HatchetJob.com

HatchetJob #60 - Prosopagnosia , faceblindness, with Dr.Brad Duchaine

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 16:47:00 GMT

We talk to Dr.Brad Duchaine about prosopagnosia, AKA faceblindness, which is the inability to recognise faces, be they of colleagues or loved ones. It's a more common problem than you'd think.

36 min. / 39 MB

Cambridge Face Memory test

www.faceblind.org

Bill Choisser's faceblindness site

Martha Farah

Jim Tanaka

Charles Stross

Music: Re-Acting by dr_gore2000

HatchetJob #59 - Mitch Gitelman, Xbox Live Arcade & Gaming's Future, Pt .2

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 16:58:00 GMT

In the second part of a funny and candid interview, we speak to Mitch Gitelman, Director of First Party Game Development, Xbox Live Arcade, about Bill Gates, Xbox Live Arcade and the future of games. Pt. 2 of 2.

With Mitch Gitelman, Danjo, Someguy, Souldaddy

Music: We Are One (CBM Remix) by Charlie Bit Me (qpec)

45 min. talk / 4 min. music / 41 MB

HatchetJob #58 Mitch Gitelman - Fasa, Shadowrun, Microsoft. Pt 1.

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 16:32:00 GMT

In a funny and candid interview, we speak to Mitch Gitelman, Director of First Party Game Development, Xbox Live Arcade, about his start in the industry, his time at FASA, the ups and downs of making Shadowrun and his work at Microsoft. Pt. 1 of 2.

With: Mitch Gitelman, Danjo, Someguy, Souldaddy

Shadowrun (Wikipedia)

Music: Lost In Translation by Aktar Aktar, Professor Kliq remix.

48 min. talk / 6 min. music / 44.5 MB

New shows forthcoming

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:09:00 GMT

New shows are on the way with our unusual mix of academics,videogame industry bigwigs and esoteric topics.

Just been a delay because of editing - we have to do it with our eyes closed because even the waveforms are blinding.

*rimshot*

HatchetJob #57 - Addiction And Videogames

Tue, 19 May 2009 20:30:00 GMT

We speak to Dr.Mark Griffiths, Director of the International Gaming Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University and find out some surprising facts about addiction and videogames.

Music is 'Being a Man (Truth Mixture) by Scomber.

With: Mark Griffiths, Danjo, Souldaddy

46 min. talk / 5 min. music 38 MB

Hatchet Job #56 - AC/DC Live, Time Limits In Games + Why WoW Is Divisive

Sat, 2 May 2009 20:03:00 GMT

Take an old SNES magazine, mix in Facebook and you get our special guest. We also chat about AC/DC Live for Rockband, time limits in games and why WoW is divisive.

With Jon, Someguy.

Music is 'Bro l< en' by Loveshadow.

Super Play magazine on Wikipedia

33 min. chat / 3 min. music / 30.3 MB

HatchetJob #55 - Book & Videogame-Box Artist Paul Kidby

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:49:00 GMT

We interview Paul Kidby, who is now the artist for Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, but used to do cover art for videogames boxes and magazines. We chat to him about his career, how he works and more. (In the show I forgot to mention Dirtbox and Messiac who both had their Qs asked.)

With Paul Kidby, Souldaddy

Music is 'The Annual New England Xylophone Symposium' by DoKashiteru.

www.paulkidby.net

45 min. talk / 4 min music / 35.1 MB

HatchetJob #54 - Resident Evil 5 Discussion

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:56:00 GMT

We review the experience of playing Resident Evil 5. (Sounds complex, but makes perfect sense when you listen.)

With Danjo, Someguy, Souldaddy

Music is 'Drugs of Choice (Rachel Maguire Remix)' by Daniel Fridholm

15 min. talk / 4 min. music / 14MB

Resident Evil 5 on Wikipedia

HatchetJob #53 - Interview with Dave Green of the London Games Fringe

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 22:41:00 GMT

Dave Green is the Communications Director of the London Games Fringe. We chat to him about the Fringe, DLC, DRM, aliens in games and what his videogame super power would be.

With The Dave Green, Souldaddy

Music:'I Hate California (Suicide Music Limited Remix)', Suicide Music Ltd.

56 min. talk / 5 min. music / 37.9 MB

London Games Fringe

Amiga Power

Ringworld

I was going to put a link to the London Games Festival, but my browser game me a virus warning. It may be a false positive, but beware.

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HatchetJob #52 - Street Fighter IV, Watchmen, Plain Sight, Flower

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:02:00 GMT

We chat to Alex Ashby, programmer for Beatnik games, about his game 'Plain Sight'. We also discuss Street Fighter IV, Watchmen, Flower and more.

With Alex Ashby, Mime-Danjo and Souldaddy

Music is 'Seeding Time' by Astroglider

1hr talk / 4 min. music / 32.4 MB

Links to things we chatted about:

Plain Sight

Beatnik Games

Street Fighter IV

Watchmen

Picasso exhibition

Flower

Counter Strike

Every Extend Extra Extreme

Super Mario Galaxy

Psychonauts

PlanetSide

The Weakest Link

300

Royal Philharmonic

Flash Gordon

Flow

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HatchetJob #51 - GTA: The Lost And Damned & Dawn Of War II

Mon, 2 Mar 2009 18:45:00 GMT

We talk about GTA IV expansion The Lost And Damned, Dawn of War II, Battle Royale and whether people actually play cheap Steam games.

With Danjo, Souldaddy

Music is Maenam by Jami Sieber

27 min. talk / 5 min. music / 20 MB

The Lost And Damned

Battle Royale

Dawn of War II

Gabe Newell's talk

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Taking questions for Beatnik Games & London Games Fringe

Mon, 2 Mar 2009 17:15:00 GMT

We're taking questions for Beatnik Games, developers of Plain Sight and for Dave Green, Communications Director of the London Games Fringe.

If you've got any Qs, email them to hatchetjobshow@gmail.com or post them as a comment here. If you want your questions credited to a pseudonym, let us know what it is.

Plain Sight:

http://www.plainsightgame.com/

London Games Fringe:

http://www.londongamesfringe.com/

Dave Green's bio:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Green_(journalist)

Please let us have your questions by Thursday 5th March.

HatchetJob #50 - Interview: Ian Bogost On Activism & Games

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:29:00 GMT

Ian Bogost is a videogame critic, designer and researcher, as well as an author. We speak to him about how games can be used for activism and instruction, not 'just' having fun.

With: Ian Bogost, Danjo, Someguy, Souldaddy

50 min. talk / 5 min. music / 27.3 MB

Music is 'The Dreamer's Overture' by JT Bruce

Links

Bogost.com

Persuasivegames.com

Dawkins discussion

Molyneux's problem

Fast Food Nation

Molleindustria (McD game maker)

A Force More Powerful

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Hatchet Job #49 - Ideas For Improving Xbox Live Matchmaking

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:35:00 GMT

We discuss and brainstorm ways to improve Xbox Live matchmaking.

Email us your ideas to be read on air: hatchetjobshow@gmail.com

With Danjo, Someguy, Souldaddy

Music is 'Day & Night' by Charlie Bit Me (qpec)

37 min. talk / 5 min. music / 20.1 MB

Links:

TED talk with the money experiment

We're taking questions for our next guest, Ian Bogost, co-founder of Persuasive Games.

Hatchet Job #48 - Games Testing & Learning Disabilities

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:01:00 GMT

We chat to Siobhan Thomas, a games academic who believes there's tremendous potential for games companies to use people with learning disabilites as games testers and QA staff. (Some Qs from GWJ.)

With Danjo, Siobhan, Someguy, Souldaddy

33 min. talk / 5.30 min. music / 18.9 MB

Music is 'Baked Chicken Heat' by Fireproof Babies

Links

Mencap

London Southbank Uni. Game Cultures

Ellingham Employment Services

IGDA user testing talk

Inclusive New Media Design

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Hatchet Job #47 - Catch Up With Tom Bramwell, Eurogamer Editor. Pt.2

Tue, 3 Feb 2009 16:02:00 GMT

As part of our general catch up show, we chat to Tom Bramwell, Eurogamer.net editor. Topics covered include recession and innovation, who benefits from 'exclusive reviews', journalists and publishers being manipulated and Dawn of War II.

With Danjo, Someguy, Tom Bramwell

Music is 'Sad Robot' the Procacci remix

Eurogamer.net

Dawn of War II

Mirror's Edge

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HatchetJob #46 - Catch Up With Tom Bramwell, Eurogamer Editor. Pt.1

Mon, 2 Feb 2009 10:11:00 GMT

As part of our general catch up show, we chat to Tom Bramwell, Eurogamer.net editor. Topics covered include the difference between US and UK journalists and the Resident Evil 5 demo. Pt.1

Eurogamer.net

Rise of the Argonauts

Resident Evil 5

Music is 'Cafe Connection' by Morgantj

29 min. talk / 3 min. music / 17 MB

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HatchetJob #45 - World of Warcraft And MMO Discussion, Part Two

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 07:43:00 GMT

We discuss World of Warcraft, MMOs and RPGs with Devmani, AKA Randy, a hardcore MMO player who knows World of Warcraft about as well as anyone could. (Part two. Includes ganking.)

With Danjo, Devmani, Someguy, Souldaddy

Music is 'Salty, Nascent, Just For Me' by Scott Altham

39 min. talk / 4 min. music / 20.7 MB

World of Warcraft

Eve Online

Ultima Online

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HatchetJob #44 - World of Warcraft And MMO Discussion, Part One

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 10:36:00 GMT

We discuss World of Warcraft, MMOs and RPGs with Devmani, AKA Randy, a hardcore MMO player who knows World of Warcraft about as well as anyone could. (Part one.)

With Danjo, Devmani, Someguy, Souldaddy

Music is 'Claytonia' by Thursday Group

28 min. talk / 8.30 min. music / 17.7 MB

World of Warcraft

Dungeons & Dragons

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Hatchet Job #43 - Sam & Max, A Short History of Nearly Everything, The Ascent of Money

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:12:00 GMT

We discuss Sam & Max on the Wii, Bill Bryson's 'A Short History of Nearly everything' and Niall Ferguson's 'The Ascent of Money'. (I got all the maths wrong on Sam & Max.)

With Danjo, Messiac (games dev lecturer), Someguy

Music is 'Broken Stereo' by Sean Fournier

19 min. talk / 5 min. music / 11.7 MB

Links

Sam & Max

Leisure Suit Larry

Secret of Monkey Island

A Short History of Nearly Everything

The Ascent of Money

Royal Court Theatre

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Hatchet Job #42 - Elite, Virtual Learning Environments and Games For Teaching

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 01:03:00 GMT

We discuss Elite, Virtual Learning Environments and using games for teaching. (But no Gundam.)

With Danjo, Messiac, Someguy

Music is 'Maroon Sedans, Earpieces, Sunglasses' by Romancito

Links:

Elite

Elite downloads

Ian Bell's site

Frontier

Virtual Learning Environments

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Hatchet Job #41 - Trusting Gamers To Control 'Left 4 Dead' NPCs

Mon, 5 Jan 2009 17:00:00 GMT

Can gamers be trusted to control NPCs in Left 4 Dead? Or will they default to being unpleasant for the hell of it?

With: Danjo, Someguy

16 min. chat / 3 min. music / 15.8 MB

Music is 'The song of the Wandering Aengus' by Citizen Nyx.

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Hatchet Job #40 - 2008 In Review: Open Worlds & Lost Memories

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 01:02:00 GMT

Wrapping up 2008, we talk about open worlds, remembering moments in games, what frustrated us and more.

With Danjo, Someguy, Souldaddy

Music is 'Ode to Odie' by the Kazoo Funk Orchestra

39 min. chat / 3 min. music / 20.3 MB

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Hatchet Job #39 - XNA Game Dev & XBL Community Games, Part 2

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 01:26:00 GMT

Interview part 2 - Tristan is developing a game with Microsoft's XNA system. We talk to him about the quality of games, developed using XNA, on Xbox Live's Community Game section.

With: Danjo, Someguy, Souldaddy

Music is 'Emona 1' by Maya FilipiÄ.

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Hatchet Job #38 - XNA Game Development Discussion, Part One

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 16:13:00 GMT

Interview - Tristan is developing a game with Microsoft's XNA system and learning how to use it at the same time. We ask what he thinks of XNA and how easy it is to use for non-technical people.

Music is 'March (Funkenstein Monstermix)' by Duckett

18 min. chat / 4 min. music / 10.2 MB

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Hatchet Job #37 - 'In The Pit', An Audio-Only Game

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 18:59:00 GMT

Interview - we talk to R. Hunter Gough, developer of In The Pit, an audio-only game in the Xbox 360's 'community games' section.

Xbox Marketplace page for In The Pit - http://tinyurl.com/6kgp6m

With: Danjo, Someguy, Souldaddy

Music is 'Monster' by Ghostown

37 min. talk / 5 min. music / 20.1 MB

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Hatchet Job #36 - Emotional Mobile Phones & Being Evil In Games

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 17:15:00 GMT

Part two of our weekly catch up. Topics include growing old as gamers, using mobile phones to trigger emotional memories and being evil in games.

Music is 'True Metal Of The World (AH-AH)' by NanowaR

With: Danjo, Someguy, Souldaddy

29 min. talk / 4 min. music / 15.8 MB

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Hatchet Job #35 - Fallout 3 VS Mass Effect, Plus AvaPeeps

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:44:00 GMT

Part one of our weekly catch up. In this part we talk about Fallout 3, compare it to Mass Effect and discuss AvaPeeps online dating.

With Danjo, Someguy, Souldaddy

Music is 'Computer - Sporkboy's vocal exploits mix' by Sporkboy.

26 min. talk / 3 min. music / 13.9 MB

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Audio issues

Thu, 4 Dec 2008 21:26:00 GMT

A listener has told us that sometimes the big pink flash player doesn't work too well in Internet Explorer; it makes us sound like The Chipmunks.

This doesn't happen to everyone using IE, but if it happens to you, use the grey 'POD' button next to a show title to play a specific show. Or use the player in the top right of the website to listen to the latest show.

Hatchet Job #34 - Trip Hawkins Interview, Part Six

Thu, 4 Dec 2008 19:26:00 GMT

Trip Hawkins, founder of Electronic Arts, talks to us about modern-day EA closing its casual label, its relationship with creative developers, how he balances being a creative person and a businessman and what he thinks of Sony's HOME for Playstation 3.

UPDATE:

We had some questions about Trip comparing HOME to WoW. I got in touch with him and he said this:

"The only reason I noted WoW and HOME together is that they are both from hardcore game companies with a hardcore bias. Hence they both care about 3D graphics and immersion based on audiovisual realism, and their concept of "social" is to be gameplay competitors online. By contrast, what I call the Omni Consumer is more socially motivated and is more likely to adopt technology that is simpler and more convenient and that they know their friends can handle, plus the Omni Consumer may be
seeking social benefits like making a date in real life."

To find out more about the omni consumer concept, listen to part two of the interview.

With: Someguy, Souldaddy

21 min. talk / no music / 12.8 MB

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Hatchet Job #33 - Trip Hawkins Interview, Part Five

Thu, 4 Dec 2008 18:23:00 GMT

Trip Hawkins, founder of Electronic Arts and creator of the Madden series, talks to us about arranged marriages in Japan, technology expanding social networks and why loneliness will be a major health issue of the future.

