GlitchCast

In what is quite possibly the coolest episode of GlitchCast, the coolest host, Maxwell, takes a deep dive into the history of one of the coolest video games of all time: Secret of Mana. This cult classic of the SNES era is regarded as one of the best JRPGs of all time, but did you know that SoM is, essentially, the Forrest Gump of video games? You will now! Find out how an initiative to wipe out media piracy in Japan led to that game that spawned a thousand classics, and had a direct link to the falling out that led to the creation of the Sony Playstation. Also, Karen sings to the whales.

GlitchCast is back from hiatus, with an episode entirely devoted Maxwell’s adventures in Australia. Just kidding: it’s about totalitarianism and despair. Welcome back, friends! Karen takes us into the (increasingly realistic) dystopic realms of indie games “Orwell” and “Papers Please”, investigating the impact of surveillance culture in gaming. Yes, this is a very political episode. Yes, you might cry. But it’s not all doom and gloom! We have cats in head scarves, and Tom provides his usual witty commentary. We also talk ResistJam, the international week of indie developers coming up with games to combat the resurgence of fascism—which is not an RPG subtitle but an actual scary thing that is actually happening). And Max recounts Melbourne’s thriving gaming scene and wishes he could be back in the land of mint Aero bars and tim tams. Seriously, he won’t shut up about those tim tams. Glory to GlitchCast!