The Fork In Your Ear Podcast

Dynamic Works Productions
  • 4.2 (5)
  • Video Games
  • Updated Semimonthly

Welcome to The Fork In Your Ear Podcast! A bi-weekly topical conversational show. Join Host, Author, Podcaster and Gamer Tim K.A. Trotter. Along with co-host Nate Foo and occasionally spectacular guests! We are a topical podcast covering Gaming, Life Stories, Entertainment and Technology on a rotating basis. What will each episode be about? Jump in and find out!!!

  1. Oct 11

    The Fork In Your Ear Ep#223 Train Wreck Trotter

    The Fork In Your Ear Ep#223 "Train Wreck Trotter" - Podcast Show Notes & Summary 10-10-26 Quick Summary Tim and Nate open with the usual Discord/Wi-Fi/camera-lens chaos (dirty lens streaks, wrong channel, three rolling starts) before the ring lands on Entertainment. Tim is mid-Agatha All Along for Vision Quest prep, watching Rent-a-Girlfriend with his mom (who yells at the characters), finished President Curtis, and is rewatching Dexter Resurrection. They hit deaths (Charles Addams, Dennis Haskins, Mike Ditka), a new Doctor Who Christmas special, and Jessica's rave for the new Resident Evil movie. Life covers Nate's family Great Wolf Lodge trip (kids hit the wall), Tim's weeks-long AT&T "device reported stolen" fraud-lock nightmare that left him phoneless, and the Starlink cellular announcement that has him ready to dump AT&T. Tech touches Apple server potential, RTX Spark/"Surus" laptops, and AI domain money. Games is a deep, detailed dive into Control Resonant—Tim loves the gravity physics, music, and world but rates the melee combat a solid but limited 7 and used Assist Mode—plus favorite-games lists, Lode Runner, and Castlevania talk. Classic four-hour-plus Fork: technical gremlins, life chaos, and Tim going long on a Remedy game.   Detailed Show Notes 🔥 Life Stories Nate is in the path of what will be Tropical Storm Rachel by the time it hits Southern California. Rain and SoCal remain terrible bedfellows. Nate's family did a Great Wolf Lodge weekend in Garden Grove/Anaheim. Wife (yearbook committee) had a Jostens symposium; they made it a family trip. Kids loved the magic-wand stuff and pool until they got overwhelmed and wanted to decompress in the room—after checkout. VR experience included (free with package; otherwise $50 for five minutes of actual playtime). Tim's AT&T saga continues and peaked this week. iPhone 16 Pro Max battery service at Apple Store revealed the device was flagged stolen on AT&T's backend. Fraud lock, no notification, days spent in AT&T stores, phone unusable (watch too). Wife nervous about him driving without location/AAA/phone. He escalated hard on terms-of-service grounds. Starlink cellular (using newly acquired spectrum) is coming. Tim is ready to move everything the second it's live: "the second that bitch is up I'm f*****g moving all of my shit to f*****g Starlink because f**k AT&T." Double mom talk: Tim watching anime with his mother (she yells at bad decisions on screen). Nate adores the energy. Tim notes his mom was the "did you eat enough?" type; dad was the consequence tyrant. Technical pre-show: dirty camera lens causing vertical streaks, wrong Wi-Fi channel, Discord being Discord, Tim's MacBook Neo pickup for the other Nate at work (Daniel got excited about the wrong Nate). 🕹️ Video Games Kara brought a "nine favorite games that shaped you" list into the Discord. Both guys posted. Tim highlights Shadow of the Colossus (open world with nothing in it but you, Agro, and 16 beasts; minimal dialogue, massive atmosphere, Kow Otani score that also did Gundam Wing). Tim and Nate play around with Lode Runner (Legend Returns) in emulators. Tim has soft nostalgia; Nate gets the classic "little red guys slam you" appeal. New Castlevania discussion (tarot-card ability system, quality-of-life upgrades, first new mainline in nearly 20 years). Tim likes the equippable card on a dedicated button and the classic sub-weapon tie-in. Control Resonant deep dive (Tim finished it, ~48 hours): Gravity-shifting physics and open zones are incredible. Music (same longtime Remedy composer) crushes it. World, story, and "they committed hard to a wild mid-game genre shift" land. Combat is a solid but limited 7—three primary/secondary weapons, simple combos, broken lock-on, D-pad switch feels archaic, no easy on-the-fly weapon swap, aerial enemies are annoying without ranged options. Economy doesn't support experimenting with other weapons. Tim eventually turned on Assist Mode (Agent preset) because the monster-closet rooms and tanky enemies got boring. Puzzles mostly good; a handful required a guide. Finale is batshit in the best way. Not quite GOTY for Tim because the core melee loop is the game's primary action and feels like Remedy's first time at this style of combat. Still highly recommended; he wants the next game immediately. 💻 Technology Pre-show Wi-Fi and camera issues dominate the open. Tim notes only his iPhone 16 Pro and the M5 MacBooks do proper Wi-Fi 7 in the house. Apple's position if they ever put Mac Studio/Mini-class silicon into proper blade/server-rack form factors. They already sell rack-mount options; power efficiency is a real advantage. Microsoft's RTX Spark / Surface laptops and the giant "Surus" typo in their own marketing (CoPilot wrote the slides?). Port count debate. AI domain (.ai) money flowing to the country that holds the TLD. Broader AI naming and "superintelligence" branding talk. PlayStation bringing QSSR (software AI upscaler) to base PS5s in select titles (Wolverine, Ghost of Yotei). Digital Foundry impressed. Xbox watchers wondering about FSR 4. 🍿 Entertainment Tim started Agatha All Along (three episodes in) specifically because it's framed as required viewing for the upcoming Vision Quest (WandaVision trilogy marketing). Enjoying it; Catherine Hahn is great. Nate dipped out earlier. Watching Rent-a-Girlfriend anime with his mom. She is extremely vocal yelling at characters making dumb decisions. Nate loves the energy. Finished President Curtis (Rick & Morty spin-off). First four episodes took time to find the groove; then locked in as "monster of the week" (werewolves, vampires, Abe Lincoln, Paul Bunyan, etc.) with a narcissistic president. Junk-food show in the best way. Second season feels locked in. Rewatching Dexter Resurrection ahead of season 2. Saw The Backrooms movie. Liminal-space discomfort is real; Tim lasted about five minutes in an iOS version of the game. Deaths: Charles Addams (The Addams Family), Dennis Haskins (Mr. Belding, Saved by the Bell), Mike Ditka (the "Da Bears" meme origin via SNL). New Doctor Who Christmas special with Christopher Eccleston and Carole Ann Ford (Susan) dropping on the official YouTube channel December 22. Tim has only seen the Eccleston seasons and some classic; it never fully clicked for him the way it does for other sci-fi. Jessica saw the new Zach Cregger Resident Evil movie and loved it ("Resident Evil as f**k" but doing its own story). Tim notes they're just cranking the movies out. Key Quotes & Memorable Moments "I'm pretty Robin Williams-y. Thankfully not on the back." Nate on Tim's dirty lens: "The window behind you is leaving vertical streaks on you… tolerable for my girlfriend?" Tim on the AT&T lock: "I'm tired of talking about this on the podcast… this week was the worst." On Starlink: "the second that bitch is up I'm f*****g moving all of my shit to f*****g Starlink because f**k AT&T." Tim on Control Resonant combat: "I beat the whole game and I was just kind of like I don't care enough to grind… the combat's like a seven for me." "great great tim train wreck trotter okay i see how that's the title of the episode." Join The Fork Family Discord: https://discord.gg/CXrFKxR8uA Find all our stuff at Website: http://www.dynamicworksproductions.com/ Twitter: @getforkedpod Email: theforkinyourearpodcast@gmail.com Listen & Subscribe Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/dynamic-works-productions/id703318918 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLscuwlf6UXIBu21cEpiebuP3zquixDrwB Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7Cep3iRRoDHrJ5l8c09UuJ Libsyn Direct RSS Feed: https://dynamicworksproductions.libsyn.com/rss Catch up with Tim personally YouTube: Dynamicworksproductions Twitter: Tim_T Twitch: Tim_KA_Trotter Support the Show Pick up Tim's sci-fi adventure book The Citadel: Arrival on Amazon Kindle or Apple Books for $2.99.

  2. Sep 26

    The Fork In Your Ear Ep#222 Ionic The Hedgehog

    The Fork In Your Ear Ep#222 "Ionic The Hedgehog" - Podcast Show Notes & Summary 9-26-26 Tim and Nate spend the first ten minutes fighting a Discord refresh, a hiss they blame on forced suppression, and a Windows accessibility crosshair that PowerToys cannot kill. Then the ring lands on Life: first day of fall floods Tim's plugged gutters, a USPS driver does an Austin Powers turn in his driveway because Washington will not let carriers reverse more than a foot, and Nate trades a Mustang insurance bill for a 2019 Hyundai Ioniq they immediately name Ionic the Hedgehog. Dream Nate gets a tattoo without telling Mrs. Foo. Amazon cargo e-bikes with fake pedals unload patio furniture in Burbank heat. Games dump after the last episode posted — Diablo 5, StarCraft Dominion, more No Man's Sky, Famitsu wishlists, Kojima's canceled Metal Gear-shaped "Fizzint," Bungie saying "we're listening" again, and Xbox shoving Halo under an Activision Call of Duty team while Halo Studios shrinks to "community support." Tim's HTML RTS playtest is up to 0.58 with dumber-AI rehab. Tech is iPhone Duo vs Z Fold 8 and a missing telephoto that keeps Tim off the fold. Entertainment is Lanterns going feral, Mayday being exactly Ryan Reynolds, Paramount-Warner getting waved through, Darkwing Duck coming back without Jim Cummings, Kara's Spaceballs DVD, and a Reddit stranger who archived Wizard's Rule episodes 0–40. Get forked.   Detailed Show Notes   🔥 Life Stories Pre-show chaos: Discord's new UI hides Close Stream under End Call, Nate's Discord window only resizes if it leaves the center of the screen, and Windows quietly turned on full-screen mouse crosshairs. PowerToys "Mouse Crosshairs off" did nothing. Classic Windows: feature you did not ask for, enabled by default since approximately 1980. Audio gremlin: constant hiss on Tim's record. He checks the failing Sonys and the monitor cans. Discord patch notes forced suppression across the board. Nate kills the custom Voice Isolation profile and rotates the mic off a cable. Crisp after that. Guest co-host: Nate's cat, on the desk, licking his hand, one mute-button away from ending the show. Tim's standard cat brief for the audience: allergic, ragamuffins, and other people's cats teleport into his garage the second the door opens. First day of fall in Washington = most rain in six months. Gutters are plugged. Old-man-bladder weather. Austin Powers USPS. A carrier comes up Tim's long, narrow driveway, then executes a multi-point turn instead of backing out. Washington Postal Service cannot reverse more than a foot. GPS logs the violation and "sends a message to the mothership." She gets out to explain she is not crazy. Lawsuits + bad mirrors on the little LLV trucks. Fuel is ugly. Nate hits $5 gas for the first time in two years; motorcycle premium is $7.39 because high-compression = bigger bang. Insurance treated the V6 Mustang like a sports car, so they dumped it at CarMax (~$7,500) and bought a used 2019 Hyundai Ioniq EV under $10K. Range about 110 miles. Commutes are 10 and 20 miles door to door. Overnight 110-volt charging is 2–5 "miles per hour." They named it Ionic the Hedgehog (hedgehog blue). Sonic is a Chevy. Do not confuse the two. CarGurus gets the recommendation. Dream fights. Mrs. Foo wakes up mad at Nate because Dream Nate got a tattoo without her. Household rule: tattoos are a family event. Tim and Jess already have the apology script: "Sorry for whatever Dream Tim / Dream Jess did." 200-megapixel phone photos will not send in Discord. Nate has since turned that setting off. Amazon "tuck tucks" in Burbank. Cargo e-bikes / golf-cart trucks with a bike seat and pedals that do nothing — legally a battery-powered pedal-assist vehicle so they can be on the street. Nate watched one unload an entire backyard furniture set. Tim: maybe the exercise is the point. Nate: not at 110°, not in California rain, not with California drivers, not on eight-inch tires, not with bottle-peeing already in the job description. Age-check bit: Tim asks Jess to inspect a mystery bump. Ten years together and he has never asked. She hits the floor laughing, calls it a chocolate starfish, then refuses the assignment. Nate sides with Jess. Mirrors exist. Phones exist. Fred Durst is invoked.   🕹️ Video Games Ring finally hits Vidya. The flood started the second last episode's edit went up. Diablo 5 announced. StarCraft Dominion announced for Xbox: open-world first-person single-player StarCraft from a Far Cry creative director. Ghost never shipped; they will believe it when it is in their hands. Date is way out (Nate clocked something like 2028 on the trailer). Mick Gordon retweeted it. Not confirmed. ForkFam Katie was in the room and said the crowd lost it. Hello Games does more No Man's Sky. Permanent fixture of gaming until London falls into the sea. ForkFam Clara Sith is loving Star Wars Zero Company and wants you to play it. Pokémon Pocopia won Game of the Year at the Japanese Game Awards. Pragmata took Breakthrough. Famitsu readers drop their most-wanted list. Tim still treats Famitsu as one of the last review shops with a spine. Hideo Kojima's "Fizzint" (transcript spelling): the formerly PlayStation exclusive Sony begged him to make as a legally distinct Metal Gear spiritual sequel. Years in. Canceled in June. New details since last episode. New tagline floating around: "the next Cold War begins." Sony asked for it, then sat on it. Bungie / Destiny / Marathon. Nate has made peace and stepped back from the clan war (Astocross vs "Destiny is dead / play Marathon"). Then Bungie posts "the future of Destiny, Marathon, and how we work," which detonates both camps. Destiny spikes back to about 1.5 million players. "We're listening / actions not words" is a sentence they have been saying since Lightfall. Or Destiny 2 launch, depending who you ask. Xbox studio bomb. About 268 roles cut. Matt Booty: this is roughly three-quarters of the Ashar-era restructure, so one more wave is coming. Halo moves in-house at Activision onto a purpose-built team cherry-picked off Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer, and Treyarch. Halo Studios in Redmond is not closing, but it is a small core that will "support the Halo community and games in market." Tim's read: they are not making Halo games anymore. Lead art director on Halo Campaign Evolved gets promoted and fired in the same week. Tim, as a tiny business owner, cannot compute losing sight of the humans. Activision also absorbs Age of Empires / World's Edge. Rare (the Sea of Thieves chunk) moves under Activision. Obsidian rolls into Bethesda and keeps working on current stuff including Grounded 2. Tim's fear: Obsidian was Microsoft's Insomniac — games that actually ship — and Bethesda's gravity well is the Creation Engine. Tim's game. Playable HTML dual-grid RTS is in the Fork Discord playtest section under Kara's Corner. Latest stable drop is 0.58.0 (header still says 0.51; Nate nags; Tim does not care yet). New work: shield-generator gating, and an AI that is not just "think faster about the same dumb objective." Probe system per unit plus tiered logic is in progress. Best browser to play it: Microsoft Edge (permanent memory that Safari and Chrome do not have — also why he uses Edge for AI agents). Chrome caches weird. Safari is a coin flip. He is not actively QA'ing Android/Windows, so playtest reports from those matter. After the Metroid Ravenous announcement Tim went back to Dread. Current single-player rabbit hole: a New York traversal game with double jump, glide, then gravity shift. Looks like Gravity Rush in the trailers. Plays like "only grapple the marked points." Fire escapes work if you insist. Gets better as abilities unlock. He missed an obvious visual tell for the gravity-shift pickup and is mad at himself about it.   💻 Technology Windows enabled the crosshair. Discord forced suppression. Edge is currently the HTML-game and agent browser. Hands-on with Samsung Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra. Ultra is the remote-sized brick. The regular 8 is the one that rhymes with iPhone Duo. Tim could see living on a Duo in a generation or two because it is basically an iPad mini in the pocket. He already buys both. First-gen fold tax plus history of Samsung crease years = wait for Duo 3. Dealbreaker at $3,000: no telephoto. Duo shares the 48MP Sony and the same ultra-wide (IMX972) as his 16 Pro Max. Work shots from up on a lift need the zoom. iPhone 18 Pro is getting real variable aperture zoom; Duo is not. He is not giving that camera up for a first-gen fold. Predicts a Duo Pro / Duo Max naming crime if it sells.   🍿 Entertainment Lanterns is good again. Last two episodes went batshit. Feels like they already fired the season-finale cannon with two or three episodes left and are building a whole second arc. Tim is here for the swing. Nate watched Mayday. Fun, formulaic, no twists. Ryan Reynolds is doing the Ryan Reynolds bit. Kenneth Branagh is actually great in it. On Tim's list. Paramount–Warner Bros. merger cleared. Nate's wife and kids live in that studio-school orbit. Layoff rounds still incoming to clean the books. The "we're leaving California" threat got walked back — they are staying in Burbank for infrastructure. Darkwing Duck reboot is real. Looks CGI. Tim grew up on Disney Afternoon and is not thrilled about the yellow-trim bellhop suit. Jim Cummings said for three years he was on it, then in April said he was off it and told fans to ask Disney. New cast: Mark Hamill as Darkwing, Seth Rogen as Launchpad, Lizzy Caplan as Gosalyn. Tim thinks Hamill will kill it and that Rogen can do the voice-actor job; it still feels like they swapped the living co-creator for a more expensive name. Extra-weird layer: the 2017 DuckTales reboot already did a backdoor Darkwing plot about an out-of-work actor who does not get the part, then Negaduck (Cummings) comes through a multiverse portal. Simpsons-level prediction. Kar

