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Day of the Diver

Day of the Diver

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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Extra Obnoxious Protocol

Extra Obnoxious Protocol

COVID-INDUCED ANIME: There was no episode last week because D. Bethel got sick with the new strain of COVID. Though his symptoms were mild, the biggest side effect was probably the most troubling: he watched anime. Specifically, he watched the 12 episode series, Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team (available on Hulu Plus) and realized that mechs are cool.

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC: A very strange news story happened in the comics world this month when Fables creator and writer Bill Willingham announced that, due to the frustrating relationship that had developed with DC Comics over how they were handling his creator-owned property, that he put Fables into the public domain. Our hosts discuss what exactly that means, how it works, and if it’s even possible.

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Jellyfish Panthers

Jellyfish Panthers

A-NEWS BOUCHE: It’s been a busy few months, so our hosts felt that it was time to get away on a cruise, albeit a news cruise. They talk about the recent legal woes with Microsoft’s attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard, recap all of the Wizards of the Coast’s woes, and all the strange Twitter drama as of late.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Hammering With a Screwdriver” (19 August 2016): Where D. Bethel discusses the first episode of Batman: The Telltale Series.
  • Nature’s Velcro” (3 July 2020): Where Andrew relays his time with Owlcat’s Pathfinder: Kingmaker.

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Open Awesome License

Open Awesome License

TOUCHING MANY BUCKETS: Dungeons & Dragons is making waves with the announcement––and subsequent leak––of the update to its Open Game License, a system that is meant to lay out the relationship between Dungeons & Dragons and the content people create based on its game system. Based on the leaked information…it’s not going well. Thankfully, we have our nerd lawyer to walk us through the ins and outs of what is known so far.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Kamen Themes” (30 December 2022): Where our hosts last discussed this controversy…only two weeks ago.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

  • “Nerd Law” by D. Bethel
Ding Dong Bowser

Ding Dong Bowser

NEWS CRUISE: This week, our hosts dive into a variety of news of the shocking, weird, and downright questionable.

CHAPTERS:

  • (00:00) Intro – Old Man Talk: Allergies
  • (02:43) News Cruise: Monte Cook Games’ Announcement
  • (10:50) Nintendo uses sentencing of a hacker to make a statement.
  • (16:33) Upcoming Predator prequel, Prey, will be available with a Comanche language audio track.
  • (22:12) Confusion and deception (maybe?) from Blue Box Game Studios
  • (31:06) Outro – Netflix’s Sandman and the danger of trailers.
  • (33:14) Outtakes

RELEVANT LINKS:

  • Andrew’s short series of tweets about the Monte Cook Games announcement:
  • The teaser trailer for the Predator prequel, Prey (the full trailer has since been released and made the connection much more explicit):

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • In a World” (20 March 2015): Where Andrew discusses a bit about Open Game Licenses.
  • Drive Your Gorilla” (25 June 2021): Where our hosts first talk about controversy––or at least the mystery––surrounding Blue Box Game Studios.

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He Needs Management

He Needs Management

ETERNALLY YOURS: After getting released on Disney+, our hosts finally discuss the most recent Marvel Studios release (not Spider-Man: No Way Home), Eternals. It’s a movie with a lot of new additions to the MCU, for better or for worse.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Sword Club” (30 July 2021): Where our hosts discuss the results of California’s investigation into the company culture at Activision Blizzard.
  • Scary Gongs” (19 November 2021): Where our hosts review the walkout at Activision over their dissatisfaction with Bobby Kotick as a leader of the company.

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FEATURED MUSIC:

Unbridled Hedonism

Unbridled Hedonism

MISSING THE BULLSEYE: With the recent release of the Disney+/Marvel Studios show, Hawkeye, many saw similarities with the classic Hawkeye run by creators Matt Fraction and David Aja. It was soon revealed that, despite being a spiritual adaptation of the Fraction/Aja run, there was no compensation for those creators aside from mentions in the “Special Thanks” in the closing credits of the show. Andrew and D. Bethel investigate the questions this brings up.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Someone Said That” (25 Sep. 2015): Where D. Bethel and Andrew discuss DC’s decision to include Bill Finger as co-creator of Batman in the credits for Gotham and Superman v. Batman: Dawn of Justice.

INFO:

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A Braver New World

A Braver New World

GIANTS FALL: Kind of a combination of a News Blast and a Nerd Law, but the lawsuit between Apple and Epic has been decided and…it’s complicated. We have Andrew walk us through the ins and outs of this strange event.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

  • “Nerd Law” by D. Bethel
Sword Club

Sword Club

A BAD BLIZZARD: Our hosts take a quick look at the controversy (and lawsuits!) that came out of an investigation led by the state of California into the toxic and dangerous company culture of Activision Blizzard.

I HAVE THE POWER: Having watched the first five episodes released for Netflix’s Masters of the Universe: Revelation, Andrew and D. Bethel look at this playful and creative reimagining of the classic ’80s toy commercial, er I mean, cartoon series.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • All-New, All-Same” (29 June 2018): Where Andrew and D. Bethel discuss the angry internet’s attempt to “destroy” Lucasfilm following the release of The Last Jedi and Solo: A Star Wars Story.
  • Empty Justice” (01 March 2019): Where our hosts talk about internet trolls trying to review bomb Captain Marvel ahead of its release.

RELEVANT LINKS:

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Slapcast

Slapcast

TSR-U-KIDDING-ME: Tabletop Twitter got weird these last few weeks as debates exploded around the tweets made by Ernest G. Gygax, Jr.––son of Dungeons & Dragons co-creator, Gary Gygax––where he doubles down on strong, anti-SJW views in support of his new RPG, Giantlands.

SLAPP FEST: Andrew also checks in with the current legal fight started by Chris Avellone––formerly of Black Isle and Obisidian Entertainment––as he tries to sue people who said mean things about him on the internet.

Also, Dan has gotten even more obsessed with the Metroid series since last week.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Pong 2020” (07 June 2019): Where D. Bethel and Andrew discuss the comments made by Chris Avellone about writing games “without” any politics in their narrative or design.
  • Zombie Brooms” (11 June 2021): Where Andrew covered the nature of lawsuits and their jurisdictions when talking about the copyright lawsuit filed by a photographer against Capcom.
  • Drive Your Gorilla” (25 June 2021): Where D. Bethel’s excitement for Metroid gets reignited.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

  • “Nerd Law” written and performed by D. Bethel