Half-Life projects, Comic-Con program guide, Playstation Factory & Esports Mental Toughness

First, Dev-i-boy found a list of Valve games that never came out. These games were created in the dark times before Half Life: Alyx was announced, and include some interesting looks at what Half Life 3 could have been.

You can't go to Comic-Con this year, but you can watch it online. There's a great program with tons of shows including comics, television and gaming news. It's also probably the most accessible Comic-Con ever, since you don't need to leave your house and the shows are free.

First the robots came for the car factory jobs, and I said nothing. Then they came for the Playstation 4 assembly jobs, and I said "Cool, that's some nice tech". Sony has almost fully automated their assembly line and only use four people on the ends of a single assembly line that makes one console every 30 seconds. It's awesome.

Esports are stressful, and high skill players show the same signs of stress as their analogue counterparts. This doesn't surprise the Nerds at all, but it's an interesting study.

This week, Professor played a chaotic real time dice rolling game, DJ kept the peace in Agents of Mayhem and Dev-i-boy got distracted by job applications. Wish him luck.

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Pokemon Snap, Apple Lootboxes, Super Collider & Cyberpunk 2077 featuring Stephen from Sigmate Studios & Comics2movies

This week, Deviboy returns from his exile, and Stephen from Comics2Movies and XCT joins us to discuss a new comic.

Devi brings news from the far off land of Nintendo. It's time to get your cameras out for the New Pokemon Snap. Apart from Nintendo's hopeless naming, it's shaping up to be an expanded photography game for the new generation. We all hope they fit in the fun easter eggs and interactions.

Oh no, Loot Boxes! Apple are being taken to court for exploiting children via the App Store. We think we've got a solution to the problem too, so be ready to send us your opinions on the system.

Supercollider? I hardly know her! CERN are designing a 100km collider almost 4 times the size of the Large Hadron Collider. The LHC failed to open a portal to hell and lead to a demon invasion, but maybe the Future Circular Collider will. Somebody get Doomguy on speed dial.

Cyberpunk 2077 is delayed again, but to tide us over until the release a comic series titled Trauma Team. This also gives it the accidental honour of being the first piece of Cyberpunk 2077 to release. Until then, keep working to create a hyper corporate dystopia so we can all live out our Cyberpunk fantasies.

In gaming, Professor went up against space card sharks in Star Realms, Deviboy relived his childhood in Raze 2 and Stephen fell in love with Hearthstone.

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Bionic Eye, Miquela & Manchester United

Congratulations SpaceX for their sucessful manned Crew Dragon mission to the ISS.

Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. It's not as great as Steve Austin's bionic eye from the Six Million Dollar Man, but it's pretty cool. Scientists have made a bionic eyeball inspired by the actual working of the human eye. This cool tech isn't ready to go in a human head yet, but when it is we can only hope it's cheaper than Steve's eye.

Robots are here, and they're coming for your jobs. Now even actors don't have job security. Miquela is a CGI replacement for advertising models is now leaving Instagram and breaking into acting. Which raises a concerning question. How long until they replace the podcasters?

Football manager is one of the most popular management simulators. Recently they've come under fire from Manchester United for copyright issues. Despite letting it slide for almost 30 years, Man U have decided it's time to sue.

This week in gaming DJ jumps at shadows in Alan Wake and Professor goes full Groundhog Day in Into the Breach.

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Space Movie, Space Cement & PokeCoin

Nanoo Nanoo.

Ryan Gosling is going back to space for Andy Weir's next book, which isn't even out yet but is already casting actors. This one has a working title of Project Hail Mary and features a lone scientist on a spaceship trying to save the world. Slightly higher stakes than The Martian, but Andy's books are always great.

Astronauts are also going to use pee to build houses on the moon. Let's hope NASA has a large surplus of air fresheners to send up with them, because this cement is probably the most useful way to use human waste on the moon, but it's going to smell.

Back on Earth, Niantic are trying to deflate the Pokecoin economy by severely lowering the minimum wage. Nobody seems to be happy with this, but Australia is just the test site, so it's coming to a phone near you soon.

This week Professor took a trip to a far away planet to care for slimes, and DJ found out what happens when you swim with the cardsharks.

