PODCAST · games
Game Theory Podcast
by Jeremiah and David
A clinical psychology grad student and a literary analyst talk and joke about video games, then provide in-depth analysis about a different topic every week. Enjoy!
Episodes
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135- Can You Get PTSD From Video Games?
We respond to the article from Popular Science describing the possibilities of PTSD from virtual experiences.
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134- Nintendo Switch and More
We discuss games we are playing, including Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky and Hitman. Then we look at the Nintendo Switch announcement as well as new AAP recommendations on screen time for children and other news.
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133- Designing Your Dream Game
We pitch each other ideas of the sorts of games we'd play if we had the studio to make them happen.
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132- Sarkeesian and Body Diversity
We discuss Anita Sarkeesian's latest video "All the Slender Ladies: Body Diversity in Video Games". Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbqRtp5ZUGE
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131- Excelsior, True Believers!
We explore the concept of genres that span other genres both in film and games. Does Marvel's versatility in video and board games come from its wide variety of characters or is something else at play?
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130 - The Glorious Return
A short episode to catch up from the summer hiatus and issue in a new season of theories on games.
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129- Life is a Strange Bildungsroman with Michelle
Spoiler warning: Do not listen if you have not finished Life is Strange. Michelle is back to bring a literary lens to Life is Strange.
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128-How Game Environments May Be Ruining Fun
Game environments and how we explore them are the unsung heroes of how much 'intangible fun factor' we find in games. Jeremiah and David discuss the Rise of the Tomb Raider and other games that bring the background into the foreground, emphasizing environment in the gameplay.
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127- GT Classics- The Batman
Jeremiah is on full Mother's Day detail today so we bring back one of our favorite episodes from the past: The Batman! What better way to celebrate Mother's Day than to discuss a hero who lost his mother? Maaaaartha!
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126- Are Character Roles a Good Thing?
The Holy Trinity: Tank, Damage, Healer. Does this limit options negatively? Is total freedom preferable to being railroaded on one path? Yes and no. We discuss the move from roleplaying games with strictly defined roles to more independent but less specialized characters in more recent rpgs....
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125- GT Classic - Warcraft Warcast
Jeremiah is finishing his dissertation this weekend so we're digging up our most referenced episode ever. We discuss addiction, video games, behaviorism, and why Warcraft's design makes it very difficult to put down.
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124.2- Undertale
SO MUCH SPOILER WARNING!! Seriously, skip this episode if you haven't played this game yet. So much about this game relies on your initial reaction, untainted by expectations. Come back when you've spent the 10 dollars and 10 hours to beat this indie gem :)
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124.1- News and Reviews for April 17, 2016
So much news! So many reviews! Virtual reality! SJW controversies! Japanese sexsuits (news, not review). Also, Xenoblade Chronicles X was created in a lab to make David lose all his free time.
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123- Difficulte Games and Psychological Resiliency
Why do people play games like Dark Souls? Are there advantages that these sorts of games can give us beyond bragging rights?
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122- GT Classic: Castlevania (Episode 8)
Happy Easter! We're resurrecting an old episode from our archives about a being that keeps coming back from the dead. Dracula and Castlevania!
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Bonus Live Play Episode: Edge of the Empire Episode 2
Raw, unedited footage of our second Edge of the Empire Star Wars roleplay. This one is lacking the slick editing and sound effects of our first bonus episodes but was requested by popular demand by some of our live play fans. Feel free to skip to the next episode for more normal Game Theory...
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121- Harvest Moon
With Stardew Valley taking Steam by storm, we investigated the franchise that started it all. Why is it so fun to pretend to do things in a game that are completely monotonous to do in real life? How does Harvest Moon prepare you for a life as a gentleman farmer/psychopath stalker? Why can't we...
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120.2- Elves are Dumb
We discuss that staple of fantasy gaming: Elves. David takes a pro elf stance, Jeremiah an anti elf stance. How do you balance such a blatantly over powered race for player characters? Which take on elves works best? How did Tolkien take them from creepy little goblins to veritable archangels?…
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120- News and Reviews for March 6 2016
We're back after another bout with disease. Plenty of news and preliminary reviews of Undertale and other games that have captured our attention for the last two weeks.
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119.2- Good Samaritans in Online Games
Some people just want to watch the world burn, but what about the random acts of kindness that abound on online video games? What prompts people to swoop in and help new players in a forum where anonymity prevents punishing bad behavior and the mechanics of the game don't reward pro-social...
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119.1- News and Reviews for Feb 21, 2016
We're back after a two week hiatus. Its all about XCOM 2 and Rise of the Tomb Raider reviews!
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118-GT Classic: Zombies (Episode 9)
Trying a new feature where we re release some of our classic episodes from years ago, that have since vanished from itunes. Most of you listeners haven't been able to listen back this far, let us know if you would like this to be a continuing episode. Zombies!
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117- The Cognitive Threshold in Gaming
We discuss the Cognitive Threshold as it relates to gaming. This episode discusses an article by Nick Yee published on the site Quantic Theory. Visit http://quanticfoundry.com/2016/01/20/game-genre-map-the-cognitive-threshold-in-strategy-games/ to see the graphs we mention and read more.
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116- Story-Driven Games with Russell and Lynnea Glasser (re-release)
Due to audio issues, we've recompressed and reuploaded the episode. Sorry about the first one :)
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115.2- Sexual Harassment in Online Gaming (rerelease)
Rereleasing episode 115.2 due to poor audio quality. Sorry about that, folks!
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115- News and Reviews for Jan 3 (rerelease)
Reuploading episode 115 due to poor audio quality. Sorry for the prior assault on your ears :D
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116- Story-Driven Games with Russell and Lynnea Glasser
We have friends of the show Lynnea and Russell on to discuss the emerging genre of story-driven games. Specifically: Game of Thrones, Life is Strange and Tales From the Borderlands. The discussion is formatted to be spoiler-free in the first half of the show, then fifteen minutes of spoiler…
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115.2- Sexual Harassment in Online Gaming
We review a study on sexual harassment on online gaming and discuss the role genre and demographics might play in creating more or less toxic environments for women.
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115- News and Reviews for Jan 3 2016
We're back with a new year and new...news!
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114 - Best of 2015
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Time for our annual, "Best of" episode, where we go over the year in gaming. See you next year!
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113 - China Uses Gaming to Hack Life
China uses some of the principles of gaming (behavioral psychology) to manipulate the minds and behaviors of their populace. Whoa.
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112.2 - What Makes Crappy Games?
A listener suggested we play the worst games to be released over the Thanksgiving break. We did, and it was awful. We try and figure out what makes terrible games in this episode. Enjoy!
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112.1 - News and Reviews for Dec 6th
After Youtube nearly engulfed this episode into the dark recesses of its servers, they finally delivered! Here are the news items and gaming reviews for this week. Enjoy!
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111- Should We Keep Making Ultra-Violent Games?
We know violent video games do not cause violent behavior, but what, if any, harm CAN they cause? We discuss violence, PTSD, exposure therapy, trigger warnings, and tone.
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110- News and Reviews for Nov 15th, 2015
Internet hijinks robbed us of the in depth analysis we regarded. Enjoy these news and reviews while we mourn Mississippi's bad internet.
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109.2 What Makes a Classic?
What criteria determines the literary canon and what video games would be considered classics if we applied this criteria to gaming?
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109.1- News and Reviews for Nov 1st
We review Dragon Age Inquisition, the Witcher 3, and revisit Batman Arkham Knight's continued PC launch failure.
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108-Literary Themes with First Time Gamer Michelle
SPOILERS FOR TELLTALE GAMES' THE WALKING DEAD Michelle talks about her first experience beating a video game: The Walking Dead by Telltale Games. Michelle, an educator of literature, discusses how The Walking Dead fits the themes of American literature and how video games can function as a story...
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107-Game Designer Eric Zimmerman Interview
We interview game designer Eric Zimmerman, founding faculty member at the NYU Game Center, where he currently works as a full-time Arts Professor, among other accomplishments. He discusses game design on an academic and artistic level, both the history of the medium and the unique innovations…
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106- Star Wars Battlefront Beta and Random Thoughts
We give feedback on the Star Wars Battlefront Beta and the state of the industry as a whole.
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105.2- Tomb Raider
The history of the Tomb Raider franchise. Lara Croft- feminist icon or sex object (or both?) What elements of gameplay work and which don't. The joys of exploration and teamwork, Lara's roll as an action movie star, and egalitarian violence or sexual conquest? We analyze one of gaming's most...
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105.1- News and Reviews for Oct 4, 2015
Deus Ex gives up pre-order scheme, new Street Fighter V character revealed (and needs a sports bra), TellTale Games tackles Minecraft, and more. Also we review Wildstar, Mario Maker, and other games!
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104- Modifying Game Systems with Jason and Steven
Listeners Jason and Steven contacted us to discuss a new class system they made for D&D 3.5/Pathfinder called Rune Elementals. They describe the process of creating new RPG systems and invite GT theorists to playtest and help develop. Learn more at http://www.runeelemental.com/
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103- Games are Good if We Want Them to Be
How do expectations color our subjective experience? How does this affect reviewers? Is there any way to control for this bias?
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102.2- Super Mario Bros
We discuss the franchise that made gamers out of so many of us: Super Mario Bros! The level design follows a 4 step arc to teach us how to play. Brilliant level design shows rather than tells. Join us to pay homage to the game that started it all, and then try your hand at level design yourself…
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102.1-News and Reviews for 9/13/15
It is Jeremiah's birthday! In other news, also Mario's birthday! Also review Shovel Knight and the anime Mushishi.
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101- Designing Disturbing Games
How do games affect us? Jeremiah and David discuss recent news stories relating to behavior and game development, homicide, academic performance, and classroom management. Also, Ori and the Blind Forest has so many feels!
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100.2 - Episode 100 Extravaganza
100 episodes in the bag this week. Thanks to all of the listeners who kept this thing going. Enjoy!
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100.1 News and Reviews for 8/30/15
We're back with news and reviews. And we're more than a little behind on both so strap in!
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99 - Overdue Feedback
David and Jeremiah respond to a listener e-mail from July that touches on several topics that have come up in the past hundred or so episodes.
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A clinical psychology grad student and a literary analyst talk and joke about video games, then provide in-depth analysis about a different topic every week. Enjoy!
HOSTED BY
Jeremiah and David
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Game Theory Podcast have?
Game Theory Podcast currently has 100 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Game Theory Podcast about?
A clinical psychology grad student and a literary analyst talk and joke about video games, then provide in-depth analysis about a different topic every week. Enjoy!
How often does Game Theory Podcast release new episodes?
Game Theory Podcast has 100 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Game Theory Podcast?
You can listen to Game Theory Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Game Theory Podcast?
Game Theory Podcast is created and hosted by Jeremiah and David.
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