Abnormal Mapping

Welcome to Meta Mapping, our journey through old episodes complete with new reflections on our current day thoughts on the episode! Today we're revisiting The King And W, an episode idea that our friend Michaela Joffe came to us with where we would do a little improv and interview Bowser, the King Koopa. It turned out extremely well, and we're very excited to bring it to you again! It was recorded...

Hello friends, we're here again at the nearly-midpoint of the year for a celebration of music and magic and wonder. Everyone liked our December music episodes so much and they took so long to make we decided to split them into twice-yearly installments, so enjoy this long list of summer tunes based on what we've been playing since we last checked in. As always, check us out on iTunes, or watch thi...

A year ago this month we played Knights of the Old Republic , and today we complete the saga by taking on Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Jump in for a journey of discovery, as we experience one of the most heavily recommended subversions of all the aspects of Star Wars that we thought we didn't like, only to realize that without them our hearts feel empty and we feel lost. Maybe t...

Welcome to Meta Mapping, our first in a series of re-released episodes from the Abnormal Mapping archives with new content made possible by our Patreon subscribers . We figured it would be best to start with our very first episode, back when all our mics were bad and M used a different name. We didn't want to change any of that, so you get the raw reality of us four years ago for your listening .....

The Mappers delve into the past for an examination of two pillars of 90s PC gaming, as we all tackle the mysteries of Myst together (with returning third chair Destiny), and then I take a moment to talk about Full Throttle Remastered with Kotaku's Heather Alexandra. It's a lot of clicking and a lot of puzzle solving in this wave of computer nostalgia. Note: we have a Patreon! Support us by going t...

Miyamoto, tending his garden, suddenly has a brilliant idea. What if he could recapture the feelings of his childhood in game form? What if it was possible to identify the essence of nature and replicate it on a simple disc. It would be overwhelming, yet familiar. Chaotic, yet calm. Hostile, yet intimate. He toiled with his team for years, until finally the public could join him in the garden. Aft...

Em and Jackson are here to say goodbye to the Final Fantasy of old and to look forward to new horizons, new podcast art, and a new podcast feed! Final Fantasy IX is a strange game to be approaching after so much time in the SNES Final Fantasies. Does it help to have such immediate context for the games FF9 is trying to reference? Hrm... Meanwhile, Em takes some time to sit in nature and think abou...

Celebrate the shortest month with the shortest hero as Abnormal Mapping delves into the wide world of rolling up extremely tiny objects in Katamary Damacy. This includes the first game, We Love Katamari, and even some Katamari Forever. Plus, we dip into Keita Takahashi’s development history and philosophy of design. Come for the good conversation, stay for the incredible music. We’re 60 years youn...

Hello and welcome to 2017 where we’re getting right into the thick of it with a podcast covering five whole video games today. What happens when you take a decade to tell the story of two women equally dedicated to murdering, climbing, exploring, and looting, and pit them against each other? Today we look at two generations of design by a single company, and ask the question: what exactly is Lara...

Welcome to the very end of the year, where we talk about the good, the bad, and the musical. Please enjoy over two hours of hot, banging audio content. Please enjoy the end of 2016. Please enjoy the end. Next Month’s Game Club: Tomb Raider Legend, Tomb Raider Anniversary, Tomb Raider Underworld, Tomb Raider (2013), Rise of the Tomb Raider You can get our podcast on iTunes , on Stitcher , or you ca...

We’re here at the end of the year with a very special Christmas episode, where we celebrate not just the best music of the year, but the best music of the games we played this year. That’s a big list, so this is only half of it. Have a merry Christmas and see you in two weeks! You can get our podcast on iTunes , on Stitcher , or you can download it directly by clicking here . Tales from the Border...

Today we’re rejoined by regular guest and former co-host Destiny Sturdivant for a romp through one of the most storied RPGs of all time. Please enjoy, have a good holiday if you celebrate it, and try to be kind and healthy in these trying times. You can get our podcast on iTunes , on Stitcher , or you can download it directly by clicking here . Things Discussed: Animal Crossing: New Leaf, The Witc...

Polyblank, have a seat, we have much business to discuss. Right. Basically, we need you to listen to this here episode of Abnormal Mapping. They played this videogame Jazzpunk, recorded all manner of thoughts and opinions on it, and for reasons unknown uploaded it to the internet on a publically identifiable server. Your mission is to find any compromising information, ie, anything rude about me,...

