Mind Controllers

Today we talked about Evo 2024, the largest fighting game tournament hosted in Vegas. Then we dive deeper into the psychology of competition and how it applies to fighting games and esports! Timestamps: Introduction - 0:09 Psychology of Competition - 06:52 Esports and Fighting Games - 16:01 Evo 2024 Trip Report! - 21:10 The Good - 27:05 The Bad - 40:27 The Ugly - 43:32 Fighting Game Psychology - 5...

Spoilers for Elden Ring DLC This week on Scatterbrained, Brandon did a solo show this week due to some scheduling conflicts and talked about his time with finishing Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. Then he chatted a bit about some news headlines. What indie game should I play? Games we talked about this week: Elden Ring If you are experiencing any sort of mental health distress, or just need som...

This week on Scatterbrained, we chatted about Elden Ring and Brandon’s time with Shadow of the Erdtree (spoiler alert: he loves it), then Joe talks about his time with Zenless Zone Zero, playing ranked matches in Street Fighter 6, and his time playing Ashen. By the time you hear the pod, Joe will be at Evo!!  Games we talked about this week: Elden Ring, Zenless Zone Zero, Street Fighter 6, As...

This week on Scatterbrained, we talk about some interview questions that were sent over by the IG account: Video Game Journalist. They want to know a bit more about what we do, and asked us plenty of fantastic questions about video games, psychology in games, and cozy games! We then quickly catch up on the games we’ve been playing this week. Games we played this week: Elden Ring, Zenless Zone, Zer...

Spoilers for Silent Hill: The Short Message and God of War: Ragnarok Trigger Warnings: Suicide and Death. Come on in and sit down as we talk about Silent Hill: The Short Message and its heavy use of traumatic events without saying too much about it. We also chatted about God of War: Ragnarok, and how Kratos’ life is reflected and analyzed in the latest DLC, Valhalla.  Other games we played: S...

Spoiler warning for Persona 3 Reload, and Hunter x Hunter This week on Scatterbrained, we chat about what we’ve been playing this week, and surprise, it’s more fighting games (among other things)! Unfortunately, there were some complications with the recording and part of Joe’s recording is missing. So please excuse the gaps! Joe finished up Persona 3 Reloaded and gives his thoughts on the game as...

Spoiler warning for Inside Out 2! This week on Scatterbrained, Joe is back and healing up.  We chat about the games we've been playing now, all the exciting Nintendo direct announcements, and more! Games we played this week: Persona 3 Reloaded, Paper Mario Thousand Year Door, Elden Ring, Dungeons and Degenerates Gambler Other Topics: Baby Reindeer, The Boys, Manga (One Piece and Boruto), Insi...

Show Notes: Welcome to the first episode of Scatterbrained, our new weekly side pod where we chat about what games we’ve been playing, and any other media we’ve been enjoying! Unfortunately, Joe is out due to some recent dental work, but he will be back soon! Games we played this week: Flintlock, Parcel Corps, I Am Your Beast, Once Human, Lost Castle 2, Tiny Glade, Alan Wake 2 Tracks are:  "S...

Spoilers for Alan Wake Remastered and Tales of Kenzera Trigger Warnings: Death Today we talk about Alan Wake and his struggles with psychosis and delusions. We also chatted about Tales of Kenzera, and how that game prepares the player/main character for death by helping others through their own experiences with loss. Other games we played: Persona 3 Reload, Dragon’s Dogma 2, Street Fighter 6, Pape...

Spoilers for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Trigger warning: Mentions of suicide and death, and abuse Today we talk about Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the highly anticipated sequel to Final Fantasy 7 Remake. We chat about Tifa Lockhart and Red 13, and dive deeper into these characters and how their childhood has affected who they are today.  Other games we played: Persona 3 Reload, Guilty Gear Strive, D...

Huge Spoilers for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Trigger Warning: Death Today we talk about Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, a game that swept us off our feet and we fell in love with. We might be mourning the end of this game and using this pod as therapy. We chat about Kiryu and where he is in life in terms of Life Stages, and then discuss how Ichiban’s resilience and positivity gets him through...

Trigger warning: Death This episode we do a deep dive into The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, a controversial sequel to the hit game Ocarina of Time. We explore the World and how the people world is linked in one interconnecting system, and then talk about how the game represents the 5 stages of grief. Then we chat about games we’re playing now! Other games discussed: Like a Dragon: Infinite Weal...

Trigger Warning: Suicide and Murder of Fictional Characters Today we talk about Dead Space and its Remake, an action-horror game where you play as Isaac Clarke as he explores the wrecked space ship called the Ishimura. We take a look at Isaac and his mental well being while experiencing this traumatic event in real time, some of his treatments, and then talk a bit about horror game design. Then we...

Show Notes: Trigger Warnings: Suicide, Murder Welcome to our first episode of Mind Controllers! In today’s episode, we chatted about Persona 5 Royal, a JRPG that was released back in 2019 that has made a profound impact on our love for Psychology and Video Games. We gave a bit of description about the game and some of the Psychology concepts within the game, then dove deep into 2 specific characte...

Today we talk about Final Fantasy 7 Remake, a highly anticipated remake to the hit JRPG Final Fantasy 7. We explore the background of some of our favorite characters, including Cloud, Zack, Barret, and Aerith, and discuss how this motivates their actions as we see them in the events of this game. Then we chat about what games we’re enjoying now! Timestamps (some may be off)! : FF7 Remake Descripti...

Welcome to Mind Controllers, a podcast about shining the light on the Psychological aspects behind some of our favorite video games! We both play a lot of games and have our MA in Clinical Psychology. So, we figured we put that degree to use and combine two of our passions! We hope you enjoy listening to us chat about interesting backgrounds to some of our favorite characters and video games, and...