Black Ops Episode 16 – An Infinite Loop of a Second Act

In our new episode, we talking about endings!

We chat a bit about Henry Cavill taking on the lead role in a Netflix Witcher series, and why Disney should make one less live-action remake and do some good in the world!

And finally, we look at recent pop culture endings — Game of Thrones, Avengers: Endgame, Deadwood, the Walking Dead comic book, and the Fox X-Men franchise — and look ahead to future endings with Quentin Tarantino’s to-be-produced tenth and final film.

What stuck the landing, and what left us cold?

Casey Returns to the Video Game Break Podcast!

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Casey makes his third appearance on Carlos Rodela‘s Video Game Break Podcast!

They dig into everything from the Twilight Zone, Bioshock, baffling game dialogue, Pokémon Go, and the new/old Doom. And then they tuck into the main course: Game Emulation!

Often demonized as piracy, video game emulators, Casey argues, make decades-old games available to new players that can’t normally buy them.

Check it out! Because every man has a fuck in his sleeve.

Episode 22.5 – A Loud, Brown Blur

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On the tail of our BioShock panel, Mike and Casey continue our conversation with Patrick Johnson and Carlos Rodela, to delve deeper into the strengths and weaknesses of this game series in particular and gaming in general.

How big and dense can — or should — a video game’s world be? How much should the player be directing the story, as opposed to the game’s designer? How often should video game franchises release sequels, especially when new installments have only small incremental changes?

Plus, random musings on Star Wars and M. Night Shyamalan.

Episode 22 – Bioshock

bigdaddy“A man chooses… a slave obeys…”

Mike and Casey pile into a bathysphere and flee the surface world, and the clawing hands of Big Government and the Parasites to reserve their tables at the Kashmir Restaurant with first panelists Patrick Johnson, and Carlos Rodela of the Video Game Break Podcast. Our topic, the revolutionary 2007 video game, BioShock and its sequels.

We explore the immersive game world of Rapture, the failed undersea utopia inspired by the free-market Objectivist philosophy of Ayn Rand. We look at whether video games can transcend the reputation of being a fun distraction, and whether they can truly be works of art in their own right. And finally, we contemplate the limitations and possibilities of player choice in games, and whether complex storytelling is at odds with the agency to make character decisions.

Music: 
“The Ocean On His Shoulders/Welcome To Rapture” from BioShock by Garry Schyman

Previously titled: “Being a Selfish Asshole Is the Best Thing You Can Be”

Episode 2.5 – Le Morte d’Macho Man

macho manIn our second mini-episode, Mike and Casey read your feedback about our professional wrestling episode, and announce our next panel episode!

Plus,  they discuss the closure of LucasArts, the latest Bioshock game, and how “the Macho Man” Randy Savage saved us all from certain doom.

Oooh yeah! Dig it!