Princess Peach and Gaming 🎮
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The Ten News: Season 4, Episode 34
Today on The Ten News 👑 Princess Peach: Showtime! is available for Nintendo Switch and Pamela is here to tell us all about the legendary game 🎮 In honor of Women's History Month we are highlighting Female Legends in Gaming 📚 Plus, Special Guest and Author Steve Bramucci is in the studio to share all about his book, 'Race for the Ruby Turtle' 🤔 And, on the Trivia Throne: what is the Oregon state bird?
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TRANSCRIPT:
INT. TEN NEWS STUDIO
PAM: Wow, Ryan, are you reading a book? Before… we even started work?
RYAN: That is correct, Pam. I’ve decided to do an opposite day and do all the things I wouldn’t normally do…
PAM: Like, what…?
RYAN: Like reading books instead of playing video games. Eating a salad instead of pizza. And, not showering, instead of showering.
PAM: (SFX sniffs> Yup. I can smell that last one…I know you’re busy with opposite day, but, Kap said you could do another favorite things episode…
RYAN: Well normally I’d be procrastinating, so today, we need to start the show. I’m Ryan Willard.
PAM: And I’m Pamela Kirkland. It’s Thursday, April 4th.
RYAN: This is the Ten News.
WOMEN IN GAMES
RYAN: Wait, since it’s opposite day, I’m not sure what I’m supposed to talk about…
PAM: I will observe opposite day, and I choose to discuss something I wouldn’t normally choose to discuss…
RYAN: Farting in a ball pit and blaming it on your little brother…?
PAM: <SFX giggles> No, no no, Ryan. I want to talk about VIDEO GAMES.
RYAN: LET’S GOOOOOOOO!
PAM: March 22nd was an exciting day in my house, because I got a brand new Nintendo Switch game…
RYAN: Was it the Splatoon 3, rogue like DLC?
PAM: Nope! I got Princess Peach: Showtime!
RYAN: Ooooooh, that’s right! I love her. She hasn’t had her own game since Super Princess Peach on the Nintendo DS in 2005. How is Showtime?
PAM: It’s really fun! Princess Peach teams up with the guardian of the Sparkle Theater to take on the wicked Grape and the Sour Bunch who are trying to take over.
RYAN: Riiiiight, and doesn’t Princess Peach transform to match each performance?
PAM: Yup, you get to become Swordfighter Peach, Detective Peach, Ninja Peach, Patissiere Peach and more!
RYAN: Princess Peach is such an OG. I feel like the Mario games wouldn’t have taken off the way they did without her.
PAM: I couldn’t agree more. Speaking of… it’s women’s history month, wanna go Toe to Toe and see who knows more about women’s history…in video games?
RYAN: Challenge accepted, Pamela. This is: FEMALE LEGENDS IN GAMING.
RYAN: Ooooh, ummm, I know of Carol Shaw, <SFX MARIO MUSHROOM> she was one of the first female video game programmers and designers. Carol Shaw was the only woman in her division at Atari In 1978 and she made 3D Tic-Tac-Toe for the Atari 2600. After that she became known for her work at Activision on the retro hit, River Raid. Shaw won the Industry Icon Award in 2017 for her massive impact on gaming.
PAM: Carol’s a legend, but do you know about Mabel Addis? <SFX MARIO 1UP> She worked on the Sumerian Game which was gaming’s first narrative experience and was the first “edutainment game” as we know it. Mabel Addis was credited with writing and conducting it, with IBM’s William McKay programming it. Which means that Mabel is officially the first female game designer, but more significantly…she’s the first writer on a video game, EVER.
RYAN: I actually didn’t know about Mabel Addis… but I do know about Dona Bailey. <SFX MARIO COIN> She was the first female programmer to work in the Atari coin-op department and the first woman to create an arcade game! That arcade game was Centipede, which was one of the most successful arcade games of that era. It’s most recent remake is called Centipede Recharged and is available on Switch, PC, Xbox and Playstation. Fair warning, it is a really challenging and intense game…
PAM: Want to know what must’ve been really challenging? Playing video games before there were GRAPHICS. There was a time when adventure games were just words and text…
Roberta Williams <SFX MARIO 1UP> was caring for a young child at home when she became fascinated with text-based computer adventure games. She would later team up with her programmer husband Ken, to found software company Sierra On-Line. And in 1980, Roberta and Ken would create and publish the first graphic adventure game: Mystery House. Roberta’s team pushed the limits of what was possible in games, not only adding graphics but music and voice actors.
RYAN: Okay, I’m throwing two 1Up’s into the miggidy mix like it’s 2006. Two rockstars at Nintendo: Risa Tabata <SFX MARIO 1UP?> and Aya Kyogoku <SFX MARIO 1UP.>
PAM: Ahh yes! Tabata has been at Nintendo since 2001 and has worked on Paper Mario, Donkey Kong and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. And most recently, she worked on Metroid Prime Remastered and WarioWare: Move It!
RYAN: Yuup, and Kyogoku started at Nintendo in 2003 and began as a scriptwriter for the Legend of Zelda games. In 2008 she started working on the Animal Crossing series. With Kyogoku as director, Animal Crossing New Leaf and New Horizons broke sales records for the series, with New Horizons selling almost as many copies as the entire Animal Crossing series COMBINED.
PAM: I looooove the Animal Crossing series. They’re so relaxing to play.
RYAN: Since it’s Opposite Day, does that mean you’re going to go and play games right now instead of working?
PAM: That’s actually a great idea. And since it’s Opposite Day you’re gonna go and…read a book?
RYAN: Yeah, that feels right.
PAM: Before a little gametime, I just have to share my favorite animal and book story of the week: A library here in the US accepted cat pictures for book fees. In Massachusetts at the Worcester Public Library, the month of March is a cat-themed month of celebrations called March Meowness. And this March, they setup a program called “Felines for Fee Forgiveness” and said during March Meowness, people who have lost or damaged a book can bring in a photograph, drawing or magazine picture of a cat and get their library cards reactivated. They also said they would accept honorary cats, like a dog, raccoon, orca, capybara or any other animal. The Felines for Fee Forgiveness program was set up by WPL to welcome everyone back in the library, with a creative way to get their fees forgiven. Meow that is a program I can get Feline.
INT. TEN NEWS BULLPEN
<SFX walking>
RYAN: Where did I leave my–
<SFX Steve putting books on desks>
RYAN: Excuse, strange person, who are you, where are you from and what are you doing here?
STEVE: Oh hey! I’m Steve Bramucci, I’m from Portland, Oregon and I’m just dropping off some copies of my book–
<SFX picks up book>
RYAN: Race for the Ruby Turtle?!?
STEVE: Yeah! You’ve heard of it?
RYAN: Ummm, yeah, I actually just started reading that book! I’m on page 3, so I don’t really know anything, can you tell me what it’s about without spoiling it for me?
STEVE: ADLIB
RYAN: What inspired you to write this book? How’d you come up with this idea?
STEVE: ADLIB
RYAN: Why did you want to write about a character with ADHD?
STEVE: ADLIB
RYAN: Very serious question: Can we give away some signed copies of Race for the Ruby Turtle, to three of our listeners?!
STEVE: Yeah sure! But how would we do that?
RYAN: If they call 877-TEN-NEWS and leave us a voice message with a fun fact about—
STEVE: Animals! Just call 877-TEN-NEWS and leave a fun fact about your favorite animal! And remember to leave a grown ups contact info so we can get in touch!
RYAN: Perfect!
<Music out >
<SFX Trivia Room door opens>
<SFX shiny sparkly magical>
OWEN: Welcome to the Trivia Room!
<SFX skateboard rolling in>
<SFX board flip into hands>
STEVE: Hey Owen!
OWEN: What’s up Steve!
STEVE: Ryan said I should come try out the Trivia Throne…
OWEN: I heard you love the Pacific Northwest, so I’m going throw a little Oregon trivia at you…
STEVE: Bring it!
OWEN: Oregon was the 33rd state in the US. It’s biggest city is Portland, the state capital is Salem and the state flower is the Oregon Grape. Did you know that?
STEVE: I DID know that!
OWEN: But what is the Oregon state BIRD?
American Goldfinch
Lark Buntin
Western Meadowlark
OWEN: The answer is…<SFX drumroll> C! The Western Meadowlark! The Western Meadowlark is actually the state bird of Oregon, Montana, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming. The Meadow Lark grows to about 8.5 inches long and eats mostly insects, as well as seeds and berries.
If you were wondering… the Lark Bunting is the state bird of Colorado and the American Goldfinch is the state bird of Washington, Iowa and New Jersey.
OWEN: Thanks for playing Steve!
STEVE : Thanks for having me Owen!
OWEN: Ten’ers, if you have a great trivia question or want to sit on the Trivia Throne, leave us a message at 877-TEN-NEWS and we might have you on the show!
<sfx shimmer/shine fades and door closes>
RYAN: Okay, I’m getting hungry. Pam, what did I say was the opposite of pizza?
PAM: Ummmm, salad.
RYAN: Salad?!? (in a silly voice)
PAM: Yeah, does that mean you’re gonna eat salad ALL day?
RYAN: (sighs) Yeah. I will eat salad all day, but only if it’s Cesar Salad. That’s my favorite kind of salad.
PAM: Alright, then I guess I’m eating pizza and ice cream all day.
RYAN: Oh c’mon!
PAM: Don’t worry, I’ll share if you share, but first, we gotta give Ten News Snaps to one of our listeners…
RYAN: And before that, here’s a quick note for the grown ups.
RYAN: Time for Ten News Snaps! <Grand fanfare SFX>
PAM: A Ten’er named Silly Puppy 22 said, “I really enjoy listening to this podcast, it tells kids all about the world and what happens!” And Star Catcher 3345 said, “Love the Podcast!!! Listen to it before bed!”
RYAN: Thank you Silly Puppy and Star Catcher! Good morning, good afternoon, good evening and good night. And thanks for listening to the Ten News. Our episodes drop on Thursdays. And if you want some bonus content, you could join the Ten’ers Club on our website. And to our grownups, if you want to help support the Ten News, you can make a tax-deductible donation at the link in our show notes. The whole team thanks you for your support!
PAM: “The Ten News” is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts, and part of the Airwave Podcast Network.
RYAN: The Ten News creative team is eating way too much pizza and ice cream today and includes Tracey Crooks, Logan DeYoung, Corinne Catibayan, and Carson Potter. Big thanks to Steve Bramucci for stopping by and Owen for contributing to this episode.
PAM: Our Production Director is Jeremiah Tittle, and our Executive Producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan.
RYAN: I’m Ryan Willard.
PAM: And I’m Pamela Kirkland, thanks for listening to The Ten News.
