Off The Cuff
Comic Book Collecting and Industry Discussion

About this Episode
Pixels in the animation is wrapped on the Super
Mario Brothers Super Show now TFJ and Mike and
TV's Mr. Neil head to Hyrule That's right listeners
from episode 16 through episode 20 of PETA pain
in the ass We will be covering all 26 episodes
of the Legend of Zelda cartoon Excuse us podcasters
you can catch Pixels in the animation every Wednesday
on iTunes and www .geekcastradio .com Princess!
Hi hipster. I figured since it's not video game
podcast, I could bring this. You can bring this.
He's in his house right now. You didn't bring
it anywhere. I had downstairs. It's like I had
this in my car in case you guys wanted to jam.
All right, Joe, do you know Soul Sister by Train?
I'm not that good. You've heard everything I
know how to do. It's really simple. If I look
at the chords I might be able to, but no, not
really. Your lipstick stains on the front lobe
of my lips. So, are we ready to get this started?
Actually play that during the podcast play us
in man. I've been recording and I thought you
were gonna do a dramatic reading of Thomas the
Tank Engine Once an engine attached to a train
was afraid of a few drops of rain He went into
a tunnel and squeaked through his funnel and
never came out again That's I know that's the
only part I know you put that in a book I'm going
to read the whole thing. I have to go upstairs.
I got to get it. Oh, I didn't know how long they
were. I thought it might be pretty short. But
and it's it's it's a yeah, that what that one's
good. Serves you right. Let me see what number
this is. I have a prescription for something
in my pocket. Forty four. Yeah, you do. Number
forty four. Let's do this. We're number one.
We're number forty four. Really? I did miss a
bunch in there. There was like a five or six
series stretch where I wasn't on. And then I
missed five or six. You weren't gone long enough.
Oh, blow me. Not even blow me. Blow you, sir.
And your cripply hand. All right, so anyone that's
still listening this is off the cuff episode
44. I am your host as Usual Michael Powers. I'm
joined by well, you've heard Sean Z Brown You've
heard Joe Reed hello And you've heard art Danner.
Oh god. Why does that still have to be a thing
Sean? Cuz it does Danner how you feeling? good
All right, so There was a comment or two and
moving on You're good. All right with the pity
for it. Let's set us update on Danner's health.
He's good. It's good. Um Joe little constipated,
but still holding it Still holding it together.
Hold no holding it in You sure you can go you
can run now now be back just a hole in your ukulele
It sounds a bit underwater Alright, so I had
a couple comments regarding the last episode
and that people liked the freeform, just, you
know, off -the -cuff nature of the episode where
we kind of talked about basically what we've
been doing while there's been a lull in gaming.
So I thought maybe we could take part of this
episode to talk about what we as gamers do in
the months between December and, you know, the
next when the next games actually come out because
there does tend to be that beginning of the year
drought in gaming um and i think it's especially
bad this year because no there aren't a lot of
like uh last gen and uh current gen stuff coming
out um i feel like i rushed through everything
for the game of the year so now i don't really
have anything to play right now right i'm kind
of in that same Spot two. So I figured maybe
we could talk. We could just spin it as what
we do with our time when we're not gaming, you
know, besides the obvious. And, you know, Joe
can tell us what he does year round. Because,
you know, I don't actually game anymore. So it
goes and he goes and sits in a throne made of
games. I know. I promised Dan he could talk about
comics. So. If he would like to start off with
that, that would be fine. No, I thought we were
just talking about what we did when we weren't
gaming. Well, yeah, but you wanted to talk about
comics specifically, didn't you? Yeah, I did.
I know you've been itching to talk comics. I
know because I just don't get a chance to talk
comics that much. I mean, I don't. Unfortunately,
the pullback schedule doesn't really work for
me at all. I don't read DC comics, which is also
a thing for the pull bag because I I'm sorry
this entire entire Geek cast, you know ensemble
It seems like it's a bunch of DC fanboys. I'm
just nothing against them Well, I would be with
you I like both but I prefer to go more Marvel
But well and but it just seems like everybody
seems to go more DC But I think that's because
the people that are in charge are more DC people
so they attract DC people I'm a Marvel guy. I've
been a Marvel guy Since pretty much since day
one. It's it's everybody seems did their origin
of comic seems to go I started out with Wolverine
and then I turned into a huge DC guy or I started
with Batman and then I'm a huge Marvel guy I
started with Batman and I'm a huge Marvel guy
like which which badass from which universe that
you pretty much everybody most people I've ever
talked to I ask them you know what's your first
comic and it's it's always either a Batman or
a Wolverine for some reason that seems to be
Majority of it. I'm not saying that's everybody
I'm saying majority of the time that seems to
be the two answers I get is Wolverine the first
comic I ever read was x -men that I remember
owning or reading was x -men number 25 nice Which
is fatal attraction? Yeah, and then I for me
comics like I I guess you could say like I knew
of Batman, but I never read a Batman comic, right?
But I knew of him because you know, you have
the coloring books you have the action figures
and stuff like that growing up I remember having
the um, just nickelodeon nick at night 50s batman
tv show. Oh, yeah That's where I learned about
him. I remember the the action figures. What
was the justice friends or something like that?
Um action figures like the big round penguin
Oh, yeah, the and um anyways, it was uh, those
were my introduction to like the character like
the dc characters and then I didn't really find
out about marvel until like the 9192 FLIR trading
cards. Okay. People were passing them around
at school and I was like, oh, those are really
cool. So my dad knew a guy that, you know, sold
boxes of those cards. So he bought me a... He
knew a guy. He bought me a box of, you know,
the series one, series two and like the the 9495
X -Men FLIR Ultra cards. You know, I have a set
of those you can buy at the Geek Garage sale.
I have a set. Think or two Never mind. I would
love to though And handling over here. We were
stuck on a layover in an airport and I had nothing
to do and my parents bought me a Batman comic
book. I bet that read really fast. Um It did
But after but after that, I mean we went to like
the local local drugstore back when you could
buy comics and drugstores. I missed that. And
I started with Archie Turtles and that was like
really the first series I followed. And then
when I kind of, you know, was into that for a
while, I branched out and I got into... I started
reading... Batman I think the very first issue
Batman ever picked up was Shadow the bat number
one when it was kind of like ongoing That was
like the first I picked up Which for a nine ten
-year -old was really dark because that's Entire
storyline is Batman being thrown into Arkham
Asylum as an inmate We consider first six issues
of that entire thing is Batman in Arkham Asylum
so I like that we consider comics that we read
when we were kids as, like, dark when really
there was only, like, six colors in a comic.
No, I mean, dark is in the subject. The subject
matter was incredibly dark. I know, but it's
weird to think that they had dark subject matter
when their color palette was limited to six colors.
Yeah. Yeah. It's just, it's odd. Like, I remember
wanting to go back and read recently, Nightfall.
Yeah. I couldn't read that because of the way
the art looked. The I was the first Batman and
Superman were like the first two I get the first
issue of bet of Superman I ever bought just happened
to be the first First cameo appearance of doomsday
Where doomsday shows up on the last panel and
the whole start of the death of a Superman thing
or okay? That starts that was my first like happened
to be the first issue of Superman I ever picked
up Was the first cameo appearance of? Doomsday
still have that Yeah, I have all of it. That's
awesome. But I didn't even know that stuff was
coming. I just happenstance that I happened to
pick it up. And that's when I started getting
into Superman. It was right when the the start
of the doomsday death of a Superman funeral of
a friend and the return Superman. That was like
my that was when I got into DC was during that
heyday. And then I'll change because then I picked
up the part one of Executioner's song for X -Men.
And that forever changed me when it came to comics.
I completely dropped D .C. after that and just
got into X -Men comics. And that's where I am
today. That's what I like to do in my free time
is I still collect X -Men. I'm still reading
all the I'm reading all new X -Men, uncanny X
-Men, most of the Bendis stuff, uncanny Avengers.
I'm interested in uncanny Avengers. Uncanny Avengers
is pretty interesting. I do want to say that
I've been. I have a tendency with certain series
that when I'm reading them and they have a really
big, in -depth story arc, I will stop reading
it and just pick up all the issues in the story
arc and then read it. Oh, so read it in one,
like, shot instead of waiting. Because they're
doing, in Uncanny Avengers, they're doing this
big story arc with the Children of Apocalypse.
And, like, I kind of... It had been a while since
I went and got them so I have like almost 12
issues that I haven't read yet of this arc and
I've been, I will probably sit down and read
them this week. I've been keeping up on my all
new X -Men but now it's crossing over with Guardians
of the Galaxy so now I need to go out and get
Guardians of the Galaxy so I can do this crossover
for the trial of Jean Grey. I just picked up
gallery guardians of the galaxy today and that
crossover confused me like why do I care about
what's happening with Jean Grey? I thought they
were on the other side of the galaxy, but I well
I yeah, I have the first part of that and I have
the second part of that so I Need I need to go
buy a copy of guardians. I don't know how long
of a crossover event Yeah, I don't remember the
first I remember the first Comic book I ever
read was a Superman comic. I don't remember what
it was. It was too long ago I remember the very
first comic I ever bought for myself though.
