Counterweight – Electron Dance

It's the final episode of Counterweight which also means it's goodbye to Eric Brasure, co-host of Trekabout and the award-nominated (and defunct) The Next Stop Is... podcast. As Eric hangs up his videogame cape for good, we take this moment to reflect on why anyone should bother in the videogame space. You won't make money and everyone will hate you. Our last conversation lurches from topic to topic but the common theme is a lingering, sad sigh over everything videogames. It's been two and half years since Eric joined the site and I'm sad to see him go, but it was my decision to end the podcast. I like the way Counterweight turned out and I think our best podcasts were the ones on Bioshock Infinite (oh the anger) and Banished (how technical can you get), but Counterweight was one of the few dissenting voices on Papers, Please (we felt it had problems). Thank you to the devoted few who enjoyed listening to Eric and myself talk into the mic. Download the podcast MP3 or play it right here in your browser:  

In this penultimate episode of Counterweight, Eric Brasure of Trekabout and Joel Goodwin discuss fiendish resource management game Banished (Shining Rock Software, 2014). Eric has 70 hours of Banished play under his belt, so he knows what he's talking about. Contents 02:20 "You just like seeing the numbers going up and everything doing well" 03:40 "At it's core, it's very much a keep-these-people-alive sort of game" 04:40 "I like the fact there is no combat, it's not about fighting or defending territory" 07:20 "I was very concerned... that the other shoe was going to drop at any moment." 09:00 "So it is a very, very unforgiving game, but I think that's one of the reasons why I like it" 10:40 "It's amazing that this game was made by one person, frankly" 13:30 "That's a very controversial design decision actually" 19:20 "The game can collapse on you at any point, though" 25:30 "I never felt that it was the game's fault." 32:30 "I didn't tend to think of people as individuals but I tended to make stories of the town." 35:20 "You suddenly realise this little walk they do... is a significant amount of game time." 39:30 "And the game is just saying You know what? You're going to have to suck it up and learn." Download the podcast MP3 or play it right here in your browser: References Banished Reddit The Unwritten Life Story of an RTS Grunt (Electron Dance on the little people in RTS/simulations) You can subscribe directly to Counterweight via iTunes or RSS.

In this episode of Counterweight, Eric Brasure and Joel Goodwin discuss three HAUNTED games for Halloween. The Rapture is Here and You Will Be Forcibly Removed From Your Home (Connor Sherlock, 2013), CHYRZA (Kitty Horrorshow, 2014) and Into the Gloom (Emmanuel Ramos, 2014). This is pretty much a spoilery podcast so, uh, sorry about that. Contents The Rapture is Here and You Will Be Forcibly Removed From Your Home (Connor Sherlock, 2013) 03:10 "There is a sense of menace about it." 04:30 "The actual environment you are in is interesting to run around in but the story bits just didn't seem to make much sense conceptually." 12:50 "As a cohesive whole, it doesn't really gel." CHYRZA (Kitty Horrorshow, 2014) 15:10 "It's like one of those very odd horror stories where you really don't know what's going on... but it's a bit creepy and disturbing." 16:50 "I like it because it teaches you how to play the game very quickly." 21:20 "I need gameplay to justify why you're going to be listening to my story. I need the story to justify why you have to do this ridiculous game play." Into the Gloom (Emmanuel Ramos, 2014) 25:40 "It reminded me a lot of playing games when I was a teenager." 27:50 "I gave up near the end because I found it quite frustrating." 37:40 "It's definitely a game where you have to take it on its own terms." Download the podcast MP3 or play it right here in your browser: References TIMEframe (Tyler Owen, 2014) - Ten minutes to see the world before it ends Imscared (Ivan Zanotti, 2012) The 4th Wall (GZStorm, 2012) - Electron Dance on The 4th Wall Deep Sleep (scriptwelder, 2012) Five Nights at Freddy's (Scott Games, 2014) You can subscribe directly to Counterweight via iTunes or RSS.

In this episode of Counterweight, Eric Brasure and Joel "HM" Goodwin discuss celebrated pocket puzzle game Threes (Sirvo, 2014). Yes, we know it's not a PC game. Contents 03:00 "It's just a very well-constructed game and it's also a joy to play." 08:00 "The uncertainty can be devastating to your game." 12:00 "The key to what makes it difficult is the movement." 16:50 "It's a very mindful game and you really have to be present when you're playing it." 24:30 "I'm staring at this... feels like an impossible board." 26:30 "I think you just must be an old man, Joel." 29:10 "2048 trumps Threes straight away." 31:50 "I don't know why people like this sort of thing." 35:40 "Trying to convince someone who's played 2048 to read a 60 million word article on the development of Threes is not going to work." 43:10 "If people can undermine you with free-to-play... then you might need to do that too, but that will change the game you make." Download the podcast MP3 or play it right here in your browser: References The Rip-offs & Making Our Original Game (the history of Threes) 2048 2048 Numberwang (totally safe for work) Why is 2048 more successful than Threes? (Gamesbrief) You can subscribe directly to Counterweight via iTunes or RSS.

It's Twine Week on Electron Dance. This is the fourth of five posts. In this specially extended episode of Counterweight, Eric Brasure and Joel "HM" Goodwin go through the Fear of Twine exhibition (2014), curated by Richard Goodness. Contents Room One 01:30 Debt by Tony Perriello "It's almost like a text movie" 05:30 Duck Ted Bundy by Coleoptera-Kinbote "It is manic" 10:00 The Conversation I Can't Have by Morgan Rille "She wasn't writing as a victim" 14:00 The Matter of the Great Red Dragon by Jonas Kyratzes "This is the kind of thing he does and he does it well" Room Two 19:15 Zombies and Elephants by Verena Kyratzes "I really like this twine" 27:45 Workers in Progress by Konstantinos "Gnome" Dimopoulos "It makes sense to view it as a work of speculative fiction" Room Three 32:45 When Acting as a Wave by David T. Marchand "This is my personal favourite of the entire set" 37:00 The Girl in the Haunted House by Amanda Lange "This is an example of something you couldn't do in the short story format" 40:30 The Scientific Method by Evil Roda "I like this one because I'm a sucker for end of world stuff" 44:00 Drosophilia by Pippin Barr, Gordon Calleja and Sidsel Hermansen "What is going on?" Room Four 47:45 Abstract State-warp Machines by Ivaylo Shmilev "It had a lot to say" 51:30 The Work by Cayora Rue "You don't know it's secret, do you?" 57:45 Coyotaje by Joseph Domenici "It's not about big picture, it's about what people go through" 63:15 TWEEZER by Richard Goodness and PaperBlurt "It's kinda charming, right?" Closing Thoughts 70:10 "My feelings towards Twine have changed" 73:15 "Look at the twines I found most successful, they were probably also the ones that were the most technically complex" Download the podcast MP3 or play it right here in your browser: References My top three: When Acting as A Wave, Zombies and Elephants, TWEEZER HM has written micro-reviews of every entry on the Appendix forum You can subscribe directly to Counterweight via iTunes or RSS. Twine Week Monday: On Reading Twine Tuesday: On Truth is Ghost Wednesday: On the Achievement Thursday: Counterweight 12 "On Fear of Twine" Friday: On Writing Twine

In this episode of Counterweight, Eric Brasure and Joel "HM" Goodwin fall in love with island survival game Miasmata (IonFX, 2012). Contents 01:00 "I think this is probably one of the better games that I've played in the last couple of years." 03:10 "The game gives you just enough information to get in a lot of trouble." 04:10 "The strength of the game is that you feel lost in the beginning but the atmosphere powers you through..." 10:50 "I felt like I had done something really great." 23:30 "Nobody had a bag on the island? Like nobody? At all? Like, nobody thought to bring one? Or make one?" 26:30 "...and I literally rolled backwards away from my desk." 31:50 "The game was made by two people so it's amazing that the game is as complicated as it is." 37:10 "And I was really upset, I'll be honest." 42:50 "Some of the environmental narrative aspects are really quite... they're a bit crude." 44:00 "The game is so good at creating this atmosphere of loneliness..." 46:50 "But it is one of the most striking things I found on the island." 50:20 "It's really a meditative game in a way." Download the podcast MP3 or play it right here in your browser: References No companion notes this week as I've already written about the game previously in The Beast and The Island. You can subscribe directly to Counterweight via iTunes or RSS.

In this specially extended episode of Counterweight, Eric Brasure and Joel "HM" Goodwin get their claws into Bioshock Infinite (Irrational Games, 2013). Danger: spoilers, profanity and genuine anger within. Contents 02:10 "It's probably the most important game of last year." 03:40 "Columbia Celebrates! Ooh? What about? You can't read the newspaper!" 05:20 "...[a] serious game about prejudice and multiple realities... and they've put a bloody rollercoaster in it!" 07:50 "The game parts of the game aren't any good, the shooting parts aren't any good, the exploration is frankly pointless..." 15:50 "It's The Stanley Parable without the funny." 18:00 "Just referencing [The Boxer Rebellion or the Pinkertons] is not enough, you're not doing anything with them." 19:30 "Bioshock Infinite: The Notgame - and that would be a good game to play." 21:10 "Whatever we say on this podcast here, Bioshock Infinite made a ton of money and was very successful." 27:10 "There's a glibness to it I find offensive." 30:50 "It's basically an episode of Fringe only worse than Fringe." 42:30 "And there's no sense that the story needs to make any sense because after all it's just a videogame, right Joel?" 43:50 "It's just not good enough... it's over-convoluted. It's deliberately trying to confuse the player." 47:50 "The whole game feels like cooking with a 7-year old." 50:10 "We should try to talk about things we liked about it." 53:20 "We were supposed to talk about things we liked, so I think we failed." Download the podcast MP3 or play it right here in your browser: References It might be a little long, but for the Infinite haters, I strongly recommend Joannes Truyens' Bioshock Infinite script: "We’re now heading into another new universe where a quantum-reanimated gunsmith might have access to his tools so that he can craft a bunch of weapons while bleeding all over them, only so that the Vox will give us back the airship that I just randomly selected from plenty of other available ones. We can’t even be sure I made the same deal with Fitzroy in that universe." COMPANION NOTES ALSO AVAILABLE: "One word. Trash." You can subscribe directly to Counterweight via iTunes or RSS.

In this episode of Counterweight, Eric Brasure and Joel "HM" Goodwin tackle the disturbing Suzy and freedom (Nicolau Chaud, 2013). Companion notes are available in a separate post. Story spoilers start 23 minutes in. Contents 05:20 "Then you get the first platform puzzle and I wanted to throw my computer out the window." 15:50 "But there's also other parts [where] the mechanic is closely tied to the meaning of the game and those are the bits that work." 20:30 "It relies on information and ... intuition in a way that I find very interesting." 22:40 "It grinds the game to a halt not because it's a challenging part of the game but because it's not done well." 27:00 "...because it is such a strange story and it is such a strange out of left field experience for the player to be having..." 32:10 "But also she is playing a game with him. She doesn't care about him, she doesn't care about her parents." 36:40 "I love how stupid they are, though. I love the fact that they are all so stupid." 40:30 "...there's that great line where Suzy says, 'Oh, when I can sell the house?'" 45:00 "This very stark moment and the art he's choosing to use in that moment is pretty terrifying." Download the podcast MP3 or play it right here in your browser: References Electron Dance on Marvel Brothel Electron Dance on Beautiful Escape: Dungeoneer Nicolau Chaud interview Nicolau Chaud wins second place at Game Music Brasil 2011 Electron Dance on Polymorphous Perversity "What I think is happening is that people don't have much patience for minigames and challenging gameplay in story-based games." Apparat featuring Soap & Skin "Goodbye" You can subscribe directly to Counterweight via iTunes or RSS.

