No Freetime Radio

It is with a heavy heart that we must report there was an E3 this year. And it was a gongshow from day -2 to the end. We break down all the presentations. Note: This was recorded Wednesday, but the main thing we missed was Donkey Kong and Sky Skipper.

Brought to you by muscle relaxers and other controlled substances.   Achievement unlocked: Get E3 preview show out before EA Play.   New Business: Battletech 2018, SMT: Strange Journey Redux, Batman Season 2 (spoilers), Forgotten Anne, and a crap 3D Castlevania. Feature: An E3 preview that got proved hilariously long by the following eleven days of leaks.   Mushrooms: Nintendo Online and medical issues both current and future. Recording date: May 27Editor: DonaldNext episode: The E3 recap show. Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow not included (?)

Can't sleep, out of control Dad will eat me.   No time to talk, the editor has a plane to catch. New Business: Dying games, Star Wars: Empire at War, Monster Hunter World, God of War 2018 (mild spoilers), Ni no Kuni II: The Search For More Money   Whatcha Watchin': Infinity War (because someone had to), High School D+D, the, um, interesting lineup offered by Amazon Prime in Canada, Reboot 2018, Frank & Ollie, Muppet Guys Talking   Feature: A news catchup Listener Mail? YES! Mushrooms: Donald's continued feud with The Sandman, Stephen has praise for the PS4's account system (????) and Austen's on TV!   Recording date: May 6 Editor: Donald Next episode: The Contractual Obligation Album of the year. Send your predictions for what was once a trade show but is now Devolver owning everyone before the weekend.

This would've come out earlier if this week wasn't out to kill the editor.Multiple sleepless nights all lead to this.New Business: Kirby Star Allies, Detective Pikachu, a warning about Radiant Historia PC, a Minit to win it, Nioh, and the obligatory Monster Hunter World segment with a surprising guest.Whatcha Watchin': Sherlock Gnome, Pacific Rim 2, Attack on Titan S2, My Hero One's Justice, Tomb Raider 2018, Waking Sleeping BeautyFeature: News catchupMushrooms: Channel Crap, price drops, THQ spends a year dead for tax reasons, Stephen goes ProRecording date: April 8Editor: DonaldNext episode: Send us stuff so we don't have to wing it.

In the year's most stunning upset that didn't involve the Maple Leafs making the playoffs...   Just in time for the first business day of the new fiscal year, it's the long-awaited GOTY show. There's three parts this year.   Part 1: A full countdown of the top 10s. Or in some cases, the top 8s.   Part 2: A Whatcha Watchin' recap. Sadly, Donald's participation for this in 2018 may have been DELETED.   Part 3: Other miscellaneous awards.   This podcast was recorded on March 17 and edited by Donald Theriault and Austen Parkin. A new version of the episode has been uploaded to resolve an issue with the audio.

Including the results of an ice cold Metacritic draft   Delayed once again due to tragedy. When you've got tragedy with no time, is that still eventually comedy? New Business: More MH World, Shadow of the Colossus HD, Persona 5 (ending spoilers, 25:18 - 31:40), Injustice 2 on the half shell, Bayonettas Whatcha Watchin': DC stuff (Gotham by Gaslight, Teen Titans, Justice League 2K17), Black Panther, The Olympics Feature: We go over predictions from last year and make new ones. Mistakes were made. Mushrooms: The delay explained. Next episode: It's GOTY.cx time. We want your top 5s, please.

Way down south in Nashville, the hunt is on in N-Hanced Fur-K.Illness ended up delaying this episode twice. Luckily, it meant we could watch a few things.New Business: VA-11 HALL-A (disclaimer: code provided), Celeste, Monster Hunter World... and lots of it, Persona 5.Whatcha Watchin': AGDQ 2018, Doctor Who, The Orville, My-HIME, Kabaneri and the Iron FortressThe Feature: A mini Direct, a rat infestation, LABO, LABO, LABO and wait, Microsoft's doing WHAT?Mushrooms: PSN still sucks.Recording date: January 28Editor: DonaldNext time: Self-flagellation as we look back on our 2017 predictions - and possibly make new ones. Drop us a comment, shoot us an email, or hell, Tweet it if it's 280 characters.iTunes/Apple Podcasts: FIXED! Not only that, we're on Google Play Podcasts too.

Not recommend for fans of Mularkey, robots, or piling dirt on the 3DS.New Business: Monster Hunter World (we can just pencil this in until PAX West), Switchmas, Never Stop Sneakin', Nier Automata, and Persona 5.Whatcha Watchin': Collective pass. It'll be back with a vengeance for 106 (even Donald might get in on it).Feature: Counting down the top 5 games we were hyped for. We know one list is way different now.Mushrooms: The disqualification of Fire Pro Wrestling World by the coward Brad Shoemaker, ARMS is selling better than we thought, and someone had to "work" on Christmas Day.Recording date: January 7Editor: DonaldNext time: Look, Smithers! Labo is coming! (Also Detective Pikachu and the Direct.)iTunes/Apple Podcasts: Still not returning our calls. Grab your RSS feed here: http://nofreetimeradio.podbean.com/feed/

Shorter than a Giant Bomb GOTY cast divided by the trailer for that banging film Death Stranding.New Business: Dauntless, Monster Hunter World, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Never Stop Sneakin', a skeptic's extended look at PSVRWhatcha Watchin': The Keighlies and PSXFeature: See aboveMushrooms: Capcom collections, where's Sherman when you need him, Fedex and Amazon cockupsRecording date: December 17Editor: DonaldNext time: 2018 hype... snails.iTunes/Apple Podcasts: Buggered off for the holidays. Grab your RSS feed here: http://nofreetimeradio.podbean.com/feed/

At least Donald called Campo Santo appearing.New Business: Pokémon Ultra Sun, Battle Chef Brigade (Donald), Cat Quest, Farpoint (Stephen), more Breath of the Wild, Batman and Hand of Fate (Austen)Whatcha Watchin': Desert Bus For Hope (Donald), Tiger and Bunny (Stephen), Justice League Action (Austen)Feature discussion: We preview the Game Awards and PSX, and how naive we were.Back of the book: Politicians quote Star Wars, two positive mentions for Sega, and screw the Steam ControllerBut, Plugs: We talked Terranigma; you can grab it here (along with the rest of the show) or hereRecording date: November 26Editor: DonaldNext time: Austen's on better (?) internet

The final episode recorded under less than ideal circumstances (in taping order). For the sixth time, we were honored with the chance to record a segment for the NWR Live Telethon for Child's Play. The donation box may have closed, but this year we managed to raise $6200 in support of a great cause: the children. On this year's show, Donald, Stephen and Austen had all played or seen through most of the lost (to North Americans) SNES game Terranigma. Why didn't it cross from Europe? How many drinks did the translators have? Why is Bloody Mary such a...? All this and more await. The remaining audio from the telethon - in which Donald had no less than three segments and a trainwreck - can be found at Nintendo World Report.

