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This week on the Nerd Confessions Podcast we’re afraid of entering VR for fear of torture because we’re covering the cyberpunk mystery thriller TV series exclusive to Netflix called, Altered Carbon! Does it accurately reflect the book? Is Joel Kinnaman’s acting perfect for Robocop, but terrible for Kovacs because he’s not supposed to be robotic? Does Martha Higareda make watching the series worth it all by herself?! Does Richard K Morgan think this reflects his universe well and how long was Laeta Kalogridis trying to do a TV/Movie adaptation of Altered Carbon? We have all the answers to this and more… except if the series reflects the book because we didn’t read it.. Watch or follow along as we discuss! Listener Confessions this week we are featuring Instagram users @blablabla_gamer and his awesome die cast figure in addition to our own confessions. Now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Youtube and below: https://nerdconfessionsdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/ncpodcasts03e08.m4a Show Notes Altered Carbon on Netflix 2018 What is Altered Carbon? Altered Carbon the Series on Netflix which is actually a TV Series adaptation of the novel of the same name written by Richard K. Morgan and published in 2002. The book is the first in a trilogy called Takeshi Kovacs who is the main character of the books. Altered Carbon is the first book in the trilogy and the TV Series adaptation was released on Netflix, February 2nd, 2018 and is 10 episodes long. Altered Carbon takes place in the dystopian future, year 2384. Humanity has developed a technology called cortical stacks which holds the human consciousness including memories. The stack seems to override or replace the function of the brain means stacks can be placed into any human from another human. Due to the ability of taking over other human bodies, human bodies are now called sleeves, as they may not reflect your birth body and are temporary. If stacks are destroyed they call this a real death. There are also those in the world which don’t believe in stacks such as the Catholics which makes them easy targets for murder as they can’t be brought back to testify. The majority of humanity can’t afford re-sleeving themselves more than once because to afford being  re-sleeved takes nearly a life-time. Most people don’t extend their life-spans beyond one or two re-sleeves due to the amount of labor required to afford the next sleeve.Those that are rich enough to afford being re-sleeved on a continual basis are called Meths. Meths is a biblical reference to Methuselah, the human which lived to the age of 969. Those rich enough are also capable of backing up their stacks to the cloud. The main character of the series, Kovacs is part of a specially trained task force called Envoys. In this universe the fastest means of travel is data transfer of your stack to another sleeve. Taking over a new sleeve is disorienting because of a new body, however so for military use there are complications with this means of travel. Envoys are specially trained to use their abilities no matter the sleeve they are in and their sleeves have heightened senses. The series begins with Kovacs re-sleeved into the body of a police officer named Ryker who was imprisoned. Kovacs was brought back for his history as an ex-Envoy to investigate a murder mystery of a long lived Meth. Production The series was ordered by Netflix in January 2016, fifteen years after showrunner Laeta Kalogridis had originally optioned the novel with the intent of making a feature film. Laeta Kalogridis is credited with the creation of the TV Series and previously wrote the screenplay for Alexander in 2004 and more recently Terminator Genysis (2015). She is also the founder of the pro-union website Hollywood United and was involved as a peacemaker in the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. So, yeah, hardcore.  According to Kalogridis, the complex nature of the novel and its R-rated material meant that it was a tough sell for studios before Netflix ordered the series. Miguel Sapochnik directed the pilot episode, you may know him as the Director for quite a few episodes of Game of Thrones, an episode Iron First and the film, Repo Men. The series was produced in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Notable Cast Joel Kinnaman as Takeshi Kovacs: The main character and ex-envoy turned monotone investigator in Police Officer Ryker’s body! Kinnaman’s most notable movie is probably the reboot of Robocop that came out in 2014. His former sleeve is played by, Byron Mann who played Mr. Chau in The Big Short movie. Definitely eye candy. James Purefoy as Laurens Bancroft: The Meth who was murdered and hired Kovacs to investigate. In the TV series, Rome he plays Mark Antony. Martha Higareda as Kristin Ortega: Bay City Police officer formerly tasked with solving Lauren Bancroft murder and former associate of Ryker. Definitely eye candy. Chris Conner as Edgar Poe: An AI that runs The Raven Hotel in Bay City and loosely reflects Edgar Allen Poe as part of the hotel theme. Dichen Lachman as Reileen Kawahara: Sister of Kovacs and also an ex-Envoy. Actor also played Jiaying in Marvel’s Agents of Shield. Ato Essandoh as Vernon Elliot: Suspect in the Bancroft murder. Kristin Lehman as Miriam Bancroft: Wife of Lauren Bancroft and also a wealthy Meth. Trieu Tran as Mister Leung: Dubbed, “Ghostwalker,” he is a hitman. He also played one of the people in the Flaming Dragon Company in tropic Thunder. Renée Elise Goldsberry as Quellcrist Falconer: Military leader of the Envoy organization. Was previously in the One life to live TV show playing Evangeline Williamson. Reception Rotten Tomatoes currently lists the series with a 64% from a total 69 Critic Reviews. Audience Score currently rates it at 90% from a total of 3,803 user reviews. IMDB has the series rated at 8.4 from a total of 49,001 reviews. MetaCritic has a score of 65 from 24 critics and 8.2 out of 456 reviews. What are our thoughts? Not enough story building on the concept of cortical stacks? If human consciousness can be held on a stack instead of in a brain why wouldn’t you also be able to enhance intelligence and memory? We already know Envoy stacks have heightened senses. Is it outlawed? Even if it is outlawed wouldn’t this result in a black market for such upgrades? So even if it outlawed anyone who has their intelligence and memory enhanced would have a clear advantage in life over anyone who would not which would result in an entirely different class of person. Meths don’t appear to have super intelligence. Maybe this is addressed in the books, but it’s definitely not addressed in the Netflix Series. The series also has complex AI’s that don’t seem to be too far beyond human intelligence. Is this really feasible that humanity would be stuck at this development stage with these abilities? Story pacing too slow? A bit, particularly in the beginning of the series. What do we rate it? 8 out of 10 synths and urborous tattoos. That’s it for this week! Like us? Review us on iTunes or Stitcher! Subscribe to our Youtube! See more from us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Send your confession to contact@nerdconfessions.net if you would like it to be read on our podcast or fill out the form below: [contact-form]

Nerd Confessions Podcast: Tommy Slommy wishes he could line his clothing with vibranium this week as we cover Marvel’s latest film for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Black Panther! Is it true that the Michael B Jordan steals the show from Chadwick Boseman? Is Danai Gurira just as great as when she played Michonne in the Walking Dead? How did we end up with Ryan Coogler, the director of Creed as the director for this film? Is Black Panther too political?! What happened with the Facebook and Rotten Tomatoes mass down vote scheme and accusations hate speech? We cover all this and more so watch or follow along with us as we discuss! Our friend Jun Park joins us in our discussion of Black Panther to help give his keen insight on Korea since South Korea was a major filming location in the film. Listener Confessions this week we feature @liam6797 again since he was disappointed we didn’t mention his Youtube channel, Liam Bennett, link in his bio on instagram. We also have some great Artwork of our own Ellie, by @manual_hernandez_animations on Instagram who is doing portraits on request! Send him a DM if you would like to see yourself in his art style as well. Now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Youtube and below: https://nerdconfessionsdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/ncpodcasts03e07.m4a Show Notes Marvel’s Black Panther 2018 and Vibranium What is Black Panther? We’ve all been anticipating the background story of Black Panther since we first saw him in the film Captain America: Civil War. Black Panther is the film that gives us just that. We get to see Wakanda, an African city hidden from the world that was never colonized and instead developed all on it’s own. Yet despite being all on their own they became far more technologically advanced than any other world power. The film does more than this though, we get to follow T’challa as he claims the throne through Wakanda tradition after the death of his father which was saw in Civil War. From there we are taken to deep underlying meanings that are rarely explored in superhero movies and end up with a film that has fun action moments, but thought provoking story as well. Vibranium is one of the most important plot points of the film and in the Marvel universe we’ve seen multiple different kinds of vibranium. Vandranium is a metallic substance of extraterrestrial origin and what is behind all the advancements of Wakanda. Wakanda lines their clothes with the material and it is what makes up Black Panthers impenetrable suit. Wakandan Vibranium: Not only a kinetic energy absorbing material, it is also a mutagen. It has mutated some Wakandan natives and also changed plant life such as the plant eaten by the Black Panther Cult. There are limits to how much energy vibranium can absorb, but these are not yet known. In the film they show for the first time on screen the suit will expel any energy absorbed. Antarctic Vibranium: Better known as Anti-Metal, it produces vibrations at a wavelength that breaks down the molecular bonds of other metals, causing them to liquify. It was used by The Plunderer who called it the Plunder Stone. Like Wakandan Vibranium, it is also a mutagen. NuForm, Artificial Vibranium: Created by the Roxxon Corporation it mimics Wakandan Vibranium but will degrade to Antarctic Vibranium unless tempered through the use of Microwave bombardment continually. Reverbium, Artificial Vibranium: Created by Horizon Labs, it rapidly amplifies and projects sounds which was weaponized for use by Klaw for use of amplifying his sonic powers. Antarctic Vibranium is the lesser known of the two natural Vibraniums, but it was actually introduced first in the DareDevil comics. Wakandan Vibranium is more well known due to being used in the construction of Captain America’s shield which has Vibranium, steel and an unknown third substance. The creation of the shield was an accident and the attempt to recreate the shield actually resulted in adamantium which is most well known for its use with Wolverine’s claws and bone infusion. Captain America’s shield has come to be called Proto-Adamantium as a result. Production June 1992 Wesley Snipes was expected to star in a role as Black Panther after finishing Demolition Man. By 1996 after negotiations with Columbia pictures and Stan Lee’s dissatisfaction with any of the scripts, the project was shelved. As we know Wesley Snipes would later portray another Marvel superhero, Blade in 1998. October 2011 Marvel hired documentary writer Mark Bailey to write the script for Black Panther. There were discussions to introduce Wakanda into the MCU as early as 2010’s Iron Man 2. October 2014 Kevin Feige announced that Black Panther would be released November 3rd 2017 starring Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther. Chadwick Boseman didn’t even have an interview. Poor Wesley Snipes. May 2015 Marvel approached Ava DuVernay to direct the film, but she later turned down the job stating that Marvel has too many restrictions for it to be one of her films. October F Gary Gray was also considered, but instead would later direct Fast and the Furious 8. December 2015 after Ryan Coogler directed the very successful film, Creed, Marvel approached him after previously turning down his negotiations and he landed the role as director. Coogler began working on the screenplay along with Joe Robert Cole. Principal photography had begun by January 21, 2017, at Screen Gems Studios in the Atlanta metropolitan area, under the working title Motherland. Additional filming took place in South Korea, with the city of Busan serving as the setting of a car chase scene, involving 150 cars and over 700 people.Filming in Busan began on March 17, 2017, with shooting occurring at the Jagalchi Fish Market, and filming taking place by Gwangalli Beach on March 21. Industrial Light & Magic with the help of many other small studios completed the visual effects of the movie. Previsualization was completed by the Digital Domain and The Third Floor. Ludwig Göransson was hired to compose the film’s score by April 2017. Göransson traveled to Senegal and South Africa to record local musicians to form the “base” of his soundtrack. Kendrick Lamar produced the film’s curated soundtrack, titled Black Panther: The Album, along with Top Dawg Entertainment founder Anthony Tiffith. Coogler chose Lamar for the project because his “artistic themes align with those we explore in the film.” Black Panther premiered at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles January 29th 2018. The film would release later in the United States to the public on February 16th 2018. Notable Cast Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa (Black Panther): The same Black Panther we saw in Civil War with an amazing accent! A notable difference in the character between the MCU and the comics is that T’Challa is just now becoming king and in the comics he had been king since childhood. Michael B. Jordan as N’Jadaka / Erik “Killmonger” Stevens”: While he may not have been great in Fantastic Four, he was fantastic in Creed and he continues that trend in this movie, nearly stealing the show from Chadwick Boseman and portrays a villain you can really sympathize for. Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia: Love interest of T’Challa, she has a love for the world outside of Wakanda that is unusual for the Wakanda culture. You’ll recognize her voice from Star Wars where she voiced Maz Kanata. Danai Gurira as Okoye: Michonne from the Walking Dead and she continues that same badass portrayal of her character in this film as part of the all-female special forces of the border tribe in Wakanda. Letitia Wright as Shuri: Little sister of T’Challa and plays a role in the film a lot like, “Q” from James Bond, always creating some sort of new gadget to show off on the film. She has a lot of roles coming up like Infinity War and The Commuter, but previously she was mainly in TV shows. Daniel Kaluuya as W’Kabi: T’Challa’s best friend and head of security for the Border Tribe. A lot like Letitia he’s an English actor and hasn’t been in many movies, he’s been in lots of TV Shows such as Black Mirror and Doctor Who. Forest Whitaker as Zuri: Sort of a holy man role, perfect for Forest Whitaker! Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross: While it is odd to hear Bilbo Baggin’s with an American accent, Martin Freeman plays an American CIA agent who was formula a pilot and winds up caught in the middle of Wakanda conflict. Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue or Klaw: Full name Ulysses Klaue is the son of a Nazi war criminal and was tasked by Hitler to infiltrate Wakanda and discover its secrets.He originally appears in the Fantastic Four. That was obviously changed for this movie, but he has a similar role and still fires sonic beams which are explained through the, “magic,” of vibranium instead of just being a power. Andy Serkis portrays a very crazy wacky eyed villain not a far stretch from Gollum. Reception Before the films release Facebook shut down a group who before being shut down had 4,000 and more people saying they were interested or going to an event with the goal of down voting the Black Panther. The event stated:  “Given the massive success of the audience review rigging on the Rotten Tomatoes site for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and due to the sudden rise in those disgruntled with Disney business practices among other factors especially due to the corporate manipulations which created falsified bad press for the DCEU, I feel that it’s time to strike back at all those under Disney and bring down the house of mouse’s actions for paying off the critics that hurt DC Comics on film and for other parties affected by them. I’ll be making events like this for Infinity War and the Netflix shows etc so we can rally together to truly make a difference. Share this with your friends and all potential sympathizers.” This later prompted a response f

