Couch Podtatoes

This week we're diving into the PvP debate, and though it's a topic we have all covered on our blogs over the course of the years, it has been renewed with issues surrounding ArcheAge. The latest Contains Moderate Peril is sort of a sister show to this one, and they seemed to cover the side of those who don't really PvP much. We offer the other side of the coin, as all of us have played and enjoy PvP and the dynamics it brings to the table. Welshtroll, whom has been our guest once before rejoined us for the discussion. We all talked about our early PvP experiences, what types of PvP we're currently participating in, and our opinions on this mode of play. We covered many different community posts in the conversation as well. Enjoy!

We're back, and it's episode number 18. This time around I decided to be a little lazy and throw together the sequel to our show "Talking Points" from a couple of months back. Rather than do the typical format show, we just do a little cross promotion for TGEN, recap the goings-on with Bragtoberfest, and then dive into a varied discussion about a number of different articles, all of which you can see below in the show notes. We also had a fellow member of TGEN join us in the candid discussion, Roger Edwards of Contains Moderate Peril! It was a lot of fun getting different opinions on all of the different talking points, and we hope you enjoy!

It's October, which traditionally is the month of Halloween and more importantly: Horror. As such we put together a Horror-themed show where we talk about some our favorite horror games over the years. We had a special guest, Mr. Luvva Luvva from the blog of the same name, who added quite a few games to the discussion we hadn't played or even heard of. Big thanks to him for the contribution! Later we talk about the graphic advertisement that ASUS put out, and make fun of the way it shoved itself into the hardcore vs. casual debate. Lastly we take a look at Scorpique's blog, and talk about finding the fun in games. Enjoy the show!

We've taken the trip back into Doone's Digital Frontier this week, with a discussion that focuses on the Male Body Image, particularly in video games. Yes, usually these types of discussions are focused on females, minorities, or other less-represented demographics, but fair is fair, and now we've covered mostly everything. The males in video games aren't something that most gamers can relate to, in that the stereotypical gamer is the skinny nerd or the fat guy. Who does he have to look up to? We'll discuss in more detail within. We also take a look at a dictator trying to sue Activision for his portrayal in one of their games, and finally take a look at Tales from the Aggronaut, where Belghast talks about our society's dependence on their devices, being "glued to the screen." Take a listen! Note: Since this site is basically just a place holder, I'm no longer going to but the links and such here, just the show intro description, like above. Most people use my personal blog as the landing page for Couch Podta

This episode we basically focus on getting the formalities of Bragtoberfest out there in the public space. The sanctioned events are discussed along with everything you can expect from the overall event. If you had questions about it, hopefully they’ll be answered now. There really isn’t much else for me to say here, just check out the episode!

This week in lieu of a typical show format I somehow conned Lonrem, the lead community manager for the website Anook.com, to do an interview with me. Due to some scheduling issues, J3w3l was unable to make the interview, but she's always in our thoughts :D I ask Lonrem a bunch of questions, and he gives a bunch of answers. I feel like I learned something in the process, so hopefully if you haven't heard of Anook or were unsure about what it is, you will learn something too.  Secondly, at the end of the show I make an important community announcement, so if you're a blogger that's been affilliated with the NBI, participated in Blaugust, or maybe missed out on some of these types of events, you should check that out. Further information to follow here soon, so stay tuned.  Enjoy the show.

Welcome back, it's time for Episode 13! J3w3l is back this week and we decided to tackle the topic of skill levels in gaming. Do all games inherently take skill? What kinds of skills are necessary? We talk about this and more in the discussion section of the show. Later we take a look at a guy called "Many A True Nerd" and his attempt at changing up a play through of Fallout 3, by prescribing his own ruleset. Hilarity ensues. Last but not least, we talk about Wolfyseyes' blog where she talks about a shifting paradigm, in which she challenges readers to go back and try games/genres they maybe didn't give a fair chance or simply didn't like the first time around. I challenge all of our listeners to do the same. Who knows, you might find something you glanced over to be rather refreshing! With that said, on with the show!

Here we are again at episode number 12! Welcome back. Sadly, this week J3w3l was not feeling well, but I pushed on with our guests Welshtroll and Jaedia! We had a more light-hearted discussion because this past week has been rather difficult for gamers and the Internet, with #GamerGate and other issues. As such, we discussed some of our favorite video game characters: Heroes and Villains! We then talked about the Swatting phenomenon that has been recently highlighted in the media, and also took a look at Tobold's blog, where he highlighted another blog, called the Steam Review Watch. Links for all of the above will be found below in the show notes. By the way, our iTunes link has changed, and if you wouldn't mind submitting a review there, that would be awesome! Enjoy, and don't forget to subscribe!

Here we are again at episode number 11! Welcome back. I have to give a warning first and foremost, J3w3l's computer is a POS so for whatever reason her mic was super static-y and some of that comes through more than usual. She has reported ordering new computer parts in this episode, so hopefully by next week the kinks will be worked out. So bear with us. Listening to it, it's not too horrible but is rather annoying on headphones. Sorry. Hopefully we won't have any more of these types of issues in the future!  Anyway, we discussed Game Updates this time around, and the way they have changed over the years with expansions, DLC and even free updates. Our idiots this week were rather well publicized, with DDoS attacks crippling many popular networks. Lastly we looked at a community post talking about the Survival Horror genre, and whether or not it can find mainstream success again. So take a listen, and make sure to subscribe via your preferred method!

It's Episode number 10 already! This week Doone is back. I have to note that we had some technical difficulties, there is some clipping in spots, and I had to do a patch job at the end due to losing some audio in transition. Apologies! Otherwise I still think it was a great show. Doone always finds something to talk about that I wouldn't necessarily think of myself, so I hope you enjoy it.  I'd also like to a moment to mention the new feature over at the Gaming Blog Nexus, a gaming podcast list! There's a lot of cool shows there; some of the hosts you'll find there have been on this show, or me/us on theirs. Chances are if you enjoy Couch Podtatoes, you'll enjoy these other shows. You can check that out here.  

This week we threw together a bunch of different articles and then talked about them. This was just the way it worked out, since a lot of the points were cool topics, but not enough to fill up a whole show, so I thought we'd just talk about a variety of things. Topics range from Gamescom and SOE live, to Blaugust posts with interesting ideas, to another Ubisoft employee sounding like a jackass. I won't spoil anything here. Listen below!

Welcome back to the show. It’s back to normal around here this week, so you can expect the usual format. What we’ve been playing, a discussion, idiots on the internet, and a community spotlight, nice and tidy. We played quite a few different titles and discussed them briefly, and then dove into the topic of Nostalgia. I wrote a post about that earlier in the week, and this prompted the discussion, but we’ve been seeing a trend in the industry of tugging at our heart strings. This includes comics and movies and we talk about those too. Gamestop became an even more evil company and is releasing a credit card, but you should be wary of the pitfalls! Lastly, we take a look at a community post about stopping to smell the roses. Enjoy the present, don’t live in the past or the future! We hope you enjoy the show!

This week we’re doing something completely different than what we’ve done in the past. Those of you who have been listening since the beginning will note that we usually have two types of episodes: Those with just me and J3w3l, and those where we have a guest. Once a month the guest is Doone and on those episodes we tend to discuss a topic that he brings to the table. I’m by no means the first person to think of having a group discussion on a podcast, but that’s what this episode is all about. As a result, to keep the show to a reasonable length, I decided to drop Idiots on the Internet and the community spotlight. These features are by no means going anywhere, but it was conducive to keeping to the subject at hand. The discussion topic this time around was on Sandbox games, be it single-player, multi-player or MMOs. I wanted to do a Q&A with everyone, but you know me, I couldn’t resist throwing my opinion in there at times. I’d like to thank Roger of Contains Moderate

Welcome to another episode of your new favorite podcast! It's been a month since we've had Doone on our show, and it's time for another "Doone's Digital Frontier" segment. This time around, Doone wanted to talk about Sexism -- done right. This means that the author acknowledges the content created has sexist content, but is using it to create a discussion in a positive light. You'll understand more clearly by listening, I promise :P Otherwise, the usual idiots are still doing stupid things on the internet, and we're highlighting the Blaugust initative that was started by Belghast of Tales from the Aggronaut.

We’re about a month deep now, it’s already time for Episode number 5! This week we’re covering diversity in games and the media, A case of child trafficking, and for our community spotlight, a guide on critically thinking about the things you love. Listen below:

Welcome back, and it's time for Episode number 4! Which also means we're at just under a month of consistent podcasts! Sweet right? Thanks to all of you for listening, and we hope you're enjoying it! This week we have another special guest, C.T. Murphy, of Murf Versus. We discussed MOBAs and Esports at great length, so this episode ran a little longer than expected. Listen below:

It's time for episode 3 already! This project barely started and it already feels like we've been doing it for much longer than we have! This we we're discussing the changing games marketplace, and how changes on the internet spark changes in our psychology. Enjoy, and don't forget to subscribe!

Welcome back! It's time for Episode 2! This week we have a special guest, my good friend Doone. As one of the original brainstormers of this podcast, he's going to have a monthly spot on the show, entitled "Doone's Digital Frontier." Because this discussion runs a little deeper than most, this episode (and other episodes containing the Digital Frontier) will run a little longer than normal.

It's finally here! Ever since I was a guest on the Contains Moderate Peril Podcast I've wanted to make one of my own. I started looking into what software I would need, hosting platforms, and asking existing podcasters for advice about a month ago. I found my co-host pretty early, J3w3l and I have been gaming together and debating each other for quite some time now. We did a few practice sessions, and now I believe we have something worthy of your ears! New episodes weekly on Fridays, don't forget to subscribe one way or another!