en nonadult no Unconsoleable http://esn.fm/unconsoleable/ Wed, 10 May 2017 01:49:06 +0000 en-US Site-Server v@build.version@ (http://www.squarespace.com) ESN.fm Gaming outside the box. And by box we mean console. false Jessica Dennis jessicadennis@gmail.com 138: It's Not You, It's Us Jessica Dennis Wed, 10 May 2017 01:48:59 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5812283/138 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:5912719220099e66ac2f3918

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye
I leave and heave a sigh and say goodbye

After 137 wonderful episodes, we bid you, our faithful listeners, the very fondest of farewells. We've arrived at the metaphorical fork in the road, and we don't even care what a dreadful cliché that is. We hope you've had as much fun, learned as much, and generally had as good a time as we have with Unconsoleable.

Remember, aloha means goodbye, but it also means hello and love: so to you, our listeners, aloha!

Keep in touch:

]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis In which we bid you, our faithful listeners, the very fondest adieu no 00:04:26 After 137 wonderful episodes, we bid you, our faithful listeners, the very fondest of farewells. We've arrived at the metaphorical fork in the road, and we don't even care what a dreadful cliché that is. We hope you've had as much fun, learned as much, and generally had as good a time as we have with Unconsoleable. Remember, aloha means goodbye, but it also means hello love: so to you, our listeners, aloha! 137: Doggins 2: First Blood Jessica Dennis Wed, 03 May 2017 01:48:05 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5774487/137 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:590936db5016e17b2287c4c4

The Real Doggins viewing one of his many awards

They make charming games, have an adorable dog, work side by side while staying happily married, and did we mention the cute dog?

Who are these fabulous guests? Why, it's Brooke and David Condolora of indie game studio Brain & Brain, of course.

We chatted with the dynamic duo about how they got started in games, struck out on their own, and possibly invented the quiet adventure genre in the process.

We also dug into a recent op-ed about narrative in games that has been making the rounds lately, and Brooke and David weighed in.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, our other merch, and email us if you too have a cute dog we should meet :-)

Stuff we mentioned:

]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Quiet Adventurers We talk to the brains behind Brain & Brain, acclaimed (and adorable) developers of Burly Men at Sea and Doggins no 01:21:33 136: Game Training Jessica Dennis Tue, 25 Apr 2017 23:19:59 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5737914/136 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:58ffd9a26b8f5b40c0ce4ad3

It counts as exercise if you're sitting on one of those balls

Practice makes perfect, and massive congratulations are in order for Jessica. Why? You'll find out right at the top of the episode.

As is often the case, the App Store is experiencing a bit of a drought right now, but good stuff is coming. In the meantime, we experience the crap and the mediocre stuff and tell you all about it :-)

Meanwhile, Facebook continues to believe it'll be a force in games, but we're not so sure, and neither are the devs we spoke to. And in something of a reversal, we have developers being crappy instead of gamers. It might all be ok, though, with a little in-game retail therapy headed our way soon, but could we try not being crappy too? Nintendo, that also means you :-/

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, our other merch, and email us if you’d like to finance our game merch addictions :D

Stuff we mentioned:

]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis The King of Cock Lizards Aside from Jessica's Big! Huge! News!, a pretty disappointing week in gaming all around no 01:07:22 135: Hint Whales Jessica Dennis Wed, 19 Apr 2017 01:35:36 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5697018/135 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:58f6beed1e5b6ce1b445c73d

A pod of hint whales

His games drive us nuts, but we can't help loving them anyway. So after much trash talk, we welcome puzzle master extraordinaire (and Unconsoleable listener!) Alan Hazelden to the show.

Alan tells us a bit about what he did before making devilishly challenging puzzle games, how he goes about designing and testing his games, which developers he looks up to, and even his favorite pizza toppings :-)

But wait, there's more! We also tell Alan how he can turn his games into F2P gold mines so the next time he comes on the show, he can have a Notch house of his very own :-p Of course we kid. None of that will happen, but it was fun to imagine!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, our other merch, and email us if you also want to register your hate for bell peppers.

Stuff we mentioned:

]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Making Bad Business Decisions In which we can finally abuse Alan Hazelden to his face (more or less) no 01:20:44 134: Whatever Threats are Necessary Jessica Dennis Wed, 12 Apr 2017 01:53:06 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5663540/134 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:58ed8888893fc0309ad68b5b

Listen up

Jessica is a big puddle of feels after playing the long-awaited conclusion to our 2016 Game of the Year and is charmed by an as-yet-unreleased charming game from the charming folks at Mighty Games. We conclude that quick-play games might not be as special as the games that truly win our hearts, but are still pretty awesome.

Anna is left wanting more after playing a horror-themed puzzle game that has just arrived on iOS from Steam, but the real rage is directed at a mobile-first game that has an awful control scheme, rendering it virtually unplayable. Luckily, a silly but fun game with impeccable controls comes to the rescue!

We roll our eyes pretty hard at the best mobile game BAFTA winner, as we do for most winners in the mobile category of various games awards. We wish awards would go more often to games that are truly the best rather than those that are the best known.

Meanwhile, should games display the battery indicator? What’s a fun new way to get hints in a new adventure game? How long can we neglect our laundry? And what non-curse words will we lob at our guest next week? Listen now to find out!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, our other merch, and email us to tell us how long you’ve neglected your laundry :-p

Stuff we mentioned:

]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis I’ve Got My Robot Girlfriend Back Feels: happy feels, angry feels, battery feels? no 01:00:39 133: Sweet, Sweet Nutella Numbers Jessica Dennis Wed, 05 Apr 2017 01:07:08 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5624377/133 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:58e44344db29d689ad9b70b6

Admit it: this is how you eat Nutella

We just love when people discover mobile games all of a sudden and pretend that they all sucked up until that moment! Did we say love? We meant the opposite.

But first, Thimbleweed Park is out and we hope you’re as excited as we are! Toilet paper options! Helpful to-do lists! And more! Neither of us has finished the game, and we’ll eventually have members of the team on the show, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, Jessica and Anna both play the sequel to a pretty puzzle game. The results vary, but we definitely agree it's gorgeous. Jessica spends some time in the beautiful world of another game, while Anna definitely hasn’t got the hang of a new card-based strategy game just yet.

And is it good, annoying, or both when games get so popular that they spawn merchandise, movies, and yes, apparently even game shows? Is anyone more excited about the new Room game than Jessica? Are your favorite iOS games going to stop working? Listen now to find out.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, our other merch, and email us to confess that you too eat Nutella straight from the spoon.

Stuff we mentioned:

]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis First comes the merchandising, then comes the game show Details emerge about the new The Room Game, a Candy Crush game show (?!), Crossy toys, and dire warnings no 01:04:13 132: Full On Cannibal Jessica Dennis Wed, 29 Mar 2017 01:06:13 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5586598/132 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:58db088b440243cca564946c

The most dangerous game

Why has Jessica been eating her ship’s crewmates? Could a card-based strategy game have struck her fancy, even though she usually shuns the genre? What new heights has her horsey game obsession reached? And what awesome new toy does she have to add to her collection? All these questions and more will be answered!

Meanwhile, Anna is all in on puzzle games lately, but wonders whether she should be allowed to play them at all. An old nemesis of a game is tackled again and somewhat defeated, but is there any pleasure in the victory? Maybe we’d both rather be shifting letters instead in the latest offering from a favorite dev.

Of course there’s always sighing at Nintendo to be done, and we continue that long and sad tradition here. But hey, Kickstarter has done something interesting! Finally, we ponder a story about Jewish game developers in these troubled times.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, our other merch, and email us if you’ve ever cannibalized someone. Or maybe… don’t.

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Holding in a Lot of Cursing We sigh about Nintendo, mull mini-Kickstarters, go full cannibal, and more no 01:08:22 131: Fake Horsey Girl Jessica Dennis Wed, 22 Mar 2017 00:27:47 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5552145/131 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:58d1c509d2b857cbb8392e83

It's actually pretty unsafe for a child to be alone with a horse. And she's holding that carrot wrong.

Jessica and Anna are back with a vengeance from PAX East and GDC respectively, and we have a lot to talk about. We played some new games on our journeys of course, but the best part about any conference is the people!

Jessica’s love affair with horsey games has taken a bizarre turn, thanks to a new friend from PAX East. It’s weird, it’s unsettling, and it might have some problematic elements! What is this mystery game? You’ll need to listen to find out.

Anna might have a new favorite developer after GDC (and he certainly knows how to entice Jessica to play his game), but is this the beginning of a beautiful friendship or the dawn of a frustrating, rage-inducing future? (Spoiler alert: it’s both :-))

A big change has also come to the games area of the App Store and we think it rocks. And is Jessica more powerful and influential than she realizes? All signs point to yes!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, our other merch, and email us if you can recommend other horse games for us to play, maybe less creepy ones.

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis We Prefer the Good Games Our triumphant return from our respective conferences no 01:07:43 130: The Unconsoleable Time Machine Jessica Dennis Wed, 15 Mar 2017 01:33:56 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547130/130 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:58c89a0a9de4bb225df079bb

With Anna recovering from GDC and Jessica away at PAX East, we decided to take you on another trip down memory lane, to our first real episode. We'll be back with new content next week, but meanwhile we hope you enjoy another blast from the past!

Wooohooo, we made it to episode two! Wait, that's not really a big accomplishment. Or is it? You tell us, dear listeners. 

On this episode we talk about Steam's new discovery tools, SQUEEEEE about the impending Monument Valley expansion and talk waaaay too much about Desert Golfing and how games like it and Monument Valley are wonderfully relaxing. So make yourself a chamomile tea, put on a moisturizing mask and your spa robe and enjoy the show.

Stuff we talked about:

And finally.... we are officially on iTunes. If you're enjoying this podcast even a little bit, please review us.

]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Bothersome Crow People: Still Sexy When your hosts are away, your podcast app will play: old skool Unconsolable! no 00:59:17 129: Still Failing After All These Years Jessica Dennis Wed, 08 Mar 2017 02:12:47 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547131/129 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:58bf68a56a4963f3a09d8b45

Failure in a Box

With Anna away at GDC and Jessica ramping up the travel anxiety prior to PAX East, we decided to take a little break and re-release our very first episode, Failure in a Box. 

Hey look, it's the inaugural episode of Unconsoleable!

Learn more about your co-hosts, Anna and Jessica, our decidedly unimpressive gaming histories, why the heck we are doing this podcast, and why we game the way we do.

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Episode 1: The Phone Game Menace Missed our very first episode? Good news: we've re-released (and shh, lightly remastered) it for your listening enjoyment! no 00:44:24 128: Accepting Delivery of My New Unicorn Jessica Dennis Wed, 01 Mar 2017 02:45:54 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547132/128 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:58b635def5e231aeca92591a

Jessica's new unicorn

Apologies for the lateness of these show notes, dear listeners. Anna is at GDC and struggling to keep up. To make it up to you, we will likely have many amazing guests in the coming months, so stay tuned!

This week we punched some Nazis, won some horse races, went golfing, hopping and mashing, and found adorable hidden things in an adorable, charming new game.

We also catch up on Unity’s 2016 mobile games report, wonder if Pokémon GO really expanded the mobile game player base, yell at Nintendo as per usual, and much, much more!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you talk about your medical history loudly on a train cause we want to disapprove :p

Stuff we mentioned:

]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Better Safe than Germy The grueling Unconsoleable con schedule, Nazi-punching, Nintendo news, and more no 01:04:22 127: Go Straight to Jerk Jail Jessica Dennis Wed, 22 Feb 2017 02:14:10 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547133/127 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:58acf3f986e6c09f840ce8c8

Convicted of 18 counts of crappy opinions

Both Jessica and Anna struggled to properly control a few games this week, because hey, apparently this mobile gaming gig is hard work! Luckily, a wonderful new game has come out to make us forget about all that.

