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We are kicking off 2026 with a giant episode! Joining me are friends of the show Chris Coplien from the Retro Hangover Podcast and Mick Arcade from Nerd's Cant to help me rank game console controllers. The inspiration for this episode came from Bitmap Books, who was kind enough to send all of us a review copy of their recently released book Trigger Happy. Trigger Happy is a visual compendium of game controllers so we figured what better way to celebrate videogame controllers than to do a big ranking episode. We ranked 19 controllers from the NES up to the PS4/XB One/Switch. If the episode already wasn't about 3 hours long we may have considered ranking more. Anyway. Which controller is the highest ranked? Who has the hottest controller take? Listen to the episode and then share your thoughts on our rankings or share your own with us on our socials! Check out Trigger Happy from Bitmap Books! https://www.bitmapbooks.com/products/trigger-happy-a-visual-celebration-of-video-game-controllers Follow Mick on social

We have come to the end of 2025 and it is time to look back on all the good and bad of the year. And let's be honest, at least here in the US, it was a lot of bad. But the podcast was still a lot of fun so all of that was good! Joining me to look at it all is my brother from the Great White Nort, TJ Hodder of the Hodder Show and Tapes of Trepidation. We list our most popular episodes, talk about our favorite experiences, share which countries listened to our shows the most and much more! Follow TJ on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/tjhodder/ https://www.instagram.com/tapesoftrepidationpodcast/ Shout-out Song: Moon Garage Artist: halc Original Composer: Asuka Sakai Album: Ridge Racer Arrange https://gamechops.com/ridge-racer-arrange/ End Song: Road Trip Artist: Joshua Morse Original Composer: Asuka Sakai Album: Ridge Racer Arrange https://gamechops.com/ridge-racer-arrange/ Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://ww

HAVE YOU PLAYED ATARI TODAY!? Well I sure did. This episode was recorded LIVE at Atari Party 2025! I sat down and chatted with a bunch of cool people and asked them about their Atari memories, Atari Christmas memories, what they love about Atari Party and of course I ask them if they had played Atari today. I got to chat with so many cool people so please go give them a follow and check out their stuff below! Ryan Kern -paaperclips(at)gmail.com Pete Fletcher -Bluesky -Mastadon Atari Spot Rob -atarispot(at)gmail.com Kevin Bunch -Bluesky -YouTube -Buy Kevin's book Here! -Website Nathaniel Lockhart -Bluesky -Instagram -Memory Machine Podcast Ferg -Bluesky -Facebook -2600 Game by Game Podcast Shout-out Song: Miranda's Last Dream Artist: Ultrasyd Album: Chipsters EP Remastered https://ultrasyd.bandcamp.com/album/chipsters-ep-remastered End Song (and Interstitial song): :) Artist: UltrasydAlbum: Who Cares https://ultrasyd.bandcamp.com/album/who-cares Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user

What happens when Mario goes to space? And what happens when he has to dump his emergency pasta rations!? In this mini episode Dexter Morrill and I talk about all of this and Koopa's "meteoric balls". This was probably one of the wildest episodes of the Super Show we have seen yet. It goes so many places. Between bad Crocodile Dundee impressions, bizarre space travel and confusing magnetic physics, this episode has it all. Follow Dexter on social media! Instagram BlueSky Shout-out Song: Steam Gardens Artist: Helynt Original Composer: Naoto Kubo, Shiho Fujii, and Koji Kondo Album: Mario & Chill https://gamechops.com/mario-and-chill/ End Song: New Donk City Artist: Nelward Original Composer: Naoto Kubo, Shiho Fujii, and Koji Kondo Album: N/A https://gamechops.com/nelward-new-donk-city/ Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/ Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

The Super Famicom, known as the Super Nintendo (SNES) here in North America, came out in Japan 35 years ago this year. It was Nintendo's successor to the dominant NES and it marked a real turning point for the games industry at the time. Not just in the evolution of game design but also in the market itself. With the SNES and rival Sega Genesis (Mega Drive outside of North America) fighting for market dominance, it sparked a console war that is still talked about today. Helping me break this down and more are friends of the show Nadia Oxford and Dan Greenberg! Nadia, Dan and I talk about the world in which the SNES was born into, how it competed with Sega, what games we love on the system and much more!  Now you're playing with POWER. Follow Dan on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/winterion.com Check out the Nintendo Guidebooks Dan as worked on! http://contricode.com/ Follow Nadia on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/nadiaoxford.bsky.social Support Nadia on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/nadiaoxford Check

