Smile, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Paul Allen’s Living Computers Museum + Labs & BRZRKR

Has Professor finally found a way to keep DJ in the time limit? Some say yes.

Can a smile really make you think better of someone? What if it would make you think worse of them? This study looked at the perceived trustworthiness of people with various disorders, but the Nerds think it's not particularly rigorous.

Microsoft Flight Simulator will come with a physical edition including a lovely hardcover flight manual, and ten discs. TEN discs. It's going to be a pretty significant drive eater but if you don't have a good internet connection or want a pretty book this is the way to go.

It's time to say goodbye to Paul Allen's Living Computer Museum + Labs. Paul's museum is the only place a regular civilian can access the classic Big Iron mainframes of the 60s and 70s, but they've recently announced their temporary closure which is sounding more and more permanent as more news comes out. Now if you'll excuse us, Professor needs to have a bit of a cry.

Keanu Reeves is writing a comic book called Brzkr which sounds like the most Mary Sue self insert fanfiction a man could write. We'll have to wait for the full story to come out, but the main character sounds annoying. Maybe it'll have good art though.

This week, Professor sat around waiting in Forager, DJ jumped around in Nohra and Dev-i-Boy formed an army in VRChat.

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Half-Life projects, Comic-Con program guide, Playstation Factory & Esports Mental Toughness

First, Dev-i-boy found a list of Valve games that never came out. These games were created in the dark times before Half Life: Alyx was announced, and include some interesting looks at what Half Life 3 could have been.

You can't go to Comic-Con this year, but you can watch it online. There's a great program with tons of shows including comics, television and gaming news. It's also probably the most accessible Comic-Con ever, since you don't need to leave your house and the shows are free.

First the robots came for the car factory jobs, and I said nothing. Then they came for the Playstation 4 assembly jobs, and I said "Cool, that's some nice tech". Sony has almost fully automated their assembly line and only use four people on the ends of a single assembly line that makes one console every 30 seconds. It's awesome.

Esports are stressful, and high skill players show the same signs of stress as their analogue counterparts. This doesn't surprise the Nerds at all, but it's an interesting study.

This week, Professor played a chaotic real time dice rolling game, DJ kept the peace in Agents of Mayhem and Dev-i-boy got distracted by job applications. Wish him luck.

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Error, Atari VCS, My Friend Pedro & Dead neurons

Flash is dead. Long live Flash. Kongregate has decided to shut their doors to new releases. This is truly the end of an error. Let's move on to something more secure now. After decades of trying to get around the web filter at school to play weird indie games, kids will have to find something else to do.

The Atari VCS is due to come out soon, and it's a horribly overpriced set top box. The hardware sounds hackable, but if you're buying it to play VCS games you're wasting your money. Seriously, you can get original Ataris much cheaper.

My Friend Pedro is coming back to haunt the nightmares of evil gangsters everywhere in a TV series from the creator of John Wick. This series will only be worth watching if they manage to pull off the wild stunts and action of the game, but they've got a pedigree.

The first video footage of a dying neuron shows the way your brain breaks down. The footage clearly shows a hit being carried out by the Glial Cell gang, famous for killing any brain cell that gets in their way. Check it out, this could lead to some cool medicine.

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Night Sky Pix Solar Eclipse, SimRefinery & Promised Neverland

Never look at a solar eclipse. Unless you're wearing badass solar eclipse glasses and taking cool photos. Night Sky Pix sent us an article about photographing the upcoming solar eclipse, and it's so in depth we'll need to get it back from the Challenger Deep. So, if you live in the right places, get your camera and your solar filters and get snapping.

SimRefinery is the least well known Sim game of all time. That's because Maxis never actually finished it and it's been sitting in a box for decades. But now it's been temporarily released on Archive.org and around 20 000 people have downloaded it. SimRefinery was a training simulation commissioned by Chevron and designed to help introduce refinery workers and company staff learn about the operations of their facilities.

DJ is cautiously excited about Promised Neverland, an Amazon live action remake of the anime with the same name. A knock off version of the Eloi from The Time Machine find out what they're being kept for and try to escape. Don't get your hopes up though, what are the chances someone will actually make a good live action anime adaptation?

This week, Professor tries to drive across America in Overland and DJ takes a time machine to a medieval battle royale.

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Chicxulub, Lost NES game & Chinese theatres

Hi diddly ho fans, welcome to our new episode...

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, a meteor crashed into a planet. This week we talked about Chicxulub, yes that the asteroid that slammed into Earth 66 million years ago left behind more than a legacy of mass destruction.

Out of the ashes, comes a nostalgic game….we talk about DAYS OF THUNDERRRRRR!!!!! An old NES game that was remade from scratch. An unreleased, never-before-seen title co-authored by Chris Oberth at Mindscape. It took a lot of floppy disks and a ton of nostalgia...one must wonder...will we ever see more old games resurrected.

And finally, we talk about Chinese theatres and how they are going to be really affected by the coronavirus. More than 40% of surveyed Chinese cinemas say they are “very likely to close” in the near future.

This week in gaming DJ jumps into an old game with a twist….Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath complete with Robocop and other Mortal Kombat characters.. and Professor enjoys hovercraft racing while shooting down aliens in Crysis Warhead.

Until next time...

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Bionic Eye, Miquela & Manchester United

Congratulations SpaceX for their sucessful manned Crew Dragon mission to the ISS.

Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. It's not as great as Steve Austin's bionic eye from the Six Million Dollar Man, but it's pretty cool. Scientists have made a bionic eyeball inspired by the actual working of the human eye. This cool tech isn't ready to go in a human head yet, but when it is we can only hope it's cheaper than Steve's eye.

Robots are here, and they're coming for your jobs. Now even actors don't have job security. Miquela is a CGI replacement for advertising models is now leaving Instagram and breaking into acting. Which raises a concerning question. How long until they replace the podcasters?

Football manager is one of the most popular management simulators. Recently they've come under fire from Manchester United for copyright issues. Despite letting it slide for almost 30 years, Man U have decided it's time to sue.

This week in gaming DJ jumps at shadows in Alan Wake and Professor goes full Groundhog Day in Into the Breach.

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Space Movie, Space Cement & PokeCoin

Nanoo Nanoo.

Ryan Gosling is going back to space for Andy Weir's next book, which isn't even out yet but is already casting actors. This one has a working title of Project Hail Mary and features a lone scientist on a spaceship trying to save the world. Slightly higher stakes than The Martian, but Andy's books are always great.

Astronauts are also going to use pee to build houses on the moon. Let's hope NASA has a large surplus of air fresheners to send up with them, because this cement is probably the most useful way to use human waste on the moon, but it's going to smell.

Back on Earth, Niantic are trying to deflate the Pokecoin economy by severely lowering the minimum wage. Nobody seems to be happy with this, but Australia is just the test site, so it's coming to a phone near you soon.

This week Professor took a trip to a far away planet to care for slimes, and DJ found out what happens when you swim with the cardsharks.

Check in next week for probably less pee jokes. Probably.

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Nintendo Lawyers, Home Gardening & Comic-Con At Home featuring Shaun from Comics2Movies

This week we invite our special guest Shaun Keenan, creator of Xtreme Champion Tournament (in which mythical and legendary heroes face off) to share his thoughts on some news from San Diego Comic Con.

Kicking things off, the Nerds discuss Nintendo's itchy DMCA trigger finger, they’ve taken down the tragically short-lived DirectX 12 Super Mario 64 Port. This was a fan work based on the Mario 64 decompilation project, reformed into a gorgeous 4k Ultra-Widescreen rendition of everyone's favourite plumber. And they also lost 2TB of data including user account details, which are now being used to hack people. Oops.

There's now one less reason to leave the house, since gardening provides a boost to your emotional well-being that is as powerful as going out for dinner or taking a run. Grow chickens and you have an excuse for a dinner and a run as well. So, is gardening the ultimate weapon against millennial depression memes?

Lastly, Shaun chips in to talk about SDCC's move to being an online only event. Pros: Better food. Better chairs. No lines. Cons: No costumes. No crowd excitement. It's a tough sell for some of us, but the rest of us are perfectly happy to stay at home.

This week, Professor broke his brain in HyperRogue and DJ confronted his fear of the dark in Alan Wake.

Come back next week, we miss you.

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Virtual meetings, Wonder Woman, WarriOrb & Autism Studies

Welcome, to the World of TOMOROOOW!

