First Person Podcasts

This month Collin is joined by Aleks from our essays department as well as special guests Ruby (Codex Entry) and Spencer as they explore the very nature of art and entertainment as the concepts apply to the medium of video games. That is to say, do games need to be "fun" to be "good"?

With a special focus on Ice Pick Lodge's cult classic Pathologic, the conversation juxtaposes the subject at hand against the mediums of theatre and visual art and explores the value of unpleasantness when a piece of art "pushes back" against its audience.

This month Collin, Sabrina and our two guests have a blast talking about the ins and outs of dating, virtual relationships, and human sociality in video games. A can't miss episode if there ever was one, tune in for an exploration of how games have (or haven't) succeeded in digitizing one of the most integral parts of the human condition.

In fact, we had so much fun, we'll be streaming Dream Daddy over on the First Person Scholar with our guests from this month as an extension of discussion! Stay tuned for a link and more information in the days to follow.

The apocalypse is something we often perceive as a cataclysmic event or phenomena representing the harbinger of the end- the utter extinguishment of life as a society has come to know it. But, how true is this assumption? This month, we discuss the popularity of post-apocalyptic settings in video games, our biases and assumptions about them, and how, ultimately, they can often yield something greater than the sum of their parts.

This month Collin is joined by Sabrina Sgandurra and Dakota Pinheiro to discuss how we approach power in video games when we're given the uncanny ability to wield a God hand. Will we bless our flock? Or set the whole sand box ablaze- just for the fun of it? Tune in to hear our thoughts on how things seem to play out more often than not.

Welcome to the 58th episode of the First Person Podcast. This Halloween we will be looking at the horror game titles that were adapted into movies and vice versa. I am joined today by Dr. James Rendell from the University of South Wales and streamer and occasional cosplayer, Rosemarie Sarno, aka Rosie Stormborn. Together we will be analyzing the differing creative decisions used in movie and gaming media when it comes to some of our classic horror narratives.

Welcome to the 57th episode of the First Person Podcast. We are back with another academic semester and since we have been running with the theme of nostalgia lately, it’s about time that we take a look at how far the video game narratives have come. We will be examining the story of some of my favourite titles: Gears of War, God of War, and Halo to see their progression from a generic hack and slash or war game to a more substantial impact on our gaming culture.

Welcome to the 56th episode of the First Person Podcast. This month will examine the relationship between capitalism and nostalgia. We’ll be looking at ways the gaming market today appeals to our warm and fuzzy memories to move units, where we sit regarding gaming nostalgia, and whether this is a bad thing or totally fine. Joining us today are myself, Patrick Dolan, and fellow FPSers Aleks, and Dakota, who are all here in remembrance of the recently deceased, Intellivision Amico.

Hello, and welcome to the 55th episode of the First Person Podcast! I’m Alex Chalk, resident labour guy and editor for Commentaries, and today I’m filling in for Giuseppe Femia as moderator as I talk with Mariah E. Marsden and Kelsey Paige Mason, authors of a fascinating chapter on the commodification of play in AP called “Consumable Play: A Performative Model of Actual Play Networks”.

Welcome to the 54th episode of the First Person Podcast. This month will be examining the social functions of roleplaying games: how the stories and characters we make in RPGs can have a positive and healing impact on ourselves and our community. We look at the benefits that have been acknowledged through roleplaying game studies and the real impacts that RPG media has had on the rhetoric surrounding disparaged communities. Joining us today we have special guests Adrianna Burton, Aaron Trammell, and Elise Vist, all of whom have done extensive work in this field.

Welcome to the 53rd episode of the First-Person Podcast! We are continuing our conversation from February by discussing video game preservation and the industry. So, if you haven’t seen that one, please do check it out. We once again have special guest Alex Fleck to talk about why video game preservation matters in academia as well as its implications on gamer culture. Fresh from the game room, right to the study hall, please welcome our First-Person Scholars.