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The Geek Bravado Ramble

Author: Parallax Abstraction

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The Geek Bravado Ramble is an eclectic, relatively frequent, topical commentary and discussion podcast by Parallax Abstraction.

Touching on all kinds of topics from gaming to tech, news, politics, mental health, social issues and everything in between, expect unvarnished, sometimes unpopular but always informed and clickbait free opinions along with an open call for discussion.

Like what I had to say? Tell me why! Don't like it? Change my mind! Let's ramble together!

Join my Discord at http://discord.pxa.ca or hit me up on Twitter @PXAbstraction.
151 Episodes
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Cancel culture is alive, well and growing and especially in the gaming industry. Two popular and celebrated figures in the development industry recently got cancelled for very different reasons, neither of which should have happened. I discuss these incidents and how this mob of perpetually (and often purposefully) outraged can't be allowed to continue this way.
My lady friend and I had Formula 1: Drive to Survive come up in Netflix recommendations and as both of us like cars and I had a new 4K OLED TV to break in, we checked it out. Aside from being an audio-visual jaw dropper, it's overall a pretty well made documentary series that gave me a new perspective on Formula 1, especially the motivations of the teams who don't generally reside at the top and who don't have the most money. I'm not going to start watching Formula 1 on the regular or anything but I appreciate it a lot more now, even though there was probably a bit of inflated drama at times. I give my impressions of it and why I think it's worth checking out.
A rumour came out of left field today that Sony might be buying Take-Two Interactive Software, parent company of 2K Games and more importantly, Rockstar Games. At time of recording, the rumour had been said to be likely inaccurate but nonetheless, I thought it would be fun to talk about the potential of a world where Sony owns all the Take-Two properties but especially, Grand Theft Auto. Many are already hand wringing that this means all of their properties will forever be imprisoned in the PlayStation walled garden but I actually think this is a very different move in response to something Sony didn't see coming.
Valve recently pulled a disgusting game a out rape from Steam before release, after a large scale condemnation. The problem is, it had been listed for some time prior to this and has many people talking about their wildly inconsistent (and poorly stated) policy on curation. While I agree with their decision to pull this game, their policies (or lack thereof), could lead to some dangerous slippery slopes. I discuss what Valve not only needs to do to rectify this but also how their famously unique corporate culture may be a major contributor to this issue. The Hoeg Law video referenced in the episode: https://youtu.be/KVbFGrw5CkY
A scandal has rocked Canadian politics this week, involving a very large and powerful engineering company in the country, a bribery scandal and alleged political interference from the top echelons of our federal government. This is far from the first scandal involving this company and given trends so far, probably won't be the last. I talk about how while I understand the reasoning behind the government wanting to potentially give this company a pass the rest of us wouldn't get, I also think a company like this might only learn if it's allowed to fail, even if that comes with some pain.
Crackdown 3 finally released recently on the Xbox One, PC and on Xbox Game Pass. This new iteration was announced near the Xbox One launch and has had a very long and troubled development, with multiple developer changes and huge, repeated delays. Now that it's out, it's getting pretty mixed reviews. WereTiger and I have been playing a lot of it in co-op and despite some of its rough technical and design edges, we've been having a blast. I give a bunch of my impressions of the game and how I don't think it's worth it at full price but on a discount or especially with Game Pass, it's great, dumb fun.
Happy New Year! Another crazy year is in the books and as I like to do around this time, I wanted to talk about games from the past year that I really enjoyed and that I think you might as well. I used to do a top 10 list but couldn't this year as I didn't get to play everything that might have been a contender but nonetheless, I was able to play some incredible stuff that I wanted to share it with people so they could maybe discover something new. This list isn't ordered but everything on it is something I think is very special. I hope you enjoy and make sure to tell me what games you loved as well! Background music consists of selections from the Star Control: Origins original soundtrack.
Twitch is currently facing heavy backlash from a lot of their creators and viewers because they are running pre-roll ads for Ninja's New Year's Eve stream on other channels, including other partners. I talk about why I think this is a bad look and a short-sighted plan by a company becoming more and more out of touch with its creators but also how this may very well become more common in the future and why those of us not on Twitch, should be vigilant. The article about Justin Wong I reference during the episode: https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/former-twitch-executive-explains-why-the-ninja-pre-roll-situation-will-keep-happening-267678
Today, I awoke to an unexpected new controversy involving the discovery that a partnered Mixer streamer is apparently, a convicted sexual predator, one that has served their time but is on a registry. Several other prominent Mixer streamers (including at least one partner) have been calling for Mixer to terminate the partnership and ban the streamer. The platform has been accused of sweeping the issue under the rug and some of those not calling for this person's immediate banning have come dangerously close to being accused of defending pedophiles. I talk about my perspective on this issue, as someone who has no interest in defending the accused but who also believes that this issue should be handled by proper channels, not out in public and that when a person has done their time, perhaps that should carry more weight than it does.
This is an audio reading of a written blog post from Geek Bravado on my retiring from Extra Life and the future of my charity efforts. You can read and comment on the post here: https://geekbravado.com/2022/08/15/retiring-from-extra-life-and-the-future-of-my-charity-efforts/ Discord: https://discord.pxa.ca Twitter: https://twitter.com/PXAbstraction
The game industry bombshells keep hitting as on Mar 2nd, prolific game industry vacuum Embracer Group announced they were buying most of Square Enix's western studios and IPs, including Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, Tomb Raider, Deus Ex and much more. I talk about the sudden announcement, the borderline fire sale price tag, Square Enix's mismanagement and how clueless their statement on what they'll do with the proceeds seem.
Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that Elon Musk has made a formal commitment to buy Twitter. While he doesn't own it yet, it's likely he will end up doing so. I have mixed feelings on this to put it mildly, but rather than just give my general take on the matter, I thought I would go through a few key things I'd like to see Twitter improve under Musk's ownership that they have been neglecting for years and that I think could make the service better.
NORCO is a new adventure/visual novel hybrid from a rookie studio that came out of nowhere for me and at time of posting, hasn't gotten a lot of attention. This is a genre I normally have high standards for and while I know this won't be for everyone, I thought it was very interesting. Buy a NORCO Steam key from Fanatical and help support my content: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/norco?ref=pxabstraction Background music consists of selection from the NORCO soundtrack: https://thou.bandcamp.com/album/norco-original-soundtrack Minor errata: I said that Geography of Robots came together in 2020. They've actually been together since 2016, but joined up with Raw Fury in 2020.
People Makes Games Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDPzZkx0cPs A video exposé into three indie press darling studios was recently release, showing claims of emotional abuse by those at the top. I talk about how the publisher all these companies share did nothing, whether or not the accusations are as severe as they seem and in particular, how the games press has been near totally silent in discussing issues like this, when they come from studios where they are either friends with or worse still, afraid of those who run them.
Martha Is Dead is a controversial new mystery walking simulator from a small Italian team. It started out as a quite compelling experience for me but I ended up having my opinion 180 on this in a way that rarely happens for me. Buy a Steam key from Fanatical and help support me: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/martha-is-dead?ref=pxabstraction
141: The Valve Paradox