What does listening to a podcast have to do with listening to your boss? Science is now showing benefits to virtual meetings. Which means one day, even your boss might be replaced by a voice over the wire. This still doesn't mean you can get out of wearing pants.

Wonder Woman's director thinks DC shouldn't follow the tried and true MCU formula. Sure, it worked for them, but can it be pulled off twice? Let us know if you have a good argument for there being room for two comic cinematic universes.

WarriOrb is a new game that's just been released on Steam. But following a highly popular demo, WarriOrb's initial sales have been disappointingly low. The devs have posted their own analysis on Reddit, and they're understandably confused.

Wrapping up, we have a discussion about scientific studies involving Autistic people.

We played Crysis and Legends of Runeterra this week. Professor's computer didn't melt playing Crysis, and DJ isn't any better at counting cards.

Wait around to hear from us next week with another great episode.

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Esports, Green Lantern & Lego

Not that it matters, talking is a free action and we'll talk your ears off.

Starting this week, Valve's integrity has been called into question over Esports. Yes mum, Esports are real sports.

The Flash needs to stop messing with the timeline. It's 2011 again, and Green Lantern is getting a TV series, written by one of the comic authors. And there's two lanterns, so the British are coming by sea. Oops. Barry. Stop. Paul Revere doesn't belong here.

But next take the time machine to the far future to find out how long it takes for Lego to break down, based on research done by recruiting beach combers to hand over all the lego they find. Surely this isn't just a scheme to get people to give you lego.

Professor played Noita, the Roguelite version of Powder Toy, and DJ chose to go to Japan in Total War: Shogun II.

Come hear us again next week.

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Valve Leaks, PS5, Live Action Anime Movies & Nightmares

As the year slowly slips away and the autumn leaves remind us of our inescapable mortality, it's time for another episode of Nerds Amalgamated.

First up this week, Valve is leaking and blowing off some steam. The entire source code for TF2 and CSGO has been leaked, and Valve News Network's source has some interesting rumours about Half Life 3.

The PS5 finally has a release date and a price. It's finally time to move to the next generation of consoles, but don't make space in your TV cabinet just yet.

More anime is becoming live action. Because that's exactly what everyone was begging for. This time it's Cowboy Bebop season 2 and One Punch Man.

But in another nightmare, your Ego has a big part to play in the frequency of nightmares. Is self-affirmation a more effective dream weapon than Freddy Kruger's claws?

This week, Professor went Old Skool and played Objects in Space, a modempunk space adventure. DJ chose a demolition derby to knock out some stress and Dev-i isn't ready to leave the VR Chat world just yet.

Come back next time for more Nerdy News.

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Robin Hood, Bohemia Interactive, ESRB & Mathematically perfect steak

Welcome back. We've been expecting you.

We have a bit of a longer episode than usual this week because we just had so many interesting people to talk about, including a liar who looks like Hugh Jackman, and one of the most prolific Astronomers to ever live.

But, first up, the Nerds discuss the rumoured Disney Robin Hood remake. In live action. With photorealistic CGI. This sounds terrifying. This is a terrible idea. This will haunt your nightmares forever.

One of Professor's favourite game studios has had a great year, and Professor wants to talk about their future. Bohemia Interactive has some great projects in the works that are well worth checking out, so we've got a summary for you.

Dev-i-Boy has brought us the ESRB's disappointing attempt to resolve the Lootbox debate. He and Professor agree that this is a poor response. Maybe one day there will be a solution, but not today.

Dev-i has also found the algorithm for creating the perfect steak. It involves dozens of factors and complicated equations. But don't pull this paper out next time you go to a barbecue, or everyone will go home before you start cooking.

As usual, we bring you the games of the week. Professor and his girlfriend are finding out why they shouldn't have kids in Think of the Children. DJ and Professor are still playing Generation Zero. Professor is better at surviving the robot apocalypse than he is at raising kids. Dev-i is playing VR chat again. We wish him luck in his quest to become an anime girl.

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Indiana Jones, Youtube, C.O.D Humvee & Lizard Eggs

This week the Nerds invited Dev-i-Boy on again. He'll be joining us for the next while.

First up is a discussion about Indiana Jones 5. Can Indy swing himself back into relevance for a new generation? Not if COVID-19 has anything to say about it. Indiana Jones 5 has been pushed back again due to the pandemic. The Nerds are hoping Actual Cannibal Shia LaBeouf doesn't make another appearance as Indy's son, but we'd be ok with him appearing as a cannibal tribesman. This of course leads into a discussion on Disney's other properties, including the notorious Pirates of the Caribbean and Jungle Cruise. This looks like a rough year for Disney.

