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KnockBack, Episode 182: Top Gun (Video)

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KnockBack, Episode 182: Top Gun

Some people have the need for speed. Among them are the US Navy fighter pilots as portrayed in the 1986 Jerry Bruckheimer-led smash-hit Top Gun. The film stars a young Tom Cruise as Maverick, an ace pilot with a mysterious past and his own way of doing things. But really, this flick is a visual feast for the eyes if you're into fighter jets, dogfighting, and more. Is it corny and campy? Absolutely. Does it hold up today? Well, we'll leave that up to you. And yes, we'll even get into the theor...

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 108: Behind the Scenes with Dustin and Ben

Here at Last Stand, we produce six shows a week with both audio and video versions, releasing each day like clockwork. In this episode of Sacred Symbols+, Ben and Dustin took your questions on how the sausage gets made: What’s the day to day like? What programs and gear do we use? What’s the best and worst part of the job? In addition, we went over our history together and how we first crossed paths with Colin. This one was really fun to make, and we hope you love it!

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 108: Behind the Scenes with Dustin and Ben (Video)

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Sacred Symbols, Episode 161: Grandeur (Video)

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Sacred Symbols, Episode 161: Grandeur

This generation is well underway, and it's official: Sony's PlayStation 5 is 'winning' by a lot. At 10 million units sold and counting, PS5 is the fastest-selling home console ever and a testament to a clearly well-oiled corporation that launched hardware in a supply-constrained, virus-infected environment. We discuss what this huge figure (and accompanying software data) means, and whether Sony should start getting comfortable as the Big Dog yet again. Plus: A new PS5 firmware update is abou...

Defining Duke, Episode 30: Xbox's Biggest 2021 Games Finally Get Major News (Video)

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Defining Duke, Episode 30: Xbox's Biggest 2021 Games Finally Get Major News

Lots happening in the Xbox world this week! For starters, eager fans can finally sink their teeth into Halo Infinite flight testing as it goes live this weekend. Only one of the two hosts made it in... can you guess who? That aside, it is a test boasting bot matches, but more than anything we will finally be able to get a true feel of the game! On the other end of the spectrum, Forza Horizon 5 displayed even more impressive visuals throughout three new biomes. The game is staggering on multip...

Defining Duke Ultimate, Episode 26: The Indie Pendulum Swings In Xbox's Favor

After multiple accounts of poor interactions, Matty and Cog tackle the growing frustration among indie developers with PlayStation. With PlayStation serving as the dominant platform for independent games for a majority of the PS4 generation, this serves as a drastic change of pace. What has Xbox done to make up the ground, where can they continue to improve, and how does PlayStation respond to the backlash? The Dukes dive in!

Defining Duke Ultimate, Episode 26: The Indie Pendulum Swings In Xbox's Favor (Video)

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Sacred Symbols+, Episode 107: Studying the Accusations Against Activision-Blizzard

For several years now, the games industry has been going through a tectonic shift -- in parallel with industries all around the world -- attempting to right the wrongs of archaic and sometimes sexist and discriminatory corporate cultures. In gaming, most of this attention has rightly been foisted upon the likes of Ubisoft and even long-time Sony partner Quantic Dream, but it's Activision-Blizzard that's under the newest (and perhaps severest) scrutiny. This is well above our paygrade to ...

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 107: Studying the Accusations Against Activision-Blizzard (Video)

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KnockBack, Episode 181: Labyrinth

The 1986 Jim Henson classic film Labyrinth is about a whole lot more than David Bowie's impressive codpiece. And yes: That in and of itself is amazing. But nestled underneath its fantasy, puppetry, and music is a movie about childhood, about growing up and finding your way and letting go. Few movies resonate from childhood resonate more than Labyrinth for Colin in particular, who considers this one of his favorite all-time flicks. And, well... it really is as good now as it was then. Maybe ev...

KnockBack, Episode 181: Labyrinth (Video)

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I Support Ben - Lockmort's Edits

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Sacred Symbols+, Episode 106: The Fight for Accessibility in Games

Please welcome Joel Dembe to Sacred Symbols+. Joel is a retired Canadian paralympian, an accessibility advocate, a writer, and a gamer, and he reached out several months ago to see if we could talk about accessibility in games. I said yes, obviously, and the conversation's timeline has been accelerated thanks to recent events in the industry. As chatter about accessibility for the disabled becomes louder and more pronounced, so too has pushback, arguing that making games 'easier' or 'dum...

