Staring at Screens.

This week Vick puts more time into Saints Row IV and introduces us to Dragon Finga; aside from more Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Lisa plays The Alphabet Game and Cookie Clicker, but the less said about that the better; and Joel talks about Knights of Pen and Paper +1 and the very pretty Sine Mora.

Our topic of discussion is Weird Games that we've played, namely Katamari Damacy, Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, LocoRoco, Patapon, Rhythm Heaven, Robot Unicorn Attack, Heavy Rain, Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure, There's No Time To Explain, WarioWare and Mr. Mosquito. Reminisce with us by tweeting us @StaringScreens or writing to us at [email protected]. Let us hear about your weird games. You sickos.

Links:

• Tom Chick's reviews of Halo 4 and Uncharted 3
• Darren Geer's interpretation of Gabe Newell

Music:

Akira Yamaoka - Sine Mora OST- Cardinal Canyon A

This week Dave is the first one of us to get to play Grand Theft Auto V. Much patronizing follows. In other news Joel finally plays Gone Home (so you should see a spoiler episode about that soon), Cookie Clicker, Gunpoint, and Card Hunter.

Which segues very nicely into our discussion topic for the week: Free To Play games. Along the way we name drop Candy Crush, Clash of The Clans, Plants Vs. Zombies 2, The Simpsons: Tapped Out, the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic iOS game, and MMOs like Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Elder Scrolls Online and Final Fantasy XIV. So, Dear Listener, which F2P games do you enjoy and which do you shy away from? Tweet us @StaringScreens or write to us at [email protected] and let us know!

Links:

• Joel's blog post about the likelihood of a GTA V on PC
• PC Gamer's estimate of the GTA V PC release date — supported by math!

This week Dave tells us what it's like developing for the Oculus Rift, Vick finally gets to gush about Saints Row IV, Lisa tells us about Autumn in Animal Crossing: New Leaf and walks us through the four new Nintendo 3DS StreetPass Games, and Joel catches up on the fourth and fifth Professor Layton games and watches a full playthrough of The Last of Us on Youtube.

The topic of discussion this week (which was totally Vick's idea) is gaming culture's apparent obsession with breasts. Once the initial sniggering dies down we look at some female video game character design vis–à–vis Dragon's Crown, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Code of Princess, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. Now I know you're gonna want to join this discussion, so go ahead and tweet us @StaringScreens or write to us at [email protected].

Oh and other that Lightning in the masthead image, here are the characters we referenced in today's episode.

Links

• Jenn Frank — "Tits or GTFO"

This week Dave gropes his friends in Wenis Wars, chucks blocks in Searchlight, and finishes other people's sentences in Blackbar; Joel breaks in his shiny new Wii U with Nintendo Land and Pikmin 3; and Vick reveals her indie side in Superbrothers: Sword and Sorcery EP.

We also talk about the relatively recent rise of collectible NFC chip toys in gaming with obvious nods to Disney Infinity, the Skylanders series, and the much anticipated (or dreaded depending on your point of view) Pokémon Rumble U. Is this just a cynical money grab? Do you think this is just a passing fad or are NFC toys here to stay? Let us know by tweeting us @StaringScreens or writing to us at [email protected].

We're back! Did you miss us? We missed you!

This week Vick finishes Infinity Blade 2 four times, Joel talks us through The Showdown Effect and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Dave takes his time with Gone Home, and (almost) everybody gets to play Saints Row IV on launch day.

In the run up to the launch of Grand Theft Auto V we discuss Realism and how it affects our enjoyment of video games. Along the way we mention Prototype, Skyrim, the GTA games, milsims like ARMA, The Last of Us, Cart Life, Dope Wars, FFVII, and Galatea by Emily Short. So, Dear Listeners, how does realism affect YOUR enjoyment of video games? Tell us by tweeting us @StaringScreens or writing to us at [email protected].

Links:

• Galatea by Emily Short
• That misquote about GTA IV and Howard Zinn came from this excellent Polygon article

On this week's episode, Joel don't see nothing wrong with a little bump and Fire Emblem Awakening; Lisa can't stop talking about Animal Crossing: New Leaf; Dave tries to sell us on the gorgeous Muramasa Rebirth on the PS Vita; and Siri Vick refuses to quit Assassins Creed 3 even though she's getting bored.

For the rest of the time we just shoot the breeze about the various things on Sale at this point in time. There's the Club Nintendo offer of $30 eShop credit if you purchase and register Shin Megami Tensei IV and Fire Emblem Awakening before 31 Aug, Steam Summer Sale obviously, the iOS 5th anniversary sale, and Kentucky Route Zero is 25% off. Also, did you know that in Animal Crossing you can buy and sell turnips at a profit? ISN'T THAT COOL??

If you have anything to add to the conversation or you'd just like to find out Lisa's Nintendo friend code so you can watch her sleep in Animal Crossing Awakening, you can write to us at [email protected] or tweet us @StaringScreens.

