Episodes
Wednesday Jan 15, 2014
Dramatic Readings
Wednesday Jan 15, 2014
Wednesday Jan 15, 2014
[Digital Drift 2014]
After the uproarious reception that the Bad Reviews Against Humanity shows brought, we decided on a series of dramatic readings. This is based on a sci-fi convention game wherein one of the worst pieces of fantasy literature in history; The Eye of Argon' gets read aloud. If the current narrator laughs he or she must pass it on. We went beyond Argon by embracing a now infamous children's book, a movie script written by a longtime friend of mine, the intro to a public information film about the evils of marijuana and an article from Cracked.com on shoddy toys with worrying claims on their packaging.
1. The Eye of Argon by Jim Theis
2. Barbie: I Can Be a Computer Programmer [With Stickers] by Susan Marenco
3. Another Day at the Office by Thomas Underhill
4. Reefer Madness by Arthur Hoerl
5. The Ten Most Unintentionally Hilarious Toys Exported by China by Seanbaby
http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-10-most-unintentionally-hilarious-toys-exported-by-china/
Our guest speakers this week are...
* Laura Kate Dale of (among others) 'Podcastquisition'
* Lou Fernandez of 'Lou Reads the Internet For You'.
* Derrick Ritchie of 'The Console Ninjas Podcast'.
* Lorin Grieve of the Digital Drift community.
And by popular demand we begin with Lou reading out ten bad reviews from @AmznMovieRevws
Tuesday Jan 14, 2014
The Xbox One vs. The Ps4
Tuesday Jan 14, 2014
Tuesday Jan 14, 2014
[Digital Drift]
We pit the two most powerful consoles of the age against one another.
Monday Jan 13, 2014
Never Mind the BuzzGeeks: The 90s
Monday Jan 13, 2014
Monday Jan 13, 2014
[Digital Gonzo]
A return to the pop culture quiz show, this time covering that most overlooked decade, the 90s.
Sunday Jan 12, 2014
Bad Reviews Against Humanity: Vol. 3
Sunday Jan 12, 2014
Sunday Jan 12, 2014
[Digital Drift 2014]
This week, we tracked down some of the funniest reviews all over the internet for all kinds of products, not just movies and not just Amazon.
The main reason was variety but we also had the pleasure of Joseph Grabinski the editor of the @AmznMovieRevws Twitter feed as a guest so we wanted to present him and his followers with something they might not have read yet.
It was a packed show; as you might imagine this format has been insanely popular and everyone wanted a piece of the action. Our other guests included (returning from previous Volumes) Joshua Garrity and James Carter from Cane and Rinse, Jerome McIntosh of Gameburst (pitching up for his first go at B.R.A.H.) and for the first time on our show, from the Cartridge Bros. podcast it's the mysterious fellow known only as "Player 1"
WARNING!: Do not attempt to drive, lift weights or engage in sexual intercourse while listening to this episode. You may have a fatal mishap from laughing too hard. In fact this is the first podcast I'm putting a general health warning on: It may be the funniest thing you will ever hear and thus break funny bones everywhere, leaving life by comparison dull and grey. Jerome had to resort to his inhaler in the end, though he assures me this was worth it.
Saturday Jan 11, 2014
Bad Reviews Against Humanity: Vol. 2
Saturday Jan 11, 2014
Saturday Jan 11, 2014
[Digital Drift 2014]
We're back for more incisive, scathing and occasionally insane critique from some strange people.
The first installment was met with adulation from everyone. In fact this is an official warning not to listen while driving, your uncontrollable fits of hysterical laughter could result in catastrophic car pile-ups.
Once again these mini-review snippets were gleaned from the Twitter feed @AmznMovieRevws who very kindly retweeted our show for us.
For this episode Sharon and I recruited Neil Taylor of GameBurst, James Carter of Cane and Rinse and Lorin Grieve of the Digital Drift Community.Once again our reading is a cocktail of the shocking, competitive play of Cards Against Humanity with the theatrical performance of the much missed GameSpot YouTube show Feedbackula.
Friday Jan 10, 2014
Bad Reviews Against Humanity: Vol. 1
Friday Jan 10, 2014
Friday Jan 10, 2014
[Digital Drift 2014]
Amazon has a long tradition of unreasonable, miserable and occasionally downright cretinous user reviews. The Twitter feed @AmznMovieRevws is a treasure trove of some of the silliest of these.
For this episode Sharon and I got together with former Digital Cowboy Paul Shotton and Cane and Rinse alumni Josh Garrity and we had a bit of a game. I passed out fifteen reviews each and we competed for fifteen rounds to see who could read the most facepalm-inducing nugget of critical appraisal.
Prepare thy sides, for they shall split. Some of these reviewers come up with the most splutteringly random of reasons why they don't like movies that are largely agreed upon to be rather great. I shall definitely be revisiting this format.
Thursday Jan 09, 2014
Gamergate
Thursday Jan 09, 2014
Thursday Jan 09, 2014
[Digital Drift 2014]
This is the full, combined trilogy of podcasts about GamerGate; How it developed, what its effects have been and how we can move forwards.
For the first show I had eight contributors, two of whom would like to remain anonymous, the other six were; M.P.J. Dillon, Holly Dotson, Gavin Greene, A. Reece England, Livio De La Cruz and Kevin Murphy.
Nine more contributions make up the second part. Some were in response to Volume 1, some elaborated on ideas laid down in that one, others were simply inspired to speak on hearing about this series.
Wednesday Jan 08, 2014
Transformers Prime
Wednesday Jan 08, 2014
Wednesday Jan 08, 2014
[Digital Drift]
This is both parts combined into one mega-podcast.
The Transformers road trip finally emerges from the ugly, industrial wasteland and like Outrun we find ourselves suddenly experiencing a completely different and altogether more fascinating vista.
Yes, this animated TV show, passed up by the majority of adults as being for the kids just happens to be the greatest depiction of the Autobots and Decepticons ever committed to any medium. Freed of the obligation to deliver spectacle whilst somehow keeping the robots to a minimum this production team somehow manage to capture everything we loved about Generation 1 with the best bits from the movies, shows, comics and games in between.
Focus is on companionship between the Autobots and the human teenagers they are protecting, with the kids giving perspective to the bots and vice versa. The Decepticons are no longer snarling hyper-aggressive insectoids but a charismatic, entertaining team in their own right. Starscream reaches his full potential to become a scheming metal Iago, Soundwave somehow manages to be even more creepy NOT speaking and Megatron goes from being the one-dimensional byword for tedious head villain to a genuinely frightening and compelling warmonger.
As for the Autobots, Bulkhead and Bumblebee take their cues from the Iron Giant and R2-D2, Ratchet is played by the Re-Animator himself, Jeffrey Combs like a transfroming Doctor McCoy, guarded warrior Arcee is described on this very show as being like Trinity but less robotic and Peter Cullen turns in his best grave, powerful performance as Optimus, finally being given the kind of things to say and do that make you remember why he's the leader you'd follow into robot hell and back.
It's so good we did two shows on it, covering first Autobots and then Decepticons over Season 1. We've saved the big spoilers for the end of the second show so you really should listen at least that far and then get hold of these.
Joining us are Mike Hearn of Walter the Wicked web-comic who provided us with stunning Transformers artwork for the website (Visit his Patreon here), Neil Taylor and Jerome McIntosh of GameBurst and Andrew Pidhajeckyk of the Digital Drift Community.
The Transformers road trip comes to a triumphant end as we close out our Prime conversation in unusual circumstances, discussing a group of characters who have struggled since 1984 to be expressed as anything other than thugs or buffoons, The Decepticons, Turns out all it took to portray them as a group of warriors with their own motivations, weaknesses, misgivings and strengths was decent writing, building upon both well-established characters finally given dimensions of personality and newcomers who swiftly became fan favourites. It's been a wild ride through the Transformers series, but I'm very happy we could end on such a high note.
Joining us once again are Mike Hearn of Walter the Wicked web-comic (I'm a patron of his webcomic http://www.patreon.com/Wicked?ty=a), Neil Taylor and Jerome McIntosh of GameBurst and Andrew Pidhajeckyk of the Digital Drift Community.
Tuesday Jan 07, 2014
The Spectacular Spider-Man
Tuesday Jan 07, 2014
Tuesday Jan 07, 2014
[Digital Drift 2014]
For this last Spider-Man podcast for some time we're focusing on a high note in the character's history and my very favourite representation of him in any media. The short-lived two-season animated show 'The Spectacular Spider-Man' which ran from 2008-2009.
Developed by Greg Weisman, known for his beloved, high quality, multi-layered and prematurely cancelled TV shows like Gargoyles and Young Justice, Spectacular marries up the fun-loving, innocent Spidey from the 60s combined with more emotionally and dramatically resonant fare from the modern era, particularly the Ultimate Spider-Man comics. It's character-driven, colourful and extremely kid-friendly but also touching and clever and honest about the lives of teens juggling a world of problems, with an enormous rogues gallery and frequently dazzling action.
Both seasons are available on iTunes very reasonably, DVD (though no season 2 in the UK, still), streaming and a wonderful multi-region Blu Ray containing every episode. I cannot recommend this series enough and while we will be discussing the entire plot on this podcast it may be worth listening to anyway to lend you a better appreciation of the show when you do see it. Deeper focus is very often better than surprise and the only way you can really spoil it would be to not watch it.
Monday Jan 06, 2014
Rihanna Pratchett
Monday Jan 06, 2014
Monday Jan 06, 2014
[Digital Drift 2014]
For this episode we are very proud to interview writer Rhianna Pratchett. She has worked on some of our favourite games, and very specifically helped to craft some of the best female characters in the medium. Her experience includes Heavenly Sword, Overlord, Mirror’s Edge, BioShock Infinite, Viking: Battle for Asgard, Prince of Persia, Risen, Thief and perhaps most notably she was instrumental in transforming Lara Croft from Mary-Sue, gun-toting tit-machine to the far more real person she represents today in 2013’s Tomb Raider.
We talk at length about her past experiences and connections, the requirements for a writer in the world of gaming, female/female relationships in narrative, Conan the Barbarian, and of course Time Bandits.
Her website can be found here: http://www.rhiannapratchett.com/
Sunday Jan 05, 2014
The Video Game Crashes
Sunday Jan 05, 2014
Sunday Jan 05, 2014
[Digital Drift 2014]
We talk about why the video game market crashed twice before.
Saturday Jan 04, 2014
The Fifty Shades Trilogy
Saturday Jan 04, 2014
Saturday Jan 04, 2014
[Digital Drift 2014]
It's taken over a year, but Sharon has finally completed her read through of E.L. James' Fifty Shades trilogy. This episode is a compilation of material from different shows to give you a full review series. In principle it's a two and a half hour rant on her part about this skewed, uninformed and often just plain wrongheaded view of women, men, sex, relationships, hetero-normativity, wealth, worth and abuse, both physical and psychological. In execution it's a blistering hellstorm of righteous indignation and high-pitched shrieking. You have been warned.
00.01.10: Fifty Shades of Grey (From DorkCast #5)
00.49.00: Fifty Shades Darker (From the DorkCast Fifty Shades Special)
01.25.00: Fifty Shades Freed (Digital Drift #6)
You will also hear Tony Atkins of Cane and Rinse with a reading from the first book at 37.40 which was originally on The Same Coin podcast episode #11. The DorkCast episodes were produced by and hosted by Leah Haydu and you will also hear a little of Matt Ramsey.
It goes without saying; very very obscene content!
Friday Jan 03, 2014
We Hate Movies
Friday Jan 03, 2014
Friday Jan 03, 2014
[Digital Drift 2014]
This week we talk to two of the hosts of one of the funniest, most insightful movie podcasts we've yet heard; Andrew Jupin and Eric Szyszka of We Hate Movies.
As is discussed on the show, don't let the name fool you. You'd be hard pressed to find a bunch of chaps who love movies more than these guys, and while they often cover well-known stinkers they most frequently mine comedy value from films nobody ever seems to talk about, which tend to be the obscure, the ridiculous and/or the terrible. For many years they have accumulated a vast archive of reviews and experimental tangent shows, so once you've heard this episode go ahead and mosey on over to www.whmpodcast.com and check out what's on offer in the full collection. Then subscribe on iTunes and you'll find a generous helping of their shows on there.
I'll confess to being a little excited at getting these guys on our show as we take the opportunity to ask all about how they started out, their review style, why they focus on these forgotten, dubious gems and we get to showcase some of the funniest moments of the past few years, including...
Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, Jaws: The Revenge, Casper, After Earth, Star Trek: Insurrection and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor.
We also talk a little about my show for the benefit of newcomers, and why I haven't yet covered the Transformers franchise. Five more episodes of We Hate Movies, I heartily recommend for my listeners
Bad Boys II, Batman Forever, Godzilla, Mrs Doubtfire and A Good Day to Die Hard (Because we sure as shit will not be covering that last one).
Thursday Jan 02, 2014
The Married Gamers
Thursday Jan 02, 2014
Thursday Jan 02, 2014
[Digital Drift 2014]
We interview The Married Gamers, Chris and Kelly Brown.
Wednesday Jan 01, 2014
Special Effect
Wednesday Jan 01, 2014
Wednesday Jan 01, 2014
[Digital Drift 2014]
In this, the first non-movie-related episode of the third volume of our shows, we speak to the charity Special Effect, who help disabled and disadvantaged people play video games.