really excited about the potential for more releases in the future!
From there, Kevin & Randall take a look at the Balan Wonderworld demo after some encouragement from indie dev ‘TheXandan,’ who had a really good time playing through the whole game. We’re pretty much on the same page after playing through the demo, and while we may not be itching to drop $60 on this 3D platforming fever dream, we’re looking forward to snagging it on sale in the future! We also give a shoutout to Winning is Fun, which is an awesome little game jam entry from ‘TheXandan’!
While we’re on the topic of 3D platformers, John & Kevin take a look at Toree 3D from Siactro, a bite-sized obstacle course platformer with an emphasis on speedrunning. It’s only $1 and cannot come with a higher recommendation! We also talk a little bit about the rebirth of the low-poly N64/PSOne aesthetic in the indie game world lately...we’re not complaining!
Lastly, John talks us through his journey with the Monster Hunter franchise—and his journey through the rain to pick up a copy of the latest entry in the series, Monster Hunter Rise. This one is hitting ALL the right notes for John, and really scratching at that pesky RPG/MMO itch!
Timestamps:
Pac-Man 99 - 00:01:34
Winning is Fun - 00:15:33
Balan Wonderworld - 00:16:27
Toree 3D - 00:25:38
Monster Hunter Rise - 00:32:19
Thanks so much for taking the time to listen! If you'd like to find us elsewhere on the internet, you can find us at:
pursuingpixels.carrd.co
Join us on Discord
Support us on Ko-fi :)