The Hills Have Nerds

Raging waters can't keep a good nerd down! The boys are back this month for a conversation about the history of Emulators, emulation as a whole, the ethics of it, and some of the Emulation Lawsuits "Greatest Hits", so to speak. So sit down, strap in, ready your most recent save state, and prepare for a heck of an episode. Just don't tell Nintendo about it...please...we have famil...

Howdy, nerds! In this episode the boys, and special guest Morgan "Bubbycat" Reynolds, sat down and jawed all about the history of the legendary gaming company FromSoft and all of the genre-creating and difficulty spiking games they've released. From humble beginnings designing software for industrial agriculture to redefining what difficulty means in video gaming and causing Nerds for years to com...

Today the nerds turn the lights down a little low, get some soft sensual jazz going, and bring the discourse to a husky whisper...it's getting romantic in here. Aaron, Cody, Lee, and Josh all sat down to talk romance in gaming and other media for Valentine's Day! The boys talk about their favorite portrayals of love and relationships, as well as their least favorite, and some romantic disp...

Handheld Nerds unite! In this episode the boys sit down to discuss the rich and wild history/evolution of handheld gaming consoles from the early iterations in the 70s till the contemporary handheld computers we have today! So have your Lynx's, Wonder Swans, and Neo Geo's at the ready! It's a heck of an episode. What's your favorite handheld gaming memory or moment? Email us - hillshavenerds@gmail...

Nerds! We're hyped! There's so much awesome stuff coming out this year! In this Nerd Out the boys sat down and discussed all the different upcoming video games, movies, shows, board games, and books they're excited about releasing over the coming year. They hit on remakes, new IPs, expansions, sequels, and a ton of other stuff that's about to hit the nerdosphere over 2025. There's a ton packed int...

The boys get sentimental in this end of the year wrap up episode, as they sit down and talk about all the great things, and some not so great, that 2024 brough to the world of The Hills Have Nerds. From awesome opportunities, to incredible guests, and some run downs of their favorite happenings in Nerd Culture in 2024, there's a lot in this episode for everyone! Thank you everyone for being with u...

Spoiler alert! This episode is all about leaks and spoilers. But not literally. Lee, Josh, Aaron, Cody, and special guest Steve from the Critical Encounters Podcast sat down to discuss the consuming of Spoilers and Leaks in our communities. What are they? Where did the terms come from? Are they inherently BAD things? Can it be fun to be spoiled? Do we seek out leaks? How do we remain unspoiled? Wh...

Hey all! In this special episode Josh and Aaron sit down to have Aaron run through a debrief of his trip to Japan! A nerd left the hills?! Aaron answers YOUR submitted questions about his trip and all of the wonderful cross cultural mayhem and wonderful nerdy stuff he got to experience while over there. Contact us at hillshavenerds@gmail.com Come on our Facebook and see pictures of the trip! www.f...

This is the announcement post that 3 of your nerds are going to be live casting a DnD live play battle against the legendary Dragon Goddess - Tiamat. November 10th 4pm-9pm EST Live Streamed on Twitch There's an amazing event happening in just over a week and your very own nerds are so grateful to get to be a part of it! Extra Life Columbus (an incredible program of Children's Miracle Network Hospi...

It's time to enter the EVIL RESIDENCE! In this episode Cody, Travis, Aaron, and Lee sit down to discuss the history and their experiences with one of the most iconic horror games of all time: Resident Evil. The nerds run through the creative process behind the game, it's development, it's predecessors and sequels, and their own love for the series as a whole...and some of the RE games that they do...

Happy October, everyone! In this return to our Spooky Specials, Lee, Cody, and Josh sat down to chill some bones with tales of creatures, hauntings, harbingers of woe, and supposedly evil spirits that lurk in the hollers and haunt the hills of our beloved home. This ones full of creepy tales sure make you check under the bed, shut the blinds, and probably leave the light on before heading off to s...

Howdy, everybody! The nerds had wanted to do this episode since before the podcast was even started. The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers hold a near and dear spot in several of the boys childhood hearts. Cody, Lee, Aaron, Josh, and, for the first time on the show, the elusive fifth nerd, Travis, all sat down to dive into the history, conception, current status, and absurdity of this monster fightin'...

