Rod, Karen, Sterling and Brandon discuss listener feedback, entertainment, European Commission approves Activision Xbox merger, CW fall lineup will have no comicbook shoes, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser adventure closing, FDA approves Elon Musk’s brain implant chip, Nintendo gets emulator kicked off Steam, The Flash director won’t replace Ezra Miller in a sequel, Wither 3 sales cross 50 million, Little Mermaid opening weekend, Jon Snow spinoff may not happen, John Wick 5 in early development, PlayStation sells more than Xbox in Europe, Prime video takes a shot at Netflix over password sharing crackdown, Deadpool 3 filming with no writers, Sony’s handheld, FTC charges Amazon with privacy violations, why Redfall didn’t work, IMDB has to adjust ratings due to Little Mermaid review bombing, Rings of Power racism, John Wick fighting scene changed by Keanu, Ariel’s hair cost 150k, Across the Spider-Verse Blu-rays already on sale, new joy-cons and Netflix investors vote against top-level execs.
The Nerd Off: (Protected Content)
What it do Nerd Off Crew?
First off, Rod and Karen, I hope y’all feel better soon.
When “Into The Spiderverse” came out, I realized it was the first animated film in recent memory (with my untrained eyes) that literally brought forth a new animation style to the big screen. Miles’s story and coming into his own as Spiderman was so dope. I’d almost forgotten a new Spiderverse movie was coming. And then I saw “Across The Spiderverse”. My niggas. That movie. Good. God. Damn. If my hairline hadn’t left for cigarettes I’d be trying to grow my hair out like Hobie! That movie was fucking incredible! I’d heard folks voice annoyance at movies casting screen actors instead of voice actors for animated projects but I guess the voice direction was on-point cuz I was so enthralled with the movie I didn’t think, “Oh that’s Shamiek Moore, Issa Rae and Oscar Issacs. Everything looked dope! The story was fantastic! The voice acting was incredible! And we only gotta wait 9 months til the next movie too? What a fucking time to be alive.
Also until someone proves Kevin Fiege ain’t ghost-produce Across the Spiderverse, I ain’t believe Sony somehow got out of their own way to produce something that fucking awesome.
Microsoft said that Sony won the console wars and besides the fact that Sony is running in a race that no one else is running in, have y’all played any games that you probably would not have played if you didn’t live in the future and have GamePass? I already know I wouldn’t have played neither Nier Automata nor Nier Replicant, Unsighted, Donut County, Signalis, Carrion, Katana Zero, Far Cry 4 or Far Cry New Dawn if I didn’t have Game Pass. The Nier games especially cuz I love those incredible yet weird but still incredible ass games.
Starfield gonna have me giving Bethesda my money again like I ain’t want to invoice them for QA work for buying Fallout 76. Damn, this must be what Josh Gordan feels like.
I hope y’all have a wonderful weekend, thanks for the dope shows, I hope y’all feel better soon and are alright.
Peace,
Dough
Hey y’all, boy Gravik’s certainly got the ball rolling by doing the unimaginable in Secret Invasion. For those who haven’t watched it, I’ll just honor nor spoiling it, but he trying to fuck around and join the MCU Hall of Fame of dickhead villains (Thanos, Hela, Mysterio, Loki & yes, you too, Kang). A man with that fade and eyes like Tony Montana conveying jealousy, he’s off to a legendary start.
I wrote a long review of The Flash and I don’t want to rehash that here. I’m just glad it came and went like a $1 part from Dollar Tree. Also, WB is trying to sell some of its merchandise to third-party companies to get rid of debt. I mean, considering that The Flash, Magic Mike’s Last Dance & the burnt ashes of Shazam 2 & Black Adam have put a dent into the studio, I don’t think selling Casablanca & Batman ’89 merchandise can fix your wayward problems.
Like that nigga in Swingers said, “This Place is Dead Anyway”. RIP, Snyderverse (I’m saying this in advance to Aquaman 2, as well)
Rod, I’m truly sorry you got COVID. Hope you’re feeling better and are getting plenty of rest.
Have a good weekend.
Hi y’all, Felix here. Really enjoyed the recent episode, was excited to see Brandon on for the first time, I love medium popcorn so enjoyed the crossover. Ok gonna try and be brief this time I swear, first off I hope rod also had a chance to read that new Black Panther #1. Eve started off strong for me. The dialogue is already leagues better than Ridley and she’s doing that thing I loved in the coates run and showing the perspectives of people in other wakandan cities, staying heavy on the politics and showing the impact of previous shenanigans on Tchalla as a character. I did not read the last like 7 or 8 issues of the Ridley run, I watched short YouTube recaps and even then I hated it bruh. I’m so happy we’re back to something solid and that doesn’t feel like it’s ignoring everything that happened before. In the issue itself she even quickly recaps the important stuff without gettin in the weeds you need to know about why Tchalla is where he is. I’m excited to see where it goes from now and happy with the connections the new characters have to previous runs.
Next off, now that the black Clover movie is out I hope y’all have fun with it. I watched it with my family when it came out and they didn’t understand a thing that happened but enjoyed the fighting. Even having worked on it I didn’t realise the movie would be like 80% action. The staff really pulled through to make this happen and I was happy to be a small part of it alongside a buncha my homies. Might be biased but I give it a 9/10 haha.
Lastly, having watched the netflix tudum event for the Three Body Problem trailer I am extremely curious as to what you guys thought about it. I’m on the last chapter of the last book in the series and I truly do not think they have the money to adapt even half that 3rd book. I’m so interested to see what people who have no idea what’s happening think about it.
The trailer already shows characters from the 3rd book who aren’t in book 1 so it’ll be interesting to see how they mix it up. My only problem is, and I can’t believe I’m saying this but why are there black and white people as main characters? The book is about a Chinese scientist and cop buddy mystery and it’s set in china with Chinese villains and side characters. The only non Chinese in the books is the secondary villain and military officials on screens. Im glad the cop is being played by Benedict Wong my goat!! but it looks like they split the other main character into 5 characters of different races so I’ll be interested to see what the rationale for this is by Dan and Dave and if it works out. As a non American I always sideeye when they have to add an American perspective when adapting foreign material so I’m not happy but it’s still my favourite sci-fi books so I will be watching. Looking forward to the episode, love y’all Felix out.
G’Day everybody,
I’m glad the new transformers went more the way of Bumblebee then Michael bay. I like when the bad guys don’t look like scrap metal held together with magnets & actually look like robots
& that across the spider-verse was great. Can’t wait for the next one.
I finished that Potion Permit game which I enjoyed & also knocked off that homestead arcana. Like Karen said, the instructions/guide isn’t the best.
I also went to one of our nerd cons last week & met Kevin Eastman who signed my Raphael TMNT 1990 movie figure.
But the highlight for me was meeting the guy who voices Tigger, Winnie The Pooh & Hondo. I’ve loved Winnie The Pooh since I was a kid & getting a photo with him & some stuff signed was great . But when he spoke in Poohs voice I inhaled & felt so happy & like a little kid. I told him I’m so happy right now as I thanked him for his time lol
Cheers
Wonga
Greetings Nerd Off Crew,
This may be discussed on TNO 198 but I’m curious about Rod and Karen’s experience attending a screening of the Xbox Showcase/Starfield Direct. As I was sitting on my couch getting hyped for Fable off rip, Avowed, South of Midnight, and Clockwork Revolution, I started to regret not going to the Boston screening of the event. I’m sure the energy was electric in the theater because it was in my living room.
But nigga, DAT STARFIELD. I know Bethesda games are not completely universally loved and I think that’s true for some of the rotating cast of TNO crew but Y’ALL if this didn’t do it for ya NOTHING will. They spent forty-five minutes giving an overview of all the systems in the game in a beautiful presentation. Hyped is not even the word. The showcase convinced my girlfriend to upgrade to a Series S and her brother-in-law to get an Xbox. I already have GamePass but I had to cop the deluxe version so I can play 5 days early on that long Labor Day weekend.
Even if you are not excited for Starfield, 2023 has been amazing for gaming so far. We’ve had the Dead Space and RE4 Remakes, Jedi Survivor, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Diablo 4, and FF16 just releasing. I’d even add Hi-Fi Rush as a sleeper pick. We still have Spider-Man 2, Forza Motorsport, and some other notable titles coming. Every type of gamer is able to eat well this year.
What has been everyone’s personal GOTY so far? What does everyone think will end up as their personal GOTY?
Thanks for the show everyone. I always am excited to listen to a new TNO.
Peace,
SheetRock
P.S.
I think Marvel’s Midnight Suns is a fun game for anyone who is a fan of Marvel.
Think Persona (relationship building) and Marvel SNAP (deck building). It’s on sale often and it’s on all consoles (last gen and current).
Salutations Karen, Rod and esteemed guests! Regarding The Continental:From the World of John Wick TV series and Mel Gibson; quite right, no one gets cancelled. I’d read in print way back when about all that crazy stuff Mel Gibson was saying to his ex girlfriend and mother of his child, and the phrase associated with it (and all y’all know what it is) was enough to give me pause, but that was NOTHING compared to the actual audio tape! Wow!! Utterly ridiculous and unhinged! Did the people who were trying to defend him at the time actually listen to the same thing that I just did? Keeping in mind I just heard this within the last couple of months courtesy of your old episodes. All y’all out there who haven’t heard it, please go back and listen to classic comedy stylings of Rod and Karen on Spotify, episodes 45 and 47, you won’t regret it!
Always appreciate the content and thank you!
Pamela
What’s up Rod, Karen and Collection of Gently Used Nerds?!
I have been rewatching Justice League and JL Unlimited like Rod. It’s good to see the many sides of John Stewart and J’onn (Martian Manhunter). Seeing Wally be silly, wanting a girlfriend and smitten with Diana is always fun. I completed a rewatch of She-Hulk over the weekend and man I missed a lot of details. I’m going to miss the Flash on the CW. Overall I enjoyed the final season. I kind of had an idea of where they were going after reading Williamson’s run but the producers & writers made the right amount of changes.
One last thing, I already got tickets for Transformers Rise of the Beasts in IMAX Day One. Can’t wait to see them fuck up shit and hear Optimus say “Let them come.â€
Keep up the good work. Peace