Posted 12/23/2020

How can esports help your parents like video games more? How long until esports become as relevant as sports? What's the greatest determinant of whether an esports scene will thrive?

Join bramoala and ChipSkylark as they welcome Dalton and Jackson from ESPORTSCENETER to talk all things esports on this week's episode of Koalatea Time!

Posted 12/13/2020

Is Cyberpunk the master piece we all hoped it would be, a bug ridden mess, or both? ChipSkylark provides a thorough breakdown of the myriad of systems at play in CD Projekt Red's latest blockbuster game!

If you want to find out if Cyberpunk has gameplay that you'd find interesting, this is the podcast for you!

Posted 12/3/2020

How can a great UI make the world a better place? What kinds of games do the best job of transforming us mentally and spiritually? Why can't I play games with my grandpa????

bramoala and ChipSkylark explore Jesse Schell's insight on how games can bring about a better world in this week's episode of Koalatea Time! Join them as they discuss The Last Of Us, Kind Words, Red Dead Redemption, Halo, and more!

This week's topic was inspired by Jesse Schell's book: The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses. If you're at all interested in the world of game design and/or development it's a must-read!

Posted 11/27/2020

In the 50th psycho episode of Koalatea Time bramoala and ChipSkylark team up to cover some of the most interesting off-the-wall game ideas IN PERSON and live with the community!

What if games could only be played for a limited amount of time? What if the community could only complete games together one level at a time? WHAT IF YOU WERE A BABY AND YOUR MOM ABANDONED YOU IN THE WILD! All this and more in this week's episode of Koalatea Time!

Posted 11/18/2020

Surely the reason games are sold in retail is because they make so much money RIGHT? I mean, development studios definitely make more than $20 from a $70 game... right????????

Join bramoala & ChipSkylar in this week's episode of Koalatea Time as they explore the surprising truths about game sales including the revenue distribution for games sold in retail and discuss whether physical game copies will continued to be sold in the future.

In addition, join them to discuss their favorite copies of physical games and their fondest physical game release memories. All this and more in this week's episode of Koalatea Time!

Posted 11/12/2020

bramoala finally beat DOOM 2016! Join him and Chip Skylark as they break down one of the best shooters of the past decade!

They discuss their favorite weapons, enemies, biggest annoyances, their DOOM Eternal wish lists, and more!

Posted 11/5/2020

When most people think of platforming games they don't usually think of FPS platforming games. Is there a reason for this? What makes FPS platforming difficult to do well? What does the newly released Ghostrunner game do to insure an enjoyable experience?

Join Skylar and Anthony as they explore these and related topics in this week's episode of Koalatea Time! We discuss Ghostrunner, Mirror's Edge, Destiny, Halo, Crash Bandicoot, and much more!

Posted 11/2/2020

Their tension can feel cheap, and their scares can be predictable, so why do so many people enjoy horror games? Anthony interviews Skylar to get his thoughts on the horror experiences he's played and the one's he's enjoyed the most, including his recent experience playing Amnesia: Rebirth.

Join us as we discuss Five Nights At Freddy's, Until Dawn, Resident Evil, Inside, Bioschock, and more!

Posted 10/23/2020

How do you know when a UI is good? When you barely notice it! If that's the case, WHY DO WE HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY ABOUT GAME UI. Join us as we discuss our favorite interfaces in games and RAGE at the ones that drive us nuts in this week's episode of Koalatea Time!

Posted 10/15/2020

Making games is insanely hard. The fact that Amazon's new shooter Crucible is closing down development after only a few months on the market and that Square Enix's new Marvel Avengers is failing to hold more than 1,000 concurrent players just goes to show that even well funded AAA studios cannot guarantee success in today's gaming market. Join

Skylar and Anthony as they discuss why these games failed to maintain an engaged player base, the challenges large AAA teams face in creating cohesive designs, and more!

Posted 10/15/2020

Discussions surrounding crunch have once again resurfaced as news broke that CD Projekt Red is requiring everyone at their studio to work 6 day work weeks up until launch in order to insure that their game meets their desired level of quality. Anthony and Skylar discuss their experience working in crunch cultures, the perils and consequences of crunch, and why it's so hard to avoid it successfully in this week's episode of Koalatea Time!

