Triple Click

What exactly is "Monkey Island" and why is it so popular? This week, the Triple Click gang revisits the old point-and-click adventure series in preparation for the newly announced Return to Monkey Island, which will be out later this year. They talk about the ups and downs of Monkey Island, the incredible music, and how it reinvigorated the genre by showing the world that adventure games do not, in fact, need to kill you.

One More Thing: 

Kirk: Michael Clayton

Maddy: Steam Deck

Jason: Steve Jackson’s Sorcery

Links:

Kirk’s arrangement of Michael Land’s Monkey Island theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf7VQiu1MGo

Tracy Lien - No Girls Allowed https://www.polygon.com/features/2013/12/2/5143856/no-girls-allowed

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Kirk, Jason, and Maddy dig into Citizen Sleeper, one of this year's, uh, sleeper hits. Set in a dystopian future full of corporations and depression, Citizen Sleeper is sort of a cross between a visual novel and a life simulation game. The gang talks about escaping digital poverty, the game's unique aesthetic style, and what it'd really be like to have your consciousness implanted into a robot body.

One More Thing: 

Kirk: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

Maddy: Patricia Wants To Cuddle by Samantha Allen

Jason: God of War (2018)

Links:

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This week, the Triple Click gang opens up the mailbag and takes some of YOUR questions about all sorts of fun things.  Wouldn't it be nice if games let you turn off all the microtransactions? What's it like revisiting old games with a modern eye? And what are our favorite board games (aside from Candyland)???

One More Thing: 

Kirk: Players 

Maddy: Neon White

Jason: Craps

Links:

BitCulture’s remix of Maddy’s song “Bad Feeling” (feat. Kirk on sax) - https://maddymyers.bandcamp.com/track/bad-feeling-bitculture-remix-feat-kirk-hamilton

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Story or gameplay... WHO WINS? This week, the Triple Click gang dives into an age-old debate and discusses the tension between action and narrative in video games. What does a "video game story" actually mean? What's more important, story or gameplay? And does it even really matter?

One More Thing: 

Kirk: Vampire Survivors 

Maddy: First Kill

Jason: AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES - nirvanA Initiative

Links:

Clint Hocking’s “Ludonarrative Dissonance in BioShock” - https://clicknothing.typepad.com/click_nothing/2007/10/ludonarrative-d.html

Hocking’s 2011 GDC talk “Dynamics: State of the Art” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St2fE049ULI

Kirk’s “Gameplay and Story are Exactly like Music and Lyrics” - https://kotaku.com/gameplay-and-story-are-exactly-like-music-and-lyrics-5885432

Stephen Payne’s excellent Dicebreaker article about ancient role-playing and strategy games: https://www.dicebreaker.com/categories/roleplaying-game/feature/dnd-influences-roleplaying-games-centuries

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E3 is here... or at least it would be, if it hadn't been canceled in January. So instead we have this: a smattering of haphazard events all loosely taking place in June, except for the ones coming later. This week, Jason, Kirk, and Maddy try to untangle Not E3 2022 and talk about the highlights (and lowlights) so far, from Starfield to Silksong.

One More Thing: 

Kirk: Josh Strife Hays’ Diablo loot video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o17lBUZgjTs

Maddy: Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Jason: How I Became A Famous Novelist (by Steve Hely)

Links:

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Maddy, Kirk, and Jason are playing Blizzard's new game Diablo Immortal and wondering... what about this is fun? Is it really all that appealing to keep collecting shiny things and watching our bars go up? From there they start wondering about loot in video games. What is it about items that get players so excited? What makes a good loot system? A bad one? And is Diablo inherently corrupt?

One More Thing: 

Kirk: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Maddy: Moon Knight

Jason: The Quarry

Links:

Maddy’s article about Diablo Immortal: https://www.polygon.com/23152323/diablo-immortal-mobile-free-to-play-microtransactions-addictive

Nu-Splitscreen’s interview with David Brevik and Erich Schafer: https://kotaku.com/why-video-game-loot-is-so-addictive-according-to-the-c-1846695147

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How did Overwatch become such a phenomenon? Why have hardcore players stuck with it (or failed to) over the last few years? And what's up with Overwatch 2? The Triple Click gang brings on Overwatch expert Nico Deyo to help guide us through Blizzard's wonderful world of costumed vigilantes and super-intelligent gorillas.

One More Thing: 

Kirk: Tango

Maddy: Misery by Stephen King

Jason: The Flight Attendant

Links:

Nico Deyo and Tyler Colp’s Overwatch feature for Vice Games: https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5gvaj/how-overwatch-lost-then-found-again-i

Excerpts from “Alma de Bohemio” by Roberto Firpo, performed by Alex Krebs’ Tango Sextet and “Tango por una Cabeza” by Carlos Gardell, performed by Katica Illényi & Budapest Strings

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Maddy, Jason, and Kirk get themselves a castle, go on missions abroad, and finally face down the vicious Luca Blight. In the second part of this Suikoden II playthrough, the gang talks about how their feelings have changed since the first chunk of the game, how the game's awful localization impacts the story, and how that epic fight played out.

One More Thing: 

Kirk: D&D - Eberron: Rising from the Last War

Maddy: Heartstopper

Jason: The G-Word with Adam Conover

Links:

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BOO! To celebrate Spooky Spring, Jason, Maddy, and Kirk dive into some of their favorite horror games and talk about what makes a video game scary. How does interactivity enhance horror? What's the difference between "dread" and "panic"? And are controls sometimes meant to be terrible?

One More Thing: 

Kirk: Persona 4 Golden/Persona 5 Royal

Maddy: Elden Ring

Jason: Eternal Threads

Links:

Maddy talks with Dead Space 2 director Wright Bagwell about the infamous eyeball scene: https://www.polygon.com/interviews/2020/10/4/21498961/dead-space-2-director-eye-poke-needle-scene-horror-wright-bagwell-interview

Kirk’s take on horror doors: https://kotaku.com/the-horror-of-video-game-doors-1819921161

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It's time for another episode of BURNING QUESTIONS!!! Jason, Kirk, and Maddy open up the mailbag and take some listener questions on all sorts of things. Why do video games leak? What are some one-of-a-kind video games we'd like to see more of? And what's the deal with video game strategy guides?

One More Thing: 

Kirk: Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe (Venom)

Maddy: What’s Up, Doc? (1972)

Jason: Disrupting the Game (Reggie Fils-Aime)

Links:

Jason interviews a strategy guide writer: https://kotaku.com/how-final-fantasy-ixs-strategy-guide-turned-out-so-horr-1834809621

Jason interviews Reggie: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-05-06/ex-nintendo-president-fils-aim-talks-book-and-mother-3-video-game

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