Creepy Lisa is creepy

Links:

• Leigh Alexander on the escapism of life sims
• PBS Idea Channel on Animal Crossing
• Don't cross Tom Nook (PVPOnline)

Wedding bells are ringing on this week's episode! Newlywed Joel talks about playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf (on his honeymoon no less) and retro-chic ADnD-themed beat-em-up Chronicles of Mystara, Vick tries her hand at the 10-year old Puzzle Pirates and finds it strangely familiar, Lisa relaxes her mind by flicking ice cubes over holes in Puzzle Retreat, and Dave buys XCOM: Enemy Unknown a second time (this time on the iPad) and we find out why.

Discussion topic for this week: Games that require high levels of time commitment to play or even get started playing. Along the way we namedrop Ni No Kuni, The Witcher series, Skyrim, the Dragon Age series, Persona 4, the Arkham games, Far Cry 3, Angry Birds, The Sims, The Last of Us, the Alan Wake games, L.A. Noire, Red Dead Redemption, the MMO genre, and GTA V.

By the way, no offense was intended to people living with OCD, ADHD, paraplegia or a vagina. If you take issue with our use of these labels on this episode, please email your complaints to [email protected]. Otherwise if you have anything to add to the conversation write to us at [email protected] or tweet us @StaringScreens.

Errata

• Chronicles of Mystara is actually on Steam and PSN too. Not just XBLA.
• Puzzle Pirates was on Java. Not Flash.

A half-episode as Dave & Chia Jun Shen of thebiggap.com gush about The Last of Us and discuss the ending, amongst other spoilery things.

** THIS EPISODE HAS POTENTIAL SPOILERS FOR THE LAST OF US (duh), BIOSHOCK INFINITE, UNCHARTED 2, BRAID, AND STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS (yes.) **

In addition to the controversial ending, they chat about companion AIs from other games, how the logic of the game sometimes defies common sense, whether Joel is an identifiable protagonist, and the brilliant, brilliant writing and relationship between Joel & Ellie. Also, Nolan North as David, Naughty Dog's elegant game design, the brilliant segments that were Fall & Winter, combat mechanics that reward improvisation, why a sequel wouldn't work, and Dave's issues with all the women around Joel dying for his story to progress.

Links:

• On the needs of the one versus the needs of the many. (Forbes)
• Grounded: The Making of The Last of Us (Trailer)

We are joined by special guests Brian Kwek of Witching Hour Studios and games journalist Cassandra Khaw this week as we discuss how being South-East Asian has influenced our enjoyment, creation, and discussion of games. But before that, a lively discussion of why Remember Me was disappointing, and Cassandra introduces all of us to A Dark Room. Meanwhile Dave gets lost while playing Survivor Z, and Vick quickly disses Ingress. But only because she was playing it in Singapore.

In a small departure from our usual gamut of topics, this week the crew and guests explore broadly how being (South-East) Asian has affected their careers are game writers and developers. Naturally, parental expectations are discussed, as well as these careers being 'outlier professions' in the eyes of Asian society, issues of creative and technical competency in the region, and the struggles of independent game developers in Asia.

Definitely a topic in which we would like you to join the discussion: do write to us at [email protected] or tweet us @StaringScreens.

Links:

• Cassandra wrote about Handsome Jack and Angel in Father Knows Best (Unwinnable)
• Witching Hour Studios' latest game Ravenmark: Mercenaries (Yes, Brian and team wrote this, not outsourced to someone from the UK)
• Venus Patrol's Horizon being an alternative E3 (Joystiq)
• And if you haven't played it yet, Candy Box
• If you like indie games, a good resource can be found here.
• We also think you should follow @johnpolson, @CPriestman & @weetim.

Addendum:

• The ARG game that Dave and Vick were playing on their iOS devices a few years ago is Shadow Cities.
• Dave only has about 215 T-Shirts, not 300, including those not from Threadless.

Extra long episode this week, Dear Listener. There's just so much to talk about!! This week we are joined by our pals James, Jed and Mike from OMGeek.net, and they tell us about the massive complexity that is Wargame: Airland Battle, Joel gushes about yet another cutesy game in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Lisa finds her true calling as the Mother of Dragons in Kingdom Rush 2, Vick discovers the burden of being a normal human being in The Last of Us, and Dave finally gets the chance the use the term "ludonarrative dissonance" in regular conversation. (Regular for Dave, anyway.)

In the topical segment we discuss the Microsoft and Sony announcements at E3 2013 vis-a-vis the controversies surrounding Microsoft's Xbox One messaging and the absolute smackdown that was delivered by Sony's PS4 announcment. We also talk about some of the upcoming games flogged at E3, namely the deliciously cross-platform Watchdogs, the mystifyingly-numbered Mirror's Edge 2, the pulchritudinous Bayonetta 2 and the wordily-named Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

If you would like to join the discussion, write to us at [email protected] or tweet us @StaringScreens.

Links:

• Animal Crossing Comic (Lyk dis if u cry everytiem!)
• Watchdogs performance capture with Sebastien Merlowe