Flashback
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Flashback
A look at gaming in April 2006
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April 2006 is one of those gaming months that feels like a hinge in history: the Xbox 360 is already flexing, the PS3 is approaching with big promises and bigger costs, and the PSP is quietly dropping games that still look like they shouldn’t be possible on a handheld. We dig into what we would have been playing at the time, starting with PSP standouts like Pursuit Force and a surprisingly full-fat Tomb Raider Legend, plus the kind of “how is this running on this screen?” admiration that only portable gaming in the mid-2000s could deliver.
From there we hit the living-room heavyweights and the memories that come attached, including a midnight launch story for Ghost Recon, a love letter to OutRun 2006 Coast to Coast, and a real talk detour on Oblivion hype versus Morrowind expectations. We also get into how we thought about frame rate and performance back then, when a game could feel “boggy” and you still pushed through because the world was doing something you’d never seen before. If you’re into retro gaming podcasts, Xbox 360 nostalgia, PS2 to PS3 transition talk, or PSP hidden gems, this one is a packed time capsule.
Then we crack open April 2006 game industry news: Sony forecasting major PS3 launch losses, a hilariously flawed academic claim that “violent games make you do drugs,” and Valve pledging Xbox 360 support as Source, Steam, and console strategy start colliding. We close out with Stingray’s boot picks for May 2006, including Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis and a few curiosities that sparked collector chatter. Subscribe for more monthly deep dives, share the show with a friend who lived through that era, and leave us a review so more people can find Flashback.
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Welcome To April 2006
SPEAKER_01The games you love, the stories you forgot. This is episode 23, and this week we're in April 2006. I'm RGT, and as always, I am joined by He's always carefree and plan a PS3. Has an incredible history with the Xbox 360. Grabbed a tissue when he finished The Last of Us Part 2. That's UTP George. How you doing, mate?
SPEAKER_00I'm good. I yeah, I'm great. Good intro. Yes. Um, yeah, I'm fired up. Plenty of games to get stuck into here, and no doubt some salacious news. So uh I would suggest we uh rip clean into it, sir.
SPEAKER_01Oh, I think you're right, yeah. April 2006. Um that sort of gen, new gen on the era coming out soon that year, um, of PS3, uh 360 already out. Um, so interesting time. Um, and well, you could see that with the amount of games there was that was coming out, but we'll go straight into what we would have hoping that we would have been playing at that that current
Pursuit Force And PSP Thrills
SPEAKER_01time. Um I'm gonna start with uh a game on March 7th came out in uh 2006 called Pursuit Force on the PSP. Um now I didn't play this um as of when I got my PSP. It was a lot later on when I started collecting a few games, bits and pieces, building up the library for it. And I mean I got this um just UMD only, didn't get a case for this, it was like a pound, I think, something simple. Ah, it's raw, yeah, and then I loved it so much, end up buying a complete copy, which was only about two pounds when I got it.
SPEAKER_00Cases a pound, apparently.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, um, but great little game, you hadn't heard of Pursuit Force, it's like a sort of cop, you're sort of this real sort of edgy cop, um, loads of car chases, and you can jump from car to car to make your way to the lead villains and take them out. And that's almost like a cross between sort of like a spy hunter or a bit of burnout, bit of um what else would you say as a cop game? Oh no, I'll tell you what it reminds me of. It reminds me of that um was it PS2 game, um, sort of the Mexican sort of shoot 'em up, like a GTA version.
SPEAKER_00Like Chili Concani or something.
SPEAKER_01Chili, yeah, it's got that sort of mixed in it as well. But I think they done a second one as well, didn't they?
SPEAKER_00It's got like stream all with its like jumping and its targeting and bits and bobs as well. It you know, it sometimes feels a little bit kind of light gunny, time crisis-y as well, in a way. Gives me that.
SPEAKER_01I think you're right, yeah, yeah, definitely.
SPEAKER_00It's not that at all, but you know, some of that symbology and the feeling feels a bit like that when you're in the boat.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and when you get the chance, you have to time it right to do the jumps, it's almost like that lock on like you would have in in time crisis. I see what you mean with that. And um, I think a great little game, and something that you wouldn't really think of as handheld on a small screen, but it works and it's great fun for um for what it is.
SPEAKER_00Um, if you go to sequel, did it not?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I thought I said I can't remember what that was called. Pursuit Force, was it extreme or something like that?
SPEAKER_00It was called, but I think you might just simply call Police Pursuit Force 2 or something.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you might be right. Um, but yeah, great little fun games on the PlayStation.
SPEAKER_00Pursuit Force 2 Extreme, something something, yeah, you are right. I think it has a subtitle, but yeah, it's out there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's definitely worth checking out if you're intersp and you haven't played it um for the money, just for a bit of arcade, you know, destruction, bit of fun, um, for you know, relatively cheap, cheap money, I think, these days. But what about you, George? What are you picking out first?
SPEAKER_00Oh,
Midnight Launch Ghost Recon Story
SPEAKER_00mate, there's a lot of nostalgia here, so you're gonna have to indulge me a little bit of uh uh little bit of OG time. There was a time where me and OG um hot footed it from my gaff to Asda in Grantham for a midnight launch of Ghost Recon, and it's not on here but Fight Night Round 3 or something like that, whatever the first one on 360 was, and we like bombed it down this bat road as well, we just got there, and he we we used to play a lot of PGR at the time, and often he would like somehow execute this move coming off of like a slight raise, and we'd call it the bunny hop that we'd look for in the replay. And as we were nailing it through, I was following him through these bat roads, and as he popped up off this hill, he executed a little bunny hop in real life, which was kind of fun. I know this is none of none of the game, but I'm sure you hear for the stories that we forgot. Well, I haven't forgotten this anyway. We get to Asda and we walk around and um we stumble across a gentleman, uh rather unique gentleman. He clocks that we've got games. I think he had like Ghost Recon, but not Fight Knight. We had both. And uh I had never really seen a gamer gentleman that we kind of know in the modern era in the wild at such a time, and um because to me the only gamers I kind of knew were me, Tom, and some mates. Um anyway, I stumbled across a gentleman here executing to perfection in 2006 this meal in a basket, so the aforementioned Ghost Recon 360. He had uh what looked like an emerging almost embryonic uh Rustlers burger, and it was also packing some um energy drink as well. So this gentleman really was like the prototypical gamer. I think I'd love to go back to him, maybe take a clone, maybe this is what's happened, you know. I hate to say it, but he was wearing a German military cap, um, I think a green combat jacket, some heavy metal-ish looking clothes, and uh a fragrance that's unique to probably gamers frequenting Asda at midnight with Rustlers burgers and energy drinks in their basket. Um but nonetheless a rather gameful chap who uh sort of blurted his online gamer tag at us, and uh I didn't really know what any of that was at the time. Uh it was only after that did I reveal myself to Xbox Online. But to revert to the game, I tell you what, we were kind of waiting for some sort of special source out the gates from the launch of the 360, and don't get me wrong, graphically we'd been nothing but appeased. But the trailers that we'd seen on demo discs and the previews we'd read in the magazines and the reviews that we'd had by this time put Ghost Recon right at the top of our must-buy list. And I'll tell you what, initially I was blown away. Underneath all that, it's a classic Ghost Recon game, really. Uh, slightly more advanced and a little bit more rainbow six-y than usual, but it had some real great moments on 360. Obviously, had that real sort of get out of the helicopter and the sun's really bright, so they fade up the screen saturation a lot, so it's all white, and then it kind of fades back in the graphics as you're kind of going down the zip line onto the floor, and yeah, lots of realistic radio chatter, can't knock a bit of ghost recon. Um RGT. I don't want to labour it, but obviously we've got Midnight Club 3 dub edition remix, which was probably the version that made it onto the what seventh gen, um, probably resolved graphics, etc. Um, there's a game I kind of want to just spin off with for a moment with you, is the game here called The Outfit. I remember this game. Quite a lot of hype back in the day. Uh I think I'm slowly becoming famous on flashback for the guy that says this one was all over the magazines, but the outfit was, but I kind of remember it viewing, reviewing not in a good way. I think it was like a like mercenaries. Do you remember it? I don't remember it. I never had it, but I remember it being everywhere and and and not doing too great. Uh yeah. Anyway, what's the next game on the list for you, good sir? Um, do you have any memories of Ghost Recon?
