Second Emulation

Milestone And Momentum

• Shawn Juarez • Episode 91

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What does it take to keep a passion project alive through hiatuses, hosting glitches, and a busy nine-to-five? We open the curtain on the real work behind Second Emulation, celebrate crossing 1,000 downloads, and share the concrete upgrades that will make the show faster, steadier, and more fun. Think bigger backlogs, automated publishing, a cleaner planning pipeline, and a workflow that frees up more time for the good stuff: movies, anime, and gaming we actually can’t wait to talk about.

We’re holding on to what works and dialing in what doesn’t. The Nicolas Cage “multiverse” reviews stay as a fan-favorite anchor, while Drunk Trailer nights level up to a twice-monthly drop that keeps the feed lively between long-form reviews. Roundtables return with tighter curation and smarter research streams, so the conversation stays punchy without losing depth. On the tech side, we’re investing in better audio and a mobile setup to record on the road, plus IRL streaming from conventions to bring you Artist Alley tours, booth finds, and that live fan-culture energy you can’t fake.

Community is the heart of this next chapter. Our new hub at arcadeveritas.com puts everything in one place—socials, schedules, Twitch VODs, anime watch lists, and a direct line to pitch reviews or topics. A dedicated Discord server is coming to power watch-alongs, live notifications, and real-time Q&A. We’re also exploring a monthly book or anime club for slower, deeper dives that feed into the main show. All roads point toward a milestone we’re proud of: episode 100, built on consistent delivery, honest opinions, and your feedback.

If you’ve been riding with us, thank you for the push to keep building. If you’re new, welcome to a feed that values curiosity over clout and momentum over perfection. Tap follow, share this with a friend who loves film, anime, or games, and drop your wildest Nicolas Cage pick for review—we might feature it next.

Hey there, podcast pals! Need a morning boost? Look no further than Dunkin' Donuts! Our freshly brewed coffee and irresistible donuts are the perfect way to kick-start your day. From classic favorites to new flavors, there's something for everyone. Join DD Perks for exclusive rewards with every purchase. Swing by your nearest Dunkin' today and treat yourself to something special. Dunkin' Delights – making mornings brighter, one sip at a time! 

 Hey, everyone! Like, super exciting news! Fan mail has been added to our podcast! We totally love hearing from you, so if you have any questions, comments, or just wanna say hi, click the link above the description. We might even feature you in an upcoming episode! So, don't be shy—click that link and share your thoughts. Okay, now back to the show

Want more of Second Emulation? Stay connected with us by following our social media channels! By clicking the link below to stay up to date with us on our socials and Game review streaming channel.

https://www.arcadeveritas.com







Hi, hello, welcome to Second Emulation! Okay, you are just so lucky right now, because you are literally about to spend, like, the best time with my amazing friend, Shawn.

 He is, like, the expert on all things movies, anime, and gaming, and he just has, like, the best opinions. Seriously, talking to him is, like, a whole thing, in the best way.

So, get comfy, maybe with a little drink—I don't know, a kombucha, a latte, whatever is your thing—because Shawn is going to take you on, like, a total journey.

Okay, luv that. Here he is



Hey everyone. Welcome back to Second Ation. I'm Sean, your host, and today we have a few special announcements to share with you. We've been taking a big hiatus, since the holidays, but we got some new content coming up and I can't wait to tell you about it. So stick around.

Celebrating 1000 Downloads

So our big announcement is I want to thank. All of you, the listeners and those who follow us on our socials, who've contacted us, who've just been given this podcast a chance, but I can safely, admit that we have breached the 1000, download mark. Now, this isn't, per episode.

This is. As a whole, and to be honest, I did not think when I had the idea that I was going to do a podcast that it was going to get, anywhere near that. To be honest, the episode numbers that we do are pretty much still in the, lower double digit. But to be honest, I didn't think anyone would even listen.

Because, my podcast isn't anything special. it started off pretty rocky. 

Podcast Journey and Challenges

I wanted to talk about pulp culture and stuff that I watch and maybe talk about it and review it in a sense. And over the years, this podcast has gone through many different iterations of me just learning about. How to create a podcast.

