Can you believe that the holiday season is nearly here? In just a few days, Americans everywhere will be eating turkey, pie, and other junk food… while Canadians will simply go to work as usual because they celebrated Thanksgiving over a month ago.
In any case, it’s a pretty great time to be a geek, so we thought it would be a great idea to round up the ol’ crew in order to find out just what we’re thankful for this year!
Read on, enjoy your turkey, and we hope that you make it through Black Friday unscathed (and with a nice cheap console or TV, to boot).
Oh, and happy Thanksgiving! Or Thursday, rest of the world!
Natalie Kipper
I’m thankful for anime reboots! I grew up on Sailor Moon and Heroic Legend of Arslan (yes, that British-flavored dub where they kept changing characters’ names) and the fact that I get to revisit these series as an adult is pure geek heaven. Sailor Moon Crystal was recently renewed for another season (with higher production values, too). And while Arslan is being remade under the direction of a different artist (Hiromu Arakawa rather than Mamoru Hamatsu), I am simply grateful that I get to see that story completed.
Daniel Campozano
The thing that I’m most thankful for this year? Easy. Star Wars. Just like Derek had stated in his Star Wars article last week, I have also had a love/hate (and now back to loving) relationship with the franchise. With The Force Awakens set to be released in a less than a month (finally) I find myself trying to consume as much Star Wars media as I possibly can. From going through Clone Wars with my daughter, to reading all of Marvel’s new comics, to playing the newest console game. Marvel has been doing a phenomenal job with the books, my favorite being Darth Vader and its current Vader Down event. And of course, there’s Star Wars: Battlefront; I have so much fun just randomly playing through all the modes and I completely lose it whenever someone dies and it triggers the wilhelm scream. When I’m feeling for some quick, fun, guns-blazing action, I head into the ‘Hero Hunt’ or ‘Heroes Vs. Villains’ modes and just lose myself for hours. When I’m finished with that I just hop on the Battlefront companion app which lets me score some space credits to help unlock some more gear within the main game. Amazing.
Eric Francisco
Right now I’m thankful that television is diversifying. I just finished a few episodes of Marvel’s Jessica Jones, which (I must say as a straight male) is probably one of the most feminist action shows because it goes beyond “girl power.” Never before I have ever seen trauma dealt with in such an intelligent, artistic manner and still stay an exciting comic book TV show. It’s nothing short of impressive. Furthermore, shows like Fresh off the Boat and Into the Badlands are giving kids like myself a familiar face they can relate to, which I didn’t have growing up. I read Alex Tizon’s “Big Little Man” which, in short, advocates why a diverse pop culture can instill confidence for people to pursue their dreams.
Jonathan London
One of the things I’m thankful for the most this year (and every year!) is the continued presence of Geekscape in our lives. The podcast gives me a weekly outlet through which I can meet new people, interact with those of you who listen and run my mouth. As I always say: I’m going to be talking about these things anyways… so why not at least talk about them with other people? The website, Facebook and community also give us an excuse and a place to keep up with everything going on in our community. I’ve seen many of you graduate college, get married, start your careers and live your lives, both in person and through these digital mediums. It’s been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and together we’ve built this place into our own little neighborhood bar where everybody knows your name.
Gabriel von Grünbaum
As the holidays approach this year, it feels like a good time to reflect back on what I’m feeling grateful for this year. How convenient that Thanksgiving is about to hit! There’s a lot that I’m thankful for—I’ve enjoyed some great new events in entertainment and there are still more to come!—I’ve enjoyed reconnecting with some old friends and making some excellent new friendships—getting the chance to meet some of you at the cons, premieres and other events. As I thought about all of this, it occurred to me that what I’m grateful for could be summarized pretty easily. This year I’m really grateful for Geekscape. Joining this amazing team, having the opportunity to share what I’m most passionate about with all of you who feel the same way and getting to share in that excitement together—well, it just makes this Geekscape adventure that much more amazing and for all of that I’m truly grateful. Looking forward to more magic next year and getting the chance to share it with all of you. See you at the next event!
Matt Kelly
Last week Scream Factory released a beautiful double disc blue-ray of Troll and Troll 2. Beyond being a beautiful transfer of two truly weird and wonderfully bad movies, the Blu-Ray also contains a bonus copy of Best Worst Movie. For those who haven’t seen this touching documentary it tells the story of the making of Troll 2. What this SHOULD be is a wacky comedy about a terrible movie… but what it ends up being is a fascinating tale of redemption following a group of people who are just discovering how loved they are to a cult community.
Jake Lopez
After spending over three years with minimal video game time, it’s easy to profess just how thankful I am to be able to feed a guilty pleasure. I got an Xbox One recently and have been catching up on games I’ve missed. I’ll talk about two games I’m thankful for and, for good measure, I’ll throw in one movie I plan on seeing this week.
Batman Arkham Knight is a fantastic game that I just got around to playing. I know it’s had its troubles on Steam, but find a way to play this on a next-gen console if you have to. I’m taking a break after beating it through the first normal run-through, but you better believe I’ll be taking a swing at the hardest difficulty. It’s a definite treat for those of you have avoided spoilers this long.
The second video-game-related treat I’m thankful for is Halo 5’s free DLC. There is no season pass and so far there’s been one content drop with another planned for December. With so many games, *cough* Battlefront *cough*, that are charging an extra price equal or over the price of the game itself, it’s nice seeing a change of pace for the better.
As for the movie, I’m certainly excited to see Creed. Directed by relative newcomer Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station) and starting Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station, Chronicle), I’m hoping to see a new spin on a franchise that started in the post-classical era of filmmaking. It’s been nearly forty years since Rocky was released in theaters and a lot of cinema has happened between now and then. I have high hopes for this film and am excited to seen what Coogler and Jordan do with this next installment into the Rocky franchise.
Adam Lemuz
This year I’m thankful for Game Center CX. Game Center CX is a Japanese game show that centers around a man named Shin’ya Arino, or Arino Kacho (the chief). His goal each week on the show is to play and complete classic video game challenges. The only problem is that he’s pretty bad at them. These challenges mostly consist of beating the game and range from a variety of systems including the Famicom (Japanese NES), Super Famicom (Super Nintendo), and the N64. He’ll even throw in a relatively new game every now and then. This show is chock full of humor at every turn as Arino wins, fails, and gives humorous gaming advice.
That’s not all the show has to offer though. In between footage of him trying to conquer said weekly game, there are tons of different show segments scattered throughout the hour long program. These include arcade and restaurant visits, a game where he must guess a Famicom cartridge from far away using a super scope, retro game showcases, and much more. Even though there was an American DVD release of the show a while ago, it seems that nothing else has really come out of it and the show has mainly stayed over in Japan which is a shame. Not to worry though, because you can watch almost every episode of Game Center CX with English subtitles over at this link, and if you want to support the official release you can buy the DVD (renamed Retro Game Master for North America) right here!
Shane O’Hare
What I’m most thankful for this year has to be my friends. Let me get a little serious on you guys for a moment, (so I hope Derek puts this at the end of the piece).
2015 has probably been my worst year ever, and yes, even beating out that time that I was nearly put away for 20 years (that’s is a story for another time)!
I began the year by breaking up with my long term girlfriend of 8 years and moving back in with my parents. At 26 years old, shacking up with Mom and Dad was a debilitating blow to my self esteem and happiness. Couple that with a broken heart, my decline started off pretty good. But the whole time this was going on, I had plenty of friends who were consoling me. My long time buddy from high school, Dylan, can attest to a couple instances of crying Shane showing up at his door at midnight.
I quickly (probably TOO quickly) found myself in another relationship. I thought it was an amazing one, but looking back it was horribly abusive. Emotionally and verbally, she would constantly cut me down and question my values and actions. Everything I did was wrong, and she was perfect. Being with this woman really ruined me this year. You don’t realize how much a loved one can hurt you, mess up your drive and desire to contribute to society and consume your thoughts in a negative way. You begin to miss out on things you enjoy. Every time we had a fight or a falling out, I had my friends there for me. Since our multiple breakups over the course of the year, I’ve had people I know casually come up to me and see that I was hurting and help me through it. My list of close friends quickly grew because this woman was awful to me, and even to this day I have people telling me about things she has done/did to me without me knowing. People looking out for me, caring for me.
These ups and downs really hurt my productivity. My work declined drastically, and I was constantly borrowing money. I was drinking to excess WAY to much. My contributions to Geekscape all but stopped. I would get into these week long funks of depression, where all I wanted to do was lay in bed and watch sick vids on YouTube. I’d miss out on recordings of our podcast, because I just couldn’t muster up the strength to put on a happy face and be funny for an hour. Because of it, I had to miss out on many opportunities this year that would have been amazing. No Wondercon. No Comikaze Expo. And most recently, no Mega64 Gamedays. I BARELY made it to SDCC. That trip saved my life. Getting to see my friends from Geekscape. My convention friends. My sister and her crew from Santa Monica. They were all there and made me feel amazing.
