Geek To Geek Podcast

Mini Topic Grab Bag In this episode: We get so many comments and questions from you guys that we wanted to take this opportunity to address some of them. We take notes on them, so we put the ones together that we didn’t think we’d be able to pull together a full episode around. The topics we discuss this time are pretty varied, but we think you will enjoy them--mainly because you suggested them! It was so much fun recording this episode. So keep those comments and suggestions coming! What we talk about: The uncanny valley in movies, games, and other media General game design, including pet peeves, the best examples of single aspects, Bartle’s taxonomy, and the cost of games over the years. Digital copies vs physical copies of games Who’s our favorite Jedi? Products, games, and media that we just want to love, but don’t. Morality in roleplaying games. This turned into a very interesting discussion about gaming personalities and our real-life personalities. Thoughts on Knights of the Old Republic, including

Netflix Originals and Void’s Nintendo Switch Corner In this episode: Netflix Originals tend to keep our attention more than most other TV shows. For the most part, network TV doesn’t interest us, and we binge Netflix Originals and look forward to them all year long. The only other network putting out content as good as some of these Netflix Originals is HBO.  And even that is only a few shows like West World and Game of Thrones. Hulu and Amazon have original shows they produce, too, and they’re fantastic as well. But they’re few and far between compared to Netflix. Beej loves Casual on Hulu and Alpha House on Amazon. THere are others, too, that you should check out like 11-22-63 and The Man in the High Castle. Are the non-streaming networks are in trouble? We think so. Netflix is quadrupling their content this year, putting an additional $6 Billion for new content in 2017--including over 600 hours of new Netflix Originals. Just as an example, The Crown was picked up for a full run of 6 seasons (10 episodes p

Super Geekery In this episode: We’re back with Season 2. BJ is sick and it shows!  We hope he’s back to normal next week.  Send him well-wishes. Besides that, we talk all about our geekery from the holiday break and spend some time catching up for the start of Season 2! Weekly Geekery The whole episode is weekly geekery! Be sure to subscribe to the Geek to Geek Podcast your favorite podcast app, drop a review so we know how we’re doing, and feel free contact us via email at geektogeekcast@gmail.com or @geektogeekcast on Twitter with any comments, questions, or suggestions for the show. Thanks for listening, and we can’t wait to hear from you! Geek Offer of the Week: audibletrial.com/geektogeekcast Subscribe: iTunes Overcast Pocket Casts Google Play Music RSS Feed Geek to Geek Podcast Network: Geek to Geek Geek Fitness Health Hacks The Comic Box Music by CarboHydroM --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/geektogeekcast/support

Best of the Rest 2016 In this episode: Welcome to the Season 1 finale of the Geek to Geek Podcast. It has been one heck of a year, and we could not have done it without you fine folks backing us at every turn. We did not expect the kind of response we’ve had to the cast, but we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for listening to us ramble about geekery and for being our friends (and not just internet friends, either! Real friends!). Here’s to an amazing 2017, and Season 2 picks up next week! Keep listening and tell your friends! Much like last week, we wanted to do our Best of 2016 list. Whereas we focused on video games last time, this week, we’re looking at pretty much everything else. From movies to books to music to podcasts to YouTube videos, we break down our top picks of the year so you can start 2017 off right. Once again, we look at the few letdowns we had this year. This isn’t a negative podcast, so we don’t dwell on it. Beej was disappointed in Batman v Superman. It was a terrible movie that

Best Video Games of 2016 In this episode: Like a great many other podcasts, we are hopping on the “best of” train, and we’re gonna be discussing our best video games of 2016. Now this isn’t only games that came out this year, but games that we played this year. We were initially going to do a Top 5 each, but amazingly enough, there were more than 5 games we wanted to rank as we put together our best of 2016 lists. So...we have Top 6 lists for you! Hah! How’s that? We also do honorable mentions because we played quite a few games this year. Void more than Beej, honestly because of his Gamefly experience. He went through over 50 games using Gamefly, and you’ll have to listen if you want to find out which--if any--of the B-tier titles made it into his list. We also talk about the biggest letdowns of the year--but not much! We aren’t negative guys, and we didn’t want to dwell on things that aren’t fun to talk about. But we did want to mention the ones that were especially not worth our time so that you may be ab