There were a lot of different trials and errors. Me having to learn the type of programs, me just also learning how to edit me. Also learning how to like post and market the podcast. So there was a lot of stuff that behind the scenes that a lot of people don't tell you about. And. To be honest, a lot of other podcasts or productions are like very high value.

They have teams, that do all this stuff for them. I am just one person who also has a regular nine to five on the side. So the fact that like I'm still be able to maintain, somewhat level of production by myself, it's no easy feat. 

Over the course of some time, they just burn out and their podcast just disappears after a while, and that is understandable. I can tell you that there's been many times that I myself have felt that, because the reason for that is I told myself that I never wanted this to feel like a job. That when I started out, it was more as a hobby.

I'm not willing to do, stuff that other podcasts do because then it would fill the spark behind doing this would vanish and it would just appear to me that I'm just doing another job and. That's something that once it gets to that point, I think I would step away and.

To be honest, I haven't reached that point, or I don't think I, I lemme rephrase that. I don't think I will because I, you know, separate this, between what I currently do, but I, I wanna say thank you to everyone who gives this podcast a chance, who listens to it. I look at the numbers and I see it grow.

And to be honest, it. Means a lot to me personally because like everyone who starts a podcast, they just have a mic and a dream and then hopefully people will listen. the fact that I have people who listen to the podcast, who wanna listen to me talk and yap for 30 to 40 minutes, almost an hour on end.

That is something special, and it lets me know that there are people who enjoy this content. So I wanna say thank you to everyone, who believes in the podcast, new and current listeners. this is not an announcement that the podcast is done or dead. This is just telling everyone thank you 

This experiment, a chance, I didn't think I would get to this level, let alone even one download. So it means a lot. And just looking at the numbers that I get from like our podcast, you know, there's been a lot of growth and that also encourages me to produce. Content, do some trial and errors on that content to see what works and what doesn't work and make the podcast, I feel, 

Better in improving certain areas. So again, this announcement, the first half of the announcement is mainly for, you know, the fans and the listeners. I want to say thank you and you guys deserve a round of applause for actually giving someone like me a chance to. Being invited into your home or your space, whichever device you listen to on your phone, app, tv, what have you.

it means a lot to me that you would take that time to listen to this podcast. 

Future Content Plans

And again, thank you for everything Now to some other announcements. I know I've been gone For quite a while and there hasn't been any new content other than what I posted previously. I had a timetable of what I wanted to do and get stuff out, but we were leading up to, the holidays and, the last episode I put out were, 

To be, that went out. We're supposed to go out a little bit sooner, but I was having some issues with our podcast hosting site. For those who don't know, it costs money. So the time I was, these episodes were going to go out. there were some financial, error on my end. that again, because of that, the episodes would not be produced or be published.

And by that time I had already gone out, I had left on holiday, so I wasn't aware that these episodes did not. Get published until I came back. And then by that time it was pretty much a scrambling to get these episodes out. there's no notification. I get just, Hey, this didn't go through and it wasn't something that I could deal with while I was away.

I had to wait till I came back. And then it's just been one kind of like, hate spinning after another. with that, then also, after the holidays gearing up for another holiday and me trying to find time to, record and put down some new content or actually catch up, on things that I've missed since I've been on holiday.

And not to mention that kind of been under the weather. So like we did like this whole blitz thing where we went to New York and then we came back, and then I had to go to a holiday party and things didn't plan or pan out the way I wanted it. Two. And so it's just been me scrambling around.

And so that kind of explains why there's this big gap, between, the episodes that have been released till now. And during that time, I've also been producing content. I'm still getting used to having a backlog of episodes. I normally do 10, and then I re-up and do 10 more on the backlog that are just already ready, edited, and ready to be published.

10 is not enough. I want to at least produce a little bit more so that way episodes can be interchangeable. so I'm thinking about maybe at least 12 or 13 episodes. backlog, maybe even more. I haven't decided on the number. But 10 will be produced.

And recorded and ready to be published, and I'll do another 10 or 12. 

Technical Issues and Solutions

what I'm saying is that part of the announcement is that that's the reason why I've been gone and there's been no episodes, as of late because holidays, financial things with my hosting site, trying to get things up and not knowing that the episodes were never uploaded.

