The Ringer-Verse

Ben, Matt, and Steve share their (non-spoiler-y) impressions of the new first-person shooter 'Doom: The Dark Ages,' focusing on the ever-evolving nature of the franchise, whether the series' latest experiments improve upon its tried-and-true formula, how they'd rank the three most recent 'Doom' games, and more. Then, Ben brings on video game writer and screenwriter Tom Bissell, who wrote the three-part finale of 'Andor,' to talk about the 'Andor' writers room; working within story constraints and established universes; tying the finale to 'Rogue One'; the future of 'Star Wars' and IP storytelling in the aftermath of 'Andor'; 'Andor' as a video game; the differences between writing for TV and video games; his work on 'Uncharted,' 'Gears of War,' 'What Remains of Edith Finch,' and 'Masters of Doom'; Hollywood's appetite for video game adaptations; and more.

Intro (0:00)
Reactions to 'Doom: The Dark Ages' (2:30)
Interview with Tom Bissell (35:35)
Outro (1:41:53)

Host: Ben Lindbergh
Guests: Steve Ahlman, Tom Bissell, and Matt James
Producer: Devon Renaldo
Additional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopal

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The Midnight Boys dive into Joel and Ellie’s father-daughter relationship in their instant reactions to the penultimate episode of Season 2 of ‘The Last of Us.’ Later, they turn their focus to the ‘Superman’ and ‘Ironheart’ trailers in the latest edition of Nerd News.

Hosts: Charles Holmes, Jomi Adeniran, Steve Ahlman, and Van Lathan

Social: Jomi Adeniran

Producers: Chris Thomas, Jamie Yukich, Jonathan Kermah, and Steve Ahlman

Additional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopal

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Ben and Daniel got here from Jackson just in time to talk about Episode 5, "Feel Her Love." They discuss the specifics of the action and the pivotal closing scene, then pull back a bit to comment on how the effort to adapt the game is going before forecasting what could be coming next. Then, Ben talks to longtime Naughty Dog game developer Almudena Soria Sancho, lead animator on 'The Last of Us Part II,' about her thoughts on the 'TLOU' adaptation, bringing the Stalkers and other infected to life, perfecting performance capture, the advantages and drawbacks of film and TV versus video games, what she's most looking forward to seeing the rest of this season and next season, and more.

Intro (0:00)
Reactions to Episode (3:50)
Interview with Almudena Soria Sancho (1:05:50)
Outro (1:32:18)

Hosts: Ben Lindbergh and Daniel Chin
Guest: Almudena Soria Sancho
Producer: Devon Renaldo
Additional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopal

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The Boys are back, and they’re diving into ‘Andor’ Season 2, Episodes 10-12, the season’s final episodes.

(0:00) Intro

(3:30) Spoilers ahead

(6:10) Initial reactions

(1:43:05) Outro

(1:45:26) Post-credits

Hosts: Van Lathan, Charles Holmes, Jomi Adeniran, and Steve Ahlman

Producers: Aleya Zenieris, Jonathan Kermah, Chris Thomas, and Steve Ahlman

Additional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopal

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The Boys are back and they’re diving into ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2, Episode 5. They discuss Ellie and Dina’s personality differences from the game and touch on some X-Men nerd news!

(0:00) Intro

(8:29) Spoilers ahead

(10:13) Initial reactions

(1:18:52) Nerd News

(1:27:07) Outro

Hosts: Van Lathan, Charles Holmes, Jomi Adeniran, and Steve Ahlman

Producers: Aleya Zenieris, Jonathan Kermah, and Steve Ahlman

Additional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopal

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In honor of ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2, we’re trying four curated apocalypse meals and ranking them from best to worst. If you have the stomach for it, come along for the journey!

(0:00) Intro

(1:20) Steve’s Meal

(6:54) Jomi’s Meal

(11:28) Charles’s Meal

(17:30) Van’s Meal

(26:34) Midnight Collective’s Meal

(30:46) Scoring and Prize

Hosts: Van Lathan, Charles Holmes, Jomi Adeniran, and Steve Ahlman

Producers: Aleya Zenieris, Jonathan Kermah, and Steve Ahlman

Additional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopal and Brian Averalo

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Ben and Daniel pass the halfway point of the second season as they visit Seattle and take on Episode 4, "Day One." After sharing their brief reviews of the episode, they discuss several significant changes to core characters and scenes from 'The Last of Us Part II' before wrapping up with some speculation about the structure of the remainder of the season (and beyond).

Intro (0:00)
Episode 4 breakdown and reactions (2:30)
Predictions for the rest of the season (40:00)
Outro (54:43)

Hosts: Ben Lindbergh and Daniel Chin
Producer: Devon Renaldo
Additional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopal

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The Boys are back, and they’re diving into ‘Andor’ Season 2, Episodes 7-9. They discuss why these episodes feel monumental in the 'Star Wars' universe.

(0:00) Intro

(3:36) Spoilers ahead

(6:25) Initial reactions

(1:29:29) Outro

Hosts: Van Lathan, Charles Holmes, Jomi Adeniran, and Steve Ahlman

Producers: Aleya Zenieris, Jonathan Kermah, and Steve Ahlman

Additional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopal

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Ben, Matt, Jomi, and Steve join forces for an emergency reaction to the second trailer for ‘GTA VI’ and the newly announced details about the game’s plot, characters, and setting. First, they share their thoughts on how the trailer affected their overall levels of hype for the game, and then they run through some of the highlights, new revelations, and questions they still have before analyzing the impact of the game’s delay to May 2026.

Intro (0:00)
Reactions to ‘Grand Theft Auto VI’ trailer (3:14)
Character rundown and gameplay speculation (26:53)
Potential setbacks from release delay (48:18)
Outro (1:08:00)

Host: Ben Lindbergh
Guests: Matt James, Jomi Adeniran, and Steve Ahlman
Producer: Devon Renaldo
Additional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopal

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To celebrate the 'Star Wars' holiday, Jomi and Steve are joined by Matt James to discuss the adventures of Asajj Ventress in the bite-sized animated series ‘Tales of the Underworld.’

(00:00) Intro
(6:00) Spoilers ahead
(20:30) The great heist adventure
(54:30) Outro

Hosts: Jomi Adeniran and Steve Ahlman
Guest: Matt James
Producer: Jonathan Kermah
Additional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopal

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