Nerds Amalgamated

Roblox is now banned in another country for child exploitation. These are serious allegations, so we're lucky serious journalists have investigated and uncovered the reasons why Roblox isn't great for kids. We discuss the issues and whether Australia should follow suit. Mathematicians have worked out the optimum swimming stroke, and are training swimmers to perform it at the Olympics. We also disc...

The CEO of Warframe developer Digital Extremes has explained why he thinks there hasn't been another Live Service hit like Warframe. Jim Shooter, a former Marvel head, has some thoughts on modern comics - There isn't enough dialogue apparently. Sharks in Brazil have gotten their fins on large amounts of cocaine from drug smugglers. Everything humans do affects the environment, including dumping co...

Viggo Mortensen hasn't been seen in any big franchises since Lord of the Rings. He's got a very good reason for that, and he isn't likely to go back. At least he's willing to tell us why. We've seen a lot of great indie games in the last few years, but it's starting to look like the bubble might be popping. Sooner or later it'll be back, but at what cost? Watching yourself perform karaoke makes yo...

A species of carpenter ants will perform surgery on their wounded comrades. These gory scenes take place after vicious battles with other ant colonies. This is the first time that surgery has been observed in non-human animals. Much has been made of video game addiction, which is a real and scary thing. But not every case is medical addiction, and there might be good reasons why people are turning...

Scientist have found that whales are happier when humans are not around, and this was during the first year of the COVID-19 Pandemic, when human activity on the ocean was limited. Which begs the question do whales really hate humans? Eve Online's creator CCP Games have decided to go open source...will this make the game immortal? Only time will tell... Hollywood is facing an exodus of film crew wo...

A classic MMO designer thinks modern MMOs aren't giving players enough ways to play together. MMOs have changed over the last 20 years, and are no longer the only way to play with your friends. So what's really behind the changes? A new study suggests geoengineering might actually just move the issue from one place to another. Who will bear the consequences of trying to prevent global warming? GTA...

Team Fortress 2 has been overrun by bots. A new campaign to save this game from the hackers and cheaters who are ruining it begs Valve to make a difference. We discuss how this relates to the Stop Killing Games campaign and the various ways Valve and the community can save the game. By all accounts, The Crow's reboot will not be any good. Can it be saved? Who will watch it? The Arctic Fox is on th...

Sorry about the audio quality on this one. The people responsible have been fired out of a cannon into the sun. The problem has been fixed and we'll be back to our usual quality next week. Should we pay modders for their work? After hundreds of hours playing modded games, and even designing some mods himself, Professor's got some thoughts on this. The future of PCs is AI. Or is it? The Nerds disag...

According to surveys, most gamers Smurf - that is high level players using a low level account to stomp noobs. So why do you do it, and is it as bad as it sounds? The end of anime's Golden Age may be upon us. Miyazaki says so, but he's just won an award for anime. So is it self-deprecating humour or bragging? The Australian government has suggested social media should be for adults only. The Nerds...

The UK has issued a response to the Stop Killing Games campaign with a possible angle of attack. Remember to keep signing your local petitions to help make a change. The creator of Ghost in the Shell Arise thinks Isekais are off the rails and that the real world doesn't suck that much. Has he been outside recently? AI deepfakes are being used in a new type of scam called Pig Butchering. Keep yours...

Helldivers 2 players have achieved a major victory over Sony, leading to the PSN account requirement being retracted. Good work troops. WBD are planning some more Lord of the Rings movies, starting with The Hunt for Gollum. The Nerds discuss why they've picked such an overdone part of the story to cover. Plastic eating nanobots may be coming to a water treatment plant near you. Scientists have dev...

The USA's TikTok ban coming into effect could affect game developers too. We'll break it down and go over the possible effects. If you want to preserve your body for the future, you might turn to cryonics. If you can't afford a full body, you can just preserve your brain and hope someone grows you a new body in the future. Marvel movies suck. Everyone's saying it. Even the cast and crew are saying...

The Australian Stop Killing Games Petition is now active. Sign it here: e-petitions – Parliament of Australia How does NASA repair a spacecraft nearly a light day from Earth? NASA engineers have spent the last few months working on a solution to a faulty RAM chip, and we'll discuss the changes they had to make to save the stricken craft. The Entertainment Software Association are vehemently agains...

The Australian Stop Killing Games Petition is now active. Sign it here: https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN6080 Live service games seem like the future of gaming, but the tide seems to be changing. A survey of game developers says that the majority are concerned about the future of live service games and their sustainability. Do you prefer binge watching or waiting weekly for each episo...

Ross Scott's Campaign to save games has kicked off, and we're sharing his battle plans. This is something we can all do to help prevent games from being destroyed. With the death of Funimation, anime is also at risk of being taken away from you. Paid products aren't showing up on CrunchyRoll's site. They claim everything will eventually be available, but this is yet another example of paid product...

For our 200th episode, we've interviewed Corissa Grant from Worthy Chaos Comics to talk about their series Redemption, a comic about love, a war involving the ancient Egyptian and Celtic pantheons, demon hunters, and a whole lot of gore. Corissa tells us about how she got into writing comics, how she found an artist, the challenges of managing a comic business and a whole lot more. -  &n...

The Crow is one of BPM's favourite movies, as well as a Brandan Lee's final film role. There's talks about rebooting it with a new storyline and BPM, along with the original director, are not very happy about it. Neuralink has begun human trials, beset with animal testing issues and beaten to market by over a decade. The Nerds discuss the sci-fi future Elon Musk wants, and the impact Neuralink mig...

Warner Bros seem to be intent on killing everything they own. The latest casualty is Adult Swim's Games library. Professor reminisces about some of his favourite games from this publisher that will no longer be available to customers. The Oscars and Razzies happened again this week, so the Nerds discuss the impact the winners might have on the direction of movies of the future. Stress is making yo...

This week we bring you the latest updates in the Nintendo vs Yuzu case, the first shots in the war to save games from deletion, and the push towards even more live service games. Executives are ruining movies. We discuss the reasons and the solutions to escape executive meddling. Finally, we put on our boomer hats to complain about how kids these days learn. Yuzu vs Nintendo Recap and Aftermath ht...

Nintendo are suing a Fruit company. The Yuzu emulator is under attack. The Professor has some thoughts on how this affects the future of games preservation. Marvel are trying to recover from a few big failures recently. The DJ ponders their future projects and what they need to do to bring the audience back. Going outside is really, REALLY good for you. The DJ and Professor consider going into pol...

Rumours are flying about the next generation of games consoles. The Nerds discuss the future and where we might be going next, whether that's a mid generation Pro release, a full new generation, or the PC master race. Sora AI has scared Tyler Perry away from an $800m investment. Perry thinks the future is all AI, all the time, but we think there's a possible dark future coming. Video games help yo...

OpenAI's Sora has gotten Hollywood in a tizzy about robots taking their jobs. Again. Hopefully the robots don't come for us next. You might be tempted to buy games cheaply on a key reseller, but game devs would really rather you pirate their games instead. We'll tell you why. Scientists have grown lab grown meat on a substrate of rice. Professor thinks this will make great burritos. DJ isn't so co...

With Vanguard Anticheat coming to a League of Legends near you, it's worth knowing more about how it works and why it isn't the saviour you might think it is. We discuss the history of cheating, and why Anticheat never seems to work properly. GRRM has some things to say about toxicity and the AntiFan. The AntiFan is a creature of hatred, dedicated to tearing down creators. But why? You probably ha...

The EU has made some demands of Apple, and Apple has complied in the barest possible manner. They're still screwing devs over, and we're not happy about it. Brains in jars have been a staple of sci-fi for decades. They're a step closer with the latest research into keeping brains functioning without a body. We're a bit worried about the implications, though. Christopher Nolan likes BIG movies, but...

This week, a moderately famous Youtuber made waves with a plan to sue game developers for shutting down games. Ross Scott wants to fight the You Will Own Nothing future and he's starting with The Crew. He's taking a big step to securing consumer rights and we can't wait to see how it goes. Soon, even factory workers will be able to work from home using virtual reality and robots. iCub has develope...