Every now and then I have an topic that's not necessarily related to games but I am justing DYING to talk about on a podcast. Sometimes I get lucky and can find a loophole to shoehorn that topic onto the show with a loose connection to video games. This episode is on a topic exactly like that. Joining me for this one, returning guest to the show, is Matt Storm. Matt joins me to talk about Dropout TV, an internet streaming service that just so happens also to have a few browser games that are connected to their shows. Matt and I have a ton of fun talking about why we love Dropout TV, what makes it so special as a streaming service and why the games are... Ok they aren't great, but they are games dammit. Follow Matt on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/djstormageddon.com Check out Fun & Games Podcast! https://www.certainpov.com/fun-and-games Check out Reignite Podcast! https://www.certainpov.com/reignite Checkout Dropout TV! https://www.dropout.tv/ Shout-out Song: Game Changer Theme Song Artist: ? Album: N/

We are sending Diablo back to hell.... again... Shane Selterre of the Retro Hangover Podcast returns to help me save Sanctuary again as we discuss Diablo 2. Diablo 2 is a very personal game for me. It was one of my earliest PC LAN party gaming experiences and it served as major game for me and a lot of my friends growing up. But what makes Diablo 2 special outside of my personal nostalgia for it? Shane and I discuss all of that in this episode. We look at what changed between the original Diablo and this one. We look at how this game is basically became the template for ARPG games for years. We talk about so much and yet only scratch the surface. Who knows, maybe Shane will be back for us to dive further beyond the surface, further into the depths of Hell. Check out Retro Hangover Podcast! https://linktr.ee/retrohangover Diablo 2 Post Mortem https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/postmortem-blizzard-s-i-diablo-ii-i- Shout-out Song: Children of Zakarum Artist: Platonist Original Composer: Andrea Pessino, Glenn

Just because it's November doesn't mean we still can't enjoy the summer. In this episode of Still Loading I am joined by Ray Barnholt from the No More Whoppers podcast (and occasionally Retronauts) and Andrew Kinsey from The EXP Point to talk about the summer of 1975, specifically the summer as seen in the game Boku no Natsuyasumi 2: Umi no Bouken-hen also known as My Summer Vacation 2. Boku no Natsuyasumi 2 is a game unlike anything else that I've played. I had heard about the game a few years back on Retronauts (which Ray was on and is the one who spoke about it) and was curious about what it was like. But the main problem is that the game was never localized in english, at least officially. And then earlier this year I found out about a fan translation from a Hilltop Works that came out in November of 2023 so I figured it was finally time to dive in. Ray, Andrew and I break down whats great about this game, why it makes us all feel so nostalgic and overall what we got out of our experiences. Which summer a

Sometimes you're the stinger, sometimes you get stung. In this episode of the Legend of Zelda cartoon, Link gets both! Dexter Morrill returns as my co-host with the mo-host and we dive into the 9th episode of the Legend of Zelda cartoon, Stinging a Stinger. In this episode we meet a strange man named Sleezenose who is definitely not a bad guy, we continue to learn new ways Link sucks and we also speak to Grandma Mario. Follow Dexter on social media! Instagram BlueSky Shout-out Song: Wisdom Artist: Ephixa Ft. Will & Tim Album: N/A https://gamechops.com/wisdom/ End Song: BOSS (Power) Artist: Dj Cutman ft. TEAM BANZAI Album: Link to the Future https://gamechops.com/link-to-the-future/ Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/ Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

We gon' huntin' gators! In this episode of Still Loading we trek through the bayous of Louisiana to play The Adventures of Bayou Billy. I am joined by host of the Imperial Scrolls of Honor Podcast, Josh Folan, to rescue our beloved Annabelle from the clutches of Godfather Gordon. We discuss the game's localization, why its so damn hard, where Billy may live and question our sanity at the addition of jiggle physics in an NES game. Follow Josh on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/nyehentertainment.com Check out The Imperial Scrolls of Honor Podcast! https://linktr.ee/isohpod Shout-out Song: Trippin' on Alligators Artist: Mazedude Original Composer(s): Hidenori Maezawa, Kyouhei Sada, Tsutomu Ogura https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00808 End Song: El Lagarto Artist: Evil Horde Original Composer(s): Hidenori Maezawa, Kyouhei Sada, Tsutomu Ogura https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01793 Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybi

The mitochondria do all the talking this week on Still Loading. To wrap up Backlog Month I am joined by friend of the show Michael Berger from the Bits of Time podcast to talk about Squaresoft's foray into horror, Parasite Eve. Based off a book on the same name, Parasite Eve is a horror JRPG that came out in 1998 and has become a bit of a cult hit from that time. Michael and I had a ton of fun discussing the ins and outs of the game along with all the wild turns the story takes. Follow Michael on Bluesky here! https://bsky.app/profile/matterofmichael.bsky.social Check out Bits of Time here! https://campsite.bio/matterofmichael Shout-out Song: Charred and Cauterized Artist: Hemophiliac, Siolfor the Jackal Original Composer: Yoko Shimomura https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR04603 End Song: PMS Artist: ktriton Original Composer: Yoko Shimomura https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01543 Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybi

We're gonna be gonna be golden! This week on the show I am joined by Aaron Klaassen from Super Ghost and Chris Dominguez from Consoles and Stuff to talk about the GBA JRPG Golden Sun! I first got Golden Sun back in the early 2010s from a Game Stop near me and never touched it until my patrons voted for it for Backlog Month this year and I am so happy they did. Aaron, Chris and I had a ton of fun discussing the game's mechanics, visuals, music and much more! Does this game have a really fun and interesting battle system? Yes! Does it teach it to you at all? Barely! Find out all about it in this episode. Follow Super Ghost on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/superghost.site Follow Consoles and Stuff on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/consolesandstuff.bsky.social Check out the Superpod Network here! https://superpodnetwork.com/ Check out Echoes of History Here! https://www.historyhit.com/podcast/echoes-of-history/ Shout-out Song: Angarian Vigil Artist: TSori, GuitarSVD Original Composer: Motoi Sakuraba https:

Episode 2 of this year's Backlog Month features a game very different from last week's. Backlog month this year is RPG heavy and one of those RPGs we are looking at is Live A Live. Live A Live is an RPG from Square Enix that originally released back in 1994 for the Super Famicom but was later given a remake and published world wide in 2023. Joining to chat about the may lives experienced in this game is the Twitch streamer Happy Bear! Happy and I had a great conversation about our experiences with this game, why the battle system is pretty awesome, why the end of the game probably sucks and also the logisitics of farting in imperial China. Follow Happy on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/happybearcares.bsky.social Check out Happy's Twitch channel! https://www.twitch.tv/happybearcares Shout-out Song: Live-ALive Composer: Yoko Shimomura Album: Liva A Live OST https://www.zophar.net/music/nintendo-snes-spc/live-a-live End Song: MEGALOMANIA (Techno Remix) Artist: Michael Solski Album: N/A https://michaelsolski.

Backlog month 2025 kicks off with a big one! It's Castlevania. I covered Castlevania a LONG time ago on the show but that was before I had beaten it and it was very early in my podcasting career. So I figured putting it on my backlog month poll earlier this year was a perfect way to take another crack at this iconic NES game. But... A special game requires and even more special guest. Joining me on this episode is author, YouTuber, podcaster and Castlevania expert, Jeremy Parish. Jeremy has created so much Castlevania content I couldn't think of anyone better to join me on this episode. We discuss what makes this game so special, why it's an important game in the annals of game history, how much it's soundtrack slaps and so much more. Follow Jeremy on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/jparish.bsky.social Check out Jeremy on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/@JeremyParish Listen to Retronauts! https://retronauts.com/ Shout-out Song: Hallway to Hell Artist: Joshua Morse Album: VLAD II https://gamechops.com/vlad2

Indie games are awesome. They try so many different and unique things or have unique spins on classic game design ideas. This week on the show I am joined by Emily Merritt and Kate Hunter from the No Small Games podcast to talk about an indie game that pushes emotional storytelling without dialogue and explores grief in a way I haven't experienced before. We are talking about the game Gris. Gris was developed by Nomada Studios and released in 2018. It explores the stages of grief in a very beatiful and haunting way. Kate, Emily and I talk all about this game's themes, what we loved about it, why it makes us love indie games and so much more. Check out No Small Games here! https://nosmallgames.com/ Follow No Small Games on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/nosmallgames.bsky.social Follow Emily on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/aspecificegg.bsky.social Follow Kate on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/katerblossom.bsky.social Shout-out Song: Gris Pt. 1 Composer: Berlinist Album: Gris Soundtrack https://berli

