Critically Speaking

Maturity and violence have long gone hand in hand in the gaming industry. But do they have to? If the only axis on which we judge our games' maturity is how violent they are, it is unlikely that we will see other modes of play moving into dominant positions. Perhaps other concepts, such as delight, might be better vectors for enjoyable gaming experiences.Fragments: Alora's Tear, Volume I (Barham Ink)Warlords of DraenorCan joy be more 'adult' than violence?Rebecca Black? Friday! Friday!

Controversy. How does an industry with games that feature so many guns and so many deaths not have controversy? According to this week's feature article, there are no controversial games. Nate and Scott try their best to understand and shed some light on the issues facing gaming and its audience.NotesThe Glorious Master Race!Yahtzee Croshaw, Zero PunctuationNew study suggests violent video games improve moral behaviorE-sports tournament now open to all genders after internet outrageThere are No Controversial Videogames

Theme is more than a simple bullet point to be added amongst the various graphical effects, multiplayer modes, and stat systems. When big name titles aim for thematic resonance, is there ever a possibility in which they can be successful in the way that writing and filmmaking can be? If not, the possibility exists that AAA games are just not the place for thematic subtlety.NotesBig games are often light on themesDestiny on PC is a heavy point of discussion at ActivisionYoshida: PS4 games are being delayed because of the console’s power and potential

When does marketing become sheer deception? It's one thing to manipulate the audience in benign ways, getting them excited for a product that the creators are equally or more so excited about. It's entirely something else when he marketing dictates what will be included in a game or when a game must be shown in order to generate revenue.Notes:Open-world ZeldaUbisoft Is Excluding Women From The New “Assassin’s Creed” And People Are FuriousDan Golding — Notes on Ubisoft’s Charlotte CordayIs 'we don't have the resources' an OK excuse for keeping female heroes out of games?Animating women should take 'days,' says Assassin's Creed 3 animation directorAre E3 Demos Intentionally Deceptive?Monument Valley iOSRepublique 

What qualifies someone who is passionate about a topic? Be it art, film, or gaming, there is a tendency to designate between those who feel strongly about a medium—and demonstrate those feelings by spending vast amounts of time on it—and those who simply care enough to spend what little time they have being involved. With games, this designation usually produces negativity. Is there a way to be both passionate and spend less time than others or even your past self?Show Notes:Guilt, Conflict, and Loathing on being a "Passionate Gamer"Watch Dogs Promotion Triggers Bomb Squad Response to Major PublicationHow to Pronounce UbisoftDo You Have a Mountain Bike?

If purchasing decisions tie less and less to the opinion of a published review, what place do reviews have in the gaming industry? This week Scott and Nate discuss the neccesity of gaming reviews and their power over sales.

Every genre has a defining title that sets the stage for a new, more polished generation. But at some point, the product reaches a quality that requires more effort to improve than the return benefit. While no game or series is perfect, sometimes the right response is to strike out into new territory in search of the next diamond in the rough.

Games have always striven toward the goal of creating believable virtual worlds, but with the recent advancements from Oculus and Sony's Project Morpheus, VR is closer to becoming a reality than ever before. What happens when the world you choose to escape to is populated by your Facebook friends list?

Sometimes the best topics come straight from the news. This week's episode does just that. CryEngine on SteamOS, a crisis for the console market, and a handful of PC and iOS games fill out the discussion.

Time will outlast us all, if it even exists, but in gaming, time is often a tool or a feature or altogether absent. What happens if games focus on time in a different way? In life, we grow, we live, we build families and communities, and then we die. The story doesn't end there. Future generations carry on the legacy. Could the same be made true for our in-game selves?

In life everyone has their pet peeves, and the same is true with videogames. Whether it's piles of junk everywhere or slow travel from place to place or stilted dialogue, game designers should keep an eye out for the things that bring their audiences to nails-on-the-chalkboard levels of irritation.

Sometimes our characters talk, and other times we make them talk. What happens when our choices mean as little in the first case as they do in the second? Can a game take away player agency and still be better for it? For character dialogue, that just might be true.