And if it's a day that ends in Y, someone has said something dumb about Nintendo—and we did record this on a Friday, sooo….

Something that's way worse than dumb, though, is the PewDiePie fiasco. We "salute" Felix for finding several ways to be horrible, rather than being content with just one! And this incident calls to mind another horrible person who has recently risen to dubious prominence after winning a Madden e-sports event. Let's not reward horrible people, ok gaming industry? This isn't hard.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you too want to brag about your virtual horse breeding program ;-p

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Crap Icing on the Turd Cake We tell you how we really feel about PewDiePie and a racist Madden Bowl winner no 01:05:03 126: Flappy Bird is a Corolla Jessica Dennis Wed, 15 Feb 2017 02:53:07 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547134/126 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:58a3c29315d5dbb6a1a2aace

We kick off this week with Jessica scolding our guest from last week’s show. Yes, you read that right. But it all has something to do with games, we swear!

Other than scolding people and solving mysteries, Jessica tries a game on the advice of a listener and finds it super hard, yet she somehow can’t stop playing it. What madness is this? Meanwhile, a game based loosely on a beloved Twitter account is very average, but hey, at least it’s free.

Anna tries to be a hardcore mobile gamer and shuns a game that seems too easy, but isn’t drawn in by one that’s much more challenging. Where oh where is the happy medium? Add to that a badly monetized, cheesy visual novel from Ubisoft, and it has been a somewhat odd gaming week.  

Turning to the news, we wonder if we should be annoyed with Nintendo (answer: usually yes, but possibly not in this case), squee about Tim Cook’s visit to ustwo, and mull over the big news from Steam this week. A big change is coming, but will it help or hurt indie developers and the platform as a whole?

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you want to tell us what car make and model most accurately represents your game :-D

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis There's No Algorithm for Fun Our week in gaming, Nintendo news, and Steam shenanigans no 01:01:49 125: Very, Very Mighty Jessica Dennis Wed, 08 Feb 2017 04:03:02 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547135/125 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:589a7fbd5016e16ecfeee0b0

After inserting himself into our 100th episode despite never having been a guest, the mighty Ben Britten finally joins us on the actual show.

Ben may not have an Aussie accent, but he does have an Academy Award and, in our opinion, a great life story all around.

We talk to Ben about how he got into games, making the shift from premium to free-to-play, Mighty Games’ newest (and most charming? :-)) arrival and much more!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you’r currently developing a horsey game, because we'd like to know more! :-p

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis I Hope It's Not a Dick Joke The unreasonably cool Ben Britten joins us to talk Mighty Games and more no 01:11:47 124: If Nothing Else, We’ve Got Games Jessica Dennis Wed, 01 Feb 2017 02:15:20 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547136/124 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:589144bd46c3c440cc73820e

Reminder: your fresh horrors device also does games

American politics continues to be a trash fire, but hey, at least we've got games!

Jessica’s love affair with that horsey game continues, but she tears herself away for a bit to try some other games. She even gets to engage in her favorite activity in one of them: snooping!

Anna is somewhat enamored with a new endless runner, but is super sad about her inability to play another game that's really great — unless you’re the type to get lost. Also, cute critters have come on the scene and we may want to take a ride in their spaceship.

But that's not all! There's some potentially game-changing news for App Store devs, exciting adventure games coming this year, a Neko Atsume movie (!!!!!) and a study about female gamers that we think misses the mark.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you’ve taught your cat to pee in the toilet cause, well, you're weird :-p

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Toilet Adjacent Activities We're still in the midst of some dark days, but games help us through it no 01:01:47 123: Make Games Great Again Jessica Dennis Wed, 25 Jan 2017 02:08:25 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547137/123 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:5888089f579fb37f6d63bed6

Although maybe this should be an Australian flag

Our newly inaugurated president scares us to death, but we are here for the games. They help us cope and we hope they work that way for you too.

Anna finds solace in a silly Japanese cult game while Jessica continues to self-medicate with hefty doses of Pocket Card Jockey.

We also talk about a perennial favorite topic: what Apple can do to move mobile gaming forward. The iPhone recently turned 10, so someone saw fit to ask a bunch of dudes this question. But you know you'd rather hear our thoughts, right? :)

Finally, it turns out Steam and mobile gaming share many of the same problems matching players to games. A recent article delves into this and so do we!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you can get Jessica a job at Nintendo or Apple :-p

Stuff we mentioned:

]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis (Not) the Killers of Fun Mobile gaming is good, but could it be better? no 01:02:44 122: Toilet Paper Beliefs Jessica Dennis Wed, 18 Jan 2017 02:27:28 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547138/122 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:587ed2921b10e3086955ad99

I didn't do it. It wasn't me.

Listeners know we have strong political beliefs, and of course strong beliefs about games. But toilet paper? It turns out Jessica is fairly indifferent, but Anna isn't, and an upcoming game has her and others in a bit of a tizzy.

Speaking of toilets, as we are often wont to do, we chuckle at a developer who has realized that people play their game on the toilet. of course we knew it all along, and all joking aside, there are some good lessons there about understanding your players.

All this plus some of our reactions to the Nintendo Switch news, what we are playing (Pugs! Cat horses! Chickens!), and much more.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you have strong toilet paper feelings you'd like to share with us ;-)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis We Have Some Strong Feelings Mobile games and the toilet: a match made in bathroom. Plus, Nintendo Switch! no 00:58:26 121: The Vagina Game Jessica Dennis Wed, 11 Jan 2017 02:55:24 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547139/121 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:58757ce044024353e5106bba

It's a flower

We’ve talked about playing games in the bathroom, but what about controlling a game with a part of one’s anatomy? Yes, these are brave and wild times in which this will soon be possible  for those who backed a certain IndieGoGo campaign.

Besides vaginas, this episode sees us dive into the 2017 gaming season with some featured games we didn’t hate! In fact, we liked pretty much everything we played this week, even though we just used our hands to do it (how boring!).

We also talk about some wacky news, like Iran freaking out about Clash of Clans (and not because it has $100 IAPs!), predictably underwhelming mobile category award nominees, and more.

Finally, what does 2017 have in store for mobile games?  We ponder one recent take and talk about things we’d like to see change in on the platform in the coming year, especially given some recent data.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you plan on exercising your pelvic floor :-D

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Rub it the Right Way The 2017 gaming year gets off to an *interesting* start no 01:08:01 120: The Usual Caveats Apply Jessica Dennis Wed, 04 Jan 2017 02:44:23 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547140/120 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:586c618cb3db2bcdc456e507

It's our SECOND ANNUAL (hey, that's totally a big deal!) GAME OF THE YEAR EPISODE!!! We are using all CAPS in case you can't tell how excited we are. Because we're excited!

2016 may not have been a good year for politics, but it was a pretty decent year for mobile games, as it turns out. So on this episode we celebrate the many games that we loved and cherished. We’ve got categories like prettiest, most innovative, most addictive, weirdest, and many more!

Unlike last year, the winners aren’t listed in the show notes below, so you’ll have to listen to find out who won everything, including our ultimate game of the year and our individual picks for best game of 2016. There’s some arguing and lots of hemming and hawing, but we feel great about our winners and we hope you will too.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you think there’s a great game from 2016 that we missed!

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Game of the Year, 2016 Edition The very best mobile games of 2016 according to us no 01:31:12 119: Advisory Women Jessica Dennis Wed, 28 Dec 2016 02:21:02 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547141/119 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:586321956a49630bc9afa30f

These models will impart sage wisdom unto you

Jessica and Anna are both played a new train game featuring a woman who explains stuff: a common occurrence in mobile games. Now, women know things, but Anna isn't sure about all these advisory women in mobile games. Why are they there? Is it for the right reasons or the wrong ones?

Something we’re more sure of is that Nintendo’s eShop is awful. Nevertheless, Jessica managed to play a game on her 3DS that she actually liked!

And of course, Super Mario Run is out and people have Opinions. About the price, about the monetization, about the gameplay, and more. We dive into some of these takes on Nintendo’s first real mobile game, and of course provide our own as the advisory women that we are :-)

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you'd like us to womansplain something to you :-p

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Look how bitchin' my train is Exploring the Wise Woman stereotype as it relates to railroad management no 01:09:44 118: An Instant Classic Jessica Dennis Wed, 21 Dec 2016 01:31:58 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547142/118 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:5859db945016e1ac6da11818

At long last and all the way from New Zealand, we welcome the developers of Mini Metro.Yep, we think the game is an instant classic and so should you.

We talk to (twin!) brothers Robert and Peter Curry about how Mini Metro came about, their past exploits in game development, staying indie, the fear and anxiety that comes with success, and, as always, much, much more!

Whether you've been loving designing transit systems like we have, want to hear the thought processes of smart devs, or are keen to join their dinosaur polo club, listen up!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you want to design the jackets we’ll wear at our dino polo club :-p

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Games for Our Moms We bring you the developers of Mini Metro, who are as delightful as you might imagine no 01:16:39 117: Whatever, Nintendo Jessica Dennis Wed, 14 Dec 2016 01:56:09 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547143/117 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:5850a6c046c3c4afd269a936

We're all very fancy around here

Super Mario Run is about to come out and some worrisome news about it has also come out. Uh-oh.

Here to help us make sense of it all plus issue other tidbits of knowledge and wisdom is our beloved friend and developer Joe Macirowski.

Meanwhile, what are Anna’s first impressions of the game having trekked to the Apple Store to play the demo? What recent gaming triumphs has Jessica enjoyed? Will Apple ever make a controller? And just how many ties DOES one of the Joe’s cats have? All these questions and more will be answered so listen now!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you know why Nintendo is opposed to making money :-p

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis A real dog would never mock you Good friend and erstwhile game developer Joe Macirowski joins us once again to puzzle over some curious Nintendo decisions. To put it mildly. no 01:29:32 116: Game Shame Jessica Dennis Wed, 07 Dec 2016 01:43:51 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547144/116 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:5847695a29687f75bd1b5119

Inside one of the secret women meetings

Apparently this is the show where we reveal our deepest, darkest gaming secrets. Are you ready to learn Jessica’s latest game shame? We don’t want to ruin the fun for you, so you’ll have to listen to find out what it is!

Speaking of deep, dark, secrets, we have some to impart to Zynga, who apparently wants to make a Candy Crush-like game for the Indian market. But they want it to appeal specifically to women. What’s the problem? Well, there are a number of them, and we try to explain it to the hapless devs who no doubt aren’t listening.

We also puzzle over a new mobile game streaming service Rovio plans to launch. Can something meant to be the Spotify of mobile games find success?

And of course we played some new games too, though almost none of the ones Anna tried came from the App Store (GASP!)

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you want to confess a shameful gaming secret of your own ;-p

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Secret Women Meetings Jessica plays ads, Anna plays Facebook games, has the world gone mad?! no 01:02:27 115: The Herring Theory Jessica Dennis Wed, 30 Nov 2016 02:28:07 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547145/115 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:583e2f482e69cf1be589f8dd

Why do herring make you smarter? Something something school.

What's one weird trick for games to infuriate us? Bad monetization. Jessica even almost really liked a new game this week—almost.

It was much the same with Anna who, along with Jessica, struggled with a home decorating game. Struggled to play it that is, because the monetization is so brutal.

