Abnormal Mapping

Latest Episodes:

Abnormal Mapping 16: Final Fantasy VII, Part One Oct 17, 2014

Show notes

The Mappers are joined once again by Honorary Cartography Extraordinaire Destiny Sturdivant for the inaugural meeting of the RPG Explorers Club. Em leads them down the Mako-soaked lanes of his memory as they dig up that burning question for the ages: what exactly does happen to Aeris? It’s a long journey, full of pitfalls and pratfalls, and together they all learn to love again. Just like Cloud. Who learns to love a certain flower girl. Who dies. Oh right, Aeris dies.

Destiny Sturdivant can be found at Badland Girls!

You can get our podcast on iTunes, on Stitcher, or you can download it directly by clicking HERE.

Games Discussed: Sims 3, Final Fantasy Theatrhythm: Curtain Call, Neverending Nightmares, EGX, Even the Stars, Clicker Heroes, Cookie Clicker, Candy Box, and of course, Final Fantasy VII

Music This Episode:
Blown Away by Kevin MacLeod
Anxious Heart by Nobuo Uematsu
Turk’s Theme by Nobuo Uematsu
The Great Warrior by Nobuo Uematsu
Theatrhythm Curtain Call End Theme by Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra

Abnormal Mapping 15: Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 Sep 26, 2014

Show notes

Trans-media beings exist in a digital realm, transcending the archaic definitions of one art or another. Words become images, images become environments, narrative forms change shape in a strange alchemy of noble intent and desperate capitalism. The Mappers navigate this technoplane, where all things change and the nature of creation is itself in flux, and they find themselves gripped tight to their seats. How many Gs exist in cyberspace? Will the Mappers survive, or are they doomed to hurl their lunches at the very thought of all things being subverted into newer, bigger, more engaging? This is the thin line between good and evil, light and dark, reality and dreams: this is the blurred space where adaptations and roller coasters become one.

Games Discussed: Final Fantasy VII, DanganRonpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, FIFA/Madden, Spider-Man 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, QWOP, South Park: The Stick of Truth, The Hunger Games: Girl on Fire, The Great Gatsby, The Lion King, The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, Waiting for Godot, GoldenEye: 007, Tom Clancey’s Rainbow Six, Spaceteam, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, DuckTales, Dante’s Inferno, Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 2: Rogue Leader, Star Wars Episode I: Racer, Roller Coaster Tycoon series, The Sims, Little Big Planet

Next Month’s Game Club: Dishono(u)red

Music This Episode:
Blown Away by Kevin MacLeod
Main Theme of The Lion King by Frank Klepacki, Dwight Okahara, Patrick Collins
RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 Main Theme by Allister Brimble
Goonies 2 Stage 1 by Satoe Terashima
Infogrames Rocks My World by an unknown but beautiful angel of music

Abnormal Mapping 14: Meat Loaf's Butt Stuff Sep 08, 2014

Show notes

This month’s Coolsoge kicks off with a bang as the Mappers are joined by fellow David Cage veteran Destiny Sturdivant to talk a boatload of games and the very ridiculous task that we’re all going to undertake this fall. Also more than a little time is spent educating Jackson on just what Meatloaf wouldn’t do for love, because they has to learn somehow. The answer is potentially “collect multiple cows” or “descend into Rapture” or “select ninja dog.” But the smart money is on “keep his eyes dry when a certain flower girls eats it.” Will we ever learn the truth? Probably not on Disc 1, but if you stick around for the secret ending and you unlock the 4th level of the tie-in cell phone game, maybe the true answer will arise from the lifestream. Only time will tell.

The Coolsoge Backlog Slog begins with us starting to play Final Fantasy VII! We’ll cover up through disc 1 next month, and Em will be a nostalgic, mopey mess for this strangely maligned once-unassailable game.

You can find Destiny on Badland Girls, a cool junk culture podcast that we heartily endorse!

Please subscribe, rate and review our show on iTunes! If that’s not your bag, you can get the episode directly by clicking HERE.

Additions to the Reading List

Watch Out for Fireballs
Memory Insufficient

Games Covered This Month

I’m Fine
Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning
Eidolon
Ninja Gaiden Black
Hohokum
BioShock 2
Be the Ball
P.T.
Octodad: Dadliest Catch
Civilization 5

Music in This Episode

Show Your Moves by Kevin MacLeod
Coastal Brake by Tycho
Cloudwatching by Michael Bell
Octodad (Nobody Suspects A Thing) by Ian McKenney

Abnormal Mapping 13: Planescape Torment Aug 29, 2014

Show notes

The day they thought would never happen is finally here. The clockwork machinery of the gods themselves rolled away and revealed a blinding light, from which poured a host of a host of creatures both fair and foul. All of that number were beyond mortal understanding, but they all cried out with a single human voice: YOU WERE WRONG. And so it was, that as the seas boiled and the sun and moon reversed their paths through the firmament, did these two Mappers set out to admit this final damning truth, even if the planes be rent asunder forever and all lives both player-driven and peripheral be cast into the deepest of voids. Such is the One True Cast.

This Month’s Game

Planescape: Torment

Next Month’s Game

RollerCoaster Tycoon 2

Music in This Episode

Blown Away by Kevin McLeod
Deionarra’s Theme by Mark Morgan and Richard Band
Fall-From-Grace’s Theme by Mark Morgan and Richard Band
Opening Theme by Mark Morgan and Richard Band

Abnormal Mapping 12: Captain Worf, Steak Afficianado Aug 05, 2014

Show notes

Em braves audio failure as Jackson drags them kicking and screaming through another Coolsoge adventure. After many many weeks between them, the Mappers have a pile of games they’ve finished and the dimmest of memories with which to recall them, but they do their best to talk about various driving and skating games, the terror of suplexing scorpions, and some Donkey Kong follow-up beef. Vows are made to cast the Coolsoge more often and they pour one out for the machete man gang, but eventually it all collapses into Star Trek talk, because it always does when Em and Jackson are talking longer than 15 minutes. Featuring special guest Worf, son of Mogh, it’s the second Coolsoge onslaught!

You can find the Coolsoge Cast in our usual iTunes feed or click HERE to get to the file directly.

Stuff Talked About!

Trashpect Ratio, Jackson and Em’s new movie podcast
The Abnormal Mappers on The Badland Girls
Em’s Blackwell Let’s Plays
Jackson’s article about Uncharted
Jackson’s other article about the Burnout series

Games Covered (some spoilers, fair warning!)

Resident Evil 4
The Blackwell Series
Uncharted 3
Deadly Creatures
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (all of them)
Thrasher: Skate and Destroy
Papo y Yo
Burnout 3 & Revenge
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Fire Emblem: Awakening
Persona 4 Golden (and Persona 5)
Mass Effect
Star Trek Online
Outland
Rogue Legacy
Nintendo 3DS Guide: Louvre
bit Generations series

Music Used

Show Your Moves by Kevin MacLeod
Skate or Die 2 Main Theme by Rob Hubbard
Star Trek: The Next Generation Theme by Jerry Goldsmith by way of the NES Sound Chip
Busted Bayou by David Wise

Abnormal Mapping 11: Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls Jul 25, 2014

Show notes

This month is a special month, as we’re joined by special guest Destiny Sturdivant of the Badland Girls for not only our first guest third chair but also our longest episode ever! Deciding to double our pleasure, double our fun, we take a dive into the duo of Quantic Dream games for the Playstation 3—Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls. We go deep on both games, both mechanically and in their many storytelling successes and failures. It’s a doozy, but I can sincerely say this is our best episode yet, so it’s worth the movie-length runtime! Please enjoy, and we’ll be back next month for more regular inanity in this show notes space!

Destiny Sturdivant is a podcaster and comedian, you can find her on twitter or on BadlandGirls.com!

Games Discussed This Month

Heavy Rain
Beyond: Two Souls

Next Month’s Game Club

Planescape: Torment

Music in This Episode

Blown Away by Kevin McLeod
Painful Memories by Normand Corbeil
Jodie’s Theme by Lorne Balfe & Hans Zimmer
Lost Cause by Ellen Page
New Angels of Promise (Omikron The Nomad Soul ver.) by David Bowie

Abnormal Mapping 10: Beyond Good and Evil Jun 27, 2014

Show notes

The mappers take a journey to a world where anthropomorphic animals live alongside humans and a journey begins to acquire a number of magical orbs. No, it’s not Dragon Ball, it’s Beyond Good & Evil! In between all the stealth and shutterbugging, Em decides to take a single joke as far beyond its breaking point as they can, while Jackson tries their best to detangle the good and evil of game beginnings and how they relate to the games as a whole. Deep down, they mostly just look towards the future, and reflect on past mistakes. It’s a learning opportunity for us all in this very special* episode.

