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Guilted into Gaming

Guilted into Gaming

STAR TREK DAY 2023: Though our hosts recorded this episode before any announcements were made on September 8 (aka “Star Trek Day”), they did discuss some recent––and intriguing––Star Trek-based announcements in the meantime.

ON THE HUNT: Andrew finds himself playing asymmetrical online horror games with the immensely popular Dead by Daylight capturing his attention lately.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • A Sense of Place” (30 November 2018): Where Andrew shares his thoughts with the last online multiplayer game he played, Fallout 76.
  • Beware the Harp Ladies” (10 September 2021): When our hosts covered the last big Star Trek Day event.

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The Soundness

The Soundness

A LESSON IN SURVIVAL: Our hosts are going to take it easy this week, but they’re stopping in for a quick look at what’s been drawing their attention. Andrew gets frustrated by the difficulty to be found in Green Hell while D. Bethel dips a toe into the wildly popular independent game, Vampire Survivors.

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RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Where the Hands Touch” (13 January 2017): Where D. Bethel first discusses the video game documentary YouTube channel, Noclip.
  • It’s Always a Game” (8 February 2019): Where Andrew shares his impressions about Subnautica.

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Space Man From Pluto

Space Man From Pluto

SECRET INVASION…OF A.I.: Marvel seems to have hamstrung the release of its new Disney+ series, Secret Invasion, when viewers quickly noticed the apparent artlessness of the show’s opening credits and that they seemed to have used A.I. engines to create it instead of, you know, any of the artists it employs.

STIFLED PRODIGY: Paramount+ has been on a Star Trek kick for the last few years, but all might not be as rosy at it seems. Not only has it cancelled the all-ages-aimed animated series, Star Trek: Prodigy, it has also removed all the episodes from their proprietary streaming service––even though season 2 is wrapping production.

A BEAST OF A SURPRISE: D. Bethel takes a moment to discuss Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and how it pleasantly surprises in terms of actually being a good Transformers movie (who knew?).

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FEATURED MUSIC:

  • “Unicron Medley” by Vince DiCola
The Dark Magic of Smoke Rings

The Dark Magic of Smoke Rings

CHECKING THAT SMOKE RING: Our hosts both have become engrossed in season two of Netflix’s answer to The Great British Bake-Off, Barbecue Showdown.

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Tentacles or Bust

Tentacles or Bust

WEEK IN GEEK: This week, our hosts dive deep into the video game pool as Andrew gets his caveman farming on with Soda Den’s Roots of Pacha while D. Bethel finds a lot of adventure and fun in the deeply Lovecraftian adventure puzzle game, Call of the Sea by Out of the Blue.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Your Cursor is My Prisoner” (19 February 2016): Where D. Bethel talks about another fun walking simulator, Firewatch.
  • Love the Stank” (30 December 2016): Where Andrew begins his long love affair with Stardew Valley.
  • Starting By Starting” (3 January 2020): Where D. Bethel plays a different––in many ways––Lovecraftian adventure game, The Sinking City.

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The Kleenex of Streaming

The Kleenex of Streaming

WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew finds the second season of Amazon Prime’s Undone pleasant and interesting, despite it being two years since he watched the first season. D. Bethel finally plays Metroid Prime with the recently released Metroid Prime Remastered and can’t believe that Retro Studios actually made a 3D Metroid game that feels and plays like a 2D Metroid game.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Reliable Virtual Helmets” (27 September 2019): Where Andrew talks about season 1 of Undone.
  • Eloquent as Ever” (5 November 2021): Where D. Bethel shares his thoughts on Metroid Dread.
  • Vectors of Bad Decisions” (17 February 2023): Where our hosts discuss the end of season 1, and the beginning of season 2, of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

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A Jar of Soup

A Jar of Soup

BLOOMING WILLOW: D. Bethel takes a minute to share his excitement for the new Willow show on Disney+

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew gets surprised by the dark remake/sequel of Kamen Rider Black Sun while D. Bethel rides the ups and owns of Netflix’s Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities.

IN REMEMBRANCE: Our hosts take a moment to honor the sad and surprising deaths of Kevin Conroy––the inimitable voice of Bruce Wayne and Batman in Batman: The Animated Series and many works afterwards––and Jason David Frank, most well known as Tommy the Green Ranger in Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Films in Quarries” (18 June 2021): Where Andrew dips his toe into the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers pool.
  • Doctor Ennui” (27 August 2021): Where Andrew goes waist-deep into the Zyuranger pool.

RELEVANT LINKS:

  • Though not (legally) freely available, you can find the Batman comic written by Kevin Conroy (with art by J. Bone) in the DC Pride 2022 anthology published by DC Comics.

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Waiting for Helicopter

Waiting for Helicopter

HEALING FACTOR: This week, our hosts talk about the surprising news dropped by Ryan Reynolds about Deadpool 3.

BAD BUSINESS: Our hosts then dive into the strange and unfortunate decisions made by the corporate bigwigs at the newly combined Warner Bros. Discovery and how its CEO is making a lot of artistic decisions based on economic benefits…it’s strange, but mostly sad.

RELEVANT LINKS:

  • A tweet from @The_GM_Is_God who posited the casting of Matt Berry as Hank McCoy aka “Beast” of the X-Men (the entire thread is great):

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Eloquent as Ever

Eloquent as Ever

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew continues to get excited by recent Star Trek offerings, specifically the conclusion of season 2 of Star Trek: The Lower Decks and the premiere of the Paramount+/Nickelodeon joint, Star Trek: Prodigy. D. Bethel finally offers his thoughts on Metroid: Dread (aka Metroid 5) after completing it, uh, three times.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • I Am the State” (26 February 2021): Where D. Bethel rants about Nintendo not respecting Metroid on its 35th anniversary.
  • Butt Magic” (16 October 2021): Where Andrew discusses the first season of the animated comedy, Star Trek: The Lower Decks.
  • Con Artists #7: Return of the Con” (29 October 2021): The most recent episode of Con Artists where D. Bethel and Kyrun Silva of Taurus Comics talk about making and selling comics amidst a global pandemic.

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Beware the Harp Ladies

Beware the Harp Ladies

HAPPY STAR TREK DAY: This week, 8 September to be specific, the world celebrated Star Trek Day. With one of our hosts being an avowed and public Star Trek fan, our hosts discuss the ways they decided to celebrate: Andrew watched all the exciting announcements and trailers from the Paramount+ Star Trek Day Celebration event while D. Bethel coincidentally started watching Star Trek: The Next Generation not more than a week ago and is enjoying every minute of it so far.

RELEVANT LINKS:

  • Asplund, Andrew. “News Blast: Star Trek Fan Films.” A Website [ , ] For All Intents and Purposes, 23 June 2016.
    • Where Andrew covered the strange legal journey of fan films of the beloved franchise.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Crow Hat” (31 July 2015): Where Andrew and D. Bethel watch and discuss the pilot episode(s) for Star Trek: The Next Generation, “Encounter at Farpoint.”
  • Butt Magic” (16 October 2020): Where Andrew discussed his joy having watched the first season of the hit adult animated series, Star Trek: The Lower Decks.

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