Abnormal Mapping (Em Marko and Jackson Tyler)
Explorez tous les épisodes de Abnormal Mapping
| Date | Titre | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 Feb 2017 | Abnormal Mapping 60: Katamari Damacy | 01:28:48 | |
Celebrate the shortest month with the shortest hero as Abnormal Mapping delves into the wide world of rolling up extremely tiny objects in Katamary Damacy. This includes the first game, We Love Katamari, and even some Katamari Forever. Plus, we dip into Keita Takahashi’s development history and philosophy of design. Come for the good conversation, stay for the incredible music. We’re 60 years young and still rolling strong! This Month’s Game Club: Katamari Damacy Next Month’s Game Club: Final Fantasy IX You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Things Discussed: Mortal Kombat 9, the coolness of Ninjas, Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy: Curtain Call, Hatsune Miku Project DIVA Future Tone, Guitar Hero Live, Braid, The Swapper, Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation, Ori & The Blind Forest, Mario Galaxy, Gravity Ghost, Katamari Damacy, The Zelda 1 Map in Zelda 2, Katamari Items Twitter, We Love Katamari, Noby Noby Boy, Beautiful Katamari, Wattam (Coming Soon!), Keita Takahashi’s Twitter, The Katamari of Amigara Fault, Ninja Gaiden, Dark Souls Music This Episode | |||
| 30 Jan 2017 | Abnormal Mapping 59: The Crystal Dynamics Tomb Raider Pentatology | 01:41:53 | |
Hello and welcome to 2017 where we’re getting right into the thick of it with a podcast covering five whole video games today. What happens when you take a decade to tell the story of two women equally dedicated to murdering, climbing, exploring, and looting, and pit them against each other? Today we look at two generations of design by a single company, and ask the question: what exactly is Lara Croft’s job? Because she sure isn’t selling these artifacts or writing papers. Things Discussed: Moderns Warfare 1-3, New Super Mario Bros. U, Super Mario Run, Super Mario Sunshine, Things Were Better Before, the surprisingly nice looking 360 Version of Rise of The Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider Legend, Tomb Raider Anniversary, Tomb Raider Underworld, Tomb Raider (2013), Rise of the Tomb Raider, Hitman, E3, Our Yakuza 3 Episode, Danganronpa This Month’s Game Club: Tomb Raider Legend, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, Tomb Raider Underworld, Tomb Raider (2013), Rise of the Tomb Raider Next Month’s Game Club: Katamari Damacy You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Music This Episode | |||
| 16 Dec 2016 | Abnormal Mapping 57: The First Annual Soundtrack Showcase Part The First | 01:44:11 | |
We’re here at the end of the year with a very special Christmas episode, where we celebrate not just the best music of the year, but the best music of the games we played this year. That’s a big list, so this is only half of it. Have a merry Christmas and see you in two weeks! You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Tales from the Borderlanes – Retrograde – James Blake BACKING MUSIC FOR AWARDS Dead Rising 3: Nick’s Theme | |||
| 30 Dec 2016 | Abnormal Mapping 58: The First Annual Soundtrack Showcase Part Deux | 02:12:16 | |
Welcome to the very end of the year, where we talk about the good, the bad, and the musical. Please enjoy over two hours of hot, banging audio content. Please enjoy the end of 2016. Please enjoy the end. Next Month’s Game Club: Tomb Raider Legend, Tomb Raider Anniversary, Tomb Raider Underworld, Tomb Raider (2013), Rise of the Tomb Raider You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. The Best Game Music Choices of 2016! Witcher 3 – Priscilla’s Song – Marcin Przbylowicz, Mikolai Stroinski Backing Music Rise of the Tomb Raider – Main Theme | |||
| 23 Nov 2016 | Abnormal Mapping 56: Final Fantasy VI | 02:02:22 | |
Today we’re rejoined by regular guest and former co-host Destiny Sturdivant for a romp through one of the most storied RPGs of all time. Please enjoy, have a good holiday if you celebrate it, and try to be kind and healthy in these trying times. You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Things Discussed: Animal Crossing: New Leaf, The Witcher, Thumper, NBA2k17, Presbo, Sombra, Final Fantasy VI, the US FF6 commercial, the horniest character in video games, best birthdays in video games, being in the new games bubble, Idle Thumbs 288 about Titanfall 2, The Great Goal Pole in Super Mario 3D World This Month’s Game Club: Final Fantasy VI Next Month: MUSIC and GOTY Songs in This Episode | |||
| 27 Oct 2016 | Abnormal Mapping 55: Jazzpunk | 01:23:50 | |
Polyblank, have a seat, we have much business to discuss. Right. Basically, we need you to listen to this here episode of Abnormal Mapping. They played this videogame Jazzpunk, recorded all manner of thoughts and opinions on it, and for reasons unknown uploaded it to the internet on a publically identifiable server. Your mission is to find any compromising information, ie, anything rude about me, and extract it from the file. As usual, here are your pills. Good luck, Polyblank. You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Things discussed: Style Savvy: Fashion Forward, British film history, League of Legends, Sonic Adventure adventures, The Witcher 3, Picross 3D Round 2, FIFA 2017, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Snotgirl, Clean Room, Jazzpunk, Haunting Starring Polterguy, Best Train Levels, Retronauts, Slow Guns, M’s appearance on Badland Girls, Jackson’s anime podcast is not out yet, M’s blog All of the Wonder Woman This Month’s Game: Jazzpunk Music This Month | |||
| 29 Sep 2016 | Abnormal Mapping 54: Metroid Fusion | 00:54:41 | |
The Mappers bring you a short and sweet podcast this time covering a short and sweet game from Em’s past. We also talk anything but games, including the now regular comic book corner segment, where Jackson regales us with tales of the Marvel Ultimate Universe (RIP). You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Things Discussed: Chameleon Run, Reigns, Roman Reigns, Comics Talk Round Two, Batman: Year One, The Ultimates, East of West, Attack on Titan (the Manga), Metroid Fusion This Month’s Game Club: Metroid Fusion Next Month’s Game Club: Jazzpunk Music This Episode | |||
| 25 Aug 2016 | Abnormal Mapping 53: The Room Trilogy | 01:17:18 | |
The Mappers celebrate the long season of heat by refusing to turn their PCs on and instead delving into the wide world of mobile games. This is a secret place, full of dark mystery and a thousand alluring traps, but they will persevere. Teasing apart of a puzzle is just human nature. The soul of humanity abhors a secret. What could possibly go wrong? You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Things Discussed: Comics, Atop The Fourth Wall, Assassin’s Creed IV, The Wolf Among Us, Style Savvy, Style Savvy’s British Localization, Jetpack Joyride, The Room, The Room Two, The Room Three, Friends At The Table, This Episode of Yu Gi Oh! Abridged This Month’s Game Club: The Room 1, 2, and 3 Next Month’s Game Club: Metroid Fusion Music This Episode | |||
| 28 Jul 2016 | Abnormal Mapping 52: Binary Domain | 01:31:45 | |
We’re back with a new Abnormal Mapping, this time with the return (after four weeks) of the glorious Game Club! In the meantime, we deviate from Video Games to talk about all the things that aren’t, mostly TV and movies and our feelings about how episodic shows are broken and need rehabilitation. And then we talk about how games are broken and need rehabilitation. And then then we talk about how WE’RE broken and need rehabilitation. It’s a cycle that never ends, just like this podcast. Maybe. You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Things Discussed: Tap Tycoon, Inside, Best Persona 4 Girl, Best Persona 3 Boy, Cowboy Bebop, Stranger Things, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Beyond, Alien: Resurrection, Binary Domain, Vanquish, Bionic Commando, Bayonetta, Tales from the Borderlands, Chappie, i Robot This Month’s Game Club: Binary Domain Next Month’s Game Club: The Room 1, 2, and 3 Music This Episode | |||
| 13 Jul 2016 | Abnormal Mapping 51: Ctrl+F Sadboys | 01:09:41 | |
We said we’d do it, and we weren’t lying. This is our first free form episode, where we just sit and talk about games. Please let us know if it’s okay or not! Neither of us had a lot of confidence in our ability to carry a podcast like this, so we really need validation or feedback. Emails to podcast@abnormalmapping.com! You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Things Discussed: #BREXIT, Otome vs Tity RPGs, Mega Man, Tony Hawk’s Final 900, The X-Games, blink-182’s New Album, Assassin’s Creed III, Mickey Mouse, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Link’s Awakening, Deads Rising 1-3, The Psycho (1960) of Video Games, Old Games, Analogue: A Hate Story, Hate Plus, Noby Noby Boy, Jackson’s Video Game Waifus Music This Episode: | |||
| 23 Jun 2016 | Abnormal Mapping 50: Knights of the Old Republic | 01:51:38 | |
The Abnormal Mapping podcast survives after its final episode to reach this, its milestone episode. It has been five decades since we began our humble journey, from our first game club of Space War through the Arcade Years and the Decade of Nintendo to this, our current configuration in our fiftieth annual episode. Blades will bleed. Shields will shatter. And we’ll travel back through our memories of a long long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, when the Younglings gathered around their vidscreens and peered into the void to ask the age old question: “Master Skywalker, what company won E3?” You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Things Discussed: E3, #SPIDERMANPS4, Spider-Man 2, Mass Effect, Watch Dogs 2’s Promotional Videos, FIFA 17: The Journey, West Bromwich Albion Football Club (The Baggies), David Baddiel, Miitomo, Dishonored II, The Tragedie of Shigeru Miyamoto, Dirt 3, Uncharted 3, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, Too Many Notes, Kingdom Hearts, Yakuza 3’s tragic love story, The Sasuke Problem Music This Episode: | |||
| 27 May 2016 | Abnormal Mapping 49: Hitman Blood Money | 01:12:52 | |
A dark day comes in the lives of any video games person. A day where the joy is gone, and the game pad falls to the floor in utter defeat. This is not true despair, though, for that instead can be found on the internet, where said intrepid gamespeople go when their play is through, only to find a cesspool of fear and hate and suffering. That is the true gauntlet of horrors, eroding all of us into shapeless forms of old dreams, spent energies, and a dim animal sense that the world shouldn’t so easily gobble up things that are fun and convert them into things that are burdens. For three intrepid gamespeople, in one tiny little boat of a podcast, in an endless sea of trivial bullshit? That day is today. Come for the end. Stay for the beginning. Listen as we render all good things to dust and say goodbye to a friend in this, the last episode of a podcast that was, and a discussion of a podcast that might yet be. You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Things Discused: Lego Marvel Superheroes, Stardew Valley, Uncharted 2, Hitman: Blood Money, Become A Great Artist in 10 Seconds, Car on a Stick This Month’s Game Club Game: Hitman: Blood Money Next Month’s Game Club Game: … Music This Episode | |||
| 13 May 2016 | Abnormal Mapping 48: Metal Gear Solid V | 01:41:19 | |
Just another day in a podcast without end… At last, the time has come. Just under a year ago, I started playing the Metal Gear games, and now, 42 articles and 5 podcasts later, the journey is complete. I hope you have enjoyed the ride, and if you’re new, then feel free to come along on this quest anytime. For this final episode, we’re discussing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, the honest-swear-to-god-for-real final game in the Metal Gear Solid Trilogy. Come on in for a chat on trauma and colonialism, exploitation and capitalism, and most importatly, The Life and Times of Punished “Venom” Snake. I am joined in this final episode by @woundww, a friend and writer for the Arcade Review – currently on Kickstarter! – many thanks to them for smart insights throughout. Fair Warning: There are a couple audio issues in the podcast! Nothing too bad; a little echo, some birds in the background, but I thought I’d give a heads up nonetheless! Enjoy! Things Discussed Metals Gear 1 – V Music This Episode | |||
| 29 Apr 2016 | Abnormal Mapping 47: Lili Child Of Geos | 01:18:25 | |
The Mappers take a turn away from video games this spring to talk about M’s experiences watching bad super-hero movies and how many of the wrong things they have learned from video games. With Marvel’s Civil War nearly upon us, the question becomes: how much premium currency do I have to spend to unlock single-mecha-glove Tony Stark in Marvel Heroes/Future Fight/Conquest of Champions/Disney Infinity 3.0? We then talk about how weird and hard it is to write kids entertainment, which I guess could be about Civil War but definitely isn’t because they don’t really make those movies for kids. They make them for Loot Crate subscribers. You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Things Discussed: Majora’s Mask 3DS, Miitomo, Stardew Valley, Trackmania Turbo, Chris Kanyon (RIP), Behind the Sausage returns, Thor 2, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Halo and N7 armor design, Injustice: Gods Among Us, Episode II: Attack of the Clones, the Jackie Chan movie of video games, Indian Jones and the Last Crusade, Lili: Child of Geos, Rebel FM This Month’s Game Club: Lili: Child of Geos Next Month’s Game Club: Hitman: Blood Money Music This Episode | |||
