The Summer of Confabs continues with a conversation featuring Ben Fritz, L.A. Times entertainment reporter; Kirk Battle (AKA L.B. Jeffries) from PopMatters and Banana Pepper Martinis; and Nick LaLone from Before Game Design.




We
discuss the Nintendo platform conundrum, left-behind gameplay, and the elusiveness of innovation, among other topics.




Stay tuned for the last confab I hope you enjoy
them.




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Recent L.A. Times articles by Ben FritzEssays by L.B. Jeffries at PopMattersBanana Pepper Martinis - L.B. Jeffries' blogBefore Game Design - Nick LaLone's blogFor the Love of Anomie

Brainy Gamer Podcast - Episode 25 vol. 4

The Brainy Gamer is a podcast and blog devoted to thoughtful conversation about video games.

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Design

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Fashion & Beauty

Visual Arts

In this episode I make my guest Steve Gaynor squirm uncomfortably in his seat. Of course, we also discuss his new game Gone Home, creating authentic characters, an important lesson from Ken Levine, and a secret room no reviewer has yet discovered. Plus other things.

I hope you enjoy.

Brainy Gamer Podcast - Episode 42

This is the final episode in my series of conversations about the State of Games. I encourage you to listen to the first  three shows featuring a variety of smart and thoughtful guests.
In this edition I talk with Kirk Hamilton, features editor at Kotaku, and Brett Douville, Lead Programmer at Bethesda Game Studios.We discuss the impact of indie games on AAA developers, "Anita and the cesspool," and why this is the best of all possible times to be a gamer...among many other topics. 
I hope you enjoy.

Brainy Gamer Podcast - Episode 41

This is the third in a short series of conversations I'm hosting on the State of Games. I encourage you to listen to the first two episodes and stay tuned for the final installment, which will appear in the coming days.
In this edition I talk with Tom Bissell, essayist, critic, and most recently script-writer for the new Gears of War: Judgment game. We discuss writing for games, the perils of Metacritic, the future of storytelling in games, and many other topics. 
I hope you enjoy.

Brainy Gamer Podcast - Episode 40

This is the second in a short series of conversations I'm hosting on the State of Games. I encourage you to listen to the first episode and stay tuned for the final two which will appear in the coming days.
In this edition I talk with Chris Suellentrop, video game critic for the New York Times, and Steve Gaynor of the Fullbright Company, an indie game studio developing Gone Home, a finalist for the Excellence in Narrative award at the Indpendent Games Festival later this month. We discuss the transitional state of the game industry, the relationship of the critic to the designer, and the need for a proper festival for games ala Sundance, among other topics. 
I hope you enjoy.

Brainy Gamer Podcast - Episode 39

This is the first of several roundtable conversations I'm hosting on the State of Games, an admittedly unwieldy topic, but well-timed, I think, in this transitional period for games and the game industry.
In this edition I talk with Leigh Alexander and Brendan Keogh, two of the leading critical voices examining games and the culture surrounding them. We discuss the "ecology of games," play as communication, the culture wars, and why we need to "talk about the tree," among other topics. 
I hope you enjoy.

Brainy Gamer Podcast - Episode 25 vol. 4

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