Fri, 7 February 2020
THE PROBLEM WITH LOVECRAFT: A lot of controversy was had (mostly on Twitter) over the last few weeks with the release of Evil Hat Productions' Fate of Cthulhu, a new table-top RPG integrating the systems of Evil Hat's Fate Core and the Lovecraft mythos. Evil Hat proudly declared that it was bucking tropes of other Lovecraft-inspired games––mainly how it addresses Lovecraft's prejudices head-on and it doesn't include sanity meters for its players––and that, for some reason, made a lot of people upset. Andrew talks about the subsequent furor while D. Bethel shows up as our resident Lovecraft scholar. RELEVANT LINKS:
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Fri, 31 January 2020
WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew talks about becoming enraptured by the first episode of the new CBS All Access series, Star Trek: Picard while D. Bethel enjoys the poignant but strange end to a creative team's long run on Batman with the DC Comics' Black Label series, Batman: Last Knight on Earth by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo.
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Fri, 24 January 2020
WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew dives in to Hello Games' No Man's Sky after another patch while D. Bethel relays his experience going to see Kevin Smith present his newest film––Jay and Silent Bob Reboot––as part of a traveling tour for the movie when it came to Sacramento.
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Fri, 17 January 2020
NEW WHO: Series 12 of Doctor Who started up on New Year's Day. With three weeks gone and now three episodes in, our Who-loving hosts sit down to talk about it (mostly just the first two episodes SPOILER WARNING for "Spyfall, Part 1" and "Spyfall, Part 2").
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Fri, 10 January 2020
IS THE FORCE STILL WITH US?: This week, Andrew and D. Bethel talk not about Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (although there are things that amount to SPOILERS for both The Rise of Skywalker and The Mandalorian in this episode, so be warned). Instead, they talk about what comes next. An article from NME, it was reported that the next Star Wars saga will be set during the "High Republic" era of the canon, predating all nine numbered movies by 400 years. Andrew and D. Bethel talk about this development––and about Star Wars in general––and even get into a fight about an IP that neither are particularly passionate about.
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Fri, 3 January 2020
WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew and D. Bethel start the new year with some things they have only light knowledge of and experience with. Andrew starts watching Netflix's The Witcher and only briefly plays Haemimont Games' Surviving Mars. D. Bethel has fun playing detective in the disgusting Lovecraftian world of Frogwares' The Sunking City.
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Fri, 27 December 2019
THE FINAL COUNTDOWN: As 2019 hurries to a close, our hosts kick up their feet and just chat about the things they're doing to occupy their time until the new year rolls around. They talk about everything from the winter Steam sale, to finishing Outer Wilds (no spoilers!), to Lovecraftian tabletop games (Fate of Cthulhu), video games (The Sinking City), and novels (Winter Tide), to developing for web browsers, to––of course––Doctor Who and Star Wars.
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Fri, 20 December 2019
EXPECTING THE EXPECTED: On the day this podcast episode releases, so too does the newest cinematic installment of the main Star Wars series with Star Wars - Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. But Andrew and D. aren't here to talk about the movie––they haven't seen it yet. Instead, they're here to talk about the talk about the movie, specifically the rather surprising amount of negative reviews coming from––not internet trolls––professional film reviewers. It leads to a multi-faceted conversation about expectations, fandom, and even the changing landscape of cinema narratives.
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Fri, 13 December 2019
WEEK IN GEEK (kind of): It turned out to be an accidental Week in Geek episode as D. Bethel talks about his disappointment with Valve Corporation's sidelining of Campo Santo's Firewatch followup, In the Valley of Gods. On the opposite side of breaking news, Andrew finally gets around to watching Star Trek: Discovery and kind of unabashedly loves it.
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Fri, 6 December 2019
TRAILER SEASON: With the year coming to an end, it's all about looking forward for nerdy and geeky entertainment. Lately, it seems a lot of trailers for new movies and television events have been dropping that are getting people talking. This week, Andrew and D. Bethel talk about the new trailers for Black Widow, No Time to Die, Crisis on Infinite Earths, and Doctor Who: Series 12. INFO:
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Fri, 29 November 2019
HAPPY GEEKSGIVING: Disguising a perfectly good Week in Geek episode, our hosts discuss the recent nerdy things in their lives that, like American Thanksgiving, seem to be all about bringing people together––directly or indirectly. Andrew relates his time with Hideo Kojima's recent game, Death Stranding while D. Bethel has spent the last half-year taking up the challenge of finding out whether he's actually a fan of the band Queen or not.
What nerdy and geeky things have brought you through the beginning of this winter holiday season? Let us know!
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Fri, 22 November 2019
WEEK IN GEEK: This week, our humble hosts are back playing games of all sorts. Andrew heads to the tile-covered table and is reasonably impressed playing yet another Legacy-branded game––Betrayal Legacy by Avalon Hill a multi-session version of the popular semi-cooperative horror game, Betrayal on Haunted Hill. D. Bethel finally had some time to step into the digital realm and got lost in the clockwork expanse of the very interesting and subtle Outer Wilds (no, not The Outer Worlds) by Mobius Digital (WARNING: mild spoilers for Outer Wilds are given in the episode).
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Fri, 15 November 2019
THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE MANDALORIAN: A brief check-in to the release of Disney+ this week as Andrew reacts to the first episode of their original, Star Wars show, The Mandalorian. He is surprised more at how much it pulls from Westerns than Star Wars.
A LONG TIME AGO, WE USED TO BE FRIENDS: Veronica Mars was always a show that hovered just below wide popularity, but its fans were devoted and supportive. From the original three seasons that aired on UPN/the CW to its Kickstarted movie, to Hulu's revival with a fourth season, Andrew and D. Bethel did a rewatch of the show and have some thoughts on what it has been, what it is now, and what it could be in the future.
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Fri, 8 November 2019
NEW TV NOT ON TV: Some interesting tv has not only been announced but is starting to get reviewed, but what makes it interesting is that a lot of this tv is not on "regular" tv. With services like Disney+ and Apple TV+ bringing some high profile shows to the scene, other services and broadcast tv is also starting to step up their offerings as well.
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Fri, 1 November 2019
THE LAST FIRST: Fallout 76 continues to accidentally grab headlines or, at least, grabs headlines it doesn't want. After a year of toiling in player complaints, bugs, and marketing schemes gone awry, the game seemed to have found a balance for those still enjoying the experience. Then Bethesda announced (and released) "Fallout First", a premium subscription for players that would get them a whole host of goodies. In true Fallout 76 fashion, it didn't take long for this to fall apart in big, bad ways.
