Pokemon Snap, Apple Lootboxes, Super Collider & Cyberpunk 2077 featuring Stephen from Sigmate Studios & Comics2movies

June 29, 2020

This week, Deviboy returns from his exile, and Stephen from Comics2Movies and XCT joins us to discuss a new comic.

Devi brings news from the far off land of Nintendo. It's time to get your cameras out for the New Pokemon Snap. Apart from Nintendo's hopeless naming, it's shaping up to be an expanded photography game for the new generation. We all hope they fit in the fun easter eggs and interactions.

Oh no, Loot Boxes! Apple are being taken to court for exploiting children via the App Store. We think we've got a solution to the problem too, so be ready to send us your opinions on the system.

Supercollider? I hardly know her! CERN are designing a 100km collider almost 4 times the size of the Large Hadron Collider. The LHC failed to open a portal to hell and lead to a demon invasion, but maybe the Future Circular Collider will. Somebody get Doomguy on speed dial.

Cyberpunk 2077 is delayed again, but to tide us over until the release a comic series titled Trauma Team. This also gives it the accidental honour of being the first piece of Cyberpunk 2077 to release. Until then, keep working to create a hyper corporate dystopia so we can all live out our Cyberpunk fantasies.

In gaming, Professor went up against space card sharks in Star Realms, Deviboy relived his childhood in Raze 2 and Stephen fell in love with Hearthstone.

Science Comics, FDA Greenlit & Critical Role

June 23, 2020

Finally, a way to read comics in class without your teacher complaining! Real life scientists are producing educational comics to teach cool science stuff. And they're FREE! Check them out, they have some pretty good explanations for a bunch of different topics.

The FDA has recognised the ability of video games to help with therapy and greenlit a game for treating ADHD suffers. I can't wait for a game to help you deal with idiots, but we'll get there one day.

Where did Matt Mercer's Vox Machina come from? Now you can read both of the first two seasons of the Critical Role prequels in a hardback omnibus. Wait, didn't we already do comics this week? Oops. Anyway, watch Critical Role. It's really good.

This week, Professor took to the skies in Sky Rogue and DJ set us up the bomb in Valorant.

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

May 18, 2020

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.

Magnetic Waves, Piracy & Valve

December 10, 2019

We hope that everyone is well and enjoying the start of the holidays season. This week we have the answer to the mystery of why the Sun is so hot and the dispersal of magnetic waves during solar flares. That’s right, one of those little mysteries that has been confounding scientists for years appears to have been solved with evidence supporting the rejection of the null hypothesis. Ooops, sorry, in other words research that explains why it appears to happen has been developed. So if you would like to know more about why that is then please listen in and enjoy this discussion that does wander off topic occasionally but in a fun way.

Next we look at the effect piracy is having on Marvels profit margin (which as a Disney corporate entity we must acknowledge are very slim margins). We discuss this and consider the alternatives such as going digital like XCT and some of the other projects from our friend Shaun at Comics2movies have begun to do. Buck wanders down memory lane reminiscing about when he was a boy (OK Boomer does not apply here as Buck isn’t that old). Can you believe that comic books used to only cost 15 cents? These days it is $10 and has less of a story in some cases, although XCT is cool if you want a great read.

Last topic is Valve news and what is happening with them. For example did you know that they are in the process of ending their controllers? Also did you know that they have recently had a sale on these controllers? Professor did and has bought one, even though they weren’t on sale here? Also Half-Life Alyx the VR experience game is looking downright awesome, if the promo video is anything to go by this is a game to get into.

As usual we have the regular shout outs, remembrances, birthdays and events for the week. Until next time remember to look out for each other, take care of yourselves and stay hydrated.

Loneliness, Sweating & Ben Affleck

December 2, 2019

Welcome everyone to another episode of Nerds Amalgamated, we would like to take a moment and congratulate all those who are graduating university, school, or just having an excellent week. “The pursuit of knowledge is never ending. The day you stop seeking knowledge is the day you stop growing. Brandon Travis Ciaccio.” So, no we have set a serious mood let’s look at the first topic, which is that video games are an excellent way to combat loneliness. Also, that video games are helpful for men to combat issues such as social isolation and stress for men in today’s society. That’s right, read that correctly, video games are beneficial to men’s health and should be encouraged. What to know more to help develop those arguments for the girlfriend or boss, listen in and find out what we are talking about.

