Chris

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Idle Weekend September 24, 2016: A Very Idle Weekend It's September, the official wacky fall release season, but that doesn't mean that the weekenders are enjoying the harvest's AAA bounty. No, space-y indies, Destiny and a very special, monstrous art exhibit are on our minds as we embark upon pumpkin spice time. We also managed to talk a little bit about both The Witcher 3 and Farscape. It's a true Idle Weekend! Destiny, The Order: 1886, event[0], Diaries of a Spaceport janitor, Overwatch, For Honor, Mass Effect, Witcher 3, Bojack Horseman, Farscape, Grim Fandango, Psychonauts, Catch-22, Killjoys, LA County Museum of Art: Guillermo Del Toro: At Home with Monsters Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Idle Weekend February 6, 2016: Playing at World's End In a slightly tardy Idle Weekend (sorry!), our hosts ponder what makes apocalyptic video games so damned entertaining. Is it their artful graffiti? The heroism at the end of the world? The gank-or-be-ganked mentality that comes with every helicopter landing? Then weekenders also find inspiration in the unlikeliest moment: after four hours of staring at one puzzle in The Witness. Plus, more on game reviews, Steam, and a whole lot of Rocky. Discussed: The Division, The Witness, The Last of Us, I Am Legend, Steam, The Expanse, The Flash, Arrow, Gravity Rush Remastered, Creed, Rocky, Rocky III Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Idle Thumbs 280: Hamburger Mode If your controller has a hamburger button, you should press it. Chris pressed the hamburger and watched as his copy of Halo traveled in time from his Xbox 1 to his Xbox One. We also pressed the hamburger button in our minds, mentally transporting ourselves to the mid '90s with Obduction, the latest from Cyan. Meanwhile, Nick, starting up his third new game studio in as many years, demanded his employees add hamburger buttons to all their latest product in Software Inc. Discussed: Anno 1080p, Xbox One S, Halo: Combat Evolved, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Obduction, No Man's Sky, Software Inc. Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Idle Weekend September 17, 2016: Alexis Kennedy on Writing the Zee The Weekenders are joined by special guest Alexis Kennedy, co-founder of Failbetter games (creators of Idle Weekend GOTY contender Sunless Sea), who came by to chat about writing good player-created characters, his work on Stellaris, and a bit about his new gig at BioWare. Also, he's a Farscape fan, which made Danielle an even bigger fan of his. Discussed: Sunless Sea, Fallen London, Stellaris, Farscape, Hamilton, Twin Peaks, Archer, HTC Vive, Con Air, The Vision: Little Worse Than a Man, Thunderbolt Fantasy Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Idle Weekend August 27, 2016: Sci-Fi's Sky It's an all-sci-fi extravaganza this weekend, as your hosts ponder the curious hype of No Man's Sky, the smaller scale of corporate space exploration depression sim Corpse of Discovery, and the beautiful weirdness of The Order: 1886. And enjoy a massive Alien-loving discussion of Aliens, the second-greatest movie in one of cinema's darkest and most beloved series. I'm ready, man, check it out! Discussed: No Man's Sky, Corpse of Discovery, Mass Effect, Elite: Dangerous, The Order: 1886, Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Alien: Resurrection, Ghostbusters (1984), Ghostbusters (2016) Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Idle Weekend September 3, 2016: PAX the Mailbag With Danielle at PAX and Rob buried under a mountain of work, Danielle goes it alone and presents another short mailbag episode. But never fear! There's talk of Alien 3, sentimental memories with loved ones, and sports anime aplenty, enough to hold us all over for another week. Keep the PAX. Discussed: Alien, Alien 3, Prometheus, 7th Guest, Yowamushi Pedal, Hajime No Ippo Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Nailed it!

