Popzara Podcast

Article: Farscape: The Complete Series - 25th Anniversary Edition

Wow, it’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years since Farscape came on the scene and took over TV with one of the best science fiction shows ever produced. While there’s been many DVD and Blu-ray releases since the show ended in 2003, none of them were truly complete as they never included the follow-up series “The Peacekeeper Wars”.

Article: The Marvels (2023)

For what it’s worth, I actually liked the film and Disney+ shows that directly precede The Marvels. 2019’s Captain Marvel isn’t perfect but had some interesting plot twists and a ‘90s setting that defied the ultra-modern feel of the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Article: Super Mario RPG

Remakes are awful, except when they're not! See, if a game we like gets remade, that's great. We're bringing back gaming history and it's a nostalgic joyride through the best moments of our younger selves best moments.

Article: Irem Collection Volume 1

As you probably guessed by the name, Irem Collection Volume 1 is the first of five planned volumes of re-released titles from the iconic Japanese developer behind beloved classics like R-Type, Ninja Spirit, and Vigilante. It’s a catalog that skews more to the hardcore set, with a distinctive art style and penchant for, shall we say, extreme difficulties that border on abuse.

Article: Things Are Looking Up (2023)

Last year’s You Need This Book Like a Fish Needs a Bicycle helped celebrate 30 years of the undersea hi-jinks that is Jim Toomey’s Sherman’s Lagoon, a comic strip that still manages to feel fresh long after many of its contemporaries have sunk into the abyss. But it looks like there's still more chuckles and guffaws to go around because Things Are Looking Up, the 28th collection of sharktastic daily and Sunday strips, is here in one easily buyable, lovable paper package.

Article: Howl

As we've mentioned a few times, not every game has to be the pinnacle of innovation or offer hundreds of hours of gameplay to be good. Let's not get it twisted, we're not encouraging offering players less value for their money, but there's something to be said for inexpensive titles with a limited scope that effectively do what they're aiming to do.

Article: Star Ocean: The Second Story R

We're trapped in an endless cycle of remakes and remasters and that's bad for the industry for some reason! Despair! Okay, now that you're done despairing, let's think about this in a more rational way - sometimes it's just fine to take a classic game and spice it up for a contemporary landscape. Something like Square Enix's Live A Live is a great example of exactly this.

Article: Cobalt Core

For all the talk about innovation, it's not always the uninhibited good it's made out to be. Sure, sometimes it's great to do something new! The Internet is a wonderful example of this.

Article: Sanabi

For all the talk about how we've decided that video games are art, the actual gameplay aspect of games remains lightning that can be difficult to capture in a bottle. It's been decades since we've seen the industry take off, but it remains tough to really nail down what makes a game enjoyable to interact with rather than just being a movie by another name.

Article: Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning (2023)

It’s important to remember that most series change over time. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; the people that love the series grow along with it, and to keep them invested, some things need to evolve.

Article: Hauma

I’m a huge fan of this little video game series called Ace Attorney. You might have heard of it; a plucky rookie lawyer named Phoenix Wright is tasked with defending the seemingly undefendable in court, and you must gather evidence and figure out how to use it in court to prove your client’s innocence.

Article: Quiz Lady (2023)

Unfunny, cliched comedies are the easiest breed of bad movies to not be upset with. They don’t insult any high art form, they don’t take themselves too seriously anyway, and they might even have one or two moments worth chuckling about.

The State of Gaming November 2023: Modern Warfare 3, Super Mario RPG, RoboCop, Persona 5 Tactica, Sanabi, Steam Deck OLED, Live-Action Zelda, Half-Life Turns 25, and Circana

It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.

The biggest games of the month include: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Super Mario RPG, Star Ocean: The Second Story R, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, RoboCop: Rogue City, WarioWare: Move It!, and Persona 5 Tactica.

Other notables include: Hogwarts Legacy (Switch), Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion Remastered, The Last Faith, Flashback 2, Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections, Teardown, Thirsty Suitors, and Sanabi.

Circana remains the gaming industry’s best snapshot of what’s moving and shaking up both physical and digital retail shelves across the country. All estimates are for entertainment purposes only. Total sales of new gaming hardware and software topped $4.036 billion, a five percent drop from last year.

On the Top Twenty software charts Sony’s Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 swung to the top spot, while Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. Wonder bopped its way to second. Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Mirage debuted high in third, Sega’s Sonic Superstars spun into ninth, Konami’s Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 snuck into twelfth, Microsoft’s Forza Motorsport raced into seventeenth, and CI Games’ Lords of the Fallen rounded out at twentieth.

Also notable is that Nintendo’s Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is missing from the charts for the first time since debuting in 2017 – and becoming the Switch’s all time best-selling game.

But there’s more! Valve Announces a welcome upgrade to their popular portable with the Steam Deck OLED! Speaking of Valve, come celebrate 25 years of Gordon Freeman and his crowbar as Half-Life hit the quarter-century milestone! Loved The Super Mario Bros. Movie and wanted more theatrical Nintendo? Then get ready for a live-action The Legend of Zelda movie! Netflix’s stop-motion animation Pokémon Concierge series gets a gorgeous looking trailer! Best get on those Black Friday deals before the frenzy is over! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Article: Resurrection Walk (2023)

Resurrection Walk is billed as the first Lincoln Lawyer novel since 2020’s The Law of Innocence, but the seventh official entry in Michael Connelly’s Mickey Haller series is very much a joint Haller/Harry Bosch adventure, and a good one at that. Connelly has become increasingly more comfortable vertically expanding his shared universe in recent times, perhaps a nod to the Hollywood-ization of his oeuvre across platforms and media, though his newest heroine, Renée Ballard, plays only a peripheral role here.

Article: When Time Got Louder (2023)

I tend to watch all kinds of movies out there, most of them being of the action or adventure variety. Every so often I try to check out some on the drama side, namely those dealing with families and the joy and pain they share.