“Gamelogica: NEW YouTube channel on mythology & theology in games”

Introducing a brand new channel: Gamelogica, a somewhat ridiculous exploration of myth, spirituality, and religion in video games. Folk will really be like “I hate reading, religion is boring, classical music sucks” and then play a JRPG. Interested in discovering just how spiritual video games are? Our micro-documentaries unpack the inspirations behind your favorite gaming icons, no matter how far back we must travel in time. However, what should we expect? If video games are an art form and art is influenced by culture, then culture influences video games, infusing them with any number of mythological or theological references.

You don’t need to be religious to watch this channel any more than you need to be religious to play Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Mana, Xeno, Mario, Zelda, Pokémon, Metal Gear, Halo, Shadow of the Colossus, Okami, Castlevania, Assassin’s Creed, Monster Hunter, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Animal Crossing, or God of War. There are so many other examples. This channel isn’t about any of my personal beliefs. This is simply a new way that we can approach studying and understanding video games while having a bit of humor on the side.

Because this is about games, I want to gamify watching the channel! Each episode comes with a featured character, be that a historical figure or a mythological one. I can reveal the characters for each of the three launch videos coming soon: Archimedes, the Fire-Maker; Young Arthur, Once and Future King; Lovecraft, Author of Cosmic Horrors. We’re making these characters (created by pixel artist @captain_supreme) into collectibles! Supporters through Patreon will have access to downloading these figures as a sprite sheet or as vector pngs, and we’re turning them into holo-stickers, too. You’ll get them mailed right to your door (printed by @joypadladshop) so please consider making a small pledge at Patreon.com/Gamelogica to help support independent art, design, and research.

Below are samples of the thumbnails, titles, and featured characters for our first three videos:

Yesterday, Gamelogica dropped its first trailer. You can watch it below!

Additionally, I’m hosting a GIVEAWAY! One lucky fan will win a mint condition, unplayed and unspun copy of Esperwave. This is a vinyl record with unique cover art by Yoshitaka Amano depicting Terra from Final Fantasy VI in the poise of the Birth of Venus. I thought it was fitting. Don’t have a record player? No worries, this makes for some killer wall art.

To enter, watch the trailer, subscribe to the channel on YouTube, and leave a comment. I’ll pick a winner from the comments on 2.23.24: launch day! I’ve been working on this project for years, so it’s great to get it off the ground at last. Good luck and thanks for watching!

Red formerly ran The Well-Red Mage and now serves The Pixels as founder, writer, editor, and podcaster. He has undertaken a seemingly endless crusade to talk about the games themselves in the midst of a culture obsessed with the latest controversy, scandal, and news cycle about harassment, toxicity, and negativity. Pick out his feathered cap on Twitter @thewellredmage or Mage Cast.