A Podcast [ , ] For All Intents and Purposes

THE FORCE IS...EXPENSIVE?: With the hotly anticipated Star Wars: Battlefront II released recently, with it came a lot of controversy. It stands at the apex of a recent trend toward big-budget titles adopting monetizing tactics more commonly found in free-to-play mobile games, this time in the form of blind boxes aka loot boxes. Andrew and D. dive into this controversy and try to find the middle gr...

THE STATE OF SUPERHERO CINEMA (AND TV): With so much superheroic media out there right now, and with Marvel, DC, and Fox swinging wildly on both the large and small screens, Andrew and D. Bethel take a look at how things are sorting out, how they've changed over the last year or so, and where things might go. RELATED EPISODES: Episode 27 - "Super Sleep Mode" : The first Thanksgiving episode where...

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew gets through the first episode of season 2 of Netflix's Stranger Things and has LOTS of opinions––not about the show, but about streaming in general. Dan succumbs to weakness and plays the Deadpool video game (while simultaneously playing the much better––but much more intense–– Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus ). RELATED EPISODES: Episode 85 - "I Hardly Even Knew Me" : Where...

WEEK IN GEEK: D. Bethel looks at DC Comics' retrospective of Jim Lee's Wildstorm Studios, Wildstorm: A Celebration of 25 Years , and is completely underwhelmed by their effort while Andrew ponders the considerate world-building of Bethesda games as he dives back into The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition . RELATED EPISODES: Episode 30 - "Batting 100" : Where Andrew and D. discuss world-build...

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew talks about the premier of the new (and final) season of Star Wars: Rebels while D. Bethel talks about Netflix's new based-on-a-true-story-kind-of David Fincher-led crime drama, Mindhunter . SPOOKYTOBER: In celebration of the scariest month of the year, Andrew and D. discuss a movie each that really, truly gave them the scaries. Andrew discusses the cult classic, Jacob's Ladde...

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 Kicksta...

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-downl...

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 Te...

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 comp...

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 compl...

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...

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, Co...

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 questio...

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: Episod...

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...

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew played Punch Club by Lazy Bear Games while D. talks about his time with Thunder Lotus Games ' newest release, Sundered . RELATED LINKS: Episode 107 - "Spock's Screams" where D. Bethel discusses Thunder Lotus Games' previous release, Jotun . D. Bethel (and his dog, Rusty) play Sundered on The Dan & Rusty Video Game Power Hour ( episodes 17, 18.1 & 18.2 ) LINKS: Visit our websit...

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew saw Spider-Man : Homecoming so now they can talk about it while D. gets upset that Vice Media fired gaming journalist, Mike Diver , who co-created Vice's video game wing, Waypoint . NAME THAT CHIPTUNE: After going deep into an YouTube hole watching marching bands playing video game music, Andrew brings to the table the question: When the hell did video game music become so pop...

WEEK IN GEEK: In a fit of nostalgia, Andrew picks up The Sims 3 again (starts at 1:49) while Dan can't get past a nit-pick to enjoy anything Netflix's Castlevania has to offer (20:46). SDCC 2017: (34:04) It was a big weekend for nerd culture as the San Diego Comic Con dropped a bunch of new trailers on the world. Dan and Andrew look at three trailers and how they seem to be pointing out the creati...

WEEK IN GEEK: The guys are again on the cutting edge of entertainment as Andrew begins playing Skyrim (albeit the Special Edition that was released for current platforms last year) while D goes all the way back to 2006 and plays Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age (albeit the recently released HD remastered version). DOCTOR NEW: After speculation accruing since Peter Capaldi announced he would be le...

Since they had so much to discuss, an entire "Shortcast" (despite it being basically the length of an entire episode) was dedicated to talking about the finale of the latest season of Doctor Who . SPOILERS BEWARE. NON-DOCTOR WHO FANS BEWARE (come back next week). Much talk is made about Stephen Moffat's tenure as showrunner, the themes of the finale, and what Andrew and D. want out of the teased C...

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew spends some time with the  Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite Story Demo while Dan gets conflicted watching Transformers: The Last Knight . WORKS CITED: Birch, Nathan. " Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite Excludes X-Men, Because Fans Don't Remember Them Say Producers ." ComicBook.com . Pop Culture Media, 27 June 2017. LINKS: Visit our website at  forallintents.net and leave your thoughts as...

Summer break is back with a vengeance, so the Shortcast run returns! After a slight tangent discussing The Transformers and nostalgia, Dan and Andrew share their weeks in geek. WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew plays Bioshock from the Bioshock: The Collection released to PC and consoles last year. Dan actually finishes a book before discussing it. This time, it's the Kickstartered Wild Times: An Oral History o...

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew watches through the first season of the hit Starz show, Ash vs. Evil Dead while Dan plays through the 2014 Bethesda game, Wolfenstein: The New Order , the reboot of the classic first-person shooter Id franchise. KEEPING SCORES: It was announced this week that Danny Elfman has been hired to compose music for the upcoming DCEU movie, Justice League , after the original composer,...

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew starts rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generation on Bluray while Dan finally opens up about Mass Effect: Andromeda now that he has finished the game. THE LAST GRIPE: The video game expo, E3, always has its share of stories, reveals, and, most recently, at least, controversy. Tim Soret, founder of the studio Odd Tales, scored a coup by getting to go onstage during Microsoft's p...

WEEK IN GEEK: Both Andrew and Dan saw Wonder Woman this week and decided to bring in a third voice to discuss the movie, Mary Traverse (from our friendly rivals, The Nerdhole ), and they go pretty deep into this excellent, excellent movie. THE GREAT WAR: Noting the novel decision to set Wonder Woman during World War I, Dan and Andrew discuss that war's place in popular culture. WORKS CITED: Cauter...