Bookwarm Games

Or Prometheus and Atropos. On the remaining side quests. If the earthbound ones and Mother Brain are in fact references to EarthBound/MOTHER 2 and you can verify that at all plausibly, please let me know! Thanks for listening.

The Romantic hero goes to war, and his poet pursues greatness. Thanks for listening.

Going back to old games, known and unknown, and returning them to the present. The main game and side quests considered in the light of the campfire and the writing on the gravestone. Thanks for listening.

How will Juan and all lovers, the poet, and the nation find their way out of enslavement to freedom? Through copious lashings of mock-epic verse, of course! Thanks for listening.

I'm joined by Red aka The Well-Red Mage, Moses Norton, the author of The Definitive Book of SNES RPGs. He's quite possibly the only person ever to have played every RPG released in the US on the system on original hardware--and certainly he's the only person to write a great book about it--and he's been kind enough to take the time to reflect on that experience with me here. Catch him streaming on twitch and youtube @thewellredmage -- https://www.twitch.tv/thewellredmage https://www.youtube.com/@theWellRedMage We build on the discussion Moses recently had with the folks at RetroLogic Games-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp7T1j9Z33g You'll also want to read the book itself once it is available once more, but in the meantime you can see my review for more: https://videogameacademia.org/2025/11/12/rpg-nirvana-jrpgana-the-definitive-book-of-snes-rpgs-by-moses-norton-a-guide-to-japanese-role-playing-games-by-kurt-kalata/ Audio clips from Country Comfort - Waimanalo Blues, The Makaha Sons of

We're circling around many of the same topics, but with our outlines completed and submitted and the rich endgame of Chrono Trigger before us. Thanks for listening

Of shipwrecks and sex on the beach, with sundry learned allusions. Thanks for listening.

or, "it feels as if the whole city’s looking out for us…" The first in a series of discussions of the companion books, the little books published between His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust, beginning with Lyra's Oxford. With continual reference to His Dark Materials and (spoilers) The Book of Dust. An example of a Baedecker on Bohemia: https://aba.org.uk/assets/catalogues/rarebooks@shapero.com/Baedeker2020.pdf On Bohemia and its non-existent coastline in Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale: https://www.folger.edu/blogs/shakespeare-and-beyond/bohemia-winters-tale-seacoast/ (and almost all Pullman's stories are very much winters' tales, aren't they...)The article in the Guardian cribbed from for the epigraph: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/jul/27/booksforchildrenandteenagers.philippullman Interview with Margaret Kean: https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/philip-pullman-lyras-oxford-bodleian-library-masterclass Unveiling the gargoyles: https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/gargoyles-unveiled-0

As far as Zeal, at least, and our first scrape with Lavos in the main storyline. Outlines are submitted and awaiting feedback from the editors at Psychgeist. Will it be the black wind blows or memories of green for us? Time will tell! Thanks for listening.

Launching our new series on Byron's comedic epic Don Juan (rhymes with "new one"). Thanks for listening.

Many a reference for your consideration, with thanks to the folks at Psychgeist. See https://videogameacademia.org/courses/current-semester/chrono-trigger/ for more

Many thanks to David Nixon, Associate Pastor at Carrubbers Christian Centre - http://www.carrubbers.org/ Apologies for the abrupt cut-off at the end of the episode. Our connection was severed by the parsimonious razor of zoom... Recommended reading: "The Gospel in Secular Scotland: in Conversation with David Nixon" - https://www.solas-cpc.org/the-gospel-in-secular-scotland-in-conversation-with-david-nixon/ "Engaging with Pullman" series of reflections on Solas - https://www.solas-cpc.org/engaging-with-pullman-part-five-pullman-on-alienation-and-the-argument-from-desire/ - Part One: Why I’ll be watching ‘His Dark Materials’ and so should you - Part Two: Philip Pullman and the Power of Stories - Part Three: Pullman on God and the Church - Part Four: On Dust and the Signals of Transcendence - Part Five: On Alienation and the Argument from Desire Within which you'll also find references to Tolkien, Lewis, and a number of other contemporary thinkers, including Philip Goff and Sharon Dirckx,

We wrap up our discussion of this challenging, beguiling, and not altogether satisfying work by Nabokov, then begin to look ahead to our next book, Byron's Don Juan. Thanks for listening.

RIP Lucette, we hardly knew you!

Discussing the first half or so of Chrono Trigger, we continue the patient work of scholarship, moving towards an upcoming deadline for the outline to be delivered this week. Thanks for listening!

The moment of truth: Lucette departs, Demon discovers, Van and Ada jump forward in time. Thanks for listening.

The Crystal at the back of Memoria, past the elemental chaos monsters and Hades in his synth shop, where the voice of Garland runs out. We fight three final bosses, enjoy the ending, and sing the Melodies of Life theme once more. Thanks for listening! Up next, an abbreviated Chrono Trigger run, and then FF Tactics...

Five years later, we pick up where we'd left off discussing the SNES classic, the Dream Project, Chrono Trigger. In the run-up to completing outlines for the Psychgeist essay collection, we talk about dream motifs, purgatory, and resurrection this time; next time, we'll range over the first half or so of the game; and next week, once Alex's dissertation defense is dantesquely dispensed with, we plan to give a full retrospective on the game before turning back to our next planned playthrough, FF Tactics. For part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCzvqTEE_Uw Thanks for listening!

From the video description over on Prof Schmid's channel: https://youtu.be/F8exnw4wHdU?si=3fl3jIHSyFeBOPbO In this special discussion with Dr. Otto Lehto of New York University's Center for Bioethics, we consider (1) our initial experiences with Final Fantasy VII and the ways technology and its growth affected our future lives; (2) the impact Final Fantasy VII had on each of us and whether it attained the level of an opera or a Gesamtkunstwerk; (3) finally we consider what make makes an adaptation successful and consider whether FFVIIRI is worth it.You can find more of Dr. Otto Lehto's work and current projects at the following places:1) Website: https://www.ottolehto.com/2) PhilPeople: https://philpeople.org/profiles/otto-... 3) Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?...4) linkedin:   / ottolehto  Thanks Alex for hosting, Otto for joining, and thank you for listening!

Time passes, Van writes, Lucette visits, Ada pays the photographer kitchen boy's blackmail; comparing the brothel scenes, incest, and narrative in this Family Chronicle with that of One Hundred Years of Solitude by Garcia Marquez. Thanks for listening.