SPEAKER_01No, it was never my genre, that sort of game. It was nothing I played. I tell you who did, um, one of our followers over on the UTP, Speedy Wheels. Hello, Speedy Wheels, if you're listening. Um he always talks about Ghost Recon as one of his most played games, and always says, Oh, you know, I'll have to come around and play on your 360, we'll have a go at Ghost Recon or play Ghost Recon. So I end up buying a copy just for when he comes around so we can have a go on it. But never played it back in the day. Um, wasn't I say it wasn't my sort of genre, but I knew it was popular. You always heard of it.
SPEAKER_00What would I find in your basket, circa March 9th, midnight, 2006? If I'd
Gaming Basket Snacks And Beer Widgets
SPEAKER_00stumbled across you in that era, what would I have seen? Copy of the game. Let's a copy of a game. Let's just get it. Copy of a game. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um probably a four-pack of beer.
SPEAKER_00Oh, what kind of beer would you have been supping in 2006?
SPEAKER_01Um I was always a bit of a man, so it'd have probably been a John Smith's aka or slash, I should say, Tetley's.
SPEAKER_00Um would your John Smith have to be the smooth flow with the ball?
SPEAKER_01Um I didn't mind either, but if if the smooth was there, then I'll take it. As simple as that. Um also I'd have probably had in there some a bit of.
SPEAKER_00Do you think that's the ultimate widget? Because there was a like like a a kind of almost like a what I would call No, this is an interesting segue. This is worth indulging.
SPEAKER_01I'm not sure interest in his No, I think so.
SPEAKER_00I think so. There was almost an arms race between beer manufacturers and widgets at the time. Oh, yes, that was the thing at the time, and it's the little plastic piece of garbage that would rattle around the can.
SPEAKER_01And make it feel like it was draft poured from a pump in a pupe.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think Guinness had like a like a disc in the bottom of theirs that would release the nitrogen or something. I think they're still on with a little bit of that gimmick now, aren't they?
SPEAKER_01They are, yeah. It's a guy uh guy I work with who's mad on his Guinness and has that nitro surge, but they're like quite expensive to buy each special can, and then you get like a rechargeable pourer that goes on top of the can, and yeah, he swears by it. I'm like, does it make that much difference? I don't know, but yeah. People with Guinness are they keen on their guinness?
SPEAKER_00And John Smith, I think, typically kind of budget option, they just kind of throw a ping pong ball in the can.
SPEAKER_01Exactly, and then just got Peter Kay to welly a football over a fence and go at it.
SPEAKER_00Boddingtons had one as well, I think, didn't they?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, they had old Mel Fingmy Bob do it, didn't they?
SPEAKER_00I'm not thinking they put her in a can. I'm thinking they had a widget in a can, didn't they? They might have been the first one to do it, actually.
SPEAKER_01Maybe, with the old smooth paw, yeah, it might have been.
SPEAKER_00Messaging, questions on official controller podcast.com. If you've got a mild interest in who was the first beer widget, let us know. We're not gonna Google it.
SPEAKER_01We don't want to do that. No, yeah, let us know.
SPEAKER_00Um or in the in the YouTube view, view, view, view.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, give us a message in YouTube, yeah. Let us know if you're if you're listening or viewing stroke listening on there now.
SPEAKER_00Just if you're even alive and listening, really.
SPEAKER_01But I would have been John Smith and I'd have been one of them big packs of fiery Watsets. Oh, you're a booger. Yeah, I love them. I love them.
SPEAKER_00I still do love them, but oh you see, the very thought of it now is making me sweat furiously. It it I find that quite scary.
SPEAKER_01Oh no, I didn't find them that hot. I just loved them.
SPEAKER_00So To me, the the Watsit presents to you uh a cheesy crumb so delicately sort of uh attracted to your fingers that it almost sort of stains them a uh like a dark yellow colour if you've been furiously vigorously rummaging in a bag of Watsits or some other lesser-known cheese puff snack. Uh I'll be honest with you, they don't really count. Um the fiery version though, I can imagine it's same kind of dust-like sort of adjunction properties. Sort of red orange. Yeah, but I think what you're missing here to someone like me is that this combination of dust would be almost similar to a Viet Cong suffering from napalm burns.
SPEAKER_01No, it wasn't it wasn't that. It was just that when you'd finished a gaming session and about eight bags of these, your fingers looked like you smoked 60 rollies a day.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, see, to me, your controller would probably have been clicking on the old Geiger counter, like the elephant's foot at Chernobyl. I could have gone nowhere near that.
SPEAKER_01Oh, you had to uh decross the controller after each sesh.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Hoover and then a wet wipe.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. If I'd have looked at that, I probably would have come up in such a heat rash, like I'd have just fallen in a George Foreman grill for three to four minutes. Moving on. What's your next game?
Tomb Raider Legend Gets Its Rebirth
SPEAKER_01Um, I'm gonna go April 11th, 2006 was Tomb Raider Legend, um which is the sort of the the the reimagining of Tomb Raider, the the fresh start for Tomb Raider at the time. And um it's a good game. It is a really good game, actually.
SPEAKER_00My intro alone on 360 specifically, I think really sings, dude.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, I've never played the 360 one, I've played PS2 and I've played PSP.
SPEAKER_00Oh the PSP is a technical frickin' miracle, and I still stand a gogger it because it is phenomenal. But on 360, mate, Tomb Raider Legend, it it I bought it thinking, oh well, you know, I I remember back in the day having this and being a bit like almost derisive of it. And there's a moment where you climb up this cliff and a waterfall happens and radio kicks in, some birds fly over, and I was like, okay, alright. I am completely wrong. It had gravitas, it had scale, it had really nice controls where you weren't locked to a grid. Finally, it was the rebirth and the three I think we got three games here, didn't we? Um out of this series before we got another trilogy again. Yeah. Um but yeah, most happy with it. What was your so you played it where? PS2?
SPEAKER_01PS2 and PSP I've played it. Um we played, there was a load of us played together a few years ago on on PS2 through component.
SPEAKER_00Now I know I got proved wrong, but prove me wrong again and I'll kill you. This game can go up to well, can come out as HD on PS2. It's one of those it's one of those high res games, isn't it? Is that how you played it?
SPEAKER_01No, I didn't. I play I just played it through standard cables um on a on a CRT and it still looked good on the CRT. I was more blown away by the PSP version.
SPEAKER_00Um agreed, I mean it's the same, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01It is it is, and that's what amazed me because I played them back to back. I wanted to see what it was like, and then loading it in, getting that familiar UMD grind, and then load up and thinking, Oh, you know, where am I gonna lose out here? And you start playing thinking, mmm, I don't know if I've lost out here at all.
SPEAKER_02No.
SPEAKER_01This is a very good game for a handheld game.
SPEAKER_00I kept expecting to feel like something would be cut out any second, and it never and it as far as I'm aware, it never was.
SPEAKER_01No, and that ended up that was close to a holiday when I played, so I took my PSP with me, played Tomb Raider Legend as my sort of holiday game, and I thought, oh, this is brilliant. You got a proper full Tomb Raider adventure in in your pocket, absolutely loved it. So, yeah, definitely recommend Tomb Raider Legend to anyone if you haven't played that, and still amazes me. That's 20 years ago. Crazy. But what's your next game then, George?
Oblivion Hype And Reality Check
SPEAKER_00A game that probably is one of the reasons why I probably chased Microsoft initially into the um seventh gen with the 360. I've had an Xbox One, I don't you dare, George. You know it's not called that anymore. I had an Xbox original, classic, whatever the frick, Xbox One. I had an Xbox One, but not the one you're thinking of, uh Gen Z. Gosh your dad. Um and I had Morrowind on there, and I fell in love with that game. Hundreds of hours. I went everywhere. I do know I used it like a sandbox. I even tried to glitch the ending. I think there's like this big wall around, and I was like, no, I'm powerful enough now. I'm just gonna sort of glitch walk up the side of it and jump over the top. I mean, it didn't end well, but you know, I tried. And the game was this wonderful place where I got lost in dwarven ruins, and I was like, this is incredible. So then when I heard that and gaming news was presented in a much different way back in the day. It wasn't as though you could go on the internet, well you probably could, but it wasn't as the information was prolifered out that way, it was prolifered out through magazines and water cooler exchanges. Uh around this time I would have been checking the internet, but not daily. Stumbled across the thoughts that this game Oblivion is coming out. It's coming out in the 360s launch window. Well, drop my trousers, spank me Lily Whites, and call me Bort. I was all in at that moment, I tell you. Um I remember feeling a little bit like unsure, because about uh not long before the 360 came out, I was away on a holiday, and I got up early one morning and I thought I'd go out and have a look at the local news agents. New York, this was. Um and I walked in there thinking, because you always think America's got everything more, and they didn't really have anything new about the 360 other than this one magazine I found that was like an Xbox magazine, and in there was this sort of preview of Oblivion, and it had all the details in about the horses, and I mean, compared to Tomorrow in this scene looked great, and in the era of 2006, late 2005, Oblivion looked a million dollars. Um probably one of the best game looking games on the system at that time, yeah. Glitchy, yes, bit broken, yes, we accept that, yes. Did I accept it? Yeah, um, I don't think I accepted it because it wasn't quite the Morrowind follow-up that I wanted. Um, and I always talk about this. Don't get so into a game and then expect the sequel to be what you want. Um, because you're probably gonna be disappointed. Every now you know, quite often the developer gets it right, and let's face it, based on sales alone, we got it better than Morrowind, and they got it better again than Skyrim.
SPEAKER_01But do you think we cared as much about performance then as we do now? I think we were used to a 30 FPS. We were used to it.
SPEAKER_00I think that I was just used to a game being whatever a game was. I was aware of frame rate, but maybe I didn't have a name for it, but I was aware it was happening.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Oh, a game feels a bit boggy at the minute. Oh, I don't know why. Or I don't understand what's happening, or you know, my one of my classic ones, I talk about Metropolis Street Racer on Dreamcast banging into the first corner, all of the cars, and it I remember thinking, wow, I I love the way they've incorporated like a force, like you feel like you've got the force almost where everything slows down. Uh that wasn't what was happening. What was happening was the frame rate was tanking.
SPEAKER_01Like, I've done the same with R Type when I first played R-type, and I thought, yes, when it gets mental, they slow it down, so you can th slow time down to go through, and then it weren't till a few years later, and I got a bit older and a bit wise, and yeah, nah, that's that's frame drops that's slow and up when there's a lot of things on screen. But you used it to your advantage at the time, you didn't, you know, but yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um so Oblivion came out. I got the I wish I still had it now. There's like a little collector's edition with a coin in it, very early 360 launch version, coin, a map. It was a foldable cardboard with a DVD making of as well. It was a very nice product, to be fair. Um look, I loved it. Um I played enough of it to know that I enjoyed it, but it was never what I wanted. Like Morrowind, I don't know what it is about it, in that moment, carried everything that I needed from it. I think I was also a little bit homesick for a game I've been playing in the Navy called Sea Dogs, which had a very similar kind of it was broken beyond all confession. Sea Dogs was absolutely broken PC budget piece of garbage that no one would be. I've never heard of it. No one would be playing unless they were trapped at sea. For weeks on end, with nothing else to do but play sea dogs in their spare time. Sea Dogs becomes then an obsession. Sea Dogs then becomes a great game for a captain. For a first mate, you need an educated man. Oh wow, great. You know, there's sea dogs for you, baby. And the way you walked in that was a bit broken, the way you interact was a bit broken. I map some of these thoughts in Tomorrow Wind when I played it as well. It's a bit like, and I remember ringing my mate Yoda from the name saying, Oh, get this. You got an Xbox, yeah. So go get this because it it's a bit like Sea Dogs, but on land, and he got it, and he got it immediately. He fell in love with the game. And I think Sea Dogs also presented to you like a oh, the end goal really is for you to kind of sort this out for yourself, find out what went on with your father, pieces and pieces of them map together to find the ultimate treasure. That's it. End of story, end of tutorial, end of everything. See on the flip side, pal. Oh, and by the way, this game is so broken that you even just press the wrong key at the wrong moment, and it it's all just in the bin anyway. Oh right, okay, interesting. I wouldn't normally play a game like this, but there is no other game. Sea dogs, it is. I did actually we did actually pick up on a marketer replacement, a similar naval game, because we I don't know where we became obsessed, and I had it tucked in my back pocket. The naval work trouser was a little unforgiving, and I think I climbed up out of our mess, which was down through a kidney hatch, it was quite tight. You've got to pull yourself up onto your ass to get out. Uh Ully Sided, anyway. I'm about as uh at that time, I was about as athletic as a slug. Uh, as I sat down, I think I just said it's crunch. Yeah, what that was. Anyway, let's go play this naval simulator, get down there, just pull out just basically dust. Sea dogs, yeah. So anyway, I don't know how I managed to talk about uh uh how I managed to turn that round, but oblivion, I mean it's a Hallmark game, it's a big moment. Um, it was a great moment and one that I enjoyed, but the stories around it and the stories we tell about games are probably way better than the games themselves. But uh did you ever dip into this whole Bethesda sort of RPG world or no?
SPEAKER_01No, I didn't. I always saw the games about, and I wasn't the thing was that sort of medieval fantasy world wasn't my thing, and that wasn't really my thing until sort of watching Lord of the Rings and things like that, and then that sort of drew me in that world, and I thought, well, do I go back and play the games or not? And I haven't, um, but wish I had a done, if you know what I mean.
SPEAKER_00I've played I'll take an hour off an hour underneath for you, yeah.
SPEAKER_01But you know, it wasn't I was a bit more um sort of tunnel vision with my gaming at the time, you know, cars, football, sports, the odd adventure. I like me like Devil May Cries and Your Hack and Slashes, that sort of thing, but I didn't really expand out and always wish I had a done. Hence why I went game collecting. I did purchase these games just to have them there when I'm ready to play, if I ever play. Um, but you know, obviously it was a very popular game to get a remake it did a couple of years ago, and you know, um yeah.
SPEAKER_00What what are you picking that? Because I am literally just seeing game after game after game after game after game, and I'm like, oh I'm nervous.
OutRun 2006 And Arcade Racing Love
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, I've just myself in March 29th, 2006, NBA ballers phenom.
SPEAKER_01I know you'd see that. That's another one of them. We had one before, didn't we? Well, they make it look like uh a GTA RPG, but it's a basketball game. It's unbelievable. It looks like a music video from about 2005.
SPEAKER_00That nude sizing up that ball on the front. I mean, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, but next I'm gonna go with OutRun 2006 Coast to Coast.
SPEAKER_00Oh wow, you're really just tracing through these. You're not bothered, are you?
SPEAKER_01That's one of my favourite outrun games. I think what a great game that is. And the only disappointment I had with this game is um having the PS2 version thinking, oh, I'm gonna put that in my backwards compatible PS3. No, you're not. No, you're not. You can't play that unless one of the very few that doesn't actually play if you want to play that on the uh in HD in all its glory. But um, yeah, this this was um PS2, original Xbox, PSP this came out on great port on a PSP as well. Great fun game to play. It's a bit awkward with your little analogue nubbin. I found can be a little bit awkward, but um just a great game. I think if you like outrun games and you haven't played coast to coast, you need to play coast to coast. So um, yeah, have you had much uh much go with this, George? Stop stroking your chin and trying to Ginny wreck on you.
SPEAKER_00Right, let me go.
SPEAKER_01I do one like that.
SPEAKER_00Uh uh flashback, it's flashback, come on.
Hidden Gems And Licensed Surprises
SPEAKER_00Just want to take a moment to talk about some of the things that I've seen on the way through here. I want to talk about Full Spectrum Warrior 10 Hammers, which is a follow-up to Full Spectrum Warrior game I really stop yet, Allah.
SPEAKER_01Have you had much? I said, have you had much um history with Outrun 2006 Coast to Coast?
SPEAKER_00Yes, mainly on the PSP, where I've thoroughly enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_01I didn't he's a good looking game on there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I don't think I had any I've got it on PS2 as well, but I think I predominantly played it more on PSP. I probably for that reason probably didn't struggle with an obbin because to me it was like this is Outrun, this is how it plays.
SPEAKER_01I would imagine it's probably the Xbox is probably the version to get. I would imagine that looks stunning on there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I never had it on there. I think I had a demo from official Xbox magazine of it, but I didn't I didn't have it. Apologies there. I I ran ragged, I ran all away, I ran away from Outrun coast to coast like a scared child.
SPEAKER_01That's alright. I'll caught you back up and ribbed the ribbon. I'm back in here.
SPEAKER_00Anyway, I like the game, it's a good ode to the original, um, as in the OG 16-bit version or War Arcade Classic. Um, but it there's enough going on in there, the shades of crazy taxi to it as well, in my opinion. Definitely, yeah, especially in this, you know, in that guise, and enough tribute to the old one while doing enough to make the game feel new, different, fresh.
SPEAKER_01Real over-the-top drift mechanic, and that's that's very satisfying when you really start nailing that.
SPEAKER_00And that's the secret source that makes it its own thing, but it's still 100% outrun.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00As far as tributes to classics go, you could argue it's probably one of the best. Um I will carry on dribbling on then, if I may, about Full Spectrum Warrior Ten Hammers, just uh a follow-up to a uh shooting game on Xbox that was apparently used as a training stroke recruitment tool for the US Army itself.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, I remember hearing that.
SPEAKER_00Quite what ended up becoming of that, I'm not sure. Um, it's much more a tactical, sort of suppressive fire educational tool, if that was the case. And in that case, it is good, it makes you think about your assets on the ground as maybe an officer on the ground.
SPEAKER_01And they've done a few of them. Did they do a few of these full speech?
SPEAKER_00Just one and two, as far as I'm aware.
SPEAKER_01Oh, one and two, yeah. I knew there was more than one, but yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um another game that seems to be a bit lost of time is Rumble Roses XX, which I think was a wrestling game with the rather sort of booksome girls from the DOA series, but you know, message in or let me know below if I've got that wrong. Um, I'm sat here looking at Kingdom Hearts 2. Uh I don't know if that's the OG in 2006, probably is. Uh that's a great game I've thoroughly enjoyed uh playing through with my daughter. It's uh it's a little unforgiving compared to the first one, in my humble opinion. And for that reason, and maybe there's nostalgia in that, there's a little bit less charm, but people seem to like two more than one again. There's that classic moment of like, oh, I don't like everything that you're liking, but you got some what you like, so I'm happy for you. Um, but Kingdom Hearts is great, and if you haven't ever played it, it's a great one to play through with a child or a partner or or whatever. It's fun, it's not challenging. I think some people feel a little bit intimidated by it, but well, nah, don't be. It can be challenging in a fun way. You can drop the difficulty down. There's so much to see.
SPEAKER_01Um there's one off spot here, which is actually one of my ex-hidden gems over on the Unofficial Controller podcast, and that's Untold Legends Warriors Code on PSP. Ah, yeah, PSP exclusive, sort of a isometric, top-down diab a bit like Diablo, not quite as hectic, but RPG. Great phone. Uh that is down just uh across from Full Spectrum Warrior. Um, but yeah, great little game. I think they done two or three of these Untold Legends ones.
SPEAKER_00Yes, of course it is. Yeah, I see it now.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, great little game that one really good, for especially for the price as well.
SPEAKER_00Um Blazing Angels, which was kind of World War II arcade flight sim that also bizarrely had an arcade cabinet as well.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, because I remember we played it when we went to the arcade near you. Um we did.
SPEAKER_00There's an arcade club in Lincoln that has a working example of Blazing Angels, great fun to play as well.
SPEAKER_01Great arcade game.
SPEAKER_00Just it's the game, basically using the seat and whatnot to make it a little bit more immersive. But yeah, it's good fun. Um surprise you passed this, but we've got Godfather the game here, which is uh did you have that?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I sort of had it back in. I can I can remember playing it. I can't remember a lot about the story, but I remember loving it, hence why I bought the in my collection. I've got the coffin case collectors edition for PS2, which is brilliant. That's sort of steel tin. Godfather tin, when you open it up, it's got the the roses and the quilted silk in not a coffin, but the games in it rather than it's brilliant. Um, but yeah, Godfather the game, it's a good game for the time as well. Not many uh, you know, you you always think licensed games, that sort of crime thing, but no, it's good. Got old Marlon Brando down to a tea, it's really good. Enjoyed that.
SPEAKER_00Um, I can't effectively leave this episode of Flashback without giving a nod to OG, the original uh co-host of the unofficial controller podcast, because he because the key is he had an obsession, uh quite an unhealthy one with this game, March 2nd, 2006, The Lord of the Rings, the Battle for Middle Earth 2. He had this on 360, and he played it online and offline for thousand hours at least. Really? Oh god, scary amount of time. Yeah, he was he was a menace. He was.
SPEAKER_01Um was that uh sort of action or turn-based?
SPEAKER_00It's uh real-time strategy.
SPEAKER_01Oh, I remember you telling me before about that, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And the last one, well, there's what another one here, driver parallel lines, which I thought you might want to talk about.
SPEAKER_01But yes, I never really got on with that. It was a bit of a bit broken, if I remember rightly, that game. It was the it they desperately tried to be the GTA, and I think this was the nail in the coffin for them for their GTA clones, but yeah, disappointing. You know, I didn't review very well. It was not one I'd uh necessarily go back to. Maybe is it?
SPEAKER_00Let me add it to my list of must-buys. Yep. Let me investigate drivers driver parallel
Daxter Praise With One Infamous Minigame
SPEAKER_00lines. Um, the last game I want to talk about, if you may indulge me, is Daxter. It's here, it's a PSP game, one that looks absolutely beautiful. Um, still to this day, if you want to say to someone, hey, I'll tell you again, I'll tell you again, I'll show you what PSP can do, you could probably do no harm than put Daxter in. It's it's 3D levels at times, but it's open world within the same reason. It's got mini games all over it, it's a collect a thon, it's fun. Daxter is the wordsmith of the double act anyway, so him getting a solo game is kind of fun, so he can run his mouth a bit more.
SPEAKER_01It's a great idea as well, giving him his own standalone game. And like you say, on the on the PSP, that's another one, and then when you look at it and think, this really feels like a PS2 in my pocket. It's looks looks small.
SPEAKER_00No, more. Um, because it's smaller, the screen's smaller to me. Daxter impresses it makes PS2 look a bit sort of wobbly, in my opinion, but hey, we're all different. Um, but yeah, you kind of play through as him crash landed on a planet, kind of buttons up against Jack 2, I think, from memory, or between two and three, and um you get employed as a bug hunter going around collecting, killing bugs, and things like that. It's uh it's actually uh yeah, it's fun. One of the mini games where you end up riding around on a scooter. I hate that. I literally tell me that I still despise it to this day, it's absolute garbage, absolute garbage, absolute progression killing garbage. Done. Other than that, I love it.
SPEAKER_01Loved and destroyed in one sentence. Absolutely, it's what it deserves. I think that brings us to the end of what we were hopefully would have been playing in. It's a great one, mate.
SPEAKER_00Some absolute bangers in there.
SPEAKER_01Lot of games there, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So Operation Wimback. Oh, Wimback 2, Project Poseidon, a follow-up to obviously win back on the PS2, still making games in 2006. It's kind of beautiful in a way, yeah, yeah, definitely.
