If Nintendo was right in keeping Lost Levels away from the NES, the unpredictable rise of speedrunning, what your favorite Mario character says about you, and questioning the truth of the familiar claim that SMB2 is "just" a reskin... I'm the W...

Your favorite imports you've never played and why they didn't come to the West in the first place, the differences between translation and localization, and why the Famicom isn't merely the "Japanese version of the NES"... this is MageCast X fe...

Catching up with a content creator from the Aloha State, finding an analogy for Hawaiian history in Armored Core, breaking down the assemblage of an AC, and how to interact with a game's difficulty positively... this is MageCast X feat.

Nostalgia vs new experiences, improving upon a masterpiece, facing the colossi of grief, methods for dealing with loss, and asking if the hero is the hero of his own story... I'm the Well-Red Mage

Introducing MageCast X, the newly rebranded podcast! Meet returning host Moses aka the Well-Red Mage and Jared aka CriterionX as we start this new jo...

Where to start with the Breath of Fire series, Katt vs Nina, populating township, the immense suffering and sadness of the dragon tears, and the formative experience of Capcom's darkly religious 16-bit classic... I'm the Well-Red Mage and this ...

The innovations of Monster Hunter on the Wii, the challenge of underwater combat, restoring what was lost when the online servers went down, and the importance of game preservation... I'm the Well-Red Mage and this is MAGE CAST feat. InusualZ f...

The key differences between adventure and role-playing games, tinkering with the Adventure Game Interactive engine, existing in a game world vs trying to beat it as quickly as possible, and how to make classic adventure games cool again... I'm ...

Tabletop wargaming in the 90s, the difference between strategy and tactics, macromanaging and micromanaging for the uninitiated, and how to rise up lights in Australia... I'm the Well-Red Mage and this is MAGE CAST feat.

American, Japanese, and Australian arcades, #FreeMvC2, the best characters not in the game, the death of 2D AAA animation, and why more fighters need a color edit mode... I'm the Well-Red Mage and this is MAGE CAST feat.

The lasting appeal of the TMNT, the original voice cast for the 4 shell-heads, the turtles as personality archetypes, and how to nail retro authenticity without being tempted to subvert expectations... I'm the Well-Red Mage and this is MAGE CAS...

The dark lord of censorship and the puritanical cultural movement fueling it, what makes a game a horror game, fake Castlevania titles, the future of Castlevania, and so much delicious Mode 7... I'm the Well-Red Mage and this is MAGE CAST feat....

The idealized work of video games contrasted with the manual labor of real life, the value and practicality of play, the very first farm sim, and how casual is not a dirty word ... I'm the Well-Red Mage and this is MAGE CAST feat.

A randomized single-screen permadeath shmup roguelike with a stalker enemy, top-down overworld, and RPG elements, speedrunning and shark week, fishing games and horror movies, and the odd surprise of an LJN game that's better than the movie it'...

Oppenheimer, the Cold War, the Bomb, and Crystalis, a hidden gem or cult classic? Plus learning to forgive the negative qualities of retro games chalked up to their contextual limitations while holding them accountable for bad design decisions....

How Dance Dance Revolution lived and died on home consoles, how classical music actually fits the Marioverse, and how to think of rhythm games as timing-based games if you're not so musically inclined... I'm the Well-Red Mage and this is MAGE C...

Navigating the swamps of difficulty discussion, inspirations behind FromSoft's latest going all the way back to the NES, two very different approaches to designing an open world, and the benefit of letting a new game experience sit and relax li...

We are the music makers but are you the dreamer or merely part of someone else's dream...? I'm the Well-Red Mage and this is MAGE CAST feat. Chris Osborne of Play Comics podcast!Promo cod...

A chronological interpretation of the Chrono series in earnest pursuit of Magus and Schala, a deep dive into the lore of Cross and Trigger, and how the direct cause and effect of Radical Dreamers still remains relevant to the series today... I'...

Nomura's Big Reveal, a Final Fantasy multiverse, how to hijack a creative project with bad marketing, how to love an experience whilst acknowledging its flaws, and *sigh* Anakin Skywalker... I'm the Well-Red Mage and this is MAGE CAST feat.

What is a game? What is play? Join me as we explore these questions, discovering the myths of Abzu, the identity of the Diver, walking simulators and environmental storytelling, plus the Hawaiian state fish... I'm the Well-Red Mage and this is ...

The uniqueness of Spider-Man as a character, the difficulty adapting him to games, the Uncle Ben storytelling trope, an overview of more Spidey games than you can shake a web cartridge at, choosing between Tobey, Andrew, and Tom, and what IS re...

War as entertainment, time travel in video games, winking at the camera, love for the underappreciated RTS genre, and the lost or maybe not so lost art of the FMV... I'm the Well-Red Mage and this is MAGE CAST feat. John aka

The cinematic language of 16-bit RPGs, the lost art of character development, Nobuo Uematsu's favorite works, and why Jaws doesn't need a backstory... I'm the Well-Red Mage and this is MAGE CAST feat. actor, filmmaker, martial artist, streamer,...

The illusion of simplicity and Shigeru Miyamoto fighting the fat cats, the Super FX2 chip, the bookends of the SNES, creating an emotional connection between characters that do not speak, and the perfect utility of the worst sound effect in the...