135. Metal Gear (1987) | Year of Metal Gear | S6E02
Lauryn and Nicholas take you back to the Cold War, to the '80s, when hair was big and everyone was worried about nuclear winter. We begin with the very first Metal Gear game and discuss what it means to try and make an anti-war war game. We reckon with all the ways the game teaches you how to play that were in many ways anathema to how video games were played at the time but nevertheless became the bedrock for how modern games are designed.
Substack: https://gamedesigndiscourse.substack.com/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi
Lauryn: https://bsky.app/profile/espressocat.bsky.social
Nicholas: https://bsky.app/profile/academicality.bsky.social
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134. Hideo Kojima, Memelord | Year of Metal Gear | S6E01
In this, the first episode of season 6, our YEAR OF METAL GEAR, we dive into the Kojima lore, why you shouldn't always take it at face value, and what it means to think of one's creative output as a kind of genetic legacy. ALSO: a mysterious message from an enigmatic stranger...
Substack: https://gamedesigndiscourse.substack.com/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi
Lauryn: https://bsky.app/profile/espressocat.bsky.social
Nicholas: https://bsky.app/profile/academicality.bsky.social
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133. Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) | S5E11
For our final episode of Season 5, before THE YEAR OF METAL GEAR, we look at the seminal Studio Ghibli film, Kiki's Delivery Service. We discuss what it means to come of age in a context where you are a literal outsider and how the film indirectly meditates on what it means to doubt your creative powers, lose them, and ultimately get them back.
Substack: https://gamedesigndiscourse.substack.com/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi
Lauryn: https://bsky.app/profile/espressocat.bsky.social
Nicholas: https://bsky.app/profile/academicality.bsky.social
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132. Halo: Combat Evolved | S5E10
In which we argue that Halo represents a genuinely novel approach to shooter design at a time when the video games industry was becoming but had not yet turned into what we know it to be today. Join us as we delve into the complex narrative and gameplay relationship between Master Chief and Cortana and ask... is Halo a tragedy?
Substack: https://gamedesigndiscourse.substack.com/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi
Lauryn: https://bsky.app/profile/espressocat.bsky.social
Nicholas: https://bsky.app/profile/academicality.bsky.social
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131. Ghost in the Shell (1995) | S5E9
In celebration of Pride month, we take a somewhat unusual look at Oshii Mamoru's Ghost in the Shell as an allegory of trans becoming. We look at how trans individuals have read the film against their own experiences and how this highlights a queerness in Kusanagi's character that Oshii likely never intended yet is still palpably there.
Substack: https://gamedesigndiscourse.substack.com/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi
Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod
Lauryn: https://bsky.app/profile/espressocat.bsky.social
Nicholas: https://bsky.app/profile/academicality.bsky.social