Flashback
Take a walk through gaming history as we pick a random date in gaming history and bring you the news from that time as if it was now , different era every week - covering all of gaming history
Flashback
A look at gaming in September 2009
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
A single month can tell you a lot about an era, and September 2009 is one of those sweet spots where gaming feels both ambitious and weird in the best way. We’re chasing that feeling on Flashback, starting with the handheld magic trick that still surprises people: MotorStorm Arctic Edge on PSP. It’s fast, sharp, and proof that “pick up and play” doesn’t have to mean “scaled down.” From there we hit Colin McRae Dirt 2 and talk about why its mix of rally disciplines, arcade energy, and pure replay value still holds up on PS3 and Xbox 360.
Then we take a hard left into music and mood: Beatles Rock Band nostalgia, the social chaos of rhythm games, and why these titles introduced entire bands to a generation. We also shine a light on Cursed Mountain, a survival horror deep cut that feels almost out of place on Wii, which is exactly why it’s worth talking about if you’re hunting for hidden gems.
The news segment goes from serious to hilarious to inspiring: Wolfenstein’s Germany recall over a faint symbol, a musician declaring music games “crap,” and Tim Schafer sharing rejection letters that show how unlikely beginnings can turn into legendary careers. We wrap with Stingray’s boot full of October 2009 releases like Uncharted 2 Among Thieves, Ratchet and Clank A Crack in Time, Gran Turismo PSP, DJ Hero, and more, plus movie picks that scream 2009.
Subscribe, share the show with a friend who misses that era, and leave a review if you want more time-capsule deep dives. What’s the one game from 2009 you’d defend forever?
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Welcome Back To September 2009
SPEAKER_00Hello to flashback the games you love, the stories you forgot. This is episode 33, and this week we're in September 2009. I'm RGT and as always I'm joined by the guy who is the perfect innovator in this land farm and simulator has a lot of affection for his awesome collections. Let the hours fly by while he was in No Man's Sky. That's UCP George. How are you doing, George?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I'm doing great. I'm trying to be as astute as you for the audio listeners uh who haven't caught up on the main show. You've grown what can only be described as a Ming the Merciless Beard. And if this was a video show, they'd have seen me drawing mine in with Big Pen. Um I'm doing well. I am reflected in your glory, if I'm honest with you. I aspire to be everything you are. I don't think you do. I do?
SPEAKER_00Really? Yeah.
SPEAKER_04What a great bashni of a man you are. Great father, loving husband, conscientious colleague, great podcaster, plays the odd video game. Who wouldn't want to be you?
SPEAKER_00I I feel there's a butt here.
SPEAKER_04But there is no butt. It's all true.
SPEAKER_00All of it. The dangerous pause and then the but. Oh wow. Well, thank you. It's very kind of you.
SPEAKER_04It's all true. It's all true. Thank you. That's yeah, everyone can just relax. It's gonna be one of those nice episodes. They're gonna settle into their car, they've just leaned back and put their headphones on, not lean back in the car, not put their headphones on. But people are listening and they're like, this is nice.
SPEAKER_00Exactly, you know, and this is like we say this is September 2009. Um and with all the rubbish news that's going on in gaming now, which is negative, negative, negative, forget all that. You're on flashback now. September 2009. This is when gaming was good, when everyone enjoyed it, when there wasn't so much bad news. So let's have a look through at some games, have a bit of news, what would be hoping to play, a bit of film, let's have a visit from Stingray and just have an hour and a half of enjoying games again. I think that would be the main thing.
SPEAKER_04So you set your stall out, hour and a half.
SPEAKER_00Um go on in George, I'll let you go first. What are you gonna what are you gonna do?
MotorStorm Arctic Edge On PSP
SPEAKER_04I'm gonna pick, I'm gonna pick the often overlooked Motorstorm Arctic Edge. Uh I'm gonna pick the PSP variant, and I think you can pick it up on PS2 from memory.
