Nitro Game Injection

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Nitro Game Injection is a live streaming internet-based radio show that "is dedicated to the promotion and preservation of video game music." It was created by Kyle "KyleJCrb" Crouse and is co-hosted by Larry "Liontamer" Oji, along with part-time co-host "Suraida", and was formerly co-hosted by Audun "Akumu" Sorlie. It has been on the air since 2003, making it one of the longest-running podcasts dedicated to video game music out there, with almost 200 episodes to its credit.

Tropes used in Nitro Game Injection include:
  • Ascended Fangirl - Suraida was originally a dedicated listener. She ended up being invited onto the show for episode #142 to fill in for Larry, returning for a few more before popular demand from fans led her to becoming a semi-regular co-host.
  • Author Appeal - Both NGI and Kyle's spinoff show GameFuel feature a disproportionate amount of rock and metal music over other genres.
  • Audience Participation - There is a live chat during the show, and the hosts will sometimes solicit questions for interview guests or interact with the chat in some way on the air. Especially invoked during the Brental Floss live Q&A segment.
  • Black and Nerdy - Larry Oji. Full stop. Not only does he love video game music, he is also a huge Professional Wrestling geek.
  • Background Music - Used during host segments, of course. They generally use the music from classic 8- and 16-bit games.
  • Catch Phrase - Larry has a whole slew of "Larryisms."

"Super-badass!"
"For the lay-dayz!"
"That's HOT!"
"Nah man!"
"MCRIIIIIIIIIB!"
"Hell nah!"
"Baller!"
"Rollin' on dubs!"
"Damn, son!"
"Today's episode of Nitro Game Injection is sponsored by..."
"That's how we do!"
"Pretty dope!"

    • You could argue Kyle has a few of these, too.

"Keep it here, this is Nitro Game Injection."

"It's like a nitro-boosted crunch INJECTED right into your mouth!"