In this specially extended episode of Counterweight, Eric Brasure and Joel "HM" Goodwin tackle Gone Home (The Fullbright Company, 2013). In a first, Joel tells Eric to check his privilege. Spoilers within. Contents 02:00 "It wasn't what I thought it was going to be - I'll be honest." 12:00 "And then you get the first audio journal and it suddenly morphs into a completely different game." 16:20 "I like it when games misdirect the player." 20:20 "Let's be clear about this, Gone Home still uses ... gamey conventions to work, right?" 23:10 "...would that have done well, say, ten years ago? That we're talking about the audiences moving on, not simply just the designers." 34:20 "I have never been in Casablanca in 1943 but Casablanca the movie works for me." 38:50 "I tended to feel this was a very good TV movie." 43:00 "There's a lot of gay cinema and gay literature out there which makes it seem like coming out is like the worst thing ever..." 47:50 "...you don't have to use your brain a lot in Gone Home?" 49:20 "That moment doesn't exist if you don't get that journal fragment..." 52:30 "It came across as being positive but I couldn't really swallow that." 56:10 "I really do look forward to playing the next game from The Fullbright Company." Download the podcast MP3 or play it right here in your browser: References Gone Home: Exorcisms and Buried Strata (Michael Peterson)"...the game’s discoveries come through environmental storytelling, only for the narration to belie that." Perpetual Adolescence (Ian Bogost): "But it’s also not unreasonable to ask how these players could have been so easily satisfied." The Transgression - You Can Do Better (Austin Walker): "I didn’t want to write about something this actually terrifying, I wanted to write about the one clever jump scare." On Gone Home (Amanda Lange): "A few blogs have gone up already saying things like 'I wanted to identify with this game, but I can't, for X reason.'" What a Difference a Year Makes (Matt Sakey): "It also made me walk around my house for a while and pretend I was a stranger." Robert Yang interviews Steve Gaynor: "So you’re saying that space feels game-y to you, when it’s technically the most realistic?" There are also Companion Notes for this podcast! You can subscribe directly to Counterweight via iTunes or RSS.

In this episode of Counterweight, Eric Brasure and Joel "HM" Goodwin discuss the acclaimed Papers, Please (Lucas Pope, 2013). Spoilers within. Contents 01:40 "I would say I... liked it." 04:20 "That's my main problem with the game, it just doesn't know when to quit." 05:10 "It doesn't have to be fun but the thing is Papers, Please was actually fun." 07:00 "It was the moments like that where the game really came alive for me..." 12:20 "There's some good and bad in the fact that the interface is a bit unreadable at times." 21:00 "And that's a moment of Cart Life there, I thought." 24:10 "Oh, I didn't know you could turn the photo around!" 27:00 "Here's a game that is getting across what it feels like to do a good job." 32:00 "It's oppressive in some ways, but it doesn't feel oppressive enough at times." 35:10 "We haven't talked about the one big problem that I had with it, which was..." 42:40 "It does a lot of interesting things that I haven't seen many other games do." Download the podcast MP3 or play it right here in your browser: References Lucas Pope's games Papers, Please Ace Attorney series Gamasutra "Designing the bleak genius of Papers, Please" Yahtzee on Papers, Please Universal Credit rushed through Review of Papers, Please in UK free newspaper Metro You can subscribe directly to Counterweight via iTunes or RSS.