Dev-i-Boy has heard that Russians are behind everyone's favourite YouTube channel, Five Minute Crafts. In a story reminiscent of bad Cold War fiction, Russian propaganda is slipped into innocuous seeming YouTube videos. Now we just need a team of teenagers to sneak into the secret Russian video studio lab and uncover their plot.

Activision has pulled off a major win in court against the maker of the Humvee. Modern warfare needs modern weapons, and the US courts have ruled in favour of realism over licensing fees.

Finally, DJ and Dev-i-Boy can't handle the knowledge. An Australian lizard joins the tiny group of reptiles that both lay eggs and give live birth. This revelation is too much for them to handle though, so we move on to the games of the week.

Professor and DJ play Generation Zero, a game about Swedish battle mechs and robot dogs that want to kill you. It's buggy, but generally a good experience. Dev-i played LoZ: Wind Waker again but breaks into a new dimension in VR Chat. Of course, he picked an anime girl avatar. Of course.

On to the usual shoutouts and remembrances, and DJ refuses to wrap up the show by performing Waterloo. Maybe next week.

Stay safe, and we'll see you all next week.

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Half-Life, Dragon's Lair & A NEW PLAYER HAS ENTERED THE GAME !!!

This week the Nerds welcome Dev-i-boy to the group. Dev-i-boy is also known as Brad, a Brisbane game developer, who we interviewed around a year ago. Check that one out too, it's a good one and it'll be in the show notes below.

Professor and Dev-i-boy are gushing over Half Life: Alyx, despite a massive lack of Valve Index availability in Australia. Why, Valve, why?. HL:Alyx also doubles as an online lecture platform, a Cover your Cough training simulator and apparently, a generally good game.

DJ wants to see the Dragons Lair movie. Ryan Reynolds has been cast in a live action remake of a classic animated Laserdisc game from 1983. Don Bluth is on board, so it should be something interesting to watch.

Once again, the Nerds take on the topic of dinosaur chickens. Professor rants about the software design skills of Dennis Nedry and Dev-i-boy thinks there's no point in bringing back dinosaur chickens. But imagine the drumsticks on those chooks.

As usual, we cover the games of the week and remember some famous figures who passed away this week.

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DRM, Spring Anime & COVID-19

Crack and share. Until it is done. At least, if there's anything to crack. For the second time Bethesda have managed to release a game with a built-in crack for the Denuvo DRM. What's the story behind it? Incompetence, a rogue agent, or are Bethesda secretly the DRM free heroes we don't deserve? Doom Eternal is the latest casualty of Bethesda's DRM mistakes, and Professor wants to know why.

DJ has a list of the newest anime to watch this spring, or autumn if you live in the south. Southern Hemisphere Best Hemisphere. Get the latest ridiculously long anime names here!

Just when you thought it was safe to go outside after the fires, COVID-19 swept in. Where did it come from? A lab has dissected the DNA behind this threat and all signs point to COVID-19 not being a Chinese bioweapon. Keep the conspiracies coming, science knows what's what.

This week, both nerds played a Doom related game. Professor plays an official series game, but DJ plays a parody.

As usual, the Nerds discuss the latest shoutouts and events of interest. RIP Al Worden, Albert Uderzo and Kenny Rogers.

We'll be back next week for another episode. We're not going anywhere, and by the looks of things, neither are you.

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High Stakes, Hollywood & Forbidden Library

It's that time of week again, so check out our newest episode.

To start this week, we have a bit of levity. NASA have programmed one of their robots to hit itself with a shovel. It's all for a good cause, they want to get their InSight lander's mole digging again. The probe became stuck and using the shovel as a hammer is just the latest attempt to get it going again.

DJ wants to tell us about Hollywood's response to COVID-19, including delays to the filming of Amazon's Lord of the Rings series. Now New Zealand has closed their borders and the Hobbits will not be going to Isengard.

Next, it's time to enter THE FORBIDDEN LIBRARY. It isn't just in Harry Potter anymore; a group have created a library dedicated to copying articles from countries without press freedom. Did we mention it's in Minecraft? Next time you get busted playing Minecraft when you should be doing homework, just say you're researching.

On this week's games section, Professor makes a declaration that will surely lead to war. Having experienced Final Fantasy 7 and Black Mesa, he declares Black Mesa the better remake. If anyone has an issue with this, we'll have to substitute fisticuffs with videogames.

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Coding, Loot Boxes & Mrs Doubtfire

Now, you may be wondering why I have called you all here today.

The reason, of course, is this week's episode of Nerds Amalgamated.

This time, the Nerds discuss the hidden genetic code in POLG. Not PUBG, POLG. And these hidden genes aren't blue. Check out the full article, it's a hell of a read.

The Australian Parliament is taking a look at regulating lootboxes. This will get the Libertarians wound up. But will the Australian government actually listen to their committee this time, or will Professor and DJ get to complain about politics again?

DJ thinks Mrs Doubtfire will lose her charm on Broadway. But anyone who can pull off an 18 second sex change has to be fun to watch.

This week's game section involves Professor gushing over Black Mesa and DJ taking a hike in Walking Simulator.

As always, stay hydrated and don't get COVID-19.

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Dr Who, Bubbles & Dreams

Doctor Who has finished another season with the biggest bombshell in nearly 60 years of stories. What does this mean? Why is it happening? And why does it taste like caramel and marzipan? Nobody except the leakers could have known what was going to happen this time, and it's more controversial than politics. Doctor Who has time traveled back to the 80s to pick up some plot ideas from the Dark Times between the cancellation and revival.

Hello Ducky, my old friend. I've come to talk with you again. Because a bathtub slowly filling is behind this week's scientific breakthrough. The Sound of Bubbles is key to understanding the physics behind their growth and collapse. Aren't you glad I didn't choose "Where did you come from, where did you go, where did you come from Bubbleeye Joe?" as the musical reference.

And then it's time for Dreams, the newest evolution in a long history of amateur game development tools. Some developers have already been picked up by a company thanks to their work on a No Man's Sky clone. Professor is excited for the resurgence of amateur game development and hopes Dreams will rise up to be the next generation's rapid prototype and release tool.

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Seaweed, DMCA & Transformers

Professor and DJ are back to talk about billion-year-old seaweed found in China. This seaweed is older than the combined ages of all our listeners, but doesn't complain when you say "OK Boomer". It also has no thoughts on how you should live your life. Not many thoughts on anything, really, it's extinct. Professor summarises the development of life to DJ, but since DJ is a robot, he just doesn't get it.

Activision are trying some legal tactics to close some leaks while ignoring their own incompetence revealing the new Warzone game mode to the world without the efforts of a leaker. Are they just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic: Modern Zombies Ops 8?

This week it's DJ's turn to rant about a missing voice actor. #NOTMYOPTIMUS. A new Transformers series without Michael Bay is in the works from the same people who made the recent Godzilla anime trilogy. Who joins the ranks of the NA wall of wasted cast?

Of course, the Nerds talk about games and have some remembrances for some big names this week, Katherine Johnson and Kazuhisa Hashimoto.

Stay healthy, and we'll be back next week.

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Valve Index, Masters of the Universe & Crew Dragon

The Nerds are back, proving that 107 episodes just isn't too much for the human body to handle.

This week, the Professor has a complaint about that saintly game developer, Valve. What's his problem with Gabe and the multi award winning game studio? They're sold out of VR headsets with only a month to go before the release of Half Life: Alyx.

The Masters of the Universe are coming back as well. The Professor has another complaint, this time about the casting of Skeletor. He thinks it's ridiculous to bring back Skeletor's original voice in a different role and cast a new actor for Skeletor. Even if that actor is the esteemed Mark Hamill. DJ thinks this sacrilege is 100% ok. The star studded cast list has the Nerds highly excited for this revival.

Now that Dragon has been human rated, SpaceX have moved the capsule to the launch pad, and the crew are a pair of former Shuttle pilots. This will be the first manned space mission from the US since the Shuttle program was shut down. America Can Into Space? Soon, hopefully.

Professor and DJ have some trouble pronouncing American Indian and Finnish words in the Remembrances and Shoutouts, and laugh at the Boomers who couldn't believe Bill and Ted actually speak like that.

Stay hydrated and come hang out with us again next week.

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