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This second episode Alex Shaw of Digital Gonzo asks “How will the closure of Blockbuster, HMV and GAME affect UK game sales?”

Gary Blower of GameBurst asks “Are mincrotransactional, freemium games a return to the mistakes of the arcade?”

And Matt Ramsey of GamerDork asks “Do we put too much pressure on ourselves as gamers to do and play everything?”

As always we intersperse these with appropriately catchy music and short snippets of the previous month’s output from all three feeds.

Talk about the show on Twitter with the many hosts using the hashtag #PraxisEffect. Contact us via email at praxiseffect@gmail.com and come to the Gonzo Planet forums where there is a Praxis Effect section. We want to hear you guys use these discussions as jumping off points for debate.

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After getting all of that vitriol out of their systems last week, Sharon and Leah welcome Matt back for a return to regular, slightly less angry show. So, to that end, fairy vaginas for everyone! (I only wish I was kidding.)

© 2008-2013 GamerDork.net. All rights Reserved.
Hosts: Leah Haydu, Sharon Shaw & Matt Ramsey
Producer: Leah Haydu

Tidy links:

Mass Effect 3

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

Death Troopers

Hyrule Historia

So You Want to be a Wizard (sadly not by Duran Duran)

Mansome

The Dollars Trilogy

Game of Thrones

Got questions? Of course you do! If you send them to dorkcast@gamerdork.net, we promise to be gentle. Ish. Gentle-ish.

Visit us at GamerDork!

This week, we have a Very Special show for you. Matt couldn’t be with us, so you get a full show’s worth of Leah and Sharon ranting, yelling, and occasionally making lucid and valid points about the second book in the 50 Shades of Grey series, 50 Shades Darker.

Our regular show will return next week, but for now, enjoy (?) the discussion, and remember to stick around for the outtakes!

© 2008-2013 GamerDork.net. All rights Reserved.
Hosts: Leah Haydu, Sharon Shaw & Matt Ramsey
Producer: Leah Haydu

Visit us at GamerDork!

Visit us at GamerDork!

This is the first of an ongoing monthly series of team-up podcasts, covering the wide world of geek culture and combining co-hosts from three websites; GameBurst, GamerDork and Gonzo Planet. Three hosts per show, one topic per host, ten minutes per topic. For this inaugural outing we have…

James Batchelor asking “Is this the last generation of consoles?”

Alex Shaw asking “If so, is there something to be said for only buying one of them?”

And Leah Haydu with “Should consumers of media have a say in the narrative direction of that media?”

These round-table discussions are interspersed with short snippets of the previous month’s output from all three feeds.

Talk about the show on Twitter with the many hosts using the hashtag #PraxisEffect. Contact us via email at praxiseffect@gmail.com and come to the Gonzo Planet forums where there is a new Praxis Effect section. We want to hear from you about what you’d like to hear about on the show in the coming months. We’ll be back on the first day of every month.

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We’re back to our “normal” show this week, and we’re definitely starting the year off with a bang (even if we sometimes have trouble remembering what year it is). Come for the extraordinarily dated pursuits, stay for the long-awaited Persona ramblings!

Actually, the Persona stuff comes before, so I guess it’d be come for the Persona and…. you know what? Just listen to the show.

© 2008-2013 GamerDork.net. All rights Reserved.
Hosts: Leah Haydu, Sharon Shaw & Matt Ramsey
Producer: Leah Haydu

Retro links:

Skylanders: The Lost Islands

Crysis 2

Persona 4 Golden

Day by Day Armageddon

The Born Queen

Preacher

The X-Files

Deadwood

Jericho

The Objective

Make sure you’re keeping an eye out for our newest show, Praxis Effect! It will be featured monthly on this very feed starting February 1st, and you can drop in here to chat about what’s coming up!

Of course, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t also be sending ALL OF THE LISTENER MAILS to dorkcast@gamerdork.net. BECAUSE YOU SHOULD BE.

Visit us at GamerDork!

In lieu of doing a strict “Game of the Year” show, we decided to continue in the tradition of our podcast and use this week to talk about the things we did in 2012 that made the biggest impression on us, in gaming, reading, and watching. Some things are the same between all three of us, and some are radically different, but they’re all things we heartily recommend. Listen on to find out if you share our favorite things!

