Episode 42: SIMply... AWESOME

Ladies and gentlemen, the wait is finally over, EARTHBOUND IS HERE!!!  And the First World Podcast is back with a new episode.  Greg, engaged his inner conspiracy theorist in The Secret World.  Heath went back to a Game Boy Advance classic, Metroid Zero Mission.  Dan's youth has finally come full circle with the Virtual Console re-release of Earthbound, and everyone rejoiced.  Madison, in hopes to get some studying in for today's topic, played Towns, with malnourished results.  The feature topic is a genre of games that is often overlooked in the game space, but has always been there, and will always be there in some form or fashion, and that genre is Simulation games.  We wrap up the episode with our third installment of Inside the Gamer's Studio, and this week we focus on Heath.

As always, subscribe to us on iTunes or Podbean, like us on facebook, follow us on Twitter @1stworldpodcast, and send us your emails at firstworldpodcast@gmail.com.  Please download the Stitcher Radio app on your tablet or phone (iTunes or Google Play) to get our show updated every week and help us get some new fans along the way!

Thanks for listening!!!

ABCD (Aldrich, Braun, Clark, Davis)

First World Podcast is
Dan Clark - Editor/Producer/Co-Host
Heath Aldrich - Producer/Media/Co-Host
Greg Braun - Co-Host/ Hockey Aficionado
Madison Davis - Co-Host/ Mad Queen

Episode 41: Digital Pizza the 2nd

Welcome back to another exciting episode of the First World Podcast.  This week we planned on doing a different topic, but the summer Steam sale derailed us, and brought us back to the topic of digital distribution.  Heath had a full week of gaming and beat The Last of Us, also got to check out The Walking Dead: 400 Days.  Dan took full advantage of the iOS App Store anniversary and played all 5 of the free games, but really loved Where's My Water. No, seriously, he really liked it.  Madison filled her time while downloading all of her Steam games with a tower defense game called Revenge of the Titans, and finished up her week with Boarderlands 2.   Greg, also took advantage of the Steam sale, and got a special MMO called The Secret World.  We skipped doing a Triple Barrel Shotgun Round, or a Inside the Gamers Studio, to do a new segment we called Mailbox 360, where we read some of the great letters we got for episode 40 All That Violence.

As always, subscribe to us on iTunes or Podbean, like us on facebook, follow us on Twitter @1stworldpodcast, and send us your emails at firstworldpodcast@gmail.com.  Please download the Stitcher Radio app on your tablet or phone (iTunes or Google Play) to get our show updated every week and help us get some new fans along the way!

Thanks for listening!!!

ABCD (Aldrich, Braun, Clark, Davis)

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Podcast Powered By Podbean

First World Podcast is
Dan Clark - Editor/Producer/Co-Host
Heath Aldrich - Producer/Media/Co-Host
Greg Braun - Co-Host/ Hockey Aficionado
Madison Davis - Co-Host/ Mad Queen

Retro Repurposing: NESputer

By Madison Davis

This is my attempt at using an old skool NES as the case for a modern computer.  

Everything you need... Sort of.

 Parts used for this build:

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor   100.00

Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75M-ITX Mini ITX  FM2 Motherboard  90.00

Memory: Crucial Ballistix 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory 60.00

Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  80.00

Power Supply: Athena Power 400W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified Mini ITX Power Supply  80.00 (not pictured.  I purchased this micro ATX power supply but it was just too big to fit in my build.  I returned it and ordered a smaller power supply).

Total: $410.00

I also purchased a few parts here and there as I needed them, such as a 40mm fan, fan grill, power/reset buttons, power and hdd LED.

Parts already in my posession:

Windows 7 home premium and 500gb hdd.

I became close friends with my Dremel.  Had to gut the Nes to make room for its new parts!

Because of the large amount of parts I was shoving in this case, I decided to place the hard drives under the motherboard. The hard drives pictured are just a few small capacity I had laying around to use as a mock up instead of risking damage to my SSD.  I separated the hard drives from the motherboard with crafting foam to avoid any shorting out.

Using the NES buttons with shiny new switches

Dremeled out the area for the back plate.  Fits like a glove! 

Fitting The top with the bottom.  Also, cut out the spot for the power supply.  This was an extremely tight fit, I had to do a ton a sanding to allow the case to close properly with the PSU.  I also utilized the venting on the top of the case, opened it up a bit for better airflow and allowed it to be used as an intake.

Look at all those wires!  Tsk tsk.  Messy!

So I cut down the power supply wires and soldered it all back together. First time soldering anything, I am very proud of myself!

I cut a vent in the top of the case right above the CPU fan, I was heavily concerned about heat and airflow.  

It runs cool enough now with lid closed.  I added the HDD activity light under the lid as well as the case badges proudly showing my quad core AMD and SSD.  I ended up breaking the original red LED so I used a yellow one that I had laying around for the power. light.  I added a 40mm fan where the controller ports used to be.

A screenshot of some of her specs, she runs fast and stays cool!  I have her hooked up to the TV in my living room, when people see her they are at first surprised I have an NES hooked up and then they realize she is not a run-of-the-mill NES.

This was my first time attempting anything even remotely like this.  I've seen some of the NES computers online, but never anything as powerful as a quad core.  Making space was definitely a challenge and it took me about 6-8 hours of labor to get everything cut and fitted.  I'm sure I could have done it faster but I really had no idea what I was doing.

Enjoy

 - Maddy 

Episode 40: All That Violence

Welcome back to the First World Podcast.  This week we try to tackle the divisive topic of violence in video games.  We came no closer to solving any of the arguments for, or against violence, but we had a great time admitting the things that make us squeamish, and the things that we are for.  Madison picked up the Ico/Shadows of the Colossus HD collection and helped explain why video games are art.  Dan started his ride through the highly stylized Bayonetta, he got lost on the story, but loves the action.  We do something a little unconventional as Greg, Heath, and Dan all played Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and all have very different experiences with it.  Heath wraps up Now Playing with joining Greg and his dissent of The Last of Us.  We wrap up the show with part 2 in a 4 part series of Inside the Gamers Studio, this week we focus on Greg.

Even the villager is getting violent!

As always, subscribe to us on iTunes or Podbean, like us on facebook, follow us on Twitter @1stworldpodcast, and send us your emails at firstworldpodcast@gmail.com.  Please download the Stitcher Radio app on your tablet or phone (iTunes or Google Play) to get our show updated every week and help us get some new fans along the way!

Thanks for listening!!!

ABCD (Aldrich, Braun, Clark, Davis)

First World Podcast is
Dan Clark - Editor/Producer/Co-Host
Heath Aldrich - Producer/Media/Co-Host
Greg Braun - Co-Host/ Hockey Aficionado
Madison Davis - Co-Host/ Mad Queen

Episode 39: Control Freaks

Hello listeners, are you finally ready for today's secret?  There are times in history when everything falls into place, and just makes sense.  Dan and Heath met years ago smoking cigarettes and arguing about which Zelda game was better. Fast forward 5 years and the two finally decided to start a podcast.  After a couple of episodes, the dynamic duo decided to bring in our first guest, which was a thinly veiled excuse for Heath to hang out with Greg, and by the end of that episode, we knew we had our third host.  The gamers three continued their digital journey, facing all the trials and tribulations that a group can come across, having to change Studios, bandwidth issues, and disappointments.  Somewhere along the way, we decided that we would want to talk to a gamer of the female persuasion, and the name Madison Davis entered out lexicon.  She came in prepared, and ready for anything, and was not intimidated on any topic.  She impressed up so much, that she was even invited back to cover for Greg on the E3 episode.  After we recorded that episode, there were rumblings about making this power trio a quartet.  After much deliberations, the First World Podcast is proud to announce to you listeners, that Madison Davis will now be our 4th, full time host.  Please send lots of love her way.

This is a thumb of a serious gamer.

This week, we have a very lively conversation about the evolution of controllers.  Greg played 4 things this week, but only really talked about Saints Row The 3rd.  Madison kicked Heath's ass at Arcana Heart, and started her playthrough of Bioshock Infinite.  Heath, while loving every second of it, got very perplexed while playing Project X Zone for the 3ds.  Dan went old school, and played through Mega Man 3, and also rocked Mighty Switch Force 2.  We finished up with a new segment called, Inside The Gamers Studio.  This is a biosegment, that this week, focuses on Madison, so you all can get to know her a little better.  We will follow with the other hosts soon.

As always, subscribe to us on iTunes or Podbean, like us on facebook, follow us on Twitter @1stworldpodcast, and send us your emails at firstworldpodcast@gmail.com.  Please download the Stitcher Radio app on your tablet or phone (iTunes or Google Play) to get our show updated every week and help us get some new fans along the way!

Thanks for listening!!!

ABCD (Aldrich, Braun, Clark, Davis)

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Podcast Powered By Podbean

First World Podcast is
Dan Clark - Editor/Producer/Co-Host
Heath Aldrich - Producer/Media/Co-Host
Greg Braun - Co-Host/ Hockey Aficionado
Madison Davis - Co-Host/ Mad Queen