Idle Thumbs 277: Coming Attractions Finally, time for video games. You settle down for a long night of cyber-hacking and theme park design. This is going to be so immersive, you think. But the experiences are fleeting, fractured. Not quite what you expected, in ways you can't pin down. Your memories feel...misplaced. No wait, they're just in that drawer over there. You can't help but feel there's a more complete version of this, if you could only focus. You close your eyes, but they blink back open against your will. Now you are dunking a basketball—blink—you are sorting ever-taller stacks of hats—blink—you are button mashing for your very life. Over it all, a haunting piano repeats a single note. Coming soon. Discussed: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Deus Ex: Go, Planet Coaster, Hidden My Game By Mom, Multibowl, Frog Fractions, RimWorld Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Idle Weekend August 21, 2016: Magic, Mister Worf It's a detail-oriented weekend for your hosts, who spent this episode delving into the mysteries of the Whorfian hypothesis, their gaming compulsions, and the beauty and flaws of The Magicians. On that note, don't play racing sims without getting a note from your doctor. Discussed: F1 2016, Splendor, Seven Wonders, Cities: Skylines, SimCity, Boom Blox, Poly Bridge, The Caine Mutiny (novel), The Magicians Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Idle Weekend August 12, 2016: The Weekend Sky This weekend, it's a topical blend of No Man's Sky, the challenges of historically and racially conscious art, and bike anime! So, another typical episode with your weekenders-in-chief. Danielle is enamored by the dizzying scale of No Man's Sky, while Rob prefers the grit of an old favorite—Elite: Dangerous. Then, Rob brushes up on the best of Star Wars as Danielle gets an education in cycling. And anime. Discussed: No Man's Sky, Elite: Dangerous, Mass Effect, Hamilton, Beyonce's "Formation" (music video), Dizzee Rascal's "I Don't Need a Reason" (music video), Jason Bourne, Yowamushi Pedal!, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Idle Weekend August 5, 2016: The World Ends (and Begins) With You This weekend, we take a trip to our favorite game worlds: places we want to go back to, places that opened our eyes, places that might have been "better" than the games they supported. Elsewhere, Danielle reads about a radical future and Rob goes back to Arrow. Plus: how is Mass Effect like Bernie and Hillary? Discussed: Psychonauts,The Napoleon of Notting Hill, Anodyne, Donkey Kong Country series, Grim Fandango, BioShock, Studs Terkel's The Good War, Mass Effect series, the games of Kitty Horrorshow, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, The Last Express, Crazy Taxi, Deus Ex, The Darkness, The Gabriel Knight series, Tokyo Mirage Sessions, Civilization series, Free! (anime series), Arrow, 2312 (novel) Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Was the doctor right (in the context of the fiction)? Like, did the show actually depict Elizabethan England in the way he predicted?

Idle Weekend July 30, 2016: Look at You, Hacker With the release of Blendo Games' Quadrilateral Cowboy, the Weekenders are once again enamored with all things hacking. Danielle expounds upon the virtues of heist-by-deck, while Rob ponders the power fantasy of becoming a god among machines. Elsewhere, they grapple with diversity and historical accuracy, Rob takes a peek back at Entourage, and Danielle devours season three of BoJack Horseman. Holywoo! Discussed: Quadrilateral Cowboy, Deus Ex, System Shock, BioShock, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, E.Y.E.: Divine Cybermancy, Mr. Robot, BoJack Horseman, Entourage Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Oh weird! I could have sworn there was one in which a modern day kid was given one by a time traveler and it fried his brain.

Oh man, Dark Souls 1 gets my vote. That is exciting.

Good points!

It's true: it's a command line interface simulator, not a programming simulator. What it actually makes me feel closest to is when I was first learning to use DOS on our piece of shit IBM computer in 1990 and even changing directories for the first time felt like magic.

I know, I'm sorry! It actually really makes me sympathetic to Nick in those Crusader Kings streams when he never noticed anything going on. When you're streaming, your attention is basically split three ways: the game, the chat stream, and your own stream of consciousness monologue so it's not just "silent person plays video game." I'm typically extremely attentive to detail in games like these (it's what I like about them) but man it is just ROUGH while streaming.