Here comes Mama Mario! In this month's mini episode Dexter Morrill and I break down episode 9 of the Super Mario Bros Super Show! In one of the more wild episodes of we've seen yet we end up meeting Mario and Luigi's Mom, discussing the logisitics of carb loading, Luigi not understanding what the word "default" means and Fry Guy loan sharks. Follow Dexter on social media! Instagram BlueSky Shout-out Song: Rosalina in the Observatory Artist: Coffee Date Album: Wii Chill https://gamechops.com/wii-chill/ End Song: Birabuto Kingdom Artist: Rymdkraft Album: Smooth McGroove Remixed 3 https://gamechops.com/smooth-mcgroove-remixed-3/ Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast Check out the Bit by Bit Foundation! https://www.bitbybitfoundation.org/ Support the Podcast! https://www.patreon.com/stillloadingpod

The Muppets are iconic and it has been long overdue since I discussed them on the podcast. Joining me today to help me talk about a childhood favorite of mine is... my brother Mike as well as Doug Lief from the Nostalgium Arcanum podcast! The game on this episode is Muppet Treasure Island, based on the movie of the same name. Mike, Doug and I break down this game in more detail than probably needed but who cares, this game rules. We talk about the gameplay, production value, green screen use and much more! Check Out Mike's show! https://www.mediatheatre.org/ Follow Nostalgium Arcanum on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/nostalgiumpod.bsky.social Shout-out Song: Treasure Island Composer: Hans Zimmer Album: Muppet Treasure Island Soundtrack https://archive.org/details/MuppetTreasureIsland_201805 End Song: He's a Pirate Composer: Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil Album: Muppet Treasure Island Soundtrack https://archive.org/details/MuppetTreasureIsland_201805 Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com

Emulation is a polarizing subject in video games. While I personally feel its not a bad thing there are people who only associate with piracy. So I figured who better to talk about this topic than the founder of one of the earliest emulation websites, Zophar. Zophar founded Zophar's domain back in 1996 as a way to aggregate emulation information and it grew into something much more than that. Zophar and I chatted about how he started Zophar's domain, why he left, his feelings on emulation and much more! Check out Zophar on Twitch! https://www.twitch.tv/zophar1 Check out Zophar on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/@zophar1 Checkout Zophar's Domain! https://www.zophar.net/ Follow Zophar on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/zophar.bsky.social Shout-out Song: Take some rest and eat some food! Artist: xDeviruchi  Album: 8-bit Fantasy & Adventure Music https://xdeviruchi.itch.io/8-bit-fantasy-adventure-music-pack End Song: He's a Pirate Artist: Jason Bernard arrangement of Klaus Badelt's original piece Album: N/

A huge part of video game history is context. Context surrounding a game's development, context surrounding a game's release, context of the time and place the game was made during. Context informs how we interpret the past. This week on the show I am joined by author and journalist Ross Benes to talk about his book "1999: The Year Low Culutre Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times." We discuss what about the late 90's has informed so much of our present, how that culture affected the games that came out and how the games themselves were part of that percieved "low culture" at the time. There is so much more in his book worth diving into but I felt like this was a good introduction for ya'll to see what Ross has written. Follow Ross on Twitter! https://x.com/RossBenes Check out Ross' Website! https://www.rossbenes.com/ Check out Ross' Book! https://kansaspress.ku.edu/9780700638574/ Shout-out Song: BLUENOISE! Artist: Protodome Album: BLUESCREEN https://protodome.bandcamp.com/album/bluescreen End S

We delve the depths of Tallon IV on this episode of Still Loading. I'm joined by returning guest to the podcast Chris (aka the British Bond Addict) to talk Metroid Prime. Metroid Prime is a game that has eluded me for a while. I first played it over a decade ago but never got around to beating it even though I made it over 90% through the game. That has been finally corrected and I couldn't be happier I got to experience it.... with a few complaints here and there. Chris and I discuss the music, the world, the story, why he's wrong about the story... I mean we just discuss the story. Anyway. Learn how to morph ball and roll on into this new episode! Follow Chris on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/britishbondaddict/ Shout-out Song: Samus Shuffle Artist: bLiNd Album: Chozo Legacy https://gamechops.com/chozo-legacy/ End Song: Chozo Legacy Artist: bLiNd Album: Chozo Legacy https://gamechops.com/chozo-legacy/ Get Still Loading Podcast merch! https://www.teepublic.com/user/still-loading-podcast Check out the B