Episode 44: Hands Up For Akira Toriyama

This week, Alex and Kate are joined by Mike Towndrow of Six One Indie and The Indie Council podcast to talk about the state of indie games.

After his panel at SXSW, I spoke to the actor-turned-studio head Abubakar Salim. Surgent Studios' debut game, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, which is published under the EA Originals banner, is a story about grief. But unlike other forms of media tackling the subject, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is a vibrant blend of Bantu mythology, each level taking the player through different emotions and quests to process their loss. We spoke with Abubakar Salim about creating Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, the importance of teaching young men that they can cry and feel pain, too, and ultimately, how grief can't be explained as just one emotion.

We interview director Goran Stolevski about his new movie Housekeeping for Beginners. He shares what it's like growing up in a crowded house, working with young and untrained actors, and the importance of throwing away the rules.

CW: This episode discusses child abuse and sexual abuse at great length. This week, Alex, Neysha, and Swara talk about the ongoing Cinema for Gaza fundraiser and the documentary "Quiet on Set."    

Developed by the Open Roads Team and published by Annapurna Interactive, Open Roads doesn't rest on its laurels, which are its lead actresses, Kaitlyn Dever and Kerri Russell. Instead the game's dialogue, choices, and immersive art style is core to this mother-daughter story. We spoke with the Open Roads Team developers which included Amy Fincher (Executive Producer), Noël Clark (Art Director), Aaron Freedman (Engineering Lead), Sarah Robertson (Operations Manager & Associate Producer), and Harrison Gerard (Graphic Artist). In our time together we discussed the story, what they hope audiences will take away from Open Roads as the developer, and the choice behind the game's use of 2D and 3D art styles.

Earlier this month we lost the iconic storyteller, Akira Toriyama. This week, we remember him. 

Jason and Prab review Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, but is the second lega-sequel in the franchise Firemaster hot or Death Chill cold?

This week, we're talking about the Oscar's. Alex, Kate, and Jason talk about everything they watched (which is more than the voters), what they avoided, and the real snubbs that weren't Margot Robbie.

What do you do when companies are erasing art from existence? What do you do if you never really own media if its digital? Alex, Kate, and Adrian talk about the erasing of Funimation as a platform, the taking down of games, and other general dystopian "you don't own it" corporate attitudes and where piracy fits into it all.

This week, Alex, Kate, and Neysha talk about body diversity in media and how casting thin actresses for buff characters perpetuates outdated and colonial ideas of beauty.