Author: BlackLightOni

Is it illegal to be an attractive woman? Given some talk around the Bayonetta-esque game, maybe.

Is it illegal to modify the body of video game characters, especially if they are female and not White? Apparently?

Even though the lead developer used scans of his own wife as the base for the protagonist, with some alterations because it’s a stylized game–the eyes are the biggest tell, in my opinion–some have taken umbrage with her unrealistic body.

The chat praised the show for the dedication to the source material while creating a new story; something we rarely see in IPs. Chieftain commented on the gore and violence, something Soda and Hiro assured him was because of the game mechanics. 

If you saw the man’s wife, you’d find that she looks very, very close. Did they make her eyes more doe-like? Yes–look at popular Korean art and models and you’ll see that they emphasize the eyes and go for a very fresh, dewy makeup look. They like the long legs and slim proportions. Is the game model exaggerated? Yes, but not overly so, like Chun-Li or Poison.

And, about racism, Korea has been making waves in pop culture through music and games, so having a beautiful, techno-woman is great marketing. She idealizes their beauty standards. Sounds like the opposite of racism.

Now, do I like jiggle physics? No–but I’m not the audience and if that pleases the players, that’s great.

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Other Topics Discussed on This Live…

• WARHAMMER 40K UPDATE GOES WOKE
  • SJWs trying to take change a game they don’t even play
  • Adeptus Custodes have been, are, but apparently will not always be all men
• DEADPOOL AND WOLVERINE TRAILER REACTION
• FORMER ELDER SCROLL DEVS MAKING SEQUEL TO DAGGERFALL
• FHSAA CONSIDERING SANCTIONING ESPORTS
  • Local Florida association is trying to create ESports in high schools
  • Complete with college scholarships
• IGN FILLS THE VOID OF E3
  • IGN Live is aimed at consumers and takes place June 7–9
• CAMPERS CORNER: ROBIN WILLIAMS WAS A TRASH TALKING COD PLAYER
• WHY THE F DO WE CARE ABOUT THE TIKTOK BAN?
  • TikTok parent company has to sell the Chinese stake in 9 months
• CAYDE-6 COMING BACK TO DESTINY 2

To see the Live stream, check out the following link. The Steller Blade topic begins around the 28 minute mark.

The chat praised the show for the dedication to the source material while creating a new story; something we rarely see in IPs. Chieftain commented on the gore and violence, something Soda and Hiro assured him was because of the game mechanics. 

Major Fallout leads were on-set and actors like Ella Purnell were huge fans with the context of the games in the forefront of their minds. On the other side, actor Walton Goggins wanted to be influenced only by the script and production of the show, being a literal stand-in for new viewers and proving the strength of the writing and direction. 

The show may be set in a post-apocalyptic waste, but the show itself seems to be nothing but bountiful.

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Other Topics Discussed on This Live…

• CEO OF DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS / WIZARDS OF THE COAST RESIGNS
  • Sales are down and there is no names replacement
• XBOX 360 STORE CLOSING
  • The hosts’ best and worst memories
• HALF-LIFE REMAKE ANNOUNCED
  • Modders are united
• SODA’S SIX-PACK
  • Trevor Bauer’s Return?

To see the Live stream, check out the following link. The Starship Simulator topic begins around the 1 hour 34 minute mark.

We swear we didn’t plan a space-heavy show.

The Mariner was innocently surfing YouTube when he came across news of a new project. ‘This sounds amazing,’ he thought, deciding to look deeper into the details and offerings.

With an intended VR release and high-degree of interactivity, your dreams to crew your own spaceship can be a reality in Starship Simulator. With a planned release set for March 2025–a very quick turnaround for an indie developer with so many stretch goals set for Early Access– Starship Simulator might be as close to the stars as most of us will get.

Backers on their Kickstarter obviously get some out-of-this-world perks, such as tech manuals, early access to the game (during development!), and can even leave their marks in space through alien and planetary designs and names.

As of right now, the demo is what we’re basing initial thoughts on since we are a visual podcast style. There seems to be a lot of room for customization, tasks to complete, and people to meet. We noticed that it seems heavily inspired by Star Trek in terms of uniforms and visual style, so some of the hosts believe this may be part of the final product while others believe these are just placeholders as a “proof-of-concept” demo.

While we carry a level of skepticism because of the gaming landscape we’ve…endured, LOE is hopeful that Starship Simulator will be a great success–and, even if it misses the moon, it’ll still land among the stars.