We also wondered about Microsoft Solitaire coming to mobile and who on earth would pay for it, got a sneak peak at Asher Vollmer’s next game, learned who the best navigators are, and chuckled at an unlikely political incursion into a mobile soccer game we’ve never played.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you subscribe to the herring theory :)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Trying hard not to learn anything Some games got us riled this week, plus our extremely plausible and highly scientific herring theory no 01:02:55 114: Millions of People Must Be Wrong Jessica Dennis Wed, 23 Nov 2016 01:41:55 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547146/114 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:5834f3e8ebbd1a49b8b29e3b

The story of Tetris is aaaaah tetrominos attack!

Could millions of people be wrong about mobile games being awesome? Clearly not, though they might be wrong about their choice of presidential candidate — but we digress!

Anyway! We try to go back to "normal" this week, whatever that is, and talk about more games, more out of touch articles, more shooty stabby gamers who don’t get mobile, and more Mario of course!

Also, Nintendo, you're pissing us off. Stop it.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you have some NES classic minis you want to gift to us ;-)

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Special bonus trivia! Serendipitously, as it turns out, the Simpsons episode Jessica references (here's an archive.org capture of whatbadgerseat.com) features a chalkboard gag concerning the 2000 election: "I will not plant subliminal messagores."

]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis What's the Story of Tetris? We're still reeling from the election, but we try to keep it on track and about games this week! no 00:56:18 113: All Our Parties Have Gotten Pooped On Jessica Dennis Wed, 16 Nov 2016 02:33:01 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547147/113 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:582bc2f6e3df28e79512a853

Us as the results rolled in. Us now.

This is still a show about games, but we had to talk about the election.

Because this isn't like any other election, and this president-elect isn't like any other president-elect. We are afraid and traumatized, not so much for ourselves, but for so many others. This show has always been partly about our lives, and this was a cataclysmic event for us both.

We do get around to games eventually, we promise. Both of us played a few new things, though games haven't been as comforting. We also talked about some good reactions to the election result in the games community, as well as some not-so-good reactions, plus a Blizzard CEO that seems to be a wee bit misguided.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you have a colony on Mars we can join.

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Wallowing in Despair We discuss the big stinking elephant in the room, then catch up on some gaming news. no 01:05:02 112: Signing Up for Judgement Jessica Dennis Wed, 09 Nov 2016 02:08:40 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547148/112 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:5822852f03596e7e2d12e188

We're not this friendly

Games that we play sign up for judgment, but what about raiders of Halloween candy? Will anyone step forward and admit to taking all of it when no one’s looking?

While we ponder chocolate-induced crime and punishment, we also talk about the games we’ve played this week, to varying degrees of enjoyment and success. Jessica realizes walking around in a game can get tiresome while Anna embraces her spy identity.

We also roll our eyes at a tone-deaf piece on fan demands in games and comics and lament the fact that someday we may not be able to play our favorite iOS games anymore.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you'd like to confess to any candy crimes ;-p

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis You Suck at Your Job We're posting this episode while election results come in so you're getting a really crappy iTunes summary this week no 01:03:07 111: Gamer Stank Jessica Dennis Wed, 02 Nov 2016 00:30:14 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547149/111 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:5819339a29687f05bc62ee7a

The popular perception of gamers

Do gamers stink differently than other people? Some people seem to think so and [cue infomercial voice] have they got the product for YOU!

But before we get to all that, Jessica recounts some woes with a new game’s tutorial and an old game’s inability to cloud save her progress, oh no!

Meanwhile, Anna falls under the spell of a very silly, but very charming time management game and we also talk about a story that made us both do a double take.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you’ve spent millions on a mobile game, because we’d like to be your friends ;-)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis A Lot of Candy Corn The only thing that didn't stink is, surprisingly enough, that cheesy-looking game Anna fell in love with no 00:59:27 110: So Designy Jessica Dennis Wed, 26 Oct 2016 01:34:12 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547150/110 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:5810056246c3c44e7d50ec97

Longtime listeners will recall that there was a time when Jessica built A LOT of boats. Now she's building a lot of transit systems, and Anna is too! That's right, Mini Metro has taken us by storm and we’re having a blast.

We also announce the winner of our Burly Men at Sea giveaway, and Anna talks about some other games and, um, hassling various developers.

And of course… the Nintendo news! We talk all about the Switch and whether we, the target market, are interested in it.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you’re bringing your dog to GDC, because we want to meet them!

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Meet Multiple Dogs Hang on, three St. Petersburg train stations are getting over-crowded no 01:09:18 109: Your Phone in Your Bra Jessica Dennis Wed, 19 Oct 2016 01:12:54 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547151/109 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:5806c89f3e00becea2ca7a47

Fancy phone-holders

Everything in the world is terrible, but we are here to bring you stories of our sometimes silly and difficult lives, and we do eventually talk about games, we promise!

We tried some new stuff this week, to varying degrees of success, but we mainly talk about a game that you probably haven’t heard of or played. And that’s maybe for good reason. Intrigued? Mystified? Trepidatious? Then listen now and all will be revealed.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you can volunteer to be Jessica’s rescuer when she falls down the stairs ;-p

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Everything is Terrible Hoo boy do we ever have some thoughts about some games this week no 01:04:42 108: Show Me Your Graphs Jessica Dennis Wed, 12 Oct 2016 01:57:17 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547152/108 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:57fd8eaabe6594886d151f05

Graaaaaaaaaphs

Welcome to Anna being partially drunk during this recording and Jessica well on her way there! Cut us a break though; have you seen the US election? It's amazing we're sober EVER.

Shockingly, Jessica played more than one game this week! Anna did as well, including attempting That Dragon, Cancer now that it's on mobile.

Search ads have also come to the App Store and we look at one developer’s experiences so far, including the possible problems and pitfalls. Also, Square Enix is taking a stand on premium games and there are some Nintendo LULZ too.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you want us to play games with you while drunk (but we’ll probably say no ;-p)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis How Do I Games Anna and Jessica drink their way through what they're playing, ponder App Store search ads, and mock some Nintendo "news" no 01:07:54 107: The High End of Mediocre Jessica Dennis Wed, 05 Oct 2016 01:42:43 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547153/107 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:57f4587237c581aded63243d

Huskies are also dismayed by idiots on the internet

Jessica is still in the thrall of Shadow Bug Rush, but both of us did play a bunch of other games this week. And some were even good!

Anna gushes about a game she never thought she would enjoy while both she and Jessica are not 100% sold on a dog sledding game that has too much management for our liking. And what game did Jessica reject after 5 minutes while Anna fell in love with it? You’ll have to listen to find out!

There’s also talk of a sushi game that sadly doesn’t involve eating sushi, some high quality ridicule of dumb people on the Internet, and much more!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you’ve made a dog ownership simulator, because we want to play it :-p

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Are You Shhherious? We like some games, we hate some games, and some games are just ok. Plus, Ubisoft bought WHAT? no 01:07:16 106: Baby Spoons Jessica Dennis Wed, 28 Sep 2016 01:16:24 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547154/106 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:57eb19ef15d5dbca6f4b875d

The best kind of spoon

This week, we finally had the space and time to talk about what we’re playing! Except Jessica seems to have played just one game. But no matter, one game is all you need if it’s the right one.

Meanwhile Anna isn’t sure if any of the games she played are the right one for her. She did enjoy eating people, however, while difficult controls in other game gave her the sads.

And both your hosts played a game that in some ways had a rocky start on the App Store, but is that the fault of the developer or the players?

That’s not all! We also had time for a bit of news and a recent piece launched us into the perennial discussion on the evils of some free-to-play games and what might be done about them.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you too share our love for baby spoons :-)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Simmering Anger We do play games sometimes, you know, in between the anger. no 01:03:46 105: A Carousel of Privilege Jessica Dennis Wed, 21 Sep 2016 00:09:46 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547155/105 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:57e1cfd0e3df285e22a99825

There's always that one jackass

A real, actual Mario game is finally coming to mobile and we are EXCITED. But not everyone shares our glee.

We talk about the hand-wringing over how a quasi-premium game will be received on the platform, and answer concerns about whether mobile gamers care about games period. We have a few choice words to offer on this topic.

All this ties into the larger issue of whether premium games are dead on mobile (spoiler alert: NO). We talk about how crappy this narrative is, plus how Amazon’s move away from mobile games isn't necessarily a valid example of premium games’ struggles.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you know anyone at Nintendo Enthusiast cause we'd like to give them a wedgie :-p

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis The idea of fun is lost We get righteously angry at the dot bizzes and their bad attitude toward premium games, then take a moment rip entitled gamers a new one no 01:11:15 104: Don't Go in the Arsenic Room Jessica Dennis Wed, 14 Sep 2016 00:55:31 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547156/104 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:57d8a009be65942c55659708

We really like gifs, ok?

This episode rules! That’s because we have with us Francois Alliot, creator of one of our latest obsessions and yours, Reigns.

Sometimes we rule for many years and sometimes we die quickly, but we’re always having a great time playing this immensely innovative game.

Francois tells us about what he’s learned in his remarkably short time making games, answers all our burning questions about the game, and tell us some EXCLUSIVE NEWS!

So, remember not to go into the arsenic room and please enjoy this episode!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you know how to trick the devil!

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Unsurprisingly, Death Important life advice featuring Reigns game developer Francois Alliot no 01:15:04 103: How Can We Monetize Our Poop Data? Jessica Dennis Wed, 07 Sep 2016 02:12:27 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547157/103 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:57cf645fd2b857215af6a67e

You can blame Jessica for the quality of this particular gif

All our dungeons are getting looted (or is it lootied?) on this episode as we welcome Jake Sawyer and Saam Pahlavan of Taco Illuminati, makers of the adorable and fun Looty Dungeon.

The fellas tell us about how they got into making a mobile game, what they learned releasing their first title on the platform, and much, much more including, yes, some very interesting poop data ;-p

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Annatoo), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you have a scientific use for Jake and Saam’s poop data :)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Taco Air Conditioner The Most Excellent Templar of Tacos and Sublime Prince of the Royal Tortilla join us to talk looty dungeons and mobiley games no 01:18:53 102: The Angry 1% Jessica Dennis Wed, 31 Aug 2016 01:58:47 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547158/102 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:57c6362ed2b8577131f1947f

Alas, we only wish our hair were that perfectly shiny

In yet another episode in between guests, we have so many games to talk about. So we spend almost the entire episode doing just that!

From a hilarious and charming game by a former guest that you might not know exists, to the new GO game from Square Enix, to a new mobile Zelda-esque game that gave us some trouble with the controls, but that we still sort of loved, we run the gamut.

Jessica also has some adventures with an archery game that might be a bit problematic, Anna makes a foray into social engineering (in a game only, we promise!) and much more!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Annatoo), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if think you qualify for the very elite, very exclusive, angry 1% club ;-p

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Call me back when there's a Mac app for Tinder Gaaaaaaames. So many games. We'll catch you up on what we've been playing in between guests and let you know what might be worth your precious time (and sometimes money)! no 01:06:28 101: The Game is Your Common Enemy Jessica Dennis Wed, 24 Aug 2016 02:10:43 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547159/101 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:57bd022aebbd1acc9cff15ac

Me too, Skinny Bear. Me too. Screenshot from @OneSavvySiren

We’re kicking off a new century of Unconsoleable with guests who make games that are definitely not our enemies. Quite the opposite in fact. If you know anything, you know that Spryfox means quality, polish, unique mechanics, and a boatload of charm.  

