WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew plays the expansive new Star Trek board game by Gale Force Nine Games, Star Trek: Ascendancy, while D. gets knee-deep into the sequel to the short-lived, but beloved, comic book series, Battle Chasers. However, the sequel is a video game, not a comic, in Battle Chasers: NightWar by Airship Syndicate. (Full Disclosure: D. was a backer on the Battle Chasers: NightWar Kickstarter campaign.)

RELATED EPISODES:

• Episode 40 - "Vowel Movement": Where Andrew discusses playing the board game, Sons of Anarchy: Men of Mayhem, a previous game made by Gale Force Nine Games. Ironically, Episode 40's discussion topic is about sequels that come years after the original entry, and this week D. talks about playing Battle Chasers: Nightwar, and ostensible sequel to the comic series that ended in 2001.
• Episode 128 - "His Curry Name": Where D. Bethel talks about reading the series rebooting Jim Lee's '90s Wildstorm continuity with The Wild Storm by Warren Ellis and Jon Davis-Hunt.

WORKS CITED:

INFO:

• Visit our website at forallintents.net and leave your thoughts as comments on the page for this episode.
• Join our Facebook page
• E-mail: Andrew - [email protected], D. Bethel - [email protected]
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
• Subscribe to and review the show on the iTunes store.

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

FEATURED MUSIC:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew attends Seattle's BrickCon and is intrigued by not only the affordable prices of hard-to-get sets, but also the creativity of independent LEGO builders, while Dan gives his impressions on the pilot episode of Fox's new tv show based, ostensibly, on their cinematic X-verse, The Gifted.

WHAT A THRILL: Andrew, inspired its free status for PS Plus subscribers this month, re-downloads Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and gets poisoned by Venom Snake all over again, two years on.

NOT MY AMERICA: Swedish developer, MachineGames, and their parent company, Bethesda, are ramping up the marketing for their upcoming, hotly anticipated sequel, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, and their tact has made a certain demographic very displeased.

RELATED EPISODES:

• Episode 67 - "Things on the Fiction": Where D. talks about starting Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
• Episode 70 - "The Big Fiddle": Where D. talks about finishing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
• Episode 71 - "This Like": Where Andrew starts playing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
• Episode 75 - "A Sad Game About Nuclear Disarmament": Where Andrew discusses a mission in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain that truly disturbed him.
• Episode 139 - "A Warm Heat": Where D. first talks about Wolfenstein: The New Order.
• Episode 144 - "Commodore Chew-Town": Where our hosts discuss Nazis in America.

WORKS CITED:

• Hughes, William. "Nazi-Killing Video Game Adopts Controversial Anti-Nazi Marketing Stance." AV Club. Onion, Inc., 05 October 2017.
• Tarason, Dominic. "Bethesda Issue Statement Confirming Nazis Are Bad, As Wolfenstein 2's Ad Campaign Draws Flak." PCGamesN, 07 October 2017.

INFO:

• Visit our website at forallintents.net and leave your thoughts as comments on the page for this episode.
• Join our Facebook page
• E-mail: Andrew - [email protected], D. Bethel - [email protected]
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
• Subscribe to and review the show on the iTunes store.

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

FEATURED MUSIC:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

STRIKE WHILE THE IRON'S HOT: After almost an entire year on strike, SAG AFTRA and the studios it named in its grievance have come to a tentative deal, thusly ending the video game voice actors' strike. But what was agreed to? What does this mean for the future of voice actors and game development going forward? Andrew and D. Bethel talk it out.

RELATED EPISODES & Links:

• Episode 112 - "God King Teddy Roosevelt" - in which D. Bethel and Andrew discuss the breaking voice actors' strike.
• Worth A Look #11 - Where D. Bethel links to an article from Vice's Waypoint that breaks down the voice actors' strike.

INFO:

• Visit our website at forallintents.net and leave your thoughts as comments on the page for this episode.
• Join our Facebook page and follow both D. Bethel and Andrew on Twitter.
• E-mail: Andrew - [email protected], D. Bethel - [email protected]
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
• Subscribe to and review the show on the iTunes store.

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

FEATURED MUSIC:

-"Thunder Busters" by Wax Audio

WEEK IN GEEK: D. Bethel doubles up this time to talk about a personally exciting moment he experienced meeting X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills artists, Brent Eric Anderson, while at this year's Alternative Press Expo in San Jose, CA, as well as seeing the new cinematic version of (half of) the Stephen King classic, It, while Andrew discusses playing SteamWorld Heist.

RELEVANT LINKS:

D. Bethel's comprehensive video recap of his time at APE 2017.

RELATED EPISODES:

• Episode 116 - "Craftcraft": When Dan talked about X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills.

