Popzara Podcast

Round One: FIGHT! On this pugilistic episode of the Popzara Podcast Ultra Turbo HD Remix Alpha+, our senior games editor Cory “Quarters” Galliher steps up to the cabinet and dukes it out (using words) with famed game developer, author, and arcade guru supreme David Sirlin. From championing tournament gaming, rebalancing Capcom classics like Super Street Fighter II: Turbo HD Remix, re-imagining chess, crafting card and tabletop games and more, it’s the podcast of the century! These two challengers go for broke about Sirlin’s anticipated upcoming arcade-style fighter Fantasy Strike, what non-Sirlin fighting game series he admires, the world of game development, crowdfunding in an age of crowdfunding fatigue, and even dish out choice tips for those curious gamers anxious to join the fighting revolution. The state of battle is set: jump cancel whatever you’re doing and hyper-combo your way to the top – it’s showtime!

The sales and estimates for how the videogame industry fared in June 2017 are here, courtesy of our friends over at NPD (National Purchase Diary), and we’ve broken out the calculators and tinfoil hats for another exciting month of number-crunching and insightful analysis with editors Cory Galliher and Nathan Evans. We take this stuff seriously, folks, though it’d be good to remember all numbers, facts, and funny quips are for entertainment purposes only. You COULD simply read about them, if that’s your thing. But for the full effect you’ll want to listen to the Popzara Podcast version for the full effect. Plus, it makes great background noise for the gym, long commute, or that unexpected international espionage mission. We’re just saying. On with the show! Total sales of new gaming hardware, software, and accessories were up a nice 7 percent over last year ($765 million over $712 million). This gain was primarily from new hardware (i.e. Nintendo Switch), which saw a sizable gain of 27 percent over last year’s reporting ($231 million over $182 million). While Sony’s PlayStation 4 was the best-selling console for the month (specifically, the limited edition Gold PS4 Slim), it was Nintendo’s hard-to-get Switch hardware that was primarily responsible for the huge uptick in sales revenue for the month over last year. Microsoft is mum about how their Xbox One family is doing, but recent earnings report have the XBO lagging far behind its competitors. Perhaps the super-charged Xbox One X will help turn the tide? NPD is also reporting a striking decline in sales of new portable hardware, which at this point essentially means the 3DS (sorry, PS Vita). There’s some confusion over the definition of what “portable” means as some argue the Nintendo Switch qualifies for the designation, but as of now it seems NPD is counting the hybrid phenom firmly in the “home” console market. Speaking of declines, gaming accessories experienced another slight drop over last year ($159 million from $160 million). Interest in plastic accessories and “interactive toys” could be a major culprit here as revenue dropped over 40 percent from last year, though new gamepad sales were healthy, especially shiny new PS4 DualShock Wireless ones. Sales of new console software were up a slight 1 percent over last year ($343 million over $339 million), while even PC software experienced a rare uptick of 2 percent ($32 million over $31 million). NPD reports the unusual showing of new fighting games recently as both unusual and invigorating (certainly for PC game sales). Sony scored two PS4 exclusives with the return of Crash Bandicoot and Horizon Zero Dawn, while a resurgent Nintendo saw their most successful showing in years with three Switch exclusives, including Zelda, Mario Kart 8, and brand-new IP (and fellow fighting game) ARMS. To think, just last year we saw Nintendo virtually eliminated from all sales charts. Overall, a very promising showing of game and platform diversity for an industry that was in dire need of both. Top Twenty Software: Fight! 01. Tekken 7 02. Injustice 2 03. Grand Theft Auto V 04.

