Category Archives: Games

Godzilla, Kaiju, & Giant Monsters

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This week, resident expert Van Ching smashes through the podcast to talk about Godzilla, kaiju, and giant monsters! We discuss the latest film, some of its recurring themes and issues, Gareth Edwards, and other monster movies. We also end up talking about Ultraman, the Destroy All Monsters Melee video game, the new merchandise, and why we think Godzilla 2000 has the silliest ending in the franchise.

Guests:
Van Ching – “A little Godzilla in all of us”

Supplementary Notes:
Monsters – Trailer
Godzilla Destroy All Monsters Melee – Video Game
Godzilla 2000 Ending

Audio notes: (1hr. 3min. runtime)
04:05 – Thoughts on film, getting schooled on Godzilla lore, being a force of nature, and Fukushima
13:20 – Perspective, the cast, Monarch, Jurassic Park & Spielberg, building tension, and Godzilla’s new look
26:25 – Disaster porn, “Marvels”, the military, technology v. nature, and doors opening/closing
38:45 – Cloverfield, Pacific Rim, archetypal characters, Monsters, creature behaviours, and powerlessness
50:35 – Destroy All Monsters, War of the Monsters, kaiju video games, merchandise, and Godzilla 2000

Theme: Coconut Robot2 (James Pants) / CC BY 3.0
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Star Wars, Canon, Remakes, & Retcons

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This week, Shawn Lotte and Spencer Sterritt return to tackle the recent news on the Star Wars Expanded Universe being non-canon and discuss continuity, remakes, and retcons! We also delve into Star Trek’s reboot films, the Evil Dead, X-Men, Shadow of the Colossus, and Better Call Saul. And somehow, they establish Mortal Kombat as the benchmark of storytelling.

Guests:
Shawn Lotte – “And then I move on”
Spencer Sterritt – Editor-in-chief for We Eat Films

Supplementary notes:
Shadow of the Colossus: Connections to Ico
Dark Souls II Lore and Speculation
Zelda Timeline

Audio notes: (1hr. 1min. runtime)
01:35 – Star Wars, the Expanded Universe, and defining what is canon
08:35 – Star Trek, time travel, Enterprise, and returning to Star Wars
13:50 – Superman, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Predator, Living Dead, and Evil Dead series
28:00 – X-Men, shoehorning all the films, Sentinels, and Wolverine
34:10 – Mortal Kombat, branching storylines, Bioshock series, and canonizing Bioshock 2
46:30 – Shadow of the Colossus & Ico, Dark Souls series, and sorting out Legend of Zelda
54:40 – Remaking films to shows: Bates Motel, Hannibal, Fargo, From Dusk til Dawn, and Better Call Saul

Theme: Coconut Robot2 (James Pants) / CC BY 3.0
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The Web of The Amazing Spider-Man

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Today, Shawn Lotte swings by to talk about your friendly neighborhood Spider-man! We discuss the latest film on the webhead, Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield, our spec scripts for the third film, and how it feels most like a comic-book movie. We also dive into the characters’ cartoons, games, and comics, like the recent run of Superior Spider-man. And somehow, we get into a tangent on Power Rangers and Animorphs. (Movie spoilers till 45min. mark)

Guests:
Shawn Lotte – “Made by a committee”

Supplementary notes:
Collateral aka Electro’s Origin Story
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends

Audio notes: (1hr. 20min. runtime)
0:01:40 – Thoughts on film, Emma Stone, Harry Osborn, by-the-numbers filmmaking, and Spidey
0:16:30 – Villains, sound mixing, Max from Collateral 10 years later, and webswinging
0:31:35 – Music, comic-book movies, rehiring actors, Aunt May, and final thoughts
0:44:45 – Getting into Spider-man, videogames, and cartoons
0:56:35 – Ultimate Spider-man, Miles Morales, and reimagining film reboot
1:08:20 – Superior Spider-man, Doc Ock, Brand New Day, symbiotes, Power Rangers, and Animorphs

Theme: Coconut Robot2 (James Pants) / CC BY 3.0
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The LEGO Movie

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Today we’re talking about The LEGO Movie! Andrew returns to chat with Earl about the animated film, dish out their impressions, and talk about their own experiences with the long-running toy franchise. They also bring up terrible LEGO sets, collecting, the “believing in yourself” epidemic, and seeing knock-off brands’ commercials before the screening. (Some noted spoilers.)

Guests:
Andrew Lawrence – “Everything is Lawesome”

Supplementary notes:
Clone High Opening
‘Lego Movie’ Production B Roll
You Can Do Anything: Must Every Kids’ Movie Reinforce the Cult of Self-Esteem?
The LEGO® Story
​The 16 Most Awful Lego Sets Ever Assembled

Audio notes: (1hr. 1min. runtime)
0:00:50 – Initial thoughts, experiences with LEGO, and the movie
0:15:15 – Animation, orange chainsaw & laser pieces, “believing in yourself”, and licensing
0:27:00 – (Spoilers here.) Differing views on LEGO building, custom sets, and being creative
0:35:50 – Attention to detail, The LEGO Story, and classifying it as a kids’ movie
0:47:05 – General LEGO talk, Modulars, awful LEGO sets, knock-offs, and disappointments

Theme: Coconut Robot2 (James Pants) / CC BY 3.0
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Final Fantasy

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This week we’re talking about the Final Fantasy series! With FFXIV in full swing, and Lightning Returns now released, Earl brings in Brent and Tony to talk about the long-running game series, with Stephen jumping on-board a little later. They talk about Tony’s involvement with the Official Strategy Guide, Brent’s impression of the updated MMO, among a ton of other things. They also end up talking about the ridiculous names for titles, and offer Square-Enix some spin-off game ideas. (Very light spoilers, or some so old they don’t matter anymore.)

Guests:
Brent Peckham – “Brently Default”
Tony Gao – “Unredacted: Gao’s Fortune”
Stephen Hanek – “The Late of Us”

Supplementary notes:
Lightning Returns: Complete Official Strategy Guide
Unsong Story – Kickstarter

Audio notes: (1hr. 10min. runtime)
0:00:55 – The FFXIII-3 strategy guide, what’s interesting about the series, and FFXIV
0:08:45 – FFXIII’s story, lead designers & ideologies, Stephen appears, and FF’s problems
0:20:35 – Battle system, FFXV & Kingdom Hearts, and nomenclature
0:27:50 – Unsung Story, Bravely Default, spin-offs, and solving franchise issues
0:36:10 – FFXIII, how Tony worked on the guide, and story vs. gameplay
0:44:10 – Mystic Quest, completionists, FFT, Fire Emblem, and Valkyria Chronicles
0:54:25 – FF13 trilogy, time travel, Crazy Chocobo, FF10, and villains
0:59:35 – Franchise’s future, lack of identity, and going mobile
1:02:40 – Series’ successors, MMOs, F2Ps, RPG issues, and money

Theme: Coconut Robot2 (James Pants) / CC BY 3.0
Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!
Follow us (@AKOPPodcast) or email us at akop@phillerworks.com!

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