July 7, 2017
A commissioned show from Mark Lucksch. First thing I said when I saw the art was "No anime." Mark assured me that with its writer based in the west and Korean rather than Japanese artwork, as well as lack of animation that this text-adventure available on Steam was not, in fact, anime.
After many hours of playing through this tale of an intelligent, female consciousness inside a computer on a spaceship, with its themes of oppressive, patriarchal tradition, and a woman's prerogative, we both had a rather... strong reaction.
Enjoy?
Next week: Gargoyles
March 3, 2017
Welcome to a show which explores why, after decades of producing consoles and video games, Nintendo feels special in a way that the others do not. More than two dozen people have recorded their memories and insight and sent them to me to arrange. A picture begins to emerge of a troubled relationship with someone capable of amazing creative endeavours and baffling business decisions. Someone who many of us can never fully let go because of the power of these happy memories of childhood, family and the hundreds of gaming worlds which we charted together (some of us literally, you had to draw your maps in pencil back then).
As the Switch is launched we look back on what the emergence of a new console meant to us, and why we always come back to a place of hope.
Infinite thank yous to my guests, without which this show would not have been possible.
1. Intro*
2. Brendan Agnew
3. Sam Chapter
4. James Batchelor
5. Collin
6. Daniel Floyd
7. Daniel Den Heijer
8. Toby Jungius
9. James Carter
10. Joshua Garrity
11. My Old Friend Nintendo (Alex)
12. Paschal Dooley
13. Chris O Regan
14. Leon Cox
15. Blast Processing (Lyra)
16. Bob Chipman
17. Neil Taylor
18. Nama Chibitty
19. Derrick Ritchie
20. James Perkins
21. Gary and Imogen Blower
22. Dan Mayer
23. Darren Gargette
24. Holly Dotson
25. Cartridge Bros
26. Jason Slate
27. Matt Wardle
28. Laureta Sela
29. Alex Shaw
30. Lyra Shaw
*Voices in the opening montage also include Alexander Jahans, Gustav Dahl and Johan Kristian Milde
October 7, 2016
Kicking off our Halloween SPOOKtacular in style.
This is a deep dive into the very first Resident Evil game, as well as the GameCube remake and the HD remake of the remake. By no means the first survival horror, but a definite landmark in the genre and a stone cold classic that is somehow better today than it was in 1996.
Far from the clodhopping buffoonery of the movie series the first game is a deceptively simple premise. Two special forces units investigating a bizarre series of murders which leads them to a darkened and horrifying mansion, itself the greatest character in this series. Before too long you're solving elaborate puzzles, avoiding traps, combing through rooms to find useful items, stockpiling ammunition (which if you're playing on the right difficulty setting for you there will always be scant available) and fending off attacks from the shadows from all sorts of bloodcurdling monsters.
It's nothing short of a masterpiece, endlessly replayable and now with the HD remaster the obtuse control scheme is fixed.
With me is Neil Taylor of TheKidDogg on YouTube (and you should check out his Resident Evil video retrospective here)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH9jfP2Sask
Laura Kate Dale AKA Laura K Buzz of projects too numerous to name (here's her Patreon) https://www.patreon.com/LauraKBuzz/posts
And we're also joined by my good friend Derrick Ritchie.
February 20, 2013
[Gonzo #124]
This episode focuses on the 2013 reboot of the long-established Lara Croft franchise. My guests and I go into great detail as to the strengths of this game, it’s alarmingly serious tone, it’s abandonment of the franchise staples of the Mary-Sueperwoman and enforced fiendish puzzling, the new narrative thrust, the frantic combat, the potential for exploration and most of all the completely transformed central character herself. We also outline clearly why it’s neither an Uncharted clone nor torture porn, how it’s already raising the bar on third-person action and how tricky it’s going to be to write a sequel that does this initial outing justice.
With me on this nightmarish trip to the island are Sharon Shaw, Matt Ramsey, David Merrett, Paul Gibson and Jerome McIntosh. All key figures in the Gonzo Planet community.
February 19, 2013
[SOEE #49]
This is the full, combined trilogy of podcasts about GamerGate; How it developed, what its effects have been and how we can move forwards.
For the first show I had eight contributors, two of whom would like to remain anonymous, the other six were; M.P.J. Dillon, Holly Dotson, Gavin Greene, A. Reece England, Livio De La Cruz and Kevin Murphy.
Nine more contributions make up the second part. Some were in response to Volume 1, some elaborated on ideas laid down in that one, others were simply inspired to speak on hearing about this series.
