Argue The Toss

After a couple of virus-related delays (that's the biological kind, not the computer kind), this fortnight's episode of Argue the Toss has finally arrived. This week Chella and Drew recount their favourite experiences from this year's , the UK's only convention dedicated to narrative-driven gaming.

Six years after we watched Jesse Pinkman crash through the chain-link gates of his prison in Todd Alquist's car, we finally find out what happened to him next in the Breaking Bad epilogue movie, El Camino. Drew and Chella are here to discuss whether it's a worthwhile addition to the Breaking Bad legacy, or just a case of gilding the lily.

Due to some technical difficulties, we are unable to bring you a new episode of Argue The Toss this week. Instead, please enjoy one of our favourites from the archives - a horror movie showdown, just in time for Hallowe'en (even if it was originally recorded in July 2018). We'll be back on schedule soon, and there'll be a brand-new episode for you in two weeks. In the long-awaited third installment of our "Completely Unseasonal Theme Episodes" series, this week Argue The Toss goes full horror with a double-bill of scary movies, four months from Hallowe'en. Chella and Drew have been to see A24's supernatural witch-based psychological horror slash family drama Hereditary, and unrelatedly, A24's supernatural witch-based psychological horror slash family drama The Witch. They now return to somehow try and find some common ground between these two movies. Which movie is the scarier? Which witch is most eldritch? Do the police exist in the world of Hereditary? Are epi-pens important to people with fatal allergies?

Untitled Goose Game is the indie title that everyone honking on social media and sharing their best moments as a malicious goose. Drew & Chella discuss the new game from House House, which takes Hitman style gameplay to a quiet, English village. 

Sam Barlow's Her Story brought FMV games out of the shadows and demonstrated that they could work, with careful casting and good writing. Telling Lies is a bigger budget version of Her Story, using the same mechanics, but adding more characters and some new features. Drew and Chella discuss the game, how it differs from Her Story and how it exposes their different playing styles.

Back after the summer, mid-season break, Drew and Chella discuss the big releases coming for autumn and winter 2019. The ATTeam looks at films and games, covering geese, all the Hollywood cheekbones and more than a smattering of horror.

Spider-Man: Far From Home has brought the wildly successful third phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to a close. Where can the franchise even go from here? Oh, Phase 4? Yeah, OK, that makes a lot of sense actually. Don't know why we didn't think of that. San Diego Comic-Con was last week and Marvel dropped the whole phase on us in a flurry of announcements, and the ATTeam, never the type to shy away from a very obvious choice of topic for the podcast, recorded a podcast on that topic, which - coincidentally enough - you can listen to from this very page. We've discussed every single announcement to a frankly believable level of detail. We've left no stone unturned, if you don't count the omissions made in the interest of brevity, or when discussing things we know nothing about. This is your one-stop, exhaustive deep dive for all the things we cared enough to talk about in the forty or so minutes for which we were prepared to keep talking on this podcast. Enjoy, to the extent that you do.

Drew and Chella catch up to find out what each other have been watching this summer. Not the big summer blockbusters at the cinema, but indie films, a gameshow and a bit of Netflix. Drew discusses a comedy gameshow that demonstrates some interesting approaches to game design. And Chella looks at the new generation of teen comedy dramas, which manage to avoid the problems of classic teen films from the likes of John Hughes.

Jordan Erica Webber joins the Argue the Cast Team to discuss the use of unreliable narrators in videogames. From the twist ending in games like Bioshock, to the deliberate use of a character with something to hide in Her Story, games like to employ this narrative technique with varying degrees of success.

The ATTeam has analysed all the E3 2019 games from the press conferences and picked their favourites. Most people expected to be the year publishers held back their big announcements and waited for the new consoles we know are imminent. But that’s not how it went down. The list of E3 2019 games is pretty solid. Nintendo announced a new and Animal Crossing and there were some surprise entries in every press conference, alongside some familiar series sequels. With so many to choose from, the Argue the Toss team had a tough time whittling it down to the . But for the love of the listeners, they’ve done it.

In a special episode, recorded at art and games festival, Feral Vector, nestled in a wooded valley in Yorkshire, England, the ATTeam chat to surreal LARP organiser and unstoppable indie game developer, Xalavier Nelson. The main topic is the representation of dark skin in videogames. It's not always successful, but Xalavier praised Mortal Kombat XI for getting right. He's also on the show to tell stories of Texas dust storms, tales from the game dev frontline and also remind us that Drew is awesome. Post credit music, we also have some Feral Vector footage to give an insight into what this wild thing is all about.

The new John Wick film is out this week and Mike Bithell recently announced that he's working on John Wick Hex, a game based on the films. This got the ATTeam thinking about films they'd like to see as games and how they would work. There's a tradition of movie/game tie-ins, but they're often lacklustre marketing opportunities, with the occasional gem, such as The Chronicles of Riddick. Drew and Chella discuss the films that should be games, taking us from time loop adventures to mermen.  

10 years of storytelling and 22 films come together in Avengers: Endgame, Marvel's grand cinematic project, the like of which has never been done before. Drew and Chella get into it on this episode. It's a tremendous fete, which largely pays off, but it's not without some flaws.

Falcon Age released yesterday, kicking off the 2019 releases in superb style. Drew and Chella discuss the games they're looking forward to in 2019. A mix of AAA blockbusters and smaller indie projects - find out what's piqued the interest of the Argue the Toss team and tell them your most anticipated.  

Get Out made a splash on the horror scene, in 2017, and that's saying something, as 2018 was also a pretty stellar year for the genre, with the VVitch, A Quiet Place and Hereditary all coming out. Regardless, Jordan Peele's follow up, Us, stars Lupita Nyongo and expectations are high. Fortunately, Peele doesn't disappoint and delivers another stunning social horror that leaves you thinking. Drew and Chella discuss the themes, the horror references and all the things, in this episode of Argue the Toss.

Captain Marvel is the first female led film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), so people are genuinely excited in both positive and negative ways. Drew and Chella discuss the film and establish how much space cat is too much space cat.  Where does Captain Marvel sit among the rest of the MCU? And is it a patch on DC's Wonder Woman?  All these questions answered in one burning hot episode of Argue the Toss.

Nightflyers is a SyFy produced show based on the 1980s novella by George R. R. Martin, he of Game of Thrones fame. It was recently picked up by Netflix and the blurb tells us, “with humankind's future at stake, a group of scientists and a powerful telepath venture into the void aboard a spaceship full of secrets.” It's a sci-fi show that borrows too heavily from other things and fails to do the horror well, but it's not all bad. Drew & Chella discuss. 

Drew & Chella discuss video game remakes and remasters, inspired by Drew's latest dalliances with Resident Evil 2, Spyro and others. It turns out that remakes aren't as new as we might first think, but began with ports from arcades to the very first home gaming machines.  What makes a good remake and how many of them are in the Resident Evil series? It's all covered right here.  

Drew and Chella discuss Bandersnatch, the latest episode of Black Mirror to hit Netflix and the streaming service's latest brush with interactive TV. Bandersnatch is an interesting experience that's divided opinion. For those familiar with interactive fiction, it's going over old ground, but presenting it to a new audience as if it's just invented this clever new thing. For those who aren't familiar with interactive media, Bandersnatch is a bold new step into the future of TV entertainment.   So which is it?

Kicking off season 5 with a review of Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse, the Sony picture made in association with Marvel. Complicated cinematic rights aside, Spider-Verse delivers a first class superhero film and arguably the best Spider-Man offering to date. The Argue the Toss team have lots to discuss, from the visual style to the great cast, story and Easter eggs. Very minor spoiler at 28 mins.