Matt Sanderson (Mars Underground) & parents spending 34% more on games than last year

Matt Sanderson is the creator of the brand new game Mars Underground, a post apocalyptic adventure game inspired heavily by the movie Groundhog Day where players are trapped in an endless time loop of their first day in a new school. Matt worked on this game mostly by himself, programming, creating art and music, a project that he describes as "consuming him" for years. If you like retro inspired adventures with the look of the Mother series and the wit of Monkey Island this might be for you. According to a new report parents in the US are spending more money each year on all entertainment for their kids, but a bigger proportion of that overall spend is now on games. Could one reasons for that be the shift from games as a product to games as a service? Scott and Sarah take a closer look at recent gaming trends and the spending habits they are creating. Pixel Sift is produced by Scott Quigg, Sarah Ireland, Fiona Bartholomaeus & Mitch Loh. Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer. Thanks to Salty Dog Sounds for some of our promo music this week. SPONSOR: Thank you to Murdoch University School of Arts for their support over every single episode of Pixel Sift. We couldn't have done it without you. If you want to bolster your skills in media, journalism or game development, check out the Murdoch University School of Arts website for more information!   You can find us on social media, Discord, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and Steam. Just search for "pixelsift"Support the show: https://sifter.store