The Pinky Dick Episode

[fishbang]

No overt comparisons of manhood at the following link (http://ingamechat.net/audio/IGC20090804.mp3).

Phallic humor really isn’t our kind of thing, but that’s a tough idea to sell with an episode titled like the one above. The offhand comments made in the studio are the ones that usually leave the barbs, and so we’re forced to deal with them when the time comes to name our creation. Best practices are not always followed. Feelings are often hurt. Children are scarred. But this is nothing to the shame heaped upon Altair by his formidable brucewaynian ancestor, Ezio.

(I’m reminded just now of a discussion about a “third blade”...maybe phallic humor really is our thing? If so: dammit!)

We’ve raked a bit of television across the first few minutes of our recording tonight, and if you’re not the kind of person who digs on TV, then we apologize for a patchy crossover. The hosts all like to take some time for idiot-boxing now and then, and we’re generally in good company for the kinds of things we like. But how, why and where we watch our stories varies quite a bit from one to the other, and it’s the discrepancy that causes some of our unavoidable live conversations. For tonight, the diversion is short, and once its done with games feature prominently. Mostly old ones.

[Count Elmdor]

James, if you want some badass hard sci-fi, check out the Red Mars/Green Mars/Blue Mars book trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. Your outlook on space colonization will never be the same.

[SenatorSpacer]

Great episode guys, sorry about the long email again :(

[Uno Ill Nino]

Hey guys, just wanted to drop a note and let you know that your voicemail line does not work. 207-7-INGAME, right?

[Psykoboy2]

Hey guys, just wanted to drop a note and let you know that your voicemail line does not work. 207-7-INGAME, right?

Yeah, I totally gave the wrong phone number on the show. It's 201-7-INGAME

[Doogie2K]

I think everything James describes from Crimson Skies 1, other than maybe the movie-set thing, were in High Road to Revenge. You lived on an airship, changed your plane and loadout, and played sky pirate, and it was awesome. It's to my deep shame that I lost track along the way and never finished it before putting the Xbox away in favour of WoW, and later giving it to a friend as part of a PC purchase. I should download it from Xbox Originals at some point, shouldn't I?

[lucklesswonder]

All the talk about sky pirates had me pulling up "Airship Pirate" by Abney Park. That's, ah, one of my guilty pleasures.

Also,

James, if you want some badass hard sci-fi, check out the Red Mars/Green Mars/Blue Mars book trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. Your outlook on space colonization will never be the same.

There are a couple books from S.M. Stirling, The Sky People and In the Court of the Crimson Kings, that deal with exploratory missions to Venus and Mars respectively. I never read the Mars book, but I did read the Venus one, and I recommend it heartily.

Here's the blurb on the back of the book:

In the 1960s, the United States and the Soviet Union sent unmanned probes to Mars and Venus--and discovered worlds teeming with life. At that point, the "Space Race" was on in earnest.

Now, in 1988, Marc Vitrak has been assigned to Jamestown, the US-Commonwealth base on Venus, near the great Venusian city of Kartahown. Set in a countryside swarming with sabertooths and dinosaurs, Jamestown is home to a small band of American and allied scientist-adventurers.

But there are flies in this ointment--and not only the Venusian dragonflies, with their yard-wide wings. The EastBloc has its own base at Cosmograd, in the highlands to the south, and relations are frosty. Meanwhile, at the western end of the continent, Teesa of the Cloud Mountain People leads her tribe in a conflict with the Neanderthal-like beastmen who have seized her folk's sacred caves.

Then an EastBloc shuttle crashes nearby, and the beastmen acquire new knowledge . . . and AK-47s!

When I read that, I said "Fuck yes" and proceeded to the register.

[Chris_D]

Having a life time subscription to Hell Gate London is no laughing matter! Well, OK it's a little funny. Actually, I was quite interested in that game for a little while but couldn't get the beta to run.

Life time subscriptions for MMOs are always going to be hit or miss. I imagine some life time subscribers to LOTRO are probably pretty content.

[Doogie2K]

I can see what James is saying in general about licensed fiction; I don't know how the X-Wing series or a lot of my old Star Trek books would hold up to the more discerning palate (ha!) of a 23-year-old, as opposed to the 10-year-old that ate them up. In hindsight, the Thrawn trilogy was the best of the whole lot in Star Wars, possibly because Zahn had the least amount of side shit to contend with. That being said, I also enjoyed the New Jedi Order series, for the way it turned the whole situation on its ear and changed the rules. You know, I never did finish that; guess it doesn't help that the fucker was 20 or 25 books long.

[lucklesswonder]

I read Jedi Search as a kid, the first book of the Jedi Academy Trilogy. I was enchanted with the idea of the Star Wars universe continuing (I'd had no idea at the time that there were already many books doing this). To this day, Jedi Search holds a special place in my heart. Aside from that, the Thrawn books, and the clever short stories in Star Wars Tales, I consider much of the rest of the EU to be garbage. Franchise fiction was one of my favorite things to read when I was younger. Now, however, years of writing my own material, as well as reading true masterworks, has taught me how to separate the wheat from the chaff. And there is a lot of chaff. I can't even read Forgotten Realms books, anymore. In many ways, that makes me sad. Drizzt Do'Urden was one of my favorite characters. I think James hit the nail on the head. You just don't become as invested in a story when you're not building the fundamental elements yourself. If you write in an already-established universe, it just isn't your baby. And you won't take as good care of it.

[opsin]

Just to drop in on the subject of Dollhouse - even if it hadn't improved by ep 6 (oh my god, but the unaired original pilot on the DVDs is really good - what the fuck, Fox? Seriously, just out to ruin everything?) then it's worth it for the penultimate episode. Tudyk is just awesome in that.
And Epitaph One is really good, and the different approach is sweet.
Oh, and James... You really shouldn't bother with Dr. Horrible (figuring that way you might?)
That's all.

[Uno Ill Nino]

I left you a voicemail regarding shows on AMC, but I found out the next day that the network has signed a deal to bring a new show to the network in 2011. Not just any show, mind you. No. This is a show based on a little comic book known as "The Walking Dead".

Fuck. Yes. AMC rules.

[lucklesswonder]

AMC is doing that? Hell yes. My only problem with it is that it's 2011.

Anyway. I, for one, love the Dr. Horrible Sing-Along Blog. It's delightfully cheesy. I'm not a big fan of Neil Patrick Harris, but I love Felicia Day.

Also, Nathan Fillion:

JULyx-wZih8

[astranoir]

AMC is doing that? Hell yes. My only problem with it is that it's 2011.

Anyway. I, for one, love the Dr. Horrible Sing-Along Blog. It's delightfully cheesy. I'm not a big fan of Neil Patrick Harris, but I love Felicia Day.


How is this possible? :(
I enjoyed Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog also. The DVD extras are great :)

[lucklesswonder]

Don't get me wrong, he's great. And he's a really good singer. I've just never really been a fan. I will admit, I love the Slapsgiving episodes of How I Met Your Mother.

[astranoir]

Don't get me wrong, he's great. And he's a really good singer. I've just never really been a fan. I will admit, I love the Slapsgiving episodes of How I Met Your Mother.

Haha, agreed. He and Jason Segel work well together.

[lucklesswonder]

I can't resist:

SVUekHmY87M