Unconsoleable

Not only is this episode about games, news and our many complaints, but it also includes useful winter survival info! What can we say, we do it all here at Unconsoleable. You're welcome. With no pesky guests to get in the way (KIDDING, we love our guests to death :-)) we cover all the News We Care About, why a recent op-ed about mobile games is a bunch of hooey, and a perspective on a hot, new game that you're only likely to hear from us. 

Our Gaming Yoda Steve is becoming quite a fixture on the show, but this episode features someone even more special: his lovely wife, Maureen.  Distraught that Steve was never getting to talk about Hearthstone on Isometric, we offered our show up as a safe space to do just that. And well, um, it doesn't hurt that Anna is also obsessed with Blizzard's hugely popular CCG.  As per usual though, we got a lot more than we bargained for and Hearthstone wasn't the only topic of discussion. So sit back and enjoy as we hear both Steve and Maureen's voices together for the first time in a long time.

You knew we couldn't go too long without having more Aussies on the show. But hey, can we help it if they keep making awesome games we love?  And so, ladies and gentlemen, we present to you the legendary designer of Fruit Ninja, Jetpack Joyride, and many more iconic mobile titles, Luke Muscat! Oh yeah, and some guy named Phil Larsen too ;-p

Today is the first anniversary of #INeedDiverseGames and to celebrate, we welcome our friend Tanya DePass on the show to tell us all about it and what she's up to these days in her quest to make games more diverse.

Yeti Pie to the Ground, courtesy of Joe Macirowski This week we take a breather between episodes with guests to do what we do best. Complain and call out bad behavior.From a feature by Apple of a game with ugly stereotypes to the release of PewDiePie's bro-ey mobile game, we have a lot on our plate. But fear not, dear listeners. There's a little positivity mixed in here and there too. Remember to rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter and email us if you can teach Jessica how to take a screenshot with her new iPhone ;-) Stuff we mentioned:Yeti PieLand Sliders (iOS only for now)PrettygreatHalfbrickKotaku profile on MattDevice 6 (iOS only)SimogoThe Sailor's Dream (iOS only)Spawn on MeJourney Our t-shirts and other merchRich's comicGaymerXDirect link to the panelMatt Conn on LTOEMidbossTanya DePassGang NationsThe Gang Nations lineupThey suggest their lady game PewDiePie's game

You might say we're a bit iOS-focused here on Unconsoleable so this week we welcomed our old friend Yasmine Evjen and our newer friend, Russell Ivanovic. Yasmine and Russell are two thirds of the Material Podcast which is all about Google and Android. Apple fans, don't run away screaming. It's an interesting show even for you. And hey, we've even managed to keep our Australian streak going as Russell hails from the infamous land of snakes and spiders. We talked about the (maybe?) wonderful future and present of gaming on our TVs, what Yasmine and Russell like to play on mobile, Russell's polygamist tendencies and much, much more!

This is our super duper special, SUPERSIZED, one-year anniversary episode! That’s right, we’ve been bringing you the magic of Unconsoleable for an entire year now and we celebrate the occasion in the best way we know how: with fantastic guests we love. Joining us for the fourth time is our good friend Matt Hall and for the first time ever, we also welcome his partner in crime (sometimes almost literally), Andy Sum Andy had just returned to Australia after presenting at this little event at Apple, you may have heard of it ;-) There’s a lot he couldn’t tell us about it, but have no fear, we got the most crucial details. We also found out what the Hipster Whale fellas think of the future of gaming on the Apple TV, what happened the time Matt and Andy played a game together, what valuable life advice Matt gives to Andy and much, much, MUCH more. Seriously, we are not exaggerating. There is a lot more. Remember to rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter, and email us if you want to make A

First things first. Notch, come on the show. Seriously. We can help you and we have some shoulders you can cry on. Tweet us. Email us. Let's make this happen. Besides providing counseling and advice for rich Swedes, we side-eye the new App Store games Twitter account, scratch our heads over YouTube and Mobcrush, and Anna professes her love for Jessica. Why? You'll have to listen to find out!

Maybe it's not Zen, but we still love Joel McDonald's amazing game, Prune  and you should too. Joel tells us how the idea for Prune came about, plans for future updates, his origin story in gamedev, his shameful mobile gaming secret, and much, much more!

Sling Kong is one of our latest obsessions for very good reason. So please put your hands together for Dean Loades and Matt Knights of Protostar who so kindly brought it into our lives. Dean and Matt answer some very important questions about their future housing plans, tell us where the best game developers come from and much, much more. What on earth makes the best dinosaur sound? You'll have to listen to find out!

Genuine fan of the show and our ESN fearless leader, Moisés Chiullan, stops by and talks about his gaming credentials (or lack thereof :-)) and we try not to shame him too hard about not being a real filthy casual. We also run down the newsworthy events of the past week and then proceed to rant about the latest assholery perpetuated against casual gamers. Female  casual gamers to be exact. Are you ready to be outraged? 

If you heard Episode 42, you might recall that we said some things about iOS gaming site Touch Arcade that were a bit harsh and unkind. While we stand by a lot of what we said, we believe that we unfairly mischaracterized the site in a number of ways as well.We hold ourselves to a high standard here at Unconsoleable so we wanted to correct the record, so to speak. We hope our listeners and of course the editors and writers at Touch Arcade will forgive our hastiness. Mobile Game Avengers should stay allies.

Hellooooo there, dear listeners! That echo you hear is coming from inside Jessica's empty house as she prepares to leave it soon for New York (the state, not the city). The transition is bittersweet, but we are both in much better spirits this week so yay!

As you'll find out, the title of this episode is a bit on the sarcastic side. Jessica is having a rough time packing up her life in Atlanta and Anna is dealing with the hot and humid Chicago summer with her difficult-to-entertain preschooler. But we do our best for you and solider on to talk about Bethesda being gun shy about more mobile games, what we think of clones and copycat games, whether indies are charging more for games because of eeeevil free mobile games and how you might not be able to slack off at work anymore as easily as you once did!

Our Gaming Yoda and good friend Steve Lubitz is back in the Unconsoleable clubhouse to throw down some wisdom and, as it turns out, exact a long-overdue apology from your two hosts. Should Apple get into publishing their own games? (spoiler alert: NO) Will anyone ever get mobile gaming to be compelling on a TV? Who is mobile gaming on a TV even for? All these questions and more are answered in this episode.

This week we welcome another awesome indie developer (and Unconsoleable fan :-)) to the show! Jake Sones has worked for some big names like Sony and Blizzard, but the lure of mobile was too strong. He struck out on his own and is now developing Zombie Match Defense which is due out this fall. Don't let the name fool you. This match 3 game is destined for greatness and you can find out for yourself by signing up to be a tester (just scroll down to the bottom of the site).

I know, dear listeners, we're really on a roll with these episode titles, right? Again, this is still mostly safe for children unless you're not comfortable with them hearing about the big V :-) This week we welcome back to the show our friend, Matt Hall, one of the creators of smash hit Crossy Road. Matt is now slightly more famous than the last time we spoke, but he loves us (and we him) so he made room for us in his busy schedule to talk about going to E3, WWDC, his current projects, what the future holds and what American delicacy he recently tried at Disney World :-) Matt also gave us our first exclusive! You can hear something on this episode that no one else has heard. We were thrilled that Matt shared it with us and hope you'll be excited too!

Yes, dear listeners, you read that title right. And this is still mostly safe for children, we swear, though you might have some explaining to do if they're old enough to understand certain terms ;-)  Besides porn on extremely old, outdated types of media, we talked about  Touch Arcade's Patreon (spoiler alert: we are not fans), Bethesda's "surprise" hit Fallout Shelter, Nintendo's pronouncements on how their mobile games will be monetized and much, much more! Don't forget to tweet at us with the hashtag #bringbackJoe or #nomoreJoe to let us know what you thought of our awesome guest editor on Episode 41,  Joe Macirowski.

Please support App Camp for Girls! We're posting this week's episode early because there is little time left to donate to their campaign and we want you . Contribute NOW and do your part to ensure a bright future for women in technology. We welcome awesome indie game developer Jenna Hoffstein to the show to talk about her game, The Counting Kingdom, how being an indie isn't always all sunshine and rainbows and much more. Thanks again to our wonderful friend Joe for editing this week's episode! You're the best. Pleeeaaaase rate and review us on iTunes.  Where in the world are Anna and Jessica? Follow the show on Twitter or  email us if you want to go on Jessica's next Disney vacation and won't take no for an answer! ;) 

Unconsoleable has hit middle age with our 40th episode and we are celebrating by getting a totally inappropriate, shiny, new sports car! Sadly, that's not really true. Instead we talk about the important news mobile gamies need to know that came out of WWDC and E3, and why negative portrayals of gaming and other societal ills shouldn't be swept under the rug just because they make us uncomfortable. Think that's a bummer and don't want to hear about it? TOO BAD.