It was a Green Lantern I don't know if it was
Green Lantern core or just a regular Green Lantern
and it was a special issue It was right after
Kyle Rayner Got the ring and it was it was the
entire thing is narrated by Guy Gardner going
through his yeah going through His he's walking
through the restaurant he owns. It's basically
like the Hard Rock Cafe, but of superheroes.
And he's telling the story of all the Green Lanterns.
Which I love, I love that book. It was like,
it was like like like a double or triple thick
issue. And it went from Alan Scott up to Kyle
Rayner. And the very back of it, it had Kyle
Rayner sketchbook of him designing his what he
wanted his suit to look like. And he was, he
kept making puns about like parallax. He's like
Kyle X and he's making ones that look like parallax,
but green. And he's like, Oh, bat lantern. He's
like Batman, but with a symbol on him. It's just
really funny. And I, it's one of my favorite,
favorite issues I've ever read. And I've read
it so much. It fell apart. So I don't have. Yeah.
Oh, yeah. Like pages were just falling out of
it. So I don't have it anymore. And that's if
I could own one comic book right now, I'd be
that. I don't know what number it is. I know
it's right after Colorado got the ring. That's
all I know. You know, issue wise, which is really
annoying. I'm currently trying to make my way
through Avengers Academy, and I don't know why.
Just because I'll tell you why, because X 23
is in it. You have a horrible obsession with
that character. Are you really obsessed with
X -23? I am, but here's the problem. The foot
claws creep me out, dude. The only people that
I've seen that can get a handle on, like on her
as a character, are the people that created her.
Everybody else either... The weapon expert? No,
like the writers that actually created her. Chris
Yost and Greg Kyle. So far bendis has done a
pretty decent job with her, but she's only honestly
been in it the book for like two There's some
issues. There's somebody else too that did the
writing for her. Like she did a she had a 20
issue miniseries by herself um, so whoever did
the writing for that it was It was all right.
I mean it was better but the the way they Utilize
her in avengers academy is just really poor.
Um, not to mention I was hoping that that I was
hoping that that book would be something like
New X -Men was. You know what I'm talking about,
Dan, where they introduced all the younger class,
like Hellion and stuff like that. I thought it
was gonna be more like that in execution. And
it's not. I just think it's funny that out of
all those characters that come out of New X -Men,
Hellion's the only one who's still in the books.
Is he? Because I know that he... like, Rock Slide
and stuff are still in there. Which team is rocks
light on I don't know who he went with in the
split but I know like mercury and surge and Dust
dust it what really bones me out is when Hellion
got his hands chopped off Yeah, he got him chopped
off by lady death strike when In a battle of
the things she would do one of the cool things
that happen is in battle of the atom the future
X -Men came to warn them because of the fact
that well the premise was essentially all new
X -Men the beast brings the original X -Men from
the past to the present to show them yeah everything
that's gone wrong in the hopes that they'll go
back and This look at look at what you've done
Scott. You become an asshole. Yeah, look what
you've done Scott You've become an asshole that
happened the second day. I don't know how you
fix that Um, and then me an asshole would not
I'm okay. You can be an asshole. Just not a murderous
asshole Yeah, who kills professor Xavier and
I? I'm so they decide not to leave and they stay
so throughout the course of all new x -men is
basically the original x -men team dealing with
the pressures of the current X -Men landscape.
And then in Battle of the Atom, the X -Men of
the Future come in and basically go, you have
to send them back. They're going to unravel the
timeline. They're going to destroy everything.
And it turns out the X -Men that actually come
back are actually the Brotherhood of the Future.
And then the actual X -Men of the Future come
in to basically go after the Brotherhood of the
Future. And one of the X -Men of the Future is
actually Hellion. who's possessed with the Phoenix
Force, who's super badass. I can see that. I
kind of saw that as a... I saw him as a person
that could embody the Phoenix Force because in
New X -Men, he actually becomes pretty badass
in his own right. And I feel like they handicapped
his character when they cut his hands off because
all of a sudden it put him like this mood. It's
like, dude, you're a telekinetic being. You don't
need your hands. He has hands now. I think they're
robotic. I wouldn't be surprised. I remember
seeing an issue, I think in the X23 miniseries,
that he eventually gets robotic hands towards
the end of it. But he's still very much like,
poor me, my hands got cut off. And they just
made him into a bitch instead of being awesome
like he was. I think the best part of... the
battle of the Adam was when future Hellion goes
up to present Hellion and just looks at him and
goes, you would do yourself a big favor if you
get over yourself. Yeah. And I was just like,
wow. Self burn. Yeah, I was like, damn. But I
actually think I'm going to have to start. I
might want to have to tell me what line that
is, because I like him and I like to see more
of him. But Avengers Academy is not at all what
I thought it was going to be it. Don't like the
Avengers in comic book form like in any way shape
or form I feel like they're and these aren't
like Avengers Academy isn't Thor Captain America
Iron Man. It's Hank Pym teaching a group Hank
Pym, Tygra, Hawkeye and Ultron's wife Chacosta
Trying to teach a group of kids that were basically
molested by Osborn And and so they're trying
to teach a group of kids to become good instead
of like evil masterminds It's just really bad,
which I thought was the only reason I want to
read that book is because I know dark Hawks a
part of that not yet I'm hoping I'm hoping some
good writers eventually take over. I'm like 20
issues 20 20 they've already ended it Is it so
yeah, I was pretty sure they ended it because
that was the whole x23 popping up in all new
x -men is because right after that run ended
I want to say I want to say that only lasted
25 issues. Yeah Also, you're coming up on the
end of the run Okay, well, we'll have to see
because I mean and it does and the costume designs
for some of those characters are just atrocious
But that's and I think I want to say I'm pretty
sure Hellions and Wolverine in the x -men because
that's the one book I'm not reading okay, I like
I said I and I do like x23 because I Remember
she came out of she's one of the best things
to come out of x -men evolution Yeah Which would
have gotten a lot better had it been allowed
to continue because what was it that they teased
the age of apocalypse? Yeah What a tease All
right, you're gonna have to tell me which ones
I need to read cuz I know I downloaded a bunch
of them I downloaded like all new x -men and
After paying for them, of course No, and and
something else because I wanted I was trying
to follow the an artist that I really like Say
all new x -men and uncanny x -men kind of play
off of each other because Bendis is writing both
of them So I find it very helpful to read both
of those together I think it's all new X -Men
and Wolverine in the X -Men. Yeah, but I would
definitely read - They're sharing an artist.
I would, if I were you, I would definitely read
Avengers vs. X -Men because that really helps
kind of build, read - Okay, here's what you gotta
read. If you want to get into the landscape of
how things are right now, you need to read one
called X -Men Schism. I've read that already.
Okay, and you need to read Avengers vs. X -Men.
Isn't that not versus though? Yes There's AVX
and then there's versus okay. There's AVX you
need to read AVX Okay, is that part of is is
that part of like? Wolverine and the X -Men or
is Wolverine in the X -Men after that Wolverine
in the X -Men's after that Okay, yeah, because
it's just probably like a year or two old Yeah,
I was in 2012 right yeah, yeah Cuz it was that
pretty much up to show you how? Pretty much how
she's copy comes an asshole. That's what that
is. Well actually schism schism starts it and
then AVX Finishes well because x23s miniseries
started in 2011 and the teams were already split
It's because that's from schism. They split in
schism. Okay. I do like as he takes I Want to
say man because I didn't There was a good couple
years where I wasn't reading X -Men and that's
when Schism started. Because I want to say Schism
started right after I dropped it. I know her
mini -series picks up right after Wolverine kicks
her off of X -Force. Yeah. No, see that's when
the teams are still together because X -Force
is put together essentially by Scott to do the
wetwork stuff. And then after Schism I want to
say it becomes uncanny X -Force. Well, she was
a note in candy exports Anyways, whatever I do
love how about that too many different names
Yeah with how they made fun of all those memes
came out from Cyclops's uniform change. It's
like way to copy Nightwing dick Well with the
rat the red and the But it looks just like Nightwing
with a visor. Except for the fact that unlike,
you know, Nightwing, Cyclops isn't a bitch. Ooh,
careful. I think they're both just as much of
a bitch. Oh, Joe's awake now. Wait a minute.
Come on. Wait, is Joe a Nightwing fan? I like
Nightwing. Don't get between me and my Dick Grayson.
Oh, yeah. Don't ever separate Joe from his dick.
I think I liked it great. I like Nightwing and
I like I I prefer to bed. They're killing him
off Yeah, well killed off Batman and fucking
everyone. They're killing back in like three
months. Don't worry I'm sorry last time a super
I honestly only said that me was just super death
of Superman really I honestly only made the Nightwing
comment just just to hear what Mike says this
just piss Michael TFG one Mike cuz I know he'll
hear that and be like Big nightwing fan. Oh,
yes, what I mean is he's definitely gay for Batman
is what it is He misses the days when he wore
the little green shorts I mean the green underwear
the green underoos boot there. No, they were
there their booty shorts look I want to see nightwing
pull off jorts Just cuz I think you could pull
off jorts with that little mask of his Get this
whole sexy cabana boy thing going on. You're
so mean. You know, I have to credit I for my
comic like I've gotten the comics back in 2004
and I have to credit Danner for that Because
I remember hearing him talk about New Avengers
Mm -hmm, and I actually went back to my comic
shop and grabbed issue one all the way to up
to whatever there was and then I was actually
collecting a couple other things because that's
around when the x20 the first x23 mini series
started but yeah, I Danner put me down this Really
bad road that I should never have been on I was
gonna say if if nobody's ever read Avengers or
you're not even an Avengers fan If you can get
yourself your hands on the trade paperback for
Avengers disassembled So you could see what it's
like when somebody destroys a team And then New
Avengers picks up after that. It's fantastic.
So good. I think I have all of that with my gigantic
Civil War crossover lead -up aftermath collection.
Yeah, I have all that too. Because, yeah, Avengers
Disassembled is just so well put together. Someday
I'll sit down to reread all that. Sorry, go ahead.
I was gonna say like civil war and then going
into secret invasion was such when I heard about
it I was like just gonna be awesome and then
I read I'm like that could have been way better
Wait, did civil war go into secret evasion? Cuz
I remember like after civil war like broke them
up Right. So they're all at each other's throats.
Right. And then Secret Invasion came after that.
And just like, fucked up, because no one trusts
each other. And then Dark Reign was after that.
Well, wait a minute, wait, where did Planet Hulk
come in? Wasn't that right after Civil War? I
think we all ignored Planet Hulk because of how
terrible that was. That was a lead -up event.
They were, one of the reasons that things started
to go south in Avengers was that they sent Banner
away. Wherever he did his planet Hulk thing and
some people thought that was a good idea, some
people thought, hey, shouldn't we give him a
chance? Are you trying to remember planet Hulk
is after Secret Invasion? World War Hulk is after
Civil War, I know that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because
he comes back. And then Secret Invasion's after
that. Okay, yeah, I was gonna say Secret Invasion
has to be after that because I stopped during...
I stopped collecting during World War Hulk. I
think I stopped collecting after Secret Invasion.
Secret Invasion was good, I just... It could
have been way money guys right and then I had
one of my favorites is I like I like Tulsa Ben
You know what this is gonna make me sound horrible.
I know what happened still have not read house
of them House of them is pretty good. Yeah, that's
how it was hurt. That's had a lot of wide -reaching
implications for a long time No, it's yeah, it's
a lot of references go back to that. I A lot
of stuff a lot of the implications have only
recently been undone of that Recently it's gonna
make me watch Scarlet witch in the Avengers movie
with a leery eye. It's like I know what you do
Yeah in the Avengers yeah in the Avengers movies,
they're not allowed to call her in Quicksilver
mutants Yep, they can't say anything about Magneto
they can't say I've heard that they're gonna
cuz Baron Ron stroker is or however You say his
name is supposed to be in is it? Yeah, I guess
there's implications they might make them his
kids I'm just so I'm saying what I've heard.
I think they should leave it open for when they
eventually someday maybe might get the rights
back Yeah, cuz Fox and mark because Fox is gonna
stop wanting money. Yeah. Well, I think they'll
eventually Like, they wanted to get the Avengers
Tower in the Spider -Man movie, but they didn't
have enough time to work it out, and the CG was
already shipped off, so they couldn't, but they
wanted to. I think there might eventually be
amicable partnerships between those companies.
The problem is, you've already run into the problem
where Fox has cast their Quicksilver already.
Yep. And... Speaking of which, have you seen
the costume for the Quicksilver? Stop. Let's
not even... No. Let's not talk about it, because
it's so bad. It's horrible. I can't judge anything
until I actually see it on the screen because
a picture is taken out of context and they're
trying to make him look like Quicksilver on the
cover and at least he's not in a green suit with
a stupid white arrow on it or a white lightning
bolt across it. It's a blue. It's green in Avengers.
It was blue at one point in time. Yeah, it was
also green. It wasn't blue, it was baby blue.
Yeah, but I mean, come on. They've been so good
with the with costumes in these movies But quick
silvers, it's like they're kind of a get it.
He's silver you get it the question though the
question I'm wondering though is is that is quick
silver part of? The future or is he part of the
past roster? He's supposed to be I think he's
a part of the past He's supposed to be in the
70s. He's wearing it like um a walkman. Well,
that's like or whatever when they first came
out He's supposed to be part of the whole like
I have no I have beginning of pop thing from
what I have No allegiance for quick silver because
I find him to be annoying Yeah, he's not one
of my but he's the he but he's the marvels quickster
Speedster, you know, I mean it's no Don't don't
pigeonhole us to just one quick Quickster because
we have North Star also. So I'll take North Star
over Quicksilver any day. Yeah North Star is
far more interesting. So a couple of my favorite
arcs with comics in general since I started collecting
in 2004 have been basically the entire run of
X Factor that spun out of House of M Where was
the detective agency? Oh god, it's so good. They
just restarted X Factor also and absolutely none
of Think Polaris is the only one who's on the
team that's from the original team, and I'm just
like I can't is Maddox there no gambit and I
Remember reading what the team wasn't just going
I'm not forget that I haven't seen good Do they
still have gambit with he doesn't have the trench
coat? No, that's dumb. He had the trench coat
in the x23 miniseries Yeah, but I think they
got rid of it. Anyways, I've liked that entire
run because it reminded me of like real world
X -Men. And then I've liked the Wolverine arc,
which was Enemy of the State. I love Enemy of
the State. Enemy of the State was good. And then
I also enjoyed... It was like around X -Men...
X men 190 or something when rogue takes over
the team and she creates a fast response team
that consists of herself cable saber tooth and
Iceman And that was just the art for that was
really was really good too So I enjoyed that
and that contains my favorite mutant in that
cable. I can't stand cable They made him love
cable they made him cool in that because of the
art and I do love I I did enjoy cable in cable
and Deadpool or Deadpool and cable or whatever
it's called I thought that was that that was
a really funny comic to read but I Think when
Danner gets back we should veer away from talking
about comics. Oh He's gone. Yeah, he's good.
He'll be back in two minutes supposedly Oh, I
didn't see that and I'm just sitting here masturbating
to my IDW comics You talk any non, you know,
DC or Marvel. I'm the IDW is doing brilliant
things with a bunch of everybody's favorite properties
from way back in the 80s. They do. Turtles, don't
they? They do. They're doing the current Turtles
run. They're doing Ghostbusters, which is outstanding.
The Star Trek was good before I decided that
I needed one less four dollar book. Well, I just
didn't want to I didn't want to turn this into
an episode of the pull bag. Yeah. And I know
Dan has been itching to talk about comics. I
thought I'd let him do that infinitely more dick
jokes So So You know what we'll take a break
and when we come back Danner will be here Okay,
I was gonna say we just stay here in awkward
silence for like four minutes Brave new world
that has such patsas in it. The Pull Bag is GCRN's
comic book review and discussion based podcast.
Join me, your host, TF2 and Mike, and the rest
of the GCRN crew as we make our way through the
comics we are reading. Inside The Pull Bag, you'll
also find back issue classics and origins episodes
of how we got into comic reading. You can find
The Pull Bag every Wednesday on iTunes and on
www .geecastradio .com. Make your great escape
into comics and jump into The Pull Bag. today.
Oh, yes. But think of the fun. And we're back
on the thank you. Sorry. We're back on the other
side of that break. I thought we could take a
minute and actually rear this back towards gaming.
Wait, what? I'm sorry. Gaming. Why would this
is the wrong podcast? Because that's no. This
is the right podcast. This is the wrong podcast.
It's been 30 minutes talking about comics. Forty
six minutes. Thank you. At least we talked about
Marvel comics. That's true. That's true. But
I thought I was able to scrounge up some some
things that we can actually possibly talk about
here a little bit. Let's see. First of all, I
think this happened last week right before either
I think it happened too close for us to actually
talk about this on the podcast But then was this
last week or the week before where Nintendo?
Like slashed their earnings by more than half
For the last year's model Basically the the story
is that in the one year that the Wii U has been
out they've sold solder They sold fewer we use
than the Xbox or ps4 sold in two months After
play after getting a chance to play one the other
day that does not surprise me now The interesting
thing that kind of came out of this Before we
dive into what this may or may not mean in the
rumors of Nintendo's next console Interesting
article that came out today is that the Nintendo
boss helped me out here Joe Wada Wada Wada because
they have his first name in here, too you Wada
took a pay cut 50 % pay cut 50 % pay cut and
or Most corporations 20 to 30 percent is the
norm and most of them would also lay off the
guy at the bottom To maintain the the payroll
at the top And it sounds like most of the people
on the executive board all took pay cuts. Which
is the horrible thing to do I think. I think
so too. I just wanted to put that out there as
news because you don't hear about that happening.
Usually it's the guys at the top that want to
keep their fat paychecks and let the little guy
go home and starve. I think it's because there's
a better sense of tradition at that company.
Or as they realize that a misstep is just that
it's a misstep Right So I just I just wanted
to point that out for some people that there
are there are good companies out there Even if
Nintendo can't figure out what the hell they're
doing So there have been a couple of rumors about
what Nintendo might do and one of them is a Wii
U that drops the gamepad To be sold with just
the controller Was wondering what you guys might
think they actually release one of those. It's
called a Wii. It's not amazing. That's So a Wii
you minus the tablet controller Yeah, well you
can't I really can't say that the Wii U is the
same thing as the Wii I can't because it's not
I Mean, yeah has it shares the same name and
it looks very similar But the graphics that that
that it puts out or not at all the same are Marginally
minutely better you have you need to get your
eyes checked I'm sorry But the best that I've
at like I was because I was paying it really
paying attention I was playing this thing the
other day you played inside your land. No, I
played in ten when I also watched them play some
stuff, too Also, I will say in Nintendo land
Fuck that throwing stars game. Okay, my hand
was killing me after that, but I beat it so What
do you guys think about this you think is a smart
would be a smart idea to ship it with just a
regular controller No, because it takes the key
feature away from us. I don't care how much money
that costs. Nobody's using it. No one, not even
Nintendo. Huh. I mean, all the games support
that off -screen play if you want it. But as
far as a controller input for, like, as far as
something additional to the game, no one uses
it because the games still have to work when
you have the off -screen play and you don't have
a touchscreen when you have the off -screen play.
So no one's been using it. And even Nintendo
says they're not using it in their new Donkey
Kong Country game, so What's the I mean? All
it does is add like an extra hundred two hundred
dollars to the cost of the system So basically
I mean most games control with the Wiimote and
nunchucks. No no they still use the gamepad,
but they don't use the touchscreen No, it's just
they're literally just using the the things that
you could get a normal gamepad the joysticks
and triggers the face buttons They're completely
not using the What six or seven inches? I think
it's a five inch touchscreen whatever and so
okay So they then there would release it with
just the deck and the pro controller classic
pro controller Yeah, the pro controller Huh,
so it'd be just like a traditional console and
probably still buy it Wait, did they say what
the price difference would be? Yeah, I I'm just
saying I'd probably be around 200 bucks considering
they're slashing the whole thing You know, they're
chopping a hundred two hundred dollars in overhead
off by not having that controller But do you
think they'd really pass all that right on to
taking out the retail if it meant getting more
people to buy their games yeah, I Mean because
if you think about it the we the we has never
been anything as much as Joe And I wanted to
be a Trojan horse going in the next generation
or at least I did yep I it it isn't much more
than The 360 or the ps3 in terms of hardware
and both of those are selling for around $200
and you get more out of them And by that I mean
like hardware space. Yeah, I still wouldn't say
it's on the set I would even said that we use
on the same as the Xbox 360 or the on paper it
is Oh good paper. It's really entertaining If
people wanted to they could make very beautiful
game system. Yeah, but there's no care But when
but who's gonna make them a beautiful game when
you went if every single person that owns a Wii
U bought one You'd sell only a million copies.
Yeah, or however many we use her out there, which
is why nobody Right it would cost more to make
the game. Here's the problem the Wii U came out
in that awkward transition spot And it wasn't
next -gen. It was current gen and every all the
game development was already on to Like studios
were moving on to the next yeah, they were moving
on and it got it get lost in the shuffle I mean
there was that I don't know if it's gonna prove
out to be true or not But there was that GameStop
scare last week to where they started canceling
everyone's watchdogs pre -orders for the Wii
U. Oh Really? Yeah, and then they had to they
retracted the statement saying that there was
nothing wrong that it was still coming to the
Wii U but I mean at this point you have to wonder
if Ubisoft is actually going to. Actually waste
the money anymore, like trying to optimize, yeah,
to try and port watch dogs. I mean, like, is
it worth the hassle? Those four real pests. All
Nintendo had to do was pick up the phone and
call my phone number and say Do you think it's
a good idea that we release a current gen system
at the end of current gen? And we get the jump
on everybody on the next gen like no Nintendo.
That's not going to work You need to make an
actual next gen system. Honestly, what would
you do if you picked up your phone in some? Japanese
you just started speaking really quick in Japan.
I have a hard time understanding him because
I don't know Japanese. Yes pretty short conversation
Like no, I'm happy with my long -distance provider
click You want to speaks English kind of I've
seen those those uh The things that he has it's
kinda so does Jackie Chan Kinda but I knew this
was gonna happen. Nobody was gonna buy it and
Nintendo tripped up and I can't. I don't know
what they're thinking. And I don't know what,
you know, second in command isn't saying, whoa,
whoa, whoa, this is not a good idea. Don't do
this. And so now they're they're going to be
a generation behind again. And from my understanding,
they don't even sell well over there, do they?
No. No. I don't think they have. So. I mean,
I mean. Basically where this is going is the
another rumor that kind of spun out to along
with you know the the the new skew for the Wii
U minus the the gamepad was Nintendo's also readying
their you know next -gen console and What was
the proposed name of a Nintendo fusion fusion
and? And here's on the surface, just looking
at it like the base before you drill down into
any of the rumored specs or anything, one of
the rumors is that, you know, it'll be a console
and a handheld together. And the the joke that
I kind of made in our our Facebook chat was that,
you know, this system will come out and Sony
will respond by bundling the Vita with the PlayStation
four because essentially Sony is already giving
gamers that, you know, it's a handheld that they
can take with them to play their games. Or combine
it with the console. Or combine it with the console
and play at home. Essentially, Nintendo's going
to try that same strategy. There's going to be
a handset, which is basically a 3DS, an enhanced
3DS with the dual screens and the clamshell design
and whatnot. And then there will be a, which
seems like an actual beast of a machine, again,
on paper. And then there is the console itself,
which on paper, the numbers put it... like twice
as powerful as the PlayStation 4. And it's not
that it wouldn't actually hit until like 2015
or 2016. By then it'd be too late. But it may
be too late. But the interesting thing about
this is that even if they even if these these
specs were true and it did come out, you would
still be playing to the lowest common denominator
like only Nintendo's games would shine. But by
then the other consoles the other two consoles
will be in there like second and third year So
all the games will be like maturing and developers
will have like a grasp on it and they won't need
to learn they aren't even They they are sticking
with the custom design chips for everything instead
of the off -the -shelf stuff that Microsoft and
Sony went with So it's slow production. It seems
like it's the One of the things I would think
I was thinking about it today was that it was
the successor to the Gamecube It it looks like
everything in this is designed to have the fewest
bottlenecks possible Which is what the game cube
went for as well See when you said that it was
gonna have be a handheld like that It's gonna
be handheld come out of the console all I was
thinking is in my head I don't know if you've
seen the pictures of that guy who modded an N64
to turn it into an handheld That's what I'll
punch in my head because I'll be like that's
totally what's gonna be it's gonna be like that
dude selling them With a horribly racist asian
accent. So if we don't if we think the wii u
is doomed and we don't think another console
is the answer does anyone want to see mario on
a Three on an xbox one or a playstation 4 It'll
never happen. I think nintendo would go out of
business and pack up shop before their stuff
showed up on third party You think they would
just take their toys and go home? No, I think
I think they would back out of consoles and just
stick to handhelds That that's what would happen.
The 3 es is not here's the problem the ds Outsold
the 3ds it's still like it. I mean not still
but the numbers the numbers for the 3ds are down
over the ds So even that's not doing them a lot
until they run out of colors material and letters
to make pokemon games They'll always be a nintendo
system The problem is there's they can make more
money off of putting a mario game on an ios device
than they can on Their own hardware. I don't
think they'd ever Think there's too much honor
in the company. I don't think they'd become a
software company. No, I don't think they would
take the Sega route. I Think they'd rather that
they would they would close shop before I mean
it would be such a huge dishonor I think that
they're the company that would not do something
like that That's a shame. I would bet my life
on it. They would all perform seppuku I believe
I boo, you know, if if somebody's gonna do it
in modern Japan, it would be the executives at
Nintendo Nintendo But that would be a new story
to wake up to. But it would be with like those
those like Nintendo, like the we moat add on
weapons. They got themselves with a we motion
plus. Yeah. But then like it lost it like it
lost connection, so they had to shake it up a
little bit. They laid down on a flat surface
to calibrate it. Or they had to stab three times
because it didn't read the motion the first two
times. You know, I I played the My parents bought
a Wii mini Like a week and a half ago point of
it my my parents love Wii sports my dad loves
the bowling and I had I had their Wii over here
and I thought it was still in good condition
and the problem is they let my siblings play
with it at their house before I took it and I
brought their Wii back over to hook it up for
them to play and it was me it would it loaded
up and it would play the game just fine, but
the fan was super loud and the drive was clicking
constantly. But it would play. And I said, you
know, this is fine, but it's, you know. It's
gonna die. Yeah, you're not gonna like this.
So we ran out, my dad offered to, you know, buy
a Wii Mini. So we went out and snagged one of
those. And to be honest, the thing is actually
a nice little piece of hardware. Two things I
didn't... For some reason I didn't know about
the system probably because I never really read
up on the system It has no internet functionality
whatsoever. Yeah, I heard that um, but not only
that You can't port your me's over to it Well,
isn't it because it uses the You would normally
know wireless communication on there at all no
no no you but you can load up your me's on your
controller and take them over to a friend's house
and put them on their console. Oh, that's right.
