Gamers with Glasses Podcast

In this episode Nate and Samantha set out to recap and wrap up our summer series on games, childhood, and nostalgia, and end up…somewhere else. We cover all the deep questions, like, “Does nostalgia have to be melancholic?”; “Are console generations a marketing lie, just like other generational divides?”; “Do any of us leave childhood unscathed?”; and, “Isn’t Assassin’s Creed just Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoons?”

In this episode, Nate interviews NikkiJay, developer of the just-released "plotformer" Quantum Witch. Come for the in-depth discussion about cults, conditioning, and choices - stay for the impromptu ukelele concert.

We make learning fun! In this episode, Samantha and Luis interview Dr. Erik

Verlage, a research scientist at the Ohio State University who works on

interactive media and games in education. Discussion ranges from the use

and value of games in education to GeoGuessr and the difference between

toys and tools. Where’s the dividing line between a game and a simulation?

Why were Skyrim players willing to spend hours on the same thing at the

forge, even when it wasn’t fun?

We thought it would be fun to do an “Oops! No Games” episode, in which we

try not to talk about games. Inevitably, we totally fail, to the degree

that we even end up recommending games at the end. We were all going to

bring a book and a movie to talk about, and that somehow inspires us to

complain about AI a lot, but probably not enough, because it really is so,

so bad.

How do game critics contribute to Western hegemony, and what can we do

about it? Nate Schmidt interviews Felipe Pepe, creator of The CRPG Book

Project, on his recent essay, “The Gentrification of Video Game History.”

Drawing on Mia Consalvo and Christopher Paul’s critique of the concept of “

real games,” their wide-ranging conversation covers mods and mobile games,

the relationship between internet cafes and free-to-play RPGs, and the

emptiness of the stereotypical “nerd and jock” divide between

narrative-driven and sports games.

It's the Paper Mario episode! Man, when you look at him from the right

angle, Mario is one bad dude. No wonder Bowser hates this guy. We love

these games, but do we love them enough to buy them all over again so that

we can play them on the Switch? Or is the GameCube an equally portable

console? There's only one way to find out...

Our adventures in the world of Wizardry continue! We were so excited to all

be playing the same game that we had to do a whole podcast about it. We

uncover the finer points of the game's thoughtfully brutal dungeon design,

and we think through the surprisingly deep narrative possibilities of

old-school RPGs. Watch out for Temple Healthcare Reaganomics, because

there's no such thing as free loot. Don becomes a corpse retrieval

specialist. Tof creates Six Dwarf Lords in Their Halls of Stone. Nate broke

his ankles so you could run. We all got bushwhacked.

Nate, Samantha, and Luis do their best not to get lost in the hall of

mirrors as they think through various types of self-referential games,

covering everything from product tie-ins and Fortnite (it's bigger on the

inside) to critical hits like Inscryption, The Stanley Parable, and There

Is No Game.