Scholars At Play
29 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 months ago - ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsScholars At Play is a podcast dedicated to the critical discussion of video games and their place in society and the academy.
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Episodes
Two Player Theory - 001 - Whose Tears? Whose Kingdom? (Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom)
April 18, 2024 17:14 - 1 hour - 83.5 MBFeed Drop!! In this new podcast, Derek, Zach, and friends talk through games and media, together. Subscribe to Two Player Theory Podbean: https://www.podbean.com/pu/pbblog-n3ieq-11a3b2e Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0e6LX1a3MmR7nJkza5Pi49?si=1e7648dd3ca74a92 In this first episode, we talk about Zelda's newest open-world game, Tears of the Kingdom, and what it's themes and narrative mean for us, right now.
Episode 17 - Simulator Games
June 28, 2021 17:25 - 1 hour - 117 MBDerek and Kyle sit down to talk about Derek's recently-completed dissertation "The Work of Nonfiction: Simulator Games in Germany." Derek talks about the history of simulator games, the specific simulators he studies, and what we can learn from games all about machines and work. Timestamps 0:00 - Intro 4:11 - Theory, text, and context in research 8:30 - Origins of the project and how it developed, brief history of simulator games 20:12 - Theories and methods of the project 37:33 - Examples o...
Feed Drop: Dodging Hollow - Ep 1
October 22, 2020 18:30 - 41 minutes - 47.5 MBSubscribe to Dodging Hollow on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/dodging-hollow Edited intro music is "Day Bird" by Broke for Free, Creative Commons by attribution. Check out their music here: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Directionless_EP
WIYS 15 May 2020 - Animal Crossing, Final Fantasy, and Print n' Plays
June 08, 2020 16:16 - 1 hour - 124 MBThe scholars may be physically distant, but that won't stop them from talking about all their quarantine gaming! Join us for an EXTRA long "What's In You System" where we talk about how our gaming has changed during the ongoing pandemic. ----------- Games Discussed: Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Animal Crossing, Link Between Worlds, Euro Truck Simulator 2, Deep Space D6 ----------- Hosts: Derek Price: twitter.com/digital_derek Terrell Taylor: twitter.com/BlackSocrates Kyle ...
Episode 16 - Bloodborne and the Politics of Failure
December 31, 2019 17:53 - 1 hour - 113 MB-------------- Terrell leads Kyle and Derek on an exploration of the politics of failure and FromSoftware's Bloodborne (2015). They reflect on their own experiences with this challenging game and discuss how the game intersects with narratives of success and failure from different perspectives. Is the imperative to "git gud," common among hardcore fans of FromSoftware's games, an exclusionary, bootstrapping narrative all about personal success, or can we imagine a different politics (of succe...
Episode 15 - Teaching History with Games (Live at "Learning at Play")
November 20, 2019 00:23 - 52 minutes - 99.9 MB-------------- Derek, Kyle, Curtis, and Sabeen have a conversation about the opportunities and challenges in using digital games to teach history. This episode was recorded live at "Learning at Play," a 1-day symposium on games for learning and social change which took place at Vanderbilt on 8 November 2019. For more on the event, see: https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/play/ -------------- Objects Discussed Games - Assassin’s Creed 2 (Ubisoft Montreal, 2009) - Attentat 1942 (Charles University, 201...
Episode 14 - Metagaming
May 27, 2019 14:29 - 1 hour - 95.7 MBEpisode 14 - Metagaming -------------- Derek, Kyle, and Terrell finally get it together and have a long, winding conversation about Dr. Stephanie Boluk and Dr. Patrick LeMieux's book "Metagaming" and the kinds of games we like to play with games. -------------- Objects Discussed Texts: - "Metagaming: Playing, Competing, Spectating, Cheating, Trading, Making, and Breaking Videogames (Stephanie Boluk and Patrick LeMieux, 2017) (Meta)Games: - Heat Signature, Hitman (2016), Divinity Original S...
Episode 13 - A MAZE 2019 with Pascal Wagner
April 27, 2019 21:21 - 1 hour - 71.2 MBIn a special episode, Derek sits down with Pascal Wagner (Language At Play, Polyneux, GAIN Magazin) to talk about their experiences at A MAZE 2019, an independent festival for games that happens every year in Berlin. They talk about the great games and talks they saw, as well as some games they had some more critical reactions to. See below for a more detailed list of what they talked about, and when. ----------- Timestamps 4:50 - A MAZE in general 11:20 - "The Game: The Game" (https://angela...
WIYS - 17 Dec 2018 - Heat Signature, Castlevania, and Warhammer
January 11, 2019 20:22 - 1 hour - 66.9 MBThe Scholars are back! After traveling through time and space, Derek has finally reunited with his stateside counterparts, Kyle and Terrell, to catch up and see "What's In Your System?" We talk about what we've been playing over the last few months, especially Heat Signature, Castlevania (the games and the show), the diverging narratives of Warhammer, the (divisive) idea of proxies in Warhammer and Magic: The Gathering, and The Power 9. ----------- Hosts: Derek Price: twitter.com/digital_de...
Episode 12 - Predators and Jokers - Persona 5
June 05, 2018 22:37 - 1 hour - 128 MBContent Warning: discussions of sexual abuse and assault -------------- Sabeen Ahmed returns to join us for an important discussion about the way Persona 5 handles sexual assault, abuse, and power, and how it feels to play Persona 5 in the middle of the #MeToo movement in the U.S. -------------- Objects Discussed Texts: - Against Interpretation (Susan Sontag, 1966) - The Predator and the Jokester (Lauren Berlant in “Where Freedom Starts: Sex, Power, Violence, #MeToo”, 2018) Games: - Persona...
Episode 11 - "(Making a) Difference in Gaming" with Dante Douglas, Dr. Adrienne Shaw, and Bill Harms
April 17, 2018 17:58 - 1 hour - 118 MBThis special episode is a recording of a digital colloquium that took place on April 16th, 2018. Sponsored by the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities and the Center for Digital Humanities at Vanderbilt University, and organized by the RPW Seminar "Taking Play Seriously," this panel featured games industry vet Bill Harms (Mafia III, Infamous), games critic Dante Douglas (Paste, Polygon, Waypoint, and others), and games academic Dr. Adrienne Shaw (Temple University) discussing the idea...
SAP Patreon Announcement!
April 09, 2018 16:14 - 2 minutes - 3.34 MBhttps://www.patreon.com/ScholarsAtPlay
Episode 10 - The Fate of the World - The Anthropocene and Ecocriticism
April 04, 2018 22:43 - 1 hour - 121 MBTed Dawson joins Derek, Kyle and Terrell to talk about what "The Anthropocene" and "ecocriticism" are, why they matter, and what we need to do to save the world. Well, at least in "The Fate of the World." -------------- Objects Discussed Texts: - "The Climate of History: Four Theses" (Dipesh Chakrabarty, 2009) - "Greenshifting Game Studies" (Hans-Joachim Backe, 2014) - "Live in Your World, Play in Ours”: Video Games, Critical Play, and the Environmental Humanities (Megan Condis, 2015) - "Wh...
Episode 9b - Revisiting the Past - The Paradox of History
March 02, 2018 20:45 - 46 minutes - 64.3 MB-------------- -Tired: Scholars at Play- -Wired: HISTORIANS AT PLAY- -In this episode, Kyle takes over and forces Derek and Terrell to talk about history and strategy games again. Joined by special guest Henry Gorman, History PhD candidate and lover of Paradox games, the four talk through what it means for games to be historical or to represent history, the various ways we can approach historical games critically, and the differences in how games like Crusader Kings 2, Civilization V, and Ki...
Episode 9a - Revisiting the Past - The Paradox of History
March 02, 2018 19:00 - 54 minutes - 75.7 MB-------------- -Tired: Scholars at Play- -Wired: HISTORIANS AT PLAY- -In this episode, Kyle takes over and forces Derek and Terrell to talk about history and strategy games again. Joined by special guest Henry Gorman, History PhD candidate and lover of Paradox games, the four talk through what it means for games to be historical or to represent history, the various ways we can approach historical games critically, and the differences in how games like Crusader Kings 2, Civilization V, and Ki...
WIYS - 1 Feb 2018 - Dream Daddy, Stardew Valley, and Getting Over It
February 06, 2018 16:06 - 42 minutes - 58.5 MBIn this episode of What's In Your System?, Derek, Kyle, and Terrell talk about the new (and old) games they've been playing in the new year.
Games of the Year 2017 - Part 2
January 21, 2018 19:48 - 1 hour - 85.4 MBIn the second half of our game of the year podcast series, Kyle, Derek, and Terrell talk about their Greatest Escape, the most "2017" game, SAP's Game of the Year, games we would recommend to each other, and the best games we didn't play. Also, if you're curious about our personal Top 5 lists, check them out on our website! http://scholarsatplay.net/category/goty-2017/
Games of the Year 2017 - Part 1
January 19, 2018 16:07 - 1 hour - 89.7 MBIn Part 1 of our Games of the Year podcast series, we talk about the games we thought had the Biggest Impact, our favorite moments in games, and we play another of Qyle's Qrazy Quizzes!
Mailbag! - November 2017
November 21, 2017 17:03 - 1 hour - 91.4 MBIn this episode, we answer some questions from listeners! We talk about powerlessness in horror games, loot boxes, the lack of variety in big-budget games, and much more! Plus, Kyle quizzes us on our knowledge of Metacritic's ranking algorithm... err, I mean, the Games of the Year from 2014 - 2016, and reveals the secrets of 'stairs money!'
Episode 8 - Until Dawn - Chaos or Cinema?
October 30, 2017 19:51 - 56 minutes - 77.7 MBIn this episode, Derek, Terrell, and Kyle talk about Supermassive Game's 2015 horror hit "Until Dawn" and work through its relationship with the tropes and language of cinematic horror, as well as the game's "Butterfly Effect" system. Note: this episode DEFINITELY contains spoilers. You have been warned. ---------- Objects Discussed Texts: - Espen Aarseth, Cybertext (1997) - Alexander Galloway, Gaming: Essays on Algorithmic Culture (2006) - Boeing, G. 2016. “Visual Analysis of Nonlinear Dyna...
Episode 7 - Games, Resistance, and Procedural Rhetoric
September 26, 2017 19:54 - 1 hour - 154 MBIn this extra-long, bonus, feature-length episode, special guest Sabeen Ahmed joins us for a discussion about how games intersect with contemporary political activism. We work through some of the regressive tendencies in modern gaming cultures, take up Bogost's idea of procedural rhetoric, and talk about how a few games from the recent #ResistJam might speak to our political moment and inform our political activity. We also take up the question of what resistance means for the left in 2017. -...
WIYS - 18 Aug 2017 - Horizon Zero Dawn, Breath of the Wild, and PUBG
August 20, 2017 18:14 - 26 minutes - 37.3 MB---What's In Your System? (WIYS) - Friday, August 18th, 2017--- It's Friday and we're chilling not 10 feet away from Kyle's glorious stairs and sharing our thoughts about loot-crate logic in PUBG and the differences/similarities between Breath of the Wild and Horizon Zero Dawn. We also debate the pronunciation of "verisimilitude" and regretfully announce that the First Annual Scholars At Play Corn Maze Festival will be cancelled because Kyle.
Episode 6 - A Breath of Wild Nostalgia - Zelda and Postcriticism
August 15, 2017 23:05 - 1 hour - 123 MB-------------- Objects Discussed Text: Introduction to “The Limits of Critique” (Rita Felski, 2015) Game: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo, 2017) Video(s): “Breath of the Wild: The Best Game Ever” (YT: Cool Ghosts, 2017) https://youtu.be/ZLRedgWqejo “Stuff That Bugs Me About the Thing Everyone Likes Right Now” (YT: Super Bunnyhop, 2017) https://youtu.be/gNLMDWZY6_A -------------- Hosts: Derek Price - twitter.com/digital_derek Terrell Taylor - twitter.com/BlackSocrates K...
WIYS - 4 Aug 2017 - PUBG, Pokemon, and MechWarrior
August 06, 2017 01:23 - 34 minutes - 65.8 MBEnjoy this first (of hopefully many) standalone "What's In Your System?" We'll be releasing more of these shorter, more informal podcasts in the future, but DON'T WORRY we're still doing the longer thematic and academic/critical ones too. In this episode of WIYS we talk about our summers, One Weird Trick To Attract Female Pokemon, Hitman and Playerunknown's Battlegrounds, and MechWarrior Online, and we finally find out who the real Bad Boy of the podcast is...
Episode 5 - Unraveling Twine Games
May 29, 2017 03:02 - 1 hour - 157 MB-------------- Sections: What is Twine?/Kopas Introduction - 5:45 SABBAT - 32:50 Eden - 40:39 Even Cowgirls Bleed - 46:09 Bogost's piece - 53:50 What's in Your System? - 1:09:20 -------------- Objects Discussed Texts: Introduction to “Videogames for Humans” (Merritt Kopas, 2015), “Video Games are Better Without Stories” in The Atlantic (Ian Bogost, 2016) Games: Gaming Pixie's "Eden," Christine Love's "Even Cowgirls Bleed," Eva Problem's “SABBAT” -------------- Hosts: Derek Price - twi...
Episode 4 - From Big Brother to Tiny Brothers - Games and Surveillance
April 07, 2017 21:24 - 1 hour - 161 MBMany thanks to our special guests Curtis Maughan and Pablo Abend! -------------- Sections (time = start of section): Guest Introductions - 1:57 Paper Summaries - 5:20 General Discussion - 17:42 Topic: Aesthetics, Surveillance, and Games - 56:13 What's in Your System? - 1:13:34 -------------- Objects Discussed Games: Orwell (2016), Watch Dogs I and II (2014, 2016), Pokemon Go (2016) -------------- Hosts: Derek Price - Twitter: https://twitter.com/digital_derek Terrell Taylor - Twitter: ht...
Episode 3 - Sid Meier's Civilization and its Discontents
March 10, 2017 00:14 - 1 hour - 138 MBSections (time = start of section): Intro - 0:00 Civ 5 - 2:46 Schut Article - 20:45 Galloway Chapter - 39:42 What's in Your System? - 1:01:46 -------------- Objects Discussed Game: Sid Meier's Civilization 5 (2010) Articles: "Strategic Simulations and Our Past: The Bias of Computer Games in the Presentation of History" (Kevin Schut, 2007) "Allegories of Control" - 4th chapter from book “Gaming: Essays on Algorithmic Culture” (Alexander Galloway, 2006) -------------- Hosts: Derek Pri...
Episode 2 - Borders and Ritual in Papers, Please
February 01, 2017 22:10 - 1 hour - 124 MBObjects Discussed Game: Papers, Please (Lucas Pope, 2013) Review: Videogame Utopia: Passage Denied, a “Papers Please” review (Rui Craveirinha, 2014) Article: Ritualization of Regulation: The Enforcement of Chinese Exclusion in the United States and China (Adam McKeown) -------------- Hosts: Derek Price - Twitter: https://twitter.com/digital_derek Terrell Taylor - Twitter: https://twitter.com/BlackSocrates Kyle Romero - Twitter: https://twitter.com/e_kyle_romero -------------- Contact us!...
Episode 1 - Narrative and Gameplay
November 11, 2016 22:12 - 1 hour - 171 MBObjects Discussed Text: Ludonarrative Dissonance - (Clint Hocking) Game: Bioshock Video: "The Debate That Never Took Place" (Youtube: Errant Signal) -------------- Hosts: Derek Price - Twitter: (at)Digital_Derek Terrell Taylor - Twitter: (at)BlackSocrates Kyle Romero - Twitter: (at)e_kyle_romero -------------- Contact us! E-mail: scholarsatplaypodcast(at)gmail(dot)com Twitter: (at)ScholarsAtPlay -------------- Special thanks: The Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy at Va...