Next up Buck has decided to bring us a mystery to try and solve. Now who doesn’t love a good puzzle? If like Buck you love sitting down with a crossword, a Sudoku or reading a good detective novel then you will love this. We have a mystery that is 500 hundred years old, has some of the most baffling elements and to top it off has stumped many professional investigators over the years. We are talking about a mass murder that struck fear in the hearts of the population of England. This is a mystery that is guaranteed to get you remembered in history if you solve it. Want to know what Buck has unveiled for us to ponder, listen in and find out.

Now Ben Affleck is not someone who we get excited about, in fact he makes Buck yawn at the mere mention of his name. In fact I just yawned at the thought, crikey why are we talking about him? Well, it appears that he has a movie in the works that is looking kind of good, it is a topic that we hope he does justice to. Now we know that Hollywood has failed to deliver anything great for some time now, but this story has potential. We aren’t going to hold our breathe, and not just because of Benny boy of the sleep inducing performance. The reality is that the story is one that needs to be told with a sensitivity and care that is hard to deliver. This is something the likes of Spielberg should be directing. Want to know what it is we are talking about? You know what to do.

As usual we have the regular shout outs, birthdays, remembrances, and special events. We hope you enjoy this episode and if you want to give us feedback we are always happy to hear from you. Take care of yourselves, look out for each other and stay hydrated.

GB Studios, Batman & Human Gene Editing

April 29, 2019

Hi, hello and welcome to another amazing episode from Nerds Amalgamated. Once again we enjoy bringing you this slice of entertainment from the world of the NERD pop culture news, where all are welcome. We pause for a moment to pay our respect to the victims of the cowardly bombings in Sri Lanka over Easter. Also we pause to honour the ANZACs, those individuals who have helped defend Australia and New Zealand for over a century.

First topic is from the Professor, and it is about an open source game making program that enables the creation of 8-bit type games. Useable on web-browsers and portable devices such as the Nintendo Gameboy (All trademarks acknowledged – so don’t sue us please Nintendo, Buck is still not happy with you). This is looking like a fun way of making your own games and also introducing coding and game development to a new generation.

Then we look at a birthday celebration for Batman, 80 years old and still giving crime a beat down. Yep, there is a return of the quadrilogy from the 90’s to cinemas. So grab you friends, dig those happy pants out of the cupboard and shake up that hair spray and head on down. You get to see the two Michael Keaton Batman movies, followed by Val Kilmer and then George Clooney. We discuss Bat-nipple gate and how fun these movies were. Plus we hear how tragic Buck was at decorating his bedroom as a teenager.

Next up we look at further plans to make use of CRISPR for gene editing, this time to prevent hereditary diseases. Say hi to the start of Gattaca folks, we have a group of mad scientists running around with questionable ethics who don’t watch movies. Next they will be telling us about how they want to remake dinosaurs and release them into the wild, like that other movie. Don’t these people ever learn to think about the consequences of their actions?

We finish off with the usual shout out, remembrances, birthdays and events. As always take care of each other and stay hydrated.

Stan Lee Tribute Episode

November 20, 2018

In this special episode the nerds amalgamated crew along with Shaun Keenan, director of Comics2movies and author of XCT: Xtreme Champion Tournament; said goodbye to Stan Lee; the man who has touched the hearts, minds and souls of many generation through his work at Marvel comics.

We discussed the various tributes to Stan Lee, ranging from DC comics to Brian Michael Bendis. The number of heroes and villains he created and how his mind works when it comes to creating comic book characters. There were other topics that were discussed such as his lesser known achievements, for example his battle against censorship and his creation of Epic illustrated which resulted in Akira being released first in Epic Illustrated. We also spoke about his famous cameo appearances in nearly every Marvel movie to other movies that were not related to marvel and future Stan Lee cameos.

Also discussed were Stan Lee’s contributions to creative endeavours such as in the anime and manga industry which resulted in 2 anime series and a couple of manga appearances, also his contribution to science and technology. We also spoke about how Stan Lee introduced merchandising through the use of the Merry Marvel Marching Society.

While Stan Lee may be gone, other comic book artists will hopefully carry his torch, people such as Jim Lee. We also spoke about Stan Lee’s works on the Silver surfer comics especially Silver Surfer Parable which was collaborated with Moebius and also Jack Kirby, the Silver Surfer ultimate cosmic experience. We even made comments about how he looked like in his younger days. During our recording his funeral service was conducted in private and a tribute is in the works.

All in all, Stan Lee was a man who cemented his legacy through his works, his ethics and his view on life. The world will never be the same without you. Excelsior!