And so I did that. I put my parents' Miis from
their old Wii on a controller and I loaded up
the Wii Mini and I went into the little Wii space
and the option to import the Miis was not available.
Well, now that makes me wonder, I wonder if...
Have you ever tried doing it to a Wii that was
not connected to the internet? I wonder if that's
cheap like loading onto your controller is really
just a cheat and like it's it's holding your
your whatever your friend code or whatever and
when you go to someone's house it just pulls
it off the internet I don't I don't really I
don't think so because you know you don't need
to you you don't need to exchange I've I've transferred
me's before you don't need to exchange friend
codes no but I'm saying no no like an imaginary
yeah just like some random serial number that
links back to your I don't know the Nintendo
networks never been that fast I really don't
know that it would that I It doesn't seem like
that would be, I don't know, that would call
out for like a handshake. Not to mention, not
to mention the Wii that I transferred them from
was not connected to the internet at the time.
I don't know. So it just asks. You just plug
it in and you say, you say, you know, what controller
do you want to transfer them to? And you select
your Miis. I think you can load up like eight
of them, eight or ten to a controller. And but
basically like a little action figure carry all
and You just go over to your friend's house,
and you point it at the system, and you say,
I want to put these things on the system. But
you can't do that. I even looked it up on the
internet. It can't be done. And there's no SD
card slots or anything like that, so you really
can't transfer anything over. Wow. But we had
fun. We made new Miis and everything, and we
played a couple games of bowling, and everyone
had a good old time. Every time I play bowling,
I still cheat. How do you cheat? In bowling?
You know how it has the bumper rails? Sure. Well,
you know the do you ever take turns? You know
how like you can do the bowling where it goes
up all the way to 100 pins? Oh, yeah, that's
power the power bowling. Yeah. Yeah, you can
cheat on that No, well, I thought you were cheating
playing the actual bowling. Yeah, you just punch
the other person and then nuts when they're trying
to throw the ball Right there but with the power
bowling if you can you balance the ball on top
of the of the bumper rail all the way down It's
an automatic strike Not ever or 99 pen. I think
is what it is. Oh, I'll also try that sometime
Yeah, you have to like get it perfect and just
the perfect hook into the ball Just like ride
the rail all the way down on top of it, and it
hits the end it will pause for a second Then
you hear the sub cool noise and all the pins
just fall over all right. I've got another news
story, and then we can Maybe I don't talk about
something else if you guys want to Well, we still
haven't really gone specifically what we do individually
I figure we can make it an ongoing thing because
there isn't going to be any I mean next week.
We've got the game of the year conversation,
but There still isn't gonna be anything for the
week after that So Danny went this week and you
can show yours next week Sean Z if you're here
I always scratch the surface to so much more
I do Yeah, but I figured I figured if someone
else says that I didn't even get into my taxidermy
thing Figured if someone else brought up like
movies or TV shows and on their turn Then we
could all just jump in on that like we did your
comics. Yeah This kind of came out of nowhere
today it came from The first place I saw it was
screw attack comm so I'm not I wasn't sure how
reliable it was But then I thought it it got
traced back to euro gamer Who's the website behind
digital foundry the guys that do all the the
tech mumbo jumbo for video games? Apparently
Sony a source close to Sony has said that they
plan to implement PlayStation 1 and PlayStation
2 emulators into the PlayStation 4 Now apparently
the It's not the question is whether or not you'll
be able to put any game you want in there and
play it or if it'll be like the emulators they
have in the PlayStation 3 because I guess that
they actually do They they actually have emulators
for the ps1 and the ps2 in the PlayStation 3
you just can't access the emulators for the PlayStation
2 Unless you buy the game digitally So that's
that's kind of up in the air to see what you
know what what's gonna happen, but apparently
they're working on Like HD filters so that the
games don't look like ass when you're playing
them I was kind of hoping for something along
the lines of you know adding the scan lines back
in like we talked about last week But that probably
won't happen what do you I mean I I see this
happen I see this as something that would happen
as the Xbox one and the PlayStation 4 reach feature
parody and Then Sony just wants a trump card
to throw in the box Be like oh we can really
do everything so what do you guys think? To me
I just I Bought a ps4. I don't really want to
play ps1 or ps2 games I get I get the fact that
I mean it's a feature that you can tout but it
just I don't know to me I'm just kind of like
yeah, I think it's starting backwards compatible
with the ps3 that be a little bit More interesting
to me just because I still you know, I'm kind
of playing my ps3. Yeah, but besides that it's
just kind of I don't have any ps1 or ps2 games
I'm just holding on to it's getting to the point
where those those games are becoming so dated
and so old Compared to what that I mean not not
knocking them. They're still excellent games,
you know, but um, like I mean I still am in love
with you know, Final Fantasy seven, I wouldn't
mind going play back through that. But I would
plug in my PlayStation one if I really wanted
to. I don't need my place, you know, a PlayStation
four to play. It doesn't interest me that much.
I'd ask Joe what he thought, but I guess that
I don't think he has any PlayStation games. I
do have a few. Well, I have Gran Turismo three
because that's what I use to put. into my PlayStation
2 to hack it, to read it off the hard drive,
but as far as backward compatibility goes, it's
a nice feature to have, but I don't think people
are going to use it like they would have before.
And in the end, it wouldn't help me sell a system
because I have a PS1 and a PS2 over there. All
right. But, you know, maybe some people get excited,
but I don't think it sells systems. I don't think
the people walking into the store and the people
who are, ooh, it's backward compatible, I gotta
get it. Joe, there was something I wanted to
tell you. You have, we played Uniracers at your
house, right? Yep. Okay, don't get rid of that.
Nope. I would never get rid of anything. Do you
know why not to get rid of Uniracers? No. I heard
about this on the most recent Rebel FM. That
game was actually made by DMA, who is Rockstar.
Wow. They made that game and I guess what happened
was there was a I think the guy his name was
Scott Bromley Was playing the game like when
it first came out on the Super Nintendo. He was
playing it and I guess he knew John Lasseter
son and Called, you know told, you know John
Lasseter son about the About how the the the
unicycles were stylized uh -huh and how that
they were similar to the Luxo jr. And That in
turn got back to John Lasseter and then Pixar
slash Disney filed suit against DMA Really and
so they had to pull all the copies out of the
store No way, so that games incredibly rare.
Yeah more or less I don't know how rare it is,
but it was you know it was pulled out of stores
because they Disney put a season to sit down
on it If nothing else, piece of gaming history.
So, yeah, I thought that was really interesting,
but I heard that I was like, no way. Joe and
I were playing that. We didn't really understand
what was going on. Except that it's great. Yeah,
no, it is. It's fun. It's like, you know, it's
like today's endless runners, except it was done
back in the 90s. So. In other news that no one
really cares about, except for me. Ali and I
snagged a PlayStation one on Sunday What a steal
oh man yeah, we snagged an Xbox one on on Sunday
Mainly she had just gotten her bonus From work
and she was really excited about that and she's
a big fan of zoo tycoon And of course they Have
a version of zoo tycoon for the xbox one and
so my god, he spent 500 dollars to play fucking
zoo tycoon that and 500 hours just get the system
to play That does not include the game. She did
that she bought we bought that I I told her I'd
pay for half of it because she wanted it for
zoo tycoon and I want it for titanfall So I we
split it because we know that you know I'm you
know Dan has got a PlayStation 4 We're trying
to get Sean Z to buy a PlayStation 4 obviously
I will get there I'm just saying obviously Ali
and I both have PlayStation 4 so it's like we
already have the multiplayer system But I just
wanted I wanted the Xbox one so I could play
you know the the hardcore exclusives So we snag
that and I watched that video you sent me the
Titanfall yeah To be honest after watch that
was kind of like meh. Yeah Dan is the same way.
I Don't know. I don't have an opinion on the
subject. I love Max. I think Max are awesome.
Um, it's just It's just become there's just so
many shooters out there now. It's like that's
cool So instead of a tank in this when I get
one that walks, it's alright I've only been tired
of shooters since gold and I welcome to the club
Alright, you've been tired of shooters before
the okay twin stick shooters. No Sean I gotta
ask you because I know my opinion doesn't matter
to Mike on the subject It doesn't matter to a
lot of people but continue. Yeah, but that's
fun Now when when you looked at the Titanfall
video did it just look like Call of Duty and
and halo we're just Butt -fucking on screen right
there to be honest it It looked like if Call
of Duty Halo and Battlefield had like an eyes
wide shot party Titanfall would be the baby Because
it just it looked like Call of Duty with with
Halo physics to me is really what it kind of
feels and then you toss You know what? Yeah,
it's just I think the max is cool. Like I was
so much more impressed Before I saw the video.
I don't know what it is. I was really digging
that game I thought was gonna be really cool
I had plans to after I eventually in place before
down the line get a Xbox one and to just be able
to play that That video is kind of make me like
oh, I could totally live without that game see
I just for me I I've been interested in what
respawn was going to make as soon as they you
know form their company Oh, yeah, and the guys
left that Fendi word and the thing is is that?
That game is being made by most of the people
that worked on Call of Duty 4, which we all enjoyed,
and Modern Warfare 2. It almost shows too much.