SPEAKER_00Um PSP came out first, actually, and the PS2 was after.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I think I might have it on PS2, but I wouldn't like to 100% say that I do, but I've definitely played the wheels off of this on PSP. Everything that you want from a Motorstorm game in your pocket. Um, this thing looks fantastic, it goes well. Um, the visual effects that you see around you are fantastic. Like, yeah, okay, we're not reaching the lofty heights of the PS3's motorstorm, but we're certainly hitting some sort of high watermarks of PSP, and to be honest with you, I'd argue the game's benefited from its move to PSP because it's made it more pick up and play, it's made it more accessible, it's made it more almost fun to play. Not the Motorstorm's uh a chore in any way, but the size of the levels and the expansiveness of the competitors that you play with and the varying different terrains and whatnot that you fight on within those, um, it's kind of eliminated an Arctic Edge, and it's a bit more of a straight racer RGT. Uh, and for me, for that reason, it's a glowing recommendation. And if you want something to stick in your PSP to make people go, Well, Crikey, what's that? It's this. Um, yeah, I've got a lot to sort of say about it. Well, I've kind of run out of things to say about it with that going on, but uh yeah, great little title that uh if you've got a PSP employee to pick it up, and if you're a PS2 collector, I would say, look, you know me, guys, I know absolutely nothing about price. I picked these things up for 50p a million years ago, and it's RGT is probably going to do a price check in a minute and tell me it's about 400 quid. I doubt it, but uh definitely one that I think that you should pick out and add to your library. Uh, we've got a game coming up uh when Ray comes round that I think is the kind of yin to this game's yang. Um looking forward to talk about that. But uh RGT, what's your pick of the games that you would have been playing at this this time?
SPEAKER_00Um I will uh just have a quick word about Arctic Edge as well. Um, two things about it. One, I've said before, that was packed in with my PSP when I bought it my PS3 PS.
SPEAKER_04Oh, it was, yeah. So how did that feel? Getting that brand new and slapping that in because that was your first kind of like foray, wasn't it?
SPEAKER_00Yep, of the PSP um and turning that on. And I was I did not expect that I hadn't I'd seen screenshots of PSP play, hadn't really played one. So I actually turned on getting that lovely bright screen, put an Arctic edge in and playing. I was just like, wow, you know, the sounds the way it played. I thought, yeah, this is a handheld. Um love absolutely love it, still love it to this day. Um, but also I was actually reading an article yesterday as of recording um online, and there was a guy who uh was comparing DS and PSP at the time. Um and he done a few of the crossovers like Chinatown Wars, um but then he said the you know when you play games like Motor Stormatic Edge, you then realise that the PSP is such a step above anything that the DS could do. Graphically, he said, you're then starting to think this is a PS2 in my pocket, this is actually you know, can you imagine having a PS5 in your pocket nowadays or PS5 Pro in your pocket? You know, it that's that's the level of where they were at the time to put something that powerful in current gen in circulation, and he just said, Yeah, Arctic Edge was the one where I thought, oof, yeah.
SPEAKER_04To your point earlier about GTA China Wars, I've played that on DS and I've also played that on PSP. What the DS had was the stylus that made some of those games make more sense, you know, hot wiring the car and doing the screws, all that sort of good stuff. It kind of like that game for me belongs on the DS. It's transferred to PSP felt a little clumsy, although I know a lot of people have played it there. It didn't transfer as well because of the interactive interactivity with the stylus. But games like Arctic Edge, I think your man's correct. I mean, compare that to a standard DS game without the stylus kind of one and done type scenario, or the interactivity you get from that PSP hands down, a beautiful looking machine. It even right on that little screen, even to this day, I still think it sets eyebrows up.
SPEAKER_00Oh, definitely without it. I mean, I've you know I've had a couple of games as my hidden gems from the PSP and um things got fired up and that that you play now, and it's it just looks like a PS2 game, you know, it's a great, very playable, great little game. Yeah, it's in your pocket, you know. Um, and also going back to Chinatown Wars, I think he was saying there was levels and that added into the PSP version.
SPEAKER_04Came after, I think, didn't it?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and the graph because obviously you could tell like use that was made for the DS. Um, but the PSP had a few extra horses under the bonnet and managed to make it look better, um, play better frame rates and that. But yeah, so great choice there, Motor Straumatic Edge. Um, keeping with a racing theme.
Dirt 2 And Peak Rally Racing
SPEAKER_00Um, I'm gonna go with Colin McCray Dirt 2.
SPEAKER_04I want to know about this because I played the original, but when I saw Dirt 2 in the docket, I was like, I've got to admit, I haven't done any Dirt 2. I think I have, although I look at the box and it's one of those moments like, did I have this or did I not have this? What's happening?
SPEAKER_00This is in an era when I um I've always loved my racing games, but this was in an era where most of my games I would pick up secondhand from electronics boutique or whatever, or game or whatever the shop was at the time. I very rarely bought pre-order and bought new. The GTAs I'd buy like and GTA 4 and GTA 5 come out, but also dirts. Once I played Colin Roquet Dirt the first one, I thought Codemasters have got something here. If they go with the.
SPEAKER_04Can I stop you just for a second? What came first? Was it Grid or Dirt? Because both of those games rec sort of to me kind of recognize a significant shift in the way that Codemasters were presenting as their games.
SPEAKER_00Hmm, I'm not sure. I'll come back to you on that. I'll have a quick look while you do your next game. But um, yeah, and then Colin McCray Dirt 2 come out, and obviously they went on to three and onto Showdown, and each one they stepped up. This one, I don't think they added Jim Carner till three, um, but this one just had unique I say unique, they they added that real sort of arcade racer um that was really popular at the time. You had Ken Block, R.I.P., you had him doing all his things.
SPEAKER_04Oh god's sake, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and then you had you know, Travis Pastana was really big, he's in it. Tana Faus, who was like, you know, you had Ken Block, which was monster energy, you had Tana Fauss, which was rock star energy, and they were the the Rally Cross racers and rally drivers from America, and you had even Dave Mir is in it. Um and it was he doing in it, Dave Meir. I think he he was whether he was under one of Ken Block's teams at the time or whatever, but he appears in it. Um, and you had things like rally racing, you had rally cross, hill climbing. Oh, hill climbing was so good because you'd get those real quick hill climb cars, and I just kept playing and playing, trying to get quicker and quicker. Um, you had raid races as well, and land rush would come into it. Um, and they really built on each one, but this is the first one I think they they wanted the Colin McCray name that was that slightly more rally inspired and then dirt too. They tried a little bit more and suddenly thought, we're you know, this is something big here. And then with three and showdown, and they added in Jim Carner, and they added in demolition derbies. And I mean, I used to have my when I had my game shed, even even when these games were really old, you know, ten years old. My nephew would come round after school a couple of days a week, we'd look after him for a bit, and he'd be like, Oh, can I go in the game shed? And I go, Yeah, yeah, because you can. Can I play dirt? Yeah, and I was putting dirt on every week, and he just played dirt. He done the he used to love the demolition derbies, because there were so many events, you know. And I don't I mean, if you look now as well, you think of how many racing games there are out at the moment, but there isn't really any like dirt. You got things like Wreckfest and games like that, but there isn't none that had all them disciplines in, and everyone was a banger. They normally most racing games now prioritise one discipline and go off. I mean, you got your Forzers, that's more your open world, but this this really just concentrated down on those disciplines and everyone played really well. Um, I think there's something we miss nowadays, but yeah, Dirt 2, fantastic game. If you've got an Xbox 360 or PS3 and you haven't played it, grab it, grab it now. I wouldn't have thought was very expensive. It's probably the curse of the uh the podcaster, but there you go. Yeah, so dirt two. What are you having next then, George?
Beatles Rock Band And Party Nights
SPEAKER_04Um, I've drawn a bit of a blank. The only other one I'm probably qualified to talk about is the Beatles Rock Band. There are places I remember. Some have gone and some remain. Um, I love the Beatles, I think that's not a secret, and the Beatles Rock Band is uh a great game. OG had this for the longest time, and you know, to reveal a secret, it was kind of his code word for freaky time. Uh, if he was gonna get a young lady around, they were gonna play Beatles Rock Band. It was left to my imagination what would come from that. I can't imagine what that would look like. But um, yeah, this game has done well since its release. I think there's a cracked version where you can like backfill um the already quite large catalogue with every single Beatles song that's ever been done and someone's arranged music in the background, so you would need to hack your PS3 to get access to that. Is it worth doing? Maybe. Have I done it? No. Um, but it's that classic thing. I mean, I was looking the other day at trying to reacquire this or acquire this, and you can get the PS3 full set with like John or Paul's guitar that's bespoke to them. They did a little rock band version, you get it in a big crate, and it comes with like the drum kit and a little pop-up um fold away pop-up that says like it looks like the Beatles bass drum that you can put in front of the guitars. I think the this was particularly interesting because it came with like a either one or two guitars, it came with the mic stands because this was a full encompassed Beatles experience. You're all required to sing, someone was required to drum, two or three people on guitars. It's a fun time for all the family in the usual rock band affair, but to me this one was more of a complete package, and with the help of uh Sean O'No Lennon, I believe, who was probably one of the first people to really push this. He was a younger lad at the time, and obviously could see that there was an opportunity to walk the his fathers and the Beatles' wider legacy into the modern era. And I do believe that you know a lot of people's maybe of the of the more later generations were inspired by this game and uh still a big following. So, yeah, pick it up if you can. I'm looking to reacquire it. So uh yeah, hit me up if you've got a Beatles Rock band full set for PlayStation sitting in your understairs cupboard because I'll be a willing recipient of that package. And if you're a collector, I mean, yeah, the box is massive, but what a lovely thing to have. And if that segues into your love of the Beatles as well, there is no better uh music simulator than this one, in my humble opinion.
SPEAKER_00Brilliant, yeah. I think I don't know if that he's over here in Europe, but I know in America the rock band's still quite popular and quite collectible, and people do still do, you know, jam out on those, which is brilliant. I didn't have the Beatles, I don't know if my mate had the Beatles one. My mate had the setup, drums, and everything, and we used to get all of us together and play. Sounded all the time. Oh, it was just great fun.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it is. And I I picked up the um I picked up the standalone PS3 disc, you know, the standalone copy with none of the instruments just to have in my little I've got like a glass, couple of glass areas in my lounge stroke gamer area, probably ought to grow up a little bit, but in there next to the Kiriyu statue is is a copy of Beatles Rock Band, which, you know, to me, uh it just holds significant nostalgia value. Um I don't know why I'm holding nostalgia for Tom's code word for sex, but there you go. What's your next pick, RGT?
SPEAKER_00Well, I will just say on that um funny story, it's a bit of an Only Fools and Horses moment actually happened to me and my brother-in-law when we had the shed, he'd come round one night, and funny enough, he used to actually sometimes come round in his pajamas and slippers and bike up the road. So when he went home, he could just go straight to bed. He'd come up the shed. Should we play rock band? I thought, yeah, alright, play rock band. He said, But your sister said, I've got I can't be late. Alright, we'll play a few tunes, we'll have a couple of beers, and I've got to be back, alright? Because we're out tomorrow. I said, Yeah, no problem. Anyway, playing rock band for a bit, and he went, Right, okay, I'm gonna have to go. I said, Yeah, no problem. Alright, mate. I'll see you out, I'll lock the shed up. He's like, Yeah, no, Rose. He said, Do you know what the time is anyway? I went, no. Opened the door and daylight. And he's gone, what looked down. What time is it? I was like, uh it was ten to six in the morning off eat. I just got this vision of him in his pajamas, his cycle helmet on, his Darth Ada slippers, biking off on a quiet, sunny morning. What time did he get there? Um about eight o'clock the previous night. And we were playing rock band guitar hero. He got me into those, I went even into him. He gave me a couple of guitars, he was mad on them, and we just got right into it and played all night. It was absolutely phenomenal. It was that moment when the doors opened daylight. What time is it? Fantastic times. But that's just how addictive that game was. Still Maritis' sister, is he? Yes, yeah, yeah. Nice. Yeah, I got the blame for that.
SPEAKER_04So I mean, let's face it, if anyone's getting blamed for anything, you take it so well.
SPEAKER_00Take one for the team.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, like no one else I've ever known. You you just saunter up and take a full shot. There's no one like you.
SPEAKER_00No, you know, I'm happy to.
SPEAKER_04I'm happy to what's your next pick out? Because I've got a million honourable mentions of games I probably should have played but never did. Yeah. Uh I mean, I again in this moment, I just welcome the arrival of my second child, my son. So yeah, game was games were on a little bit of a uh lesser important area for me.
Cursed Mountain And Wii Horror
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I could believe that. Um yeah, well, my final game for Odyssey some honourable mentions is um another one which was a uh X-hidden gem of mine, which is on the Wii, which is Cursed Mountain. Um now if you haven't heard of Cursed Mountain, it literally is survival. Yeah, survival horror. Um as a mountain climber sitting these mountains. Um and the thing I loved about it is the controls now are a little bit clunky, it's a little bit Resident Evil 4 over the shoulder sort of game. Um but it feels so out of place on the Wii. I know there's other games up Silent Hills and that on there, but that white case, and then you got a horror game, you just think, oh, this don't really go hand in hand. But it looks good for the system at play as well, it's quite creepy, these ghosts appearing as you climb up the mountain. I think it's a great little game. Again, was cheap, so I'm not saying it probably is now, it's probably something I need to look up. But it used to be a very, very cheap little game, and I think if you got a Wii, that's great, great fun game to play. Very unusual. I think it only got a Windows port, never came to anything else. So it's the only place you're really gonna play it unless you've got a bit of a way back machine on your on your PC, an exclusive as well, which was an unusual place. If you'd made this game, it's an unusual place to put it as an exclusive, but it definitely shows all the different genres you can have on the Wii. Have you played this, George?
SPEAKER_04I haven't, I'll be honest with you. It's one of those cases that stares you in the face the minute you walk into CX, it's normally there, sat like his hand reaching out to you, and you're like, Oh yeah, Curse Mountain. I've never felt the need to pick it up, but now you've mentioned that you said it was your hidden gem.
SPEAKER_00I've just checked it. Three quid. Wow. Three pounds, five bucks if you want to pick this up. So like I say, control's a little bit clunky now, but it's just um it's just different enough on that system to you know, rather than your standard shovel wares and Wii sports and all that sort of thing, to have something that's a just a little bit different.
SPEAKER_04For me, this is a sort of game that they should have explored a little bit more. Um they're that Bayer oh god, what's that game called where you the one that's famous on Wii, where you've got the sword? Is it red better red?
SPEAKER_00Red not uh not red baron, um Red Steel or something. Red Steel, red steel, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Is that is that the right name? Or are you just gone with it because it sounds right? Anyway, you know, there were those games where they were more hack and slash and innovative with the way that you use the remote in a more mature way, rather than just bowling or whatnot, they'd kind of explored the mechanics of swinging a sword or Curz Matter, no doubt climbing a mountain doing all the things that are associated with that. To me, that was like a big open goal as to what the Wii could have been, but they kind of never really pushed it. And I know third-party developers didn't really know what to do with the Wii. You've only got to walk into a secondhand outlet and look at the variety of Wii games where people have maybe tried a little bit something, but more often than not, they normally devolved down to a variation on bowling or some other drivel, don't they? You know, carnival of games, all that sort of stuff was born out of the Wii and Connect and Move era, and yeah, yeah, there there ended up being way more of that than innovative sort of ideas exploring new avenues, and I think. That is in detriment to the Wii. Yeah, it sold gangbusters the Wii, but I think a lot of those units were sold to grandparents who used it once or twice for the balance board and then never looked at it again.
SPEAKER_00Um, yeah, and I think you got you did get Wii versions of games, but you mostly got, I think, because of the underpowered nature of the Wii and the route they'd gone down compared to the 316 PS3. Like you'd have Silent Hill homecoming, for instance, on the PS3, but you'd get a Silent Hill, a different Silent Hill version on the Wii just because of you didn't get the same sort of game. So I think if games like Cursed Mountain being a unique exclusive, you know, I'm surprised they didn't do more of these sort of games where the only place you could play at rather than a lesser version or a spin-off. Um yeah, so I'd I'd definitely recommend for three three bucks, three pounds, I should say, five bucks. Yeah, definitely pick it up. Um what's some of your honourable mentions in honorable mentions
Honorable Mentions And Ruse Debate
SPEAKER_00then?
SPEAKER_04Um starting at the top and working down. Um honourable mention goes out to Scribble Nortes, that was a very popular game at the time. Um Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, very popular game at the time. Uh Need for Speed Shift, uh, relatively popular um entry into the Need for Speed world.
SPEAKER_00Kind of surprised you haven't played that one RGT, but I have I have played Need for Speed Shift and Shift 2, but they um they were games that there was that sort of funny time at the Need for Speed name and who licenses and bits and pieces, and they sort of spun off in this more serious route, and I don't know if it done them any good doing that. I eventually swerved background to the the street race, and then although decent enough game, it's not one that if you look at best need for speed games, I don't think many people mention them to be honest, but no, no, and it uh maybe a shame because I think they were trying to follow the market, but the market did not want them to go down this route, so it's almost sort of a grid rival, weren't it? It was sort of down, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Totally, yeah. And as I said before, like grid and dirt were kind of hitting the tracks, and Forza was getting, you know, lots of traction there, pun intended. Um, you had the Immortal Gran Turismo doing its thing, and it makes absolute sense to me that EA wanted to have a go, but it's not a bad game, it just doesn't stick. Last two honourable mentions for me RGT, we've got Persona, the PSP Paul, um, which I've got sat on the shelf and need to rip into because I love all the other personas, so why would I not love this? Um, it's just committing to the PSP for probably 40 hours, seems a little bit of a little bit more of a stretch than I've got in me right now.
SPEAKER_00Carble tunnel uncoming.
SPEAKER_04Exactly, or worse. Um, and then Halo 3 ODST. Um, I actually think this has been it went down well at the time, but I think a few people have kind of gone back to it as a bit of a maybe a hidden gem of the Halo franchise, but uh yeah, a lot to be said for orbital drop shop troopers. Um probably my last one. I don't want to kick the wheels out because you've got to pick some out here, is probably Ruse, the Art of Deception. This was everywhere back in the day. I every episode I come along and I talk about the game that was on bus stops on the back of buses, it was in game when you walk by, it was pushed down your throat, it was in every magazine I picked up. You'd think it'd be my kind of thing, it's a real-time um tactical strategy game. But the idea of this, based on like the World War II um fake armies that the British Secret Service built, where I think they engaged a magician or someone who was into tricks and you know, stage deception to develop a load of inflatable tanks and uh fake cut-out planes that were placed in certain areas of the UK to convince the the Germans that we had a certain force in a certain place that we didn't have while we were hiding all the other stuff that were preparing to sail across the channel and stick right up them. Ruse kind of takes that idea and riffs it on into a game where you kind of like reveal some things and don't reveal others. To me, it didn't quite hit, like I bounced off it more times than I've had hot dinners. So if you've had some experience of ruse in a positive fashion, uh let me know about that because uh maybe I need to take another critical reassessment. If memory serves the magazines weren't too favourable, maybe six out of tens max from memory. So uh approach with caution. But if you're looking for a RTS on Pierce 3 or Xbox, and you've done all the others, maybe give Ruse a try. But as I say, approach cautiously.
SPEAKER_00Sounds a unique story as well, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I mean I probably embellished it way more than they ever did, but that was the idea behind it. Uh because I remember a lot of the sort of previews sort of brought that up, and I remember reading that going, yeah, I I know that's true because I've read about that separately. So that's quite an interesting premise to take a game down. I don't know as you use I can't remember. It's been a long time. Anyway, RGT, what have you got in the docket, my friend?
SPEAKER_00Um a game that um I'm picking up very soon, actually. Um E7, eight September 17th, 2009.
