Use Your Items!

We, uh, played a game called Metal Gear Solid 2. Or maybe it played us, jump in to find out.

CW: 9/11 at 50m

0-1:05 Spoiler Free/History

1:06-End Spoilers and verdicts

Works Cited:

Metal Gear Solid 2 Grand Game Plan - Kojima (ping us for a copy)

The Final Hours of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Super Bunnyhop MGS2 video

Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!

----------------------------

Join the conversation on Discord, it's free!

https://linktr.ee/useyouritems

Follow Jason at: @skilleddrizzler on twitter

Follow Fran at: frantastico | Instagram | Linktree 

----------------------------

Art by Francisco Martin

Theme music by William O'Rourke

Metroid Prime Remastered is a miraculous masterpiece and not enough can be said about it. We dive in to explore the history of the genre, the development, and the pacing of Tallon IV.

0-1:46 Spoiler Free/History

1:46-End Spoilers and verdicts

Works Cited:

DGC Ep 355: Metroid Prime Bonus Interview with Jack Mathews! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dgc-ep-355-metroid-prime-bonus-interview-with-jack-mathews/id1090136163?i=1000621631102

The rocky story of Retro Studios before Metroid Prime:

https://web.archive.org/web/20071129191427/http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=16389

https://web.archive.org/web/20120928094007/http://www.ign.com/articles/2009/08/29/a-space-bounty-hunter-in-texas?page=4

Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!

----------------------------

Join the conversation on Discord, it's free!

Email us at: [email protected]

Read us at: useyouritems.substack.com

Chat us at: twitch.tv/useyouritems

Follow Jason at: @skilleddrizzler on twitter

Follow Fran at: frantastico | Instagram | Linktree 

----------------------------

Art by Francisco Martin

Theme music by William O'Rourke

Exploring the weird, wonderful world of the Slavic JPRG Felvidek. We will drink, pray, and slash our way through 15th century Slovakia.

Spoiler free for the first 60 minutes or so.

Felvidek OST

Felivdek on Steam

Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a scholarly, literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!

----------------------------

Join the conversation on Discord

Email us at: [email protected]

Read us at: useyouritems.substack.com

Chat us at: twitch.tv/useyouritems

Follow Jason at: @dancingfroggame on twitter

Follow Fran at: frantastico | Instagram | Linktree 

----------------------------

Art by Francisco Martin

Theme music by William O'Rourke

We grind and wall-ride our way through Team Reptile's Bombrush Cyber Funk--the spiritual successor to Jet Set Radio. It wasn't our favorite, but we discuss music, the potential, and graffiti.

Spoiler free for the first 60 minutes or so.

Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a scholarly, literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!

----------------------------

Join the conversation on Discord

Email us at: [email protected]

Read us at: useyouritems.substack.com

Chat us at: twitch.tv/useyouritems

Follow Jason at: @dancingfroggame on twitter

Follow Fran at: @el_frantastico on threads

----------------------------

Art by Francisco Martin

Theme music by William O'Rourke

This time we go over Frictional Games Horror masterpiece, Soma. We explore the nature of horror, the design of this popular studio, and some heavy philosophical discussions.

CW: euthanasia

Spoiler free for the first 50 minutes or so

Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a scholarly, literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!

----------------------------

Join the conversation on Discord

Email us at: [email protected]

Read us at: useyouritems.substack.com

Chat us at: twitch.tv/useyouritems

Follow Jason at: @dancingfroggame on twitter

Follow Fran at: @el_frantastico on threads

----------------------------

Art by Francisco Martin

Theme music by William O'Rourke

We launch a possible new segment called Item Bags! Where we gather ideas for various ideas we have regarding the industry, genre, and freeform discussion. Less research and more chatter. Let us know what you think on our discord! Link below:

Skill Up interview with Yoshi P

Games Discussed:

Dark Cloud (more mentioned tbh)

Dragon's Dogma 2 (and 1 technically)

Cyberpunk

Rogue

Nethack

Skyrim

FF1, 2, 7, 16

CoD MW2

Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a scholarly, literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!

----------------------------

Join the conversation on Discord

Email us at: [email protected]

Read us at: useyouritems.substack.com

Chat us at: twitch.tv/useyouritems

Follow Jason at: @dancingfroggame on twitter

Follow Fran at: @el_frantastico on threads

----------------------------

Art by Francisco Martin

Theme music by William O'Rourke

This week we discuss Signalis, a surprise hit for us from rose-engine, and the meaning of meat, madness, reality, love, connection, and what it means to be human.

Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a scholarly, literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!

Links and notes:

The King in Yellow free online

Signalis OST

del Toro YT Video

----------------------------

Join the conversation on Discord

Email us at: [email protected]

Read us at: useyouritems.substack.com

Chat us at: twitch.tv/useyouritems

Follow Jason at: @dancingfroggame on twitter

Follow Fran at: @el_frantastico on threads

----------------------------

Art by Francisco Martin

Theme music by William O'Rourke

Our first guest episode featuring Dr. Dillon Ludemann discussing Toxicity in Gaming! Join us for this special sidequest in the anthropology, philosophy, and design of video games.

Dr. Dillon Ludemann is a professor of anthropology with a focus on online communities at the University of South Carolina

Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a scholarly, literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!

Links and notes:

https://www.thegamer.com/helldivers-2-the-least-toxic-online-game-ever-played/ perception of toxicity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnOWBrY2BQs&t=0s

https://www.raisinggoodgamers.com/

Liu and Agur 2023: “‘After All, They Don’t Know Me’ Exploring the Psychological Mechanisms of Toxic Behavior in Online Games” Games and Culture 18(5)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Queen_hypothesis

----------------------------

Join the conversation on Discord

Email us at: [email protected]

Read us at: useyouritems.substack.com

Chat us at: twitch.tv/useyouritems

Follow Jason at: @dancingfroggame on twitter

Follow Fran at: @el_frantastico on threads

----------------------------

Art by Francisco Martin

Theme music by William O'Rourke

Episode 9 discussing Maddy Makes Games hit Celeste. We touch on accessibility, friendship, anxiety, depression, and overcoming goals.

TW/CW: Anxiety, Depression, Drinking, Gender Dysphoria, etc.

0-1hrish non-spoiler

Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a scholarly, literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!

----------------------------

Join the conversation on Discord

Email us at: [email protected]

Read us at: useyouritems.substack.com

Chat us at: twitch.tv/useyouritems

Follow Jason at: @dancingfroggame on twitter

Follow Fran at: @el_frantastico on threads

----------------------------

Art by Francisco Martin

Theme music by William O'Rourke

Episode 8 and we get into 1 bit graphic design, a bit of Said's philosophy, the correct mouse sensitivity, and the making of a mystery. All our resources are noted below.

Listener, a heads up from Jason: I apologize for an error I made in misremembering and labeling the royalty on board as Fujianese instead of Formosan. I was recalling my previous writings on the game and did not do enough research. I will do better in future episodes and am sorry--Jason

0-44 non-spoiler , non-engineering discussion

44- 51:52 engineering discussion on pixels and shaders

51:52-1:15:45 remaining non-spoiler discussion

1:15:45-2:27 SPOILER TERRITORY

Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a scholarly, literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!

1-bit shader tutorial

Lucas Pope's creation blog

----------------------------

Join the conversation on Discord

Email us at: [email protected]

Read us at: useyouritems.substack.com

Chat us at: twitch.tv/useyouritems

Follow Jason at: @dancingfroggame on twitter

Follow Fran at: @el_frantastico on threads

----------------------------

Art by Francisco Martin

Theme music by William O'Rourke