Gaming Under The Influence

Alex & Mike revisit the status of games as art. Recent conversations on the subject have evoked Ebert, who answered in the negative, citing a lack of worthwhile subject matter comparable to great works of other mediums & of authorial control resulting from player freedom. Meanwhile others have said video games are a “synthesis” of all the fine arts, as though a methodology, skillset or choice of e...

Join Alex & Mike at GreenDragonCVR for a casual discussion of Live A Live, The Ascent & Observer: System Redux. Touching on the history of Live Alive before its publication in the West circa 2022; the excellent cyberpunk worldbuilding of Neon Giant’s The Ascent; the cyberpunk pessimism of Bloober Team’s Observer: System Redux. Including a definition of cyberpunk fiction’s essential concern.

Join Alex & Mike at GreenDragonCVR to discuss the point of completing video games. Is the point of a game to see the end of its narrative? Is finishing a game necessary to “understanding” or appreciating it? We argue that, since we engage with the sensible & narrative aspects of the work to penetrate its “creative concept”, these aspects are instruments to an end. If the concept has been comprehen...

Join Alex & Mike at GreenDragonCVR for a discussion of the ‘political’ nature of video games. Must games exhibit political content? Is there such a thing as neutrality? Is it really about ‘politics’ or a deeper view held by the artist concerning reality & human nature (which politics derives from)? We propose that all art, since conceived from a human vantage, will necessarily convey the artist’s...

Join Alex & Mike at GreenDragonCVR for a discussion of the evolution of Final Fantasy, as well as the end of V Rising. Alex has finished the first Final Fantasy game from 1987; with his insight, the boys draw comparisons to more recent series entires. Mike relates his experiences with V Rising’s endgame, building systems & fiction.

Join Alex & Mike at GreenDragonCVR for a look back at weirdest, most interesting games of Summer Game Fest 2022. Highlights include Bear & Breakfast, Nightingale, Zenless Zone, Choo Choo Charles & Planet of Lana.

Mike & Alex were impressed by the recent Final Fantasy XVI trailer. Tune in this week for a discussion of how XVI returns well-known Final Fantasy ‘summons’ to a position of fictional prominence, as well as the XVI gameplay mechanics depicted in the trailer.

Another conversation this week on V Rising, including on Tencent’s involvement. Mike & Alex also discuss RPGs, Final Fantasy IX again, and the possibility of Final Fantasy XVI’s appearance at this week’s State of Play.

This week Mike & Alex discuss the media’s shifting opinions on Game Pass: a sacred cow has been torn down, with varied outlets lining up to take pot shots at what they had advertised for free months ago. Also including a discussion of V Rising & the addictive nature of survival games: what is it that makes them such an engaging experience? Have the boys come to prefer them over sacred cows of thei...

Join us this week for a discussion of combat in video games: does it have to be in everything? Why are there so few games whose core loop consists of anything else? What is the perfect synthesis between depicted content and varied activity in a video game?

Gaming Under the Influence @ Green Dragon CVR with Mike + Alex; Join us for a preliminary opinion on the Stream Deck & a discussion of Elden Ring’s endgame.

Join us this week for a discussion of some lesser-known titles launching in the spring of 2022 | PS5, Switch, PC

The Ghostwire: Tokyo episode. This week Mike & Alex delve into the many fantastic aspects of Tango’s recent game, touching on themes, worldbuilding, traversing the open world & the virtue of shorter video game experiences.

Mike & Alex are back with another casual conversation on the state of games in early 2022. Topics include early impressions of Strangers of Paradise, Salt and Sacrifice Beta, microtransactions and always online requirements in Gran Turismo 7

Mike & Alex spoke a month ago concerning the possibility that 2022 would be the best year ever for video games as a medium of artistic expression. The wild success of Elden Ring has shown this to be the case; while live service games launch to critical & commercial failure, From’s latest work has set records on metacritic & continues to top sales charts. Tune in this week for a causal conversation...

Mike & Alex have a casual conversation about Strangers of Paradise FF Origin & difficulty settings in soulslike games, as well as their progress through Elden Ring.

Mike & Alex talk more about Elden Ring, while also exploring the highs & lows of Gran Turismo 7. Topics include our progress through ER, the circumscriptive simulation gameplay of GT7, its microtransactions & always online play.

So what the f*ck is going on in Elden Ring? Join Mike & Alex for an explanation of the history & events of the game. We describe characters, entities & the metaphysical themes present here that have reoccurred in all of Miyazaki’s games.

Elden Ring actuates possibilities latent in the soulslike genre & the form of movement it conveys. The circumscriptive melee combat & traversal that characterize the series have been employed to symbolize new modes of engaging with the vast world from has built here (mounted combat and increasing mastery of the expansive map via fast travel and healing refills are our central concerns)And what a w...

2022 is on track to be one of the best years ever for the video game medium, with single-player releases scheduled from many of the best developers across genres & budgets. Join Mike and Alex for a look at currently-available titles like Pokemon Legends Arceus & Dying Light 2, as well as a dive into what is coming next.

Welcome to GUI episode 115! Today we'll describe the inner logic and implicit ontology of evergreen/zombie brands, streaming and the metaverse. All appear built on a univocal or homogenous conception of being. The future they envision is dead on arrival insofar as its template of what is to come is based entirely on sameness, the past.

Who ever thought they would enjoy another zombie game? This week Alex & Mike discuss the pleasant surprise that is Dying Light 2. Against our expectations, there is lots to love here. Well-written & acted, beautifully animated & featuring top-notch traversal mechanics, we find ourselves pleased to be back in a zombie game.

Alex & Mike finally get their hands on Pokemon Legends: Arceus and are pleasantly surprised with the result. Gamefreak has managed to successfully shake up the Pokemon formula by modifying the core concept and gameplay loop of the game, creating something almost entirely new.

This week the boys at Green Dragon CVR are surprised to hear about Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision & Blizzard. Mike & Alex discuss the implications of this deal and what it means for the future of the Xbox brand. Spoiler alert: probably nothing as Call of Duty will surely march on as a yearly release. We remain hopeful for something new perhaps, cheers.

Mike and Alex are back for the first episode of 2022. With no interesting releases on the horizon for the next few weeks, an eclectic conversation ensues. Topics include Shin Megami V, Pokemon Arceus, Elden Ring and the fact that Miyazaki does not play his own games.