Nerd Confessions Podcast: We spread out our big spring arms in the spirit of Valentine’s day to embrace all the new updates that have come to ARMS on Nintendo Switch since launch on the podcast this week. ARMS is Nintendo’s first big game to bring waggle back to the Nintendo Switch. We cover updates 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 4.1 all the way up to 5.0, the final content update for the game. The last content update means that there may continue to be updates to re-balance or fix bugs, but no new content will be coming to the game. How do all the new characters add to balancing since the game’s launch? How is each one uniquely themed for their abilities? Did the added characters and game modes make it worth revisiting the game? Has our opinion on the game changed? We address all these questions and more! Listen or follow along as we discuss! During listener confessions this week we are featuring @liam6797 via Instagram and his obsession with Cuphead’s challenging gameplay in addition to some of our own confessions! Give @liam6797 some love on his Instagram in the Valentine’s day spirit. Now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Youtube and below: https://nerdconfessionsdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/ncpodcasts03e06.m4a You can watch us check out all the new characters, arenas and some of the new game modes in our let’s play below: Show Notes ARMS on Nintendo Switch version 5.0 What’s been going on with arms since launch? We all remember Arms, the first fun game on Nintendo Switch that brought Nintendo waggle back. We’re not including 1, 2, Switch because it’s more demo than game. While it didn’t have a great launch and didn’t have the staying power we all hoped it might have there have been a lot of additions to the game since launch. December 2017, Nintendo announced that a comic series based on the game is set to be released by Dark Horse Comics in Q3 2018. Since launch the game has hosted timed Party Crash events over announced weekends. Party Crash is much like the Party Match game mode, but features special rules and pits two picked characters against each other. Use one of the characters and you’ll get rewards. The most used character wins the Party Crash at the end of the event. We’ve got lots of new characters! Original Characters: Spring Man: Generic boy fighter that is well balanced. Ribbon Girl: Generic girl fighter that is well balanced. Ninjara: Ninja themed spring man. Master Mummy: The huge OP mummy man. Min Min: Sloppy noodle arm lady with dragons. Mechanica: Robot lady. Twintelle: Mega celebrity, she fights with her perfect hair’s pigtails. Also fan favorite, she thicc. Byte & Barq: Robot robot and his dog robot companion. Kid Cobra: Snake arms slithery personality. Helix: Flubber man with ARMS of DNA. Hedlok: Not a playable character, but a boss. End boss of Grand Prix when played at 4 or higher. Opponent in the Team Vs Hedlok mode in Party Match. New Characters: Max Brass: Looks like a ARMS rendition of Johnny Bravo. So bro, he’s got his pecks fist bumping. Lola Pop: Themed as a traveling clown, she looks pretty sweet. Misango: Homage to Stardust Crusaders,, he is an Aztec style character with a spirit companion. Springtron: Evil version of Spring Man. Dr. Coyle: Empress of ARMS lab, she appears to be a villain and is the final new character. Each new character, just like the old characters came with their own ring themed just to them. The most memorable of the old characters was the Ramen Bowl ring for Min MIn. Dr. Coyle appears as if she be the main antagonist of the Comic series. Max Brass: https://youtu.be/5GWR46a-XAs Released in July as part of the ARMS 2.0 patch. He is head of the ARMS league, organizing the body of the Grand Prix. Eagerly awaiting new challengers he may look buff, but he actually 52 years old. His home stage is Sky Arena which features a square in the middle that is higher making players avoid the edges. Abilities: Able to deflect incoming ARMS. Gains permanently charged arms when he is below 20 percent health. Able to buff his upper body when charging in order to prevent flinching. Lola Pop: https://youtu.be/pmxLXpFmByI Released in September as part of the 3.0 patch. Traveled the world as a street performer. She’s developed crowd-pleasing maneuvers that confuse and confound opponents! She hopes to one day open a circus of her very own with the Grand Prix money. Her stage is Via Dolce and is shaped like a large S with cafes and shops all around. The stage’s name is Italian for Sweet Street. Abilities: Inflates body while shielding which adds extra defense and can cancel into a jump. Can inflate while in the air, causing her to drop quickly and bounce on the ground. Misango: https://youtu.be/JzH6wtGeaBM Released in November as part of the 4.0 patch. Skilled fighter devoted to his homeland (Latin America) and has the power of the Misanga. He channels that power with the help of his little woven sprite that hovers at his side. Temple grounds is his themed ring. Abilities: When spirit is red he gains a bull mask that reduces flinch chance. When spirit is blue, he is faster and jumps higher. While the spirit is yellow he can block incoming attacks for limited time during rush. Springtron: https://youtu.be/4p39Muu7kb8 Released in November as part of the 4.1 patch. Introduced as a secret boss fought immediately before Max Brass, but was added as a fighter later. Sparring is his home stage and was made available in update 3.1. Abilities: Special ability is a shockwave he can send out over a distance to disable fighter’s ARMS. Dr. Coyle: https://youtu.be/xmzAmbAJO-o Released in December 2017 as part of 5.0 patch. Director of ARMS Laboratories, seeking to be the strongest ARMS Fighter. Her homme stage is [Name Redacted]. She is also the creator of Helix, Hedlok, Springtron and the Party Crash program. Abilities: Hover while jumping. While charging ARMS, she can get a third one to deal more damage. Can become invisible after getting knocked down. Let’s wrap this up: What do we think of the new characters overall? Some of them are very fun and added some variety the base game could have used. Did all of these updates help with the staying power of the game? Other than giving us an excuse to revisit the game? No. We know that Nintendo has a comic coming from Dark Horse. What else can Nintendo do with this property in the future? At launch we rated the game a 7.75 (Tommy gave it 9.5), does this rating still hold up or have has ARMS punched us one too many times? Tommy still loves it! Ellie has a tainted opinion after frequently losing to Tommy and William/Soheil maintain the original rating. You can catch our previous Podcast on ARMS here: https://youtu.be/VbVk3J3PtR4 You can watch our first 4-player versus game here: https://youtu.be/_PHroZ3L5UY That’s it for this week! Like us? Review us on iTunes or Stitcher! Subscribe to our Youtube! See more from us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Send your confession to contact@nerdconfessions.net if you would like it to be read on our podcast or fill out the form below: [contact-form]  

Nerd Confessions Podcast: We punch and grab for our funny bones this week as we play the ridiculous beat ’em up party game, Gang Beasts from the small indie developer, Boneloaf. Why all the meat theming such as Beef City, pink goo level and gelatinous characters? Does the game have enough depth to make it relevant at the $19.99 price point? Is the game worth coming back to enjoy with your friends over and over? Why is what appears to be Trump in this game? We cover all this and more on podcast this week. Watch or follow along as we discuss! During Listener Confessions this week we are featuring @psychicmisstexas and her Super Bowl predictions against her son in addition to our own confessions for the week. Now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Youtube and below: https://nerdconfessionsdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/ncpodcasts03e05.m4a Catch our let’s play of the game and the ensuing pandemonium in the video below: Show Notes Gang Beasts by Boneloaf What is Gang Beasts? Gang Beasts is a multiplayer beat ’em up party game with gelatinous characters, melee fight sequences, and hazardous environments, set in the fictional metropolis of Beef City. At initial release it contained 8 multiplayer stages. The core gameplay involves using various physical abilities such as punching or kicking an opponent until they are “knocked out”, and then attempting to toss them over one of the stage hazards. Opponents that have been knocked down are not completely defenseless however, as they can fight back to be released. Development Gang Beasts is developed by Boneloaf and published by Double Fine Presents. The company name, Boneloaf comes from a misnomer they used to refer to the hunks of collectable meat in classic arcade and console games. The company is based in Sheffield, UK and was founding March 21st in 2011. Boneloaf was setup by three brothers (James, Jon, and Michael Brown) to make games and toys informed by an adolescence spent watching bizarre Filmation and Hasbro cartoons, playing multiplayer arcade and console games, and drawing silly characters. For three years members of the company prototyped a series of experimental games working from geographically remote locations or meeting for game jams when members could take time off from their individual work and education commitments, a number of these prototypes were built with iterations of a custom procedural animation framework. You can see where the game was in development at that time from this version called Ludum Dare #27 jam entry: In late 2013 a basic punch mechanic was added to a high fantasy game prototype to test if it could be adapted to make a mêlée fighting party game similar to Capcom’s Final Fight, Sega’s Streets of Rage, Konami’s Crime Fighters, and Taito’s Double Dragon games. In mid-November of 2013 the company committed to making the mêlée fighting game prototype their first commercial game (giving it the working title of Gang Beasts to conform with the naming scheme of other game prototypes). On the 11th February 2014 Boneloaf showed Gang Beasts publicly for the first time at the TGDN x Animex event in Middlesbrough (UK), an event organised by the Teesside Game Developer Network (now called Game Bridge) for the Animex International Festival of Animation and Computer games. At conventions such as PAX East where Boneloaf was present, the game was extremely popular with large groups gathering to enjoy the ridiculous gameplay. The first public pre-alpha build of the mêlée fighting game was published through IndieDB.com (an online independent game development resource) on the 14th of February 2014 concurrently with a Steam Greenlight submission. The game was greenlit by the Steam community on the 4th of March 2014 with a significant number of votes from the Giant Bomb and Nerd³ audiences. In late March 2014, a month after Gang Beasts was greenlit, three members of the company started renting a small room in a gallery in Sheffield (UK) to work full time on Gang Beasts. In June 2014 the three members of Boneloaf were joined by friend and illustrator Jason Pugh. As you probably know Double Fine is the game developer most well known for games like Psychonauts, Grim Fandango and the famous developer Tim Schafer. Since March 2014, Double Fine announced that it would begin publishing indie games under the moniker Double Fine Presents. Using that program, Double Fine makes its publishing capabilities and offices available for other independent developers to help them finish their work by funding, publishing, and promoting it. The idea came about during the Amnesia Fortnight 2014, where local San Francis coindependent developers were working alongside Double Fine in their studios during the two-week period, with the intent to help give them exposure through the production process as it was filmed by 2 Player Productions. The idea of Double Fine providing more long-term assistance to these indies arose during this event, forming the basis for this program. According to Double Fine’s COO Justin Bailey, the goal of this approach is to “help indies build their own community and empower them with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed on their own”, providing them assistance “customized to what indies need without also creating a certain codependence” that other publishing means require. The game released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, and PlayStation 4 on 12 December 2017, Reception In  its freeware alpha state, as well as upon Steam Early Access release, the game was met with positive response from critics and fans. Outside of early access, Gang Beasts received mixed reviews from critics on both the PC and PlayStation 4 versions of the game. On MetaCritic, the game holds a score of 67/100 for the PlayStation 4 version based on 8 reviews, indicating “mixed or average reviews.” The game was nominated for “Excellence in Multiplayer” at the upcoming 2018 SXSW Gaming Awards. Overall Thoughts and Opinions What do we think of the combat? Ridiculously fun, but without the depth of even more fun gaming elements such as weapons. Does the game have enough depth? In single player no. The online is also slow and buggy, however the local mode is where the game is at it’s strongest. Game modes: Melee: Standard beat’em up free for all mode. Gang: Color coded team mode. Wave: AI Opponents continually spawn in waves for battle against one to 4 other players. Soccer: Color coded teams use the game fighting mechanics to struggle to get a ball to the goal. What do we rate it? 7 out of 10 That’s it for this week! Like us? Review us on iTunes or Stitcher! Subscribe to our Youtube! See more from us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Send your confession to contact@nerdconfessions.net if you would like it to be read on our podcast or fill out the form below: [contact-form]

Nerd Confessions Podcast: We pull out our wands of wizardry this week as we prepare to cover a fan made film for the Harry Potter universe. That film is Voldemort: Origins of the Heir! This is the biggest fan film project for the Harry Potter universe yet with a run time of nearly an hour and a budget of over 15,000 Euro. Are too many liberties taken with the Harry Potter canon? Is the English dubbing too distracting? Who the heck are Gianmaria Pezzato and Stefano Prestia, the founders of Tryangle Films? What happened with the Warner Brothers dispute against the film? Why is Ellie Moran always so tired and grouchy? We cover all this and more! Watch or listen along as we discuss! Watch the full fan film on YouTube by following this link: https://youtu.be/C6SZa5U8sIg Now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Youtube and below: https://nerdconfessionsdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/ncpodcasts03e04.m4a Show Notes Voldemort: Origins of the Heir What is Voldemort: Origins of the Heir? Spoiler alert if you haven’t at least watched the first few Harry Potter films! Voldemort: Origins of the Heir is a fan made film that depicts the story of Tom Riddle’s rise to power who would later be known as Voldemort, the main antagonist in the Harry Potter saga. This makes the film an unofficial prequel to the Harry Potter films and books. The film introduces us to the 4 heirs of the 4 houses (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin) in a struggle with Voldemort. In the Harry Potter canon universe, only Voldemort has been stated to be the heir to his respective house because of the Slytherin house value on bloodlines and pure blooded wizards. Heir to the house means that they are related by blood to the founder of the house. The film follows the heir of Gryffindor, Grishna Mac Laggen as she tries to stop the emergence of Voldemort. The movie consists of a majority Italian cast which means that the original language spoken in the film is Italian. The film is also dubbed over in English and readily available for viewing on Youtube. As of now the Tryangle Films channel on Youtube has 351,447 subscribers and the film itself over 12 million views. Production The movie was conceived by Gianmaria Pezzato and Stefano Prestia (Tryangle Films based in Italy) and financed by a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter in 2016, achieving around $30,000 in donations. Due to litigation with the Warner Brothers company the crowdfunding campaign was ended July 2016 due to copyright violations. The result of the dispute was similar to the fan made film for Star Trek, Axanar. Tryangle Films was able to proceed with the production of the film under the agreement that they would not generate profit. The first trailer released in June 2017. This isn’t the first time Warner Brothers has attempted to shutdown a fan film. In 2015 they had a dispute with crowdfunded fan film, Severus Snape and the Marauders. After the Tryangle Films had the dispute with Warner Brothers they reached out to the creators of Severus Snape and the Marauders as they were big fans of the film and had a similar issue. Justin from the team stated that Warner Brothers allows some leeway for it’s fans and that after being cut off from donations he had to put $6,000 of his own money into his film. Stefano restia played the role of Producer, practical effects, audio mix/edit and foley. The is no previous listing of films or projects for Stefano and he appears to be fairly private on social media. This could also potentially be due to a language barrier? The film was directed, edited and written by Gianmaria Pezzato. Unlike the other founder, Pezzato is more vocal. In an interview with Polygon, Gianmaria stated that the concept of the film came from re-reading the sixth novel, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which spurred a number of questions they hadn’t thought about the first time around. “We wondered, ‘What made Tom Riddle become Voldemort? What happened in those years and what really went down at Hogwarts when he came back? There are some clues in the books which have not been transposed at all in the movies, but a lot goes unspoken. This is the story we want to tell: The rise of the Dark Lord before Harry Potter and his first demise.” In total the Cast and Crew of the film is only a total of 20 people. The film released on Youtube is a total of 52 minutes of 40 seconds. To put this into perspective Severus Snape and the Marauders is only 25 minutes and 33 seconds in length. The film was released on Youtube on January 13th, 2018. Notable Cast Stefano Rossi as Tom Marvolo Riddle, Hogwarts alumnus David Ellena as Lord Voldemort Maddalena Orcali as Grisha McLaggen (main heroine, narrator for trailer and heir to Godric Gryffindor) Aurora Moroni as young Grisha McLaggen Andrea Deanisi as Wiglaf Sigurdsson (heir to Rowena Ravenclaw) Gelsomina Bassetti as Hepzibah Smith (aunt of Lazarus Smith) Alessio Dalla Costa as General Makarov (Auror of the Soviet Union Auror department) Reception The film is currently rated a 5.4 out of 10 from 2,064 user reviews on IMDB. Since this is for view on Youtube we can also use the likes and dislikes as a rating. Currently the film has 474k likes and 21k dislikes with as stated previously over 12 million views. Overall Thoughts and Opinions Was the American Youtube version too poorly dubbed and distracting? For some characters, others were able to pull it off much more convincingly. What do we rate it? 7.5 out of 10. That’s it for this week! Like us? Review us on iTunes or Stitcher! Subscribe to our Youtube! See more from us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Send your confession to contact@nerdconfessions.net if you would like it to be read on our podcast or fill out the form below: [contact-form]

Nerd Confessions Podcast: We brace ourselves for the Shock and Terror that is James Nguyen’s Birdemic film on the podcast this week! How did a film like this ever make it’s way to actual theaters?! What possessed the man to invest $10,000 of his own money into this film concept?! Does it live up to Alfred Hitchock’s Birds or Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth? What drama occurred on set with the actors/actresses? Is Alan Bagh really a robot? Why was Whitney Moore, the main actress of the film, ignored by the director for three weeks?! Was there any diddling? We cover all this and more! Watch or listen along as we discuss! Our friend, Santos from the Fresh Squeezed podcast dared to join us this week amidst the birds. You can find more about his podcast at: http://www.freshsqueezedoc.com During Listener Confessions this week we are featuring @thebenmilton and his social media aspirations in addition to our own confessions for the week. Now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Youtube and below: https://nerdconfessionsdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/ncpodcasts03e031.m4a You can see some of our first reactions of the film by watching with us in the 360 video below: Show Notes Birdemic: Shock and Terror What is Birdemic: Shock and Terror? Birdemic: Shock and Terror is a low budget, indie film by James Nguyen. The film’s poor acting, cinematography and effects have resulted in it being proclaimed the worst film ever made. After a limited theatrical release the film has gained a cult following and was eventually picked up for distribution. The movie follows Rod, a software salesman in silicon valley as he meets and hits off his relationship with a high school crush, Nathalie. Everything was going just right for Rod, until, a horde of mutated birds invades and begins attacking and killing everyone! James Nguyen was inspired to create the film from Alfred Hitcock’s “The Birds” and Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth.” The whole film has a strong message about global warming and how humans need to change their ways. Production Birdemic: Shock and Terror was written, directed and produced by James Nguyen who had previously filmed and funded two other films, “Julie and Jack” (2003) and “Replica” (2005). James Nguyen was struck with the genius to write this movie after staying in Half Moon Bay just south of San Francisco. Much of the filming would later take place there. Production began in 2006 and took four years to complete. Filming would occur on the weekends over the course of 7 months. The movie was entirely funded by James Nguyen’s day job and he invested a total of $10,000 into the production of the film. There weren’t a lot of crew members on the movie, and the actors performed many of the roles that would normally be performed by crew members. They often held their own microphones, sometimes between their knees. They were even in charge of their own makeup, after the first two makeup women quit. The film uses fake names for crew members in the credits, in order to appear more legitimate. Nguyen didn’t get permits to film at specific locations, instead just showing up, and sometimes getting kicked out. In January 2009, Nguyen attended the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. His goal there, to promote the film! He handed out flyers passing by his rape van which was adorned with stuffed birds and paper signs that read, “BIDEMIC.COM” (incorrectly spelled) and “WHY DID THE EAGLES AND VULTURES ATTACKED?” He rented out a local theater to screen the film. This resulted in word of mouth and websites such as Dread Central and Bloody Disgusting covered the film. Sadly the film was also featured on the now dead show, “Attack of the Show.” while G4 still existed. April 3rd, 2009, Moviehead Pictures (Nguyen’s company) self-released Birdemic DVD. The film was sold exclusively through Moviehead’s official website and manufactured on demand through Amazon.com. In early 2010 Birdemic was picked up by Severin Films and was released on home media DVD and Blu-ray Disc on February 22nd, 2011. Severin Films was founded in 2006 and states that they have become “The foremost studio dedicated to rescuing, restoring and releasing the most controversial and provocative features from around the world.” Notable Cast Alan Bagh as Rod the main character of the film. Whitney Moore as the costar and love interest of Rod. Patsy van Ettinger as Nathalie’s mom. Reception Rotten Tomatoes listed the film with a 19% out of 16 critic review and 26% out of 1,702 audience reviews. IMDB holds a user rating of 1.8 out of 10 for the film out of 17,087 reviews. A RiffTrax for Birdemic was released on February 22nd, 2011, featured commentary by Michael J. Nelson, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy of Mystery Science Theater 3000 fame. Fun Facts A sequel for Birdemic has already been released! “Birdemic 2: The Resurrection” and was also written and directed by James Nguyen. It finished filming in 2012 and was released April 2013. James Nguyen’s first film, “Julie and Jack” had an appearance by Tippi Hendren who starred in Hitchcock’s, “The Birds.” In a scene Birdemic, her appearance in Nguyen’s previous film was playing on TV. While filming on a public jogging trail, Nguyen started yelling at joggers who were getting in the shot. Whitney Moore told him not to yell at people who weren’t associated with the film, and he responded by refusing to talk to her for three weeks. He gave her direction using her costar Alan Bagh as an intermediary. What are our overall thoughts? Is the movie really funny or is it just bad? More bad than funny. Was it entertaining throughout? Long transitions and takes with nothing happening. What do we rate it? A 2 out of 10! That’s it for this week! Like us? Review us on iTunes or Stitcher! Subscribe to our Youtube! See more from us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Send your confession to contact@nerdconfessions.net if you would like it to be read on our podcast or fill out the form below: [contact-form]

Nerd Confessions Podcast: We get nostalgic for all the toys of our past on the podcast this week as we speak about the informative, yet interesting Netflix exclusive documentary, The Toys That Made Us. What about the show kept our interest so much? Does the creator of the documentary, Brian Volk-Weiss lead an army of diddlers in his company, Comedy Dynamics?! Out of the 4 episodes released so far Star Wars, Barbie, He-Man and G.I. Joe which one did we like the most? Listen or follow along as we discuss. Listener Confession this week from @manuel_hernandez_animations via Instagram along with some of our own confessions! Now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Youtube and below: https://nerdconfessionsdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/ncpodcasts03e021.m4a Show Notes What is the Toys that Made Us? The Toys that Made Us is a documentary about the story behind the conceptual stage all the way to the modern impact of iconic toys of our childhood. The 8-episode series was created by Brian Volk-Weiss. There are currently only 4 episodes available which were released on December 27th 2017. Star Wars Barbie He-Man G.I. Joe The rest of the episodes of the series will be covering LEGO, Transformers, Hello Kitty and Star Trek. No concrete release date for these episodes. Brian stated that they struggled to get the first 4 out in time for the holidays and he still has 2 episodes left to edit in an interview from Polygon. He also stated that for the Transformers episode he has Michael Bay in the interview line-up. Each episode begins with a reenactment of a notable moment during the story of the toy being covered and from there they will cut to interviews, old footage and commercials telling the whole timeline of that toy. Development Brian Volk-Weiss, creator of the series is the President of Comedy Dynamics. At the company he is running its production, development, management and distribution departments. Dynamics is currently the largest producer and distributor of one-hour comedy specials in the US featuring comedians such as Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari (diddler), Jim Gaffigan, Katt Williams and Louis C.K. The Toys that Made Us was directed by Tom Stern, who in his early career directed shows with Jimmy Kimmel such as the Man Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live. He was also director and writer for Saul of the Molemen which aired on Adult Swim. Most recently he directed 2 Broke Girls. Tom Stern worked with Brian Volk-Weiss on Stevie TV and the choice of him as director for The Toys that Made Us may have stemmed from there. The narrator of the documentary is Donald Ian Black who is a writer/actor for Goodbye Neenaw (2017) and Ruins (2013). How was it received? On IMDB The Toys that Made Us is currently rated 8.1 out of 10 from 838 user reviews. Overall thoughts. Episode 1, Star Wars: In 1977, after being rejected by Mattel and Hasbro, Lucasfilm signed with Kenner Products to have toys produced for their sci-fi film, Star Wars. This was a huge gamble, as Kenner was a small toy company at the time and the negotiation process started late due to George Lucas’ secrecy over the ship designs. Since then, toy sales of the Star Wars franchise have totaled to $14 billion worldwide. Episode 2, Barbie: In a toy industry dominated by the male demographic, Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler broke new ground in 1959 when she took a concept based on the German Bild Lilli doll (who was a very promiscuous character) and introduced the world to Barbie. The toy line has since become the largest selling doll and one of the most influential toys in modern history, selling over a billion dolls globally. Episode 3, He-Man: Searching for a new toy line for boys, designers at Mattel saw inspiration from Frank Frazetta’s artworks, as well as their creative imagination, and launched the Masters of the Universe action figures. The toy line dominated in sales from $38.2 million to $400 million in 1986 before its demise in 1987 as a result of sales dropping to $7 million and financial failure of the live-action film adaptation. Episode 4, G.I. Joe: Introduced in 1964, Hasbro’s G.I. Joe: America’s Movable Fighting Man was the first action figure in toy history, but an oil crisis and declining sales led to the line’s demise in 1978. Desperate to hold their own against Kenner’s Star Wars line, Hasbro took inspiration from the Reagan-era Cold War to revive the line as Gi.I. Joe: A Real American Hero in 1982, making over $51 million that year and becoming one of the most influential boys’ toys of all time. What we would like to see covered in the future: Ninja Turtles Ghostbusters Stretch Armstrong WWF toys Army Men (cowboys and indians) Board games show. Playdough What do we rate the series? Great for the documentary series genre. Not high budget and could be cut a little better, but the content is extremely interesting. 8 out of 10. That’s it for this week! Like us? Review us on iTunes or Stitcher! Subscribe to our Youtube! See more from us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Send your confession to contact@nerdconfessions.net if you would like it to be read on our podcast or fill out the form below: [contact-form]

Nerd Confessions Podcast: We are starting 2018 off with a game that released in 2016? We’re playing it for a reason! Watch or listen along with us as we discuss what makes Overcooked! just a great coop and party game and what about it keeps you coming back to have heated gaming sessions with your friends. Can you believe Overcooked’s developer, Ghost Town Games is only a two person team?! Listener Confession this week from @wowzersbrina along with our own confessions! Now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Youtube and below: https://nerdconfessionsdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/ncpodcasts03e01.m4a Watch our first reactions and Overcooked! gameplay as we do a let’s play in the video below: Show Notes What is Overcooked? Overcooked is an indie developed game by just a two man team! Not including QA and their friends that helped. In Overcooked you play a chef that is tasked with cooking a dish to serve. Each dish requires certain ingredients and steps, but the most challenging portion of the game is the kitchen setup and layout. The game will teach you a dish, require you to build that dish a variety of ways and challenge you by separating the kitchen segments or even sliding portions of the kitchen around. This keeps things challenging after you learn each dish. The game has up to 4 player co-op which is when the game is at its best. It was developed with co-op in mind and requires strong communication from your friends. Development Overcooked was the first video game developed by the Cambridge based company Ghost Town Games. The company was founded by Phil Duncan and Oli De-Vine, who had previously worked at Frontier Developments for around eight years, before leaving to start their own company. From the beginning, the two knew they wanted to make a cooperative game, and noted how most games only added cooperative elements as an afterthought to the single-player experience. As such, they wanted to develop a game where the cooperative nature was the focal point. As only a two-man team developing a game with up to four players, Ghost Town spent much of their time taking the game to gaming festivals and conventions for demonstration as to get feedback from players there, often fixing bugs on the fly at these events. The feedback led to a major shift from focusing the game on the various recipes to more interesting level designs, as they found players would be more vested in performing well in complex and dynamic level. Team17 announced that they would help publish the game in May 2016. Team17 flew the pair to attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2016 and show off the game; as they had been situated next to the Yooka-Laylee booth, Overcooked gained a lot of attention at the event. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in August 3rd 2016 as a digital only game. Overcooked Gourmet Edition which includes the Lost Morsel DLC was released in both digital physical form on November 16th 2017. A Nintendo Switch version, Overcooked Special Edition was released on July 27 2017 with both a physical and digital copy available. Reception Metacritic currently has a score of 78% out of 24 critics for the base game. The user score is 7.9 out of 53 ratings. Score for the base game has gone down a bit since the release of the DLC and special edition. The majority of the game sales were most likely digital so going by steam spy they list: 550,79 potential owners. 73,455 players actively playing the game within the past week. What do we think? Difficult to play on your own. You’re only as strong as your weakest link. Extremely fun with coop. Great party game, people will end up yelling at each other. We rate the game 8 out of 10. That’s it for this week! Like us? Review us on iTunes or Stitcher! Subscribe to our Youtube! See more from us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Send your confession to contact@nerdconfessions.net if you would like it to be read on our podcast or fill out the form below: [contact-form]

The last Nerd Confessions podcast for 2017! To close out the year we are covering Netflix’s biggest and most expensive exclusive to date, Bright! Is Will Smith losing his star power? Are the fantasy elements and orcs just tacked on? Does the movie follow Director, David Ayer’s film formula too closely? Is it as bad as Suicide Squad? Did diddler Max Landis ruin the reception of the film with his diddles? Watch or listen along as we discuss! Very odd listener confession this week from @etarira670 via Twitter. Now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Youtube and below: https://nerdconfessionsdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/ncpodcasts02e48.m4a Like us? Review us on iTunes or Stitcher! Subscribe to our Youtube! See more from us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Send your confession to contact@nerdconfessions.net if you would like it to be read on our podcast or fill out the form below: [contact-form] Show Notes Nerd News Let’s hop into the big news this week. Apple has stated that it slows down older iPhones, and through Google trends it is clear that people search more for “iPhone slow” around the release date of a new iPhone model. https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-iphone-6-6s-7-ios-slow-downs-older-iphones-lithium-ion-batteries/%23ftag=CAD-09-10aai5bhttp://www.businessinsider.com/two-class-action-lawsuits-apple-iphone-throttling-2017-12?utm_content=bufferfc032&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer-bi to add to apples misery Google poaches a key Apple chip designer https://www.engadget.com/2017/12/23/google-poaches-a-key-apple-chip-designer/ Walmart is about to test a cashier free store in NYC to keep up with Amazon. https://www.axios.com/walmart-planning-a-cashierless-store-2518925675.html So we have a piece of info from Kotaku, they believe that Destiny 2 is one of biggest video game disappointments of 2017. https://kotaku.com/the-biggest-video-game-disappointments-of-2017-1821497305. When reading this article you can see he’s praising and put in the game down choose a position.used the AAA game to get a headline. Boo. https://youtu.be/Vmb1tqYqyII ‘The Office’ revival reportedly in the works with limited returning cast. http://www.foxla.com/entertainment/the-office-revival-reportedly-in-the-works-with-limited-returning-cast Paid Nintendo Switch Online Service Delayed To Fall 2018. https://wccftech.com/nintendo-switch-online-delayed-fall-2018/ Netflix’s Bright What is Bright? Bright is a cop film much like Training Day (2001), but Bright also includes fantasy elements such as you would find in franchises like Shadowrun (with modern theming instead of cyberpunk). You could say it’s Training Day meets Lord of the Rings. The world has fantasy races such as Fairies, Orcs, Minotaurs and Elves. Much like Star Trek the inclusion of fantasy races is used as a way to create social satire and commentary in what otherwise would be an controversial or unacceptable manner. Unlike common fantasy films such as Lord of the Rings in this world there are wands that can only be used by Brights which is much like a wizard in Harry Potter, except in this world if a muggle were to try to use the wand they will explode! Unlike Harry Potter, however the wands can nearly grant wishes and appear to do almost anything. The plot of the film follows Ward a cop played by Will Smith and his Orc partner, Jakoby played by Joel Edgerton. Orc in this universe are considered blooded when respected or joined in an Orc clan. Jakoby is the equal rights hire for the Los Angeles Police department and because of this is not socially accepted by his peers or his orc kindred. Ward and Jakoby end up in the middle of a conflict that involves preventing the resurrection of the Dark Lord and this is the main conflict of the film. Production Netflix officially picked up the film for a $90 million deal with filming beginning in fall 2016. This makes Bright the most expensive Netflix film to date. The screenplay for Bright was written by Max Landis also known for films such as Chronicles (2012), Victor Frankenstein (2015). The director is David Ayer known for his crime films such as Training Day (2001), Harsh Times (2005), Street Kings (2008) and most recently Suicide Squad (2016). Filming was completed by February 4th 2017. In December 2017 before the film even released on Netflix, a sequel was already confirmed to be in production with Will Smith reprising his role. On December 22, 2017, Bright released worldwide on Netflix. Main Cast Will Smith as Daryl Ward (LAPD officer) Joel Edgerton as Nick Jakoby (Orc cop partnered with Daryl Ward) Previously in: The Gift; The Great Gatsby; Kinky Boots Noomi Rapace as Leliah (Dark elf, doing dark elf stuff) Previously on: Alien:Covenant; Prometheus; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo[swedish version] Edgar Ramirez as Kandomere (High ranking elf in FBI) previously in: Girl on the Train; Joy;Domino Lucy Fry as Tikka (Young elf doing young elf things) Previously in: H2O:Just Add Water; Vampire Academy; The Darkness Brad William Henke as Dorghu (Orc  leader of the Fogteeth gang) Previously in: Split;Pee Wee’s Big Holiday; Pacific Rim; Space Jam; lots of tv shows Reception The exact opposite of the recently released The Last Jedi (even though much more hated by critics than users hated Last Jedi), the critics rated the film very poorly with a much higher user review in contrast. This shows a disconnect between what the Netflix audience likes and critic’s perception of Netflix’s biggest leap into Hollywood film competition. Rotten Tomatoes critic rating is currently at 27% from 66 critics with an audience rating of 89% average from 10,753 users. MetaCritic currently rates the film at 29 from 26 Critics. 7.4 out of 10 average for the 440 user reviews. IMDB user rating currently rate the film at 6.6 / 10 out of 47,056 user reviews. The Diddle Drama The day of release for the film drama appeared on Twitter as part of the #metoo movement. In response to Netflix’s tweet on the release of the film @AnnaAkana tweeted, “Written by a psychopath who sexually abused and assaults women, right? Cool.” This is in regards to the film’s writer, Max Landis. This was followed by more people such as the controversial GamerGate activist, Zoe Quinn who tweeted under @UnburntWitch, “Sometimes men who commit sexual assault are talented screenwriters and their work comes with baggage. Other times, they’re Max Landis.” Did you know? Bright is one of Netflix’s first films to tout 4k picture with HDR visuals. The HDR color is raved as one of the most amazing and eye popping parts of the film. Overall thoughts What do we rate the film? 7 out of 10.    

Nerd Confessions Podcast: May the porgs be with you! On the podcast this week we are discussing the 8th entry in the episodic Star Wars film series, The Last Jedi. Does Episode VIII live up to the expectations fans had after Episode VII came out? Is Disney ruining what George Lucas and Lucasfilm put so much love into by trusting Rian Johnson? Watch or listen along as we discuss! The first half of our Last Jedi discussion is spoiler free with the later half getting into all those spoilers. Don’t worry, we will warn you when it’s time to skip ahead or tune out! In our spoilers discussion we address the many fan frustrations and hot points of potential plot holes in addition to things you may have missed! Listener Confession from @Manuel_Hernandez_Animations with more great artwork! You can find more south park like artwork on his instagram. Now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Youtube and below: https://nerdconfessionsdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/ncpodcasts02e47.m4a Like us? Review us on iTunes or Stitcher! Subscribe to our Youtube! See more from us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Send your confession to contact@nerdconfessions.net if you would like it to be read on our podcast or fill out the form below: [contact-form] Show Notes Nerd News Let’s start with some Star Wars News! NASA Confirms Astronauts Will Watch ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ in Space: “Can confirm the crew will be able to watch it on orbit.” https://www.inverse.com/article/39339-star-wars-the-last-jedi-nasa-astronauts-iss Guess Mickey Mouse is gonna add some new employees to the company. Disney is going to buy Fox and merge. Welcome home X-men. By the way simpsons called it 19years ago!!!! http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/disney-fox-merger-deal-52-4-billion-merger-120263124/. Ajit Pai defends repealing net-neutrality with a rage- and cringe-inducing video. https://youtu.be/LFhT6H6pRWg A Hawaiian Politician Is Introducing a Bill That Would Encourage Creation of Locally Owned Broadband Networks: “One option is to reject corporate internet service providers altogether, and control the internet ourselves.”https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/paqd9m/hawaii-net-neutrality-broadband-bill Every Color Of Every Lightsaber In ‘Star Wars,’ In One Chart. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/every-color-of-every-lightsaber-in-star-wars-in-one-chart/ Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi Spoiler Free What is Star Wars the Last Jedi? The Last Jedi is the direct sequel to The Force Awakens and the 8th episode of the Star Wars episodic film line. It is also the third film to be released since George Lucas sold the property to Disney. The film picks up right where The Force Awakens left off with Rey handing luke the lightsaber and a damaged New Order striking back at the Resistance. Development Second unit photography began during pre-production at Skellig Michael in Ireland (Ahch-To as it’s called in the movie) on September 14, 2015. They had some weather difficulties during their filming there so it was only about three days of filming. The production began work on the 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios on November 15, 2015. In January 2016, production of Episode VIII was delayed until February 2016, due to script rewrites. Principal photography wrapped on July 22, 2016. According to creature designer Neal Scanlan, “There are more practical effects in this film than any Star Wars film”, as the film implements 180 to 200 creatures created with practical effects, some of which were cut from the final edit. Neal Scanlan previously worked on The Force Awakens as well and movies such as Babe which won an academy award for visual effects in 1996. (Jurassic World is a more recent example) A change from The Force Awakens director, JJ Abrams, this film was directed and written by Rian Johnson known previously for Looper. Music At a Tanglewood concert in August 2016, John Williams confirmed he was scheduled to start scoring Episode VIII. He began recording the score “off and on” in December 2016 until  April 2017. On February 21, 2017, recording was underway, with Williams conducting. Cast Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker Carrie Fisher as Leia Organa Adam Driver as Kylo Ren Daisy Ridley as Rey John Boyega as Finn Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron Andy Serkis as Snoke Lupita Nyong as Maz Kanata Doomhnall Gleeson as General Hux Anthony Daniels as C-3PO Gwendoline Christie as Captain Phasma Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico (NEW) Laura Dern as Vice Admiral Holdo (NEW, purple hair) Benicio Del Toro as DJ (Thief) Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca (No more Peter Mayhew ) Amanda Lawrence as Commander D’Acy (The NOSE) Overall Thoughts What do we rate it? 8.5 ! SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS ! Fan Controversy Shouldn’t the Dreadnaught in the beginning of the movie have shields?: It’s mentioned in the movie that the battering ram canon used against the gate at the rebel base is miniaturized Death Star tech. The canons on the dreadnaught may be as well since they are able to destroy entire ships and surfaces of planets in just a few blasts. Perhaps part of using Death Star tech is that you can’t have shields on board and only from an external source. This could be because of how much power is required for the canon. Superman Leia: The director, Rian Johnson explained that he views the use of force powers as instinctual such as when Luke reached for his Lightsaber in the Empire Strikes Back. Leia hasn’t had much of a chance to show her power with the force and he thought this would be a great way to do so since she is not trained in battle. Jedi abilities that we would previously only see in the expanded universe, games and side series such as Clone Wars and Rebels we got to see here. Force bubble and force pull in the weightlessness of space to bring yourself to the ship. Crew not getting sucked into space when opening door for Leia: You can see a energy field technology in use in docks such as Star Destroyers and Death Star which solid matter can pass through unlike Star Trek. Also visible with the bombers in this film. It’s not unfeasible that they would have this built into doorways. Why didn’t some of the Star Destroyer ships just go into lightspeed and cut off the rebel fleet?: They had them on the run, it was just a matter of draining resources. Why risk a complicated maneuver? Why didn’t they just send fighters after the rebel fleet?: Tie Fighters are short range fighters only. The tactic for both the Empire and the New Order is to carry a large amount of unshielded and highly expendable fighters with no hyperdrive engine installed in carriers such as Star Destroyers. While the Rebels/Resistance are always in smaller number and have both shields and hyperdrive engines. Luke just died like a bitch: It was mentioned when Rey and Kylo were joined together  with the force (ForceTime) that Rey couldn’t be the one behind them being joined because the effort would kill her. It’s possible that for Luke, projecting himself for so long through the force was a sacrifice and drained him completely until he joined the force. Why don’t all stormtroopers have the chrome armor that Phasma has which actually repels blaster fire: Much like how they go for cheap Tie Fighters in large quantity it’s probably the same with Stormtroopers where only captains or other significant leaders would have the opportunity to wear such expensive armor.   Things you may have missed: At the end of the film one of the children from the race track on Canto Bight (Casino Planet) reveals they are force sensitive by using the force to grab a broom. For Yoda’s appearance in the film as a Force ghost, the character was created using puppetry, as was done in the original Star Wars trilogy. A force ghost interacted with the real world for the first time in the major movies. Yoda was able to manipulate the weather like Storm from XMen. Director Rian Johnson explained we can expect more of this in the future. While Yoda might have destroyed the Force Tree which held the original Jedi Texts we later see that in a drawer on the Millennium Falcon that she may have taken some of those texts or has similar texts already. Luke calls lightsabers a laser sword. This has to be a throwback to George Lucas always calling them that despite them getting the official name, lightsaber for merchandising. When Luke spoke about looking into Ben Solo’s mind he said that Snoke had already turned him. This means that he already knew Snoke somehow. This means we may be learning more about Snoke in the next film with more backstory and perhaps the introduction of the Knights of Ren. The design of the porgs were inspired by Puffins. Fun facts: In the Dark Empire comics done by Dark Horse, Luke Skywalker astral projected himself across the galaxy much like in this film. Kanon Jarrus from the canon Star Wars tv series, Rebels was sucked into space briefly and survived rescued by another ship much like Leia.

A lot of events to talk about this week in the podcast after the Nerd Confessions crew attended both The Game Awards and The 2017 PlayStation Experience. Is PSX just getting worse and worse every year or was it the best year yet?! How did Geoff Keighley achieve his most viewed Game Awards show ever with, “an off the charts,” 11.5 million live streams? Watch or listen along as we discuss. Listener Confession this week from the HumanSpiderMonkey himself, @spencer_moore13 via Instagram. Now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Youtube and below: https://nerdconfessionsdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/ncpodcasts02e46.m4a Our interviews of attendees and vendors at PSX. Our Video Log where you can follow our adventure at The Game Awards for 2017 is below: Our Video Log where you can follow our adventure at the PlayStation Experience for 2017 is below: Like us? Review us on iTunes or Stitcher! Subscribe to our Youtube! See more from us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Send your confession to contact@nerdconfessions.net if you would like it to be read on our podcast or fill out the form below: [contact-form] Show Notes Nerd News PSVR surpasses 2 million units sold. https://gematsu.com/2017/12/ps4-worldwide-sales-top-70-6-million-playstation-vr-tops-two-million Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom finally has a trailer. https://youtu.be/vn9mMeWcgoM Old news but because of Jurassic World: scientists discovered a dinosaur tail perfectly preserved in amber. It is full of feathers. http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/08/health/dinosaur-tail-trapped-in-amber-trnd/index.html Japanese firm to use drone to force overtime staff to go home http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42275874 So men it’s gonna be harder for you to find a partner since ghosts are coming to steal your girl. http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/ive-sex-15-ghosts-wont-14010250 Netflix Punisher – Season 2 coming https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/12/16769440/netflix-the-punisher-renewed-second-season-she-ra The Game Awards 2017 What is The Game Awards? The Game Awards began as the Spike’s Video Game Awards (VGAs also known as VGX in final year) on December 2013 Spike ended their partnership with the show’s creator Geoff Keighley after a decade long partnership. The VGAs were criticized for being highly over commercialized, with overboard sponsorships and poor execution year over year. In recent years Geoff Keighley’s continued efforts to carry on the show as The Game Awards and improve has garnered the respect and admiration of the industry. As with previous years the show this year was hosted by Geoff Keighley and took place in the Microsoft Theater in downtown LA. What were the notable moments this year? Accounting+ was premiered with the involvement of Justin Roiland. Reggie Fils-Aime announced Bayonetta 3 along with 1&2 would be coming to Nintendo Switch. Eiji Aonuma (Eye Jee, Ow Numa) wielded the master sword on stage announcing DLC #2 for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild would be available that night! A Way Out director went on an anti-Oscar and publisher rant with Geoff Keighley before premiering a new trailer for his game. This resulted in a lot of chatter about the show this year. Soul Calibur VI was premiered. World War Z game was announced with a teaser trailer. Death Stranding had another crazy trailer with Norman Reedus taking the stage with Hideo Kojima saying he’ll do anything for the genius, Kojima, nothing can stop them now and he’s thankful for having clothes to wear this time. Hideo Kojima also took the stage with Guillermo del Toro to advertise the upcoming release of The Shape of Water film. Developer The Astronauts made up of three former member of People Can Fly who co-developed Gears of War and Bulletstorm revealed a very neat FPS multiplayer game with elements of their exploration such as from their previous game, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. What were the major nominations and who won them? Best Debut Indie Game Cuphead (Winner) Slime Rancher Mr. Shifty Hollow Knight Golf Story Best Esports Game Overwatch (Winner) Rocket League League of Legends DOTA2 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Trending Gamer Guy Beahm (Winner) Steven Spohn Mike Grzesiek Clint Lexa Andrea Rene Best Independent Game Cuphead (Winner) Pyre Night in the Woods What Remains of Edith Finch Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice Most Anticipated Game The Last of Us Part II (Winner) Red Dead Redemption II Monster Hunter: World Marvel’s Spider-Man God of War Best Multiplayer PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Winner) Fortnite Call of Duty: World War II Splatoon 2 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Destiny 2 Best Sports / Racing Game Forza Motorsport 7 (Winner) Project Cars 2 Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 NBA 2K18 GT Sport FIFA 18 Best Strategy Game Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Winner) XCOM 2: War of the Chosen Tooth and Tail Halo Wars 2 Total War: Warhammer II Best Family Game Super Mario Odyssey (Winner) Splatoon 2 Sonic Mania Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Best Fighting Game Injustice 2 (Winner) Tekken 7 Nidhogg 2 Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite ARMS Best Role Playing Game Persona 5 (Winner) South Park: The Fractured But Whole Final Fantasy XV Divinity: Original sin 2 NieR: Automata Best Action / Adventure Game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Winner) Uncharted: The Lost Legacy Assassin’s Creed: Origins Super Mario Odyssey Horizon Zero Dawn Best Action Game Wolfenstein II (Winner) Prey Nioh Destiny 2 Cuphead Best VR / AR Game Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Winner) Superhot VR Star Trek: Bridge Crew Lone Echo / Echo Arena Farpoint Best Handheld Game Metroid: Samus Returns (Winner) Poochy and Yoshi’s Wooly World Monster Hunter Stories Ever Oasis Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadow of Valentia Best Mobile Game Monument Valley 2 (Winner) Fire Emblem Heroes Super Mario Run Old Man’s Journey Hidden Folks Best Ongoing Game Overwatch (Winner) Warframe Rainbow Six: Siege Grand Theft Auto Online Destiny 2 PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Games for Impact (Thought provoking) Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Winner) Please Knock on My Door Night in the Woods Life is Strange: Before the Storm Bury Me, My Love What Remains of Edith Finch Best Performance Melina Juergens, Hellblade as Senua (Winner) Laura Baily, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy as Nadine Ross Claudia Black, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy as Chloe Frazer Brian Bloom, Wolfenstein II as BJ Blazkowicz Ashly Burch, Horizon Zero Dawn as Alloy Best Audio Design Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Winner) Destiny 2 Resident Evil 7: Biohazard The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Super Mario Odyssey Best Score / Music NieR: Automata (Winner) Destiny 2 Cuphead The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Super Mario Odyssey Persona 5 Best Art Direction Cuphead (Winner) Destiny 2 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Persona 5 Horizon Zero Dawn Best Narrative What Remains of Edith Finch (Winner) NieR Automata Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice Wolfenstein II Horizon Zero Dawn Best Game Direction The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Winner) Wolfenstein II Resident Evil 7: Biohazard Super Mario Odyssey Horizon Zero Dawn Game of the Year The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Winner) Super Mario Odyssey PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Persona 5 Horizon Zero Dawn Fun fact: If you didn’t know the highly controversial trailer for No Man’s Sky premiered at The Game Awards in 2014 setting the bar high on expectations which would ultimately result in a terrible game launch which did not deliver on the promises made about the game originally.   PlayStation Experience 2017 (PSX) PSX Opening Night Overview: WipEout Omega Collection is getting a VR mod. It’s a sensible addition to the game given that VR tends to work best when someone’s occupying a fixed space like a cockpit. The new God of War will be long. There weren’t any new trailers or confirmation of a release date but creative director Cory Barlog did note the game will be around 35-40 hours long. Detroit: Become Human lets you press circle to ask about emotional shocks. Quantic Dream’s philosophical reflection on robots and humanity was demoed live on stage as a “fun game to play with friends.” In case you were wondering if David Cage’s new game would involve hyper emotional over the top moments, rest assured it will. There will also be plenty of walking around while game prompts flood the screen. MediEvil is getting remastered for PS4. There’s this thing where Layden wears t-shirts to PSX repping his favourite old game series and then fans salivate over the prospect of them getting revived. Since Rachet and Clank and Crash Bandicoot were such a success, the ritual continued this year. So what was he wearing this year? You’ll soon be able to have an adorable bird dog fill your entire field of vision. The Last Guardian is getting its own VR capability with a demo available starting on December 12. Where VR makes perfect sense for something like WipEout it’s a little more foreboding in a game with cameras and movement that can be as wonky as Last Guardian’s, so if you’re going to need puke bags for the former, you might need a bucket for this one. You’ll probably be able to change your PSN name in the future, maybe. Kinda Funny’s Greg Miller known for his constant talk about changing psn names asked Layden during a short interview at the end of the night when players would finally be able to change their PSN profile names, some of which are decades old and were created when people thought I_fart_onyou was the epitome of funny. Capcom Cup 2017 RISE|MenaRD from the Dominican Republic took the Capcom Cup this year taking home $250,000. After the event Yoshinori Ono took the stage and revealed Street Fighter V Arcade Edition with new characters, Blanka, Sagat, Sakura, Falke, Cody and G.   Panels fo

