On AwesomeCast 795, Michael Sorg, Katie Dudas, and Dave Podnar explore gaming news, gadgets, apps, and geek culture from Pittsburgh.

• Xbox Cloud Gaming limits: Sorg explains why he moved his Xbox Series S back downstairs. The hosts discuss the impact of monthly streaming allowances on long games and cloud-focused devices, plus a follow-up on Xbox’s disc-to-digital licensing preview.
https://www.ign.com/articles/microsoft-announces-big-changes-to-xbox-cloud-gaming-switches-to-monthly-hour-limits

• Next-generation Xbox affordability: An interview about Project Helix sparks a conversation about efficiency, console prices, PC game compatibility, and unanswered disc-drive questions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txuYKwrbq1M

• Retro cartridges on modern computers: Sorg discovers Epilogue’s GB Operator and SN Operator. The discussion covers playing existing Game Boy and Super Nintendo collections, preserving cartridge saves, and a Game Boy Camera connection.
https://apple.news/A9oaGgCU0QpqcvQLP7ttlKQ

• MapQuest’s 8-bit personality: Katie shares her experience with pixel-style maps, Questies character avatars, playful navigation voices, CarPlay, and live radio.

• Star Trek at 60: Dave reflects on the franchise’s cultural impact, diverse vision of the future, and connections to real-world technology, from communicators to tablet-like PADDs.

• John Snow and disease mapping: Dave’s Awesome History explores the Broad Street cholera outbreak and connects historical mapping with modern wastewater surveillance and community preparedness.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1854_Broad_Street_cholera_outbreak

• Panic’s tariff refunds: ChachiSays covers the Playdate company’s decision to return tariff charges to customers.
https://www.al.com/news/2026/08/tariff-refunds-sent-to-video-game-customers-not-our-money.html

• The Tetris Company responds: Chachi discusses the company’s statement about a Tetris-like game on the White House website.
https://variety.com/2026/digital/news/tetris-company-trump-white-house-build-the-wall-game-copyright-1236851993/

• Zelda anniversary reactions: Sorg discusses the presentation’s movie reveal, music-tour news, and Ocarina of Time remake footage. The hosts weigh remake pricing, revisit Nintendo memories, and talk Twilight Princess, Star Fox, and Super Mario Sunshine.
https://www.theverge.com/games/991265/the-legend-of-zelda-40th-anniversary-direct

• Street Fighter 6 meets the movies: Movie-actor challenger screens, including Roman Reigns as Akuma, spark excitement and memories of Street Fighter’s earlier film and game crossover.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1755856245623451

• Snoopy at Starbucks: Katie highlights Great Pumpkin-inspired Peanuts merchandise, including mugs, travel cups, bags, and pins.
https://about.starbucks.com/stories/2026/starbucks-and-peanuts-celebrate-fall-with-a-global-merch-collection-inspired-by-the-great-pumpkin/

• Dungeon Crawler Carl LEGO Ideas: Two fan proposals bring Carl, Princess Donut, and friends into brick form. The hosts explore a dungeon scene and larger character builds seeking community support.
https://ideas.lego.com/product-ideas/eb3c3057-8646-45b4-86ba-dfc08ba7e7e8
https://ideas.lego.com/product-ideas/6e47b028-7cba-48bc-81d9-a1461bdd4d08

• Clucky’s demanding wake-up call: Sorg sets up a rooster alarm app with snooze challenges, samples its loud sounds, and chooses a tilt-game mission. Katie explains how the app turns getting out of bed into an interactive routine.
https://tryclucky.com

Plus, Dave shares his Steelers 5K experience, and the hosts bring their usual mix of hands-on discoveries, gaming opinions, and Pittsburgh personality.

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This week, the crew talks about Niagara Falls adventures, World Cup watch parties, international visitors discovering American mega-stores, the Strong Museum of Play, Nerdvana, Google Gemini Pro, electric vehicle camouflage, and video game news from Chachi Says.

Stories and gadgets discussed:

• World Cup travelers discovering America
  • Dave shares TikTok reactions from international soccer fans experiencing Walmart, Waffle House, Costco, ranch dressing, school buses, Bucky’s, and oversized American everything.
  • Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@josievlogsthings/video/7651983684060613890?lang=en
• Niagara Falls World Cup watch party
  • Sorg and Katie stumble into a World Cup viewing party at Niagara Falls with giant screens, fans, fireworks, and the falls lit up at night.
• The 26th-floor IHOP at Niagara Falls
  • Katie highlights the surreal breakfast experience of eating IHOP with a panoramic view of Niagara Falls, before the space transforms into a steakhouse at night.
• This Week in Pride History: Sophie Wilson
  • Dave spotlights Sophie Wilson, a computing pioneer connected to the development of ARM processor architecture, which powers phones, Macs, and many modern devices.
  • Link: https://www.marks-clerk.com/insights/latest-insights/102k16g-celebrating-lgbt-history-month-sophie-wilson-computing-pioneer-inventor-and-advocate-for-inclusion/
• Chachi Says Video Game Minute
  • Crazy Taxi, Ocarina of Time, TMNT: The Last Ronin, and Marvel’s Wolverine game news.
  • A sealed Super Mario Bros. copy reportedly sells for $3 million.
  • Tupac appears in Stranger Than Heaven, a prequel to the Like a Dragon series.
  • Links:
    • https://www.creativebloq.com/3d/video-game-design/switch-2-zelda-ocarina-of-time-remake-is-making-some-fans-regret-what-they-wished-for
    • https://www.inverse.com/gaming/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-the-last-ronin-platinum-games-ps5-xbox
    • https://kotaku.com/copy-of-super-mario-bros-sells-for-3-million-in-auction-2000706228
    • https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/tupac-video-game-stranger-than-heaven-9.7232112
• Strong Museum of Play and Video Game Hall of Fame
  • Sorg and Katie visit the Strong Museum in Rochester, New York, including the Video Game Hall of Fame, giant Donkey Kong, Oregon Trail, Street Fighter, Sonic, Sesame Street, Peanuts, Hello Kitty, Dungeons & Dragons, and interactive game exhibits.
• Nerdvana
  • The crew talks about the restaurant across from the Strong Museum where guests can play Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, or board games while eating.
• Ford’s hidden QR code in EV camouflage
  • Dave discusses Ford hiding a QR code inside the camouflage pattern on a prototype electric pickup, turning spy photos into promotion.
  • Link: https://www.theautopian.com/the-30000-ford-ev-pickup-we-photographed-was-hiding-a-qr-code-on-its-camouflage-heres-where-it-takes-you/
• Google Gemini Pro and Google One
  • Sorg discovers Google AI Pro access connected to Google storage plans and talks through Gemini, Google Forms automation, vibe coding, AI tools, NotebookLM, Flow, and possible app development.
  • Link: https://gemini.google/us/subscriptions/?hl=en&brid=YWdncwHVFyhYRkb6SzEgcIU3w1kG