Coming back, having to get those episodes uploaded even though they're past a deadline that I wanted them to, and now just trying to scramble and get content, available for you guys and just catching up with all the news that's been happening and all the shows that I missed while I was on my holiday.

And this kind of leads into that next announcement as what's changing? 

Content Strategy Changes

I feel like because I've had, this little hiccup, I think what I'm gonna be changing my approach into, stacking episodes, I think what we currently have now isn't sufficient enough. 

Produce more stuff recorded. and what that means is that I'm going to mean more executed and the episodes that I pick, so I can have turnaround time for those. So that means that I'm gonna be more tailored in these episodes, that we're doing. The format's not gonna change.

I think what's gonna happen is that when it comes to the planning of the episodes, I think what I'm going to do is have more of a screening PO process and then go from there. My process is normally just write down as many things as possible and then try to like, do some research.

I think we'll need more of a screening on that. It is just, for every area that we do have it be more tailored and be more dedicated, in those, that way we can have a lot more content. So I wanna say it's a changing, it's just I wanna be more streamlined.

The, I think what kind of bogs me up is just the planning part. And that needs to change so we could have more episodes. There's other podcasts. I think one I like to, mention is critical Hit. They do a lot. It's a, actual play d and d podcast. And they do something that I kind of wanna get to the point of where like they have so many episodes and backlogs of episodes that they record 

They have either one month or two month, or at least three months of just episodes, almost a year backlog of content for them to produce I think that's something I want to get close to, at least for me I want to have at least a month of content, available.

That I don't have to worry that there's not gonna be any, stoppage, between episodes or between content. It just keeps going. That's my goal and that's kind of one of the changes, is that I wanna at least have, precursor be 10 episodes or 12, but overall, want to have at least a month worth of content.

What are some other things that are changing? I believe that, the trailer, drunk trailer episodes we're probably gonna do those twice a month. I did do one and it appears that people liked it, so I feel like that is something that we're probably gonna do, have either twice a month. Three times a month if we're lucky, but it depends on scheduling.

But I believe twice a month and there might be weeks where you get two episodes, I'm not too sure yet. 'cause I do wanna release those on a Saturday. So we will see. But the goal for the drunk trailer is to either get at least twice a month for those and you know it. I wasn't sure how it would go, or if people would be receptive to it, but it turned out pretty well and it's a new kind of thing that I wanted to try, because it's not.

Something that we have a script for, but mostly just an outline and we're just mad libbing or freestyling, at that point. Because once you've had. The person who has to give you their version of reference for the trailers. They seen things just get off the rail and it's become more like a, drunk version of telephone, to be honest.

And it was very fun to do. I still get, jokes about, you know, not knowing who Russell Crow is another, and. 

New Engagement Initiatives

You know, what's changing is that, or for those who don't know, is that we now have a website domain. 

We have a website for the podcast and it's actually under, the YouTube names called arcade veritas.com. And then if you go there, it's going to be similar to what you see for a link tree. It's gonna have, our social media for both the. Podcasts on Instagram, and Twitter or X.

And you're going to be reading with like where we go for conventions. So what conventions are coming up, where can you find us? And then you can give us a contact. So there's gonna be a way for you to message, us the podcast and we'll be able to reply. And this has been a long time coming.

I've noticing that, in a way to like market the podcast itself that I wanted to do a one link or a, an alternative to link tree and we was able to find that in solo dot. TV, I believe is the link that we use. the next eventual step was just having a website and a domain that can direct people to us, to our page.

And we'll also see there is that, you'll see our Twitch, which is the arcade Veritas, where we do live streams of games that we're going. To be playing and eventually do you know, reviews of those later and, you can find those Vs on YouTube. 

You know, we have the link in the episode description. it's also in our Instagram and, Twitter account that, the website URL, where you can click on. And I just wanna make that aware that we do have that now that people can go on and engage.