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 106: The Fight for Accessibility in Games (Video)

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Sacred Symbols, Episode 160: Red Storm Rising (Video)

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0:24:48

0:54:57

Sacred Symbols, Episode 160: Red Storm Rising

It's time for you to wake up. Unsavory, international, and shadowy corporate and political interests are starting to tie themselves more and more to the gaming industry, and it's time for us to talk about how to resist. It's impossible for any of us to live truly ethical, modern economic lives -- only those living truly off-grid are doing so -- but it's incumbent on us to know what's happening, why, and to what extent. Tencent's recent acquisition of Sumo Digital brings the forces of Chi...

Defining Duke, Episode 29: Valve & Xbox's Limitless Potential With Steam Deck (Video)

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Defining Duke, Episode 29: Valve & Xbox's Limitless Potential With Steam Deck

Last week saw the PC savvy Valve announce their entrance into the console market in the form of a handheld that aims to bring the PC experience in Switch-like form factor. As Team Handheld, Matty and Lord Cognito immediately love what they see, but the potential in Steam Deck goes beyond that of Valve. Indeed, it is the potential Xbox has to grow through this device like many others as we continue to wonder if Xbox will finally enter the handheld market. Beyond that, Xbox saw a record month i...

Defining Duke Ultimate, Episode 25: Call In With Matty #1

Taking a page out of the Sacred Symbols + handbook, Defining Duke will also be doing live call-ins! These episodes are well and truly powered by the audience as Matty and Ben team up to answer the burning questions our callers have. Will Xbox nail down a third-person exclusive similar to that of PlayStation? How will Xbox conquer the ever elusive Japan? What is the future of Sly Cooper? Why did Dustin rank Matty last place for his Last Stand Media rankings? There's much more asked by the Last...

Defining Duke Ultimate, Episode 25: Call In With Matty #1 (Video)

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Sacred Symbols+, Episode 105: The Blue Box Conspiracy

At this point, you've certainly heard about "Blue Box" and all of the weirdness surrounding their upcoming PlayStation 5 game. We can't avoid it on our show -- we cover PlayStation, after all -- but it's also true that we refuse to dodge the subject. It's too god damn strange, there's way too much suggesting there's more than meets the eye here, and we want to hash it all out. Thus, we thought we'd conduct an episode with a simple premise: Lay out all of the Blue Box-related evidence and...

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 105: The Blue Box Conspiracy (Video)

At this point, you've certainly heard about "Blue Box" and all of the weirdness surrounding their upcoming PlayStation 5 game. We can't avoid it on our show -- we cover PlayStation, after all -- but it's also true that we refuse to dodge the subject. It's too god damn strange, there's way too much suggesting there's more than meets the eye here, and we want to hash it all out. Thus, we thought we'd conduct an episode with a simple premise: Lay out all of the Blue Box-related evidence and...

KnockBack, Episode 180: Battlestar Galactica (Season 2)

For many fans of BSG, the second season of the reimagined run is the best 20 episodes the franchise has to offer. It's here that -- according to Dagan -- the show goes from good to very good, and truly finds itself with its fusion of dark, deep, philosophical, and religious themes tied to the trappings of grounded sci-fi. The result is truly special: One part political thriller and another part horror flick, one part spiritual exercise and another part existential crisis. Battlestar Galactica...

KnockBack, Episode 180: Battlestar Galactica (Season 2) (Video)

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KnockBack, Episode 179 | Spider-Man (2002 film)

Some 20 years removed from the release of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man, it's easy to get lost in the weeds. After all, we are absolutely inundated with superhero media today, particularly from Marvel, whether it's movies, TV shows, and even video games. But back in 2002, Spider-Man's 21st century film debut was both quaint and extraordinary. On one hand, it's wild to think about how important this particular movie is to the landscape that would come. On the other hand, it's fun to think about what ...

KnockBack, Episode 179 | Spider-Man (2002 film) (Video)

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Sacred Symbols+, Episode 104: Call-In With Colin II (Video)

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