QCF: Katawa Shoujo

On a typical winter evening, one that wasn’t very different from any other, a young man stands beside a beautiful woman. As he tenses up, his heart is overwhelmed in such a bitterly ironic way through such a sad turn of events. So beings the first act that sets the stage up for the controversial indie visual novel dating-simulator known as Katawa Shoujo.

Stemmed from a concept derived from an image board from the infamous 4Chan forum, Developer Four-Leaf studios brings a bishōjo tale catering to more than just your standard Japanese audience, but can this game appeal to western gamers beyond it’s questionable premise? Prepare to be surprised.

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Press Pause Radio Interview: Freebird Games

Hey everybody! Here to ring in the new year of 2012, we bring to you our newest interview with independent developer and publisher Freebird Games with Head developer/president Kan Gao in the interview seat this time around. We’ll be interviewing them on their newest game To The Moon, and the development process that went into this charming game, as well as the future of Freebird games.

You guys can find the whole interview written here on the site or simply go listen to it in our podcast feed as a special New Year’s edition episode! Be sure to visit http://freebirdgames.com/ and try out the game yourself for free with its hour trial. Without further ado, here’s our interview!

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Miyamoto: More than a man?

Well there’s Donkey Kong... Mario, Link, and Zelda. You also have to count Fox McCloud, and even Captain Falcon. The man behind all of these beloved characters and their respective franchises is the legend Shigeru Miyamoto. This week during an exclusive interview on Wired’s Game|Life blog, Miyamoto discussed his interest in developing smaller independent games that he could focus on by himself. In the interview, however, what started as a quote from his playful banter in the office regarding his desire to step down from his current position at Nintendo turned into a misinterpreted nightmare to the world around him.

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Second Hand Games

Video games have seen a flux of prices over the last ten years thanks in part to rising development costs, and the introduction of new market concepts and distribution routes. While talk of micro-economies and technological advancements are always fascinating, let’s focus for a minute on the second hand games market. On one hand is the producer that decries it, and on the other hand is the consumer that heralds it.

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D-Pad Studio Interview

What if we told you there existed a game where you fly around the world without power-ups, carry gunners that shoot bullets Contra style, and explore puzzle-packed dungeons full of mysteries and revolutionary gameplay mechanics? We’re well aware of how crazy this sounds, which is why we decided to consult with D-Pad Studio about their latest creation titled Owlboy.

Press Pause Radio’s GeorgieBoysAXE and Seandood had the opportunity to interview D-pad members Simon Stafsnes Andersen and Jo-Remi Madsen, as they discussed Owlboy and D-pad's sources of inspiration, trials with the XNA development kit, and other wild facts that caused everyone to laugh simultaneously. We hope you grab a gun-wielding buddy and some wings -- as dangerous as this sounds -- while you sit back and enjoy the interview. You might also want some popcorn and a phone that dials 9-1-1.

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QCF: Bastion

As the screen fades out, a stranger’s voice greets you directly. A room then emerges with a boy who’s slumbering away, completely unaware of what lies ahead of him. In the child’s nap his world has ended, and his residence crumbles around him. The kid has only one priority ahead of him in the catastrophic after-math: Enter Supergiant Game’s Bastion, the action-RPG kicking off Xbox’s Summer of Arcade.

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PPR 43

Welcome one and all to our Indie extravaganza! On this episode of Press Pause Radio we are taking a special look at the some of the best indie developers in the game industry, as well as the people that support the independent community. Our episode begins with some catch up from the crew as well as Select Feedback from our loyal listeners. Then we dive head first into a fantastic line up of interviews with great companies such as Retro Affect, Super Fighter Team and Mommy's Best Games.

Our co-host GeorgieBoysAXE also had the pleasure to attend an art show focused around video games and the culture that it has inspired. George will speak with the curators of Gold Cartridge and find out their influeneces and the inspiration for the exhibit. Hope you enjoy the show and make sure you check out the developers we had the pleasure to speak with on this week's show.

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Press Pause Radio at PAX East: Night Three

Our final day of PAX East 2011 is a shorter experience than the rest of the weekend, due to the events of Saturday night (Thanks 1up!). However we still are able to gather our strength to discuss the games and events of Sunday in Boston, with the help of GeorgieboysAXE, Toast and for her first appearance on Press Pause Radio, Robin! We will converse about Duke Nukem Forever, Portal 2 and an assortment of independent games from the show floor. Thanks to everyone who said hello at PAX, and for all of our listeners who have been keeping up with our coverage. We will be updating throughout this week with previews and impressions from all that was shown at PAX East 2011. It was an amazing experience for all of us, and we are proud to share it with all of you. 

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