SPEAKER_01There was there was a lot to play at the time, and with that crossover and 368, we were a bit spoiled with PSP as well, and yeah, a lot of stuff.
PS3 Launch Losses And The Console Gap
SPEAKER_01Um, but I think um it takes us on to the news. Uh, Riscarred the very darkest back pages of the game of Mags and even delve deep into the interweb to bring you what was the latest stories in April 2006. First up from gamesindustry.biz. Sony forecasts massive financial loss on PS3 launch. Sony Corporation is expecting substantial first year losses from the launch of its PlayStation 3 console in November. Its Q4 financial statement revealing a gloomy forecast for the currently profitable games division. Um for the fourth quarter ended March 31st, Sony posted a loss of 66.5 billion yen, which is 463 uh three million euros, 10 million higher than the loss during the same period a year prior. Thank you, George. The company attributed the larger loss to the changes in taxes paid compared with a year ago and restructuring expenses of 75.3 billion yen, which is 524 million euro, which were higher than those of the previous year. The game's division remains profitable at present, however, and although profits fell by almost 80% to uh 8.7 billion yen, 60.5 million euro, sales rose by 34.4% to 958.6 billion yen, 6.7 billion euros. The company recorded sales of 2 million PSP units um during the quarter, a slight dip of the 2.5 million a year ago, and 2.32 million PS2s down from 6.8 million a year earlier. On a yearly basis, PS2 hardware sales remain relatively static at around 16 million units worldwide, while the increase in PSP units from 3 to 4 uh million boosted overall sales significantly, ensuring that the game's division remains profitable. With the launch of the next generation console in November, which it is widely expected, Sony will sell at a loss for at least the first year. The company is expecting to post a loss during the current uh fiscal year of approximately 697 million euros. Although post-launch costs of the units are expected to drastically be reduced. According to Reuters, uh Sony's SVP uh Takio Yuhara stated, We believe that we can lower costs dramatically on the PS3 through chip shrinkage and by cutting the number of parts, but there is no way to avoid high costs in the first year. The company is expected to bring the PS3 business to profitability in a short time frame as possible as a shortest time frame as possible, focusing on expanding the platform as rapidly as possible following the launch. Sony plans to sell six million PS3 units by March 2007, some four to five months after its global launch, and given the difficulties Microsoft encountered with the ambitious tri-continent launch of its Xbox 360 last year, that target would seem highly optimistic at best, even on the assumption that the component shortage issues have plagued Microsoft's launch are not a factor for Sony. Um I put this news in because obviously this was the Xbox was out, the 360 was out, people were playing. The Sony uh PS3 was not, and like we've always said before, um companies don't tend to make profits on hardware, they make it on the software, especially in these days. And these were some big figures here, and you know, you're starting to think the PS2 sales had dropped significantly. The PSPs were out and doing steady. I mean, obviously, by the end of this lifetime, the PSP was nearly 90 million units sold, so it was very successful, but it was it was a steady, a steady sales for those year on year. Um and also it was a very tricky time because, like I say, PS2 was really dropped off, PSP was steady. We still weren't having a PS3 come out, yet Xbox 360 was out, and like you say, that year early jump, or about a year early jump, there was some people who migrated, and some people who migrated and didn't come back.
SPEAKER_00100%.
SPEAKER_01And it was a it was least for a while, anyway. Yeah, at least for a while. So it was it was on an uphill battle right from the start. That year gap, the high price, um, could be a bit cheaper.
SPEAKER_00The insane breep in graphical fidelity between Gen 6 and 7 as well was particularly outrageous.
SPEAKER_01Oh god, massive, yeah, yeah, massive. I still remember getting my PS3, had to buy an HD TV, my first HD TV as well. So you're a grand in the hole before you even you know started, but then putting Motorstorm on and resistance and just going, whoa, hold on. This is wow, you know, this high definition was something else, but it came at a cost, and it came, you know. I had friends that are on 360s and I was still on my PS2, I was still on my PS2 for a quite a while, you know. So it was tricky, and you know, just seeing how they have to budget, you know, it's almost they forecast the losses, they they get the money in the bank ready for these losses, and I think the only way they coped with that was having such a successful PS2. I mean, that oversold any of their expectations, and I think it gave them a bit of bank to maybe you know to take the damage from this this you know losses on the hardware, especially to start with. But yeah, I never realised that was as uh as tricky as this to be fair.
SPEAKER_00But I think that they had a strategy that they had used to their betterment on the PS1 and two, and that had worked, and the hardware had slimmed and it'd come to them as they'd progressed and they'd been able to make savings. I'm not saying that they probably ever turned a profit on a console, but your first loss is your best loss, as they say, so get that loss to be as little as possible. Launching a new system, restructuring your business, model around said new system while you're waiting for it to come out, and you're slit in the throat of a console that is the best selling console of all time, still is, um, even to this day. Um back in the day, there wasn't you know, you didn't migrate. This is why they're a little bit concerned about backwards compatibility from the PS1 to the PS2 and the PS2 to the PS3. Let's face it, that first wave where they were panicking, they included it to their detriment, even that first console was stacked so full of tech, it was a little bit outrageous to be fair, but it was a proper bit of kit making that, preparing that, tooling up for that, while also. Pushing a PSP early in its life cycle while also supporting a PS2 late in its life cycle, this is going to cost you money, and that's going to come from where it's going to come from your profit. Yeah. Um, but it's a it's a preparation to do more, which is always a good thing in business. If you're buying things and doing things, this is right off, right off, right off. That's cool, that's cool, that's cool. We're preparing here.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and also I think that year gap, they they they built in with the PS3 a few things the 360 didn't, and I think that became to us detriment in the end, and when you had revised versions of the 360, so many of them, but you know, Wi-Fi built in the Blu-ray player built in rather than the the external hard disk you had to buy. And although at the time it wasn't such a big deal, like the DVD player and the PS2, uh, wasn't until a while after I realised, oh hang on, I've got a Blu-ray player here. I can buy I can buy high definition DVDs, you know. Suddenly, this is all built in, and that something that I'd never thought of or thought I was ever interested in, like a multimedia unit under your TV. I suddenly had one, had one that used Wi-Fi, I had one that had a Blu-ray player, and you suddenly thought, oh, actually, this is a and I'd like uh my original one still got a flashcard, SD card in with pictures of my daughter when she's younger. We used to have files on of Christmas and bits and pieces, you know, and we watched films on, and we used to play uh, you know, that's when I first downloaded a couple of games we played on, and suddenly it was like a multimedia sort of unit under your telly, and I think that I think that paid off in the end, you know, as it as it clawed the numbers back.
SPEAKER_00I think that that's an interesting PS3 owner lens to look through because bar the HD DVD collapse, which the 360 never pertained to have out the gates, um it was a media centre. It was pulling stuff off my laptop in the other room, I was watching movies, streaming music. In fact, I went down a rabbit hole. I probably spent more time that gen downloading and arranging music in Windows Media Player, so the album art would appear on the TV for the three or four occasions we actually listened to music in the lounge. Um finding movies for the kids, putting them in a kids' folder so it'd stream through to the telly from there. And the 360 yeah didn't launch with wireless, but we got dongle for like 15 quid or something ridiculous. And you know, it it they both were. I think I think the PS3 was locked in, unfortunately.
SPEAKER_01I think the PS3 looked like a unit, whereas the 360 was more you knew as a games machine that could do a few extra bits.
SPEAKER_00I would say as much as I think the PS3 has become the better looking console over time, and yes, you could argue maybe it looks like a media unit, that first one, after no, not at all. Oh no, definitely not after no, it became a more games machine, yeah. That 360 with it sucked in waste that made Sony bob themselves. No other console looked like that. That 360 had a look to it. The like they I still think to this day it's the best product Microsoft have ever put out. Oh, and that and that tells in a the hardware numbers, although how many of those were bought five times.
SPEAKER_01Um and you know, well, not bought five times, replaced five times.
