Announcement - December 2023

Announcement - December 2023

Author: Franchise Festival December 2, 2023 Duration: 1:55
Hello listeners, this is your Franchise Festival host Chris. We just wanted to provide a few quick announcements: (1) There is no new episode on the public feed this month, as we’re taking a short break between seasons to recuperate and enjoy the holidays with our family and friends. (2) Patrons will get our annual Game of the Year podcast on or around December 15th. If you’d like to hear it, please subscribe to at patreon.com/franchisefestival for as little as $3/month. You’ll also get access to the full back catalog of bonus shows, including some very strange Resident Evil spinoff episodes and a bunch of indie game coverage from Season 3. (3) We’ll be shutting down our website in 2024. It’s pretty expensive to maintain, and the data indicates that most of you listen either through podcast apps or our Patreon page. Consequently, the Patreon will become our new home on the web. Public feed episodes are still posted there for free listening, so you don’t need to be a member to enjoy it. (4) Finally, our fourth season starts on January 1, 2024. In case you missed it, our plan is to cover Capcom’s Mega Man series from start to finish over the course of eleven shows. We’ll also be releasing patron-exclusive bonus shows on remakes, spinoffs, adaptations, and spiritual successors. We appreciate your interest in the show and look forward to joining you all again next year. We’d also like to express a very special thank you to our patrons: Cheatachu, Celeste, Ed, Loren, Quinley Thorne, Cedric the Owl, Jarathen, and Jasper - you bring joy to our hearts and inspire us to make the best content we can. Thanks for listening, everybody! Goodbye.

Franchise Festival digs into the stories behind the video game series that shaped a medium. Each season is a deep, chronological exploration of a single franchise, tracing its creative and technical evolution from often-humble 1980s origins through to its latest installments. You’ll hear about the design breakthroughs, the business decisions that changed course, and the cultural moments that turned pixels into lasting legends. This isn’t just a review show; it’s about understanding how these interconnected worlds were built, year by year and sometimes crisis by crisis. The podcast favors depth over breadth, spending multiple episodes to fully unpack the development history of noteworthy series like Castlevania, SimCity, or Mega Man. The narrative focuses on the people and processes behind the games-the how and why, not just the what. It’s for anyone who’s ever wondered about the connective tissue between their favorite sequels or the forgotten prototypes that paved the way. Tune in for a thoughtfully researched and structured audio documentary experience, one franchise at a time.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 85

Franchise Festival
Podcast Episodes
Season 3 Episode 6 - Pyre [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:57:13
Chris and Spencer discuss the development, gameplay, characters, and story of Supergiant's Pyre (2017). Enjoy! If you'd like more details on how Pyre was made, we recommend NoClip's documentary on the subject.
Season 3 Episode 4 - Sonic Adventure 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01:33
Chris, Hamilton, and special guest Rosalie discuss the development, gameplay, and plot of Sonic Adventure 2 (2001). Along the way, they also explore the game's amazing soundtrack and what led Sega to exit the home consol…
Bonus Episode - Resident Evil 4 Remake [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:00
Chris, Spencer, and special guest Stephanie (from the Boss Rush Network) discuss their impressions of the Resident Evil 4 remake several weeks after its release, paying special attention to changes from the original's ga…
Season 3 Episode 3 - Transistor [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:29:41
Chris and Spencer discuss the development, gameplay, and story of Supergiant's Transistor (2014). Check out NoClip's documentary for more information on how this game was made!
Season 3 Episode 2 - Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Knuckles [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:53:08
Chris and Hamilton discuss one of the best platformer games ever made: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles! In this episode, you'll learn about Sega's evolution from its arcade origins, how Sonic the Hedgehog was created, an…
Season 3 Episode 1 - Bastion [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:38:27
Chris and Spencer kick off the third season of Franchise Festival with a discussion of Supergiant's Bastion (2011). Along the way, they explore how the game was made, analyze the enemies and weapons in each stage, and ma…
Season 2 Episode 18 - Resident Evil Wrap-Up [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:30
Chris, Hamilton, and Spencer offer their final thoughts on the Resident Evil franchise. Along the way, they discuss favorite games, locations, characters, and monsters, while also speculating about what might be next for…
Season 2 Episode 17 - Resident Evil Village [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:10:35
Chris and Hamilton are joined by returning guests Arielle (@huggablehipster) and Kamijace (@kamijacegaming) to discuss Resident Evil Village. As they dive into its plot and cut content, the crew explores how Covid-19 imp…
Season 2 Episode 16 - Resident Evil 3 Remake [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:35:56
Hamilton, Spencer, and Chris discuss Capcom's Resident Evil 3 Remake. Along the way, they explore the game's development, assess the merits of Nemesis' glow-up, and debate how this controversial game compares to the univ…