Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

(Watch this and other Nice Plays on YouTube for HD-quality.)In this episode, Mark plays the opening chapter of one of Martha's very favorite games, Borderlands 2, and then Martha takes over to show off her badassitude. Your nice hosts talk about narrative in FPS games, generous loot systems, and how wonderful/terrible Claptrap is.Game: Borderlands 2Developer: Gearbox SoftwarePublisher: 2K GamesPlatform: PCYear: 2012Genre: First-person shooterVideo

(Watch this and other Nice Plays on YouTube for HD-quality.)In this episode, your nice hosts battle each other in a brand new indie fighting game. The overall win-loss record isn't important... the main takeaway is that Martha and Mark both beat Stephen.Game: InflatalityDeveloper: Hojo StudioPublisher: Hojo StudioPlatform: PCRelease date: Oct. 26, 2017Genre: FightingVideo

This week, Martha hosts her first roundtable episode, Mark starts another argument, and Stephen gets sassy about his favorite game genre.Stephen did regret promising to have his talk notes up. They’ll be up ASAP!Martha had a blast at the My Brother, My Brother and Me show!0:08:08Fighting GamesGames N’ Go in Roseville, MN often has Friday fighting game nights.The Moon Fields, a Wisconsin fighting game by Lunar Signals.Terminology and glossary guide for fighting gamesEvent HubsThe White Belts Facebook group is helpful for those looking to start fighting g…In case you’re curious who the top characters are in Super Smash Bros. games, h…Sonic hurricane dot com is a great guide about footsies and the role it plays i…0:40:09Character RoleplayingThe Uncharted 2 commercial Mark references. It is pretty terrible.We reference a few of the future games talked about in the past episode,"We joke here."Seems some other people agree with Mark’s stance on Shepard’s first name.

It’s a very special episode, as your nice hosts celebrate one year(!!!) of Nice Games Club by revising their favorite topics from the show’s first 50+ episodes. Also: Mark complains about Las Vegas, Martha repeatedly gets the last laugh, and Stephen doesn’t like talking about his problems.0:03:06Imposter Syndrome (revisited)Impostor Syndrome Is Not Just a Confidence ProblemAlicia LiuMedium0:14:20Conferences / Gaming Events (revisited)Adobe’s prototype AI tools let you instantly edit photos and videos James VincentThe VergeSo Adobe XD CC is out, what now? Alexander DimitrovPrototypr0:24:50VR Development (revisited)We never miss an opportunity to plug Beach Ball Valley.SteamGoogle BlocksLogitech made a VR keyboard kit so you can type in the ViveAdi RobertsonThe VergeEVE developers CCP pulling out of VR Adam SmithRock Paper ShotgunOculus is closing its VR film studio Adi RobertsonThe VergeGoogle acquires Owlchemy Labs VR game studioLucas Matney TechCrunchWindows Mixed Reality Headsets Gain SteamVR Support, a Library of VR GamesAnton ShilovAnandTech0:40:08Prototyping (revisited)This topic revisits our episode"Pick up all the things."15 Top Prototyping Tools Go Head-to-HeadDave Kearney and Daniel SchwarzSitepointYouthprise0:48:44Messages and Meanings (revisited)This topic revisits our episode"We are artists and we should be artists."1:06:04Strategy Guides (revisited)This topic revisits our episode"We are artists and we should be artists."1:13:57The Future of Nice Games Club

A special episode, with a unique guest, who is also a fan of the show! Minneapolis-based Riddle Room creator and owner Art Allen enters the clubhouse to talk about making, designing, and operating puzzle/escape room games, and the ways in which its similar and different from creating digital games.Puzzle/Escape RoomsPhysical GamesPeeking Behind the Locked Door: A Survey of Escape Room Facilities - Scott NicholsonThe 10 Best VR Puzzle and Escape Room Games -  Andy O'Donnell, LifewireThe Stagecoach-themed children’s book we talked about is Nine for California, b…Escape Room Enthusiast Facebook groupEscape Room Owners Facebook group

