Episode 168: She Came to Slay: A Conversation on Community Building and Video Games (Right click and save as to download, or find us on iTunes, BlogTalk Radio, Stitcher, Google Play, or TuneIn). This week we are joined by NYMG and Mixer community member Nicole Kirchoff (@NKirc) as we talk about gaming, building community around games, and slaying monsters with friends. We […]

This week we are joined by NYMG and Mixer community member Nicole Kirchoff (@NKirc) as we talk about gaming, building community around games, and slaying monsters with friends. We had a great conversation and the salt flowed freely. For you Breath of the Wild fans you might say there was lots of Salt Grilled Fish!

What We’re Playing:

Monster Hunter: WorldMinecraftKingdom Come: DeliveranceMy Time at PortiaRock Band RivalsSlay the SpireThe Long Dark

What We're Reading

Just Mercy by Bryan StevensonSnow Crash by Neal Stephenson 

What We’re Drinking

2 Towns Bright CiderVodka and SeltzerHomemade Cranberry MalbecFever-Tree Ginger Ale and Jack Daniels

Links of Note:

Sam's Mixer Channel"Me at 3 am" video (YouTube)

*posts may contain Amazon affiliate links to games and books mentioned on the show

Episode 167: No Such Thing As A Stupid Question: Taking On Your Questions (Right click and save as to download, or find us on iTunes, BlogTalk Radio, Stitcher, Google Play, or TuneIn). This week Alisha and Sam answer questions submitted to the show and throw in one (each) of their own. It was a shorter episode, but it was a blast. Send […]

This week Alisha and Sam answer questions submitted to the show and throw in one (each) of their own. It was a shorter episode, but it was a blast. Send us more questions to answer!

What We’re Playing:

Monster Hunter: WorldStaxelThe Mind’s Eclipse

What We’re Drinking

Coffee (and lots of it)Old Fashioned

Episode 166: Looking Back, Looking Foward: Our Favorites of 2017 and Most Anticipated of 2018 (Right click and save as to download, or find us on iTunes, BlogTalk Radio, Stitcher, Google Play, or TuneIn). This week we chat about our favorite games from last year and the games that we are most excited to play in 2018. We're joined by two new voices […]

This week we chat about our favorite games from last year and the games that we are most excited to play in 2018. We’re joined by two new voices as two of our current guest writers, Amanda and Jordyn, chime in!

What We’re Playing:

BeholderLegend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES Classic)Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)OrwellMafia 

What We're Reading

All of the children's books about female astronauts and computer programmers 

What We’re Drinking

Pineapple HulaRed Wine (for everyone except Sam)

Episode 165: Thunderbird Strike and the Power of Indigenous Game Design: A Conversation with Elizabeth Lapensee (Right click and save as to download, or find us on iTunes, BlogTalk Radio, Stitcher, Google Play, or TuneIn). This week we had an amazing conversation with the fabulous Elizabeth LaPensee, Indigenous scholar, artist, and game designer who talks with us about (among other things) her […]

This week we had an amazing conversation with the fabulous Elizabeth Lapensee, Indigenous scholar, artist, and game designer who talks with us about (among other things) her latest game, Thunderbird Strike. She shares with us her experience making the game and the political upheaval surrounding it.

What We’re Playing:

Thunderbird StrikeSmiteSomaYour ToyXenoblade Chronicles 2PUBGFallout 4

What We’re Reading

EligibleBaldur’s Gate 2Hoarders, Doomsday Preppers, and the Culture of the Apocalypse

What We’re Drinking

MoscatoOld Fashioned

Links of Note

Elizabeth’s SiteLinks to download Thunderbird Strike (free)Vice Articles on Thunderbird Strike (Destroy Oil Pipelines as a Thunderbird in this New Video Game and Oil Lobbyists: Thunderbird Strike Video Game ‘Promotes Ecoterrorism’

Image Credit: Elizabeth Lapensee, Thunderbirds

Episode 164: On Minstrelsy and Mayhem: A Conversation with Yussef Cole (Right click and save as to download, or find us on iTunes, BlogTalk Radio, Stitcher, Google Play, or TuneIn). This week we talk to games journalist motion designer, Yussef Cole (@youmeyou) about his lastest research and article in Unwinnable, "Cuphead and the Racist Spectre of Fleischer Animation", Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, […]

This week we talk to games journalist motion designer, Yussef Cole (@youmeyou) about his lastest research and article in Unwinnable, “Cuphead and the Racist Spectre of Fleischer Animation“, Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, Super Mario Odyssey, and much more!

What We’re Playing:

Assassin’s Creed: Origins (or Oranges)Rain WorldSuper Mario OdysseyBioshock CollectionMinecraftAnimal Crossing: Pocket CampGame Dev TycoonDishonored: Death of the Outsider

What We’re Reading

Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman

What We’re Drinking

Ace Pineapple CiderEgg NogOld Fashioned

Links of Note

Video Game Hour Podcast“Cuphead and the Racist Spectre of Fleischer Animation““Pickaninnies and Pixels: On Race, Racism, and Cuphead at E3”“Critical Video Analysis: Cuphead, Fleish & Cherry, and the Influence and Impact of Classic Animation”Character Creator Episode: Cuphead's Racist Grandparents (with Sam and Yusef)

N.B. Going back to look for old images from White Christmas I could not find images of the black face scenes (unedited?) so the burning question is have they been so effectively erased that they are forever lost or was the racism inherent in the practices used in the show so pervasive that my friends and I internalized the blackface images.