))
Abnormal Mapping is a monthly game club of Em and Jackson, talking primarily about old games with an eye to critiquing without nostalgia.
…
continue reading
A weekly quest by Niamh to guide Em and the listeners through the Icelandic sagas fae loves so much, as we all sit in the dark and feel mortal and small.
…
continue reading
The Safe Room is a monthly survival horror game club podcast. Join hosts Grace (@grace_machine) and Ryan (@BluestRose430) as we delve into the history of the survival horror genre, from popular classics to obscure gems. We’re going in deep, so break out your dualshocks and load up your emulators. If you can brave haunted mansions and obtuse puzzles, we’ll see you in The Safe Room!
…
continue reading
Guns, Girls and Colonialism: that’s right, it’s a James Bond podcast! Jackson and Dia are going on a journey week by week through the movies of the UK’s most famous secret agent, starting with Dr. No and taking us all the way up through the release of Bond 25. We hope you can join us as we relive and reconsider the memories of our favourite imperial assassin across over a half-century of movies.
…
continue reading
The Great Gundam Project has been going for years now, but people still insist on starting Gundam in places other than 0079, so we decided to make the first season free in order to encourage people to watch the hottest show of 1979! Please start with episode zero, which provides some context for the GGP project and how these episodes are in the present day.
…
continue reading
We enjoy one of the major modern attempts at making a Pokemon-style monster collecting and battling RPG with Cassette Beasts. We talk about surprising scope of the world, the intense battle system, what your numbers say about your priorities, the weirdness of dating mechanics, and much more! This game was a great surprise and a huge delight, so ple…
…
continue reading
It’s the eve of Niamh’s trip to Iceland, and the sagas are finally getting good again to celebrate! We enjoy Palomides’ bullshit, discover the grail was under our nose the whole time, and more! Also, we talk about Tomie (the manga), a little bit of Hunter X Hunter, website building, and more! Please enjoy, we won’t be back for quite a while! Niamh …
…
continue reading
We’re joined by our first guest Autumn Blake to talk about recent movie I Saw the TV Glow, which deeply affected all of us. We do a big deep dive on the movie and some of our thoughts about queerness and life in a long segment that lasts from 21:00 to about 1:07:00. Before that? Some saga chat! More jousting. After that? Talking about podcasting, o…
…
continue reading
Niamh went to the arcade, Em watched all the Psycho sequels, and we of course talk a bit about the knights of the round table. Also, a vtubing miracle happens to Niamh (maybe), so really an eventful episode for everyone. Niamh can be found haunting Export Audio with Ghost Divers and Ornate Stairwells (and Pondering Pootan, which has never haunted a…
…
continue reading
We find ourselves doing grunt work for Atrus once more as our favorite self-published author and god of his own realms begins reaping what he’s sown over the last two games. We solve some puzzles, enjoy Brad Dourif, and talk about the kind of guy who keeps going around birthing entire worlds. Exile was good fun, happy to dip back into the world of …
…
continue reading
After an impromptu week off we’ve returned having only barely remembered the reading to talk about Tristram, questing beasts, and oh so much jousting. These mfers love to joust SO MUCH. Also we chat about movies, including some Em watched based on feedback from last episode. It’s a big sprawling episode, so please enjoy! Niamh can be found haunting…
…
continue reading
We talk about Tristram, Tramtrist, the two Isodes, the horn of cucking, and more in this huge episode of adventuring and wayward romance. Also, Em insults the shit out of Niamh’s kamioshi, a pen is lost and found, and we talk about the bad time movies that stuck with us for good and ill in our lives. Niamh can be found haunting Export Audio with Gh…
…
continue reading
We’re back as Lancelot continues to husband collect, and Beaumains-slash-Gareth proves his worth by fighting a whole messed up rainbow of knights to emerge as one of the greatest of the land. Also, we talk about vtubers, being busy, and of course video games. Like upcoming Atlus game Metaphor, and classic Sega arcade game Shinobi. No prize for gues…
…
continue reading
We talk about the classic detective visual novel The Silver Case! We discuss police procedurals, visual novel aesthetics, mysticism vs. science fiction, and why games should be like television.By The Safe Room
…
continue reading
We leap back in time to the Mega Drive to talk about two action classics back when action games meant jumping and avoiding and not perfect parries. Not exactly divisive that we enjoy these types of games, but the generational split is very real as we talk about these two classics of game. Join us, for a walk down memory lane (Sega edition). Thank y…