| 15 Apr 2016 | Abnormal Mapping 46: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots | 01:23:30 | |
War has changed. In the penultimate podcast, Jackson reaches the ultimate, final ending of the Metal Gear franchise, just over half-way through the number of Metal Gear games. Don’t worry if you don’t understand, we’re here to guide you through on this Nanomachine Odyssey! My guest for this episode is Austin Howe, Freelancer around the internet and found often on Critical Switch. They’re also on twitter! You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Things Discussed: Metals Gear 1-4, Peace Walker, Rising, John Cena’s Favourite Anime, Final Fantasy VIII Music This Episode | |||
| 25 Mar 2016 | Abnormal Mapping 45: Final Fantasy IV | 01:00:12 | |
Welcome to another fantastic edition in the internet’s favourite Tella fan club podcast. This month, we’re counting down our top ten Tella moments, and we’re asking our audience the million dollar question: what would you do… with that much MP? Tella all your friends, and rate comment and subscribe! EDITORS NOTE: we are not fans of Tella or his Moon Dwelling Counterpart and never shall be. The host responsible for implying such a thing has been reprimanded appropriately and regrets their words and deeds. Please enjoy this Tella-free discussion of Final Fantasy IV. Thank you. You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Things Discussed: Ben Kuchera’s boob controller, booby Vita ad, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Jackson’s thoughts on Season 2 of The Walking Dead, 10000000, Hatsune Miku Project Mirai DX, David Letterman Miku, Wossy, Final Fantasy IV, Legends of Localization breakdown of FF4 script differences, Final Fantasy IV’s two different logos, M’s Final Fantasy XIII breakdown via LP This Month’s Game Club: Final Fantasy IV Next Month’s Game Club: Lili: Child of Geos Music This Episode | |||
| 11 Mar 2016 | Abnormal Mapping 44: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater | 01:43:38 | |
Emerging from the wreckage of the Big Shell, Jackson travels through time to meet Cameron Kunzelman in the depths of the russian jungle, on a secret mission to stop a tank which can go really fast. In this third entry into the Metal Gear podcasts, Cameron and Jackson drill into the big questions: who does Snake kiss? Is it possible to make an anti-war War Game? And is Metal Gear even that ridiculous at all? This is a fantastic episode and I hope you can take the time to give it a listen! Big, big thanks to Cameron for stopping by, you can find their writing at This Cage Is Worms, Paste and Twitter, their games here or on Steam, and a variety of Youtube fun stuff, well, on Youtube. You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Things discussed: Metals Gear 1-5, Shigeru Miyamoto, Final Fantasy VII, Leigh Alexander on MGSV Music This Episode | |||
| 26 Feb 2016 | Abnormal Mapping 43: Ninja Gaiden Black | 01:21:40 | |
do you know the nunchuck man Atop a transmission tower, a lone ninja stands and surveys his land. Once, he was a brutal man, a member of the Dragon Lineage who to whom death was second nature and who felt incomplete without a sword clasped in his hand. But with age, the man sought destruction no more, and looked to the future to build. One night, he met Isabelle, who gave him new purpose and – at last – a twinge of hope. For many long years he served as mayor of a beautiful town, and was wanting for nothing more and nothing left. Now, the town is in flames, and Isabelle in ashes. He feels the heat below boil his blood within, and clasps his sword for the last time. Once thought long dead, now vengeful blood runs through the veins of Young Ninja, Ryu Hayabusa… You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Earlier this week, Jackson wrote an article for ZAM on Autism and The Witness! Check it out here. Things Discussed: Animals Crossing, M’s farewell to their Animal Crossing: New Leaf town, what we wanted to be when we grew up, Ninja Gaiden Black, Buying Mature Games as Children, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Link to the Past, Buying an Xbox, Tony Hawk, Bayonetta, Ninja Gaiden II, Devil May Cry, Resident Evil, Bloodborne, Destiny, Dead or Alive The Movie, Screened, Beyond the Black Rainbow: The Metal Gear Solid V of Movies, Maybe? This Month’s Game Club: Ninja Gaiden Black Next Month’s Game Club: Final Fantasy IV Music This Episode | |||
| 15 Feb 2016 | Abnormal Mapping 42: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty | 01:53:18 | |
After conquering the base of Shadow Moses, Jackson continued on to Big Shell, accompanied this time by none other than the fantastic Heather Alexandra! This episode is an in-depth critical discussion on Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, where we talk about (among other things) the game’s commentary on player and player character agency, the societal implications of The Patriots, and the varying quality of the members of that poor Emmerich Family. I’m incredibly proud of this discussion, so if you’re at all interested in critical discussions on Metal Gear then you should definitely have a listen, I think it’s an intresting conversation about a really dense game. This episode couldn’t have been made without special guest Heather Alexandra, whose writing can be found on her website and you should also follow her on twitter! You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here+. Things discussed: Metals Gear 1-5, Driving Off The Map, Metal Gear Rising Music This Episode | |||
| 05 Feb 2016 | Minimap: The Witness | 00:16:50 | |
In what will hopefully become a semi-regular fixture of short, impomptu podcasts, Em and Jackson sit down to have a chat about The Witness. There aren’t any spoilers for solutions here, and instead we get into our feelings on the cultural context of the game and its creator. Let us know if you enjoy the episode, and we’ll bring you some more when circumstances align! You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Games Discussed Music Used | |||
| 29 Jan 2016 | Abnormal Mapping 41: Expand | 01:19:02 | |
The Mappers begin the new year with a new podcast about a new video game! There’s no such thing as too much new, as we delve deep into new characters, new shapes, and new possiblities with some new artwork and some new laughs. We also induct new things into the reading list. New. New new new. Please enjoy this new podcast, and maybe let friends (new ones, but old ones too I guess) know, so that they can be new listeners in this new era. Meatloaf, Pure Pool, The Witcher, Animal Crossing, Shaven Wookie, Destiny, Mass Effect, Beyond: Two Souls, City of Heroes, Star Trek Online, The Sims, Saints Row, Miis, GTA IV, Sleeping Dogs, I am Become Rihanna, the Destroyer of Worlds, The Natural, Expand, When Two Best Friends Make Video Games, CS Go 1.7 Beta, games for children, the “Tears in the Rain” Blade Runner speech, Minecraft LPs, the car story from the Beastcast You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Reading List Inductees: This Month’s Game Club Game: Expand Next Month’s Game Club Game: Ninja Gaiden Black Music This Episode | |||
| 22 Jan 2016 | Abnormal Mapping 40: Metal Gear Solid | 01:39:26 | |
With the completion of the Metal Gear diaries, Jackson is finally free from this franchise for the rest of time… or so they thought. Instead, they’ve pulled back in to a series of mid-month podcasts here on Abnormal Mapping where he talks to different guests about the various games in the series to highlight and explore multiple perspectives. For the first one, he’s joined by Corey Milne, an Irish Games Critic who wants nothing more than to hear Liquid Snake, with all the vocal might he can muster, utter the magic word: B R O T H E R Corey’s writing can be found on his website and you can also follow him on twitter! You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Things discussed: Metals Gear 1-4, Driving Off The Map, Spec Ops The Line Music This Episode | |||
| 30 Dec 2015 | Abnormal Mapping 39: Earthbound | 01:29:06 | |
It’s the end of the year, and the Mappers have arrived a little late and a little weary to talk about the year that is now past and the year that lies ahead. 2015 was a mess of a year, like years often are, and in grand tradition we echew game of the year lists to bring you some memories, some japes, and some feelings. What lies ahead for the podcast? Within are the answers. Then, we turn to the games of yesteryear, for a deep conversation about one of the most highly regarded RPGs of all time, GameFAQs and Starman.net’s own … EarthBound. A big thank you to friend of the show Tracie Mauk for providing the voice of the photographer in this episode. You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. This Month’s Game Club: EarthBound Next Month’s Game Club: Expand Things discussed: 2015 Spreadsheet, The Metal Gear Articles, Metals Gear, Zelda, Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Final Fantasy VII, Ninja Gaiden Black, Yakuza 3, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, The Crew, Alphabear, Neko Atsume, Binding of Issac: Rebirth, Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate, Bloodborne, Etrian Odyssey, The Walking Dead: Season 2, Crusader Kings 2, EarthBound, the EarthBound guide Music This Episode | |||
| 27 Nov 2015 | Abnormal Mapping 38: Beeswing | 01:38:25 | |
No jokes today, but our second annual Thanksgiving spectacular as we talk about what we’re thankful for and the stories we tell ourselves both in video games and not. That’s followed up by one of our most intimate game club games yet, and a promise for memories to come with next month’s classic game club to round out the year. Hope everyone had a good holiday, if you’re in the part of the world that celebrates it! You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. This Month’s Game Club: Beeswing Next Month’s Game Club: EarthBound Things discussed: Fallout, Bloodborne, Monster Factory, Mickey Mouse in the Castle of Illusion, The Sims, Twitch Plays Pokemon, Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival, Mario Lore, Final Fantasy VIII, Assassins’ Creed, Metal Gear Solid 2, Dino Crisis 3, Beeswing, Slacker, Abnormal Mapping continues their efforts to stop the sun, Bend it Like Beckham Music This Episode *names and composer presumed given lack of information | |||
| 30 Oct 2015 | Abnormal Mapping 37: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night | 01:27:02 | |
The Mappers take to the Halloween skies of a cursed night long long ago in a castle far far away to discuss the Greatest Video Game Ever Made … Super Bombad Racing. Items Discussed: Going to GAME in 2015; Bloodborne; Errant Signal’s “Peak Star Wars“; Star Wars in video games (Battlefront 2015 and 2003, Shadows of the Empire, Lego, etc); Castlevania: Symphony of the Night; Leigh Alexander’s writing on SotN; Eva Problem’s “your asshole dad’s castle is back again“; Mike Joffe’s writing on SotN; Vania Mania; Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow; Destiny’s Pokemon Team: Espurr, Eevee, Squirtle, Jigglypuff, Snorlax; Matthew’s Pokemon Team: Wobbuffet, Arcanine, Breloom, Probopass, Victini, Kiefi; Metroid Prime; Donkey Kong Country; Mario 64; Mystical Ninja starring Goemon; Catherine; Star Wars books; Stephen King You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. This Month’s Game Club: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Next Month’s Game Club: Beeswing Music This Episode | |||
| 25 Sep 2015 | Abnormal Mapping 36: Framed | 01:39:12 | |
A dark night in the bright city. Jackson dashes down an alleyway, a shadow looming behind them. They clutches the attache case close to they chest as they squeeze past a dumpster and into a space that would generously be described as snug for even the overfed cats that dine on the garbage nearby. Em’s close behind, reaching into the tiny space up to their elbow to reach after Jackson, unable to go any further. Growling, they climb up the dumpster, leaping onto the lowest rungs of the fire escape as they use the window to get into the hallway of the building Jackson is squeezing past. As they leap down the steps two at a time, they don’t see the slender cane extend between the bars of the railing until it’s too late, and their’s sprawled out on the cold tile floor of the foyer of the building. Destiny emerges from behind the stairs, nudging Em’s arm aside with her cane as she steps outside, just to see Jackson emerge from the alleyway and stop to look behind him for pursuit. It’s a distraction they can ill afford. They don’t even feel the needle slip under their skin, they just feels himself sag against the wall as Destiny steps up beside them and removes the case from their now flaccid hands. “Thanks,” she says. “It’s game over for you, though.” She turns to walk away, Jackson gasping trying to yell after her, their knees buckling as they falls back into the alleyway, and both of them disappear back into the bustle of the city. You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. This Month’s Game Club: Framed October’s Game Club: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Games Discussed: The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Tomorrow Never Dies, Morning Mario Returns!, Civilization V, Three Beers Deep, our conversation with Lana Polansky, Framed, Hideo Kojima’s tweet, Angry Birds, Boom Blox, Doctor Who, Grim Fandango Music This Episode | |||
