In this episode we each discuss some of our favourite video game stories.

• Bioshock 1
  • Vox: Bioshock proved that video games could be art
  • Bioshock 1 is available in a remastered collection of the first three games on Xbox One, PS4, and Steam, or you can still buy the first game standalone on Steam.
• Valkyria Chronicles
  • The original was on PS3, or you can pick up the remaster on PS4 or Steam.
• Last of Us
  • Polygon: Let's talk about the ending of The Last of Us
  • The Last of Us was released late in the PS3's lifecycle, so now you can pick up the remastered edition on PS4. A sequel is in the works.
• Metal Gear Solid 3
  • This is quite a tricky one to play now. There's an HD collection of MGS games for PS3, Xbox 360, and Vita. And there was a 3DS version of MGS3.
• Half-Life 2
  • You can pick up Half-Life 2 on Steam. The Orange Box includes Half-Life 2, and the Xbox 360 version is backwards compatible on Xbox One (also available on the Xbox marketplace).

Intro/Outro music: CJACKS - Runaway fashion

In this episode we discuss how (typically niche) video content creators are adapting to the thirst for consuming their (high quality) content, but have traditionally found it harder to earn money to do it. How is this affecting the consumer, the creator, and the platform? Further reading:

• YouTube: Mid-year Update on Our Five Creator Priorities for 2018
• Social impact of YouTube
• NYTimes: How the Internet Is Saving Culture, Not Killing It
• Wired: YouTube's Latest Shake-Up Is Bigger Than Just Ads

Intro/outro music: JACKS – Runaway Fashion

In this episode we discuss some of our favourite video game worlds to get lost in. We reminisce about some worlds we've not visited for a while, and we discuss what it means for a game world to be 'immersive'. Intro/outro music: JACKS – Runaway Fashion

In another 'Octal FM are Nintendo fanboys' episode, we take a look back at the often overlooked history of Nintendo and the Internet. It involves satellites beaming games down to a virtual village on your SNES. [caption id="attachment_203" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Photo by Muband for Wikipedia[/caption] Intro/outro music: JACKS - Runaway Fashion & an old modem

In this episode we tell the story of the Elite game series and our story of playing the original together back at school, and some bits about the space-sim genre as a whole.

• The Guardian excerpt from Backroom Boys about David Braben and Ian Bell.
• Elite (1984) free PC download (and the Mac version)
• Or play it in an emulator in your browser.
• Elite 1984 gameplay footage (Scott Manley)
• ArcElite (the version we played) gameplay footage
• Frontier Elite 2 footage
• Frontier First Encounters gameplay footage (with updated graphics) (Scott Manley)

Intro music: JACKS - Runaway Fashion Outro music: Strauss - Blue Danube