Arcade Bookshop

Your miniature answer to the full-length episodes of Arcade Bookshop! Every week we take about 30 minutes to catch up on video game progress, book progress, video game news, writing and publishing updates, and more!

Today Bryce is all alone due to some last-minute scheduling issues! He talks a bit about the freshly available Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door remake for the Nintendo Switch, as well as some thoughts on the rumored Playstation handheld console coming in the future. Bryce goes over his new chapbook of poetry available for preorder and reads the synopsis, then goes into a little detail about The Quick and the Dead by Martin O'Cadhain. 

Get in on the advance sale period of Bryce's book! It's a tad bit cheaper and Bryce hardly makes anything from these sales, but it would just be cool to know people are reading. https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/airplane-graveyard-by-bryce-johle/

Don't forget Arcade Bookshop will be at 3 Rivers Comicon in Pittsburgh the weekend of June 1st! We'll have tons of stickers available if you stop by to chat. 

Listen to our most recent episode #21 on Sea of Stars! It's a very decent episode and definitely worth the listen.

Regular episodes of Arcade Bookshop air every other Monday. The next brand new episode of Arcade Bookshop airs 6/3. We're covering a book that reminded us of Sea of Stars, a masterful piece of Manga called Vagabond by Takehiko Inoue! Another pretty interesting conversation about Japanese culture, literature, and manga.

Instagram @arcade_bookshop

TikTok @arcadebookshop

[email protected]

In Episode 21, the guys open by address Caleb's extremely limited technology when it comes to his ability and willingness to play new games! What's the deal?!

In the core of the show, Bryce and Caleb talk about Sabotage Studios' near-perfect new JRPG, Sea of Stars! They talk about what makes this game's story unique by comparing and contrasting it with the classic storytelling implemented in JRPG-style video games. And what is it within Japanese culture that makes JRPG stories what they are?

The fellas start to frame this game against the book they read with it, which was the famous manga, Vagabond by Takehiko Inoue. This conversation will continue in Episode #22!

Play and read along with the guys! See the show schedule for the future episodes below!

Show Schedule:

6/3: Vagabond by Takehiko Inoue

6/17: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

7/1: Return of the Obra Dinn

(Dates subject to change at any time, but these are all real episodes!)

Send game and book pairing suggestions or comments to [email protected].

Follow us on TikTok @ArcadeBookshop.

Find us and send us a message @arcade_bookshop on Instagram.

Your miniature answer to the full-length episodes of Arcade Bookshop! Every week we take about 30 minutes to catch up on video game progress, book progress, video game news, writing and publishing updates, and more!

Today we dive into what the future of video games looks like amidst an era of massive layoffs and video game studio closures. What's going to happen in the next decade or so of gaming? Specifically, we address the latest news with X-Box/Microsoft. After that we touch on Bryce's new chapbook of poetry, Airplane Graveyard, and other assorted writing updates. 

Get in on the advance sale period of Bryce's book! It's a tad bit cheaper and Bryce hardly makes anything from these sales, but it would just be cool to know people are reading. https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/airplane-graveyard-by-bryce-johle/

Don't forget Arcade Bookshop will be at 3 Rivers Comicon in Pittsburgh the weekend of June 1st! We'll have tons of stickers available if you stop by to chat. 

Listen to our two most recent episodes #19 and #20 on StarTropics and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

Regular episodes of Arcade Bookshop air every other Monday. The next brand new episode of Arcade Bookshop airs 5/20. We're covering the incredible JRPG by Sabotage Studios, Sea of Stars! 

Instagram @arcade_bookshop

TikTok @arcadebookshop

[email protected]

Your miniature answer to the full-length episodes of Arcade Bookshop! Every week we take about 30 minutes to catch up on video game progress, book progress, video game news, writing and publishing updates, and more!

Today we talk briefly about the state of the podcast and potential future reformatting ideas. We also bring up Bryce's poetry chapbook presales starting soon, address all that Helldivers 2 nonsense, and the Nintendo Switch successor announcement about when they might announce it. 

Don't forget Arcade Bookshop will be at 3 Rivers Comicon in Pittsburgh the weekend of June 1st! We'll have tons of stickers available if you stop by to chat. 

Listen to our two most recent episodes on StarTropics and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

Regular episodes of Arcade Bookshop air every other Monday. The next brand new episode of Arcade Bookshop airs 5/20. We're covering the incredible JRPG by Sabotage Studios, Sea of Stars! 

Instagram @arcade_bookshop

TikTok @arcadebookshop

[email protected]

In Episode 20, the guys open by talking about a grumpy man in a coffee shop.

In the core of the show, Bryce and Caleb talk about Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a novel by Douglas Adams. They discuss writing overly convenient circumstances and making them believable, laughing through the whole book, negative similes, and more.

