Christina Warren and Casey Liss join Moisés to relive their mutual past in video game retail. Back in the days of VMUs, GD-ROMs, Product Protection Plans, and pre-internet consoles, it was the Wild West. Part 1 of 2
Pictured: FuncoLand #23 in Mesquite, TX.
"The Society of the Shrinked Wrap" will return in Part 2, "The Key Holder" (Thank You For Calling! #10).
An "extended cut" combination of both episodes will appear in the Master Feed (iTunes) as "Trouble in Pikachu City". Let us know if you like that sort of thing.
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PANELISTS
- Christina Warren is the Senior Tech Analyst at Mashable. She's also a big-time film nerd. Big. Time.
- Casey Liss writes software and is one-third of Accidental Tech Podcast (ATP if you're nasty).
SHOW NOTES
- Moisés sings an acapella, truncated version of his new take on a Bionic theme song at the end of Bionic 94.
- Even for novelty value, the Virtual Boy, CD-i, and Jaguar aren't worth it. Well, maybe the Jaguar edition of Aliens vs. Predator.
- Babbage's, Electronics Boutique, and FuncoLand used to exist, I swear. Now there is only Zuul (Gamestop).
- Charles Babbage
- Babbage's has no Wikipedia page, so here's a great Ars Technica piece about the chain.
- Want to know FuncoLand? Learn the G.A.M.E.S. process before proceeding (part 1 and part 2). Moisés remembers this hilarious ripoff of Tron or Captain N: The Game Master or (probably) both vivdly...from his nightmares.
- This guy is an example of the sort of EB employee Moisés used to hate and still does. The Christina-type were always awesome. ThisGuy-type were the worst, even though he points out some of the FuncoLand-patented sales tactics and procedures.
- The Funcoland uniform was those green polo shirts and khakis you see in the video. If you came to work in jeans three times, you could actually be fired.
- This is "FuncoLand #23", where Moisés worked for most of his high school years. It has since become "GameStop #543".
- If you didn't experience the Dreamcast, you haven't lived. It won't die.
- The Neo Geo Pocket Color was a great idea, horrendously mis-marketed and had very little worthwhile software.
- Fingerboards were the bomb diggity, bro! Check these STUNTZ MOVEZ. and practice your movez anywhere!
- Seriously, Power Stone (and Power Stone 2) and Ecco: Tides of Time and Chu Chu Rocket and Crazy Taxi and Shenmue and...lots of Dreamcast games are really great, but forgotten.
- A fun story about Dreamcast launch, which involves a creepy guy in a van.
- Final Fantasy VIII had a Collectible Card Game (CCG) called Triple Triad built into the game, and yes, they actually made physical cards. There is a Flash adaptation of the game!
- Superman 64 was bad. Very, very bad.
- Star Wars: Episode One RACER was an awful game.