Also, November 8-10, D. Bethel will be with his comic, Long John, at the Reno Pop Culture Convention! If you're in the area, it's looking to be a great show; so, be sure to stop by and say hi!
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Fri, 25 October 2019
WEEK IN GEEK: Taking a break from the news, Andrew and D. Bethel talk about the things that have been interesting to them over the last week or so. First, Andrew goes back to finish Unknown Worlds Entertainment's Subnautica. Then D. Bethel finds much to appreciate––and much to make him uncomfortable––in the recent film, Joker. Then, to round things out, Andrew also gets underwhelmed but intrigued by the possibility found in Lazy Bear Games' Graveyard Keeper.
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Fri, 18 October 2019
TO ME, MY LITIGATORS: Eyebrows raised recently when a Florida man sued Marvel, Fox, Saban Entertainment, and many other production companies saying that the generation-defining theme song of the '90s X-Men animated show actually plagiarized a strikingly similar theme of a popular Hungarian tv show from the 1980s. Nerd Law man, Andrew, and X-Men fanatic, D. Bethel, put their heads together to see if this case has any legs to stand on. (A big thanks to friend-of-the-show, André La Roche for his consultation on this topic.)
DISNEY PEMDAS: Last week, Disney made waves as it began an irresponsibly long Twitter thread announcing every title that would be available on its upcoming Disney+ service. D. Bethel and Andrew sort through the announcement, talking about how much this will shift the paradigm of entertainment consumption.
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Fri, 11 October 2019
A BLIZZARD OF CONTROVERSY: Activision Blizzard––makers of such hit games as World of Warcraft, Overwatch, and Hearthstone––have hit a geo-political wall as they take a stance over controversial statements made by the winner of a Hearthstone tournament about the protests in Hong Kong against the People's Republic of China. Andrew and D. Bethel investigate the complicated relationship between popular American entertainment and China.
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Fri, 4 October 2019
NOT FAR FROM HOME: It was announced that Sony and Disney/Marvel had once again struck a deal that will keep Tom Holland's Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, much to the joy of fans and to the benefit of both companies' bank accounts. Having discussed the initial breakup back when it happened in August, Andrew and D. Bethel have a surprisingly heated discussion of this generally happy news.
THE STRANGEST HANDSHAKE: British tabletop company, Games Workshop, announced that it will be licensing one of its beloved properties––Warhammer 40,000––to American comic book giant, Marvel Comics, to make a line of comic books. This is interesting because both of Games Workshop's original Warhammer line and especially its Warhammer 40,000 line have deep lore and continuities that has our hosts wondering how well it will translate to a comic book series.
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Fri, 27 September 2019
WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew watches the trippy but artistic and engaging new Amazon Prime show, Undone starring Rosa Salazar, while D. Bethel––amidst all of his academic toil––finds time to be challenged and charmed by the actual roguelike deckbuilding phone game, Meteorfall: Journey by SlothWerks.
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Fri, 20 September 2019
A WHOLE [KIND OF] NEW WORLD: After waiting well past when the rest of the world saw it, our hosts decide to watch and discuss the 2019 live-action adaptation of the animated Disney classic, Aladdin.
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Fri, 13 September 2019
TWO MAN'S SKY: With No Man's Sky Beyond––the newest big 2.0 patch for the open world, sci-fi survival game, No Man's Sky––it kind of brings to a close the long, arduous, but ultimately heartwarming story of this unique game by the small team at Hello Games. Andrew and D. Bethel talk about the years-long journey of this game.
"I'M NOT LISTENING": Amid the stories about the varoius #[Insert Noun]Gates and #MeToo stories circulating through nerd culture, one of the bigger cases in the last year revolved around voice actor, Vic Mignogna, known for work in many anime, especially the Dragon Ball franchise. When allegations were made about his misconduct in the workplace, he started suing people and companies when they started dropping him from their employ. In the last few weeks––in an almost comical fashion––a few of Mignogna's cases were dismissed, casting his defense and seriousness about this fight in doubt despite crowdfunding nearly $250,000 to pay for his legal fees. Resident nerd lawyer, Andrew, talks Dan through this bizarre moment.
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Fri, 6 September 2019
LAST OF THE TIME LORDS: At the end of August 2019, the world lost a writer who is probably the most important figure to the BBC hit, Doctor Who, in Terrance Dicks. A prominent writer for the show in the late sixties through the eighties, he also served as the script editor (what we would call now a showrunner) for six years (1969-1974), supervising the transitioning in of the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and revitalizing the show's popularity as it transitioned from black and white into color.
In addition introducing things like the Time Lords and Gallifrey into the continuity, he's probably most well-known for writing a voluminous amount of the show's novelizations. In light of his death, Andrew and D. Bethel spend some time talking up one the most important figures in a show they both hold so very dear.
ANDY AND THE PAX WEST OF 2019: Last weekend held the four-day gaming extravaganza called PAX West, which Andrew attended (as well as an associated indie-focused show called Seattle Indie Expo). He goes over the experience of attending the show yet again and how his attitudes about the show have changed over time. GAMES ANDREW MENTIONED:
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Fri, 30 August 2019
WEEK IN GEEK: The boys are back to video games as Andrew plays the 1.0 release of Klei Entertainment's sci-fi survival game, Oxygen Not Included, while D. Bethel can't believe he's enjoying the heck out of Final Fantasy XV, especially because it makes no sense.
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Fri, 23 August 2019
ANDREW IS OLDER: We start by celebrating Andrew's birthday a little bit. So, what did he do? He watched Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan again and also went to see Weird Al Yankovic in concert during his "Strings Attached" tour where Yankovic and his band toured with a 41-piece orchestra.
FARTHER FROM HOME: The news this week was kind of bad for Marvel Cinematic Universe fans as Sony and Disney apparently stepped away from the deal that brought them together in the first place. What this means (as it currently stands) is that future Spider-Man films can't interact with the MCU or Avengers-based films. Andrew and D. Bethel talk about what's going on here and what are the ups and downs of this news story.
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Fri, 16 August 2019
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew plays Ultima (a.k.a. Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness) in the hopes of reverse engineering it so he can build his own browser game while D. Bethel is genuinely surprised by the depth and charm of Sabotage Studio's action/platformer/exploration game, The Messenger. RELEVANT LINKS:
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Fri, 9 August 2019
CRISIS OF INFINITE CASTING NEWS: Seemingly every day since SDCC has brought news of former DC actors being cast in the big DC/CW crossover event, "Crisis on Infinite Earths." Andrew and D. Bethel break down some of the headlines.
