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#10a - White Collar Mario From The Future

The Blood Zone

Release Date: 06/04/2021

#10b - Adorable Small Business Tyrant Simulator show art #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 show art #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) show art #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 show art #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 show art #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 show art #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 show art #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 show art #04 - That's A Dead Kid

The Blood Zone

welcome back, universe!

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#03 - Third Eye Wide Blind show art #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 show art #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.

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More Episodes

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.

the three we talked about today are: the famous commercial for the indie game scene "Indie Game The Movie", the obscure cult recruitment video "Us and the Game Industry", and the goofy 2010 time capsule "Get Bonus: The Movie"

make sure to keep your ears peeled for a bonus mini-essay i wrote for the episode at the end. you can find the text of it here: https://pastebin.com/7nf6Vc5f

stay tuned for a part 2 where we look at a few documentaries that are little bit more recent!

Alex Ross's twitter: https://twitter.com/Alexrosswrites

Indie Game: The Movie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indie_Game:_The_Movie

Indie Game: The Movie Vimeo shorts: https://vimeo.com/indiegame

review on RogerEbert.com about Indie Game: The Movie (i erroneously said it was reviewed by Ebert himself, but it was reviewed by Odie Henderson): https://www.rogerebert.com/streaming/indie-game-super-meat-boy-vs-fez

My (archived) Indie Game: The Movie review on the now defunct Midnight Resistance website: https://web.archive.org/web/20120718043913/http://midnightresistance.co.uk/articles/indie-game-movie-review

Soulja Boy provides his thoughts on Braid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSXofLK5hFQ

Us and the Game Industry trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzQgIgTVqfw (you can watch it for free on tubitv.com)

Stephanie Beth (director)'s Gamasutra page: https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/StephanieBeth/20130603/193526/Intrinsic_Incentives.php#comment204359

GET BONUS: The Movie (youtube reupload): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT_3pxMQVr0

tim rogers's current youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/ActionButtonDotCom

music used:

"Downstream" by Shira Kammen, and "Lullabye Set" by Shira Kammen and Pam Swan, featured in the game Braid (2008)

"Asobi", "The Drifting/I Don't Wanna Be With You" and "Sabaku" by the Zazen Boys, featured on their album "4" and also in GET BONUS