State of the Arc Podcast

Are you too old to play video games? Are we? Is there a cut-off somewhere? In this episode, we dive into the age old question, "When are you too old to still be playing video games?" It's a good question. Also, it's a bad question. Which games are we referring to? What else are these games keeping you from doing? Is our civilization going to end? Or will it keep coasting by? When will I stop asking these questions?? If you have answers or insights relating to anything in this video, please leave a comment. If you enjoy this content, please consider subscribing. Thank you, you all rock! **We’re Now On Spotify**: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gIzzvT3AfRHjGlfF8kFW3 **Listen On Soundcloud**: https://soundcloud.com/resonantarc **Listen On iTunes**: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/state-of-the-arc-podcast/id1121795837 **Listen On Pocket Cast**: http://pca.st/NJsJ Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/resonantarc Subscribe Star: https://www.subscribestar.com/resonant-arc Twitter: https://twitter.com/resonantarc Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/resonantarc Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/resonantarc TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@resonantarc

Hyper Light Drifter is brilliant. The incredible depth of its narrative, delivered without a single word of text, is a testament to how creative and evocative its music, sound, and visuals are. Today, we dive into what makes this game so special and how it has inspired both of us to live our lives to the fullest. 1. Intro (0:00) 2. Setting Expectations On How We Do Analysis (3:20) 3. What Is Hyper Light Drifter? (8:46) 4. Development History (11:39) 5. Hyper Light Drifter's Design Foundations (47:12) 6. Interesting Trivia About The Real World Immortal Cell (56:40) 7. Discussing The Game's Monoliths (1:02:09) 8. Why The Egyptian God Anubis Is Relevant To This Game (1:14:22) 9. Analysis Of Judgment (1:28:48) 10. How Tarot Is Used In The Game (1:32:54)

It seems that with every new Japanese game released here in the States, there's another controversy about the translation. Most recently, we saw this with Metaphor: Refantasio, but the same thing happened with Unicorn Overlord and many others. This is true not only for games but also for anime and Manga. So today, we brought in Alexander O. Smith, a professional Japanese-to-English translator and game writer who worked on games like Vagrant Story, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Final Fantasy X, and Final Fantasy XII, to set the record straight about the process of game translation and localization. Is the game industry plagued with "rogue translators" who are pushing their own agenda? Is censorship the issue? In this episode, you'll learn how and why these decisions are made and learn some REALLY cool behind-the-scenes info on how Final Fantasy X was translated! Timecodes: 1. Intro (0:00) 2. Establishing Our Intentions With This Conversation (1:46) 3. What Got Alex Interested In Learning Japanese? (6:36) 4. How Different Are Japanese And English Fundamentally? (15:51) 5. How Much Oversight Do Japanese Devs Have Over English Translation? (28:48) 6. How Much Of The Changes Between Japanese And English Are Marketing Decisions? (35:57) 7. How Often Are The Japanese Teams Requesting Changes For Other Markets? (44:24) 8. Should Translators Also Be Good Writers Themselves? (58:24) 9. Why Did Alex Change "Arigato" to "I love you" in Final Fantasy X? (1:19:00) 10. Alex's Biggest Translation Mistake On FFX (1:30:09) 11. Alex's Feelings On Working With Yasumi Matsuno (1:39:36) 12. How Do You Approach Translating Song Lyrics Like Melodies of Life? (1:57:56) 13. How Did You Master Older Forms Of English? (2:03:43)

After watching last week's State of Play presentation, we were surprised to see how upset people were about the Horizon Zero Dawn Remaster announcement. In today's episode, we'll discuss the uptick in gamer outrage and give our thoughts on the show's announcements! Time Codes: 1. Intro (0:00) 2. Responses To Last Week's Episode (2:01) 3. Thoughts on State of Play (20:50)

