Nerd Culture Podcast

Welcome to the fourth instalment of Dust Jacket, our regular foray into the world of Sci-Fi literature. As always, I’m joined by Luke, self-confessed sci-fi junkie and world’s harshest critic.

This week, we’re turning our attention to The Player of Games, the second of Ian M. Banks 8-novel Culture series.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

The Player of Games is the second of Iain M. Banks Culture series. The Culture is a vast transhuman society populated by both humans and sentient robotic drones that provides for all the basic needs of its citizens, allowing them to explore all the worldly pleasures lie has to offer, and to pursue their interests freely.

Jernau Morat Gurgeh’s interests, bordering on obsession, lie in the playing of strategy-based games, for which he has few equals. His status as a gamer affords him great prestige and celebrity within the Culture. This prestige, however, is not enough; he wants to go down as the greatest gamer of all time.

Playing a complex game against fellow gamer Olz Halp, Gurgeh is tempted into cheating by Mawrhin-Skel, a particularly devious and manipulative drone. In doing so, he leaves himself open to blackmail by Skel.

Fearing the repercussions of his actions, Gurgeh is forced to accept an offer from the Culture’s Special Circumstances branch – the espionage division of the Culture. He is to travel to the Empire of Azad, an Empire that may pose a potential long-term threat to the Culture. There, he will compete in their grand tournament, the defining cultural event for the denizens of Azad. So great is the status of the game that the victor is appointed Emperor.

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As I’ve mentioned before, I got my start in the world of reviews and podcasting on the Black Panel, Australia’s grooviest Gaming site. These guys are so awesome our gaming coverage here at Nerd Culture Podcast can stay minimal and we recommend you head on over there for all your gaming news and reviews. But every now and then we might feel the need to do something in the area ourselves so, to kick off Joystick, NCP’s gaming area I thought I would repost my Black Panel reviews. I’ll only have a paragraph and link. The full reviews can be read at blackpanel.com.au

BioShock 2

The first thing that comes to mind when playing BioShock 2 is just how ‘right’ everything feels. Like the first game in the series, BioShock 2 is a first person shooter set an undersea city known as Rapture, but various refinements have resulted in much more depth. Real time hacking (you can be attacked while hacking), hacking rewards (want some free ammo?) and true dual-wielding, all build on the already great gameplay of the original.

Read the full review at Black Panel

Heavy Rain

It is important for me state this right from the outset – Heavy Rain is more than a game, it is an experience. It is an interactive drama that blurs the boundary between film and games and offers the chance to show how realistic moral choices can have realistic consequences; to show that games are not just for kids. Heavy Rain is an adult drama, and this is a great thing for games.

Read the full review at Black Panel

Super Street Fighter IV

The room is dark. Vivid colours suddenly appear on the huge TV screen on the wall, illuminating the smiling face of the handsome game reviewer. The announcer’s voice rings out, and a plethora of selectable characters appear. Who will he choose? Selecting one of the newcomers, Juri, he grins with excitement as her image then fills a third of the screen. Using an impressive looking world map the game then chooses a location, giving a hint of the opponent to come. The scene of the imminent battle appears and his opponent is revealed, the bestial Blanka, and the fight begins!

Ok, so I got a little carried away with the intro, but this game brings it out of you and it does illustrate just how exciting this game is. The bright colours, the ridiculously over the top fight announcer and the superhero like physiques of the fighters all combine to deliver a pulse racing experience and that’s before the fighting even starts.

Read the full review at Black Panel

Red Dead Redemption

The sun is setting in the distance as I casually trot along the dusty trail. I’m admiring the scenery when a damsel in distress comes running out of the underbrush, wearing nothing but a negligee and begging for help. Could I give her a ride into town? Wait! All is not as it seems. As soon as she reaches me, she throws me to the ground, leaps onto my horse and gallops away laughing. But all is not lost. I quickly rise and whistle for my trusty steed. He immediately bucks her off and trots back to meet me. I leap into the saddle and the chase is on. I quickly lasso and hogtie her, place her on the back of my horse and think about what to do with her. Decision reached, I ride to the nearest train line, dump my protesting captive onto the tracks and step back. It doesn’t take long for the train to arrive and my would-be horse thief explodes into red mist. My ‘Dastardly’ achievement is proudly announced and I can’t help but smile. Life was hard in the Wild West.

Read the full review at Black Panel

Monday Night Combat

Monday Night Combat is a wonderfully entertaining mix of player vs player, third-person shooter with tower-defence mechanics set in a futuristic combat game show. Think The Running Man X Wipeout (or It’s a Knockout if you’re an older reader) and you have some idea. Visually, Monday Night Combat looks very similar to Team Fortress 2, with vibrant colours and cartoonish characters. It looks awesome.

Read the full review at Black Panel

Who isn’t excited about the new Muppet Movie! And things like this awesome Green Lantern inspired promo clip only helps to amp the excitement levels to 11. Man, I want a Kermit cameo in Green Lantern now!

All Justice League pics have been posted previously so I’ll only list the creative teams/blurb text here.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #1
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS
1:25 Variant cover by DAVID FINCH
RETROSOLICITED • On sale AUGUST 31 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US RATED T • Combo pack edition: $4.99 US
Comics superstars Geoff Johns and Jim Lee make history! In a universe where super heroes are strange and new, Batman has discovered a dark evil that requires him to unite the World Greatest Heroes!

This spectacular debut issue is also offered as a special combo pack edition, polybagged with a redemption code for a digital download of the issue.

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #1
Written by DAN JURGENS
Art by AARON LOPRESTI and MATT RYAN
Cover by AARON LOPRESTI
On sale SEPTEMBER 7 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
With the growing presence of super beings around the world, the United Nations resolves to create a new group called Justice League International.

Batman, Booster Gold, Green Lantern Guy Gardner, August General in Iron, Fire, Ice, Vixen and Rocket Red are charged with promoting unity and trust – but can they reach that goal without killing each other first?

AQUAMAN #1
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
On sale SEPTEMBER 28 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
The superstar creators from BLACKEST NIGHT and BRIGHTEST DAY reunite to take AQUAMAN to amazing new depths!

Aquaman has renounced the throne of Atlantis – but the sea will not release Arthur Curry so easily. Now, from a forgotten corner of the ocean emerges… The Trench! A broken race of creatures that should not exist, an unspeakable need driving them, The Trench will be the most talked-about new characters in the DC Universe!

WONDER WOMAN #1
Written by BRIAN AZZARELLO
Art and cover by CLIFF CHIANG
On sale SEPTEMBER 21 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
The Gods walk among us. To them, our lives are playthings. Only one woman would dare to protect humanity from the wrath of such strange and powerful forces. But is she one of us – or one of them?

THE FLASH #1
Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
Variant cover by IVAN REIS and TIM TOWNSEND
On sale SEPTEMBER 28 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information.
The Fastest Man Alive returns to his own monthly series from the writer/artist team of Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato! The Flash knows he can’t be everywhere at once, but what happens when he faces an all-new villain who really can! As if that’s not bad enough, this villain is a close friend!

CAPTAIN ATOM #1
Written by J.T. KRUL
Art by FREDDIE WILLIAMS II
Cover by STANLEY “ARTGERM” LAU
On sale SEPTEMBER 21 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Charged by nuclear energy, possessing vast molecular powers, Captain Atom has the potential to be a literal god among men – a hero without limits. But the question is: Will he lose himself in the process?

Don’t miss the start of a legend from writer J.T. Krul (GREEN ARROW, TEEN TITANS) and artist Freddie Williams II (JSA ALL-STARS)!

THE FURY OF FIRESTORM #1
Written by ETHAN VAN SCIVER and GAIL SIMONE
Art by YILDIRAY CINAR
Cover by ETHAN VAN SCIVER
On sale SEPTEMBER 28 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Jason Rusch and Ronnie Raymond. These two high school students are worlds apart – and now they’re drawn into a conspiracy of super-science that bonds them forever in a way they can’t explain or control. The dark secrets of the murderous Dog Team and its Firestorm Protocol force them to put aside their differences to confront a threat so terrifying that it may lead to a new Cold War! Welcome to a major new vision of nuclear terror from writers Ethan Van Sciver and Gail Simone with astonishing art by Yildiray Cinar!

GREEN ARROW #1
Written by J.T. KRUL
Art by DAN JURGENS and NORM RAPMUND
Cover by BRETT BOOTH and ROB HUNTER
On sale SEPTEMBER 7 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Green Arrow is on the hunt. Driven by inner demons, Ollie Queen travels the world and brings outlaws to justice…by breaking every law.

Now, armed with cutting-edge weaponry and illegally gained intel (courtesy of his team at QCore), Green Arrow is shooting first and asking questions later.

THE SAVAGE HAWKMAN #1
Written by TONY S. DANIEL
Art and cover by PHILIP TAN
On sale SEPTEMBER 28 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Carter Hall’s skill at deciphering lost languages has led him to a job with an archaeologist who specializes in alien ruins – but will the doctor’s latest discovery spread an alien plague through New York City? No matter the personal cost, Carter Hall must don his wings and become the new, savage Hawkman to survive! Witness the start of a new action series from writer Tony S. Daniel and artist Philip Tan that will take Hawkman where no hero has flown before!

MISTER TERRIFIC #1
Written by ERIC WALLACE
Art by ROGER ROBINSON
Cover by J.G. JONES
On sale SEPTEMBER 14 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
The world’s third-smartest man – and one of its most eligible bachelors – uses his brains and fists against science gone mad in this new series from Eric Wallace (TITANS) and Roger Robinson!