SPEAKER_00Well, at a warranty, I would have just bought another one, you know, it's that simple. Um, and how many people did do that? A lot. Oh, the slim ones out, the Jasper was out, or the the Pro models out, the this model, the Slim's model out, the redesign, the S models out. 360 had a few iterations, maybe.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it did, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, I forget where I was heading now, but there was a lot going on for that 360 at the time, and some of this is then losing that PS2 core that would have carried historically or should have carried them into a big wave of the PS3 at launch. They watched that momentum fritter away within 12 months as Microsoft waved shiny things in front of their eyes.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's almost like Microsoft released theirs a year early and then added the bits that PlayStation were working on as they went along. They just wanted to get out of the gates early. They uh ended up building in the Wi-Fi, you know, they ended up adding the HD player if you wanted it. But at the time, this is the this is the most powerful console that is on the market at the moment. Get it now, get it a year before you get Sony's, and it worked, it worked the treat. And you are right, I was looking at the figures the other day, and Xbox has been on a complete downward spiral ever since the 360. You know, the Xbox One sold less than half of what the 360 did, and it's the same again for the Series X. That isn't halved from the one, but it's still not great sales, about the same. Um, yet, you know, you were pushing 90 million, you know, for the for the 360, and it was it was just a shame that this fell away ever since because for the first few years of this this console war, they were absolutely smashing it with the 360. Um and like I say, I've I've didn't get into it later. I've got a 360 E, the last model they done. Um yeah. And it's it's a great bit of kit, it's flawless, it's quiet, it plays the games well.
SPEAKER_00It does.
SPEAKER_01It's a great bit of kit. Um, yeah.
SPEAKER_00That one's a bit connect friendly, though, isn't it? That one.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's it's not the best looking one. It is it is literally, it looks like a mini Xbox One, it's got that grid on half, and it's you can see where the design in the Xbox One comes from.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think it's if you flip it round, it's definitely the Kinect tool on the back.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I thought I mean it only came with four gig, so I had to chuck a 500 gig in it. But you know, brilliant console. Do you know what I mean? Fantastic console, and yes, when you see numbers like this, you can see that the juggling of figures at the launch of a console is oof, you know, we need to sell this by this term, we need six million done by this, which was optimistic at the time, and especially then, uh also like this article says, chip shortage. You know, we're talking about chip shortages now. We didn't realise they were doing that chip shortages then as well. Well, I did, you know, it was the tech was absorbing all these chips, and yeah, it was getting a bit of a battlefield out there, but yeah, interesting bit of news. But what we got up next then, George?
Do Violent Games Encourage Drugs
SPEAKER_00Um, next up from Eurogamer, games make you do drugs, says a new academic study. Wow, Ellie Gibson here again. Uh regular pen on the flashback episodes. Let's have a little look here. A new academic study is claiming that playing games with violent content makes you likely to think that drinking beer and smoking pot is brilliant. A total of a hundred men, aged between eighteen and twenty-one took part in the study, which was conducted by Sonia Brady of the University of California and Professor Karen Matthews of the University of Pittsburgh. Let's see how they got to this conclusion. Participants were randomly assigned one of two game missions, delivering Lisa's homework on time in the Simpsons hit and run, or smashing a drug dealer's skull into a bloody pulp in GTA 3. Apparently those playing GTA 3 displayed more permissive attitude towards using alcohol and marijuana, and more uncorrooperative behaviour in comparison with men randomly assigned to playing to Simpsons. They also had a higher blood pressure and were more likely to suspect that other people were being hostile towards them. Parents have been told that the message that violent video games and violent media in general can influence the likelihood that their kids will be aggressive, Dr. Bray told Reuters. What this study suggests is that they might increase any type of risk-taking behaviour. Wow.
SPEAKER_01This amazed me. This of a wife conducting a study to be that bold with your title of your statement, Games Make You Do Drugs. And how did they do it? They put a certain amount playing Grand Theft Auto 3 and a certain amount playing the Simpsons Hit and Run. I mean, what's the comparison? You're not going to smash someone's face in the Simpsons Hit and Run. What's the datum?
SPEAKER_00You know, yeah, exactly. You can and what's this random skew of 18 to 20 year old California kids? Men, are they all not drinking beer and smoking the aforementioned pot, the old Rastaferry and old Holburn? Is that happening already?
SPEAKER_01I should think so. And also, what's your parallels? Because, like I say in the Simpsons Hit and Run, they're saying all they're a lot more, you know, some of them were calmer in that. Well, yes, because you can't go round and do you know what I mean? You they're not given the opportunity. You need games which are level on and see how they react.
SPEAKER_00Give a game that does everything. Okay, first of all, you're gonna play Simpsons Hit and Run, okay, Johnny? Yeah, goddammit. Let me play. Uh, what what am I doing? You're gonna deliver Lisa's homework. So you've obviously just got to it's very early in the game. You've just got to get to Lisa as quick as you can, a bit like Crazy Taxi. That's what I'm doing. Yeah, not going off on the Oprah and world. No, no, not at all. No. Okay. He drives there, boom. Not really much chance to do anything else there. There's not really much interpretation there for anyone, even someone who was wasted. Okay, Johnny. Yeah? We're gonna play GTA 3. Why do I why why why do I need do delivery mission? A straight comparison? Oh no, Johnny, no. Uh in this one, we're gonna quote unquote ask you to do a mission where you beat a drug dealer's skull into a bloody pulp. I don't know what level that is referring to in GTA 3, but let's just imagine that that exists. That's what you're gonna do. You can't do anything else, by the way. Right, okay, so I'm gonna beat this guy. Yes, keep hurting him, Johnny. Okay. Do you do you like beer, Johnny? Yeah, I don't mind a beer. Yeah, I don't mind. Uh, what's your thoughts about pot? Hey man, you know, whatever people do what people do, whatever. Easy come, easy go. Oh, very relaxed, very liberal. Yeah, right, okay, yeah. Yeah, maniac. Yeah. What's happening?
SPEAKER_01I mean, that is this has been set up by people who have never played a video game in their life. Because, yeah, you're you're not gonna be wanting to drink alcohol, um smoke drugs, and destroy a drug dealer when you're playing the Simpsons hit and run, because you can't, because you've just got to deliver Lisa's homework. What's the comparison? Yeah, they were more calm when they played that than they were on on GTA. Well, yes.
SPEAKER_00And asking a group of I mean, this is a little bit stereotypical, but I think we've all been, you know, I can speak from a point of reference. I was once an 18 to 21 year old man, and what was I most interested in that time? Probably getting wasted. Yeah, so I'll be honest with you. You're asking, what are you into, mate? Well, bloody hell, love getting booze, getting wasted, you know, whatever. Oh, right, okay. Uh, what else of video game? Oh, okay. Anything else? Probably like movies, terminator that stuff like that, aliens, Star Wars. All right, okay. I mean, that's as broad as it gets. Yeah. And that'd be better. Exactly. I'm this guy.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. And also just use a wider range of ages and also just put them in one game for an hour and see what they do, and then monitor it.
SPEAKER_00Don't just also what was the dating? Did they just put someone in a room with no stimuli whatsoever, or did they just show them a cartoon with my little pony? But are you angry yet, Johnny? No, no, really. Well, I'm a bit pissy, I'm kind of boring of this cartoon if I'm honest. Like, oh, right, okay. So hang on a minute. Shocker. Little pony makes makes like teenagers crazy.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00What's this next bit of news, RGT? Well, after that, I mean this is gonna sound very uh tame, but yeah, I think we need it because that was probably one of the most salacious written articles. I think let's just have a look at it through the lens of like what is she writing here? Because this is Ellie Gibson, former deputy editor, took a story and then what the way it ends, like no critique at all. Yeah, apart from the word apparently.
SPEAKER_01I think it's more that she's had to write that and just thought, do you know what? This is ridiculous. I'm just putting the quotes in, done, because it is absolutely ridiculous. Because I ever see Ellie being a gamer has probably read that and thought, What the hell are you on about?
SPEAKER_00Ellie knew what she was doing just for the clicks, 105 comments.
SPEAKER_01Well done, Ellie.
SPEAKER_00Um that was big time 2006. That was like they're angry.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, exactly. That was that getting to that end of we'd had all the the uh court cases now with a PS2, and that was then getting the end where they were still having their last little jibes at trying to uh bring game into it.
SPEAKER_00Equally so, if that was proven to be true, which I find it to be a very wide shot, um let's investigate that. Why is that the case? Yeah, exactly. If you took someone who'd never been exposed to video game, a Mormon, as an example, drugs or any sort of outside influence, no music, no uh peer influence, sat him down and made him run that same experiment with his Mormon brethren, I somehow feel your answer would not get anywhere close to the same.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, because the answers not fit in the narrative they want to give.
SPEAKER_00So it's uh Well I'm just saying it that ain't right, is it?
SPEAKER_01No, no, no, absolute load of baloney that is. Um but yes, leads on to our final bit of news, which is uh from gameindustry.biz again.
Valve Backs Xbox 360 And Source
SPEAKER_01Um, and that is Valve Software pledges Xbox 360 support. Half-Life's developer Valve Software has announced that it is currently developing several as yet undisclosed uh titles for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console using a customized version of its acclaimed source engine. Uh Half-Life uh sorry, although there is no official word on what titles the company is actually creating, Valve has said that its first 360 game would be coming out soon, making it extremely likely that a full disclosure will be made at E3 um Expo in a couple of weeks. President and co-founder Gabe Newell commented the combination of source and the free and the free sixty provides game designers with a chance to create powerful entertainment experiences. Whether developing a traditional FPS, RTS or RPG or delving into new genres, the Xbox 360 is a great platform for expanding source and our game experiences. Valve has worked with Microsoft before, uh, the company's version, Xbox version of Half-Life 2 taking centre stage on the platform Holder's E3 2005 booth and achieving critical acclaim, though sales of the game were less than spectacular, something Valve says came as a surprise. Undeterred, the company has committed to the future development on Microsoft's next gen console, and it is also likely, though unconfirmed, at this stage that console versions of existing third-party PC source engines titles currently uh available through Valve's digital contribution service Steam may be appearing on the Xbox 360 in the future. Um I found this interesting because even then you could see Microsoft were wanting to, they could see where Gabe was going with Steam, they could see where this was heading, and they were already wanting to be. I mean, X obviously Microsoft being on PCs and a and a PC user, they could see where gaming was heading with Steam and were desperately trying to get um buddies with Gabe at this point, and I remember they had quite a close relationship through this.
SPEAKER_00They were just desperate to get hold of the games. Yeah, I think so. And that relationship bore fruit to I had to double check to be fair, um, but it bore fruit to the orange box, yeah, and then I'd forgotten about this, but the Left for Dead series, which went down absolute gangstormers, yeah. That's a new word I've invested invented, by the way. Gangstormers, yeah. I thought you'd like it. Uh which is actually the kind of Xbox Live experience they were desperate for. So I see them kind of iron up Gabe a little bit down the line, but actually see them kind of seduced by the frilly panties he's thrown in front of him, like right there. Like, oh by the way, orange box. Oh, and uh you know a little bit of Left for Dead, or yeah, oh that'd be console exclusive. Yeah, we want a piece of that.
SPEAKER_01And also, we've got you know, we're online. I don't know if you'd be able to put Steam on the 360, or would you be interested in that? And I still to this to this day they're still talking about wanting Steam on an Xbox, aren't they?
SPEAKER_00You can see this has gone on for a lot of years, and it's I think in that time that would have just never worked. No, 360 was way too narrow a platform, and what would you be buying just 360 games off Steam? That that ain't working for them.
SPEAKER_01No, and also I think I'm sure at one point I think Microsoft wanted to buy Valve, didn't they? I think they tried a couple of times to buy Valve unsuccessfully.
SPEAKER_00Um I don't recall that, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen.
SPEAKER_01No, I'm sure I think there might have been one recently that was I don't know if that was uh a Phil Spencer quote or not, but I'm sure they were tempted to try and buy Valve, but I think Gabe laughed that off. But um comment if I'm wrong, questions at unofficial controlled podcast.com, but I'm sure I read that somewhere. But yeah, you could see at this at this current time, Microsoft were very good at knowing what was successful, what would do well. Um that had you know, although it didn't get the sales, but critically Half-Life 2 had done really well on the original Xbox, people loved it, like you say, the orange box, they knew what Gabe was about, they knew what Valve were about, and it wasn't.
SPEAKER_00It was a great experience, but as they say, it didn't sell very well for some bizarre reason.
SPEAKER_01I always wondered as well as whether they got you could you could always imagine Microsoft should have really been the big marketplace for X you know or PC gaming. They could they had the they had the systems to set up an online store and have a massive PC like Steam is now, and I think they they missed the the trick a bit there. I think Steam beat them to it, and obviously the rest is history. But you could always imagine with their setup, they probably had a good a good interest.
SPEAKER_00They were a bit more of a locked off person, though, weren't they?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, they were, yeah. They were, yeah. I bet they look back now and think we probably should have.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I think plenty of people probably look back and think, Oh, we should have, probably could have. But yeah, uh, you know, one man sees that moment, if that more man built that moment, really. And the others have kind of got their own routes to market through their own lockdown stores.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, definitely.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, um, you know, and don't forget there are other storefronts as epic.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, GOG as well, aren't there? Exactly.
SPEAKER_00So there are other routes to games and owning games or renting games or game keys or whatever way people acquire licenses for software these days, and all the other reasons and ways that you can get software. Um I mean, I I'm aware that things happen. Yeah, I don't that I'm definitely not into it, but well, I was on the Atari ST, I suppose, but never since.
SPEAKER_01No, but yeah, so that was our last news story. I hope um you found a bit of interest in those from um Sody announcing that even before the machine had come out, you know, six months prior, that PS3 was going to take a massive financial loss. But obviously they knew that and they planned for it. Right down to the next one, which is apparently games make you do drugs with a very scientific method of proving that with the Simpsons hit and run on GTA 3 in a very limited uh age group of people, um, and finishing off on Valve software pledging us uh future support to the Xbox 360, which is very interesting time. Um,
Stingray’s Boot May 2006 Picks
SPEAKER_01but I think it's now time for what we affectionately call Stingray's boot, what's nestled between some counterfeit nappies and a dodgy copy for battle for Endor is some of the new releases for May 2006. Spring! Stop! Wow. How are you seeing the Ray this week, uh young George?
SPEAKER_00I don't know. What really happening here because Ray's popped out. He's looking quite sharp. He's wearing like a denim jacket with a fur lined interior, cowboy hat, shirt, tight jeans, ranchaboots. Yeah, tasting normal. Small version, he's wearing a white shirt as well. Cowboy hates jeans, yeah. Nice just looking a little bit western today, I think. Uh modern country anyway. I don't exactly know what's going on between the pair and whether they're going to a line dancing event or what, but uh yeah, little can't talk about surprise, you know, I've seen them in some strange ways, but uh yeah, it just seems Normal cowboys to me.
SPEAKER_01Wow. Well to me they've come out with their new T shirt line. Um that they've been pushing at the moment. Other than that, they're just Sting and and Wayne. They got out of the Bluebird and their t-shirts both say sex, drugs, Grand Theft Auto 3 and Simpsons Hit and Run.
SPEAKER_00That's their new controversial hit and uh Does it say across do they have to stand together to be able to read that or do they each individually have to be a little bit of a colour? No, you the way you said it, I was like, hang on, I have to see this.
SPEAKER_01That's a new market online. You have to buy two t-shirts to make the quote fit, you see. Think in ahead, you see.
SPEAKER_00I'm with stupid, I'm stupid.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So you know, dumb and dumb and dummy, you know, that sort of thing. But yeah, so sex drugs, Simpsons Hit and Run, and Grandforth Auto 3. So they're having a little dig at the authorities there with their little controversial t-shirt line. But I'll tell you what, I wouldn't mind one of them myself.