Want to learn more? Follow the link to their official site, complete with links on how to support them: https://starshipsimulator.co.uk/

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Other Topics Discussed on This Live…

• ANGELS FALL FIRST
  • New update and the future
• STAR WARS: OUTLAWS
  • …guess who leaked the release date
• CONGRATULATIONS TO MR. ERIC JULY
  • 2024 Richard Devos Young Entrepreneur Award Winner
• SODA’S SIX-PACK
  • Dredge Live-action Adaptation
• PROBABLY MONSTERS AND HIDDEN GROVE
  • Familiar Faces, New Products
• 160 DREAMWORKS PRODUCTION WORKERS UNIONIZE
  • Companies are like ogres and onions…

To see the Live stream, check out the following link. The Starship Simulator topic begins around the 14 minute mark.

With so much being released for Star Wars, another Disney+ show is no surprise. What is also not surprising is how confused everyone is.

For lore enthusiasts, the trailer leaves much to be desired. The costumes look cool, but that alone cannot help us identify a real setting or era. Most information we learn is from an interview with the director- someone who is currently under investigation for connections to crimes involving children…

Anyway.

The High Republic-era show trailer tries to be edgy, but lacks substance. The lighting, costumes, and script all seem generic for such a weighty concept. Standing alone, none of us were impressed or interested in the upcoming show.

The interview, unfortunately, was worse. The entirety of the show exists to shove the original lore aside to allow women and diverse storytelling to make a new era of Star Wars. George Lucas was kept out of production and all of this was said as if it isn’t pandering and is, instead, a great leap that everyone should rejoice in.

The Social Justice pandering has turned us off to this show and we will not be tuning in.

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Other Topics Discussed on This Live…

• ALLEGATIONS OF DISCRIMINATION BY EA DEVELOPER OF “BLACK PANTHER” GAME
  • All devs are non-white for “safety”
  • Featuring a clip from Nerdrotic and their views and responses
• RIPPAVERSE INTRODUCES: RIPPAZINE
  • What’s inside?
• THE TOMB OF GYZAENGAXX
  • Luke Gygax’ D&D module tribute to late father, Gary Gygax
• CHAT UBISOFT’s AI NPCs
  • Gets a little meta…
• LIVE ACTION “POPEYE THE SAILOR MAN”
  • Viewing of Fan-made trailer
  • Cue Robin Williams nostalgia…
• SODA’S SIX-PACK: DRAGON DOGMA 2 REVIEW
  • Complaints on Steam
  • Update from Soda_Pop next stream

To see the Live stream, check out the following link. The Acolyte trailer review begins around the 48 minute mark.

After the successful launch of The Rippaverse with Isom #1 and Alphacore #1, Eric July’s long-anticipated Yaira #1 has finally been opened to pre-order. Not only did they pass the $1 million mark, but it was done within 24 hours.

Not even Isom #1 can boast such a feat.

Now, with several covers sold-out (but have been graciously promised to be restocked by none other than the Soska Sisters), July has promised that, at the $2 million mark, The Rippaverse will make a statue of the mysterious Yaira available for pre-order. With merchandise being a huge part of marketing and collecting, a statue is the perfect way to show-off that nerd-cred.

With the launch of another campaign also comes another fan-art contest. If you want a chance to win money, commission, or just to have your work seen, check out the rules and regulations on any social media site The Rippaverse is on.

Congratulations to Eric July and The Rippaverse team for another successful week!

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Other Topics Discussed on This Live…

• MIKE TYSON’S PUNCH-OUT VS PAUL SET FOR JULY 20
  • Thought experiment: BlackLightOni vs Frosk?
• GODZILLA MINUS ONE WINS AN OSCAR
  • First in 70-year franchise history
• SODA’S SIX-PACK: PUTTING THE “D” IN DISNEY
  • Secret stack of schlongs
• RUMORS OF SONY’S LIVE-ACTION MILES MORALES
  • Speculation on the future spider
• EPIC MICKEY: REBRUSHED
• HAPPY MARIO DAY
  • Celebrate with Mario Maker’s hardest level
• AKIRA TORIYAMA TRIBUTES
  • Worldwide unity for legendary mangaka
• X-MEN ’97 LEAD FIRED
  • No details have been released
• DESTROY CAREERS FOR DEI
  • Game consultant defends stance

To see the Live stream, check out the following link. The Yaira topic begins around the 1 hour 24 minute mark.