Check in next week for probably less pee jokes. Probably.

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Virtual meetings, Wonder Woman, WarriOrb & Autism Studies

Welcome, to the World of TOMOROOOW!

What does listening to a podcast have to do with listening to your boss? Science is now showing benefits to virtual meetings. Which means one day, even your boss might be replaced by a voice over the wire. This still doesn't mean you can get out of wearing pants.

Wonder Woman's director thinks DC shouldn't follow the tried and true MCU formula. Sure, it worked for them, but can it be pulled off twice? Let us know if you have a good argument for there being room for two comic cinematic universes.

WarriOrb is a new game that's just been released on Steam. But following a highly popular demo, WarriOrb's initial sales have been disappointingly low. The devs have posted their own analysis on Reddit, and they're understandably confused.

Wrapping up, we have a discussion about scientific studies involving Autistic people.

We played Crysis and Legends of Runeterra this week. Professor's computer didn't melt playing Crysis, and DJ isn't any better at counting cards.

Wait around to hear from us next week with another great episode.

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Indiana Jones, Youtube, C.O.D Humvee & Lizard Eggs

This week the Nerds invited Dev-i-Boy on again. He'll be joining us for the next while.

First up is a discussion about Indiana Jones 5. Can Indy swing himself back into relevance for a new generation? Not if COVID-19 has anything to say about it. Indiana Jones 5 has been pushed back again due to the pandemic. The Nerds are hoping Actual Cannibal Shia LaBeouf doesn't make another appearance as Indy's son, but we'd be ok with him appearing as a cannibal tribesman. This of course leads into a discussion on Disney's other properties, including the notorious Pirates of the Caribbean and Jungle Cruise. This looks like a rough year for Disney.

Dev-i-Boy has heard that Russians are behind everyone's favourite YouTube channel, Five Minute Crafts. In a story reminiscent of bad Cold War fiction, Russian propaganda is slipped into innocuous seeming YouTube videos. Now we just need a team of teenagers to sneak into the secret Russian video studio lab and uncover their plot.

Activision has pulled off a major win in court against the maker of the Humvee. Modern warfare needs modern weapons, and the US courts have ruled in favour of realism over licensing fees.

Finally, DJ and Dev-i-Boy can't handle the knowledge. An Australian lizard joins the tiny group of reptiles that both lay eggs and give live birth. This revelation is too much for them to handle though, so we move on to the games of the week.

Professor and DJ play Generation Zero, a game about Swedish battle mechs and robot dogs that want to kill you. It's buggy, but generally a good experience. Dev-i played LoZ: Wind Waker again but breaks into a new dimension in VR Chat. Of course, he picked an anime girl avatar. Of course.

On to the usual shoutouts and remembrances, and DJ refuses to wrap up the show by performing Waterloo. Maybe next week.

Stay safe, and we'll see you all next week.

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Two Years On - We Are Still Here - Greening, Dune & E.A.

Happy birthday to us, happy birthday to us, yep it is our 2nd birthday episode. We wish to say thank you to everyone who listens to us. We really appreciate all the support and encouragement we have received. It has been an amazing experience that we have all enjoyed on the Nerds team. Well, here is to another year of Nerdity and fun, we hope you enjoy everything as we continue to look for those items we enjoy learning about and discussing.

            First up this week Buck brings us news that Global Warming is being slowed by a phenomenon known as Global Greening. Apparently all the carbon emissions have provided a positive impact for the trees and plants. Now, this is only a small impact and not enough to celebrate with street parties, but still it is some good news. So with this news coming to light and in the wake of the recent bushfires in Australia it might be a good idea to plant some trees or bushes to help the environment. If nothing else it will give the computers and consoles a break for an hour or two.

            Next up DJ has the first reactions to the new Dune movie, and it is looking promising. Of course Professor and Buck being the fans they are have some reservations, but are excited to see the latest offering when it is released. There is the usual discussion about who might be the best option for director, what were the failures in the previous movies; and what were the successes from them as well. But hopefully one day an offering will be presented that is worthy of Frank Herbert’s legendary work. DJ continues with a discussion on the impact of the Coronavirus on the Chinese film industry. There have been major disruptions in the Chinese economy and a large section of the industry is on hold while China tries to combat this epidemic. We discuss the broad effects of this, but we wish everyone well and hope that this is contained and treated soon.

