We bought a microphone. We’re that serious.
About Gold Microphone
I’m happy to announce Gold Microphone: A Gold Machine Podcast. The idea behind it is simple. Gold Machine is a collection of formal (in internet terms, anyway) essays with academic influences. I love writing for Gold Machine, but the structure and tone don’t leave space for me to talk about the love I have for Infocom games. My solution is Gold Microphone, a podcast featuring informal discussions about these great games.
In each episode, co-hosts Drew Cook (me) and Callie Smith will discuss an Infocom game. Callie is an English PhD candidate who is interested in ecology and the visual arts. Like me, she loves cats. To avoid too much retread with the blog, we will tackle the games in semi-random order. Unlike me, Callie is not very experienced with interactive fiction or 1980s technology, which I believe is all for the best. Like me, Callie has experience teaching composition and creative writing at the college level.
Where Can I Find Gold Microphone?
Gold Microphone is available on all the major North American platforms (Spotify, Apple, Google, and more). If it is missing from your platform of choice, let me know. If you’d rather go straight to the host, you can find it on Anchor.fm.
The first episode is about Wishbringer. As an extra, we unbox a sealed grey box of the game on camera here.
We welcome feedback and comments. There are lots of ways to get ahold of Gold Machine: Twitter (@GomacB), comments below, or even email (golmac@golmac.org). We may respond to you on the air!
“Wishbringer” was the first Infocom title I played, and I was immediately hooked. What made these games such tremendous learning tools was that kids growing up in the ’80s had few resources if they got stuck. You describe this as not the type of game one would need to ruminate on for a week but nowadays there would be no need; walkthroughs would even be available right away upon the game’s release. Back then if you were really desperate you could send away for hint books written in invisible ink, which were entertaining in their own right.
It was a different pace, for sure. It took me a couple of years to beat Deadline. I wasn’t playing all the time, mind you, but I’d play, get stuck, then come back and play some more. I loved Invisiclues but preferred waiting to see if I could get through on my own. Fortunately, the Lost Treasures of Infocom included all Invisiclues (without the ink, sadly). The first thing I did after beating a game was reading every clue. They really were a fun read.