Oct 15, 2020
Randall suggests that the main reason video game aesthetics are so compelling is because of the close coupling of cause and effect which hardly exists in real life. Chris and Randall go on to discuss many other aspects of video games that overlap with culture and society.
Topics discussed:
Pong
Tank battle
Dungeons & Dragons
The Last Starfighter (1984)
Ready Player One (2018)
Puzzles
Tetris
Candy Crush
Puzzle games
Asteroids
Space Invaders
Pac-Man
Social mobility
Socioeconomic status
Japanese simulation games
Densha de Go!
VR games
Philip K. Dick
Total Recall (1990)
Call of Duty
References for this episode:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_games_as_an_art_form
Infamous Roger Ebert essay
https://www.rogerebert.com/roger-ebert/video-games-can-never-be-art
Kellee Santiago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9y6MYDSAww
Flow in video games
https://www.wired.com/story/how-the-videogame-aesthetic-flows-into-all-of-culture/
Recorded August 17, 2020
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