With: Souldaddy, Someguy

11 min. talk / no music / 6.4 MB

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Hatchet Job #32 - Trip Hawkins Interview, Part Four

Wed, 3 Dec 2008 18:41:00 GMT

Trip Hawkins, founder of Electronic Arts and creator of the Madden series, talks about pre-teens using credit cards to play games, why Nintendo got it right, how the West has overrated the market for MMORPGs and why Blizzard, and hardcore gamers, will have to get used to people buying gold and items.

With - Someguy, Souldaddy

15 min. talk / no music / 9.3 MB

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Hatchet Job #31 - Trip Hawkins Interview, Part Three

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 18:37:00 GMT

Trip Hawkins, founder of Electronics Arts and creator of the Madden games, talks about the future of the videogames industry, why good graphics intimidate casual gamers, stock options in companies and if he's an urban hoodie.

With: Souldaddy, Someguy

12 min. talk / no music / 7.2 MB

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Hatchet Job #30 - Trip Hawkins Interview, Part Two

Mon, 1 Dec 2008 19:01:00 GMT

Trip Hawkins, founder of Electronic Arts and creator of the Madden games, tells us about his mobile games company Digital Chocolate. He talks about the advent of the 'omni-media gamer'
and why the iPhone is a bigger deal than the PC.

With: Souldaddy, Someguy

12 min. talk / no music / 7.3 MB

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Hatchet Job #29 - Trip Hawkins Interview, Part One

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:56:00 GMT

Trip Hawkins founded Electronic Arts and created the Madden series. He talks to us about the history of Madden, its inspiration and creation, including titles such as Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One on One. He also talks about how important the Sega Genesis (AKA Sega Megadrive) was to EA Sports.

Part two of our Trip Hawkins interview will be posted very soon.

With: Someguy, Souldaddy

11 min. chat / No music. 6.6 MB

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Hatchet Job #28 - Smell, Sound & Touch In Games

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:57:00 GMT

Interview - Prof. Charles Spence is head of the Crossmodal Research Laboratory at Oxford University. We speak to him about the interplay of our senses and their use in computer games, including why it's hard to play FPSs and talk tactics at the same time. However the first thing he talks about is food; crisps in particular.

With: Someguy, Souldaddy

Music: 'Fashion Freak' by Naked Ape

41 min. talk / 4 min. music 26.5 MB

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Hatchet Job #27 - Wrath Of The Lich King, Anathem, A Kingdom For Keflings, Left 4 Dead Multiplayer

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:21:00 GMT

We talk about Wrath of the Lich King, Neal Stephenson's 'Anathem', A Kingdom for Keflings and Left 4 Dead multiplayer.

With Danjo, Someguy, Soul

Music is 'Only Good for War' by the Suit Corporation

24 min. chat / 4.30 min. music 16.3 MB

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Hatchet Job #26 - Winning, Losing & Neuro-Linguistic Programming

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:21:00 GMT

INTERVIEW: Paul is a neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) practitioner with youth charity Kikass. NLP tries to figure out why people are successful. Video games have a 'win or lose' way of judging success which is, broadly, modelled on society's view. NLP says something different. We start talking about the U.S. educational system, then segue into games.

With: Danjo, Someguy, Souldaddy

Music is 'Never get out (World War Z RMX)' by Mendez & Muna

39 min. talk / 4 min. music 25.2 MB

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Hatchet Job #25 - Left 4 Dead, Mirror's Edge & Ammo Conservation

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 01:35:00 GMT

We talk about ammo conversation in FallOut3, Mirror's Edge and why the Left 4 Dead demo sits uncomfortably between zombie movie and first-person shooter.

With: Danjo, Someguy, Souldaddy

Music is 'War And Sleep' by Ambient Teknology

28 min. chat / 4 min. music 15.4 MB

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Hatchet Job #24 - Gears Of War 2 Review

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:46:00 GMT

We review Gears of War 2 and talk about its multiplayer gameplay and tactical differences compared to Call of Duty 4.

With: Danjo, Someguy, Souldaddy

Music: 'Dear Boy' by Trip Wamsley

26 min. chat / 3.30 min. music 13.8 MB

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Hatchet Job #23 - Cerebral Palsy, Autism & User Interfaces

Fri, 7 Nov 2008 00:54:00 GMT

INTERVIEW: User Interface design is incredibly important for games - it covers the way humans interact with consoles and computers by using keyboard, mouse, joystick, joypad and Wii remote. Arun Mehta knows all about User INterface design issues, has developed software at the request of Stephen Hawking, and is using games and steering wheels help kids with cerebral palsy and autism use computers.

His website is http://skid.org.in

His email address is arun [DOT] mehta [AT] gmail.com

We had some audio problems during the show.

Music is 'Landlocked' by Human Response.

41 min. talk / 6 min. music 22 MB

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Hatchet Job #22 - Fallout 3, More FarCry 2, The New Xbox Live Experience & More

Tue, 4 Nov 2008 20:30:00 GMT

We review Fallout 3, go back to FarCry 2, talk about a game for blind people, chat about spending time with the new Xbox Live Experience and more.

Guests: Souldaddy, Someguy, Danjo

Music: 'Bad Attraction (Very Angry Young Man Mix)' by Scomber

28 min. chat / 3 min. music 14.7 MB

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Hatchet Job #21 - Game Design Courses & Industry Relevance

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:21:00 GMT

INTERVIEW: Our guest 'Messiac' is a games development lecturer. He talks to Someguy, a recruiter for the games industry, about games design courses, their relevance to the industry and what their graduates can realistically expect.

With: Danjo, Someguy, Souldaddy

Music: 'I like it like That (s.thaens)' by Stefsax

31 min. chat / 4 min. music 16.5 MB

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Hatchet Job #20 - FarCry 2 Review

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:40:00 GMT

We review FarCry2 for the Xbox 360, chat about it in relation to Halo 3's A.I. and its importance to the games industry in terms of user-created content.

Guests: Danjo, Messiac, Someguy, Soul

Music: 'Ophelia's Song (DNA Remix)' by DNA

24 min. chat / 4 min. music 12.9 MB

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Hatchet Job #19 - Fable II Review

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:22:00 GMT

We review Fable 2 and discuss whether it's the standard by which all other RPGs should now be measured.

Guests: Danjo, Messiac, Someguy, Souldaddy

Music: 'Shadow Games (Radio Mix)' by Loveshadow

23 min. chat / 5 min. music 11.6MB

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Hatchet Job #18 - Dead Space, Resistance 2 & Impact Bias

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 22:32:00 GMT

We review Dead Space 2, hear about the Resistance 2 beta and chat about 'impact bias' and why your brain might trick you into getting overexcited about new games. (Find out more at http://tinyurl.com/6f4rlp)

Guests: Games development lecturer Messiac, Soul, Danjo and SOmeguy.

Music: The theme to 'Love' by Ian Dorsch

18 min. chat / 3 min. music 9.57 MB

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Hatchet Job #17 - Design For Core Or Casual?

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:48:00 GMT

We discuss - vigorously - Peter Molyneux's view of the game's industry internal divide between hardcore and casual gamers. Is this viewpoint damaging for the industry and for 'hardcore' games? (This show was inspired by a Kotaku article and a shot of Peter M. holding an invisible baby.)

Guests: Danjo, Someguy, Soul

Music: 'Short Fuses Burn Long Bridges (bill berry mix)' [sic] by William Berry

25 min. chat / 7 min. music. 14.9MB

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Hatchet Job #16 - Saints Row 2, Call of Duty 5 & End War

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 09:32:00 GMT

We chat about playing the Call of Duty 5 beta, the Tom Clancy's End War demo and Saints Row 2.

Guests: Danjo, Someguy, Soul.

Music: Black is the Night remixed by Scott Altham

20 min. chat / 6 min. music 11.7 MB

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Hatchet Job # 15 - Stuck In Or Stood Back? Which Gamer Are You?

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 08:50:00 GMT

Why do some gamers like to be part of the action and why do some prefer to stand back and direct the action? What differentiates an RTS and FPS player?

Guests: Danjo Olivaw, Souldaddy.

Music: '2025', DoKashiteru.

25 min. chat / 4 min. music 13.6MB

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Hatchet Job #14 - Films Sets & Game Settings

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:33:00 GMT

In this episode we discuss whether a game, in terms of its 3D setting, can progress a story better than a book or film.

Unusually, we had audio problems with this episode so sometimes our voices cut out and there's a rather abrupt ending, which was highly annoying.

Music is 'Certain Death (Still Alive Remix)' by Blackberry

18 mins. chat / 7 mins. music. 11MB

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Hatchet Job # 13 - Rock Band 2, Little Big Planet & Contemporary Dance

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 23:59:00 GMT

We chat about what we've been up to this week, including Rock Band 2, Sid Meier's Colonization, playing the joy that is Little Big Planet and being confused by contemporary dance.

Music is 'Star Guide' by Tryad.

20 min. chat, 3 min. music. 10.5MB

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For the purpose of publicity

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:25:00 GMT

I'm posting a Podcast Alley paragraph.

My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-b84561e302379c9be9898ab1c1307fc2}

The idea, readers, is that when Podcast Alley - a podcast directory - scans this post, they'll realise that I run the HatchetJob.com podcast and will list me on their site.

At least I believe that's the case
Questions or comments?

Hatchet Job #12 - Do Games Need 'Blank Slate' Characters?

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 15:54:00 GMT

Do games need protagonists with undefined histories for players to immerse themselves?

Guests: Souldaddy, Someguy

Music: 'This is our music (Thruewiddit mix)' by Duckett

26 min. chat, 3 min. music. Some swearing.

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Hatchet Job # 11 - Japanese Dolls, Gamers & Danny DeVito

Tue, 7 Oct 2008 18:08:00 GMT

Can the games industry learn something from people that collect Japanese dolls? Do gamers just play with virtual dolls?

Music is 'Cherry' by Josh Woodward.

Guests: Someguy, Souldaddy.

20 min. chat, 5 min. music. 11.4MB

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Hatchet Job #10 - Xbox 360 120GB HD, Brothers in Arms, Rock Band 2 and The National Theatre

Mon, 6 Oct 2008 09:59:00 GMT

Xbox 360 120GB HD, The National Theatre, Brothers in Arms, Rock Band 2 drums, FIFA, football and class war.

24 minutes' chat, 5 minutes' music. Swearing.

Music: 'Chrysalide' by Wuzz.

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Hatchet Job #9 - Natural Vs. Artificial Rewards

Sun, 5 Oct 2008 01:47:00 GMT

Guests: Danjo Olivaw, Someguy, Souldaddy

How games reward you for playing them.

Music:

'Bust This Bust That', Professor Kliq

www.professorkliq.com

38:39 / 9.97MB

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Hatchet Job #8 - Can Games Be Distinctly British?

Wed, 1 Oct 2008 23:07:00 GMT

Guests: Souldaddy, Danjo Olivaw, Someguy

00:00 - 22:00 Can games be distinctly British?

22:00 - 27:10

Music. âBetween Light and Shadow (Feat. Moving Sand)â by Triplexity.

Show is a diminutive 6.21 MB

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Hatchet Job #7 - Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:01:00 GMT

Guests: Souldaddy, Danjo Olivaw, Someguy.

