Plutonian Ocean, Metal Slug, Huni Kuin & Cyberpunk Edgerunners

July 9, 2020

The Nerds Amalgamated fishing trip is coming up, and we'll be going to Pluto for some ice fishing. Could Pluto have underground oceans with alien fish, and will they taste good with chips? Unfortunately it'll take a really long time to get there to find out. Maybe we'll have FTL by the next fishing trip.

Metal Slug is back, again. SNK have plans to make some new Metal Slug games and not just work on porting the old ones to new consoles.

The Huni Kuin tribe of Brazil have become some of the most primitive game developers in the world. Working with a team of anthropologists to preserve their tribal stories in the form of a video game.

Cyberpunk 2077 is getting an Anime. The resident weebs are excited. Cross another one off on your Cyberpunk 2077 media bingo card.

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.

Robin Hood, Bohemia Interactive, ESRB & Mathematically perfect steak

April 20, 2020

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.

High Stakes, Hollywood & Forbidden Library

March 24, 2020

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.

Dr Who, Bubbles & Dreams

March 9, 2020

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.

Skin, Dwarf Fortress & Arkham Knight

April 10, 2019

Welcome back and hello to the new listeners, we hope everyone is having fun and taking care of themselves. So, this week we find out that there is a new electronic skin developed from the National University of Singapore. We discussed how it can be applied in the real world, trust me this will make you laugh, the possibilities are endless. Although we really like the idea of a window for submarines with a heads up display, that would be cool. Next up we look at an indie game called Dwarf Fortress from two brothers and how their model might rival the triple A game studios. This is a game that embraces the gaming community and encourages players to develop extra content and share it online. Lastly, we look at the transition of a video game character now appearing in DC Comics known as the Arkham Knight. This not the first time that has happened as Marvel has done it before but obviously DC will do it better. As usual we have the regular list of shout outs, remembrances, birthdays, and events of interest. As usual we have a lot of fun bringing you this latest episode of mayhem, so settle in with a cup of earl grey hot and a biscuit while we bring you some of the news this week in Nerd pop culture. Remember, take care of each other and stay hydrated.