In this episode of Counterweight, Eric Brasure and Joel "HM" Goodwin wonder if the final days of the game console are upon us. Or maybe they're talking about the end of PC gaming? Contents 01:00 "I did have a conversation with at work with somebody recently who thought PC gaming was dead." 05:20 "There's no margin for error in that industry any more." 09:00 "Gaming is becoming much less important to the console experience." 13:40 "If Steven Spielberg is not sufficiently formulaic for Hollywood then Hollywood has an enormous problem." 19:10 "It's like something has to happen... but I can't figure it out." 26:50 "[Maybe] they're going to mobile and maybe that's not great for games... but that seems where things are headed." 35:10 "The form factor of whatever computing device you are using does influence the games that people are playing on them." 37:50 "But I wonder if consoles were the reason that PC upgrades stopped." 42:30 "I don't know what [platform] is going to be good for games." Download the podcast MP3 or play it right here in your browser: References The Hokra Problem (Michael Brough in comments: "Who’s still using a desktop in 2012, seriously?") Paranautical Activity Rising cost of game development PPU Cards (physics cards) Ouya You can subscribe directly to Counterweight via iTunes or RSS.

In this episode of Counterweight, Eric Brasure and Joel "HM" Goodwin tackle the game show. Are the best game shows about the contestants, the games or the sheer spectacle? Is there still life in the format? Does this have anything to do with videogames? Contents 01:30 "I'm going to use American examples because I am an American." ("Shit.") 03:50 "That's not the answer, you idiot!" 06:50 "There is no game show without the viewer, so you have to be involved in some way." 08:30 "They're really interested in people who get really wrong answers as opposed to the right ones." 12:10 "You're not playing along - so why is that interesting to watch?" 17:00 "I remember being bewildered by Shooting Stars, it made no sense to me." 27:10 "It's all about getting rid of people instead of watching people succeed, which I think is really problematic." 29:30 "On the whole, I think the game is less important than the people playing it." 35:50 "It was so tense. So many kids were killed on that show." 38:10 "The best physical game shows... remind us of what it's like to be kids." Download the podcast MP3 or play it right here in your browser: References Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Survivor This Morning Family Feud / Family Fortunes Match Game (video) / Blankety Blank (video) Pyramid (video, UK version video) Have I Got News For You Mock the Week Countdown The Crystal Maze Shooting Stars clips: Shield of Cher challenge, Tranquillizer question Deal or No Deal The Weakest Link Knightmare American Idol (UK: Pop Idol) Wheel of Fortune Going for Gold Jeopardy! Minute to Win It Double Dare And psychological play is on display in Golden Balls: You can subscribe directly to Counterweight via iTunes or RSS.  

In this episode of Counterweight, Eric Brasure and Joel "HM" Goodwin discuss the rise of personality and celebrity in indie game culture. Developers are finally being recognised as individuals - but not everyone can be Notch. Contents 01:20 "How many times do they say the word Mario in this movie?" 08:40 "You just don't eat for about three years and you'll be a millionaire at the end of it." 10:20 "I think it would be really instructive to follow the failures... to see what happens to people who don't make it." 14:40 "[Twitter] really has exploded the concept of the personality as opposed to the art the person is making." 18:20 "I don't think that the mass market cares so much about what they're making to really buy into the cult of personality." 24:50 "Well, what did you expect?" 33:40 "How much more interesting would Indie Game: The Movie had been if Anna Anthropy had been a subject?" 37:40 "It's a bit strange to feel that solidifying around you." 43:50 "Richard [Hofmeier] doesn't really like having all the attention but that act he did will actually increase his reputation." Download the podcast MP3 or play it right here in your browser: References Indie Game: The Movie Liz Ryerson on Indie Game: The Movie (Midnight Resistance) The Atlantic on Jonathan Blow Leigh Alexander "A letter from your 11,721st Twitter follower" (Thought Catalog) Leveson Inquiry (Wikipedia) The Ethics of Selling Children Project Zomboid Twitter incident (Rock Paper Shotgun) Richard Hofmeier defaces own IGF booth (Gamasutra) Image taken from teaser trailer for Why I Want To Fuck Barack Obama You can subscribe directly to Counterweight via iTunes or RSS.

