Silicon Sasquatch

For this episode, we ventured into some unfamiliar territory in an effort to educate ourselves. We're not experts when it comes to competing within the MOBA, or Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, genre, but even a casual bystander has to recognize there are some huge things happening within these games and the massive community of players and spectators that have grown around them. Right now, just a couple miles from where I sit, Valve's massive Dota 2 tournament, The International, is taking place with a whopping $10 million (and counting) prize pool. For the first time, Dota 2 is being broadcast on ESPN.

As always, thank you for listening - please subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher and tell your friends!

Intro music: "humm ok" by Gablé (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)

There's a problem of diversity and representation in the games industry. It's widespread, ranging from development and publishing to marketing and journalism, and it's toxic.

Here are the articles we cited in the podcast, along with some other recommended reading:

As always, thank you for listening - please subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher and tell your friends!

Intro music: "humm ok" by Gablé (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)

There's this theme that's essential to so many classic tales of warriors and knights: the ideal of the "good death." It's the pursuit of an ultimate sacrifice that amplifies the protagonist's deeds and echoes into eternity.

But there is a series of games that takes its unforgiving systems and opaque, strange worlds and manages to create something wonderful -- something meaningful -- out of the concept of death.

In this week's episode, Aaron, Tyler and Nick share their experiences playing through the notoriously complex and unforgiving Demon's Souls and Dark Souls games and attempt to suss out what makes them so memorable and distinct from so many other games on the market. Spoilers are kept to a minimum, but please be aware that there is some discussion of late-game content from each of the games.

As always, thank you for listening - please subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher and tell your friends!

We all make mistakes. What's important is having the humility to own up to them.

Baseless predictions and unabashed giggling over Luigi Death Stare memes abound in this episode. You're welcome/we're sorry in advance.

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Here's an existential question for you: if a multiplayer online game loses its online functionality, is it still the same game?

We hope you enjoy this most recent podcast. As usual, please subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher and tell your friends!

Intro: "Griefclubbing" by T-O 
Outro: "Sex, Drugs, Violence and Corruption" by Wootson

Microsoft's vision of an interactive living room is forever changed: on May 13th, 2014, the tech giant announced it would offer a Kinect-free version of the Xbox One for a competitive $399. It bears mentioning that this news broke less than a year after the One's official unveiling, which lauded the advancements of the next-generation Kinect.

Nick, Doug, Spencer and yours truly came together to discuss the impact of such a major strategic shift by the house of Xbox. Are they circling the wagons against the crushing financial fury of the PlayStation 4, or is this simply a smart reaction to shifting consumer demands within a volatile market? Either way, we argue, an Xbox One without the Kinect casts doubt on the focus of every device preaching its new-generation gospel.

Listen as we dissect the facts through brilliant conjecture!

Intro:  "An ever ending party" by MidiPunk

Our very own Nick Cummings recently made a sharp left turn in his life. He left an established position with a prosperous company, moved 2000 miles to Seattle, and is now hard at work pursuing a lifelong dream -- the dream of making games. In this episode of the Squatchcast, Nick sat down with Doug Bonham, and the two talked about the realities of the indie ideal. Is it worth trying to break into the scene by your lonesome? Does the satisfaction outweigh the burdens of starving artisthood? Is it for everyone? (Spoiler on that last bit: probably not.)

Intro: "Tahiti totot" by Tesslesstess

Last week, Facebook announced its acquisition of Oculus VR, the Kickstarter-founded startup devoted to developing affordable and available VR technology. The public's response has been largely negative: some fear Facebook's intentions, some (including highly visible people like Markus Persson) feel disenchanted that a crowd-funded company would wind up taking in $2 billion just two years after thousands of enthusiasts chipped in to help launch the company.

Intro: "Tough guy eh?" by BitBurner

Outro: "Narcotic" by Passionate Imperfection

Today we take a little diversion from our usual haunts in the world of digital videogames to visit our cousins in the tabletop pen-and-paper RPG world. Relax; they're your cousins, they're family, and they're not as gross and icky as those OTHER cousins you may have. (You know the ones.)

Doug and Nick (full disclosure: Nick has helped work on this game!) chat with Dan about great moments in pen-and-paper gaming, about how he wants Arroyo to help change that, and about what happens when you playtest a game with improv actors.

Intro: "Mountain of Gold" by World Beyond

Outro: "Atlantic State of Mind" by mcGee

Streams. Who doesn't love them? Not big enough to be rivers but still flowing bodies of water, often cutting through forests or grasslands. Whenever I see a stream, I know it's bound to be a peaceful little slice of nature nearby.

Jokes aside, the popularity of streaming your live videogame content has grown in the last few years. It's to the point where Twitch.tv, the web site carrying the banner for streaming videogame content, is one of the top bandwidth users in the United States during peak times. Wow!

On this week's podcast, the gang – Doug, Aaron, Nick and Tyler – discuss various groups that are using streaming in non-traditional ways. From the tyranny of the masses to virtual cockfighting and #2Kuality, we talk about some of the more unique uses for streaming videogames that we have seen.

Please give us a listen and comment below!

Intro: Stick With You by WJLP https://soundcloud.com/william-j-lepetomane