Year: 2017

Eric Swain External Sources

Moving Pixels Podcast Finally Plays the Long Delayed ‘Last Guardian’

We finally get around to talking about the finally released The Last Guardian. This one has been a long time coming. This is one of those titles that has always been on the docket to be discussed, basically as soon as enough of us have played it. We discuss the wait that The Last Guardian put us through and how the expectation game might effect our appreciation of it. Though we do get into a discussion into how The Last Guardian delivers its story and develops the relationship between Trico and the boy through its play. | more

Eric Swain External Sources

Critical Distance Confab – A Cagey Interview

This month I interview Scotsman YouTuber Kevin John for the Critical Distance Confab. We’re getting closer and closer to the present day. Going in chronological order means that the later interviews will be with people who have started not so long ago. Cagey, as he calls himself, started less than two years ago. He also has the smallest and least known channel of the people I’ve interviewed so far. Add that up all together and even John himself makes no bones about how rubbish he is at interviewing. | more

Eric Swain External Sources

The Moving Pixels Podcast ‘Reigns’

This week on the Moving Pixels Podcast, we discuss the tinder-esque mobile kingdom simulator, Reigns. I am sometimes surprised at some of the games we do for the podcast are able to sustain a discussion. For as simple as Reigns is and as reductive as it has to be to fit the format, it has a lot of commentary embedded into its structure. At one point I call it a game of political one-liners. While true for a lot of the mini quests that make up the deck of cards, it’s a bit reductive to regarding the meaning in the mechanics. | more

Eric Swain External Sources

The Moving Pixels Podcast Plays ‘Sorcery!’

This week we look at the first two games in the Steve Jackson’s Sorcery! series. The Steve Jackson’s Sorcery! is so arch that delving into the game in any sort of detail is inevitably going to turn into a discussion of the fantasy genre and its tropes. Sorcery! is from a particular brand of fantasy from the 1980s. Born of the monopolization of the Campbellian monomyth and world building lessons of Tolkien. We discuss the game’s context from which it was born and the effect of a road trip narrative filled with mini-story arcs throughout. | more

Eric Swain External Sources

Critical Distance Confab – Think, Game, Love

On this episode of the Critical Distance Confab, I interview Heather Alexandra. It seems there is much variety on YouTube when it comes to video game criticism. This is my 11th interview with video producer and only now do I get to talk to someone about Let’s Plays. Heather Alexandra is also very different in that she is far more informal with a lot of her work. She can do the structured essays but also seems just at ease doing a video where it feels like you’re just chatting with her without you having to say a word. | more

Eric Swain External Sources

The Moving Pixels Podcast Explores ‘This is the Police’

This week we dig into the Belarus indie police simulator This is the Police. It was a game that seemed fine at first, but slowly devolved into ‘I don’t give a fuck just be over already.’ I danced around what I felt the major failing of it was, because I hadn’t completely ordered my thoughts on it, but it’s so damn cynical for no reason. And cynical in a way that doesn’t really make sense. It’s a depressing cartoon of a police force that so desperately wants to be taken seriously. | more

Eric Swain External Sources

Critical Distance Confab – Great Levels, The Best Levels In Gaming

It’s a little late, but the first episode of the Critical Distance Confab for 2017 is up. I interview Max Barnyard about his YouTube show Great Levels in Gaming. We were migrating the server, so uploading the actual mp3 got delayed by several days. This is January’s episode and, despite it releasing in February, you can expect to see another interview later this month. I’d also like to apologize about the first 4 minutes or so of audio. What happened to the previous recording, happened to this one. | more

Eric Swain External Sources

The Moving Pixels Podcast Experiences ‘Event 0′

This week we go into deep space and talk to a ship AI in Event [0]. We discuss language as a mechanic as through most of the game you are uncovering what happened on a derelict star ship by way of real text conversation with the ship’s AI. The game is a marvel of technical prowess. But we each had issues with it came together as a whole. Strangely enough, each of us had different issues. You can find the episode on PopMatters, SoundCloud, iTunes and through the RSS feed. | more

Eric Swain External Sources

My PopMatters Reviews from 2016

I haven’t written for PopMatters in quite a while. When I went to go upload post an article for them the other week I found that I no longer was able to. Most likely my permissions have been changed. Last year, I did write a number of reviews that I never got around to linking to here. I’m still going to appear on the podcast, but given my current situation with the site, this will most likely be the final roundup of written material I published on PopMatters. | more

Eric Swain External Sources

Moving Pixels Podcast: The Best Games of 2016

This week on the Moving Pixels Podcast we list our top 5 games of 2016. As I say at the beginning of the podcast, this isn’t my final list. They’ll all most likely appear on my final list, that should be coming soon. But my goal here was to talk up games that we hadn’t done podcasts on and wouldn’t really get talked about. I succeeded in part. My compatriots on the podcast might have cheated a little with their choices, but ehh. | more