On the fourth episode of Game Academy, Adam and Steph get their monthly podcast out by the skin of their teeth! Is that an idiom? What about "next lady for a shave"? None of us are really sure anymore after this month. In this episode, we lament that there isn't a dog version of Stray and talk to the wonderful Dr Matthew Higgins, Adam's colleague who somehow (by the Maker!) finished a PhD. Steph and Adam didn't even think it was possible! We talk about his PhD jouney and any tips he has for us and aspiring researchers, before chatting about his own work on the interpretation of narrative as a form of play and all the fascinating psychology that explores how we keep engaged in the games that we love. We also talk a bit about White Lake, Matt's game that will be coming to Steam in 2023! Hopefully... Finally, we talk a bit about all things Multiplay, including its new book extending June's incredible Queerness conference before teasing a jam-packed and hopefully on-time July episode.

Please tell us if "next lady for a shave" is a real idiom after listening to episode 4 of Game Academy!

Check out the Queerness book's CFP here: https://multiplaynetwork.org/call-for-papers/

Check out the mental health in games whitepaper Adam was talking about here: https://www.takethis.org/expert-content/designing-games-to-challenge-the-stigma-around-mental-health/

Follow Matt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/webedragons

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/multiplayuos

Send questions and abstracts to networkmultiplay AT gmail DOT com

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On the third episode of Game Academy, Adam and Steph apologise profusely for the lateness of the episode release amidst the craziness of marking season, submissions and new puppies! In this episode, we talk all about our hot takes on video game crunch, how it could be solved, or if it's just a symptom of creative industries. Then, Steph delves deep into Cyberpunk 2077, how it's changed since release, how it influences her research and whether "bad" endings were really good endings all along. Finally, we talk a bit about the future of Mass Effect. Will we end the entire podcast because we simply can't agree on the ending? Finally, we chat to the lovely Greg McGuiness about Multiplay's upcoming Queering and Questioning conference next week.

All this and more - third time's the charm - on episode 3 of Game Academy!

Sign up for our Queering and Questioning Conference, happening on 1 June: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/queering-and-questioning-video-games-conference-tickets-327926245227?aff=erelexpmlt

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/multiplayuos

Send questions and abstracts to networkmultiplay AT gmail DOT com

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On the second episode of Game Academy, Adam and Steph chat about how they got into game studies, the power of Pokémon in our lives, and what we've learned so far in our academic careers. And the most important question: Can you make a career out of talking about games? Find out more in episode 2 of Game Academy!

Join our workshop on raising your profile and finding employment in academia happening on May 16th: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/x/raising-your-profile-and-finding-employment-tickets-308593079207

Check out our CFP for our Queerness conference on 1 June!: https://multiplaynetwork.org/events/

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/multiplayuos

Send questions and abstracts to networkmultiplay AT gmail DOT com

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On the first episode of Game Academy, Adam and Steph are joined by special guest and games scholar Imo Kaufman to discuss sex and romance in video games. How are games handling aspects of sex and romance right now? Are games creating queer characters or queer stories? Will Imo - or the rest of us - ever get over our love for Dragon Age's Dorian? Find out in episode 1 of Game Academy!

CFP for the Last of Us journal: https://multiplaynetwork.org/cfp-journals/

Check out our upcoming events, including the Queerness conference on 1 June!: https://multiplaynetwork.org/events/

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/multiplayuos

Send questions and abstracts to networkmultiplay AT gmail DOT com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.