© 2008-2013 GamerDork.net. All rights Reserved.
Hosts: Leah Haydu, Sharon Shaw & Matt Ramsey
Producer: Leah Haydu

Links of the year:

Breaking Bad

Community

The Sandman

Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure

The Unfinished Swan

Journey

Cloud Atlas

Final Fantasy XIII-2

Tiny Tower

Minecraft

The Walking Dead

We DO still love listener mail, you know. SEND IT! dorkcast@gamerdork.net!

Visit us at GamerDork!

It’s the battle of the century! Who will emerge victorious?

We *could* have pitted fantasy author against fantasy author, of course, but that just wouldn’t have made for as interesting a bout. Also, we already kind of did that in the episode. The title is for experimentation.

Editorial note: Due to some sound and recording problems, I had to change two things about this episode. First, I had to take out Sharon and Matt’s plugs, so here are links to make up for it:

Matt

Sharon

Second, there are no outtakes this week. I know. I’m sad, too.

© 2008-2012 GamerDork.net. All rights Reserved.
Hosts: Leah Haydu, Sharon Shaw & Matt Ramsey
Producer: Leah Haydu

Linky linky:

Scribblenauts Remix

Far Cry 3

Dragonborn (Skyrim)

Angry Birds Star Wars

Paper Mario Sticker Star

Blonde Bombshell

The Children of Hurin

Guardian Devil

Storm of Swords

Black Swan

Turn Me On, Dammit!

The Ref

How I Met Your Mother

Please to be making with the listener mail? dorkcast@gamerdork.net!

Visit us at GamerDork!

What happens when podcasters stop being polite and start getting real? Well…. we mostly just start rambling, really. Perhaps we should all take a step back and be a bit more careful with the weird, weird TV.

Also, there are koalas in this episode.

Please note: spoilers for The Walking Dead (the whole thing!) run from 2:26 to 35:47, so if you STILL haven’t played it, make with the skipping. This is probably the last time we’ll do this (with this particular game, at least).

© 2008-2012 GamerDork.net. All rights Reserved.
Hosts: Leah Haydu, Sharon Shaw & Matt Ramsey
Producer: Leah Haydu

Links to the stuff with the things:

The Walking Dead

Lego Batman

Borderlands 2

Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin

Gotham Central

Artemis Fowl

Pirate Cinema

Powers: Who Killed Retro Girl?

Executive Koala

Adventure Time

Twin Peaks

Listener mail would be SUPER AWESOME, and we would love you long time. Send it to dorkcast@gamerdork.net, plzkthx.

Visit us at GamerDork!

Matt and Noob are back with more audio delights, and another guest interview – this time the lovely Penka Kouneva, who has worked on numerous movie and video game scores, including Gears of War 3 and Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands.

Send us any requests to matt@gamerdork.net or noob@gamerdork.net, and please rate and review us on iTunes. Thankyouplease!

Halo 4 – Awakening (Gui Borrato remix) – Neil Davidge – 2012
Portal 2 – Science is Fun – Mike Morasky – 2011
Braid – Downstream – Shira Kammen – 2008
Machinarium – Gameboy Tune – Tomas Dvorak – 2009
Prince of Persia – Main Theme – Inon Zur – 2008
Infamous 2 – 7th Ward – Galactic – 2012
Warcraft 3 – Arrival at Kalimdor – Tracey Bush – 2002
Halo Anniversary – Installation 04 – Paul Lipson/Lennie Moore/Tom Salta/Brian Trifon – 2011
Double Dragon Neon – Title Theme – Jake Kauffman – 2012
Journey Bonus Bundle – Journey via flOw – Austin Wintory – 2012

© 2008-2012 GamerDork.net. All rights Reserved.
Hosts: Pete Boyle & Matt Ramsey
Producer: Claireyjoe and Matt Ramsey
Do you have feedback or questions? Email us at noob@gamerdork.net

Visit us at GamerDork!

It’s a little less shouty over here at DorkCast HQ, which is probably a good thing for ALL of our sanities. There’s still plenty to talk about this week, as we get shocked by terrible gaming secrets, do a lot of Etsy shopping (mostly in the outtakes, thankfully), and talk about Halo. Lots and lots of Halo.

Seriously. I hope you like Halo, guys. Obviously, we do!

© 2008-2012 GamerDork.net. All rights Reserved.
Hosts: Leah Haydu, Sharon Shaw & Matt Ramsey
Producer: Leah Haydu

Links to things:

Lord of the Rings: Third Age

Halo 4

Halo Reach

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Halo: Glasslands

Diary

Ultimate X-Men

Astonishing X-Men

New X-Men

Weeds

South Park

Forward Unto Dawn

Army of Darkness

Emails, plzkthx? You can send them to dorkcast@gamerdork.net!

Visit us at GamerDork!

I… just…. there are no words for this week’s show. Well, that’s not true, actually. There are LOTS of words, and we say many of them in this super-sized podcast of goodness! We wouldn’t want to spoil the surprises in store for you completely, but let’s just say that the title is NOT a lie.

If, for whatever reason, you do not want to listen to us bashing the crap out of 50 Shades of Grey, we still love you and will not judge you. Also, you should probably skip from 42:24 to the second break, around 1:23:21 (we got a little carried away…and by we, I mostly mean Sharon).

© 2008-2012 GamerDork.net. All rights Reserved.
Hosts: Leah Haydu, Sharon Shaw & Matt Ramsey
Producer: Leah Haydu

These are the things of which we speak:

Dishonored

The Walking Dead

Resident Evil: Director’s Cut

Dodger

Good Omens

Soon I Will Be Invincible

50 Shades of Grey

Grimm Love

Community

Raising Hope

Also, we have a few extra links this week for those who might want some bonus reading (these are the ones Sharon mentions during our extended 50 Shades discussion):

Story of O

Delta of Venus

The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy

WILL PODCAST FOR LISTENER MAIL: dorkcast@gamerdork.net!

Visit us at GamerDork!

With Halloween coming up very soon, we decided to give ourselves and everyone else a good scare by attempting our very first themed episode! So, this week, we’re all about spoooooky games, books, and films. Let us know if you like the format, and if you do, we might just try it again soon!

Please note: There are TWO spoiler sections in this show (neither of which Matt was allowed to listen to). If you haven’t played The Walking Dead through episode 4, those spoilers are from 2:15 to 34:42 (we got a little excited about that), and if you haven’t seen Cabin in the Woods, skip over 1:28:37 to 1:43:20. Then go play/watch the relevant stuff and come back. Trust us!

© 2008-2012 GamerDork.net. All rights Reserved.
Hosts: Leah Haydu, Sharon Shaw & Matt Ramsey
Producer: Leah Haydu

We’ve been doing THIS:

The Walking Dead

Dead Space 2

The 3rd Birthday

Edgar Allan Poe

Sunglasses After Dark

The Strain

The Witch With No Name

Insidious

Cabin in the Woods

The Shining

Make a podcaster happy today; send listener mail to dorkcast@gamerdork.net!

Visit us at GamerDork!

Don’t get too close this week. Seriously. We’re all suffering from convention plague to varying degrees, which explains a few things, like why the show is a few days late, and why we all sound a bit like we’ve been trying to gargle sandpaper. It was worth it, though! We think so, anyway. See if you agree as we chat about our time at Eurogamer Expo, our shameful graphic novel neglect, and our potential relationships with fictional characters.

And seriously, use hand sanitizer after this one. Yeah.

© 2008-2012 GamerDork.net. All rights Reserved.
Hosts: Leah Haydu, Sharon Shaw & Matt Ramsey
Producer: Leah Haydu

Things what we has been doing:

The Unfinished Swan

Tomb Raider

Rayman Legends

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

Devil May Cry

God of War: Ascension

Dead or Alive 5

Dishonored

Hotline Miami

A Bastard

Proteus

Sokobond

The Sandman

Batman: The Long Halloween

Warlock of Firetop Mountain

Simmons

Indie Game: The Movie

Community

30 Rock

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As the final battle nears a sacrifice is required.

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People seemed to be okay with the idea of us putting out a show, so we thought, what the heck? Let’s try another one! You’ll have to let us know how it goes.

This week, come along as we start drawing up plans to put a meth lab in our brand-new Skyrim house! Er… actually, I may be mixing up my entertainments a bit. It’s something like that, though.

© 2008-2012 GamerDork.net. All rights Reserved.
Hosts: Leah Haydu, Sharon Shaw & Matt Ramsey
Producer: Leah Haydu

Things we’re doing:

Final Fantasy Dimensions

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Fate/Extra

Ghost World

The Tamuli

Cloud Atlas

Breaking Bad

Arrested Development

God Bless America

We love email! Please send feedback and questions of any and all types to dorkcast@gamerdork.net, and we will love you long time.

