D. Bethel jokes that I’m evangelical about Wild Arms 3. It’s not an unfair conclusion to draw. Like we discussed in the podcast, the Wild Arms series is sort of weird. The original was pretty much a fantasy-esque RPG with a little bit of a western look and feel. One of the characters had firearms as a “special power” and another guy looked like he was wearing a duster. It was alright and laid down some of the peculiar tropes that would come later, but I wouldn’t really call it groundbreaking or definitive. My love is for the third entry in the series: Wild Arms 3.
Wild Arms 3 Promotional Art. Or something.
Wild Arms 3 is a peculiarity in the vast history of Japanese RPGs because it feels like the design team was trying to do something different than practically every other JRPG that had come before. I always joke that the page for the game on the website TV Tropes.org sums up a lot of the weirdness:
Wild ARMs 3 gives one the impression that its creators were told to make a JRPG, but had never played a JRPG before. Far from making it a bad game, this means that they approached the genre from a new direction and did a lot to shake up old cliches[.]
Perhaps, given the history of the console role-playing game since the release of Wild Arms 3, what we were witnessing was the JRPG market starting to adapt to the changing player base. Like Dan said, most developers and players have acknowledged that the JRPGs of today have departed heavily from their roots, for better or worse.
Toys-To-Life: With Andrew’s wading into the toys-to-life pool, as well as the recent announcement that Disney Infinity––Disney’s version of this gaming type––is being shut down, Dan and Andrew discuss this relatively new mode of gaming, what it does, how it has changed, and why Lego Dimensions may have hit the right formula for longevity.
Also, thanks to the Nerdhole for their recent shout-out, it warms the heart that we can be allies rather than enemies in the non-existent podcast war. Do yourself a favor, dear listeners, and be sure to check out their excellent podcast.
Leave your comments at forallintents.net. Be sure to join our official Facebook and Google+ pages for updates and notifications. E-mail the show at forallpod [at] gmail.com. Leave a review of the show on the iTunes store page, which will help spread the word to new users and really help the show out.
For all intents and purposes that was a shortcast an episode recap.
Featured Music:
-“Stayin’ in Black” by Wax Audio
-“Doomsday” by Murray Gold (from Doctor Who)
-“Everything is Awesome” by Tegan and Sara
Today, while still in the middle of an ongoing lawsuit over the Axanar fan film, CBS/Paramount announced guidelines for Star Trek fans interested in making their own fan films/works. A seemingly noble gesture by CBS/Paramount, a number of folks took issue with some of the guidelines:
1. The fan production must be less than 15 minutes for a single self-contained story, or no more than 2 segments, episodes or parts, not to exceed 30 minutes total, with no additional seasons, episodes, parts, sequels or remakes.
…
4. If the fan production uses commercially-available Star Trek uniforms, accessories, toys and props, these items must be official merchandise and not bootleg items or imitations of such commercially available products.
5. The fan production must be a real “fan” production, i.e., creators, actors and all other participants must be amateurs, cannot be compensated for their services, and cannot be currently or previously employed on any Star Trek series, films, production of DVDs or with any of CBS or Paramount Pictures’ licensees.
A lot of people have observed that these exceptions exclude nearly every fan-made Star Trek film or video ever produced, including Axanar, the popular Star Trek New Voyages, Star Trek: Hidden Frontier,and even Voyager alumnus Tim Russ’s Star Trek: Of Gods and Men, since all of these fan works infringe on the guidelines in multiple ways.
That’s either a wild cosplay party or an episode of Star Trek: New Voyages with George Takei.
Consider Star Trek: New Voyages, the fan series created by James Cawley and Jack Marshall. From their very first episode, they utilized an actor who had previously appeared in Star Trek (specifically, William Windom as Commodore Matthew Decker). Later episodes would include notable Star Trek actors such as George Takei, Grace Lee Whitney, Walter Koenig, and others. Stories written by Star Trek writers like D. C. Fontana and David Gerrold were utilized or adapted for the series. Within the “amateur” consideration alone, New Voyages would fall outside of the guidelines provided by CBS/Paramount. Let’s not mention the length, as the group was filming 45 minute episodes as part of a “season 4” of the Original Series. Or the costumes and the set.
Of course, as the copyright holder, CBS/Paramount is under no obligation to allow any derivative work, so perhaps this is just a sample of their noblesse oblige. Given the recent popularity of the J. J. Abrams Star Trek films and the announcement of a new Star Trek series to be released digitally, there are plenty of reasons for CBS/Paramount to express concern over semi-legitimate fan work. Historically, a lot of the fan features were pretty bad, so there wasn’t really a reason to get involved because they didn’t really reflect on any of the work being done for “official” Star Trek.
