Released: August 30th, 2010

This is the third episode of The Luchazine podcast, The Luchacast. Not only was it my first Luchacast, but it was also the first podcast I've ever done. We started recording it on August 29th, 2010 at 2 PM Central Time.

The Cast:

Samuel Cooke - pepsicolaboy

Charles Alan Ratliff (That's me!) - Vito_Raliffe

Eric Shepard - aurahack

Goran "Pop" Popovic - GoranP

Official Description:

"Samuel Cooke (pepsicolaboy), Charles Alan Ratliff (Vito_Raliffe), Eric Shepard (aurahack), Pop Popovic (myself) cooled their intense hatred of technology and the internet in order to record the third episode of The Luchazine. Join us as we talk about how Mario might be evil, the chatroulette of Xbox, the future of open-world games, Quake 1 & 3, more Starcraft II, S-linking with little children in playgrounds, Scott Pilgrim. Phoenix Wright musicals, Sam's hatred of grapes, grieving other players in competitive multiplayer, Homeworld 2 and much more! We even answer some listener questions. Feel free to send us a bazillion more questions to theluchazine[at]gmail[dot]com or simply post in this thread. You can also hit us up on our Facebook page if that's your thing."

Nozomi

Found under a tree in 2006, Nozomi was lucky my mom was out at Milford Lake, Kansas that day. The storm had stopped, and Nozomi had taken cover. A tiny, awkward kitten whose fur made it look as if it had been struck by lightning, he was obviously in need of assistance. My mom fed him the last bite of chicken sandwich she had, which he gobbled up quickly. He started purring, and she brought him home and placed him in the bathroom. One of my fondest memories of his time in there was when I went in to keep him company and he ended up sleeping on my face. Literally.

Nozomi quickly grew up into the healthy, stout figure you see above (who, when the picture was taken, was sitting like a human, all on his own, in a way I've never seen a cat do), and to this day, through his affection, still seems incredibly grateful to my mom for rescuing him that day.

But what about his name? Which game character is he named after? Is he named after the fat kid from Persona 3, as some kind of sick joke because he used to be so skinny?:

Seeing as how Persona 3 wasn't released in my part of the world until 2007, and I'm not one to import games, no.

Actually, Nozomi was named after a game character opposite of his gender, a bad habit I seem to have as I always guess the sex of a cat incorrectly. I realized that I had never named a pet after anything from one of my favorite games of all time, Shenmue, so I named him after Nozomi Harasaki.

Trivia:

Is the most toned, muscular kitty I have ever known
Is best friends with Big Boss
Loves to climb up onto your shoulder and be held
Is the only kitty that all the other kitties get along with and take care of
Goes by the nickname of "Stormy", due to the circumstances he was found in

The Luchacast Episode #3: Mario Might Be Evil

Pets Named After Game Characters: Part II

Nozomi

Part I