EPIC LETDOWN: In another look at gaming culture is a trash fire, D. and Andrew examine the extreme and toxic blowback that game developer, Glumberland, received from gamers when they announced that their upcoming game, Ooblets, would be exclusive on PC at the Epic Games Store. RELEVANT LINKS:
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Fri, 2 August 2019
WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew continues his trend of trying things out years after their initial release by sitting down with 2014's Sims 4 while D. Bethel tries to wrap his head around the opaque––but good?––X-franchise reboot in House of X #1 and Powers of X #1, both written by Jonathan Hickman. SPOILERS for these two titles; you've been warned.
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Fri, 26 July 2019
CAN YOU SDCC ME NOW?: Though San Diego Comic Con is ostensibly about comic books, the biggest announcements that seem to come out of the show revolve around cinematic and televised properties. Andrew and D. Bethel focus on the announcements that not only ignited their excitement but also triggered their critical processes, from the Cats trailer to the next big DC/CW "Arrowverse" crossover event to the new Star Trek show to Marvel's Phase 4 lineup.
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Fri, 19 July 2019
STILL STRANGE: This week, Andrew and D. Bethel examine what impressed––and what impressed less––them about the recently released season 3 of the Netflix hit, Stranger Things.
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Fri, 12 July 2019
MISTER, I'LL MAKE AN EPIC OUT OF YOU: Andrew and D. Bethel briefly touch upon the interesting and promising live-action adaptation of the animated Disney classic, Mulan, even though this seems to be making considerable changes from the animated source material (seemingly to be more in-line with the folkloric source material). Here's the Twitter thread that Andrew mentioned, starting here with this tweet by Jenn Ravenna. OBLIVIOUS OBSIDIAN: After Chris Avellone's controversial interview where he makes argument about political content in video games, a former coworker of his at Obsidian––Leonard Boyarski––steps into the trap when discussing the politics of the upcoming Obsidian RPG, Outer Worlds, in an interview with PC Gamer. Andrew and Dan try to parse the differences with Avellone's comments and why this is such an issue (still).
REMAKE REDUX: Andrew briefly discusses his short but pleasant time with the recently released Resident Evil 2 remake.
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Fri, 5 July 2019
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew takes a step further into Image & Form Games' Steamworld, uh, world with their newest entry, Steamworld Quest. D. Bethel dusts off his bushido and patience as he's both impressed and slightly confused by SNK's reboot of their classic franchise, Samurai Shodown [sic]. RELEVANT EPISODES:
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Fri, 28 June 2019
A RITUAL CIRCLE OF ARIAS OF THE NIGHT MOON: Mentioned last week, both Andrew and D. Bethel have put some time into the newest Igavania game––meaning a Metroidvania game specifically made by Koji Igarashi––Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night and they are enjoying the presence of both nostalgic throwback and interesting choices that move the genre forward.
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Fri, 21 June 2019
WEEK IN GEEK: This week, our hosts talk about new things involving their favorite things. For example, Andrew discusses his time playing the Modiphius tabletop RPG, Star Trek Adventures and how it adapts all aspects of the long-lasting franchise, and D. Bethel makes his defense for 20th Century Fox's Dark Phoenix. RELEVANT LINKS:
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Fri, 14 June 2019
E3 2019: This year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) has been a strange one with big players absent and new hardware on the horizon, but it's still bringing announcements and trailers to make our jaded hosts excited.
Games discussed: Cyberpunk 2077, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Fallout 76, Pokémon Sword/Shield, among others.
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Fri, 7 June 2019
APOLITICAL APOCALYPSE: A recent article at VG247.com interviewed (as part of the piece) games designer and writer, Chris Avellone––writer/designer of games such as Fallout 2, Fallout: New Vegas, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II–––who argued not only that his writing was without any political inspiration nor had any political agenda (small "p"), but that he "[didn't] condone developers who [wanted] to do political games or make a statement" (McKeand). In fairness, the quote has since been edited by VG247.com, replacing "condone" with "condemn", softening Avellone's criticism a little bit, stating that Avellone wrote "doesn't condone" accidentally and his actual sentiment is more clearly presented with the correction. Still, this makes us think––are games (or any text in popular culture) apolitical, or can they be? Andrew and D. Bethel investigate how this is a problem. RELEVANT LINKS:
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Fri, 31 May 2019
FINAL FARCRY: Spurred on by his playthrough of Farcry Primal––a survival first-person shooter with "RPG Elements"––Andrew and D. Bethel examine what this phrase means and what it says about the ever-evolving definition of Role-Playing Games. RELEVANT LINKS:
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Fri, 24 May 2019
POLYGONS IN AN AQUARIUM: After years of doubt, SquareEnix released a trailer for Final Fantasy VII Remake that included some actual gameplay footage, which got Andrew and D. Bethel thinking about why a remake for Final Fantasy VII is necessary and why––it seems––the best way to keep PS1/Sega Saturn games viable in a modern market is to do full remakes rather than just porting them to modern machines.
Speaking of which, here's the trailer for Final Fantasy VII Remake.
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Fri, 17 May 2019
WEEK IN GEEK: With all that's been going on in the nerd world, our hosts take some time out for themselves this week. For Andrew, he attended the theatrical premiere of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine documentary, What We Left Behind. D. Bethel stayed home to explore the digital recreation of classical Egypt while playing Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Origins.
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Fri, 10 May 2019
ENDGAME POSTGAME: SPOILER WARNING FOR AVENGERS: ENDGAME Andrew and D. Bethel have now both seen Avengers: Endgame and, conveniently, the Russo brothers lifted the spoiler ban on Monday; so, our hosts dive right into the soup of scenes, moments, narrative threads, and surprises that make up this landmark movie event. RELEVANT LINKS:
For episode, music, and social media information, head to the page for this episode at ForAllIntents.net.
