Radio Active #39: Nuke(m)Con 2012, Doom, Geeky Media

The gaming world has GenCon. My gaming group has Nuke(m)Con. Radio Active #39 starts with a look at our home grown convention and then takes a look at a couple of new geeky media outlets in the form of the Geek Gazette newsletter and Geek Label podcast as well as an exceedingly useful anti-repetitive stress injury software tool for the Mac. Finally, in the category of “movies we watch so that you don’t have to”, there’s a review of the video-game inspired horror flick Doom. The film stars the Rock and once again proves the axiom that you can’t make a good movie from a video game.

Getting the Podcast

Show Notes

  • Intro:
    • Nuketown Radio Active: the occasional podcast dedicated to life, liberty and the pursuit of geekdom hosted by Ken Newquist.
  • Nuketown News
    • Nuke(m)Con: A Weekend of Geeking Out 
      • Held our annual “Nuke(m)Con” over the weekend, featuring three of home-grown gaming goodness. Had 7-8 people in attendance, including two friends we haven’t gamed with in years.
      • Started having Nuke(m)Con a few years ago when we realized that we were acutely missing going to GenCon — partly because of the lack of a gaming marathon, partly because it was a great group experience. Originally called “NukeCon” until someone (ahem) complained and we changed the name to Nuke(m)Con.
      • This year was somewhat smaller than most, since two of our number couldn’t make it for the entire weekend, but still had a lot of fun.
      • Friday: Played Settlers of Catan and D&D on Friday, with the D&D adventure featuring our higher-level “B Team” characters trying to take down the infamous mage Eyebiter.
      • Saturday: Saturday morning saw half the crew play a round of disc golf (which apparently is huge in the Leigh Valley, which has a half-dozen courses — who knew?) while I worked feverishly on my adventure for that evening. Saturday afternoon featured a game of Arkham Horror (which proved you need to use the errata rules when playing with five or more players). We broke for dinner and beer at WhichBrew in Easton (http://www.whichbrew.com/)
      • Sunday: Battletech ruled Sunday afternoon, with Inner Sphere mechs succeeding in destroying a Clan fuel depot (but resorting to dishonorable many-vs-one tactics to do so).
      • A great weekend — not so many games as we’d normally run but still damn good. Next time around I think we’ll plan on running two sessions a day with time build in for lunch and dinner, rather than attempting three sessions.
  • Promo: Geek Label
  • Sites of Note
    • Geek Gazette
      • http://geekgazette.tripod.com (Internet Archive)
      • “Each month we try to bring you the best concerning gaming, comics, and general geekiness.”
      • The September issue features an interview with Jonathan Coulton and a review of this very podcast.
      • Very cool to see the zine scene alive and well in PDF and snail mail form.
    • Geek Label Podcast
      • http://www.geeklabel.com (Internet Archive)
      • Geek T-shirts, Geek Talk – what a combo. And fitting, since I usually listen to my podcasts at the gym, and I’m in desperate need of some new t-shirts. Enjoy the geek news segments and geek trivia. Well worth a listen, and the t-shirts are definitely worth checking out (I like the class based ones like “Another Prayer Shoutin, Undead Turnin, Blunt Weapon Swingin Cleric” and “just because I heal you, doesn’t mean I like you”, “Respect the Mage” and “galactus ate my planet and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.
      • Got a gift certificate, so expect an update on the Geek Label in a few weeks.
    • AntiRSI
      • Repetitive stress injury prevention tool for the Mac
      • http://tech.inhelsinki.nl/antirsi/ (Internet Archive)
  • Movie Review: Doom
    • Details
      • Director: Andrzej Bartkowiak
      • Starring: Karl Urban, The Rock
      • Studio: Universal Studios
      • Run Time: 113 minutes
      • Buy it from Amazon.com
    • Review
      • Three parts to a Doom movie:  demons, marines and Mars. They got the Marines and Mars right, but the demons were transformed into yet another transgenic nightmare.
      • What’s wrong with sticking with a literal, rather than figurative, hell?
      • Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson does a competent job as Sarge, the leader of the Marines who will do anything to accomplish his mission. And the rest of the cast is adequate … but the movie’s banality is what undoes it.
      •  Everything here has been seen before. Done before. At least a half-dozen times.
      • It borrows much of its visuals from Doom 3, which wasn’t a brilliant idea – I (and I think most Doom fans) were looking for the Mars space-station turned Hellfire Abyss of the earlier games.
      • Completely unmemorable. You’re better off re-watching Aliens for the 23rd time.
  • Outro
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