Just updated the OP to add all the latest streams, mostly including the RimWorld stuff as we've moved into the era of Video Jamestown.

Idle Weekend July 23, 2016: Early Accessification This weekend, Danielle and Rob ponder what it is to be a "finished" game in 2016. What hath Early Access (and its ilk on other platforms) wrought for the world of games? Are strategy games particularly well suited to this new world, or are they... just for boys? Elsewhere, Rob is enjoying the beauty and subtle brutality of Tour De France, while Danielle, a reviews editor, enjoys a show about reviews. Discussed: Endless Legend, Stellaris, Sunless Sea, Don't Starve, The Tour De France, Review Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

What actually makes DOTA a strategy game though? Is it just that it's top-down like strategy games usually are? If CSGO also has a lot of strategic qualities but isn't a strategy game, what is the actual distinction there other than top-down versus first-person perspective? Just about every game or sport involves strategy in some form or fashion.

I totally agree and I always wish these games had less of a military focus. But based on my experience with RimWorld, if you intentionally choose the starting settings that deemphasize combat, there is actually almost no fighting against other humans. It does happen occasionally, but I've ended up in far more tough situations while hunting animals for food than I have battling raiders or the like.

If your point is that the US government has been doing these things to the rest of the world for "decades," and will continue to do so regardless of who is elected, then how exactly is Clinton "directly responsible"? By your own logic, it seems reasonable to assume that ANYONE involved in administering US foreign policy at such a senior level would be culpable in your eyes. If that is the case, the salient factor is what ELSE the candidate is likely to do that isn't already essentially pre-written, and on that score there is an overwhelming amount of difference. If you are going to deride that kind of distinction as a mere manifestation of privilege, then what is even the point of engaging in discussion of presidential politics in the first place? If it's simply to express frustration, fine. Everyone has that right, of course. But at the end of the day there are two candidates who actually have any chance of becoming president, and if foreign policy isn't going to undergo a seismic shift anyway because history suggests it never will (and I'm essentially adopting your assumptions for the purpose of this discussion), then the focus should be on the policy that can change, or can continue to be improved. On a separate note, but to me, much more importantly: Liberals must focus more on downticket elections. Republicans have done an amazing job at this over the last decade, including basically locking in the House for possibly a generation by focusing on winning statehouses from 2008 on and dramatically redrawing district lines in 2010. The picking apart of presidential candidates by the left is extremely tiresome in part because without backing up the presidency with local, state, and federal offices, the president can do little more than either continue current policy or veto far more extreme right-wing policy. (And of course the president cannot veto the Supreme Court, which now only lacks a clear conservative majority due to a fairly unlikely death.) If Hillary Clinton is elected, and especially if the Democrats don't take back the Senate, I fully expect her to be just as stymied, if not more, than Barack Obama was, from day one. Frankly it's a miracle that even something as limited and imperfect as Obamacare got passed, and that sure won't last if the Republicans have both the White House and Congress. (I'm not expecting them to but it's becoming more likely by the week.) Meanwhile Democrats fight over $12 and $15 minimum wage as though either of those is something an essentially-guaranteed-Republican House of Representatives is going to pass. I hope we do raise the minimum wage but that's the kind of thing you get to do when you control the legislative branch.

For what it's worth, I totally agree that city builders and the like are a segment of strategy games (and anecdotally I know more women who play those than other flavors of strategy game) but I don't think I'd put DOTA or LoL in there. A game where you control one single avatar and are essentially ONLY micromanaging feels like it's basically just an action game from an atypical perspective. The only thing those games really have in common with strategy, to me, is that they were originally mods of strategy games, and you look at them top-down, but both of those feel incidental to me. They can also only be played as extremely intense team-based multiplayer games, which are their own beast at this point given esports emerging as an entire category.