From Across the Nerd-a-verse.

Greetings Citizens of The Nerdaverse!

Just wanted to post a little bit here while on my way home. So the new year has passed. I hope that everyone had a safe and happy new year. I had a grand time myself. (Ask nice and I’ll share with you how guest host Blake Clouser spent his new year. Tee-hee) So hopefully by now you’ve had the chance to enjoy our series of End of the Decade episodes. What did you guys think? Be sure to write to us at the Mailbag (mailbag@nerdaverse.com)and give us your thoughts.

I also want to ask a favour of our listeners. Do you listen to the show? I think both Jessie and I are curious to find out exactly how many of you out there listen to our show. Saddly, this is often harder to determine then you might think. Unfortunately iTunes is very sparse in the information that they provide relating to subscription numbers. It is possible to kind of figure out our numbers by evaluating download traffic but that involves math, and you know if you listen the the show that anytime I can be prevented from doing math I am happy. (and the world is possibly safer as well.) so here is what I’d like to ask. Write to us if you listen. Drop us a note to the mailbag. Tell us what you think of the show if you want. Heck send us a blank message. I’m not too picky. We’d just like to know how many folks are out there.

So there you have a little request from me. Jessie and I are at work planning our next episode. I think we will be talking about Avatar, and maybe our initial impressions of the new BioWare RPG Dragon Age: Origins and I am sure much more.

Thank you for listening!

Here is a quick review for you folks. Durring our discussion of our favourite games from the past decade in Episode 17 Jessie brought a game to the table that I’d never heard of. A game known as Lumines. Intrigued by her description of a tetris like game with a pulsing techno soundtrack I went out to find if a version existed on my moblie gaming platform of choice the iPhone. Much to my delight there was, and I am very happy to report that the iPhone version of this game is an absolute joy and has quite possibly eaten my brain. If you are not sure if the game is for you a free demo version is available and you should certainly give it a look. The full version is a very easy to justify $2.99. The full version comes with one default skin package that provides some interesting visuals and techno tracks and additional skin packs are available for purchase through the app.

Final Grade: A+
Poop or Puppy: An Absolute Puppy

Hey there folks. Well Finch and I are finally on a flight home from my parent’s house. We should have been doing this yesterday, but Chicago weather being what it is we needed to spend an extra evening in Buffalo. This was okay, because I was able to spend that extra time drinking more loganberry juice.

I hope that you all have been enjoying our end of the decade recap episodes so far. It certainly was a fun time recording them. I know that both Jessie and I would love to hear your feedback. Send us your own lists. If we get enough responses maybe we can make up some sort of compilation of statistics detailing what our listeners feel were the essential games, films and TV from the 2000’s.

Remember, you can e-mail us at mailbag@nerdaverse.com

Wow. I have not even boraded my first flight today, and I am already able to review my first game. I havn’t decided yet if that is a good thing. As I mentioned in my last post I was planning on checking out some mobile iPhone games while on my trip. I had about a half hour to kill before my flight boarded so I fired up my first game the Don Bluth Animated adventure “Space Ace”. For readers who may be of a younger vintage then myself you may struggle to remember these arcade classics. The game play mechanics for this game (as well as its sister game “Dragon’s Lair”)consist of taking actions based upon cues given to you by the cartoon adventure taking place on the screen. Imagine it as a game of Simon Says. As the cartoon is playing in front of you at various time different parts of the background will flash. With the use of an on screen d-pad and action button you must press the correct direction to allow your character Dexter to continue his quest to save his annoying (but really hot) girlfriend and defeat the villian Borf. If you choose the right direction the cartoon progresses. Choose wrong and you are met with a usually entertaining death sequence.

Now I can imagine some folks out there saying that this doesn’t really sound like much of a game. In truth it really is not. I certainly enjoyed my quick play through, but that was more for nostalga’s sake then on the strength of the game play. “Space Ace” is certainly an artifact from an age of video games long past. Even just watching the attract mode movie should bring back many memories to anyone who like myself spent a lot of time in arcades during the late 80’s. If that sounds like you then you might find some enjoyment here for the price of the app. Anyone who played this game in the arcade will be glad to pay the one time fee for the app. The $4.99 I payed feels like a bargin compared to the number of quarters this game would have taken from you in the arcade. I can imagine you could spend twice that amount and not even come close to the end. I find it funny, that I find this to be both the game’s greatest strength and weakness. I say this, because while you certainly would be saving money versus playing the game this way and for those who have already invested a small fortune in this game during their youth, you will most likely enjoy finally being able to complete the game’s story. That being said. Finally being able complete the game will bring to light how actually short of a playing experience the game is. With good reflexes on Cadet mode you could probably complete the story all the way through in about 15 minutes. The realization that the actual content of this game is over so quick actually cheapens the experience if you were the sort of person who invested many hours and pocket change in the arcade version. It might make you wonder why you spent so much time back in the day towards something that was ultimately a less then satisfying pay off.

So far this review may be coming across as negative. I suppose that the game play experience does not really make for a compelling experience. However, there are places where this game does shine through. The strentgh of this game lies 100% in the wonderful animation created by Don Bluth. The animation is truly top notch. The game is worth playing just to see this beautiful animation. However, getting to see it all can be a chore on any difficulty other than Cadet. Apparently each difficulty level increases the amount of content that you play through. The problem is that only the Cadet level provides you with visual cues via the on screen keyboard as to what your next move should be. The other two difficulty levels do no. Provide these prompts forcing you to follow the glowing prompts in the in game annimations. Prompts that are often times very difficult to pick up on and respond to. Especially the prompts that indicate the need to use your laser pistol.

To sum things up, and bring this review to a close, if you fondly remember this game from the arcades it will provide you with a unique chance to finally play through and experience the game without emptying your pocket of quarters. However, outside of the nostalga factor there is little offered, as the game can be incredibly frustrating to play through. Especially to fully experience about 8 minutes of content that can be viewed via YouTube.

Final Grade: Space Ace – IPhone: C-
Poop or Puppy: Poop (outside of the nostalga factor)

Location:Knowlton Ave,Kenmore,United States

Evening folks. Just a quick little holiday message to you from me. This nerd is about to head out on vacation. Looking forward to getting back to Buffalo and seeing some family and friends. I am very excited, because I get to bring home my fiancée for the first time! Yep, that’s right Finch has gone from girlfriend to fiancée and I could not be happier. Hopefully soon I’ll be able to get her on the show so you all can get to meet her.

Lest you think that just because it is the holidays your favourite nerds are going to be taking some time off think again. Jessie and I sat down last weekend and recorded three episodes for you guys. With the end of the decade quickly approaching we felt it would be fun to think about the things that have really contributed to our entertainment over the last ten years. So you folks out there are going to get three mini-episodes from us. Each one focusing on ether video games, television or movies. I am pretty excited for you all to ge the chance to listen to them, because I think these episodes are some of the best that we’ve done thus far. Look for our tweets and facebook messages detailing each episodes release.

While I am home visiting my folks I also do plan to be putting in some quality gaming as well. I think I am going to explore what the iPhone has to offer as a platform, and at the same point scratch my retro itch. On the agenda for my trips home are going to be the iPhone versions of the Don Bluth annimated games “Dragon’s Lair” and “Space Ace”. I also might finally take a stab at the Monkey Island game, as well as put in some time with my newest additction Lumines. (*SPOILER ALERT* This is one of Jessie’s top games of the past decade.)

Expect some more blogs from me in the days to follow!

Merry Holidays!

Location:N Clark St,Chicago,United States