The Girls on Games Podcast

The State of Mobile Gaming - GoGCast 209

In this episode of the GoGCast, we’re crushing candies, clashing clans, catching Pokémons and winning chicken dinners. Following our previous conversation on hypercasual games, we take a look at the current state of mobile gaming as a whole. Mobile gaming is the biggest gaming market, completely overshadowing PC and consoles when it comes to revenue, growth and reach, with its most popular titles being free-to-play. We chat about the current state of mobile gaming and marketplaces and if new services like Apple Arcade can really disrupt the free-to-play model. Plus, Ali shares her first impressions of RAGE 2.

 

What’s Everyone Playing? (00:06:05)

• RAGE 2 First Impressions (00:10:25)

This Week in News (00:30:30)

• EA Access finally coming to PS4 (00:30:30)
• Hold the console wars: Sony and Microsoft explore strategic partnership (00:35:00)
• Minecraft Earth is an AR game coming soon to mobile (00:39:15)
• WoW Classic launch date announced and beta now live and players are reporting actual game features as bugs. (00:43:50)

Topic: The State of Mobile Gaming (00:51:16)

• Mobile is still the fastest growing market according to App Annie (Gameindustry.biz)
• Apple Arcade wants to slay the free-to-play monster iOS helped create (The Verge)
• iPhone users can sue Apple over App Store, Supreme Court rules (cnet)

Outro and Wrap-up (01:15:48)

Far Cry New Dawn Spoilercast - GoGCast Special Episode

*This episode contains spoilers*

In this special episode, we’re heading back to Hope County as we take a deep dive at Far Cry New Dawn. We trekked through the super bloom, hunted weird looking animals, found a new dog (R.I.P. Boomer), reconnected with old friends and made new ones, took down the highway men and you know what, we wanted to talk about it! So we did. We discuss what’s new, what was brought over from Far Cry 5, what we liked and what we didn’t.

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Thanks for listening! The GoGCast comes out weekly so make sure to subscribe and you won't miss an episode. For more about us, Girls on Games, check out girlsongames.ca.

Find our Merch at http://www.designbyhumans.com/shop/GirlsOnGames/

Hyper Casual Games - GoGCast 208

Hyper casual games are simple games that offer engaging gameplay in snackable play sessions. Honing in on their streamlined yet gratifying gameplay and low barrier to entry, hyper casual games have created a market estimated to $2 billion in revenue through in-app purchases and advertising. We talk about our favourite hyper casual games and where we see genre going in the future. Plus, we react to the whole Sonic Movie trailer debacle.

What’s Everyone Playing? (00:03:44) 

This Week in News (00:15:49)

• Epic Games acquires Psyonix of Rocket League fame (00:15:49)
• Reacting to the live action Sonic movie trailer and the announced changes to the character model (00:20:35)
• Star Wars in For Honor (00:30:38)

Topic: Hyper Casual Games (00:32:05)

• The Truth about Hyper Casual games (Venture Beat)
• What are hyper casual games and how to monetize games (Ironsource blog)
• 100 Million Downloads: How Hyper Casual Mobile Games Are Rewriting the Game Design Rulebook (Mobile Free To Play)
• Top Hyper Casual Games of 2018 (Rising High Academy)

Outro and Wrap-up (00:57:50)

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Thanks for listening! The GoGCast comes out weekly so make sure to subscribe and you won't miss an episode. For more about us, Girls on Games, check out girlsongames.ca.

Find our Merch at http://www.designbyhumans.com/shop/GirlsOnGames/

Debunking 5 Damaging Myths About Video Games - GoGCast 207

We’ve heard it time and time again: video games make us violent, video games are addictive, video games are a waste of time, blah blah blah! Well, it’s time to debunk these myths. Based of an article published on The Guardian, we tackle 5 damaging myths about video games.

What’s Everyone Playing? (00:03:00)

This Week in News (00:20:17)

• Respawn sticking to seasonal updates for Apex Legend to avoid crunch like on Fortnite (00:20:17)
• How Fornite’s Success Led to Months of Crunch at Epic
• Former devs speak out about 'severe crunch' at Mortal Kombat studio
• Chrono Trigger voted best game of outgoing era in Japan (00:29:49)
• US politician banned from Eve Online for corruption was innocent after all (00:34:28)

Topic: 5 Damaging Myths About Video Games (00:40:08)

Outro and Wrap-up (01:10:14)

Favourite Video Game Easter Eggs - GoGCast 206

Is the cake is a lie and is there a cow level? Inspired by the Easter long weekend, we go hunting for Easter Eggs in video games. We tell the tale of the very first one, why we call them ‘Easter Eggs’ and share our favourite video game Easter Eggs. Plus, Ali and Leah review My Time at Portia.

What’s Everyone Playing? (00:04:30)

• My time at Portia review (00:15:41)

This Week in News (00:28:00)

• Sony chats “PlayStation 5” with Wired (00:28:00)
• Xbox One S All Digital Edition (00:35:15)
• GameStop’s Guaranteed to Love It policy (00:39:29)
• A Secret Server for the Dead MMO 'City of Heroes' Has Players in an Uproar (00:42:45)
• Ubisoft donates to Notre-Dame de Paris reconstruction and gives Assassin’s Creed Unity on PC for free (00:49:23)

Topic: Favourite Video Game Easter Eggs (00:57:25)

• The first Easter Egg in a game
• The ‘Cake is a Lie’ in Portal
• Assassin’s Creed III Turkey
• Dead Assassin in a hay bale in Witcher 2
• The Cow level in Diablo 2
• Megalodon Battlefield 4
• Xur in World of Warcraft
• The Vault-Tec representative, 200 years later and a little ghoulish
• The ROOT of the connection
• SUCH A SWEET BOY!
• Montreal in Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag
• Ancient writing in The Leged of Zelda Breath of the Wild actually has a translation
• Raving Rabbids in Watch_Dogs

Outro and Wrap-up (01:25:50)

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Thanks for listening! The GoGCast comes out weekly so make sure to subscribe and you won't miss an episode. For more about us, Girls on Games, check out girlsongames.ca.

Find our Merch at http://www.designbyhumans.com/shop/GirlsOnGames/

Allies for Accessibility - GoGCast 205

Games are for everyone yet not everyone can play the games they would like to play. Accessibility, easy modes and Sekiro Shadows Die Twice have been all over our feeds lately, and unfortunately, the conversation wasn’t always civil nor empathetic. Riffing off last week’s interview with accessibility advocate Steve Saylor, we dissect the conversation around difficulty settings in games, accessibility features and what it means to the industry and gamers everywhere. Plus, we react to the Star Wars Jedi: The Fallen Order trailer reveal.

 

What’s Everyone Playing? (00:06:25)

This Week in News (00:27:20)

• PSN ID changes are here but with a few caveats (00:27:20)
• EA announces Star Wars Jedi: The Fallen Order single player game coming this fall (00:33:45)
• Kojima and Reedus to present Death Stranding’s story at Tribeca (00:48:53)

Topic: Allies for Accessibility (00:59:00)

• Steve Saylor’s video on this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-11LhWC19TU
• Steve Spohn of Able Gamers: https://twitter.com/stevenspohn/status/1114950742329233408
• ‘Video Game Difficulty is an Accessibility Issue’ https://junkee.com/sekiro-game-difficulty/200666
• Game Accessibility Guidelines: http://gameaccessibilityguidelines.com/
• Can I Play That? http://www.caniplaythat.com/
• Able Gamers https://ablegamers.org/

Outro and Wrap-up (01:28:42)

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Thanks for listening! The GoGCast comes out weekly so make sure to subscribe and you won't miss an episode. For more about us, Girls on Games, check out girlsongames.ca.