But, Axanar? Just take a look:
Not only did it have a host of popular Star Trek guest stars like Tony Todd and J. G. Hertzler, but it looked like real Star Trek. And, given the concern many classic Star Trek fans have with the J. J. Abrams movies, something like Axanar stands defiantly in the face of CBS/Paramount and their precious franchise.
USS Ares (NCC-1650), from the (upcoming?) fan-made film, Star Trek: Axanar.
It’s also worth mentioning that the production team raised over $500,000 through a crowdfunding campaign. Twice. Two separate crowdfunding campaigns. Over $1,000,000 raised towards this project. That may help explain why CBS/Paramount brought a lawsuit to begin with and why their guidelines seem so restrictive. Money is being made and the copyright holder isn’t part of it.
Week in Geek: The guys felt the draw to local cinemas this week as Andrew saw Warcraft and Dan saw Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows and debate a bit about what movies trading on nostalgia and fandom should do versus what was done and, of course, come to no conclusions.
Leave your thoughts as a comment at forallintents.net. Be sure to join the official Facebook page. Help spread the word by leaving a review on the iTunes store. You can e-mail the show at forallpod [at] gmail.com, or e-mail Andrew or Dan directly at andrew [at] forallintents.net or dbethel [at] forallintents.net.
For all intents and purposes, that was a shortcast recap.
Another week, another Shortcast! This time, the boys are back with a brand new, video game infused Week in Geek.
Week in Geek: Andrew plays Wild Arms 3 while Dan plays Fallout 4 and they ruminate on the state of RPGs both at the start of the new millennium and now sixteen years deep into it.
Leave your feedback to these topics as comments at forall.libsyn.com. Also be sure to join the conversations happening at the official Facebook page. You can e-mail the show at forallpod [at] gmail.com.
For all intents and purposes, that was a Shortcast recap.
Another Shortcast for our summer break as everyone enjoys the warm weather. This week, Andrew and Dan talk about a recent lawsuit brought against Magic: The Gathering publisher, Wizards of the Coasts, by their official competition judges. Andrew guides you through his thoughts on this with his impressive legal lens.
For all intents and purposes, that was a Shortcast recap.
This week D. Bethel brings on Elijah Kaine to talk about the X-Men in anticipation of this week’s release of X-Men: Apocalypse. They discuss not only the filmic franchise but also of the themes of the X-Men in general and how they fit in with the greater Marvel universe.
Leave a comment on the topic(s) discussed this week at forall.libsyn.com. Be sure to join the official Facebook page as well for exclusive links and discussion. E-mail the show at forallpod [at] gmail.com. Also, help the show out by leaving a review on the iTunes store.
For all intents and purposes, that was a Shortcast recap.
Featured Music:
-“Thunder Busters” by Wax Audio
-“X-Men Theme (from ‘The Animated Series’)” by Otaku Attack
-“X-Men Theme Song” by Robert J. Walsh (from “Pryde of the X-Men”)
Extra-Long Week in Geek: Andrew watches Deadpool and Dan reads the Dark Phoenix Saga and also talks about the death of animator and comicker, Darwyn Cooke.
Week in Geek: Andrew co-hosts a Hearthstone tournament while it lasted and played Klei Entertainment’s newest entry, Invisible Inc., while Dan watched two bad movies: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Jurassic World.
Captain America v Iron Man: Dawn of Civil War: Dan and Andrew go in-depth talking about what they felt Captain America: Civil War brings to not only the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s table, but to the superhero genre in general and, in a bit of self-gratification, compare this new release against the wobbly-but-similar entry, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Leave your thoughts about any of the topics discussed this week as comments at forall.libsyn.com. Be sure to join the official Facebook group for exclusive links and listener discussions. You can e-mail the show at forallpod [at] gmail.com. If you like the show, please leave a review on iTunes to help spread the world to new potential listeners.
For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.
Featured Music:
-“Stayin’ in Black” by Wax Audio
-“Ain’t No Friend of Mine” by Mason Jennings
-“Moving On” by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis (from The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford)
Week in Geek: Andrew watches Ant-Man while Dan gets scared playing Alien: Isolation. Also is a talk about Jessica Jones.
Friendly Fire: With the imminent release of Captain America: Civil War, Dan and Andrew discuss why fans get so jazzed about seeing superheroes punch each other, often more than punching bad guys.
Leave a comment at forall.libsyn.com. Be sure to join the official Facebook page for links and join in on conversations with other fans. E-mail us with any questions, comments, or concerns at forallpod [at] gmail.com. Help spread the word by leaving a review at the official iTunes store page.
For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.
-“Stayin’ in Black” by Wax Audio”
-“Iron Man” by Brian Tyler (from Iron Man 3)
-“Captain America March” by Alan Silvestri (from Captain America: The First Avenger)
