Matt Chat 237: Brenda Romero on Learning with Videogames

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In this episode, Brenda talks about using videogames and board games to teach kids about history. Then she talks about how crazy it is that hardly any of us–including pro game developers!–knows anything about the people who actually made our favorite games. Thankfully, there’s always Matt Chat!

Support Matt Chat with Patreon–it’s the best way to support the YouTubers you love.

Other links mentioned in the show:

  1. Matt’s Easter Egg Hidden Object game
  2. From Where She Dreams
  3. Everything kickstarter
  4. Sacred Fire RPG

Download the mp4 here.

Games and the “It’s Just Entertainment” Myth

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Meet Molly the Barbarian. Or, better yet, let's introduce her to non-traditional gamers!

Meet Molly the Barbarian. Or, better yet, let’s introduce her to non-stereotypical gamers!

One of the most common (if annoying) gibes I get when I talk about gaming in an academic context is that there’s nothing culturally or rhetorically significant about these things as a medium. They’re just games. The very idea that games might exert some kind of influence on us beyond just eating up our free time is beyond most people. The most common retort is “yeah, but they make more money than Hollywood,” but I’d be the first to agree that money and popularity are insufficient grounds for studying something academically. No, what we chiefly need is to acknowledge their influence on our lives, and take at least some responsibility for that influence on us and our fellow human beings on this planet.

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Matt Chat 236: Brenda Romero on Sexism in the Games Industry

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In this episode, Brenda Romero, the Gloria Steinem of the games industry, zeroes in on the key problems facing women gamers and developers: sexism, sexism, and more sexism. Booth babes, chain mail bikinis, and lack of healthy avatar options are all just symptoms of a much broader problem.

Warning: I’ve done my best to censor out the adult language in this episode, but my apologies if any managed to slip through.

The T-shirt I’m wearing in this episode is my own sad creation. Want one? Get it from Zazzle.

Download the mp4 here.

The Oculus Rift Facebook Fiasco

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You’ve probably heard by now that Facebook has snatched up Oculus Rift, the Kickstarter-funded VR interface. Oculus Rift was a particularly noteworthy Kickstarter, a real breakthrough success story–it raised 2.4 million dollars, far more than its humble goal of 250,000. Naturally, there is outrage among the community of folks who supported its campaign, and also, of course, plenty of apologists.

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Matt Chat 232: Lands of Lore Retrospective

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This week’s episode features a retrospective of a hidden gem from the 90s, Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos. If you’re looking for more Dungeon Master-experiences like Legend of Grimrock, you’ll love it. Plus, how many other CRPGs have Patrick Stewart as a voice actor?

You can buy Lands of Lore I and II from GOG for only $5.99. Use this link, and the show gets a cut!

Support Matt Chat with Patreon–it’s the best way to support the YouTubers you love.

Download the mp4 here.

Experimenting with Matt Chat Formats

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I guess you guys have probably noticed I’ve been playing around with the Matt Chat format. Mostly this is just to avoid stagnation; I feel like I should always be trying to find ways to improve the show or just change it up enough to keep it fresh. I also have to admit it’s been fun playing around with Blender and some of Vegas’s more advanced features.

However, some folks have objected strongly to the changes in the latest video. It seems that I may have went overboard, rendering a moving 3D background of a circuit-textured tunnel throughout the video. Even I thought it might be a bit distracting and tried to slow it down, but apparently not enough. Only now do I realize that I didn’t need any such thing–I’m already providing two points of interest for viewers: the talking head and the gameplay footage. If you get bored with one, you switch to the other. Adding a third thing just makes it look too busy.

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