Special

Episode 123: Interactive Fiction

> gary butterfield and kole ross, interactive fiction_

Two men speak into microphones about interactive fiction, also known as text adventures. They cover the basics of the medium, a brief history and discuss four games in-depth: "Planetfall", "A Mind Forever Voyaging", "Slouching Towards Bedlam", and "The King of Shreds and Patches."

Episode 95: Game Books

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross venture forth to discuss game books, choose your own adventures, and Steve Jackson's Sorcery!

What is game? It's any interactive experience that has both failure states and a success state. By that reasoning, game books are games. Also, it's in the name. This special episode is all about non-video interactive narratives, books with branching paths and mechanics.

We cover the Bantam Choose Your Own Adventure Books, Fighting Fantasy, Lone Wolf, Steve Jackson's Sorcery!, the Goosebumps Choose Your Own Scare, and more. For as nostalgic as this topic is, there's a surprising connection between these books and the current crop of narrative-driven games we play today.

LINKS OF NOTE:

Episode 39: Video Game Music and Sound

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross make some noise about video game music and sound.

We talk about it a lot: music and sound can make or break the game. In this unusual episode of the show, we do a deep dive into the history and particulars of why sound is important.

NOTE: At no point do we talk about Parappa the Rapper in this episode. That's a travesty.

iTunes | RSS | SoundCloud | Facebook

Links of Note:

The title image is from this site

Episode 31: Arcades

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross grab the sticks and get to the bottom of why arcades are the best.

This episode is in the same vein as Episode 30. Recorded in person, both in-studio and in the field, Gary and Kole talk about arcade experiences in their entirety... from their smoky childhoods to their current-day selves exploring the arcade revival taking place in Portland, Oregon. Special thanks goes out to Ground Kontrol, the best goddamned arcade in Portland.

iTunes | RSS | SoundCloud | Facebook

Links of Note: