Wardcast

It’s our second and final night at MAGFest 2018. We’re joined by Robby Ciszek — the Undead Dev — working on UFO Rodeo, Emerson Smith, founder of ESIO LLC, and Frank DiCola, co-founder of Game Revenant and artist and designer on Where Shadows Slumber. We talk about exhibiting mobile games at the show; avoiding the bomb cyclone; nabbing some sweet, sweet MAGBucks; and more. Games include Joggernauts...

It’s the first podcast of 2018 and the first podcast of MAGFest! We’re bringing you some multipart nightly shows while we hang out at the one and only Music and Games Festival. In part one of tonight’s show, Dylan is joined by RVA Game Jammer Ruthie Edwards and VR dev Emerson Smith, founder of ESIO LLC. We talk about what we’ve seen and played on the show floor, from Amanda Hudgins’ #1000ButtonPro...

Once more the Earth has circled the Sun, and once more we sequester ourselves to determine the Wardcast Best Games Played. For those unfamiliar, here’s how it works: our list consists of what we believe to be the top ten games we played this year. We consider any game played in 2017, not just games released in 2017. Everyone brings their personal top ten games to the table, from which we will deci...

It’s our last regular episode of the year, and it’s here where we make our stand. We critique the quality of the game mechanics of White Elephant, discuss our time with Wolfenstein II — including some heavy spoilers, and rediscover Ryu’s love of pound cake. Ludum Dare 40 happened last weekend, so we discuss the games we played and the games we made, which include Will’s escape🥚hatch, Alex’s Pizza...

Joining Dylan over the air this week is friend of the show and Motion Capture Stage Technician at 2K Games, Michael Listo! Michael speaks with Dylan about what goes into his role, the current trends in motion capture technology, and the common mocap techniques used on the job. We also discuss motion capture in film, advertising, and VR, and how his time studying Visual Effects at SCAD prepared him...

Will, Alex, and Dylan discuss the burgeoning robocky film genre, the EA Battlefront II loot box fiasco, and the predictably disappointing Justice League box office debut. We endure the hellishness of Mario Odyssey’s Darker Side of the Moon, and we talk about Hair Nah and our experiences getting our hairs touched. Alex “BattlerUnknown” Damrath gets back on the gamedev horse with his game, Playgroun...

With the Richmond Marathon surrounding us on all sides, we journey into the realm of physical games. We got 280 characters in our pocket, and with it, we propose Doom 2 to take place in Buddhist hell. Alex joins in on the Mario Odyssey discussion — with embarrassing anecdotes about Uncle amiibo. In news, BlizzCon happened, where Blizzard announced a new Overwatch hero, a new World of Warcraft, and...

Now that Will’s married, we converse about our prerequisites for what constitutes an arcade, Windows being garbage, trying to play Wolfenstein: The New Order, and Mario Odyssey’s lack of hat-on-hat action. Once again, we ring the game industry death knell. This time, it’s for NeoGAF, the Kinect, and Runic Games — where co-founder Travis Baldree shares his memories of the studio. Lastly, Paris Game...

It’s a special day here on the Wardcast: Dylan is joined by Joe Wetmore and Kenny Kim, here to talk about — among other things — their eternal cosmic bond. Joe explains his distaste for the new Star Trek, Dylan does an explainer on PUBG hacks, and we all discuss the many things about Middle-Earth: Shadow of War that make us uncomfortable. We keep Tolkien talks going as we dive deep into Lord of th...

Dylan, Alex, and Sam reconvene to discuss the poor handling of MAGFest’s distribution of hotel rooms. Alex brings a board game, for which there was a price to pay, and Sam discusses the contract game he’s been working on and what it’s like to work on a kid’s game that is COPPA compliant. Taking advantage of physics systems in games has us talking about Just Cause 2 mods and an infamous Liberty Cit...

Dylan, Will, and Ruthie Edwards come together to discuss Pokémon symphonies, paperclips of the universal variety, and the eternal wait for Super Mario Odyssey. Will tries to fit in some more Heat Signature before he’s no longer a bachelor, we return to a talk about Tumbleseed and gameplay difficulty, and briefly converse about IGN acquiring Humble Bundle. Games include Heat Signature, Universal Pa...

We begin this episode discussing our hatred of Funko Pop figurines and the massive intelligence required to enjoy McDonald’s szechuan sauce. In other news, Cuphead came out, and it’s good! But people aren’t talking about Echo, and that’s bad. The Game by Its Cover game jam has ended, and Sam discusses his favorite pick from the lot, Hell, which fully convinces us that games presented through a des...