Posted 10/1/2020

Who's more sus - Anthony or Skylar? What's Anthony's favorite task? Does Skylar think Among Us is the best social deduction game out there? Will Among Us last longer than Fall Guys? Join us as we discuss all this and more in this week's episode of Koalatea Time!

Posted 9/25/2020

Now that Sony and Microsoft have full revealed their new console offerings and respective prices, we break down what every platform is offering and debate which is the best choice for gamers. As you might expect the answer is nuanced and the battle is fierce! Join us this week as we break down which platform reigns supreme, PC or Console?

Posted 9/25/2020

It's official! We now know the price and release dates for all of the next gen consoles!

We have:

• Xbox Series S (Nov 10th) - $299 or $25/month

• PS5 Digital (Nov 12th/19th) - $399

• Xbox Series X (Nov 10th) - $499 or $35/month

• PS5 (Nov 12th/19th) - $499

Who's providing the best value for gamers? PS5 games are $70? What's with Sony's about-face regarding backwards compatibility? Does Sony actually have a viable Game Pass competitor? What consoles are we getting this holiday?? Join us as we discuss all this and more in this week's episode of Koalatea Time!

Posted 9/11/2020

If games offer an ability for players to escape the chaos of normal life and to exercise their autonomy on a more simple world, why are some games so difficult? What role does difficulty play in masterful game experiences? Is Dark Souls a bad game for being so hard? We cover all this and more in this week's episode of Koalatea Time!

Join Anthony & Skylar as they discuss Dark Souls, Cuphead, Halo, Minecraft, and more!

Posted 9/3/2020

"The quality of an entertainment experience can be measured by the extent to which its unfolding sequence of events is able to hold a guest's interest." - Jesse Schell, Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses

Structuring a gaming experience such that it moves the player through varying levels of emotional and mental intensity in a way that is satisfying to the player, is an art. In this episode we breakdown Jesse's insights surrounding the interest curve in games including what expectations players have coming into the game, the importance of a good hook, a meaningful climax, and more!

Join us as we discuss

• God of War

• Ori and the Blind Forest

• Halo 5 and more!

Posted 8/27/2020

What's this crazy Mario Party minigame Battle Royale game that's taking everyone by storm? Why do people like it so much? What are the BEST minigames? What are the WORST minigames? Is it really a Battle Royale? HAVE WE WON??

Join Anthony & Skylar as they discuss Fall Guys in this week's episode of Koalatea Time!

Posted 8/19/2020

Mobility mechanics are one of the primary elements of a game's foundation. They serve as one of (if not the) greatest tools at a player's disposal to exercise their autonomy on the game world.

What do good implementations of mobility mechanics have in common? Do we find 2D or 3D movement to be more fun? What about that Halo Infinite grapple hook? Why is Rocket League's movement so freaking good? Join us as we discuss these and other related topics in this week's episode of Koalatea Time!

Posted 8/13/2020

Higher resolution! Better framerates! Faster loading times! MORE TERAFLOPS!?!?!

Big technological advancements are touted at the advent of every new console generation, but in this week's episode of Koalatea Time Anthony and Skylar examine whether these upgrades are the best use of resources for games on new cutting edge hardware.

Join us as we discuss the N64, the teraflop war, what's the best way to use 8.3 milliseconds of processing time, and more!

Posted 8/5/2020

The first ever reveal of Halo Infinite at the Xbox Games Showcase has come and gone and while many in the Halo community are ecstatic with the new direction the franchise appears to be heading in, many outside of the Halo community were left underwhelmed (to downright disappointed) with the showing.

Analysis of the gameplay footage after the event revealed many graphical shortcomings that have us concerned with how much work might still need to be done to get Halo Infinite to a polished state in time for the Xbox Series X release.

Join Anthony and Skylar as they discuss what they thought of the state of the reveal, whether Halo Infinite should get delayed, whether requiring it to run on older consoles is holding it back, whether 343 should crunch to make the holiday deadline, and more!