Episode 95: Keepin’ It Real
Ready to rock? We are, and in fact, we already did. In this episode of the Random Nintendo Podcast, we share our hands-on impressions of the just-announced Guitar Hero Live, an upcoming reboot of the series that puts a new emphasis on realism with real video footage and a new chord-based button configuration. We also give full impressions of 3DS strategy game Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. and the newly playable Mewtwo in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS. Plus, we cover a variety of news including the announcement of LEGO Dimensions, first details on Yo-Kai Watch’s western debut, and Nintendo’s March sales numbers.
What do you think of the changes coming to Guitar Hero? Leave a comment below and let us know! If you liked the episode, consider also leaving a review (and subscribing!) on iTunes and follow us on Twitter @RandomNintendo to stay in the loop on future updates.
As always, we’ve included links below for more information on all the games and news discussed in this episode. Each link also lists a time stamp so you can easily find the segments that most interest you. Enjoy!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:06:02 — 58.1MB)
News
- [0:02] Guitar Hero Lives Aims to Reshape a Beloved Rhythm Game for a New Generation (Polygon)
- [0:22] The real reason Guitar Hero Live traded graphics for live video footage (The Verge)
- [0:29] Let the rumors of the new Call of Duty on Wii U begin again (GoNintendo)
- [0:32] Warner Bros. Announces LEGO Dimensions (IGN)
- [0:44] Monster Hunter Stories Announced For Nintendo 3DS (Siliconera)
- [0:52] Nintendo Bringing Yo-Kai Watch 3DS to the West (Tiny Cartridge)
- [0:56] What the heck is Yo-Kai Watch? 10 things you need to know (Gamasutra)
- [1:02] Two of the best Nintendo 3DS games are getting mobile-exclusive sequels (The Verge)
- [1:06] Mewtwo Download Codes Arrive for Club Nintendo Members (IGN)
- [1:18] Hidden files suggest Street Fighter’s Ryu may come to Smash Bros. (Arstechnica)
- [1:22] Here’s the full track list for Mario Kart 8’s new Animal Crossing DLC (GamesRadar)
- [1:33] March 2015 NPD: PS4 beats Xbox One; Battlefield, Bloodborne lead sluggish March game sales (VentureBeat)
Games
- [0:02] Guitar Hero Live (Official Site)
- [0:28] Call of Duty: Black Ops III (Official Site)
- [0:32] LEGO Dimensions (Official Site)
- [0:44] Monster Hunter Stories (IGN Game Page)
- [0:52] Yo-Kai Watch (IGN Game Page)
- [1:06] Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS (Official Site)
- [1:22] Mario Kart 8 (Official Site)
- [1:48] Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. (Official Site)
From The Archives
Random Nontendo: Episode 33
Hi Jason and Jose.
Great show as always! Thank you so much for all the time you take to deliver the news and your gaming thoughts. Oh and thanks for the shout out too. (Jason I’m sorry I never replied to your response, I just now saw it.) And I really do agree with your comment about the inability to preserve today’s games like we could with previous generations is a problem. Hard drives and online networks/stores really are fickle things.
I really appreciated your thoughts on Guitar Hero LIVE, I’ll admit I’ve been a little jaded about the recent resurgence of music/band games, BUT your taking time to give your impressions on “LIVE” actually has me a lot more interested than I would have been otherwise. Its definitely something I’ll keep an eye out for toward the fall now. So at the hight of the band game fad/phase, were you guys Rock Band or Guitar Hero people? I was a Rock Band guy myself.
Whether its true or not remains to be seen of course, but I’d be interested to see how Ryu would work in Smash Bros. he is at the very least a true “fighting game” character.
Last thing, and while its not Nintendo-related, I have to ask, are you guys excited for the new Star Wars Battlefront? I know Jose you may be able to speak a little more toward this than Jason, since he only has Nintendo systems. (That’s not a knock, just to be clear.) But what did you guys think? Are you interested? I’m so excited for it, I’ve been waiting 10 years for a new Battlefront, the trailer made me want to shed tears of Star Wars joy. Oh and to tie it back to Nintendo, do you think its bad that Wii U isn’t at least getting some version of the game? Way back when, even the DS had a Battlefront port.
Thanks again for all your time and dedication to the podcast!
Thanks as always, Satoshi!
I started off as a huge Guitar Hero fan, but I gradually shifted over to Rock Band. The song list was just better in the end and I really liked the cleaner UI (something Guitar Hero Live mimics well, actually). I’m curious to see how the song list for Live ends up comparing to Rock Band 4, although I guess us Wii U owners don’t have much choice since Live is the only one we’re getting.
As for Star Wars, I think it looks awesome – and that’s coming from someone who likes the movies, but doesn’t really consider himself to be much of a Star Wars nerd. The fact that the entire trailer is using the in-game engine is pretty impressive. I would love to see it come to Wii U given the long history of Nintendo systems and Star Wars games, but it would definitely take a graphical hit if EA ported it over. Of course, the first step would be to remind EA that the Wii U exists in the first place… 😛
Hey Satoshi,
Glad you enjoyed the show. I always favored guitar hero mainly for their guitar. Also, I mainly played this game solo, which Guitar Hero is more associated with. When it got to the Band part, they were interchangeable in my eyes. Plus I loved Guitar Hero on DS and RockBand on PSP. Ultimately I would go with Guitar Hero though.
Like Jason, I too don’t consider myself much of a star wars fan. Never cared for the movies, but I definitely loved some of the games. Stars Wars Pod Racers for the N64 and Jedi Power Battles on the Playstation hold a special place in my gamer heart lol Though lets not forget Battlefront 2. I played this game a ton. The concept was intriguing and the large scale battles were a blast. Especially online where I would get destroyed. Getting enough kills to turn into a Jedi or Sith was really fun! While I don’t think I would get the new one, I am definitely keeping an eye on it. Always skeptical when they show footage like this since it always seems to get worse when they show actual gameplay instead of “in engine” footage. Still, its awesome that they are bringing that series back.