#10b - Adorable Small Business Tyrant Simulator
The Blood Zone
Alex Ross (@Alexrosswrites) returns for part two of this examination of the indie game world via a few documentaries for part two. this time we cover the post-indie boom from around 2015-now. first we look at depressing vanity project/indie survival story "Surviving Indie" from late 2016, then we look at a surprisingly quality documentary about the indie game scene in China called "Indie Games In China" from 2018. and then in an ill-advised move... we look at this year's E3 "Wholesome Direct" stream.
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#10a - White Collar Mario From The Future
The Blood Zone
hey everyone! for the 10th episode i've brought game academic and writer Alex Ross on board for part one of a punishingly long journey relitigating all the ridiculous things of independent game development scenes past via a few documentaries.
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#09 - We'll Be Middle-Aged Children (But So What)
The Blood Zone
hi folks! it's 2021 now, i guess. perfect time to get back into the Cinderella story of a bunch of middle aged guys who hit the big time from the city of Dayton, Ohio.... Guided By Voices. specifically i focus on what i consider the strangest and most unique album of their catalog, 1993's Vampire on Titus.
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#08 - Hurtling Over Peak Videograme
The Blood Zone
it's a video...grames episode! i briefly talk about cool oddball that very much bear the mark of their creators: the colorful and goofy Super Bogus World (which has a new sequel) and the very unsettling Pagan: Autogeny.
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#07 - The Great Sea Swallows Her Whole For A Treat
The Blood Zone
greetings and apologies for the time between episodes! the music industry facing a severe downturn because of the recent pandemic and the general deluge of traumatic news has made me reflect more on smaller, more understated artistic triumphs as an antidote.
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#06 - Enduring Mock Funerals
The Blood Zone
a journey through the myth, the legend, the phenomenon Travel Channel tv show and Ghost Bro hunter sanctum Ghost Adventures featuring special guest Ian Williams.
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#05 - Remixed Down In The Scab Hole
The Blood Zone
hello fellow dark voyagers of the great beyond,
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#04 - That's A Dead Kid
The Blood Zone
welcome back, universe!
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#03 - Third Eye Wide Blind
The Blood Zone
greetings! on this very chunky special episode, i rewatched Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut (1999) and talk about its various allusions and resonances to the modern day hell world we are all trudging through. major spoilers for the film.
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#02 - Trapped Inside A Soul Cube
The Blood Zone
my brain is forever infected by worms after 15 hours of Soul Axiom, the Southland Tales of videogames... maybe? it's a bizarre and clunky videogame released in 2016 that is far more ambitious than it has any right to be. because my mind is a prison now, i talk Jeffrey Epstein, eugenics, corny indie game cliches, and the tech world. uhh oh yeah, and also a lot about Soul Axiom. is it a good game? is it a bad game? is it a "so bad it's good" game? who the hell knows anymore.
info_outlineit's a video...grames episode! in this long-awaited new episode, i briefly talk about cool oddball that very much bear the mark of their creators: the colorful and goofy Super Bogus World (which has a recently released sequel) and the very unsettling Pagan: Autogeny.
then i spend the meat of the episode unpacking a recent obsession of mine: the Trackmania series (with focus on the recent Trackmania 2020 free to play game) with returning guest, writer and phd student Ian Williams. we ask the tough questions: what is so unusually good about Trackmania compared to other racing games? why does its company (Nadeo) seem to keep fucking something that works so well up? what is quintessentially European about Trackmania? what is our platonic ideal Trackmania track? and other such questions.
Ian's 2014 article about the Trackmania series (with an interview of director Florent Castelnerac) in Paste Magazine is here: https://www.pastemagazine.com/games/inside-trackmania-talking-with-nadeos-florent-cast/ Ross's Game Dungeon's video about TrackMania² Canyon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulp99wSUNgkyou can find Trackmania Nations Forever for free on Steam and Trackmania 2020 for free on the Epic Games Store (with an Ubisoft Uplay account)
hubol's website (where you can download Super Bogus World 1): http://www.hubolhubolhubol.com/
you can download (& donate) to Super Bogus World 2 here: https://hubol.itch.io/super-bogus-world-2
you can follow hubol on twitter here: https://twitter.com/hubol
you can find Pagan: Autogeny here: https://oleandergarden.itch.io/pagan3
youtuber Painticus's review of the Pagan trilogy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv1y6xt8qAE
you can follow Oleander Garden on twitter here: https://twitter.com/void_hyacinth
you can follow Ian on twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/Brock_Toon
Ian's tabletop RPG ACTION MOVIE WORLD: First Blood is available here: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/157229/ACTION-MOVIE-WORLD-First-Blood
youtuber Writing About Games's video "Trackmania Deserves to Be Far Bigger Than It Is": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FxRM9YLaaU