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Fri, 3 May 2019
THE NAME OF THE GAME: The first trailer for the upcoming live-action cinematic adaptation of Sonic the Hedgehog has––as can be expected––drawn a lot of conversation and criticism...including on your favorite nerdy-geeky podcast. Andrew and D. Bethel have a lot to say about the trailer and, in a larger scope, movie adaptations of video games and what works and what doesn't. But first, the trailer. RELEVANT LINKS:
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Fri, 26 April 2019
AVENGERS CODA: With the release Avengers: Endgame this week (this is SPOILER FREE since neither have seen the film yet), Andrew and D. Bethel decide to examine a few aspects of the MCU and, especially, what and how Avengers: Infinity War set up this big finale. They discuss an analysis of Thanos as a sympathetic villain, what they're looking forward to after this movie's release, and briefly discuss Andrew's attempted rewatch of 11 years of MCU entries. RELEVANT LINKS:
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*tracks are licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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Fri, 19 April 2019
NOTRE-DAME THE TORPEDOES: We open this week talking about the tragic fire at the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, focusing on how its rebuilding efforts may be aided by the diligent work of Ubisoft (and the work they put into making Assassin's Creed: Unity. THIS SHOULDN'T WORK: Andrew and D. Bethel talk about a tv show they've been mildly reticent to discuss because they can't believe it's actually good: Seth MacFarlane's The Orville––an unabashed Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation pastiche that is actually becoming some of the best Star Trek available. RELEVANT LINKS:
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FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 12 April 2019
CONSOLE WARS II: THE NEW CHALLENGERS: Things got shaken up in the world of video games––maybe––as Google announced its streaming-forward gaming platform––maybe––called Stadia while Apple announced its gaming-focused subscription platform––maybe––called Apple Arcade. Andrew and D. Bethel discuss the merits of these announcements and how they either apply, predict, or completely misread the gaming landscape.
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Fri, 5 April 2019
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew dives into the storied No Man's Sky and kind-of-fights with Dan about games media coverage while D. Bethel relates his experience speaking about comics––and his webcomic, Long John, to a college graphic novels as literature class. RELEVANT LINKS:
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Fri, 29 March 2019
A MARVEL OF A MOVIE: Albeit a few weeks late, both Andrew and D. Bethel have finally seen Marvel Studios' newest entry into their cinematic universe with Captain Marvel, and they have a lot to say about it. This conversation does discuss SPOILERS for the film, so be wary of listening if you have not yet seen the film. RELEVANT EPISODES:
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*Tracks are licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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Fri, 22 March 2019
WEEK IN GEEK: We start with Andrew getting a bit sick while trying to play multiple versions of Minecraft before D. Bethel gets charmed by the grimdark world of the 2017 NetherRealm hit, Injustice 2, and then rounding back to Andrew as he talks about Rodney Thompson's heist RPG in a box, Dusk City Outlaws. RELEVANT EPISODES:
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Fri, 15 March 2019
MARVELLOUS DEBUT: A quick check-in with the toxic male comics fandom to start the show. A few weeks ago, Andrew and D. Bethel talked about how proponents for ComicsGate and their robot army were trying to tank Captain Marvel well before it released into theaters with negative scores on Rotten Tomatoes. The hosts just wanted to recognize that Marvel Studios' newest movie debuted to record-breaking ticket sales, thoroughly debunking and neutering the latest efforts by those who try to gatekeep and, honestly, destroy comics fandom and its associated medium. A LOT OF GREY AREA: A new trailer for the live-action adaptation of the classic Disney animate feature, Aladdin, went live this week and while the first trailer made Andrew and D. cautiously optimistic, this new one got both of them fully on-board. They talk about adaptations again, specifically from medium to medium (like, in this case, animation to live-action) and why it's a good thing for adapters (is that the word?) to break with tradition and say something unique even with a beloved property. RELEVANT EPISODES:
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FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 8 March 2019
WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew goes back to the wasteland for the first time as he plays Fantasy Flight's board game version of Fallout, while D. Bethel does a postmortem on the X-Men-based Fox television show, The Gifted, after its second (and final?) season finale [SPOILER ALERT].
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FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 1 March 2019
HIGHER, FURTHER, FASTER (THAN THE TROLLS CAN FOLLOW): As with many nerdy movies lately that have been labeled as being damaging to the field, Marvel's upcoming tent-pole film, Captain Marvel (the first from Marvel Studios to have a woman in the lead role), aggregate review site Rotten Tomatoes have been targeted by these organized hate campaigns by getting "review bombed." This means people have taken the steps to make sure sites like Rotten Tomatoes––a site many people visit to see how upcoming movies are trending and reviewing––show a low anticipation or review score with the hope of scaring off potential viewers and condemning the film to low box office receipts. Star Wars: The Last Jedi was victim to this as was 2016's Ghostbusters reboot and, in possibly in a successful campaign, Solo: A Star Wars Story got hit hard. However, Captain Marvel is on track to break records with ticket presales and be a big smash at theaters. Andrew and D. Bethel investigate this continuing trend, how Rotten Tomatoes is actually, finally, doing something about this habit, and discuss how and why Captain Marvel seems to be beating the odds. AS MENTIONED:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 22 February 2019
WEEK IN GEEK: Both Andrew and D. went to see new movies over the last few weeks, so they can enter the incredibly potent world of hot takes as Andrew discusses how The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part delivers on the promise of the first one and D. tries to figure out what he thinks of Alita: Battle Angel and if he can separate nostalgia and snobbery from cinematic compromise. RELEVANT LINKS:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 15 February 2019
THE CLIPS EPISODE: Due to a distortion of the space-time continuum, Andrew ended up on his own to record an episode. Instead of 50 minutes of dead air, he decided to throw together a clips episode featuring past segments on Star Trek! RELEVANT EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 8 February 2019
WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew and D. finally return to video games for their Weeks in Geek. Andrew gets lost (in a good way) playing Subnautica by Unknown Worlds Entertainment while D. Bethel explores the mysterious labyrinthine world found in Team Cherry's Hollow Knight. RELEVANT EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 1 February 2019
MIRA DEL MAHER: Bill Maher redoubles his "complaints" against adult comic book fans on a recent episode of his show, Real Time with Bill Maher, in an editorial titled, "Grow Up" (from the "New Rules" segment he does at the end of his show). Andrew and D. examine less the content of his argument and more the ideas it intersects, discussing the need for fandom self-reflection, literature and literary history, the Western canon, and the invented division between "high" and "low" art. Though linked above, here is the segment in question. RELEVANT LINKS:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 25 January 2019
WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew takes dives into season three of Netflix's The Travelers and ponders how it continually plays with time travel in interesting ways while D. Bethel gets educated and affected by the Netflix documentary, Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski––a documentary about artist Stanisław Szukalski and his time trying to create a national artistic identity for Poland, his brush with nationalism, his loss of everything due to Nazi occupation, and his rediscovery by a bunch of scraggly Los Angeles underground comix makers. Here's the trailer for Travelers, season 3. And here's the trailer for Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski. RELEVANT EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 18 January 2019