*episode not that special, really

Feel free to subscribe on iTunes, or you can download the episode directly HERE.

Games and Topics This Month

Beyond Good & Evil
Video game openings both good and evil
ZZT by Anna Anthropy, which is great but not really good or … you get the point.\
Plz Diversify Your Panel Note from Matt: at the time of recording this was a very newly minted idea, and many of the things we discussed have since been addressed directly by the people running the site. It’s even more endorsable than it was, and definitely worth your eyeballs on it.

Next Month’s Game Club Games

Heavy Rain
Beyond: Two Souls

Music in this Episode

Blown Away by Kevin McLeod
Propaganda by Christophe Héral
Mass Effect Main Theme by Jack Wall
Shine by Magnus Birgersson
Nuclear by Mike Oldfield

Abnormal Mapping 9: Transistor Jun 13, 2014

Show notes

What was supposed to be a simple ‘let’s get our plans for the month nailed down’ chat between Em and Jackson turned out to be nothing but lies and deceit as Jackson fired up the recorders and started what would become the first Coolsoge Cast! Instead of the meticulous planning and structure of real Abnormal Mapping podcast, what you’ll instead get here is some free flowing talk about whatever we’ve been playing when we aren’t playing game club games. This is an every-once-in-a-while cast, but you’ll get such magical tangents as the lineage of the Kong clan and the mysterious secrets of Dark Eco, along with some real talk about Transistor’s many faults. We go all over! You might say this one is … off the map.

Games Covered (with spoilers, fair warning!)

Transistor
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D
Mario Kart 8
Wolfenstein (2009)
Jak 1, 2, AND 3
Ratchet & Clank
F1 2013

Music Used

Show Your Moves by Kevin MacLeod
DK Rap by Grant Kirkhope

Abnormal Mapping 8: Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation May 29, 2014

Show notes

Ace pilots Em “Cupcake” Marko and Jackson “Ginger” Tyler fly through the enormous Library of the Giants, where the giant tombs of Video Game Lore are stacked to the heavens. Whether they have been shrunk or the pillars of writing have grown is beyond the pay grade of these two intrepid wingmen, but as they juke around zines and loop through forests of critical theory they arrive at their destination: Fortress Games Podcasts. Their payloads are ready, a full tactical strike of thermonuclear cast, meant to eradicate the enemy and wrest victory from certain defeat. They squeeze the triggers, and await orders to fire.

Please subscribe via our RSS or iTunes! If you insist on a bare MP3, you can find it HERE.

Covered this month:

Our games reading list, which you can find in the header above or just click here!

Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation

Next Month’s Game Club Game:

Beyond Good and Evil

Music in this Episode

Blown Away by Kevin McLeod
A Letter to Edge by Chris Remo
Liberation of Gracemeria by Keiki Kobayashi
Remember Me Main Title by Olivier Deriviere
Thexder Main Theme by Kohei Ikeda

Hey! We love mail. Email us at abnormalmappingpodcast@gmail.com!

Abnormal Mapping 7: Christine Love Gameography Apr 25, 2014

Show notes

Hey everyone, welcome to our first very special episode, of a hopefully long-running series called Gameography! If you need to know what Gameography is, take a look at this prior postexplaining it. If you insist on the tl;dr version, we picked a game maker we really liked and played through her entire history of games and talked about them as a whole body of work. In this case, our first subject was one of our favorites, Christine Love!

I have to admit, we were very nervous going into this episode, trying to do something a little different than usual. As such, we would love any sort of feedback about our process, and anything we might do better next time a gameography episode happens. As always, you can bother us on twitter, or email us at abnormalmappingpodcast @gmail.com.

Gameography: Christine Love

Cell Phone Love Letter

Heart of Fire

Sketchbook: Schoolgirls in Love and Other Assorted Heartbreak

Digital: A Love Story

don’t take it personally, babe, it just ain’t your story

Analogue: A Hate Story

Diving Deeper

Even Cowgirls Bleed

Magical Maiden Madison

Hate Plus

Next Month’s Game: