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Sure, spooky season is over. But listeners, the scary season has just begun at Post Games. To prepare you, I have invited one of my favorite horror critics, Ashley Bardhan, to explain the appeal of playing horror games – and how they might make your life less scary.

This is one of my favorite (and most surprising) conversations yet!

• Act 1: The case for playing more horror games
• Act 2: Horror as therapy
• Patreon bonus: 5 horror games for the holiday season
• Act 3: The news of the week

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Few video games achieve mainstream cultural relevance. Fewer still get labeled as "art." And only a handful of games that get through the culling manage to retain their relevance across decades. Shadow of the Colossus is the exception to the rules of video games.

What makes it so unique? How has its place in gaming culture evolved? And why does it play a special part in the life of today's guest, video essayist and author Jacob Geller?

• Act 1: Why Shadow of the Colossus never lost its relevance
• Act 2: How Shadow of the Colossus launched a critic’s career
• Patreon bonus: The future of video essays about video games
• Act 3: News of the Week

Art by James Bareham

Theme by Mark Sparling

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Get weekly bonus segments, Patreon exclusive episodes, and early access at patreon.com/postgames

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Last week, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier explained how the too many games problem came to be. This week, we hear how game creators are adapting to make sure the best games reach you – rather than get lost at the bottom of an ever-growing pile. 

Today’s guest, Simon Carless, is an expert in helping game creators strike this balance between the artist’s vision and the audience's interests. Carless is a pioneer in the exponentially important research of “game discoverability."

• Act 1: The art of Game Discovery
• Act 2: Do endless sales help or hurt gaming?
• Patreon bonus: The strangest tricks and “hacks” to get a game seen 
• Act 3: The news of the week

Art by James Bareham - Happicamp.com

Theme by Mark Sparling

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Get bonus segments and episodes, plus early access, at Patreon.com/postgames

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At an unknowable point in the past five years, gamers were granted three wishes:

1. I want more games to play than I could ever have time for.
2. I want them to be cheap, if not free.
3. And I want to be able to play them whenever and however I want.

The result has been great for fans of the hobby, but a radiating headache for game creators. Over the next two episodes, we’ll learn why we’re suddenly drowning in video games (more than we could play in a lifetime) and what both players and game creators are doing to adapt.

Today, we'll focus on how "too many games" became gaming's unusual dilemma. Bloomberg reporter and Triple Click host Jason Schreier joins me to explain how the video game business is battling with its own abundance.

Act 1: Heaven for gamers

Act 2: Hell for game makers

Patreon bonus: A big chat about mainstream media and gaming

Act 3: News of the week

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This week, you get two podcasts for the price of one.

First: the Nintendo mailbag. Listeners sent in a U-Haul's worth of questions about Nintendo. What's up with the unusually "usual" approach to the Switch 2 release? Why can the publisher do whatever it likes without the fandom going into revolt?

Second: I complete our NSFW video game interviews. In previous episodes, we spoke with an NSFW game designer and an NSFW game academic. Today, you’ll meet Annie, the host of Sex Positive Gaming, an NSFW gaming YouTube channel. How does a YouTube channel dedicated to games that break the YouTube terms of service exist? You’ll get the answer to that question and many more!

This week on Post Games, a double-episode I'm dubbing "Mario's Nipples."

Act 1: Making sense of modern Nintendo

Patreon bonus: Why Nintendo ignores some of its biggest franchises

Act 2: Life as an NSFW game YouTuber

Act 3: News of the Week

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A few months ago, NSFW games appeared to be thriving. Then came the censorship campaign. To help us understand what shifted in the culture over the summer, and where NSFW games go from here, I needed an expert on media censorship, video games, pornography, feminism, and the history of sex labor activism.

Today’s guest is that unicorn. Jean Ketterling is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Studies – Women’s and Gender Studies Program at the University of Saskatchewan.

• Act 1: The summer sexy games got banned
• Act 2: The future fight against game censorship
• Patreon Bonus: The gooner contingency and NSFW game recs
• Act 3: News of the week
• Patreon Bonus: What I saw at SEGA

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This week on Post Games: How did Xbox get here?

Former VP of Xbox Game Studios Shannon Loftis takes us on a guided tour of Microsoft's gaming ambitions, from the days before Windows 95 to Xbox's ambitious bet on the future of entertainment.

• Patreon bonus prologue: The case for having fun
• Act 1: Microsoft’s first tiny team of game makers
• Act 2: Xbox before the acquisitions
• Act 3: News of the week

Art by James Bareham

Theme by Mark Sparling

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Get bonus content in every episode at patreon.com/postgames

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What's it like to pursue a degree in video games? And what's life like as a video game professor?

This week, my guest is Aaron Trammell, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, who teaches undergraduate and graduate students about games, ranging from video games to tabletop games, the craft of design to the critique of play.

(Audio note: There's a little bit of audio level imbalance with my guest's recording in this episode. I was able to fix most of the issues, but it sounds just a little strange, that's why. This should be a one-off issue. Thanks for your patience!)

Find episode notes and more at www.post.games. Subscribe to the Patreon for early access to episodes, additional segments, and bonus materials at patreon.com/postgames.

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Get full episode notes at post.games

Get bonus segments and episodes for $5 at patreon.com/postgames

This week on Post Games:

Find episode notes and more at www.post.games. Subscribe to the Patreon for early access to episodes, additional segments, and bonus materials at patreon.com/postgames.

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

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Listen to the full audiobook at patreon.com/postgames.

Find episode notes and more at www.post.games. Subscribe to the Patreon for early access to episodes, additional segments, and bonus materials at patreon.com/postgames.

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

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.