INFO:

• Visit our website at forallintents.net and leave your thoughts as comments on the page for this episode.
• Join our Facebook page and follow both D. Bethel and Andrew on Twitter.
• E-mail: Andrew - [email protected], D. Bethel - [email protected]
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
• Subscribe to and review the show on the iTunes store.

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

FEATURED MUSIC:

-"Thunder Busters" by Wax Audio

BAD WORDS: After the most recent faux pas by popular YouTube gaming personality, Felix Kjellberg a.k.a. PewDiePie, in which he uttered one of the most contemptible words in American English seemingly as a synonym for "asshole", the internet exploded for a second to either defend Kjellberg or condemn him on a variety of fronts. Firewatch developer, Campo Santo, went so far as to file a DMCA complaint on YouTube, causing the website to take down Kjellberg's Let's Play of it from his channel. Video games and the internet are a mess right now, and Andrew and D. Bethel do there best to untangle the knot while slightly ranting along the way.

RELATED EPISODES:

• Episode 30 - "Batting 100": Only referenced because this is Shortcast 30.
• Episode 125 - "Hot Sauce Box": Where we talk about the last time PewDiePie got himself into trouble.

WORKS REFERENCED:

• Cooper, Dalton. "PewDiePie Almost Uses Racist Language Again Just Days After Apology." GameRant. Warp10 LLC, 15 Sep. 2017.
• Fahey, Rob. "Gaming YouTube Must Get Its House In Order." GamesIndustry.Biz. Gamer Network, 15 Sep. 2017.
• Ibrahim, Mona. "Firewatch Creators Can Target PewDiePie with DMCA Takedowns, and It's Perfectly Legal." Polygon. Vox Media, 12 Sep. 2017.
• Klepek, Patrick. "PewDiePie Doesn't Deserve a Pass For Using the N-Word Because He Was Angry." Waypoint. Vice Media, 11 Sep. 2017.

INFO:

• Visit our website at forallintents.net and leave your thoughts as comments on the page for this episode.
• Join our Facebook page and follow both D. Bethel and Andrew on Twitter.
• E-mail: Andrew - [email protected], D. Bethel - [email protected]
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
• Subscribe to and review the show on the iTunes store.

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

FEATURED MUSIC:

-"Thunder Busters" by Wax Audio -"Nerd Law" by D. Bethel

WEEK IN GEEK: It's a Week in Geek Shortcast this week with a little twist to the formula as Andrew brings TWO items to the table. First, Andrew goes back to the Star Trek well by seeing Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan in theaters in celebration of the film's 35th anniversary and muses on the slightly strange interview with William Shatner that preceded it. D. Bethel talks about watching a friend start watching Doctor Who, observing a person wade into the fandom while trying not to gatekeep or guide the experience. Then, Andrew shares his venture into the world of costuming as he and his team prepare for an upcoming megagame event, "Colossus of Atlantis," which will be held September 24th in Seattle by Seattle Megagames.

RELATED EPISODES:

• Episode 60 - "Some Solid Copy": When Andrew first talks about playing the megagame, "Watch the Skies."
• Episode 87 - "Thunder and Lightning": When Andrew and D. Bethel talk megagames with Seattle megagame guru, Jesse "Megagame."

INFO:

• Visit our website at forallintents.net and leave your thoughts as comments on the page for this episode.
• Join our Facebook page
• E-mail: Andrew - [email protected], D. Bethel - [email protected]
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
• Subscribe to and review the show on the iTunes store.

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

FEATURED MUSIC:

-"Thunder Busters" by Wax Audio

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew pauses his walk down the Star Trek Nostalgia Trail and attended a day of PAX West (starts at 2:14) while Dan dips into the history of his favorite comic book franchise by reading Marvel Epic Collection Vol. 5: X-Men - Second Genesis which collects the early issues of the great X-Men reboot from 1975 when the "All-New, All-Different" X-men were added to the team (Wolverine, Colossus, Storm, Nightcrawler) and started the 16-year run of writer Chris Claremont (18:17).

FINAL FANTASY VII AGAIN: (28:23) September 7th marked the 20th anniversary of Squaresoft's (at the time, now Square Enix) breakthrough hit, Final Fantasy VII. Dan and Andrew talk less about the game itself and instead talk about the impact the game had on gaming and nerd culture.

NOTE: Sacramento's Crocker Con | Art Mix is happening September 14th at the Crocker Art Museum at which D. Bethel will be exhibiting with his wares. Come by and say hi!

RELATED EPISODES:

• Episode 21 - "Standing In Landscapes": Where Andrew and Dan previously discussed Final Fantasy VII.