Nerd Confessions Podcast: On the podcast this week we are putting up photos of our long lost relatives in fear that they will be forgotten after watching Pixar’s Coco. The latest 3D animated masterpiece from the studio heavily inspired by Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the dead. How does Coco measure up to Pixar’s previous films?! Watch or follow along to find out! Now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Youtube and below: https://nerdconfessionsdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/ncpodcasts02e45.m4a Like us? Review us on iTunes or Stitcher! Subscribe to our Youtube! See more from us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Send your confession to contact@nerdconfessions.net if you would like it to be read on our podcast or fill out the form below: [contact-form] Show Notes Nerd News Guillermo del Toro Wants You to Appreciate the Craftsmanship of George Miller and Michael Mann.  http://www.indiewire.com/2017/11/guillermo-del-toro-interviews-michael-mann-george-miller-mad-max-1201900739/ Sony’s ‘Venom’ Will Boast a Dark and Powerful Carnage. How much darker can Carnage be? http://bloody-disgusting.com/comics/3471516/venom-will-boast-dark-powerful-carnage/ Star Wars Battlefront II: Petition To Revoke EA’s Rights To The Franchise Goes Viral. Would we sign it? http://www.thewolfhall.com/star-wars-battlefront-ii-petition-to-revoke-eas-rights/ The Substitute Phone is designed to help smartphone addicts cope in their absence. What would you do with out your phone? https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/26/16701950/substitute-phoneklemens-schillinger-smartphone-addiction Before Coco we had a animated short which is usually an Pixar short. However we got an disney animated short. It’s based on Frozen and Olaf. http://www.insidethemagic.net/2017/11/coco-audiences-rejecting-olafs-frozen-adventure/?utm_content=buffer6a9fa&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer Pixar’s Coco What is Coco? Coco is a 2017 American 3D computer-animated musical fantasy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Based on an original idea by Lee Unkrich, it is directed by Unkrich, and co-directed and co-written by Adrian Molina. The story follows a 12-year-old boy named Miguel who accidentally visits the land of the dead where he seeks the help of his musician great-great-grandfather to return him to his family among the living. The concept of the film is based on the Mexican holiday of Día de Muertos. Pixar began developing animation in 2016. Unkrich and some of the film’s crew members also visited Mexico for inspiration. Composer Michael Giacchino, who had worked on prior Pixar animated features, composed the score. Coco premiered on October 20, 2017 during the Morelia International Film Festival in Morelia, Mexico. It was released in Mexico the following week, the weekend before Día de Muertos, and became the highest-grossing film of all-time in the country. It was released in the United States on November 22, 2017, and has received highly positive reviews, with critics praising the animation, vocal performances, musical score, songs, emotional story and respect to Mexican culture. Development Lee Unkrich first pitched an idea for the film in 2010, when Toy Story 3, which he also directed, was released. The Pixar team made several trips to Mexico to help define the characters and story of Coco. Unkrich said, “I’d seen it portrayed in folk art. It was something about the juxtaposition of skeletons with bright, festive colors that captured my imagination. It has led me down a winding path of discovery. And the more I learn about Día de los Muertos, the more it affects me deeply.” The team found it difficult working with skeletal creatures as they lacked any muscular system and as such it was discovered that they had to be animated differently from their human counterparts. On April 13, 2016, Unkrich announced that they had begun the animation. The film’s writer, Adrian Molina, was promoted to co-director in 2016. Music The film’s score was composed by Michael Giacchino. Germaine Franco, Adrian Molina, Robert Lopez, and Kristen Anderson-Lopez wrote the songs.Recording for the score began on August 14, 2017. The score was released on November 10, 2017. Cast Anthony Gonzalez as Miguel Rivera, a 12 year old aspiring musician. Gael García Bernal as Héctor, a charming trickster in the Land of the Dead whom Miguel enlisted his help in visiting the Land of the Living. Bernal also voices Héctor in the Spanish dub. Benjamin Bratt as Ernesto de la Cruz, the most famous musician in the history of Mexico and Miguel’s idol. Revered by fans worldwide until his untimely death, the charming and charismatic musician is even more beloved in the Land of the Dead. Antonio Sol provides de la Cruz’s singing voice, except for “Remember Me” Alanna Ubach as Mamá Imelda Rivera, Miguel’s late great-great-grandmother and the matriarch of the Rivera family. Renée Victor as Abuelita Elena Rivera, Miguel’s grandmother who enforces the ban on music. Ana Ofelia Murguía as Mamá Coco Rivera, Miguel’s great-grandmother. Edward James Olmos as Chicharrón, a friend of Hector’s who is forgotten in the Land of the Dead. The trademark Controversy Disney made a request to trademark the phrase “Día de los Muertos” (note, in Spanish the holiday is properly called Día de Muertos) for various merchandising applications. This was met with criticism from the Mexican American community in the United States. One of them was Lalo Alcaraz, a Mexican American cartoonist, who drew a film poster, titled “Muerto Mouse”, depicting a skeletal Godzilla-sized Mickey Mouse with the byline “It’s coming to trademark your cultura.” More than 21,000 people signed a petition on Change.org stating that the trademark was “cultural appropriation and exploitation at its worst.” A week later, Disney cancelled its attempt, with the official statement saying that the “trademark filing was intended to protect any title for our film and related activities. It has since been determined that the title of the film will change, and therefore we are withdrawing our trademark filing.” In 2015, Pixar hired Alcaraz to consult on the film, joining playwright Octavio Solis, and former CEO of the Mexican Heritage Corp. Marcela Davison Aviles to form a cultural consultant group. How was the movie received? On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 96% based on 157 reviews, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The site’s critical consensus reads, “Coco’s rich visual pleasures are matched by a thoughtful narrative that takes a family-friendly—and deeply affecting—approach to questions of culture, family, life, and death.” On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 80 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating “generally favorable reviews”. Overall thought and opinions? What do we rate it? 9.5 out of 10.    

Nerd Confessions Podcast: Big episode this week! Our friend Justin from OZOBOT came to show off the Bit and Evo which teach basic programming. We then get our upper lips ready and discuss the latest DC film from Warner Brothers, Justice League. Lastly we discuss The Punisher on Netflix and how it to compares to the other Marvel series. Were the Joss Whedon reshoots just what what Justice League needed? Watch or follow along as we discuss! Listener Confessions this week from @Manuel_Hernandez_Animations @wowzersbrina via Instagram. Now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Youtube and below: https://nerdconfessionsdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/ncpodcasts02e44.m4a Like us? Review us on iTunes or Stitcher! Subscribe to our Youtube! See more from us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Send your confession to contact@nerdconfessions.net if you would like it to be read on our podcast or fill out the form below: [contact-form] Show Notes Nerd News Is star wars battlefront II giving Disney and EA a gambling problem? http://fortune.com/2017/11/15/star-wars-battlefront-gambling-disney-electronic-arts-loot-box-crate/?iid=sr-link1 Wallstreet says we are overreacting and ea should raise prices! https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/20/gamers-overreacting-on-ea-star-wars-game-firms-should-raise-prices.html?__source=yahoo%257Cfinance%257Cheadline%257Cheadline%257Cstory&par=yahoo&doc=104853358&yptr=yahoo Dune Reboot: Denis Villeneuve says his new version will be nothing like David Lynch’s https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/dune-reboot-denis-villeneuve-says-new-version-will-nothing-like-david-lynchs-181932933.html Fox Revealed today that “The X-Files” will re-open on January 3, 2018 http://bloody-disgusting.com/tv/3470191/x-files-season-11-premiere-date- FCC plans december vote to kill net neutrality Rules https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-15/killing-net-neutrality-rules-is-said-readied-for-december-vote OZOBOT Ozobot is a little robot that takes basic programming language and brings it to life with real world reactions which can much more easily teach programming. It is very basic programming, as you simply train the robots to follow patterns on the surfaces that they roll over. They can identify lines, colors, and codes on both digital surfaces, such as an iPad, and physical surfaces, such as paper. You can calibrate the robots to follow lines by holding down a power button. Then you can draw lines for the robot to follow in an app. You can create race tracks for multiple Ozobots to roll over. A single-pack Ozobot with one robot costs $50, while a double pack costs $100. https://ozobot.com/products Justice League What is Justice League? Justice League is the latest film from Warner Brothers which features the classic superhero team up of DC characters, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash. The film ties directly to Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, The Man of Steel and the latest Wonder Woman film. Initially announced as Justice League Part One, with  a second part to follow in 2019, the second film was indefinitely delayed to accommodate a standalone Batman film with Affleck. Which at this point does not appear to be fairing well and may no longer be, “Batfleck.” Development The planning for Justice League has been in the works since 2007, but following the success of The Dark Knight (2008) Warner Brothers decided to focus on individual films featuring main heroes. After the failure of the Green Lantern (2011) and the lackluster release of The Man of Steel (2013) the Justice League in the shadow of Marvel’s avengers success, a Justice League film was put back on the fast track. Principal photography commenced in April 2016 and ended in October 2016. Snyder then hired Joss Whedon to write scenes that would be filmed during reshoots; however, Snyder left the project in May 2017 following the death of his daughter. Snyder received sole director credit for the film, with Whedon receiving a screenplay credit in post. With an estimated production budget of $300 million, Justice League is one of the most expensive films ever made. Justice League premiered in Beijing on October 26, 2017, and was released in the United States November 17, 2017. Music March 2016, Hans Zimmer who did music for Man of Steel and Batman v Superman stated he retired from the “superhero business”. Junkie XL was said to replace him, but instead we later got Danny Elfman. Elfman had previously composed Batman, Batman Returns, and the theme music for Batman: The Animated Series. Elfman briefly used the Batman theme music from the 1989 for Batman in the film, and also John Williams’ Superman theme during “a dark, twisted moment” in the soundtrack. Gary Clark Jr. and The White Stripes were also featured. Cast Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne / Batman: No longer a killer at least! Is he too dumb? Henry Cavill as Clark Kent / Superman: Yes, he returns. Amy Adams as Lois Lane: Much more weak than she was in Batman vs Superman? Gal Gadot as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman: More great girl power? Ezra Miller as Barry Allen / Flash: Too much like Wally West and not enough like Barry Allen? Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry / Aquaman: Too much of a bro? Ray Fisher as Victor Stone / Cyborg: Did he fit in? Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta: Amazonian Queen gets to really shine! J. K. Simmons as James Gordon: Too weird since he was J. Jonah Jamenson in Spider-man? Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf: A good villain? Did he seem too weak? The Mustache Controversy By the time Justice League‘s extensive reshoots began, Henry Cavill had already started work on his next film, Mission Impossible 6 which not only meant he had travel back and forth between England and the US, he also had a mustache that he grew for Mission Impossible. While Paramount was fine with their star jetting off to be Superman, they wouldn’t allow Cavill to shave. So they wouldn’t have to postpone the film’s release, Warner Brothers decided to digitally remove the mustache which resulted in an upper lip uncanny valley! How was the movie received? Rotten Tomatoes rates the film 39% Critic Response and 85% Audience Score. IMDB currently has a rating of 7.5 out of 10 with 67,416 ratings. Metacritic currently rates the film a 46. Opening weekend the film grossed $96 million in the US. That’s low compared to Thor Ragnarok which did $122 million and even Wonder Woman that did $103 million opening weekend.Batman vs Superman ($166 million), Man of Steel ($116 million). The Avengers films had $200 million dollar openings about. DC hasn’t had an opening weekend approaching this low since the Green Lantern ($53 million). Overall thought and opinions? What do we rate it? 6.5 out of 10 The Punisher (Netflix) What is The Punisher? The Punisher character also known as Frank Castle he is a vigilante who employs murder, kidnapping, extortion, coercion, threats of violence and torture against crime. The character was previously featured in Daredevil Season 2 and The Punisher series is the first solo series for the Punisher as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for Netflix. In this series we delve much deeper into the parties responsible for the death of Frank Castle’s family and this is definitely the most grounded and gritty Netflix Marvel series yet. The series takes place in New York just as with the rest of the Netflix Marvel Series. It is also loose on chronology depicting events before and after Daredevil Season 2. Development April 2016 Netflix ordered a full 13 episode season of the Punisher and named Steve Lightfoot (who also worked on Narcos) as executive producer, writer and showrunner. On deciding to work on The Punisher, Lightfoot stated, “I was drawn to a guy who is dealing with grief – how does he do that?… We talked a lot as we developed the show that once you take hold of the hand of violence it’s impossible to let it go. That relationship to violence really interested me, not just the fact he has the ability to use it but also the cost of it.” Filming began on October 3, 2016 in Brooklyn, New York, under the working title Crime. Additional filming took place in Astoria, Queens in December 2016. Filming wrapped on April 9, 2017. The Punisher premiered in New York City on November 6, 2017, with the full 13 episodes released on November 17, 2017 on Netflix. Music In April 2017, Tyler Bates was announced as the composer for The Punisher, after previously composing for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. In order to “get into the dark corners of the Punisher’s mind,” Bates played “more of a broken blues” guitar. Cast Jon Bernthal as Franke Castle / Punisher: More great punisher we had from Daredevil?! Ebon Mass-Bachrach as David Lieberman / Micro: This character was previously referred to in Daredevil and Agents of SHIELD. The character has always been Castle’s backup, but to make things interesting they put a focus on to conflicts of the character with Frank Castle. Ben Barnes as Billy Russo: Good bad boy? Did you hate him? Amber Rose Revah as Dinah Madani: Is she secretly a human anime character? Daniel Webber as Lewis Wilson: PTSD suffering character. Too much development on this character? Paul Schulze as William Rawlins: Good villain? Did you hate him? Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle: The PTSD helper. Was the character necessary? Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page: Annoying? Only main character from other series. How was the series received? Rotten Tomatoes rates the show at 65% Critic Reponse with an Audience Score of 94%. IMDB currently has a rating of 9.2 out of 10 with 13,136 ratings. Metacritic has a rating of 54 with a user score of 8.3. Did you know? The Punisher comic character has died and come back in two different ways? He committed suicide and was chosen by heaven to become, “Angel Punisher.” After wolverine