Find our Merch at http://www.designbyhumans.com/shop/GirlsOnGames/

Interview with Steve Saylor a.k.a. BLIND GAMER - GoGCast 204

Our guest for this week’s GoGCast is Steve Saylor also known as BLIND GAMER on Youtube. Steve is a content creator and an accessible gaming advocate and consultant. He shares with us the games he likes to play, talks about the improvements developers have made to make their games more accessible and more. Plus, we discuss Kotaku’s exposé on Anthem’s productions woes.

What’s Everyone Playing? (00:03:30)

This Week in News (00:20:41)

• Simon and Cat attended the first edition of GEEK It! In Montreal (00:20:41)
• PS to refund pre-orders and games but only if you haven’t downloaded them (00:31:09)
• Borderlands 3 is coming September 13th (00:35:00)
• Anthem what went wrong (00:38:06)

Topic: Interview with Steve Saylor a.k.a. BLIND GAMER (01:03:30)

Outro and Wrap-up (01:27:50)

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Thanks for listening! The GoGCast comes out weekly so make sure to subscribe and you won't miss an episode. For more about us, Girls on Games, check out girlsongames.ca.

The Ready Games: Interview with Christina Macedo - GoGCast 203

Read, set, go! This week we talk with Christina Macedo of The Ready Games and how they are making gaming and esports more accessible to women one mini-game at a time. They’ve also developed an engine to help people make mobile games. Plus, we react to the Bordelands 3 announcement and trailer.

What’s Everyone Playing? (00:03:50)

This Week in News (00:24:59)

• Overwatch Endorsement system drops player toxicity by 40% (00:24:59)
• Gearbox announces Borderlands 3 at Pax East (00:29:38)

Topic: Ready Games - Interview with Christina Macedo (00:43:26)

Outro and Wrap-up (00:55:50)

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Thanks for listening! The GoGCast comes out weekly so make sure to subscribe and you won't miss an episode. For more about us, Girls on Games, check out girlsongames.ca.

Interview with Benz Antoine (Baptiste in Overwatch) - GoGCast 202

Vide bal sou yo! Our guest for this week’s GoGCast is Benz Antoine, the voice of Baptiste in Overwatch. We chat with Benz about how this first video game gig changed his career, how he’s going to bring what he learned in the booth to his on camera acting, what joining the Overwatch family means to him and more. Plus we discuss the Google Stadia unveil from GDC and share the highlights from the latest Nindie Direct.

What’s Everyone Playing? (00:05:00)

This Week in News (00:20:23)

• Google announces game streaming service Stadia at GDC (00:20:23)
• Is Playstation launching a direct style conference? (00:31:15)
• Spring Nindies Direct Highlights (00:33:30)
• This could be what a disc-less Xbox may look like (00:37:10)
• Persona 5 The Royale (P5R) teased (00:41:24)

Topic: Interview with Benz Antoine, actor and voice of Baptiste in Overwatch (00:45:07)

Outro and Wrap-up (00:01:35)

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Thanks for listening! The GoGCast comes out weekly so make sure to subscribe and you won't miss an episode. For more about us, Girls on Games, check out girlsongames.ca.

Interview with Kyle O'Connor - GoGCast 201

This week, we chat with social media manager and content producer Kyle O’Connor. Before founding his own company called Creative Social Media Services, Kyle previously worked at IGN, Twitch and Blizzard Entertainment. We chat about his career path, the importance of being exposed to new ideas, the trials and tribulation of content creation and its monetization and muse about trends in the video game industry.

What’s Everyone Playing? (00:03:34)

This Week in News (00:10:00)

• Halo Reach coming to the MCC (multiplayer free add-on, campaign as DLC) + MCC coming to PC to be sold through MS Store and Steam (00:10:00)
• Kitfox games to publish an updated graphical version of Dwarf Fortress (00:14:54)
• Lady Gaga could appear in Cyberpunk 2077 (00:17:43)

Topic: Interview with Kyle O’Connor of CSMS (00:28:44)

Outro and Wrap-up (01:00:48)

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Thanks for listening! The GoGCast comes out weekly so make sure to subscribe and you won't miss an episode. For more about us, Girls on Games, check out girlsongames.ca.