Carlos and RK Taylor discuss various forms of microtransactions. From extra lives in Candy Crush to Rocket League’s Rocket Pass, the hosts analyze the merits of free-to-play games charging for non-essential features. They explore the moral weight of microtransactions, camouflage cosmetics, whales, the origins of microtransactions, gacha games, hard determinism, and rigged algorithms. 

Intro- 00:00:00 

D-Pad Delights- 00:00:27 

Deeper into the D-Pad- 00:12:09 

Change of Heart- 01:05:38

Outro- 01:11:30

Edit: Double Fine is owned by Microsoft, rather than the other way around.

Special thanks to 8-bit Jazz & Kevin MacLeod for supplying music for the show and Julia Eldred for creating the artwork.

Writer RK Taylor and game developer Carlos Gutierrez explore all things crunch. Topics include the different types of crunch, burnout, the ecological factors that give rise to crunch, appropriate compensation, moral ramifications, and collective action. Tangentially, they also explore sentimentality in video games, untrustworthy bananas, and eating too many ice cream sandwiches. 

Intro-00:00:00 

D-Pad Delights-00:00:49 

Deeper Into the D-Pad-00:12:10 

Change of Heart-01:11:45 

Outro-01:16:35

Special thanks to 8-bit Jazz & Kevin MacLeod for supplying music for the show and Julia Eldred for creating the artwork.

Carlos and RK Taylor discuss the horrors of being a child during ye olde plague. 

Special thanks to 8-bit Jazz and Kevin MacLeod for supplying music for the show.

Carlos and RK discuss the myriad ways games have benefited society. On the journey, they also discuss hardcore DDR players, vocational training videogames, using virtual reality to overcome PTSD, architecture in Assassin’s Creed, a dissertation on Scribblenauts, Neuroscape, and videogame biofeedback. 

Intro- 0:00:00 

D-Pad Delights- 0:00:30 

Deeper into the D-Pad- 0:11:49 

Change of Heart- 00:59:00 

Outro- 01:07:52

Links: 

Utilizing Scribblenauts to Increase Reading Comprehension and Improve Literacy Skills of Third Grade Students (dissertation by Norris Darell Parker): https://thescholarship.ecu.edu/bitstream/handle/10342/4846/PARKER-DOCTORALDISSERTATION-2015.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Neuroscape: https://neuroscape.ucsf.edu/

Biofeedback: https://www.mightier.com/how-it-works/

Special thanks to 8-bit Jazz & Kevin MacLeod for supplying music for the show and Julia Eldred for creating the artwork.

On the second feature-length episode of Deep in the D-Pad, Carlos Gutierrez and RK Taylor discuss the meaning of the word “gamer” and how the term has evolved with the culture. They also mention the joy of skippable cutscenes, Candy Crush, the number of gamers worldwide, hardcore vs. casual gaming, trash talk, and Tetris grand masters.

Intro- 0:00:00 

D-Pad Delights- 0:00:21 

Deeper into the D-Pad- 0:05:33 

Change of Heart- 00:57:58 

Outro- 01:01:16. 

Special thanks to 8-bit Jazz & Kevin MacLeod for supplying music for the show and Julia Eldred for creating the artwork.

The guys juxtapose postmodern and post-postmodern games.

Special thanks to 8-bit Jazz and Kevin MacLeod for supplying music for the show.

Welcome to a brand new podcast that explores all things gaming from an intellectual lens. Join videogame designer Carlos Gutierrez and writer RK Taylor as they discuss what distinguishes games from other forms of art. Over the course of their conversation they also mention pranking fathers, MAN HANDS, ripping off EB Games, art installations like RandyLand, win/loss conditions, and virtual reality immersion.

Intro- 0:00:00

D-Pad Delights- 0:00:49

Deeper into the D-Pad- 0:08:07

Change of Heart- 1:07:35

Outro- 1:16:02

Edits: The silent orchestral piece is 4’33” by John Cage. Atari: Game Over is the title of the film that follows the dig site of the legendary ET dump.

Special thanks to 8-bit Jazz & Kevin MacLeod for supplying music for the show and Julia Eldred for creating the artwork.

Time to dive deeper into our hosts! Writer RK Taylor and game developer Carlos Gutierrez share their gaming sensibilities, the history of their friendship, and much more. 

Special thanks to 8-bit Jazz & Kevin MacLeod for supplying music for the show and Julia Eldred for creating the artwork.