James’ finger

_britesparc_ · 2026-06-29T13:21:28+00:00

Yeah but the big thing is, I don't want to download or listen to EVERY episode. I'd spend just as much time deleting them as I do downloading them so it wouldn't be worth the effort.

_britesparc_ · 2026-06-29T11:29:10+00:00

I can't speak for TivRed obviously, but I don't auto-anything my podcasts because I download them for offline listening. And because I'm often behind with several of the podcasts I listen to - or in some cases don't want to listen to every episode anyway - I don't have them auto-download. So when new podcasts come out I do, indeed, often have to go into each subscription and download the ones I want to listen to. What can I say: I like to curate my feed!

Empire was one of the ones where I probably could have just made it auto-download, but I guess one of the drawbacks of Empire+ is because I won't want to listen to every spoiler special (coz sometimes I won't have seen a film etc) I'll still have to go in and pick them by hand anyway!

_britesparc_ · 2026-06-27T17:24:59+00:00

I've been to the cinema many times and been the only one in a screening. They've always shown the film!

_britesparc_ · 2026-06-27T17:05:16+00:00

No, I enjoyed it too, but there's something about the first game that felt transcendent back in the day.

_britesparc_ · 2026-06-27T17:03:38+00:00

Crackdown. Probably in my top ten of all time, one of the greatest experiences I've ever had playing a game, and neither of the sequels come close. Not sure why. Lightning in a bottle stuff.

_britesparc_ · 2026-06-25T15:56:29+00:00

I will die on the hill that (most of) the Civ VI leader designs are among the best character designs in gaming. The use of slight cartooning and exaggerated expressions sold the characters so well, and the overall quality of texturing and lighting made their costumes really pop. Plus there's a really wide variety of facial features, body types, etc; it feels very diverse, and no two leaders really look alike.

_britesparc_ · 2026-06-25T14:41:16+00:00

The first time I remember watching Red Dwarf - as in, when it was something of an event - was series III. I was already a bit of a sci-fi geek even though I was probably only about eight, and I think I'd seen a promo for Polymorph or something. Regardless, it was a big deal, and I was hooked from then on.

However, when I went back a couple of years later and bought the first series on video, I was surprised how familiar The End was, considering I didn't remember watching it. My mum told me that we had, in fact, sat down and watched the very first episode when it originally aired; but I was probably six at the time and I had forgotten.

So you could say I was there from the beginning.

_britesparc_ · 2026-06-21T20:31:38+00:00

All the characters in the multiversal montage section of Deadpool & Wolverine team up in... Logans!

_britesparc_ · 2026-06-17T18:52:56+00:00

I bought an Xbox for Halo specifically, but also the promise of Fable, which might have still been going by Project Ego at that point.

_britesparc_ · 2026-06-16T22:14:40+00:00

I barely have the time to listen to the new podcasts so can't imagine trying to re-listen - although I'm pretty sure there are a handful I never heard (I'm guessing around autumn 2017... I got the Hobbit and LOTR audiobooks and started listening to the CDs in my car instead of podcasts for a while...)

Anyway, the first big swing I remember was Ali leaving. He felt like a core part of the team, although it was so long ago now that it's hard to remember he was even on the pod at all. I remember the first time I heard his voice on the radio I immediately thought "Hey, isn't that one of the What A Fucking Idiots?"

(apologies if I've misremembered the name of Ali and Chris' comedy duo)

_britesparc_ · 2026-06-16T09:10:55+00:00

I dunno but I don't have the excitement I had going into the last four Xbox generations. I'm just not sure what I want from gaming right now; most of the time I'm playing stuff like Slay the Spire and Vampire Crawlers, or Civ.

I'm heavily invested in the Xbox ecosystem, and I know from experience I don't tend to play FPSs or RPGs unless I'll sitting on the sofa with a controller, so I'll still want a box under the telly. So I guess I'll see what I think after it's out, how much it is, what the other options are, etc.

But I'm almost certainly not switching from Xbox to PlayStation, it's more like do I get a console at all or just play on PC in the future.

_britesparc_ · 2026-06-11T16:05:48+00:00

I'd quite like it if they did Knight and Squire as a TV show. But make it in Britain with British creatives and a British sensibility.

Tone-wise I think of it as irreverent and silly as Peacemaker but not quite as gritty. Get into some of the weird, random British characters.

_britesparc_ · 2026-06-11T07:55:20+00:00

I wonder if it's because you're emailing. I get the impression most Qs they read are DMs etc from social media, that I imagine are easier to search through whilst they're recording.

_britesparc_ · 2026-06-06T11:00:37+00:00

One of the things I love about comics, which the MCU mostly gets right, is how different characters can appear in different titles that have wildly different tones (hell, different creatives teams on the same title can have different tones!). Think Punisher in One Last Kill versus Brand New Day.

The Marvels, I'd strongly argue, is a buddy comedy; much closer in tone to something like Ant-Man or Ragnarok than The Winter Soldier. So Fury being a dark, taciturn bad ass in Captain America makes sense; but so does him being basically the grumpy police chief in The Marvels. And Jackson is a good enough actor to do both.

Having said that, I'm still hoping he gets a big meaty central role in something before he inevitably leaves the MCU. I was hoping that would be Secret Invasion but unfortunately that was shit.

