The SomethingSomethingCast

Hey folks, Hatton here. There have been a glut of Roguelikes that have crossed my path the last few months. Games that change every time you play them. Games that offer you only one life and then you have to start over.

Some of these games gives you a “Rogue-Like” where the game gets easier as you unlock things, but even those start off brutally hard. Here’s a couple I’ve been playing the last few months and dying and dying and dying at.

Crypt of the Necrodancer – It’s well established this game was made for me. It is catching dungeon crawling and beat-landing. It’s DDR in caves. I have played a couple hours of it every week since I got it in 2015 and still have challenges I haven’t come close to yet.

Tales of MajEyal – Out of the games on this list, this is the most hardcore of the Rogue experiences. It’s turn based tiles, stat crunching, a thousand things in your inventory, weird collections of powers, and every time you play you are at square one again. Died on the final boss? Well, welcome to killing rats again, stupid. It’s also brilliantly fun.

Aces & Adventurers – Years ago I had the idea to figure out a way to make solitaire or poker into a dungeon crawler. There have been attempts, but most end up being ‘high card/low card’ or too reliant on the AI not cheating. Aces & Adventures fixed it all. Beautiful story modes, different character builds, it’s like a deck-building game, but with a normal deck of cards. Highly recommended.

And one last one, I’m going to mention DemonCrawl, but it isn’t precisely a Rogue game.. it has some of the hallmarks with random loot, but it is really just a weird game of Minesweeper. Totally worth looking into though.

What Rogues do you like? Nethack? Rogue? Sound off in all the usual places.

As we do every year, the Somethings were honored to be a part of Livestream For The Cure, and it feels only right – since it is a 5 week month, to share our segment with you folks.  If you didn’t get a chance to hang out with us, you can see the whole stream on Twitch (link above).

Last year, Rob put Nick and Hatton up to the movie quote challenge.. this year, Hatton is the quizmaster and he has invented his own game, or.. kinda like 5 of them. All the while PCR takes shots on donations.  What could go wrong?

Thank you again Nick (of Nikoli’s Kitchen) and we look forward to next year.

Ok, here we go!

Full Episode

Hey all, PCR here.

I’ve been seeing a lot.. a LOT of chatter lately about “Justice League 2” and how the Snyderverse should and will be continued and, I have to admit… it’s only slightly less annoying than when people were clamoring for The Snyderverse in the first place.

Let me be clear, was “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” better than Whedon’s?  Admittedly, it felt like it had more gravitas to it and was a more ‘serious’ movie.  That said, the whole concept of “The Snyder Cut” was bullshit from the beginning.  Zack and his (vocal) fans on social media made it seem like there was a finished movie hidden in a file cabinet somewhere, when in reality, it still cost over $70 million to film.  Snyder has also gone on record talking about the “torture” and horrible experience it was working with Warner Bros to get his vision made, to the point that the relationship has deteriorated immensely and reports are *now* coming out that WB wishes the ZSJL was never made in the first place.

My opinion?  ZSJL was a creation of the COVID pandemic.  Things were shut down, hardly anything was being filmed or created,  and here WB had an opportunity to ‘relaunch’ something that didn’t get a resounding review originally into something, hopefully, better.  Had COVID never happened, it is unlikely that Zack’s ‘vision’ ever would have seen the light of day.  What’s worse, is that the whole “Release the Snydercut” movement was fostered by a VERY vocal minority of fans with severe entitlement issues, and *now* reports are floating around that this was all at least a semi-coordinated effort by Zack, his people, and fans with multiple social media bot accounts.

After ALL that, there is STILL a group of ‘fans’ SO hung up on this that they’re lobbying for WB to sell the rights to Netflix to continue the Snyderverse.

My question… when is enough enough?

He did his Superman movie ($258 mil budget, $668 mil box office), He did Batman vs Superman ($300 mil budget, $870 mil box office).  Justice League *barely* doubled it’s money with $650 mil box office on a $300 mil budget.  The movies weren’t great, weren’t reviewed well, and did not do the kind of money that was predicted for them.  BvS has set a record for Worst Opening Week Friday to Second Week Friday Decline, and the worst Friday to Sunday of opening weekend decline since 2015’s Fantastic 4.. yet the entitled cries are the same.. “Just let him do his movie” He did.  “Just give him one more shot..”  Shot given.  “Just sell it to another streaming service…”  Oh, the streaming service that has a history of cancelling great content before Year 3 so they can save on residuals?  THAT service?

It’s time for the ‘silent majority’ of fans to look at the ‘vocal minority’ and tell them to pound sand.  The “Snyderverse” has come and gone.

It had it’s chance.

Let it go before we see crazed fans driving around in jacked up Pick-Up Trucks with huge “Justice League” flags flying from the back saying Zack got robbed…

– PCR

Mmmm Bop, crappy songs ahh doo wop, a-zig-a-zig-ahhhh

We’ve done tons of favorite things. You guys are sick of the things we like, so how about the Wheel give us a little bit of loathing, huh? Shooting the big guns on our Bottom 5 songs. And let me tell you, we could do another 5.. easy.

Join us on The Wheel: Bottom 5.

Ok, here we eww….

Full Episode

So it is LivestreamForTheCure time – last year Rob was the quizmaster in a battle of movie quotes… this year, I’m going to be the quizmaster and the game is going to be a lot different.

Without getting into all of the nuances of it, I was doing a lot of movie research the last week and looking at my list of movies, specifically their soundtracks, and I came across an interesting piece of thought candy.  If you are of a certain age, your cd binder or tape stack was filled with soundtracks. You couldn’t turn on the radio without hearing the theme song to the summer’s big action movie or the romantic ballad for that heartwrenching romcom.  A movie’s soundtrack was possibly better than the movie sometimes…

Well, that stopped. Now, of course part of that relates to the advent of streaming and the downfall of radio and CDs as a whole, but even with that being the case, after a particular year the trend just stops. There are a few exceptions (I’m looking at you Pharrell on Despicable Me and almost any Pixar film) but prior to the year 2001, the top ten movies are littered with amazing soundtracks and songs built for movies.

So, then, who should we blame?

Now, I’m not saying that we should lay the entirety of the blame at the feet of Chad Kroeger, but it does seem like after 2001’s Spider-Man, people heard ‘Hero’ and thought to themselves, ‘Well, I guess we have to stop making soundtracks… Nickleback ruined it’.

I, of course, could pick apart the top ten movies for the next decade and show how it is a decade of sequels, franchises, fantasy films, and big action flicks that have music ensembles versus single focal songs. I could do some deeper diving into the Itunes record charts and see how the individual tracks from these movies ranked on the streaming charts.  I could even self-reflect on the fact that I’m an older guy who may not be aware that the theme to Furious 6 or whatever was all the rage at the clubs and I’m an idiot for not knowing how popular it was.

Or… I could blame it on Nickleback.

I think it is quite obvious what the right answer is here.

So if you want to play along at home, come watch the Somethings live tomorrow, May 20th, and give to a cause that means a lot to us on Live Stream For The Cure.

There are few shows that hold the ranking of largest television audience of all time… well, honestly, unless it involves a President, the Moon, or football, there is only one show that holds that title. On every list ever of greatest television finales of all time, we are finally hitting the big’un in MASH.

Does it hold the test of time? Is it a show worthy of the largest viewing audience in history (and probably ever)? Is MASH still good or did it hold on til the war was long over?

Find out on The End – MASH

Full Episode

Hey Somethings,

Back on November 4th of last year, I made a blog about some games I was looking forward to.  Well, since then, I’ve had a chance to play some of them and…   well..   I wanted to give my thoughts.

Need For Speed Unbound

Man,  I wanted to like this game.  The controls were solid, I did enjoy the mix of art styles, the customization was good…   so what went wrong?
To start, it was.. well.. how the game started.  You start by choosing one of three beat up cars to restore.  “Ok, cool” I thought.. I was down for that.  Except.. once you choose your car.. it’s restored!  Ok.. so.. moving on.  The controls of the first car you get are… in a word…SLOPPY.  You can’t control it… the turning is horrendous….  it’s just a hot mess.  It made me feel like when I tried to play the ported 2016 “Need for Speed” and the controller wouldn’t sync right.  After about an hour of trying to fight through it.. you find out (thanks to the story), that it’s SUPPOSED to be that way… oh.. joy.  Ok.  Bad taste in my mouth aside, let’s keep trying it.  It’s not that it’s bad.. it just gets super repetitive, and, regardless of the difficulty level, the cop chases are nearly insurmountable.  It also had this weird jump-cut mechanic at the end of a race… “Hey!  You win!  Freeze-frame-pan-around-your-car…  and then as soon as it unfreezes and you’re back in the game, there are 3-5 cops right behind you… even though there were none in the race.  It all felt very.. .forced.. and not fun.

