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Welcome to Keywords in Play, a joint collaborative podcast between Critical Distance and the Digital Games Research Association! In this series, we deliver interviews with writers, thinkers, makers, and critics working with games in an approachable and conversational format, suitable for fans, players, and critical thinkers alike.
Episodes
Monday May 25, 2015
Monday May 25, 2015
This month we have a double, yet related, feature.
First, in side A, I talk with Alan Williamson and Lindsey Joyce, the editor-in-chief and managing editor respectively of Five out of Ten. We chat about the creation and ongoing process of creating the magazine, what it's like working with a hand of experience and what it's like learning the ropes.
Then, in side B, Alan Williamson returns, this time, with his co-author Kaitlin Tremblay to talk about their book, Escape to Na Pali: Journey to the Unreal, that came out of an upgraded Five out of Ten pitch. They explain their love of the game and the collaborative process for crafting the collection of essays.
SHOW NOTES
Escape to Na Pali: Journey to the Unreal
Reality Check: Murder We Wrote
Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy
Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy
Monday May 25, 2015
Monday May 25, 2015
This month we have a double, yet related, feature.
First, in side A, I talk with Alan Williamson and Lindsey Joyce, the editor-in-chief and managing editor respectively of Five out of Ten. We chat about the creation and ongoing process of creating the magazine, what it's like working with a hand of experience and what it's like learning the ropes.
Then, in side B, Alan Williamson returns, this time, with his co-author Kaitlin Tremblay to talk about their book, Escape to Na Pali: Journey to the Unreal, that came out of an upgraded Five out of Ten pitch. They explain their love of the game and the collaborative process for crafting the collection of essays.
SHOW NOTES
Escape to Na Pali: Journey to the Unreal
Reality Check: Murder We Wrote
Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy
Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy
Thursday Apr 30, 2015
Thursday Apr 30, 2015
Welcome to a new minisode of the Critical Distance Confab.
In case you are just joining us or need a refresher, we here at Critical Distance are trying something new with a series of minisodes in the podcast. Here, each month, myself and a guest, will list off a number of games, aiming for a minimum of three each, that have not gotten the spotlight we feel they deserve. These are games that haven't gotten any criticism or otherwise aren't part of the conversation for whatever reason and we think they should be, even if just a little. These can be anything from itch.io art games to prestige indie titles to AAAs that have fallen through the cracks.
This month's guest is editor-in-chief of Silverstring Media's critical publishing arm, Zoya Street.
Zoya's Picks
Say When by Kaitlin Tremblay + Emilie Majarian
CHYRZA - Sunset Spirit Steel by Kitty Horrorshow
Brick Block - Island - Procedural planet customiser by Oskar Stalberg
Eric's Picks
The Fall by Over the Moon
Life Flashes By - Coffee: A Misunderstanding - Domique Pamplemousse by Deirdra Kiai aka Squinky
Steve Jackson's Sorcery! by inkle Studios
Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy
Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy
Thursday Apr 16, 2015
Thursday Apr 16, 2015
This month we are joined by game historian, University of Lancaster PhD candidate and editor-in-chirf of Silverstring Media's Critical Publishing arm, Zoya Street. Zoya has written two seminal books on games, Dreamcast Worlds and Delay, and is the founder of the wonderful free e-zine, Memory Insufficient. Here, we talk about his background in design history and what that lens means for video games as artifacts as well as what isn't said by the artifact itself, but rather is left to the community surrounding to interpret and define. Have a listen.
SHOW NOTES
Delay: Paying Attention to Energy Mechanics
Memory Insufficient Back Catalog
Memory Insufficient at Silverstring Media
Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy
Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy
Tuesday Mar 31, 2015
Tuesday Mar 31, 2015
Welcome to the first Critical Distance Confab minisode!
We're trying something new with the podcast. There are so many games coming out at every level, everyday. So many of them fall through the cracks for one reason or another. Everybody has asked themselves the question, "How did this game not get talked about? How is there no criticism on it?" We are a curatorial site. As curators we see the conversations that happen and as individuals often the conversations that do not happen.
In an effort to combat this in our own small little way, we have decided to do a series of minisodes, on a trial run, that will specifically highlight those games that fell through the cracks. Every month, myself and one guest will list off three games each in hopes that the critical community sees them, tries them and maybe write about them, giving them the criticism we think they deserve. Anything goes. They can be anything from ich.io art games to prestige indie games to missed AAA titles, just so long as they are games that missed the boat for one reason or another.
This month's guest is Polygon Senior Editor, Danielle Riendeau.
Danielle's Picks
Dyscourse - Owlchemy Labs
Disorder - Swagabyte Games
VA-11 HALL-A - Sukeban Games
Eric's Picks
Journal - Locked Door Puzzle
Shadowrun: Dragonfall - Director's Cut - Harebrined Schemes
Beneath Floes - Kevin Snow + Patrick Bonaduce
Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy
Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy
Thursday Mar 26, 2015
Thursday Mar 26, 2015
Continuing on with our theme of notable published video game books, we turn our eye to the other major work on 2012, Anna Anthropy's Rise of the Videogame Zinesters: How Freaks, Normals, Amateurs, Artists, Dreams, Drop-outs, Queers, Housewives, and People Like You Are Taking Back an Art Form.
As much as it was a manifesto and a revelation back in 2012, it feels even more prescient now with all the changes and advancements that has occurred on the fringes of videogame creation since its publication. I talk with Anna about not only Rise, but also her other books, games as well as her self-published zines and how they all revolve around this do-it-yourself ethos.
SHOW NOTES
Anna Anthropy's Zine Distribution Patreon
Rise of the Videogame Zinesters
Choose Your Own Death: Star Wench
Queers in Love at the End of the World
Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy
Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy
Thursday Mar 12, 2015
Thursday Mar 12, 2015
Continuing on the theme of video game book publishing, we decide to talk with Gabe Durham, the founder and editor of BossFightBooks, right now, the leader in single game book criticism. As of recording he had just wrapped up the Second Season Kickstarter and was taking pitches for the backer chosen game, Shadow of the Colossus.
We talk about where the idea for BossFightBooks came from, how their publishing system works and what he's looking for in both authors and pitches to continue providing a variety of voices, styles and games.
SHOW NOTES
Rise of the Videogame Zinesters
Extra Lives: Why video Games Matter
Some Thoughts on Darius Kazemi's Jagged Alliance 2 and my own Killing is Harmless
Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy
Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy
Tuesday Jan 13, 2015
Tuesday Jan 13, 2015
In 2012, critic and Royal Melbourne Insitute of technology PhD candidate Brendan Keogh released his long form critical piece on Spec Ops: The Line in the form of an ebook. Killing is Harmless: A Critical Reading of Spec Ops: The Line was at the time the first known published book of criticism on a single game. In the years since a cavalcade of books of video game criticism has been published and more to come in the future.
Two years after initially publishing the book, we decided to interview Brendan to get his perspective on the book, the reception and how things have change over time in his critical methods. We also get into musing on the book's cultural and historical placement given the recent boom in video game criticism books.
SHOW NOTES
Darius Kazemi Review: Killing is Harmless, by Brendan Keogh
Cameron Kunzelman's On Killing is Harmless
Susan Sontag's Against Interpretation
David Sudnow's Pilgrim in the Microworld
Spec Ops: The Line Critical Compilation
Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy
Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy
Wednesday Dec 17, 2014
Wednesday Dec 17, 2014
It's that time again, the end of the year is upon us. Rather than exhaustively go over everything of note that happened in 2014, instead we more skim over several various broad topics of interest. 2014 hasn't been a pleasant year overall, but in the spirit of glader tidings we decided to focus as much as we can on better things.
CAST
Eric Swain: The Game Critique
Kris Ligman: Dire Critic
Alan Williamson: Five out of Ten
Lana Polansky: Sufficiently Human
SHOW NOTES
Flappy Bird is Making $50,000 A Day on Mario-Like Art
Twine, The Video Game Technology For All
The Terror Aboard The Speedwell
The Uncle Who Works For Nintendo
Does Twitch Plays Pokemon Give YOu Hope For Humanity?
Opening Theme: 'Close' byThe Alpha Conspiracy
Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy
Full list of games mentioned at end: Bayonetta 2, Mario Kart 8, Shovel Knight, Curtain, 2:22 AM, LaLa Land, Kitty Horrorshow's games, Aeryne Wright's games, Shadowrun: Dragonfall, The Fall, 80 Days, Gods Will Be Watching, The Niflheim, Layton vs. Phoenix Wright, Coffee: A Misunderstanding.
Monday Sep 22, 2014
Monday Sep 22, 2014
Our regular podcast host Mattie Brice needs a bit of extra time for her latest interview, so we've dug into our archives again for yet another heretofore unheard Critical Distance Confab episode. In this installment, Eric Swain interviews our very own founder and former head curator Ben Abraham.
Part of the original games blogger boom in 2007-2008, Ben Abraham has always found himself focused on the community of critics. It led him to try and bridge many of those working unknown and segregated by the internet's distance to eventually founding a curation site (this one!) to bring all the best writing.
Also in this podcast, we discuss some of his other notable projects and his obsession with Far Cry 2, the focal point of a few of those projects.
SHOW NOTES
Permanent Death - The Complete Saga
Opening Theme: 'Close' by The Alpha Conspiracy
Closing Theme: 'Wishing Never' by The Alpha Conspiracy