Nerd Confessions Podcast: Prepare to be mind invaded by Cappy! This week we are talking about Nintendo’s latest open world adventure game, Super Mario Odyssey. We are also discussing the first Assassin’s Creed game to have a 2 year gap since Assassin’s Creed 2. By Ubisoft, we’re talking about Assassin’s Creed Origins. Was the wait worth it for both these games? Listen or follow along to find out! Listener Confession art shared by @manuel_hernandez_animations via Instagram. Now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Youtube and below: https://nerdconfessionsdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/ncpodcasts02e43.m4a What Amiibo provide costumes in Super Mario Odyssey? Find out int he video below: Like us? Review us on iTunes or Stitcher! Subscribe to our Youtube! See more from us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Send your confession to contact@nerdconfessions.net if you would like it to be read on our podcast or fill out the form below: [contact-form] Show Notes Nerd News Snap lost nearly $40 million on unsold Spectacles. https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/7/16620718/snapchat-spectacles-40-million-lost-failure-unsold-inventory?utm_campaign=theverge&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter NASA is allowing VR and AR headset owners to follow Curiosity’s tracks on Mars. https://thevrbase.com/nasa-lets-vr-and-ar-headset-owners-follow-in-curiositys-tracks-on-mars/ Stranger Things fans crash local museum’s website buying $400,000 worth of dinosaur hoodies. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/08/stranger-things-fans-crash-local-museums-website-buying-sweatshirts.html Hulu App is now on switch! What will you do now??? https://nintendowire.com/news/2017/11/09/hulu-hitting-nintendo-switch-today/amp/ Disney annouces a new Star Wars trilogy!?https://www.polygon.com/2017/11/9/16630894/star-wars-new-trilogy-rian-johnson Amazon Sets ‘The Lord of the Rings’ TV Series With Multi-Season Commitment. http://deadline.com/2017/11/amazon-the-lord-of-the-rings-tv-series-multi-season-commitment-1202207065/ Super Mario Odyssey What is Super Mario Odyssey? Super Mario Odyssey returns to the explorative sandbox gameplay seen in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, where Mario explores various areas in order to collect Power Moons to power the Odyssey airship to fly from kingdom to kingdom. There is no central hub world, as the Odyssey is rather used to move from one location to the others. Mario maintains his moveset from previous 3D titles, including the Triple Jump, Long Jump, Side Somersault, Back Flip, Roll, Ground Pound, Ground Pound Jump, Spin Jump, and the returning Dive. In addition, a new character called Cappy allies with Mario, and takes possession of his cap. Mario can throw Cappy as if he were a boomerang for a long range attack, he can use Cappy as an extra platform to bypass obstacles, use Cappy in conjunction with his dive move to cross large distances, and can also “capture” certain objects and enemies to take control of them, replacing the traditional power-up system seen in the previous Super Mario games since Super Mario Galaxy. There are 52 capturable targets in total. In co-op mode, one player can control Mario and another controls Cappy. Development: Development for Super Mario Odyssey began right after Super Mario 3D World was released in late 2013.Miyamoto sought more senior developers and staff teams who had been involved in past 3D Mario titles, in order to really “go back to the roots” of Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario 64. As a result, Yoshiaki Koizumi was made the game’s producer, and Super Mario 3D World director Kenta Motokura again took on the role of director. Miyamoto remained with a consultative role throughout development, and although he contributed a lot of feedback, he was also very accepting of the development team’s ideas. Motokura revealed that early stages of development involved creating a “huge” amount of gameplay prototypes with numerous ideas, and the capture ability was one of them. [The capture ability] was just one of the ideas that came up, but we worked on it for two or three days, and it just instantly turned into something that was really fun, and we decided [that it should be] the center of this game. Many of the other different prototype ideas were still included, providing for the diversity in game mechanics throughout the game’s stages, known as “kingdoms”. These “fully realized worlds” were said to have been inspired by the Japanese hakoniwa box gardens, that bring rich landscapes to life in a miniaturized form. The size of these worlds were often adjusted to ensure that the player can regularly discover an engaging action to perform. This was also intended to allow handheld players to still accomplish a Power Moon mission, even if they have only a few minutes to play. What do you guys think about the capture ability? What is your favorite capture? Design decisions Super Mario Odyssey’s theme is highly focused on “surprises” and “travel”, and the developers incorporated many of their travel experiences around the world. For instance, elements of the Sand Kingdom was derived from Kenta Motokura’s experiences during a trip to Mexico, and the Luncheon Kingdom’s food aesthetics was inspired by Italy and other European countries. The developers recognized that when traveling to foreign countries, something that really has an impact is the different currencies. Therefore, they wanted to have Mario collect and use different Regional Coins in each kingdom. Since the player travels outside of the Mushroom Kingdom, the diverse art-style between all the different kingdoms aimed to recreate the feelings of surprise and discovery when visiting foreign lands. It was also noted that a lot of time was spent in getting the right balance between familiar Mario concepts, and completely new ones. An example was the realistic T-Rex that is able to be captured by Mario. The developers looked back for inspiration from familiar Super Mario World elements in Dinosaur Land, although they wanted to use a design that was “unseen” in a Mario game. Familiar gameplay elements include the “8-bit” side-scrolling areas of the kingdoms, reminiscent to Super Mario Bros. in which progress is more “confined” and “precise”. This was intended to be an engaging contrast to the 3D sandbox environments. The developers knew that they wanted to have a city environment in the game that would resonate with players. As Donkey Kong-inspired elements in the city came about, Pauline’s presence in the series inspired the team to have her be the mayor of New Donk City. Some character development for Pauline was required in her transition from a damsel in distress to a major character, and it was decided that she would have an interest in jazz. This led to the composition of the game’s theme song shown in the E3 2017 trailer, titled “Jump Up, Super Star!”, which was made to give the game energy and help get the audience excited. To develop the game’s camera system, the team looked at previous 3D Mario games. Miyamoto discussed how the 3D camera in Super Mario 64 worked very well, as it had the joystick as well as the C buttons to adjust the automatic camera. Super Mario Sunshine had the C stick in order to control the camera freely, although they received feedback that the camera control was “a little bit difficult”. With later 3D titles such as Super Mario Galaxy, the minimal control of the camera also attracted some negative feedback. Miyamoto added that it’s “very difficult to find the right balance”. With Super Mario Odyssey, we made sure that the camera controls are really really smooth and easy to use, and the Switch controllers can really serve to that. [We] really made a sandbox-style game that’s really easy and feels good to control. What Amiibo work with the game? The following Amiibo give costumes themed from the Amiibo: Doctor Mario Luigi Silver or Gold Mario Party Mario Anniversary Pixel Mario Diddy Kong Wario Waluigi Wedding Bowser Wedding Peach Wedding Mario All other Amiibo just help you find additional moons. Trivia: Super Mario Odyssey is the first ever Mario series title to receive a B rating by the CERO in Japan. All other titles released prior have been rated at A. Similarly, Super Mario Odyssey is the first Super Mario series title to receive “Everyone 10+” by ESRB in North America. All other titles released prior have been rated E. This is the first 3D Mario game where Luigi doesn’t make a physical appearance since Super Mario Sunshine. Overall thoughts? What do we rate it? 9.9 out of 10. Assassin’s Creed Origins What is Assassin’s Creed Origins? Assassin’s Creed Origins is the fourth major Assassin’s Creed game release in a row since Assassin’s Creed Unity/Rogue to not be numbered and the 10th traditional game release. Unlike the last release, Syndicate, the game does not feature territory or unit building, but it does feature the largest map to date with tons of locations to explore. This is also the first game to be released with more than a year gap from the last major Assassin’s Creed title. Assassin’s Creed Origins almost feels like Watch Dogs 2 turned into Assassin’s Creed as it features a completely reworked combat system and does away with traditional eagle vision. Instead you use an actual eagle to scout for you much as you would use your drone in Watch Dogs 2. Just as in Watch Dogs 2 you can also upgrade your eagle to stun enemies for you. Origins primarily features the character, Bayek as the main protagonist who seeks revenge from the risen leadership of Egypt for murdering his son. Without spoiling anything there are some pleasant surprises and chan

Nerd Confessions Podcast: We have a big line up on the podcast this week! Tommy talks to us about his Blizzcon adventures. Fresh off of Thor: Ragnarok we discuss if it’s too much like Guardians of the Galaxy. Finally, after Ellie got to meet the Duffer brothers in person we discuss how Stranger Things 2 holds up to season 1. Listener confessions this week from Spencer Moore (via instagram @spencer_moore13) and @manuel_hernandez_animations (via instagram). Now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Youtube and below: https://nerdconfessionsdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/ncpodcasts02e42.m4a Like us? Review us on iTunes or Stitcher! Subscribe to our Youtube! See more from us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Send your confession to contact@nerdconfessions.net if you would like it to be read on our podcast or fill out the form below: [contact-form] Show Notes Nerd News Razer who we all know for their RGB LED lit hardware is releasing their own phone! The specs are pretty impressive and it will feature a 5.72 inch display that can run up to 120hz much like Apples new iPad Pro. It will release on November 17th and retail at $699. https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/01/this-is-the-razer-phone/ Microsoft has a patent on a way to fit a 3.55mm headphone jack into less than 3.55mm of space. This could possibly change the game for headphone jacks going away or at least result in smaller dongles for headphones to plug into. Will the next Surface feature a tiny headphone jack? http://pocketnow.com/2017/10/30/microsoft-patents-3-5mm-headphone-jack Facebook has admitted that they have as many as 270 million fake, fraudulent or duplicate accounts. This makes up to 6 to 10 percent of the overall users. They stated they are working on ways to track legitimate activity rather than a sudden spike of fishy sign-ups. http://mashable.com/2017/11/02/facebook-phony-accounts-admission/?utm_campaign=Feed%253A+Mashable+%2528Mashable%2529&utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed Netflix has officially severed ties with Kevin Spacey. The film, “Gore,” that Spacey was set to star in has been cancelled and he will not be involved in further production of House of Cards. This all coming from the allegations against spacey during the #metoo movement. http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/netflix-severing-ties-kevin-spacey/story?id=50924736 Lily Allen calls herself an ‘idiot’ for declining Bitcoin payment for streaming on Second Life from the home about five years ago. She was offered 10,000bitcoins which is now worth $974 a bitcoin  or $1,127.45. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/lily-allen-calls-herself-an-idiot-for-declining-bitcoin-payment-now-worth-millions-9046211.html Tommy’s Blizzcon Update: Tommy attended Blizzcon! What happened?! New Overwatch map, “Blizzard World,” announced. Almost like Blizzard Disneyland. New Overwatch character, Moira, a new healer was announced. World of Warcraft is getting a seventh expansion pack, Battle for Azeroth and a Classic Server. StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty and Heart of the Swarm expansion are going free-to-play. Legacy of the Voice and Nova Covert Ops will still cost $14.99 each. Hanzo from Overwatch is headed to Heroes of the Storm. Hearthstone’s next update is Kobolds and Catacombs. Thor: Ragnarok What is Thor: Ragnarok? Thor: Ragnarok is the third Thor movie Marvel has resealed for their Marvel Cinematic Universe and has a large departure from the formula of the previous films. The previous Thor movies were in large part a love story between Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Jane (Natalie Portman) and were not received as well as other Marvel films. Thor: Ragnarok seems to in large part take what worked with Guardians of the Galaxy and adapt it to Thor’s world and characters. Is the departure from previous films a good thing? Should they have swept Natalie Portman under the rug? Development October 2013, Producer Kevin Feige stated that after release of Thor: The Dark World that there was certain elements from the film that they would like to build a story off of. October 2014 Feige revealed the movie title to be Thor: Ragnarok and stated that, “It would be a very important movie.” October 2015 Taika Waititi was in negotiations to direct. Marvel asked directors what direction they would like to take the film, Waititi, sent back a sizzle reel using jokes and stuff from movies such as Big Trouble in Little China and used the Led Zeppelin, “Immigrant Song” as the score. This landed him as director. Filming began in July 2016 in Australia. Sydney stood in for New York scenes in the film. The working title for the film was, “Creature Report.” Visual effects for the film were created by: Industrial Light & Magic’s (ILM) San Francisco and Vancouver studios, with help from Base FX, Animatrik, and Virtuos; Framestore; Method Studios Vancouver; Digital Domain; Rising Sun Pictures; Luma Pictures; D Negative; Iloura; Image Engine; Trixter; The Secret Lab; WhiskeyTree Inc; Fin Designs + Effects; and Perception. Previsualization work was provided by The Third Floor and Day for Nite. To help create the Hulk, a person on set was covered in green body paint, and would replicate the intended motions of the character to aid the visual effect artists. Thor: Ragnarok Released on October 10th, 2017. Cast Chris Hemsworth as Thor Tom Hiddleston as Loki Cate Blanchett as Hela (Galadriel from LOTR, played the main villain) Idris Elba as Heimdall (our favorite from Pacific Rim and The Dark Tower) Jeff Goldblum as Grandmaster (our favorite from Jurassic Park and Independence Day) Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie Karl Urban as Skurge (played Judge Dredd in Dredd) Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / Hulk Anthony Hopkins as Odin Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange Taika Waititi as Korg (voice) (Also director of the film) Plot (No Spoilers) Two years after the Battle of Sokovia, Thor has been unsuccessfully searching for the Infinity Stones, and is now imprisoned by the fire demon and eventually, unintentionally releases Hela, the main villain of the film. Hela immediately breaks Thor’s hammer, (are you the God of Thunder or the God of Hammers?) and travels to claim Asgard. Thor and Loki both are left stranded on Sakaar, a garbage planet surrounded by time defying wormholes. Thor is immediately captured by Valkyrie and used as a contender in the Contest of Champions by the Grand Master of Sakaar. Soon facing, the Hulk, Thor has to make the best out of this situation and save Asgard. Music? How does it compare to Guardian’s of the Galaxy? August 2016, Mark Mothersbaugh (Lego Movie, The Sims 2: Pets) was hired to score the film. The synthesized score is influenced by the work of Jean-Michel Jarre (known for his synthesizer music). Waititi said that he would have asked the band Queen to work on the soundtrack for the film, if their lead singer Freddie Mercury was still alive, because the film is “a cool bold, colorful cosmic adventure.” Notable music featured in the film include “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin and “Pure Imagination” from the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Themes from Thor, Thor: The Dark World and Avengers: Age of Ultron, as well as Joe Harnell’s “The Lonely Man” theme from The Incredible Hulk TV series, are also used in the film. Great that they paid homage to old Thor movies, but the main themes that stick with you are the Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin and the Willy Wonka Song. Should they have dumped the old Thor themes? How was the movie received? IMDB currently rates the move with an 8.2. Metacritic rates the movie with a 73 Rotten Tomatoes rates the movie at 93% with 90% audience rating. The movie had a $121 million dollar opening in the US and a record breaking $55.6 million in China. (Spider-Man Homecoming had a $117 million dollar opening.) Do we get after credit scenes? Yes! We get two! One mid-credits scene and one after credits scene. The mid-credits scene hints more of what is to come with the next Avengers movie and features Thano’s ship, Sanctuary II, appearing in front of Thor. The after credit scene is more comedy based than anything and just gives us some more Jeff Goldblum greatness. What can we expect in the future? Director Waititi said he would “love to do another Thor film, because I feel like I’ve established a really great thing with these guys”. He indicated that it if he did another Thor film it would be more like a Ragnarok 2 than a Thor 4. There have been discussions between Waititi and Marvel to create a spin-off following the characters Korg and Miek, but it was not feasible due to Marvel’s commitments producing three feature films a year. Feige did say that Marvel has plans for those characters, but would not say when they would next be seen. What are our overall thoughts and opinions? What do we rate it? 9.0 We previously covered Stranger Things Season 1 in Podcast S01E17 so if you want to catch up on all of our thoughts on that Season you can listen to that episode. Stranger Things 2 What is Stranger Things? Stranger Things is a science fiction horror tv series exclusive to Netflix that is set in the 80s and greatly inspired by movies by Stephen Spielberg, John Carpenter and Stephen King of the same era. The series takes place in the fictional rural town of Hawkins, Indiana and centers itself around a core group of kids much like films such as the Goonies. Stranger Things was created by the Duffer Brothers, Matt and Ross Duffer. Season 1 was up for binge watching on Netflix July 15th 2016. Season 2 was released on Netflix on October 27th, 2017 to mess with us since this was also the release date of Assassin’s Creed: Origins and Super Mario Odyssey. Season 2 Plot (No Spoilers) Picking up just a few weeks from where Season 1 left off we introduced to new drama: Wi