Nothing is a pure original, but if that is true, then what does it mean when videogame protagonists are so homogenized that they can be boiled down to a series of journal entries of no more than a paragraph?

Without action there can be no stealth. Or is it, without stealth there can be no action? Either way, sneaking, hiding, and gathering information in order to get the upper hand on NPCs or other players is a fascinating and thrilling experience when done right.

Restrictions may breed creativity, but what happens when the restrictions become the starting point? Game genres help marketers, publishers, and press decide how to discuss a given title, and help gamers make purchasing decisions. However, many of those definitions were created and maintained by very different creators than those working today.

Special guest Ryan Payton of Camouflaj joins Nate and Scott to discuss his studio's new game, Republique Episode 1: Exordium and the Kickstarter process that led to the game's publication.

Does gameplay, real gameplay, emerge? Or, does a designer have the final decision? Whether a guiding hand or a free-for-all, the discussion around the best way to design games continues toward better products for all. Nate and Scott weigh in on this as well as gaming related news from CES.

When all the gaming outlets are discussing Game of the Year, does it make more sense to consider Game Played this Year? Scott and Nate take a look back at not only the year in games, but the year in games that they played and enjoyed.

Avatars represent more than just our preferences in character design. Statistically, players choose characters that resemble themselves, and often characters that represent idealized versions of themselves. What goes into the avatar selection process? Nate and Scott discuss and vaguely disagree.

No matter the topic, occupation, or activity, rarely do people want to feel like outsiders. With the games industry expanding in content and subject matter, the old identifiers (namely "gamer") no longer seems accurate in great many cases. And yet, how can we create meaningful identities for ourselves without some kind of identifier?

Where were you in 1998? Games were in a state bound to the rules of the tabletop RPG, and though on the surface things seem to have changed a great deal since then, many of gaming's traditional roots still hold fast.

The opposition from NPC's in games is often limited by a number of factors. Meanwhile, especially at the beginning of a new console generation, hardware manufacturers tout the coming increase in artificial intelligence. What happens when the NPC's are smarter than you are, and how can designers keep their games challenging without making them frustrating?

You may, in fact, only live once, but what happens when a game only lets you die once? Whether its an arcade shooter with a steadily increasing swarm of enemies or a quiet hiding place along the tree line in Day Z, permanent death in games is growing ever more popular.

Game after game after game, sequels in this and other entertainment industries seem never to end. Are the audiences the better for having another title in their favorite franchises, or are we just lining up for another helping of the same old rehash?

Mario and Michelangelo, Zelda and Zefferelli, either way discussions of games lead inevitably toward the mature analysis of other media. But how do we increase the range of intelligent criticism and discussion surrounding these interactive experiences? Nate and Scott discuss the staying power of the gaming classics, Path of Exile, and the upcoming console launches.

Entertainment knows no age, right? Some might say that games, as a medium, lend themselves to a certain demographic. Increasingly, the population of gamers is growing older and older. With that age comes a shift in preference. Is the medium broad enough to support older gamers? And what if it's not?

There comes a time when the number of times a person can play a single game takes a back seat to the number of games a person wants, and has the financial resources, to play. Scott and Nate discuss replayability, and a plethora of news from the XP mechanic in the upcoming Thief to the Nvidia G-sync announcement that claims to eliminate the bane of PC-Gaming: screen tearing and stutter.

Twenty years ago, the market for games was a very different place. Technology was different, more impenetrable, more complicated. Games were a difficult pastime in some ways, though sitting on the couch was always easier than going outside. In age where the gaming market has grown by leaps and bounds, how big is the niche for title that havent' been "dumbed down"? And who decides what's dumb?

There are few things more powerful in human history than the ability to see a possible future and to pull it into reality. But how do we define such an ability? Who possesses it, and how can we recognize it before it's too late? This week, in a joint DYHAMB? effort, Scott and Nate discuss what it takes to be a visionary.

