I am happy to announce that Season 1 of my new podcast, Chapter Select, is all about Paper Mario! Logan Moore and I will be tackling the paper-inspired RPG series with special guests along the way. Yes, I convinced Logan to hook up a Wii U to his 4K TV in the year of PS5 and XSX. Missed the announcement of Chapter Select earlier this week? Here is the pitch:
Max Roberts and Logan Moore pick a video game series and bounce back and forth between its entries, exploring their evolution, design, and legacy. Each season explores a different series with guests joining our hosts along the way to explore video games outside of individual titles.
Season 0 is live right now and focuses on The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II! But with only two games in the series, the show format couldn’t really shine. To now use Paper Mario as the example, here is the release order and structure of Season 1:
- Episode 1: Paper Mario (Nintendo 64), released on June 2, 2021.
- Episode 2: Paper Mario: The Origami King (Nintendo Switch), released on June 16, 2021.
- Episode 3: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GameCube), released on June 30, 2021 with special guest Scott White!
- Episode 4: Paper Mario: Color Splash (Wii U), released on July 14, 2021 with special guest Tomas Franzese!
- Episode 5: Super Paper Mario (Wii), released on July 28, 2021 with special guest Ricky Frech!
- Episode 6: Paper Mario: Sticker Star (Nintendo 3DS) releasing on August 11, 2021.
You may notice that there are dates tied to the first three episodes but not beyond that. The first three episodes are already recorded, edited, and ready! We are still playing the back half of the series, currently playing Color Splash. We have a schedule in mind and guests lined up for the rest of the season, but we don’t want to commit to dates yet.
Playing through Paper Mario, Origami King, and Thousand-Year Door in that order has really convinced me that this structure brings something new to discussions surrounding these games and video game podcasts as a whole. Sure, I have bias, but I genuinely think you will enjoy the discussions we have as we play through all sorts of video game series in this manner.
I am stoked to finally roll out the show. If you liked Season 0 or like the sound of Season 1, please subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts. And just you wait until you see the episodic art I whipped up for Paper Mario! See you all on Wednesday!
Update (July 14, 2021) – Updated with links to published episodes.