Nerd Confessions Podcast: In the spirit of Halloween we discuss the readily accessible new dark comedy that is exclusively on Netflix, The Babysitter. Did McG do a good job with this film or has he given us another Terminator Salvation or Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle?! Listen or follow along with us as we discuss! Listener confession this week from cinecriticexpres via Instagram. Now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Youtube and below: https://nerdconfessionsdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/ncpodcasts02e41.m4a Like us? Review us on iTunes or Stitcher! Subscribe to our Youtube! See more from us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Send your confession to contact@nerdconfessions.net if you would like it to be read on our podcast or fill out the form below: [contact-form] Show Notes: Nerd News France is running out of butter for their croissants!! Last time France ran out of butter in WW1 they had to import it from Holland and it changed the name of the sauce ‘Sauce Isigny’ to Hollandaise Sauce. So basically if anyone wants to lend France some butter they can rename the Croissant. Any takers/name suggestions? https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-30/french-butter-melts-away-from-shelves-as-global-demand-soars Sucker Punch’s stunning new PS4 game revealed: open-world samurai epic Ghost of Tsushima. https://blog.eu.playstation.com/2017/10/30/sucker-punchs-stunning-new-ps4-game-revealed-open-world-samurai-epic-ghost-of-tsushima/ Nhttps://www.engadget.com/2017/10/30/netfilx-to-end-house-of-cards-on-season-6/. New trailer for Last of Us 2. Gory and got our attention. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzdNECcio54https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzdNECcio54 Detroit Become Human PGW 2017 Gameplay Trailer PS4. https://youtu.be/vJXbBFl0iV8 Halloween Special News: Elvira to put on final performance on Halloween. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/elvira-put-final-performance-halloween-article-1.3599338 FDA Issues Warning About Black Licorice For Halloween. If you were planning on wolfing down black licorice for Halloween, you may want to choose something less risky to your heart, like candy corn. Not that candy corn is good for your heart. (It’s not even really corn, in case you didn’t know). But at least there’s no Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning about candy corn such as this: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2017/10/31/fda-issues-warning-about-black-licorice-for-halloween/ The Babysitter Development On November 24, 2014, it was announced that Brian Duffield’s horror comedy script The Babysitter had been bought by McG’s Wonderland Sound and Vision, with McG and Mary Viola set to produce the film. The project was brought in by executive producer Steven Bello. In December 2014, the script appeared on the 2014 Black List of the best unproduced scripts in Hollywood. On September 10, 2015, McG was attached to direct the film for New Line Cinema, while Wonderland would co-finance the film along with the Boies/Schiller Film Group. Principal photography on the film began on October 27, 2015, in Los Angeles. December 2016, Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film, from New Line Cinema. It was released on October 13, 2017. How is the movie doing? On metacritic the movie has a user rating of 7.4. On Rotten Tomatoes the movie is rating with a 69%, 9 fresh, 4 rotten. Plot: The movie is about a boy conquering his fears with a hot baby sitter! His parents leave for a trip over the weekend, leaving him and his baby sitter all alone. Is the baby sitter as awesome as she seems to be or is something amiss?! Directed by Brian Duffield: a writer and producer, known for Insurgent (2015), Jane Got a Gun (2015) and The Babysitter (2017). Directed by Joseph McGinty Nichol, known as McG, known for Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Terminator Salvation, co-created the television series Fastlane and has executive produced numerous television programs, such as The O.C., Chuck, and Supernatural. Cast: Samara Weaving as Bee, Cole’s attractive babysitter. Judah Lewis as Cole, a 12-year-old boy whose parents still hire a babysitter when they go out. Hana Mae Lee as Sonya, Bee’s goth friend and part of her cult. Robbie Amell as Max, Bee’s jock friend who is part of her cult. Bella Thorne as Allison, Bee’s dim-witted cheerleader friend who is part of her cult. Andrew Bachelor as John, Bee’s friend and part of her cult. Emily Alyn Lind as Melanie, Cole’s neighbor and friend who secretly has a crush on him. She is the one who encourages him to spy on Bee. Leslie Bibb as Cole’s mother Ken Marino as Cole’s father Overall thoughts? What do we rate it?  

Nerd Confessions Podcast: We immerse ourselves in the zombie apocalypse this week as we cover the premiere episode for Season 8 of the Walking Dead on AMC and then bring ourselves to discuss all the pros and cons for the kickstarted indie game, 7 Days to Die. Is the hype for the Walking Dead decaying over time? Is 7 Days to Die too ambitious for The Fun Pimps developer? Listen or follow along with us as we discuss! Listener confession this week from NADS IQ via Youtube. Now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Youtube and below: https://nerdconfessionsdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/ncpodcasts02e40.m4a Like us? Review us on iTunes or Stitcher! Subscribe to our Youtube! See more from us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Send your confession to contact@nerdconfessions.net if you would like it to be read on our podcast or fill out the form below: [contact-form] Show Notes: Nerd News So I guess EA the serial killer of smaller developers has taken its next victim. Visceral games the team that brought you the space horror game Deep Space shuts down. https://kotaku.com/ea-shuts-down-visceral-games-1819623990 This is an interesting for your Nintendo Switch. Some of these updates are Video capture for select games New profile icons featuring characters from the Super Mario Odyssey game and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild game Transfer user profiles and save data to another system Pre-purchase option is available for certain games on Nintendo eShop for Nintendo Switchhttps://www.nintendo.com/switch/system-update/ Denis Villeneuve reacts to ‘Blade Runner 2049’ bad box office, stands by spoiler-phobic marketing. http://www.indiewire.com/2017/10/blade-runner-2049-denis-villeneuve-box-office-1201886155/ Netflix’s Punisher series will go head-to-head with Justice League in November. https://www.polygon.com/tv/2017/10/19/16301890/punisher-premiere-date-netflix-marveled Well we have talked about the spawn spin off. Before in previous episodes. Here’s some fresh news. http://deadline.com/2017/10/venom-first-photo-tom-hardy-spider-man-spin-off-sony-riz-ahmed-michelle-williams-1202193654/ The Walking Dead Season 8 Premiere: The Walking Dead was renewed by AMC for a 16-episode eighth season on October 16, 2016. Production began on April 25, 2017, in Atlanta, Georgia. On July 12, 2017, production was shut down after stuntman John Bernecker was killed, after falling more than 20 feet onto a concrete floor. Production resumed on July 17. In October 2016, it was reported that Maria Bello would have a role on the show. The season premiere, which also serves as the series’ milestone 100th episode, was directed by executive producer Greg Nicotero. Episode 1 Recap: Rick, Maggie and Ezekiel rally their communities together to take down Negan and the Saviors. Gregory attempts to have the Hilltop residents side with Negan, but they all firmly stand behind Maggie. Using a large herd of walkers led by Carol, Daryl, Morgan and Tara, the group attacks the Sanctuary, taking down their fences and flooding the compound with walkers. With the Sanctuary up in flames and the Saviors left to die, Rick, Maggie, and Ezekiel’s groups leave; Gabriel reluctantly saves Gregory, but is left behind after Gregory abandons him. Surrounded by walkers, Gabriel hides in a trailer, where he is trapped inside with Negan. IS THE HYPE FOR THE WALKING DEAD DYING? 7 Days to Die: 7 Days to Die is a kickstarter funded game that takes place after a third nuclear Third World War that destroyed an extremely large part of the world, except for some areas such as the fictional county of Navezgane, Arizona. The player is a survivor of the war who must survive by finding shelter, food and water, as well as scavenging supplies to fend off the numerous zombies (hinted to be the consequence of nuclear fallout) that populate Navezgane. The kickstarter for the game took place in August of 2013 and had 13,876 backers that pledged $507,612 to help bring this project to life. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/7daystodie/7-days-to-die-zombie-survival-game The game was developed by The Fun Pimps.The Fun Pimps were founded in 2013 by Joel Huenink and Christian Lang. Their goal is to create a lasting gaming experience you can’t get anywhere else that we’ll all be playing, upgrading and supporting for years to come. It’s more than a game it’s a labor of love! The average 7 Days to Die Team member has over 14 years of experience in Game and Software Development working with or for many AAA Video Game Companies. The engine for the game was Unity the free and commonly used engine for indy games. The Windows alpha version of the game was released on August 16, 2013, for people who pre-ordered the game on either Kickstarter or PayPal. As of August 11, 2013, development of the game is ongoing with a Kickstarter campaign ending on August 15. The game has also been greenlit on Steam after 23 days getting over 75,000 yes votes, 8,340 followers, and 8,700 favorites. It was number one on Steam Greenlight, after only 16 days with over 56,000 votes.The Mac version was released on September 13, 2013. 7 Days to Die can be compared to games such as Ark and Mincraft where the game was released to the public in alpha form as a preview on steam and even had a console released published by TellTale Publishing in December 2015. The gameplay for 7 Days to Die can also be compared to games such as Ark and Minecraft with their gameplay. Everything in the environment is destructible, even the ground. You can build huge shelters with a block construction method very similar to minecraft. Unlike Minecraft there are resources and theming like you would find in a zombie survival horror game such as Resident Evil. In 7 Days to Die, the player spawns into a randomly generated world or the present world of Navezgane, Arizona, with the objective of surviving for as long as possible. As the days go by, the zombies get tougher and more aggressive. Multiplayer is available through player-hosted servers and enables multiple players to interact and communicate with each other on a single world. Interactions can be cooperative or hostile depending on the used server options. Players can run their own servers or use a hosting provider. There are two supported game modes for multiplayer: Survival (both randomly generated and standard) and Creative. What do we think of the actual gameplay? The graphics? Fun factor? Immersion? We rate the game a 5 out of 5.    

Nerd Confessions Podcast: Prepare to shame orcs this week as we discuss Middle Earth: Shadow of War and the improvements that have been made since the now overshadowed, Shadow of Mordor. We also talk a little bit about Nintendo’s Super Mario Odyssey tour where you get to meet with Mario as he makes his real life Odyssey around the United States. Why is Ellie so bitter about the whole thing?! Now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Youtube and below: https://nerdconfessionsdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/ncpodcasts02e39.m4a Like us? Review us on iTunes or Stitcher! Subscribe to our Youtube! See more from us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Send your confession to contact@nerdconfessions.net if you would like it to be read on our podcast or fill out the form below: [contact-form] Show Notes: Nerd News Nintendo has surpassed Sony in the Stock Market. Tommy you buying Nintendo?http://www.dailystar.co.uk/tech/gaming/651557/GREAT-NEWS-for-Nintendo-Switch-but-should-Sony-PS4-fans-be-worried Stranger Things Season 2 Final Trailer. Man I cannnot wait for this and Mario Odyssey. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1ZXOOLMJ8s&feature=youtu.be Sony’s experimental projector that turns surfaces into touchscreens is coming to the US. Man the things you can do! https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/10/12/16464020/sony-xperia-touch-available-us-amazon-t-mobile Woman Trades A Packet Of McDonald’s Szechuan Sauce For New Car. Holy crap a new car for some sauce. That rick and morty fandom. You wanna ask me what kinda car ask me Tommy. A 2000 Volkswagen Golf Mk4. http://www.craveonline.com/mandatory/1333047-woman-trades-packet-mcdonalds-szechuan-sauce-new-car Anyone here like Doom!!?!? Well it’s coming to Nintendo Switch. William are you excited? https://youtu.be/LO2GO2ONz3s Updates: Cuphead Sold over 1 million copies! New Star Citizen Video Shows Improved Cockpits; Crowdfunding Passes $161,000,000. Will this game come out already!! https://www.dualshockers.com/star-citizen-video-cockpits/ Super Mario Odyssey event at City Walk, Hollywood What happened during the event: Very awkward Mario Photo Shoot Unveiling of the Super Mario Odyssey themed trailer taken around the US for the real life Mario Odyssey tour. For the first time you could take a photo with mario and his new Cappy hat. Postcard based around the locations in the game were handed out. If you got in line (before the event start, otherwise you were cut off) you would be able to play the game and get a Cappy hat. World premiere of the Jump Up, super Star music video: https://youtu.be/g4xW9aCg2zY Middle Earth: Shadow of War What is Middle Earth: Shadow of War? For Tommy, since he loves to compare things to keep it simple, you can think of Shadow of War as Lord of the Rings meets Assassin’s Creed. What’s funny is that this game now includes gear drops just like the upcoming Assassin’s Creed: Origin. It’s the sequel to Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (2014) which was a sleeper hit. Shadow of Mordor had a slow launch which suddenly gained tons of traction as people learned about the nemesis game mechanic and the fun gameplay. There’s been a lot of stigma about this game over the in game micro transactions which were not in the previous game. Especially since there is an online competitive feature. A lot of people fear it is going to be pay to win. The game is developed by Monolith Studios, the developer of games such as, Aliens vs. Predator 2 (2001) and F.E.A.R. 2 (2009). What is the Nemesis System? Monolith states that with this system, “No two players will have the same experience with millions of different opportunities.” Any Orc that kills you will become a Captain in Sauron’s army and gain unique traits and titles based on the conditions of that death or what happened with that character. Rank hierarchy, Captain>Warchief>Overlord Each of these enemies can develop Strengths and Weaknesses from almost unlimited combinations of perks and flaws. Each Orc, upon becoming a Captain or higher rank, belongs to one of several tribes that can dictate how they act, and what hidden traits they bring into battle. All Orcs train in one of many Enemy Classes that reflect how they fight in battle, and upon reaching the rank of Captain, these Orcs and Ologs attain even more powerful advanced classes that come with even more fighting abilities. Overlords will use the influence of the Nemesis system to alter the appearance, layout, and mechanics of the Fortresses they claim. Development of Shadow of War Creative Director Michael de Plater said that the development of Shadow of Mordor was a learning study for Monolith in how to make open world games, and the development team limited themselves in the scope of what they could deliver for that game. With those lessons learned, de Plater said that Monolith was able to take a bolder step forward for Shadow of War, saying “this was our ambition to do the big, blockbuster version of the ideas we’d begun to explore in the first game. It’s kind of our Terminator 2 to Terminator.” Monolith wanted to move the game from the more solitary player experience to one that captured the epic battles shown in The Lord of the Rings films. They created battle systems that enable large-scale battles where parts of the battle would be managed by the various Followers that the player has recruited, thus allowing the player to still focus on the violence and brutality of close-quarter combat. Recognizing the violence inherent with the Middle-earth setting, Monolith aimed to include light humorous elements that play off the thirst for violence that the orcs have, so that the game would not “wallow in it, or feel sadistic”. The console/PC versions were later confirmed to be rated Mature by the ESRB, like their predecessor, although the mobile versions are less violent and were given the milder Teen rating. Death Drama: On March 3, 2016, Monolith’s Executive Producer, Michael David Forgey, died of cancer. To commemorate the loss of Shadow of War’s Executive Producer, Monolith and Warner Bros announced a DLC named “Forthog Orc-Slayer”. Originally, $3.50 of the proceeds from the DLC made from any of the majority of the U.S. states would go to the Forgey family through December 31, 2019. Warner Brothers was criticized for attempting to cash in on Michael Forgey’s death. Following public backlash, on September 27, 2017, the DLC was made free to all who purchased the game and all proceeds were refunded to those who purchased it beforehand, in favor of Warner Bros making a lump sum donation to the Forgey family. Shadow of War was released on Notable Improvements 5 locations that you can conquer compared to the only two locations of the previous game. Fortresses to take over and infiltrate with spies if you wish. Gems to modify your gear and RNG based gear drops which you can also upgrade through challenges. Online nemesis battles that allow you to avenge other players for the unique Orc that killed them. Online fortress battles where you can conquer or have your own fortress attacked. Doesn’t negatively effect you when you lose. Oologs added to the game. Drakes that you can ride added to the game. Balrog battles. Added details to the nemesis system such as shaming which can drive the subject insane. RNG gear, loot chests that can be purchased, daily challenges and microtransactions that allow you to buy these loot chests. Wrap up Overall thoughts, what do we think?

