Category Archives: Games

Storytelling, Ghosts, & Pop Culture Wormholes

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On this episode, Earl and Shawn hang out with Keith McNally before he ships out for the Maritimes! They fall down the pop culture rabbit hole of ’80s TV shows, cancelled series, movie novelizations, and Keith was up to in ye olden days of the internet. They also get into storytelling, how it works in video games, branching storylines, and rag on Bioshock Infinite a lot. And along the way, Keith reveals his wrestling magazine knowledge, Shawn wants to start a Josie and the Pussycats tumblr, and Earl invokes the vengeful spirit of Roger Ebert.

Guest:
Keith McNally (@keithmcnally) – Host of The Vinyl Countdown

What we’ve been checking out:
Keith: High Maintenance (Webseries)
Shawn: Summer Games Done Quick (Speedrun videos)
Earl: Rectify (TV)

Audio notes: (1hr. 16min. runtime)
0:00:50 – Introducing Keith, olden days of the internet, Roger Ebert, and movie novelizations
0:09:50 – Firefly, cancelled shows, Quantum Leap, Sliders, The A-Team, and TV finales
0:18:35 – Books on games, Worlds of Power, working at a comic book shop, travelling, and stories in games
0:29:00 – Mass Effect, GTA, multiple endings, branching stories, and voices in Stanley Parable & Gone Home
0:41:05 – Bioshock series, travelling through space and time, comparing to The Last of Us, and Ghost of the Year
0:54:25 – Kentucky Route Zero, David Cage & Heavy Rain, playing hard games, and indie games
1:09:55 – What’s everyone checking out?

Theme: Coconut Robot2 (James Pants) / CC BY 3.0
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Growing Up Gaming

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Our first guest on the new format, Curtis Roberts, joins Earl and Shawn to talk about growing up gaming! They get into their favourite RPGs, accidentally breaking consoles, blocky controllers, switching to PCs, and their thoughts on RPGs these days. They also discuss Final Fantasy, Curtis’ ignorance of Aeris’ death and gender, Mass Effect, the Sopranos finale, getting a Nintendo on the holidays, and c-notes.

Guest:
Curtis Roberts

Supplementary notes:
Team Teamwork- The Ocarina of Rhyme (Jay-Z meets Legend of Zelda)
Youtube – Crash Course
Death From Above 1979 – Trainwreck 1979

Audio notes: (1hr. 9min. runtime)
00:10 – Introducing Curtis, gaming degrees, consoles & c-notes, and breaking a PS2
11:50 – Moving away from consoles, modding, XCOM, and Final Fantasy
26:35 – Favourite RPGs, Nintendo, JRPG vs. Western, and LAN parties
38:50 – Current RPGs, Mass Effect, The Sopranos ending, The Witcher, and game choices
55:10 – Anticipated games, and what we’re checking out

Theme: Coconut Robot2 (James Pants) / CC BY 3.0
Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!
Follow us (@AKOPPodcast) or email us at akop@phillerworks.com!

Friday the 13th: New Blood, & New Co-Host

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Lot of changes are happening to the podcast, most importantly being Shawn Lotte becoming a co-host! We talk about what he’s bringing to the table, his In Defense Of videos, our scrapped podcast concepts, and video games. We also stumble into Persona talk, movies that are too long, and try to figure out how to sign off our episodes from here on out. This could be the worst-slash-best thing that could happen.

Supplementary notes:
IN DEFENSE OF: Friday the 13th Part 7: The New Blood
Demon – Webcomic by Jason Shiga

Audio notes: (1hr. 6min. runtime)
00:10 – Introducing Shawn and his credentials, and Joe Pesci
07:55 – In Defense Of, Friday the 13th Part 7: New Blood, and The Crush
21:00 – Mashups, celebrity voice acting, and fighting games
27:35 – Persona, Persona 4, and the Persona 3 ending
37:10 – Shooters, buying/reselling games, movies that are too long, and credits
47:05 – Bringing people to the theatre, toilet talk, and what’s next for the podcast
55:00 – What we’re checking out, and making an official “sign-off”

Theme: Coconut Robot2 (James Pants) / CC BY 3.0
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E3 2014 & The State of Video Games

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Tony Gao returns for another round of E3 discussion! We discuss our issues with the bombastic conferences, the latest game reveals, Nintendo turning the tide again, and the deluge of sequels and remakes being announced. We also get into Uncharted, getting a WiiU or a 3DS, no women allowed in AC: Unity, and Kojima’s self-indulgence. And somehow, Earl manages to turn The Last Guardian’s death into a fitting symbol for the lack of innovation in the industry.

Guests:
Tony Gao – “Electronic Excrement Expo”

Audio notes: (1hr. 1min. runtime)
01:10 – The conferences, Sunset Overdrive, Aisha Tyler, and The Division
09:05 – Assassins Creed, Unity & no women characters, Watch Dogs, Mass Effect, LittleBigPlanet 3, and Metal Gear Solid
21:40 – Nintendo, “the plague of Call of Duty”, Splatoon, getting a WiiU or 3DS, Xenoblade, and The Last Guardian
34:00 – Bloodborne, Grim Fandango & remakes, Uncharted 4, and No Man’s Sky
48:35 – Sequels, indie ideas in AAA games, what Last Guardian means for the industry, and Nintendo’s creative niche

Theme: Coconut Robot2 (James Pants) / CC BY 3.0
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The Americans, Spies, & Secret Agents

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On today’s podcast, Spencer Sterritt returns from the motherland to discuss The Americans & spy fiction! We delve into the morally grey spy drama’s latest season, tackle complaints of it being cold and detached, compare it to Breaking Bad and Homeland, and somehow suggest a potential spin-off for one of its characters. Then after, we talk about Rubicon, Archer, Alias, James Bond, and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. And somehow, we compare John le Carré to Austin Powers: Groovy, baby!

Guests:
Spencer Sterritt – Editor-in-chief for We Eat Films

Supplementary Notes:
Illegals Program

Audio notes: (1hr. 3min. runtime)
01:15 – Thoughts on the show, being morally grey, ideals vs. individual, and Jared
12:00 – The kids, angry dad Phillip, children of spies, and being American
21:05 – The Illegals Program, Joe Weisberg, stealth, and show being cold & detached
29:25 – Getting people into The Americans, supporting cast, and making a spin-off
38:50 – Homeland, Rubicon, the human cost of intelligence work, Archer, Alias, and wigs
50:15 – James Bond, Metal Gear Solid, John Le Carré & Homeland, and Austin Powers

Theme: Coconut Robot2 (James Pants) / CC BY 3.0
Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!
Follow us (@AKOPPodcast) or email us at akop@phillerworks.com!

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