Talk with us and also leave reviews If you have an idea or a show that you want us to watch contact us. that's gonna be the best way to get a hold of us. If you don't have any social media. you can go onto the website and message us, right from there and we'll get an email notification 

And if we get enough of those, we'll probably do something similar to what other podcasts have done. It's a what if type of content or what's changing content is mailbag. So that's something that if there's, you know, a need for it. Or we see like we're getting so much some engagement from it that we do a mailbag and pivoting to like what other stuff might be changing.

so far we have been lacking how our podcast have been streamlined. The format For what we have now has been really dialed in. I think that's what we're gonna be going with, with our scripts and episodes. I feel like it's, gets us to the point where we'll talk a little bit more and episodes have ranged from like 30 to 45 minutes, almost to an hour.

The only podcast that follows a script is when we do our. Nick Cage to the multiverse, episodes. That's something that we're gonna still keep continuing. We're still going through our Nick Cage films. I'm not sure we're gonna be done with those. I think for the life of the podcast, we'll still be making episodes about that.

So don't fear. we'll still be reviewing movies of Nick Cage with me and my co-host, we'll still be doing episodes of Nick Cage films. So he has a vast collection of movies. Some of them are hit and miss, but I find it entertaining where we have to watch them and then do a review and then seeing what other people talk about.

So I know that kind of format. As a form of flattery as we, I took the idea from how did this get made? And, to be honest, I think it actually works. 'cause it, you know, you get only our input, but also, you know, the input of people who actually watch these films. And letterbox, I feel like we do something a little bit different as we utilize letterbox.

Well as, how this get made does Amazon reviews. So I feel like that type of format is going to be here to stay. Nothing too changing with that, but just want to give everyone a, some updates that how we had, scripts for regular episodes and for the Nick Cage, episodes. Those are gonna stay relatively the same.

A couple things that might be changing that I'm looking to do an audio upgrade of. Currently right now, the recording setup is just, you know, my desktop and my phone with a USB mic looking to upgrade, a USB mic. And then also either looking to getting a, a laptop so that I can be more mobile.

I wanna do a big audio and device upgrade. I've been utilizing the same, desktop with headset mic for the solo episodes and then, episodes with our cohost using A USP.

Mic on my phone, and that has served pretty well, but I'm looking to upgrade that. So coming in the next couple weeks or months, I am looking to upgrade the recording, devices to make me more mobile so I can, record episodes when I'm away. So next time I do trips, I'm at a convention that I'm not home, I won't be anchored to just my desktop for solo episodes.

so that means buying gear. one of the things We're looking to change is getting a laptop so that I can, a personal laptop for myself so that way I'm not anchored to producing and recording just on a desktop and my phone. for those who don't know, it can be difficult to try to record on your phone and also look up your type of scripts and information that you need for those episodes.

There's. Multitasking. That happens a lot and it's hard to like do all of that on a very small screen though I've made it work and sometimes I've had to print out, the script, but it's just a juggling act and I want it to be more streamlined. So that's something we're gonna be changing in the future.

possibly soon to, record these episodes and get 'em out. Is that audio and my setup needs an upgrade? Also want to get an update that one of the concepts, what's changing is that, I know we did, I mentioned that we do a round table episode that has still happened. We are recorded. That. but I think what I am going to do is actually try to, edit and reduce our script to figure out how to make those episode or that type of content more streamlined because I did record it and only to realize that to do a round table, almost like a news dump, it can be very difficult.

And you have to pivot to a lot of different topics. And the time it takes to do all that, is, I wanna say time consuming. So the first episode has already been recorded. I think what will end up happening is that we're going to either see what areas we can reduce it to make it more streamlined and maybe focus on, current topics with that, I did create, an RS Feed alternative, it's called Feedly. and it allows us to have RSS feeds of, Things that we're interested in. What's changed is I used to go in and have to scour Google for the news and go through different websites and pick and choose.

I have now have this website called Feely that you are able to create RS feed or what you're looking for, and it creates like tables or essentially a readable page of different announcements or stories worthy within the subject matter that you choose. That, has been allowed me to streamline.

So that's one area that we've changed for these round tables. Second is kind of figuring out now what topics to talk about and how frequent I wanna do these round tables, because again, I'm only one person. So these announcements or these round tables are kind of like updates. Around the world probably won't be as frequent as they need to be going forward.

