The Underground — Issue #31
Everything you need to know about in this weekly series: A new game that will allow you to explore the universe, a theory that the universe is a simulation, 5 Summer beers you need to put in your body, Conan parodies the best movie of the year, and Neil deGrasse Tyson dropping some knowledge on Ancient Aliens.
At Social Underground we go beyond the mainstream stuff and see what’s underneath the surface. What should we get into, listen to, read, eat or watch? If there is something in our culture that needs attention that’s our job: Show you the underground things that you need to know about: Books, music, television, movies, comedians, art, and whatever else we can find to get you into something you never knew about. That’s The Underground.
1. No Man’s Sky is a video game that could change everything.
I pretty much jumped out of the video game scene in my mid-20’s. The better the graphics got, the more I stopped giving a crap because it got boring after an hour. Creativity and gameplay was left behind for increased repetitive games like shooters and more shooters. I’m more of a point-and-click adventure gamer. Anywho, this new game mixes adventure, exploration, space travel, sci-fi, and more.
The game will feature planetary exploration, deep oceans, space-based battles, resource gathering, and potential predators on the various procedurally-generated worlds. Each world has its own ecosystem with potentially unforgiving conditions, such as desert worlds with large carnivorous worms. Players are initially given an uncharted universe to explore, where information about any planet’s characteristics and life forms may be shared and updated with others through “The Atlas”, an intergalactic database that is accessed through Beacons that can be found on the planets. The player’s character can die from numerous means, including via encounters with dangerous creature, in space battles, or by Sentinels that patrol the planets and turn against explorers that drain a planet of too many of its resources or kill off too many of its flora or fauna; while the character will respawn after death, they will lose all information that they have collected but not yet uploaded to the Atlas. The game includes a crafting system, using resources and blueprints to construct new tools, weapons, and ships, all which can also be updated over the course of the game.
This game is really awe-inspiring when you watch the gameplay below. I can imagine hooking this up to a virtual reality system and walking around each world all day. This is another reason I got out of video games: It eats up all your free time. But this game might be worth it.
Check out IGN’s exclusive preview of the game:
2. What if the universe is just a computer simulation? I think pretty much everyone had that thought after watching The Matrix in 1999, but some scientists have actually looked into it quite deeply. In my mind, I highly doubt that our reality is a computer simulation, but the more I read, the more I start questioning reality and the unexplained aspects of it. This doesn’t mean I’m going to try to jump off a building to get to another building, or use my brain to erase The Matrix sequels from existence, but this guy explains the theory quite well.
3. 5 Summer beers that will make your tongue forget about those boring American Lagers. When I was 16 — I mean, 21 — I would drink that boring watered down beer at parties like everyone else. The beer tasted like complete crap, but at that point in my life, it wasn’t about the taste of the beer, it was the effect it had on you. Let’s get this straight right now: You don’t acquire a taste to beer, you just drink bad beer that you get used to. This is why trying better brewed beers, wines, and cocktails evolve as you get older. Hell, I’d choose a glass of good scotch and a cigar over an over priced 12-pack of popular beer advertised during a football game.
I decided to write down a few fantastic beers if I’ve tasted this Summer and give them to you as a favor.
- Stillwater Artisanal Ales Cellar Door
- Widmer Brothers Hefe Shandy
- Stone Brewing Company Pale Ale 2.0
- Bavik De Brabandere Wittekerke
- Full Sail Session Cream Summer Ale
Go to your local beer store and pick up these beauties. They are probably sold in singles, so if you can buy all 5 at once, I highly recommend it. I dislike beer snobs, so if you are drinking one of the normal beers, I won’t be angry, just disappointed.
4. Conan heads to San Diego Comic-Con and parodies Mad Max: Fury Road. Let’s be honest: Mad Max: Fury Road is the best action movie of the past 10 years. It kicked so much ass that it got me to go to the theaters numerous times to watch it, and I loved it every single time. Conan O’Brien is the best late night host on television. Period. The second I heard that he was parodying the movie for his entrance to Comic-Con, I dropped everything I was doing. Unfortunately, I was holding a newborn baby, and had to quickly run out of my cousins house after that.
Below is Conan’s fantastic spoof of Fury Road, and if you haven’t seen the movie, it’s the best of the year. If you say Pitch Perfect 2 is, you shut up.
5. Neil deGrasse Tyson talks ancient aliens, pyramids, race relations and more with Sway. My love of Tyson is increasing the more I watch him and listen to his podcast. He is the definitive example of intelligence and how all teachers should be: Funny, interesting and passionate about what he loves.
He also loves to take down bullsh*t that is thrown his way (just look at every episode of Cosmos and read some of the reviews by the dimwits). In the opening few minutes, Tyson proves that the entire Ancient Aliens is garbage. I love watching that show because it’s so damn stupid, I laugh like it’s an unintentional comedy. What he really does is prove that the show is racist. He does so with such an obvious observation that I feel stupid not noticing it.
FOLLOW JEFF SORENSEN ON TWITTER
Jeff Sorensen is an author, writer and occasional comedian living in Detroit, Michigan. You can look for more of his work on The Huffington Post, UPROXX, BGR and by just looking up his name.
Contact: jeff@socialunderground.com