There's been how many Call of Duty since Modern
Warfare 2? There's been Modern Warfare 3, 2 Black
Ops, Ghosts. How many of them have been as good
as Call of Duty 4? Well, if you compare any of
the new ones called it before it's gonna find
lacking but I never wouldn't say there is this
fun Well, and I wouldn't I do want to say this
in defense of Titanfall I've never ever been
impressed with any Video I've ever seen for a
Call of Duty game. There's always things that
kind of pop out like oh, that looks kind of cool
Wait to me like oh my god when uh ghosts The
moment I saw the stuff in space was probably
the first time in Call of Duty history where
I was just like, okay, that looks kind of cool.
Which it was. I love that mission. Because it's
space. Although Mike wouldn't know because he
hasn't played a single player. I've seen it.
Thank you. Jason was here. We played it. Oh,
you watch so much. No, you watch someone watch
somebody different. Of course. I'm not gonna
play. You might as well just load up a YouTube
video. Exactly, yes. Air high five. I'm gonna
brofist you right now. You ready for this? Okay,
bump it. I'm sorry. I was I was drinking and
watching Jason and I were drinking and playing
it so we weren't really taking any part of it
seriously. We don't need to hear about your romantic
evening with him. Okay. Jealous? Yeah, you were
both drunk and he was playing with your joystick.
How fantastic. It was. Sounds like most evenings
at Mike's place. Fuck, what was I saying? Nothing
wrong with that. To me, I think it comes out
with Titanfall as I'm really not going to have
an opinion until I can actually get my hands
and play it for myself. Yeah, that's what it
is. To me, I just it doesn't look compelling
to me until I've had a chance to experience it
for myself. And I think it would be a sweet game
to play with Sean and Mike. Think it'd be a sweet
game to play in a group of people. Yeah, but
ultimately when it comes down to it So much rather
play destiny at this point That's what I was
just about to say like weren't we all actually
excited about destiny? Yeah Destiny that I am
and well, but here's the thing I I was just kind
of for me I agree with everything you just said
Danner and I I've listened to a number of people
wait a second wait Say that again courted no
I'm recording it's gonna be It will have that
for posterity in like does the end I agree No
I agree with what you just said about needing
to get your hands on it and that you need and
I agree with What you said like I know I'm I
understand what you're saying is what I guess
I should have said Well, you know you need to
wait inadvertently this hasn't come back to say
you saying that I'm an idiot I never said you
were an idiot I never said you were an idiot.
He just implied it with colorful language. I
said yes. You asked me two questions at once
and I said yes. And one of which was... You are
picking the answer to whatever one you want.
I didn't call you an idiot. I just didn't disagree
when you called yourself one. It just comes out
of the fact that Mike can't stand when somebody
else has an opinion that's contradictory to his.
That's not true. You have contradictory opinions
to me all the time. I know, but when you're so
butt -hurt about certain things, you just get
more butt -hurt. Oh, whatever. Mommy, daddy.
Trust me, I can get a lot meaner about it if
I really wanted to. You can't get meaner about
it. It's fine. It's not really gonna bother me.
No, because I still want to be friends with you.
That's why I'm not getting meaner about it. Well,
I know that, but there's nothing you could possibly
say that is going to end our friendship. Ooh,
challenge accepted. I can certainly test the
limits. Of our friendship So I The problem is
is that before before I even really saw a video
of it I Listened to a number of podcasts from
people like getting to play it at e3 and yes
They got to suck play like a little wedge or
a demo of it, but all the conversations like
Titanfall Like dominated all of my podcasts coming
out of e3 all the podcasts coming out of packs
with like second son Getting like a nod like
as the runner -up to game of show And they all
they all just said they like the way that it
played and just the the maneuverability and the
in the environments and so if they just they
just said the entire thing was So refreshing
and don't get me wrong. I I do like Call of Duty
and I do enjoy playing ghosts. It looks incredibly
fast -paced Yeah, it was the other thing I noticed
from the video and I and honestly I'm sitting
there I'm thinking how could I actually play
this the way that I'm gonna play but at the same
time I'm kind of like, you know what? We all
know that I can play games But we all know that
we can I can play games where you can you can
run and gun and stuff like that So I'm actually
wondering maybe this is that Maybe this is one
of those games. I mean, I wasn't, I wasn't the,
you know, sit in the corner type of guy when
we were playing, um, like Left 4 Dead or Borderlands
or anything like that. So I'm just kind of wondering
if it's - No, in Left 4 Dead we all wedged ourselves
in corners. When we were trying to glitch the
game out in the horde mode thing, but not when
we were like going through the campaign. And
I, I just, and you know, I'm kind of thinking
maybe this is, this is interesting and I understand
not liking mechs, but I think the only difference
between, you know, being a pilot - which is what
you are when you're just the guy on the ground
and getting in a mech. I think the only thing
is just that you're in a mech. I think you you
play exactly the same. I don't think it really
feels like you're in a mech, other than the fact
that you have a much larger gun and maybe your
field of view gets a little more narrow because
they're trying to put you in the cockpit view.
But it looks like you're just as mobile and just
as agile as the guy running on the ground. Plus
the idea that you can reach down and grab a guy
on the ground and squeeze him until his head
pops off. That just sounds cool. But here's my
fault like from that from that video You do not
seem as badass in a Mac as I would like you to
be I would like when someone gets in a Mac you
have to go like Forget everything else guys focus
on the Mac now. Oh, there's an enemy Mac. I'm
just gonna run past them the other Machine gun
it's almost you kind of like it wanted to be
the multiplayer like in battle in Bioshock 2
where when Somebody becomes comes in as the big
daddy everybody kind of drops what they're doing
and goes get that fucker I want it to be like
the equivalent of like you're in an infantry
mode or like in like battlefield or some of the
old old Call of Duty games and also tank runs
in Fuck whatever you're doing that becomes the
main threat But the problem is there isn't just
one Titan on the battlefield Yes, that's the
problem is that like he's got a he's got a Titan
now We have to focus on getting our team a Titan
and just take him down now And like you know
of us can take that Mac down, but that's the
thing you don't need well. Here's the thing I
was watching something else. They're different
everyone has Even if you're a pilot you have
an anti -titan gun. Yeah, like a rock It's not
really it's more like it's more like an actual
just a gun that fires like I know it sounds like
a rocket launcher But it's actually just a gun
With rockets in the clip like it has a full capacity
clip, but they and you use that specifically
for titans But i'm saying like you can have more
than two titans on the on the map. I've seen
up to like six Going at each other everyone in
the game Yeah, technically everyone can get a
titan if they want and the other thing is that
the matches are actually only six versus six
Yeah, um with everything else in the map being
ai and the ai cannot get in titans So really
you can only ever have 12 Titans on the map at
once And they can't do they can't do all the
fancy running and jumping either I think from
what I've been able to see they only do they
only control They help you defend the hard points
that you're trying to capture. Yeah But other
than that, they're just like fodder. It just
it seems like the max like It seems like this
is a futuristic Call of Duty game. I think we'll
throw max in it. I well, here's the problem I
think this is the game. This is the game that
they wanted to make instead of like Modern Warfare
3. And when Activision said no, that's one of
the reasons they probably left. Like I think
this is what Call of Duty would have been if
Infinity Ward had been given carte blanche the
way they wanted. But I it doesn't see it should
it seem it should be a completely different part
of combat you have to master and the Combination
of you being able to run in gun and jump in a
mech not Fuck it seemed like you could completely
not use max. Yeah, and be completely fine in
that game Yeah, cuz you know why it's a mech
game. It's not You can skirt around the mechs
and in buildings the mechs can't get in buildings.
They can shoot in the windows It's not battlefield
for they can't bring down the buildings. Yeah,
they could but yeah, you can literally shoot
through the windows There's open windows everywhere
and there's also things to hide behind Anyways,
the the videos that they that are out right now
on YouTube Not only are they compressed but the
that's from the alpha build that was sent out
just to test server load and all the textures
were compressed down to 25 % of what the actual
oh, yeah I was just saying anyone that goes gonna
say it still looked yeah Oh man, I have and I
know I've said this before I still have that
that uncompressed Titanfall video which is Mind
-blowing I watch it every once in a while just
to remind myself why I'm looking forward to the
game Right after what rewatches Roadhouse and
then he fumbles himself. So anyways, yeah, I
have I have one in the corner I have an Xbox
one in the house and Sean's you and I were talking
about the the controller a little bit before
Joe and Dan. Nice controller. I finally got a
hold of it. Toys R Us has one. See, that's interesting.
Sean Z doesn't like it. It's the opposite thing.
The joysticks are too high. It's not as comfortable
as the Xbox 360 controller. And I love that texture
around the joysticks. And I love that you can
hit the bumpers by rocking your knuckle upward.
You don't actually even need to touch the button.
That's nice. See, I always move my finger. I
like the triggers. They're like muted. Yeah,
they don't they're like they there's almost like
a pet of felt on the inside of them So they don't
like slam into the back. It's really telling
him I don't I don't know if it was just the size
of it or just the texture of the actual part
back where your fingers are touching I just did
not like it. It did not think it was comfortable.
I Honestly haven't been able to use it for any
length of time I do know that Ali, you know,
she was a big Xbox person until we got a PlayStation
4 for but I do know that she picked up the Xbox
One controller and immediately said she preferred
the PlayStation 4 controller. So apparently she's
doing something right. Well, well, I think that
Sony it's a new controller for Sony obviously
But it's not crazy different and the new Xbox
one doesn't look different as different But it
just does not feel it's just like I'm holding
my Xbox control right now. It feels comfortable
I could hold this in my hands for hours and it
wouldn't bother me I have a feeling that I'm
gonna have to take breaks playing my call or
playing On one of those controllers just cuz
it my hands won't feel very comfortable Yeah,
I can You know, I have to wait and see until
I can actually play something and use the controller.
The Kinect works a lot better. The voice commands
for the Kinect work. Well, the Kinect 2 .0. Yeah.
Well, I was hoping because that's happening now.
Are you leaving the Kinect plug in all the time?
So is it listening to you right now? Yeah. I
mean, I could open up my I can open up the door
right here and say Xbox on and it'll turn on.
I think it's Xbox turn on. I don't know. That
still weirds me out. There are things there are
a couple things that I'm I'm I still really prefer
everything about the PlayStation 4 Just because
I feel like they're their UI isn't as cluttered
as the You'll have to do the real test is play
a game on each system. That's the same game.
You know well I can I will certainly Actually,
no, I'm not gonna buy two copies of the same
game. That's dumb No, I'm saying just like get
borrowing from someone. I could do that But the
two things that I don't really care for about
it right off the bat are they touted that HDMI
pass -through so they could dominate your input
one and you can hook up your cable box or something
else to run through the Xbox One to pass through
it to your TV. The people who own Xbox Ones that
I know just love that thing, love that feature.
I don't because the Xbox One has to be on in
order for it to work. That's what I always thought
was dumb. It's like are you it's like here? Let
me plug it in this box that also has to be turned
on because I I was I thought I would be smart
and To save on HDMI inputs. I thought I'd be
smart and run my PlayStation 4 through my Xbox
one She's turned both systems on a player exactly.
It's perfectly doable, but the Xbox one has to
be turned on and I didn't I That's dumb. See,
I could just imagine you're playing your PlayStation,
but like someone was like, you wanna play Xbox?
Like, no, I don't play Xbox. Xbox is barely even
on, and then just like, boop, just turns her
like, the Xbox is off, and then it just shuts
off your PlayStation. It was really weird to
be looking at the... freaked Ali out because
I had it all set up and I had I loaded up the
PlayStation 4 and she could see the UI on there
and then I went Xbox and of course the Xbox overlay
for the voice commands pops up and she was like
So I immediately unhooked it and and moved everything
back around basically I had to forfeit my standalone
blu -ray player Which I now have three blu -ray
players hooked up to my TV. So it doesn't really
matter But I had to forfeit my stand -alone.
At least you're not overdoing it. I had to forfeit
my stand -alone Blu -ray player for now. What's
the benefit of even having that at this point?
But if anyone has any questions out there, any
of the listeners, I know some people did back
when we were talking about getting one or the
other. I now have one in the house. So if you
guys have any questions, feel free to submit
them in the comments. And if I can, I will answer
them. I actually have one question for it. What's
how much heat does that thing give off um? Almost
none, and it is quiet. I mean like have you like
played it for any? Extended period of time not
like just Netflix, but actually play a game on
it. Yeah, here's the problem. I'm not gonna watch
Netflix on an Xbox That's just dumb. I know I
know I'm just I'm just saying is that like that
thing concerns me I bet thing could probably
pump out so much heat I think you played it for
a while first of all the size of it I don't know
how many of you guys have actually seen one like
up close in an entertainment center like no I've
just seen it's not in a display It's big It is
big and it is heavy like and it's oh, it's like
half the size of your receiver dinner And I actually
place it on top of my receiver which my receiver
has puts off considerable amount of heat And
I would have you're resting your Xbox on top
of a heater I am I am I'm putting and they weren't
lying some carpet in between them to that they
were isolated They weren't lying that thing is
all vents All vents except for where the CD Drive
is where you insert the desk the rest of it is
a giant vent Yeah, well, I think they could not
afford another red ring and no they couldn't
heat issue the other that would break that The
other thing that I don't really care for about
it is just there's a small little like fit and
finish stuff that someone like it drives someone
like me crazy like I noticed it right away um
and the kind of kind of same the same thing happens
on their windows phones um there's you know you
have the xbox logo that lights up when it's on
and they have the same logo on the connect it
it lights up when the connect is on there is
one led behind both of those icons and it's like
bright white in the middle And then tapers off
like you can see the bulb behind the plastic
Oh, it's it's just it's so close to the plastic
behind it that you can actually make out the
bulb Yeah, and it's it that kind of stuff just
drives me nuts It's like you couldn't have set
it far enough back or put like a diffuser in
front of it So that it gives it even light to
make this thing look like Like you spent five
hundred dollars on it That said I think I know
why the damn thing cost five hundred dollars
Every stupid piece of cardboard in the box is
stamped with Xbox one So every piece of Everything
every stuff all the stuff you take out and throw
away with the box has Xbox one stamped on it
Why Yeah, I know it's like what was this again
Xbox even even the freaking I bought one of those
rechargeable I bought one of the playing charge
kits today, so I would never have to buy batteries
for it again That stupid thing even has the Xbox
one logo like embossed on the cardboard inside
of it So so we're guessing probably all first
-party accessories Yeah, but it's like so what
is why would you do that? And all they all have
um they all shipped with proprietary cables and
stuff well not proprietary cables, but like the
HDMI cable is stamped with the Xbox logo and
Like all of any cable that comes with it is stamped
with an Xbox logo. It's Wow Okay, thank you for
making me pay for all of that You're welcome
But I just, now all of a sudden I know why it
costs so much. It's not the Kinect, it's their
logo. You're paying for the logo on everything.
The power cord is way shorter than the 360's
power cord. The length, I mean the actual physical
length. It's actually short to the point that,
you know the cable that runs from the wall that
plugs into the power brick? Yes. I'm using my
360 cable because the... Always interchangeable.
It's the same. It's the same cable, but the connector
to the Xbox is slightly different slightly different
mind you like millimeters different Also, I'm
assuming it has a power brick it does and it's
also smaller than the slims power brick. Oh,
that's nice. So I was gonna say cuz that's The
thing that's I like the power bricks actually
taking that out of the system and moving it away
Why I was because that just makes it sound heat
of the actual thing itself because so many problems
with that on Xbox's it is a problem But I don't
know I Right now. I'm I'm enjoying it. I know
my wife is using the connect stuff. She's playing
the The free Xbox fitness stuff that comes when
you have a gold membership for the Xbox one She's
been using that for the last week. She's been
enjoying that because she gets achievements for
doing all that stuff You do get a month free
when you buy that thing, right? Actually, it's
I think that it's $20 off Whatever one you choose
to buy Like I think I think a month might come
in the box, but I think if you buy a subscription
They gave you $20 off. So what happened is I
woke up on Sunday, and I was checking my Twitter
feed before I got out of bed, and they were like,
Best Buy had Xbox Live Gold 12 months on sale
for $40. And in my head, I'm thinking, well,
maybe that's a sign. Well, Ali and I went out
to try and get Tomb Raider, and that's when we
all of a sudden had the epiphany that maybe we
should just grab an Xbox, and I all of a sudden
remembered that they had the $40 cards. Well,
apparently when you buy an Xbox One, you get
$20 off a year of Xbox Live, so we ended up getting
it for $20. Which worked out nicely. But what's
really weird is, you're supposed to be able to,
instead of having to put in the stupid long ass
redemption codes, you're supposed to be able
to put it in front of the camera. But that only
works with QR codes, and there's just a standard
barcode on the back of all the Xbox... point
cards and stuff like that i don't know where
you would like i went to i went to gamestop today
to reserve titanfall because their their pre
-order bonus is getting access to the titanfall
beta and i i went up there and while i was waiting
for my turn in line because there's only one
employee in the store which whatever Was looking
through all of the Xbox like gift cards and like
the the live subscription memberships and the
point cards and everything and There was not
a QR code to be found. So I don't know how to
make it work But yeah, you're supposed to be
able to do that But anyways, if anyone's got
any questions They can feel free to ask them
in the comments Real quick we'll do this and
then we'll wrap up Caleb Browning asks us, and
maybe we can fill Sean Zin on this when he comes
back, a random question for all of you. My friends
and I were thinking of video games that were
de facto video games for certain movies, like
not officially, but they play that way. Streets
of Rage could easily be easily be morphed into
a game for the Warriors Dead Rising is similar
to Dawn of the Dead among others Was curious
if you guys had any of those video games that
strongly remind you That are similar to movies
I would Not necessarily movies, but I think we
could Dan and I could at least say that black
flag is reminiscent of black sails Yeah, I could
say that I'd say Watch Dogs. Granted, having
not played any of Watch Dogs, obviously Watch
Dogs gives me similar vibes to CBS's Person of
Interest. Maybe even... What was that? Eagle
Eye? The Charlotte Buff movie from a couple years
ago? Yeah. Or Enemy of the State, even. To a
certain degree I'm just saying like visually
like the idea the concept of the game. So I was
gonna say that lollipop chainsaw Reminds me a
ton of Buffy the vampire slayer. I love lollipop
chainsaw. Yes It's good, isn't it? It is really
good. I like Michael Rosenbaum Who doesn't he's
great as the talking head so Shazie we're talking
about games that remind us of movies, but aren't
specifically based off of those movies Okay,
like Dead Rising ie Yeah, but I mean that you
can almost say it that was yeah, that's what
they said Well reason more recently I mean pretty
much all of the Call of Duty games remind of
Oh my god, what's the name of that movie that
just came out? Not too long ago. It was All Navy
Seals. Help me out here. Oh, um... Zero Dark
Thirty? Yes. No. No, not Zero Dark Thirty. No,
the, uh... Lone Survivor? God, I cannot think
of that. Are you talking about Lone Survivor?
