Our hosts Chantal and Jörg have been busy making games, but Directional is BACK with a new season and a great guest, indie giant Rami Ismail (Ridiculous Fishing, Luftrausers, Nuclear Throne)! We're talking about the state of the games and media industries, the rise of AI and where we take our magical medium next.

While the podcast has gone through a period of hibernation, the game ‘industry’ has, well, shat the bed. In this first episode of a new season and format, Chantal and Jörg look past the doom and gloom and towards a more sustainable and beautiful future. The waves are crashing down - so let’s surf!

Notes:

C-Smash VRS on Meta Quest: https://www.meta.com/en-gb/experiences/7255247917854212/

darkwebSTREAMER: https://www.darkwebstreamer.com

Chantal’s tweet: https://x.com/thoughtrise/status/1764535542203683250

Kazimierz Dabrowski’s “Positive Disintegration”: https://www.positivedisintegration.com/

The globe is warming, the sun is out, and so the time has come for another Summer of Games—games, which as we all know, are only made by men. Or at least that's what you might think after watching the mega-sponsored trailer streams this week. In this first "off the cuff" Directional, Chantal and Jörg discuss this phenomenon (before talking about dickheads vs. interstellar naturists, naturally).

Poet and philosopher Andrei Codrescu discusses AI jiu jitsu and discovers the surprising beauty of generative poetry.

The renowned composer, songwriter and performer discusses his work, taking a stand and the transformative, universal power of music.

The host of the "Tech Won’t Save Us" podcast and author of “Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong about the Future of Transportation” on our complicated relationship with tech.

“Labeling is Deeply Colonial”

Imperialist world building: we talk to Meghna Jayanth, a multiple award-winning narrative designer and writer, on how hard it is to find (or even make) games that don’t perpetuate the status quo.

"A Refuge in Hell"

We may be predominantly a videogame podcast but that doesn't mean we'll only talk about games. In this ep, we talk to The Guardian's potty mouthed cartoonist about the rebellious power of satire... and of poop. We also uncover Chantal's murderous past.

"Moving the Conversation Forward"

Leigh Alexander—journalist, author and narrative designer—in conversation about games and how they shape identities.

“This is the Start of the Gaming Warrior Poets”

The author of “The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade” discusses the deep ties between videogames & the Military Entertainment Complex.

Directional is a podcast about videogames and the creative rebellion, hosted by Jörg Tittel and Chantal Ryan. Here's a quick introduction into why it exists, who we'll be featuring, and just what the 'creative rebellion' is, anyway.

Luc Bernard has built the Holocaust Museum inside Fortnite and put his own money into an acclaimed game about one of the darkest chapters in history. We talk about campaigning for peace and staying human in a world ravaged by politics.

1. The Altruistic Personality (mentioned by Chan)
2. Meghna Jayanth's thread on The Golden Joystick Awards

Auteurs can be geniuses, they can be villains, they can get all the credit even on games with big teams. We sit down with Sam Barlow, creator of "Her Story" and "Immortality", to dissect these curious creatures.

Directional was born at Gamescom 2022 - chiefly as a passionate response to gaming's biggest event. A year later, Chantal and Jörg reunite in Cologne and re-examine their relationship to the chaos. Recorded live amidst 320,000 attendees.

While Chantal is flying to Gamescom (where this show began), Jörg talks to videogames' top time-traveller, Digital Foundry's John Linneman, about the need to touch our origins. Look out for an unexpected cameo by Steven Spielberg.

Chantal and Jörg took their games to different game events last week: BitSummit in Kyoto and AVCon in Adelaide. While Jörg was in nerd heaven, Chantal met the dark side of nerddom. Naturally.

Games are the world's leading entertainment medium, our main forum, the ultimate artform. Now let's start acting like it. A provocation and a manifesto for new meaning.

This special video podcast is Jörg's evening Keynote, recorded at Reboot Develop Blue in Dubrovnik, Croatia, in April 2023.

Caroline Marchal, Creative Director of independent narrative studio INTERIOR/NIGHT (As Dusk Falls), talks about the power and human endurance behind building multi-threaded, interactive stories.

In this first Directional Live, Jörg and Chantal took the stage at Reboot Develop Blue 2023 with Aaron Loeb, most recently Chief Business Officer at mobile games giant Scopely. The broken PC and console industry turned him into a mobile gaming pioneer. But could the mobile industry have created new and potentially more damaging problems for society at large?