  3. Sep 12

    The Fork In Your Ear Ep#221 Author, Podcaster & Game Designer

    The Fork In Your Ear Ep#221 "Author, Podcaster, Game Designer" - Podcast Show Notes & Summary 9-12-26   Quick Summary  Tim walks in barely held together and introduces himself as author, podcaster, and game designer — because he just dropped a playable HTML prototype of his Color Clash-inspired dual-grid RTS into the Fork Discord. The ring actually lands on Life first: Nate's kids demand VR mid-show, California is an air fryer, lane-splitters want six inches of courtesy, and both households are eating unexpected bills. Then the game firehose opens — Sony tells a courtroom that reasonable consumers know they don't own digital games, Xbox Cloud gets a 15-hour Ultimate cap, Nintendo dumps a Zelda 40th and a second Direct in two days, Ocarina of Time remake looks like a stop-motion maquette, Metroid Ravenous is metal as hell, and Kojima's canceled Sony IP is now an Xbox game. Entertainment is Coyote vs. Acme beating Warner Bros. at its own gag, Chad Powers season two sneaking back from the dead, Spider-Noir winning Emmys then getting canceled, and Nick Offerman as Big the Cat. Tech is Mac Studio M5 Max sticker shock, Apple's September event, the iPhone Duo foldable, and John Ternus's first week as CEO. Classic four-and-a-half-hour Fork: family chaos, Sony fumbles, Nintendo cooking, and Tim finally putting a game on the table.   Detailed Show Notes   🔥 Life Stories Nate fixed the office door immediately after last episode. Cats lost their invasion route; kids were home anyway, so the door had a job. Mid-show life: youngest Foo opens the door mid-spin. Nate hot-swaps VR headsets live because "the good one is too heavy." Cosmonious High (Owlchemy Labs alien school) gets them off the iPad and moving. Tim to the audience: if a child is listening, are they a spork? Center Stage camera follows Tim to the fridge and zooms dead on his ass. Nate: visual bit, audio listeners lose. Nate is weaning iPad time. Multiple screens (TV / PC / VR) break the "one-device fugue." New iPadOS parental controls drop Monday. SoCal weather roulette: last weekend's Washington-style downpour flipped to 107–108°. Riding a motorcycle in that is "air fryer for life." Lane splitting exists because riders are air-cooled — move over six inches. Packet-loss intermission. Nate hammer-reboots Windows. 780 down after. Tim cannot resist the Windows roast. Nate's wife won the "uterine lottery" of complications (embedded IUD on removal, cholestasis twice, plus shingles). It hurts. They're dealing. Jessica is fully on nights. Mid-maxing time together is failing. She's exhausted, missing Tim more this rotation, and the pay cycle jumped to once a month right as the car needed a pile of work. Raise is coming; the pot of gold is not here yet. Nate's stack in one day off: smog ($90), alignment ($100), two new tires ($500) because curb-hunting wore the belts through on the inside. Warranty doesn't cover user-error toe-in. Local shop knows him by face. Tim's sister-in-law is pregnant with #4 (boy incoming — two and two). Family drama attached. He keeps details light because in-laws hate the podcast. Ear update: ~90% most of the day, dips to 75–85. Editing Ep#220 in stereo was the panic — Tim literally could not hear Nate's panned track until the muff crossed his face. "My biomechanical equipment failed me." Nostalgia sidebar: Tiger Electronics + VCR combos vs. modern screen buffet. Tape-era people forget the alcohol and Q-tips. Vinyl came back with diamond needles; cassettes did not.   🕹️ Video Games Pikmin 3 Deluxe and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe both got free Switch 2 upgrades. MK8 now does 8-player split-screen — even handheld — at 60fps. Tim calls it a flex on a Wii U port that originally ran in 1.5GB of RAM. Sony in court: a rep told an L.A. courtroom "reasonable consumers know they don't own their digital games." Legally a license. Still s****y. Disc manufacturing across Sony dies in 2028. New PlayStation ToS after the disc backlash: complain about the disc policy to support and they can hang up — or terminate the account. Nate (ex-support) defends the frontline human; Tim hates giving that same human the kill switch. GTA 6 relationship discourse: TikTok decided virtual dating Lucia is cheating. Jessica's counter: then she's been cheating with Gale in Baldur's Gate 3. Indya Moore said she's clearing November 19 so she can just play. Orbitals (Shapefarm / Marcos Ramos & Jacob Lundgren, ex-Hazelight). Switch 2 exclusive co-op space salvager with 80s anime DNA (Cowboy Bebop, Evangelion, Sailor Moon, Ranma). Hand-drawn cutscenes, dirty-cell grain on purpose, droppable asymmetrical guns, hub-ship you upgrade with found mini-game carts. Tim and Jessica played ~4 hours. GOTY-material polish. UE5 that does not look like UE5 and runs great on Switch 2. Xbox Cloud Gaming cap (November): Essentials 5 hrs / Premium 10 / Ultimate 15. Extra hours TBD. Microsoft says it hits 4% of subs. Dame is that 4%. Tim and Nate would live with 25–50 on Ultimate, especially with GTA 6 incoming. Palworld weekend already blows past 15. State of Play (Kara MVP): last Wolverine trailer (out now, reviews: not broken, boring/mid, QTEs autocomplete); Ghost of Yōtei Most Wanted mode + Oct 1 narrative expansion; Monster Hunter Wilds Ascendance "biggest expansion ever," spring 2027; Metro 2039 Feb 4, 2027; Maneater 2 2027; LEGO PlayStation 1 set; Final Fantasy Resonance HD-2D Oct 22 + demo; Sorrow's free Zenith update (Overlord Rush + Eclipse Layers NG+); Until Dawn 2 Jan 28, 2027 — written by AdHoc (Dispatch); GTA 6 DualSense specials look like minimum-viable palm trees next to Nintendo's Zelda pad; FF7 Revelation Apr 8, 2027 now has two DLCs after they swore they wouldn't. Fake news: PS5 will not ship without a controller in 2027. Reddit hoax that even Tim's PSN boys group almost believed. "At this point you could say any bad shit about Sony and it might be true." Onimusha: Way of the Sword demo on Switch 2. Tim expected FromSoft-lite, got Resident Evil 4 with swords / simpler Ninja Gaiden. Buying it. Zelda 40th Anniversary Direct: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, November 5. Hyper-real / stop-motion-maquette look (Tim compares it to Laika's Wildwood). Voice acting, jump + sprint, Navi with actual animation, 60GB install, full orchestra. Collector Switch 2 sold out in 13 hours. Pro Controller comes with a display stand. Real clay ocarina + Hori electronic + hum-into-the-Switch-2-mics. Nate needs the Picard flute song. Still no Wind Waker HD / Twilight Princess HD on Switch (China only). Movie title reveal: The Legend of Zelda. No trailer. Own-blend lore. Concerns. No Man's Sky — Cosmos: rebuilt solar systems, asteroid mining, player space stations, alliances capped at 20,000. People already rebuilt Rapture in orbit. Second Nintendo Direct: Monster Hunter Wilds Switch Dec 4; Crisis Core Reunion Switch 2 stealth drop; Mecha Chameleon hide-and-paint; Star Fox free update Sep 21 (4-player split + Game Share); Star Fox Adventures free on NSO GameCube (widescreen) — the game that got Tim banned from Blockbuster; Witcher 3 Switch 2 Sep 29; Fire Emblem Fortunes Weave Sep 17; Pikmin 4 Switch 2 paid $5 upgrade Nov 12; Xenoblade 3 Switch 2 Dec 3 adds hero Shimmer (Xenoblade 2 daughter — internet lost it); Metroid Ravenous (MercurySteam) Jan 28, 2027 — Samus gets stabbed through the heart, rips the blade out, goes full Doom-metal. Dread is #6 on the eShop again. Tim already replaying Dread. Jessica's birthday is a few days later. "I'm sorry honey. My queen comes first." RE2 Deluxe / RE3 / RE4 Gold hit Switch Oct 16. Mario Kart World free DLC: all 12 SNES tracks, already in the game. Kirby and the Forgotten Land follow-up World Beyond, spring 2027. Blood of the Dawnwalker passed a million copies in two days. Dame called it. Kojima / Sony / Xbox: Sony canceled Kojima's new stealth IP mid-June (over budget / missed dates — the thing everyone already knew about him), pulled Decima, and Xbox signed him. Studio is across the street from Sony HQ. Naughty Dog still has no PS5-era original shipped. Wolverine budget rumored ~$400M, sixes across the board; Greg Miller says the Marvel deal has a 6-million-copy kill switch. Sony's 2026 table looks thin next to Zelda + GTA 6. Color Clash: Nate raced to world #1 while Tim wasn't looking. Separate iOS/Android boards? Bots? Ad-blocker grind? The ranking is "questionable." THE DROP: Tim posted a fully playable HTML prototype in the Discord. 2D RTS / grid-painter inspired by Color Clash, Darwinia, Geometry Wars, Tron Legacy multi-plane arenas. Dual grid (top + undergrid), supercharged stacked tiles, Pulsar wave towers, energy/units/capture. Proof of concept, tutorial breaks on step six, built with Grok + Claude. Intro card now needs "game designer."   🍿 Entertainment Coyote vs. Acme: Tim and Jessica loved it. Who Framed Roger Rabbit energy, impeccable comic timing, 3D that reads as 2D. Warner Bros. killed it, Ketchup Entertainment saved it — ticket money does not go to WB, and the WB logo isn't even on the open. Meta as hell for a movie about a corporation stomping a toon. Hits kids, grandparents, and vaudeville nerds in the same room. Schitt's Creek hole-filler: Dan Levy's Big Mistakes — one episode, maybe. Furies on Hulu (Elizabeth Meriweather of New Girl doing her dark-crime palate cleanser) — three episodes in, grim and quirky, Emmy Rossum leads. Nick Offerman is Big the Cat in Sonic 4. Tim hates Big. Still wants the grizzled-wisdom version, expects the six-pack-and-a-bag-of-weed version. No trailer yet. Chad Powers season 2 is real. Canceled in December, quietly un-canceled, entire season sitting in the Apple TV queue. Tim and Nate both missed every memo. Designed as three seasons; Waldron and Glenn Powell will clear calendars for 3. Nate finished it, no spoilers. Tim is mid-season with Mom. Spider-Noir: 11 Emmy noms, won five, Amazon canceled it after one season. Showrunner's Sea

  4. Aug 29

    The Fork In Your Ear Ep#220 On Tilt From the Eustachian Tube

    The Fork In Your Ear Ep#220 On Tilt From the Eustachian Tube - Podcast Show Notes & Summary 8-29-26 Quick Summary Tim rolls in already on tilt — Eustachian tube dysfunction has taken his left ear hostage, Nate's office door hinge has left the building, and the cats have seized the keyboard. The ring lands on Earth first, and the guys immediately dump a week of Apple leaks (HomePod Mini refresh, Home Hub, iPhone Fold rebranded Ultra, AirPods with cameras) before Tim's 2017 LG TV goes full villain: secret Wi-Fi, court-mandated user agreements, HDMI fingerprinting, and the most malicious "Agree All" trap he's ever seen. Entertainment is a short "only sadness" block with one bright spot: Lanterns slaps and the Masters of the Universe deluxe score still rips. Then they spend the back half of a long show on Gamescom plus Tim's Duskbloods closed network test (FromSoftware's Switch 2 exclusive 8-player PvPvE monster) and the GTA 6 Netflix footage that makes everything else — including a still-gorgeous Fable — look last-gen. Classic Fork: technical chaos, legal-TV rage, and two guys trying not to drown in announcements. Detailed Show Notes 🔥 Life Stories Tim is half-deaf: Eustachian tube dysfunction, fluid/three bubbles behind the left eardrum, two weeks in, meds on deck. If the mix is off, blame the ear, not Nate's AFK soundboard (no SD card this week). Nate chose violence this morning because he knew it was going to be a struggle bus "all the way to and from the Eustachian." Nate's office door hinge pulled out of the frame mid-setup. Cats now have free roam. One escape artist wears a Pebble tracker; they beep him in the yard and he comes running. Nate's daughter got a full blood panel — 17 vials. Vein quit at 12. Orderly assist. Midichlorian-count Jedi pitch actually worked. Tim's pre-show gauntlet: coffee pot missing (mom tax), wife's espresso machine spraying water out the back, and a beloved slipper that "blew a tire." Slipperless in Seattle. Jessica got a promotion and just started nights. Saturday-morning recording should still hold; book club at 4 is the hard stop. SoCal heat: 102° with actual rain in the valley. Tim refuses anything over 75°. Wild Waves is two weeks from closing and the calendar probably won't allow a last visit. Great Wolf Lodge is the backup. August flew by. 💻 Technology Apple product leaks arrived via the latest macOS update — somebody clicked the wrong button. References to HomeOS (codename Pebble), colorful new HomePod Minis, a Home Hub that's basically a speaker with an iPad strapped to it, iPhone 18 delayed into next year over memory shortages, iPhone 19 Pro looking like a 17 Pro with more guts, and the Fold officially landing as the iPhone Ultra. Tim hates the Ultra name for a foldable. Watch Ultra meant tougher; a hinge is still a hinge. Nate points at JerryRigEverything vs. Galaxy Fold 8: the hinge survived, everything else did not. AirPods Ultra apparently pack a fisheye camera so they can "see your world and describe things to you." Nate, on the record: we have gone too far. LG went evil. Court case forced new user agreements on every U.S. set. Tim's 2017 65-inch (and Jessica's matching smaller one) silently found Wi-Fi, jumped to a WebOS it was never supposed to get, and bricked the picture until four checkboxes were handled. Terms + Privacy = required. Viewing-information fingerprinting + cross-device ad tracking = hell no. "Agree All" sits next to Agree on purpose. The agreement then pops three times. Tim's public PSA: only check 1 and 2, never Agree All, expect the reboot loop. Nate's stepmom got gifted a new LG. HDMI 1 is empty by default, ARC lives on HDMI 2, source button is a maze. Malicious compliance of the year. Roku / Hisense / TCL / Vizio get a side-eye as "if it's free you're the product." Samsung and Sony TVs still look like the least-egregious of the big brands. Tim: 100,000% never buying another LG product. 🍿 Entertainment Ring lands on Water. Nate: "Only sadness." They skip the obituaries and hit the few good things. Lanterns: Tim went in mixed on the trailers and came out convinced the show knows exactly what it is. Strong recommend for Nate. Nate finally finished Masters of the Universe in one sitting. Hits the marks. Soundtrack of the year — Brian May on guitar — and the deluxe drop adds unused cues plus alternate May versions. Extended Kingdom Hearts Coco world gameplay continues to look phenomenal. 🕹️ Video Games Duskbloods closed network test (FromSoftware × Nintendo, Switch 2 exclusive). Tim played ~10–12 hours after day one crashed and got cancelled. Not the single-player FromSoft game the early trailers implied. Officially 8-player PvP vs. environment across four phases, Catan-style victory points, alliances you can form and backstab, Smash-like shared bubble shields, and a final Blood Moon arena that plays like Elden Ring PvP crossed with Super Smash Bros. ring-outs. Kin summon system, class kits instead of a gear treadmill. Tim main'd the necrotic sniper lady with crutch-blades and a chest-mounted minigun. Instant out-of-combat warps, open map, world-boss assist pings, chaos modifiers. Offline single-player "comparable size to past titles" is still Miyazaki flavor text. Best FromSoft frame-rate Tim's seen on Switch 2 (dock and handheld). More testers than Elden Ring or Night Reign despite one platform. Day-one buy for Tim; friends on other platforms are furious. Gamescom / ONL highlights they actually remembered: new Worms titles including Worms Galactic Tactics, Train Sim World 7, RCT Wonderworks, Animo, a D&D-flavored game that still looks UE4, 1001 Threads of Mizan, Monster Hunter Outlanders, Metro 2039. GTA 6 Netflix extended look: 26 minutes Tim has already rewatched a dozen times. Decade-long Miami research team. Dedicated soda-fizzing person. Dedicated car-paint ray-tracing person. Jason = Dylan Rourke. Lucia = Manny L. Perez. Old leak was an old build. Line of the episode: GTA 6 makes Fable look like last-generation dog shit — and he's still playing Fable. Fable Gamescom mission gameplay still looks incredible. Just unlucky to sit next to that Rockstar footage. CoD MW4 Switch 2 open beta: interesting SK vs. NK campaign slice, locked 60fps, then pop-in trees and infinite-arm ragdolls a month from launch. Waiting on Digital Foundry. Key Quotes & Memorable Moments "Maybe that's the name of the episode. On Tilt from the Eustachian." "I literally had to wait up and choose violence." "It found a way, Nate. It found a way." "Do not hit Agree All, because f**k you, that's why." "Can I go on the record? I think we have gone too far." "GTA 6 makes Fable look like last-generation dog shit… and I'm still playing Fable." "Checking your midichlorian count to make sure you're a Jedi." "My slipper looks like it blew a tire." "Get forked." Join The Fork Family Discord: https://discord.gg/CXrFKxR8uA Find all our stuff at Website: http://www.dynamicworksproductions.com/ Twitter: @getforkedpod Email: theforkinyourearpodcast@gmail.com Listen & Subscribe Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/dynamic-works-productions/id703318918 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLscuwlf6UXIBu21cEpiebuP3zquixDrwB Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7Cep3iRRoDHrJ5l8c09UuJ Libsyn Direct RSS Feed: https://dynamicworksproductions.libsyn.com/rss Catch up with Tim personally YouTube: Dynamicworksproductions Twitter: Tim_T Twitch: Tim_KA_Trotter Support the Show Pick up Tim's sci-fi adventure book The Citadel: Arrival on Amazon Kindle or Apple Books for $2.99.