| 28 Aug 2015 | Abnormal Mapping 35: Paper Mario | 01:41:30 | |
Legends tell of a man, a quiet man, a man who jumps and a man who spins, a man who one day—this day—must rise and save us all. But that man was not available, and so it falls upon this paper plumber to embark upon a journey to the stars to save a princess oft and once more kidnapped. The Mappers embark upon this man’s journey through a twisted land of pun-laden characters and self-aware deconstruction, and arrive finally at the end of their quest with only the corpses of penguins to show for it*. (*No penguins were harmed in the making of this podcast.) As a companion piece to this episode, Em produced an zine for Paper Mario, featuring cool and cute paintings and sketches of the characters and the world of this month’s game! You can (and totally should, it’s really good!) pick it up at either itch.io or gumroad. You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. This Month’s Game Club: Paper Mario September’s Game Club: Framed Games Discussed: Papa’s Donuteria, Racially Diverse Kitchen 3, Metal Gear Solid, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Roger Ebert’s Great Movies, Player 2, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl, The Minesweeper Wall, Paper Mario, Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars, Iwata Asks for Paper Mario Sticker Star, Upon Reflection, Retro Game Challenge, NES Remix, Shovel Knight, Attack of the Friday Monsters, Yakuza 3, Gone Home, Her Story Music This Episode | |||
| 21 Aug 2015 | Abnormal Mapping 34: I Don't Give ADAF | 01:54:23 | |
A few weeks back, Jackson participated in a panel for the Alternative Digital Arts Festival, run by Zolani Stewart, Austin Howe and Solon Scott. The folks behind ADAF have kindly given us permission to post the panel in our podcast feed for your enjoyment, if you missed it at the time! It’s a panel on Games & Mental Illnesss, featuring Heather Alexandra, Zeiya Speed and Austin Howe. We discuss representation of Mental Illness, how our own experiences with Mental Illness inform our readings of games, and the responsibilities of portraying Mental Illness narratives for an audience. In addition to the panel, Em, Jackson and Destiny got together a few days later to record a short cast with follow up points and extra discussion. It all comes together to form a really interesting 2 hour package of great discussion about games, Mental Illness, and the intersection of the two. Please enjoy! You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. August’s Game Club: Paper Mario Games Discussed: Final Fantasy VIII, Depression Quest, Actual Sunlight, Metal Gear Solid 2, Metal Gear Solid 4, Hellblade, Kane & Lynch 2, Her Story, Silent Hill, The Static Speaks My Name, Cart Life Music This Episode | |||
| 24 Jul 2015 | Abnormal Mapping 33: Her Story | 01:54:52 | |
For the description please visit thebestgame.club | |||
| 10 Jul 2015 | Abnormal Mapping 32: Final Fantasy VIII, Part Two | 01:54:12 | |
whenever we cast our pods we saw you smiling at us three It is a glorious day, a day of celebration, of reflection, of escape. The Mappers sit together, Final Fantasy VIII behind them, fading away, knowing that they are free. They had been on a journey together, a journey through time and love and a needlessly labyrinthine battle system. And now, here on the other side, they know that they’ve forged in fire a part of themselves that they shall never lose. But that is not all that today is. Today shall go down in history, remembered by all for at least the next week and a half. For today is… The Day The Batman Died. You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. July’s Game Club: Her Story Games Discussed: Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, Metal Gear Solid 2 HD, NiER, Neko Atsume, Tamagotchi, Final Fantasy VIII, Austin’s Article on FF8 fan theories, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Persona 4 and 3, Batman: Arkham Knight Music This Episode | |||
| 26 Jun 2015 | Abnormal Mapping 31: Tony Hawk's Project 8 | 01:34:17 | |
The Mappers celebrate the heat of summer with hot jams, hotter skating, and the blazing addition of a third host! The three of them get down to business with a long talk about the sun-drenched streets of sizzling pavement and blasting AC, cars in traffic and the endless parade of city construction. It’s open season on open worlds, a question of what open worlds mean for the formal structure of video games and level design. Then, we skitch behind a stunt car and grind our way through through the … well, the grind of the eighth endeavor of Mr. Anthony “Tony Hawk” Hawke, Esq., also known as Project 8. Friendships are tested, hands are contorted, and we come through the other side with a rousing defensive of youth and play by one of our number, who can never not ollie. He said see you later boy. He wasn’t good enough for us. But he deigns to take us on this Junetime adventure, as we grumble our way through this expansive romp. You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. NOTE: Jackson and Matthew clarified some of the points in this podcast in addendum article, which you can read here. This Month’s Game Club: Tony Hawk’s Project 8 Next Month: Final Fantasy VIII: Part 2 Games Discussed: A New Host Appears, VaniaMania Returns with Castlevania 2, Jackson’s PS4 Adventure, Grand Theft Auto 4, Skyrim, Assassin’s Creed 2, World of Warcraft, Sleeping Dogs, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Red Dead Redemption, Yakuza 3, Saints Row the Third, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Burnout Paradise, Spider-Man 2, Batman: Arkhams Asylum and City, Tony Hawk’s Project 8, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, this Errant Signal video, skate 2, Crazy Taxi, Goldeneye. Music This Episode | |||
| 12 Jun 2015 | Abnormal Mapping 30: Splatoon | 00:55:48 | |
A silent choice rode the winds that day, its currents bearing only two words, of which only one could remain. “Squid,” it said, “or Kid?” Em snapped awake in sweats, knowing only one thing. This choice would not consume them, this choice would not win. And with one press of the enter key, they recruited their friend into their cause. They drove to their shops, and plugged in their Wii Us, and strove for a third option that they knew did not exist. They would be neither Squid nor Kid, and yet they would be both at the same time. Em’s article about Mario 2 and Jackson’s endeavors is up and you can read it here! You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Things Discussed: Darth Vader comic, Match 3 Podcast, The Giant Beastcast, Austin Walker hired at Giant Bomb, Less Than Jake, Linkin Park, Blink 182, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Morning Mario, our episode on Link to the Past, the ending of Zardoz, POTUS in bicycle accident, Mambo No. 5, The Magic Number, One is the Loneliest Number, Just the Two of Us, Splatoon, Amiibo, WWE Pay Per Views, Halo, Fire Emblem, PT, Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Pre-Rendered Backgrounds, Asura’s Wrath, Street Fighter, Soul Calibur 2, Crazy Taxi, The Offspring. June’s Game Club Game: Tony Hawk’s Project 8 Music This Episode | |||
| 29 May 2015 | Abnormal Mapping 29: Attack of the Friday Monsters | 01:26:08 | |
We’re joined by our erstwhile third chair for an adventure in the sun-drenched days of a childhood none of us can remember, tearing around 70s Japan with our friends, our backpack fresh and our faces fresher as we make new friends and go on adventures with Attack of the Friday Monsters. There’s more in this episode, but I promise you none of it has anything to do with video games. I’d apologize, but I’m pretty sure 2/3 of our podcast members like it that way. You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Things Discussed: Super Mario Bros 2., New Super Mario Bros 2., Spelunky, The Binding Of Issac, Scroll VG Issue 10, John Cena’s Giant Hands, Soulja Boy’s flag planted in game crit, Retronauts’ prog rock episode This Month’s Game Club Game: Attack of the Friday Monsters: A Tokyo Tale Next Month: Tony Hawk’s Project 8 Music This Episode | |||
| 08 May 2015 | Abnormal Mapping 28: The King And W | 01:13:39 | |
It’s a very special Abnormal Mapping as we transform the podcast set into a late night studio and invite two of gaming’s most infamous bad boys for a nice sit down chat. The King of the Koopas takes center stage to talk his new book, the geopolitics of the mushroom kingdom, and his complex family life that keeps even a democratically elected monarch on his toes. Then, surprise guest Wario offers us the dirt on Nintendo’s business practices, a new way to look at the history of small games, and what exactly the #evilgames movement entails. It’s the first Abnormal Mapping panel show, and we hope that you enjoy these intimate looks at the lives of the villains we take for granted. #evilgames Thanks to Michaela Joffe, who set up these interviews for us. Our mic’s wouldn’t be singed by turtle fire without his contributions. You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Next Game Club: Attack of the Friday Monsters!! Music This Episode | |||
| 24 Apr 2015 | Abnormal Mapping 27: Final Fantasy VIII, Part One | 01:23:11 | |
Em stood by the grave, and looked upon the headstone. Time had withered the slate, there was no name left to mark a life long since lived. And all the people seemed to pass on by, catching the bus, going to work, eating chips and going to bed. He didn’t understand how they could walk here without hearing the warning, those deafening screams of the forgotten, keeping him awake night after night after night. One day he would be screaming too. “No,” they whispered to themself, turning away. He couldn’t change his fate, but he could tear down heaven and hell to punish those who chose it. Who were Gods to sign his death sentence, to force upon him an existence never requested, and all too soon, steal it away? No longer could this cycle continue. The Gods would fall to their hand, and for one brilliant, shining moment, as the pain of existence blinked away, there would be silence. You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. This Month’s RPG Explorer’s Club: Final Fantasy VIII Next Month’s Game Club: Attack of the Friday Monsters!! Games Discussed: Final Fantasy VIII, Pokemon Shuffle, Star Wars, Super Mario Bros Music This Episode | |||
| 17 Apr 2015 | Abnormal Mapping 26: Elegy For A Dead World | 01:13:40 | |
The Mappers deal with the loss of technology and hope in the only way they know how: deep existential crisis and how it informed criticism. Good thing they’ve finally stumbled across a game that is willing to compete with them for who can be the most fatalistic, even if it means doubling down on prescriptive ideas of what educational/artistic games should be. Also, we talk about lore for almost a half an hour and nobody makes a Star Trek joke, so it’s all a minor miracle today in this post-computer episode of this post-computer podcast. You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. This Month’s Game Club: Elegy for a Dead World Next Month? TBD, sorry! Games Discussed: Elegy for a Dead World, Pokemon Art Academy, Rock Band, Resident Evil HD, Even The Stars, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Skyrim, Dragon Age: Origins, Dishonored, Alan Wake, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Battlefield: Hardline, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, Dark Souls Music This Episode | |||
| 27 Mar 2015 | Abnormal Mapping 25: Grim Fandango | 01:27:23 | |
The Mappers take on a special guest in this very special episode, as Heather Alexandra comes onto the cast to join us on our journey through the path of the spirit. We brave forests, destroy ships, run nightclubs, and manage to recite a poem or two in remembrance of classic adventure game Grim Fandango! No fancy intro this time, just good old fashion podcasting about a classic game! I hope you enjoy! Art for this episode was done by Em, who themself himself an amateur artist when he’s not hosting this podcast. You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Heather Alexandra can be found on twitter (@transgamerthink) and at her blog. You can find her Skies of Arcadia video here. Reading List Additions: Justice Points and Major Third Games Discussed: Goldvision Pacifist GTA Online, Skies Of Arcadia, Far Cry 3, Beyond: Two Souls, Heavy Rain, Dead Island, Bloodborne, Cave Cave Deus Videt This Month’s Game Club: Grim Fandango Next Month’s Game Club: Elegy for a Dead World Music This Episode | |||
| 27 Feb 2015 | Abnormal Mapping 24: Yakuza 3 | 01:48:48 | |
You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Reading List Additions: History Respawned and Top Score Games Discussed: P.T., Paris Hallway, Sci Fi Corridor Maze Walkthrough, Gone Home, GTA 4, Burnout Paradise, Sleeping Dogs, Final Fantasy VII, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Skyrim, Minecraft, Interactive Fiction, Your Actions Do Not Effect The Ending, Super Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy, Dream.Sim, Mirror’s Edge, Tony Hawk, Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time, Attack of The Friday Monsters, Persona 3/4, Resident Evil This Month’s Game Club: Yakuza 3 Next Month’s Game Club: Grim Fandango with special guest Heather Alexandra Music This Episode Blown Away by Kevin McLeod | |||
| 20 Feb 2015 | Abnormal Mapping 23: Atelier Rorona: Alchemist of Arland | 00:58:58 | |
