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Pretty great Smash Bros.
According to our 11-year-old Nintendo research intern, Super Smash Bros. (for the 3DS and WiiU, not the DS) is pretty great. We waited for about 20 minutes to play the 6-minute demo–totally worth it...
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What Can I Say About WoW?
If you’re new to World of Warcraft, or returning after a long hiatus, it’s a really great time to get in to it. The game is better than ever with more advanced tech and art. Plus when you pre-order...
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Project Spark, neat!
We had this vague sense that “Project Spark” was interesting–in that “oh, yeah, I think I’ve heard of that” way–and indeed, it is! It’s an internal MS project, by a small team out in Redmond called...
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Assassin’s Creed: Unity and Rogue
I didn’t realize ’til we watched the exclusive trailer here at PAX that Assassin’s Creed has TWO games coming out. “Unity,” which has been discussed all over the place (including here on Nerdhole) is...
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The Order: 1886
The Order: 1886 is GORGEOUS. The characters are as close to human as I’ve ever seen in a game, and the atmosphere is a cool, steampunky aesthetic. The trailer playing in the booth showed what looked...
View ArticleDestiny data point
If your inboxes are like ours, you and your fellow nerds are kibitzing right now about whether to buy Destiny or not. Collectively, in the aggregate, we’re on the fence—but leaning towards probably...
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Episode 1 – Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare
Welcome to Nerdhole! In this inaugural episode, Paul schools Mary and Rob on the latest chapter in PopCap’s fun, weird world of garden-menacing undead. It’s a first-person cuter! At one point, Rob...
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Episode 2 – World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor
Mary comes this close to convincing Paul and Rob to check out World of Warcraft. The new expansion drops in November and she’ll be playing the hell out of it. Grinders gotta grind!
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Episode 3 – Dr. Who: Legacy/Tile-Matching Games
Yeah, well, not everything we play has subtext. Rob, Paul, and Mary goob out over our favorite match-three games—including, primarily, new favorite Dr. Who: Legacy. Why the hell do we keep coming back...
View ArticleIan Bogost on isolationism in the gaming community
Ian Bogost, the thoughtful academic behind the remarkable Cow Clicker FB app/critique, recently posted his address to this year’s Indiecade, and it’s well worth the 10-15 minutes it will take you to...
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Episode 7 – Civilization: Beyond Earth
Rob goobs out on the latest in the Civilization series. He quite likes it, but isn’t sure whether it has legs. Tentacles, maybe? If you’re Civ-curious, Beyond Earth may not be the best gateway, but if...
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Episode 9 – World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor
Now that the new World of Warcraft expansion is out, Mary expands on her excitement from episode 2 while Rob and Paul ask ignorant questions. You can start playing WoW for free right now, if you...
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Two Dots is a Cute Mobile Game
Two Dots‘ gameplay is pretty straightforward: connect two dots horizontally or vertically to collect them. Each level provides a goal (20 red and 20 yellow dots in 33 moves, for example) which you...
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Episode 11 – Pets in Video Games
From Mary’s giant crab friend McBiteypants to all of our little power-up pals in Castle Crashers to the many, many dogs of the Fallout series, we’ve spent a lot of time cavorting with digital critters....
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Episode 12 – The Wolf Among Us and Telltale Games
Two Wolf Nom (Taral Jansen via Wikimedia Commons) This week, the nerds goob out on The Wolf Among Us and the rest of the nerdy, gamified interactive fiction of Telltale Games. If you’re so inclined,...
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Episode 13 –“I love all shitty vampire things!”
We are back from our long holiday break / sick leave, with a hilariously delayed episode we recorded just before Xmas, in which we reveal a bunch of gift-related spoilers. The episode is now extremely...
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Episode 16 – Spouses in Video Games
If you like it then you should have put a Ring of Regeneration on it. Marriage in video games adds humor, pathos, and practical support — just like IRL. Different games incorporate spouses in different...
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The Ascent of Media
TellTale’s GoT This short interview with TellTale Games CEO Kevin Bruner highlights a fascinating development in the evolution of video games and visual media. Lionsgate is investing a sizable chunk of...
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Episode 20 – Spoiler Alert: You’re the Chosen One
All this and he wants aiming, too. It’s Two-Topic Tuesday! First, Paul somewhat reluctantly shares his initial findings from Dragon Age: Inquisition after only 20 hours of play. Thanks, ridiculous...
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Episode 23 – Space Mustaches
In space, no one can hear your civil rights complaint. This time, the nerds rant about a clueless article that clutched its pearls about how it’s getting harder for white actors to get work. Then Paul...
View ArticleFallout 4 or Dog Simulator?
I’m as excited as can be about the hot new Fallout 4 trailer (see it here), despite viral shenanigans keeping my body in check. Bethesda is mostly just teasing their E3 presentation on June 14 (watch...
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LinkHole: A Round-Up of Headlines From the Past 24 Hours
The Martian Astronomers pay tribute to Leonard Nimoy by naming asteroid after him Executive producer Joseph Gordon-Levitt discusses the progress of his Sandman film Daniel Cerone, executive producer...
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LinkHole: E3 Edition
OH WOW MUCH GAME SO UPCOMING E3 is all wrapped up, and the announcements came non-stop. Here’s some stuff we’re stoked for and some stuff we want to know more about: Fallout 4 This is a biggie for us,...
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Episode 32 – That Sounds Like an App!
Alienware Steam Machine We’re back! We fell down the SummerHole for a few weeks, but we’re recording again and should be back in the groove for a good long time. This week we gab about three fun-sized...