The Mappers bring you a short and sweet podcast this time covering a short and sweet game from Em’s past. We also talk anything but games, including the now regular comic book corner segment, where Jackson regales us with tales of the Marvel Ultimate Universe (RIP). You can get our podcast on iTunes , on Stitcher , or you can download it directly by clicking here . Things Discussed: Chameleon Run,...

The Mappers celebrate the long season of heat by refusing to turn their PCs on and instead delving into the wide world of mobile games. This is a secret place, full of dark mystery and a thousand alluring traps, but they will persevere. Teasing apart of a puzzle is just human nature. The soul of humanity abhors a secret. What could possibly go wrong? You can get our podcast on iTunes , on Stitcher...

We’re back with a new Abnormal Mapping, this time with the return (after four weeks) of the glorious Game Club! In the meantime, we deviate from Video Games to talk about all the things that aren’t, mostly TV and movies and our feelings about how episodic shows are broken and need rehabilitation. And then we talk about how games are broken and need rehabilitation. And then then we talk about how W...

We said we’d do it, and we weren’t lying. This is our first free form episode, where we just sit and talk about games. Please let us know if it’s okay or not! Neither of us had a lot of confidence in our ability to carry a podcast like this, so we really need validation or feedback. Emails to podcast@abnormalmapping.com! You can get our podcast on iTunes , on Stitcher , or you can download it dire...

The Abnormal Mapping podcast survives after its final episode to reach this, its milestone episode. It has been five decades since we began our humble journey, from our first game club of Space War through the Arcade Years and the Decade of Nintendo to this, our current configuration in our fiftieth annual episode. Blades will bleed. Shields will shatter. And we’ll travel back through our memories...

A dark day comes in the lives of any video games person. A day where the joy is gone, and the game pad falls to the floor in utter defeat. This is not true despair, though, for that instead can be found on the internet, where said intrepid gamespeople go when their play is through, only to find a cesspool of fear and hate and suffering. That is the true gauntlet of horrors, eroding all of us into...

Just another day in a podcast without end… ABNORMAL MAPPING At last, the time has come. Just under a year ago, I started playing the Metal Gear games , and now, 42 articles and 5 podcasts later, the journey is complete. I hope you have enjoyed the ride, and if you’re new, then feel free to come along on this quest anytime. For this final episode, we’re discussing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pa...

The Mappers take a turn away from video games this spring to talk about M’s experiences watching bad super-hero movies and how many of the wrong things they have learned from video games. With Marvel’s Civil War nearly upon us, the question becomes: how much premium currency do I have to spend to unlock single-mecha-glove Tony Stark in Marvel Heroes/Future Fight/Conquest of Champions/Disney Infini...

War has changed. In the penultimate podcast, Jackson reaches the ultimate, final ending of the Metal Gear franchise, just over half-way through the number of Metal Gear games. Don’t worry if you don’t understand, we’re here to guide you through on this Nanomachine Odyssey! My guest for this episode is Austin Howe, Freelancer around the internet and found often on Critical Switch . They’re also on...

Welcome to another fantastic edition in the internet’s favourite Tella fan club podcast. This month, we’re counting down our top ten Tella moments, and we’re asking our audience the million dollar question: what would you do… with that much MP? Tella all your friends, and rate comment and subscribe! EDITORS NOTE: we are not fans of Tella or his Moon Dwelling Counterpart and never shall be. The hos...

Emerging from the wreckage of the Big Shell , Jackson travels through time to meet Cameron Kunzelman in the depths of the russian jungle, on a secret mission to stop a tank which can go really fast. In this third entry into the Metal Gear podcasts, Cameron and Jackson drill into the big questions: who does Snake kiss? Is it possible to make an anti-war War Game? And is Metal Gear even that ridicul...

do you know the nunchuck man the nunchuck man, the nunchuck man do you know the nunchuck man who lives on ninja lane Atop a transmission tower, a lone ninja stands and surveys his land. Once, he was a brutal man, a member of the Dragon Lineage who to whom death was second nature and who felt incomplete without a sword clasped in his hand. But with age, the man sought destruction no more, and looke...