# Johnny Cage "Daniel Pesina" Interview Fatality!

**Source:** RetroRalph  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2019-05-07  
**Duration:** 4m 59s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEGSmA3yYoU

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## Analysis

RetroRalph discusses a failed audio recording from an interview with Daniel Pesina (actor who played Johnny Cage and other characters in Mortal Kombat) at a 2019 video game conference in Bloomington Normal, Illinois. Due to equipment failure, the entire interview audio was lost, though the host remains committed to rescheduling. The video pivots to offering signed Mortal Kombat memorabilia giveaways with trivia contest mechanics.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Daniel Pesina attended the second annual video game conference in Bloomington Normal, Illinois in 2019 — _RetroRalph, opening segment describing the event location and year_
- [HIGH] RetroRalph's audio recorder failed to capture the entire interview despite microphone audio sounding good in real-time — _RetroRalph explaining technical failure: 'the shotgun mic just didn't pick it up because it was so noisy in that facility. It sounded really good in the microphone it just for some reason just didn't record.'_
- [HIGH] The camcorder backup audio was the only usable recording from the event — _RetroRalph: 'The only audio we got was from the camcorder itself and the shotgun mic just didn't pick it up'_
- [HIGH] Daniel Pesina's dojo is located in Chicago, approximately three hours from the conference location — _RetroRalph discussing potential rescheduling options: 'if I have Tee'd Off drive Tee'd Off his dojo in Chicago, which is three hours away'_
- [HIGH] RetroRalph obtained multiple signed Mortal Kombat memorabilia items from Daniel Pesina for giveaways — _RetroRalph listing giveaway items: Mortal Kombat 1 Johnny Cage cards with various messages and signatures_

### Notable Quotes

> "Heartbroken is not the actual right word for what I feel right now as far as going on."
> — **RetroRalph**, ~2:30
> _Expresses emotional distress over the recording failure and lost opportunity to share the interview_

> "it looked awesome, and I really wish it had turned out. The only audio we got was from the camcorder itself and the shotgun mic just didn't pick it up because it was so noisy in that facility."
> — **RetroRalph**, ~4:15
> _Detailed technical explanation of the equipment failure in a noisy venue environment_

> "I'm actually trying Tee'd Off get a chance Tee'd Off be able Tee'd Off re-interview him, and I'll either do that if I have Tee'd Off drive Tee'd Off his dojo in Chicago, which is three hours away, or I'm gonna try and see if I can do it over Skype."
> — **RetroRalph**, ~3:45
> _Describes contingency plans for rescheduling the interview despite geographic distance_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| RetroRalph | person | Video content creator and host of the Retro Retrospect series; experienced equipment failure during interview |
| Daniel Pesina | person | Actor who portrayed Johnny Cage, Sub-Zero, Scorpion, and Reptile in Mortal Kombat series; operates a dojo in Chicago; provided signed memorabilia for giveaways |
| Ralph | person | Mentioned as providing encouragement to RetroRalph regarding the failed recording situation |
| Bloomington Normal Video Game Conference | event | Second annual video game conference held in 2019 where the interview attempt occurred |
| Mortal Kombat | game | Fighting game franchise; Daniel Pesina portrayed multiple characters in the original series |
| Mortal Kombat 1 | game | Original Mortal Kombat game featuring Johnny Cage character portrayed by Daniel Pesina |
| Mortal Kombat 2 | game | Sequel featuring ninja characters portrayed by Daniel Pesina |
| Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 | game | Third installment featuring multiple ninja characters from the series |
| Johnny Cage | game | Character name in Mortal Kombat series portrayed by Daniel Pesina; featured on signed giveaway memorabilia |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Interview Recording Failure, Equipment Technical Malfunction
- **Secondary:** Mortal Kombat Franchise History, Video Content Creation Challenges, Memorabilia Giveaway

### Sentiment

**Negative** (-0.65) — RetroRalph expresses significant disappointment and emotional distress over the recording failure, describing heartbreak and frustration. However, sentiment partially recovers toward the end with resolution to reschedule and positive pivot to giveaway offerings.