The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring concludes in such a beautiful way. Sam and Frodo, Merry and Pippin, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, and then of course, the tragedies of Boromir and Gandalf. The 7 who remain of the fellowship must go their separate ways. And while the movie tells us time and time again that Frodo must do this alone, Sam comes with him. J.R.R. Tolkien chose to hinge his works on certain beautiful truths that seem evident in the world around him, and explained the sadness and sorrow, and the goodness and beauty, in ways that no fictional writers have been able to do since. What an absolute beast. It can't be overstated how much good he has done for the world. Peter Jackson tries and largely succeeds in living up to Tolkien's high, high standards in this film. Time Codes: 1. Intro (0:00) 2. The Ring Goes South (2:07) 3. Caradhras (9:18) 4. The Mines of Moria (17:50) 5. The Balrog (26:30) 6. Pity for Gollum (44:33) 7. The Secret Fire (55:51) 8. Lothlorien (1:02:28) 9. The Lady Galadriel (1:20:35) 10. The Mirror of Galadriel (1:39:57) 11. The Great River (1:56:56) 12. The Departure of Boromir (2:05:30) 13. "I'm Coming With You!" (2:08:05) 14. Tolkien's Themes (2:10:40) 15. Linguistic Notes (2:29:22) **We’re Now On Spotify**: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gIzzvT3AfRHjGlfF8kFW3 **Listen On Soundcloud**: https://soundcloud.com/resonantarc **Listen On iTunes**: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/state-of-the-arc-podcast/id1121795837 **Listen On Pocket Cast**: http://pca.st/NJsJ Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/resonantarc Subscribe Star: https://www.subscribestar.com/resonant-arc Twitter: https://twitter.com/resonantarc Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/resonantarc Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/resonantarc TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@resonantarc

There's been a lot of buzz about the slump the gaming industry is in for years now. Studio closures, big game failures, and an overall homogenizing of the AAA scene point to a possible collapse of the industry. Today, we discuss why this is happening and what--if anything--we can do about it. Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/resonantarc Subscribe Star: https://www.subscribestar.com/resonant-arc Twitter: https://twitter.com/resonantarc Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/resonantarc Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/resonantarc TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@resonantarc

We need a Xeno detox! So, while we begin preparing for our next big game, we would like to make some exciting announcements about the future of this YouTube channel! Learn more about how we'll be approaching the show moving forward and how we'll go about doing TWO episodes a week moving forward! For anyone who tries to sign up for our new Patreon tier, I still haven't received a message from Patreon support to resolve the problem I'm having linking the Discord perks. Please reach out to me in a private message (on Patreon or on Discord), and I will add you manually so you can enjoy the perks! Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/resonantarc Subscribe Star: https://www.subscribestar.com/resonant-arc Twitter: https://twitter.com/resonantarc Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/resonantarc Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/resonantarc TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@resonantarc

The Fellowship of the Ring is a masterclass in how to creatively adapt a book while technically also skipping, say, 4 entire chapters without missing a beat. I am more amazed at what Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and the whole team pulled off. It rejuvenated J.R.R. Tolkien's work in a way that kept many of his important themes in it. We continue to analyze what made these movies so special and compare them to the books where we can. Time Codes: 1. Intro (0:00) 2. Peter Jackson Directing Action (0:51) 3. A Shortcut to Mushrooms (8:32) 4. Ring Wraiths (17:11) 5. Bree (28:09) 6. Strider (49:14) 7. Weathertop (1:05:59) 8. Isengard (1:24:18) 9. Flight to the Ford (1:31:20) 10. Rivendell (1:57:28) 11. The Council of Elrond (2:27:35) 12. No Oath nor Bond is Laid (2:48:15) **We’re Now On Spotify**: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gIzzvT3AfRHjGlfF8kFW3 **Listen On Soundcloud**: https://soundcloud.com/resonantarc **Listen On iTunes**: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/state-of-the-arc-podcast/id1121795837 **Listen On Pocket Cast**: http://pca.st/NJsJ Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/resonantarc Subscribe Star: https://www.subscribestar.com/resonant-arc Twitter: https://twitter.com/resonantarc Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/resonantarc Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/resonantarc TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@resonantarc

To skip the Childhood's End spoilers, move forward in the timeline from 1:54:32 to 1:57:00 Thanks to all the guests who joined us on this panel! TJTheEmperor: @TJTheEmperor Keith Comito: https://www.lifespan.io/ David Aidan In this final episode, we break down the plot and themes for the entire Xenosaga series now that we have finished everything. It is packed full of really interesting insights from an incredible panel. We hope you appreciate it!

Wow, what a great game! We'll have one more episode after this one so please comment with what you want us to talk about next time that we may have missed this time. **We’re Now On Spotify**: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gIzzvT3AfRHjGlfF8kFW3 **Listen On Soundcloud**: https://soundcloud.com/resonantarc **Listen On iTunes**: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/state-of-the-arc-podcast/id1121795837 **Listen On Pocket Cast**: http://pca.st/NJsJ