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story In this episode: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story just released, and we had to do a podcast on it. Especially since we did a pre-release show last week! What is interesting, though, is that we have never disagreed so much about Star Wars. Despite being roughly the same level of fan (read: fanatic), the two of us look at both the SW universe and film/media in general in such different ways that our takeaways from Rogue One are starkly different. From the characters to the plot, to pacing and even whether or not this Star Wars Story needed to be told at all, we disagree on almost every point. We do, however, totally understand why the other feels the way he does. We have a long discussion about the Star Wars universe, what makes each of us love it, and why. Much of our disagreement around Rogue One comes from its dark tone, which influences our enjoyment on a film-viewing level, not as a Star Wars fan. We do, however, agree on a number of points about the movie. We found a lot to love

Before Star Wars Rogue One In this episode: We’re excited because a new Star Wars movie is coming out. We couldn’t resist talking about it before hand. This is not a spoiler episode, and we are releasing this a day early for you folks to listen to in time for the weekend’s releae. We will only be talking about stuff from the trailers and maybe a bit from the prequel novel. Next week will be our spoiler filled review of the movie. So stay tuned! Our worries and concerns are minimal. Void is worried we already know so much of the plot from the trailers and just context of the movie, but we think it may be very character driven. It may not be as good as the mainline Star Wars movies, which wouldn’t bode well for the other spin-offs, and he is also worried the tone of “war movie” may not fit the franchise as well as the science-fantasy does. Beej is worried there are so few Jedi and that aspect because it’s a major hallmark of the franchise. We know other media can tell different stories well, but let’s see

The Holidays AND Final Fantasy XV In this episode: The holidays are stressful, and it’s hard to get your geek time in when you’re constantly juggling family responsibilities, the time changes, the darkness, the seasonal depression, the gift buying, decorating...well, you get the picture. For us, we have different mechanisms to help us cope with all this. Beej plays mindless adventure games and MMOs to escape the winter doldrums, as well as reading a lot more. Ebooks are especially good, as are digital comics for road trips. Cozy scented candles and meditation in low light also keeps him evened out. Void only has a few weeks off during the year, so he uses his extended Christmas break for some quiet time and extra reading. He also tends to power through games and spend lots of time gaming with his family. Being able to sit down and play games with his kids are incredibly soothing, and it’s good quality family time, too. Most of us have multiple family meetings, and geeking out can be hard to do when you’re fo

Pokemon (plus Pokemon Sun and Moon) Like pretty much everyone else these days, we grew up with Pokemon. And with it being the 20th anniversary of the series, we wanted to talk about the wonderful little pocket monsters and our history with them. For the most part, Void has kept up with the series, playing through each iteration and seeing the changes that have come from Pokemon Red and Blue and Yellow all the way to Pokemon Sun and Moon. Beej, however, has only played Blue and Omega Ruby, so our takes on the series are different, but we both love it. In terms of the games themselves, the generations iterate very slowly, and despite being 20 years later, the games are fundamentally the same. Each generation gives you modern conveniences and quality of life improvements that make the newer games well worth playing if you enjoy the formula. Given the length and popularity of Pokemon over the past 20 years, there have been oodles of pokemon spin off games. One of our favorites was Pokemon Snap, where you travel

Ask Us Anything Q&A In this episode: We asked, and you answered! Wait, no. You asked, and we answered! That’s it! This week, we did our much-anticipated Q&A episode, where you wonderful people sent in your questions for us to answer. We answer everything from our favorite Star Trek captain, to embarrassing personality quirks, funny home-life anecdotes, to what we feel about particular game genres and first-person shooters. It really was an amazing episode to record, and we hope that we get spark some conversation with y’all for the subreddit and future episodes. Weekly Geekery Beej - Westworld / Calamity / The Blood Mirror / Breaking runstreak on Day23 Void -  Clustertruck / Pony Island / Oxenfree / Owl Boy / The Blood Mirror Be sure to subscribe to the Geek to Geek Podcast your favorite podcast app, drop a review so we know how we’re doing, and feel free contact us via email at geektogeekcast@gmail.com or @geektogeekcast on Twitter with any comments, questions, or suggestions for the show. Thank