Hey everyone! Aaron, Cody, and Josh got to sit down with Payton Mullins in this Nerds in the Hills Spotlight episode! Payton is a boy born and raised in the hills of Appalachia right smack dab on the WV/KY line and he has written and got published his own comic line, The ASTOUNDING ALLSTAR! A coming of age story about a young man, Jason Kelly, who survives an unfortunate accident that ends up turn...

We're getting SUPER Nerdy in this massive episode! We're nerding out about one of our favorite card games, Marvel Champions! A cooperative LCG from Fantasy Flight games. Aaron and Josh sat down with 3 great guests: Nathan (friend of the show from Episode 8 on FLGSs), Nelson from NelsonAllOverCards (Youtube Card Gaming Content Creator/Streamer and Marvel Champions Aficionado ), and the &quo...

Hey all! On this episode (recorded at the wonderful Guardtower West) the nerds took a moment to catch up on all the great things they've been reading, watching, and playing lately. Also there was small intervention for Aaron...he is very unwell... What are you reading, watching, or playing? Email us: hillshavenerds@gmail.com Come on our Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/thehillshavenerds The vide...

Man this was an awesome time to sit and talk to these two. In this episode Lee, Cody, Aaron, and Josh had the fantastic opportunity to sit down with Lynn and Bob Bartels, the owners and operators of The Guardtower West and The Guardtower East in Columbus, Ohio; a massive and welcoming pair of Friendly Local Game Stores. These two have an impressive amount of history in gaming. From humble beginnin...

Howdy everyone! In this episode the Nerds were recording at The Guardtower West and were joined by special guest, James (the Producer for Guardtower Studios). They sat down to discuss the prevalence of digital media in our spaces and the pros and cons of digital downloads versus preserving physical media. Digital video game downloads, digital books, music streaming, movies and tv streaming service...

Welcome back all! In this extraordinary interview, Cody and Josh have the privilege of delving into Joe's creative process, uncovering the inspirations that fuel his imagination, and exploring the challenges he faced while bringing these incredible creations to life. Get ready for an enlightening and engaging conversation that will leave you inspired and in awe of the world of game design. Joi...

Howdy everybody! This episode the boys sit down to discuss some of the worst marketing ideas and campaigns in the history of video games. Things that make you wonder how the hell someone got paid to come with that idea? Get ready for such great campaigns as "Meat in the Streets!", "Deface Your Loved One's Graves!", "Commit Adultery!", and "Wanton Environmental Damage!" plus so so many more...unfor...

Howdy! Welcome to the first episode (of what we hope will be many) in our Nerds in the Hills interview episodes where we'll be sitting down with various nerdy creators, designers, artists, and authors from around our neck of the woods here in Appalachia and get to know what makes them do what they do with all this stuff we all love. Our first guest is Jay Shepherd, Marketing Director for Pikev...

We're celebrating a year of Nerdin' in the Hills! A year of nerdom has passed and we're so grateful for everyone who's listened, communicated, and hung out with us Nerds as we've went through it. Here's to another year of The Hills Have Nerds filled with even more talkin' and a'nerdin'! But on today's topic we're discussing the question "To be optim...

Well, it took two months but we finally got the audio from the live episode from all the way back on March 11th 2024 uploaded here in all its chaotic form! The Nerds sat down this episode and streamed live on Pixel Bro Lee's twitch channel. There's quite a bit of chat interaction and we tried to restate what they said where we remembered but it got off the rails pretty quick. This whole ep...

Welcome back, ya'll! We Nerds sit down this episode with guest Thomas Olsen of Tri-Card Games on Youtube and talk all about Trading Card Games! We discuss the History, mechanics, types, differences, and competitive scenes of all things TCG, as well as delving into the Physical versus Digital environment in the scene. We had an awesome time and hope you enjoy listening. You also get to hear why...

(We'd like to dedicate this episode, for what our little podcast is worth, to the late and great Akira Toriyama. This episode was recorded a few days before his passing. His creations played a massive part in the lives of four little hillbillies pretending to throw spirit bombs in the backyard and we are sincerely grateful for it. He will be forever missed.) Konnichiwa, fellow nerds! Its finally h...

Vampires, Warriors, and Communists?! Oh my! Howdy everyone! (There's a guest in this one!) We're back with another episode where we're sharing something we're nerding out over! This time it's our favorite pieces of literature. The Nerds can read?! Who would've thought?! Come sit a spell and listen as Josh, Lee, Cody, and a special guest, Daniel (Critical Encounters Podcast and The Canon Reviewed),...