Critical Distance Confab

This episode we speak with Dr Brendan Keogh, discussing his new book The Videogame Industry Does Not Exist: Why We Should Think Beyond Commercial Game Production (https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262545402/the-videogame-industry-does-not-exist/). It is the final part of a special 6-episode Season of Keywords in Play, exploring intersections and exchanges between Chinese and Australian game studies scholarship. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. Dr Brendan Keogh (he/him) is a senior lecturer in the School of Communication and a Chief Investigator of the Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology. He is the co-author of The Unity Game Engine and The Circuits of Cultural Software (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019; with Benjamin Nicoll), and is the author of The Videogame Industry Does Not Exist (MIT Press, 2023), A Play of Bodies: How We Perceive Videogames (MIT Press, 2018), and Killing is Harmless: A Critical Reading of Spec Ops The Line (Stolen Projects, 2012). He has written extensively about the cultures and development practices of videogames in journals such as Games and Culture, Creative Industries, and Covergence, and for outlets such as Overland, The Conversation, Polygon, Edge, and Vice. You can check out more of Brendan's work and games on his website: https://brkeogh.com/, and follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/brkeogh. The podcast series is part of the Engaging Influencers initiative. This initiative is curated by the Australia Council for the Arts and funded by the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations. As a joint venture, “Keywords in Play” expands Critical Distance's commitment to innovative writing and research about games while using a conversational style to bring new and diverse scholarship to a wider audience. Our goal is to highlight the work of graduate students, early career researchers and scholars from under-represented groups, backgrounds and regions. The primary inspiration comes from sociologist and critic Raymond Williams. In the Preface to his book Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society, Williams envisaged not a static dictionary but an interactive document, encouraging readers to populate blank pages with their own keywords, notes and amendments. “Keywords in Play” follows Williams in affirming that “The significance is in the selection”, and works towards diversifying the critical terms with which we describe games and game culture.” Interviewer: Mahli-Ann Butt Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Emilie Reed, Zoyander Street Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart Special Thanks: Hugh Davies, Chloe Yan Li

This episode we speak with Dr. Xavier Ho, discussing his data visualisation and design research, as well as the curation process of the thoughtful queer indie games exhibition ‘Pride at Play' (https://prideatplay.org/). It is part 5 of a special 6-episode Season of Keywords in Play, exploring intersections and exchanges between Chinese and Australian game studies scholarship. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. Xavier Ho is a lecturer and a queer games researcher at Monash University. He received the inaugural CSIRO Medal for Diversity and Inclusion, was appointed as Junior Chair in Sexuality Studies at the Hunt-Simes Institute in Sydney, and was named a 2023 Australian Broadcast Corporation TOP 5 Arts media resident. You can check out his work here: https://jtg.design/, and follow him on Twitter https://twitter.com/Xavier_Ho. The podcast series is part of the Engaging Influencers initiative. This initiative is curated by the Australia Council for the Arts and funded by the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations. As a joint venture between Critical Distance and DiGRA, “Keywords in Play” expands Critical Distance's commitment to innovative writing and research about games while using a conversational style to bring new and diverse scholarship to a wider audience. Our goal is to highlight the work of graduate students, early career researchers and scholars from under-represented groups, backgrounds and regions. The primary inspiration comes from sociologist and critic Raymond Williams. In the Preface to his book Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society, Williams envisaged not a static dictionary but an interactive document, encouraging readers to populate blank pages with their own keywords, notes and amendments. “Keywords in Play” follows Williams in affirming that “The significance is in the selection”, and works towards diversifying the critical terms with which we describe games and game culture. Please consider supporting Critical Distance at https://www.patreon.com/critdistance Interviewer: Mahli-Ann Butt Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Emilie Reed, Zoyander Street Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart Special Thanks: Hugh Davies, Chloe Yan Li

This episode we speak with Dr. Stephanie Harkin, discussing the concept of “techno-femininity” from her award winning PhD Thesis (2022) Girlhood Games: Gender, Identity, and Coming of Age in Videogames. You can read her PhD here: https://researchbank.swinburne.edu.au/file/86788440-fcec-420a-8df1-b7c35f976066/1/stephanie_harkin_thesis.pdf, follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sa_harkin, and read more of her work on Academia.edu: https://swin.academia.edu/SHarkin. It is part 4 of a special 6-episode Season of Keywords in Play, exploring intersections and exchanges between Chinese and Australian game studies scholarship. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. Stephanie Harkin is an early career researcher interested in girls' gaming cultures and representations of girlhood. She completed her PhD at Swinburne University of Technology where her thesis explored girlhood and the coming-of-age genre in videogames. She has previously published on gender and games in the journals Game Studies, Games and Culture, and Girlhood Studies. The podcast series is part of Engaging Influencers initiative. This initiative is curated by the Australia Council for the Arts and funded by the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations. As a joint venture between DiGRA and Critical Distance, “Keywords in Play” expands Critical Distance's commitment to innovative writing and research about games while using a conversational style to bring new and diverse scholarship to a wider audience. Our goal is to highlight the work of graduate students, early career researchers and scholars from under-represented groups, backgrounds and regions. The primary inspiration comes from sociologist and critic Raymond Williams. In the Preface to his book Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society, Williams envisaged not a static dictionary but an interactive document, encouraging readers to populate blank pages with their own keywords, notes and amendments. “Keywords in Play” follows Williams in affirming that “The significance is in the selection”, and works towards diversifying the critical terms with which we describe games and game culture.” Please consider supporting Critical Distance at https://www.patreon.com/critdistance Interviewer: Mahli-Ann Butt Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Emilie Reed, Zoyander Street Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart Special Thanks: Hugh Davies, Chloe Yan Li

This episode we speak with Dr. Felania Liu. The episode is part 3 of a special 6-episode Season of Keywords in Play, exploring intersections and exchanges between Chinese and Australian game studies scholarship. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. Dr Felania Liu is a game researcher, and is founder and curator of the Homo Ludens Archive. She currently lectures at Beijing Normal University and has previously worked at the Department of History, Institute of Humanities, Tsinghua University /Durham University. Felania is also responsible for cultivating the game research community in China and for fostering international collaborations in the field of video game studies from the perspectives and techniques of Social Sciences in China. As a researcher, a historian, a curator, and a gamification designer, Felania specializes in using fun and game mechanics to solve problems in education, recruiting, training, learning, marketing and the designing of events. Felania promotes video games as forms of media that can bring meaningful communication and are able to make positive social impacts to the world. The podcast series is part of Engaging Influencers initiative. This initiative is curated by the Australia Council for the Arts and funded by the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations Please consider supporting Critical Distance at https://www.patreon.com/critdistance Interviewer: Hugh Davies Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Emilie Reed, Zoyander Street Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart Special Thanks: Mahli-Ann Butt, Chloe Yan Li

This episode we speak with Dr. Tingting Liu, discussing her research as a cultural anthropologist examining digital intimacies, gender, platforms and gaming in China. It is part 2 of a special 6-episode Season of Keywords in Play, exploring intersections and exchanges between Chinese and Australian game studies scholarship. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. Dr Tingting Liu is an Associate Professor in the School of Journalism and Communication at Jinan University, China. She received her PhD in anthropology from the University of Queensland in 2018. Dr. Liu used to serve as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University, as well as a part-time lecturer at the University of Sydney. Dr. Liu's research interests centre on digital media, video games, gender, sexuality, and their intersections. Her pioneering research on Chinese digital games has been published in leading international journals, including Games & Cultures, Information, Communication & Society, and Television & New Media.   The podcast series is part of Engaging Influencers initiative. This initiative is curated by the Australia Council for the Arts and funded by the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations Please consider supporting Critical Distance at https://www.patreon.com/critdistance Interviewer: Hugh Davies Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Emilie Reed, Zoyander Street Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart Special Thanks: Mahli-Ann Butt, Chloe Yan Li