Better late than never, just in time for the telethon.New Business: Mario Odyssey + odds and ends (Donald), medical absence (Stephen), proving Donald right, Breath of the Wild, Hand of Fate 2, GameStop Trade Price Is Right (Austen)Whatcha Watchin': pass (Donald), the sequel to Thor 2: The Dark World (Stephen), Spiderman Homecoming, The Boys: The Sherman Bros. Story and Your Name (Austen)Feature discussion: Sony's Paris Games Week announcement of Guacamelee 2 and, uh, that's itBack of the book: Sony going lootbox, Telltale layoffs, "EA, just... EA" (BEFORE BATTLEFRONT 2 BLEW UP), Lords of Thunder on Wii U, medical trauma, and Starcraft/Pokémon Olympic medalsBut, Plugs: Donald's XONiC review, we're talking Terranigma on Saturday (guaranteed), new email, same Twitter Recording date: November 12Editor: DonaldSo much for: Getting this out in November

And to think, it only gets worse from here.New name, new email address, new show note format.New Business: Fire Emblem Warriors (Donald), Final Fantasy 3 [The Good One] (Stephen), SNES classic hacking, adventure games, The Sexy Brutale, The Evil Within 2 (Austen)Whatcha Watchin': pass (Donald), The My Little Pony Movie, Voltron (Stephen), Orville, Ducktales 2017 (Austen)Feature discussion and episode namer: Calling out Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, and five of the Big Six western publishersBack of the book: Batman happiness, EA/Visceral, Stephen never asked for this, the worst people in gaming including a serial drunk groperBut, Plugs: Donald's Fire Emblem Warriors review, Donald will be on RFN 546 talking FEW and Odyssey, new email, same TwitterRecording date: October 22Editor: DonaldPlease: Don't sue us, understand

The only thing missing from this momentous episode is a Brass Bonanza.Somehow, against all logic, we've reached 100 episodes of Nintendo Free Radio. So it's roundabout time for some changes. In New Business, it's a group chat as for Mushroom-related reasons all three members of the team snagged SNES Classics, and between them managed to play a full third of the lineup. Donald picks up with Culdcept Revolt on the 3DS, before Stephen tries his hand at virtual head formation and also busts out the Super Scope VR... er, the Farpoint controller. Austen's big ones for this episode are the last Microsoft published title not to be loot boxed to hell in Cuphead, and in time for Dishonored Halloween his return to the world of Dishonored 2.Whatcha Watchin' serves as a nice summary of our collective tastes. Stephen brings the sci-fi with Seth MacFarlane's Orville, which should probably last a bit longer than every show Fox greenlit between cancelling and reinstating Family Guy. Austen goes superheroic with Best Picture nominee Wonder Woman, while Donald represents the anime faction with a few rounds of Code Geass.The Feature discussion is two parts, as we are keeping the show going under a new name that you'll probably see on our Twitter account, before doing the traditional look back at some of the highs and lows of production. Even the Mushrooms have a theme, as traditional punching bags of trade shows, Square Enix and recent foe Amazon come around for a good pillorying along with the continued ineptitude of PlayStation Network (seventy bucks a year!).We'll be back with you soon and will let you know when the email address change goes through, but for now we'll forward all the mail sent to the old address.This podcast was recorded on October 2 and was edited by Donald Theriault.

After this month, we've fully banned "Rock You Like a Hurricane".The Great One episode of Nintendo Free Radio has quite a bit packed into two and a half hours or so. In New Business, Stephen kept pecking away at the Monster Hunter Stories demo - did we mention this thing is LONG? - but we're not sure if he took the plunge. Maybe the Zelda DLC will help. Donald grabbed the demo for Project Octopath Traveler as well as the second good Metroid game of this decade (or ever) in Metroid: Samus Returns. Austen has some brief mentions including blatant Square selling out (because none of their games are) before dealing with the double main event of Life is Strange: Before the Storm episode 1 and the dreaded Knack 2. Thanks to the Nine Network for adding those bits to Donald's hard drive.Whatcha Watchin' covers the Netflix Voltron season 3, with a pitstop at the end of modern Ninja Turtles, before Austen castigates bad casting in Batman v Harley Quinn and violates about twenty copyrights when he visits Big O. Billion dollar debts not included, but probable in that universe.The Feature sort of got rolled into the Mushrooms as we encourage you to donate to a quality organization to help Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, which are still completely without power as of press time and has a member of the NWR fora living in the former. Also covered: The passing of The Brain, debates over the All-22 film, and Nintendo being Doomed this Christmas. Some big changes are coming to the podcast after the next episode, so keep it locked to our Twitter feed for updates as well as to send suggestions for things to discuss on said episode. If you can't keep it to 14... sorry, 280 characters and need a bit more space to breathe, then drop us an email or leave it here. Either way, we want to hear from you one more time.This podcast was recorded on September 17 and was edited by Donald Theriault.

We think they got out without needing deprogramming.The latest edition of Nintendo Free Radio has a lot of cults involved in it. For New Business, Stephen covered off the Monster Hunter Stories demo, before Donald lept in with the Danganronpa V3 demo and after a brief stop in Gunvolt land (review available here) he wrapped by taking one for the team and injecting himself with Sonic Mania. Austen shows determination in going through spoiler-free on Undertale, but the same can't be said for Dave Bautista Presents Guardians of the Galaxy by Telltale. His closer is a bit of a deeper dive into FFXII: The Zodiac Age for his 150th Platinum.Whatcha Watchin' is heavy on the reimaginings. Donald talks the recently released Death Note (Netflix US based crap version), while Stephen is catching up on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2010s). Austen's life might be in a hurricane right now, but before that he headed over to Duckburg to check out the new version of Ducktales before grinding for love in Is It Wrong To Pick Up Girls In Dungeons?.After a quick Feature covering Gamescom and another recent news of import, it's off to the Mushrooms for some retail pillorying between the SNES Classic preorder gong show and Amazon messing with Prime on the worst possible day. Also touched on: Stephen's new transportation, and Disney World nerdery.We're one episode away from 100, and because of Irma there's likely going to be an extra week+ of lead time for 99, so let us know if there's something you want us to discuss.This podcast was recorded on August 27 and was edited by Donald Theriault.

An apt description of Pyre's game, if you add an equal sign.A very brief summer doldrums edition of Nintendo Free Radio awaits this week as we don't even clear the two hour barrier. But it's packed with action. New Business is mostly Donald to start as he gives a quick Splatoon 2 update before rolling into Ever Oasis and Monster Hunter Stories's demo (full impressions here) as the 3DS lives despite some people's best efforts. Austen talks visual novel/NBA Jam hybrid Pyre - it'll make sense - and after some quick updates wraps the segment with permadeath faker Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.Whatcha' Watchin comes close to a Donald Sports-Ent Minute with GLOW (the 2017 Netflix show, not the promotion itself), before Austen runs wild on Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders and the first season of the groin-grabbingly popular anime My Hero Academia. Then it's straight into the Mushrooms as we call out Telltale, celebrate Kickstarters, and Donald transitions from on severance to on vacation. And for the record, Agents of Mayhem's review embargo was midnight Pacific time on the 15th (so after it launched), and the best price we've seen in the interim is $43.74 on WinGamesStore for the PC version.Have something we can discuss to get back past 120 minutes? Drop us a line, either via email or the comments.This podcast was recorded on August 13 and was edited by Donald Theriault.

You know Rock, that's a very good question you ask about the halfway mark. We try to stay positive in this Nintendo Free Radio... well, two of us anyway. New Business opens as Stephen breaks the glass on lords management with League of Legends before a freshly-unemployed Donald debates applying to work at Grizzco in Splatoon 2. After some hardware impressions of what in a just world would be that hot Liquid Metal Slime 2DSXL, we get medieval (and other time periods) on Fate:Extella. Austen provides updates on Injustice 2 and Prey as well as the most insane of speedruns, while also chatting about Sundered.Whatcha Watchin' gets real dark. Stephen brought Valerian while Donald and Austen tag team Castlevania and Donald didn't actually mind Rogue One. But Stephen brought the most horrifying film of the year, with an 8% rating on Metacritic that not even Langrisser could touch. We speak of course, of... The Emoji Movie.The Feature tries to stay positive with the yearly countdown of games we're hyped for, though the team finds itself on the same wavelength for a long time. The Mushrooms pay tribute to titans of animation and figure out how to borrow when you're a third of a Gates in the hole, while Donald is so mad at the world he forgot to do the paper toss at the end.The mailbox is barren - please to be filling it. And don't forget our @ replies, either.This podcast was recorded on July 31 and was edited by Donald Theriault.

Technical issues and Dragonites all up in this joint. A lot has changed since we recorded the show, and just getting it together was a beast, but due to various circumstances it's another NFR out the door. Stephen opens New Business with some VR chat and wondering what the hell happened to Skype, before seguing into a doubleheader of Borderlands games. Donald goes from Worst Character to a candidate for Worst Game in Valkyria Revolution, then finds something more to his tastes with Tokyo Xanadu and FFXII: The Zodiac Age. (Given his username on a different, more prominent message board, this was basically inevitable.) Austen wraps up with Tokyo Mirage Sessions, then after a brief Crash landing hits noted May success story Injustice 2 and noted May bomba Prey (2017). Space lesbians not included, we saved those for the next segment.Whatcha Watchin features a long superhero block, then moves into chat about Doctor Who's latest coin flip landing on tails for once. Finally, we wrap with the hilariously offensive Outlaw Star. As it was a slow news weeks, the Mushrooms replace the feature as we chat SNES Classic, getting stuck in Ohio, and mourn the death of a Hollywood legend.The next episode (96) is already in the can and should be out soonish, but we would still love to know what you're excited for the rest of this year. Lists can be sent to the usual methods or left below.This podcast was recorded on July 16 and was edited by Donald Theriault.

Kept you waiting, didn't we? The editing wormhole has finally closed for us as the last "lost" show, our E3 2016 recording back when we really didn't know what the NX was, and when Paper Mario Color Splash was still controversial instead of being y'know, good. We rant, we rave, and E3 still can't do press events. Go figure.

Hey, remember when we thought EA could have a press event?The E3 show ended up being a tricker edit than the shows it discussed, but it's finally available for your perusal. The crew chats all of the E3 shows and videos in order: EA, Microsoft, Bethesda, Devolver Digital, Ubisoft, Sony, and Nintendo. There was also some other news that surrounded the show, including Take Two's mod clampdown (since resolved), and another round of bile toward Konami. But it may not be the last E3 show we see this month...The podcast was recorded on June 17 and edited by Donald Theriault and Austen Parkin.

It's no coincedence that the E3 preview show sets the Poison Mushroom record.Some days, you just can't get rid of a bomb, despite the best efforts of the game industry starting from the day after this posts. So Nintendo Free Radio soldiers on. New Business sees Stephen get his rail on with Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, before Donald tags in for weekend 1 impressions from the Arms Testpunch and a portable strategy RPG block. Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia and Disgaea 5 Complete all present different slants on the strategy RPG, and all came out within four days proving this business has no imagination. Austen got some role-playing on with Okage: Shadow King, then after a trip to the NBA Playgrounds (where the Mailman still doesn't deliver on Sundays) he finishes with future Switch title RIME.The back end of the show got weird for Mushroom-discussed reasons, so Whatcha Watchin' got adjusted a bit. Donald deferred on Better Call Saul S2 and Stephen breezed past Logan to get to Lego Batman. Austen rips through most of the Marvel Cinematic Universe before heading over to Britian (Doctor Who), Polynesia (Moana) and a space station filled with crap movies (Mystery Science Theater 3000, both original and Kickstarter-powered revival).The Feature discussion is the gaming industry's biggest millstone, E3. With the transition to PAX Southwest in progress, there's predictions ahoy - plus late breaking discussion of Nintendo's online service. The Mushrooms are heavy on the Poison, with special dispensation to Stephen's former AV program, Donald's most dreaded news story, and Square Enix. Because it's Square Enix.The next show will be the E3 recap show, and if you spot something worth talking about there, sock it to us.This podcast was recorded on May 30 / June 1 and was edited by Donald Theriault.

...and he got loose in the editing room.It was a busy few weeks for the NFR crew in the lead-up to the summer, and we're breaking it down for you. Stephen opens New Business with Kaz's Folly, as he made the eye-searing purchase of Playstation VR. Many trials ensued. A very puzzled Donald got it out of his system with Puyo Puyo Tetris before diving into Nier Automata and a pair of pickled Persona: The endgame of 5, and then another crack at 3 Portable (that has since gone on hold for review purposes). Also included: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, because BAAAAAAA. Austen got psychological with Little Nightmares and freaky with Yooka-Laylee, before heading back to the horror house with What Remains of Edith Finch and some quick hits including the first part of the latest Telltale cash grab, Guardians of the Galaxy. This becomes important later.Whatcha Watchin' sees Stephen keep on the VR train as it also serves as a 3D movie device before he tag teams the #1 movie in the country (on the weekend of its release), Dave Bautista's Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Austen then gets a little sacreligious with Noragami Aragoto and Sunday Without God before redeeming himself with Quantum Leap.The Feature discussion is part of a new annual tradition as we look back at the first four months of the year in games and try to guess which won't get the love they deserve, and then turn the cannon the other way to guess the rest of the year of the ignored. In the Mushrooms, we talk New 2DS, bonuses, and why The Witcher 3 can jump off a cliff.Next episode is the final Nintendo Free Radio E3 prediction show, and we want to know what you think will happen with the Nintendo Spotlight and the other overly long company dog and pony shows. Send us your predictions to us by email, Twitter (if they can fit in 140 characters) or just reply here.This podcast was recorded on May 7 and was edited by Donald Theriault.

Let's grant Satan immense amounts of power while we're at it. What's the worst that could happen?This edition of Nintendo Free Radio is probably going to have a lot of entries for Donald's GOTY list, if we're being honest. For New Business Stephen has played more of Breath of the Wild, including being ready for Ganon, while Donald dropped nearly 90 hours into Persona 5. (The game was completed a couple of days after we recorded, and NWR Patrons have access to a full review.) Austen was also into PS4 RPGs, but his are the nonsensical (Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep) and the retro-inspired (Cosmic Star Heroine) before finishing with Bafmodads 2017, aka Yooka-Laylee. Not included, but desperately needed: Cars.Whatcha Watchin' has Stephen cover Powerless, and in a sign that the TV industry is run by morons it's already been shelved. Austen has the 2017 Power Rangers movie at the right price, a quick hit on the Steins;Gate movie, and Mobile Suit Gundam: The 8th MS Team. Donald meanwhile got caught up in the NHL Playoffs, and apparently he jinxed things because the Leafs ended up losing three straight one-goal games (including two in overtime) while Austen's Jazz advanced in seven to get dealt with in Golden State's fo-fo-fo.The Feature discussion whips around some news including the recent Nintendo Direct, the death of the NES Classic, the rebirth of Nintendo actually selling things that hook up to a TV, and Microsoft bailing on gaming in the form of Scorpio. The Mushrooms hit streaming restrictions (thankfully relaxed mostly on P5's part), Starcraft Remastered, and the continuing price nosedive of one of 2016's most despised games.If you have something you want us to cover... especially since the last few weeks have been kind of slow in terms of news outside of earnings reports, then drop us a line, a Tweet or a comment below.This podcast was recorded on April 17 and was edited by Donald Theriault.

One sounds like he's on drugs, another dropped for a half hour. How did this show release?Following the stunning release of not one but two Game of the Year shows (you can grab 2015 and 2016 here if you missed them), the editing shabeen went into super lockdown trying to fix this episode of Nintendo Free Radio up. And they almost succeeded. New Business opens with Stephen tackling Starcraft (pre-remaster announcement) before Donald swings in with Austen's inevitable Game of the Year: The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild. The impressions are early, so no spoilers, but someone's trying something inspired by the initials LKD. Austen doubles back to Horizon: Zero Dawn before hitting some of the backlog including noted bomb Mafia 3 before finishing with four replays worth of Resident Evil 7. (The DLC mentioned, Not A Hero, was delayed on posting day. Go figure.)Whatcha Watchin' has Stephen and Austen discussing the merits of modern Disney in the context of them swimming in piles of money with Beauty and the Beast 2017, while Donald tries to avoid being left out by breaking the glass of children's card games: Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged is back.The Feature, extra clippy thanks to Donald's continued rivalry with audio recording software, features the other reason why he's only catching up on Q1 now: PAX East. It was his first con, and possibly the last. The Mushrooms hit the usual suspects - internet witch hunts, retailer idiocy (though Amazon did make good with FREE Take Your Heart editions for those whose orders were cancelled) and the recesses of Stephen's Mushrooms.Now that this monster has been slain, 92 (hopefully sounding WAY better) will follow shortly behind. If you're looking to get in on the road to 100, hit us up by email, Twitter or the comments below.This podcast was recorded on March 19/20 and was edited by Donald Theriault.

Includes ice-cold Metacritic draft. We waited until the end of the fiscal year but it's finally out - the 2016 Game of the Year show. The first segment is our top 10s for the year with honorable mentions and a ranked 5-1 list, as well as awards such as "The Wonderful 101 Presents Best Soundtrack" and "Biggest Clusterditto". There will be spoilers in this segment, but for nothing more than Pokemon Sun and Moon. The second part starts with a countdown on Whatcha Watchin' including a stunning reversal on bears, then we jump ahead to this year with a countdown of the 2017 games we were most hyped for. (Note we recorded this in February or the DQ8 3DS release would have been on Donald's list.) We close by playing the market a bit as we each picked five games that we think would have high Meta/Opencritic ratings. Stephen appears to be the clubhouse leader there. We swear this will not happen again, if only for the sanity of the editors. This podcast was recorded on February 19-20 2017.

When this was recorded, the album art was still a rumor. No, seriously, we finally recovered the long lost 2015 Game of the Year recording from... lord, December 20, 2015. The show features a historic first, a Dragonite swarm, and discussion of the last bits of Smash DLC along with the year in review. (Maybe we should have held this out for the release of their Amiibo?)

The sudden dip into the backlog will make sense on April 1, we swear.It's a rather depressed edition of Nintendo Free Radio delayed by PAX, audio issues, and the need to play some rather large games. Donald opens New Business with a bit of gacha good in Fire Emblem Heroes (still no bought orbs!) before a quick hit into a GOTY. Stephen takes out his "Game He Missed" with Crypt of the Necrodancer before Austen brings it to the break with Gravity Rush 2, the first of two nonsensical Kingdom Hearts collections that released this year, and early impressions of the game ten points worse than Zelda: Horizon Zero Dawn.Whatcha Watchin' sees Stephen deal with the second largest threat to America again before Austen gets technical with the BluRay release of Quantum Leap and a couple of heroic items in the Lego Batman Movie and Justice Leage Dark. Donald abstained for reasons that will become clear......because he was focused on his shiny new (at the time) toy in the Nintendo Switch. Opening weekend impressions are the Feature topic, and those reviews are now available for your perusal. The Mushrooms keep the Switch train rolling with its technical shortcomings and journo poisonings, before Donald sets up the episode title with his weekend from hell. (Donations were appreciated, and most of the games affected have returned in one form or another.)The feed will be jumping this weekend as not only will 91 be on the air, but a wormhole has opened in the editing bay...This podcast was recorded on March 5 and edited by Donald Theriault.

In other math news, Stephen = (Donald + Austen) Despite a technical hiccup in the recording booth, Nintendo Free Radio 89 is here for your eventual mockery. But first is a brief New Business as Stephen finally finished the first chapter of Dragon Quest Builders. Yes, it took that long. Donald jumps in with bar-filling and recipe discovery as among his brief mentions is the return of Final Fantasy XV (its last appearance until roughly April). Austen has some quick hits as well, including the finest use of a circular saw since Donald's shop class, Resident Evil 7.Whatcha Watchin' is also brief, as Stephen is celebrating an anniversary with Luther while Donald double-dips on game show controversey with Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal and Major Fraud. See if you can spot which one was done by the production company. Austen remains in England as he talks both of the famous Holmes shows, Elementary and Sherlock.The Feature is most of the show, so much that the recording jumped ahead three days in the middle. We look back at our ill-fated 2016 predictions, and make some new ones. Stephen is apparently trying to win on sheer volume, while Donald and Austen try to stick with things that will be proven right. Also, the Scorpio makes its first Price is Right appearance. Brief Mushrooms include a request for a disproval of Rule 34, hatred of Irwin R. Schyster, and a great voice actor possibly returning to work after telling cancer to sod off.NEXT EPISODE IS GAME OF THE YEAR 2017 - and 2016's will post first. If you'd like to submit a top 5 list, please hit us up with the usual methods.This podcast was recorded on January 29/February 1 and was edited by Donald Theriault.

EVERYBODY, RUN... oh, it's just some fat slob with a Dualshock 4.Following a longer than expected holiday break, Nintendo Free Radio has reconvened for your listening enjoyment. Off the top of New Business, Donald has bad news for the PS4: he has one, which based on the last four platforms he's bought can only mean one thing... the first game he bought for it after getting it, Doom (2016). Also, we may need a judge's ruling on episode 89. After some quick hits - literally, in one instance - Stephen finds our lack of faith in Star Wars: Battlefront disturbing. (Rest in power, Carrie Fisher.) Stephen then answers the most common EVO question (when's mahvel) with Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, before wrapping with the impossible as Final Fantasy XV actually launched. Austen grabs the miracle torch with The Last Guardian before trying to wrap up stuff for Game of the Year with Uncharted 4 and Stardew Valley (PS4) headlining.After a returning champion and a very... interesting intro, Donald opens Whatcha Watchin' wiith a last celebration of Pokémon's 20th anniversay before Stephen smells what The Rock is cookin' in Moana. And then of course, the contractually obligated Doctor Who Christmas special. Austen's twin bill is a brief Star Wars Rebels update before thinking more about the Assassin's Creed movie than anyone in history.The feature, of course, is Switchmas. A system that is constantly in flux, we break it down based on the information known as of recording time. Who's in, who's out, and who's waiting for a price drop? (And yes, we know we are derelict in our duty as it pertains to Xenoblade 2.) The Mushrooms include a farewell to Donald's system buying after Switchmas, Stephen's own difficult switch, and words of praise for punching holidays.Now that the December NPDs are out and we have been able to wrap the predictions for 2016, we will hit them AND step out on the ledge for 2017. Want a piece of the action? Send it to us by email, Twitter, or leave them here. We're also planning to do the annual Game of the Year show in early February, and we've received a top 5 list already so if you want to send us yours, don't be afraid to drop them in as well!This podcast was recorded on January 14 and was edited by Donald Theriault.

For sale: One person's dignity. Please contact Easy Allies, attention K. BosmanIn an attempt to keep new content flowing through the holidays, the Nintendo Free Radio team has assembled to talk sellouts and other game news. Donald starts out New Business with a quick look at DS Virtual Console on the Wii U (it's still weird) by way of an inexpensive Kirby Mass Attack before providing a Pokémon Sun and Moon update. The Pokédex is finished, by the by. Stephen transitions into the world of mecha with Titanfall 2, while Austen is less than impressed with Dishonored 2 so he settled into a couple of adventure games with King's Quest (2014 - 16) and Telltale's Batman.Stephen picks up the baton for Whatcha Watchin' with a report on the CW's great superhero show crossover, while Donald has been feeling a fair bit of despair lately so he settled down with a Funimation trial and watched Danganronpa 3. Austen gets Final Fantasy XV out of his system with Kingsglaive, before finding something soothing with Kubo and the Two Strings.It's a weekend double Feature as the crew covers the lows and... well, lows (unless you count the That Dragon, Cancer speech or Nolan North encouraging game developers to unionize) with the Game Awards before the question of "where's mahvel" is FINALLY answered at the PlayStation Experience. Also, it's kind of hard to tell Ys games apart. The Mushrooms hit on fading glory, hums, incentives not to preorder and some exciting announcements.Although circumstances may conspire to prevent it, we are going to try and squeeze in one more regulation recording before Christmas. If there's anything you wish to send us, you can do it by the usual methods.This podcast was recorded on December 5 and was edited by Donald Theriault.

