Sockscast Episode 171
May 19th, 2025
|
|
Awright, partner... Keep on Kirbin' baby... You know what time it is.
Are you ready to move in and move out while putting your hands up and down with a new episode of the Sockscast? John is back to Kirbin' with the best of 'em, Rhete's taking well to his new profession of Thief Pirate, and Polly's getting caught up in the Fantasy.
Polly
|
The PollySoft Project
May 5th, 2025
|
|
As some of you may already know, I'm kind of a big deal, but
you may not also know that I've been developing fun little
videogames for the last ten years!
Today, I've started a new project to do soft-relaunches
of all my games on this new little website.
Throughout the rest of the month, I'll be adding new pages to the PollySoft site for every game I've developed over the last ten years. Along with full, free downloads for
every game, I'll also be including developer commentary
for every one, which will include fun little behind the scenes stuff like cut content, videos, and access to early dev builds that only testers had access to before!
This project is a means for me to preserve my gamedev
history on my own terms without the need for a third-party
platform. I'll also be hosting an entire downloadable
archive of the site and its contents once everything's
been rereleased!
So, I hope you take a few moments every day there's an update to have a look at what pops up and maybe find something to
enjoy playing for a few minutes!
Polly
|
Sockscast Episode 170
April 20th, 2025
|
|
Easter? I HARDLY KNOW'ER! Listen, sometimes these synopses are gonna suffer if I'm in the middle of a Cadbury Egg binge, but thankfully this episode of the Sockscast is packed full enough that you won't even remember this stupid blurb by the time it's finished. (Does anybody actually read these things or do they just click download and go? Always wondered that...)
In this episode, John's gettin Kirb-y with it, Polly's coding up a storm, and Rhete singlehandedly saved anime!
Polly
|
20 Years of Whatever This Is...
April 16th, 2025
|
|
So, a kinda crazy thing happened back on April 9th that came and went without any fanfare here on the site (largely due to the fact that I've just been incredibly busy), but it's something that's so important that even if it's belated, I'd like to take a moment to recognize and appreciate just how incredible a thing it is.
On April 9th, 2005, Socksmakepeoplesexy.Net launched. That's right. This website is now 20 whole years old. Almost enough to drink! The site launched with but a review for Gradius V, a couple old articles I'd written on a site I briefly hosted in 2003, some links, and not much else. And look at us now...
It's honestly wild to me that this site and community are still here after all this time. The internet has long since moved away from personally created websites like this and onto fancy content management systems, blogs, and social media. Also long gone is the age of forums being a primary means of discussion and communication, and believe me, this one hurts my heart the most.
This site wasn't anything all that different from what anyone else was doing at the time. Reviewing old videogames from my past through the lens of someone 10-15 years out from when they were new and being right on the cusp of The Angry Videogame Nerd and angry video reviews becoming a thing paints the picture of where we were. I'm not always happy looking back on some of the embarrassingly juvenile things I comitted to .xml file in those early days, but I also still stand by that work as being something along the way that would help shape the more mature critical voice I feel I eventually settled into.
Over the years, the site evolved as it became more and more community oriented. Guest content is literally the best thing to have happened to this site because it opened my eyes to so many different points of view and opinions. I daresay most of you wouldn't be here if not for Pat's Final Fantasy retrospectives, but the larger community-driven lists and events are also something I look back at fondly. NES Week, 31 Days 31 Updates, the Greatest [x] Lists of all time... They're all so full of excitement and passion from everyone involved and I'm happy that those things are still here for us all to look back on.
The now shuttered Sliders n Socks forum would be where many friendships would be fostered through topics and posts of deep discussion and sometimes arguments that almost always ended with cordial handshakes. It's the best forum community I've ever been a part of and I'll say again that I'm gutted forums have fallen so out of favor. I also can't forget the late-night early days IRC server chats that were the source of many laughs. I like to think at least that part lives on through the spirit with which our Discord server is maintained.
Over time our original written content came to a crawl and is now but an occasional drip, but I think that The Sockscast has become an integral part of the site's ability to maintain the same attitude and thoughtful discussions that this site has always tried to strive for. It'd long been a dream of mine to have a podcast of my own when I originally launched the site, and though it may have taken nine years to come to fruition after that, I'm happy that it did and I couldn't ask for a better set of co-hosts in John and Rhete.
And finally, our aforementioned Discord server, which to me exemplifies everything I've wanted in a community since I started actively using forums back in the year 2000. A welcoming atmosphere where everyone gets to feel like a part of something and can be heard, where being silly is among the best things you can be, and where deeper discussions can happen freely, even if disagreements pop up. A lot of folks call the place home and can feel comfortable being themselves and that to me is the greatest compliment that I could receive as the person who started all this on a whim all those years ago.
I stand back and look at all this and I'm amazed we've managed to stake our claim on this little corner of the internet for as long as we have. I've seen communities built and explode so many times over the years that I always wondered when it'd finally be our turn, but the deeper we get into this thing, the more I feel like maybe I can push that thought to the back of my mind with ease a little bit more as we march forward toward however long it takes to go where we're going.
I still love run-on sentences.
From the bottom of my heart, if you are a member of this community, have ever been a member of this community, whether we be on good terms, bad terms, or no terms, thank you for being a part of whatever all this is. Every single bit of it is a thread in the fabric that makes this community what it is. None of this would exist in the state that it does now without you.
Polly
|
Sockscast Episode 169
March 31st, 2025
|
|
Rejoice! Your friends at the Sockscast are back once again to invade your earholes (consensually!) with all the things you need to distract you from the entire world falling apart. At least for 90 minutes or so.
In this episode, Polly's got that plumber inside her, Rhete's arrival in Night City can only mean good things coming, and John looooooves them balls!
Polly
|
Sockscast Episode 168
March 10th, 2025
|
|
NOTE: Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth spoilers begin at 1:03:46.
Happy Daylight Savings Time to those that celebrate! We're sure you're enjoying your bright and early Monday, minus one hour of sleep! But fear not, your pals at the Sockscast are here to the the caffiene for your earholes that'll get you through the roughest of days!
In this episode, John's RPG journey is the best of both worlds, Polly finally moved in with her anime girlfriend (willingly...allegedly), and Rhete's going full-on spoiler mode for Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, but don't worry, we give you ample time to bail if you don't wanna be spoiled.
Polly
|
Sockscast Episode 167
February 17th, 2025
|
|
WE'RE BACK! DIDJA MISS US? Probably not, because we've still just kinda been around but not podcasting, but all that changes today!
The Sockscast relaunches with a more brisk running time, but still packed to the brim with the same scintilating media discussion as before! In this episode, Polly has THE MEAT, Rhete Yakuza and Yakuza-adjacent activities never ceased, and John falls in love with an RPG classic.
Polly
|