Another change, is going to be automatically upload and publishing. So more in the past I manually had to like be available and publish these episodes, but it's been time consuming, so we're pivoting to automatic. Publishing. So episodes, we're able to find out that the place that we host our podcast allows us to, auto publish.

the downside is that we can't auto publish our show notes or transcript, so that has to be manually done, to log in and click on it. But. Auto uploading the episode and auto marketing. the episodes are something that we are changing to. we've been trying a few on a few episodes to see how it works, to see what the timestamp is and everything like that.

We've now been, in a place where we can fully automate and free up that task, going forward, which is nice because then I can do other stuff. So we've been. trying out Adobe, which does allow for scheduling, content, to our socials and that's been working out fine for us at this moment, but we are looking at alternatives to see, after it might be a better way to do that or also.

What I want is a way to also engage with our social media account, not only automatically schedule, but have our social media. In a website where we can also engage with listeners on Instagram and Twitter slash x. So that is like the next goal is to, not having to log in to X or Instagram and engage with our listeners, 

As like a central hub where we can do that without having to log in. So that's gonna be our next thing, and we're gonna be slowly pivoting to, auto uploading. And for those who don't know, we also, do an auto edit. We have, a program that we utilize in partnership we call Dscr, which allows us to edit our, podcast in a document, file, which has been a life changer and which has allowed me to get through these editing much quicker.

Put out these episodes in a more streamlined fashion. So we're gonna be utilizing them much more. And for those probably have noticed, we've been, editing with them for a good majority of this episodes. So we've been looking out at alternatives as well, but just wanted to make that announcement that one thing that we're gonna be changing or we wanna pivot to is more, hands free uploading, and then having to engage with our listeners, in one central hub. that's the goal and dream.

I haven't found it yet, we will see. We'll, we'll slowly get there. 

Upcoming Milestones and Events

Another announcement I wanna say is that we are gearing up to get to hit R 100 episode milestone. These next episodes, by the time we listen to this, will probably already be at. 100 if you're a new listener, we are gearing up.

The next 10 episodes are gonna be, a milestone for us and for me, it shows dedication, it shows that I've stuck with something for. this long and it's still enjoyable. So again, I wanna thank everyone who has listened to this podcast and who's giving it a listen. But I wanna say this, that we are gearing up for our 100 episodes.

So these next 10 episodes are gonna be. Really entertaining. And then the 100th, which I haven't decided yet, probably is gonna be something special. So I don't know what it is yet. I'm still in the planning stage for that. But I'm very excited to hit this milestone because it is going to mean a lot.

And we're gonna want feedback from everyone for when we hit that 100 episode. pivoting to what new content's coming up. So I know I mentioned we're keeping the Round table and the drunk trailer episodes. We're still doing Nick Cage movie reviews and what we currently have right now in episodes that we're producing, but.

I also want to kind of announce it's still kind of in the works. Maybe if there might be interest is kind of like a book club or an anime watching club of some sort where people can, come in. We could all watch. Read a book, and then we can read that book. And that book in itself would probably be, a book that I end up reviewing for the podcast.

So we're looking into maybe starting a book club and what website or apps that the things I'm looking for in order to make that possible. that is something that's in the works right now is that trying to find a way to create a book. Club where we can read books from people who are not fans of the podcast, but just fans of books 

So that's something that I've been looking into. doing, and if it is possible to do, then those might end up being like a once a month. Very infrequent, because books are just, depending on the length you get through, they're pretty long. So this might end up being like filler episodes.

I haven't really thought of it yet, But you know, that's some new content that I'm looking into, doing moving on to our next thing. We are creating a Discord channel. I know pretty late to the game, we have a Twitch, but we are gonna have a Discord channel. Which, if it's done right, it'll allow people to either listen to the podcast and watch our live streams and also even kind of like watch along with us on anime, on crunchy roll.

'cause we'll be able to show what episode we're watching, what we're doing. It's still in the works because I currently Have a personal one, I don't even use it, but we're looking into creating one solely for the podcast, kind of like how we have our website.