NERD LAW, 2019: Two unrelated but intriguingly similar trademark cases have made the rounds in the news this last week. Chooseco, the owner of the Choose Your Own Adventure franchise has brought a lawsuit to Netflix over Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and the tenuous if not honorific connections that movie has to the classic children's book series. In the world of video games, the Pinkerton Consulting & Investigations has sued Take Two––owners of Rockstar Games––for the apparent vilification of the company in the developer's highly successful late-2018 release, Red Dead Redemption 2. Andrew and D. Bethel sound the Nerd Law alarm and discuss these two cases in depth. Dan will be tabling at Stocktoncon Winter this Sunday, January 20, with Kyrun Silva of Taurus Comics yet again (which hints at a return of the Con Artists limited podcast series)! If you're in the area, please stop by. For more information, read this post at Long John or go straight to the source at Stocktoncon.com. Hope to see you there! RELEVANT EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 11 January 2019
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew...watches? plays?...the Black Mirror interactive movie, Bandersnatch, while D. Bethel gets sentimental about Transformers again after watching Bumblebee. RELEVANT EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 4 January 2019
LOOKING FORWARD: With 2018 behind them, Andrew and D. Bethel discuss what they're looking forward to in 2019. Andrew is interested in the upcoming premium Disney streaming service, Disney+, as well as to Bethesda Game Studios adding more content to Fallout 76, while D. Bethel can't wait for It, Chapter 2 to hit theaters as well as playing the new game from Firewatch's Campo Santo, In the Valley of the Gods. What are you looking forward to in 2019? Let us know in the comments! RELEVANT EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 28 December 2018
THE YEAR THAT WAS: With the final week of the year barreling toward us, Andrew and D. Bethel decide to throw format out the window and just talk. Guided by the question, "What does 2018 make you think of?", they veer all over the place from Fallout (of course) and learning how to code to the many-tiered beast that was ComicsGate and the panacea to that garbage with things like the new Halloween and She-Ra. What do you think of when you think of the 2018 that was? How would you summarize this year? Let us know! RELEVANT EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"District Four" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 26 October 2018
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew gets impressed with The Bard's Tale Trilogy remastered collection on Steam while D. Bethel watches Venom and, even though he enjoyed it, wonders why it's hitting such a strong chord with viewers. DOCTOR BOO!: With Spookytober drawing to a close, Andrew and D. couldn't not talk about Doctor Who, so they dove into the archive to talk about what they argue may be one of the series' scariest episodes yet, series 4's "Midnight." LINKS:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 19 October 2018
WEEK IN GEEK: This week, it's a dive into the Fall tv shows that both our hosts were excited to see as Andrew watches the first episode of Alton Brown's Good Eats: Reloaded while D. Bethel reacts to the first three episodes of the second season of The Gifted. GAMES WORKERS UNITE: In the wake of massive layoffs by developers like Telltale Games and Riot Games, The Vulture published an article under the auspice of being a "behind the scenes" look at Red Dead Redemption 2's development at Rockstar Games. The article sparked a lot of controversy, specifically around the (walked back) claim of the team working 100-hour weeks multiple times during 2018 to make sure this game is top of the line in terms of quality. These incidents bring again a highlight to the labor practices of game development, through which D. and Andrew try to wade. RELEVANT EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 12 October 2018
HALLOWED HALLOWEEN: The Spookytober topic for this week is the forty-years later direct sequel to John Carpenter's breakthrough––and culturally important––hit, Halloween. This new movie, Halloween, sees the return of Jamie Lee Curtis to her role as Laurie Strode but instead of being the prey of Michael Meyers, it is he who becomes the hunted. Andrew and D. Bethel discuss the series and what they're expecting/hoping from this new movie. WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew gets his Metroidvania on with Chucklefish's Timespinner and how eerily Castlevania: Symphony of the Night it seems to be at times while D. Bethel becomes enthralled with the first five episodes of the podcast audio drama produced by a collaboration between Marvel Comics and Stitcher (the podcast streaming website), Wolverine: The Long Night. RELEVANT EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 5 October 2018
MEYERED IN CONTROVERSY: Richard Meyer and his "Diversity and Comics" YouTube Channel have been no stranger on this podcast with his leading the charge of the abhorrent ComicsGate dissention among comic book fandom. After gaining notoriety with his "Dark Roast" YouTube video (since deleted) that accused various popular industry creatives of committing sexual, devious, and illegal acts to get their way to the top, Mark Waid––among others––reached out to Antarctic Press to voice concerns with their decision to publish Meyer's comic, JAWBREAKERS. After hearing those concerns, Antarctic Press terminated their contract with Meyer and went to the internet to spew bile in response. At the end of September, Meyer sued Waid for "tortious interference with contract" and "defamation." D. Bethel and resident nerd lawyer, Andrew Asplund, dive back into this cesspool to navigate what exactly is going on throughout this new development. NOTE: No comment made by Andrew during this episode constitutes legal advice or establishes client-lawyer relations. TWILIGHT RETURNS: It was recently announced that the previously announced Jordan Peele-produced reboot of The Twilight Zone will actually star Mr. Peele himself as the host for the digital-only streaming service CBS All-Access. Andrew and D. talk about their excitement––and fears! (to make it spooky for Spookytober)––for the upcoming show. RELEVANT EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 21 September 2018
FALL (TV IS) BACK: With the summer doldrums of tv coming to a close, Andrew and D. Bethel discuss the Fall tv they're looking forward to, including the debut of a new Doctor (and production team) with series 11 of Doctor Who, Andrew's circumspect approach to the reboot Magnum and quizzical anticipation for Alton Brown's Good Eats Reloaded, D. Bethel's blind eagerness for the new season of The Gifted and Outlander, and both hosts' skepticism of the new Riggs-less third season Lethal Weapon. It's nerdy Fall tv front to back. RELEVANT LINKS: RELEVANT EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"District Four" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 14 September 2018
WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew takes some dungeon mastering advice from Mike Shea aka "Sly Flourish" and his The Lazy Dungeon Master book while Dan becomes smitten by the new Marvel's Spider-Man game by Insomniac Games. RELEVANT LINKS:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"District Four" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 7 September 2018
GAMES AT PAX WEST: We sent our man on the scene, Andrew, to PAX West while our Man in California, D. Bethel, watched on the internet. Now, they talk about the games they saw. Andrew muses over gameplay quirks in Stone Story RPG and Aground, while D. reacts to the strong sprites ethic in Get in the Car, Loser! and Star Renegades. Also, Andrew reflects on a series of panels he saw at the event, all of which focus on not just tabletop role-playing games, but specifically––and surprisingly––just Dungeons & Dragons. Also, D. Bethel will be exhibiting at the 2018 Crocker Con in Sacramento! It is on Thursday, September 13th, from 6-9:30pm at the Crocker Art Museum in Downtown Sacramento. For more info, click here, or check out the Facebook Event page. INFO:
For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 31 August 2018