141: The Valve Paradox

2022-02-0925:15

Valve is a true anomoly in the gaming industry, a company that brings in billions of dollars a year but which has a comparatively very small staff and in recent years, seems to have all but left their creative talent to wither. I talk about what I believe are the reasons behind that and why this is probably going to be the way the company goes for the foreseeable future. Tyler McVicker video I referenced: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AwIcRNQPWk
Unless you've been living under a rock recently, you've heard about the announcement of Microsoft's colossal deal to purchase Activision-Blizzard, the biggest acquisition ever in gaming and one of the largest in history. I give my thoughts on that but also expound on the idea of the heavy consolidation the game industry is going through right now and how it could impact us as gamers.
This is an audio reading of a rare written Geek Bravado blog post about the future of my content plans. You can read the post at https://geekbravado.com/2022/01/16/my-content-plans-for-2022-and-beyond/ if you prefer. My Odysee channel is now live at https://odysee.com/@PXAbstraction. If you're willing to make an account there, I'd appreciate a follow.
Everyone's talking about the Metaverse and NFTs right now and largely, not in a good way. I agree with most of that but there's a bigger, perhaps even more sinister reason behind all the hype for these new fads, one that's not being discussed that much.
Recorded minutes after I left the theater, I give my impressions of the latest Matrix film, why I didn't like it and why The Matrix to me, is a one film franchise.
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