What suffered the most was my music. I had no desire to play records anymore, and whenever I did DJ it felt like a chore. I was super self conscious of my mixes and song selections, I would pass up opportunities to play. But I had my friends from the music scene always there cheering me on and helping me. Tony, Grant, Chris, Colin, Adam, Erik, Derek, Samuel and Sam. All DJ’s and artists I respect and admire giving me praise and support. It was an odd concept, and I wish I realized sooner how much these guys were my friends.
The Geekscape Games Podcast (The Number 1 video game podcast on the Geekscape Network & The Number 1 video game podcast on Ranker.com editor’s note: more like the number 1 least consistent podcast on the entire internet) really blew up this year. We’ve finally found our groove and our voice. Meeting each week with Derek, Josh, Juan and sometimes Kenny has become my highlight of the week. These guys have become my best friends. They’ve been there when I bitch and moan about the trials and tribulations of my love life. They’ve all helped and given amazing advice. Little daily reminders that life isn’t as bad as I imagine it is. Always supporting me, trying to make me happy.
The year is almost over, and things are finally starting to look up. I’m really starting to value the friendships in my life. I’ve started at a new real estate office with more opportunities and more money. I’ve expanded my musical interests, and have started to write some original pieces. I’ve met a lot of new people this year, grew relationships with existing people and learned that I didn’t know the people in my life like I thought; and how much we have in common.
I still find myself not making my goals on here, much to the lament of Derek and Jonathan, but I’m trying! I am so thankful for Geekscape, my colleagues here and the fans. Much love. Mad hype.
Derek Kraneveldt
Well. I Thanksgiving a little over a month ago, and incredibly enough, I was able to spend it with my wonderful fiance, and Jonathan and Laura London in beautiful Vancouver, BC.
Yep. I live in Vancouver now. The thing that I’ve been most thankful for this year is my fiance and her ability to challenge me, as well as wholeheartedly support me if there’s something that I really want to do (even collect Amiibo). See, I wasn’t overly happy where I was, so we moved from Middle-Of-Nowhere, BC to big, beautiful Vancouver. While I’m still not really doing just what I want to do, the fact that I’m in this amazing place, with an amazing person, has been a dream come true.
Also, I happened to move here at the same time that Jonathan was sent up, so I was able to spend a bunch of time with the man, and do a lot of Vancouvery things. This came at the perfect time, too, as based on my ailing exchange rate and growing credit card balance (which I’m now, thankfully, working on), it’s been really hard to get down to the US for anything more than San Diego Comic-Con.
And then there’s Geekscape and Geekscape Games. The site is my online home, and while we’re still working on podcast consistency, the ability to get together and talk with some of my Geekscape pals about life and occasionally video games always gets me riled up. I strive to one day be the #1 gaming podcast on the Geekscape network, and while we’ve got a ways to go to get there, doing the show is still an absolutely blast. If you haven’t heard it, go ahead and (please, please) give it a listen at the bottom of this page!
I hope that all of my American pals have a great time this Thanksgiving, and this weekend!
Josh Jackson
I’m thankful for the Xbox One and Wii U’s external hard drive support
Having owned all three current generation consoles since or close to launch, it goes without saying that each platform has had a ton to play. Unfortunately in today’s gaming world, that often means most of it is downloaded or installed, making 32, or even 500 GBs disappear before you know it. It’s because of this that during this year’s holiday rush, I’ve all but abandoned my PS4 in favor of the Xbox One and Wii U, mostly due to the fact that I don’t have to spring clean my hard drive every time I get a new game. So thank you Xbox One and Wii U, for ensuring that after all the installs and updates, that I don’t have to be delayed even further from enjoying my games without having to micromanage memory.
I’m thankful for Jessica Jones
I’d like to think that everyone who’s reading this has already binge watched the show over the weekend, but if not, what are you waiting for? Bringing a brand new style to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Jessica’s noir style of storytelling, combined with some truly shocking events and a villain who comes off as charismatic as he is terrifying, and you’re left with what could be Marvel’s best outing yet. Considering we were saying the same thing about Daredevil earlier this year just shows how much comic fans have to be thankful for these days.
I’m thankful for Nepgear.
After playing through what must be my 57th Hyperdimension Neptunia game, one fact remains clear every time; Nepgear is, and will always be best girl. I don’t care if the fan base thinks you’re boring, or every game after your starring role in Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk.II has made you the butt of a revolving door of jokes. While you may spend your time protecting your sister and tinkering with robots, I just want you to know that you’ve already tinkered with my heart.
And lastly… I’m thankful for waifus.
For allowing me to fall in love with high school girls and not go to prison.
So ‘Scapists, what are you thankful for this holiday season? Be sure to let us know in the comments below, and of course, happy Thanksgiving!