When is a console not a console or a PC not a PC? Valve's announcements this week only further cloud the picture of living room, gaming, and hardware. And though they talk a lot of peace, love, and mods for everyone, questions still abound. Plus, Scott and Nate check in on DayZ standalone, the iPhone 5S, Real Racing 3, Mark of the Ninja, and Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm.

Can a medium define a century? That's the question Scott and Nate attempt to unravel as they challenge the recent Manifesto claiming that games will be the 21st century's dominant form. Plus, GTA V gets a release, and a boatload of cash, while Steam cooks up something to surprise us with next week.

Suddenly, it seems, everyone's gunning for the living room in earnest. Microsoft and Sony are already there with Nintendo wandering a bit lost. Apple looms on the outside, apparently waiting for the right moment to strike. What does the future of the console look like? Scott and Nate discuss.

Heard of Press Select? If not, special guest Brendan Keogh has all the details about the new publishing label for longform videogames writing. In addition to the twenty questions routine by Nate and Scott, the group takes on the topic of whether or not games should be measured by the metric of "fun".

Who says a game has to be immersive to be great? Well, Nate for one, though cooler heads argue otherwise. Plus, Scott outlines Sony's misstep with GTA V and discusses Steam's 100 new Greenlight releases.

Harassment is no joking matter, but those who are most often the perpetrators see it as just that: a joke. With an industry already under intense pressure from social and political forces, threats of violence from the inside only make matters worse. And since everyone's in a critical mood, why not speak to the faults of Guild Wars 2, Saints Row 4, console release dates, and the Diablo expansion?

Why do we need all these blinking lights, ammo readouts, and inscrutable meters plastered across our games' content? This week, Scott and Nate ponder the HUD and whether or not its just better to go HUDless. GTA Online gets some airtime, though Nate is still dubious, and Scott unearths some intel on Everquest Next's PC first strategy. Oh, and Saints Row: The Third.

So, Everquest Next is going to change everything. How do you know when to trust the hype? This week, Scott and Nate analyze the promise of SoE's big announcement with grains of salt and some hope for the future. Also, violence and Bioshock, high-detail gore, desensitization, and the power of contrast.

Did your dad ever tell you the one about how he learned to hit a baseball? They didn't have no pitchin' machines back then, boy. Or maybe you sat on a porch with Grandpa in a conversation that literally began, "Back in my day...." This week Scott and Nate do their version as they discuss the fading prominence of mouse and keyboard controls and how they relate to the heritage of gaming. Also, Scott finishes Far Cry 3 and starts Fallout: New Vegas, while Nate speculates on a future where you just plug the laptop into a GPU and monitor.

Do you really need a big screen and complex multi-button controller or mouse and keyboard to immerse yourself in a game? In this episode, Nate and Scott talk mobile, and how smartphones and tablets will integrate themselves into the array of devices used for gaming purposes. Also, a mod as job application, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Bioshock Infinite, and Nate's first impressions of the ROCCAT Savu.

When will publishers of various media types finally get their acts together and provide digital versions as a given when purchasing physical goods? Scott and Nate discuss piracy, DRM, and the countermeasures that companies take to mitigate the damage. Also, Nate's finished The Witcher 2, Scott picked up Far Cry 3 on the cheap, and the NES turns 30.

What happens when three decades of games design psychology falls into the wrong hands? Scott and Nate discuss the evils, and possible (however slight) virtues, of the free-to-play trend in mobile as well as PC games. Plus, its Steam Summer Sale time, and there's a new GTA V trailer to talk about.

Will a warm reception for Episode 1 make for a better Episode 2? This week, Scott and Nate discuss the stresses of selecting a difficulty level from both the developer and player perspectives. Plus, a little about the Witcher 2 Combat Mod and X-COM for iOS.

What is this show, anyway? Who are these people? Did Sony alter the included hardware list to beat Microsoft on price? And, Scott and Nate talk narrative in light of John Walker's dueling pieces on Rock, Paper, Shotgun.