WORKS CITED:

• Holmes, Dylan. "'The Greatest Story Ever Told': Final Fantasy VII." A Mind Forever Voyaging, 2012, pp. 63-79.
• Leone, Matt. "Final Fantasy 7: An Oral History." Polygon. Vox Media, 09 June 2017.

INFO:

• Visit our website at forallintents.net and leave your thoughts as comments on the page for this episode.
• Join our Facebook page
• E-mail: Andrew - [email protected], D. Bethel - [email protected]
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
• Subscribe to and review the show on the iTunes store.

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

FEATURED MUSIC:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew is still riding his Star Trek high and talks about his further adventures playing inside Star Trek Online (starts at 02:43). D. Bethel, plays with the beautiful but kind of simple Miracle Merchant, and finds it an interesting contrast to another phone game, the complex Knights of Pen and Paper II (18:25).

THE LONG CON: (26:47) Dan and Andrew riff on the fairly simple question: are there too many cons?

RELATED LINKS:

• Episode 17 - "After Shakespeare": Where Andrew first talks about playing Star Trek Online.
• Episode 135 - "Pure Chaos": Where Andrew again discusses Star Trek Online.
• "Let's Play - Star Trek Online": Where Andrew streamed a session of Star Trek Online.

LINKS:

• Visit our website at forallintents.net and leave your thoughts as comments on the page for this episode.
• Join our Facebook page
• E-mail: Andrew - [email protected], D. Bethel - [email protected]
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
• Subscribe to and review the show on the iTunes store.

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

FEATURED MUSIC:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew dives into Paizo's newest RPG, Starfinder, while D. Bethel checks out the premier episode of Disney XD's reboot of DuckTales.

REAL MONSTERS: Dan and Andrew just hang back and have a conversation rather than a guided discourse about Nazis in popular culture. They go all over the place, but hover around the topic of how (and why) they're used in fiction.

RELATED LINKS:

• Episode 20 - "Hydra Healthcare." Contains a segment dedicated to talking about Hydra as presented in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (starts at 38:55).
• Episode 139 - "A Warm Heat." D. Bethel talks about his impressions playing Wolfenstein: The New Order (starts at 15:20).

WORKS REFERENCED:

• Fleming, Jr., Mike. "The Joker Origin Story on Deck: Todd Phillips, Scott Silver, Martin Scorsese Aboard WB/DC Film." Deadline. Penske Business Media, LLC, 22 Aug. 2017.
• McCarter, Reid. "Wolfenstein: The New Order Fights for the Past." Bullet Points Monthly. Bullet Points Monthly, 05 July 2017.

LINKS:

• Visit our website at forallintents.net and leave your thoughts as comments on the page for this episode.
• Join our Facebook page
• E-mail: Andrew - [email protected], D. Bethel - [email protected]
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
• Subscribe to and review the show on the iTunes store.

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

FEATURED MUSIC:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio -"Bad Man" by The Coral -"Fanfare" by Nobuo Uematsu (from Final Fantasy VI)

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew (starts at 1:38) hesitantly re-approaches (though actually, basically for the first time) Star Trek: Enterprise, while D. Bethel (16:13) has fun sacrificing folks in Kitfox Games' The Shrouded Isle.

LUDIC CROSS-POLLINATION: (27:34) Gen Con, the long-running tabletop-focused convention, rolls out this weekend and leading up to it were a few announcements about new board games in an attempt to ride that wave of publicity. One of them is a brand new adventure board game based on the Fallout video game franchise. Lots of things like tv shows and movies are licensed for use within board games, but the kind of translation that can occur when adapting a game from one medium into a game in another proved a fascinating topic of conversation this week.

RELATED LINKS:

• Episode 26 - "The Effect of Randomosity" - Where Andrew and D. discuss Amodée's acquisition/merger with Fantasy Flight Games.
• Episode 94 - "The Garbleflangers" - Where D. and Andrew talk about this cross-medium translation, but in the other direction.

WORKS REFERENCED:

• Allbright, Dann. "9 Awesome Board Games Based on Video Games." MakeUseOf.com, 22 Jan. 2016.
• Roberts, David. "The Best Video Game-Themed Board Games You Can Buy." Games Radar. Future plc, 03 Mar. 2017.

LINKS:

• Visit our website at forallintents.net and leave your thoughts as comments on the page for this episode.
• Join our Facebook page
• E-mail: Andrew - [email protected], D. Bethel - [email protected]
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
• Subscribe to and review the show on the iTunes store.

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

FEATURED MUSIC:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio -"Get Aboard" by Daryl Neil Alexander Griffith (from the soundtrack to Valiant Hearts)