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Meander In Geek

Meander In Geek

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Amblin’ Entertainment: Our hosts glide through various pieces of news and entertainment that caught their attention this last week. Andrew finds himself lost amid some very strange controversy around the game engine, Godot, while also quite enjoying Netflix’s queer teenage dramedy, Heartstopper. D. Bethel admits he’s a fan of the famed horror manga creator, Junji Ito, and found a lot to like in the first episode of the Adult Swim animated adaptation of his acclaimed work, Uzumaki, though it sounds like episode 2 may not quite live up to the expectations established by the premiere.

TOPICS:
(00:00) Intro – Andrew & D. break down The Night of the Living Dead
(04:04) Andrew breaks down the Godot game engine controversy
(12:19) D. Bethel is impressed (for now) with the anime (?) adaptation of Junji Ito’s Uzumaki.
(23:41) Andrew finds Netflix’s Heartstopper very endearing.
(41:09) Outro – D. Bethel & The Amityville Horror
(44:41) Outtakes

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Brine and Brinstar” (31 October 2014): Where our hosts discuss George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead.
  • “Privilege of Ubiquity” (15 September 2023): Where our hosts discuss some controversy generated by a change in its licensing policy for developers using its engine.
  • “A Relaxed Schedule” (20 October 2023): Where our hosts discuss another British sex dramedy, Sex Education.

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FEATURED MUSIC:

General Skalsfass

General Skalsfass

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THE RULE OF RULES: Andrew shares his experience playing Fabula Ultima some more, and how it led to surprisingly divisive thoughts about how important––and, perhaps, necessary––the rules are of a tabletop RPG.

TOPICS:
(00:00) Intro – Andrew and his mouse problem
(03:43) Fabula Ultima and the importance of understanding (or misunderstanding?) TTRPG rules
(43:50) Outro – Andrew’s impending birthday
(47:19) Outtakes

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “So Many Halves” (14 June 2024): Where Andrew gets excited to start playing Fabula Ultima.
  • “Active Talk Battle” (21 June 2024): Where remains excited after playing Fabula Ultima.

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So Many Halves

So Many Halves

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WEEK IN HYPE: Instead of discussing what nerdy and geeky stuff they’ve been actively doing, our hosts instead discuss what nerdy and geeky stuff they’re excited about potentially doing. Andrew is inspired by the TTJRPG, Fabula Ultima, while D. Bethel gets tactical, romantic, and deck-buildy in the first few hours of Marvel’s Midnight Suns.

TOPIC:

(00:00) Intro – it’s hot in Sacramento!
(01:22) Andrew’s Week in Hype: Fabula Ultima
(20:32) D. Bethel’s Week in Hype: Marvel’s Midnight Suns
(34:55) Outro – new nerdy content: Fallout 76 update and Godzilla Minus One is on Netflix
(38:04) Outtakes

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Memory of a Landline” (17 December 2021): Where D. Bethel shares his thoughts on the opening hours of Eidos-Montreál’s Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy game.
  • “The Full Kyrun” (02 February 2024): Where D. Bethel shares his thoughts on Godzilla Minus One Minus Color.
  • “The Deep Nerd Zone” (12 April 2024): Where our hosts briefly discuss the JRPG throwback, Sea of Stars.

RELEVANT LINKS:

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

  • “Jack of All Trades Theme Song” by Joseph LoDuca, performed by Andrew Asplund and D. Bethel
Jersey Finger

Jersey Finger

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RELEASING THE EMBRACE: Our hosts start with some wild news about the Embracer Group and how, after years of buying––excuse me, embracing––every video game and tabletop developer in sight, they are now breaking up the company into three surprising publicly traded companies.

CRAWL OUT THROUGH THE FALLOUT: As has everyone else on the plane, it seems, our hosts also check out the new hit Amazon Prime television show, Fallout, the most recent in big-budget video game adaptations.

DEADPOLE: The first full trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine dropped this week and it is surprisingly more…emotional?…than expected.

TOPICS:

(00:00) Intro – Embracer Group news
(09:16) Amazon Prime’s Fallout
(40:35) Outro – The trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine surprised D. Bethel
(43:30) Outtakes

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “A Sense of Place” (18 November 2018): Where Andrew shares his experiences diving into Fallout 76.

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The 2-Body Solution

The 2-Body Solution

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WEEK IN GEEK: Our hosts jump right into it as Andrew gets sucked back into the world of Stardew Valley with their most recent update and D. Bethel taps into the zeitgeist and plays the roguelike, deckbuilding, poker-themed (?!) game, Balatro.

THE SEASON OF REGENERATION: With the release of the trailer for the new series of Doctor Who, it contains all that fans could hope for––action, humor, adventure, drama…and it’s “season 1”?

TOPICS:

(00:00) Intro – Andrew got too distracted to podcast…

(01:37) …because he got sucked into Stardew Valley‘s 1.6 release.

(15:33) D. Bethel can’t stop playing the not poker video game, Balatro.

(28:49) Outro – In May we start Doctor Who‘s…first season?

(31:35) Outtakes

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Love the Stank” (30 December 2016): Where Andrew first dives into the addictive world of Stardew Valley.
  • “States of Play” (30 August 2019): Where Andrew shares his first experiences with Klei Entertainment’s Oxygen Not Included.
  • “Reliable Virtual Helmets” (27 September 2019): Where D. Bethel shares his first experiences diving into the world of roguelike deckbuilding games with Meteorfall: Journey.
  • “Smell the Duke” (4 February 2022): Where D. Bethel discusses the roguelike conversation/combat deckbuilding game by Klei Entertainment, Griftlands.

RELEVANT LINKS:

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Ear Covid

Ear Covid

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AD&D (ANDREW, DUNGEONS, & DRAGONS): Andrew, after years away, gets drawn into a Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Planescape adventure and shares his thoughts on how the game looks after having avoided it for so long.

TOPICS:

(00:00) Intro – The dangers of COVID broadcasting
(01:35) Andrew’s new D&D adventure adventure
(51:02) Outro – Jon Stewart returns to The Daily Show
(55:16) Outtakes

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “The Space Dog and Bacchus Show” (21 August 2014): Where Andrew first experiments with Dungeons & Dragons‘ 5th Edition open beta, DnDNext.
  • “Some Solid Copy” (31 July 2015): Where our hosts discuss Jon Stewart’s departure from The Daily Show.
  • “Choose Your Weapon” (31 July 2020): Where Andrew discusses the documentary, Secret of Blackmoor: The True History of Dungeons & Dragons.

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Lunch Talk

Lunch Talk

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PROOF OF LIFE: Our hosts have been absent for a few weeks and wanted to check in and discuss why. They also provide a short Week in Geek with Andrew talking about playing Dungeons & Dragons again for the first time in years while D. Bethel was quite impressed with Max’s animated sci-fi series, Scavengers Reign.

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Day of the Diver

Day of the Diver

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DOCTOR NEW: Our hosts spend a little bit of time discussing the newest episode of Doctor Who, “The Church on Ruby Road.”

FISHING & STUFF: Our hosts talk about the charm, the complexities, and frustrations of the hit video game, Dave the Diver.

THE CALL OF PUBLIC DOMAIN: With the new year brings a new slate of texts into the public domain. While most people are talking about Disney’s latest loss, Andrew focuses in on a piece of cosmic horror that has officially entered public domain this year, H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu.”

TOPICS:

(00:00) Intro – Doctor Who
(03:11) Dave the Diver
(28:59) Outro – New items in the public domain
(32:48) Outtakes

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Quite Easily Done” (08 June 2018): Where our hosts discuss a documentary by the video game documentarians, NoClip, about the history of the developer, Bethesda.
  • “Academic Quality Entertainment” (04 August 2023): Where Andrew talks about his time playing Dredge.
  • “Pleasure Quotes” (22 December 2023): Where our hosts talk about the bigeneration episode that introduced the new Doctor as played by Ncuti Gatwa.

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Academic Quality Entertainment

Academic Quality Entertainment

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WEEK IN GEEK: It’s all about indie video games this week as both of our hosts have been indulging in new ludic adventures. Andrew participates in the eldritch fishing adventure of Dredge while D. Bethel has been having roguelike RPG fun with Star Renegades.

RIP PEE-WEE: Paul Reubens died after a long bout with cancer on July 30; our hosts spend a bit of time memorializing his work.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Baguettevania” (24 August 2018): Where our hosts discuss the roguelike Metroidvania, Dead Cells.
  • “Hobbit Seasons” (24 June 2022): Where Andrew talks about the iterative awesomeness of Rogue Legacy 2.
  • “Tentacles or Bust” (12 May 2023): Where D. Bethel shares his experience with the Lovecraftian adventure game, Call of the Sea.

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Don’t Pull Out Your Deck

Don’t Pull Out Your Deck

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ANDY’S STEAM DECK ADVENTURES: Andrew shares what it was like to actually take his handheld PC-device on the road (and what games he’s been playing).

BOMBING THE BOX OFFICE: This summer has been marked with a series of movies that had really big budgets and very low returns, and it’s a trend that seems to only be continuing. Our hosts talk through possible causes and possible futures of this distressing trajectory.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Space Man From Pluto” (30 June 2023): Where our hosts talk about studios’ use of AI as well as the financial struggles of streaming services.

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