Sat, 27 June 2009 And they're baaaack! After a brief summer
hiatus, the guys are back in Episode 90 of the Animalcast to catch up
on their latest gaming escapades. They start the episode by talking
about their plans for viewer participation in next week's episode. Then Kyle talks about playing Paizo's Pathfinder, Munchkin, Unexploded Cow, Girl Genius: The Works, Infernal Contraption and Paizo's reissue of James Ernest's Falling. Mike talks about how he wishes he could have played Heroscape,
but he didn't have time to game in the last month. And for the hardcore
fans, they tell old war stories about bowel problems and the horrors of
being buried up to your neck in sand while sitting on your hands.
Comments[0] |
Sat, 30 May 2009 In Episode 89, the guys introduce the second
installment in their ongoing educational game series-- The Animalcast's
Guide to Better Gaming. The topic this time: how to be a better player
at your game table. From how to make the perfect "game-oriented"
character to how to raise the level of discourse amongst your fellow
players, the guys cover the spectrum and provide unique insights and
advice for players of every game genre. No matter what game you play,
every RPG player will be able to take something from this episode and
make their gameplay better.
Comments[0] |
Mon, 25 May 2009 Proving that their gaming cred is unmatched, in
Episode 88 of the Animalcast, the guys talk about current gaming news.
As longtime listeners would expect, the conversation devolves into
criticisms over WotC's poor decisions and failed opportunities with D&D 4th Edition. They also talk about Free RPG Day,
the recent press release accusing the guys of being insensitive
racists, and the announcement of several new games being launched. In
non-gaming news, both Mike and Kyle giggle like 10 year old girls over
the news that Dollhouse would be renewed. The guys also discuss how
Felicia Day stars in the final episode of Dollhouse, and then in a
truly gratuitous bout of self-congratulation, they brag about their
interview with Felicia Day in Episode 70. Comments[0] |
Sat, 9 May 2009 In this episode, the guys celebrate their two
year anniversary the only way they know how-- A NO-PREP EPISODE! They
guys think they are recording in high quality, but mid-episode
something horrible occurs. Listen to stories about Mike's balls hanging
out, Kyle peeping on a naked mentally handicapped girl and other odd
and compelling stories. They guys wax philosophic on important topics
like the new Star Trek movie and how awesome Dollhouse is. Finally,
they answer the all important question- what's wrong with lesbians.
It's been a good two years. Comments[0] |
Sun, 3 May 2009 In the second part of their 27 part "Airing of
Grievances" series, the guys take on Sci-Fi RPGs. The bastard child of
gaming, Mike and Kyle examine the worst offenses in this genre of
roll-playing games. Why has every adaptation of the Jetsons been
shitty? What's the problem with the late 80s rpg version of Leather
Goddesses of Phobos? Which registered member of Animalball once pitched
a gritty, grim RPG game about anthropomorphic squirrels being the first
explorers to colonize Mars? Is it really funny everytime someone
mentions Uranus? We can't answer those questions here in this post, but
listen to the podcast for more insights.
Comments[2] |
Sun, 26 April 2009 In honor of Highlander II, the worst sequel ever released, the guys discuss their lists of the other worst sequels they've ever seen. And then for the first time they read the listeners lists for worst sequels as well. Comments[0] |
Sat, 18 April 2009 In this episode, the guys decide to shift gears
from their normal wacky antics and examine the issues and obstacles
related to women and the roleplaying game culture. The guys explore why
tabletop roleplaying games are overwhelmingly dominated by males, and
whether the limited participation of women is an actual phenomenon or
just a perceived one. They discuss the potential failings of the gaming
industry itself and whether large gaming companies have done enough to
include all players, including women, into their most popular lines of
games. Finally, the guys advise both male and female gamers about
things they can do to make gaming a more inviting and enjoyable
experience to women players.
Comments[0] |
Sun, 12 April 2009 In this episode of the podcast, Mike and Kyle
introduce answer the ever-burning question-- Hey, dude! Whatcha
playin'? And they spend the hour discussing all the various and sundry
roleplaying games that they've experimented with over the last several
weeks. But as it turns out, they've both only played Paizo's Pathfinder. Specifically, they both only played the Rise of the Runelords campaign.
But they love it, as loyal listeners well know. They spend time talking
about problems that have arisen and how they've adapted the campaigns
to the particular problems with their groups. Comments[0] |
Sat, 4 April 2009 That's right, faithful listeners, this episode
is our second Animalball Roundtable! In the Animalball Roundtable, we
invite our listeners to join us on the recording to answer all the
important geek questions that matter. Which Brady Bunch family member
was the monster? Supervillains aren't evil, they're just misunderstood,
right? If your life depended on you LARPing, which genre would it be
in? The Roundtable is NOT a closed invitation event. Any listener that
wants to participate simply calls into the conference call and...
BOOM... they're a part of the show. Why didn't you participate in these
high-stakes shenanigans? I suppose only you and your insecurities can
answer that question. Just because we're pointing the shame finger at
you doesn't mean we judge you.
Comments[0] |
Tue, 31 March 2009 In this episode, the guys finally wade into the
shady territory of actual play. If you have listened before, you know
that the guys regularly deride other podcasts for having "actual play"
episodes where they simply record their gaming session. Long time
listeners will now that Mike and Kyle find this lazy and
self-indulgent. But once they recognized that they also were lazy and
self-indulgent, they decided it was time to change the world of actual
play podcasts forever.
And what better game to showcase than the single greatest pick up and play game ever, Instant Game-- Animalball's free downloadable game. Mike rolls on the random setting, tone and plot charts at the beginning of the episode, and then they play out an entire Instant Game session in the span of this one hour episode. Are you a fan of actual play podcasts? Are you a fan of pick up and play games? Have you always wanted to try Instant Game but were frightened that your parents would shun you because of its rebellious and unpredictable nature? Then this is definitely the podcast for you. Comments[0] |
Tue, 24 March 2009 Oh how we hath suffered through the slings and
arrows of crappy comic book movie adaptations! Behold the mighty robot
that magically folds in on itself to become a boombox, never once
worrying itself for a plot or the assistance of a writer. And yea,
though we sing the literary praises of He Who Punishes... his cinematic
interpretations have been much like a plague of locusts beset upon our
minds.
All rise for the honorable Mike and Kyle! The Airing of Grievances shall now commence! Comments[0] |
Sat, 14 March 2009 In Episode 79, the guys answer their viewer mail. They talk about their Gen Con plans, some technical information about how they record and answer questions about their gaming set up. But this doesn't really do it justice because, well, it's VIEWER MAIL! Comments[1] |
Sun, 1 March 2009 Before concluding their RPG Pitch session, the guys point their listeners to a friend of theirs, Jeff Preston, who does excellent fantasy art (and did much of the art for some of Animalball's free games). He's currently offering character portraits for a bargain.
Then the guys get into the pitches. Kyle offers a unique look at Let's
Kill John McClain, Karma Police and Messiah Complex. Mike pitches a
cool angsty Disney idea and something cool called The Undertakers. Once
again, faithful listeners... you're welcome.
Comments[2] |
Sat, 21 February 2009 In Episode 77, the guys talk briefly about Mike's homebrew scout camp horror RPG (more details here) and Kyle talks about how much he loved playing Unexploded Cow (more details here).
Then the guys really do the RPG Pitch show they've been promising for
weeks. Without giving too much away, here's just a few titles--
Suburban High School Zombie Apocalypse: The Musical (80s Edition);
Scrapworld; Gratuitous; Instant PB3; Zombie: The Masquerade; Everyone
is Highlander (a Game of Decapitation); and BOARDROOM! Absolutely
brilliant. You're welcome.
Comments[1] |
Sat, 14 February 2009 In Episode 76 of the Animalcast, the guys invite all their new listeners to try the Animalball Stat Yourself Quiz.
While it has been copied many times, the guys' Stat Yourself Quiz is
the original and a pretty good approximation of what someone's
statistics would be in D&D. Please note, this is a 3.5 version
quiz, but the guys are working on the new 4E version. In the rest of
the podcast, the guys engage in yet another RPG Pitch episode, in which
they each pitch new game ideas to each other that they haven't shared
before. Without giving away the results, the guys are confident that
you'll find they have some really cool and really surprising things to
say.
