Popzara Podcast

Article: The City and Its Uncertain Walls (2024)

It won’t take long, maybe a few pages, before ardent Haruki Murakami fans experience a sense of deja vu reading The City and Its Uncertain Walls, as if they’ve visited this place before. Which should be expected as his latest novel reworks not just 1985’s ‘Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World’, but also ‘The Town and Its Uncertain Wall’, a 1980 novella that remains untranslated from the original Japanese (and likely will, given Murakami’s dissatisfaction with it).

Article: Ninja Gaiden 2 Black (2025)

Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is the type of game where you’ll destroy a floating air fortress loaded with missile-launching robo-ninjas after sparring with your demonic arch-nemesis, then escape to safety with a scantily dressed rocket launcher-toting femme fatale while piloting a motorcycle onto a snowy tundra where you’ll face off against a gigantic meteor-spewing turtle kaiju. And that’s just halfway through the adventure.

Article: Dynasty Warriors: Origins

We've seen this story before, and plenty of us love it: ancient China has entered into an age of conflict. War rages across the land, laying low peasant and noble alike, and three kingdoms vie for supremacy over the nation.

Article: Dreo Solaris 718 Space Heater

Dreo is one of those companies where I’m always looking forward to what they’re coming out with next, as they continue to make awesome products even better year after year. A perfect example is their Solaris Max Heater they sent over back in 2022 that was already a great device, then the OH310 Radiator Heater last year that was even better.

Article: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl

Radiation gets a bad rap. Sure, it causes cellular damage, hair loss and weird mutations, but.

CES 2025 Wrap-Up: Rebranding, AI Dominance, Robot Companions, Solar Future, Salty Spoons, Stretchy Screens, Gaming Handhelds, and More

The Consumer Electronics Show for 2025 is behind us, yet the memories of tomorrow’s tech remain. On deck for this CES recap are Popzara’s Senior Tech Editor Herman Exum and techie noob Nate Evans to take listeners through this year’s bits and bytes of what the future possibly holds for us. Sadly, while our favorite tech guest, Computer America’s Ben Crossman may have been absent physically, but he was ever-present in spirit.

While this year’s extravaganza may have been more iterative than innovative, there was still plenty to see and chat about now that the (digital) dust has settled. AI may have dominated the showroom floor (and headlines), but that’s not all! Crazy laptops, VR/AR headsets, faster monitors, stretchable screens, robot companions, cuddle bots, e-car updates, gaming handhelds, next-gen GPUs from Nvidia and AMD, cat accessories, salty spoons, and enough solar powered-goodness for everyone.

Article: Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1&2 Remastered

Remakes and remasters are interesting and quirky things. Many hope to capitalize on the desire for nostalgia.

Article: Wicked (2024)

Whenever analyzing a musical film, I stop to think if the movie would be good — though not necessarily as good — without the music at all. Musical numbers should certainly enhance the filmgoing experience but they should never be the only reason why we enjoy it.

Article: Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop

Got a spaceship in need of a quick fix? Just drop by Uncle Chop's Rocket Shop! It's the premier* repair station that'll help your ship get back to being literally ship-shape. You'll play the role of Wilbur, a new employee of Uncle Chop's doing his best to fix up ships and make R.

Article: SPARKLE Intel Arc B580 TITAN OC Graphic Card

The market for desktop GPUs has changed considerably over the last few years, though not always in the best interests for consumers. In a market dominated by two companies, AMD and Nvidia, Intel has been called a much-needed alternative to the entrenched duopoly with the introduction of their Arc graphics cards.

Article: Nosferatu (2024)

Remaking a beloved classic is always risky, but remaking a cornerstone of horror like Nosferatu is especially challenging. Horror remakes often fail to honor the source material while offering little new.

Article: Oba Electroplating Factory (2024)

Oba Electroplating Factory is the fourth collection of Yoshiharu Tsuge’s manga to be handsomely collected (and painstakingly researched and translated by Ryan Holmberg) by Drawn & Quarterly, but it’s more than just another anthology of comics from one of the most consequential pioneers of Japan’s post-war underground comics scene. Few artists from Tsuge’s era are responsible for bodies of work that have remained as compelling, or as vital, as his.

Article: Mufasa: The Lion King (2024)

I’m probably one of the biggest fans of the original 1994 The Lion King, as I knew it was going to be one of the best films Disney ever made after seeing the trailer. Like most fans, I wasn’t too thrilled or impressed with the 2019 live-action version, nor was I looking forward to the unnecessary prequel, Mufasa: The Lion King.

Article: Siren Blink Foam Dart Blaster

I’ll admit that I’ll always be a kid at heart, and so it goes without saying that anytime I get a chance to review toys and the like, I’m always down to do so. One of the latest and coolest items to come my way is NSI’s Siren Blink Foam Dart Blaster, which outpowers and out shoots any rapid fire dart blaster you’ve played with by a string of long shots.

Article: Siren Maulr Foam Dart Blaster

I’ll admit that I’ll always be a kid at heart, and so it goes without saying that anytime I get a chance to review toys and the like, I’m always down to do so. One of the latest and coolest items to come my way is NSI’s Siren Maulr Foam Dart Blaster, which outpowers and out shoots any dart blaster gun you’ve played with by a long shot (sorry, I couldn’t resist).