Once more into the Geek with Bryan, Mike, and James! In this episode James begins Geek Out by relating how a recent episode of The Min/Max Podcast led to jumping right back into the game Skyrim, and his recent journey to an SCA event to see a good friend become a knight. Next Mike tells us about the weird and wonderful world of New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe and how he shared a great day at the Boston Fan Expo with his youngest daughter! Bryan continues the game talk with his enjoyment of Limbo, his recent work with The Christian Gamers Guild, and how happy he is that we live in a world where a geophysicist can gain a following on Twitter. Finally, the guys discuss the 1982 Don Bluth creation The Secret of NIMH in the first film of the Animated Film Club!
Although it released late in August, this episode was recorded on July 28, 2019, prior to the shootings that took place in El Paso and Dayton a few days later, which have prompted more conversation on the topic of violence in video games. We want to make it clear that we do not necessarily believe that video games are a root cause of the violence we currently see in our society. However, we do feel it is important to stress that the violence portrayed in some games should absolutely not be viewed as an effective or acceptable method of enacting change. We stand with the victims of these tragedies and affirm the ongoing value of all human life, celebrating our diversity and shared human experience.
Coming back with another Super-Sized episode, Geek at Arms returns! Bryan, Mike, and James start off with an impromptu To The Future discussing the recent trailer for Picard and a teaser for the upcoming Lord of The Rings show from Amazon. James starts Geek Out with his thoughts on the final season of the Revolutionary War spy drama Turn: Washington’s Spies and how it led him to dig deeper in the subject by reading Washington’s Spies: The Story of America’s First Spy Ring by Alexander Rose. Next Bryan answers a listener question about the Oculus Rift and shares how much he loved Spider-Man: Far From Home. He also describes how things went with his first Primetime Adventures session, Shadows in the Toybox! Mike tells us about his recent vacation and the abundant amount of reading he did on it: from Civil War battleship history to biographies of JRR Tolkien to medieval fencing treatises by Ken Mondschein! Finally, the guys have a long discussion on ethical situations and moral dilemmas found in video games like Mass Effect, Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic, and more.
Errata:
Bryan’s Middle Earth lore failed him. Beleriand was destroyed at the beginning of the Second Age, a result of the War of Wrath. The fall of Númenor was accompanied by the bending of the seas and removal of Aman and Tol Eressëa from Arda.
The boys of Geek at Arms return for another brand new episode! In Geek Out Mike describes much fun he and Bryan had as guests on the fantastic podcast Saving the Game, and how much he’s enjoyed the recent Amazon series (or was it Netflix) Good Omens. Next, James cannot say enough good things about Godzilla: King of the Monsters. He also talks about taking his family to a local fan convention ArlingCon and how much he’s enjoyed watching My Hero Academia. Bryan relates how much he’s enjoyed the return of JL8, a webcomic by Yale Stewart, fighting Darth Vader and evil cubes with a lightsaber on the Oculus Rift, and the start of a new RPG session of the game Primetime Adventures! Finally, the Fantasy Film Club comes to a close with a review of the 1985 medieval fantasy Ladyhawke, starring Rutger Hauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Matthew Broderick.
With a brand new year comes a new season of Geek at Arms! In Geek Out James shares his thoughts on the books A Theft of Swords and Goblinopolis, and how he has finally started watching Stranger Things. Mike describes his virtual zombie hunting adventure, and Bryan takes us through his journey of watching Veronica Mars and geting back into the legendary pc game, Myst. The guys then do a do a special To The Future where they share what geeky events they’re looking forward to in the upcoming year. From running new rpgs to SCA events and more, they all agree that Avengers: Infinity War cannot get here fast enough! Finally, Mike shares some tips on keeping your board and card games in good shape, even when children and new players abound.
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