STOP BEING MEAN: Of the many "-Gates" that exist in the nerd world right now, some ticks in the "good" column happened recently in the fight called "ComicsGate", an online harrassment campaign against diversity and representation in both the fiction and creation of mainstream comic books (meaning, mainly, books made by DC and Marvel). RELATED EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"District Four" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 17 August 2018
It's the return of NERD LAW! A MARVELOUS MONSTER: After a long gestation and some delays, Disney has officially acquired 20th Century Fox assets, comprising of Fox's film and tv properties. This means everything from the Alien franchise to Bob's Burgers and even The Simpsons are now owned by Disney. Of course, for comic book fans and fans of comic book movies, the biggest part of this deal means that the X-Men and the Fantastic Four film rights are now under Disney/Marvel control. But it's a much bigger––and more complicated––deal than just the superhero franchises and make some people a little nervous. WHAT NINTENDON'T: Emulation software has been on the internet for at least twenty years at this point, allowing people to download and play often near-perfect versions of games from the NES, SNES, and many other classic consoles. While playing emulated games have always been legally murky, Nintendo's big legal smackdown of a few emulator and ROM sites in particular have really shaken the whole community in more ways than one. RELATED EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 3 August 2018
GOING BACK: Having played Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, D. Bethel has since gone back and played the first game in the Uncharted series and was rather frustrated by it. This experience got our hosts thinking about entering series (of games, movies, tv shows, etc.) mid-stream––what's the value of going back to the start? RELATED EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"District Four" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 20 July 2018
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew braved populated movie theaters to see Ant-Man and the Wasp while D. Bethel eagerly went to the theaters to see Incredibles II. DISNEY FLOOD: This summer was a packed house in terms of big-budget blockbuster-intended films with Avengers: Infinity War, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Ant-Man and the Wasp, and Incredibles II. But with Solo and Ant-Man and the Wasp underperforming, it has Andrew and D. wondering, did we have too many big nerd movies this summer? RELATED LINKS:
INFO:
For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 22 June 2018
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew sees the latest Star Wars Story, Solo, while D. Bethel gushes about the recent God of War reboot. RELATED EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"District Four" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 11 May 2018
SNAP JUDGMENT: With the third Avengers movie becoming a new bank everybody is putting their money into, D. and Andrew finally sit down to talk about the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe capstone event. Be warned that this episode CONTAINS SPOILERS for the movie. RELATED EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"District Four" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 19 January 2018
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew plays the mashup tabletop game, Betrayal at Baldur's Gate while Dan goes for the yards in Supergiant Games' latest release, Pyre. THE RELATION BETWEEN TEXT AND AUDIENCE: Andrew, spurred on by his experiences playing Fallout 4's DLC, "Automatron," and Dan, inspired by his playing of Pyre, talk about how texts can have different impacts––and lead to very different experiences––for their audiences. Movies have spoilers and twist endings while video games of optional side-quests and branching paths of narrative. How much of a role does the audience have in telling the story? How much control do we, as an audience, want? RELEVANT EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 12 January 2018
A WEEK IN GEEK: Before things get started, D. talks about becoming mildly internet famous for about a day (the social media accounts of his favorite band, Twisted Sister, shared art he made of each band member). For those wondering, here's the scene from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure in which Twisted Sister appears. INDIE ACCOLADES: Andrew and D. talk about the world of independent creation––mostly games, mostly video games––and how it works in the face of the big corporate franchises discussed for the past few weeks. WEEKS IN INDIE GAMES: Andrew and D. mention a few indie games that they've been enjoying over the last month or so. Andrew discusses his love and frustration with Thomas Happ's metaroidvania Axiom Verge and Powerhoof's Crawl. D. keeps returning to the existential dread that is noio's Kingdom: Classic as well as to the hilarious existential horror of Kitfox Games' The Shrouded Isle. WORKS CITED:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 5 January 2018
WEEK IN GEEK: Having missed last week's Week in Geek, Andrew and D. Bethel decide to...skip it again so they can spend as much time with–– THE STATE OF THE DCEUNION: Returning to the show is the resident DC expert, Taylor Katcher, to talk about 2017 in DC––movies, tv, and comics. RELATED EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 29 December 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: Both Andrew and D. Bethel saw Star Wars: The Last Jedi so–– THE LAST HOT TAKE: They bring in original Star Wars fan and friend of the show, Jason Tudor, to talk about Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the talk around the movie, and what it means for the franchise SPOILER ALERT––SIGNIFICANT PLOT POINTS ARE DISCUSSED; BE SURE TO WATCH THE MOVIE BEFORE LISTENING. RELATED EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 15 December 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew returns to a previous WiG by booting up a since heavily patched River City Ransom Underground. while D. was impressed with the pragmatism and instructional value of Brandon Dayton's Sketchbook Summer artbook. NERD LAW: When legal stuff happens in the nerd world, Andrew is on the case (though not dispensing any legal advice). This time around, he talks about Epic Games suing players who use cheats in Fortnite and Comic Con International winning its copyright battle against Salt Lake Comic Con over the term "Comic Con." RELATED EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Disco Medusae" by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)*
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Fri, 8 December 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: A Week In Geek extravaganza as both Andrew and D. discuss their respective forays in to Justice League-adjacent ventures as Andrew watches all four episodes of the CW's Crisis on Earth X while Dan watches Justice League and they discuss––at length––what each interpretation does well and what could be done better. RELATED EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio
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Fri, 27 October 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew talks about the premier of the new (and final) season of Star Wars: Rebels while D. Bethel talks about Netflix's new based-on-a-true-story-kind-of David Fincher-led crime drama, Mindhunter. SPOOKYTOBER: In celebration of the scariest month of the year, Andrew and D. discuss a movie each that really, truly gave them the scaries. Andrew discusses the cult classic, Jacob's Ladder, while D. discusses the forgotten gothic horror of The Others. RELATED EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio
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Fri, 13 October 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew attends Seattle's BrickCon and is intrigued by not only the affordable prices of hard-to-get sets, but also the creativity of independent LEGO builders, while Dan gives his impressions on the pilot episode of Fox's new tv show based, ostensibly, on their cinematic X-verse, The Gifted. WHAT A THRILL: Andrew, inspired its free status for PS Plus subscribers this month, re-downloads Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and gets poisoned by Venom Snake all over again, two years on. NOT MY AMERICA: Swedish developer, MachineGames, and their parent company, Bethesda, are ramping up the marketing for their upcoming, hotly anticipated sequel, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, and their tact has made a certain demographic very displeased. RELATED EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio
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Fri, 8 September 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew pauses his walk down the Star Trek Nostalgia Trail and attended a day of PAX West (starts at 2:14) while Dan dips into the history of his favorite comic book franchise by reading Marvel Epic Collection Vol. 5: X-Men - Second Genesis which collects the early issues of the great X-Men reboot from 1975 when the "All-New, All-Different" X-men were added to the team (Wolverine, Colossus, Storm, Nightcrawler) and started the 16-year run of writer Chris Claremont (18:17). FINAL FANTASY VII AGAIN: (28:23) September 7th marked the 20th anniversary of Squaresoft's (at the time, now Square Enix) breakthrough hit, Final Fantasy VII. Dan and Andrew talk less about the game itself and instead talk about the impact the game had on gaming and nerd culture. NOTE: Sacramento's Crocker Con | Art Mix is happening September 14th at the Crocker Art Museum at which D. Bethel will be exhibiting with his wares. Come by and say hi! RELATED EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio
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Fri, 1 September 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew is still riding his Star Trek high and talks about his further adventures playing inside Star Trek Online (starts at 02:43). D. Bethel, plays with the beautiful but kind of simple Miracle Merchant, and finds it an interesting contrast to another phone game, the complex Knights of Pen and Paper II (18:25). THE LONG CON: (26:47) Dan and Andrew riff on the fairly simple question: are there too many cons? RELATED LINKS:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio
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Fri, 25 August 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew dives into Paizo's newest RPG, Starfinder, while D. Bethel checks out the premier episode of Disney XD's reboot of DuckTales. REAL MONSTERS: Dan and Andrew just hang back and have a conversation rather than a guided discourse about Nazis in popular culture. They go all over the place, but hover around the topic of how (and why) they're used in fiction. RELATED LINKS:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio
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Fri, 18 August 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew (starts at 1:38) hesitantly re-approaches (though actually, basically for the first time) Star Trek: Enterprise, while D. Bethel (16:13) has fun sacrificing folks in Kitfox Games' The Shrouded Isle. LUDIC CROSS-POLLINATION: (27:34) Gen Con, the long-running tabletop-focused convention, rolls out this weekend and leading up to it were a few announcements about new board games in an attempt to ride that wave of publicity. One of them is a brand new adventure board game based on the Fallout video game franchise. Lots of things like tv shows and movies are licensed for use within board games, but the kind of translation that can occur when adapting a game from one medium into a game in another proved a fascinating topic of conversation this week. RELATED LINKS:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio
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Fri, 4 August 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew saw Spider-Man: Homecoming so now they can talk about it while D. gets upset that Vice Media fired gaming journalist, Mike Diver, who co-created Vice's video game wing, Waypoint. NAME THAT CHIPTUNE: After going deep into an YouTube hole watching marching bands playing video game music, Andrew brings to the table the question: When the hell did video game music become so popular? Is it that good or are we just getting old? RELATED LINKS:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio
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Fri, 28 July 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: In a fit of nostalgia, Andrew picks up The Sims 3 again (starts at 1:49) while Dan can't get past a nit-pick to enjoy anything Netflix's Castlevania has to offer (20:46). SDCC 2017: (34:04) It was a big weekend for nerd culture as the San Diego Comic Con dropped a bunch of new trailers on the world. Dan and Andrew look at three trailers and how they seem to be pointing out the creative direction of their respective studios with Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok, DC/Warner Bros.' Justice League, and Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One. RELATED EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio
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Fri, 21 July 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: The guys are again on the cutting edge of entertainment as Andrew begins playing Skyrim (albeit the Special Edition that was released for current platforms last year) while D goes all the way back to 2006 and plays Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age (albeit the recently released HD remastered version). DOCTOR NEW: After speculation accruing since Peter Capaldi announced he would be leaving the lead role of Doctor Who earlier this year, the BBC announced his replacement, Jodie Whittaker. And the internet went wild. (Time Stamp - 38:38) RELATED EPISODES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio
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Fri, 23 June 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew watches through the first season of the hit Starz show, Ash vs. Evil Dead while Dan plays through the 2014 Bethesda game, Wolfenstein: The New Order, the reboot of the classic first-person shooter Id franchise. KEEPING SCORES: It was announced this week that Danny Elfman has been hired to compose music for the upcoming DCEU movie, Justice League, after the original composer, Tom Holkenborg (aka Junkie XL), amicably left the project. Dan and Andrew discuss the expectations for an Elfman score in a modern superhero cinema context, and discuss their thoughts on film and televisions scores in general. LINKS:
For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio
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Fri, 16 June 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew starts rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generation on Bluray while Dan finally opens up about Mass Effect: Andromeda now that he has finished the game. THE LAST GRIPE: The video game expo, E3, always has its share of stories, reveals, and, most recently, at least, controversy. Tim Soret, founder of the studio Odd Tales, scored a coup by getting to go onstage during Microsoft's pre-E3 press conference and talk about his game, The Last Night, and how it would be an exclusive to the company and its new powerhouse console, the XBox One X. However, Soret has a dicey history with gamers, and his pro-GamerGate and anti-feminist tweets were brought to light despite happening years ago. He has even said that The Last Light was created as a statement on feminist ideology. However, at E3, he apologized on stage for his stances. Should he be forgiven? Should he be held accountable? Should we play his game? Dan and Andrew discuss this static caused between art and artist. LINKS:
For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio
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Fri, 9 June 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: Both Andrew and Dan saw Wonder Woman this week and decided to bring in a third voice to discuss the movie, Mary Traverse (from our friendly rivals, The Nerdhole), and they go pretty deep into this excellent, excellent movie. THE GREAT WAR: Noting the novel decision to set Wonder Woman during World War I, Dan and Andrew discuss that war's place in popular culture. WORKS CITED:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio
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Fri, 2 June 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew starts a Starbound server and learns about the administrative side of online multiplayer gaming while D. helps to make a game better by playing the PS4 beta release of Marvel Heroes Omega. FAR CRYING: The trailer and promotional artwork for Ubisoft's Far Cry 5 has inflamed a certain demographic of gamers, or has it? Our humble hosts investigate this conundrum. WORKS CITED:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio
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Fri, 26 May 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: Fueled by the emotions generated by the recently released trailer for Star Trek: Discovery, Andrew slipped back into the Star Trek pool by spinning up Star Trek Online and Star Trek Timelines while D. reads the first trade collection of Eric Powell's (formerly of The Goon) newest comic series, Hillbilly, from Albatross Funnybooks. EXHAUSTED DESPAIR: D. Bethel saw the newest entry into the venerated Alien/Aliens franchise, Ridley Scott's Alien: Covenant, and definitely had feelings about it. Fueled by an online discussion generated by The Hollywood Reporter article, "'Why Alien: Covenant' Is Actually a 'Blade Runner' Sequel in Disguise" by Josh Spiegel (and because Andrew hasn't seen the new movie yet), it seemed only right to bring on friend of the show and Alien enthusiast, Taylor Katcher, to talk what worked and what didn't work in this new movie. WORKS CITED: Spiegel, Josh. "Why 'Alien: Covenant' Is Actually a 'Blade Runner' Sequel in Disguise." The Hollywood Reporter. 20 May 2017. WORKS CONSULTED: Couch, Aaron. "'Alien: Covenant' Screenwriter on the Michael Fassbender Scene That 'Easily Could Have Gone Wrong.'" The Hollywood Reporter. 21 May 2017. LINKS:
For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio
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Fri, 19 May 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew learns about the seedy underbelly of LEGO knock-offs while Dan preps for the upcoming Wonder Woman movie by watching the 2009 animated film. DOCTOR WHO KNEW?: Dan and Andrew discuss their skeptical praise for the current series of Doctor Who. Five episodes in and all episodes have been undeniably good so far. Should they be waiting with baited breath for the show to stumble as it has done for the last five series? Or should they let their freak flag fly once again? WAKING LIFE: Remedy Entertainment's 2010 sleeper hit, Alan Wake, was summarily pulled from all digital storefronts last weekend due to the lapsing of the licenses paid for music featured in the game. It's a strange situation considering exactly how many games––even those released before Alan Wake––use licensed music and are still available for purchase. LINKS:
For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio
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Fri, 5 May 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew takes another dip into the Humble Bundle and comes out playing Renowned Explorers: International Society while Dan gets nostalgic (again) playing Disney Afternoon Collection. LUDO-NARRATIVE DISSONANCE: Noted video game critic, Ian Bogost, got blood boiling when he wrote the salaciously titled, "Video Games Are Better Without Stories," for The Atlantic. D. and Andrew investigate the argument Bogost is making––its good points and its flaws––while also talking about why people play games in the first place. Dan talked about Ian Bogost's book, How to Talk About Video Games, back in "Episode 76 - Beepop." NOTES:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio
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Fri, 28 April 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew puts his manual dexterity and patience to the test while assembling the LEGO Creator Expert Parisian Restaurant set, while Dan can't stop playing Double Fine's recent release of Full Throttle Remastered. LAPSING SUBSCRIPTIONS: DC Comics announced that the third season of the fan-beloved Young Justice animated series, which will be called Young Justice: Outsiders, will be an exclusive release on DC's as-of-yet unreleased subscription streaming service. It marks yet another step in content providers eschewing more popular platforms like Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime in favor of doing something similar but centralizing around their specific content. Is this where streaming is heading, to a diversified subscription market? Or is it a swing at extra revenue that will ultimately be futile? D. Bethel and Andrew discuss. WORKS REFERENCED:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio
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Fri, 21 April 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew plays super sentai producer in Chroma Squad while D. Bethel gets introspective while drawing old high school characters for his "Sketch Fridays" series at LongJohnComic.com. THE BEGINNING OF THE END: The final Doctor Who series to feature current Doctor, Peter Capaldi, and current showrunner, Steven Moffat, began last weekend with "The Pilot," which also introduced the new companion, Bill Potts. Dan and Andrew discuss their reactions to the episode. NERD LAW - YOUTUBE EDITION: Andrew dusts off his non-advisory expertise to talk about a recent situation that occurred during Dan's livestream of God of War III. They talk copyright, YouTube's priorities, and Chinese variety shows. LINKS:
For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio
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Fri, 14 April 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew watched the live action remake of the Disney animated feature, Beauty and the Beast and D. Bethel discusses his experience at this year's Sacramento Indie Arcade Expo. REGRESSIVE RESURRXION: First, the comic book news cycle went nuts because the first post-Inhumans vs. X-Men book was released, X-Men Gold, which was then subsumed by the fact that people seemed to like it, which was then subsumed by the likelihood that X-Men Gold artist, Ardian Syaf, may have placed possibly intolerant symbology in not-so-hidden places throughout the book. Then it turned out that he definitely did that. It has been a roller coaster of news and insight into Indonesian politics (where Syaf resides) that has been mostly very sad and upsetting for X-Men fans. THE TWO MASTERS: On the threshold of the debut of Doctor Who's Series 10, it was revealed that actor John Simm would be returning to the show in his former role as The Master, the longtime foe of the show's titular hero. Last seen at David Tennant's departure from the lead role, he returns during the tenure of his successor, Michelle Gomez as Missy. What this means for the episode(s) in which they appear together (the last one or two of the season), we can't yet say, but both Dan and Andrew are pretty excited about it. WORKS CITED:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio
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Fri, 7 April 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew muses on cinematic magic of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them while Dan can't shut up about the podcast, S-Town. INAPPROPRIATE APPROPRIATION: Dan and Andrew can't ignore the strange vortex created by the controversies surrounding the cultural tone-deafness of Netflix/Marvel's Iron Fist, the backlash to the live-action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell, and the recent shifty comments of Marvel's VP of Sales, David Gabriel, regarding sales and the recent surge of diversity in the Marvel Universe. What the hell is going on? WORKS REFERENCED:
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For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio
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Fri, 31 March 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew plays catch-up after the Guestcast by letting us know about his time with the indie game, Turmoil, as well as discussing his experience with Alton Brown's live show, Eat Your Science, while Dan talks about reboots and his hesitancy going into the first two issues of DC Comics' new series, The Wild Storm. MASS REJECTS: As Andrew reported, the new Bioware game, Mass Effect Andromeda, has met with a lot of criticism. However, said criticism is all over the map. Dan and Andrew get deep talking about expectations, Mass Effect, fandoms, and video games as cultural expressions. WARNING: the hosts get a little worked up.
For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio
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Fri, 17 March 2017
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew does his best to navigate menus and complex relationships playing Crusader Kings II while D. Bethel gets horribly disappointed while playing Samurai Shodown VI. A TWISTED LEGEND: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been released to universal acclaim as a launch title for Nintendo's new console (and as a tombstone for their previous console) but how much is pure nostalgia, how much is hype, and how much is it actually a good game. Well, neither Dan nor Andrew have played it, but with the conversation surrounding the game they do ask a pertinent question, "What is as Zelda game and does this new game meet it?"
For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap. FEATURED MUSIC: -"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio
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