The Experience Points Podcast

Mo-cap make-out sessions from The Last of Us II, a glimpse at Halo Infinite, minor nuclear radiation from Fallout 76, and a whole lot of Smash. This week on the EXP Podcast, Scott and I go over all the biggest announcements, trailers, and teases from E3 2018. Give it a listen and sign our petition for adding Farkus as a canonical character to the Gears of War franchise.

E3 is in full swing and we are up to our eyeballs in press conferences and teaser trailers. We'll be back next week with a full E3 debrief. This week: we make a future Pokepredictions about our favorite pocket sized monsters. What with the steady stream of Pokemon-related news, we talk about the evolution of the franchise and what we're looking for in the upcoming games.

Sometimes you just dig your heels. You draw a line in the sand. You find a hill and dammit, you're going to die on it! This week, we talk about the games we wrote off but then subsequently rediscovered. It might have been pride, stubbornness, or an honest mistake, but something caused us to reconsider our once iron-clad opinions.

We have journeyed the highest peak in midgard and battled the fiercest emissaries of Odin himself to bring you this week's episode. Today on the EXP Podcast, we review God of War.

When you and your son are ready, turn up the volume and listen close to the full debrief, spoilers and all.

With the closure of Boss Key games, it looks like the once famous/infamous "bad-boy" of video games Cliff Bleszinski is taking some time off the stage. This week on the EXP Podcast, we ponder the strange phenomenon of video game developer celebrity and the shifting cultural figureheads of our gaming landscape. I also make an egregious misrepresentation of The Roots - sorry about that.

Show Notes:

- "Bleszinski's fall and the perilous fame game" by Colin Campbell via Polygon

- Runtime: 36 mins 10 sec

- Music by Brad Sucks

Quick: tell me everything you know about cryptocurrency and the buying and selling of video games! Joke's on you: while you've been struggling to put together an explanation that is simultaneously cogent without making you sound like a snake oil salesman, I've mined all those precious digital coins you covet so much. I'm off to buy all the sweetest games. Maybe if you're lucky, I'll sell them to you. Yes; this week we're talking about a trifecta of topics we have only a vague grasp on: blockchain, cryptocurrency, and the used games market. Join us in trying to figure out this exhausting new world!

Well they finally did it: Nintendo has blocked the doorway to online play with a guy in a Waluigi hat stationed in front to collect your hard earned money. Buying your way in isn't outrageously expensive (especially compared to club Sony and the Microsoft discotheque), but will it be worth it? This week, we dive in to the announcement and dissect what we'll see once we get past the velvet rope.

I declare Parley! Which I think means you have to stop what you're doing and listen to this episode. This week on the EXP Podcast, we discuss the unspoken rule of Parley in Sea of Thieves that is making the waters a little more sailor-friendly.

Show Notes:

- Runtime: 46 mins 22 sec

- Music by Brad Sucks

After years of asking "Are we there yet?" everyone's favorite dad has pulled the metaphorical car over and dumped us into the mythical Norse wilderness. That's right, this week we talk about our first impressions of God of War. Grab your axe, grow out your beard, and brush up on your fatherly wisdom!

The yearly "beefcake" parade of video game protagonists is in full swing. In just two days, we get to become as Gods and rip arms off Viking deities. But are the power fantasies God of War provides really all that satisfying? How complex and interesting are the power fantasies video games provide and what other kinds of power can we find in games?

Show Notes:

- Runtime: 35 mins 20 sec

- "Games Need More Power Fantasies Beyond Beefy Dudes with Big Guns" by Cameron Kunzelman via Waypoint

- Music by Brad Sucks