Andrew Fray and Pat Kemp are two Spryfoxes and they’re here this week to talk with us about evil (some might say) puzzle games, non-evil free to play, how their development process works, and much more!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Annatoo), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if agree that Spryfox games need more foxes ;-p

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Unique Weirdos We've captured two spry foxes, er, Spryfoxers, to talk to us about making awesome games, especially on mobile no 01:16:17 100: Happy Hundredthversary! Jessica Dennis Wed, 17 Aug 2016 02:19:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547160/100 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:57b3c5f559cc6834cfa3e714

IT’S OUR 100TH EPISODE, AAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Now that that’s out of the way, what can you expect on this super, hugely exciting milestone episode? We reminisce about the journey we’ve been on, answer some listener questions, and divulge some behind-the-scenes secrets!

But there’s TONS MORE and we don’t want to spoil any of the surprises in store. So just sit back and strap in for a wild ride you won’t soon forget!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Annatoo), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you want to suggest an amount of episodes we should make beyond 100. But we’ll just ignore you :-p

This episode is sponsored by Fracture. Photos printed on glass. Tell them we sent you using this link and selecting "Unconsoleable" to get 10% off your first order.

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Hide the Laserdisc Porn 100th Episode. Boom. no 01:20:19 99: Making Cookies and Games Jessica Dennis Wed, 10 Aug 2016 01:33:27 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547161/99 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:57aa846dbe659454809763fb

The talented and wonderful Jenn Sandercock

We haven’t had an Aussie on the show for far too long, so we fix that in this episode by welcoming the awesome and talented Jenn Sandercock.

Jenn loves innovative gameplay mechanics, games that give you hugs, and yes, cookies. If she ever acquires a Notch house, we have secured an invite to the cookie room :-D

We found out all about how Jenn came to be in games and what keeps her here, what she would change about the industry if she could, and of course what mobile games she likes (we may have some recommendations for her :-)) All this and so much more, so listen up!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you want to make a game especially for us!

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis We're big in Australia We talk to indie dev and Thimbleweed Park game designer Jenn Sandercock about making games, both analog and digital. The analog ones involve cookies. We approve. no 01:18:58 98: First Prize in Dickery Jessica Dennis Wed, 03 Aug 2016 01:38:49 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547162/98 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:57a14b2f4402436133e029f2

You "win," you stupid jerk with your stupid trophy

Who is the “lucky” winner of the first prize in dickery? It could apply to many people, as this episode will demonstrate.

Sandwiched between guest episodes, this installment of the show brings you the Jessica and Anna you know and love, talking (and complaining) about the games we’re playing and calling out developers who have a dim view of mobile gaming, but still want to make mobile games.

Luckily we played some great stuff this week too. Jessica rediscovers the joy of a Quell game while Anna plays a fencing game that actually feels like real fencing. En garde! There’s also some news to cover and we continue to be concerned about gaming’s favorite whipping boy, Nintendo.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you think you can talk some sense into Nintendo; ACTUALLY NO, email Nintendo ;-)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Shameless Pandering to Nostalgia Who wins first prize in dickery? Can a mobile fencing game really be any good? What do we hate this time? All this and more! no 01:03:41 97: Doom Killed Adventure Games Jessica Dennis Wed, 27 Jul 2016 05:07:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547163/97 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:57980ef1c534a5b7bced2a52

Our guest this week is none other than Ron Gilbert, who we determined is definitely legendary, has achieved everything based on skill alone, and is totally not old. Is any of this true?! You'll have to listen to find out :-p

We go all over the place in this episode, from the far reaches of adventure gaming history to what makes a game succeed to good and bad design in adventure games and even movies.

What mobile games does Ron like? Is he ever moving to Australia? Will there ever be a third Monkey Island game? And how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? We get to the bottom of all this and much more!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you think you too are legendary (but like Ron’s sister, we might beg to differ :-))

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis The Final Word on Walkthroughs Legendary (yes, we insist) game developer Ron Gilbert joins us to talk adventure games, indie game dev, woodchucks, and exploding hamsters. no 01:24:31 96: Being Grumpy Together Jessica Dennis Wed, 20 Jul 2016 02:04:53 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547164/96 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:578edc4c37c581d2870f6e01

Kids today and their pokey mans

The world has officially lost their minds over Pokemon GO, but has Jessica finally become a Pokemon trainer or not? And can we trust Niantic, the game’s developer, with our data?

We also have a pretty huge announcement, squeeeee over Nintendo’s recent mini (tee hee) announcement, talk about what we’re playing of course, and Jessica looks forward to an impending VR adventure that might erase her disappointment with the Rick & Morty mobile game that fell flat.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Annatoo), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us with questions for Ron Gilbert. We aren’t kidding around this week; DO IT!

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis The Great Pokemon Resistance Jessica wants you to Pokemon Go get off her lawn, while Anna is thoroughly hooked, and in other positive Nintendo news, a squee-worthy new addition to the hardware family no 00:59:29 95: Don't Pokemon and Drive Jessica Dennis Wed, 13 Jul 2016 01:14:28 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547165/95 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:578593f69f7456a7046e00b2

Screenshot of Pokémon Shame courtesy of @tangentworlds

This episode is brought to you by Fracture. Go here now for more information and to get 10% off your order. Don’t forget to mention Unconsoleable in the one question survey to show your support for our show!

Yes, Pokemon GO mania has come to Unconsoleable, but for only one of your hosts (for now :-))

But before we get to all that, we took a moment to acknowledge the difficult and violent week the US has had. We hope, if you’ve struggled this week as so many have, that we can take your mind off things for a little bit. Not to forget, but just to take a mental break.

For example… did you know that idle clicker players aren’t who you would expect? Anna also found out that gamer surveys really don’t plan for our flavor of gamer. And what has Jessica been tapping like a mofo??? Find out all this and more by listening now.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you know where the good Pokemon are :)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis The Jovial Contrarian So there's this Pokemon game out... no 00:59:04 94: The Bagels are Game Center Jessica Dennis Wed, 06 Jul 2016 02:01:58 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547166/94 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:577c6699e3df28703ba5cc18

An actual WWDC bagel. Caraway seeds? Really?

Our WWDC spy has arrived! That’s right, back on the show for the third time and full of tales of San Francisco and Apple’s plans for gaming, it’s our awesome friend Joe Macirowski.

Joe rains on our parade a lot, but hey, we already knew that Apple and gaming aren’t exactly a match made in heaven. If you’ve been deluding yourselves, maybe this episode will cure you!

There’s a lot to talk about and many important questions to answer, like do games have a better shot of success on the Apple Watch or the Apple TV? Why doesn’t the West Coast know from good bagels? And will we finally find out what Craig Federighi’s hair smells like??!!! Listen now to find out.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you know anyplace to get good bagels in San Francisco :)

Sponsored by

  • Fracture:  photos printed on glass. Tell them we sent you using this link and selecting "Unconsoleable" to get 10% off your first order.

Show Notes

]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis The Worst Silver Lining Our WWDC spy delivers his report: is Apple doomed? Of course! But listen to find out exactly how! no 01:14:12 93: Premium Chickens Jessica Dennis Wed, 29 Jun 2016 01:20:27 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547167/93 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:57731bf2c534a5599ec444bd

Jessica’s game drought continues unabated, but not for the reasons you might expect! Anna is enamored with some new games however while others have been… DELETED (gulp).

Is everything lost for UK mobile game developers in the wake of #Brexit and does it even matter? Are games like Clash of Clans the future of gaming? Does mobile need more premium games? Should Steve Lubitz start a Hearthstone newsletter? (answer: YES) All these questions and more will be answered!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Annatoo), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you too want more premium chickens ;-)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Voxel Fatigue Jessica played nothing new and Anna *deleted* some games! Scandal! Plus we try to make Steve's HearthZone happen. no 01:00:03 92: #NotAllManPants Jessica Dennis Wed, 22 Jun 2016 03:55:27 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547168/92 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:576a05ec579fb386895e0058

The great game drought of 2016 has hit Jessica as she played not a single new game this week, turning up her nose at everything new. Anna forced herself to try a few new games and actually liked one of them. Hooray!

Meanwhile, there’s lots of news out of WWDC to dig into, a listener question to answer, and are messaging app games the future or a scourge to avoid? We discuss all this and more!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you’d like to volunteer to be our spy at WWDC 2017 ;-)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis The Great Game Drought of 2016 There's a real dearth of new games worth checking out lately, it seems, but luckily there's plenty to complain about! no 01:04:18 91: Fire Saga Jessica Dennis Wed, 15 Jun 2016 01:40:29 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547169/91 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:5760a78eb6aa60920156f101

We have the best listeners in the world! Case in point, one of them recommended the most adorable and fun game to us, and it involves setting things on fire! Nothing could be more perfect, especially for Jessica’s appetite for destruction. It’s not a new game, but it’s new to us and might be to you too.

The rest of you lot, if you’ve never recommended a game to us, get off your lazy asses! ;-)

When not setting things on fire, we spent time this week wondering what both China’s new stance towards mobile games and the changes coming to the App Store will mean for developers. Is the sky falling or is everything going to be ok? Listen now to find out!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you have some stuff for us to burn ;-)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis All Burning All the Time A listener-recommended game has set our hearts alight! Plus App Store changes and shenanigans in China. no 01:00:37 90: Throw Them Into a Volcano Jessica Dennis Wed, 08 Jun 2016 03:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547170/90 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:5757697645bf21c047e7063d

In you go, kid. Sorry.

Jessica has fallen hard for Fallen London while Anna struggles to like a game that everyone else seems to love. And that’s only the beginning!

Never Alone comes to mobile, a game that kinda makes you code might not be for actual programmers, some gamers are terrible, Miitomo isn’t doing so hot, and… well, just listen to the episode dammit!

And yes, we’re still playing Candy Crush. FORGIVE US!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Annatoo), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you know of an available volcano we can use ;-)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis They Can't Be Pooping Forever We have a backlog of games to talk about and it's NOT all Candy Crush. But it's... not no Candy Crush either... no 01:04:56 89: To Die or Not to Die Jessica Dennis Wed, 01 Jun 2016 01:35:12 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547171/89 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:574e3a5301dbaebc41bb826c

This episode was sponsored by Drobo, a family of safe, expandable, and simple-to-use storage arrays. Visit them now to learn more and be sure to use the discount code UN100 to save $100 on your purchase of a Drobo Mini, Drobo 5D, Drobo 5N, or any 8-drive or 12-drive Drobo in the Drobo Store.

On this episode we’re psyched to welcome special guest Enric Jorda, one of the creators of Love You to Bits, which we both adore! We’re sure you’ll love it too, so go play it immediately, if not sooner. Adorable, lovingly made adventure games on mobile are a rare breed, so they need our support!

Enric tells us about his backstory in game development, how Love You to Bits was conceived, and much more. So get in your spaceship and blast off on an adventure with us!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you’ll volunteer to gather up all our parts on an epic space journey if need be :-)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis We love this game to bits Special guest Enric Jorda, one of the creators of Love You to Bits, joins us to talk about the game and offer one crazy trick to fix the App Store no 01:06:22 88: Call of Candy Jessica Dennis Wed, 25 May 2016 00:56:06 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547172/88 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:5744f202f8baf3eb1ebf33e8

Surprise, surprise, Jessica is still not happy about Apple’s featuring changes. Will nothing satisfy her? Maybe only things with candy can do that. That’s right, Jessica may have gone deeper down the Candy Crush rabbit hole this week. But don’t judge her! Or judge her a lot, your choice! ;-p

We also hear about Jessica’s adventure’s in VR-land, Anna’s misadventures with another arty game, Monument Valley Year Two numbers, and much more!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Annatoo), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you have even more hilarious name ideas for games King can make with Blizzard or Activision IP.

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Are You Ready for This Jelly Jessica has gone over to the Dark Side because they have candy there. And speaking of candy, we speculate about forthcoming Blizzard/Activision King games, discuss a weird silver lining to Thailand's military coup, and of course, talk about what ELSE we're playing. no 01:03:10 87: The Meaning of Life Jessica Dennis Wed, 18 May 2016 01:01:26 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547173/87 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:573bbcf404426254ad917bce

This episode was sponsored by Drobo, a family of safe, expandable, and simple-to-use storage arrays. Visit them now to learn more and be sure to use the discount code UN100 to save $100 on your purchase of a Drobo Mini, Drobo 5D, Drobo 5N, or any 8-drive or 12-drive Drobo in the Drobo Store.

Anna thinks things are looking up as there were some great games out this week, but Jessica finds cause to complain about the way Apple is handling featuring lately. And the complaints don’t end there!

Both your hosts also try to make peace with the fact that we didn’t drop Candy Crush Soda Saga as swiftly as we expected to. This week’s hot topic was a piece that claimed that the gaming industry is aging us out. Is it? Elsewhere, should no one have been surprised that Nintendo’s mobile games will be free-to-play? We dig into all this and more.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Annatoo), like us on Facebook and email us if you know how to get cat hair off a Drobo or… anything else :-p

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis An Emotional Rollercoaster Are games even good? Why are we here? Who is our sponsor? no 01:05:31 86: A Mundane Way to Die Jessica Dennis Wed, 11 May 2016 02:14:06 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547174/86 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:57328873cf80a12c16f601dd

Games are BLAH lately; where is the excitement?? INKS is great, but we’ve been playing it forever now and nothing else interesting seems to be coming out. We are boooooored.

Trying to find something new and fun, Anna bravely wades back into the featured games and finds out that yep, they still suck. Meanwhile Jessica gives the Uncharted mobile game a whirl, and both of your hosts admit to something they aren’t proud of.

The news is full of depressing stuff, Anna has to be bleeped for the first time ever, and much, much more awaits you!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Annatoo), like us on Facebook and email us if you live in a foreign country we can possibly move to come November :-(

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep Anna and Jessica expose their secret gaming shame and lament the downright BORING state of mobile games this week no 00:59:21 85: Getting Ahead by Being Evil Jessica Dennis Wed, 04 May 2016 04:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547175/85 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:572963eef699bbb565a14702

Choose evil

Hang onto your hats, ladies and gents! Anna and Jessica played one of the Candy Crush games. You can pick your jaw up off the floor now and have no fear, we played other stuff too :)

In other news, it turns out there are some good reasons for why touch controls can be so bad. But we’re not letting developers totally off the hook just yet.

And can the founder of Atari make great mobile games? He certainly seems to think so, but what do we think?

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook and email us if you think you can save mobile games so Nolan Bushnell doesn’t have to :-p

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Cranky Pants and Candy Crush Why touch controls so often suck, who will save mobile gaming, and why we finally played Candy Crush no 01:00:46 84: A Potato With a Face Jessica Dennis Wed, 27 Apr 2016 01:43:30 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547176/84 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:572015109f7266fe4512f430

I should apologize for this creepy potato but I won't –Jessica

Things haven’t been easy this week, but we’re here for you dear listeners, and the show goes on!

We played some good games—even ones we might be a little, err, ashamed of, and discussed a few truly bizarre news items. One of them is guaranteed to make your jaw drop, we promise.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Annatoo), like us on Facebook and email us if you can throw away things with faces 'cause we might need your help at Jessica’s house :-D

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis The Sweaty-Handed Gamer It's been a hard week but games have helped us through it. That, and some truly bizarre news! no 01:03:55 83: Important Anger Business Jessica Dennis Wed, 20 Apr 2016 02:13:58 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547177/83 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:5716d14ff699bbba97dda803

This is not our preferred gaming face

This week we discover who the Real Gamer is on the podcast as Jessica dominates in a game that Anna can barely play.

Anna also wades into the dangerous territory of the top charts on the App Store and samples an arty game (they do exist on mobile!) that may or may not be awful. You’ll have to listen to find out.

And, of course, as is often our way, we have some important anger to share with you. You don’t have to agree with our anger of course. But you do have to listen to it :)

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Annatoo), like us on Facebook and email us if you’re on the super secret App Store team so we can tell you what to do :D

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Don’t Be a Dick We play good games, bad games, and let our feels out about deliberately difficult games no 00:59:16 82: Dizgeekery Jessica Dennis Tue, 12 Apr 2016 23:15:54 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547178/82 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:570d75b01bbee0c64b3a0ded

Gone fishin'

Games, games, and more games! If you’ve ever wanted to hear us spend a ton of time talking about what we’re playing, this is the episode for you!

Suuuuure, much of that time is taken up by Disney Crossy Road, but hey, what do you expect? It’s new and adorable and we’ve predictably been playing it a lot.

But don’t worry! We played lots of other games too. Some are out, some aren’t, but we have important opinions about all of them and think you’ll probably want to check them out.

We also touch on some news and along with that, what sort-of game is Jessica boycotting and why? All this and more so get to listening!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Annatoo), like us on Facebook and email us if your Game Center is also working now and we’ll PLAN A PARTY! :-D

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis You’ll never guess what game we talk about We talk at length about what we've been playing then whip you through the fastest news segment EVER! no 01:06:02 81: Mickey Chicken Jessica Dennis Thu, 07 Apr 2016 13:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547179/81 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:5705b41bb6aa602d2cfc74e2

Crossy Haunted Mansion!

At long last we bring you a chat with our awesome friend, Unconsoleable #1 fan, possibly the best Australian Matt, and oh yeah, game developer of some note, Matt Hall!

Disney Crossy Road is now out everywhere, and we talk to Matt about how this dream team-up with Big Mouse came about, what players can expect, and much more!

Matt also turns the tables and interviews Anna about her recent sojourn at GDC, and we all ponder why extreme commercial success turns into a nightmare for some developers.

Keep in mind that this episode was recorded a few weeks ago, so if there's some stuff said that doesn't make sense, that's why :-)

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook and email us if you want to apply to be our (unpaid, natch) community manager ;-p

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Matt Hall: Unconsoleable Community Manager The long-awaited Disney Crossy Road episode with friend-of-the-show Matt Hall is finally here! Grab the game, if you haven't already, and have a listen for a peek behind the scenes. no 01:27:31 80: Posturing as a Cool Person Jessica Dennis Wed, 30 Mar 2016 01:59:53 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547180/80 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:56fb2f63b6aa60437e37db9d

Cool as a capybara

It’s kind of back to normal with this episode; no more husbands and still no Matt Hall. Patience please, you’ll eventually hear the dulcet tones of that Aussie accent :-p

We did play some new games though and some of them were even good! Jessica is in the thrall of a bunny while Anna doesn’t know what to make of an adventure game she’s playing and tries to understand why people like idle clickers.

So sit back, enjoy and please don’t stalk people on LinkedIn, mmmkay?

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook and email us if you love the PS Vita (but sorry, no one cares).

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis The Stalker Achievement Things get back to normal, for better or worse, and we talk about some games! And also how to be a giant creep! no 00:58:43 79: The Look of Murder Jessica Dennis Fri, 25 Mar 2016 18:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547181/79 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:56f4b7205559866730ba5b9e

Note: not the actual men of Unconsoleable

We know you were expecting an episode with our friend Matt Hall, but hey, sh*t happens and being the pro podcasters that we are, we rolled with it.

Not only did we record a replacement episode for you, dear listeners, at the eleventh hour, but we also managed to snag the awesomest, the most amazing, the most famous guests EVAR. That’s right! Put your hands together for Anna and Jessica’s husbands, Jim and Reuben! (oh, and some guy named Moises was there too ;-p)

Finally getting their turn at the mic, the fellas gave us the lowdown on what being married to world-famous podcasters is like, divulged behind-the-scenes secrets, talked about what kinds of gamers they are, and much, much more.

So please enjoy and don’t worry, you’ll still hear Matt’s episode eventually, we promise!

Giant Wii U Button

]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis The Men of Unconsoleable Due to circumstances beyond our control, we can't bring you the episode we had planned. However, we can bring you, um, this! no 00:44:49 78: A Charity for Game Developers Jessica Dennis Wed, 16 Mar 2016 01:58:57 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547182/78 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:56e8bde840261dbb18c96172

Doesn't this scene from Lost Tracks look cool? But it's actually the most annoying part of the game.

Hellooooooo there, dear listeners! Anna is at GDC this week, but the show goes on as usual, not least because Jessica has Some Strong Feelings about a game she played this week. Spoiler alert: they aren’t good feelings :-p

Meanwhile, Anna talks in more detail about Clash Royale, Amazon has some sort of new type of app store that we can’t figure out, and Jessica wonders if there’s a very specific and political reason that Supercell is so successful*.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook and email us if you want to put tilt controls in your game (warning: this will result in you getting yelled at :-))

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*Extremely minor correction: as it turns out, Rovio is also located in Finland, which may or may not weaken Jessica's wild theories

]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Yucky Face Jessica takes shameless advantage of Anna's distraction as she prepares to leave for GDC to complain at length about an almost-great game. And has Amazon set up a charity for game devs? no 01:03:35 77: Empathetic Killbots Jessica Dennis Wed, 09 Mar 2016 03:06:38 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547183/77 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:56df918186db43c3c47bcf6b

Mobile games are serious business

After two weeks of guests, we had a lot of complaining bottled up, so here we go!

And because we didn’t want to just complain to each other, we asked our friend and sometime developer of games, Joe Macirowski, to join us.

But don’t worry. It’s not only complaining as we also talk about what we are playing (Jessica has built a robot army, what?), some awesome news of course, and, well, yes, ok, there is a lot of shouting at Apple. But then what else is new?

So, sorry we’re not sorry that this episode is over an hour long, but the complaining wasn’t going to record itself!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook and email us if you think you can kick Jessica's ass at gin rummy :-p

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis The Complaining Episode Our friend and occasional game developer Joe Macirowski joins us to hand out the scoldings we've been bottling up lately. Also, Jessica's robot army. no 01:25:31 76: The Old Reach-Around Jessica Dennis Wed, 02 Mar 2016 03:43:56 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547184/76 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:56d65fc22eeb816ca61f4e51

We are back with another awesome guest this week. Incidentally, it’s someone else we had trouble luring in; is there some sort of conspiracy to see how long game developers can evade our clutches? The answer is, not long! So after persistent badgering, we bring you Rumpus Animation’s Seb Burnett, the brains behind the adorable Victorian comedy adventure game, Bertram Fiddle.

It turns out Bertram is basically Seb. Or is Seb really Bertram? They live inside each other on Twitter so who really knows? What we do know is that Dad jokes are great, meat should be sold door to door, and quirky, funny adventure games should be plentiful.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook and email us if want to join our team of Donald Trump assassins.

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis A Laughingstock Among His Peers Bertram Fiddle creator Seb Burnett joins us to discuss really narrowing your game's potential audience as much as possible! no 01:00:00 75: Get Off Your Ass and Try Jessica Dennis Wed, 24 Feb 2016 03:04:51 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547185/75 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:56cd1c4a1d07c05967a01137

Try... to forge... a good thing!

