Classic arcade characters are on the rampage, Kojima has disappeared, and Nintendo has acknowledged the existence of smart phones: what the heck is happening out there?  This week, Jorge and I do a quick news roundup in an attempt to make sense of the chaos.  If we try to predict the box office, the fate of Kojima productions, and Nintendo's 5-year strategy, we have to get at least one.  I believe that's how statistics works.

The Game Developers Conference, PAX East/Prime/South/West/Arctic, Twitch Con. There are just so many conventions to attend each year, all hoping to grab your attention with a selection of games, from Triple A to indie. This week on the EXP Podcast, Scott and I discuss the landscape of fan conventions, the presence of virtual reality hardware, and some of the games at the three conventions that just wrapped up over the past couple weeks. 

Show Notes:

- Runtime: 37 mins 45 secs

Zombies, fits of uncontrollable crying, and idyllic villages full of aliens: just another day in Earthbound.  We return to our game to talk about parenthood, friendship, and cryptozoology.  We've played up to Ness' arrival in mysterious and (confusing) Saturn Valley.  Hopefully we haven't lost any of you to those vicious new age hippies.  Feel free to share your spirit journey experiences in the comments.

You probably have a box of them in your house. Some of them might be broken or worn down through use. Others you may have broken throwing against a wall. They are video game controllers, and we love to hate them and argue which are better than others. But how do controllers express their own meaning?

This week on the EXP Podcast, Scott and I are inspired David Shimomura's recent piece on "The semiotics of controllers." With so many buttons, we'll have plenty to discuss.

Show Notes:

- Runtime: 32 mins 28 secs

- "The semiotics of controllers," by David Shimomura, via Kill Screen.