Hopewell Valley Student Podcasting Network
Show Name: From Pong To Pixels
Episode Title: Leveling Up
Episode #5
You are listening to From Pong To Pixels the podcast with your host Andrew.
In this episode of From Pong To Pixels the Podcast we discuss: a lot of Mario games, consoles released during the 2000s, and some of my favorite and not-so-favorite releases.
Hello everyone, my name is Andrew, and welcome to another episode of From Pong To Pixels. I hope you guys are having a wonderful day, and I’m glad you decided to check out another episode. Today we’ll be looking at games and consoles that came out during the 2000s. Just by looking at the topics I can tell you this will be a long episode, so make sure to get comfy and enjoy. I think I’ll start things off with a fairly popular game, The Sims. The Sims is a social simulation game published by Electronic Arts in 2000. In this game, the player controls people called “Sims” and is able to control their everyday lives. You have a ton of free choice, meaning you can choose whichever path you’d like to take. You can customize your Sims looks, personality, relationships, and much more. There is so much to this game that I’d love to talk about, but I recommend just go download it if you’re looking for a fun way to waste your time. Now moving into a more familiar franchise, Nintendo. 2000 marked the year of their first Paper Mario game. Paper Mario is an RPG for the Nintendo 64. It follows a similar formula to other Mario games, being that Bowser kidnaps the Princess, and Maio has to save her, but with a twist. Bowser has also imprisoned the seven-star spirits, making himself invincible after defeating Mario and stealing the Star Rod. To save Peach and the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario must locate the star spirits, who can get rid of the effects of the stolen Star Rod. The player controls Mario and others to solve multiple puzzles and defeat enemies in a turn-based battle system. Each of Mario’s partners has a special ability to assist him with puzzles. Encounter different NPCs and they’ll give you clues for the storyline. Even though I’ve never played this game before, a ton of my friends have said nothing but good about the Paper Mario series. It’s a unique visual style and story, so if you’re looking for something a little different than normal Mario games, I’d highly suggest Paper Mario. I just quickly want to mention that the Playstation 2 was released around this time, a home video game console developed by Sony. Nothing too specific I wanted to say, just its release. Now another console I’d like to go into more detail on, the GameCube. The GameCube was another home video game console marketed by Nintendo. The GameCube was a huge success, with people still using its controller for other games to this day. One title for the GameCube I’d like to talk about is Luigi’s Mansion. Luigi’s Mansion is an action-adventure game released in 2001 by Nintendo. This was one of the first games in the Mario series to have Luigi as the main character. Good for him, I think he’s the better brother anyway. But this game follows Luigi, with him being informed that he won a mansion in a contest he didn’t enter. Luigi tells Mario to meet him there, but when he arrives Mario is nowhere to be found. He is attacked by a ghost, but thankfully saved by a scientist who goes by the name Professor E. Gadd. After he tells Luigi that the mansion is haunted, he gives him a vacuum and communication...