  • Cluster F-Bomb - Larry will occasionally drop one of these.
  • Creator Breakdown - The show has gone on several extended hiatuses. This is usually the reason why.
  • Doing It for the Art - While they have been known to invoke Money, Dear Boy for laughs (in reality they haven't received more than a few small donations), listen to these guys for a while and you'll believe that they truly do love the video game music medium and gaming in general.
  • Early-Bird Cameo - Larry appeared as an interviewee and a guest co-host during the Akumu era before becoming a permanent addition.
  • Early Installment Weirdness - The very first episode of the show was actually referred to on-air as "Yellow Dart Radio", with Kyle sometimes referring to himself as "The Yellow Dart", a tenuous Shout-Out to the nickname Strong Bad gives to a person named Kyle Smith in the "english paper" email. The earliest intro for the show featured a character called "The Nerdy Guy" (voiced by Microsoft Sam) answering an email, complete with gratuitous typing noises. Some of these early episodes also featured Kyle himself answering actual emails on the air in an attempt to be like Strong Bad. At least until he realized he wasn't witty or funny and nobody was sending him any emails. Not too much later, "The Yellow Dart" nickname was pretty much dropped.
    • The sound quality of the first 79 episodes sounds like it was recorded over a phone line (24-32kbps, to precise) because the stream server was hosted on Kyle's local connection, and that was the highest quality said connection could allow for while still maintaining a decent amount of listeners. With episode 80, the quality was raised to 80kbps when a dedicated stream hosting server was purchased. Later, the stream was upgraded to the 128kbps quality the show still broadcasts in today.
    • Kyle hosted the show by himself until episode 100. Arguably it became a very different show with the introduction of co-hosts, guests, and interviews, which is why Kyle created the GameFuel spinoff to preserve the music-centric format that fans still enjoyed.
  • Everything Is Racist - Often invoked by Larry.
  • Geek - The whole lot of them. Especially when it comes to gaming.
  • Gratuitous Japanese - There's usually at least one Japanese game composer mentioned in each episode, with the pronunciation typically being butchered by Kyle or Larry.
    • Invoked by Suraida's name, which is Japanese for "Slider."
  • Guest Star Party Member - There have been a number of guest co-hosts on the show, usually related to the video game music scene in some way.
  • Hey, It's That Guy! - Larry used to be host of his own video game music radio show at Emory University, called VG Frequency. Kyle also called into VGF several times, and the two had a little bit of a Friendly Rivalry.
  • Large Ham - Larry. With him, EVERY episode is sponsored by ham.
  • Mascot - Promotional images and art (such as at the top of this page) feature Ariane, a character created by Kyle and based heavily on Capcom's "reploid" concept from Mega Man X. She plays guitar (a Gibson SG, averting All Guitars Are Stratocasters), has really long hair, and has a motherfuckin' gun for a hand.
  • Merchandise-Driven - The show now has its own fake cereal tie-in: Nitro CRUNCH Injection.
  • Missing Episode - Two, in fact: Episodes #6 and #54 have no known recordings. Kyle isn't even sure #54 ever actually happened...
  • Mood Whiplash - During the eight anniversary episode, the usual lighthearted mood of the show was put on hold as former co-host Akumu returned to pay tribute to Fumapero, a Doujin music arranger who had been missing and displaced after the devastating earthquake in Sendai, Japan. Luckily, she announced a few days later that she was okay and had returned home.
    • Happened again when Akumu, who was a close friend of recently deceased (as of 2011) game composer Ryu Umemoto, was brought back to discuss Umemoto-san's life and career as a tribute to him.
  • National Stereotypes - Sometimes used for comic effect, especially when Canadian jmr appeared on the show.
    • The crew often make some lighthearted fun of a few of the very Engrish names of songs or performers, particularly from the Doujin scene.
  • Needs More Love - The entire premise of the show. From the FAQ on the website: "We have an undying love and appreciation for video game music, and the various arrangement/remix scenes surrounding it. We want to share this music with the world, and to give exposure to this great art form. We want to let you know about great musicians and arrangers that you may have never heard of to encourage you to check out more works from them. That is essentially why we have created these shows."
  • No Indoor Voice - Larry is, according to himself, "a very loud black man." Even when he does try to be quiet, he's loud.
  • No Pronunciation Guide - Both Kyle and Larry typically fail epically when it comes to pronouncing Japanese names. Which come up quite often, given this is a show about video game music.
    • Averted with Suraida, who has actually studied some Japanese and has a fairly decent grasp on the pronunciation.
  • Once an Episode - OverClocked Remix almost never fails to be mentioned, usually by Larry.
    • On most episodes since she's joined the show, Suraida, the show's resident artist (and arguably the only host of the show with a tangible talent) takes a drawing challenge from one of the guys, or comes up with her own related to the episode. You can check out the results (and the rest of her art gallery) on her Deviant ART page.
  • One of Us - Not only are the three hosts extremely geeky in general, but they're all familiar with TV Tropes, and Kyle is a self-admitted troper. They even have an episode called Go-Karting with Bowser, and another called Amazon Brigade...
  • Only Known by Their Nickname - Suraida never goes by her real name on the air.
    • Larry very often refers to his girlfriend as simply "The Lady."
  • Overly Long Gag - The music in GameFuel #80 consisted entirely of thirty-nine remixes of Wily Stage 1 from Mega Man 2. Appropriately enough, it was titled "Endurance".
  • Product Placement - Played for laughs on many episodes with Larry, who more often than not consumes at least one food product during the show and proclaims that the episode is sponsored by whatever food he happens to be eating at the time. Even if it's not a branded product.
    • Lampshaded by Suraida once when she proclaimed that an episode was sponsored by blueberry muffins.
    • Played straight with OverClocked Remix. It's mentioned at least Once an Episode, which isn't so surprising considering Larry's position as Head Submissions Evaluator for OCR.
  • Put on a Bus - For episode #100, Audun "AkumuHau" Sorlie joined the show as a new co-host. The show went on a lengthy hiatus after episode #112, and when it came back, nary a mention of Akumu was made and he was replaced by Larry. He has returned as a guest a few times, however.
  • Refuge in Audacity - Par for the course during Akumu's run on the show.
  • Self-Deprecation - Usually Kyle's schtick.
  • Shameless Self Promotion - Larry, Head Submissions Evaluator of OverClocked Remix, is never one to skip on a chance to bring up the site.
  • Shout-Out - Guess what the title of episode #61 is.
  • Special Guest - A number of notable ones over the years, including:
  • Spin-Off - Kyle's other show, GameFuel (no, not sponsored by Mountain Dew.) It more closely follows the format established by NGI when Kyle hosted the show by himself prior to episode #100. It features more of a focus on music (including listener requests) and less on banter. Both Larry and Suraida have turned up on GameFuel before, as well as several other guests.
  • Squick - Typical during the Akumu era, but crossed the line not once, not twice, but countless times during the episode when they interviewed SnappleMan.
  • Straight Man and Wise Guy - Kyle is the Straight Man and Larry is the Wise Guy. They often play off each other in this way.
  • The Chick - Suraida, the show's resident artist, who was added to bring a touch of class to the show according to Larry. She isn't extremely knowledgeable on video game music like the other two, but loves it just as much.
  • The Hero - Larry, the charismatic on-air personality everyone loves.
  • The Lancer - It may be Kyle's show, and he does do most of the behind-the-scenes work on it (including selecting the music played on every episode,) but he usually allows the more well-spoken Larry to lead the discussion, especially during interviews. He's been known to refer to himself as the Jamie to Larry's Adam.
  • The Quiet One - Suraida doesn't say too much. Half the time it's because she's busy drawing something awesome.
  • Theme Tune - Has gone through several Theme Tune phases: Sometimes the show has a recurring song (or a rotation of recurring songs) for several months, then it switches to simply starting the show with the first song on the playlist for the week, or a song that fits that particular episodes' theme. All songs that have been used are Real Song Theme Tunes from video games or video game remixes, including:
  • Token Trio - Not intentionally evoked, but Kyle is the white guy, Larry is the black guy, and Suraida is the Asian girl.
  • Two Guys and a Girl - Without the plot and the romantic tension, as both Kyle and Larry are happily in relationships.
  • Word Salad Title - How the hell does one inject nitro into games?
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