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Thanks to our supporters: Brian Crawford, Cynthia Closkey, John DeGore, and Dave Podnar.

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Sorg, Katie, and Dave Podnar kick things off with their Awesome Things of the Week, and the lineup is wonderfully varied. Dave looks ahead to Artemis II, the upcoming crewed moon mission that will send astronauts beyond low Earth orbit for the first time in decades. The conversation covers how the mission works, why the far side of the moon still creates communication challenges, and why “just rebuilding Apollo” is not nearly as simple as some people assume.

Katie’s pick is much closer to home, at least for Pittsburghers: Heinz Verified. The new site helps users find restaurants that serve Heinz ketchup, making it both practical and hilarious for anyone who has ever been personally offended by mystery catsup in a diner bottle. The crew immediately starts checking cities they’ll be traveling to and appreciates that users can nominate restaurants for inclusion.

Sorg’s pick highlights Chachi’s 3D-printing Etsy shop, Plastic Fun Time. From the now-famous bag of Fs to the Rock Lobster and other fun prints, it’s a cool look at somebody taking a maker hobby and turning it into a real side business. It also turns into a broader appreciation for creative small-scale production and clever product design.

The middle of the episode gets more serious with a discussion around a Stanford study on AI chatbot advice. Katie explains how researchers tested large language models against stories from the “Am I the Asshole?” subreddit and found that chatbots often validated problematic behavior more than humans did. That opens the door to a bigger conversation about AI agreeability, emotional dependency, digital literacy, and what it means when people begin treating chatbots like close confidants instead of tools.

The AI thread continues with What’s Up With That, a browser extension built to help readers analyze articles, pull out new signals, simplify jargon, and better connect ideas across sources. For anyone doing research-heavy work, the crew sees real promise in the concept.

On the creative side, Dave shares Adobe Illustrator’s Project Turntable, which can rotate 2D vector art in 3D space. That sparks a discussion about animation workflows, creative accessibility, and the kinds of production bottlenecks tools like this might reduce.

The episode also finds time for ChannelSurfer.tv, a retro-TV style interface for YouTube, plus a look at Apple’s TikTok presence, where the company seems to be leaning into a Finder-inspired mascot to help explain macOS features in a more playful way.

Dave also wraps up Women’s History Month by spotlighting several women who shaped space science, leading to a thoughtful discussion about visibility, representation, and why stories like these matter.

And then, in true AwesomeCast fashion, the crew ends up hyped about LEGO Zelda sets, including Ocarina of Time: The Final Battle and the Great Deku Tree, prompting nostalgia, sticker shock, and renewed debate over whether Sorg finally needs to properly play Ocarina of Time.

If you like your tech podcasts with equal parts curiosity, commentary, and chaos, this is a great episode.

Links from this episode
Chachi’s Etsy shop / Plastic Fun Time
https://www.etsy.com/shop/plasticfuntime/?etsrc=sdt
Heinz Verified
https://www.heinz.com/heinzverified
Artemis II launch article
https://www.wired.com/story/artemis-ii-countdown-how-and-when-to-watch-the-launch-of-the-manned-mission-to-the-moon/
Women who shaped our understanding of space
https://womenshistory.si.edu/blog/five-women-who-shaped-our-understanding-space
Channel Surfer
https://channelsurfer.tv/?ch=14
What’s Up With That
https://whatsupwiththat.app/practice/
Adobe Illustrator Project Turntable article
https://9to5mac.com/2026/03/30/adobe-illustrator-now-lets-you-rotate-2d-vectors-in-3d-space/
Apple on TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@apple?_r=1&_t=ZP-959iBFWcaSN
LEGO Ocarina of Time: The Final Battle
https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/ocarina-of-time-the-final-battle-77093?cmp=PSO-FBIG-AMS-EN-RE-PO-LPV-LR_EXCLUSIVE_PRODUCT_LAUNCH-SHOP-HA-LkAd-PRS-Always_On-GAMINGZ_P&utm_campaign=120242713322920054&utm_content=120245958217060054&utm_id=120242713322920054&utm_medium=paid&utm_source=fb&utm_term=120242713322930054
LEGO Great Deku Tree 2-in-1
https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/great-deku-tree-2-in-1-77092

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