But Why Tho?

On Episode 169, we're looking at the whole company, good, bad, and ugly. From Warcraft to Overwatch, even if you've never played their games, you have probably heard of them, and if you've played any RTS or MMO, you've certainly felt their lasting effect. Blizzard is an often problematic fave, but they are also firmly among the most influential and popular video game companies ever.

This year,  Tomb Raider  turns 25! To celebrate the anniversary of the iconic franchise and its main character we dive into the history of Tomb Raider and how Lara has impacted gaming and beyond. With Kate leading the way, Lara Croft is in the spotlight once again. While her game franchise has had its ups and downs over the years, Lara will always be an absolute icon in all of her iterations. In t...

This week, we're celebrating Weekly Shonen Jump, the manga magazine that pretty much holds the keys to every one of our shonen favorites and the Toonami generation. With titles from Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, and Yu Yu Hakusho to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure , Haikyuu! , and Death Note , the variety of the series that the magazine has published has showcased shonen's range. With help from special guest La...

King of the Hill is the anime of Texas. Yes, that's the meme, but while this slice of life adult comedy may seem like a large hyperbole of the state and its people, truth is, it's pretty spot on. In this episode, we dive into the importance of the series, its success, and talk about why it hits the nail on the Texas head. And we even discuss how the series looks at the more conservative elements o...

Hitman 3 is out now and we're celebrating by diving into the history of the IO Interactive franchise. We tackle the rights issues, the impact of a suave Agent 47, and how it's gameplay is put to use by players. In short, we tell you exactly why Hitman matters. If you're unfamiliar with the video game stealth-adventure franchise, Hitman helped revolutionize the stealth video game genre, and while i...

Crunchyroll started as an illegal streaming site where fans could upload their fansubs of their favorite anime series - and a Starcraft vid or two - but now it's an anime platform worth over a billion dollars. In the wake of the announcement that Funimation owner, Sony would be buying Crunchyroll and the internet's communal "anime is worth how much?," we dig into the history of Crunchyroll. We tal...

This weekend One Piece hit its historic 1000th chapter. Created, written, and drawn by mangaka Eiichiro Oda, One Piece is a member of the original Big Three manga and has shaped a generation of weebs. From the horrible 4Kids localizations and beyond, One Piece is a cornerstone of anime and at just under 1000 episodes of anime, we talk about it all. We talk about how Oda brought real pirate history...

It's the end of 2020 - Thank bob. We've made it through it and in this episode we review it, well the pop culture aspects at least. We dive into our favorite films, television, games, and of course moments we've experienced on the podcast. Plus, it wouldn't be us if we didn't get into the biggest overrated things too.

This week, we head to Bel-Air with the sitcom that handled real issues, brought a lot of laughs, and brought Will Smith to stardom: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. With the reunion show airing on HBO Max, it seemed like the perfect time to jump into the production history of the series, the records it broke, and the series' impact. We talk about how we connected with The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air  and...

This week we dive into the long history of The Muppets. In October, we raised over $4,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and one of the rewards for hitting a fundraising amount was for the audience to pick the episode - and you all chose The Muppets! In this episode, we explain their long history from late night show guests, sketch comedy shows, movies, and how they somehow managed to b...

We covered Mario last week, so now it's time to cover his brother! This week, we're talking all things, Luigi. We dive into the character's personality, his stand-alone games, John Leguizamo, and how when he won a trophy we learned that Mario is a bully. And we do it all with the help of our producer and senior editor Jason! If you somehow have not heard of the famous Nintendo brother, Luigi was c...

This week we travel to the Mushroom Kingdom and dive into the history of Mario. In this episode, we talk about Mario matters to pop culture and beyond while mapping out how the Italian plumber from New York became Nintendo's official mascot, one of the most recognizable icons in the US, connect multiple generations of gamers, and even get his own theme park. Now, it has to be said that there is a...

Immortals Fenyx Rising  is Ubisoft's latest game and newest IP. Developed by Ubisoft Quebec, the game is set in Greek mythology on the Golden Isle, home to the gods. You play Fenyx, a shipwrecked storyteller who is thrown into a battle between the gods and the most terrifying of the Titans: Typhon. With humanity turned to stone, it's your mission to save both the gods and humanity. In an effort to...

Immortals Fenyx Rising  is a new IP from Ubisoft Quebec. Set in the world of Greek mythology itself and not just a world with Greek mythology, the open-world action-adventure RPG is a sharp departure from Ubisoft's hyperrealistic worlds of its existing franchises. We got the chance to speak with Thierry Dansereau, the game's Art Director about bringing the world of Immortals Fenyx Rising  to life.

Developed by Auroch Digital and published by The Irregular Corporation   Mars Horizon is a strategy simulation game created with support from the  European Space Agency  (ESA) and the  UK Space Agency . In Mars Horizon, you take control of a major space agency, leading it from the dawn of the space age through to landing astronauts on Mars. Guide your agency through the space race and write your a...

Netflix and Powerhouse Animation's  Blood of Zeus  has become a quick fan favorite and critically acclaimed animated series in the short time since its debut on October 27th. Set in a post-mythological age, and telling a story lost through the Greek oral storytelling tradition,  Blood of Zeus seems like a story we've seen before on the surface. Heron, our demi-god hero, is the bastard child of Zeu...

This week, Kate talks with Alison Araya , who plays Tía Victoria in Netflix's Julie and the Phantoms . They discuss why this character resonates, how Araya got into acting, and the importance of tías in our lives and on-screen.

This week, we're keeping with the horror themes by talking about all the reasons that Jordan Peele matters. We discuss Peele's history in television, film, and production. From the comedy years, time with Keegan-Michael Key, and most importantly how Peele has been reshaping horror. We cover how his directorial debut  Get Out  with Blumhouse has set the tone for horror going forward, changing its f...

This week, we have a special episode for you all, an interview with Zachary "Zach" Whitten, from St. Jude PLAY LIVE and how they use gaming for good by partnering with content creators to help raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. We talk about how St. Jude PLAY LIVE got started, how they work with creators, and we learn more about the lifesaving mission of St Jude Children’s Rese...

We're continuing spooky month by focussing on one of the leading production companies in horror today: Blumhouse Productions - and their other studios. We cover how the Blumhouse model of filmmaking has helped get films that are deemed "high risk" made and how its direct to streaming path has helped them survive COVID-19 closures that has hurt many other production companies. Now, with "Welcome to...

It's October so it's all about spooky things! But, we decided to move away from our R-rated titles this time around and move towards the more family-friendly scares with Casper. Led by Adrian, this episode dives into the surprisingly long history of the friendliest ghost around. We take a look at his afterlife in comic books, video games, television, the one 1995 movie we all know you still love t...

We're kicking off the spooky season with an episode all about the guy who defined scaring theater audiences throughout the 2000s and 2010s: James Wan. In this episode, we dive into why James Wan matters to film as a whole, horror, and now superheroes. Also, we have to note that a lot of his genre-defining work as a director was done with the help of Leigh Whannell as a writer and the two of them s...

Cinemax's Warrior was one of my favorite series last year as a fan and as a critic. Based on an original concept by Bruce Lee, the show was created by Jonathan Tropper and Justin Lin and blends drama, the Old West, and martial arts. Set during the Tong Wars of San Francisco’s Chinatown in the second half of the 19th century. it follows martial arts prodigy Ah Sahm, a Chinese immigrant who arrives...

This week, we're celebrating the legacy, relevance, and important of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In this episode we dive into why this series that is often overlooked, matters to the history of Star Trek, science fiction in general, and pushes forward Gene Roddenberry's vision for the future by showcasing the difficulties of achieving it. We dive into issues of race and representation and how Deep...

Last Friday  Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 released and we've all had the bird man on the brain. So, to celebrate the return of one of the best sports games ever made we decided to talk about why  Tony Hawk's Pro Skater matters to gaming and culture more widely. In this episode, we drop into the long history of the franchise, its development, and how Tony Hawk aimed to create a video game that imme...