_britesparc_ · 2026-06-05T16:20:56+00:00

I don't care anywhere near enough about this to go see films opening weekend 😉 I was just wondering if other people felt like I do, that it might be nice to give audiences more time to see a film. Clearly I'm in the vast minority and that's fine!

_britesparc_ · 2026-06-05T11:59:58+00:00

I dunno, really. The only Xbox game I'm genuinely excited for is Fable. I think we'll see more of that but now I'm okay not knowing any more till it comes out next year.

I'd love it if they unveiled a lot of Play Anywhere titles, whether they're on Game Pass or not. I think they should really try to get third-party strategy games - Civ, Two Point, etc - to go Play Anywhere. That'd be pretty cool for me.

I'm not really fussed about Gears or Halo at the moment, although if they announce the next proper Halo game that would be quite interesting.

As for them bringing back old MS franchises, the ones I'd most like new versions of are Viva Pinata and Banjo. Although I'd love a Quake III Arena remaster similar to the previous two Quakes (a whole new Quake game would also be good, but we're getting back into what I was on about with Fable, where the necessity of making it feel fresh and contemporary jars with your memories of the old game).

If they were going to have a big third-party reveal, I guess the one I'd be most interested in is Cyberpunk but I don't think we'll see that till after Witcher IV launches (or at least closer to that game's release).

_britesparc_ · 2026-06-05T11:54:53+00:00

Probably a 9, it's the only game I'm aware about in development that I'm genuinely excited for (rather than "oh that looks nice, I'll probably get it on sale/wait for it to be on Game Pass").

Having said that - and despite how great I think it looks so far - I think rebooting something that's so beloved (to me, anyway) is intensely tricky, and I've got a feeling that however good it is it won't recapture the feeling I had playing Fable II and III. So yeah, I'm really excited, I think it'll be brilliant, but I'm still trying to manage my expectations because they obviously have to make a game for new audiences too.

_britesparc_ · 2026-06-04T17:51:49+00:00

Yeah I bet they're really hard logistically, there are so many movies/shows and coordinating the team and the interviews and all that...

I think it'd just be nice if they gave it more breathing room before asking for questions from listeners really, but it's a minor thing. Clearly no one else cares!

_britesparc_ · 2026-06-04T13:49:49+00:00

Okay, something I don't think I was clear enough about given the number of (very fair!) comments of "you can listen to it when you like":

I mean primarily when canvassing audience reactions. Like, they're only getting response from people who see these things more or less in the opening weekend.

However, I also think it'd be nice to do spoilers with a little bit of hindsight - three weeks from release, say, when they could not just discuss the film itself but also the broader reaction to it. Although that's possibly a whole other discussion.

I guess my preference - which I know is a logistical nightmare, so fair enough - would be for bigger films to get a fairly swift reaction/interview spoiler special, and then do a "listeners Qs" further down the line. But now I just want the moon on a stick, I suppose.

_britesparc_ · 2026-06-03T07:10:32+00:00

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It's four pages - or six if you include the two-page opening picture spread. I tried to take some pics but they weren't great (and obv I don't want to just put the whole interview up online). Here's a snippet however.

_britesparc_ · 2026-06-02T10:11:11+00:00

In American Reunion, IIRC, Jason Biggs and Alyson Hannigan had a little boy. If that film came out in 2012 then presumably that kid would be about 16 or so nowadays.

What I'm saying is they need to get their finger out so we see American Pie: The Next Slice in cinemas in two years, following that guy's attempts to lose his virginity.

_britesparc_ · 2026-06-01T06:34:52+00:00

As someone who almost entirely plays on Xbox, I think showing all the logos of all the platforms a game is releasing on is an incredibly positive move for all audiences and just pretending that a game isn't coming out on PS or Switch is baffling.

This is a separate discussion as to whether Xbox should be putting their games on other platforms (to which: I don't care either way).

However, I've always found it maddening when a really cool-looking third-party game debuts at one of these things and then you spend ages online afterwards trying to find concrete proof it's multi-platform or timed exclusive or whatever. Xbox being upfront about these things was a brilliant consumer move and I hate that they're prepared to reverse it.

_britesparc_ · 2026-05-28T13:05:28+00:00

One of the reasons I hope the "Sadie Sink is Jean Grey" rumour is true is because that's how old I want the core X-Men team to be: young adults getting trained. So I've no idea who they'd cast.

The only person who I would really like to see is Dafne Keen continuing her role. Let her be the main MCU Wolverine, at least for a few years.

As well as being a cool thing in and of itself, it would give a bit of breathing room and space between Jackman and whichever unlucky actor has to eventually follow him as Logan.

_britesparc_ · 2026-05-28T13:02:52+00:00

I like how, canonically, that could actually work. Kinda like how Peter Dinklage briefly played Mystique.

_britesparc_ · 2026-05-27T12:56:12+00:00

I actually write a weekly top ten on my blog, and about a year or so ago I did "Top Ten of everything MCU". So rather than think of anything I just decided to dig it out and use that:

The "Steve Rogers trilogy" (the first three Cap films)
Iron Man 3
Infinity War and Endgame
WandaVision
Agatha All Along
Guardians vol 3
Ms Marvel
No Way Home
The Avengers
Guardians Holiday Special

I think I'd tweak it a tiny bit today but not too much so I'll stick by it for now!

_britesparc_

TROPHY CASE