Author and journalist Kieron Gillen joins the panel to cover the golden age of games journalism, Squaresoft’s 1996 SNES licensed X-Men JRPG, and the mysterious Hat Man.

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SHOW NOTES:

1: What’s the difference between game culture and comics culture? (04:44)

2: In tabletop game design, how do you make a game that allows players to do anything, while maintaining a unique identity? (10:03)

3: What’s the closest a video game has come to ruining your life? (17:19)

4: The year is 1996. Squaresoft wants you to design their final game for the SNES, a licensed X-Men RPG. What have you got? (27:22)

5: PersonalMatthew asks, how important is it that someone writing about videogames be “good” at videogames? (34:33)

6: What was the golden age of video game journalism? (40:53)

LIGHTNING ROUND: High Scoring (47:22)

Recommendations and Outro (57:22):

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Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, Brandon Sheffield and Kieron Gillen. Edited by Esper Quinn. Original Music by Kurt Feldman.