Harry Potter Universe In this episode: With the upcoming release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, we wanted to discuss our love of the Harry Potter franchise and kind of survey the series and expanded universe. With the books, we love them. They’re a part of our childhoods and young adulthoods, and on re-reads, they stand up just as well. Void has listened to the audiobooks of Harry Potter multiple times, while Beej never has. He’s only read the physical books over and over again. We discuss the change in tone the books take, going from children’s books in the first three, to the serious war story in the last set. That tone is also carried over into the movies, with each director doing his best to fit the tone and atmosphere of the movie with the narrative’s intended audience. We discuss the extended universe of Harry Potter, which includes new short stories, Pottermore, the Cursed Child, as well as the upcoming Fantastic Beasts film. Void loves them. A lot. He keeps up with them, reads as they co

Doctor Strange In this episode: The doctor! He’s strange! Guess what we are talking about this week? It’s kind of a spoilercast, so be aware of that. However, we do give you fair warning of when we start discussing them, so you can always listen for a little while and come back after you’ve seen the movie. Or you can keep listening because you love us. Either way. We are coming at the movie from two different perspectives: Void likes Bennybatch but has no connection to the characters and very limited knowledge of Doctor Strange, while Beej is the opposite. He doesn’t like Benny that much, but enjoys Dr. Strange in the comics. Our non-spoilery thoughts are pretty simple: We like it. It doesn’t feel like anything else in the MCU, and we believe that’s a good thing. It doesn’t feel superhero-y, and to Beej, it feels like it has more depth than a lot of the MCU. Void doesn’t have as many thoughts about the movie overall on the first viewing, and he thinks that’s because it’s so different from other MCU films. A

In this episode: We love to read, but the big question we get asked his what we read. And how. Do we prefer ebooks to paper books, or audiobooks to ebooks? So we talk about how our collections have moved mostly digital for a number of reasons, not the least of which is simply the clutter that buying tons of hardcovers and paperbacks accumulate over the years. We discuss the benefits of smartphone ebook apps, and how between them and audiobooks, we can get through so many more books than we would otherwise. Speaking of audiobooks, we love them! We listen to tons of different audiobooks. Void tends to use Whispersync on Kindle to keep his place between the same book, but Beej listens to a completely different kind of book on audio than he reads. It’s like the formats work differently for each geek! Void doesn’t like books set in the real-world, but Beej is okay with them if they have good characters. We talk a lot about comics in another podcast, so we gloss over them here. We love to read them, but make sure

The Nintendo Switch Revealed In this episode: The Nintendo Switch is unveiled! And being the Nintendo fans we are, there was just no way that we could go a week without talking about it. Here’s what we know so far: It’s a handheld system AND a home console with detachable controllers that you can use in different configurations. They’re called JoyCons, but there’s also a Pro Controller available. There is also a spacer-thingy that connects the JoyCons into an almost-Pro Controller. You can also use the JoyCons double-handed like a Wii Nunchuck. There’s a kickstand on the main screen and a 3.5mm headphone port! It’s HD and cartridge based. We saw lots of games for it including a new 3D Mario game, a Mario Kart, some kind of basketball game (that neither of us know about, but y’all might), Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Splatoon, and Skyrim. And then we go into geeky-speculation mode, which is always fun. We talk expandable storage (because Void does all his games digitally), is there a touch screen (and do we wan

Day-to-Day Technology In this episode: Being geeks like we are, our lives pretty much revolve around technology. Or maybe technology revolves around our lives. This week, we discuss what we’re using day to day and how it makes our lives both easier and more difficult at times. Some of it, you’d probably guess (iPhones, Macbooks, gaming consoles), but there are some neat ones, we think you’ll enjoy hearing about and looking into. Because we do use technology so much, the idea of disconnect or disengaging from technology has a lot of appeal to some people (Beej), while others tend to just shift their usage to maintain a normal, adult lifestyle (Void). It all depends on your personalities, and we discuss strategies that work for us so that you can see some healthy, real-world ways you may be able to adopt into your own routines. And then there’s the awesome technology that you think you’re gonna use a ton, but instead, it just sits on a shelf, all alone and abandoned. We talk about purchases that should have be