Sons of the Forest

Man, I wanted to like this game…(sound familiar?)  The original “The Forest” was fun in a way that this one…   wasn’t?  Sure there are some new ‘things’ on the island to fight, but… it felt like the game knew that YOU knew you were going to see some shit.. so they turned that shit up to 11.  I can’t even say I didn’t like the game, more that I was just disappointed in the ending.  It was going along pretty well.. finding new gear… new things.. cool.. and then, just as it’s ramping up, it’s…..  CUTSCENE then ENDING and.. the cutscene was very… ‘bwahh?’  Was it an Early Access game?  Yes, and I suppose I should give it some slack for that.. but a game of that style shouldn’t have an ‘early access’.  It’s a narrative.  It should be completed before it’s released.  Instead, they were adding things as they went… and apparently still plan to do so.  Do they think the people who’ve already gotten the head-scratching ending will go back to see what extra exposition stuff they’ve added?  If so, they’ve guesses wrong with me.  Sons was very much a step back from the original.

What about you?  Have YOU played these games?  If so, let me know your thoughts over at the usual social media places you can find in the buttons up top!

Also, don’t forget, Livestream For The Cure VII starts May18th through the 20th.  Head to livestreamforthecure for info on how to watch and how to donate!

– PCR

Every now and then, a movie comes out that’s “Based On Actual Events”.  “The Courier” comes to mind, as does “Eight Men Out” and “Schindler’s List”.  Well, now that list of movies must share the stage with the tale of a 500 lb bear that goes on a coke bender.  This week, Hatton and Podcast Rob head to Georgia to take on “Cocaine Bear” in this episode of “Something In Review”!

Full Episode

Last week I got to go do something I haven’t done in a long time… go to the movies.

But what film did you go see Hatton? Was it that Dracula movie with Nicholas Cage? What about the new Pixar Disney Marvel Star Wars of the Rings?

Nope. I got together with old friends Wild Pig Chris & Bill and settle in to a journey to the planet Mongo to watch a football star save the universe behind the synth rocking track of one of the greatest bands of all time.  That’s right. Logan’s Run Flash Gordon.

I walked away from it feeling like I haven’t felt in years coming from a film, and I wondered if it was because I hadn’t sat in a big squooshy reclining seat with a THX sound system and a 20 foot screen since Mr. Stark turned into Dustbuster chow. I came to the realization that, where that all added to the moment, it was because Flash Gordon is one of the greatest pieces of trash ever made.

Please understand first that I hold the movie in high regard and that my usage of the term trash here in no way means the film is bad. It isn’t. It’s amazing, but there is not a single decision in that movie that doesn’t scream how cocaine fueled its era was. So, in a little history lesson, the movie was made by a mix of Italian and American/British folks. The Italian crew thought the movie was going to be a dark space opera. The english speakers thought it was a kitchy silly romp. This is why you have huge techno-color sets with exquisitely made high-fashion costumes. It’s why you get a scene where Ming’s right hand man’s face explodes out of its orifaces in one scene and Flash knocks out an army with a space watermelon with Looney Toon DONK noises.

Try and find another movie that feels like Flash Gordon and, importantly, doesn’t act like it knows it. Even the campiest Bolliwood mockbuster that plays its silliness as serious as possible still can’t hold a candle to Topal somehow pulling off being both Lex Luther and Otis simultaneously on one side, while the imposing presence of Max von Sydow puts on a sly smirking masterclass in evil vamping on the other.

I have seen Flash Gordon dozens of times as it was a staple of my teenage nonstop television diet, but until I saw it on the big screen… I don’t think I SAW Flash Gordon. You can listen to Jimi, but you can’t hear Jimi. Well, for the first time, I think I saw Flash Gordon in the brilliance it intended. It’s gaudy, it’s silly, it’s cheezy, and it’s a blended mess of ideas based on a dry sci-fi comic with a plot straight from a bad Dr. Who episode – and yet, somehow, it is an overly saturated rainbow of fun that doesn’t wink at its audience or apologize.

Ever have a movie experience that changed the way you looked at a film? Sound off in all of the places.

Send war rocket ajax… to breeeng back his boody…

“This is your favorite podcast that just did an episode on game shows”
“The SomethingSomethingcast?”
“Sorry, you’re wrong, the answer must be in the form of a question you dullard who has seen this show for a thousand years”

We’ve all lived with game shows in our lives. They are a fun natural part of a sick-day from school.. you’ve come to know which are your favorites, and so did we, and we’re telling you because that’s our job and if you guess them all, you will win a NEW CAR!

Ok, here we– you won’t win a car. I’ve been informed I must legally say you will not win a car, that was a joke.

Full Episode