            Professor has a list of 14 new games that are planned to be released this next fiscal year by EA. We have a look at the offerings and discuss what we think is the most exciting or interesting of these releases. Now it might interest you to know that what we found as the most interesting games to look forward to. We will tell you, to find out listen in and learn what are the games being released that Professor is most interested to see. Also what game Buck thinks should move across to the EA studio catalogue; and what he thinks is an approach to the new Battlefield game if the crew behind Star Citizen were involved.

            As usual we have the Shout outs, Remembrances, Birthdays, and Events of Interest for the week. We invite you to check out MySongsSuck, with our man Alex Smith. Also there is there offering of The Story Chunder, which is sure to delight some and perchance disgust others. As always remember to take care of yourselves, look out for each other, and stay hydrated.

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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Special Episode (does contain spoilers)

So, one of the hottest movies at the box office at the moment is the latest in the Star Wars series, we felt this movie deserved a special episode to discuss what is happening. We asked Luke from Sons of Obiwan Lightsaber Academy to join us as he is one of the biggest Star Wars Nerds we know. So will say right at the outset that there will be spoilers in this if you haven’t seen the movie yet, but if you have taken this long to go see it then get out there and watch it.

                Now this might be a little different from other movie reviews/ discussions out there as we look at the evolution of different aspects of the series and also the arts of fighting in movies and special effects etc. Now we will advise that Buck and Luke are both super Nerds of the Star Wars universe and grew up watching these movies, read books (although Luke has read more than Buck, yep, someone has out read Buck on a topic) and just lived the life of a fan for decades.

                We discuss the highs and lows of this movie, what made us stop and wonder what the heck is happening. We also at the impact of other movies and stories have had on Star Wars. We discuss the language of fighting styles and the confused start to the final evolution of the current form of dance and prose employed in the Rise of Skywalker. Want to know what this means then listen in and try to keep up with the discussion. This is a truly fan favourite discussion of the material you won’t want to miss.

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2019 Year Review

So, we come to the end of another calendar year, wow, thank you for all the support and listening to us each week as we look at topics we feel deserve more attention. Now this episode we are doing a year in review and discuss what some of our favourites were, what we felt were some of the highlights and what was just downright funny. So strap in as we look back on a year full of robots, space travel, recycling, and the energetic joy of Katie Bouman, and that is just the start. We also go for a ride looking at the movies and tv series that have made us laugh, cry, scream, and sit in awe throughout the year. We discuss the controversy of crazy violence and insanity in movies such as Rambo – Last Blood. Yep some one has claimed it is… Nope you will need to listen in to know what is happening. Also we look at the year in games and take stock of what has happened. We laugh at some of it, get annoyed at some, and shake our heads in bewilderment at others. We recap what has been some of the most exciting and stand out moments for us this year in terms of topics. We also include some special shout outs, remembrances, birthdays, and events for the end of the year. So as the year draws to a close and the dawn of a new one creeps over the horizon we once more ask you to take care of yourselves, look out for each other, and stay hydrated.

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Loneliness, Sweating & Ben Affleck

Welcome everyone to another episode of Nerds Amalgamated, we would like to take a moment and congratulate all those who are graduating university, school, or just having an excellent week. “The pursuit of knowledge is never ending. The day you stop seeking knowledge is the day you stop growing. Brandon Travis Ciaccio.” So, no we have set a serious mood let’s look at the first topic, which is that video games are an excellent way to combat loneliness. Also, that video games are helpful for men to combat issues such as social isolation and stress for men in today’s society. That’s right, read that correctly, video games are beneficial to men’s health and should be encouraged. What to know more to help develop those arguments for the girlfriend or boss, listen in and find out what we are talking about.

Next up Buck has decided to bring us a mystery to try and solve. Now who doesn’t love a good puzzle? If like Buck you love sitting down with a crossword, a Sudoku or reading a good detective novel then you will love this. We have a mystery that is 500 hundred years old, has some of the most baffling elements and to top it off has stumped many professional investigators over the years. We are talking about a mass murder that struck fear in the hearts of the population of England. This is a mystery that is guaranteed to get you remembered in history if you solve it. Want to know what Buck has unveiled for us to ponder, listen in and find out.

Now Ben Affleck is not someone who we get excited about, in fact he makes Buck yawn at the mere mention of his name. In fact I just yawned at the thought, crikey why are we talking about him? Well, it appears that he has a movie in the works that is looking kind of good, it is a topic that we hope he does justice to. Now we know that Hollywood has failed to deliver anything great for some time now, but this story has potential. We aren’t going to hold our breathe, and not just because of Benny boy of the sleep inducing performance. The reality is that the story is one that needs to be told with a sensitivity and care that is hard to deliver. This is something the likes of Spielberg should be directing. Want to know what it is we are talking about? You know what to do.

As usual we have the regular shout outs, birthdays, remembrances, and special events. We hope you enjoy this episode and if you want to give us feedback we are always happy to hear from you. Take care of yourselves, look out for each other and stay hydrated.

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Pokémon Crash, Beetles & Fox Movies

Hello and welcome to another illuminating episode of fun and frivolity with those goofballs from Nerds Amalgamated. First up we have a story about how Nintendo are crashing Roku devices. That’s right, Nintendo have an issue with Pokémon Sword and Shield that is causing Roku to crash and shut down. Now if you want to know more you will need to listen in and then you can tell us what you think in our Facebook group if you think Buck is being to grumpy.

Next up we have the start of Jurassic Park with a beetle trapped in amber. That’s right, a real beetle trapped in amber. This one in particular is historical due to a few important factors, such as the age of the beetle. Would you believe it was around almost 100 million years ago? That’s right and it played an important part in the local ecology. Want to know how the listen in for our second story and then tell us what was your favourite part of the Jurassic Park movies?

Last up we have those poor people at Disney having to vault movies to try and increase the value and increase the margins. That’s right, since Disney the evil organization seeing world domination have bought Fox media they have begun to reduce access to Fox movies to create a false scarcity. This is only one of the underhanded things that they are doing, if you want to know more you know what to do. Also let us know what you think about these dirty tricks by Disney in our group.

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Mandalorian, Wormholes & Two Shitties

Welcome back to another fun filled episode from those irascible Nerds we all look forward to each week. Oh, and what a show we have for you all, let me tell you. What, hurry up you say, well then. First up we have DJ giving us an update on the Marvel movies failing to impress and the arguments have continued. This week we have some delusional moron, believe me you will agree that they are a moron when you hear what they have done. Oh right, well this delusional moron says what has got to be the dumbest thing and the biggest lie in history. It sets Buck off like all the fireworks for New Year’s Eve in one go. My goodness, he really tears into this one like nothing before. If you listen in just to hear him rant about some misguided fool then you will love this one, plus you might learn a few new insults.

Next up, after he catches his breathe Buck tells us about how some scientists believe they have figured out how to identify the existence of Wormholes. That’s right we said Wormholes. Those supposed mythical sci-fi tunnels through time and space purportedly linking us to the farthest reaches of the universe? Multiverse? Dimensional gateways? Well who knows, the gravity is more then we can fathom at this time. But it is something to do with that….Ahh, almost had me there. You will have to listen in to hear what and how the physicists think they can determine whether or not a wormhole exists.

Then we move to a legendary tale for inspiration in what we have crappily dubbed “A Tale of Two Shitties!” Sorry, couldn’t resist the sloppy pun, messy though it is, haha, that just plopped out. Anyway, we look at two epically bad mistakes from two different games studios and have a laugh and cry at the stupidity and hubris involved. These tales of woe and calamity are similar but different, and for one we will cheer and hope. The other we will jeer and poke, fun of naturally. Now, since we have you so excited to know this tale of misfortune we invite ye to listen further to the tale in yonder episode.

Finishing off as always with the regular shout outs, remembrances, birthdays, and special events of interest. We also wish to invite you all to come join us at Supanova in Brisbane on Saturday 9th November. We do not have the faintest idea of which table we will be at, other than it is the TNC productions booth. So come along and say hi, join us in our game and meet the goofballs that are the Nerds. As always take care of yourselves, look out for each other and stay hydrated.