SPEAKER_00That's just across two of them, is it?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's small, small text. But let's see. Um go on, I'll let you go first, George. What are you gonna pick out of the book?
SPEAKER_00Look, I've scanned up and down here, and there's a few things that take my eye. Uh, there's some absolute bangers, so I don't quite know how many I'm allowed.
SPEAKER_01Uh start with one and I'll pick one, and then I'm just gonna let you go wild in there.
SPEAKER_00I don't want to go totally wild. I'll tell you what I'm gonna take first of all, then I'll take table tennis, rock star games table tennis. Uh a really great game, a very like niche, uh not maybe.
SPEAKER_01Niche game with a great history and story behind it. Um absolutely brilliant. And uh, yeah, it's always surprised me as well. 360 exclusives, but I suppose at the time when they developed the engine, that was the only thing that could run their engine before the Pier 3 came out.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it did get ported to Wii.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, it did, yeah, it did later on, I suppose for the Wii moat, I suppose, didn't it? But yeah, very interesting.
SPEAKER_00And if you've seen the Daniel Radcliffe Rockstar movie, uh as in Rockstar Games movie, the the way this whole table tennis thing comes about is absolutely hilarious. It's one of the best yeah, it's not probably light for light, punch for punch, but it pretty much tells the story of how this game existed, why it existed, what it represented to them, and future GTA games. So it's uh it's a must-watch.
SPEAKER_01An engine that went on to create some great games that that table tennis engine.
SPEAKER_00So born out of much duress, yes, exactly.
SPEAKER_01Um, I'm gonna go with um now it's actually a game I haven't played, and the reason I'm picking it is because I have it sealed on my shelf and I've never opened it.
SPEAKER_00Are you gonna unseal it after this?
SPEAKER_01No, um, which because it's probably not even that good a game, but as Jaws Unleashed on the PS2, I actually I bet you that's worth a pretty penny. I would imagine it isn't.
SPEAKER_00Um go on CX now.
SPEAKER_01Okay, well you fiddle in and pick some games out.
SPEAKER_00Oh, you're not gonna find it on there. Uh another one I wanted to pick out was uh a game called Field Commander. It's PSP. I call it PSP Hidden Gem. Yeah, there's not many tactical games, uh, military no strong, strong tactical games on the PSP, but that's one of them, so check that one out if you have it. It's it's affordable. Um, and another one that sings to my heart. Now, I'm not quite sure what this is here as or for, but we've got owed Gallup Racer 2006, which I think has got an awful lot to do with andor is the opposite of uh RGT's G1 Jockey legend. And I also have a soft spot for the G1 Jockey series. I do believe G1 Jockey and Gallup Racer became one product in uh the PS3 iteration. That's the one to get if you're all about that BTW, as I am, so make sure you are. It's the Grand Turisma of horse racing. RGT, what's the news back on a sealed copy of JORS?
SPEAKER_01Um the cheapest has gone for £30 to £40. But they have gone for as much as £160.
SPEAKER_00I thought as much.
SPEAKER_01Um £70, £60, 30, 30, £40, so yeah, the the range depends on what sort of cash the person's got who's buying it. Um as far as a uh second hand game on uh CEX, it goes for £20 on the PS2.
SPEAKER_00Which is quite a lot for a CEX loose PS2 game.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, um and a s £60 on the uh well £40 to £60, depending on the condition, on the original Xbox. So obviously, uh I wonder if that's to do with when they had the 50th anniversary last year of Jaws, whether that's spiked it or maybe.
SPEAKER_00I think it's generally quite just a collectible thing. Jawers has a bit of a history of video games, and I think as people pick things up for Instagram photos, they come out of circulation, people see them in Instagram photos. Yeah, true. Oh yeah, I need a picture of that.
SPEAKER_01Well, I say I didn't I pay just cut the pound for it, but that I say a few years ago, it's probably ten years ago now, so it probably wasn't that collectible.
SPEAKER_00Um what movie are you gonna pick?
SPEAKER_01Movie-wise, I am gonna go with a game which is also on here, which is the um Da Vinci Code I'm gonna pick.
SPEAKER_00Um interesting. Okay. Alright, well, let me have a little look here. Hey up, cowboy, Sting and Wayne, you're right. Uh this straw out of the way. Guys, there's only one DVD. Okay, I'll take it. Oh guys, right now. Yeah. Yeah, hang around. I'll I'll come back with you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we can do that. Awesome. Alright, there you go.
SPEAKER_01Wow, okay. Well enjoy your night with singing wine and watching your movie. And your bucket of popcorn. I'm sure you can sit in the middle.
SPEAKER_00Um That's what they wanted. So you obviously, you know, kitty ears to yourself, get your kitty nose out of our business.
SPEAKER_01Okay, no problem. So, you know, you enjoy your little ride in the bluebird, and I'll uh I'll carry on here with a bit of housekeeping. Um
Housekeeping Reviews Discord And Goodbye
SPEAKER_01don't forget to check out our mothership show, which is the Unoffish Controller Podcast. Over 300 episodes there. Check us out on YouTube, give us a sub on YouTube, we'd love some more subs on there. Um give us a comment on there, give us a like.
SPEAKER_00We we wouldn't just love it. We we we bloody deserve it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think so. Um like I say, over well over 300 episodes. Um, check us out in your podcast supplier. Um, you follow us on there, download, download the back catalogue, that always helps us a lot. And give us a little review, that always helps. Um check out our website, unofficial controllerpodcast.com, for anything, flashback, anything unofficial controller podcast, anything that us presenters are doing, anything hidden gems or anything challenge accepted. Um, there's plenty on there to keep you busy. Uh, great little website. Um, if you want to email us, ask us any questions, you can do that. Uh questions at unofficial controllerpodcast.com. If you want to talk about this show, if you want to talk about flashback, unofficial controller, anything you want, just let us know. You can also contact us on your podcast supplier by uh talk to the show or that'll say uh contact the show, leave us a little note on there if you want to, leave your name and we'll give you a little readout on here. Um, we've got our Discord, Unofficial Controller Podcast Discord, um great area uh for anything talking gaming, what you're up to, making new friends, challenge accepted. There's quizzes, there's loads on there going on, so definitely jump on there. Even if you want to jump on there and squat up with some people online, there's a little area for that as well. So you can make some new friends on on your Xbox or on your PlayStation. We're on Instagram, we're on X, and we're also on TikTok. There is plenty of videos on TikTok for you to show of uh the way they're edited, just me and George being silly, really. Um and I think that is probably covered about everything, isn't it, George?
SPEAKER_00I think so. But I think if people are listening right now, and by listening I mean you're on a podcast provider, this show is free. It'll always be free. But if you got this far, you've obviously found something you like, or maybe dislike. Either which way, take that emotion, but a little, and fire it down in review. Five stars, preferably. Or one that reflects what you experience, and then some words that reflected that experience. That is all we're asking for you to do. It's simple. And every week, without fail, we will not let you down. We will have this show and the main show and supplementary shows. That's and when we get them to you. That's a big commitment. And all you need to do is to show your love for us and appreciation is go write that review. Simple. One job. That is it. Thank you. I love you for it. Twice over on a Sunday, even more so on the third Sunday after Pentecost. RGT what's left.
SPEAKER_01Well, just to say, um, yeah, I agree with all that. Definitely thank you, everyone. Um, thank you for your continued support. Thank you for listening. Thank you for downloading if you're on uh listening as an audio listener. Definitely download if you can rather than stream because streams don't count, so we do appreciate the downloads. Thank you for everyone who's listening or viewing on YouTube. Give us a like, give us a comment, give us a sub. Um, and other than that, I just want to say thank you, George, as always, uh, for joining me on this uh little blast of the past in uh April 2006. It was always a pleasure.
SPEAKER_00The joy was all mine. Thank you to you and the listeners.
SPEAKER_01No, thank you. Um, and it just leaves me to say flashback the games you loved, the stories you forgot. I'll see you guys next week, and I'll also see you next week.
SPEAKER_00See you later.