It isn’t often we feature actual, bona fide heroes here on the Popzara Podcast, but that’s exactly what you’ll find as Nathan Evans and Nia Bothwell are joined by cancer survivor, cosplayer, podcaster, and quite possibly the world’s biggest fan of speedy blue hedgehogs, Elizabeth Silvas! With openness and honesty Elizabeth, aka Lizzie Hedgehog, recounts a harrowing tale of surviving brain tumor surgery, her painful recovery process (made even more painful by cruel classmates), and how a chance discovery of Sega’s spiky mascot changed her life in ways she’d never imagined. As Lizzy’s story went viral she gained the attention of not just fans and supporters across the globe, but that of Sega and Archie Comics, who went above and beyond with a special comic tribute to that special bond between girl and hedgehog. Want to see it? Of course you do – it’s right below! Listen as Lizzie also shares her love – and growing collection – of retro gaming consoles, the perfect cosplay outfit, how she came to host the RetroReload Podcast, and much more. We loved her so much we even donated to her upcoming Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation Starry Night 5K run for charity — you should, too. Sonic Boom!

While the excitement and interest-growing extravaganza of E3 2017 is over and done with, it’s time for our backwards-looking snapshot of what rocked and rolled the gaming industry just prior to gaming’s biggest industry event. This means NPD’s estimates for May 2017. As usual, our calculator-toting editors Cory Galliher and Nathan Evans are here to look, examine, and break down what the numbers mean, how they translate into success/failure for industry health and growth, as well as the cultural significance of game placement on all those confusing software lists. Also, to our non-litigious friends over at NPD who we KNOW listen (and read! and occasionally comment!) to this podcast, we swear there’s no silly errors this time around. Perfection is may be nigh impossible, but we’re still trying (thanks, Sam!). Sales of new gaming hardware rang up $147 million, which is actually up a smooth 7 percent over last year ($138 million). Supply constraints led to last month’s console champ, Nintendo’s Switch, fall to second place for the month, leaving our usual champion, Sony’s PlayStation 4, to reclaim its familiar role as the number one selling console for the month. One reason for the slight uptick: NPD analyst Mat Piscatella is quick to note that the Switch “continues to be the primary catalyst for hardware spending gains”. In fact, the Switch is responsible for a healthy 18 percent growth increase in total hardware spending year over year. The cause? Despite a Wonder Woman-powered launch of Injustice 2, a lack of huge AAA Multiplatform blockbusters. Unlike last year, which saw a powerhouse trio of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Overwatch (which continues to be a presence on the Top Ten), and DOOM, this year’s relatively soft debut of Prey and holdovers hasn’t set the charts on fire. Also, its worth noting that Nintendo claimed nearly half the Top Ten best-sellers on both of its exclusive platforms, the Switch and 3DS. Sales of gaming accessories, however, did manage to eke out a modest 1 percent increase ($112 million over last year’s $111 million), most likely owing to sales of Nintendo Switch accessories and controllers like extra Joy-Cons; gonna need those for hybrid home/mobile multiplayer action! Top Twenty Software: Wonderful! 01. Injustice 2 02. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 03. Grand Theft Auto V 04. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 05. Prey 06. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands 07. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadow of Valentia 08. NBA 2K17 09. MLB 17: The Show 10. Overwatch 11. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege 12. Horizon Zero Dawn 13. Call of ...

The world’s biggest gaming extravaganza has come and gone, but the memories will last forever. To help ingrain them a little deeper, a happy handful of your Popzara Pals have gathered to bring you the best, worst, and everything else that went down during E3 2017. Join Cory Galliher, Herman Exum, Nathan Evans, and – making her chatty E3 debut – Nia Bothwell as they take everything this year’s show in LA had to offer. With insightful examinations of the Big Three gaming conferences from Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo to each editor’s top (and bottom) gaming picks, nothing is off limits as the group gabs from the comfort of home. Did we mention the games, games, and games? Will Microsoft’s powerful Xbox One X console be worth your attention? Can Sony’s God of War live up to those lofty expectations? Is it possible to get that catchy theme from Nintendo’s Super Mario Odyssey out of your head (note: nope)? It’s just like being there; just without the expense, hassle, and the stench. Listen now and thank us later!