Although a couple of us agree with John Oliver. Despite an illness, we still managed to get this one out for the second half of the football game on Dishonored Thanksgiving night. Stephen's New Business reprises a bit of what had to be removed from Episode 85 due to audio issues with Monster Hunter Generations before seguing into Dishonored 1. Donald has a Wii U puzzle game that did go on sale despite his prediction in Tumblestone, before wrapping up Fire Emblem Fates with the Revelations run and heading off to Haw... Alola with Pokémon Sun. Austen has some brief updates before tackling PS4 indie game Silence (contains spoilers) and a couple of decidedly not-indie games in Titanfall 2 and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.A brief Whatcha Watchin' segment covers the modern remake of Jonny Quest (season 2) and Marvel's Doctor Strange, with some terrible bears saved for next time. The Feature discussion involves the crew finding some positive things to be thankful for in 2016. Then the Mushrooms go negative again with bad remasters and stupid bans, but words of praise come down for Battleborn Day and the return of a much-needed 3DS feature.Next time will likely record immediately following the weekend doubleshot of The Game Awards 2016 and PlayStation Experience, so if you have any comments on them or questions (that don't involve having to call lawyers) hit us up by email, Twitter or in the comments below,This episode was recorded on November 20 and edited by Donald "Let's Use Four Teams For Shiggles In Sun" Theriault.

Just watch out for a stray episode of This Week In Baseball.(Note: Due to a mishap possibly involving the Large Hadron Collider, Stephen's audio was not salvageable for New Business. We do apologize for the inconvenience and would like to congratulate Stephen on beating Monster Hunter Generations.)It's been another wacky few weeks for the Nintendo Free Radio crew, but they're back to lay down gaming and pop culture jocularity. Donald ended up opening New Business with Exist Archive, the Fogarty-class self-plagarism of Valkyrie Profile, before getting his stylus on in Severed (Wii U) and some review games. Plus a game we'd really rather not talk about. Austen pulled in some recent indie darlings of the PlayStation 4 with Seraph and Aragami, and following the latest sordid tales of the shooter realm finishes with the long awaited Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter.Stephen enters for Whatcha Watchin' with the newly relocated Supergirl, and following the superhero discussion Donald interjects with British comedy panel show Mock the Week and a very rare dub of a mid-90s Fire Emblem anime. And since it was before any of the games got localized or Smash Bros. made them famous, there's some interesting naming going on. (The full show can be viewed on Youtube.) Austen pays off a Kickstarter from early in the year as he provides a counterbalancing view of Vision of Escaflowne.The Feature discussion is a breakdown of the officially known information about the Nintendo Switch. Who's in? Will storage be a concern? Why the bloody hell do companies use .wav on shipping product? In the Mushrooms, we slam PSN and Xbox Live while celebrating the removal of a milstone and facepalming heavily about onesies with pockets for melee weapons and Doritos.The next episode might be 86, but it's also going to be recorded around the US Thanksgiving. And with that, we'd like to know what YOU'RE thankful for in a year that some people on the show have wanted to declare non-canon. Email, tweet or hit us up below and we'll make sure to enter it into the record for the next show!This podcast was recorded on November 6 and was edited by Donald Theriault.

It was a wild and woolly Saturday evening as Nintendo World Report raised over $4,000 for Child's Play and we got to work with our friends at RPGamer - Chris and Anna Marie Privitere - to determine the best Nintendo system for RPGs ever. This recording is the result. There were laughs, tears and the birth of a new, probably offensive analogy. A grand time was had by all. And yes, we worked a little blue as well. Special thanks to James Jones for running the audio recording for this and keeping it straight for thirteen and a half hours. If you haven't chipped in yet, the donation box will be open until Saturday.

The argument against using Skype is five minutes of using Skype. The planning for this episode was weird - there was a telethon segment to plan (coming soon to a feed near you), Austen had a fight with the one hit of The Scorpions, and Stephen's mid-move. Still, we soldier on. In New Business, Donald opens with a 3DS RPG - stop me if that sounds familiar - in Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse, then transitions to a couple of adventure titles with Paper Mario: Color Splash (touchscreen mostly not included) and Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness. Stephen leads a discussion of the Dragon Quest Builders demo, and two panelists ended up grabbing the full version. One's obvious, but one will *shock* you. Stephen has also been trying out future free-to-play shooter Paladins, while Austen grabs some quick hits and finishes with Bioshock 1, 2 and Minvera's Den. After a brief Whatcha Watchin' - Stephen grabbed Luke Cage, while Donald and Austen tag-teamed the fabric-challenged brawler Kill la Kill - we head straight to the Mushrooms. On the menu: Randy Pitchford is probably nuts, the Xbox One sucks at firmware updates, we're losing a chat program, Stephen needs to check his boots, Donald is saving money, and despite the Golden State Warriors blowing a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals we may still find out if God hates Cleveland. Keep an eye out for our special segment from the NWR Live Podcast Telethon for Child's Play - and if you haven't gotten in on the giving, you've got a couple of days to fix that. Also, be sure to send us a tweet, a comment here or an email if there's something you'd like us to talk about. This podcast was recorded on October 13 and was edited by Donald Theriault.

For the 5th time Nintendo Free Radio will be participating in the annual NWR Live Podcast Telethon for Child's Play. But on October 15th, we're one of the last segments. And we need your help. Head on over to the page at Nintendo World Report, and we + Anna can do it live for the kids! Also, a brief note on the timing of the next episode recording.

Big Block of Cheese Day is Andrew Jackson's sole contribution to society. (Apologies in advance, but Donald's microphone had an issue until the end of New Business. It was dealt with from there, and the persons responsible were promptly sacked.) A quick episode gets a quick turnaround on Nintendo Free Radio, as we keep it all about the games. Donald takes the lead in New Business with the biggest game of the day, Dragon Quest VII. Will it win Best Remake by default, or is an hour and a half too long to wait for a slime to approach? Donald has also acquired a Xbox 360, so we hammer through some game library suggestions for those who are a decade late to the party, before ending on Noitu Love: Devolution. Stephen has been playing SteamWorld Tower Defense to get ready for the upcoming Wii U version of Heist, and he finds it a tad irritating. As a result, he jumps to join Austen in a massive post-update round of Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 (100% K-Log free). Austen has a quick collection of smaller downloads and disc games including Bioshock Even More HD, a game that will probably get someone sued when it hits the Vita, and PacMan Championship Edition 2. A brief Whatcha Watchin' covers a couple of chron-gaming projects and Star Wars Rebels before we dip into the West Wing for the feature. Yep, it's the return of the two-ton block of cheese, with nutball groups including TGS, the lack of an NX announcement, and a company apparently interested in killing itself. The Mushrooms are heavy on the Poison side, nut we do come up with a 1up at the end. If there's anything you've wanted to know or want us to cover, leave a comment below, hit us up on the Twitters or drop us an email! This podcast was recorded on September 18 and was edited by Donald Theriault.