In this episode, Martha (and then Stephen) are tortured by bad level design and user-hostile game mechanics in the original Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2, while Mark praises the oft-misunderstood American version of the game.NOTE: Mark was wrong. There *were* mid-level checkpoints in the original Super Mario Bros.Game: Super Mario Bros. 2 (Japan)Developer/Publisher: NintendoPlatform: Famicom Disk SystemYear: 1986Genre: PlatformerThis game is exhaustively detailed at Super Mario Wiki.Mark really loves the American version of Super Mario Bros. 2, which you can read a lotabout.Video

In this episode, Mark plays a new indie release by a Twin Cities developer. He dies a lot, and it's only partially the controller's fault.Game: Color JumperDeveloper/Publisher: Tall Beard StudiosPlatform: Windows / Mac / LinuxYear: 2017Genre: Precision PlatformerColor Jumper on Itch.io.Color Jumper on Steam.Ben Burnes on Twitter.Ben is also a musician and songwriter!...and he streams on Twitch!Video

In our first (and likely only ever) Halloween episode, Martha haunts the clubhouse, Mark delivers some bad Zelda-related news to Stephen, and from Stephen’s topic a thousand flowers bloom.Mark gave a talk on object-oriented programming at the first annual M+DEV confe…0:04:41Upcoming GamesTech Interview: Destiny 2 and Bungie's return to PC gamingRichard LeadbetterEurogamer18 new Nintendo Switch games are out this week — the most everAllegra FrankPolygonPokemon Stars: all the latest leaks from the confirmed Nintendo Switch gameEmma BoyleTechRadar[Your Name] the HedgehogKnow Your Meme0:20:58Release DatesThe Dark Night Rises had No Competition at the Box OfficeJim PagelsSlateThe Weird Reason Why Video Games Are Released On Tuesdays Karyne LevyBusiness InsiderWe asked folks at r/gamedev about release date strategies. Thanks to those who contributed to this episode!0:31:07Win ConditionsLoot Boxes Are Designed To Exploit UsHeather Alexandra,KotakuHow Game Designers Protect Players From ThemselvesGame Maker's ToolkitYouTubeThe long, hard, journey behind the design of Dead Cells’ player builds Alex WiltshireRock Paper ShotgunDesert Bus For Hope

This week, we talk to Ben Franks, Dreamcast aficionado, and discuss the various ways its preservation has taken form. Your nice hosts also take a short trip down memory lane as we reminisce about our favorite video game hardware.Here's a video Martha captured while we were recording the episode, as Ben open… - Nice Games Club with Ben Franks, YouTubePreserving the DreamcastHardwarePreserving the Art of Play - Jacob Brogan, SlateHere are the Xbox 360 and PS3 emulators Stephen mentioned. Less than 20% of their game libraries are fully playable.This Facebook group wants Dreamcast GD ROM Drive Emulation to happen.Clean room engineering uses formal methods and iteration in software developmen… - WikipediaThe Dreamcast’s SH4 processor has an open source version called J-core.Remember Game Gear? - Levi Buchanan, IGN Elysian Shadows is being developed for Dreamcast, PC and...Ouya? Here are the tidy insides of a Dreamcast:Morepictures of Ben’s Dreamcaststuff!Windows CE did indeed run on Dreamcast. Here’s a list of games that used it.KallistiOS, a prograde development system for Dreamcast. - Cryptic Allusion Game DevThe Dreamcast’s Visual Memory Unit. - WikipediaSonic Adventure had a pretty robust Chao raising minigame. - Sonic RetroSonic Shuffle, Sega’s attempt at a Mario Party-like game.The creators of Elysian Shadows have created a VMU emulator called ElysianVMU. - The DreamCast JunkyardHow to burn a Dreamcast CDI. - The .ISO zoneA guide to replace a Dreamcast GD-ROM drive. - iFixit

In this episode (Nice Games Club's 50th!), Martha plays (and finishes!) a game Stephen once recommended to Mark (but Mark forgot about). A first-person narrative, Thirty Flights of Loving is a 5-year old game written in a 10-year old engine, but still holds up, according to your nice hosts, anyway.Game: Thirty Flights of LovingDeveloper/Publisher: Blendo GamesPlatform: PC (Windows, Mac)Year: 2012Genre: First-person NarrativeIGN has (for some wonderful reason) a strategy guide for this game.The 27 Homages Of Thirty Flights Of Loving - David Valjalo, Rock Paper ShotgunBlendo Games most recent release was the indie darling Quadrilateral Cowboy.Video