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## Transcript

You're watching Retro Rouse. And again, get over here! Hey everyone! Welcome to another Rouse Retrospect. So today, we're actually here in Bloomington Normal, Illinois for the second annual video game conference here in 2019. And I promised you guys something really special today for today's retrospect, and I'm gonna deliver. So we're actually here, not only to look for video games, cause I'm in the in the market for a couple of them that I'm looking for, and maybe a couple systems. But also, we have a very special guest that we're going to be interviewing, and that is Daniel Pacina. Yes, Daniel Pacina, the Johnny Cage, Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Reptile, plays a bunch of the ninjas, and I can't wait to actually get a chance to talk to him, and why don't you come on for the ride? Let's go. Or at least I would, except for one huge issue. After we got back from Illinois, and showing off, basically going through the interview, and talking with Daniel Fasina, it turned out to be a great interview. This guy is one of my childhood heroes and it was fantastic to actually meet him and get a chance to talk to him and stuff like that And when I got back I found out that guess what My audio recorder that was holding in my hand recorded none of the audio Heartbroken is not the actual right word for what I feel right now as far as going on And if you talk to any YouTuber like I think every YouTuber has gone through something like this where they basically have a video that they try to do that is important to them and something just horrific happens. And that's kind of what happened today. And honestly, right now, like I said, I'm in an emotional state where disappointment and heartbreak is just not enough to describe what's going on. Now it's kind of like, I was a little mad because I was like, man, they're going to take the ring plan and they're going to put it in. And I talked to Ralph about it, and he's trying to be really encouraging, and I truly appreciate that. This is really important to me, and now I will say this. I am reaching out to Daniel Pacina. He's a great guy. He's fantastic. And he's easy to reach out to. I'm actually trying to get a chance to be able to re-interview him, and I'll either do that if I have to drive to his dojo in Chicago, which is three hours away, or I'm gonna try and see if I can do it over Skype. So either way, we're gonna try and do that again. And I wanna apologize, because I was really looking forward to actually sharing a really fantastic interview. Like I said, it looked awesome, and I really wish it had turned out The only audio we got was from the camcorder itself and the shotgun mic just didn pick it up because it so noisy in that facility It sounded really good in the microphone it just for some reason just didn record It's not the first time this recorder has done something like that too, but it is disappointing nonetheless. I'm going to go ahead and put a positive spin on this video because one, the interview will come. I'm going to try and get it to do it again and it's going to take like a week or two to get it. But one awesome thing did happen this weekend that I'd actually like to share with you guys And one of those things is basically I got some extra autographs from Daniel Cassina himself to give away for the channel So I've got a couple of looks like Mortal Kombat 1 Johnny Cage's one says flawless victory with his signature The other one says you got caged Again, these have the CISSEAL approval as well as his autograph. And I also got one that looks like the friendship Johnny Cage, or to my best fan, Cage. Then it's got his signature, which is MDP, which is Master Daniel Pacino. I do want to give those away, and here's how you can win it. And how you can win these is by answering five trivia questions that I came up with for Johnny Cage and Daniel Pacino And here are those five questions Question number one What was the title of the award movie Johnny Cage starred in Question number two what Johnny Cage the character real name Third what was Johnny Cage ex-wife's name? Four, Daniel Pesina himself played a henchman to a very famous supervillain in a blockbuster movie. What was the name of the Superbit. Question number five. Which two ninjas that had representation in Mortal Kombat 1, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 did Daniel Ficina not play? So if you can answer all five of those questions correctly and send the results to retroralphcontest at gmail.com, we'll pick three winners at random and you'll get a chance to win one of those three pictures. We'll let the first person pick which picture they want and then they'll leave the other two to be decided between the last two people. I do apologize that the interview didn't go without a hitch because, again, no one's more heartbroken about this than I am. I do feel horrible about it not working out, but we will have the interview very shortly, so we just have to wait a little bit longer. If you guys could, please subscribe to the channel so you guys don't miss when the interview goes live and don't forget to hit that bell for notifications if you want to see more Retro Ralph. We'll see you guys on the next Ralph's Retrospect. See ya.

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: be922267-033b-4458-84d5-358feb6d44a3*