Furidashi Game Design Academy – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode we make a deep dive into Kon Satoshi's 2003 Christmas romp (?), Tokyo Godfathers. We focus especially on the dramatic tension between what characters imagine themselves to be and the reality of who they are--and how, sometimes, reality has a weird habit of slipping into fantasy.

Substack: https://gamedesigndiscourse.substack.com/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi

Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod

Lauryn: https://bsky.app/profile/espressocat.bsky.social

Nicholas: https://bsky.app/profile/academicality.bsky.social

In this episode, Lauryn and Nicholas go all in on Bioware's Dragon Age: The Veilguard. We talk about core combat not from the perspective of mechanics but in both thematic and narrative terms. Mostly, though, we discuss the companion system, and why many of the frustrations with DA:TV stem from how the game isn't really about you as the super special hero but rather how you fit into a whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts.

Substack: https://gamedesigndiscourse.substack.com/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi

Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod

Lauryn: https://bsky.app/profile/espressocat.bsky.social

Nicholas: https://bsky.app/profile/academicality.bsky.social

In this episode Lauryn and Nicholas tackle how game designers translate their own interests and influences into tangible elements in their own games. Working from Nicholas' ongoing work on Sympathetic Memories, we first examine the way historical and literary influences work their way in. Then, we round out the episode by exploring how solo work of this kind can inform the way inspiration works in larger, more collaborative games.

Download the Sympathetic Memories demo for free on our Itch.io site: https://furidashipod.itch.io/sympathetic-memories

Substack: https://gamedesigndiscourse.substack.com/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi

Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod

Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash

Nicholas: https://twitter.com/academicality

Lauryn and Nicholas begin from the recent suit against Activision Blizzard and go on to discuss the rampant issues surrounding harassment in the video games industry and how to be a better ally to those who suffer within it. Also on the docket: Alanah Pearce on why boycotts aren't always a great idea.

Pearce's video: https://youtu.be/ApDnEuUOzS8

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi

Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod

Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash

Nicholas: https://twitter.com/uahsenaa

Once Lauryn dreamed of making her sleeper hit UnderBlind, but now she languishes in the deep, dark halls of AAA development despair. Also on the docket: the legal veil between major studios and indie devs.

Unlock the full episode (and more!) for $5 a month on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi

Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod

Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash

Nicholas: https://twitter.com/uahsenaa

Lauryn and Nicholas explain why AAA game studios operate the way they do and why the market as a whole causes them to gravitate toward producing franchises and otherwise very similar games.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi

Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod

Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash

Nicholas: https://twitter.com/uahsenaa

Nicholas wonders whether, given the way the market works now, if it even makes sense to make a distinction between indie developers and major studios.

Unlock the full episode for $5 a month on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi

Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod

Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash

Nicholas: https://twitter.com/uahsenaa

I Don't See the Branches, I See the Leaves by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/dtv/

Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/

Normally, we go off on our little tangents to some relaxing beats, but this week Lauryn really had to get something off her chest. On the docket: why Google Stadia's recently announced revenue sharing model is indicative of so many problems in contemporary game design.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi

Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod

Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash

Nicholas: https://twitter.com/academicality

Lauryn and Nicholas try to explain the how's and why's of video game production in terms of auteur theory, where, despite being made by an army of gamedevs, the games themselves seem to have an "authorial" vision.

Unlock the full episode for $5 a month on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi

Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod

Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash

Nicholas: https://twitter.com/uahsenaa

We brought Masao Kobayashi on for a more industry focused episode, diving into the differences between the video games industry in the US, Canada, and Japan. Also starring: work/life balance and how weather makes you work better?

Masao: https://twitter.com/megamasao

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi

Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod

Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash

Nicholas: https://twitter.com/uahsenaa