HJ106 - Why how you practice affects how good you'll get

Steve Ritchie is one of the most important pinball machine designers in the world.  In this show you'll hear about his background, his career and the remarkable stories behind some of the best pinball tables in history.

In our yearly HatchetJob awards AKA Insert Category, we invent awards for the videogames we played in 2014 - yes 2014 - from the serious to the stupid, from sex robots to sociopathy.  Can you guess which titles won the ‘Ubiest Ubiboo’ and 'Decrease in real-life stalking' awards?   This show was recorded in February 2016. Music Velveteen Skies by Carosone  

In our yearly HatchetJob awards AKA Insert Category, we invent awards for the videogames we played in 2013 - yes 2013 - from the serious to the stupid.  Can you guess which title won 'It's a condition!' ?   This show was recorded in February 2015. Music is 80/90 Pieces by destinazione_altrove    

In this show we discuss playing The Last of Us with a parent (who watches it as if it were a film) and whether the game, and its story, are deserving of the praise heaped upon them.  There are spoilers for the game and the film 28 Weeks Later. Brother in the Land The Floating World    

Roboticist and educator Dr. Julie Carpenter tells us about her research with bomb disposal experts, how society might have to change as robots become more advanced and even what happens when a robot powers down in front of a small child.  Recorded late August 2014.   Julie's website Festo seagull drone: http://youtu.be/9YGLZXEwRVc Festo kangaroo: http://youtu.be/_4luJ0ZSqy8 Music is Open by Com Truise    

In our yearly HatchetJob awards AKA Insert Category show, we invent awards for the games we played in 2012 - yes 2012 - from the serious to the stupid.  Can you guess which title won Wub Wub? Music is Don't Go (RumbleStep Mix) by CDK Gootecks speaks to disabled gamer Broly

Dr.Tom Stafford is a lecturer in psychology and cognitive science at the University of Sheffield.  He explains why the way you practice affects how good you get at something - and he's got 850,000 people to back him up. Axon game:  http://axon.wellcomeapps.com/ Github: https://github.com/tomstafford/axongame Tom's blog: http://www.tomstafford.staff.shef.ac.uk/?p=221 Tom on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tomstafford

We discuss Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Edward Snowden's revelations about the NSA and how games should portray governments in the future. Some spoilers about locations and plot devices.

We're taking submissions for the 3rd annual Insert Category awards from HatchetJob.com.   Invent an award for a game released in 2012. Music from Incompetech.com

We discuss Bioshock Infinite & touch on topics such as racism in the early 20th century, meaningful choices in games & how we're being asked to pay for unfinished stories.  M: Paradise is Lost A: Mauerhuhn