…
continue reading
We almost skipped this week but Niamh decided we should record a little bit anyway. It’s very low energy, so I’m going to keep this summary proportionally low effort. See ya next week. Niamh can be found haunting Export Audio with Ghost Divers and Ornate Stairwells (and Pondering Pootan, which has never haunted anyone) and on twitter @foxmomnia Em …
…
continue reading
The battle rages but also plenty of strange things happen in this eventful Arthur reading. Also, after saga time, Em jumps on the grenade of ‘let’s not talk about work’ to instead overshare about podcast insecurity, among other things. Other things, of course, meaning vtubers. Please enjoy this episode! Niamh can be found haunting Export Audio with…
…
continue reading
Episoooode Fifty! We honestly forget that it’s 50 but we have a good time talking about questing, both Merlin and Gawain being irrepressibly dumb men about women, Morgan le Fay’s flop villainy, and much more as Darthur keeps up its wild pace. Also, we talk about the usual odds and ends, video games and movies and vtubers. Y’know, the Long Fire Stuf…
…
continue reading
We fly forward several hundred years to the world of Christian Kings and true legend as we talk about one of the central works of Arthurian canon, Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte Darthur! Boys pull swords from stones, Merlin proves to be a real Kongming, and we already learn we are in a world where canon and linearity simply don’t matter. Also, we talk a…
…
continue reading
We talk about the “compilation” game Fatal Frame III: The Tormented which attempts to wrap its two prior games into an overarching narrative, with poignant and evocative results. We discuss its many annoyances, its ambitious structure, terrifying ghosts, and all-timer final cutscene. Post mentioned: “Fatal Frame III: The Tormented Reemerges Today o…
…
continue reading
We finish our long Final Fantasy adventure by playing Square’s largest single player Final Fantasy yet. But does size equal quality? Does it equal ambition? We have many thoughts about this and about where the entire Final Fantasy VII Remake Project has gone and is heading in this enormous podcast about an equally enormous game. After dozens of hou…
…
continue reading
Beowulf ends in a truly awe-inspiring crescendo of anguish as we find ourselves taken with this final section of the reading. Then, Em goes on a tear about movies for a while to make up for a skipped Repertory Screenings, before the rest of the episode covers the usual gambit of RPGs, Gundam, vtubers, and more! A beefy episode to end this book! Nia…
…
continue reading
NOTE: internet trouble means there’s a little more cross talk on this episode than I’d like, so please know we aren’t actually talking over each other on purpose, it simply can’t be helped. We talk about Beowulf diving deep and disrespecting moms and it somehow turns into us talking about movies because of course it does. Also, somehow, Final Fanta…
…
continue reading
Bro! We are back with one of The Classics, one of the all time greats, the kind of poem where people for a thousand years will say That Was A Good Poem. It’s god damn Beowulf! We’re delighted by this new translation, talk a lot about classics, and also wind down with some talk about Niamh in Florida, movie making, and of course podcasting. Niamh ca…
…
continue reading
Content Warnings: sexual assault, death by fire, suicide, self-harm We discuss modern FMV games Her Story and Immortality. We discuss these cinematic narrative games, their sometimes dazzling, sometimes uneven structures, and have big thoughts about writing narratives games so concentrated on women on camera.…
…
continue reading
We’re back with the final sections of the book talking about the work itself, and also Niamh finished FF8! Funny how that worked out! Anyway we talk about the endings of both things, and look forward to the future! Niamh can be found haunting Export Audio with Ghost Divers and Ornate Stairwells (and Pondering Pootan, which has never haunted anyone)…
…
continue reading
We’re joined by Molly for the return of one of the classics, a guy who just needs to jump over every spike in all the world, conveniently located in a beautiful palace. That’s right, we’re here to talk about the return of Prince of Persia, and the surprising ways Ubisoft have melded the last ten years of exceptional platforming games into something…
…
continue reading
We interrupt your regularly scheduled coverage with a special announcement: Jackson has played the Final Fantasy XIII games, at last. Despite the frankly illegal amount of Final Fantasy content lately they were not going to let that go to waste. They are joined by Erin (@Woodabris, Woodaba on Youtube) to discuss the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy, with…
…
