Furidashi Game Design Academy
141 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago - ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsA podcast on gaming and video game design from both practical and academic perspectives.
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Episodes
28. Of Oreos and Call of Duty
July 26, 2021 05:01 - 37 minutes - 29.9 MBLauryn and Nicholas explain why AAA game studios operate the way they do and why the market as a whole causes them to gravitate toward producing franchises and otherwise very similar games. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/uahsenaa
Chillrant 10 - No Such Thing As Indie Games?
July 22, 2021 15:35 - 2 minutes - 2.49 MBNicholas wonders whether, given the way the market works now, if it even makes sense to make a distinction between indie developers and major studios. Unlock the full episode for $5 a month on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/uahsenaa I Don't See the Branches, I See the Leaves by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://c...
Chillrant 10 - No Such Thing As Indie Games? (Teaser)
July 22, 2021 15:35 - 2 minutes - 2.49 MBNicholas wonders whether, given the way the market works now, if it even makes sense to make a distinction between indie developers and major studios. Unlock the full episode for $5 a month on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/uahsenaa I Don't See the Branches, I See the Leaves by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://c...
AggressiveRant - Stadia Ruins Game Design
July 19, 2021 05:01 - 25 minutes - 27.8 MBNormally, we go off on our little tangents to some relaxing beats, but this week Lauryn really had to get something off her chest. On the docket: why Google Stadia's recently announced revenue sharing model is indicative of so many problems in contemporary game design. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/academicality
27. Creative Direction and Auteur Theory (Teaser)
July 12, 2021 05:01 - 2 minutes - 1.53 MBLauryn and Nicholas try to explain the how's and why's of video game production in terms of auteur theory, where, despite being made by an army of gamedevs, the games themselves seem to have an "authorial" vision. Unlock the full episode for $5 a month on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/uahsenaa
26. Many Roads to Gamedev w/ Masao Kobayashi
July 05, 2021 04:53 - 35 minutes - 29.2 MBWe brought Masao Kobayashi on for a more industry focused episode, diving into the differences between the video games industry in the US, Canada, and Japan. Also starring: work/life balance and how weather makes you work better? Masao: https://twitter.com/megamasao Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/uahsenaa
25. We [Don't] Hate Final Fantasy X-2
June 28, 2021 05:01 - 2 minutes - 1.56 MBLauryn and Nicholas have a perfectly civil argument about what makes Final Fantasy X-2 so awful and/or amazing. Unlock the full episode for $5 a month on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/uahsenaa
24. Centering Writing in Final Fantasy 14
June 21, 2021 05:01 - 35 minutes - 28.8 MBWhat started out as an easy recording about our mutual love of Final Fantasy XIV turned into an extensive meditation on narrative wrapped systems and the importance of having clear narrative through lines between expansions of long-running games. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/uahsenaa
23. Level Design II - Revealing Mechanics (Teaser)
June 14, 2021 05:01 - 2 minutes - 1.4 MBLauryn and Nicholas go in depth with some of their favorite levels, past and present, to explore how level design can be used as a tool to show you the underlying systems in a game that normally stay hidden. Unlock the full episode for $5 a month on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/uahsenaa
22. Level Design I - Foundations
June 07, 2021 05:01 - 36 minutes - 28.1 MBWe invite Lauryn on as a special guest to talk about the fundamentals of level design, in particular, the "why" underlying a particular map or zone. Also starring: hapless level designer and hapless level designer's boss. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/uahsenaa
21. Game as Platform (Teaser)
May 31, 2021 05:01 - 2 minutes - 1.5 MBLauryn and Nicholas discuss how the distinction between game and platform is not a hard and fast one with particular reference to Skyrim, Minecraft, and... Lego? Unlock the full episode for $5 a month on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/uahsenaa
20. What Constitutes a Game?
May 24, 2021 05:01 - 37 minutes - 29.9 MBIn light of the recent Epic vs. Apple case, Lauryn and Nicholas talk about the right and wrong ways to ask the question, "what is a game?" Link to WarioWare/Nintendo episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/14-franchise-philosophy/id1533677626?i=1000511200293 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/uahsenaa
19. Camera, Character, Controls (Teaser)
May 17, 2021 05:01 - 2 minutes - 2.47 MBLauryn explains the "three C's" of game design. For more on this topic and to unlock our other Patreon episodes, go to https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/uahsenaa
18. Video Game Logic
May 10, 2021 05:01 - 33 minutes - 26.6 MBLauryn and Nicholas talk about the concept of "video game logic" as it appears in Sakurazaka Hiroshi's All You Need is Kill and the 2014 film Edge of Tomorrow. Also on the docket: how the design of a game requires you as the player to "plug into it." Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/uahsenaa
Chillrant 8 - Procedurally Generated Suffering
May 03, 2021 05:01 - 27 minutes - 26.9 MBNicholas coming back from hiatus with a solo pod on Iris and the Giant and how it uses procedurally generated levels as an allegory for personal suffering. Also starring the most trivial Returnal spoilers imaginable. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/uahsenaa
17. Dungeons and Railroads
March 29, 2021 11:00 - 42 minutes - 31.2 MBLauryn and Nicholas take a look at being a game master/DM and what lessons it holds for how to understand a game designer's relationship between what they do and the kinds of players they're trying to cultivate. Also on the docket: not killing your players' characters. Follow us on Twitter: The Pod: http://www.twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: http://www.twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: http://www.twitter.com/uahsenaa
16. Call of Duty: Breaking Dawn
March 23, 2021 02:53 - 37 minutes - 28 MBLauren explains why the theory of characterization underlying Call of Duty is the same as the Twilight novels, and Nicholas explains why it's hard to remain critical when you're emotionally attached to thing you criticize. Follow us on Twitter: The Pod: http://www.twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: http://www.twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: http://www.twitter.com/uahsenaa
Chillrant 7 - Takeshi & Hiroshi
March 15, 2021 11:00 - 24 minutes - 24.9 MBNicholas takes an uneasy walk through his own feels to discuss Oink Games' Takeshi and Hiroshi. Also on the docket: how games can improve players, so players can improve gamedevs, and hapless level designer becomes more than human. Follow us on Twitter: The Pod: http://www.twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: http://www.twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: http://www.twitter.com/uahsenaa
15. Persona 5 Animus
March 08, 2021 06:00 - 39 minutes - 29.1 MBLauryn and Nicholas take a deep dive into Persona 5 Strikers and discuss what happens as games branch out from their original designs and the problems that crop up once they cross platforms. Also starring: egg tarts and hapless level designer gets a promotion! Follow us on Twitter: The Pod: http://www.twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: http://www.twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: http://www.twitter.com/uahsenaa
14. Franchise Philosophy
March 01, 2021 06:00 - 34 minutes - 25.6 MBLauryn and Nicholas follow-up on Assassin's Creed and talk about why the Mario franchise succeeds in making wildly different kinds of games fall under one umbrella where other game franchises do not. Also starring: Sam & Max and the Nintendo Seal of Approval! Follow us on Twitter: The Pod: http://www.twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: http://www.twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: http://www.twitter.com/uahsenaa
13. Rewarding Game Design
February 22, 2021 06:00 - 38 minutes - 27.9 MBLauryn and Nicholas follow up their gamification episode with a deep dive into how games evolved into doing loot grinds and the games that give some hope that we're moving away from that. Also starring: Halloween in Animal Crossing and why Nicholas wants to conquer the world. Follow us on Twitter! The Pod: http://www.twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: http://www.twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: http://www.twitter.com/uahsenaa
12. Gamification Doesn't Work
February 15, 2021 06:00 - 37 minutes - 27.2 MBLauryn and Nicholas discuss gamification, why people think it works but in the long run ends up either being dissatisfying or luring players into tedious grinds. Also starring: Habitica and teaching a ten-year-old to multiply fractions. Follow us on Twitter! The Pod: http://www.twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: http://www.twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: http://www.twitter.com/uahsenaa
11. Controls, Controls! You Must Learn Controls!
February 08, 2021 06:00 - 49 minutes - 36.5 MBLauryn and Nicholas talk about the question of accessibility in games and how our physical nature (and the variance therein) contributes to our preconceptions about what game controls should or should not be. Also starring: Joust and epigenetics! Follow us on Twitter! The Pod: http://www.twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: http://www.twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: http://www.twitter.com/uahsenaa
10. Free to Role Play
February 01, 2021 06:00 - 47 minutes - 34.6 MBLauryn and Nicholas talk about how life maps onto role playing games and how, perversely, role playing games map onto life. Also starring: Japanese web dramas and Fortnite? Follow us on Twitter! The Pod: http://www.twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: http://www.twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: http://www.twitter.com/uahsenaa
Chillrant 6 - No More Assassin's Creed
January 31, 2021 21:14 - 18 minutes - 16.9 MBLauryn questions whether a series can maintain its identity if, over time, the games themselves change so much. Even if it's a great game, why keep calling it Assassin's Creed? Follow us on Twitter! The Pod: http://www.twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: http://www.twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: http://www.twitter.com/uahsenaa
9. You're Not a Paper Doll
January 25, 2021 12:00 - 29 minutes - 23.2 MBLauryn and Nicholas continue their conversation about character choice in RPGs and why total freedom of character choice can often feel unsatisfying.
8. There's No Such Thing as a JRPG
January 18, 2021 12:00 - 35 minutes - 27.2 MBLauryn and Nicholas look at the early history of RPGs and role-playing game design to talk about why the distinction between "Western" and "Japanese" RPGs is more fluid than you may think. Also starring: the "golden age" of 80s PC RPG and adventure games.
7. YulePunk 2077
December 21, 2020 12:00 - 1 hour - 56.4 MBIn this special Christmas episode, Lauryn and Nicholas talk Cyberpunk 2077 and the importance or oddness of the holiday season when it comes to video game releases. Also on the docket: Christmas in Japan and why it may or may not be better than Christmas everywhere else.
Chillrant 5 - The Cult of Immersion
December 14, 2020 12:00 - 28 minutes - 24 MBNo solo rant this week--Lauryn joins Nicholas to talk about the person the games industry made her and how that conflicts with the person the games industry should need her to be. Also on the docket: Ghost of Tsushima and finding the human element.
6. Hell is Other Games
December 07, 2020 12:00 - 1 hour - 48.6 MBThis week Lauryn and Nicholas hand in the first draft of their MA thesis on Super Giant's Hades. Is the game anti-immersion? Or does it, by maintaining the pretense of anti-immersion, present an even more immersive experience? What even is immersion? Find out this week! Also starring: Bertolt Brecht and alienation effects!
Chillrant 4 - Free Indirect Camera
November 30, 2020 12:00 - 27 minutes - 26.1 MBRelax to some chill beats, while Nicholas regales you with how Jane Austen's Persuasion is just like Silent Hill 2 and why Baldur's Gate 3 seems to be two kinds of game fighting against each other. Also on the docket: smooth voiced narrators and talking brains.
5. Third Person Pluralism
November 23, 2020 12:00 - 1 hour - 52.6 MBLauryn and Nicholas have a long think about what makes the 3rd person camera not quite work in Baldur's Gate 3, why it does work in Hades, and third person perspective mix roleplaying and tactical gameplay elements. Also starring: hapless level designer's cool best friend and many many sighs.
Chillrant 3 - Gripes of Tsushima
November 16, 2020 12:00 - 27 minutes - 31.2 MBNicholas puts on his Japanese scholar's bonnet for a chill half hour of wondering why you'd set a game in a particular time and place but then not use any of the cultural elements typical of that period. Also on the docket: hack and slash games and why samurai don't always behave "honorably."
4. Crunchy Roles
November 09, 2020 12:00 - 1 hour - 63.6 MBWith the recent news of Cyberpunk 2077 being delayed yet again, Lauryn and Nicholas talk crunch, burnout, and how to begin to deal with the chronic labor issues that plague the video game industry. Also discussed: hapless level designers and how you actually build diversity.
Chillrant 2 - Camera Aesthetics, or Final Fantasy 7 Remolded
November 02, 2020 12:00 - 26 minutes - 22.5 MBNicholas opines on Final Fantasy 7 and how the feel of the original seems to be missing from the recent remake. Also discussed: third person camera, the virtues of cinematic pacing, and teaching the player the pleasures of anticipation.
3. Gaming Player Psychology
October 26, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 55.4 MBIn this continuation episode from their previous discussion on MMO history and design, Lauryn and Nicholas delve into applications of player psychology research as embodied in Bartle's taxonomy of player types and VandenBerghe's "Big 5." All that and a lengthy digression on social dynamics in Japanese education and localization!
Chillrant 1 - Granularity
October 19, 2020 11:00 - 29 minutes - 25.3 MBNicholas waxes nostalgic over the X-wing and TIE Fighter games as a way to get into the question of granularity in gameplay.
2. The MMO Social Club
October 12, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 63.1 MBLauryn and Nicholas wax melancholic while talking about MMOs and the accidental invention of seemingly undefinable social relationships in online gaming.
The MMO Social Club
October 12, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 63.1 MBLauryn and Nicholas wax melancholic while talking about MMOs and the accidental invention of seemingly undefinable social relationships in online gaming.
Avoiding the Apocalypse
September 28, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 77.7 MBIn this first episode Lauryn and Nicholas discuss 2007's Bioshock, ludonarrative dissonance, and what it means to make choices in games with real moral consequence. All this, as the world seems to be falling apart around us.
1. Avoiding the Apocalypse
September 28, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 77.7 MBIn this first episode Lauryn and Nicholas discuss 2007's Bioshock, ludonarrative dissonance, and what it means to make choices in games with real moral consequence. All this, as the world seems to be falling apart around us.