The fellas bring this story back to StarTropics by talking about Douglas Adams's version of science fiction, and some conversation about British culture and mentalities, as opposed to the Americana in StarTropics. 

Play and read along with the guys! See the show schedule for the future episodes below!

Show Schedule:

5/20: Sea of Stars

6/3: Vagabond by Takehiko Inoue

6/17: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

7/1: Return of the Obra Dinn

(Dates subject to change at any time, but these are all real episodes!)

Send game and book pairing suggestions or comments to [email protected].

Follow us on TikTok @ArcadeBookshop.

Find us and send us a message @arcade_bookshop on Instagram.

Your miniature answer to the full-length episodes of Arcade Bookshop! Every week we take about 30 minutes to catch up on video game progress, book progress, video game news, writing and publishing updates, and more!

Today we talk briefly about Bryce's adventures in Iceland, we discuss a bit about a spooky game called Still Wakes the Deep coming soon, an interesting Batman announcement, and crafting poetry specifically for a "magazine" who publishes new issues each month in the form of Instagram posts.

Don't forget Arcade Bookshop will be at 3 Rivers Comicon in Pittsburgh the weekend of June 1st! We'll have tons of stickers available if you stop by to chat. 

Regular episodes of Arcade Bookshop air every other Monday. Listen to a brand new episode covering Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (sister episode to StarTropics) on Monday, 5/6!

Instagram @arcade_bookshop

TikTok @arcadebookshop

[email protected]

In Episode 19, the guys are recording from the Drunken Pen Writing Podcast studio, which you can see for yourself if you watch on YouTube! 

In the core of the show, the guys talk about StarTropics for the NES. Bryce and Caleb talk about aliens and weird takes on Americana. This game is absolutely bananas.

Play and read along with the guys! See the show schedule for the future episodes below!

Show Schedule:

5/6: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

5/20: Sea of Stars

6/3: Vagabond by Takehiko Inoue

(Dates subject to change at any time, but these are all real episodes!)

Send game and book pairing suggestions or comments to [email protected].

Follow us on TikTok @ArcadeBookshop.

Find us and send us a message @arcade_bookshop on Instagram.

In a special guest interview episode of Arcade Bookshop, Bryce and Caleb speak with Nicolas Obregon, author of the Inspector Iwata Series, which currently includes Bluelight Yokohama, Sins as Scarlet, and Unknown Male.

Obregon talks travel writing, what it's like growing up with multiple origins, and how being well-traveled influences writing. The guys also discuss how video games and books lend from each other, and whether video games should be considered culturally vital, just as much as books or film. 

Check out Nicolas Obregon's books anywhere, or on obregonbooks.com.

Stay tuned next Monday for a brand new episode of Arcade Bookshop covering the NES classic, StarTropics. 

Instagram @arcade_bookshop.

TikTok @arcadebookshop

Contact Us: [email protected]

Your miniature answer to the full-length episodes of Arcade Bookshop! Every week we take about 30 minutes to catch up on video game progress, book progress, video game news, writing and publishing updates, and more!

Today we talk briefly about the eclipse and conspiracy theories, a more detailed conversation about the new Sand Land video game based on Akira Toriyama's manga of the same name (coming out 4/26!), and our thoughts on the new Fallout TV show. 

Don't forget Arcade Bookshop will be at 3 Rivers Comicon in Pittsburgh the weekend of June 1st! We'll have tons of stickers available if you stop by to chat. 

Keep an eye on our IG for updates, but as of right now, no Arcade Cafe for two weeks while Bryce is in Iceland!

Regular episodes of Arcade Bookshop air every other Monday. Listen to a brand new episode covering StarTropics for the NES on Monday, 4/22!

Instagram @arcade_bookshop

TikTok @arcadebookshop

[email protected]

In Episode 18, our video got jacked up and we're temporarily back to audio-only! No worries, we should be back with video for StarTropics in two weeks. Also, Bryce and Caleb talk about those stupid TikTok videos they made back in the winter.

In the core of the show, the guys talk about The Sound and The Fury by William Faulkner. Bryce talks about how he tends to analyze his literature differently depending on how it's presented; overall, Caleb turned out to be much more observant and analytical through this novel, because of its notorious difficulty which completely disabled Bryce.

The guys agree to the story's messages about the fall of the American South in the beginning of the 20th century. They discuss the many different perspectives and writing styles used throughout the book, as well as some of the surprisingly dark subtleties and what Faulkner could have meant by them. 

Play and read along with the guys! See the show schedule for the future episodes below!

Show Schedule:

4/22: StarTropics (NES)

5/6: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

5/20: Sea of Stars

6/3: Vagabond by Takehiko Inoue

(Dates subject to change at any time, but these are all real episodes!)

Send game and book pairing suggestions or comments to [email protected].

Follow us on TikTok @ArcadeBookshop.

Find us and send us a message @arcade_bookshop on Instagram.