This week's show is all about music games. It's a big topic, so Jorge and I recruited a talented trio of musicians and video game writers to help us out: Dan Apczynski, David Carlton, and Kirk Hamilton were all kind enough to stop by to discuss the merits of music games. We cover a huge swath of topics ranging from pedagogy, to musical philosophy, to Bon Jovi's genius. We've known Dan, David, and Kirk for a long time and it was a blast to have an excuse to hang out with them and record the show. Hopefully you all enjoy listening to our podcasting jam session as much as we enjoyed recording it. Thanks again to all our guests and thank you for listening!And now, inspired by Kirk's reference, here's a kid playing Guitar Hero while solving Rubik's Cubes:

Some discussion starters:- What is your take on the state of the music game genre?- What do games like Rock Band teach us, both about music and game design?- What are your hopes for the future of the genre?To listen to the podcast:- Subscribe to the EXP Podcast via iTunes here. Additionally, here is the stand-alone feed.- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here. Or, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format.- Subscribe to this podcast and EXP's written content with the RSS link on the right.Show notes:- Run time: 1 hr 15 min 34 sec- "the beatles, rock band, and genre," by David Carlton, via malvasiabianca.org- "Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and Musical Convergence," by Kirk Hamilton, via Kirkhamilton.com- "Games of the decade: Rock Band," by Mitch Krpata, via insultswordfighting.blogspot.com- Shameless self-promotion: "A Day in the Life," "I'm Looking Through You," and "Yesterday," posts about The Beatles: Rock Band by Scott- Music provided by Brad Sucks