Geeky stuff – Page 14 – DaveGladow.com

WhoDatJedi Podcast — The Mandalorian Season 1, Episode 6: Escaping our Prisons

After six episodes, do we know if there’s a bigger point or theme to “The Mandalorian?”

For such a serialized show, the plot might well be less important than the theme, and that theme has to do with armor.

This episode of our Mandalorian podcast does a deep dive on armor: What it means to our title character and his culture, how removing “armor” is the one continued unfolding story, and all the examples of armor removal continuing to turn up in the plotting and background.

WhoDatJedi Podcast — The Mandalorian Season 1, Episode 5: All of the gunslingers!

Who is the gunslinger?

When it comes to the name of this episode of “The Mandalorian,” that question can be answered about twelve different ways. The most compelling approach involves the speculation of the figure at the end.

Who IS that guy?

Well, we don’t know. But we can guess. And that’s the focus of our Mandalorian podcast this episode.

Solo retrospective: Crawling out of the sewer

“Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.”
― Henry David Thoreau

Star Wars — since the very beginning — has been completely intertwined with the concept of rebellion. George Lucas, himself rebel-minded when it came to the existing shackles of the day in the Hollywood system, set out to not only tell HIS story in HIS way with the original “Star Wars” in 1977, he also burned the candle at both ends to ensure he would be able to continue to do so into the future. He then laid all of those threads of rebellion into his “space fantasy” film in as overt a fashion as possible.*

* Notably, his previous film, “American Graffiti” was overtly rebellious as well.

Indeed, strip out the magnificent world building and brilliant riffs on epic storytelling done in Star Wars, and what are you left with? What is the point?

Well, in a global sense, the conflict is the point, and said conflict arises from the yin and yang of oppression and rebellion.

As I’m fond of saying, it’s called Star WARS for a reason.

However, looking beyond the black and white conflict of the Rebellion and the Empire, you’ll still see this theme at play within the character of Han Solo, the handsome roguish smuggler who plays by his own rules and doesn’t adhere to societal conventions. Moreover, he actively seeks to avoid being trapped into situations that threaten his “freedom,” and in the process, he becomes one of the most iconic characters in modern film history.

If you decide, as a company, that THIS character’s back story is worthy of its own feature film (as Disney did), you also decide that themes of freedom, subjugation, slavery, conflict and rebellion are going to be a major part of said film.

WhoDatJedi Podcast — The Mandalorian Season 1, Episode 4: The Magnificent Mando

The Mandalorian podcast took an interesting turn this week. To coincide with now back-to-back episodes of the series being helmed by female directors, our conversation delved into critiques of the casting and creative choices and how gender bias can factor into those critiques.

WhoDatJedi Podcast — The Mandalorian Season 1, Episode 3: Choking hazards can be fun

Here’s my third go-around with Aaron and Fredo on The Mandalorian podcast we’ve started, and it’s a fun one. We take a little closer look at the gaggle of Mandalorians, the doctor (what’s his deal anyway?), how themes of human connection and parental roles continue to filter into the story, and more.

Five games the Turbografx-16 Mini needs

The Turbografx-16 Mini is getting closer and closer.

The official Twitter account of the PC-Engine Mini (the Japanese version of the system) recently sent out a tweet showing the box art for the device.

【速報】工場から箱が届いたのでパシャリ。写真の腕前はご容赦ください。（H） #PCエンジンミニ pic.twitter.com/lBUxZppo7k

— PCエンジン mini公式@2020年3月19日発売 (@PCEngine_Mini) November 21, 2019

This tweet had the two-fold effect of:

Making me once again super excited for a product that is still roughly four months away.
Making me sad about the now seemingly near 0% chance that any more games will be added to it.

On that first point, here’s where I express thanks and appreciation for what we are getting. Yes, it could be better (and we’ll be getting to that point shortly), but it is not lost on me that I get to both experience the nostalgia of some of my favorite games from my youth, but also I get to play the games that I never could at the time (all for a price point I can afford). That last point is HUGE, because the Japanese games that did NOT port over to the United States were oftentimes much better than their American counterparts. Trying to acquire them was difficult/expensive, so it became a non-starter.

I recall being insanely jealous that I couldn’t play Castlevania: Rondo of Blood or Street Fighter II on my Turbografx-16. But having already sunk money into the expensive CD add-on, I was wary of trying to jump through the financial hoops necessary to try to play these amazing games.

But in four months, that’s not going to be a problem anymore, because on the American version of this mini, they’re including games localized to America AND Japan, and that Japan lineup is pretty much just a bunch of kick-ass all-stars (and a few weirdos, but whatever).

But anyway, on to Point 2, which is the point [sic] of this article.

I feel there are still some pretty important games that are missing. I’ve hoped some of them might be added, but alas, that doesn’t seem likely.

Still, I’m ever the optimist. In this article I propose the manufacturer of this exciting system, Konami, make five simple additions to take this system from great to phenomenal. Konami could make the call to replace five games, just five games on this thing and it would be basically amazing.

WhoDatJedi Podcast — The Mandalorian Season 1, Episode 2: Lone Wolf and Egg

On “The Mandalorian,” I can say this: I’m really digging this show.

If you are too, come listen to some New Orleans guys gab about it for awhile.

WhoDatJedi Podcast — The Mandalorian Season 1, Episode 1: ‘I have spoken’

Welp, I’m getting back into the podcasting game

Good friend Aaron Svoboda broached the topic several months back, and while flattered, I didn’t feel up to the challenge.

What changed for me was a persistence by Aaron and a love for the material — Star Wars and other pop culture from a New Orleans perspective — and so, well, here we are.

The Last Jedi retrospective: Why we’re still here

Do you like “Star Wars” or do you not like it?

It seems like a simple question to me.

I mean, if you’re sitting here reading this, chances are, you like this stuff, right? At minimum, you like some of it. But then again, that doesn’t preclude you flaming the hell out of some of the rough bits … or at least fairly critiquing said rough bits (I certainly engage in the latter).

It just seems like a fair question to pose when some people have been so enormously hostile toward some of the films in the series (particularly lately). Because if you’re still on board with some of this material, it doesn’t make sense to me to try to ruin some of the rest of it for others.

Common ground = being a Star Wars fan.

Opinions about the entirety of that universe will differ widely from person to person, so it stands to reason some people will enjoy what you don’t. Some people like the prequels. Some don’t. Some find the teddy bears in “Return of the Jedi” revoltingly offensive. Some love them to pieces. Some people HATE the Disney era. Some of us love it. I don’t think we’re ever going to reach a consensus here on any of it. So, it just doesn’t make any sense to me to devote hours upon hours of dedication to an angry YouTube channel to tear down that which you claim to love.

Do you like “Star Wars” or do you not like it?

“The Last Jedi” — maybe more than any other film in the series — will put you on the spot and demand you answer that question one way or the other.

Continue reading The Last Jedi retrospective: Why we’re still here

Genesis Mini: Ranking all the games

Let’s be honest. This was inevitable. My obsession for mini consoles should be well established by now, and I recently purchased the Genesis Mini (and offered my general thoughts here). The only real question was whether I’d keep it simple and rank the games on the Genesis Mini, or expand the list to be a “best of” for the entire catalog of the original console.

I’ve decided to mostly go with the former. I have some thoughts on the games I feel are missing here and really wanted to share them, so I’m going to lead off with those. But I still haven’t experienced enough with the 700-game library to truly put together a proper “best-of” ranking. Sure, it would be useful to neophytes, but I wouldn’t feel super great or confident about it, either.

So instead, here are some thoughts on my favorite games missing from the Genesis Mini, followed by my ranking of the 42 games that did make the cut.

Enjoy!