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The Pain Box

The Pain Box

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THE LENGTH PROBLEM: Our hosts spend a little time up top discussing the question, “What’s with all the long movies?”

MARVEL SPOTLIGHT: After finally having caught up on Marvel’s Echo mini-series and The Marvels, our hosts share their thoughts about the ups, downs, and innovations of these two rather under-the-radar entries in the MCU.

TOPICS:

(00:00) Intro – Old men complain about long movies
(04:58) Marvel Studios’ Echo
(23:45) Thoughts on The Marvels
(37:54) Where Andrew and D. Bethel stand on Dune
(40:16) Outtakes

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “The Black Arts of Algorithms” (5 August 2016): Where our hosts discuss the similarly shameful discourse around Ghostbusters: Answer the Call.

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FEATURED MUSIC:

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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Mighty Morphin’ Paranormal Rangers

Mighty Morphin’ Paranormal Rangers

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TWITTER STILL SUCKS: Our hosts take a second to check in on the state of Twitter, recently purchased by billionaire, Elon Musk, and all the strange changes that have been made to the service.

TOS VS. TNG: D. Bethel briefly returns to Star Trek by watching the last original series movie/first Next Generation movie, Star Trek: Generations. It’s…fine.

RELEVANT LINKS:

https://youtu.be/yhPCJB-uTyk
  • “Twitter Comes Tumblr-ing Down.” Comic Lab, 10 November 2022. The episode of the excellent Comic Lab podcast (with Brad Guigar and Dave Kellett) where they thoroughly investigate the fall––and fallout––of Twitter.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Alien Control Party” (22 January 2016): Where our hosts discuss previous Digital Eclipse ports in their discussion about archiving old video games.
  • “Aggressive Modulation” (04 November 2022): Where our hosts reflect on, and analyze, the legacy of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

  • “Yakety Sax” by Boots Randolph
Rural Byrd

Rural Byrd

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WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew actually gets into sports (kind of) after watching the first season of the new HBO basketball docu-drama, Winning Time. D. Bethel plays Studio Koba’s recent release, Narita Boy, and is delighted by its retro stylings and gameplay but also impressed by its impressive step into modern storytelling and themes.

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Exposure Creates Tolerance

Exposure Creates Tolerance

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MINI-WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew and D. Bethel need a week to recoup after weeks of birthdays, Doctor Who, and a celebration of Star Trek, so they’re going to briefly cover the things that have been keeping their attention recently. To no one’s surprise, they’ve been playing video games. Andrew has been playing the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster collection that includes Final Fantasy 1-4 (at this point), while D. Bethel has not been helping his mental health––though he has been having a lot of fun––playing The Last of Us, Part 2.

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FEATURED MUSIC:

In the Reward Zone

In the Reward Zone

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WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew plays the first few games in Square Enix’s nostalgia-trip, Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster, while D. Bethel dives into nostalgia and music theory reading the newest book from Boss Fight Books, Final Fantasy VI by Sebastian Deken.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Premature Clapulation” (19 June 2014): In Episode 4, D. Bethel and Andrew discuss the positive qualities of Final Fantasy VI.
  • “Answer Sandwich” (24 October 2014): Where Andrew and D. Bethel discuss the work of Final Fantasy composer, Nobuo Uematsu.
  • “BTAS” (7 August 2015): Nearly exactly six years ago, D. Bethel and Andrew talk about the ludomusicology of Final Fantasy VI.
  • “Alien Control Party” (22 January 2016): Where Andrew and D. Bethel ponder the different ways––and the best ways––to “archive” old games for modern players.
  • “Five Minutes to Funny” (9 December 2016): Where D. Bethel shares his thoughts reading the Boss Fight Book about Metal Gear Solid, written by Ashly & Anthony Burch.
  • “Editing Is Magic” (13 July 2018): Where D. Bethel and Andrew read Final Fantasy V by Chris Kohler, published by Boss Fight Books.
  • “Little Paper People” (2 November 2018): Where D. Bethel reads and shares his thoughts about another Boss Fight Books book, Shovel Knight by David L. Craddock.

RELEVANT LINKS:

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FEATURED MUSIC:

Prime Time Crime

Prime Time Crime

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WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew watches the Queen Latifah-starring CBS reboot of the classic crime drama, The Equalizer, while D. Bethel finds a powerful, personal, and moving story about depression and self-acceptance in the 2018 retro-styled puzzle platformer, Celeste.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Episode 36 – Dan & Andy’s Quality Audio” (13 February 2015): Where Andrew made D. Bethel watch the pilot to Andrew’s favorite show (after Star Trek…maybe), John Rogers’ Leverage by John Rogers.
  • “Episode 108 – Private Reasons” (29 September 2016): Where D. Bethel and Andrew discuss the surge of reboots of classic ’80s film and tv franchises.
  • “Sad News Theme” (28 February 2020): Where Andrew discussed his first impressions of another reboot of a classic prime time drama, MacGyver.
  • “For Great Justice” (19 February 2021): Where D. Bethel talks with Andrew about video game genres and their ability to tell certain kinds of stories (as it related to the bizarre news around Six Days in Fallujah).

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The Battle Is The Game

The Battle Is The Game

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WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew finds the retro-JRPG stylings of Square Enix’s Octopath Traveler engaging and fun while D. Bethel gets challenged making the new pages from his webcomic, Long John, into short videos for Instagram, forcing him to look at his own work in new ways.

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RELEVANT EPISODES:

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