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Episode 35 – Dinosaur Games
God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates LEGO. How has it taken us this long to get around to dinosaur-themed games? The release of Jurassic World and its LEGO game gives Mary the perfect...
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Episode 36 –“It’s sort of the bard of dinosaurs.”
Okay, “Uterradon Rex” is more badass than “The Bard of Dinosaurs.” This week, we toss one game and one book down the Nerdhole to see what happens. Rob is back to playing (and enjoying) SolForge, a game...
View ArticleRick and Morty OWN Instagram
Season Two of Rick and Morty just launched a couple of days ago, and this crazy-awesome promo game on Instagram nails the attitude and humor behind the show. Follow the main account, then click around...
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PAX Prime 2015, Day Three
We’ve made it through Day 3! Here’s some of what caught our eyes today: Lego Dimensions The LEGO Toypad, left, and the lengthy list of Doctors, right. We got to spend some quality time with SkyLEGOs...
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Episode 41 – PAX Recap
[Tap]: Search your library for any number of nerd creatures and place them on the battlefield.We’ve overcome our exhaustion and tech troubles to post our recap of this year’s PAX Prime. There was a lot...
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Episode 44 – Framed and Banner Saga
Who killed Bambi? This week, we take a look back at the unique puzzle game Framed and the dark, rich, Norse-flavored world of Banner Saga. Rob’s ragequit problem pops up, as ever, but he’s a solid...
View ArticlePlugHole: Golem looks like fun
Check out this lovely game trailer from Friends of the Hole Highwire Games and Vic DeLeon. She’s too modest to make a big deal out of it, but Paul and Rob love the funny little sketches on the wall...
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Episode 47 – Fallout 4
2 out of 3 Minutemen are women. It’s been out for a few weeks, and we’ve finally managed to pull ourselves away from our platforms of choice (Rob’s on a PC, while Mary and Paul are burning it up...
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Episode 51 – Puzzle Quest
So many puzzles, so many quests… It’s a quest…for puzzles. Rob shares his passion for certain Puzzle Quest games and his disdain for others while Mary explores what doesn’t quite work about Adventure...
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Episode 53 – Soma, Legends of Tomorrow, Kingdom Rush
Legends of Soma Rush! It’s another delicious Nerdhole Sandwich! Mary delves deep into the underwater horror game Soma, Rob explains his tentative endorsement of Legends of Tomorrow, and Paul shares his...
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J.J. Abrams Rekindles Hopes for Portal and Half-Life Films
In a recent interview with IGN about 10 Cloverfield Lane J.J. Abrams addressed the progress of the Portal and Half-Life films that he and Gabe Newell—head of Valve, the studio that made both...
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Robots Ate My Lunch
Automatron This week’s podcast (coming soon!) is all about our return to the world of Fallout 4 now that the DLC is live and available on consoles. But first, a tale of hubris that took place after we...
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Episode 64 – Fallout 4 DLC
Building advanced robots, but still wearing the Vault Suit. The first round of DLC is out for Fallout 4, and we’re as happy as ever to gab about our favorite game (well, our collective favorite,...
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There’s no UI in the word “team”
Never! It’s been almost a year since we discussed the digital card game Solforge on the podcast, and I haven’t ragequit once. If anything, I’ve stepped up my playtime, including a couple of ongoing...
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Episode 65 – Warcraft: The Beginning
No orcs allowed in the Uncanny Valley Should you see that World of Warcraft movie? Listen and find out. Since Paul and Rob are so woefully ignorant when it comes to all things WoW, we invited two...
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Episode 66 – Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, Inside, and Thunder Alley
Plenty of nerd for everyone! Hey, it’s a Nerdhole sampler! We talk about a cool, short book by Kai Ashante Wilson, the sweet new video game by the folks behind Limbo, and a board game that briefly made...
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The Fabulously Creepy Game We Happy Few Is Currently In Early Access
I meant to do a post about this game during E3 because it is seriously up my alley. Developed by Compulsion (who also brought us Contrast), We Happy Few is a first-person survival stealth adventure...
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My Favorite Part of the World of Warcraft: Legion Pre-Patch
The World of Warcraft: Legion pre-patch came out just over a week ago and the thing I’ve spent the most time doing is playing with the new transmogrification interface. For the uninitiated, WoW allows...
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PAX West 2016 Day One: We have to call it “PAX West” now.
We’re back at PAX, which has finally succumbed to the reality of large, successful organizations and renamed itself “PAX West.” We’re super-psyched for the success of our favorite nerd show, but it was...
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PAX West, Day Two: Heroes and Villains and Bunnies, Oh My!
We’re wisely pacing ourselves this year and focusing on a few things instead of trying to do ALL THE THINGS. We hope to continue this trend through the evening and be in good shape again tomorrow...
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PAX West Day Three: Skip Your Next Turn
Age is a terrible drug, children. Rob woke up this morning creaking and cranking with pain all over his body, just from being alive at PAX for two days in a row. He’s been overseeing Nerdhole...
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Pax Day 4: No, YOU Calm Down
And so we say goodbye to another PAX. We can’t wait to see how much more VR will be at the next one, and how that will drive non-VR content. For now, we’re going to rest our strained muscles and settle...
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Civilization VI: I’m getting too old for this shit
The Medicis are going to the moon! Things have been pretty quiet around here lately, and I’m full of excuses. My current hot #1 all-inclusive excuse for neglecting friends, family, and pressing medical...
View ArticleTelltale’s Guardians of the Galaxy
For once, I’m not super-duper late to finish a game–the final episode of Telltale’s Guardians of the Galaxy just dropped a week and a half ago, and (spoiler alert?) I saved the galaxy last night. I’ve...
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