This week we finally have a new cyberpunk, neo-noir film to talk about! Blade Runner 2049! Is Denis Villeneuve able to piece together the convincing Blade Runner universe that Ridley Scott portrayed so well in the first Blade Runner or should this franchise be, “retired?” Listener Confession this week from Austin of Reaper Interactive (via WordPress). Now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Youtube and below: https://nerdconfessionsdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/ncpodcasts02e38.m4a Like us? Review us on iTunes or Stitcher! Subscribe to our Youtube! See more from us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Send your confession to contact@nerdconfessions.net if you would like it to be read on our podcast or fill out the form below: [contact-form] Show Notes: Nerd News A Bob’s Burgers movie will hopefully be coming in 2020! No specifics on the film yet, but it will be animated and 20th Century Fox stated that they know it’s an important film and they will make sure it’s in good hands. http://deadline.com/2017/10/bobs-burgers-movie-release-date-fox-1202181837/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter The Pixel 2 phone by Google and manufactured by LG has officially dropped the headphone jack and only has USB-C. Again seemingly becoming the norm for phones. https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/4/16423456/its-official-pixel-drops-the-headphone-jack West world Creators had hinted to medieval and Roman worlds to come in season 2 of the HBO series. http://deadline.com/2017/10/westworld-creators-tease-medieval-and-roman-worlds-in-season-2-of-hbo-series-1202181900/ Jackie Chan in a radio interview stated that after turning down Rush Hour 4 scripts constantly he finally agreed to one and Rush Hour 4 might soon be in the works. No word on if Chris Tucker is willing to do the sequel though. http://deadline.com/2017/10/jackie-chan-teases-rush-hour-4-radio-interview-chris-tucker-1202183308/ Halloween is coming back with theming in Overwatch. Lots of new themed costumes and loot. https://www.polygon.com/2017/10/7/16441036/overwatch-halloween-terror-2017-skins-leak-blizzard Blade Runner 2049 What is Blade Runner 2049 and how is it doing in theaters? Blade Runner 2049 is the sequel to Blade Runner which released in 1982. The first Blade Runner was loosely based off the 1968 novel, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” The author of that book, Philip K Dick was not a fan of movies, but when he saw the opening scene he exclaimed that this is his universe. The book, the 1982 movie and the sequel we are talking about today are all about a cyberpunk or neo-noir future where replicants of humans are made and used as slave labor. This leads to the question what is it to be human, have a soul or be worthy of life? 1982 Blade Runner was directed with Ridley Scott who was fresh off of directing Alien (1972) and Harrison Ford was in leading role fresh off of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and of course previously doing Star Wars. Blade Runner 2049 uses a talented director as well, Denis Villeneuve who directed Arrival last year. Arrival had a very good reception (94% on Rotten Tomatoes). Ryan Gosling was cast in the leading role in Blade Runner 2049 to seemingly get that same lady appeal the original had. Blade Runner 2049 was aiming for an opening weekend of $50 million, however they barely broke $30 million. Still at the #1 spot, but was not able to win mainstream appeal like other science fiction films such as Gravity (55 million opening) or The Martian (54 million opening). Current Rotten Tomato rating for the film is 89%, was 94% before official release. Really shows how the film is held in high regard by critics, but didn’t win that mainstream appeal. Also rated at 81 on Metacritic and 8.6 on IMDB. Some are calling it one of the best sequels ever made, praising it for it’s smarts and visuals. While others complain about the length of the movie (3 hours) and it’s pacing. 1982 Blade Runner shared a lot of these same criticisms. You can describe both films as, “Science fiction Pornography.” Blade Runner 2049 development First development of a sequel was spoken about in 1999. Blade Runner Down was going to be what it was called and it was going to be based off the novel, the Edge of Human, but there was concerns about the rights to the novel so it never happened. Ridley Scott in 2007 at San Diego Comic Con stated he wanted to make a sequel called Metropolis based around the Tyrell Corporation and off world colonies. 2009 it was reported that Ridley Scott and his brother were working on a Blade Runner prequel called Purefold set in 2019 and was going to be a series of 5-10 minute shorts, but production ceased due to funding In March, 2011 it was reported that a new sequel was under development and that Christopher Nolan was desired as director. February 2012, Ridley Scott stated he would lead production of the sequel and that Harrison Ford is not likely to be involved. November 2014 Ridley Scott stated he would not direct the film and would instead produce. Denis Villeneeuve was confirmed as director and ford was also confirmed to be returning. November 2015 Ryan Gosling came on for his leading role. Strangely in May 2016 Warner Bros. got distribution rights for the film domestically, but due to a partnership Columbia Pictures, Sony has international distribution rights. Alcon Entertainment who has the rights to the property had a history of always working with Warner Brothers. Principal photography began November 2016 in Budapest Hungary. Soundtrack: Rapper-producer EI-P asked to compose music for the first Blade Runner 2049 trailer, but was “rejected or ignored.” Jóhann Jóhannsson who recently did, “Mother!” and Arrival was said to be doing the soundtrack, but soon left. Hans Zimmer and Benjamin wallfisch joined 2017 to compose the soundtrack. Benjamin Wallfisch did the majority of the work and recently did the tracks for It and Annabelle: Creation. Hans Zimmer of course is known for tons of great soundtracks such as Pirates of the Caribbean, The Dark Knight and Inception. The film premiered in Los Angeles on October 3rd, 2017. Standard Release October 6th.   Blade Runner Universe The 1982 Blade Runner film takes place in 2019. At this point it’s best to think of it as an alternate universe because there is no where we are getting that universe in 2 years. In the Blade Runner universe we’ve exhausted the Earth’s resources. All animals are dead, there are no more plants. The world is overpopulated. The only hope for humanity lies in the stars and resources from other planets. A lot of that is hard work and hazardous, which resulted in Tyrell Corporation creating replicants. Replicants are almost indistinguishable from humans, but don’t have memories and are emotionless as a result. They also have superior strength, but they still have human anatomy. Living long enough replicants would develop memories and emotions, but as a countermeasure to that they were given only a 4 year life span. Pets are also produced and a common question when someone sees an animal or plant is, “is it real?” To which a common answer would be, “Of course not! You think I could afford a real one?!” Replicants began to revolt and run away. As an answer to this Blade Runners or cops who basically operate as detectives hunt down the rogue Replicants to, “retire,” them. The 1982 film has Rick Deckard (played by Harrison Ford) come out of retirement to hunt down four replicants that had escaped from mining duties on offworld colonies to Earth. He is a talented Blade Runner, but his talents seem to only extend to investigations, he’s always taking a beating. In the middle of his investigation, Deckard meets with Tyrell who introduces him to a prototype replicant named Rachel with memory implants. He has him do a test on her to see if she’s a replicant and she nearly passes for human due to those memory implants. Because of the test she questions if she is human and ends up running away and being hunted for, “retirement,” as a result. The escaped replicants are hunting down their makers in an effort to extend their lifespan. They end up killing Tyrell and having a final encounter with Deckard in the, ‘Bradbury apartments,” which is an actual building in downtown LA which was constructed with a future look in mind in 1893. It’s a very cool building. In his final moments with the replicant leader, Roy, Deckard felt sympathy for them and instead of, “retiring,” Rachel he ran away with her. Deckard a replicant? There were several hints throughout the film that suggest Deckard is a replicant. The largest hints were not in the theatrical release, but in the Director and Final Cut later released. A scene was added where Deckard has visions of a unicorn while playing the piano as. This explains the last scene of the film where the cop the both aids and arrests Deckard in the film leaves an origami unicorn on his door step when he is picking up Rachel to run away with her. This strongly suggests that the unicorn dream/memory is an implant and that he is a replicant, but it is still heavily debated. Director, Ridley Scott has confirmed that Deckard is a replicant, while Harrison Ford claims he is not. Three short films were released explaining major events that took place between 1982 Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049. “Black Out 2022” https://youtu.be/4DEPwVo8xZ8 As the Nexus 6 replicants depleted in inventory due to their limited lifespan Tyrell Corp produced Nexus 8 replicants which were purpose built and had memory implants in an effort to better control them. Humanity became less accepting of replicants and began hunting them down and rioting against replicants. In an act of self preservation an escaped group of replicants set off a giant EMP bomb which took out nearly all electronics on Earth resulting the an event referred to as, “The Black Out.” This m

Nerd Confessions Podcast: This week’s podcast we reveal our inner toons in excitement for the 1930’s cartoon inspired boss rush and indie developed game, Cuphead. Is it too hard or a perfect call back to challenging side scrollers? We also discuss the SNES Classic Edition and how things have changed since the release of the NES Classic Edition. Listener Confession embarrassingly brought to us this week from Husky Dante. Now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Youtube and below: https://nerdconfessionsdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/ncpodcasts02e37.m4a Like us? Review us on iTunes or Stitcher! Subscribe to our Youtube! See more from us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Send your confession to contact@nerdconfessions.net if you would like it to be read on our podcast or fill out the form below: [contact-form] Show Notes: Nerd News   Apple admitted to Apple Watch LTE problems before the product even shipped. https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/20/16337874/apple-watch-lte-connectivity-problems-software-update If data is the new oil, are tech companies robbing us blind? What if users received a micropayment every time their data is used to earn a company money? https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/data-ownership-question/ Nintendo confirms Mario was originally punching Yoshi in the head. https://www.reddit.com/r/nottheonion/comments/73f7rd/nintendo_confirms_mario_was_originally_punching/?st=J87QNV3J&sh=c5aceeb2 There was a sighting out there of the new Lando in the Han Solo movie. Lando is being played by Donald Glover. The Red Dead Redemption 2 trailer is out! This trailer confirmed that the game is a prequel to Red Dead Redemption. https://youtu.be/F63h3v9QV7w Topic #1: Cuphead: “Cuphead is a classic run and gun action game heavily focused on boss battles. Inspired by cartoons of the 1930s, the visuals and audio are painstakingly created with the same techniques of the era, i.e. traditional hand drawn cel animation, watercolor backgrounds, and original jazz recordings. Play as Cuphead or Mugman (in single player or local co-op) as you traverse strange worlds, acquire new weapons, learn powerful super moves, and discover hidden secrets while you try to pay your debt back to the devil!” Cuphead is the first game by StudioMDHR Entertainment, an indie game development studio consisting of brothers Chad and Jared Moldenhauer. Additional animation work was contributed by Jake Clark. Its development began in 2010, and they worked on the game from their respective homes in Toronto and Saskatchewan. The game was inspired by cartoons from Fleischer Studios and Disney. Specifically cartoonists Ub Iwerks ( who did Oswald the lucky rabbit and Mickey Mouse), Grim Natwick, and Willard Bowsky, particularly their most “subversive and surrealist” elements. Chad Moldenhauer called Fleischer Studios “the magnetic north of his art style”. Fleischer Studios has done Betty Boop, Popeye, Koko the clown, Bimbo and Superman The Moldenhauers watched ’30s cartoons in their youth, which Chad Moldenhauer describes as happenstance, based on gifts and VHS compilations. They attempted a game in the style of Cuphead in 2000, but lacked the tools to continue. The brothers decided to try again following the success of indie video game Super Meat Boy, developed by Team Meat, in 2010. Unity, the free and easy game development engine was available and gave them the tools they needed. Some of the games that influenced their design choices are: Gunstar Heroes (Seven Force!), Contra III, Contra Hard Corps, Super Mario World, the Thunderforce series and Street Fighter III. The character that became Cuphead descended from a 1936 Japanese propaganda animated film where a man with a teacup for a head morphs into a tank. The Moldenhauer emulated the animation because they found it strange, and “right away it stuck”. The brothers had previously tried a kappa in a tophat, characters with a plate or fork for a head, and about 150 different designs. The game was shown during the Xbox press event of Electronic Entertainment Expo 2014 to audience approval, but Cuphead was not available to play. The game’s art was estimated to be 40 percent complete as of July 2014. The game was focused only on boss battles and with the great reception the game had when revealed to the public late into development the team decided to include platformer levels as well. The game was delayed at least three or more times as a result, but still consists mainly of boss battles. Cuphead was released on September 29, 2017 for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One, with potential later releases for Mac and Linux. Cuphead is an Xbox console exclusive, and supports Xbox Play Anywhere, but it’s also on Steam. Cuphead is expected to be extended via expansion packs with 10 to 15 bosses each, similar to how Sonic & Knuckles added atop the Sonic series formula. Currently there are a total of 4 worlds with 20 bosses and 6 run and gun (side scroller platformer) levels. Why is the game so difficult? Official website statement: “Our aim is “tough but fair”. Cuphead may be challenging, but that’s what makes victory feel that much more rewarding. We want to inspire players to master the variety of gameplay techniques available in Cuphead, so the challenge level becomes a means to an end. Cuphead has its roots in classic arcade-style games, games that really made you earn success. It’s the type of game we grew up loving and something we wanted to recreate.”   What is so special about the Cuphead soundtrack? For starters, the Cuphead soundtrack is made up completely of original jazz recordings, composed by the talented Kris Maddigan, and recorded live in studio. There is over two and a half hours of fully composed music written specifically for Cuphead. We’ve used a 13-piece big band, 10-piece ragtime ensemble, a solo pianist, singers, and a couple of surprises thrown in for good measure! Let’s wrap this up! Game too hard? Ratings online state 5 star ratings game too hard, but worth the effort, 1 star ratings saying game is too hard. Majority of reviews seem to state the player can’t get passed the first level. Overall thoughts. FUN FACT There was a lot of drama over a gaming journalist that spent over 20 minutes confused on the tutorial. Should gaming journalists be good at games? https://youtu.be/848Y1Uu5Htk GamesBeat PC gaming editor Jeff Grubb state “GamesBeat lead writer and reporter Dean Takahashi doesn’t really play platformers or sidescrolling action games. He’s bad at them. But since he was the only member of our staff in Germany during the time of Gamescom, he agreed to try it out for us. What would happen next would change all of our lives forever because no one knew Dean could be *this* bad.” Topic #2: SNES Classic Edition The SNES Classic Edition or SNES mini is Ninento’s follow-up to the NES Classic Edition which emulates games for that console. The console comes with a set list of games built into the system and is not able to play catridges, but is much cheaper than if you were to buy the games separate.   The console is distributed in three variations, featuring the unique design of the original systems released in Japan, North America, and Europe. While the North American release features an appearance based on the straight-angled grey-and-purple design of the SNES, the Japan and PAL region releases are modelled after the rounded edge Super Famicom design as originally released in these regions. Internally, the console uses similar hardware as the NES Classic Edition. It uses an Allwinner R16 system on a chip with four ARM Cortex-A7 central processing unit and an ARM Mali 400 MP2 graphics processing unit. It includes 512 MB of flash storage and 256 MB of DDR3 memory. The system features HDMI display output and two controller ports; two wired SNES controllers are bundled with the system. The controller ports are hidden behind a faux front flap which is designed to appear like the original Super NES controller ports. Similarly to the predecessor’s controllers, the Super NES Classic Edition controllers have connectors that can be inserted into the Wii Remote, and be used to play Super NES games on the Wii and Wii U Virtual Console.  The Wii’s Classic Controller is also compatible with the Super NES Classic Edition. The console uses the Linux operating system and runs a set of emulators developed by Nintendo’s European Research & Development. These emulators provide the basic compatibility with the Super NES system, and for specific games, chipsets that were included on the cartridges, such as the Super FX chip used for Star Fox. Nintendo had been criticized for the lack of availability of the NES Classic Edition, of which they sold 2.3 million units between November 2016 and April 2017, having not been prepared for the console’s popularity. With the Super NES Classic Edition, Nintendo originally said that although they were prepared to produce significantly more Super NES Classics than NES Classics, they would be halting production at the end of 2017. Due to overwhelming demand, Nintendo changed their plans, with Nintendo of America CEO Reggie Fils-Aimé not only confirming the continued production of the system throughout 2018, but also confirming the return of the NES Classic, which many people were unable to get after people bought masses of them and resold them for much more than their MSRP. Fils-Aimé also discouraged consumers from buying from these scalpers and said there would be plenty stock of both NES and SNES. The Super NES Classic Edition will ship with controllers with 5-foot (1.5 m) cables, addressing complaints about the short 3-foot (0.91 m) ones used for the NES Classic.   FUN FACT On July 21, 2017, the console was mistakenly made available for pre-order at Walmart in the United States due to a “technic