In this bonus episode, we talk more with Trevor Strunk of No Cartridge.  Trevor has a forthcoming book called Story Mode: Video Games and the Interplay Between Consoles and Culture. It’s coming out this November.

The book looks at the shifting politics of major franchises, including Metal Gear. Metal Gear offered a trenchant critique of war, militarism, big data, surveillance, and the deep state. But for Trevor, Metal Gear eventually lost its way– the series ended up lionizing warriors. By the end of the series, its politics aren’t much better than a Marvel movie.

Trevor and Gordon talk about Metal Gear and what went wrong, but it’s part of a much wider-ranging conversation about the politics of video games. We also return to that perennial debate: are video games art?