Fave This

Fortnite’s emotes have taken on a life of their own: in the last two weeks, I’ve seen kids and adults alike replicating the game in real life. If you watch sports, you’ve likely seen goals or good plays celebrated through emotes. And if you play, you’ve definitely had some jerk dance over your cold, lifeless corpse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gita and Patricia discuss why a porn game with a robust character creator blew up, what makes for a good video game sex scene, and talk all about why Into The Breach is so damn good.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gita and Maddy Myers dissect how people talk about video games and sexuality, especially in regards to Bayonetta, Nier: Automata, and Soul Calibur. Why are so many conversations around these games focused on whether or not they are sexist? What do the games themselves actually say, beyond the lurid character designs?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Cloverfield Paradox is not good. By now, most people have heard the movie is mediocre. But you know what? I still really liked watching it anyway. In the latest podcast episode of Fave This, Gita Jackson and I dive into the Cloverfield universe, and its ongoing alternate reality game that encourages viewers to figure out the wider untold story hiding in the margins. We also talk about JJ Abram’s inability to follow through on good ideas, and how Netflix has become a dumping ground for shows and movies that aren’t good, but still manage to keep you watching anyway. SPOILER WARNING: we talk about the plot of all three Cloverfield movies.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gita Jackson and Patricia Hernandez discuss difficult games, what motivates people to play them, and how Celeste feels different than most masochistic games (Dark Souls, Super Meat Boy, etc.) Kinder, somehow. There's also plenty of talk on Harry Potter, Dwarf Fortress, Persona, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gita and Patricia discuss what people expected from the Labo announcement, why some of the response is so negative, and how Nintendo's lineage as a toy company informs what they make.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we discuss what the No Man's Sky community is up to, where open world games go next, and dive into the controversial "Reylo" ship. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Video games are largely about making decisions, and you won’t always make the right one. Sometimes, there is no right answer. Sometimes, you’ve got to live with what you did. In In the latest episode of the Favecast, we bring in special guest Danielle Riendeau from Waypoint  (disclosure: my girlfriend) to discuss some of the most memorable moments in video games from 2017 with Gita and I. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week I'm joined by Kotaku's social media manager Alex Bedder. He tells me a little bit about the video series he's making for us called TL;DR. After that we chat about Super Mario Odyssey's particular success with gay gamers, how that relates to the Room and The Disaster Artist, and Street Fighter's Menat (#WhosJuri #IDontKnowHer) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Breath of the Wild makes you care about Zelda by making her pain and frustration palpable. By that measure, Zelda’s journey is a good story that accomplishes what it sets out to do. At the same time, the tale at the heart of the game compounds an ongoing frustration felt by some fans: Zelda isn’t allowed to be the kind of hero Link is. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gita and Patricia discuss why Team Skull is so good, why Guzma is the best character in Pokemon Sun and Moon, and why Patricia can't finish Nier: Automata (yet.)  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Gita is joined by Waypoint's social editor Danika Harrod, who fills in for Patricia who has the week off. We talk shitposting, freak out over K-Pop group Big Bang and discuss the greatest Vine of all time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Patricia is out sick, so this week Gita Jackson is joined by Kotaku staff writer Heather Alexandra to talk about what makes a good creepypasta, the role of camp in games and the sinner's sandwich. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rick and Morty is in crisis, and we’re not just talking about the few rabid fans that make the show look bad. The show, as a whole, already seems to be running out of steam. Spoilers for Rick and Morty ahead! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gita and Patricia talk about Shadow of War's most memorable orc, Mario getting ruined in 2017, Bowser's newfound coolness, what you should do when playing someone who is way better than you at games, and fandom for adults. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gita and Patricia describe two very different ways of playing Destiny 2, how shooters (mis)handle stories, and the most important question of all: do the robots in Destiny 2 fuck or nah? Back in the studio today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is a story about two kickass women. The game is great, but also, some details make it obvious that the game was written by men. It's not a problem, but it does make some of the dialogue and plot funny to examine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every week, there’s a new headline about jerks who inundate Steam pages with angry reviews. Sometimes, the protests aren’t even about the game at all, but rather a larger controversy involving a developer or publisher. How did this become the now normal? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A big controversy within the Overwatch community this year revolved around the healer Mercy. Top players experienced hostility and harassment just for picking the character, and major Overwatch personalities derided the hero for supposedly having a low skill ceiling. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The folks behind EasyAntiCheat, a service that stops people from cheating in video games, deal with one of the messiest issues in the medium. People often feel that anyone caught breaking the rules should be punished severely, but you don’t always know why someone cheated. That’s where things get dicey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Favecast talks about how awful the internet is to children, especially in video games, and the cynical culture around "cringe." Patricia talks about watching someone grow up through Xbox Live, the merits of shitposting and unruly Twitch chats. Gita discusses what happens when a fandom gets too big, and how bad apples can define an entire community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of the Favecast, Patricia talks about Nintendo's brilliant new marketing strategy for the Switch, and Gita talks about how No Man's Sky is winning back the hearts of even the most skeptical haters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the inaugural episode of the Favecast, Patricia details an awkward moment of multiplayer on the Nintendo Switch, and Gita talks about what can go wrong when fans ship real people together - and much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices