Hey, history buffs! Do you know what day it is? No, it's not the anniversary of George Washington's inauguration. It's the 25th anniversary of Sega of America unleashing the Saturn console upon an unsuspecting public (to to mention an unsuspecting retail chain). It wasn't the precisely smoothest launch in history, to say the least, and that's a shame. The Saturn deserved better.
We do our best here to make up for it with an effusive podcast, though! And by "we" I mean myself, Diamond Feit, and Stuart Gipp—yes, that's right, it's the Retronauts website crew, gathered together to record for the very first time. And I think you'll agree that we've managed to Voltron ourselves together for a humdinger of an episode. The Saturn may not have fared well in the U.S., but that's OK, because Diamond and Stuart are based in Japan and the U.K., respectively.
Edits by Greg Leahy, and astounding cover artwork by Leann Hamilton.
Retronauts Episode 297: Sega Saturn
MP3, 48.1 MB | 01:40:33
Direct download | Retronauts on Apple Music | Retronauts on Libsyn
Episode description: On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of its launch, Sega Saturn is paid tribute by Jeremy Parish, Diamond Feit, and Stuart Gipp. The good (its games!), the bad (executive infighting!), and the ugly (umm... its Symphony of the Night port?).
Speaking of great artwork by Leeann, don't forget about last week's episode (even though uhhhh... I kinda did):
This episode is a little bit special. The sound quality is not the best, but this will be the last episode of Retronauts to have been recorded with guests on-location for the foreseeable future. I managed to gang-press Benj Edwards and Bob Neal (of RetroRGB fame) into chatting with me about the tech inside classic trackball games while at PAX East... and that, as they say, is that. No more traveling for a while, or even recording with other people—so, please, cherish this memento.
On the back end, there's a great conversation about Tim Lapetino about his incredible archival book The Art of Atari. I highly recommend the segment and the book!
Retronauts Episode 296: Trackball Games & The Art of Atari
MP3, 49.1 MB | 01:46:35
Direct download | Retronauts on Apple Music | Retronauts on Libsyn
Episode description: Jeremy Parish, Bob Neal, and Benj Edwards sneak in a conversation about trackball games in a hidden cranny of PAX East, and Tim Lapetino talks about his work chronicling the artwork of the Atari 2600 for print.