In this episode of Counterweight, Eric Brasure and Joel "HM" Goodwin discuss the act of replaying a game. What games encourage replays? What do multiple endings mean? Are some games better off without a replay? Spoiler Warning: The ending for Jasper Byrne's Lone Survivor is discussed Contents 02:30 "How many times do people now play Proteus?" 04:20 "I don't know that I would really play Dishonored with the intention of getting better at Dishonored." 05:00 "The anomaly that stands out to me at the moment is Leave Home which says you've got five minutes to play, do your best." 08:00 "And now of course in the day of YouTube, we can just watch all the endings on YouTube." 09:20 "I feel like that's a distancing effect, when I replay a game and I'm going for a specific ending." 11:50 "That's almost a commentary on replaying games as a narrative mechanic..." 14:50 "I don't think that there's much desire on my part to replay The Walking Dead." 17:50 "I'm wondering if replays are often destroying games." 19:40 "All you have is a hazy memory of certain things that you may or may not have done in the game a decade ago - and that makes it almost a new experience." 21:20 "I want to have some sort of institutional memory with videogames - and I think that's a problem, that we don't have that." 24:40 "Are we going to come out and say this stuff is a bit rubbish?" 30:20 "It does let the player fail and it lets the player fail in fundamental ways... the player could have to restart the game." 37:30 "I'm getting much more interested in games as systems." 39:50 "I find roguelikes to be really interesting... because they are explicitly designed for you to fail and to fail hard - lots of times." 44:10 "It's not about the ending it's about your journey of becoming better at the game." Download the podcast MP3 or play it right here in your browser: References Leave Home (Electron Dance) qrth-phyl (Electron Dance) On replaying Dishonored (Electron Dance) Zaga-33 (Electron Dance) On "Those Honeymoon Hours" (Electron Dance) On Lone Survivor (Electron Dance) Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark (Wikipedia) Bioshock 2 as a better Bioshock (Tap-Repeatedly) Other games referenced: Proteus, Space Invaders, The Walking Dead, Mass Effect, Bioshock Infinite, Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Deus Ex, Cart Life, FTL, Teleglitch, Dark Souls Photo edited from original by Calton available at commons.wikipedia.org under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license You can subscribe directly to Counterweight via iTunes or RSS.

Richard Hofmeier's Cart Life was recently nominated for three IGF awards which has thrust the game into the indie spotlight, shedding its underdog status. In the second episode of Counterweight, Eric Brasure and Joel "HM" Goodwin consider where Cart Life is now. Contents 01:10 "Do you feel entirely responsible for that?" 02:20 "Someone was always playing it. I was amazed." 04:00 "'But I don't like Cart Life.' Which was kind of a ballsy way to start it." 08:20 "He's trying to trick people into playing the game - and not in a bad way." 09:50 "He didn't want people to know what was inside... until they went in there." 14:40 "...press one click to do a very complex action, and Cart Life will not let you do that." 16:50 "If he had shortcutted any part of that, the game maybe would have fallen apart." 20:50 "You need to go through that drudgery to hit that high point." 26:30 "We're going to be talking about Cart Life for years." 29:10 "Or will we just end up with something that looks like echoes of Cart Life but not quite the original...?" 33:10 "And I was like 'You fucker... what did you do?'" 36:00 "I haven't had another game do something like that to me." Download the podcast MP3 or play it right here in your browser: References Cart Life: Electron Dance coverage, Official site Nick Fortugno (Wikipedia) Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles: Clip, IMDB entry Las Acacias: Trailer, IMDB entry Electron Dance on Polymorphous Perversity Dialogue Tree interview with Richard Hofmeier Electron Dance interview with Richard Hofmeier Thirty Flights of Loving: Trailer, Official site Dys4ia You can subscribe directly to Counterweight via iTunes or RSS.