Achievement Oriented

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion talk about Jason's new Nintendo Switch and belated 'Breath of the Wild' impressions, then bring on the creator of the YouTube channel 'LowSpecGamer' to talk about how he gets modern games to run on low-end systems and what he's learned about game design from stripping Triple-A software down to its absolute minimum settings (0:30). Lastly, they talk to New York Magazine senior editor Max Read about the addictiveness of the collectible card game 'Hearthstone,' the financial investment required to compete, and Blizzard's attempts to keep the game fresh, before closing with a question from Twitter (31:30). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion report the results of a survey designed to reveal their gaming motivations, then bring on their colleague Justin Charity to discuss his spoiler-free impressions of newly released Atlus RPG 'Persona 5' and Square Enix action RPG 'Nier: Automata' (1:00). Lastly, Ben, Jason, and Justin talk to Kotaku features editor Chris Kohler about the hallmarks of Japanese games, the end of auteur developers, the convergence of Japanese and North American game-design philosophies, and his book, 'Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life' (21:45). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion banter about Jason's move, convoluted 'Kingdom Hearts' titles, and what they want from 'Destiny 2,' then talk to Minnesota Twins pitcher Trevor May about how injury rehab impacts his gaming, his attempts to turn other athletes on to Twitch streaming, the parallels between esports and traditional sports, and whether he worries about a backlash from fans or his team because of his hobbies (7:00). Then they bring on NASCAR driver Ryan Blaney to talk about how he fits games around his race schedule, whether games can capture (and prepare drivers for) the exhilaration of real racing, his favorite video game vehicles, his surprising 'Star Wars' movie preference, and his opinion of podracing (29:45). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion have a spoiler-free discussion about their impressions of the perplexing 'Mass Effect: Andromeda,' Bioware's brain drain, and the ways in which recent releases have raised the bar for big-budget games (0:45). Then they bring on authors and psychologists Patrick Markey and Christopher Ferguson to talk about their research into the effects of violent video games and their new book, 'Moral Combat: Why the War on Violent Video Games is Wrong' (23:25). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion talk to writer Reid McCarter and lecturer in video game studies Hugo Montembeault about the dark side of Ubisoft's 'Ghost Recon Wildlands,' realism in shooters, and big-budget games' ongoing struggle to depict real-world problems in fictional form (0:30). Then they bring on 'Super Smash Bros. Melee' analyst Daniel Lee and 'League of Legends' analyst Jeffrey Liang for a primer on the metagame and the past, present, and future of eSports stats (28:15). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion talk to Compete writer Maddy Myers about experimenting with supplements that promise gaming benefits, covering competitive gaming's growing pains, and gender imbalance in eSports (0:30). Then they bring on Dr. Caitlin McGee to discuss treating eSports injuries, the benefits of proper posture and ergonomic equipment, and how teams are trying to prolong careers (34:15). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion bring on Kotaku news editor (and author of the forthcoming book 'Blood, Sweat, and Pixels') Jason Schreier to discuss reviewing great games (1:00), how 'Breath of the Wild' departs from and improves upon previous 'Zelda' installments (8:30), what lessons developers can take from the game's open-ended structure (34:00), and the Switch's post-launch outlook (40:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion have a spoiler-free chat about the newly released PS4 exclusive 'Horizon Zero Dawn,' discussing its obvious influences, how it tweaks the open-world formula, and whether games have gotten too long (1:00). Then they bring on Kotaku editor Luke Plunkett to talk about his aborted attempt to play 'Resident Evil 7' and try to pinpoint what combination of in-game mechanics and hangups inside their own psyches makes some video games so scary (24:30). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion briefly consider the future of TV video game adaptations, reacting to comments by 'Castlevania' producer Adi Shankar and 'The Expanse' co-author Ty Franck (3:30). Then they bring on longtime Giant Bomb video producer Drew Scanlon to discuss having a GIF of his face go viral and how long his fleeting internet notoriety will last (9:30). Lastly, they talk to Kotaku staff writer Heather Alexandra about glitching, speedrunning, and the creative ways in which players navigate games (25:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion talk to Jordan Thompson, lead software engineer for the latest Google Doodle game, about building games for a massive search-engine audience with unique control constraints and compatibility concerns (0:15). Then they bring on Ubisoft creative director Jason VandenBerghe to discuss the innovative combat system at the center of newly released fighting game 'For Honor,' why sword-fighting is so tough to translate to video games, and how he created the concept of Vikings versus Samurai (19:30). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion discuss PS4 Pro envy and 'Resident Evil 7' (0:40) and talk to The Guardian's games editor Keith Stuart about the continued sales success of 'Grand Theft Auto V,' the perpetual repackaging of old titles, and the worst US presidents in video games (6:08). Lastly, they talk to Polygon's Owen Good about the latest bad news for NBA Live, why so many sports games are going extinct, and the NBA's plans to partner with Take-Two to launch an official 'NBA 2K' esports league (26:05). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion talk to Frank Cifaldi, founder of The Video Game History Foundation, about his desire to salvage old video games (6:10), the difference between porting and emulating (9:35), whether online communities can be recreated (14:00), his greatest discoveries (38:05), his efforts to finish unfinished games (42:15), and eight-bit NES porn (50:05). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion talk to Blake Rochkind, a video game agent for United Talent Agency, about how his job works, Hollywood's appetite for movie adaptations of video games, VR's bright future, and his favorite games from last year(0:50). Then they bring on Josh Hano, the creator of new platformer 'Nefarious,' to discuss video game tropes and games that let the player be the bad guy (36:22). They also welcome eight former guests back to the podcast to pick their all-time favorite boss battles(53:15). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion bring on Ben 'Professor Broman' Bowman to talk about life as a full-time Twitch streamer and a forthcoming change to Twitch that threatens to erase the boundary between streaming and regular life (1:00). Then they talk to IO Interactive creative director Christian Elverdam about how the first season of 'Hitman' synthesized the best features of previous games in the series, used illusion to empower players, and benefited from being released episodically (26:45). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion share their hands-on impressions of the Nintendo Switch and 'The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild' and discuss some big questions surrounding the forthcoming console. Then they bring on the creator of the YouTube channel 'How Big Is the Map?' to explain his incredible, quixotic quest to traverse the map of every open-world game. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion recap their holiday gaming and talk to New Yorker contributing writer Simon Parkin about his book, 'Death by Video Game'; VR and psychology; end-of-year lists; and recent (and future) industry developments. Then Ben, Jason, and their colleague Justin Charity talk to actor Ruffin Prentiss about playing the protagonist of 'Watch Dogs 2.' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion discuss the newly released movie 'Assassin's Creed,' then bring on their colleagues Jon Lovett and Kam Collins for a wider discussion about why video-game adaptations historically haven't worked well as films. Lastly, they talk to Chris Plante of The Verge about how and why first-person shooters broke out of their slump and whether 2016 was the best FPS year ever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion name-check their favorite 'Star Wars' games and talk to Jack Sorensen, the former president of LucasArts, about how he helped oversee several classic titles during the heyday of in-house 'Star Wars' development (5:24). Then they welcome Douglas Reilly from Lucasfilm and Justin McCully from Electronic Arts to discuss the upcoming slate of 'Star Wars' games (34:10) and the challenge of telling original stories within the larger 'Star Wars' universe (38:10). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion react to recent announcements of new installments in a few of their favorite game franchises, then call New York Times contributing game critic Chris Suellentrop (8:30) to talk about 'The Last Guardian,' the genius of Fumito Ueda (13:00), and the legacy of 'Ico' and 'Shadow of the Colossus' (19:00). Lastly, Ben, Jason, and Chris talk to novelist and 'Westworld' writer-editor Charles Yu (29:15) about the video game roots of the show's first season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion talk to their colleague Justin Charity about Square Enix's newly released role-playing game, 'Final Fantasy XV' (1:34). Then, they bring on Blake J. Harris, author of 'Console Wars' and the forthcoming 'The History of the Future,' to discuss the current state and mystifying future of virtual-reality hardware and software (19:50). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices