With a whole pile of video game news to discuss the ToB Crew returns ready to talk all about the news that came out of The Video Game Awards 2016 and Playstation Experience in Anaheim. Not the least of which being the surprise announcement of The Last of Us: Part Two. But before getting to any of that the guys break down the new Transformers 5: The Last Knight and The Mummy trailers as well as discuss Jimmy Kimmel's promotion from Emmy host to Oscar host and some Rogue One tidbits before moving on to some TV talk. Which included: CW's big Arrow, Flash, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow crossover, Netflix introducing offline viewing for select titles and a Sons of Anarchy spinoff. Finally, beyond all the major gaming announcements, Julian, Daniel and Jeremy also dissect the rumour that suggests Gamecube games will be coming to the Nintendo Switch Virtual Console and debate which games should make the list. All this and so much more in this week's Tower of Babble Podcast!

Remember to Subscribe and rate us on iTunes to give us your feedback!

Show Notes

Nerd Association

Round 1: Nintendo Entertainment System
Round 2: Nintendo 64
Round 3: Nintendo Gamecube

Movies

Trailers
- Transformers 5: The Last Knight
- The Mummy
According to Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, no matter how well it does there are no plans for a direct sequel to next week’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Rogue One director said if he ever came back to do more Star Wars he would like to explore Obi-Wan’s “wilderness years” with more of a samurai or western theme.
Jimmy Kimmel will be hosting the 2017 Academy Awards
Disney made more money than any other studio this year at the box office
Making an estimated $2.49 billion this year alone. That's without including Rogue One’s results which will be coming in next week.
- This sets a record for the most ever made in a year by one company at domestic box office.
- Universal held that record from last year (Furios 7 and Jurassic World, etc.)
Spiderman’s suit in Homecoming will have web-wings.
In an interview with Screenjunkies Vin Diesel said that a James Gunn spinoff movie for Rocket and Groot following Infinity War was “highly possible”.

TV

Westworld finale
DCW Invasion crossover
- Based off the DC book called Invasion! By Bill Mantlo, Keith Griffen and Todd Macfarlene
- CW released a trailer for Riverdale. A show based on Archie and his friends. Except its gritty and everyone is good looking and there’s some kind of mystery.
Netflix is introducing offline viewing for select titles on mobile devices.
Scott Buck, showrunner on Marvel's Iron Fist will be taking over the Inhumans ABC series as well.
- The series will debut in IMAX in september 2017 and on September 26th it will premier on ABC on tuesday nights.
Luke Cage season 2 was also announced with no release date set.
According to an interview with Brian Fuller, he won't be involved with any production or post production on Star Trek: Discovery. He’s completely off the project.
Sons of Anarchy is getting a spinoff series on FX called Mayans MC and the pilot will be directed by Son’s creator Kurt Sutter.
Legion, the X-Men television series will premiere on FX on Wed Feb 8 and also released a new trailer.

Games

The Game Awards 2016 took place a few days ago. Let's go through the winners and some of the notable announcements.
- Game of the Year: Overwatch (Blizzard)
- Best Game Direction: Blizzard (for Overwatch)
- Best Narrative: Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog/SIE)
- Best Art Direction: Inside (Playdead)
- Best Music/Sound Design: Doom (id Software/Bethesda)
- Best Performance: Nolan North as Nathan Drake, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
- Games for Impact: That Dragon, Cancer (Numinous Games)
- Best Independent Game: Inside (Playdead)
- Best Mobile/Handheld Game: Pokemon Go (Niantic)
- Best VR Game: Rez Infinite (Enhance Games)
- Best Action Game: Doom (id Software/Bethesda)
- Best Action/Adventure Game: Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios/Bethesda Softworks)
- Best RPG: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt -- Blood and Wine (CD Projekt RED)
- Best Fighting Game: Street Fighter V (Capcom)
- Best Strategy Game: Civilization VI (Firaxis Games/2K)
- Best Family Game: Pokemon Go (Niantic)
- Best Sports/Racing Game: Forza Horizon 3 (Playground Games/Microsoft Studios)
- Best Multiplayer Game: Overwatch (Blizzard)
- Most Anticipated Game: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)
- Best eSports Game: Overwatch (Blizzard)
- Best eSports Team: Cloud9
- Best eSports Player: Marcelo "coldzera" David
- Trending Gamer: Boogie2988
Notable Game Awards 2016 Announcements
- Death Stranding trailer (Mads Mikkelsen)
- Telltale confirms its Guardians of the Galaxy game (5 parts)
- Prey (Spring 2017)
- Zela Breath of the Wild gameplay trailer
- Shovel Knight prequel
- Halo Wars 2
- Walking Dead: A New Frontier
- Mass Effect Andromeda gameplay trailer
PSX 2016 was held in Anaheim and had a few major announcements of its own:
- The Last of Us Pt 2
  - Bruce Straley (director from the first game) won't return. He’s on a 1 year sabbatical after completing Uncharted 4.
  - Neil Druckmann will take on the role as the sole director.
  - Neil co-wrote the script with Westworld writer Halley Gross (Trompe L’Oeil).
  - Gustavo Santaolalla will be back to compose.
- Uncharted 4: Lost Legacy
- Nex Machina is Housemark's new game (Resogun)
- More Horizon Zero Dawn footage
- Wipeout Omega collection
- Capcom announces 2v2 fighter sequel Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite for PS4, out 2017
- PaRappa the Rapper, Patapon and Loco Roco PS4 remasters coming in 2017
- Knack 2 is coming to PS4
- Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy rebuilds the PSone classics for a unique PS4 remaster package
According to Eurogamer, 3 separate sources confirm that Switch will be adding Gamecube games to the virtual console.
- Apparently 3 games are already running and ready to go. Super Mario Sunshine, Luigi’s Mansion and Super Smash Bros Melee. And Animal Crossing is being tested.
- Secondly, Nintendo is looking into a way to use the Wii U's Gamecube controller adapter for the Switch.
Nintendo also recently spoke about what their original plan was for the followup to Wind Waker.

What We've Been Watching/Reading/Playing

Star Wars Catalyst (audiobook) by James Luceno
Mario Maker 3DS
Alien
Star Trek Voyager

May 22, 2025

SSSW/ToB Film Club - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

It's hard to believe that 'Rogue One' premiered nearly a decade ago. At the time, it was fairly well received, considered to be a decent first step into the standalone Star Wars movies, if not a bit messy. As the years passed, we learned more about the production. Gareth Edwards, who retained sole directing credit, was assisted by Tony Gilroy to "fix" the project. Tony went so far as to call it a "corpse" when he came aboard for rewrites and reshoots. It was Tony's inclusion that brought us some of the movies most memorable moments, and ultimately led him to leading the charge on 'Andor', a prequel project that flew under the radar as hits like 'The Mandalorian' hogged the spotlight. With 'Andor' now complete, considered by many to be a masterpiece in storytelling, not just in Star Wars but on television in general, now is the most appropriate time to reexamine the movie that spawned the Cassian-centered prequel series with fresh eyes. 'Andor', which leads directly into the events of 'Rogue One' recontextualizes much of the film, creating a unique viewing experience that pays off a multitude of threads that are brilliantly laid over the two seasons of 'Andor'. It takes the movie, which was already pretty good, and makes it great. Now existing as part of a whole that weaves a cohesive narrative from the nascent moments of the Rebellion all the way through to the destruction of the Death Star in 1977 (the seed that begat ALL Star Wars, and what we appropriately align our Star Wars BBY calendars to). It all feels wholistic and considered when viewed from the broader perspective - an accomplishment that should set a shining example of what Star Wars can and should aspire to.

May 15, 2025

SSSW - Andor S2 Finale

After only 4 weeks - the blink of an eye - it's all over. The best Star Wars story since the Original Trilogy has graced our screens and left us in awe. These final three episodes weren't able to reach the emotional highs of last week's arc, but that wasn't the goal. Instead, it provides time to look back at what brought us here, and sets the stage for the climax of the story to take place not in this moment, but within the now recontextualized film that birthed all of this in the first place, 'Rogue One'. And while the show may carry Cassian's name on the title screen, it's been the cast of characters we've met along the way that truly elevated this experience. Not to pick favourites, but in particular, Luthen and Kleya, who get an episode all to themselves this week are the standouts. And what an episode it was, as their story which shepherded much of the series came to an end, as we all expected it would have to. Embracing those feelings of closure, in the final moments of the series, as Cassian flies off into 'Rogue One', we are treated to our last glimpses of our heroes and villains. From Dedra to Vel and even Perrin, we are left to consider their fates as the story marches with inevitability into what begat all of this way back in 1977. Will we ever see Kleya, Vel, Wilmon, or Bix again? One can only hope - and rebellions? Well, they're built on hope.

May 9, 2025

SSSW - Andor S2 E7 - 9

When dealing in the world of prequels, it’s impossible to escape the inevitable - Anakin will fall, Han will win the Falcon, Cassian will die on Scarif. Somehow, in the midst of some of the most thrilling episodes of television ever put to screen, Tony Gilroy and his team found a way to address that impending doom and weaponize it against the audience to induce some of the most gut wrenching and heart breaking moments we’ve yet to see on ‘Andor’ - “There’s some place he needs to be”. At a larger scale, the show continues to outdo itself on a weekly basis, proving that the Star Wars galaxy provides a colour pallet of some of the richest hues from which to paint bold and personal stories. Proving you can go beyond the larger than life stories of heroics and grandeur to human stories of loss and pain and everything in between. That’s without mentioning the deft touch in pulling in themes that resonates with the contemporary while remaining timeless - a feeling that is a staple of Star Wars. Every detail is considered, every character is deep and interesting. There isn’t much more that can be said about such a powerful piece of art, except that not even the audience can escape the inevitable - only one week remains of this masterpiece.

May 2, 2025

SSSW - Andor S2 E4 - 6

I'm sorry to tell you all, but we're already halfway through this final season of 'Andor'. Fortunately, the quality hasn't dipped one bit as we accelerate into the finish. Join Julian and Rachel as they savour every minute of this 3-episode arch that takes us to Ghorman for the first time on screen. Tony Gilroy and the team at Lucasfilm outdid themselves yet again in crafting every detail. The size of the set alone is impressive, but they take it a step further by developing a unique culture and even language different from anything we've seen in Star Wars before. It all fits seamlessly into this next chapter of the story that has a heavy emphasis on spycraft as the pressure ramps up for both the Rebellion and the Empire.

Episode 88 - Game Awards and PSX 2016

Show Notes

Nerd Association

Movies

TV

Games

What We've Been Watching/Reading/Playing

Support the Show

REcent Episodes