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Other Topics Discussed on This Live…

• 21 YEARS OF ROOSTER TEETH
  • End of an era
  • Positives of the company
• NINTENDO FORCES YUZU TO SHUTDOWN, ENDING BOTH A 3DS AND SWITCH EMULATOR
• NYCTOPHOBIA: FEAR THE DARK
  • Click to find on steam
  • Hiro’s wife is a voice actress in this Indie developed title!
• RIPPAVERSE: YAIRA PRE-ORDER CAMPAIGN BEGINS ON 3/11
• SWEET BABY INC. DETECTED CURATOR STEAM GROUP…
  • …and the hilarious faux outrage around it
  • As of this writing, curator page has 250K+ followers

To see the Live, check out the following link. The MtG: Fallout topic begins around the 60 minute mark.

It’s no surprise that we love the Indie-Developers and their hard work and we are trying (trying) to be more positive, so our compliments aren’t cheap. 

That means that if Soda_Pop is praising you, you damn well better believe it’s sincere.

Given the… developments regarding Diablo IV, Soda has been (mis)adventuring with The Mariner playing Baldur’s Gate 3, but he also found a treat of his own in the form of a rogue-light shooter called Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor.

With plenty to do, challenging gameplay, getting that grind for loot, and a solid story, Soda told us how much fun he’s had. He also shared with us the incredible price: $9.99 in America money (Great-Gazoo reports that it is $12.99 in Maple). Soda is very strict with what he’s looking for, whether in games or his profession, so if you’re looking for a game where you can live out your space-dwarf fantasies crushing giant insects, this gem is for you.

Soda summarized it in the following: Starship Troopers with dwarves and bugs. 

Me: Squats versus Tyrannids

(Technically, Soda also wanted to talk about Last Epoch, a competitor to Diablo IV, but the servers were so clogged that he has had to put that off. Hopefully Soda and the other gamers will have a great time!)

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Other Topics Discussed on This Live…

• IRISH G-MAN SHOUTOUT!
• THE MARINER’S VOYAGE: SIX DEGREES OF VIDEO GAMES!
• EPISODE ONE: THE PHANTOM MENACE 25 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
• SPIDER-MAN 2 SELLS MORE THAN 10 MILLION UNITS
• MARVEL FANTASTIC FOUR RUMORS!
• TOMB RAIDER REMASTERED LED BY A FAN MODDER
• ELDEN RING: SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE DLC TRAILER!
• BORDERLANDS MOVIE TRAILER REACTION

To see the Live stream, check out the following link. Soda’s Six Pack begins around the 15 minute mark.

Palworld sure has captured gamer’s hearts and wallets, hasn’t it?

With the millions of copies sold in a mere week, player count through the roof, and the glorious memes (oh, the memes), Palworld has become quite the hot topic online. For them, this is nothing short of great publicity; for a certain Japanese company, this is fuel for a legal fire.

Nintendo, who owns Game Freak (who makes Pokémon), has been the Donphan in the room since Palworld started making Surf waves. All Nintendo has said can be summarized as such, “We’re looking into it.” Riveting.

Looking at some of the designs, they sure do have some similarities; however, according to the devs, they checked every box to prevent any legal issues.

Now, onto the fun stuff.

Did you know several devs were (maybe even are) high schoolers? In Japan? That’s impressive and I better hear that they got some companies begging to sign them on (after they graduate!).

Did you know they hired an animator who did nothing but work on the firearms? Oh, yeah- they just found them and asked if they wanted to work on Palworld. “Americans love guns, right?” Majestic. (Also, not wrong.)

Regardless of the “drama,” Palworld has certainly made 2024 a gaming year to remember.

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Other Topics Discussed on This Live…

• FEBRUARY GAME RELEASES: HOT(BAG) OR NOT(LAG)
  • Granblue Fantasy: Relink (PC, PS4/5) – February 1
  • Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League (PS5, XSX/S, PC) – February 2
  • Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden (PC, PS5, XSX/S) – February 13
  • Skull and Bones (PC, PS5, XSX/S) – February 16
  • Mario vs. Donkey Kong (Switch) – February 16
  • Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters (PC, PS4/5, XSX/S, Xbox One) – February 20
  • Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story (PC, Switch) – February 21 
  • Nightingale (PC) – February 22 
  • Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (PS5) – February 29 
• REMASTERS:
  • Tomb Raider Remastered
  • Persona 3 Reload 
  • Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake
• HALO SEASON…. Nobody cares

To see the Live stream, check out the following link. The Palworld story begins around the 1 hour 28 minute mark.

Billy Mitchell, vintage game record holder, was recently granted his records back. 

Sort of.

Most have been broken since their setting, but it was the legacy and judgment of character that mattered. His years-long lawsuits with various parties, in particular Twin Galaxies- his former partner- finally over, Mitchell wishes to move forward.

However much he’s been looking forward to this, not everyone is as congratulatory.

Hiro, while conversing with Great Gazoo, brought up emulators, equipment out of regulations by Twin Galaxies, recordings that seem suspect, and other underhanded tactics that bring his victories into contention.

That’s not to say Twin Galaxies, who posted and advertised Mitchell’s records for decades, has clean hands either. Contacting jury members? How amateurish! On top of that, it appears they’ve only added the records on a new, historical section of their site from 2014 and before. They’ve removed threads and conversations regarding Mitchell’s alleged cheating and have not made an official statement to date since the conclusion of the lawsuit.

Internet Archive does contain the aforementioned threads, if you wish to investigate for yourself.

Needless to say, this old lawsuit was messy but forgettable. For as much fun as arcade games and history are, hurt feelings and subterfuge through the legal system are nothing to celebrate. 

It’s unfortunate that this level was just so dry.

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Other Topics Discussed on This Live…

• VIDEO GAME HOT OR NOT-January 2024
  • War Hospital – January 11
  • Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown – January 18
  • Bulletstorm VR (PSVR 2) – January 18
  • The Last of Us Part II Remastered – January 19
  • Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy – January 25
  • Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth – January 26
  • Tekken 8 – January 26
• AIR FORCE PILOT BECOMES MISS AMERICA
• SODA’S SIX PACK: VIDEO GAMES THAT COULD MAKE YOU MONEY

To see the Live stream, check out the following link. The Billy Mitchell story begins around the 1 hour 31 minute mark.

Few news stories are as meme-y and terrifying.

An Oxford, UK resident used an Amazon Firestick, hotel internet, and immoral manipulation of people to commit the crime. I say resident because the convicted was underage at the time of the crime but is now between 17 and 18 years old (information was spotty on our end, admittedly).

Obviously, to us non-Brits, this was quite a discussion. The idea of being locked away in a hospital for mental health reasons sounds horrifying, but for a hacking offense to a gaming company seems severe at first glance. Looking deeper, though, there seem to be disturbing details about the young man.

The lack of guilt, as Chieftain said, was a red flag. Blatantly admitting in open-court that “I’ll fuckin’ do it again” (paraphrased) is… not good. The sheer genius to use such methods is another factor- a Firestick and internet? This man started a fire- and the only logs used were from his nefarious networking in forums and chats. By forging camaraderie with developers, he was able to get names, passwords, and other key details to release the leaks. This left the door open to discuss fault and blame because, obviously, this particular hacker couldn’t get these details unless someone gave them to him. The skills to manipulate so many people is both impressive and damning.

Now, the elephant in the room is with regards to his mental health. Reports state that he was diagnosed with autism. We are in no way experts and will not comment on the legitimacy or possible links to ability for criminality; all we can see is the cause and effect. 

There was some debate on the severity of the sentence- especially as Americans- so our assumption on “life-term” or “life imprisonment” is moot. 

What did we learn? Don’t reenact GTA. It doesn’t end well.

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Other Topics Discussed on This Live…

• GAMING RESOLUTIONS (NEW YEAR GOALS)
• MICKEY HORROR MOVIES (STEAMBOAT WILLY 1920s VERSION)
  • Steamboat Willy was Disney’s origin for Mickey Mouse
  • BlackLightOni says this is the catalyst to bring about Disney’s comeuppance
  • Soda_Pop says this will be a funny horror, you can’t make Mickey scary
  • Hiro argues Disney will cause trouble with a Trademark lawsuit
• THE PROXY FIGHT FOR BOARD SEATS ON DISNEY
  • Nelson Peltz (Investor), Ike Perlmutter (Former Marvel Chairman), and Jay Rasulo (Former CFO) join forces to usurp the Emper–Bob Iger
• FALLOUT 4 LONDON MOD RELEASE DATE
  • BlackLightOni reviews notes provided by The Mariner
  • Hiro argues Disney will cause trouble with a Trademark lawsuit
• MICKEY HORROR MOVIES (STEAMBOAT WILLY 1920s VERSION)
  • Steamboat Willy was Disney’s origin for Mickey Mouse
  • BlackLightOni says this is the catalyst to bring about Disney’s comeuppance
  • Soda_Pop says this will be a funny horror, you can’t make Mickey scary
  • Hiro argues Disney will cause trouble with a Trademark lawsuit

To see the Live stream, check out the following link. The Hacker story begins around the 1 hour 28 minute mark.