continue reading
We did it! We finished the Nibelungenlied, and it actually ended really good. Well, actually, it ended in utter woe for everyone involved. But we liked that woe! The woe was crunchy and delicious to us, if a little skewed towards Hagen a man nobody should stan. We’re taking a week off, and then we’ll be back with the extra parts at the end of the b…
…
continue reading
Our saga begins to wrap up and we have a nice chat about it, before going on about the usual weeklies of movies and gaming and the rest. The back half of the pod gets real serious about the mental health and health segment, so we silo’d it off after the plugs. Content warning on that for medical and health talk, eating disorders and body image, dis…
…
continue reading
We talk more about ASMR videos than we do the sagas this week, but sometimes that’s just how it goes. We also have a gaming check in and the other usuals. Niamh can be found haunting Export Audio with Ghost Divers and Ornate Stairwells (and Pondering Pootan, which has never haunted anyone) and on twitter @foxmomnia Em can be found working themselve…
…
continue reading
We talk about the unsurprisingly competent and surprisingly comprehensible The Evil Within 2. We discuss the game’s new “open level” structure, even while it imports most of what made The Evil Within so good, how (and whether) the conventional story landed for us, and our favorite bosses and characters.…
…
continue reading
We’re going back to the heady days of licensed multi-platform games in the early 00s this month as we play 007: Everything or Nothing and talk about the era of arcane save processes, weird genre mashups, awful final missions, and the ways in which the whole medium could turn on a relatively short dime to become something new. Was this game an unher…
…
continue reading
The saga isn’t exactly on fire this week but that’s okay as we have some catchup on vtuber corner, Niamh gets a huge box, and more! Niamh can be found haunting Export Audio with Ghost Divers and Ornate Stairwells (and Pondering Pootan, which has never haunted anyone) and on twitter @foxmomnia Em can be found working themselves into an early grave h…
…
continue reading
The energy levels are inverted this week as Niamh is ready to go three hours and Em has to pull the emergency eject lever. But before that, we talk a bit about the holidays, childhood toys, FF8, and of course our regular saga chat. Niamh can be found haunting Export Audio with Ghost Divers and Ornate Stairwells (and Pondering Pootan, which has neve…
…
continue reading
Grace and Rose close out the year with the classic Resident Evil 2002 remake. We discuss the beauty of its fixed camera angles and pre-rendered backgrounds, the weirdly arbitary difference in difficulty between the two protagonists, and about how tank controls are good, actually. Towards the end of the episode, we rank all of the games we covered t…
…
continue reading
We close out the year with a podcast years in the making, as Molly joins us and we take a road trip with the king to be and his homies and play the much maligned but beloved by us Final Fantasy XV! This podcast will cover the main game and the first three episode DLCs (Gladio, Prompto, Ignis), and there’ll be a follow up podcast on the patreon (fre…
…
continue reading
Em had a coffee several hours before recording and became truly insufferable during the span of this podcast, dragging Niamh into a bunch of stupid discussions when the fox simply wanted to rest. That’s the holiday spirit at work. Niamh can be found haunting Export Audio with Ghost Divers and Ornate Stairwells (and Pondering Pootan, which has never…
…
continue reading
Niamh’s sick but we soldier on anyway as we talk about our chapters and then have a bunch of movie talk based on a list of recommendations given to me by the listenership of VoIP Life after the last episode. You can find that list here! Niamh can be found haunting Export Audio with Ghost Divers and Ornate Stairwells (and Pondering Pootan, which has…
…
continue reading
Truly it’s the end of the road for our buddy Siegfried on this killer set of reading this week. Also, Niamh manages to get us talking about movies and Em blows half their next Repertory Screenings slate talking about musicals and found footage horror. Also, some paintings! Niamh can be found haunting Export Audio with Ghost Divers and Ornate Stairw…
…
continue reading
Em woke up five minutes before this podcast to a world where Kissinger was dead. That’s truly worth celebrating. Though we don’t actually do much of that, but instead read our book (which is good), talk about vtubers (which is good), catch up on things (always a delight), and new developments in our Mental Health Minute Niamh can be found haunting …
…
continue reading
