In this episode, we talk about the 2010s. We talk about our personal experiences, trips in nature and how nature shaped our life experience, our favorite video games for each year, and the end of the 7th generation and beginning of the 8th generation. We end the discussion by talking about the state of podcasting, what makes a good podcast, and some of the podcasts that inspire us.

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Special Thanks to Jonathan McDougall for creating our outro song. 

YouTube – TaiwanJon

In this episode of the Pixel Meditations we talk about our shared interest and love of nature. Particularly coming at it from the perspective of our own unique experiences in nature and what aspects of it we find the most interesting or compelling. We get into a bit about the philosophy of “What nature is” and also our relationship to nature. We talk about media depicting nature and whether or not there is a future for depicting nature through VR and many other related topics. We hope you enjoy this episode! Please follow us on social media and show us that you like the Pixel Meditations!

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Intro Song: Promentory – Last of the Mohicans

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In this episode we talk about the legacy of the Playstation 4. The 8th generation of gaming was largely dominated by the PS4, having by far the greatest sales numbers and a stunning number of must play exclusives. Here we get into the nitty gritty about the hardware, what makes the PS4 so special, and our favorite games that have come to symbolize this amazing console.

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Special Thanks to Jonathan McDougall for creating our outro song. 

YouTube – TaiwanJon

In this episode, we talk about the state of consumerism in gaming. This episode really gets at the roots of why we made this podcast and ultimately asks the question, how do business and consumerism affect video games as pieces of art and fun media. 

We delve into consumerism on the gamer side as well as the strict hierarchical structures of many gaming companies and how that affects the lives of game developers. We ask who is to blame and why as well as how gaming fares against the film industry. The last serious topic we discuss is unionization and why video game companies should be represented by unions. 

The episode does have a lot of tangents. We talk about SNES games on Switch, Google Stadia, how parents interact with gaming, and the relationship to video games in modern culture. 

Lastly, we try to do a series of mini-debates related to the topic that ends up in some hilarious debauchery. We wanted this to be an entertaining episode that also sought to create a better environment for the people who make and play games. We sincerely hope you enjoy the episode. 

Cheers

Steve and Toby

Unionization article sited in the episode

https://www.polygon.com/2019/1/16/18178332/game-developer-union-crunch

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Special Thanks to Jonathan McDougall for creating our outro song. 

YouTube – TaiwanJon

In this episode we return to our gaming roots with a discussion on which console, the PS2 or GameCube is superior. This is a pretty long standing debate between us and one that we both have strong feelings on. We discuss this topic from the perspective of the hardware, controllers, and libraries. Obviously this episode is largely based on our own experiences playing these consoles and mileage may vary, but we both try our best to support our ideas and hope you guys enjoy the discussion! 

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Special Thanks to Jonathan McDougall for creating our outro song. 

YouTube – TaiwanJon

In this episode, Steve talks about Dracula and Dracula; that is Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula and Dracula Vlad Tepes. One is a pop-culture phenomenon. He’s a fictional vampire who has transcended almost any other supernatural villain in history. The other is a feared Wallachian warlord who is famous for being a brutal leader with a readiness to impale criminals. 

In this episode, we talk about automation and how it will affect the future economy and job market. We discuss optimists vs. pessimists and whether or not new jobs will be created or taken away. This leads us to speak about how jobs may end up changing more than disappearing. Maybe it will be the job description that will change more than anything, as in the case of bank tellers when ATMs came along. 

We have some unique tangents, such as the government’s slowness in response to the internet, and in particular, Amazon. We also assess how robots have fared so far and what tasks they are capable and incapable of doing. 

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Special Thanks to Jonathan McDougall for creating our outro song. 

YouTube – TaiwanJon

Music – Kraftwerk Robots

In this episode we have an awesome conversation in the style of our JRPGs live in Japan episode that we recorded about a year ago. In this one we are in Santorini, Greece and our conversation is about how to structure a day, differences in goals, and the ultimate purpose of life. Eventually we talk about what is meaning and how we define it. We get into commonalities that all people share, as well as how individual differences might manifest. We hope you enjoy the episode! 

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Special Thanks to Jonathan McDougall for creating our outro song. 

In this episode, Steve interviews Joshua Dent, a writer and stand up comedian who has had an ongoing relationship with meditation for over a decade. Josh started off with Yoga, has participated in 10-day silent treats and dedicated much of the last few years to the art of meditation. 

We discuss different kinds of meditation, the benefits, the biggest challenges to meditation, practice methods, and a lot more. Josh is also a writer and a comedian, so the episode tends to be more comedic than usual PM episodes, and it certainly isn’t PC. 

We hope you enjoy the episode, and let us know if you try out meditation or have any recommendations yourself. 

Cheers

Steve

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Special Thanks to Jonathan McDougall for creating our outro song. 

Josh’s Blog Website

https://taiwaniseasy.blogspot.com/

Today we talk to a returning guest Johan Vorster about his ESL business that he started in Taiwan. We cover our own experiences teaching in the ESL industry, as the unique struggles and challenges of opening a business in Asia. We opine about how foreigners might be uniquely suited to starting businesses in Asia as well as how to balance the different aspects of being an effective teacher such as how to discipline kids, the role of technology in the classroom, and how to keep kids interested and invested in learning English. 

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Twitter: @thepixelmeditation

Special Thanks to Jonathan McDougall for creating our outro song. 

YouTube – TaiwanJon