Episode 38 - The Joy of Video Game Worlds

The Joy of Gaming Podcast, Episode 38:

The Joy of Video Game Worlds

On this episode of The Joy of Gaming podcast, we (Rich, Tim and Jordan) explore one of the most important aspects of video games:  the various worlds - real and imaginary - that they take us to. Using a combination of visual art, sound design, story and gameplay, games have the ability to immerse us in new and wildly creative worlds more effectively than any other medium. As an acknowledgement of their contributions to gaming as a whole, we each choose our top three favorite video game worlds, and discuss what it is that makes each of them so exceptional.

But first, we start the way we always do, by talking about the games we’ve been playing over the past few weeks. The lively discussion includes: Dragon’s Crown, Tearaway, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, Flappy Bird, Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, Killer is Dead, Plants vs. Zombies 2, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, 10,000,000 and more.

Then we move on to gaming news, including the Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor gameplay demo (and it’s similarities to Assassin’s Creed 2), Earth Defense Force 2025’s delay, Mind=0 (and how it’s not Persona), the Sly Cooper movie announcement, Rust and it’s social implications, Xbox One price drop rumors, and more. We also debut a new segment where we talk about our website (TheJoyofGaming.net) and the stories you can find there, before moving on to our final segment.

Video game worlds can take us away from our everyday lives to a majestic fantasy world, or instead, they can give us an interpretation or re-creation of real locations from the past or present. On the other hand, game worlds are often more symbolic than literal - Flower’s surreal garden-scape for example, or Tetris’ “rigid” representation of Russian society. And then there are the many interpretations of heaven and hell that games like God of War, Devil May Cry, Doom and El Shaddai have given us; the possibilities are virtually endless.  But no matter what type of world they are trying to create, there is no doubt that some games do it better than others. In this segment, we each choose our three favorite game worlds of all time, and break down what it is that makes them so compelling. Oh, and we also try our absolute best to avoid using the word “immersive” too often, and believe us - it’s harder than it sounds.   

So fire up your console or PC and take a trip to any place you can imagine, because this…is the Joy of Gaming!