It's that time of the month again--Armchair Arcade Radio time, that is! Check out Episode 6, which features over 2 hours of retrogaming eggnog spiced with rum and boasting a nutty (as a fruitcake) aftertaste. This episode features exclusive content from Chip Hageman, Rob Daviau, Nathan Tolbert, Bill Loguidice, and yours truly, Matt Barton.

Click here for awesome.

Segments and approximate times below:

• Chip's Picks: Steel Storm Ep. 1, Space Chunks, Rocky Memphis, and more (00:04:09)
• Bill's Motion Gaming, continued: Sega Activator, XaviX XaviXPORT, and more (00:13:35)
• Rob's Collection Obsession (00:40:07)
• Nathan on the SSI Goldbox series (01:05:34)
• Matt on Unit Operations and Persuasive Games by Ian Bogost (01:18:48)

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Enjoy the show!

Unit OperationsI just finished reading Ian Bogost's book Unit Operations: An Approach to Videogame Criticism, a book that is probably already considered a foundational work for game studies. The book is clearly written for professional academics steeped in literary theory and with some smattering of reading in computer science, philosophy, and other fields. I can't tell if his tongue is in his cheek or not when he writes in the preface, "Jargon and obfuscation is a way of laying groundwork for novel production" and that his theory, like any other, "can't be obvious" (ii). However, there are plenty of kernels of interest to anyone with a serious interest in understanding games and, perhaps more importantly, the role they play and can play in our society and culture. In this review, I'll try to break down the book's key ideas.