Radio Free Nintendo

FEATURING: Dastardly pirate hosts of yore return to RFN and demand to discuss their first impressions of Wii U!Over a dozen weird games from Jonny's SD Card Channel!

FEATURING: Billy stops in for a little while, and we jump into Listener Mail right away! Letters cover the satisfaction (and anxiety) of owning a Wii U right now, Nintendo's surprise cancellation of their legendary E3 press conference, and our expectations for the next 3DS hardware revision!For the aftward New Business segment, we have impressions of Nano Assault EX, Mario and DK: Minis on the Move, Darksiders 2, and Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon!

FEATURING: New business is Darksiders 2, Heavy Rain with the Move controller, Joe Danger: The Movie and Art Style: Aquia. Listener Mail: games that take death seriously; a listener requests that we talk about Urban Champion; we get into a discussion about third party Wii U support; and we lose our sanity discussing the non-kickstarter for the non-sequel to Eternal Darkness.

FEATURING: New business is The Last Story, Roguelike suffering, interactive screensavers, and KirbyIt's also time for Retroactive: Megaman 3

FEATURING: New business talking about an old From Software title for PS1, Mortal Kombat, Tomodachi Collection, Pokemon Rumble U and even a little bit of Link's AwakeningTons of news from Japan, including coverage of the latest Nintendo Direct and other Japan related itemsA special announcement for announcement at the end of the episode

FEATURING: New Business features DK Jungle Beat, the original Castlevania, Liberation Maiden, and Etrian Odyssey IV!Listener Mail is mostly about Iwata's weird career move, but we also guess what would happen if Nintendo made a console/handheld hybrid!Mega Man 3 is on RetroActive NEXT WEEK, so play and discuss right now!

FEATURING: Jonny begins with a return to the improperly maligned Assassin's Creed 3, a Wii U launch title that deserves more attention as the numerical sequel approaches in just six more months. James picked up Yoot Saito's Aeroporter, the Guild 01-associated luggage stacking puzzler, but he finds little to recommend even at the reduced eShop price. Gui continues the bargain warnings with escapeVektor on 3DS, a likable but glaringly flawed Pac-Man successor that was, until recently, on sale. We had enough time for Jonny to come back around with a glowing review of Saints Row: The Third, an open-world game that finally recaptures the spirit of the "sandbox game".For the second half, we celebrate an unusual dump of announcements for this time of year, as Nintendo hosted a Direct video event to trump all others. The focus was on 3DS, of course, and although we'd like to have more reason to be excited about Wii U in the year 2013, it's hard to complain about the lineup of sequels, revivals, and digital releases u

FEATURING: New Business: LEGO City Undercover, Battalion Wars, Ultimate Ghouls N' Ghosts, Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, Tokyo Crash Mobs, Guacamelee!Listener Mail: Kickstarter for Earthbound?, Wii Tini, PSN+ Stealing Sales from Nintendo, Killers Apps.

FEATURING: New Business: Jon kicks it off with his well-informed thoughts on Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate for 3DS, Jonny cracks open the oddly structured Need for Speed: Most Wanted U, Gui follows up his new review of Toki Tori 2 with some extra discussion of this lauded new Wii U eShop game and James bats clean-up by digging into a GameCube Grab Bag: Auto Modellista and P.N. 03.Before digging into Ys Book II for Retroactive, the team briefly touches on the dissolution and legacy of LucasArts, and a much-discussed analysis of Satoru Iwata's decade as President of Nintendo Co. Ltd.

FEATURING: Jon is absent due to incompetent movers, so James, Gui and Jonny discuss the games they've played at PAX, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, LEGO City Undercover and Runner2. They then tackle overdue Listener Mail: Which is the best, Mega Man 2 or 3? Can VR save the Wii U? Why do devs recycle game ideas, enemies and puzzles?

FEATURING: New business talking about Keiji Inafune's Guild02 title, Bugs vs. Tanks, Monsters Come Out on Friday (the first Guild02 release), Skullgirls, Metal Gear Rising: Revengence and more!The latest news from Japan, including NFC Pokemon for the upcoming Pokemon Scramble ULife in Japan is back this month talking about Nomikai (drinking parties), clapping and the guys' experiences at these wonderful events!

FEATURING: RFN's own James, Guillaume, and Jonny accompanied by special guests Chris Kohler and Nate Andrews!Short subjects include our favorite obscure Nintendo games, a pair of What-Ifs, and elevator pitches to Iwata!Plus: Nearly half an hour of audience Q&A!

FEATURING: NWR writer Alex Culafi joins Jonny, James and Guillaume to talk about Ys Book I for this week's RetroActive segment! First however, New Business has the crew lose itself in the mazes of Etrian Odyssey IV; get confused at the Belmont Family tree in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate; defy physics in Gravity Rush; and forget who they are discussing Fire Emblem Awakening and its DLC.

FEATURING: New Business: Mass Effect 3, GTA: Chinatown Wars, Vanquish, Jonny Gets a Vita, Crashmo, and demos. Listener Mail: Virtual Boy on the 3DS, NBA 2K13 Gatorade View, Control options in Wind Waker HD, and will the PS4 launch actually help the Wii U?

FEATURING: New format for New Business, but we still do talk about plenty of games: Bit.Trip Saga, You Me and the Cubes, Skulls of the Shogun, the lack of Black Ops map packs on the Wii U, Dragon Quest VI and Little Inferno. Listener Mail: Is Pikmin Strategy? revisited, What can Nintendo do to garner more 3rd party support, and are gaming journalists trying to marginalize the Wii U and Nintendo fans?

FEATURING: New business from the guys include talk about Dragon Quest VII, Spec Ops: The Line, Skulls of the Shogun, Demon's Souls, Fire Emblem: Awakening, Culdcept for the 3DS and more!Gaming news in Japan including the most recent Nintendo Direct conferences and the seemingly "dire" situation Nintendo is in with Wii U.Playstation 2013 Conference - what the future holds for Sony and what it means for Nintendo.

FEATURING: New Business this week: To The Moon, Pokemon White Version 2, Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2 (really), Dragon Quest VI, Wii Street U, The Cave, and Fire Emblem Awakening.No listener mail this week, we instead tackle the Nintendo Directseses, Nintendo's Wii U Woes and the PS4 reveal (or lack thereof).

FEATURING: It's one big segment this week, but we have Billy on board to help cover the feature topic: strategy games on Nintendo platforms!

FEATURING: Fire Emblem, Hyrule Historia, Call of Duty, Crimson Shroud, Batman: Arkham City, Puddle, and Rhythm Thief all show up in New Business... and that's not even the full list!A special mystery guest pops into Jonny's recording!Listener Mail covers the devastating Rayman Legends news, plus high-value eShop games and how to sustain interest in Miiverse!

FEATURING: New Business is full of new games, as Gui plays the brand new 3DS remake of Ikachan and explains the uneven experience of The Cave on Wii U. Jon finally has his own brush with the Red Ring of Death and struggles with whether to replace his 360 before the inevitable successor launches this fall. Jonny gushes over Level 5's Ni No Kuni and also brings a few positive words about Nintendo Force and the Hyrule Historia coffee table book. James wraps it up with a slightly disappointed report on Gunman Clive, but the glorious demo for Fire Emblem Awakening erases any lingering negativity. For now.In the latter half, we finally catch up on Listener Mail with a trio of timely queries. This batch starts with a look at Nintendo's most inexplicable decisions, as a defense for the "no-duh" game announcements last week. Next, we take a hard look at the Earthbound situation, as the game is finally coming to Virtual Console in Japan -- does that mean it has a chance in the West, too? Localization is also the topic