At long last, we welcome special guest Barry Meade! Barry is the head of Fireproof Games, the studio behind the enormously popular and award-winning Room games of which we are huge fans and whose third installment won our 2015 GOTY.

Barry talked with us about his career in the industry, how Fireproof was born and what he thinks has been the key to his company’s success. But more importantly, he made an impassioned plea for innovation and excellence in mobile game design. And he asserted that developers and the industry at large need to rethink the way they approach the platform and its gamers. We might have gotten goosebumps a little.

Please rate and review us on iTunes if you want everyone to hear awesome episodes like these, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook andemail us if you’ve ever stolen someone’s work so we can yell at you!

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Better and Different Barry Meade of Fireproof Games, makers of our beloved The Room games, joins us to talk about why mobile games can absolutely be amazing (as his studio has proven) no 01:24:15 74: Negative OMG You're Going to Die Celsius Jessica Dennis Wed, 17 Feb 2016 03:08:20 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547186/74 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:56c3df6d4d088e0187cb88bc

If including a photo of an adorable arctic fox is wrong, we don't want to be right

Yes, yes, we know we promised you special guest Barry Meade on this episode, but everything imaginable went wrong and then we had technical difficulties soooo… no Barry for now.

But next week! Next week there will be Barry and in the meantime there is us reveling in our awesome new listener reviews, talking about what we’re playing (or not), the news of the week, and what’s that? Someone thinks Neko Atsume is a dirty capitalist game?! For our thoughts on that and much more, listen now :-)

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook and email us if you also have a AAA sob story to share :-)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis My Bonito Bitz Bring All the Cats to the Yard Ok so we couldn't bring you Fireproof's Barry Meade this week, but we will next week, and meanwhile we are our usual entertaining and informative selves! no 01:03:34 73: In a Parallel Universe Jessica Dennis Wed, 10 Feb 2016 03:37:21 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547187/73 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:56bab07959827ed03bbabf55

Even though Jessica is trapped in an alternate universe, luckily that universe has both warm cats and recording equipment. So the show goes on! :-)

We announce our next super exciting guest, talk new and old games we’re playing, try to figure out if Nintendo stole their first mobile game idea from a nascent social app and much, much more.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook and email us if you want to brag about your Peachball score ;-p

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Donate Your Nose Hairs to the Cause In a shocking turn of events, we discuss mobile games (and announce an exciting upcoming guest) no 01:03:08 72: Ruining Your Productivity Jessica Dennis Wed, 03 Feb 2016 03:20:12 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547188/72 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:56b171f40442625816454dcf

And when you double-tap a card...

We were all ready to love new puzzler Twofold, but we're... unsure. Also, Anna dives pretty deep into Crashlands while Jessica tries to stay objective about a game designed by Donald Rumsfeld. Yes, that Donald Rumsfeld.

We also fill you in on the latest adorable updates to the games we care about, wonder if we’ll even attempt The Witness, and hey, there’s a contest specifically for indie mobile games. All this and more, so get to listening!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook and email us if you have a better Donald Rumsfeld joke to make than that one Medium commenter ;-p

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Thanks to Comic Bento for sponsoring this episode of the show, along with all of our fine programs here at ESN this week. Support Unconsoleable by trying it out, and get $5 off your first month with the code UNCONSOLEABLE at checkout.

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Stranded on an Alien Planet We were all ready to love new puzzler Twofold, but we're... unsure. Also, Anna dives pretty deep into Crashlands while Jessica tries to stay objective about a game designed by Donald Rumsfeld. Yes, that Donald Rumsfeld. no 01:06:43 71: Peeing in a Jar Jessica Dennis Wed, 27 Jan 2016 02:40:10 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547189/71 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:56a82c2c42f552d993a05de5

Mason jars: hipster drinking glasses and gamedev toilets

Because we are suuuuper important gaming podcasters of note (not really), we got some codes for some games this week. So, you know, disclaimer given, we have ethics, blah, blah, blah :-p

Meanwhile, Jessica also plays a game with cats, because of course, and Anna dives into the new Star Trek game, among others. You know you want to hear our opinions on all of the above.

In gaming news this week, some people are pissed that The Witness is going to cost $40? PUH-LEASE. You’ll hear about this and more in our news discussion.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter and email us if you’ve ever peed in a jar and can justify why it was necessary to do so ;-p

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Under a pile of cats We play a bunch of games! We have some thoughts! It was not we who peed in jars! no 01:01:28 70: The Bechdel Test for Games Jessica Dennis Wed, 20 Jan 2016 12:27:27 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547190/70 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:569f787b89a60ac11e0174d6

Don't be this mobile game developer

What is the Bechdel Test for Games? No, it doesn't have anything to do with the real Bechdel Test. You'll just have to listen to find out.

Also, it turns out that Jessica isn't cut out for critiquing games unless she thinks no one is listening, while Anna has no problem savaging the games she tries, because hey, they totally deserve it.

Meanwhile, a developer contemplates making the sequel to their game F2P and their struggle to decide strikes us as very problematic, we talk about what we're playing, read a new iTunes review, and much more!

Remember to rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter and email us if you can do a better fake French accent than Jessica ;-p

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Sorry, Core Gamers We kick up a (very) little controversy, talk about what we're playing, excoriate some unhelpful attitudes, and more! no 58:41 69: We Are the Unlikely Gamers Jessica Dennis Wed, 13 Jan 2016 02:39:13 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547191/69 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:5695b6cfb204d5fa51867cef

Our first guest of 2016 joins us on this episode and we are super excited to welcome him.

Neven Mrgan is a designer at his day job, but he has also made some unforgettable iOS games, most recently Grayout, which is a prequel to the earlier Blackbar.

We talked to Neven about how he decided to start making games, where he gets his inspiration, how the App Store should be revamped, and much, much more.

Please remember to rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter and email us if you know how we can get Tim Cook to hire Neven ;-)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Show Me Something I Can Spend Money On Neven Mrgan, creator of Blackbar, Grayout, and Space Age, joins us to talk iOS gaming and the Twizzler Diet. no 01:18:04 68: Can I Set This on Fire? Jessica Dennis Wed, 06 Jan 2016 12:16:56 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547192/68 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:568d0464a2bab8d57525abae

Lightin' up some dangling corpses, no big

It is with great sorrow that we must tell you, dear listeners, that one of your hosts has become a console gamer. Well... maybe not exactly, but the evidence is fairly strong!

Yes, your very own Jessica Dennis has played a console game on more than one occasion and streamed it on Twitch to boot. What game has caused her to go over to the Dark Side? How did she do? All will be revealed on this episode!

We also try to figure out if a recent game’s controls are bad and should feel bad, look forward to what 2016 will have to offer mobile gamers and much, much more.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter and email us if you have some stuff for Jessica to burn ;-)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis We Are the 8% Is Jessica still a Real Gamer or has she gone over to the dark side? Plus a bunch of mobile gaming news! no 01:00:01 67: This is All Highly Subjective Jessica Dennis Wed, 30 Dec 2015 03:19:33 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547193/67 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:56834bb057eb8d0dbae87f94

Are you ready for... our first ever game of the year episode??!!!

Yeah, we’re just a little bit excited :D

After an amazing year of some absolutely incredible games, we made a list of 35 that we feel are the best of what mobile had to offer us. And from them we picked our Game of the Year, as well as some other winners in special categories we came up with.

Remember that as the title suggests, this is totally subjective. If these aren't your picks for the best mobile games of 2015, that's cool. But it doesn't make us wrong either ;-)

Please, please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter and email us if you’ve played YMBAB more than Jessica, because you might well be a unicorn! ;)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis This is SO a GOTY show We winnow down our list of 35 great games of 2015 to agree on a single winner. The suspense! The drama! no 01:08:12 66: Sweaty Butt Money Jessica Dennis Wed, 23 Dec 2015 06:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547194/66 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:567a18ac69a91af2c88c73c3

Moist

Note: We will record our GOTY (game of the year) episode on December 25! Please send us or tweet us your nominations and personal stories of mobile games you’ve loved this year. 

On this episode we actually talk about what we’re playing! For more than three rushed minutes! And we’re going to keep doing it early in the episode every time we don’t have guests. Novel idea, huh? :)

We also have lots of plushie news to tell you about and even a few things that aren’t about stuffed toy chickens! For instance, has F2P won as the only sensible monetization strategy on mobile? What the heck is COPPA? And whose butt did that sweaty money come from? You’ll learn all this and much more.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter and email us if you want to send us on an-expense paid trip to Australia ;)

]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Anna is the accoster in chief We actually make time to talk about games! That we're playing! I know, right? Also issues with free to play, coppa, and sweaty butt money no 01:02:33 65: Turtles Have No Gratitude Jessica Dennis Wed, 16 Dec 2015 02:04:42 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547195/65 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:5670c3e85a56689d05fbba79

You can take your gratitude and...

NOTE: We will record our GOTY (game of the year) episode on December 25! Please send us or tweet us your nominations and personal stories of mobile games you’ve loved this year.

As we near the end of 2015, we’ll be talking a lot about various top lists of games. On this episode we go over some highlights of Apple’s annual top charts of most downloaded games and apps as well as the picks the App Store editors make. Did we agree or disagree with their picks? You’ll have to listen to find out :)

But before that, we fawn over quite possibly our most special and meaningful iTunes review ever, written by our bestie and wonderful human being, Matt Hall. Once more with feeling, we love you, Matt <3

You too can be wonderful and rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter and email us if you think we’re entirely wrong about turtles :)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Hashtag Not All Turtles We love Matt Hall and also talk about Apple's picks for games of the year no 01:00:02 64: Buy Us As Friends Jessica Dennis Wed, 09 Dec 2015 03:10:42 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547196/64 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:5667954c5a5668f485f9bb49

Matt Hall really is a sharp-dressed man

Help us settle the question of last week’s episode and vote for your favorite Aussie Matt on Twitter using the hashtag #MattWars :-D

While we ponder that important question, we cross our arms and declare that games don't have to be hard and certainly shouldn’t be made so for the wrong reasons. Meanwhile, is Jessica having a hard time with the newly updated You Must Build A Boat? You'll need to listen to find out.

We also revel in the accolades that some awesome mobile games are receiving (again), but sigh at some bad behavior by those types of mobile gamers; the ones who don't want to pay for games. All this plus exciting news and much, much more!

Remember to rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter and email us if you have a Tesla you’d like to give us or at least give us a ride in one ;)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis This episode is prettyhot We sally forth on our own this week and definitely do not objectify any male mobile game developers. Definitely not. We do discuss a bunch of mobile gaming news though! no 00:58:09 63: Who is the Best Australian Matt? Jessica Dennis Wed, 02 Dec 2015 03:08:57 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547197/63 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:565e58a9e4b09f89c53ccd52

Matt Ditton, International Man of Mystery. Australian Game Dev of Mystery. Same difference.

This being the episode with our third Aussie Matt (Matt Ditton, to be precise), you know we had to ask the question. But what's the answer? You'll have to listen to find out!

Other than wondering why there are so many Matts in Australia, we also talked about super serious gaming topics like the Men of Gamedev calendar. No, really, there was actual talk about games and mobile as a gaming platform, we promise!

We recorded this episode on Thanksgiving so we want to say we are very thankful for all of you, our listeners. If you're thankful for us, please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter and email us if you want to help plan the Aussie Men of Gamedev Pageant ;-p

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis A suspicious amount of Australian Matt Ditton, our third Australian Matt who is a mobile game dev, joins us to talk Aussie Matts, Shooty skies, and hunky game devs, among other things no 01:14:49 62: You Can't Sell Games Jessica Dennis Wed, 25 Nov 2015 04:10:13 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547198/62 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:56552ec4e4b0c668da4098e9

Ok., games can be sold. Or can they? We tried to figure that out and much, much more when we talked to Tigerstyle's Randy Smith.

