Bookwarm Games

The lost audio from last spring recovered at last--mostly--as we discuss the sequel to AI: The Somnium Files, NirvanA Initiative. Thanks for listening and sticking with us. More resources on visual novels at https://videogameacademia.org/courses/video-game-studies/intro-to-visual-novels/

A conversation with Alyse Knorr, 'achiever' (to cite her Super Mario Bros 3, where I first encountered her work and reviewed it for The Pixels). In which we discuss: - Sweetbitter Podcast, with new episodes coming soon about Mary Magdalen and a fourth season in the works - Switchback Books, which she edits with her wife - Regis University, where she teaches alongside colleagues such as Russ Arnold - her poetry, research, and the novel she's writing - Annotated Glass and Sappho fragment 31 - 'Bright Star,' Keats, Eliot, Carson's Autobiography of Red; Gilgamesh and Enheduanna - 'Anatomy Exam' - Ardor, a book of eco-queer domestic life and love - Every Last Thing, a book of tantrums and embarrassed apologies - Micaela Tore's MA thesis on Copper Mother (and around here you'll get a musical interlude from moonbowmusic) - Topophilia: Elizabeth Bishop's 'The Map'; Henry Jenkins' 'Complete Freedom of Movement'; Sean Fenty's nostalgia piece in

MG Prezioso, PhD candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, joins me to discuss her work on the role of enchantment in promoting literacy for young readers, particularly in the case of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. Her article appears in Children's Literature in Education; for more on Pullman's view of education, see his essays in Daemon Voices and sundry remarks available online. Thanks for listening!

Cross-pollination and housekeeping here at the break at the end of the year, stirring up dust and sending out links to past broadcasts:  First, here's the link to a recent conversation with Evan Minto on Season 3 Episode 3 of His Dark Materials, The Intention Craft.  Then, listen on for one of my semi-monthly discussions from the Middle-earth to EarthBound series on Signum Academy, an introduction to classic JRPGs like  Dragon Quest and MOTHER/EarthBound in the light of Tolkien's influence on storytelling.  There's more bookwarm games and gamecool books to come in the new year, starting with a new Video Game Studies module in SPACE. Happy holidays, and thanks for listening! 

Professor Kozlowski spins us a yarn of the high seas. Pirate opportunism, whale physics, development metafiction, and a polyphony of voices and moral gray areas--it's a good game, but is it actually an Assassin's Creed? Well, yeah. It says so on the box. 

Along for the ride as Professor Kozlowski weaves together the 2012 PS3 game's disparate threads better than the Ubisoft team does: Patriots and Loyalists; colonizers and oppressed; East coast cities and homesteads; first hour fake-outs and begrudging good riddance to the Desmond stuff. But hey, the naval battles are pretty cool. See also: The Year Project Moon Took Over Ben's Life and Fahrenheit 451

No, not Animal Crossing, and not alternating current. It's Assassin's Creed 2's half-baked follow-up games, and Prof Ben has thoughts about them.  Join the discussion at videogameacademia.org and professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ Thanks for listening. 

Professor Kozlowski returns. Our resident guest lecturer is back with a discussion of Assassin's Creed's splashy sequel, and... it's complicated. After the let-down that was their Prince of Persia reboot, the developers had to go big. So Renaissance Italy, andiamo~! More variety! More da Vinci! More weapons! But. It's kinda. Not as fun.  Join the discussion at videogameacademia.org and professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/ Thanks for listening.

Another guest lecture, after a fashion. Joe and I started a new series on being a dad. Share it with a dad or thoughtful caretaker in your life!  Show notes: First episode! We share thoughts on news sources, TV at dinnertime and screen time in general; the "Tiger Mom" Amy Chua interview on Honestly with Bari Weiss and what sorts of dads we are; backyard baptisms and letting the kids help build things. Intro/outro: Wesley and William playing 'Undertale' Share determination and send us questions: thoughtfuldadpodcast at gmail. Thanks for listening.

Professor Kozlowski lays it down. Everything is permitted? We see your forthcoming book, Cameron Kunzelman of the Game Studies Study Buddies, and raise you one podcast (this one) and one article replete with Dostoevsky references (also forthcoming).  Ante up with Ben's history and dev history; getting to know the open world; crowds in-game and reception in real life; historical realism; Zero Punctuation critiques; conspiracy nonsense (spoilers: maybe we should think twice about giving a Piece of Eden to Al Mualim) and actual philosophy. Assassins vs Templars? Meh. Exploring the tensions between ideas of freedom and order throughout history? Sign us up!  Wait, the rest of the series is actually going to deliver on that, right? Right?? Learn more and join the discussion at videogameacademia.org and professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/  Thanks for listening. 

Mild spoilers and theorizing for the end of MOTHER 3. Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.

You've come a long way...through snowy mountains and volcanoes, sea-beds and islands, back to Saturn Valley. Time for a coffee break. Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening. 

On the symbolism of sunflowers and the inclusion of references to EarthBound. Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.

Theoretical possibilities in the series include beating Belch without Fly Honey and the Pork Trooper without the DCMC Pamphlet, but why would you? Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.

We finally play as Lucas again, finding fireworks and rhythms in gift boxes and playing Stone-Sheet-Clippers for the fate of the world. Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.

We cozy up to the campfire for another Video Game Academy summer playthrough--another game about kids with psychic powers:  Psychonauts. This time, we're meeting some characters, running through battlefields of mental baggage and social dynamics, and sticking the landing on some bouncy tightropes. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.

In which we discuss Fassad and Salsa's relationship and how it is even worse than Wess and Duster's; with yet more insight into Itoi's fascination with monkeys. Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.

Infiltrating the castle? Meeting the princess? What kind of follow-up to EarthBound is this? Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.

In the long-awaited sequel to EarthBound, as localized by Tomato et al., we parse some shocking developments and developer choices. Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.

Teddy in Ellay through Mt Itoi; EVE in her lake, Queen Mary in her memory, and the ending. Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.