Visit us at GamerDork!

As the latest in a long line of heroes, the one now tasked with saving the universe from an eternal threat or vanquish the fire breathing recently unleashed foe demons, the main question is simple and often extremely important; what the hell are you going to wear? Do you go stylish, with extra touches to really bring out that sparkle in your eyes or more macho, to exemplify that sensation of dark brooding hatred festering inside you?

Let us take the practical first. As a hero in Dark Souls the appreciation of quality gear is at the forefront of your mind. Wearing the latest armour to fight a world of creatures whose breath is enough to whip off half your health is a must, latest fashion notwithstanding. So the result is a metal powerhouse of sharp angles and dulled surfaces where the sweating forehead is barely seen underneath the hulking protective gear. Functional and relevant this is a man, or woman, primed for a never-ending battle. Well, until the DLC arrives….

In Magika the little wizard avatar is dressed in some quality robes, twee certainly but something that confidently shouts ‘mage’ when entering a local bar or occasional battle hotspot. It also manages to be not too flowing, removing that horrendous possibility of stepping on and subsequently falling out of the outfit, thus revealing the underside of the cauldron so to speak. It also remains shrouded enough to hide that identifiable thing known as a face. Co-ordination is a must in a crowded situation however as a build-up of mages in a single location can get confusing, luckily a selection of robe colours is available. How handy.

New this season is the patented Solid Snake camouflage suit. It can transform into any pattern, matching the background an old age spy happens to be leaning against at that point in time. As a suitable piece of clothing for the man that simply does not want to be caught its simplicity is exquisite. Be warned though that its skin tight fit means those with a rounder belly may wish to exercise caution before putting on, or may just want to exercise.

And finally when you need the roughest, toughest most luminous armour in the world the only place to go is the Spartan program. Far from trying to blend in the armour is built to extremely tough standards, which is good as it practically screams ‘come shoot me’ with its base bright green paint job. But at least it manages to do what all good rugged material should and keep the plasma out long enough to beat a hasty retreat. After all this is war son, and war needs a suit that would make Judge Dredd think ‘who the hell is that’.

All of the above are examples of sensible, understandable options for apparel taken during the execution of gameplay. After all keeping yourself well protected in these times of high danger and sharp, or explosive, objects does wonders for your life expectancy (ok ok, maybe not so much in Dark Souls) and should lead to a numb arse while sitting through the credit sequence. But then there are the mavericks, those who eschew the practical for style, flair and items that would never make the catwalks.

Take, for example, Max Payne. Now Max is never going to get onto the 100 best dressed people. Bizarrely, when faced with the whole of Brazil wearing flak jackets, helmets and semi-automatic weapons, he decides only one combination of clothing can give him a fighting chance; a set of chinos, a white vest, Hawaiian shirt complete with bald scalp. Screw body armour, who the hell needs that eh? He may as well paint a huge target on his head and run around calling himself Bruce Willis. Except Willis never died when he was the hero.

By no means is he the only offender though. Lara Croft has plundered plenty of tombs in her time and fought of more evil than is necessarily healthy all in a set of short shorts and a vest top. The first time she can be forgiven, after all it could easily have just been seen as extreme spelunky, but all the subsequent efforts should have involved some form of body armour. She could have painted it grey after all. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice and I must be in a videogame.

While Bayonetta is a witch, and therefore can get away with being a bit more blasé, it is still a mystery as to why she wears just her hair. This is not considered good dressage as hair is naturally a pain in the arse. It needs to be cut to be kept just right, straightening it must be a nightmare and an unexpected rage attack could cause unwelcome public nudity. So yes it may look sexy but it is entirely impractical and mostly inappropriate for a lady who spends most of her time kicking or punching. After all what if she trips over it all???

But the arguably the worst person to mis-understand her position and not dress appropriately is Juliet Starling from Lollipop Chainsaw. Now admittedly the situation degenerates fast, no-one expects lessons to be interrupted by the un-dead, but considering the zombie threat how much they enjoy a good chew, exposing less flesh seems to be a reasonable option given the circumstances. But no no no, we need a cheerleaders outfit on ALL THE TIME. It provides the greatest amount of flesh per square inch than just about anything else meaning a nibblesome opportunity is never far away. This is quite frankly crazy, and someone, mostly her mother, should have told her to dress up more.