Content Warnings: Suicide, domestic violence, general horror gore In this ocean-sized episode we tackle the FMV-soaked marvel that is Alan Wake II. We talk about how this feels both like a culmination and maturation of Remedy’s work over the past 20 years and how this is still kinda the same as Max Payne 2. We discuss the game’s delicious ambiguiti…
…
continue reading
We keep gaming as we tackle a bunch of small games in a classic grab bag and talk through a whole mess of games that are interesting and worthwhile but often have one or two extremely obvious parts that hold it back. Some of them are reasonable critiques, some of them are just the unfortunate realities of game production, some are just The Times. I…
…
continue reading
We’re back with one of the best chapters this podcast has ever read, and we talk a little about the end of the strike and returning to watching stuff. We’re taking next week off but will be back in two weeks! Niamh can be found haunting Export Audio with Ghost Divers and Ornate Stairwells (and Pondering Pootan, which has never haunted anyone) and o…
…
continue reading
Hi, Em here! This is a week late because I was sick and in the hospital for a few days several days after this recording. I’m doing okay now, but it means this didn’t get edited and now I don’t remember what the hell we talked about. Other than winning ladies through subterfuge. We definitely talk about that. Niamh can be found haunting Export Audi…
…
continue reading
Content Warnings: Self-Harm, Suicide, Freud (Oedipal Complex) Through the electric wires, a strange image appears on your TV… it’s Serial Experiments Lain the video game! We talk about the visual novel inflected adaptation? Retelling? of the classic anime. Discussion includes multimedia storytelling formats, Lain’s place in “franchise” narrative, w…
…
continue reading
It’s Jackson here with a surprise episode of Abnormal Mapping! This was meant to be a bonus anniversary surprise but scheduling woes got it pushed back a week, but that’s not important: I finally played Majora’s Mask. And I’m joined by my good friend Crystal to talk about it. Things Discussed: Majora’s Mask, most Zeldas, some Resident Evil. Next Mo…
…
continue reading
Getting real on the pod this week as a tired episode turns into a bit of overshare. Also a bit of an ideological preview of the upcoming VoIP Life dropping on Friday. Niamh can be found haunting Export Audio with Ghost Divers and Ornate Stairwells (and Pondering Pootan, which has never haunted anyone) and on twitter @foxmomnia Em can be found worki…
…
continue reading
We’ve been doing this for ten years! Damn, that’s a long time to be doing a monthly game club. But we’ll keep trucking into our second decade as we start a series that neither of us have played before. We’re joined by a guest, Shenmue superfan Dia Lacina, to talk about Ryo and his ridiculous quest for vengeance. Please enjoy this supersized episode…
…
continue reading
We start a new book, about an old guy from before, and some really stupid shit he’s getting up to. Also, we talk at length about our wayward youths and our preferences for JRPG battle design! Niamh can be found haunting Export Audio with Ghost Divers and Ornate Stairwells (and Pondering Pootan, which has never haunted anyone) and on twitter @foxmom…
…
continue reading
We finally did it! We crash through the end of the Heimskringla (for now) with an annoying whimper, Em tries hard not to fall asleep on the podcast, Niamh refuses to let up talking about one of the most over-discussed games of all time, and we have a great time despite ourselves! That’s it, season one is over. Come back next week for the start of s…
…
continue reading
Em’s still fighting off the post Covid malaise so it’s a bit of a short one today though we do talk a bit about Niamh getting a steam deck and our plans for our upcoming season 2! Niamh can be found haunting Export Audio with Ghost Divers and Ornate Stairwells (and Pondering Pootan, which has never haunted anyone) and on twitter @foxmomnia Em can b…
…
continue reading
In this episode of The Safe Room, we discuss the awe-inspiring craft of The Evil Within, its disappointing final third, and its campy, haunted-house-style level design. This is prossibly the most fun we've had with a game so far. We match that energy in a goofy and freeform ep.By The Safe Room
…
continue reading
We’re back! Some surprise sick days delayed this one a few weeks but we do talk at length about Chulip, games writing in the 2010s, growing up subjected to boyhood, and other things in this rambling pod. Also, some Saga talk, but less than you might think. The Chulip LP Em Watched Niamh’s piece on Chulip from 2015 Niamh can be found haunting Export…
…
continue reading
We celebrate a century and a half of excellence this month as we talk about 3D platforming as we take a thorough look at Demon Turf and talk about platforming for sickos, designing games around the expectations of Nintendo Polish, and what that means in terms of expectations and the war within ourselves to appraise a thing. Demon Turf is really goo…
…
continue reading