Comments[0] |
Sat, 31 January 2009 In Episode 75, the guys talk about their current
obsession... ROKU! That's right, the guys give their top five
recommendations for movies that are available on Netflix's "Watch Now"
feature. Why does Mike have such a man-crush on Quentin Tarintino?
What's the fascination with Horror/Post-Apocalyptic/Stylized/Action
movies? And for anyone over the age of 30, Kyle relates a story
guaranteed to make you feel old. Comments[0] |
Sat, 24 January 2009  In this episode the guys talk about their newest roleplaying game discovery, Zombie Cinema.
It's got zombies, brains, desperate people trying to escape the
apocalypse- what more could you want? Simply put, they think it's
awesome. Next the guys experiment with the next wave in audio
entertainment: Instant Podcast. Instant Podcast is 120 different topic
ideas listed on fancy charts. Mike randomly rolls and then... BAM!
Instant Podcast. If you're thinking, "Whoa, awesome" then you get the
idea. If you don't understand, then maybe you should be listening to
Keith and the Girl.Comments[1] |
Sun, 18 January 2009 In Episode 73, the guys discuss their top five most embarassing moments that don't involve getting caught masturbating. Not to give anything away, but this is the seminal episode that secures the guys' position as complete and total dorks. Comments[0] |
Sat, 10 January 2009 In Episode 72, the guys talk about the various games they bought and played over the holidays. They talk about Settlers of Catan, Mike's problems with his Pathfinder campaign, Zombie Cinema and Lost Worlds. They also have an enlightening discussion of hotel porn. Comments[0] |
Sat, 20 December 2008  In episode 71, the guys interview Felicia Day, the writer and star of the hysterical geek web-series, The Guild. The guys talk with Felica about shooting Season 2 of the Guild, what it was like working on the set of Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog,
and they argue with her over the merits and failings of D&D 4.0.
Knowing she has a degree in mathematics, they find out if she's ever
talked math with Winnie Cooper, and they also talk to her about her work on the web-series, The Legend of Neil. Finally, Felicia undergoes the gauntlet of the Animalball Hotseat and answers the dreaded five questions.
Comments[0] |
Sat, 13 December 2008 In Episode 70 the guys have their biggest
interview ever planned... only to have it canceled by the guest at the
last minute. The guys are clearly depressed and are forced to do a
no-prep episode, but FEAR NOT! Knowing that the best no-prep episodes
involve stories of themselves hurting/being hurt as children, the guys
open the treasure box of stories from their past. Want to know who got
their lips split by the angry fist of Animalball Legend Steve Safford?
Want some good stories about Roblogic acting like an ass and falling
down a flight of stairs? Better yet, want to know how Rob lost two
testicles in horrible accidents? These answers and more are in this
unplanned, yet quality episode. Comments[0] |
Tue, 9 December 2008 Kyle's sick, so no show notes. But it's one of the best banter episodes yet. Comments[0] |
Sun, 30 November 2008 Kyle's spending the Thanksgiving holiday roughing it with his family outside of cell phone range, so this week, Mike's son Gygax fills in with his best Uncle Kyle impression. In this short episode, Mike and son fill the time with more Pathfinder talk, and a brief look at the current crop of geek television shows. Comments[0] |
Sat, 22 November 2008 In episode 67, the guys get sentimental and
sappy thinking back about their favorite and least-favorite episodes in
the past year and a half. The guys give details behind specific
episodes, which you can easily link to in the episode guide in the Animalcast forum.
The guys also solicit listener input on the best and worst episodes and
whether there is interest in another voicemail line or viewer mail
episode.
Click Here to Listen. Comments[0] |
Sat, 15 November 2008 Mike has abandoned the podcast... or at least had to cancel, so Kyle tried recording this episode without him. He tries to talk about gaming news (you should really check out Cartoon Action Hour: Season Two), but quickly runs out of steam and starts babbling about his family. For kicks, he opens Mike's private banter list and critiques it for the audience. Good times.Comments[0] |
