Bookwarm Games

Professor Kozlowski lays it down. Everything is permitted? We see your forthcoming book, Cameron Kunzelman of the Game Studies Study Buddies, and raise you one podcast (this one) and one article replete with Dostoevsky references (also forthcoming).  Ante up with Ben's history and dev history; getting to know the open world; crowds in-game and reception in real life; historical realism; Zero Punctuation critiques; conspiracy nonsense (spoilers: maybe we should think twice about giving a Piece of Eden to Al Mualim) and actual philosophy. Assassins vs Templars? Meh. Exploring the tensions between ideas of freedom and order throughout history? Sign us up!  Wait, the rest of the series is actually going to deliver on that, right? Right?? Learn more and join the discussion at videogameacademia.org and professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/  Thanks for listening. 

Mild spoilers and theorizing for the end of MOTHER 3. Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.

You've come a long way...through snowy mountains and volcanoes, sea-beds and islands, back to Saturn Valley. Time for a coffee break. Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening. 

On the symbolism of sunflowers and the inclusion of references to EarthBound. Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.

Theoretical possibilities in the series include beating Belch without Fly Honey and the Pork Trooper without the DCMC Pamphlet, but why would you? Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.

We finally play as Lucas again, finding fireworks and rhythms in gift boxes and playing Stone-Sheet-Clippers for the fate of the world. Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.

We cozy up to the campfire for another Video Game Academy summer playthrough--another game about kids with psychic powers:  Psychonauts. This time, we're meeting some characters, running through battlefields of mental baggage and social dynamics, and sticking the landing on some bouncy tightropes. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.

In which we discuss Fassad and Salsa's relationship and how it is even worse than Wess and Duster's; with yet more insight into Itoi's fascination with monkeys. Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.

Infiltrating the castle? Meeting the princess? What kind of follow-up to EarthBound is this? Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.

In the long-awaited sequel to EarthBound, as localized by Tomato et al., we parse some shocking developments and developer choices. Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.

Teddy in Ellay through Mt Itoi; EVE in her lake, Queen Mary in her memory, and the ending. Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.

Through the desert to Youngtown; through the swamp to Ellay. Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.

Spookane and the dentures side quest, with a digression on Nathan for You - Gas Station Rebate. Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.

Riding the train through Reindeer to Ana in Snowman. Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.

Lloyd's school and the factories, with a digression on music (Twinkle Elementary and the File Select remix by Ace Waters). Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.

Magicant. Apologies for the lost bit of intro on this one. Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.

At the Zoo, via Canary Village. Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening.

From the opening through Podunk and the graveyard. Audio clips from the soundtrack as preserved at starmen.net; discussion audio hosted by 3rdStrongest. Join the conversation at our humble Video Game Academy. Thanks for listening. 

On Ch 38 The Botanic Garden and the Acknowledgments at the end of The Amber Spyglass, by Philip Pullman. Course page for the full list of episodes and suggested reading. Thanks for listening.  

Alex Schmid and I revisit the golden age of the JRPG, with a nod to our oft-collaborating younger selves. https://videogameacademia.org/