Retronauts Episode 759: Love and Fandom in the Time of Dial-Up

The Axe of the Blood God podcast isn’t the only place I’ve shown up recently — I’ve been a bit busy.

Another appearance I’ve made is on a new episode of Retronauts, and a very special one at that. This time, it’s just my wife and I as we reminisce a bit about how we met, being a part of internet fandoms in the ’90s, and more (including some Mega Man) in an episode titled “Love and Fandom in the Time of Dial-Up”.

The internet has existed for a long time now, long enough that an entire generation of adults have only known an always-online world. Yet here at Retronauts we happen to have a lot of memories of the pre-internet days, along with those early years where we could log on but we never knew how long it might last. To quote Homer Simpson in 1999: “The Internet? Is that thing still around?”

This week on the podcast Nadia Oxford and her husband David (Oxford) travel back to the age of dial-up internet when connecting with people through shared interests via the information superhighway felt like a nerd’s wildest dreams come true—as opposed to today where we’re all reaching out to one another just to keep our sanity intact in a world gone mad.

The episode was released earlier to paid supporters of Retronauts on Patreon, but is now available to everyone for free on the Retronauts website, Audioboom, and iTunes.

Now, the inspiration behind doing this episode was manifold. For starters, this June 9th will mark 25 years of marriage for us.

But almost as significant is that Nadia has a new book out from Retro Game Books!

In From Pixels to Prose: What Video Games Taught Me About Storytelling writer and games journalist Nadia Oxford traces how a lifetime spent in digital worlds shaped her craft and her understanding of narrative. From the pixelated drama of Donkey Kong to the emotional depths of Final Fantasy VI and Dragon Quest III, Oxford reveals how video games taught her about character, conflict, and the art of worldbuilding.

Blending humor, cultural insight, and personal history, From Pixels to Prose is a love letter to classic gaming and a testament to the stories hidden in our cartridges and childhoods. Oxford’s reflections will make you laugh, think, and see video game stories in a whole new light.

And of course, as evidenced by the cover, the Blue Bomber features in it as well. Need further proof? Alright, you twisted my arm: Here’s a pair of exclusive excerpts from the book to help sweeten the deal:

If you would like to order a copy (and we would very grateful to you if you did), then for $22 USD, you can pre-order a physical copy that is estimated to ship in June 2022. Or, if digital is your thing, then for $7 USD, you can order the eBook version and start enjoying it right now.

Either way you go, you can make your purchase by clicking right here!

You can also check out further selected excerpts on Nadia’s Bluesky account. Just be warned, she can tend to be a little more… colorful… than I am here (if you’ve watched “Nadia & David’s Mega Man Mayhem” or “Nadia & David Ruin Video Games” for any length of time, you probably know what I’m talking about).

Thanks for reading (and listening)! And in case you haven’t heard, re-upping our hosting for the next few years took a big bite out of our bank account, so if you like what we’re doing here, would like to see us expand our breadth of content, and can kick in a few bucks to our Patreon, buy us an E Tank on Ko-fi, or just do something with PayPal, we’d greatly appreciate it!

LBD "Nytetrayn"

David Oxford, or “LBD ‘Nytetrayn’,” as he is sometimes also known, is a freelance writer of many varied interests who resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

For a full list of places to find him online, click here.