GC Podcast #22: Grab Bag

The latest GameCola Podcast—featuring hugs, tears, depression, and love—has just been released. It’s made of up two discrete segments: One in which Michael Ridgaway and Vangie Rich talk about the emotional impact of many different videogames and of videogames in general, and one in which Paul Franzen and Michael Gray go in-depth on Case 4 of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. Listen to it right here, right now:

0:00 – 1:18: Introduction, wherein I try to make these two disparate segments fit together naturally.

1:18 – 27:24: Gamer Girlfriend, wherein Mike and Vangie talk about, among other things:

• Whether Vangie is going to change the name of her “Gamer Girlfriend” column following her and Mike’s recent engagement.
• The fights and the tears that were caused by Grand Theft Auto IV (read more about that here).
• How Mike often needs a hug from Vangie after particularly emotional scenes in games.
• How good videogames can elicit the same respones as good books or good movies.
• The game that made Mike think about whether he’d make a good dad.
• The storylines in games that Mike and Vangie can relate to the most.
• “They killed that girl?!”—Vangie’s reactions to Valkyria Chronicles.
• Their arguments over who’s the cutest videogame character.
• How we’re moved by videogames that speak to our experiences and our current life situations.
• People who dismiss people who get weepy over videogames.
• EarthBound’s ending. (I didn’t listen to this part, because I haven’t finished EarthBound yet.)

27:24 – 27:45: Bridge, wherein I try to make these two disparate segments fit together naturally.

27:45 -1:07:32: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Case #4, Turnabout Goodbyes.

This is the latest in a series of GameCola Podcast segments about the individual cases of Phoenix Wright. (Case #1, Case #2, Case #3.) In this segment, Paul and Michael discuss:

• Case summary. It’s the one where Miles Edgeworth is the client, Manfred von Karma is the prosecutor, and we finally learn the truth of the DL-6 Incident.
• The relationship between Edgeworth and Gumshoe. Do they have a mutual trust? Why on Earth do they work together?
• The relationship between Edgeworth, Phoenix, and Larry Butz—how they were BFFs when they were little, and how they…kinda aren’t now.
• Are there homosexual undertones between Phoenix and Edgeworth? (Michael: “Yes.”)

• Why Phoenix and Edgeworth decided to become lawyers.
• Why was Misty Fey discredited as a fraud following the DL-6 Incident?
• Why does the Judge let himself get pushed around so much by the proscutor? Is he a bad judge?
• Why did von Karma mentor Edgeorth when he held such a grudge against Edgeworth’s father? Does it have anything to do with The Lion King? (Michael: “Yes.”)
• Cross-examining the parrot. Did von Karma manipulate this witness, too?
• If Edgeworth did murder his father when he was a child, should he be held accountable for it?
• Why aren’t there more videogames about Christmas?

1:07:32 – 1:08:23: Closing.