  5. Aug 15

    The Fork In Your Ear Ep#219 The Baritone Color Clash Crown

    The Fork In Your Ear Ep#219 The Baritone Color Clash Crown - Podcast Show Notes & Summery 8-15-26 Quick Summary Tim rolls in sounding like a congested baritone (post-sickness + weeks of wildfire smoke) while Nate hunts for his glasses. The ring lands on video games and they dive hard into Halo Campaign Evolved four-player legendary co-op — prequel missions that feel half-baked, Sergeant Johnson getting murdered on purpose, AI marines suicide-running into friendly fire, and the sudden difficulty spike once the classic levels kick in. Tim casually reveals he hit #1 in the world on Color Clash (still holding the crown at 6,118 points) and Nate is now fully addicted. No Man's Sky hits 10 years of free updates, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 looks gorgeous on Switch 2, and Tim got into the Duskbloods closed network test. Technology is a quick hit of folds, AI buys, and PlayStation's 2028 disc death sentence. Life delivers toilet-paper cardboard disasters, Nate's dad's computer/phone/car cascade of failures, and Tim's Calvin Klein glasses warranty nightmare. Entertainment is a full D23 firehose (Kingdom Hearts Coco world, Incredibles 3, Simpsons Movie 2, Coco 2, Tangled live-action, etc.) plus Ted Lasso comfort, Daredevil Season 3, the new Masters of the Universe love, and a Rick and Morty President Curtis spin-off that finally finds its groove. Classic Fork energy from sultry tones to "Get forked." **Detailed Show Notes** 🔥 **Life Stories**   - Tim still congested from last week's house-wide sickness plus weeks of bad air-quality smoke; Nate declares the voice "sultry baritone."   - Classic bathroom emergency: Tim reduced to shredding the cardboard tube on a job site; Nate hits the same empty-roll situation at home.   - Nate's weekend of cascading disasters for his dad: "no OS found" secure-boot scare (fixed by unplugging every USB drive and clearing TPM), phone dropped in the toilet for hours, then the car throws every warning light and has to be towed.   - Tim's new Costco Calvin Klein glasses: permanent eyelash scratches after one day; manufacturer warranty is only one lens replacement in 90 days — never buying CK again.   - Book club canceled; smoke smell concern mid-episode; Nate's wife back on two wheels soon (Triumph mentioned in prior context).   🕹️ **Video Games**   - **Halo Campaign Evolved**: Four-player legendary co-op. Prequel missions feel like restored cut content / one long mission with odd lore (jokey Chief + Johnson pre-Cortana). Marine AI keeps diving into the line of fire → Nate starts pre-emptively shooting them (and Sergeant Johnson) for survival and laughs. Difficulty jumps hard after Assault on the Control Room. Physics and AI mostly feel right (Unreal sandbox for classic logic), vehicle damage is new, soundtrack is mostly original remastered tracks (jarring in prequels). Menu crashes on Xbox; big patch incoming.   - **Color Clash**: Tim hit #1 in the world (Ultra Diamond, 6,118 points) while "taking a long shit" on August 7; still holding the crown. Nate fully hooked via Discord, running mob-heavy loadouts and climbing leagues. Deep strategy talk on placement physics, Dark Mirror, lasers, igloos, Thanos Snap counters, and why pure mob spam eventually fails. Fair monetization if you ad-block and do daily freebies.   - No Man's Sky 10th anniversary: free "Cosmos" update teased, Sean Murray still refuses paid DLC, community love-fest on Discord.   - Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Switch 2 edition looking modern and beautiful for nightly bed play.   - Upcoming: Orbitals (wacky anime-tone co-op Switch 2 exclusive, pre-ordered), Duskbloods closed network test (Tim selected — NDA, can't talk about it next episode).   - Quick hits: Fire Emblem Fortunes Weave direct, GTA 6 gameplay on Netflix first (weird 3-hour exclusivity), PlayStation 5 stickers announcing end of physical discs after January 2028.   💻 **Technology**   - Samsung Galaxy Fold 8 reviews: compelling but aspect-ratio app breakage and cost keep Nate on a two-generation upgrade cycle. Speculation on Apple's foldable.   - SpaceX closes $60B Cursor AI acquisition; Grok bots powered by it.   - Pixel 11 series, Alibaba Qwen models, Anthropic Claude text watermarking, Reddit joins S&P 500, self-driving trucks approved for California highways, Apple building China-specific AI with Alibaba, NVIDIA's Intel stake ballooning.   - Classic Windows update stutter mid-segment.   🍿 **Entertainment**   - D23 / Disney dump: Kingdom Hearts 4 Coco world (crowd lost their minds thinking it was Coco 2 footage), Kingdom Hearts called one of Disney's billion-dollar pillars, Ultimate collection coming, Bluey movie trailer, Tangled live-action 2028 (Catherine Hahn as Mother Gothel), Ice Age next installment, Camp Rock 3, Percy Jackson Season 3, Lilo & Stitch 2 hybrid with Angel, Kingdom Hearts anime series (original, under Nomura, likely late 2027), Coco 2 (2029), Incredibles 3 (Violet & Dash focus, "not all heroes are good," June 2028), The New Simpsons Movie (hilarious trailer, possible series end?), Princess Diaries 3.   - Watched: Devil Wears Prada 2 (Nate enjoyed but writing issues), Masters of the Universe (Tim completely obsessed, watching the original series + Dolph Lundgren for context, wants She-Ra and sequel ASAP), Netflix Daredevil Season 3 (almost done, hyped for Disney+ era + already-announced Season 4), Rick and Morty "President Curtis" spin-off (Keith David, Stephanie Beatriz, Jim Rash — finds its groove in episode 3), Strange New Worlds, Ted Lasso (comfort viewing that still makes Tim happy despite internet complaints).   **Key Quotes & Memorable Moments**   - "I think you sound like you have the sultry tones of a very baritone."   - Nate on Halo marines: "if I see a marine, I'm shooting a marine because if a dead marine doesn't jump in front of me."   - Tim on Color Clash: "I unbeknownst to me was taking a long shit… and I hit the number one spot in the world… I guess I'm the best. Ever."   - "You can't Leeroy Jenkins your way in a Warthog anymore… but boy that didn't stop me from trying."   - Tim on No Man's Sky / Sean Murray: the video-game equivalent of Tom Hanks (douchebag credits).   - Nate's dad cascade: phone in the toilet for hours → SIM in Nate's phone → still dripping water two hours later.   - "I'm never buying anything from Calvin Klein again."   - Closing: "Get forked."   Join The Fork Family   Discord: https://discord.gg/CXrFKxR8uA   Find all our stuff at   Website: http://www.dynamicworksproductions.com/   Twitter: @getforkedpod   Email: theforkinyourearpodcast@gmail.com   Listen & Subscribe     * Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/dynamic-works-productions/id703318918     * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLscuwlf6UXIBu21cEpiebuP3zquixDrwB     * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7Cep3iRRoDHrJ5l8c09UuJ     * Libsyn Direct RSS Feed: https://dynamicworksproductions.libsyn.com/rss     Catch up with Tim personally   YouTube: Dynamicworksproductions   Twitter: Tim_T   Twitch: Tim_KA_Trotter   Support the Show   Pick up Tim's sci-fi adventure book The Citadel: Arrival on Amazon Kindle or Apple Books for $2.99.

  6. Aug 1

    The Fork In Your Ear Ep#218 Jimonthy Crickets!