It would be a more tailored version of that, and it will allow. people who are fans of the podcast, the streaming, another, avenue to engage with our listeners and it will be monitored by Emily. So she'll be our kind of like. the mod or the engagement for that. you guys will interact with her and have any questions, things of that nature.

that's something that we're looking to do, for the podcast. We'll just have to figure out the logistics of getting everything central because the goal would be, whenever we upload an episode. or go live. It does an automatic post from Discord. It notifies people and they'll be able to, get the episode first, 

Firsthand, if they're not already following it on Apple or Spotify, they'll be able to listen and watch the content. The Bomba, it drops. So that kind of leads me into having things being automated. Is that Discord, from what I've seen, does allow you to do that? There's a lot of, Editing a lot of tailoring to your specific needs.

So that's one thing that I'm looking at. I'm not sure if I'll have the capability to do it myself or put it out, but it's one thing that we're, I am looking at to maybe hope bringing more engagement, because that's one thing that I'm kind of lacking is that though we have listeners, we're just not getting that engagement from our listeners.

And so that's something that I want to change. Another type of content that I want to start doing is kind of like vlogging right now. for my, Twitch streams. I use a program called LightStream that allows me to stream my gaming from my console. Now this company, LightStream Studios also, has a program that, allows for the ability to IR in real life streaming.

And what I want to do is I want to be able to, when I go to conventions or travel for the podcast, do some live streaming content for the podcast, and that means I'm going to end up getting a gimbal as well. And so what I've been looking at of ways in order to connect the gimbal. And Livey video to LightStream and be able to stream content and have it have the VADs on our YouTube gaming channel as part of like the podcast experience, because I know a lot of people would like to see these conventions maybe do a walk through of like, artist alley, the merchandise, and kind of give like that experience while I'm there. So that's some kind of new content which will require me to buy a whole new devices that make that possible. it's something that I've been kind of like. Want looking into for quite some time, just hasn't, haven't had the right opportunity to do so.

So I think now would be the best kind of like pivot point to like do some logging, IRL streams if possible, on, conventions and places I'd go to and, you know, just areas kind of like, Do you have like a, some other type of content that's not audio and more like video. So we'll see how that works.

the goal is to maybe have this up for when I do go to the first convention coming up for the new year, which is City Comic-Con, and then after that's Aura Con and then should have it up and running and streamlined. Going forward, but that is my timeline, and if not, then I'll have it, ready to go by, Sura Con and that's something that I'm very excited to doing.

So be on a lookout. We'll make another announcement when, we're getting close to having that and you'll be, guys will be able to watch those VADs of just, Our time or my time at those conventions or events. 

Conclusion and Thank You

And those are kind of like the big announcements for this episode is just, thanking the listeners for bringing us to that thousand plus downloads, 

Some changes, making the streamline to make the episodes more available. Switching to automation upload to kind of free up and produce more episodes, upgrading our audio and also introducing a kind of book club type of community. Having a discord to bring in more engagement or, engage with our listeners and then also, maybe dip our toe into IRL streaming and those like the big things I want to talk about.

And also I can't forget leading us up to what I think is gonna be another milestone is our 100 episode. You know, we're close, we're 10 episodes away. everything from this point is gonna be major into getting us to our 100 episodes and beyond. So I wanna thank you guys all for listening.

And remember you can, follow the podcast on our socials. Go to our website, which is arcade veritas.com, where you'll see. All the things that's going on with the podcast, where we're going, what conventions we're going to, what events we're going to, what books we're reading, what episodes of anime we're watching.

There's an anime watch list on there that you guys can get input and see what, anime we're currently watching. And then you can watch our live streams of gameplay of games that we're playing. that will ultimately be, episode reviews later on once the game's completed. And then, of course, the podcast, listening to the podcast.

And so, again, I wanna thank everyone and, thank you for your continued support and tuning in. I'm really excited about, this. Current chapter of the second Alation, and I can't wait to share with you, what exciting things that are gonna be coming down the pipeline, content wise, podcast changes.

Again, I wanna say thank you, and then until next time, take care and catching the next one. Bye.

  📍 Okay, wow, that was, like, so much fun! A total vibe.

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