Scanline Talks

Welcome to the start of Scanline Media's game of the year celebration, our Gimmick Awards 2022! Over the course of four weeks, we'll be publishing thirteen categories, each its own podcast and paired write-up on the site for winners.

We're opening the year on a staple- Best Surprise! At the ripe old age of 33, I am harder to surprise than I used to be, but the delight of the unexpected still hits you sometimes. Please enjoy Jen, Kyrie, and Six (that's me) debating and deciding the Best Surprise of 2022.

The Nominees Are:

Coming up on Wednesday, we'll be doing the dark mirror of Best Surprise- Biggest Disappointment. It's our only negative category, because making games is hard as hell, and it's not fun to just dunk on people and their efforts... but some things are just too much to bear, and we have to vent in Award format. Please look forward to the discussion!

Don't forget to check out the write-up for our winners!

Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2022 is Street Food by FASSounds, and our art is a commission from @inkopolis on Twitter.

And that's a season (nee cours)! After 12 episodes, The Witch from Mercury is going on break until the next season, and so are we... if we come back at all? Join Allen and Six as we talk about the season as it's been, and how 12 turns a lot of that on its head, for good or for ill. Though, I don't need to be too coy- as you will discover quickly, we're mostly of the opinion "for ill."

The second-to-last episode of the cours! Shaddiq holds his breath, Suletta catches her breath, Vim curses under his breath, and Delling doesn't waste his breath. Step aside, Type-Moon, there are TWO witches on this holy night. And is that an Aerial upgrade I spy? Damn, gang- this episode's good, so was the last, and I think the next will be great as well. I'm just hoping the break between cours doesn't kill this momentum.

We're all hustling and bustling as the year winds down, but you KNOW we're never too busy for you! Sit down with us as we talk games- Jen says the Callisto Protocol is as much Punch-Out!! as it is Dead Space, Six has come around on Spelunky 2 after initial crushing disappointment, and Kyrie has sold out... her potion stock in Potionomics.

In chronological order, our music is 8bit23 by Koichi Morita, The Callisto Protocol Main Theme by Finishing Move Inc. (Brian Trifon and Brian Lee White), Dwelling by Eirik Suhrke from Spelunky 2, the Potionomics Main Theme by Greg Nicolett, and then a reprise of 8bit23 by Koichi Morita.

You can find us on Twitter at @jbu3 for Jen, @KyrieAPage for Kyrie, and @sixdettmar for Six.

Oh boy, we sure are winding up for a mid-season, end-of-cours finale. Can you feel it? Schemes, misunderstandings, unfortunate coincidences… and into all of it, we're gonna toss a few new witches and their gundams and see what happens. I uh… I have a guess. I think it's gonna end badly for our pals.

On this episode, a turning point, as Allen listens with polite bemusement as Six lays out a theory as to what exactly is going on in this show. We get our first team duel, we see the triumph of the GUND format over the technology that almost killed it, and Miorine has already forgotten she's trying to start a medical company. Three episodes left, gang. It's about to start poppin', for real. And Six's theory will be put to the test right quick.

G-Witch. Listen. Listen listen listen. You gotta stop writing checks. Do you HAVE a bank account? These are going to bounce! No one can cash these! Settle down, build a foundation, follow through. THEN write checks. But stop touching a dozen interesting issues with no commitment to truly engaging with them, and a clumsy handling of what little you try! Please. I'm begging you.

It's time for a talkie episode. I like talkie episodes, Allen is less a fan, but either way, the thing about talkie eps is, you have to talk a lot. And G-Witch? Not great at the talking. So, here we are, an episode that's a blessing and a curse, but might free the show from the Curse of Gundam, in more ways than one. Even if it's sloppy, if this fixes the trap they built for themselves in the plot, I'm all for it.

They put out another Call of Duty. Its politics suck. Some things never change. But they might be worse in this one than you think... and yet, the campaign is also probably more interesting than you think? They made another Modern Warfare, and they couldn't decide if they wanted it to be a tribute to MW2 or a pointed note about everything wrong with that game. It's a mess, and it's (sigh) really fun.

You can find Six on Twitter at @sixdettmar. You cannot find Harri. He's unknowable. The intro and outro music are the Main Menu and Ending Credits from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II by Sarah Schachner.

Refresh Rate returns with another episode of Jen, Kyrie and Six recounting standout media and experiences from the past month. After bouncing off Sonic Frontiers hard, Six has fallen into Freedom Planet and its sequel, finding there what they couldn't in the series that inspired it. Jen is braving the season of death in Harvestella, and finding there's less harvesting than you'd expect given the name? And Kyrie is here to report back from a year where she finally felt safe returning to conventions, and the experience of doing so as press for the first time.

This link is a folder of images we reference during the pod, in chronological order.

Also in chronological order, our music is 8bit23 by Koichi Morita, the Freedom Planet Main Theme by Woofle and Strife from Freedom Planet, Those Who Resist Destiny from Harvestella by Go Shiina, Saria's Song from Ocarina of Time by Gamer of the Winds (@GameroftheWinds) and Mary of the Maryland Accordion Club (Facebook) live at Otakon 2022, and then a reprise of 8bit23 by Koichi Morita.

You can find us on Twitter at @jbu3 for Jen, @KyrieAPage for Kyrie, and @sixdettmar for Six.