Today we bring you our most sleepy episode yet with our celebration of all things Valentine’s Day by talking about anime girls hitting on each other, as the RPG Explorer’s Club returns to talk about Atelier Rorona Plus! We’re joined with fellow role playing spelunker Destiny Sturdivant for a journey into the dark heart of time limits and item creation as we run afoul of all the problems with trying to play RPGs on a timetable. The only solution? More RPGs! Please enjoy this short episode on this short month, when all seems nearly lost because winter refuses to give up its grip on our hearts. You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Games Discussed: Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, Kindle, DS9 Books, Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, Atelier Rorona Plus: Alchemist of Arland The Next RPG Explorer’s Club Game: Final Fantasy VIII Music This Episode Blown Away by Kevin McLeod | |||
| 30 Jan 2015 | Abnormal Mapping 22: Offline | 02:05:31 | |
The Mappers are joined in this January episode by one of the few games writers they’re genuinely intimidated by, and they go on a heady adventure into lands untold. How does anyone understand the landscape of a culture whose history keeps disappearing? What does it mean to want to work in a field and criticize works when every aspect of that production is increasingly devalued in both money and regard? What does it mean to explore the murky issues of consent in games? And how long can you exist on a ghostly train ride before it becomes a lens through which you view your own predispositions? All these questions and more are yours inside when Em and Jackson try their best to keep up with Lana Polansky in this heady, intense, appropriately metaphorical train wreck of an episode. Please enjoy! You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Our guest this month is Lana Polansky, who you can find at Sufficiently Human and on Patreonand Twitter. This Month’s Game Club Game: offɭine Next Month’s Game Club Game: Yakuza 3 Music In This Episode Blown Away by Kevin McLeod Things (All Of Them, Until We Can’t Link Anymore) Discussed in This Episode Arcade Review | |||
| 16 Jan 2015 | Abnormal Mapping 21: The Winter of our Disk Content | 01:16:19 | |
The Mappers return from the holidays to a heaping helping of holiday ennui, an alliteration obliterating miasma from which there is no escape. They soldier on, in this dark era where the PS3 has not ascended, trying to put together the pieces of a now uncertain future. What is around the bend? It might be doom, it might be untold riches, but it’ll certainly be adventure. If only there were a … group? Of people who were dedicated to … exploring? Nah, that’d never work. You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Games Discussed: Bayonetta 2, 80 Days, Batman: Arkham Origins, .error404, DanganRonpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, How to Be a Great Artist in 10 Seconds, Star Trek Theme Songs, Sleeping Dogs, The Fall, Alan Wake, Final Fantasy 7’s Gay Sexual Tension Next Month The RPG Explorers Club Returns with: Atelier Rorona Plus: The Alchemist of Arland Music This Episode: Blown Away by Kevin McLeod | |||
| 26 Dec 2014 | Abnormal Mapping 20: Minecraft | ||
This final Abnormal Mapping of 2014 begins with a bit of introspection, as the Mappers go over the year that is quickly fading behind them, and look forward to the year to come. Then, joined by oft-guesting Destiny, they explore the endless realms of Minecraft, doing their best to stave off the expected and inevitable slide into existential terror as they look to the horizon and ponder just how many blocks one has to dig up to be alive. Join us on this, the Eve of the Year of the PS3, as we head towards the future, hearts heavy but heads held high. You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. This Month’s Game Club: Minecraft Next Month’s Game Club: offɭine Music in This Episode Next month’s guest, Lana Polansky, can be found at Sufficiently Human, or support her Patreon! | |||
| 28 Nov 2014 | Abnormal Mapping 19: Michaela Joffe | 01:53:10 | |
Welcome, one and all, to another very special episode of Abnormal Mapping: our second Gameography! For those unfamiliar, a Gameography episode is where we take a close look at the work of a game maker, and approach it as a whole. This time, we chose to take a gander at the games of Michaela Joffe, who is here for an incredibly fun and interesting interview! Join us for talk of twine, trees and thanksgiving, as we dive into discussions of improvisational play, the function of anthropomorphism and the limits of authorial intent. And yet, all this is perhaps overshadowed, as Em brings unto Jackson the most horrifying of all revelations: The true meaning of Thanksgiving. This is only our second Gameography, and we’d love for your feedback about our process, as well as any other random questions or comments. As ever, you can bother both of us on Twitter, or send us an email at: abnormalmappingpodcast@gmail.com. You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Gameography: Joffe Invisible Cities: The Party Game Mother She Killed Me, Father He Ate Me Eufriesea: A Game of Orchid Bees The Handsomest Echidna Remastered Next Month’s Game Club: Music This Episode Blown Away by Kevin McLeod | |||
| 14 Nov 2014 | Abnormal Mapping 18: Final Fantasy VII, Part Two | 02:15:41 | |
Hope lies in ruins. The calamity hangs overhead. People look up, wishing that some savior will come. But nothing will save us from the inevitable: extended CGI anime movie sequels to games that didn’t need them. Alas, in this darkest hour, when all that is Holy is buried and the stigma of the planet taints even the bravest of us, the Abnormal Mappers are all that stand between the inevitable void and salvation. But worry not, this is just the last dream of all of us. The ultimate vision. One might even say … no, that’s not for mortal mouths to speak. It drives people mad, sputtering nonsense words like ‘shilly shally’ and ‘memetic legacy’. Fearing this fate, we dwell on the inconsequential: snowboarding, a few good Turks, and our own tiny hope for the future. You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking here. Games Discussed: Sims 3, Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, Resident Evil 4, Broken Age, Bayonetta 2, Hatoful Boyfriend, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete Music This Episode: | |||
| 24 Oct 2014 | Abnormal Mapping 17: Dishonored | 01:46:09 | |
We don the masks of the harvest reaper to stalk the dank halls of a far off land of clockwork intrigue and steam-powered assassination, perched on the balustrades of our own mental palaces, poised to strike in the blink of an eye. What are we waiting for? Only the final strike of the witching hour, when we will descend and offer up that vengeful mantra of horror that was granted to us by the great Machiavellian evil: Thnks fr th vidya gms. It’s enough to make a person’s blood run cold, robbing even the most comforting evening of matching three or grinding levels of hope and rendering it an empty shell of its former self. This is where fun goes to die. This is where For Glory is only a long-forgotten menu option, and not an ideal to strive for. This, my friends, is Dishonored Halloween. On a serious note, the Lana Polansky article we reference heavily in segment 2 can be found here. This Month’s Game Club Game: Dishonored Next Month: Gameography: Mike Joffe I’ll be putting up a list of Mike’s games in the next few days, and I’ll link them. Until then, check out his website, found here. Music This Episode: | |||
| 17 Oct 2014 | Abnormal Mapping 16: Final Fantasy VII, Part One | 02:27:53 | |
The Mappers are joined once again by Honorary Cartography Extraordinaire Destiny Sturdivant for the inaugural meeting of the RPG Explorers Club. Em leads them down the Mako-soaked lanes of his memory as they dig up that burning question for the ages: what exactly does happen to Aeris? It’s a long journey, full of pitfalls and pratfalls, and together they all learn to love again. Just like Cloud. Who learns to love a certain flower girl. Who dies. Oh right, Aeris dies. Destiny Sturdivant can be found at Badland Girls! You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking HERE. Games Discussed: Sims 3, Final Fantasy Theatrhythm: Curtain Call, Neverending Nightmares, EGX, Even the Stars, Clicker Heroes, Cookie Clicker, Candy Box, and of course, Final Fantasy VII Music This Episode: | |||
| 26 Sep 2014 | Abnormal Mapping 15: Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 | 01:51:57 | |
Trans-media beings exist in a digital realm, transcending the archaic definitions of one art or another. Words become images, images become environments, narrative forms change shape in a strange alchemy of noble intent and desperate capitalism. The Mappers navigate this technoplane, where all things change and the nature of creation is itself in flux, and they find themselves gripped tight to their seats. How many Gs exist in cyberspace? Will the Mappers survive, or are they doomed to hurl their lunches at the very thought of all things being subverted into newer, bigger, more engaging? This is the thin line between good and evil, light and dark, reality and dreams: this is the blurred space where adaptations and roller coasters become one. Games Discussed: Final Fantasy VII, DanganRonpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, FIFA/Madden, Spider-Man 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, QWOP, South Park: The Stick of Truth, The Hunger Games: Girl on Fire, The Great Gatsby, The Lion King, The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, Waiting for Godot, GoldenEye: 007, Tom Clancey’s Rainbow Six, Spaceteam, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, DuckTales, Dante’s Inferno, Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 2: Rogue Leader, Star Wars Episode I: Racer, Roller Coaster Tycoon series, The Sims, Little Big Planet Next Month’s Game Club: Dishono(u)red Music This Episode: | |||
| 08 Sep 2014 | Abnormal Mapping 14: Meat Loaf's Butt Stuff | 01:43:02 | |
This month’s Coolsoge kicks off with a bang as the Mappers are joined by fellow David Cage veteran Destiny Sturdivant to talk a boatload of games and the very ridiculous task that we’re all going to undertake this fall. Also more than a little time is spent educating Jackson on just what Meatloaf wouldn’t do for love, because they has to learn somehow. The answer is potentially “collect multiple cows” or “descend into Rapture” or “select ninja dog.” But the smart money is on “keep his eyes dry when a certain flower girls eats it.” Will we ever learn the truth? Probably not on Disc 1, but if you stick around for the secret ending and you unlock the 4th level of the tie-in cell phone game, maybe the true answer will arise from the lifestream. Only time will tell. The Coolsoge Backlog Slog begins with us starting to play Final Fantasy VII! We’ll cover up through disc 1 next month, and Em will be a nostalgic, mopey mess for this strangely maligned once-unassailable game. You can find Destiny on Badland Girls, a cool junk culture podcast that we heartily endorse! Please subscribe, rate and review our show on iTunes! If that’s not your bag, you can get the episode directly by clicking HERE. Additions to the Reading List Watch Out for Fireballs Games Covered This Month I’m Fine Music in This Episode Show Your Moves by Kevin MacLeod | |||
| 29 Aug 2014 | Abnormal Mapping 13: Planescape Torment | 02:05:55 | |
The day they thought would never happen is finally here. The clockwork machinery of the gods themselves rolled away and revealed a blinding light, from which poured a host of a host of creatures both fair and foul. All of that number were beyond mortal understanding, but they all cried out with a single human voice: YOU WERE WRONG. And so it was, that as the seas boiled and the sun and moon reversed their paths through the firmament, did these two Mappers set out to admit this final damning truth, even if the planes be rent asunder forever and all lives both player-driven and peripheral be cast into the deepest of voids. Such is the One True Cast. This Month’s Game Next Month’s Game Music in This Episode Blown Away by Kevin McLeod | |||
| 05 Aug 2014 | Abnormal Mapping 12: Captain Worf, Steak Afficianado | 01:30:32 | |
Em braves audio failure as Jackson drags them kicking and screaming through another Coolsoge adventure. After many many weeks between them, the Mappers have a pile of games they’ve finished and the dimmest of memories with which to recall them, but they do their best to talk about various driving and skating games, the terror of suplexing scorpions, and some Donkey Kong follow-up beef. Vows are made to cast the Coolsoge more often and they pour one out for the machete man gang, but eventually it all collapses into Star Trek talk, because it always does when Em and Jackson are talking longer than 15 minutes. Featuring special guest Worf, son of Mogh, it’s the second Coolsoge onslaught! You can find the Coolsoge Cast in our usual iTunes feed or click HERE to get to the file directly. Stuff Talked About! Trashpect Ratio, Jackson and Em’s new movie podcast Games Covered (some spoilers, fair warning!) Resident Evil 4 Music Used Show Your Moves by Kevin MacLeod | |||
| 25 Jul 2014 | Abnormal Mapping 11: Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls | 02:32:40 | |
This month is a special month, as we’re joined by special guest Destiny Sturdivant of the Badland Girls for not only our first guest third chair but also our longest episode ever! Deciding to double our pleasure, double our fun, we take a dive into the duo of Quantic Dream games for the Playstation 3—Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls. We go deep on both games, both mechanically and in their many storytelling successes and failures. It’s a doozy, but I can sincerely say this is our best episode yet, so it’s worth the movie-length runtime! Please enjoy, and we’ll be back next month for more regular inanity in this show notes space! Destiny Sturdivant is a podcaster and comedian, you can find her on twitter or on BadlandGirls.com! Games Discussed This Month Next Month’s Game Club Music in This Episode Blown Away by Kevin McLeod | |||
| 27 Jun 2014 | Abnormal Mapping 10: Beyond Good and Evil | 01:35:56 | |
The mappers take a journey to a world where anthropomorphic animals live alongside humans and a journey begins to acquire a number of magical orbs. No, it’s not Dragon Ball, it’s Beyond Good & Evil! In between all the stealth and shutterbugging, Em decides to take a single joke as far beyond its breaking point as they can, while Jackson tries their best to detangle the good and evil of game beginnings and how they relate to the games as a whole. Deep down, they mostly just look towards the future, and reflect on past mistakes. It’s a learning opportunity for us all in this very special* episode. *episode not that special, really Feel free to subscribe on iTunes, or you can download the episode directly HERE. Games and Topics This Month Beyond Good & Evil Next Month’s Game Club Games Heavy Rain Music in this Episode Blown Away by Kevin McLeod | |||
| 13 Jun 2014 | Abnormal Mapping 9: Transistor | 01:24:48 | |
What was supposed to be a simple ‘let’s get our plans for the month nailed down’ chat between Em and Jackson turned out to be nothing but lies and deceit as Jackson fired up the recorders and started what would become the first Coolsoge Cast! Instead of the meticulous planning and structure of real Abnormal Mapping podcast, what you’ll instead get here is some free flowing talk about whatever we’ve been playing when we aren’t playing game club games. This is an every-once-in-a-while cast, but you’ll get such magical tangents as the lineage of the Kong clan and the mysterious secrets of Dark Eco, along with some real talk about Transistor’s many faults. We go all over! You might say this one is … off the map. Games Covered (with spoilers, fair warning!) Transistor Music Used Show Your Moves by Kevin MacLeod | |||
| 29 May 2014 | Abnormal Mapping 8: Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation | 01:34:04 | |
Ace pilots Em “Cupcake” Marko and Jackson “Ginger” Tyler fly through the enormous Library of the Giants, where the giant tombs of Video Game Lore are stacked to the heavens. Whether they have been shrunk or the pillars of writing have grown is beyond the pay grade of these two intrepid wingmen, but as they juke around zines and loop through forests of critical theory they arrive at their destination: Fortress Games Podcasts. Their payloads are ready, a full tactical strike of thermonuclear cast, meant to eradicate the enemy and wrest victory from certain defeat. They squeeze the triggers, and await orders to fire. Please subscribe via our RSS or iTunes! If you insist on a bare MP3, you can find it HERE. Covered this month: Our games reading list, which you can find in the header above or just click here! Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation Next Month’s Game Club Game: Music in this Episode Blown Away by Kevin McLeod Hey! We love mail. Email us at abnormalmappingpodcast@gmail.com! | |||
| 25 Apr 2014 | Abnormal Mapping 7: Christine Love Gameography | 01:56:04 | |
Hey everyone, welcome to our first very special episode, of a hopefully long-running series called Gameography! If you need to know what Gameography is, take a look at this prior postexplaining it. If you insist on the tl;dr version, we picked a game maker we really liked and played through her entire history of games and talked about them as a whole body of work. In this case, our first subject was one of our favorites, Christine Love! I have to admit, we were very nervous going into this episode, trying to do something a little different than usual. As such, we would love any sort of feedback about our process, and anything we might do better next time a gameography episode happens. As always, you can bother us on twitter, or email us at abnormalmappingpodcast @ gmail.com. Gameography: Christine Love Sketchbook: Schoolgirls in Love and Other Assorted Heartbreak don’t take it personally, babe, it just ain’t your story Next Month’s Game: Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation Music This Episode Blown Away by Kevin McLeod | |||
| 31 Mar 2014 | Intro To Gameography | 00:04:56 | |
So April’s podcast is going to be something different than the usual. Instead of doing the typical game club and random segment 2, we’re going to do a special, potentially twice-yearly Very Special Episode that we’re calling Gameography. What is Gameography, you ask? Well, we recorded a very special bonus mini-podcast to try to explain our thinking. I’ll let that speak for itself. If you’d rather read than listen, I don’t blame you, so here’s the scoop: very early in Abnormal Mapping’s planning stages, I came to Jackson with the idea that every once in a while we’d do an episode that was devoted to the entire career of a specific game-maker. We’d collect all the games they put out, link to them on the blog, play through them all, and then have a very deep dive into someone’s career making games. That is, in essence, what we’re doing in Gameography. Self-explanatory, right? The reason why is a little more complicated. You see, I started writing heavily for the internet talking about movies (and still maintain a dusty but beloved movie blog), where the concept of authorial voice is really strong. People are very quick to assign all sorts of meaning and weight to a director or a screenwriter, creating a broad sense that all their works are of a piece, and that studying that authorial voice is worthwhile in better understanding both the works and the creator. This is called Auteur Theory, and has been around a long time. The strange thing is that you rarely see this sort of thing applied to games, especially in the hobbiest/amateur game making space. We often play games in a contextual vacuum, something that’s linked to us in a browser or on a curated web page, with only the dimmest awareness of who created the game and what other games they might have made, especially in a space where the games can be radically different, released in many different ways, and presented to different platforms. Bringing it all together under one roof for consideration is something we’re keen on doing, and thus Gameography is born! Which brings us to who this first one is going to be about! We have a short list of game makers we really want to dig into, but the obvious choice was someone we both knew about and who had made games we had both enjoyed. The obvious answer was Christine Love. We talk briefly about why Christine Love in the accompanying short podcast, but in realize you only need to play her games to understand why. So I leave you here with the full list of games, including links on where to find them, in the order in which they were released. Go nuts, and we’ll be playing along too, and we’ll be back at the end of April to talk about them! Gameography: Christine Love Sketchbook: Schoolgirls in Love and Other Assorted Heartbreak | |||
| 28 Mar 2014 | Abnormal Mapping 6: Crash Bandicoot | 01:34:27 | |
The Mappers dig into the ancient jungle tombs filled with the un-biodegradable legacy of dozens of one-off novelty music games and the shells of grimy controllers—trying to wrap their heads around wrapping their hands around these relics of a bygone era. Emerging from the tombs, they find a box-busting Bandicoot before them, challenging them to one final task in this three month sojourn through some of the most significant games of the 90s. What ever happened to the Bandicoot of tomorrow? All this and more is revealed within. Please subscribe via our RSS or iTunes! If you insist on a bare MP3, you can find it HERE. Topics Discussed: video game controllers and controls, Crash Bandicoot Next Month’s Game: the collected works of Christine Love! Relevant Links Music in this Episode Hey! We love mail. Email us at abnormalmappingpodcast@gmail.com! | |||
| 28 Feb 2014 | Abnormal Mapping 5: Doom | 01:30:10 | |
Hello and welcome to the first Abnormal Mapping episode from our new wordpress blog! This is (for now) going to be the home of Abnormal Mapping, but it’s still barely up and running. So please follow the blog, and share this episode if you like it! It’ll help a lot to getting the word out about what we’re doing with Abnormal Mapping! The mappers find themselves in a glitch world, where the insomnia madness encroaches and the very internet begins to disintegrate. Our intrepid heroes carry on, reversing the course of last month’s progress to embrace the numbers and meters of ye olden games, and ride this regression wave directly into the past to confront the satanic baby of Johns Carmack and Romero within its pixelated heavy metal womb. Will a carton of juice and a shotgun be enough to survive this trek? Games Discussed: Bravely Default, Doom Game Club Game in March: Crash Bandicoot Relevant Links Music in this Episode | |||
| 31 Jan 2014 | Abnormal Mapping 4: The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past | 01:36:35 | |
Abnormal Mapping Episode 4: Fo(u)r Podcast! A mountain of games, atop which sits the greatest of all video games: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. But are the mappers capable of scaling the video game mountain and in what frame of mind will they encounter their goal? In this episode both Em and Jackson have existential crises when they consider the deepest of all questions: WHAT IS GAME? Games discussed: Depression Quest, Ultra Business Tycoon III, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Next month’s game club: DOOM Em made a game! You can play it here. Relevant links: | |||
| 24 Jan 2014 | Abnormal Mapping 3: Vanquish | 01:30:04 | |
Abnormal Mapping finishes off the year with our episode talking about 2013, 2014, and the future of video games. No, actually, we just talk about The Shivah and Vanquish and The Hobbit. But that kind of counts! Next month’s game: Things mentioned in the podcast: | |||
| 27 Dec 2013 | Abnormal Mapping 2: Pokemon Y | 01:36:26 | |
In the second episode of Abnormal Mapping, Em and Jackson have breaking news about the new console generation, Em discovers a beloved franchise maybe isn’t as beloved as they thought it would be, and Jackson hears a question so profound it makes them drop his coffee cup. Here’s all the things we talk about! Games for next month are as follows! See everyone again soon! | |||
| 28 Nov 2013 | Abnormal Mapping 1: DmC Devil May Cry | 01:34:56 | |
Welcome to the first episode of Abnormal Mapping, a new monthly podcast about video games! We’re not games press, so we’re not going to be talking about new releases or industry news, but instead looking at specific games with a critical eye. This means that we’ll be freely talking spoilers for any of the games listed in the description, rather than discussing them in a review context. This week we’re talking about DmC — Ninja Theory’s 2013 reboot of the franchise — how it mechanically relates to other games of the genre, the roles and limits of narrative within Ninja Theory’s games, and the importance of art and animation. Also: our personal relationship with video games over the years, and we invite our friend Callum (@CallumPetch) over to argue about the effectiveness of Gunpoint. We hope you enjoy, and come back next month for the second edition of Abnormal Mapping – Pokemon X and Y. Abnormal Mapping is: host Matthew Marko (@litrock on Twitter) and co-host Jackson Tyler (@Tylea002 on Twitter). To download the episode instead of streaming it, right click HERE. Sorry, no iTunes yet. We’re very new. games for this month Theme music – Blown Away by Kevin MacLeod | |||
| 29 Mar 2017 | Abnormal Mapping 61: Final Fantasy IX | 01:30:02 | |
Em and Jackson are here to say goodbye to the Final Fantasy of old and to look forward to new horizons, new podcast art, and a new podcast feed! Final Fantasy IX is a strange game to be approaching after so much time in the SNES Final Fantasies. Does it help to have such immediate context for the games FF9 is trying to reference? Hrm... Meanwhile, Em takes some time to sit in nature and think about the latest Zelda. Things Discussed: SquareSpace, Mothering Sunday, TypeShift, 7 Words, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Pillars of Eternity, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within This Month's Game Club: Final Fantasy IX Next Month's Game Club: Pikmin 3 Music This Episode | |||
| 27 Apr 2017 | Abnormal Mapping 62: Pikmin 3 | ||
Miyamoto, tending his garden, suddenly has a brilliant idea. What if he could recapture the feelings of his childhood in game form? What if it was possible to identify the essence of nature and replicate it on a simple disc. It would be overwhelming, yet familiar. Chaotic, yet calm. Hostile, yet intimate. He toiled with his team for years, until finally the public could join him in the garden. After the sun had set, he opened a laptop, and went to find what the public had said. He did not know if he was truly successful, but he hoped he had reached at least a few. Yet the message he received was not one he understood. He stared at his screen under cover of night, left only with the words: CHIE IS BEST GIRL. -- This month we are joined by a very special guest for Segment 2, Amr Al-Aaser. Amr Al-Aaser is a games critic. You can find them on twitter, on Medium, Paste, and even donate to their Patreon! They're good people, and we're very glad to have them. Things Discussed: national health systems, Mark of the Ninja, Mega Man 5, Gravity Rush 2, Need for Speed: the novel based on the movie, the trailer for the NFS movie, Persona 5, Dark Souls, Yakuza, who put the J in JRPGs, GameFAQS, Pikmin 3, Mario 128 demo This Month's Game Club: Pikmin 3 Next Month's Game Club: Myst Music This Episode | |||
| 25 May 2017 | Abnormal Mapping 63: Myst | ||
The Mappers delve into the past for an examination of two pillars of 90s PC gaming, as we all tackle the mysteries of Myst together (with returning third chair Destiny), and then I take a moment to talk about Full Throttle Remastered with Kotaku's Heather Alexandra. It's a lot of clicking and a lot of puzzle solving in this wave of computer nostalgia. Note: we have a Patreon! Support us by going to patreon.com/abnormalmapping! You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download directly from the player above. Things Discussed: Persona 5: Jungian Inception, Forza Horizon 3, Injustice, The Patreon Letters, Full Throttle, Grim Fandango, Heather's review for Full Throttle Remastered, Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition, LOOM, 90s PC games versus console games, Myst, Jeff Gerstmann in the RealMyst Quick Look, Rock Paper Shotgun's Myst Opinions, Life is Strange, The Eternal Quest To Defend Pop Punk This Month's Game Clubs: Full Throttle Remastered, Myst Next Month's Game Club: Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords Music This Episode | |||
| 16 Jun 2017 | Meta Mapping 1: DmC: Devil May Cry | 01:50:03 | |
Welcome to Meta Mapping, our first in a series of re-released episodes from the Abnormal Mapping archives with new content made possible by our Patreon subscribers. We figured it would be best to start with our very first episode, back when all our mics were bad and M used a different name. We didn't want to change any of that, so you get the raw reality of us four years ago for your listening ... pleasure? Pleasure seems like a strong word. We've come a long way, baby! And you can see those humble beginnings here. As always, you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. Consider supporting us on Patreon to make future shows possible and receive cool extra gifts. Games Discussed This Episode Music Used This Episode | |||
| 29 Jun 2017 | Abnormal Mapping 64: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords | 02:00:10 | |
A year ago this month we played Knights of the Old Republic, and today we complete the saga by taking on Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Jump in for a journey of discovery, as we experience one of the most heavily recommended subversions of all the aspects of Star Wars that we thought we didn't like, only to realize that without them our hearts feel empty and we feel lost. Maybe the Star Wars we loved was in our hearts all along. No, we will never do the MMO. We are joined by friend of the show Heather Alexandra for segment 2, you can find her work over at Kotaku and follow her on twitter here! You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download directly from the player above. Things Discussed: our Patreon! which is doing well, Driver: San Francisco, Hollow Knight, Mega Man 6, Life is Strange, Star Wars (the movies), Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Traitor (A New Jedi Order Novel), Episode 50: Jump Cut Genocide covering KotOR 1, our episode about Planescape: Torment, Persona 4 Game Club This Month: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords Game Club Next Month: Devil May Cry Music This Episode | |||
| 06 Jul 2017 | Abnormal Mapping 65: The Second Soundtrack Spectacular | 02:11:00 | |
Hello friends, we're here again at the nearly-midpoint of the year for a celebration of music and magic and wonder. Everyone liked our December music episodes so much and they took so long to make we decided to split them into twice-yearly installments, so enjoy this long list of summer tunes based on what we've been playing since we last checked in. As always, check us out on iTunes, or watch this episode on YouTube if that's your speed. And be sure to support us on Patreon, to keep the good times rolling. With that, here's the full list of music. Enjoy! Music This Episode Dance Through the Danger by Christina Vee from Shantae: Half-Genie Hero I Made It All Up by Mike Morasky from Portal 2 Route 1 by Junichi Masuda and Go Ichinose from Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen Saferoom by Miwako Chinone from Resident Evil 7 Linkle's Theme by Masato Koike and Yuki Matsumura from Hyrule Warriors Legends Athletic Theme by Asuka Ota, Hajime Wakai, and Koji Kondo from New Super Mario Bros Old Town by Kohei Tanaka from Gravity Rush War to War by Keiichi Okabe and Keigo Hoashi from Nier: Automata Prologue (A New Act) by Justin Bell from Pillars of Eternity Theme of Tara by Konami Kukeiha Club from Metal Gear Departures/End Credits by Lyndon Holland from Virginia | |||
| 14 Jul 2017 | Meta Mapping 28: The King and W | 01:23:41 | |
Welcome to Meta Mapping, our journey through old episodes complete with new reflections on our current day thoughts on the episode! Today we're revisiting The King And W, an episode idea that our friend Michaela Joffe came to us with where we would do a little improv and interview Bowser, the King Koopa. It turned out extremely well, and we're very excited to bring it to you again! It was recorded only a couple years ago, and yet it feels like a whole different world. A lot can change in a short two years. As always, you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. Consider supporting us on Patreon to make future shows possible and receive cool extra gifts. Music This Episode | |||
| 27 Jul 2017 | Abnormal Mapping 66: Devil May Cry | ||
This month we bookend our newest episode with our oldest episode and cover the first Devil May Cry! Inspired by our very first Meta Mapping and voted on by our Patrons, we dig into the past of character action games and Dante, son of Mundus for a trip into all thing stylish and stupid. Come for the combos, stay for the angst. We even touch a bit on old standbys Ninja Gaiden and Bayonetta! This episode was brought to you by our patrons. To support our shows, suggest topics, and vote on games, please check out our Patreon. Any amount of support helps a ton! You can find this podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play! We're on all the things! Things Discussed: England's world cup win in 1966, the Paris level of Twisted Metal 2, the Neo Paris of Remember Me, Yoshi's Island, RetroArch, Crash Bandicoot 1 & 2, Abnormal Mapping episode 6 covering Crash Bandicoot, So You're Saying There's A Chance, Devil May Cry This Month's Game Club: Devil May Cry Next Month's Game Club: Max Payne (and the movie!) Music This Episode | |||
| 11 Aug 2017 | Meta Mapping 35: Paper Mario | ||
Legends tell of a man, a quiet man, a man who jumps and a man who spins, a man who one day—this day—must rise and save us all. But that man was not available, and so it falls upon this paper plumber to embark upon a journey to the stars to save a princess oft and once more kidnapped. The Mappers embark upon this man’s journey through a twisted land of pun-laden characters and self-aware deconstruction, and arrive finally at the end of their quest with only the corpses of penguins to show for it*. (*No penguins were harmed in the making of this podcast.) As a companion piece to this episode, Em produced an zine for Paper Mario, featuring cool and cute paintings and sketches of the characters and the world of this month’s game! You can (and totally should, it’s really good!) pick it up on gumroad. This episode was brought to you by our patrons. To support our shows, suggest topics, and vote on games, please check out our Patreon. Any amount of support helps a ton! You can find this podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play! We're on all the things! This Month’s Game Club: Paper Mario Things Discussed: Papa’s Donuteria, Racially Diverse Kitchen 3, Metal Gear Solid, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Roger Ebert’s Great Movies, Player 2, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl, The Minesweeper Wall, Paper Mario, Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars, Iwata Asks for Paper Mario Sticker Star, Upon Reflection, Retro Game Challenge, NES Remix, Shovel Knight, Attack of the Friday Monsters, Yakuza 3, Gone Home, Her Story Music This Episode | |||
| 30 Aug 2017 | Abnormal Mapping 67: Max Payne | 01:13:42 | |
On this month's Abnormal Mapping we have a nice treat for you: playing a game, and watching the tie-in movie! The game is good fun, the tie in movie is an unholy abomination, and the podcast is very entertaining! Join us, my lord, and indeed let's embark upon a journey of donut fuelled revenge with Maxy Max and the Payne Bunch. Things Discussed: Max Payne, Jazzpunk, This Dead Rising Video, Max Payne (The Movie), Sin City (The Movie) This Month's Game Club: Max Payne Next Month's Game Club: Radiator 2, Ridiculous Fishing, Bernband, Balloon Fight, Gravity Bone Music This Episode | |||
| 08 Sep 2017 | Meta Mapping 5: Doom | 01:41:45 | |
The mappers find themselves in a glitch world, where the insomnia madness encroaches and the very internet begins to disintegrate. Our intrepid heroes carry on, reversing the course of last month’s progress to embrace the numbers and meters of ye olden games, and ride this regression wave directly into the past to confront the satanic baby of Johns Carmack and Romero within its pixelated heavy metal womb. Will a carton of juice and a shotgun be enough to survive this trek? Games Discussed: Bravely Default, Doom Relevant Links Music in this Episode | |||
| 29 Sep 2017 | Abnormal Mapping 68: Grab Bag | ||
Hello friends! This week we're doing an extra special grab bag of things. Please enjoy this far reaching discussion of five game club games: Ridiculous Fishing, Bernband, Radiator 2, Gravity Bone, and Balloon Fight. Thanks to everyone who suggested these games on our Patreon. To support our shows, suggest topics, and vote on games, please check out our Patreon. Any amount of support helps a ton! You can find this podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play! We're on all the things! Things Discussed: Ridiculous Fishing, Jetpack Joyride, Bernband, Radiator 2, Hurt Me Plenty, Succulent, Stick Shift, Deathspank (fuck you), Gravity Bone, Balloon Fight, Iwata o7, Iwata Wii U, Iwata Game Centre Next Month's Game Club: Final Fantasy X Music This Episode | |||
| 13 Oct 2017 | Meta Mapping 2: The Swapper / Pokemon X & Y | ||
In the second episode of Abnormal Mapping, Em and Jackson have breaking news about the new console generation, Em discovers a beloved franchise maybe isn’t as beloved as they thought it would be, and Jackson hears a question so profound it makes them drop their coffee cup. To support our shows, suggest topics, and vote on games, please check out our Patreon. Any amount of support helps a ton! You can find this podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play! We're on all the things! Things Discussed: Griffin's Nuzlocke run, PlayStation 4, The Swapper and Pokemon X & Y, that cool article about the development of Crash Bandicoot, How much the new Pokemon cards suck. No, really. This Month's Game Club Next Month's Game Club | |||
| 26 Oct 2017 | Abnormal Mapping 69: Final Fantasy X | 01:49:01 | |
NICE! Welcome to our weed-numbered episode of our ongoing Final Fantasy Adventure as we cover a game not called Final Fantasy Adventure, but instead take a deep dive into Spira and the wonders and horrors within. Please join us as we curse our old man, remember a time when everyone was laughing but only we meant it, and answered the age old question: what if Final Fantasy XIII was good? To support our shows, suggest topics, and vote on games, please check out our Patreon. Any amount of support helps a ton! You can find this podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play! We're on all the things! Things Discussed: Mario 64, Mario Sunshine, Yono: The Celestial Elephants, Golf Story, The Sonic Forces Discourse, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XIII Next Month's Game Club: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Music This Episode | |||
| 24 Nov 2017 | Abnormal Mapping 70: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time | ||
We head into the distant past and the world of legend this month to discuss one of the critical darlings of the early 00s and its filmic adaptation. What does it mean to re-envision a game before retro throwbacks? How influential can one game be to the idea of cinematic narrative experiences in this space? And most importantly, how can they ruin it trying to turn a video game into the next Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise? All this and more as we gather round one young man and the story he wants to tell us about what it means to live and love in an age of magic. It should be a good story, but he keeps talking about how he dies over and over and then saying it's not actually part of the story. He's a bad storyteller. To support our shows, suggest topics, and vote on games, please check out our Patreon. Any amount of support helps a ton! You can find this podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play! We're on all the things! Things Discussed: Game of the Year, Sonic Lost World, biscuits vs cookies, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Novel Not New, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003), Jordan Mechner's original footage for the animation of Prince of Persia, the GameSpot video review of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the Resident Evil films, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) This Month's Game Club: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Next Month's Game Club: Thumper, Rez Infinite, NES Remix Music This Episode | |||
| 15 Dec 2017 | Abnormal Mapping 71: Rez Infinite, Thumper, NES Remix | 01:36:44 | |
Welcome to the penultimate podcast of 2017! We've managed to make it through this hell year and we figured we'd wrap up our normal game club episodes in style by talking about two of our favorite games and one game that makes us look back on games of yore and how we feel about them as people who still engage with them in 2017. Look forward to further adventures of the Abnormal Mapping crew in 2018, and come back in two weeks for our GotY spectacular music spectacular. It's going to be a whole thing! To support our shows, suggest topics, and vote on games, please check out our Patreon. Any amount of support helps a ton! You can find this podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play! We're on all the things! Things Discussed: Vostok Inc, SOMA, Rez, Child of Eden, Thumper, NES Remix This Month's Game Club: Rez Infinite, Thumper, NES Remix Next Month's Game Club: Shadow of the Colossus Music This Episode | |||
| 25 Dec 2017 | Abnormal Mapping 72: The Game of the Year 2017 Spectacular Spectacular | ||
Hello everyone and welcome to the very last Abnormal Mapping of 2017! The year is over, we're all bundled up in the tepid cold of this global warming reality playing whatever we decided to get done over holiday break, and that means it's time for us to bring to you the lengthy catalogue of games we played in this hell year of two thousand seventeen. In this THREE (3) [III] hour podcast we have an array of music for you to enjoy during this down week between observed days off. We'll also run down our favorite and least favorite games played in this year, along with some special guests. A few notes: you can find our episode for the music from games we played for the first three months of the year on Abnormal Mapping 65. The Hellblade article we reference in this episode can be found here. Also, to enjoy this episode in higher quality than our hosting can support, please consider listening to it on YouTube if you're sensitive to that sort of thing! As always you can find Abnormal Mapping on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play! To support our shows, suggest topics, and vote on games, please check out our Patreon. Any amount of support helps a ton! Special guests this episode include Jen Unkle, Nate Ewert-Krocker, Ryan Persaud, Allen Ibrahim, Amr Al-Aaser, and Heather Alexandra. Big thank you to everyone, see you in 2018! The Tracks in This Episode, In Order!Die House by Evan Skolnick from Cuphead Level Complete! by Robert Prince from Wolfenstein 3D Quantum Immortality by John Halpart from Heat Signature High Above the Land by Jake Kaufman from Shovel Knight Mermaid Falls by Jake Kaufman from Shantae: Half Genie Hero Soul Sanctum by Christopher Larkin from Hollow Knight See You by Saves the Day from Forza Horizon 3 Lewis' Coronation - Palace by Jeff Russo from What Remains of Edith Finch And the Earth Did Not Yet Bear A Name by Austin Wintory from ABZU Weird Autumn by Alec Holowka from Night in the Woods Main Theme by Chris Remo from Tacoma Game Character Course Selection by Takushi Hiyamuta from Neo Turf Masters Peach's Castle by Grant Kirkhope from Mario and Rabbids: Kingdom Battle Side Crawler Dance by Shinichi Sakamoto and Michael Geyre from Wonder Girl: The Dragon's Trap Windy Hill Zone 1 by Tomoya Ohtani and Takahito Eguchi from Sonic Lost World Fun Puyo Puyo Hell! by Hideki Abe from Puyo Puyo Tetris Bob-omb Battlefield by Koji Kondo from Super Mario 64 Replay Music 5 by Stuart Ross from Dirt Rally Friends by Hyper Potions from Sonic Mania Honeylune Ridge: Escape by Naoto Kubo and Shiho Fujii from Super Mario Odyssey | |||
| 31 Jan 2018 | Abnormal Mapping 73: Shadow of the Colossus | ||
Abnormal Mapping returns in 2018 with our first Patron-guested episode as we rise to our most massive challenge yet—the iconic Shadow of the Colossus! Em's re-evaluation of a long-disliked game and Jackson's resolve to place an old game in context go head to head as we talk about horses, monsters, remakes, and just how far games have come since 2005. This episode is as wild as any giant beast, and we're just as diligent as any sword boy trying to save a lady. A big thank you to Sam Howitt for suggesting we play this game. You can find Sam on twitter at @SamuelHowitt or on his podcast Myth & Kin! If you would like to guest on our Podcast or just generally support the show please consider pledging to keep our lights on and our bellies full on Patreon! Thank you to everyone who continues to help us make shows at any level. Things Discussed: Halo, The Witcher, book shops, Guardian Heroes, Gunstar Super Heroes, GBA Flash Carts, Austin Walker's review of Monster Hunter World, Shadow of the Colossus, Heather Alexandra's Shadow of the Colossus Let's Play, the Legend of Zelda art Em mentions, the HD Shadow of the Colossus remake for PS4, the Boss Fight Book's Shadow of the Colossus book by Nick Suttner, video of someone climbing up to the secret garden This Month's Game Club: Shadow of the Colossus Next Month's Game Club: Fire Emblem: Awakening Music This Episode | |||
| 26 Feb 2018 | Abnormal Mapping 74: Fire Emblem: Awakening | ||
Abnormal Mapping is back with a special guest and a long-lived game stricken from Em's backlog forever as Six Dettmar joins us to talk about marriage, weapon triangles, permadeath and more as we explore the strange turn of events that is Fire Emblem: Awakening! With Jackson gone, we get deep in the weeds on fantasy nonsense, anime tropes, and how sometimes what makes a game popular is really hard to pin down. Six can be found co-hosting Novel Not New and on Scanline Media. Ver twitter is @sixdettmar. If you would like to guest on our Podcast or just generally support the show please consider pledging to keep our lights on and our bellies full on Patreon! Thank you to everyone who continues to help us make shows at any level. Abnormal Mapping can, as always, be found on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play! Things Discussed: Heat Signature, Bayonetta 2, Fire Emblem Awakening, the Iwata Asks about FE:A, non-spoilery talk about Fire Emblem Fates This Month's Game Club: Fire Emblem: Awakening Next Month's Game Club: Wario Land 3 Music This Episode | |||
| 29 Mar 2018 | Abnormal Mapping 75: Wario Land 3 | ||
Abnormal Mapping returns with a dive into the history of Nintendo's favorite greed magnate, a man of refined tastes and great financial need, the second most handsome foil in all of Video Games, Wario! We're joined by a special guest today to discuss non-linearity, the weirdness of a game without death, and just how cool the Game Boy Color aesthetic can be. Join us, on this most lusty adventure! Crystal can be found hosting their Zelda lore podcast, The Book of Mudora, and you can follow them on twitter @ArcaneCrystal If you would like to guest on our Podcast or just generally support the show please consider pledging to keep our lights on and our bellies full on Patreon! Thank you to everyone who continues to help us make shows at any level. Abnormal Mapping can, as always, be found on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play! Things Discussed: Metal Gear Survive, The Last Guardian, Part Time UFO, Wario Land 3 This Month's Game Club: Wario Land 3 Next Month's Game Club: The Room: Old Sins and The Floor is Jelly Music This Episode | |||
| 27 Apr 2018 | Abnormal Mapping 76: The Room: Old Sins and The Floor Is Jelly | ||
We might never miss a month but it feels like it's been a thousand years since we've podcasted given how fast the world goes and the strange recording schedule of our seventy sixth episode. Please join us for two hours split across an entire month as we reflect on the games we've played, the games we wish we were playing, and how nothing will ever actually change in this space. Ever. If you would like to guest on our Podcast or just generally support the show please consider pledging to keep our lights on and our bellies full on Patreon! Thank you to everyone who continues to help us make shows at any level. Abnormal Mapping can, as always, be found on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play! Things Discussed: God of War, Labo, The Room: Old Sins, Myst, The Floor is Jelly, Celeste, The Company of Myself, Where is my Heart?, the Idle Thumbs podcast Jackson cites is incorrect but I don't have a better idea which podcast it was sorry, Vostok Inc., walking simulators, Campo Santo and Idle Thumbs This Month's Game Club: The Room: Old Sins and The Floor is Jelly Next Month's Game Club: Murdered: Soul Suspect Music This Episode | |||
| 31 May 2018 | Abnormal Mapping 77: Murdered Soul Suspect | 01:01:17 | |
Another month comes to a close and we're here to bring you another episode of the hit video game podcast: Abnormal Mapping! This time we're looking at Murdered: Soul Suspect, arguably the final big B-Game of the 360 era, the last gasp of a now forgotten time. But is it any good? Does it hold up in 2018? What is it? These questions and more will be answered within. It's a good show! This month is brought to you by patreon subscriber Mike Cosimano, who used their reward to make us play this game. If you would like to guest on our Podcast or just generally support the show please consider pledging to keep our lights on and our bellies full on Patreon! Thank you to everyone who continues to help us make shows at any level. Abnormal Mapping can, as always, be found on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play! Things Discussed: Castlevania II, Castlevania III, Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, Assassin's Creed: Origins, Murdered: Soul Suspect This Month's Game Club: Murdered: Soul Suspect Next Month's Game Club: Tacoma Music This Episode | |||
| 15 Jun 2018 | Abnormal Mapping 78: Tacoma | ||
It is the ides, and we are bringing you a special early Abnormal Mapping! We've got our mid-year soundtrack episode coming out at the end of June, so today we're releasing our June Game Club: a discussion about Fullbright's latest game, Tacoma. We talk corporate dystopias, walking simulators, character interaction and gush about how impressive the central conversation playback mechanic is. It's so good to play a truly great video game again. Abnormal Mapping can, as always, be found on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play! Things Discussed: Everybody's Tennis, Bound, Tacoma, Gone Home, Walking Simulators This Month's Game Club: Tacoma Next Month's Game Club: Final Fantasy X-2 Music This Episode | |||
| 29 Jun 2018 | Abnormal Mapping 79: The 2018 Hot Times Hot Tunes Playlist | ||
Welcome to our summer soundtrack episode! It's been six months since game of the year, so it's time to check in with all the music of all the games we've played in this hell year of 2018 so far. Please enjoy two hours of tunes! We are, as always, a patreon supported show. Go to patreon.com/abnormalmapping to help us keep making podcasts .Thank you. Majula by Motoi Sakuraba & Yuka Kitamura from Dark Souls II Right There, Ride On by Hideki Naganuma and Teruhiko Nakagawa from Sonic Rush Hall of Heroes by Ian Campbell from Bleed The Handed Down Name by Yuzo Koshiro from Etrian Odyssey V Special World 8 by Takeshi Hama from Super Mario 3D Land Rose and Daughters by Halina Heron from A Mortician's Tale A Spartan Rises by Martin O'Donnell & Michael Salvatori from Halo 2 Anniversary Remix 10 feat. Daisy by unknown Nintendo composer from Super Mario Run Pushing Onwards by Magnus Palsson from VVVVVV Fins & Fiddles (Bottom Feeders) by Toru Minegishi, Ryo Nagamatsu, Shiho Fujii from Splatoon 2 | |||
| 31 Jul 2018 | Abnormal Mapping 80: Final Fantasy X-2 | ||
We enter our eighth decade of podcasts by checking back in on our friends in Spira two years after Sin was defeated and the day was saved. What has happened to the world? How has everyone carried on outside the spectre of death? And what, exactly, is up with Nooj's everything? All this and more as the Gullwings take to the skies and we take to our walkthroughs of the most complex Final Fantasy yet! Things Discussed: Things Discussed: Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy, Mario Tennis Aces, Pocket Rumble, Street Fighter vs Mortal Kombat, Virtua Fighter, Advent Children If you would like to guest on our Podcast or just generally support the show please consider pledging to keep our lights on and our bellies full on Patreon! Thank you to everyone who continues to help us make shows at any level. Abnormal Mapping can, as always, be found on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play! This Month's Game: Final Fantasy X-2 Next Month's Game: Ape Escape 2 Music This Episde | |||
| 30 Aug 2018 | Abnormal Mapping 81: Ape Escape 2 | ||
Abnormal Mapping returns with a voyage to the land of primates as we enjoy the machinations of dual shocks, world domination, and 3D platforming. Join us as we are surprised by one of our blind spots and play one of the best games we've played on this podcast! This episode was brought to you by Matt McCoolski, thanks to his support on Patreon. If you would like to support us please visit patreon.com/abnormalmapping and you too can have an episode of us playing whatever you want! If you want to send us comments or questions, shoot us an email at podcast@abnormalmapping.com! Things Discussed: God of War, Street Fighter V, Dragonball FighterZ, Jump Force, Fullmetal Alchemist, Ape Escape 2, Ratchet & Clank This Month's Game Club: Next Month's Game Club: Music This Episode | |||
| 28 Sep 2018 | Abnormal Mapping 82: Assault on Dark Athena | 01:02:24 | |
We are joined once again by our friend Crystal (@ArcaneCrystal) to bring you the hardest hitting takes on the games of one Richard B. Riddick, the world's deadliest Digimon Protagonist. This episode was brought to you by Crystal, thanks to her support on Patreon. If you would like to support us please visit patreon.com/abnormalmapping and you too can have an episode of us playing whatever you want! And you too can guest! If you want to send us comments or questions, shoot us an email at podcast@abnormalmapping.com! Things Discussed: Mass Effect, Kingdom Hearts, Hollow Knight, The Chronicles Of Riddick: Escape from Buthcer Bay & Assault on Dark Athena, Doom 3, Dishonored This Month's Game Club: The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena Next Month's Game Club: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines Music This Episode | |||
| 30 Oct 2018 | Abnormal Mapping 83: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines | 01:35:10 | |
Joined by Aisling (@heartjanedoe), we take a journey to the ancient times of the mid 2000s, when the only thing cooler than tank-tops was the movie Blade II. Some say this remains true to this day. This episode was brought to you by Aisling Quinn, thanks to her support on Patreon. If you would like to support us please visit patreon.com/abnormalmapping and you too can guest on an episode of us playing whatever you want! If you want to send us comments or questions, shoot us an email at podcast@abnormalmapping.com! Things Discussed: Magic Online, Hollow Knight, Crayola Scoot, Vampire; The Masquerade - Bloodlines, The AAA Industry Through The Years This Month's Game Club: Next Month's Game Club: Music This Episode | |||
| 30 Nov 2018 | Abnormal Mapping 84: Nina Freeman Gameography | ||
For our latest patreon request, we bring back our old Gameography format and take a look at fifteen games from game maker Nina Freeman. Her most famous game is Cibele but we’ve played all of the avaliable single player games and are here to have a discussion about them. They’re really good and interesting and while we don’t do these styles of episode much anymore, it was an incredibly rewarding experience! I hope you enjoy our discussion. This episode was brought to you by Olivia Zircon (@OliviaZircon), thanks to her support on Patreon. If you would like to support us please visit patreon.com/abnormalmapping and you too can take control of an episode! If you want to send us comments or questions, shoot us an email at podcast@abnormalmapping.com! The Games Covered: Beach Date Things Discussed: Nina Freeman Games This Month's Game Club: Next Month's Game Club: Music This Episode | |||
| 28 Dec 2018 | Abnormal Mapping 85: The 2018 Game of the Year Variety Show | ||
We’re finally here at the end of the longest year in the history of long, bad years. We barely played any games this year, so pulling together our favorite songs was a mighty task, but we weren’t going to let you walk away empty-handed. Also, let’s be real, it’s way harder to find ten good games than games with good music. Good game music is easy. You here me, Capcom?? EASY! THERE’S NO EXCUSE FOR MEGA MAN TO SOUND LIKE THIS! *ahem* Please enjoy these hours of music and best of lists, and I hope everyone has a great end to the year from hell. May the hell be lessened and the games better in 2019. Thanks everyone, for everything. A few notes: you can find our episode for the music from games we played for the first six months of the year on Abnormal Mapping 79. Also, to enjoy this episode in higher quality than our hosting can support, please consider listening to it on YouTube if you're sensitive to that sort of thing! As always you can find Abnormal Mapping on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play! All of our shows, and this entire network, is Patreon supported! Please consider pledging to keep Abnormal Mapping going into 2019! Thank you so much! THE TRACKS IN THIS EPISODE, IN ORDER! Prelude by Hidenori Maezawa from Castlevania III Soldiers of the Sea by Lucas Pope from Return of the Obra Dinn Garbage Day by Daniel Koestner & Ben Esposito from Donut County House Building Theme by Woody Jackson from Red Dead Redemption 2 Simple and Clean by Utada Hikaru from Kingdom Hearts Pale Court by Christopher Larkin from Hollow Knight Minsky Dub by Dan Le Sac from Subsurface Circular Nate’s Theme 4.0 by Henry Jackman from Uncharted 4 Snowdin Town by Toby Fox from Undertale Floating Tower by Yoko Osaka from Crystalis Reprise Medley by Gavin Allen from The Mummy: Demastered Pilots by Goldfrapp from Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines Next Chapter by Noboru Motoh from Tetris Effect Lavender Town by Junichi Masuda from Pokemon Red Katamari on the Wings by Yuu Miyake, Yoshihito Yano from Katamari Forever | |||
| 25 Jan 2019 | Abnormal Mapping 86: Final Fantasy XII | ||
After five years and many hundreds of hours our long Final Fantasy adventure is at an end as we pry open the doors on one of the most divisive games in the history of the franchise. What do we find in the land of Ivalice, aside from crystals and swords to cut the crystals with? How do we feel about Vaan in 2019? Is the format of an MMO truly a good way to play a single player game? We’re going to find out! And then, we’re going to rate all the Final Fantasy we’ve played on Abnormal Mapping, and go out in style! If you would like to support us please visit patreon.com/abnormalmapping for exclusive podcasts, writing, and even opportunities to be on an episode as a guest! If you want to send us comments or questions, shoot us an email at podcast@abnormalmapping.com! Things Discussed: Kingdom Hearts (the series), Crash Bandicoot, Sonic Heroes, Ys VII, Final Fantasy XII, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Final Fantasy X and X-2, Final Fantasy XIII This Month's Game Club: Next Month's Game Club: Music This Episode | |||
| 08 Feb 2019 | Abnormal Mapping 87: Super Mario Galaxy 2 | ||
If you can believe it, it’s been six years of doing Abnormal Mapping and we’ve not once done an episode on a Mario platformer despite Jackson literally playing every single one since we started the podcast. That ends now as we both enjoy the last unplayed Mario for each of us and dip into the ups and downs of the Wii classic??? Mario Galaxy 2! We put our foot down about Yoshi, complain about the music, wax nostalgic for wiimotes, and generally have a complicated time. As usual! Please, come join us, and welcome to the galaxy! If you would like to support us please visit patreon.com/abnormalmapping for exclusive podcasts, writing, and even opportunities to be on an episode as a guest! If you want to send us comments or questions, shoot us an email at podcast@abnormalmapping.com! Things Discussed: our distinct lack of Kingdom Hearts content, Ys Seven, .Hack ignorance, Downwell, Mario games (broadly), Super Mario Galaxy 2, Super Mario Odyssey This Month's Game Club: Next Month's Game Club: Music This Episode | |||
| 28 Feb 2019 | Abnormal Mapping 88: Killer7 | ||
Joined once again by special guest Aisling (@heartjanedoe), we take a journey into the first strange game Em ever played and one of the cult classics of the GameCube and Goichi Suda’s gameography with Killer7. Just how strange is a game known for being strange in 2019? What does it say about the dead ends of shooter and adventure game design? Just who is Emil Parkreiner? We find out today! This episode was brought to you by Aisling Quinn, thanks to her support on Patreon. If you would like to support us please visit patreon.com/abnormalmapping and you too can guest on an episode of us playing whatever you want! If you want to send us comments or questions, shoot us an email at podcast@abnormalmapping.com! Things Discussed: Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Kingdom Hearts 3, Spyro the Dragon, Killer7, Resident Evil, Resident Evil 4, Binary Domain, Dead Space, light gun games This Month's Game Club: Next Month's Game Club: Music This Episode | |||
| 29 Mar 2019 | Abnormal Mapping 89: Chrono Trigger | ||
From the mists of time we finally move on from Final Fantasy to other classic JRPGs as we play everyone’s favorite time travel adventure Chrono Trigger. What delights do we find in the ATB 2.0? How do we feel about silent protagonists in 2019? What makes a game beloved and what makes an old game worth revisiting if one was to go back? All time compresses into an hour and a half of adventure in this, the episode with (if nothing else) the really really good music. If you would like to support us please visit patreon.com/abnormalmapping for exclusive podcasts, writing, and even opportunities to be on an episode as a guest! If you want to send us comments or questions, shoot us an email at podcast@abnormalmapping.com! Things Discussed: Stadia, breaking up tech companies, Apple games, the modern video game crash, Ouya, Phantasy Star, Em's Dark Souls 2 LP, Souls and Soulslikes, Chrono Trigger This Month's Game Club: Next Month's Game Club: Music This Episode | |||
| 11 Apr 2019 | Abnormal Mapping 90: Titanfall 2 | ||
What does it mean to get into a robot? What does it mean when that robot is cool, when juxtaposed against war being hell? What does any of this mean when you do it all in a South African accent? We open the chamber of guf as we leap across the mighty gulfs between intent and execution as we talk about everyone’s favorite neglected mech shooter, Titanfall 2! If you would like to support us please visit patreon.com/abnormalmapping for exclusive podcasts, writing, and even opportunities to be on an episode as a guest! If you want to send us comments or questions, shoot us an email at podcast@abnormalmapping.com! Things Discussed: Ninja Gaiden, Ninja Gaiden 2, Dark Souls, Spyro the Dragon, Titanfall 2, Mirror's Edge, Gemini: Heroes Reborn, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Mobile Suit Gundam This Month's Game Club: Next Month's Game Club: Music This Episode | |||
| 30 Apr 2019 | Abnormal Mapping 91: Devil May Cry 3 | ||
We return to the franchise that has haunted us since the very inception of Abnormal Mapping as we gear up with everyone’s loudmouth demon hunter for the first time, for the last(???) time as we climb the tower of the supposed best game in the franchise, Devil May Cry 3! Do we agree with the hype? Or is Dante a character who gets better with age? Find out! If you would like to support us please visit patreon.com/abnormalmapping for exclusive podcasts, writing, and even opportunities to be on an episode as a guest! If you want to send us comments or questions, shoot us an email at podcast@abnormalmapping.com! Things Discussed: Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, Yoshi's Crafted World, Stickman Hook, Sudoku Relax, Devil May Cry 3, Devil May Cry 1 & 2, Bayonetta, Resident Evil This Month's Game Club: Next Month's Game Club: Music This Episode | |||
| 31 May 2019 | Abnormal Mapping 92: Einhander | ||
A short but intense episode this week as we strike from the moon to bring you a slightly different vision of ‘what if Gundam but video games that can’t contain it’ than Titanfall 2 gave us two months back. We’re going into our PSX demo disc favs and pulling up Square’s attempt at a flashy shooting game—Einhander! This is our first shmup/shooter, and we still can’t figure out what to call this genre, but we do know what to call Einhander: a video game that we have Opinions about. Join us as we journey to the earth and back! If you would like to support us please visit patreon.com/abnormalmapping for exclusive podcasts, writing, and even opportunities to be on an episode as a guest! If you want to send us comments or questions, shoot us an email at podcast@abnormalmapping.com! Things Discussed: Hades, Inazuma 11, Final Fantasy VII, Sigil, Einhander, Playdate This Month's Game Club: Next Month's Game Club: Music This Episode | |||
| 28 Jun 2019 | Abnormal Mapping 93: Deception IV and Pikuniku | ||
Summer is in full swing and we’re feeling the heat as we struggle to muster the energy for games in our broken brains and post-E3 stupor. That said, we’re able to run down two fun things that are both worthy of your time in opposite ways: the slow joy of cartoon murder and the soft afternoon with some new round friends! It’s the two genders of gaming represented in one episode! If you would like to support us please visit patreon.com/abnormalmapping for exclusive podcasts, writing, and even opportunities to be on an episode as a guest! If you want to send us comments or questions, shoot us an email at podcast@abnormalmapping.com! Things Discussed: E3, Hollow Knight Silksong, Jackson's extremely good Mario play, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Xenoblade Chronicles, Deception IV, Pikuniku, Donut County (boo), our craving for questions, open world games?, Repertory Screenings (please listen to it!), Your Uncle's Beach House (also please listen to it!) This Month's Game Club: Next Month's Game Club: Music This Episode | |||