This episode marks the beginning of a special 6-episode Season of Keywords in Play, exploring intersections and exchanges between Chinese and Australian game studies scholarship. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. This episode we speak with Dr. Gejun Huang. Gejun is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Media and Communication at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. He was a Lecturer in the School of Communication at Soochow University and earned his Ph.D. and MA in Media Studies from the Radio-Television-Film Department of the University of Texas at Austin. His academic interests mainly touch on the digital game industry, media entrepreneurship, cultural policy, as well as digital inequalities and digital privacy. He has published in peer-reviewed journals including Big Data & Society, Cultural Trends, International Journal of Communication, Chinese Journal of Communication, American Behavioral Scientists, and Information, Communication & Society. The podcast series is part of Engaging Influencers initiative. This initiative is curated by the Australia Council for the Arts and funded by the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations Please consider supporting Critical Distance at https://www.patreon.com/critdistance Interviewer: Hugh Davies Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Emilie Reed, Zoyander Street Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart Special Thanks: Mahli-Ann Butt, Chloe Yan Li

This epsiode we speak with Florence Smith-Nicholls about the paper "The Dark Souls of Archaeology: Recording Elden Ring" https://arxiv.org/abs/2204.10949. Florence is a game AI PhD researcher based in London. They also work as a Story Tech, a member of the writers' room at the indie studio Die Gute Fabrik. Building on their background as an archaeologist, they have contributed to the field of archaeogaming through experimenting with archaeological approaches to titles such as Elden Ring and Nier: Automata.   Please consider supporting Critical Distance at https://www.patreon.com/critdistance Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Zoyander Street, Emilie Reed. Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart

This episode we are doing something a little bit different - interviewing a group of scholars about their Call for Papers on "The Post-Gamer Turn", which can be found here: https://postgamerturn.wordpress.com/ .  Abstract submissions of 500-800 words are due on November 30th 2022. We discuss with Mahli-Ann Butt, Amanda Cote, Emil Lunedal Hammar and Cody Mejeur the rationale behind the edited collection, their backgrounds doing diversity work in game studies, and their thoughts about the future of the dynamics they identify. "This edited collection engages with the shifting understanding of “Gamers”/gamers/players in game culture, the games industry, and game studies – which Butt refers to as “the post-Gamer turn” (2022, p. 51) – to address the ongoing issues inherent in the use of a limited identity category. The post-Gamer turn does not signal the end of the “Gamer” identity but denotes a way of recognizing its promises as a sustained fantasy with real power and implications for who plays games and how. Engaging with the limits of the “Gamer” identity and questioning the boundaries of representation in games does not settle, solve, or supersede the concept of a “Gamer,” but instead reveals evolving relations between players and the games they play. Doing this work now is not only important as a matter of theoretical rigor, but also as a means for making game studies a more inclusive and vibrant scholarly community. Recognizing diverse perspectives on games, “Gamers”/gamers/players, and game studies is of urgent practical and political necessity. It has been nearly a decade since the events of Gamergate, where the tensions between “Gamers” and players were violently, publicly highlighted, and this edited collection asks what has changed in games and game studies with regard to conceptualizing players/gamers/“Gamers,” as well as where further change is needed." Please consider supporting Critical Distance at https://www.patreon.com/critdistance Special thanks to Mahli-Ann Butt for editing this episode.  

Everest Pipkin is a writer, game developer and software artist from Central Texas whose work follows themes of ecology, information theory, and system collapse. As an artist and as a theorist, they fundamentally believe in the liberatory capacity of care; care not as an abstract emotion but rather as a powerful force that motivates collective work towards a better world. They hold a BFA from University of Texas at Austin, an MFA from Carnegie Mellon University, and live and work in southern New Mexico. They have shown and spoken at The Design Museum of London, The Texas Biennial, The XXI Triennale of Milan, The Photographers Gallery of London, Center for Land Use Interpretation, and other spaces. When not at the computer in the heat of the day, you can find them in the hills spending time with their neighbors— both human and non-human.   Please consider supporting Critical Distance at https://www.patreon.com/critdistance Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Zoyander Street, Emilie Reed. Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart Transcription: Charly Harbord

Alesha Serada is a PhD student and a researcher at the University of Vaasa, Finland. Their dissertation, supported by the Nissi Foundation, discusses construction of value in games and art on blockchain. Inspired by their Belarusian origin, their research interests revolve around exploitation, violence, horror, deception and other banal and non-banal evils in visual media. In this episode we discuss Alesha's paper "‘Died from Debeeration': the Case of the First Belarusian Political Game" which characterises the game MENSKBand in the context of cultural, technical and political change in Belarus. Please consider supporting Critical Distance at https://www.patreon.com/critdistance Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Zoyander Street, Emilie Reed. Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart Transcription: Charly Harbord

In this episode we talk with Gregory Whistance-Smith, an independent scholar based in Edmonton, Canada. The discussion focuses on the book "Expressive Space: Embodying Meaning in Video Game Environments" https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110723731/html?lang=en Video game spaces have vastly expanded the built environment, offering new worlds to explore and inhabit. Like buildings, cities, and gardens before them, these virtual environments express meaning and communicate ideas and affects through the spatial experiences they afford. Drawing on the emerging field of embodied cognition, this book explores the dynamic interplay between mind, body, and environment that sits at the heart of spatial communication. To capture the wide diversity of forms that spatial expression can take, the book builds a comparative analysis of twelve video games across four types of space, spanning ones designed for exploration and inhabitation, kinetic enjoyment, enacting a situated role, and enhancing perception. Together, these diverse virtual environments suggest the many ways that video games enhance and extend our embodied lives.   Please consider supporting Critical Distance at https://www.patreon.com/critdistance Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Zoyander Street, Emilie Reed. Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart Transcription: Charly Harbord

Jaroslav Švelch is an assistant professor at Charles University, Prague. He is the author of the recent monograph Gaming the Iron Curtain: How Teenagers and Amateurs in Communist Czechoslovakia Claimed the Medium of Computer Games (MIT Press, 2018). He has published work on history and theory of computer games, on humor in games and social media, and on the Grammar Nazi phenomenon. He is currently researching history, theory, and reception of monsters in games and his monograph Player vs. Monster: The Making and Breaking of Videogame Monstrosity is forthcoming from MIT Press in 2023.

In this episode we speak with Regina Seiwald and Ed Vollans on paratexts and their forthcoming collaboration "Not in the Game: History, Paratext and Games", soon to be published with De Gruyter. Regina Seiwald is highly interested in the relationship between literary theory and narratology across the languages. Her focus thereby lies with the Anglo-American and Germanic tradition. In my PhD thesis, she researched metafiction in the postmodern British novel to determine how texts communicate the relationship between fiction and reality. The insights generated have subsequently been applied to video games and digitalisation more generally (also XR/AI/MR), particularly in the context of paratextuality and Cold War narratives. Ed Vollans' research interests explore the promotional culture of the entertainment industries, how they promote, market and position themselves within the wider popular sphere. Specifically focusing on film and videogame promotion, his work has explored the emergence of trailers for the games industry, and audience reception of film promotion. Please consider supporting Critical Distance at https://www.patreon.com/critdistance Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Zoyander Street, Emilie Reed. Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart Transcription: Charly Harbord

Esther Wright is Lecturer in Digital History at Cardiff University. Her work is situated within the field of Historical Game Studies, critically examining how digital representations of the past found in popular visual media have the potential to shape public understandings of history. Her PhD, awarded by the University of Warwick in August 2019, is a study of Rockstar Games as developer-historian, and the company's long-established project of negotiating and representing U.S. History in their games – in particular, focussing on Red Dead Redemption (2010), Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018), and L.A. Noire (2011). This project is forthcoming as a book entitled Rockstar Games and American History: Promotional Materials and the Construction of Authenticity (De Gruyter, 2022). Esther argues for the importance of studying promotional materials, developer branding strategies, and other kinds of paratextual materials associated with the development and release of historical digital games. These materials are important digital sites and spaces through which game developers, like Rockstar, perform the role of historian and manage expectations for "historical authenticity" among players and critics. She uses promotional materials to offer more nuanced interpretations of the influence of dominant understandings of U.S. History on game development and marketing decisions. These hegemonies, established by and through the conventions of pre-existing cultural "genres" like the Western and film noir, and popular narratives long-centred on the white and male experience, lead to games that exclude and marginalise other people and identities, and promotional practices that reaffirm exclusionary stories about America's “real” past. Esther is also a convener of the Historical Games Network https://www.historicalgames.net/   Please consider supporting Critical Distance at https://www.patreon.com/critdistance Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Zoyander Street, Emilie Reed. Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart Transcription: Charly Harbord

April Tyack is a postdoctoral researcher at Aalto University and vice-president of DiGRA Australia. April researches player experience and how games facilitate different types of experiences. In this episode, April discusses the paper Off-Peak: An Examination of Ordinary Player Experience (2021), published with Elisa D. Mekler. The paper critiques the focus in game research, culture and development on extraordinary, optimal or peak experiences, and how this focus has shaped the field of HCI in particular. Ordinary player experience is conceptualised as familiar, emotionally moderate, co-attentive, and abstractly memorable, providing a new model for thinking about and researching digital games. “Keywords in Play” is a monthly interview series about game research supported by Critical Distance and the Digital Games Research Association. As a joint venture, “Keywords in Play” expands Critical Distance's commitment to innovative writing and research about games while using a conversational style to bring new and diverse scholarship to a wider audience. Our goal is to highlight the work of graduate students, early career researchers and scholars from under-represented groups, backgrounds and regions. The primary inspiration comes from sociologist and critic Raymond Williams. In the Preface to his book Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society, Williams envisaged not a static dictionary but an interactive document, encouraging readers to populate blank pages with their own keywords, notes and amendments. “Keywords in Play” follows Williams in affirming that “The significance is in the selection”, and works towards diversifying the critical terms with which we describe games and game culture. For more on games writing and culture (as well as transcriptions of each Keywords in Play episode) please visit https://www.critical-distance.com/   Please consider supporting Critical Distance at https://www.patreon.com/critdistance Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Zoyander Street, Emilie Reed. Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart Transcription: Charly Harbord       The paper is available here: https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3411764.3445230

This episode we speak with Felan Parker about his work on cultural intermediaries and indie games. Felan is Assistant Professor of Book & Media Studies at St. Michael's College in the University of Toronto, and a scholar of media industries and cultures specializing in games, digital media, and film. His ongoing research, supported from 2016-2019 by the Indie Interfaces SSHRC Insight Development Grant, explores the production, distribution, and reception of independent or “indie” digital games with a particular focus on the role of intermediary actors like curators, critics, and community organizers in the cultural ecosystem of the game industry. Dr. Parker is also co-investigator on the Swarming Comic-Con SSHRC Insight Grant, a collaborative ethnographic research endeavour that examines the famous San Diego Comic-Con and its cultural and economic resonance across entertainment industries. Other interests include game development in Canada, transmedia franchises, blockbusters and spectacle, authorship, genre, and analog games. His work has been published in leading journals and presented at conferences around the world, and he co-edited Beyond the Sea: Critical Perspectives on Bioshock, a 2018 anthology of essays on the influential game series. More on Felan's work: https://stmikes.utoronto.ca/about-us/contact-us/directory/felan-parker   “Keywords in Play” is a monthly interview series about game research supported by Critical Distance and the Digital Games Research Association. As a joint venture, “Keywords in Play” expands Critical Distance's commitment to innovative writing and research about games while using a conversational style to bring new and diverse scholarship to a wider audience. Our goal is to highlight the work of graduate students, early career researchers and scholars from under-represented groups, backgrounds and regions. The primary inspiration comes from sociologist and critic Raymond Williams. In the Preface to his book Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society, Williams envisaged not a static dictionary but an interactive document, encouraging readers to populate blank pages with their own keywords, notes and amendments. “Keywords in Play” follows Williams in affirming that “The significance is in the selection”, and works towards diversifying the critical terms with which we describe games and game culture. For more on games writing and culture (as well as transcriptions of each Keywords in Play episode) please visit https://www.critical-distance.com/   Please consider supporting Critical Distance at https://www.patreon.com/critdistance Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Zoyander Street, Emilie Reed. Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart Transcription: Charly Harbord

This episode we speak with Leon Xiao about the paper "What are the odds? Lower compliance with Western loot box probability disclosure industry self-regulation than Chinese legal regulation", co-authored with Laura Henderson and Philip Newall. This empirical study of loot boxes and probability disclosure is (as of this interview) a preprint and hence subject to change during peer-review. The current version is available here: https://osf.io/g5wd9/ Leon is a Teaching Associate at Queen Mary University of London. He researches video game law, particularly the regulation of loot boxes, a quasi-gambling monetisation mechanic in video games. He has appeared before the Law Commission of England and Wales, and submitted policy recommendations to the Spanish, Singaporean, and UK Governments. His research has been published in peer-reviewed law, psychology, and behavioural public policy journals. He has presented at conferences in various disciplines, including at DiGRA Australia, British DiGRA, and the Chinese chapter of DiGRA. He won the poster prize for student research at the 2020 annual conference of the Society for the Study of Addiction. A full list of his publications is available at https://sites.google.com/view/leon-xiao/.   Please consider supporting Critical Distance at https://www.patreon.com/critdistance Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Zoyander Street, Emilie Reed, Bettina Bodi. Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart Transcription: Charly Harbord

This episode we speak with Adrienne Shaw about the paper "Encoding and decoding affordances: Stuart Hall and interactive media technologies". This paper brings Stuart Hall's concepts of encoding and decoding into proximity with ideas of affordance and technology. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0163443717692741 Adrienne Shaw is an Associate Professor in Temple University's Department of Media Studies and Production and a member of the Lew Klein College of Media and Communication graduate faculty. From 2019-2022 she will serve the first director of Temple's new Graduate Certificate in Cultural Analytics. Shaw is author of Gaming at the Edge: Sexuality and Gender at the Margins of Gamer Culture (winner of the 2016 International Communication Association's Popular Communications Division's Book Award). She has co-edited three anthologies: Queer Game Studies (2017, University of Minnesota Press), Queer Technologies: Affordances, Affect, Ambivalence (2017, Routledge), and Interventions: Communication Research and Practice (2018, Peter Lang). She is also the founder of the LGBTQ Game Archive and co-curator of Rainbow Arcade, the world's first exhibit of LGBTQ game history (Dec 2018-May 2019 in Berlin, Germany).  From 2011 to 2015 she was also part of the multi-million dollar and award winning CYCLES project, which developed games to train users to identify and mitigate cognitive biases. A full list of her publications is available via Google Scholar. “Keywords in Play” is a monthly interview series about game research supported by Critical Distance and the Digital Games Research Association. As a joint venture, “Keywords in Play” expands Critical Distance's commitment to innovative writing and research about games while using a conversational style to bring new and diverse scholarship to a wider audience. Our goal is to highlight the work of graduate students, early career researchers and scholars from under-represented groups, backgrounds and regions. The primary inspiration comes from sociologist and critic Raymond Williams. In the Preface to his book Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society, Williams envisaged not a static dictionary but an interactive document, encouraging readers to populate blank pages with their own keywords, notes and amendments. “Keywords in Play” follows Williams in affirming that “The significance is in the selection”, and works towards diversifying the critical terms with which we describe games and game culture. For more on games writing and culture please visit https://www.critical-distance.com/   Please consider supporting Critical Distance at https://www.patreon.com/critdistance Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Zoyander Street, Emilie Reed. Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart

This episode we speak with Alenda Y. Chang about games, ecology, literature, and environmental relations. Alenda is an Associate Professor in Film and Media Studies at UC Santa Barbara. With a multidisciplinary background in biology, literature, and film, she specializes in merging ecocritical theory with the analysis of contemporary media. Her writing has been featured in Ant Spider Bee, Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, Qui Parle, the Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds, and Ecozon@, and her first book Playing Nature: Ecology in Video Games (University of Minnesota Press, December 2019), develops ecological frameworks for understanding and designing digital games.   “Keywords in Play” is a monthly interview series about game research supported by Critical Distance and the Digital Games Research Association. As a joint venture, “Keywords in Play” expands Critical Distance's commitment to innovative writing and research about games while using a conversational style to bring new and diverse scholarship to a wider audience. Our goal is to highlight the work of graduate students, early career researchers and scholars from under-represented groups, backgrounds and regions. The primary inspiration comes from sociologist and critic Raymond Williams. In the Preface to his book Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society, Williams envisaged not a static dictionary but an interactive document, encouraging readers to populate blank pages with their own keywords, notes and amendments. “Keywords in Play” follows Williams in affirming that “The significance is in the selection”, and works towards diversifying the critical terms with which we describe games and game culture. For more on games writing and culture please visit https://www.critical-distance.com/   Please consider supporting Critical Distance at https://www.patreon.com/critdistance Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Zoyander Street, Emilie Reed. Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart

This episode we talk with Aaron Trammell about challenging canonical thinkers, race, torture and TTRPGs, with special reference to his open-access piece "Torture, Play and the Black Experience" https://www.gamejournal.it/torture-play/. Aaron is Assistant Professor of Informatics and Core Faculty in Visual Studies at UC Irvine. He writes about how Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, and board games inform the lived experiences of their players. Specifically, he is interested in how these games further values of white privilege and hegemonic masculinity in geek culture. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Analog Game Studies and the Multimedia editor of Sounding Out! You can get in touch at trammell [at] uci [dot] edu “Keywords in Play” is a monthly interview series about game research supported by Critical Distance and the Digital Games Research Association. As a joint venture, “Keywords in Play” expands Critical Distance's commitment to innovative writing and research about games while using a conversational style to bring new and diverse scholarship to a wider audience. Our goal is to highlight the work of graduate students, early career researchers and scholars from under-represented groups, backgrounds and regions. The primary inspiration comes from sociologist and critic Raymond Williams. In the Preface to his book Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society, Williams envisaged not a static dictionary but an interactive document, encouraging readers to populate blank pages with their own keywords, notes and amendments. “Keywords in Play” follows Williams in affirming that “The significance is in the selection”, and works towards diversifying the critical terms with which we describe games and game culture. For more on games writing and culture please visit https://www.critical-distance.com/   Please consider supporting Critical Distance at https://www.patreon.com/critdistance Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Zoyander Street, Emilie Reed. Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart

Víctor Navarro-Remesal is a media scholar specialized in games. He teaches History of Videogames and Interactive Narrative at Tecnocampus, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, and Game Design at UOC. He's the author of ‘Libertad dirigida: Una gramática del análisis y diseño de videojuegos' (Shangrila, 2016) and ‘Cine Ludens: 50 diálogos entre el juego y el cine' (Editorial UOC, 2019), as well as the editor of ‘Pensar el juego. 25 caminos para los game studies' (Shangrila, 2020). His research interests are player freedom, Zen-inspired games, gêmu, and game preservation. He is one of the founding members of DIGRA Spain.   https://medium.com/game-studies-espa%C3%B1a/monogr%C3%A1ficos-dedicados-al-videojuego-en-revistas-acad%C3%A9micas-59e08566a8bd “Ludonarrativas: La complejidad narrativa en los videojuegos” http://www.revistaatalante.com/index.php?journal=atalante&page=issue&op=current Pensar el juego: 25 caminos para los game studies https://shangrilaediciones.com/producto/pensar-el-juego/   Thiago Falcão is Professor of Digital Media Communication Course and Professor of the Graduate Program in Communication at the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB). He holds a PhD in Communication and Contemporary Culture from the Federal University of Bahia and was a PDSE/Capes fellow at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He has a Post-Doctorate in Audiovisual Communication from Anhembi Morumbi University in São Paulo/SP. Thiago currently researches themes regarding politics and entertainment, with special attention to the ties between the Brazilian esports scene and cultural dynamics associated to neoliberalism / late capitalism.    Link for the Special Issue CFP "The Colonization of Play by Neoliberal Capitalism": https://periodicos.uff.br/contracampo/announcement/view/491 Rede Metagame: Brazilian Research network on Games and Political Culture: twitter.com/redemetagame   “Keywords in Play” is a monthly interview series about game research supported by Critical Distance and the Digital Games Research Association. As a joint venture, “Keywords in Play” expands Critical Distance's commitment to innovative writing and research about games while using a conversational style to bring new and diverse scholarship to a wider audience. Our goal is to highlight the work of graduate students, early career researchers and scholars from under-represented groups, backgrounds and regions. The primary inspiration comes from sociologist and critic Raymond Williams. In the Preface to his book Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society, Williams envisaged not a static dictionary but an interactive document, encouraging readers to populate blank pages with their own keywords, notes and amendments. “Keywords in Play” follows Williams in affirming that “The significance is in the selection”, and works towards diversifying the critical terms with which we describe games and game culture. For more on games writing and culture please visit https://www.critical-distance.com/

C. Thi Nguyen is a former food writer, now a philosophy professor at University of Utah. He writes about trust, art, games, and communities, and is interested in the ways that our social structures and technologies shape how we think and what we value. His first book is Games: Agency as Art. It's about how games are the art form that work in the medium of agency. A game designer doesn't just create a world – they create who we are in that world. Games shape temporary agencies for artistic purposes. And games turn out to be our way of writing down and communicating modes of agency; by playing them, we can try out different forms of agency.  (Here's a summary of the book and Thi's website is https://objectionable.net/.) “Keywords in Play” is a monthly interview series about game research supported by Critical Distance and the Digital Games Research Association. As a joint venture, “Keywords in Play” expands Critical Distance's commitment to innovative writing and research about games while using a conversational style to bring new and diverse scholarship to a wider audience. Our goal is to highlight the work of graduate students, early career researchers and scholars from under-represented groups, backgrounds and regions. The primary inspiration comes from sociologist and critic Raymond Williams. In the Preface to his book Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society, Williams envisaged not a static dictionary but an interactive document, encouraging readers to populate blank pages with their own keywords, notes and amendments. “Keywords in Play” follows Williams in affirming that “The significance is in the selection”, and works towards diversifying the critical terms with which we describe games and game culture. For more on games writing and culture please visit https://www.critical-distance.com/

This episode's guest is Sonia Fizek, to discuss a forthcoming book on 'delegated' and 'interpassive' play. Sonia is a digital wanderer and a ludic thinker. On a more formal note, a professor at Cologne Game Lab in media and game studies and a co-editor in chief of the Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds. Previously a lecturer at Abertay University, a postdoctoral researcher at the Cent­re for Di­gi­tal Cul­tu­res at Leu­pha­na Uni­ver­si­ty Lüne­burg and a guest lecturer at: Leuphana University Lüne­burg, Goethe University Frankfurt, Hamburg Media School, and Design School Berlin. “Keywords in Play” is an interview series about game research supported by Critical Distance and the Digital Games Research Association. As a joint venture, “Keywords in Play” expands Critical Distance's commitment to innovative writing and research about games while using a conversational style to bring new and diverse scholarship to a wider audience. Our goal is to highlight the work of graduate students, early career researchers and scholars from under-represented groups, backgrounds and regions. The primary inspiration comes from sociologist and critic Raymond Williams. In the Preface to his book Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society, Williams envisaged not a static dictionary but an interactive document, encouraging readers to populate blank pages with their own keywords, notes and amendments. “Keywords in Play” follows Williams in affirming that “The significance is in the selection”, and works towards diversifying the critical terms with which we describe games and game culture.  

This episode we speak with Lindsay Grace about love and affection in games. Lindsay is Knight Chair in Interactive Media and an associate professor at the University of Miami School of Communication. He is Vice President for the Higher Education Video Game Alliance and the 2019 recipient of the Games for Change Vanguard award. Lindsay's book, Doing Things with Games, Social Impact through Design, is a well-received guide to game design. In 2020, he edited and authored Love and Electronic Affection: a Design Primer on designing love and affection in games. “Keywords in Play” is an interview series about game research supported by Critical Distance and the Digital Games Research Association. As a joint venture, “Keywords in Play” expands Critical Distance's commitment to innovative writing and research about games while using a conversational style to bring new and diverse scholarship to a wider audience. Our goal is to highlight the work of graduate students, early career researchers and scholars from under-represented groups, backgrounds and regions. The primary inspiration comes from sociologist and critic Raymond Williams. In the Preface to his book Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society, Williams envisaged not a static dictionary but an interactive document, encouraging readers to populate blank pages with their own keywords, notes and amendments. “Keywords in Play” follows Williams in affirming that “The significance is in the selection”, and works towards diversifying the critical terms with which we describe games and game culture.

This episode we speak with Mal Abbas, an independent game designer, artist and producer working on experimental and meaningful games. Malath established Scotland's first game collective and co-working space Biome Collective, a diverse, inclusive melting pot of technology, art and culture for people who want to create, collaborate and explore games, digital art and technology.  Work includes Killbox, an online game and interactive installation that critically explores the nature of drone warfare, its complexities and consequences, and Garden, a beautiful music based exploration interactive experience set in space. “Keywords in Play” is an interview series about game research supported by Critical Distance and the Digital Games Research Association. As a joint venture, “Keywords in Play” expands Critical Distance's commitment to innovative writing and research about games while using a conversational style to bring new and diverse scholarship to a wider audience. Our goal is to highlight the work of graduate students, early career researchers and scholars from under-represented groups, backgrounds and regions. The primary inspiration comes from sociologist and critic Raymond Williams. In the Preface to his book Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society, Williams envisaged not a static dictionary but an interactive document, encouraging readers to populate blank pages with their own keywords, notes and amendments. “Keywords in Play” follows Williams in affirming that “The significance is in the selection”, and works towards diversifying the critical terms with which we describe games and game culture.   Please consider supporting Critical Distance at https://www.patreon.com/critdistance Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Zoyander Street, Emilie Reed. Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart  

This episode we speak with Dr Jamie Woodcock. Jamie is a researcher based in London. He is the author of The Gig Economy (Polity, 2019), Marx at the Arcade (Haymarket, 2019), and Working The Phones (Pluto, 2017). His research is inspired by the workers' inquiry. His research focuses on labour, work, the gig economy, platforms, resistance, organising, and videogames. He is on the editorial board of Notes from Below and Historical Materialism. Jamie completed his PhD in sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London and has held positions at Goldsmiths, University of Leeds, University of Manchester, Queen Mary, NYU London, Cass Business School, and the LSE. “Keywords in Play” is an interview series about game research supported by Critical Distance and the Digital Games Research Association. As a joint venture, “Keywords in Play” expands Critical Distance's commitment to innovative writing and research about games while using a conversational style to bring new and diverse scholarship to a wider audience. Our goal is to highlight the work of graduate students, early career researchers and scholars from under-represented groups, backgrounds and regions. The primary inspiration comes from sociologist and critic Raymond Williams. In the Preface to his book Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society, Williams envisaged not a static dictionary but an interactive document, encouraging readers to populate blank pages with their own keywords, notes and amendments. “Keywords in Play” follows Williams in affirming that “The significance is in the selection”, and works towards diversifying the critical terms with which we describe games and game culture.   Please consider supporting Critical Distance at https://www.patreon.com/critdistance Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Zoyander Street, Emilie Reed. Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart

This episode we have a departure from academia; a different approach to the creation and transmission of knowledge. We interview Eli Smith, Traditional Music Consultant for Rockstar Games' Red Dead Redemption 2. In our first COVID-19 recording (you may hear some sirens), we discuss the American music archive both as living tradition and recording technology, and the ways in which these interface with the virtual space of a digital game. Eli is a folk singer, banjo player and guitarist who grew up in New York's Greenwich Village.  Smith has recorded for Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and regularly performs as a solo musician and with the string band the Down Hill Strugglers http://elismithmusic.blogspot.com/ “Keywords in Play” is an interview series about game research supported by Critical Distance and the Digital Games Research Association. As a joint venture, “Keywords in Play” expands Critical Distance's commitment to innovative writing and research about games while using a conversational style to bring new and diverse scholarship to a wider audience. Our goal is to highlight the work of graduate students, early career researchers and scholars from under-represented groups, backgrounds and regions. The primary inspiration comes from sociologist and critic Raymond Williams. In the Preface to his book Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society, Williams envisaged not a static dictionary but an interactive document, encouraging readers to populate blank pages with their own keywords, notes and amendments. “Keywords in Play” follows Williams in affirming that “The significance is in the selection”, and works towards diversifying the critical terms with which we describe games and game culture.   Please consider supporting Critical Distance at https://www.patreon.com/critdistance Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Zoyander Street, Emilie Reed. Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart

“Keywords in Play” is an interview series about game research supported by Critical Distance and the Digital Games Research Association. As a joint venture, “Keywords in Play” expands Critical Distance's commitment to innovative writing and research about games while using a conversational style to bring new and diverse scholarship to a wider audience. Our goal is to highlight the work of graduate students, early career researchers and scholars from under-represented groups, backgrounds and regions. The primary inspiration comes from sociologist and critic Raymond Williams. In the Preface to his book Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society, Williams envisaged not a static dictionary but an interactive document, encouraging readers to populate blank pages with their own keywords, notes and amendments. “Keywords in Play” follows Williams in affirming that “The significance is in the selection”, and works towards diversifying the critical terms with which we describe games and game culture. In this episode we speak with Rob Gallagher about "digital subjectivity". Rob was recently a postdoctoral researcher with the European Research Council-funded Ego Media Project at Kings College London, and is now a teaching fellow in literature and the digital at Royal Holloway, University of London. His book Videogames, Identity and Digital Subjectivity was published by Routledge in 2017.

In this episode we speak with Bo Ruberg, who is Assistant Professor at UC Irvine in Film & Media. Their interdisciplinary research crosses media studies, queer studies, the Digital Humanities, cultural studies, and an engagement with computational fields. From 2015-2017, Bo served as a Provost’s Postdoctoral Scholar in the Interactive Media & Games Division and a member of the Society of Fellows at the University of Southern California. In 2015, Bonnie received their Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley in conjunction with the Berkeley Center for New Media and the Department of Women and Gender Studies. Prior to entering academia, they worked as a technology journalist, reporting on tech, video games, sex, and gender from 2005 to 2009. We discuss their books "Videogames Have Always Been Queer" (tiny.cc/e0zkjz) and the forthcoming "Queer Games Avant-Garde" (http://tiny.cc/2yzkjz). “Keywords in Play” is a monthly interview series about game research supported by Critical Distance and the Digital Games Research Association. As a joint venture, “Keywords in Play” expands Critical Distance’s commitment to innovative writing and research about games while using a conversational style to bring new and diverse scholarship to a wider audience. Our goal is to highlight the work of graduate students, early career researchers and scholars from under-represented groups, backgrounds and regions. The primary inspiration comes from sociologist and critic Raymond Williams. In the Preface to his book Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society, Williams envisaged not a static dictionary but an interactive document, encouraging readers to populate blank pages with their own keywords, notes and amendments. “Keywords in Play” follows Williams in affirming that “The significance is in the selection”, and works towards diversifying the critical terms with which we describe games and game culture. Please consider supporting Critical Distance at https://www.patreon.com/critdistance Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Zoyander Street, Emilie Reed. Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart    

“Keywords in Play” is a monthly interview series about game research supported by Critical Distance and the Digital Games Research Association. As a joint venture, “Keywords in Play” expands Critical Distance’s commitment to innovative writing and research about games while using a conversational style to bring new and diverse scholarship to a wider audience. Our goal is to highlight the work of graduate students, early career researchers and scholars from under-represented groups, backgrounds and regions. The primary inspiration comes from sociologist and critic Raymond Williams. In the Preface to his book Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society, Williams envisaged not a static dictionary but an interactive document, encouraging readers to populate blank pages with their own keywords, notes and amendments. “Keywords in Play” follows Williams in affirming that “The significance is in the selection”, and works towards diversifying the critical terms with which we describe games and game culture. In this episode we speak to Emilie Reed. Emilie is a recent PhD graduate researching the history of displaying videogames in museums and other arts contexts. Her academic background includes art history, museum studies and creative writing. She is interested in creating exhibitions which highlight overlooked elements of the history and artistic practice behind videogames, and developing more experimental approaches to game criticism. https://emreed.net/ Emilie's paper "Exhibition Strategies for Videogames in Art Institutions: Blank Arcade 2016" is open access: http://todigra.org/index.php/todigra/article/view/91 Please consider supporting Critical Distance at https://www.patreon.com/critdistance Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Zoyander Street, Emilie Reed. Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart

“Keywords in Play” is an interview series about game research supported by Critical Distance and the Digital Games Research Association. As a joint venture, “Keywords in Play” expands Critical Distance’s commitment to innovative writing and research about games while using a conversational style to bring new and diverse scholarship to a wider audience. Our goal is to highlight the work of graduate students, early career researchers and scholars from under-represented groups, backgrounds and regions. The primary inspiration comes from sociologist and critic Raymond Williams. In the Preface to his book Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society, Williams envisaged not a static dictionary but an interactive document, encouraging readers to populate blank pages with their own keywords, notes and amendments. “Keywords in Play” follows Williams in affirming that “The significance is in the selection”, and works towards diversifying the critical terms with which we describe games and game culture. In this episode we speak to Elizabeth LaPensée, Ph.D. Elizabeth is an award-winning designer, writer, artist, and researcher who creates and studies Indigenous-led media such as games and comics. She is Anishinaabe with family from Bay Mills, Métis, and Irish. She is an Assistant Professor of Media & Information and Writing, Rhetoric & American Cultures at Michigan State University and a 2018 Guggenheim Fellow Production Team: Darshana Jayemanne, Zoyander Street, Emilie Reed. Audio Direction and Engineering: Damian Stewart Double Bass: Aaron Stewart

Last minisode of the year for the Critical Distance Confab. I tried to think of a theme, but really it's just two indie games worthy of some attention and love. Angelina Bonilla aka Red Angel co-hosts with me this month. We've been able to bring the minisodes back thanks to our listeners' support on Patreon. To help us to add more new features to the site, including foreign-language coverage and videos, please consider supporting us. In case you don't know, the purpose here is to highlight some games we feel aren't getting the critical attention they deserve for whatever reason. The hope is that one of you intrepid listeners will sort that out by playing and writing about them. The games mentioned will range from itch.io art games, to prestige level indie games, right on up through AAA games that have slipped through the cracks. Angelina's Pick Milkmaid of the Milky Way/a> by Mattis Polkestad Eric's Pick The Banner Saga by Stoic Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy

This month on the Critical Distance Confab, Angelina Bonilla better known as Red Angel was kind enough to come on. Red Angel started off as a writer for online publications. However, after some time there, she wanted to for a while to turn her efforts to video. Ignorant of the wider YouTube critical community, she just started her channel. She began her Late Night Ponderings series as an extension of the editorials she wrote for Noobfeed and Game Skinny, but they evolved beyond the constraints of editorial mandates and game journalism "style" into something more personable. And instead of focusing on larger titles, she found she had little to add and instead chose to use her time critiquing smaller indie games for the most part. We talk about her writing sounding "like poetry," wanting to bring different perspectives into this sphere, and owls for some reason. SHOW NOTES Red Angel YouTube Channel Late Night Ponderings: Life Is Strange's Ending and Reception Death and Photography in Life is Strange Oxenfree The Duality of Grief in Clarissa and ALex Why I Cover Indie Games Late Night Ponderings: Similar Sinews Angelina Bonilla Author's Page - Noobfeed Angelina Bonilla Author's Page - Game Skinny Red Angel Patreon Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy

I'm not dead, the minisodes are back, back from the dead that is, on the Critical Distance Confab. In the spirit of October, we bring you another minisode installment on horror games. Co-hosting with me this month is my podcast associate from PopMatters, Nick Dinicola. In case you don't know, the purpose here is to highlight some games we feel aren't getting the critical attention they deserve for whatever reason. The hope is that one of you intrepid listeners will sort that out by playing and writing about them. The games mentioned will range from itch.io art games, to prestige level indie games, right on up through AAA games that have slipped through the cracks. We've been able to bring the minisodes back thanks to our listeners' support on Patreon. To help us to add more new features to the site, including foreign-language coverage and videos, please consider supporting us. Nick's Pick Downfall by Harvester Games Eric's Pick Stories Untold by No Code Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy

This month on the Critical Distance Confab we welcome Alex Carlson from the YouTube channel PostMesmeric. Alex Carlson is a relative newbie to the world of YouTube video game criticism. He had some experience with written criticism, most notably on Hardcore Gaming 101, but transferred over when he was introduced to the idea that YouTube could be used for more than simple entertainment. His channel is a hidden gem, which I came upon one day when Youtube's algorithm was feeling particularly kind: toiling away in relative obscurity, perhaps thanks to the capricious nature of this algorithm, he nonetheless continues to put out quality videos. We talk about his style of criticism connecting design to theme, his predilection for critiquing horror games, and his more personal video about how certain games exploit his Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. SHOW NOTES PostMesmeric YouTube Channel Pyre and Responsibility | PostMesmeric This Dishwasher: Vampire Smile Analysis - The Art of Control | Postmesmeric Layers of Fear Analysis - Framing and Perspective | PostMesmeric Detention Anaylsis - Fear and Reality | PostMesmeric Evolving Rhythm Gameplay | PostMesmeric Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts - An In-Depth Critique | PostMesmeric Banjo Kazooie vs. Banjo Tooie - Rare's Metamorphosis |PostMesmeric Gaming With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder |PostMesmeric Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy

This month on the Critical Distance Confab, all the way from New Zealand, is YouTuber Mitch Cramer. Mitch Cramer, aka HeavyEyed, is a relatively new to the world of YouTube video game criticism. Starting off as a band manager, he moved away from that to put some video production skills to use. He started a channel and steadily plucked away at it until some attention came his way after one video spiked in viewers. We talk about his in depth criticism of the Star Fox games, the local video game development scene in New Zealand and his steady improvement at what he finds the toughest part of making a video, the writing. SHOW NOTES HeavyEyed YouTube Channel Star Fox 64 - Medals & High Scores // HeavyEyed The Problems With Star Fox //HeavyEyed Looking At Every Zelda Introduction // HeavyEyedd Mental Health in Video Games // HeavyEyed The Language of Video Games // HeavyEyed Hi-Bit Era - The Future of Pixel Art Games // HeavyEyed HeavyEyed Patreon Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy

After a year long hiatus, the minisodes are back on the Critical Distance Confab. In case you missed them the first time around, the idea behind these minisodes is for myself and a co-host to highlight some games that haven't gotten a lot of criticism or much attention at all. The hope is that one of you intrepid listeners will try one of them out and write about it. The games on the docket range from itch.io art games, to prestige level indie games, right on up to AAA games that have slipped through the cracks. We've been able to bring the minisodes back thanks to our listeners' support on Patreon. To help us to add more new features to the site, including foreign-language coverage and videos, please consider supporting us. To keep things shorter and more manageable for our guests, we've changed the format to one game a piece instead of the three games a piece we had previously been doing. Enjoy! Co-hosting with me this month is our intrepid editor-in-chief, Zoya Street. Zoya's Pick Two Dots by Betaworks Eric's Pick Masquerada: Songs and Shadows by Witching Hour Studios Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy

Joining me for this month's interview is author of actual books and YouTube critic Joseph Anderson. Starting from a desire to build up his online presence to attract a book agent, Joseph Anderson decided to create some YouTube videos to release himself of some "petty gripes" he had regarding the Dark Souls vs. Dark Souls 2 debate. He felt that a lot of what Dark Souls 2 was getting knocked on for was present in the original game. From there the channel grew to surpass his original occupation. We talk about the extreme amount of prep work - including multiple playthroughs - he engages in, the roulette-wheel-like luck of algorithms, and the surreality of success. SHOW NOTES Joseph Anderson YouTube Channel Dark Souls Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5 Diablo 3 and Reaper of Souls Fallout 4 Analysis Fallout 4 - One Year Later Dark Souls 3 Critique Uncharted and The Last of Us - Great and Terrible Games Joseph Anderson Vs No Man's Sky The Witness - A Great Game That You Shouldn't Play Joseph Anderson Amazon Author Page Joseph Anderson Patreon Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy

I managed to snag critic, rhetorician and YouTube vaudevillian Harry Brewis, more commonly known as Hbomberguy for this month's interview. Mr. Hbomberguy is a bit of an odd duck with regards to YouTube games criticism. He first came to internet prominence through his videos of ridiculing internet dumbasses and that work forms a clear line regarding how he talks about video games. His earlier video game videos we far more conventional, while the videos he made afterwards are far more bizarre, funny and in line with the breaking down arguments and rhetoric displayed in those "measured responses." We also talk about the cultivation of comic personas, the control video allows him over his audience, and the monumental effort that goes into making his videos look like a slapdash production. SHOW NOTES Hbomberguy YouTUbe Channel The Sarkeesian Effect: A Measured Response Measured Response: Bill Nye VS Pseudosience (Part One) Fallout 3 Is Garbage, And Here's Why SHIELD BASH: LORDS OF THE FALLEN REVIEW - Hbomberguy Why Braid Is Great - Hbomberguy Bloodborne Is Genius, And Here's Why What Makes An Action Scene Good? Perverted Sentimentality: An Analysis of UNDERTALE SERIOUS SONIC LORE ANALYSIS Hbomb Patreon Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy

Freshly back from E3, YouTuber Hamish Black, the man behind the Writing on Games channel, sat down with me for this month's interview. Nearly two years ago exactly, Hamish Black took the plunge and began making critical YouTube videos. He began by tying the academic work he learned at university to video games. However, he soon found his formula a little restricting and began stretching beyond his original conception. At the time, he was ignorant of the larger community of in-depth critics and so was alone in building his channel. But as he continued plugging away, he did become aware of many other critics, both YouTube and otherwise, which helped him branch out his own work. In the interview, Hamish Black and I discuss his start and growth along with his search for the balance between academic theory and approachability, the evolving context of games, and resisting the call of Dark Souls as a YouTube hit maker. SHOW NOTES Writing on Games YouTube Channel 'Her Story' and the Birth of the Reader Revisiting Killer 7 or: Art as Technique Dark Souls Helped Me Cope With Suicidal Depression Why Blighttown Really Matters (Dark Souls) - Writing on Games How the Meaning of Vanquish (and Spec Ops: The Line) Changed The Real Problem With Steam Music Games and the Joy of Making Mistakes Writing on GamesCast Writing on Games Patreon Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy

With this interview, we move away from YouTube for the moment to talk with Philip Jones, the director of the 2015 documentary Gaming in Color. The documentary started with an intent to focus on the then-new Gaymer X convention. But as the original crew fell away due to lack of funding, Philip Jones and others picked up where they left off and expanded the scope of the film. With a focus on the intersection of the queer and gaming communities, the documentary seeks to answer the question of many outside observers, why is something like Gaymer X necessary? Philip Jones and I also discuss the logistics in putting together a documentary with the crew spread across the US, whether it's still relevant given how fast the community moves in this day and age, and the specific choice behind the positive tone the film puts forth. SHOW NOTES Gaming in Color Homepage Gaming in Color on Steam Gaming in Color Kickstarter Philip Jones' Twitter Gaymer X Midboss Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy

This month I interview YouTuber Kevin John, also known as Cagey. Cagey is a small time YouTube essayist, a jolly old soul from Scotland. From writing at fan sites he struck out on his own with his own YouTube channel. His output is much shorter than many of the other people we've featured here as he prefers concise arguments. We discuss his worships of the temple of the red pen, ambiguous channel iconography and what he has learned during his time making videos. SHOW NOTES Cagey Videos YouTube Channel Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders - Last Stand "Great Level: Kingdom Under Fire EXTRAS Game Feel Part 1 (of 2): Controls Game Feel PArt 2 (of 2): Presentation Mercenaries and The Deck of 52 - Cagey Videos X-Men: Legends: Sibling Rivalry The Magic Maze Red Barrels are Awesome (And We All Know It) Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy

In this episode, I interview the newly crowned Critical Distance 2016 Journalist of the Year, Heather Alexandra. Each new interviewee seems to bring some new aspect to the video criticism form. Heather Alexandra instead of jumping straight into video essays, began with the longer form of Let's Play, but with a critical bent. From there she continued to evolve her voice down two paths, the more structured video essay we are familiar with, and a more casual conversation format developed from the Let's Play style. We discuss that two pronged approach as well as her freelance work, new job at Kotaku, and speculate on the future of video game commentary. SHOW NOTES Heather Alexandra's YouTube Channel Kotaku's A Critical Look Playlist "Let's Crit": Far Cry 4 "Let's Crit": Shadow of the Colossus Let's Remember Skies of Arcadia Vanquish: Why Ya Gotta Do More Than Just Play Games ZAM - The Witness Review A Closer Look At "The Harvester" in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Reviting Red Dead Redepmtion MGS2 Livestream w. Zolani and Austin! Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy

Our first interview of 2017 is with Great Levels in Gaming YouTube producer Max Barnyard. Like our previous interviewee, Max Barnyard focuses his criticism on specific elements of video games; in this case, the construction and purpose of exemplary level design. video games. But what is a level in a contemporary video games? We discuss that question, along with how he chooses what levels to showcase, his work with Achievement Hunter, and his penchant for puns. SHOW NOTES Max Barnyard YouTube Channel Great Levels in Gaming at Achievement Hunter Great Levels in Gaming - Episode 1 - Journey Great Levels in Gaming - Episode 2 - Far Cry 3 Great Levels in Gaming - Episode 5 - Final Fantasy XIII Great Levels in Gaming - Episode 8 - Halo: Combat Evolved The Last Cave & The Labyrinth - Cave Story - Great Levels in Gaming Egoraptor - Sequelitis Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy

We end this year of interviews with Mark Brown of Game Maker's Toolkit. Mark Brown went a different direction with his video based video game criticism. Instead of interviews, opinion shows or holistic game examinations, he devoted his channel to the exploration of craftsmanship in video games. Devoting his energy to explaining a singular thing in each video, what it does and how it is accomplished. We discuss how he explores a game design concept, the use it has found in various different audiences, and where he hopes to take the channel into the future. SHOW NOTES Game Maker's Toolkit YouTube Channel Adaptive Soundtracks| Game Maker's Toolkit Half-Life 2's Invisible Tutorial | Game Maker's Toolkit Analysing Mario to Master Super Mario Maker | Game Maker's Toolkit A Super Mario Maker Super Spin-Off Episode Point and Click Puzzle Design | Game Maker's Toolkit Boss Keys Sequelitis - Mega Man Classic vs. Mega Man X Every Frame a Painting YouTube Channel Game Maker's Toolkit Patreon Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy

Continuing on with our series of video in video game criticism, this month, I have Sam Gronseth, the Game Professor of the YouTube channel Games as Literature, on to talk. Sam Gronseth taught a class to teach literary analysis using video games instead of novels or short stories for several charter schools. He then turned those lesson plans into a YouTube channel. His videos are filled with accessible explanations, from basic 101 concepts to understanding the deeper meaning of video games. In addition, he has created Literary Analysis videos that go in-depth on a specific title. We talk about that original class, the struggle of keeping up a schedule for a hobby, and the pleasure that teaching and video making have given him. SHOW NOTES Games as Literature YouTube Channel Games as Lit. 101 - Syllabus Games as Lit. 101 - Literary Analysis - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Games as Lit. 101 - Literary Analysis - Bioshock Games as Lit. 101 - Literary Analysis: Gears of War Trilogy Games as Lit. 101 - Literary Analysis: The Stanley Parable Gaming Symposium YouTube Channel Games as Lit. 101 Patreon Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy

Somewhat late, we present this month's interview of the Critical Distance Confab! I interview Ian Danskin of the Innuendo Studios YouTube channel. In 2014, Ian Danskin made his first YouTube video about celebrity in internet culture, This is Phil Fish, and what that means. He expected a few views and he would build his audience over time, except that video went viral and is to date, by far, his most viewed video. Since then, he's mostly trekked his own path and talked about whatever interested him. We cover some of those interests in talking about adventure games, the challenge of discussing theory that was mostly self taught and, of course, the virality of YouTube videos and the efforts of tracking what an audience is looking for. SHOW NOTES Innuendo Studios YouTube Channel This is Phil Fish Why Are You So Angry? Who Shot Guybrush Threepwood? Things of Beauty: Super Smash Bros. as Spectator Sport Story Beats: Ben There, Dan That The Artist is Absent: Davey Wreden and The Beginner's Guide It's Not Easy Being Blue Innuendo Studios Patreon Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy

We are back with another interview on the Critical Distance Confab! This month we are joined by Bob Whitaker, associate professor in Modern History at Louisiana Tech University and founder of History Respawned. In 2013, he started the YouTube channel by looking at video games from a historical perspective. Not content to focus only on games portraying histories within his wheelhouse, he soon began bringing on other scholars to share their expert insights into the histories portrayed in games. In the process, he has brought their knowledge to a wider audience, beyond the confines of the academy. We talk about the insular nature of academia, the challenges of getting guests to come on to the show, as well as looking to the future of history-based games. SHOW NOTES History Respawned YouTube Channel History Respawned: Assassin's Creed IV History Respawned: Diablo III History Respawned: Valiant Hearts Hisotry Respawned: Bioshock Infinite and the Boxer Uprising Hisotry Respawned: Uncharted 4 Backwards Compatible: Gamers as a Public History Audience This History Respawned Podcast Hisotry Respawned Patreon Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy

Welcome back for another interview on the Critical Distance Confab! This month our guest is Noah Caldwell-Gervais, a video maker who is skilled at creating richly layered arguments. He started making long-form video essays on games in 2013 with a thorough look at the Fallout series. Since then he has been applying his critical lens in videos that examine an entire franchise, or games connected by a common theme. We talk about these advantages of his long form style, how he chooses games, and his plans to branch out into travel writing. SHOW NOTES Noah Caldwell-Gervais' YouTube Channel A Thorough Look At Fallout The Complete Call of Duty Single Player Campagin Game Natures: Firewatchand The Long Dark Postal, Hatred, and Weighing the Worth of Asshole Simulators Mad Max in Close Critique What's Been Going On With Alien: Isolation's DLC? Noah Caldwell-Gervais' Patreon Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy

The good, the bad and the ugly with the Critical Distance Confab. For those who don't know, the idea behind these minisodes is for myself and a co-host to highlight 3 games each. These are games that haven't gotten a lot of criticism or much attention at all. The hope is that one of you intrepid listeners will try one of them out and write about it. The games on the docket range from itch.io art games, to prestige level indie games, right on up to AAA games that have slipped through the cracks. Co-hosting with me this month is games and digital art creator, Lauren Schmidt. Lauren's Picks The Tamperdrome Collection by G.P. Lackey Soup 0.9 by Yaruhara Legacy of the Wizard by Broderbund Eric's Picks off?ine by Pol Clarissou The End of the World by Sean Wenham Kathy Rain: A Detective is Born by Clifftop Games Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy

Welcome to another episode of the Critical Distance Confab! We are taking a mid-summer break from our series on video producers and critics to talk about Critical Distance. Senior Curator Zoya Street and I have decided to talk about the site and our process of curation, mainly in the This Week In Videogame Blogging feature. Every person is different with what they curate and why, and so we felt it might be a good idea to introduce our newest Senior Curator's views on the matter now that he's settled into the role. We discuss what we're looking for in TWIVGB entries, how standards of inclusion have risen over the years, the behind-the-scenes logistics, as well as touching on the other features Critical Distances publishes. Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy