The Experience Points Podcast
A weekly video game podcast from the co-writers of ExperiencePoints.net

We get it: you're busy.  Professional, familial, and personal obligations have a habit of expanding to the point where video games get crowded out.  However, all is not lost: inspired by Tina Amini's post, this week's podcast is a discussion about how to gracefully fit games into hectic schedules.  Jorge and I talk share the secrets of how we keep up with every game released (spoiler: we don't) and how to stay connected in a way that makes playing a game a pleasure rather than a burden.  The nice thing about podcasts is that you can listen to one and play a game simultaneously, so after you're done multitasking jump into the comments with your feedback!


- Subscribe to the EXP Podcast via iTunes

- Find the show on Stitcher

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed

- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here. Or, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format.

- Subscribe to this podcast and EXP's written content with the RSS link on the right.


Show notes:


- Runtime: 37 min 13 sec

- "How to Balance Video Games with Real Life," by Tina Amini, via Kotaku

- Music by: Brad Sucks

Direct download: EXP_Podcast_217_-_Game-Life_Balance.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 10:00am PDT

EXP Podcast #216: Hive, Board Games, and Developing AI

New technology that aims to revolutionize gaming is around the corner, yet millions of people are still happy to sit down around a table and place an old-fashioned board game. The two industries have been growing, but have they been growing closer together or farther apart? Join Scott and I this week to discuss the relationships between board games and video games, then stick around while we chat with Sean Colombo about his experience translating the game Hive to the digital world.

As always, we encourage you to leave your thoughts in the comments section and, if you've been playing any fun board games lately, let us know what they are!

Show notes:

Hive, by Blueline Studios

- Runtime: 41 min 34 sec

- Music by: Brad Sucks

Direct download: EXP_Podcast_216_-_Hive_Board_Games_and_Developing_AI.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 9:24pm PDT

This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout "Save us!"... and I'll look down and whisper "SERVER BUSY."

You guessed it: this week, we talk about the great SimCity snafu of 2013.  The technical issues surrounding the game are fairly well documented, but they raise a variety of broader questions: What does the future look like for single player games?  Is the line between design flaw and technical issue getting blurry?  Should a game review be amended if the game itself changes?  All this (plus some zombie-related speculation) on this week's podcast.  As always, feel free to jump into the comments with your thoughts!

- Subscribe to the EXP Podcast via iTunes
- Find the show on Stitcher
- Here's the show's stand-alone feed
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here. Or, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format.
- Subscribe to this podcast and EXP's written content with the RSS link on the right.

Show notes:

- "Requiring Online for Single Player," by Raph Koster
- "
Why this isn't a one-star SimCity review," by Tom Chick
- "SimCity Review: Engineering Addiction," by Russ Pits, via Polygon
- Runtime: 34 min 24 sec
- Music by: Brad Sucks

Direct download: EXP_Podcast_215_-_SimCity.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 10:00am PDT

Oh David Cage, will you always be a source of contention and fascinating design discussions? If my tea leaves tell me anything, it's that the creative mind behind Heavy Rain and the upcoming Beyond: Two Souls will always be stirring the pot, trying to craft something for the games industry we have never seen before. It might taste terrible, but at least it fuels some interesting conversations.

This week on the EXP Podcast, inspired by an excellent article by James Hawkins, Scott and I revisit Heavy Rain and explore the idea of the unreliable narrator. We touch upon several games in our chat, including our podcast favorite (can you guess what it is?). If you have examples of unreliable narrators in games, share them with us in the comments below and let us know how you felt they pulled off the difficult feat. Also, be sure to check out Hawkins' original article in the show notes as well as the "scene in question" below.

Show notes:

- Runtime: 36 min 48 sec

- "(Not) Seeing Is (Not) Believing", by James Hawkins via Bit Creature

- Music by: Brad Sucks

Direct download: EXP_Podcast_214_-_Heavy_Rain_and_Unreliable_Narrators.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 8:21pm PDT