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Egyptian, XCloud & Coppola

Hooray, it is episode 90 and all is well. This week we walk like Egyptians, question the cloud, and applaud Francis Coppola. But first up, have you got your tickets for Supanova Brisbane? Not long to go now. We are excited for it and are looking forward to watching all the awesome cosplayers and other amazing antics happening on the Saturday. Stop by and say hi if you are there.

Now first up we have news about the most incredible discovery of Egyptian sarcophagi of this millennium, the best in the last century also. Now, we have to say that it is due to a very sneaky priest who hid them to avoid the thieving grave robbers. So, thank you wise priest with your cunning plan. Because of you these remains are safe and will be protected at the new museum being built at Gaza. There were males, females, and children in these sarcophagi, if you want to know more listen in.

Next up we talk about a cloud. Not the soft fluffy kind you see floating through the sky, no, this is an xcloud. What is an xcloud you ask? It is a cloud that is brought to you by xbox and is intended to support mobile gaming with a cross platform goal in the long term. Sounds awesome right, you will finally be able to see the xbox tribe battle against the Playstation civilisation. Not that I’m biased mind you (Playstation rules). If you want to really get a grasp of the situation the Professor has a lot to say about it. So listen in and see what is happening.

Now, for the movie Nerds we have had Francis Coppola slamming Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy as being kind of boring and pointless. To which James Gunn has taken umbrage, and spoken out claiming all sorts of nonsense. Buck takes great offense and gives a passionate response which is worthy of an Oscar Hall of Fame speech. Truly he seems to struggle to remain calm at times. Truly this could be one of his better grumpy old man moments, especially as it gets Professor to become passionate on the subject. If nothing else this is worthy of a listen.

As normal we have the shout out’s, remembrances, birthdays and special events of interest for the week. Also we would like to say good luck to all those undertaking exams at this time, study hard, and do well. Remember, fear is the mind killer, and stress is a by-product of fear, so relax, just think of the Frodo waking up in Rivendell at the end of the Lord of the Rings. That is the joy when you finish your last exam. Until next week, take care of yourselves, look out for each other, and stay hydrated.

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Valve, Lasers & G.I.Joe with special guest Shaun from Comics2Movies

Well do we have a surprise for you all this week, oh my goodness, you are getting a bumper edition with a special guest appearance. Now if I was nasty I would just leave it at that, but cliffhangers lead to binge watching an entire season normally. So, in a sense of harmonious respect we are only building the tension with this prattle, it is less irritating apparently. Honestly though don’t you just hate it when those jokers asking questions on trivia shows drag it out then go to a commercial break? We’ll be right back after this message….

Okay, so down to business, first up is our special guest Shaun from Comics2Movies fresh back from San Diego Comic-Con… Yep and he has some awesome news for us also. Who did he meet, what did he do, what has he got planned for us? You will need to listen in to find out.

Next up we have the Professor with news about a monumental stuff up due to ambiguity in the terms of a contract from Valve relating to Steam. Yep, due to some over sight or sheer stupidity a detected vulnerability to Steam was ignored and the researchers involved were treated pretty badly. Which let’s face it is kind of the dumbest thing you can do right. But if you would like to know more we have it, and you will laugh at some of the comments involved in this topic. We did.

Then we have Buck with the development of a new process of welding ceramics that has major implications for all kind of endeavors. This process means that the component technologies for everything ranging from pace makers to an endless variety of circuitry can now be ceramic. This is espically awesome, this is another of those ground breaking moments that might slip by unnoticed by some people. But the changes that will result from this in years to come will be immense.

Then we have the DJ to talk about the reboot of G.I.Joe to help cash in further on an already established brand, or is it? That is a question that arises, similar to the recent reboot of Ghost In The Shell: Arise. Like what we did there, cool huh, and no the Professor didn’t write that Segway, honestly. But this is certainly a moment when having to crusty old blokes on the show is interesting. We round out with the usual shout outs, remembrances, birthdays, and events of interest. As always take care of yourselves, look out for each other and stay hydrated.

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