Ballad of the Blue Bomber
A musical history of the Mega Man X and other spinoff franchises.
Artifact: Studios
The storied craftsmen that assemble our modern pop culture and their processes. Spanning Paramount Pictures to Rooster Teeth, mainstream and indie.
Some Assembly Required
Having poured over the “who,” “what” and “why” of this endeavor, we shift focus inward a bit towards the training, recruitment, revision of process which comprise “how.”
Princess, Prophecy and The Hero of Time
If the Mario series is Nintendo’s best-known line of games, the Zelda series isn’t far behind in terms of popularity and critical acclaim. From the NES to the Wii, The Legend of Zelda and its many sequels have rivaled the Mario series in terms of fan love.
Franchise Feature: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Welcome back to our look at the graphic design and evolution of games. Today we’ll discuss a retrospective of the various video games spawned under the TMNT franchise.
Blaxploitation Throwbacks
Representation matters, and how People of Color are represented in speculative fiction and pop culture matters even more. Join a former Naval electrician, father, cosplayer and African American public speaker as we look back at some significant (signifying?) central characters and their contexts.
Mutants and Metahumans, Part 1
Our scientific observations of mutation, evolution, adaptation, sensation, perception, and ability can greatly inform our understanding of fictional universes.
Mushroom Kingdoms to Galaxies, and Back
This series will examine famous video game series. More precisely, it will trace their evolution and influence on other aspects of popular culture. The first entry in this series will take on aspects from Nintendo’s mascot series, Mario.
Asian Architecture, Italian Plumbers
Join us for our second look at the graphic design and evolution of games. Today we review Asian Architectures & Italian Plumbers: the Mario, Sonic, Ninja Gaiden, MegaMan, & Castlevania franchises.
Courting Disaster – Series Conspectus
An overview of otaku and gamer fandoms, their interrelations, and engagement with pop culture. From GamerGate to syncretic mythology, to the underlying social justice issues, this telescopic lens will be aimed through the prism of intersectional feminism that pulls no punches and takes no prisoners. From Amazons to Zelda, we’re going to get gritty with it.
Content May Be Graphic – Series Conspectus
An introduction to our look at the graphic design, presentation, artistic rendering, and evolution of the digital artforms of video games and film, with an additional focus on the visual continuity between various cross-media brands and products.