The Mixtape Discourse, Saros, Directive 8020 & Double Fine Gets Organized

About this episode

The episode discusses the Mixtape game controversy, the new Saros game, and Directive 8020 from the Dark Pictures Anthology.

This week, the internet did what it always does: took something good, something that clearly resonated with real people, and turned it into a battlefield. We're talking about Mixtape — the new game from Beethoven & Dinosaur and Annapurna — and why the so-called "controversy" surrounding it tells you more about gaming culture than it does about the actual game. Because let's be honest: a 2-to-3 hour game with a 95 Metascore on Xbox, thousands of positive Steam reviews, and music from Devo, Joy Division, and the Smashing Pumpkins doesn't NEED the internet's permission to be good. But here we are. We're going to talk about why these faux controversies keep popping up, what they say about who gaming makes room for, and why some people just cannot stand it when a game dares to be an emotional experience without a fail state. Then we get into Saros — Housemarque's spiritual successor to Returnal — and yeah, we have THOUGHTS. Arjun Devraj, Rahul Kohli going absolutely OFF in this performance, cosmic horror on planet Carcosa, and a roguelite loop that somehow got MORE accessible without losing the teeth that made Returnal special. Is it better than Returnal? That's a…

People in this episode

Host: Kahlief Adams

Topics covered

• gaming culture
• emotional experiences in games
• game controversies
• Saros game discussion
• Directive 8020 overview
• Dark Pictures Anthology
• roguelite games

Keywords

• Mixtape
• Saros
• Directive 8020
• gaming culture
• emotional gameplay
• Housemarque
• Supermassive
• Returnal
• controversy
• roguelite

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Beethoven & Dinosaur, Annapurna, Housemarque, Supermassive

Books & works: Mixtape, Returnal, Directive 8020, Dark Pictures Anthology, Alien, The Thing

Places: Carcosa

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