Because there's absolutely no RPGs coming out right now, we recommend a dose of Nintendo Free Radio. New Business is a largely two-man affair following a brief Monster Hunter Generations update from Stephen. Donald spent the ideal amount for Skylanders SuperChargers but may have been screwed by his choice of platform, but he's OK with it since he got a hold of the consensus 2016 Game of the Year. Yes, Metroid Prime Federation Force is out and Donald brings the praise in his usual understated fashion. Since Austen never asked for this, he's playing a recent Deus Ex game... in Deus Ex Go. Following an update on his progress in a console version (Human Revolution), he finishes with PS4 indie game Valley. Despite comparisons to Metroid Prime (the original), it might actually be good. Whatcha Watchin' has Stephen exploring the life of Sinbad in Magi: Sinbad, before Donald talks commercial tie-ins again with Persona 5: Daybreakers. Thankfully, this OVA doesn't spoil. As a follow-up from last episode, Austen tuned into some animated busting in The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters, as well as a cautionary tale on executive meddling. For the Feature, the team re-assembled following a long week of presentations to talk the Nintendo Direct, the Sony conference (and various things surrounding it) and the first and last time we'll cover an Apple dog and pony show unless they bring back the iPod Classic. (With a 3.5mm headphone jack, kthnx.) The Mushrooms hit a price increase and other problems with Sony, but also folders. Finally. If you have something you want us to hit, be sure to hit us up by email, Twitter or drop it below! Links: - Donald's Power Disc Slam and Market Crashers reviews - Daan Koopman presents The Worst of Skunk Software: Piano Teacher, The Skunk Bundle, Games for Toddlers, Super Hero Math - NintendoLife: Exploring the Licensed Content in RCMADIAX Games on the Wii U and New 3DS eShop This podcast was recorded on September 5/8 and was edited by Donald Theriault.

Seriously, this might be the longest discussion of Battleborn ever. Well muchachos, you asked for it: another Nintendo Free Radio has taken the air. Stephen's moving precluded him from much New Business, though he did give a brief overview of his Monster Hunter Generations progress. Donald tries to wrangle the team through discussions of 7th Dragon III Code: VfD, a couple of review games (Ambition of the Slimes, Tadpole Treble), the Blast Ball part of 2016 Game of the Year Metroid Prime Federation Force and... Minecraft. Yes, Minecraft. Like the game itself, it didn't last long. Austen has some brief mentions including Yooka-Laylee's Toybox demo, but his main event is Battleborn. 115 hours worth of non-whiny penguins, insane AI and stupid leveling systems. Whatcha Watchin' opens with Stephen talking Beat Bugs (Netflix) before engaging in a 4x100 relay with Donald on the Olympics (we recorded on Day 9). Donald wanted to keep his conversations short... and failed miserably since he made the mistake of dredging up The Force Awakens for another beating before going to the one movie more controversial than that: Ghostbusters (2016). The end result: One new crush, one whipping. The Feature discussion is normally related to our anniversary, as we dust off the first episode's feature and discuss games we're hyped for for the rest of the year. Note that at time of recording, Deus Ex: I Never Asked For This and Federation Force weren't out yet. The Mushrooms include the Final Fantasy XV delay that was all over but the shouting, Donald never darkening a doorstep again, and Stephen getting free surround sound equipment. You've got a little time to get your feedback to us for the next show, so drop it to the usual places or leave it below! This podcast was edited on August 14 and was edited by Donald Theriault, as the last thing he did as a 31 year old.

The reasons for the long delay are... complex. Following an unexpected summer hiatus due to various moving related concerns, Nintendo Free Radio has returned. And as befitting the first episode following E3, it's a massive New Business segment. Stephen's visiting arcades, then cursing the lack of Farfetch'd outside of Asia in Pokémon Go. (This is all prior to the update that made the game LITERALLY UNPLAYABLE, by the way.) Following a long session of Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2, Stephen brings it home with Monster Hunter Generations. Donald grabs the portable baton and tries (badly) to talk Austen off the ledge over Zero Time Dilemma (if you want spoilers, we have that covered), then settles into a three week Fire Emblem Fates bender that covers all three paths. But the main event is the Non-Spite Game of the Year, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE. Austen tries to stay cool in the Florida heat with I Am Setsuna, but he did play Mighty No 9 as well. Find out if it's better than nothing. New Business wraps with extended impressions of a shooter that released in May... we're talking about Battleborn, of course. What did you think he played? Oh, that one. It comes up too. Whatcha Watchin' sees Stephen investigate CBS drama in Person of Interest, before Austen checks out a couple of movies that made a lot of bloody money in China: Warcraft and Batman v Superman before swearing fealty to an Empire of Corpses. Donald lost his damn fool mind sometime around Canada Day, and the result is his contribution to WW: Yuri Kuma Arashi. All you need to know is the localized title would be "Lesbian Bear Storm". The crew then forgoes the feature and hits the Mushrooms which include moving, court proceedings and a pointed rant about a Canadian shipping company. Next time - whenever that is, for reasons that will become clear at the end of the episode - we will try to handle the top 5 games we're excited for the rest of the year. If you have a list, send it to us by the usual methods (Twitter, email, or leave it below). This podcast was recorded on July 24 and edited by Donald Theriault.

The deceased will deliver the eulogy, and those in attendance will have a couple of hours for rebuttal. The last show before E3 sees RPGamer co-owner / RPGCast regular Anna Marie Privitere return after an appearance on Episode 34 to talk games and the state of E3. Donald opens New Business with a brief NES mention before hitting his main event of Zero Escape: 999 and Virtue's Last Reward (including a Platinum trophy that will likely be his last). Anna then brings the maiden RPG love with Omega Quintet, which appears to be the result of sticking Disgaea, Stella Glow and a PS4 in a blender on puree. After that, we break down everything coming out in June for the role-playing fans (spoilers: A LOT). Stephen gets the dreaded montage as he played some, um, interesting things with his new fight stick, while Austen has been hitting the sauce in The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine before hitting the links for a little Dangerous Golf. It's golf made by the team who did Burnout 3. Need we say more? A brief Whatcha Watchin' ensues following the golf trip with Anna trying out "Diplomacy and Chili" with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Following a superhero block (including Captain America: Civil War) Donald keeps his streak alive with early impressions of Archer Season 6 - or should we say, Archer: Other M. But you're here for the big E3 preview and the crew does not disappoint. We make some predictions for the conferences - and like last year, some of them haven't been proven wrong yet. As well, we look at the state of E3 in an increasingly video-obsessed world. The Mushrooms prove one of Donald's predictions wrong while at the same time discuss the state of online conversation about localization, the joys of game collecting and... THAT trailer. Jon Stewart guest stars. The next show for us is the E3 recap, so please look forward to it, and send us things to talk about if the show's just going to get spoiled beforehand! You can find Anna on Twitter @amprivitere, on the RPGCast most weeks at rpgamer.com or twitch.tv/rpgamer - where you'll also find the archive of Omega Quintet streams. This podcast was recorded on June 5 and was edited by a hay-fever afflicted Donald Theriault.

