True Avatars - A Queer Video Game Podcast

This week I welcome Maddi Patton, a bisexual woman/writer and Alexander Martin (aka droquen), an ally/game director. Maddi and Alex are two thirds of Undiscovered Country, a brand new indie game studio from Toronto, Canada. Maddi and Alex share their hopes, dreams, and plans for their upcoming visual novel, “Killing of the Quiet”. We talk about how they got their start, how they decided on their first game, and the ins and outs of their creative process. The year is winding down, so the news is light, but I start off the episode with my thoughts on “Dungeons of Dreadrock 2: The Dead King’s Secret” which is the sequel to my favourite Zelda-like. 00:00:00 - Intro and What I’ve Been Playing 00:09:24 - News 00:19:25 - Interview with Undiscovered Country This episode was recorded on December 1 2024.

This week I interview June in Black, a transgender woman who works in the video games industry. June shares her unique lived experience as someone who transitioned while working in video games. She has worked at some well-known studios in the past cutting trailers, promotional videos, and behind the scenes content for some of your favourite games! While June has most recently worked on Star Wars Outlaws, she also works to bring attention to indie games made by queer developers. There were also a bunch of queer headlines this week. Most notably: queer nominations at The Game Awards! 00:00:00 - Intro and What We’ve Been Playing 00:05:57 - News 00:26:02 - Interview with June This episode was recorded on November 24 2024.

Amy-Lynn and Ekamy are back this week for some Amy Squared double trouble! We discuss the news (including GOG's preservation program, DLC at The Game Awards, and the importance of unions in the video games industry), and in the second half we do a deep dive on how to take advantage of discounted video games during the upcoming holiday shopping season. 00:00:00 - Intro and What We’ve Been Playing 00:08:20 - News 00:43:13 - Taking Advantage of Holiday Sales In this episode we forgot to mention the various rewards points systems, most notably Nintendo’s Gold Points and Sony’s PlayStation Stars programs. They’ll give you “currency” which can be used to discount future game purchases. Steam also has a way to earn some small amounts of money by selling the trading cards you earn for free when playing games. Don’t forget to take advantage of any rewards programs that give you bonuses and save you money! This episode was recorded on November 17 2024.

This week I welcome Ekamy, a bisexual Twitch streamer. We cover what we’ve been playing, some concrete Switch 2 news, more Dragon Age: The Veilguard queer goodness, and the lack of first party single player PS5 games. In the second half, Amy discusses the exploration of her bisexuality (and potential pansexuality) through many video game romances. We also talk about games that let you date multiple genders. 00:00:00 - Intro and What We’ve Been Playing 00:10:38 - News 00:39:50 - Discovering Bisexuality and Pansexuality through Video Games ***Spoiler warning for Arcade Spirits*** Games with Bi/Pan Romance Options: Life is Strange True Colors and Double Exposure Stardew Valley Skyrim Baldur’s Gate 3 Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Fallout series The Sims 2, 3, and 4 Hades Potionomics Arcade Spirits Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers Monster Prom series Doomsday Paradise This episode was recorded on November 9 2024.

This week is a double length episode to make up for missing the previous week. I start the podcast off solo, discussing the latest news and rumours (including my big Nintendo Switch 2 theory), and then going on a rant about Life is Strange: Double Exposure (and yes, this game has a lot of queer representation… but it’s not enough to make me like it). Next, I’m joined by my partner Nicole to discuss the new Pokémon mobile app, TCG Pocket. And I wrap up the episode with Amy-Lynn, who returns to talk about Sonic x Shadow Generations. 00:00:00 - Intro and News 00:21:13 - Life is Strange: Double Exposure 00:38:25 - Pokémon TCG Pocket (with Nicole) 01:04:42 - Sonic x Shadow Generations (with Amy-Lynn) ***Spoiler warning for the Uncharted series, Life is Strange (the new game and the rest of the series), Sonic x Shadow Generations, and the live action Sonic movies*** This episode was recorded on November 2 and 3 2024.

Devona (Helldevo) and Amy-Lynn (returning from the first episode) join me this week as we discuss the latest gaming news — including Bandai Namco’s “layoffs” and Sony’s new PlayStation concert tour. For this week’s segment, we jump into a discussion on pronouns and customizable avatars in video games, with a particular focus on non-binary representation. 00:00 - Introduction and What We’ve Been Playing 07:25 - News 31:00 - Avatars and Pronouns in Video Games ***Spoiler warning for Spider-Man PS4 and The Last of Us (Show and Game)*** This episode was recorded on October 19 2024.

This week I take a little detour to rant about Alarmo, Nintendo’s over-priced and underwhelming new hardware. I also welcome my friend Enid to discuss her interest in retro video games, including increasing prices and how we define a video game as “retro.” 00:00 - Introduction, Astro Bot, Silent Hill 2 remake 05:25 - News 20:42 - Retro game chat with Enid This episode was partially recorded on October 11 and finished recording on October 13 2024.

This week it’s just me, Zoey, your host, as I cover the news, geek out about how great Astro Bot and the Dualsense are, and talk about why Pokémon is my favourite video game series. Plus, I speculate about my hopes and dreams for Legends Z-A, next year’s followup to Legends Arceus. ***Spoiler warning for the last scenes in The Legend of Korra*** 00:00 - Introduction, Astro Bot and Dualsense fangirling 08:38 - News 16:40 - My history with Pokémon and Legends Z-A speculation This episode was recorded on October 6 2024

This week I host my friend Graeme, a gay man, as we discuss the new Zelda game, Echoes of Wisdom, the State of Play and other news, and some notable gay relationships in video games. Some are confirmed, others are unconfirmed, and some are straight of headcanon (Cloud and Sephiroth anyone?). ***Spoiler warning for Unpacking and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth*** 00:00 - Introductions, Plucky Squire Discussion 08:06 - News 36:06 - Gay relationships in video games This episode was recorded on September 29 2024.

Welcome to the inaugural episode True Avatars - A Queer Video Game Podcast! This week I welcome Amy-Lynn, a trans feminine gamer, as well as a close friend of mine. We discuss the news of the past week, including Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s trans-friendly character creator, Switch 2 rumours, and the Nintendo-Palworld lawsuit. In the second half, we talk about our favourite queer video games, including Guilty Gear Strive and the Life is Strange series, among others. 00:00 - Introductions, Plucky Squire Discussion 06:04 - News 42:44 - Our favourite queer games This episode was recorded on September 21 2024.