Namco’s King of Iron Fist hits lucky number seven as the long-awaited arrival of Tekken 7 comes home to even luckier PS4, Xbox One, and even Windows PC fans without an arcade to assuage their need to inflict pure polygonal punishment on one another. Did we mention the game lets you play as cute pandas and even a living tree? Mokujin FTW! In this equally punishing episode of the Popzara Podcast our own contestants Cory Galliher and true arcade vet Herman Exum step up to the cabinet to have a frank and brutally honest chat about Tekken 7’s arrival at home, its roots as one of the last arcade fighters, what fans on all platforms can expect from their respective ports, thoughts on PSVR compatibility, and how Namco’s latest compares to arcade-style champs like Street Fighter, BlazBlue, and Guilty Gear. Take a listen; no quarters required!

April showers may bring May flowers, but right now only one gaming company is making it rain – buckets of money, that is: Japanese giant Nintendo’s Switch is having just the type of halo effect on sagging sales many were hoping for, and it couldn’t have come soon enough. In this flexible episode of the Popzara Podcast our own Cory Galliher and Nathan Evans take a look at what’s driving the gaming industry’s recent growth spurt (spoiler: mushrooms are involved) as they examine NPD’s industry-related estimates for April 2017. With sales of Switch consoles and Switch games selling like hotcakes, it’s clear the industry may once again be playing with power: Nintendo Power. Total sales of new gaming hardware and software for the month topped $636 million – that’s up a cool 10 percent over last year’s tally ($577 million). Sales of new gaming hardware gathered $195 million, up a sizable 37 percent over last year ($142 million). There’s no doubt where the uptick came from; Nintendo’s Switch continues to be the best-selling game console in the country, followed by Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One consoles. Sales of new console games were up a slight 6 percent from last year ($304 million over $287 million) on the back of Nintendo-themed best-sellers on the game-starved Switch and even surprise smash Persona 5. For the first time in ages, the top three best-selling games were all Japanese in origin, a fun reminder there’s life yet in the Land of the Rising Sun. PC gaming, unfortunately, didn’t share the love; sales of new games for the non-console set fell a drastic 57 percent from last year ($11 million from $27 million). There’s not much left to say, frankly. Sales of new gaming accessories, including controllers, headsets, and other oddities, rose a nice 4 percent over last year ($125 million over $121 million), the loss of plastic collectable toys no doubt offset by scores of new Joy-Con and Pro Controllers leading the way. Note: in the podcast the guys accidentally refer to Call of Duty: Black Ops III instead of Black Ops II; the older game was, in fact, the real best-seller as the Xbox 360 version was recently added to the Xbox One’s backwards-compatibility roster. Top Twenty Software: Momma Mia! 01. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 02. Persona 5 03. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 04. MLB 17: The Show 05. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands 06. Grand Theft Auto V 07. Mass Effect: Andromeda 08. NBA 2K17 09. Overwatch 10. Call of Duty: Black Ops II 11. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare 12. Horizon: Zero Dawn 13. Lego City Undercover 14.

In this familiar episode of the Popzara Podcast our very own Nia Bothwell talks with the most personal of guests – her own mom, Dina Bothwell, and younger brother Kai Thompson, a ten-year old Nintendo fan who’d love to be a game developer when he grows older. Listen as two generations share their experiences growing up with – and without – videogames as a constant presence in their lives. From hanging out at the arcade (remember those?), playing on a rented Atari, bonding over Mario Kart races, and the difficult lessons from Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption, both mother and daughter discover they have more in common than either thought possible. Laughter, tears, and the surprising story of a thoroughly modern family are on full display in this illuminating conversation between a proud parent and her children, and how encouraging hobbies can be the key to true happiness in the end.