    The Fork In Your Ear Ep#218 Jimonthy Crickets! - Podcast Show Notes & Summery 8-1-26 Quick Summary Tim and Nate open with the usual technical chaos—Nate's ancient camera older than his kids, USB hub murders, Windows being Windows, and a new meshy chair—before Tim scrapes himself off the floor with minimal coffee. The big gaming bombshell is Nintendo snagging a FromSoftware exclusive (Dustbloods) led by Miyazaki himself: Bloodborne-vibes, industrial revolution setting, up to eight-player PvE, and Tim is currently in the closed NDA network test. Microsoft brings four original Xbox classics to PC (Fusion Frenzy, Crimson Skies, Conker's Live and Reloaded), sparking preservation vs. "just sell it again" debate. Nate digs into the new Halo campaign on PC while Tim's wrist is still sidelining him. Entertainment covers Spider-Man: Brand New Day (Tim is all-in), American Psycho after a four-and-a-half-hour serial-killer museum visit, and the couple literally dodging the Bite of Seattle shooting by having a fight and going home. Life wraps with raccoon babies, the local "Jimmathy" meme, and Nate's wife getting back on two wheels with a nearly-new 2025 Triumph Speed Twin 900. Classic Fork energy from start to duck-call finish. Detailed Show Notes 🔥 Life Stories Tim still nursing the wrist/hand injury—brace, limited button inputs, still trying to play chill games like Palworld and dreaming of an Xbox Adaptive Controller (or at least a foot-switch left-click like Nate used to rock). Nate's house continues its nature-show run: Cooper's Hawk, mama raccoon + babies (one curious little guy walked right up for a close-up Discord photo), and the sudden local "Jimmathy" raccoon meme that has Tim's wife calling him Jimmathy out of nowhere. Serial-killer museum/exhibit day with the wife: interactive displays, Ted Bundy's car, Texas Chainsaw Massacre historical roots, strong victim focus instead of glamorizing the killers. VIP upgrade included a wild group VR experience in a big room full of QR codes—hand tracking, simultaneous individual sessions, and "ghost" real people walking through your virtual space. Silver lining of the century: Tim and Jessica had an argument, went home, watched American Psycho… and thereby completely missed the mass shooting at the Bite of Seattle. Friends who were in the beer garden and one who arrived right after confirmed how chaotic it was. Nate's wife finally scratched the motorcycle itch. Test-rode a Triumph, then the dealer texted a low-mileage (500 miles) 2025 Speed Twin 900 for about half retail. First dual-bike ride together in over a decade. Lane-splitting/filtering legality debate (legal in CA, not in Washington or plenty of other places) and air-cooled bikes in summer traffic. 🕹️ Video Games Dustbloods – FromSoftware Switch exclusive helmed by Hidetaka Miyazaki. Bloodborne DNA + industrial-revolution/vampire aesthetic, cooperative PvE for up to eight players. Tim is in the closed network test under full NDA (results in a week). Nobody really knows the exact structure yet—open-world? session-based like Nightreign? Pure co-op against the world? Original Xbox titles finally hitting PC through the Xbox app/store (and Game Pass for the Microsoft-owned ones): Fusion Frenzy, Crimson Skies, Conker's Live and Reloaded (and Blinx). No physical disc support, no online multiplayer restored. Tim goes deep on Crimson Skies nostalgia and how its flight controls still feel special; Conker's single-player remake is solid, the multiplayer changes were a crime. Halo campaign discussion: Nate has been playing on PC (high settings on a 10th-gen i9 + 5070), solid recreation of the original feel with some modern QoL and Unreal Engine 5 under the hood. Tim still hasn't gotten proper time with it thanks to the wrist. Quick hit: God of War title teased for February 16, 2027 on PS5 out of Comic-Con chatter. 💻 Technology Setup struggles: Nate's webcam is older than his children, USB hub drama, external monitor wrestling, and the eternal Windows tax. Tim's new MacBook webcam is thankfully still alive. Tim's ongoing local-LLM transcription project: feeding old Fork episodes into on-device models (Mac Whisper + Parakeet running efficiently on Apple Silicon) to build a fully searchable archive so he can finally prove Nate wrong with receipts and pie charts. Side talk on privacy trade-offs, Apple's approach to on-device intelligence, and how we're all slowly surrendering data for convenience. 🍿 Entertainment Spider-Man: Brand New Day – Tim saw it the night before, still wearing the shirt. Loved the action (Jackie Chan's stunt team influence shows), the more introspective Giacchino score, and the post-credits sting. Strong "this is Spider-Man" energy. American Psycho first watch after the serial-killer museum—Tim enjoyed the twist and how well most of it has aged (with the expected late-90s/early-00s quirks). Streaming purge at Nate's house: Netflix, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock all canceled after realizing they were paying $150+/month for basically one show. Creative workarounds for Strange New Worlds continue. Assorted MCU notes: Blade still not happening (Mahershala Ali has moved on after seven years), Wonder Man Season 2 status murky, Daredevil/Punisher catch-up attempts that got derailed by Spider-Man. Key Quotes & Memorable Moments "This camera is older than my children." – Nate, defending ancient hardware "Buck, you're a kingdom for an Xbox adaptive controller…" – Nate watching Tim mash every face button at once "I just stomped my foot down to headshot you." – Nate on his legendary foot-switch mouse "Glad I literally dodged bullets by having a fight with my wife." – Tim on the Bite of Seattle timing "Why Jimmathy? That's the dumbest name I've ever heard… but also not." – the raccoon discourse Duck-call outro chaos: "Get forked… what the f**k is that? It's a duck." Join The Fork Family Discord: https://discord.gg/CXrFKxR8uA Find all our stuff at Website: http://www.dynamicworksproductions.com/ Twitter: @getforkedpod Email: theforkinyourearpodcast@gmail.com Listen & Subscribe Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/dynamic-works-productions/id703318918 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLscuwlf6UXIBu21cEpiebuP3zquixDrwB Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7Cep3iRRoDHrJ5l8c09UuJ Libsyn Direct RSS Feed: https://dynamicworksproductions.libsyn.com/rss Catch up with Tim personally YouTube: Dynamicworksproductions Twitter: Tim_T Twitch: Tim_KA_Trotter Support the Show Pick up Tim's sci-fi adventure book The Citadel: Arrival on Amazon Kindle or Apple Books for $2.99.

  7. Jul 18

    The Fork In Your Ear Ep#217 Goldblooming

    The Fork In Your Ear Ep#217 Goldblooming - Show Notes 7-18-26 Quick Summary Tim and Nate return after a short break with the usual tech hiccups (cats on keyboards, webcam fails, Windows being Windows) before diving into heavy gaming industry salt. Sony's disc production shutdown and account purge policy spark debate, while Xbox's massive reset (layoffs, studio sales, id Software cuts) gets the full breakdown—including John Carmack's level-headed take. Personal life gets real with Portland traffic nightmares, Oregon gas station confusion, back/PT woes, and Tim's Palworld co-op adventures with his wife (complete with "Slavery Corporation" clan drama). Nate suffers through Hollow Knight for his daughter, and there's plenty of He-Man movie love, Obsession raves, and Kara's corner mentions. Detailed Show Notes 🔥 Life Stories Classic Fork tech opener: Nate's cats sabotage the setup, webcam drama, and Windows device manager fails. Portland traffic hell + Costco gas station confusion in Oregon (self-serve culture shock for Tim). Back/PT issues and urgent care visit (Nate's bursitis adventure). Book club (All Systems Red/Murderbot), Santa Barbara Ren Faire plans, and Nate's motorcycle exhaust upgrade (hybrid problems). Kara's corner update (Pokémon shinies and the great feet pic debate). 🕹️ Video Games Sony Drama: PlayStation account deletion after 36 months inactive (goodbye digital purchases) + full end of physical disc production. CEO stock sales raise eyebrows. Xbox Reset: Massive layoffs, Double Fine/Compulsion going independent, Ninja Theory/Undead Labs sales, id Software cuts. John Carmack's thoughtful commentary praised as the best take. What We've Been Playing: Nate's Hollow Knight suffering for his daughter. Tim's Palworld 1.0 co-op with wife (seven-hour slave empire building, base fun, and "I need more slaves"). No Man's Sky Stargate Atlantis base envy. 💻 Tech & Entertainment Obsession movie gets a glowing review (Indy Nareet's performance is a tour de force + killer synth soundtrack). He-Man/Masters of the Universe movie love (pitch-perfect for fans, great cast chemistry, rocking score). Sam Neill passing, God of War TV recast drama (Ryan Hurst bicep injury). Key Quotes & Memorable Moments Tim on Palworld co-op: "I need more slaves… I don't feel right saying it, but I need many more slaves." Nate on Hollow Knight: "I hate every moment… I have never sweared at my screen more." Tim on Sony: "It makes more sense that they're converting the facility to camera lenses than just f*****g everybody over." Running gags: Danish gooey center obsession, Goldblum impressions, and "those were the days" nostalgia. A classic Forked episode: tech gremlins, industry rage, wholesome (and unwholesome) gaming stories, and two friends shooting the breeze. Light on AI/tech this week because gaming news dominated. Runtime: ~1 hour 45 minutes of barely contained chaos.     Join The Fork Family Discord: https://discord.gg/CXrFKxR8uA Find all our stuff at Website: http://www.dynamicworksproductions.com/ Twitter: @getforkedpod Email: theforkinyourearpodcast@gmail.com Listen & Subscribe Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/dynamic-works-productions/id703318918 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLscuwlf6UXIBu21cEpiebuP3zquixDrwB Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7Cep3iRRoDHrJ5l8c09UuJ Libsyn Direct RSS Feed: https://dynamicworksproductions.libsyn.com/rss Catch up with Tim personally YouTube: Dynamicworksproductions Twitter: Tim_T Twitch: Tim_KA_Trotter Support the Show Pick up Tim's sci-fi adventure book The Citadel: Arrival on Amazon Kindle or Apple Books for $2.99.

  8. Jul 4

    The Fork In Your Ear Ep#216 America's 250th B-Day-F**k Yeah!

    The Fork In Your Ear Ep#216 America's 250th B-Day-F**k Yeah! - Podcast Show Notes Summary 7-4-26 Quick Summary Tim and Nate record an early July 4th episode to avoid fireworks. They catch up after a long gap since June 13th with very personal stories: Tim's horrific both-ends food poisoning from a fancy burger meal, Nate's Caribbean cruise (complete with dolphin swims and his wife's severe UV reaction), Nate's first visit to California Adventure, and Tim's luxurious Ocean Shores beach house rental where every TV mysteriously defaults to Michael Bay Transformers movies. The episode then dives deep into video game industry chaos, including widespread Xbox studio turmoil and the official GTA 6 release date. They also discuss Apple's shift to M7 chips for on-device AI, Nate's new motorcycle turf-claiming app, and give a mixed review of the new Supergirl movie. Kara's cookie post sparks a passionate debate about mint chocolate chips in blonde cookies. Detailed Show Notes 🔥Life Stories📝 Early July 4th recording to dodge fireworks. Welcome to new Discord members Alina, David Hudson (mutual friends with Winter/Brock), and Sway. Last episode was June 13th — long gap acknowledged. Tim's Food Poisoning Story: Extremely graphic account of both-ends food poisoning after an Outback-style meal (chocolate shake + onion rings). Shower was deemed the ideal location for the event. Nate's Cruise: Departed from Fort Lauderdale. Stops included Jamaica, the Bahamas, and the cruise line's private island. Swam with dolphins (family-friendly version). Got very tan. His wife suffered severe UV poisoning (face and body swelling + rash). Nate's Disneyland + DCA Trip: First time stepping foot in California Adventure. Rode Incredicoaster, Space Mountain, Smuggler's Run (ended up piloting with a random mom), and Radiator Springs. Brother-in-law previously worked on the Radiator Springs ride (NDA jokes ensued). Tim's Ocean Shores Beach House: Luxe rental featuring an indoor/outdoor jacuzzi, pool table, arcade games (Pac-Man, Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam), and a massive 130-inch TV. Strange recurring detail: every TV in the house defaults to playing Michael Bay Transformers movies. Tim used edited Airbnb photos (family members removed), which Nate roasted for their AI-softened look and "melting" wall plugs. 🕹️Video Games👾 Mina the Hollower: Tim's 10/10 Game of the Year so far. 29-hour clear at 69% completion. Gripes include some "dungeons" essentially being glorified overworld sections, the game feeling smaller than it appears due to its density, and the long wait for a potential sequel. Xbox Turmoil: Widespread reports of multiple studios being shopped around or facing closure (Double Fine, Ninja Theory, Obsidian, Undead Labs/State of Decay, Compulsion, and others). Over 5,000 jobs targeted within Xbox. Nothing officially shuttered yet. Unionized developers are pushing back. Hope expressed that Double Fine could land at Nintendo. GTA 6: Officially dated for November 19, 2026 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S only. Base game $80. Collector's Edition $100 (primarily digital cosmetics). Single-player only at launch. Physical discs contain only a download code. Massive pre-order success (~$3.4 billion in the first 12 hours). Strong rumors of a later Switch 2 version. PlayStation attempted cheeky marketing (logo change + store push) — Rockstar quickly shut it down. Other Games & News: Tim beat the Star Fox 2026 remake (Bear McCreary's music slaps, but tank missions still suck). Bungie laid off 50% of staff (Marathon's future uncertain). Dispatch released a free "HR Violations Pack" DLC with partial censorship rollback. Kara started Xenoblade Chronicles 1 Definitive Edition (Switch 2 version). Nate purchased a Switch 2 and began Xenoblade Chronicles. Physical Media Debate: Sony is ending physical disc production by 2028 (facility transitioning toward camera lenses). Discussion on consumer choice versus business reality, potential opportunities for Xbox, and the advantages of optimization on Switch 2 and ARM architecture. 💻Technology📲 Apple is skipping M6 Pro and M6 Max chips entirely to fast-track the M7 series, which is heavily focused on on-device AI performance. Significant memory bandwidth increases expected (base M7 targeting ~240 GB/s). Base M6 chip still coming. M7 Pro, Max, and Ultra variants planned for 2027–2028. Apple is reportedly very pleased with its on-device Gemini integration for upcoming OS releases. Conversation around local AI versus cloud/data center power consumption. 🍿Entertainment🎬 Rippen App: Nate's new motorcycle app that gamifies riding and turf claiming (very GTA San Andreas energy). He had a custom shirt made with a QR code linking to the app. Android port is in progress, partly because of his involvement. Supergirl Movie: Tim took his mom to see it. Likes: Milly Alcock's performance as Supergirl, Jason Momoa as Lobo, and the sci-fi Guardians of the Galaxy vibe. Dislikes: Heavy use of crypto as a central plot device (same issue as the recent Superman film), every classic depowering trope used at once, and the movie's unclear identity (depression? revenge? saving the dog? mourning parents?). Music is good but lacks a distinct theme or identity. Other Media: Spielberg's new alien movie (Disclosure Day?) felt like a mixed bag — very Spielbergian but unfocused. X-Men '97 Season 2 is off to a strong start with lots of Star Trek actor crossovers (including John de Lancie). Avatar: Fire and Ash runtime felt too long for Tim. Nate has been rewatching Red vs. Blue. Star Trek: Voyager is currently in syndication rotation. Kara's Cookie Post: Sparked a long debate about mint chocolate chips belonging only in chocolate cookies or brownies — not blonde cookies. Coconut was also questioned. Key Quotes & Memorable Moments Tim on food poisoning: "I crawled to the shower and then just threw up and blew out my ass… it's quite violent." On GTA 6 physical copies: "It's basically a game key card like Nintendo." Tim on Supergirl's crypto plot: "I hope the f*****g dog dies in this film so that we don't have to repeat this story trip again." On the Transformers TV mystery: "No matter what you're doing, whenever you turned on the TVs, they were always playing one of the Michael Bay Transformers." Nate on Apple's camera processing: "What in the f**k is Apple doing with their cameras that made these pictures so goddamn bad?" Running gag: "The elephant in the room" (referencing Nintendo's subtle Mario post after Sony's disc production news).   Join The Fork Family Discord: https://discord.gg/CXrFKxR8uA Find all our stuff at Website: http://www.dynamicworksproductions.com/ Twitter: @getforkedpod Email: theforkinyourearpodcast@gmail.com Listen & Subscribe Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/dynamic-works-productions/id703318918 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLscuwlf6UXIBu21cEpiebuP3zquixDrwB Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7Cep3iRRoDHrJ5l8c09UuJ Libsyn Direct RSS Feed: https://dynamicworksproductions.libsyn.com/rss Catch up with Tim personally YouTube: Dynamicworksproductions Twitter: Tim_T Twitch: Tim_KA_Trotter Support the Show Pick up Tim's sci-fi adventure book The Citadel: Arrival on Amazon Kindle or Apple Books for $2.99.

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4.2
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About

Welcome to The Fork In Your Ear Podcast! A bi-weekly topical conversational show. Join Host, Author, Podcaster and Gamer Tim K.A. Trotter. Along with co-host Nate Foo and occasionally spectacular guests! We are a topical podcast covering Gaming, Life Stories, Entertainment and Technology on a rotating basis. What will each episode be about? Jump in and find out!!!

Information

  • Creator
    Dynamic Works Productions
  • Years Active
    2013 - 2026
  • Episodes
    249
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Dynamic Works Productions
  • Show Website
    The Fork In Your Ear Podcast