Privilege of Ubiquity

Privilege of Ubiquity

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STALLED ENGINE: Creators of the popular game engine, Unity, made some disquieting news this week when it announced some changes to its licensing policy for developers. Andrew and D. Bethel do their best to break down the changes and examine some of the response from developers.

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RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Fair Point, Dude” (1 June 2018): Where Andrew discusses his dabblings with game development in the Unity engine.
  • “An Optimistic Dystopia” (12 August 2022): Where D. Bethel shares his thoughts on his initial playthrough of Stray.

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Guilted into Gaming

Guilted into Gaming

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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.

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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

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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.

RELEVANT LINKS:

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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Smoke Time

Smoke Time

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WEEK IN GEEK: Our hosts try to keep it short but, instead, keep it real as they talk about their respective Weeks in Geek. D. Bethel starts by talking about Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny before Andrew shares his thoughts about the first two episodes of the new Disney+ Star Wars show, Ahsoka. D. Bethel wraps it up with quick thoughts about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Our Best Work” (14 August 2014): Where D. Bethel shares his thoughts about the 2014 live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.

RELEVANT LINKS:

  • The tweet that started the joke Andrew and Dan make in this episode:

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FEATURED MUSIC:

  • Audio from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) captured from D. Bethel’s personal collection.
Bedroom Heat

Bedroom Heat

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EVEN STRANGER: This week, our hosts reflect on the recently finished second season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and, to no one’s surprise, have nothing negative to say about it.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Aggressive Modulation” (4 November 2022): Where our hosts ponder the influence and impact of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
  • “Klingon Time Lords” (15 July 2022): Where our hosts share their thoughts about the very compelling and referential season one finale to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

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Comma Dong

Comma Dong

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W-AI-ZARDS OF THE COAST: With the publishing of Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants! people noticed that some of the art looked…suspicious. It was revealed that the artist in question had used AI-engines to “enhance” the art they created for the book. Our hosts dive into this discussion and branch out from there.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Don’t Pull Out Your Deck” (14 July 2023): Where our hosts cite the tweet from a VFX artist on Flash who discusses the extreme conditions they are forced to work within.
  • “Mama Knight” (21 July 2023): Where our hosts cover the details of the various entertainment strikes.

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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.

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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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Mama Knight

Mama Knight

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ON STRIKE: Despite the heat, our hosts discuss all the striking that’s hitting Hollywood (and more!) quite hard right now. From the WGA to SAG-AFTRA (to UPS?!), it seems that the folks who are just trying to do their job and earn an honest living can’t get an inch from the studio heads, so far.

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RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Space Man From Pluto” (30 June 2023): Where our hosts worried about how entertainment executives would find AI-created work enticing (and cheap) alternatives to hiring actual creative people.
  • “Don’t Pull Out Your Deck” (14 July 2023): Where our hosts discuss the rising costs (and continuing failures) of movies.

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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.

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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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Ferengi Chest Hair Cream

Ferengi Chest Hair Cream

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STRANGER NEW WORLDS: Even though only three episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 were available (at the time of the recording), they were so good our hosts couldn’t let another week go by without discussing this incredible show. SPOILERS abound for those specific episodes.

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