Michael Holt is the head of a successful high-tech corporation and an institute that recruits and encourages the finest minds of the next generation to excel. As Mister Terrific he inhabits a world of amazement few others know exists, let alone can comprehend.

DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #1
Written by PAUL JENKINS
Art by BERNARD CHANG
Cover by RYAN SOOK
On sale SEPTEMBER 21 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
It’s the start of a new series spotlighting some of the DC Universes’s most exciting super heroes! First up is Deadman, straight from the pages of BRIGHTEST DAY, in a five-issue epic where the body-hopping hero meets his match in a new foe who wants to make sure the souls that Deadman helps out go straight to Hell!

This appears to be the new Vertigo-esque corner of the DCU. It’s also where DC pander to the Twi-hards with the awful looking I, Vampire. Gee, yet another teen-looking vampire, what a shock.

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #1
Written by PETER MILLIGAN
Art by MIKEL JANIN
Cover by RYAN SOOK
On sale SEPTEMBER 28 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
The witch known as The Enchantress has gone mad, unleashing forces that not even the combined powers of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Cyborg can stop. And if those heroes can’t handle the job, who will stand against this mystical madness?
Shade the Changing Man, Madame Xanadu, Deadman, Zatanna and John Constantine may be our only hope – but how can we put our trust in beings whose very presence makes ordinary people break out in a cold sweat?

SWAMP THING #1
Written by SCOTT SNYDER
Art and cover by YANICK PAQUETTE
On sale SEPTEMBER 7 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+
One of the world’s most iconic characters has returned to the heart of the DC Universe, and every step he takes will shake the foundations of the Earth!
Alec Holland has his life back…but the Green has plans for it. A monstrous evil is rising in the desert, and it’ll take a monster of another kind to defend life as we know it!

ANIMAL MAN #1
Written by JEFF LEMIRE
Art by TRAVEL FOREMAN and DAN GREEN
Cover by TRAVEL FOREMAN
On sale SEPTEMBER 7 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+
Buddy Baker has gone from “super” man to family man – but is he strong enough to hold his family together when Maxine, his young daughter, starts to manifest her own dangerous powers? Find out in this dramatic new series from writer Jeff Lemire (SWEET TOOTH) and artist Travel Foreman (The Immortal Iron Fist).

FRANKENSTEIN, AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. #1
Written by JEFF LEMIRE
Art by ALBERTO PONTICELLI
Cover by J.G. JONES
On sale SEPTEMBER 14 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
It’s Frankenstein as you’ve never seen him before, in a dark new series from acclaimed writer Jeff Lemire (SWEET TOOTH) and artist Alberto Ponticelli (UNKNOWN SOLDIER)! Frankenstein is part of a network of strange beings who work for an even stranger government organization: The Super Human Advanced Defense Executive! But can he protect the world from threats even more horrifying than himself? And since he’s vilified for who and what he is, will he even want to take on this mission?

I, VAMPIRE #1
Written by JOSHUA HALE FIALKOV
Art by ANDREA SORRENTINO
Cover by JENNY FRISON
On sale SEPTEMBER 28 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+
For hundreds of years, vampire Andrew Stanton kept mankind safe from the horrors of the supernatural world, thanks to a truce he made with his ex-lover Mary, the Queen of the Damned. But now that truce has reached a bloody end and Andrew must do everything in his power to stop Mary and her dark forces from going on a killing spree – and she plans to start with the heroes of the DCU!

RESURRECTION MAN #1
Written by DAN ABNETT and ANDY LANNING
Art by FERNANDO DAGNINO
Cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
On sale SEPTEMBER 14 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+
It’s the return of Mitch Shelly – and he’s still dead.
Resurrection Man can’t stay dead for long, though – and with each rebirth comes new and unexpected powers. But his many returns have not gone unnoticed, and forces are gathering to learn what’s so special about him – and to see which of them will finally stop Resurrection Man dead.

DEMON KNIGHTS #1
Written by PAUL CORNELL
Art by DIOGENES NEVES and OCLAIR ALBERT
Cover by TONY S. DANIEL
On sale SEPTEMBER 14 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Set in the Dark Ages of the DC Universe, a barbarian horde is massing to crush civilization. It’s fallen to Madame Xanadu and Jason Blood, the man with a monster inside him, to stand in their way. It’ll take more than their own power to stop an army fueled by bloodlust and dark sorcery, and some very surprising heroes – and villains – will have no choice but to join the fray!

VOODOO #1
Written by RON MARZ
Art and cover by SAMI BASRI
On sale SEPTEMBER 28 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+
Who is Voodoo? Is she hero, villain – or both? Learn the truth about Priscilla Kitaen as she leaves a trail of violence across America. Discover the new DCU through her eyes, because the things she sees are not always what they seem…