Scholars At Play

Feed Drop!! In this new podcast, Derek, Zach, and friends talk through games and media, together. Subscribe to Two Player Theory Podbean: https://www.podbean.com/pu/pbblog-n3ieq-11a3b2e Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0e6LX1a3MmR7nJkza5Pi49?si=1e7648dd3ca74a92 In this first episode, we talk about Zelda's newest open-world game, Tears of the Kingdom, and what it's themes and narrative mean for us, right now.

Derek and Kyle sit down to talk about Derek's recently-completed dissertation "The Work of Nonfiction: Simulator Games in Germany." Derek talks about the history of simulator games, the specific simulators he studies, and what we can learn from games all about machines and work. Timestamps 0:00 - Intro 4:11 - Theory, text, and context in research 8:30 - Origins of the project and how it developed, brief history of simulator games 20:12 - Theories and methods of the project 37:33 - Examples of popular simulator games from the mid-2000s 45:05 - How do these "newer" simulator games break from or continue in the tradition of older simulator games? 58:11 - How do simulator games respond to contemporary transformations of work in the 21st century, and why did the simulator game genre become popular in German-speaking contexts? 1:17:50 - The limits of critique/suspicion in research, and a brief discussion about how gender and class under-gird simulator game realism.

Subscribe to Dodging Hollow on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/dodging-hollow Edited intro music is "Day Bird" by Broke for Free, Creative Commons by attribution. Check out their music here: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Directionless_EP

The scholars may be physically distant, but that won't stop them from talking about all their quarantine gaming! Join us for an EXTRA long "What's In You System" where we talk about how our gaming has changed during the ongoing pandemic. ----------- Games Discussed: Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Animal Crossing, Link Between Worlds, Euro Truck Simulator 2, Deep Space D6 ----------- Hosts: Derek Price: twitter.com/digital_derek Terrell Taylor: twitter.com/BlackSocrates Kyle Romero: twitter.com/E_Kyle_Romero ----------- Contact: email: scholarsatplaypodcast@gmail.com twitter: twitter.com/ScholarsAtPlay ----------- Music: "We Can Do It" by Visager (twitter.com/visagermusic)

-------------- Terrell leads Kyle and Derek on an exploration of the politics of failure and FromSoftware's Bloodborne (2015). They reflect on their own experiences with this challenging game and discuss how the game intersects with narratives of success and failure from different perspectives. Is the imperative to "git gud," common among hardcore fans of FromSoftware's games, an exclusionary, bootstrapping narrative all about personal success, or can we imagine a different politics (of success or failure) arising from FromSoftware's "harsh but fair" design paradigm? You'll have to listen to find out! -------------- Objects Discussed Game - Bloodborne (FromSoftware, 2015) Texts - Hudson - "In Bloodborne's brutal world, I found myself" (2015, Offworld.com) - Juul - "The Art of Failure: An Essay on the Pain of Playing Video Games" (2013, MIT Press) - "The Arts of Failure: Jack Halberstam in Conversation with Jesper Juul Moderated by Bonnie Ruberg" (2017, in: Queer Game Studies) -------------- Hosts Terrell Taylor - twitter.com/blacksocrates Derek Price - twitter.com/digital_derek Kyle Romero - twitter.com/E_Kyle_Romero -------------- Contact us! E-mail: scholarsatplaypodcast@gmail.com Twitter: twitter.com/ScholarsAtPlay scholarsatplay.net -------------- Special thanks: Visager (twitter.com/visagermusic) for the use of their song "We Can Do It," and our Distinguished Colleague Patreon supporters, including: Carol R. -------------- Support us on Patreon! patreon.com/scholarsatplay