A conversation about console design in Episode 219
Visualize beauty.
Podcasts are not inherently a visual medium, which is why two guys with faces for radio like ours can run a successful show like Retronauts. Nevertheless, this episode is extremely focused on visuals and design. Is that a tactical mistake? Maybe, but the only way to know is to listen, right?
This week's special guest is Mike Choi, whom you may recognize as the engineer behind the Flip Grip accessory. I was the ideas guy, he was the actually-making-stuff-happen guy. Mike is a great engineer because he's all about the design of things—not just appearances, but tactile qualities and usability, too. And that's what this episode is about: The design of classic consoles of the past.
This is the first part of what I hope will become a series—we only focused on Japanese consoles for this episode, and even then we only made it halfway through the list we had prepared. So there's room for another episode focusing on the systems created by the likes of SNK, Sony, and Sega. And another revolving around American consoles. And maybe one centered on computers! Who knows! We definitely don't.
Speaking of Flip Grip, the peripheral is currently completely sold out—but don't give in to eBay scalpers. More units are in production! Stay tuned!
Retronauts Episode 219: Classic console hardware design, Pt. 1
MP3, 43.0 MB | 1:31:55
Direct download | Retronauts on iTunes | Retronauts on Libsyn
Episode description: Jeremy Parish, Bob Mackey, and Flip Grip design engineer Mike Choi talk about the most beautiful and memorable game console designs through the years. Even though podcasts, uh, aren't exactly a visual medium.