We discuss what we thought of Brothers in Arms: Hellâs Highway on the 360, Pure and even nibble on a slice of Splinter Cell: Double Agent.

00:00 - 28:32, Brothers in Arms.

28:32 - 30:30 - Pure

30:30 - 34:40 - Splinter Cell: Double Agent

34:40 - 40:44 - Music. âOpen Upâ by Gideon K. A middling 40:44 and a skimpy less-than-ten megs. Swearing.

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Hatchet Job #6 - Game Demos

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 22:57:00 GMT

Guests: Souldaddy, Danjo Olivaw

00:00 - 19:14

What weâve been reading, watching and playing. Stalker: Clear Sky, Norman Mailer and Marshall McLuhan in conversation, Bad Science by Ben Goldacre and Seismac, a seismograph for Mac laptops. (Links below.)

19:14 - 42:06

Discussion on game demos. Favourite demos, what we liked about them and some ideas on how to break the stereotypical way demos are presented, played and discussed.

42:06 - 46:15

Music. âMotor (VersiÃn 2001)â by Vate.

Links:

Mailer & McLuhan: http://tinyurl.com/2dlj8q

www.badscience.net

Seismac: http://tinyurl.com/kcfyp

A piddly 8MB or so.

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Hatchet Job #5- Too Human, Mercenaries 2, Bangai O-Spirits & Unlockable Content

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 22:49:00 GMT

Guests: Danjo Olivaw, Souldaddy, Someguy.

If you want to skip to a particular bit just use the times below.

00:39 Too Human (360) and gamesâ controls

10:12 Mercenaries 2, 360

16:36 Bangai-O Spirits, Nintendo DS

22:00 Starts with gaming and childhood, goes into discussion on filtering unecessary on-screen info

28:22 Why worrying about winning is bad for your score, then motivating players in team games

38:16 Unlockable content, drip feeding players with rewards and related issues

01:11:24 Game worlds and realism. Are all games just puzzlers in disguise?

All the way to the end!

1:27 long. It squeezed into a whalebone corset of (just under) 15 MB. Thereâs effing and blinding.

Music is âSlicksterâ by OmTheory.

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Hatchet Job #4 - Renting Games

Fri, 5 Sep 2008 22:44:00 GMT

In this show I talk with âSomeguyâ, a man on the periphery of the games industry.

We talk about how renting games affects the way one plays and think about them. We also touch on what developers think of the rental industry. At the start of the show we have mini-reviews of Tiger Woods 09 and Dark Sector for the 360.

We also discuss gamesâ difficulty, Gary Glitterâs dress sense, gold farming and more.

Thereâs some swearing in this episode. Music is âField of Grassâ by Mountain Mirrors.

Show is compressed to a sprightly 14.3MB.

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Hatchet Job #3 - Star Wars: The Font Unleashed (sic)

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 22:41:00 GMT

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Odd menus, strange lightsabres and thoughts on games-of-films. Four minutes and 14 seconds.

Intro music is âSad Robotâ by Pornophonique.

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Hatchet Job #2 - Procedural Content

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 22:34:00 GMT

Second show, further tweaking of format.

My guest, Danjo Olivaw, and I continue on the GTA4 procedural content theme. We push it further we discuss ways of generating massive amounts of content for massive games. (Note that weâre talking about content thatâs not crucial to a gameâs plot.)

We also talk about children and computer games, touching on edutainment and the way kids relate to robots.

On a slightly lower note, thereâs also swearing and talk of blue movies. NOTE: This is the last show recorded while playing a game.

Music is 'Sad Robot' by Pornophonique

55 mins.

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Hatchet Job #1 - Game Size

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 22:28:00 GMT

This is the first Hatchet Job show. Itâs more of a practice run more than anything, both of recording a show and using this publishing software.

In this episode my guest, Dave McCoy, and I talk about the relationship between a gameâs size and its quality, GTA4, and more. There may be some swearing.

Music is by Georges Bloch

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