Seamus talks to Jordi de Paco on the release of 'Essays on Empathy' and what it means to release a compilation of ten short-form narrative game experiences. A fun chat that digs deep into our need for shorter games and why sometimes a development team needs to take a big reset to remember why they love making games.

You can find Essays on Empathy at Steam right here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1586880/Essays_on_Empathy/

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You'll be hard pressed to find someone on the planet today who doesn't know about Minecraft. It's one of those games that has evolved to become much more than just a game but also a tool for creativity and for education, and today I'm speaking with James Delaney, Managing Director of Blockworks, one of the world's leading design groups for creating amazing environments and architectural designs using Minecraft.

Blockworks recently worked with NRMA to create a map called Climate Warriors, which is available for download through Minecraft Marketplace for free. It was designed to teach kids aged 7-12 about sustainability and the impacts of natural disasters on Australian rural and regional areas. I speak with James about his own journey with Minecraft, how Blockworks has developed its expertise, and the importance of working on projects like Climate Warriors and how it elevates Minecraft as a medium. Blockworks is a true world leader in this space so it's a pleasure to talk to James about his company and its place in the evolution of Minecraft and using these kinds of platforms for engaging styles of education like this.

I start by asking James to remember that very first time he opened up Minecraft.

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Seamus is joined by Jeremy "Junglist" Ray and Steve Farrelly from AusGamers to discuss this week's ABC Four Corners episode on manipulative techniques used in videogames, especially around predatory monetisation practices. We discuss our thoughts on the episode, what it got right, what it got wrong, where the nuance lies, and what we wish we saw more of in debates over the real issues that are attached to our beloved videogaming hobby.

We're also joined via Twitter Spaces by Woody Wu from META High School Esports for some added comments and discussion.

It's not lost on us that this episode is longer than the episode of Four Corners, too...

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The Interactive Games and Entertainment Alliance, IGEA, released a survey of the Australian games industry that captured the state of the community in 2020. Hundreds of millions of dollars sounds good, but it's a tiny fraction of a percent of the global industry revenue. So how does the industry grow? What support does it need? What's working now?

We discuss all this and more with Ron Curry, CEO of IGEA, and we even get into the difficulties of the politics and how the industry struggles with generational change and not being 'political' enough to get the attention it deserves.

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We sat down (through the magic of our screens) with Dean Ayala and Chadd Nervig, two of the critical members of the Hearthstone design team, to talk about all the new things coming to the game in coming weeks.

Catching up just after the BlizzConline announcements we talk about what to expect from the new Core Set, what it means for the future of the game, and then we talk Forged in the Barrens and what that new set brings to the mix in such a year of big changes.

And we find out how the pronunciation of Hearthstone seems to have taken on an almost regal quality.

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Tim Ruse is the CEO and co-founder of Zero Latency, a world leading free roaming virtual reality centre that is now in 46 locations around the world. Make that 47 with the launch of Sydney this week!

We talk to Tim about the five years of Zero Latency since it launched in Melbourne, how the tech has evolved, and how they've developed their experience. They've worked with hardware companies to help make their backpack and tracking technologies work better, and they're even working with Ubisoft on a Far Cry experience for 2021.

You can book now for Sydney, or any venue, via zerolatencyvr.com.

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This week we've got highlights from a roundtable with Hearthstone Game Director Ben Lee and Game Designer John McIntyre, talking about the latest expansion Madness at the Darkmoon Faire, which lands next week (November 17). They talk new cards, new game modes, new progression systems, and also a lot of behind the scenes thinking. How did they approach designing new iterations on the Old Gods? What went into getting the Yogg-Saron spinning wheel just right? And how are they evolving the business model through new ideas for welcoming new players or bringing back those who've taken a break?

The Hearthstone team has been doing a great job over the past year, with lots of really cool new ideas and evolutions on the game. This chat reveals a lot of the thinking behind how they've approached keeping the game fresh recently and in the year ahead.

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Kitty and JW sound way too nice to have made a game that is all about killing you with vicious sawblades. But they have and DISC ROOM looks great, so we had a chat about the game, the inspiration for trying to murder players with such vigour, and their thoughts on forming an indie collective instead of a dedicated company.

Check out the details here: DISC ROOM

And the Gamejam: Disc Room Gamejam

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