The Legend of Zelda The Legend of Zelda is one of Nintendo’s flagship series, but surprisingly, it’s one of the few that actually does a lot better in the West than it does in Japan. Many may not realize the series was created by Miyamoto, the same genius who created Mario, though Aonuma has been in charge of the series since his major success with Ocarina of Time in 1998. Generally, we’ve played them all. Beej has only missed 3 of them, and they’re on purpose. Void has just completed a lite playthrough of the whole series, in which he ranked them all for current playability, rather than nostalgia. Do you guys remember the animated series? Beej sure does! We discuss the difference in 2D and 3D Zelda games, which kind of feel like two separate series of games, but with the same base mechanics. Zelda games! We don’t go in-depth for every one (because some just aren’t worth the time, honestly), but we do discuss our favorites, our memories, and just why some of them stand up for 20+ years, while others can’t ev

Horror! In this episode: It’s October! And you know what that means? That’s right, geeks...HORROR! You see,Void thinks horror is dumb and boring. Beej thinks it’s awesome. Is the Beejmeister going to be able to convince the Voidenator that horror is worth his time? Beej taught a horror literature class for English majors a few years back, and he had a wonderful experience with horror in college because all of his friends loved it. So where he’s coming is different from where some fans are coming from. A lot of horror hits on cultural and societal fears, far more than personal. We can trace the entire 20th century’s outlook based on what horror media was being produced. Rarely does horror exist on its i.e. because of its nature. If the intent is to bring people a primal realization of a cultural or societal fear so they can deal with it, that’s not a genre. What you probably think of as “horror” is technically “gothic romance” Emotional connection to events. To situations. Not characters so much. The blank-sl

Modern Board Games We talk about the resurgence of board games. And not like Monopoly, Scrabble, or Clue. We’re talking the genre of Modern Board games that has exploded lately, beginning with Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne, and Dominion. Beej isn’t much a board game player--he prefers simpler “party games.” However, Void has an entire cabinet dedicated to them, and we talk about how he got into them initially (hint: it was a co-worker who made him play Citadels over his lunch hour 5 years ago.) (We go into much more depth in the episode than I am in the notes, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll just break them down by how we categorized them in the episode.) Good games to start with for newbies to the modern board game scene: Citadels Ticket to Ride Pandemic Beej’s big question is this: “What are good two player games that my wife and I can play together (and we are picky about board games) that can be expanded to multiple people when we have a party?” Good 2 player games are: Love Letter Condottiere Timel

Massively Multiplayer Online Games In this episode: Our history with MMOs! And y’all, we have some history. We both game to MMOs early in our lives (hooray for the late 90s!). Beej and his friends Ultima Online, while Void was on the other side of the coin and was an EverQuest guy. Despite our differences in early preferences, we are pretty much in the same place with MMOs today--we love the genre and want it to evolve rather than stagnate. The modern era of MMOs can’t escape the shadow of World of Warcraft. It defined the current genre, and again, we both are coming from opposite perspective--Beej from a raider’s perspective and Void from a solo player’s. We talk about the awesome things the game did, and the consequences of it being so popular for so long. Void talks specifically about EVE Online and why it’s kind of a unicorn in the MMOverse. From a single server to an entirely run player economy, we discuss the systems that made us want to play EVE but in reality keep us away. We talk about MMO nostalgia

The Final Fantasy Series, Part 3 In this episode: Our very first listener-feedback episode! We asked you all for questions related to Final Fantasy, and y’all did not disappoint! We got so many good questions that we had to dedicate the ENTIRE EPISODE to this Q&A. Rather than spoil the goodness for you, just hit the play button and hear us talk at ya! Additionally, we’re looking for ways to shake up the format of the show, and given that this week is all about listener feedback, we want you to shoot us a line and tell us what you want. What topics do you guys want to hear more about? There’s a high probability of us doing a Squaresoft games podcast, and if you want us to dive deeper into any particular Final Fantasy game(s), let us know which! We’re also thinking about doing a game club. Not a game of the month sort of thing; we would take it slower than that. We are open to any games, but prefer ones that are more accessible to more people (think titles that have been out for longer times and available