This recording was meant to be a tribute to Alan Young, but connection issues made it out to Chuck Barris. Let's not mince words: This episode went poorly. The night of saw rampant internet issues, and the editor's come down with some sort of whooping cough, but we still want to get this out before the E3 preview show records. Stephen passed on New Business, so Donald tackles a couple of Vita hits of late 2015 with returning champion Superbeat Xonic and 2016 GOTY candidate (by virtue of a December 22/15 release date) Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel. Austen's big games were another Vita RPG in Ray Gigant (not recommended except for Kairon) and Valkyria Chronicles now on PS4. Also mentioned: Pocket Card Jockey, Project X Zone 2, Dark Souls The Third and Uncharted 4. Most of Whatcha Watchin was taken up by a nearly 50 minute look at RahXephon (which you can get here), but Donald knocked an item off the anime bucket list with Persona 4: The Animation while Austen braved Hideki Anno on the good drugs to watch Evangelion 3.33. On two hours sleep. The poor sod. The Feature discussion gives props to some of the under-appreciated games of 2016 that probably won't come back around, before swinging into a quick temperature check of where console gaming is going this year. Common complaint: Not enough time. In the Mushrooms, we bid farewell to a Disney icon, Disney Infinity, and Disney taking any risks. The next episode is the inevitable - and possibly the last? - E3 preview show, so if you have any bets you want the crew to take, send them to us by the usual methods. The next record date is this coming Sunday, June 5, so think real fast. This podcast was recorded on May 22 and was edited by Donald Theriault. For the record, that was the night Draymond Green hoofed a guy in the nuts.

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On the plus side, Donald can put his LA money into a new podcasting setup. Following a very rough couple of weeks, it takes a nice, long episode of Nintendo Free Radio to let the crew decompress. Donald, having run out of fks to give about Langrisser Re:Incarnation -TENSEI- (his review runs down the crimes) for New Business, hits the Sega 3D Classics Collection in search of a good title and actually succeeded. Stephen has some brief mentions including Overwatch's beta, but his big hits are Ratchet and Clank plus Star Fox Zero (+a little bit of Guard from Donald). Austen, nonplussed, completes a long-standing objective before hitting the latest Vita exclusive (for now) Severed and dives into The Magic Circle... with interesting results. Whatcha Watchin opens with a look at life as number 2 with HBO's political comedy Veep, while Stephen takes the law into his own hands with Daredevil (S2). Austen ends up completing a rare tri(de)fecta before running into Tokyo Ghoul and taking in the Ratchet and Clank movie (based on the game based on the movie) and based on box office receipts, he's about the only one. The Feature discussion was going to talk Zelda, but then Nintendo went and lost their damn minds again. Telling E3 where to go (aside from Zelda)? Launching the NX in 2017? Putting Fire Emblem on mobile? A gobsmacked team tries to break it all down. The Mushrooms include the return of the popular "Fun with Preorders" segment, a word about fetishizing crunch, and words of praise for sales. We'll have more to talk about in a couple of weeks, but send us some questions, comments, complaints, etc by responding below, tweeting @nfrpodcast or shooting us an email! This podcast was recorded on May 1 and edited by Donald Theriault.

Contains the longest Mushroom ever Before we begin, a warning: With one exception, we have left the explicit tag on for this one as there are some issues that we need to talk about that definitely aren't family friendly. In New Business, Donald brushes off Miitomo in order to talk about a trio of Legend of Zelda games: Hyrule Warriors Legends, the de facto New 3DS exclusive, a surprising over-performer in Twilight Princess HD, and a brief pitstop in Link to the Past as an actual New 3DS exclusive. Stephen played the Platinum demo of Final Fantasy XV since that didn't take long, then decided to go fishing with Big the Cat for some crazy reason. Austen's menu includes gun-toting roguelikes with insane progression requirements (Enter the Gungeon), a blatant marketing attempt that will do better than its co-production (Ratchet and Clank 2016), a game that is the last gasp of TVTVSportsTV Microsoft (Quantum Break) and a game that don't give a f**k (Plants v Zombies: Garden Warfare 2, which shouts out to K-Log). Whatcha Watchin' includes a superhero run, followed by Stephen getting all up in the Zach Miller department with The Good Dinosaur. Donald counters the superheroes with... wrestlers emerging from cereal boxes devoted to a certain body part in the Shaymin Sports-Ent Minute, before getting thrown out of the show as he's Expelled from Paradise. Austen blasted through Psycho-Pass season 2, but follows that with the long-awaited extended breakdown of The Force Awakens. If you're trying to stay spoiler-pure, you'll need to jump ahead about 25 minutes. Because Whatcha Watchin' went long, we had to forego the feature which would have ran through the state of the Legend of Zelda series - and that's not going to be on 77 either. Instead, it's straight to the Mushrooms which Austen and Stephen tackle quickly, but Donald has the longest Mushroom in history as they break down everything known (at the time) about the Alison Rapp affair. Thankfully, SquareEnix is always around to provide a nice antidote. Our next show will record shortly and is going to break down some recent changes to a host's travel plans, but be sure to get in your comments and questions. Also, the show ran a little late as Donald is editing NWR's Connectivity after an injury, so go check out episode 202 to see his handiwork. This podcast was recorded on April 15 and edited by Donald Theriault.

One day, we'll get to the pay windah if you weeeeeel. Donald was a little under the weather the night of recording, so this is a slightly abbreviated episode 75 - no Whatcha Watchin', for one thing. Instead, Donald fires up New Business with a look at the dark side of Fire Emblem Fates in Conquest, after a big fat wedding in Birthright. Following some quick hits, Donald and Stephen form North American Alpha to tackle the two-man job that is Pokkén Tournament. Stephen gets the hot tag and tackles the original demo for Final Fantasy XV before hitting something quite unusual: A Telltale game that doesn't crash, and a Minecraft game that's only a slight affront to game programming (Minecraft Story Mode). Austen's brief mentions lead into a game that can be easily confused with the Internet in Salt and Sanctuary before addressing the PlayStation 3/Vita/some other thing strategy game Aegis of Earth - with its flagrant ripping off of music. Since there's no Whatcha Watchin', it's straight into a bunch of quick hits including PlayStation VR, the PS4k, rumor cat ownage and a legal case that may never get off the ground involving a game critic. (Disclaimer: Donald started backing Jim effing Sterling SON because of the threat of legal action.) The Mushrooms cover FLCL's apparent return, a rough season in the gastrointestinal area, and the continued heel turn of a noted racist, jack. We're almost caught up on the backlog, with just a GOTY show to go, so drop us a line if you want us to cover something on Interstate '76! This podcast was recorded on March 25 and was edited by Donald Theriault. We need more Brock Lesnar bearhugs in our lives.

We don't get hype or stay hype. As the race to catch up before the fiscal year ends continues, we've got quite a bit to cover in this episode. Stephen's New Business is light with just a little bit of co-op Starcraft 2, as his birth in the world championships slips away. Donald has the biggest game of the episode in the form of Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright, including the sudden realization that this is probably going to be his answer to Final Fantasy X for Austen a couple of years ago (though there are a few brief mentions thrown in). Austen is still telling his Digimon Story, but the Cyber Sleuth is upstaged by a rather stacked Prince of Darkness. (Surpisingly, he's not weak to wind, but he is stacked.) Austen has also been wrangling Paper Toads in Mario and Luigi Paper Jam, but has an understated aquatic racer Riptide GP2 as a tribute to the then-unemployed Kyke Bosman. Whatcha Watchin' has the usual round of superhero tomfoolery, followed by Stephen coming up with the unpronouncable and as-of-yet undubbed Concrete Revoluio (knock it off, spellcheck). Donald got around to watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shambala, which seems to have forgotten something small - like a functioning atomic bomb. In other unexpected bursts of energy, Austen punched through the Angelic Layer and found some pretty illogical things waiting on the other side. It's another Big Block o' Cheese Day in the Feature, as Microsoft's console plans, Sony firmwares and a discussion of potential Japan/US relations serve as the warmup for a rapid-fire breakdown of this month's Nintendo Direct that Donald's still not sure he saw everything in. The Mushrooms are so extreme Austen's main recorder broke as we debut the Weird Mushroom and Donald's giving a Poison to a mainline Pokémon game. Episode 75 will be a hair shorter, but we want to know what's after that, so drop us an email or tweet @nfrpodcast to let us know anything we should cover. This podcast was recorded on March 5 and was edited by Donald Theriault. The editor would also like to congratulate friend/former financier of the show Ryan M on his impending nuptuals.