No. No, this came out a few years ago. Oh. Expendables.
Not expensive I Really love those movies. I love
the Expendables movies I love them and I love
like not to get off topic and I love when people
come to me It's like the stories in those moves
are so stupid I'm like you're dumb if you go
to see an Expendables moves for the story I made
it for the acting minutes into the first movie
and I was like, nope can't do this Actually,
you know what try watching them drunk If you
can't get if you this story if the story is Too
unbearable for you get drunk those movies become
awesome. I'll probably have to yeah, I have a
fan of anybody who tears A genre apart. I love
I love it when they're making fun of a genre
or if they love the genre So much and then they
make a kind of a tribute film to it So I you
know, I don't have to like 80s action films to
love the fact that The people making that film
Stallone and everybody else love those 80s action
films. It's like yes, please more keep doing
it. That's great I'll go every time All right,
so anyways back to the question. Yeah, sorry
i'm looking at i'm looking at my old I can't
there's there's got to be something over there
that starfox reminds me of top gun Yeah, I'm
gonna buzz the tower with my hover tank I Just
actually you know what I didn't really play this
game, but resistance fall of man kind of reminded
me of What is it battlefield at Los Angeles or
battle la or yeah battle la yeah, I don't know
but that Reminded me that when I started watching
the movie, I never really played that much. I
was speaking that game I was kind of like what
speaking in movies that remind me of games Neil
Blomkamp who did Elysium and District 9 He was
the guy that was the runner -up to do the halo
movie. Yeah, and I don't know if you guys have
noticed this news, but those movies are full
of Leftover props from when he was getting ready
to make halo He's actually going to do I think
he's doing the pilot for the halo miniseries
that's coming to the Xbox one So he's actually
finally gonna get a shot at making a halo thing
instead of making things that look like halo
so Anyways Active valor fucking active valor
that was the only active valor you never seen
active valor. No, it's so good So good because
of the fact that I don't know what it is. I'm
gonna go with you're a liar um The movie is basically
like a like a video game plot It's like oh my
god this you take you know this thing's gonna
happen We have to stop it and all of the people
playing Navy SEALs are actual Navy SEALs. Oh,
I remember that Yeah, I love that movie. You
know what I thought was the entire time. I was
watching it Olympus has fallen For some reason
I was watching that and I was like this would
be a good Splinter Cell movie Yes, I could I
was just gonna say that when you're saying I'm
like, yes Oh, I remember GoldenEye reminds me
a lot of GoldenEye You must have been really
drunk cuz those two were real different because
I don't remember once once Pierce Brosnan taking
a bullet and going Yeah, I totally missed the
paintball mode in the movie. Has anyone tried
playing that recently? No, God, no. I don't want
to ruin it for a minute. Five minutes I can have
it hooked up over here. I think we should try
playing that sometime. I totally want to do some
video capture stuff. I have, I have some hardware.
I think it can do s -video in if you can find
a way to do that. I'm sure there's a hookup on
that graphics card over there. Well, no, we wouldn't
be using that never mind, but I'm sure you can
figure something out. So. Anything else, guys?
Come on. I knew I should have. Mario Kart reminds
me of the Fast and the Furious movie. I really
love the part when Vin Diesel shoots the blue
shell. That's how every movie ends. I'm trying
to think, really. I love how City of Heroes is
like every single Marvel movie ever released.
There's an overgeneralization. Yeah. I like how
Arkham Asylum isn't at all like the Batman movies.
Nope. Is it good? Yep. I don't know. Well, this
is not as lively as I thought it would be well
you okay. I can't think of anything I'm looking
at these I'm thinking games that I've played
and what you know what they remind me of and
it's like Okay, how about movies that remind
you of video games? Okay need for the need for
speed movie or was gonna remind me of need for
speed I'm certain I really want to punch you
And I'm certain it's not because a need for speed
has never had a story House of the Dead reminds
me a lot of House of the Dead. All right. We're
done. No, we're not done. Yep. We're wrapping
this up. No, no. Yep. The Resident Evil movie
can never actually don't remind. Don't you even
say it. No, I wasn't even. No, I was going to
say they remind me like because recently they've
been trying they've been trying to turn the movies
into the video games have been bringing a lot
of the characters like Kennedy and Chris. What
redfield and claire and all those people have
been trying to they've been it seems like they
were trying to make that Seem like the video
games like the last they're trying to make turn
the last like three video games And bring all
as many of those characters in as they can. Let's
give this zombie a freaking Chainsaw and a bag
over its head like that's what's really sad I
would buy a resident evil game that had alice
in it as the main character Because I can Alice
as a care as in the movies. I think she makes
an awesome video game character. I Don't know
All right, here's another addendum to that to
that question who What movie would you like to
see a video game? That's not a video game adaptation
What like what does it have to be a movie can
it be TV? No, what what what what movie would
make a good video game? They haven't made your
flaw. I think that's called faster than light
Now that's really there is ninety nine point
nine percent less sarcasticness Not when you
name people after people you know That's a rockstar
game waiting to happen dinner yeah, I know um
I oh you know what I got actually have a good
one um Red Dead Redemption reminds me of all
those great old Clint Eastwood movies. All those
great old, you know, Clint Eastwood. The Good,
the Bad, and the Ugly. The Good, the Bad, and
the Ugly. You don't say. Yes, I know. I'm high.
Shot. Just full of dollars. A mule. Was it two?
Is it a mule for Sister Sarah? Two mules for
Sister Sarah? I can't remember the name of that
one. Anyways, if you want to comment on anything
that we've talked about in this episode. You
can get with us with us and you can comment on
our parent site at geekcastradio .com or you
can send emails to us at feedback at geekcastradio
.com friendly reminder Next week next episode
episode 45. We will be doing the game of the
year episode So you have one week left to submit
your nominees The rules are in the episode post
Okay, now go over this. I'm not gonna go back
and read the rules, but why can't I go back and
read the rules? You can't just why can't I do
injustice? Because you can do injustice just
like number one and don't make it number one.
All right, it can be that or Saints Row 4 I'll
take Saints Row 4 over why what is the hate with
that game? Just, I don't think Injustice is good
enough to be anybody's number one game of the
year. But if it was the only game they played
this year... If it was the only game you played,
okay, I understand that, but... I think we just
alienated some of our listeners. I'm sorry, it's
a fighting game. I like comic books and fighting
games. However, if you are going to Submitted
List, please try to submit five, otherwise you
screw up the numbering. Or the scoring. Yeah,
you have to submit five. Please, please, please
try and submit five. So if you only have four...
You were required to put Saints Row 4 in your
fifth one. No. Yes. Yes. Saints Row 4 equals
negative points on all this. So what you're saying
is if I put I can submit 10 games as long as
five of them are Saints Row 4. OK. All right.
You can find myself, Michael Powers on Twitter.
I guess you can find me now on Xbox Live as well,
since I have that for another year and the PlayStation
Network at Booth Ninja 81. You can find me on
Twitter at our dinner or on PlayStation Network
at x51 the machine man Shunzi I've been Shunzi,
but you could find me on Twitter at at Shunzi
Brown. You're probably not gonna you can find
me on Xbox live at weapon 87 If you're gonna
if you're gonna if you're gonna follow me on
Twitter hashtag On Facebook, I geek stuff, garage
sale. Do it. Apparently you got to buy some.
What kind of cards are they? Oh, my Marvel cards.
I have two sets. Two sets. You don't have to.
You have to. Good. No, you should. All right.
So that does it for off the cuff episode 44.
Next week, we've got the game of the year stuff.
So I'll be come back for that. And I know Daner's
been itching to talk about comics. I thought
I'd let him do that. Infinitely more dick jokes.
So you know what? We'll take a break and when
we come back, Daner will be here. OK, I was going
to say we could just sit here in awkward silence
for like four minutes. Daner, I'll put a break
there. He's trying. He's trying to zip up after
pooping with one hand. Give him a few. OK, it's
difficult. That's going to suck having to wipe
with the left. Hey. Wait a second. We took we
took a break. We were going to we're going to
veer away from comics. So it doesn't turn into
an episode of pulled egg, but with more dick
jokes. See, I had to repeat it so he would hear
it. All right. You back then. Give me a second
breath. OK. Noelle left her blanket out in the
van and all I hear is her crying in the bathroom.
So I ran out and got it real quick so she would
go to bed.
No chapter markers for this episode.



