First Gen Gamers

There is no more enduring character in video games than Mario, the Italian who gets sucked into an alternate dimension and becomes the protector of the Mushroom Kingdom. He may have started as a humble guy trying to save his woman from a rampaging gorilla, but over the years, he's been a doctor, a sports star, a kart driver, and starred in so many different spinoff titles. On this, the first half of a two-part episode, Jed team...

Every gamer has different tastes in gaming. But there is one truth that unites every gamer: somehow, some way, we need a device to control the game. Controllers are what make a game a game, and they can either immerse you in the action by feeling like a seamless extension of you, or bury you under awkward design. On this episode of First Gen Gamers, Ash and Jed are looking at the best and worst base controllers in console history. ...

The word "underrated" gets tossed around willy-nilly. Anything that doesn't get at least a 9/10 has someone calling it underrated. So on this episode, Jed and his special guest Jamie Smith, a Principal Game Developer with Behavior Interactive, are making their choices for truly underrated games. Those games that live in bargain bins, that are black sheep of their franchises, or games that just otherwise went overlooke...

Remakes are a touchy topic in all media. How much of the original needs to be retained to maintain the spirit? How much originality should there be so the remake doesn't feel like a retread? Should something that didn't hit the mark be remade so it has a second chance at life? Is there media that shouldn't be remade because it's too problematic? Are there games that are untouchable? On this episode of First Gen Game...

Perhaps no console has such a negative reputation as the Philips CDi. Released in the early 90's, it became the poster child for the awkward first-wave FMV games and its four infamous games based on Nintendo properties. But does it deserve its reputation? Could the Philips CDi be underrated? On this special episode, Yahel from Wrestling With Gaming, a self-admitted fan of the CDi, sits down with Jed to discuss all the CDi has t...

Games are unlike any other media, in that new machines come out over time to replace the old, and a whole new set of media comes with. Sometimes, we're lucky and games get made available on newer machines. But sometimes, we're not so lucky. The worst case scenario is when a game only comes out once, and if you don't have that machine, you can't play it. On this episode of First Gen Gamers, that's what Ashley and...

We all love to quote famous lines from movies and TV shows in our conversations. Video games have plenty of memorable lines, too, and not always from the main character. Sometimes, an NPC drops a line that is unforgettable, whether it's due to being genuinely well-written, a poor translation from another language, or downright weird. On this episode, Ashley and Jed talk about some of their favorite NPC one-liners.

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Nintendo is the oldest player in the video game console market, and one of the most beloved and consistent developers, with an unparalleled treasure trove of iconic characters and franchises. But that doesn't make them above reproach. They've made mistakes. They've made some bad business decisions. And they've positioned themselves as the villain on more than on occasion. On this episode of First Gen Gamers, Ashley ...

Once video games proved they weren't a fad, it was inevitable they'd cross into movies and TV. But the average show couldn't just show footage of Super Mario or Sonic without paying rights fees. That's where fake video games come in. You've seen them, from comedy to horror, on TV and in the theater. And today, Ashley and Jed are talking about the most memorable fake games in pop culture. What are they and where ...

Nintendo is the oldest console manufacturer in video games, and one of the longest running developers and publishers of games alongside Activision. They are the house of gaming franchises that even non-gamers know about. With the recent official unveiling of the Switch 2, we thought it would be a good time to give Nintendo flowers for all they've done over the years. So this episode, Ash and Jed celebrate the very best of Ninte...

Making a good product is only half the battle. It also has to be marketed. The best thing in the world can languish on the shelf if nobody knows it exists. Worse yet, sometimes the marketing does the product dirty; it misrepresents the product, or obscures it entirely with a stupid stunt. On this episode of First Gen Gamers, Ash and Jed take a look at when video game companies blow it with the marketing. Lies, PR disasters, poor ti...

While the gaming community can rally and close ranks when it is accosted by outsiders, it is remarkably quick to devour itself over the dumbest perceived slights. Within the game, on social media, on YouTube, or in real life, gamers can get exceptionally petty when they want to. On this episode, Ashley and Jed look at some examples of when gamers get petty; some are hilarious, some are ridiculous, and some are controversial and lif...

What happens when Ashley is out sick for recording, but there's a schedule to keep? A guest host! Laceya Finley from Super Mega Crash Beyond steps into the cohost #2 slot, and since she's a lover of FMV games, that's the topic we explore. Where it all started with Dragon's Lair, the awkward 90's games that didn't know what to do, and how the genre has changed in modern day. It's a genre a lot of gamers h...

Simulator games started humbly. Run a city. Run an airport. Run a theme park. Somewhere along the way, they became something more. You can be a bee. A forklift operator. A goat. A gas station owner. A rock. The possibilities have become endless. In this episode, Ashley and Jed take a look at simulation games. Games they've played, the way the genre has exploded in recent times, and the disturbing, dark (but silly) corridors the gen...

Gaming is full of licensed games. You might not think of Madden or WWE or Marvel's Spider-Man as licensed games, but they are. Licensed games have been around since the beginning, which means there's plenty of good ones, and plenty of bad ones. But it's way too easy to identify those. What about the weird ones? The ones that make no sense as a game? The games that don't seem to know what the original source material was? The licens...