Joining our host Nathan Evans on this handcrafted episode of the Popzara Podcast is Parisian comic and animation artist Ben Fiquet, the talent behind the beautiful artwork adorning Lizardcube’s Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap, an HD remake of the 1989 game for Sega Master System. In case you hadn’t noticed, Fiquet’s lovingly crafted visuals are pretty show-stopping, perfectly positioned as a colorful antidote to the plastic sterility of modern game design. The two enthusiasts discuss the challenges of bringing a little-seen 8-bit adventure into the modern age, tools of the trade (hint: lots of Adobe products), the growing popularity of French animation, and showing much love for those 2D masters, past and present, helping keep the flame alive. Anyone mentioning David Perry (Aladdin, Earthworm Jim), Arc System Works (Guilty Gear, BlazBlue) can’t be all that bad, right? Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap is available now for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch (with PC players getting in on the fun this summer). Want to see more of Ben Fiquet’s amazing artwork? Head on over to his official website for tons ‘o fun right HERE!

Unless you were born of a certain era, chances are good you’ve never set foot in something called a ‘shopping mall’, a rapidly disappearing structure that once dominated the American landscape and pop-culture. In recent times, however, these once dominant symbols of a thriving economy have largely been relegated to dilapidation and decay. In this calculating episode of the Popzara Podcast our own “child of the 80s” Nathan Evans talks with photojournalist and controversial ‘urban explorer’ Seph Lawless about his new collection of photos documenting this decay, Autopsy of America: The Death of a Nation, due this month from Carpet Bombing Culture. Also discussed are the ethics and responsibilities of photojournalists, odd comparisons to apocalyptic iconography (hint: zombies!), and how the rise of ‘Rust Belt Politics’ can make for strange bedfellows indeed. Take a listen now as you’re totally invited; no breaking and entering necessary!

On this wistful episode of the Popzara Podcast our own Cory Galliher goes co-op with The Daily Mirror’s games writer Ryan Brown to tackle Playtonic Games’ retro platformer Yooka-Laylee, a crowd-funded darling that aims to pull at the heartstrings of gamers longing for the glory days of 64-bit platforming bliss. However, as Brown points out in his review, perhaps “some strings are best left to the past.” Nostalgia is the name of the game – literally – as Cory and Ryan explore a game that wants to bring back your childhood one collectable at a time. But can the bat and chameleon duo live up to the might of the Nintendo64 classics it desperately wants to emulate, specifically those of the Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64 variety? It helps when the nostalgia peddlers are (mostly) responsible for the source material. Even if you don’t know your Mum-mums from your Rextro Sixtyfourus, put down the ukulele and listen now to see if Yooka-Laylee is a solid trip down memory lane…or just another dead end on the road to misplaced sentimentality.

On this scholastic episode of the Popzara Podcast our own supernaturally inclined Cory Galliher is joined by Engadget associate editor Nick Summers to discuss and rave about the latest entry in Atlus’ acclaimed Megami Tensei series, Persona 5! Inspired by Nick’s recent piece “Persona 5 took me back to Tokyo”, the guys go full Nippon as they not only talk the series’ distinctly Japanese roots, but how the series has thrived when so many others in the genre failed. From its JRPG excellence to wide multicultural appeal, Persona 5 is many things to many people, and has been rightfully hailed as one of the best Japanese RPGs to come along in some time. Let’s see if you agree! Break out the rice balls, stock up the bento boxes, and grab the maguro akami for this one; it’s cheaper than actually flying to Tokyo and twice as fun. Ganbatte!!

For those of you who follow the monthly number-crunching, estimate-heavy sensation known far and wide as NPD (National Purchase Diary) monthly sales estimates here at Popzara, March 2017 was the Big One you’ve been waiting for. That’s right: the launch of a wildly anticipated new console from Nintendo, as well as an equally wild new launch title, made for the most interesting and record-breaking month of the War God in years. As our regular analysts Cory Galliher and Nathan Evans settle in for the fun, let’s get right to what we’re all waiting for: could Nintendo sweep in and reverse the alarming downward trend in sales the gaming industry has faced for several years now? Let’s just say the launch of the Switch and its marquee title cast a shadow all its own, and that shadow was golden. In a story we haven’t seen in years and years, it took a new Nintendo console (and one heckuva launch title) to essentially rescue the gaming industry from certain doom and gloom. Total sales of new gaming hardware, software, and accessories topped $1.36 billion – a healthy 24 percent increase over last year’s $1.09 billion. Sales of new gaming hardware was up an astonishing 91 percent over last year ($485 million from $235 million), thanks primarily to the launch of the new Nintendo Switch, which handily outsold both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. While NPD doesn’t usually reveal actual numbers (anymore, sadly) they were quite generous with them for Nintendo’s latest: the Switch sold over 906,000 units, which tops the previous Nintendo record-holder (going way back to 2001 with the original Gameboy Advance) for first-month sales. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, available for both the Switch and Wii U (RIP) sold a combined 1.3 million copies, with 900,000 going to the newer console. While technically not the month’s best-selling title (the multiplatform Ghost Recon Wildlands nabbed that honor), there was no denying the massive importance of the latest entry to Nintendo’s thirty-year old (!) franchise to help launch the Switch. NPD estimates that 99% of all new Switch buyers picked up the game (other estimates having those attach figures even higher). The sell-through was so good, in fact, that NPD analyst Sam Naji said the new Zelda enjoyed “the highest attach rate for any non-bundled title for a new gaming platform since NPD began tracking in 1995.” The real winners were software, which benefited from several heavy hitters that all saw tremendous action at retail shelves (and digital downloads). Total sales of new console games were up 5 percent over last year ($612 million over $585 million). Unfortunately, this upward mobility didn’t extend to PC software, which continued its negative slide and was down a distressing 25 percent from last year ($29 million from $39 million). As golden as Breath of the Wild proved to be, it wasn’t alone in helping shake things up at retail shelves last month. Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands topped the charts, while EA’s troubled Mass Effect: Andromeda had the second-best debut for the space franchise. Not to be outdone in the adventure market, Sony’s franchise-launching Horizon: Zero Dawn also found an audience, and was technically the highest-charting console exclusive of the month. Even gaming accessories were boosted thanks to the Switch’s golden halo,

In this scintillating episode of the Popzara Podcast we’ve gathered our own brains-in-shell editors Nathan Evans and a double-blast of Chris bliss, Chris “Wolf Man” Mitchell and Chris Sobrinski, to talk about the 2017 live-action adaptation of Mamoru Oshii’s ground-breaking anime Ghost In The Shell. Come for the enlightening chat about Ghost In The Shell, both positives and negatives alike, its overblown controversy about cultural appropriation, and how it slavishly recreates many of the original 1995 animated film’s most iconic scenes. But stay for the extra talk, which includes a look at other modern remakes (including this year’s blockbuster Beauty and the Beast), the undisputed power of Martin Scorsese, and how the future of the cinematic experience may lay in widescreen theaters and at home. You might not agree with everything said here, but that’s OK. As a certain cybernetic Major once said: “Overspecialize, and you breed in weakness. It’s slow death.”

In this picturesque episode of the Popzara Podcast our own amateur shutterbug Nathan Evans talks with acclaimed photojournalist Peter van Agtmael about his new book, Buzzing at the Sill, a collection of striking images capturing the medley of middle America at its most vulnerable. The two discuss many of the astonishing images showcased in the new book, which is a sequel to his previous collection, Disco Night 9-11, which documented via photos and personal recollections the lives of military veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and their families. Also included is a frank discussion about the country’s growing cultural divide (and how it’s not just a coastal thing), the election of Donald Trump, exploitation of the medium, and how the future of photojournalism may be bright indeed. For more info about Peter van Agtmael’s Buzzing at the Sill, including high-quality samples and where to buy a copy, check out Peter’s official website right HERE!