Tigerstyle made some of the iconic, early games when mobile gaming was still young. But their latest game hasn't done well and we talked about the realities (and brutalities?) of the App Store and how it influences what games get made and what games succeed.

Remember to rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter, and email us if you too are pro-socialism :-)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Just as Good as an Australian Randy Smith of Tigerstyle, indie studio behind Waking Mars and the Spider games, joins us to talk about the past, present, and future of indie mobile game dev. no 01:15:58 61: Artivism Jessica Dennis Wed, 18 Nov 2015 04:55:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547199/61 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:564becd7e4b05dd815f0aa4a

This episode is a departure from our usual happy-go-lucky ways, but we think it was fitting and important. We hope you'll agree.

We talked with the fabulous Kiva Bay about her game 12 Hours, homelessness, and much, much more. So the discussion was weighty and we couldn’t feel more strongly about it.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter and email us if you want ideas for how to help the homeless (but we'll just refer you to Kiva).

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Helping the homeless: we are in favor of it Artivist Kiva Bay joins us to talk about her game 12 Hours and how we can all help the homeless, no matter our circumstances no 01:24:47 60: Tappy vs. Clicky Jessica Dennis Wed, 11 Nov 2015 02:55:10 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547200/60 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:5642ab9be4b0552eb801b32d

Yet another special guest joins us this week, perhaps the most special guest of all! It's our beloved friend, Joe Macirowski, creator of Yeti Pie and eventually (we hope) other games we will all be able to play on the toilet :D

For now, we discuss Joe's experiences developing for the AppleTV, Jessica's experiences gaming on it, what early reviews have said, where we hope the Apple TV will go as a gaming platform and much, much more.

So sit back, relax, and toss a pizza to your friendly, neighborhood yeti, because he's hungry!

Don't forget to rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (follow Anna & Jessica too), and email us if you've got something that we need to collude on :) 

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Everything AppleTV with Joe Macirowski Good friend and special guest Joe Macirowski joins us to talk about the new AppleTV from a developer as well as a gamer perspective no 01:20:08 59: A Baby With a Jetpack Jessica Dennis Wed, 04 Nov 2015 06:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547201/59 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:56397f57e4b0ad72a19f58dd

On this episode, we are super thrilled to welcome back our awesome and talented friend, Shareef Jackson.

Shareef is our Nintendo guru, or is it ninja? We figure that out and much, much more, like what the heck is Miitomo going to be and why is it Nintendo's first mobile game? Would Nintendo ever develop for the Apple TV? Is Shareef really a Yoshi?!!! All these and other pressing questions will be answered!

Please remember to rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Shareef too!) and email us if you have some adorable Nintendo character plushies you'd like to send us ;-)

DONATE NOW to Shareef's Extra Life team. All proceeds go to the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Featuring Shareef Jackson, who may or may not be a Yoshi Our Nintendo Ninja Shareef Jackson joins us again to talk, you guessed it, Nintendo. And babies with jetpacks? no 01:11:36 58: Survival Tips by Jessica Jessica Dennis Wed, 28 Oct 2015 05:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547202/58 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:56302082e4b04b3332fc761e

You only think these dogs are here to help you

Not only is this episode about games, news and our many complaints, but it also includes useful winter survival info! What can we say, we do it all here at Unconsoleable. You're welcome.

With no pesky guests to get in the way (KIDDING, we love our guests to death :-)) we cover all the News We Care About, why a recent op-ed about mobile games is a bunch of hooey, and a perspective on a hot, new game that you're only likely to hear from us. 

We'd love it if you could rate and reviews us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter and email us if you have suggestions on what to do when freezing to death (or any other reason too :-))

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Everyone else is wrong about mobile On our own again, we catch up on some housekeeping and then talk about mobiles games journalism that is WRONG. Oh and there's some weird advice too. no 01:07:09 57: The Couple That Games Together Stays Together Jessica Dennis Wed, 21 Oct 2015 05:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547203/57 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:5626f022e4b006909417047a

Jessica is bad at Photoshop.

Our Gaming Yoda Steve is becoming quite a fixture on the show, but this episode features someone even more special: his lovely wife, Maureen. 

Distraught that Steve was never getting to talk about Hearthstone on Isometric, we offered our show up as a safe space to do just that. And well, um, it doesn't hurt that Anna is also obsessed with Blizzard's hugely popular CCG. 

As per usual though, we got a lot more than we bargained for and Hearthstone wasn't the only topic of discussion. So sit back and enjoy as we hear both Steve and Maureen's voices together for the first time in a long time.

Please rate and review us on iTunes (no, seriously, do it NOW), follow us on Twitterand email us if you want to tell us the furthest you've ever driven to see a goat.

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Sorry Not Sorry Our Gaming Yoda Steve Lubitz and his awesome wife Maureen join us to talk Hearthstone, goats, and... chain restaurants? no 01:20:55 56: Mobile Gaming and Chocolate Jessica Dennis Wed, 14 Oct 2015 05:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547204/56 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:561db3c4e4b0f8015d8d5168

You knew we couldn't go too long without having more Aussies on the show. But hey, can we help it if they keep making awesome games we love? 

And so, ladies and gentlemen, we present to you the legendary designer of Fruit Ninja, Jetpack Joyride, and many more iconic mobile titles, Luke Muscat! Oh yeah, and some guy named Phil Larsen too ;-p

Luke and Phil make up two thirds of Prettygreat (funded in part by our good friends Matt Hall and Andy Sum) and though Land Sliders is their first game, we're pretty sure that their studio name suits them perfectly. We think that you'll agree. 

Please rate and review us on iTunes if you haven't already, follow us on Twitter and email us if you can explain the Land Sliders ARG to us (and then please report to the NSA for the job you're probably qualified for). 

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis In which we have a Prettygreat time We have a Prettygreat time talking to Prettygreat creative director Luke Muscat and ReasonablyOk managing director Phil Larsen no 01:25:48 55: Tanya is Not the Outrage DMV Jessica Dennis Wed, 07 Oct 2015 05:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547205/55 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:56148ab7e4b0d250977b97b5

Art by Sylvie Reuter

Today is the first anniversary of #INeedDiverseGames and to celebrate, we welcome our friend Tanya DePass on the show to tell us all about it and what she's up to these days in her quest to make games more diverse.

We need diverse games on mobile too, by the way, so we introduced Tanya to Piloteer, which has a kickass black woman as the only character. It turns out the developer made her that way because he was inspired by #INeedDiverseGames! So there's all kinds of feels at that part :-)

Tanya also shared her experiences since #INeedDiverseGames started and the ups and downs of suddenly being thrust into the spotlight. So sit back and enjoy; you might even learn something.

Rate and review us on iTunes so everyone knows how awesome we are, follow us on Twitter and email us if you want us to be outraged about something. LOL, just kidding, we don't need any help being outraged. But email us about anything else :)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis We Need Diverse Games Tanya DePass, #INeedDiverseGames originator, joins us to talk diversity, gaming, and diversity in gaming no 01:10:05 54: Yeti Pie to the Ground! Jessica Dennis Wed, 30 Sep 2015 05:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547206/54 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:560b437fe4b0a1d8c2444f86

Yeti Pie to the Ground, courtesy of Joe Macirowski

This week we take a breather between episodes with guests to do what we do best. Complain and call out bad behavior.

From a feature by Apple of a game with ugly stereotypes to the release of PewDiePie's bro-ey mobile game, we have a lot on our plate. But fear not, dear listeners. There's a little positivity mixed in here and there too. 

Remember to rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter and email us if you can teach Jessica how to take a screenshot with her new iPhone ;-) 

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis We Have Important Complaining to Do Once again there's a lot to be mad about in mobile gaming, and without awesome guests to distract us, we have at it! no 01:05:20 53: Yasmine is Scary Spice Jessica Dennis Wed, 23 Sep 2015 05:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547207/53 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:56021737e4b005e5141c8721

Yasmine and Russell at Google IO 2015

You might say we're a bit iOS-focused here on Unconsoleable so this week we welcomed our old friend Yasmine Evjen and our newer friend, Russell Ivanovic. Yasmine and Russell are two thirds of the Material Podcast which is all about Google and Android.

Apple fans, don't run away screaming. It's an interesting show even for you. And hey, we've even managed to keep our Australian streak going as Russell hails from the infamous land of snakes and spiders.

We talked about the (maybe?) wonderful future and present of gaming on our TVs, what Yasmine and Russell like to play on mobile, Russell's polygamist tendencies and much, much more!

Don't forget to rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter and email us if you have PocketCasts problems (but we'll just forward those emails to Yasmine :-))

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis An Exploration of the Human Condition "Material" podcasters Yasmine Evjen and Russell Ivanovic join us to talk mobile gaming and more from an Android perspective no 01:10:03 52: Please Downplay Our Achievement Jessica Dennis Wed, 16 Sep 2015 05:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547208/52 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:55f8db6fe4b0f3c9b99627c8

Andy presenting multi-player Crossy Road at the September 9 Apple event

This is our super duper special, SUPERSIZED, one-year anniversary episode!

That’s right, we’ve been bringing you the magic of Unconsoleable for an entire year now and we celebrate the occasion in the best way we know how: with fantastic guests we love.

Joining us for the fourth time is our good friend Matt Hall and for the first time ever, we also welcome his partner in crime (sometimes almost literally), Andy Sum

Andy had just returned to Australia after presenting at this little event at Apple, you may have heard of it ;-) There’s a lot he couldn’t tell us about it, but have no fear, we got the most crucial details.

We also found out what the Hipster Whale fellas think of the future of gaming on the Apple TV, what happened the time Matt and Andy played a game together, what valuable life advice Matt gives to Andy and much, much, MUCH more. Seriously, we are not exaggerating. There is a lot more.

Remember to rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter, and email us if you want to make Andy an offer of marriage :-D

]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis What doesn’t kill you debilitates you for the rest of your life Matt Hall and Andy Sum join us for our special one-year anniversary episode to talk Apple TV, the future of Hipster Whale, and even more much much more than usual! no 01:43:08 51: Boys Smell Jessica Dennis Wed, 09 Sep 2015 05:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547209/51 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:55ef8d06e4b0a4ee627bc99b

Smelly.

First things first. Notch, come on the show. Seriously. We can help you and we have some shoulders you can cry on. Tweet us. Email us. Let's make this happen.

Besides providing counseling and advice for rich Swedes, we side-eye the new App Store games Twitter account, scratch our heads over YouTube and Mobcrush, and Anna professes her love for Jessica. Why? You'll have to listen to find out!

Rate and review us on iTunes if you want our undying gratitude forever, follow us on Twitter, and email us if you're a rich, white guy who needs ideas for how to live a fulfilling life! :-P

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis The Rich White Man’s Burden We invite Notch on the show, give mad side-eye to @appstoregames, and talk about That One Game. no 01:02:16 50: A Tree is Composed of Branches Jessica Dennis Wed, 02 Sep 2015 05:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547210/50 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:55e6121be4b02036b6861465

Maybe it's not Zen, but we still love Joel McDonald's amazing game, Prune and you should too.

Joel tells us how the idea for Prune came about, plans for future updates, his origin story in gamedev, his shameful mobile gaming secret, and much, much more!

