Yet another cataclysm is upon the YouTube creator community, as a public spat between two outrage warriors on opposite sides of the political spectrum has resulted in the platform quickly making sweeping rule changes, once again without any real clarity or guidelines. I'm as frustrated by this corporate idiocy as much as the next creator but since it's clear that we're stuck with YouTube for now, another vector to combat this is needed. I talk about the problem and what I think is the best solution for now.

YouTube's official About Us page:  https://www.youtube.com/yt/about/ 

In a recent interview, Jonathan Blow, creator of indie hits Braid, The Witness and also many a controversial opinion, stated that he believes indie games have creatively stagnated. I believe this viewpoint is based on some very reductive reasoning. I talk about this and what I believe some of the barriers are that make the more creative titles harder to find.

Article summarizing the interview: https://gamedaily.biz/article/910/casual-connect-indie-development-is-stagnant-says-braid-creator-jonathan-blow

It's yet another podcast on Epic Games but talking about something a little different this time. Rather than discuss the company's latest screw-ups in their attempt to disrupt PC gaming retail, I'm talking more about what I think their eventual endgame is with this strategy. I'm curious what you think about why they're choosing to do what they're doing.

Some of Tencent's notable western game holdings:  http://fortune.com/2018/08/30/chinas-tencent-folds-yet-another-video-game-company-into-its-empire/. In addition to these, they also own Grinding Gear Games (makers of Path of Exile) and Swedish development studio Sharkmob.

I recorded this podcast around a week before publishing it because I wasn't sure if I wanted to put it out there but I've decided to. I suffer from Major Depressive Disorder and recently, had a major relapse due to a combination of stresses. I try (with I think, limited success) to describe what it's like to live through an episode like this, in the hopes that it can maybe help you recognize it in your own or someone you know.

You are not alone. If you ever need to talk to someone, you can talk to me.

In the last while, I've taken it upon myself to remove some negativity from social media that was negatively impacting my mood and overall mental health. However, this week I realized that I was still getting a lot of that negative influence from other places I hasn't considered before. I go into what I mean by that, why removing it has been of benefit to me and why it might be for you as well.

Bandai Namco Entertainment is a really interesting company. They're one of the original developers and publishers in video games and are very successful. Yet in recent years, I've noticed that despite this and being a public company, they've been doing the kinds of things most of the AAA publishing industry isn't: Investing in smaller titles, interesting titles, not milking safe franchises to death and generally, treating consumers with much more respect than we're used to. I think that's something to be admired and applauded and go into why.

B392

The fire at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was a terrible tragedy and though it's only a couple of days since it happened, wealthy people and corporations from around the world have already committed over a billion dollars to help fund its reconstruction. While this is noble and to be applauded in its own way, no one seems to be asking why these entities are committing so much to restoring what's ultimately just a building, when there are so many more causes that need financial support and could have impacts for our entire species. In this less energetic episode, I go into that.

DLive is a new entry in the streaming world and it's taking a different approach by allowing people to earn units of a new cryptocurrency by both streaming and just watching streams. They also just got PewDiePie to make them his exclusive streaming home, which is a huge deal regardless of whether or not you're a fan.

I've had some long-standing concerns with DLive's underpinning philosophy and business model that keep me from using it and though it might be unpopular with some streaming friends who have invested heavily into it, I lay those out in this longer episode.

The feature request Reddit thread I mention in the episode: https://www.reddit.com/r/OfficialDLive/comments/ao3p2w/dlive_feature_request_megathread/

I had a chance to play the latest entry in Nintendo's series of casual, artful platformers with my lady friend this weekend. We had a great time and it even convinced her to go out and buy her own Switch! While Yoshi's Crafted World is still an excellent (if very easy) and gorgeous platformer, it's not my favourite of the three Nintendo has put out so far and has some failings that some might find frustrating. I give some impressions based on our time with it.

Rejoice, it's yet another podcast on the Epic Games Store! Well, kind of. With the announcement that Borderlands 3 will be a 6 month exclusive, a number of people have been review bombing the previous Borderlands games on Steam, as they also did with previous entries in the Metro series. Conversely, a number of people have also decided to take up arms in defense of Epic, attacking and slandering those who speak up against it and painting them all as entitled whiners, including people like myself who have been trying to have real debate and backing up my boycott of the Epic Games Store with facts. They're both wrong and stupid and doing far more harm to gaming than anything Epic is doing and I take both to task.