On the 6th week, GameTrailers was revived. A combination of new work, reviews and other fun stuff has kept this off the feeds, but we're going to get caught up - and the timing couldn't work out any better for us. Stephen takes the lead in New Business with a quick Final Fantasy Explorers update, but Donald quickly moves the discussion to another crossover with the then-new Super Smash Bros DLC. After that, the crossovers continue with Mario, Paper Mario and Green Mario's latest misadventures with Mario and Luigi Paper Jam, before Donald ends out with then-recent GBA Virtual Console release Kuru Kuru Kururin. Austen put most of his time into a monster raising RPG - Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth. (His Pokémon turn will come.) We draw to a close for New Business with Gravity Rush Remastered and the other yarn-based platformer, Unravel. Whatcha Watchin' is mostly Stephen as he has the musical fun of Galavant, the latest from Syfy in Dark Matter, and the record breaking superheroics of Deadpool just in time for a certain DC flick to lose to it. Donald updates on season 1 of Better Call Saul. so cue up "Smoke On The Water" for the end of that segment. The Feature discussion came as Defy Media slammed the hammer down on GameTrailers, in the middle of Dan Bloodworth's honeymoon no less. We look at what that means for the state of internet video, aside from Donald's weekly Nintendo News Report/NWR @ Nite appearances. The Mushrooms go heavy on problems with certain social media platforms and also takes a gratuitous cheapshot at the Ice Capades, but has words of praise for investigative felines. Although we have our issues with Twitter, we're still using it - hit us up @nfrpodcast or grab the personal attention of the hosts @donaldmick, @cericme or @broodwars64. We haven't given up yet. This podcast was recorded on February 14, and was edited by Donald Theriault. Welcome back, Easy Allies.

We know how Donald opened Saints Row IV now! Like sands through the hourglass, so are the episodes of Nintendo Free Radio. Following a three week recording break, Stephen kicks off New Business with a couple of 71 follow-ups: Groove Coaster 2 and the further misadventures of Meg Ryan in Final Fantasy X HD(er). Donald then moves to follow up with a game he no longer owns as of publishing time, but he cedes to Stephen for most of a long Final Fantasy Explorersdiscussion. Donald picks up with his first GBA game on Wii U that he actually played, Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros 3.  Long name, but the e-Reader levels make it worth buying. After that, it's the return of the otome as we rewrite history with Code;Realize. Austen deals with a superstitious, cowardly lot in Assassin's Creed Syndicate - the last one of those we'll see for a while, sadly it means Watch Dogs 2 - before grabbing a couple of titles off PSN in The Deadly Tower of Monsters and Saturday Morning RPG. Also, we have our use of "The Touch" for 2016. Whatcha Watchin' comes out of the break with Donald dealing with a couple of murderous psychos in future Vita visual novel Psycho;Pass and a wrapup on Death Note. Stephen then gets a little investigation in with Rosewood and Elementary. Austen keeps the Baker Street express rolling with Sherlock: The Abominable Bride, before hitting every superhero show in the business. The first of a two-part Feature deals with something we didn't cover off last time; our personal 2016 hype trains. Some will get delayed, some may not work at all, and Donald makes the obvious pick for his #1. Then it's a news lightning round with EA out of E3, GameStop as game publisher and a Sony reorganization. In the Mushrooms, Stephen's Mushrooms get wildly hijacked while Donald casually invites a biological stain to commit a biologically impossible act. (Note that the second half is un-Pokemoned for a very particular reason.) We'll join you again shortly for a much shorter episode, but if there's something you want us to talk about when we record again, shoot us an email or leave it below. Also, keep an eye on our Twitter feed @nfrpodcast to find out when that next recording will be. This podcast was recorded on January 31 and was edited by Donald Theriault.

We'll get into it later as to why there's no GOTY show yet.Giving new meaning to the concept of the New Year's hangover, this is the first of a few episodes to come out over the next few days for reasons we'll get into on the show. But we're back, and the GOTY will be out when the editor isn't engaged with the business end of power sanding.The first New Business of 2016 opens with Donald's take on The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Hell of a way to start the year. Donald finds himself longing for a return to Lorule while simultaneously cursing motion controls. Stephen had a bang-up holiday with some amiibo gifts, but also got the lump of coal known as Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival. Just how bad is the game that if it wasn't free to play, Amazon's sure as hell trying to make it that way? Stephen then gives his co-hosts the quality bends with SteamWorld Heist (3DS) and Final Fantasy X (PS4, and now Donald has to complete the tridefecta). Austen has a few brief mentions, including a non-crap phone game, before being heavily disappointed by Trine 3, somewhat impressed with Assassin's Creed Syndicate (even if Unity was made by les incompetents) and somewhat nervous about Harmonix's Kickstarter-fueled Hail Mary, Amplitude.The first Whatcha Watchin' segment of 2016 gets off to a rather shocking start before Stephen brings a touch of class to the proceedings with the Great British Bake-Off. Austen keeps it decidedly British with some more visits to Doctor Who, before Donald completely snaps and goes all megalomanical (more than usual) with Death Note. Watch as we take a podcast... AND EDIT IT.The Feature discussion rang long - hell, the whole show did - but we have the "beloved" prediction segments. How many of Donald's already came true, and how badly were they proven wrong? Does Austen still think the NX is a hybrid for some reason? Why does Stephen want an oven that can play Doom? Plus, special bonus predictions from friend of the show and Listener Mail regular Jason Friedman. In the Mushrooms, we have warnings about house renovations, laments over lost dinosaurs, and Donald's summer travel plans. Hint: It involves a potential visit to The Price is Right (assuming they're taping on his day off).Be sure to drop us a comment below, email us or Tweet us (@nfrpodcast) if you want to mock our predictions, Stephen's amiibo Festival, or anything else!This podcast was recorded on January 10 and was edited by Donald Theriault.

Offer not guaranteed if your hard drive is screwedJudging from the title, you can probably guess one of the main topics of conversation in this episode, but we've got some important warmup acts. Austen opens New Business with the fourth most important game to release on November 10 - noted bomba and reason for executive canning Rise of the Tomb Raider. He didn't pay full price, but Austen's none too thrilled with his purchase. In terms of things he did enjoyed, there's the follow up to March's masochism simulator Bloodborne with the Old Hunters expansion. Stephen got a little FF Type-0 HD in - for $20, so Donald can put it on the board - and then got ready for adventure with Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. Finally, Donald drops sixty five hours of perspective on Xenoblade Chronicles X, though that conversation will probably come back around next episode.Whatcha Watchin has a brief bit of Angelic Layer from Austen, then a mutual discussion of Doctor Who, the superhero show segment headed up by the dreaded Netflix queue's Jessica Jones, before Stephen finds the Seven Deadly Sins are missing at least two of those features. Donald has a brief mention here in between Xeno-sessions.The Feature was fortuitously provided by a week's delay in recording, as we cover The Game Awards and PlayStation Experience. Also, we didn't bother providing the Pokémon in this episode as, well, things got a little salty after a PR statement was read into the record. The Mushrooms cover a case of Konami not being preceded by an F-word, the joys of home construction and more Valkyria Chronicles. Now, if the PS3 version would just come out digitally...Next episode is the end of the year spectacular, and we want to hear from you! Send your top 5 games (all platforms eligible) or any awards you'd like us to hand out to the usual spots, or just drop them below. Also, if you missed our performance on the NWR Live Telethon for Child's Play, check it out - unfortunately, you've given Donald a get out of jail free card on Skyward Sword should he choose to use it. Until next time, Genei Ibunroku did it right.This podcast was recorded on December 6 and was edited by Donald Theriault.