Don't forget to rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter, and email us if you want to brag about your Burger top score (actually, please don't do this).

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Joel McDonald, Creator of Prune, tells us how to zen out on the toilet Joel tells us how the idea for Prune came about, plans for future updates, his origin story in gamedev, his shameful mobile gaming secret, and much, much more! no 01:12:40 49: The Best Dinosaur Sound Jessica Dennis Wed, 26 Aug 2015 05:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547211/49 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:55dd2694e4b09069ee7fed00

Sling Kong is one of our latest obsessions for very good reason. So please put your hands together for Dean Loades and Matt Knights of Protostar who so kindly brought it into our lives.

Dean and Matt answer some very important questions about their future housing plans, tell us where the best game developers come from and much, much more. What on earth makes the best dinosaur sound? You'll have to listen to find out!

Pleeeaaase rate and/or review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter and email us if you have a yacht that Dean can borrow until he can get his own ;-)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis An extended cassowary joke Protostar developers Matt Knights and Dean Loades join us to talk about Sling Kong no 01:02:14 48: Notch Houses For Everyone! Anna Tarkov Wed, 19 Aug 2015 05:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547212/48 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:55d3ef6ce4b0ac4433eba9b3

Driving down the road to our Notch House

This episode is brought to you by SaneBox. Get your email under control and keep it that way. Get a no-credit-card-required, 2-week free trial and $25 off when you sign up by visiting SaneBox.com/esn.

Genuine fan of the show and our ESN fearless leader, Moisés Chiullan, stops by and talks about his gaming credentials (or lack thereof :-)) and we try not to shame him too hard about not being a real filthy casual.

We also run down the newsworthy events of the past week and then proceed to rant about the latest assholery perpetuated against casual gamers. Female casual gamers to be exact. Are you ready to be outraged? 

Remember to rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter, and email us if you want to know where to send Jessica's birthday present ;-)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis In which we welcome our benevolent overlord Genuine fan of the show and our ESN fearless leader, Moisés Chiullan, stops by and talks about his gaming credentials (or lack thereof) and we try not to shame him too hard about not being a real filthy casual. no 01:20:33 PSA: We Got Some Things Wrong Anna Tarkov Wed, 19 Aug 2015 02:38:02 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547213/48a 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:55d3ec10e4b0d06bf5f73b21 If you heard Episode 42, you might recall that we said some things about iOS gaming site Touch Arcade that were a bit harsh and unkind. 

While we stand by a lot of what we said, we believe that we unfairly mischaracterized the site in a number of ways as well.

We hold ourselves to a high standard here at Unconsoleable so we wanted to correct the record, so to speak. We hope our listeners and of course the editors and writers at Touch Arcade will forgive our hastiness. Mobile Game Avengers should stay allies.

]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis If you heard Episode 42, you might recall that we said some things about iOS gaming site Touch Arcade that were a bit harsh and unkind. While we stand by a lot of what we said, we believe that we unfairly mischaracterized the site in a number of ways as well. If you heard Episode 42, you might recall that we said some things about iOS gaming site Touch Arcade that were a bit harsh and unkind. While we stand by a lot of what we said, we believe that we unfairly mischaracterized the site in a number of ways as well. no 9:19 47: From Inside My Batcave Anna Tarkov Wed, 12 Aug 2015 05:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547214/47 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:55ca7360e4b060e92167e9be

Jessica's recording environment

Hellooooo there, dear listeners! That echo you hear is coming from inside Jessica's empty house as she prepares to leave it soon for New York (the state, not the city). The transition is bittersweet, but we are both in much better spirits this week so yay!

Last week we talked about clones and copycats and we now relay our friend Matt Hall's thoughts on this, since Crossy Road has predictably been copied a ton.

We also ponder the suggestion that big companies can do better than indies at the cloning game, whether indie success depends on luck, some possibly dubious advice for indie devs, the latest announced crop of celebrity games and much more!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter, and email us if you too enjoy dancing in your car to Shake It Off ;-P

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Anna slings her way out of her funk while Jessica continues losing her mind Anna slings her way out of her funk while Jessica continues losing her mind no 01:04:06 46: Our Enthusiasm is Through the Roof! Jessica Dennis Wed, 05 Aug 2015 05:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547215/46 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:55c1802fe4b0b47bb97f4e5e

Whac-a-mole

As you'll find out, the title of this episode is a bit on the sarcastic side. Jessica is having a rough time packing up her life in Atlanta and Anna is dealing with the hot and humid Chicago summer with her difficult-to-entertain preschooler.

But we do our best for you and solider on to talk about Bethesda being gun shy about more mobile games, what we think of clones and copycat games, whether indies are charging more for games because of eeeevil free mobile games and how you might not be able to slack off at work anymore as easily as you once did!

This is the week to MAKE OUR DAY and rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and actually tweet at us), and email us to give feedback, ask questions, or offer Jessica a job in her soon-to-be new home in Schenectady, NY.

Stuff we mentioned:

Photo credit: By sa_ku_ra / sakura (Source: Flickr image.) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Slacking at work just got harder It was a bad week for your illustrious hosts, so we tear into some stuff that bugs us. no 01:03:35 45: It's for Drunks! Jessica Dennis Tue, 28 Jul 2015 05:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547216/45 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:55b84189e4b0161d507fc3c1

Mega Mensch tee shirt: inspired by Steve, designed by Karyl

Our Gaming Yoda and good friend Steve Lubitz is back in the Unconsoleable clubhouse to throw down some wisdom and, as it turns out, exact a long-overdue apology from your two hosts.

Should Apple get into publishing their own games? (spoiler alert: NO) Will anyone ever get mobile gaming to be compelling on a TV? Who is mobile gaming on a TV even for? All these questions and more are answered in this episode.

Want to be awesome? It's so easy! Just rate and review us on iTunes and follow us on Twitter. You can also send us an email if you have comments or questions about the show or have a real boat to give to Jessica so she can stop building virtual ones :-)

Stuff we mentioned:

]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis There’s always more clouds to yell at Our Gaming Yoda Steve Lubitz joins us once again to lay some knowledge on us (and get some angies out) no 01:04:18 44: An Excellent Toilet Rating Jessica Dennis Wed, 22 Jul 2015 05:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547217/44 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:55af052ae4b0bc5e7b240977

Zombie Match Defense is as fun as it is adorable, trust us

This week we welcome another awesome indie developer (and Unconsoleable fan :-)) to the show!

Jake Sones has worked for some big names like Sony and Blizzard, but the lure of mobile was too strong. He struck out on his own and is now developing Zombie Match Defense which is due out this fall.

Don't let the name fool you. This match 3 game is destined for greatness and you can find out for yourself by signing up to be a tester (just scroll down to the bottom of the site).

So please enjoy, dear listeners, and don't forget to rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter and email us as many underwear model photos as you like. Really, don't hold back ;-)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis A Show About Underwear Models Future big-deal mobile game dev Jake Sones joins us to be hilarious and talk about Zombie Match Defense no 01:10:00 43: Most Games are Not a Vagina Jessica Dennis Wed, 15 Jul 2015 05:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547218/43 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:55a5c67be4b03cf543486775

I know, dear listeners, we're really on a roll with these episode titles, right? Again, this is still mostly safe for children unless you're not comfortable with them hearing about the big V :-)

This week we welcome back to the show our friend, Matt Hall, one of the creators of smash hit Crossy Road.

Matt is now slightly more famous than the last time we spoke, but he loves us (and we him) so he made room for us in his busy schedule to talk about going to E3, WWDC, his current projects, what the future holds and what American delicacy he recently tried at Disney World :-)

Matt also gave us our first exclusive! You can hear something on this episode that no one else has heard. We were thrilled that Matt shared it with us and hope you'll be excited too!

Don't forget to rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter, or send us an email if you want to rant or rave about the show or recommend more filthy games to Jessica ;-) 

Stuff we talked about:

]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Matt Hall returns to discuss games, vaginas, and vagina games Matt Hall returns to discuss games, vaginas, and vagina games no 1:10:18 42: LaserDisc Porn Jessica Dennis Wed, 08 Jul 2015 05:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547219/42 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:559c91e3e4b0e5fcdc231af5

Kids, this is a LaserDisc player

Yes, dear listeners, you read that title right. And this is still mostly safe for children, we swear, though you might have some explaining to do if they're old enough to understand certain terms ;-) 

Besides porn on extremely old, outdated types of media, we talked about Touch Arcade's Patreon (spoiler alert: we are not fans), Bethesda's "surprise" hit Fallout Shelter, Nintendo's pronouncements on how their mobile games will be monetized and much, much more!

Don't forget to tweet at us with the hashtag #bringbackJoe or #nomoreJoe to let us know what you thought of our awesome guest editor on Episode 41, Joe Macirowski.

Please also rate and review us on iTunes, check out #Annareviews and #Jessicareviews on Twitter, and email us if you have a porn collection you're dying to confess to someone about. On second thought, maybe don't. But email us about anything else you want to tell us :-)

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]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis Mo' money mo' mobile… games Besides porn on extremely old, outdated types of media, we talked about Touch Arcade's Patreon (spoiler alert: we are not fans), Bethesda's "surprise" hit Fallout Shelter, Nintendo's pronouncements on how their mobile games will be monetized and much, much more! no 01:04:50 41: Trick the Children Into Learning Anna Tarkov Tue, 30 Jun 2015 02:03:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547220/41 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:559189f6e4b02fc5ff36227c

Jenna Hoffstein's debut game is a super fun tower defense puzzler that teaches kids math.

Please support App Camp for Girls! We're posting this week's episode early because there is little time left to donate to their campaign and we want you . Contribute NOW and do your part to ensure a bright future for women in technology.

We welcome awesome indie game developer Jenna Hoffstein to the show to talk about her game, The Counting Kingdom, how being an indie isn't always all sunshine and rainbows and much more.

Thanks again to our wonderful friend Joe for editing this week's episode! You're the best.

Pleeeaaaase rate and review us on iTunes. 

Where in the world are Anna and Jessica? Follow the show on Twitter or email us if you want to go on Jessica's next Disney vacation and won't take no for an answer! ;) 

Stuff we talked about:

]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis We welcome awesome indie game developer Jenna Hoffstein to the show to talk about her game, The Counting Kingdom, how being an indie isn't always all sunshine and rainbows and much more. We welcome awesome indie game developer Jenna Hoffstein to the show to talk about her game, The Counting Kingdom, how being an indie isn't always all sunshine and rainbows and much more. no 1:14:36 40: Very Bunchy Panties Jessica Dennis Wed, 24 Jun 2015 05:00:00 +0000 https://feedpress.me/link/9578/5547221/40 52edbc9de4b0b870f5f7ed49:549352c9e4b0da3b3812c5df:558a0b83e4b06f252374338a

Jessica's midlife-crisis-mobile 

Unconsoleable has hit middle age with our 40th episode and we are celebrating by getting a totally inappropriate, shiny, new sports car!

Sadly, that's not really true. Instead we talk about the important news mobile gamies need to know that came out of WWDC and E3, and why negative portrayals of gaming and other societal ills shouldn't be swept under the rug just because they make us uncomfortable. Think that's a bummer and don't want to hear about it? TOO BAD.

Please don't forget to rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter, record a fantro, or email us if you need advice on how to talk to racist friends or relatives (or, you know, something about the show or games too :-)) 

Stuff we talked about:

]]> Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis All the News That's Fit to Podcast E3, WWDC, and the Charleston AME shooting: one of these things is not like the others no 01:09:25