So stylish? Yes. But practical? Not at all. And let us be clear, the most important thing here is to prepare properly for what you have coming up. When entering a firefight be ready for something more than some remarks and pop guns. Videogame fashion sense is an important thing, and it is up to us to police the importance of high quality practical gear for future generations of character. Just think, we can stop hundreds of lost lives and restarts if Dante would just wear something more substantial than an in-appropriately placed black belt and trousers.

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As Asura is out cold Yasha holds off the impeding demonic army.

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The hardest question to wrestle with in Soundshapes is how much the experience of a game can derive pleasure when the actual playing is so simplistic as to become almost invisible. Because in truth the reason to play this title is not because it has amazing gameplay, in many ways that particular aspect is the weakest point, but for the sonic experience and journey it provides to the player through each level. Is this in itself enough to make it a worthwhile purchase, does it do enough to massage the simplistic mechanics into something more?

The short answer is yes, but the reasoning and subjectivity behind that is something more complicated. The aim is to create music by navigating through a level collecting discs. Each level is comprised of single screen stages that link together to reveal a goal. Each screen of the level can contain a set of discs or none at all with each disc adding a new sound or beat slowly building up the soundtrack to the point where everything should fit into place, the visuals and sound now in sync on the screen. This means that the developer has a very hard line to try and judge. In order to experience what the creator wants the player to feel the simplicity of the platforming has to be balanced enough to facilitate a decent straight line of progress without providing too many barriers while also being satisfying enough to build up a degree of achievement and enjoyment during play.

Unfortunately this is never quite the case. The platforming aspects veer from the utterly simplistic to the irritatingly fiddly and while the very generous check pointing reduces the impact of the latter significantly it can still disrupt the rhythm enough to take the player out of the moment. On the other side the more simplistic actions turn a large amount of the game into a procession event, moving from screen to screen without any real stress or cause for thought. Arguably this could be because the aim is to let the player concentrate on what is being heard, not done, but the upshot becomes a nagging concern that the player impact is entirely negligible.

Which means that the reliance of enjoyment focuses on the music, specifically how well that integrates with everything that exists around it including the player. Most importantly, how it makes the them feel. And this is where the problem arises, as music is so intensely subjective the enjoyment garnered from this game is determined by how much the beat can infect them. No doubt there are some tracks that are stronger than others. The first of three songs from Beck marries the on-screen design and musical accompaniment perfectly, creating the same feeling of zoning out and going with the flow that has been seen other titles like Child of Eden or Rez.

But others are not so successful, and quality can range from the sublime to the awkward, where everything presented never feels like it gels together as it should. When the tune does not click the platforming is what comes to the fore. And that platforming is never compulsive enough to make it entertaining leaving a sensation of simply carrying out the motions so it can be ticked off as complete.

When it does work it becomes everything the player could want it to be, engrossing and unique it presents music in a new way that feels so familiar it is odd to think this has not been done before. For these moments alone the ticket is worth buying. There can be a feeling and experience this game provides and presents unlike anything that has gone before it. With the possibility of regular DLC the amount of ideas and creative talent that could be injected over the coming months could be spectacular. And that is not to dismiss the creative talents the player can impose themselves. With a robust editor there is a chance to create the music the player wants to create in a way anyone can experience with enough time and effort. With a basic understanding of the mechanics and careful placement of the assets used in game a huge variety of tunes can be created, a fact the community has already jumped on in an astonishing way.

And where the music may be a mixed platter the visuals are consistently impressive, moving between palettes and themes not just between artists but between individual levels within an artist. Taking in neon backgrounds and contrasting colours the landscape provided to the player throughout the game is stunning. Neon colours are infused with dark shades, colour palettes are swapped around and invention continues to be pushed forward in almost every screen. Simply as a piece of art it stands out as entirely unique in the current landscape.

Soundshapes relies entirely on how well the music works with the player. So the mark below is subjectively based on how much this reviewer enjoyed what he was hearing. By making the title mechanically light it moves the emphasis into something that cannot be universally acclaimed purely down to taste. For what it is worth I felt a decent amount of the tracks hit the mark and successfully transcends this into an experience far more than a game. It is worth the effort if the player wants put that effort into playing what is in front of them and another shining example of how a novel idea can provide a captivating gaming moment.

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