This week, we’re joined by a bunch of moms. Momma Ilvento completes her tale of acquiring an SNES Classic. Mother Damrath checks in to see what this whole Fortnite: Battle Royale is about, and Grandma Blanton is feeling a little faint, but she powered through her illness to be with us today. We get back to all the MGS V we played this past week while we talk about the mommiest game in the world. A...

Dylan is joined by Ruthie Edwards, Kirk Musngi, Mike Odum, and Momin Khan on this glorious September morning to camp out to get their hands on the SNES Classic. It’s early. Very early. But no sacrifice is too great for our chosen prize. No regrets, no regurts, and no Ragnaros. While we wait for the doors of the Best Buy to open, we define what it means to be “mom,” spend some more time on Martio R...

If Will and Sam can ever forgive Dylan for never playing Journey, they may find the time to learn more about thatgamecompany’s new game, Sky, and everything else that happened during the iPhone X event. We’re also excited to announce: Will’s getting married! Before he ties the knot, things are gonna get pretty steamy: with him trying out the Steam Link and us talking about our longest played games...

This episode, Dylan is joined by trailer craftsman M. Joshua Cauller, whose work includes trailers for games such as That Dragon, Cancer; Tricky Towers; and Poly Bridge. Josh touches on a lot of different topics related to his craft, including how he got started, how to create player-centric trailers, and the importance of balancing emotional tension in trailers. We also discuss the tight-knit tra...

Dylan, Dan “Quasar” Cotting, and Justin Mitchell collect together just in time for the return of the Food Minute. This time, it’s all about seasonal lattes and beers of the pumpkin variety as well as a conversation about Hamburger Helper. We also discuss Pewdiepie hurling a racist slur on Twitch, Campo Santo then filing a DMCA takedown of Pewdiepie’s Firewatch video, and the subsequent review bomb...

This episode, Dylan is joined by Mike Futter, former News Editor at Game Informer and author of the Game Dev Business Handbook. Dylan and Mike discuss the various topics covered in the book, from business development to IP law to assessing your personal finances before you start. We also talk about interviewing various devs and more for the book, publishing through Bithell Games, reverse stock spl...

It’s Wardcast’s centennial episode! To celebrate, we’re bringing you a new series, Wardcast at Night. It’s the same Wardcast experience, only at night. On our one hundredth episode, we talk about Metal Gear Solid’s memes, genes, and submarines as well as the differences in Western and Eastern games culture. In other news: Mario is no longer a plumber, a VentureBeat playthrough of Cuphead reignites...

Dylan, Will, and Sam collect together to talk about game frameworks, including Phazer and its creator, Rich Tapestry. Will plays Sonic Mania and reminisces about the Sonic Retro Forum and the potential end of the Sanic Cycle. We also discuss gregorian chants, a Twitter thread full of game dev tricks, Nintendo’s Nindies showcase, and more. Games include Sonic Mania, Life is Strange, Tokyo 42, Playe...

This week, we’re joined by Nick Nundahl and Joe Wetmore of Instant Replay Live, where we reprise our talk on cartoons and TV, leading us to talk about Marvel’s Defenders and expectations. Speaking of expectations, No Man’s Sky has hit us with a new update, so we discuss the changes that have been made to the game one year later. We also talk about the Unsung Story story, Kickstarter, and crowdfund...

This episode, Dylan is joined by special guest Callum Underwood, formerly Senior Developer Relations at Oculus and currently starting his new role at indie un-publisher Raw Fury. Callum talks about the difficult choice of leaving Oculus and Facebook to join Raw Fury, how and when to speak to a publisher, and a conversation about game pricing sparked by a recent article by SteamSpy’s Sergey Galyonk...

It’s eSports week here at the Wardcast. Wendy and Dylan just returned from exhibiting at Super Smash Con, and Alex has been keeping tabs on the lead up to the Overwatch World Cup and a For Honor tournament won by someone using an exploit. Also, I guess The International happened? And we return to discussing Nick Robinson’s sexual harassment and removal from Polygon. Games include King of the Hat,...

We doubled up on Alexes this week. Joining Dylan and Alex Damrath is former Wardcaster Alex Rice, making his triumphant return to the show, just in time to tell us that he’s leaving to go work for eBay, but not before he raided NYC’s Nintendo World for their precious Switches. We discuss getting our hands on a NES Classic, the disastrous Pokémon Go Fest, Geralt in a bathtub, cancelled SNES Classic...

Dylan “Two-Mics” Ilvento and Will Blanton collect together with game jammer and dungeon master extraordinaire David Byers to talk about his ongoing D&D campaign and what football will look like in the future. A cornucopia of throwback console news happened this week, with Walmart letting SNES pre-orders out into the wild, more information about the Ataribox coming out, and a N64 Classic tradem...