SPEAKER_04Um nice.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I want to get into a few more of the E's games and um I've they're real-time fighting though, aren't they? Yes, yeah, action RPG RPGs, yeah. And yeah, they're always raved about seven and eight, and the two or three new ones have got come out, and everyone seems to rave about them. So I thought I'd start getting them from the Switch and stuff. And yeah, I thought, well, E7 would be a good one to start with. Um, so yeah, I definitely like looks of that. Um Dead Space extraction. We were talking about Wii's and getting their own sort of spin-off versions of games. Um I have got this, still haven't played it. Um, but I've heard good things, you know, using that motion control for shooting, but in a dead space world, which actually, yeah, I quite like the idea of that. Actually, doing the shooting yourself where you can't remember what the guns are called, got them razor guns where you fire the blades and it out and you have to, I can't remember what they're called, and hit them in the legs and stuff, disable them. I think that'd be a good almost having a few friends around and playing through dead space extraction seems good fun.
SPEAKER_04Um, what is called that weapon, to be fair.
SPEAKER_00I can't think what that's called.
SPEAKER_04Uh it's like a laser, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, comment down below, you'll probably know. Um I think it's actually like a sort of uh you know, like a multi tool or something. Yeah, sort of contractor's tool, isn't it? And you um and finally one that although what I don't own now used to have great fun with my friends who sort of got me the confidence to do, and that was Sing Star. He had the Sing Star Mics and we used to.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, you're right. I've undersold myself. I used to play a lot of SingStar on PS2. In fact, my wife at the time went out one day labelling me crap at the game, and I was crap, and I worked my socks off on like a Westlife song. She came back, I was like, Oh, let's have a look at this. I get my best efforts, and it was still very similar. I mean, you've heard my lyrical efforts on the show, so you can imagine what that sounded like.
SPEAKER_00Well, I would love to hear, I reckon that was beautiful.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, she didn't appreciate it.
SPEAKER_00I would um yes, I think that's probably it for what we would have probably been playing at that time. Um there's any more, don't think so. I know there's that tornado tornado outbreak, which is quite collectible now on the PlayStation 3. Um, that's quite popular with PS3 collectors, and there's a bit of a hidden gem. Um I I don't know if that had a power release or not. I know it's quite popular in America with collectors. Um, we had Beatonator, obviously by Rockstar. People forget Rockstar done beatenator on the PSP, another PSP game. Black Mirror 2, we had Grid Runner, My Sims Agents. Nothing too much, I don't think, other than that. But no, there was plenty to play at the time. Um, we had some good choices there, with a bit of variation on consoles and what we would been.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I think there's uh it's an interesting month because what yeah, there was plenty to be stuck into playing, but what Ray's bringing down in his boot is uh a real smuggles board of greatness. So looking forward to welcoming the Ray.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, exactly.
September 2009 News Rundown
SPEAKER_00Well, I think we probably jump onto the news now. We're very we've we very put the teeth in. We scoured the very darkest back pages of the game and mags and even delve deep into the interweb to bring you what was the latest stories in September 2009.
Wolfenstein Recall And Censorship Lines
SPEAKER_00First up from Eurogamer. Swasticker prompts German Wolf recall. Activision taking no chances. Activision has recalled Wolfenstein in Germany, reportedly because you can faintly see a swastika on a poster, which is a big no-no in the country. Although it is not a conspicuous element in the normal game, we have decided to take this game immediately from the German market, is the publisher's translated statement picked up Okotaku. Swastickers are forbidden in Germany, according to its post-World War II constitution, and the consequences for the boss of a German company that displays one are pretty serious, potentially including jail time for repeat offences, if he or she does not take immediate action. Uh the Nazi symbol can be used in historical or artistic context, but apparently video games don't count. Those dealing with World War II still make it to Germany. Um, but obviously we need to be edit edited to remove any law-breaking imagery and icons. Now I'd never heard of this before.
SPEAKER_04Um I've always thought I heard the first Super Nintendo Wolfenstein for that reason.
SPEAKER_00Because I you just did think of that, you know, almost in Wolfenstein, especially on the Super Nintendo one, it's almost they look at it as almost like a comedy way, you know, the game. But actually, when you look obviously in history, that's a very serious thing, which is obviously in Germany itself is um a very sensitive subject.
SPEAKER_04So um I find it odd though that they're like you can't display it under pain of death. I I kind of guess it stops an uprising of a new Nazi party using that flag. I kind of understand why you might want to uh play that down a little bit, but uh when you wipe something completely from the docket like this, there's no responsibility or maturity or ownership, the situation you've got in front of you. And then to chase down individuals over stuff like this seems a bit ridiculous. Like, is the guy who mistakenly let this slip through, is he a full paid up Nazi? I very much doubt it. And do I think like the children of like Germany might be influenced by a swastika in her game? Maybe, but then if you go and do your research, what kid can come back and not go, yeah, sorry about that. So I I've always found it a little bit strange um that they've kind of tried to almost whitewash that image from their own history books. When I think I would prefer to have seen some more collective ownership of said imagery, and you know, if it's hidden like it is and suppressed like it is, it almost becomes something to chase, it has an allure to it, it's the hidden fruit. So I don't quite understand how they've decided to make it the hidden fruit. Uh to me, this is ridiculous.
SPEAKER_00And it in the I think it might be the way you've explained it there, it might be um sort of downfall of their own actions because this was very faintly obviously on a clip that they'd used for a bit of propaganda, and this is snuck in and got past you know quality control, but because it's in that area you have to really search and probably find for and put the camera on a slight tilt and you know stand on your head to see it, that's probably got that allure to find it. That's probably why they wanted it taken out, but it's probably of their own doing that because people are wanting to find it. Do you know what I mean? So, I mean, also if they've recalled these games, I wonder if I mean it uh obviously copies went out. I mean is there like a rare number of copies that have this still in the game or I wouldn't know.
SPEAKER_04I mean, what do they do when they play Call of Duty in Germany? What are they shooting at? Who are they shooting at? It's imp I don't get it. I think I do get it, I kind of understand that a lot of emotion was put into it, but so many generations on I think it's probably better as an education piece than it is a chastising piece. Um it's almost like all that never happened, it's almost like that never happened in Germany. Don't mention the war, you know, the famous Monty Party thing, don't or John Clee's uh Faulty Towers thing, don't mention the war. And ever since or it's been a bit like that. How are the German people ever going to take, you know, accept not that modern German people need to accept or take responsibility for any of it, but uh nor does anyone anymore. But when these laws are made, it was obviously a big moment, and a lot of the population of Germany were still of an age that would have survived the war andor been involved in it. So yeah, it's it's a mark of respect, but equally so we didn't delete it here, and certainly more British people died than uh German people as a result. This is where I get messaging actually, George will find that the German people were yeah, all right, all right. It's messy, but far more people were killed outside of Germany under the guise of that flag than were in it. So yeah, it's an interesting piece of RGT. Like I said, I've been aware of it for some time because of that whole Wolfenstein debacle, and I think the SNES version was completely just cleansed of all images, so it was a very watered-down Wolfenstein that I played on the SNES compared to the one I was playing on the 286 at dinner time at school on the PCs, which was the full Nazi press.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's weird because it's that rare time when politics and history interferes with video games, which are supposed to be a form of entertainment, and lines and borders get crossed as to what's right and what isn't, and you know, there'll be people saying, Well, that's artistic representation and they should be able to do what they want, but on the other hand, it's a sensitive subject that people, especially in Germany, don't want to see, and that's it's that crossover to what's right and what's wrong. And unfortunately, Wolfenstein's in the middle of it. Now, you can say, Well, they shouldn't have chosen that subject, but then why shouldn't they choose a subject?
SPEAKER_04So it's it's a funny there was a story to tell there, so in their eyes, anyway. And let's face it, Wolfenstein get too close to the screen, you're just looking at a load of like Minecraft blocks, aren't you? Really?
SPEAKER_00So yeah, you know, yeah, it's a strange one, but I put it in because it's it's that like I say, it's that unusual time when when politics and gaming meet, and you know, who's offended, who in, what's right, what's wrong, and uh yeah, an awkward time for them with with Wolfenstein anyway. But what we got up next, then
Music Games Backlash And Royalties
SPEAKER_00George.
SPEAKER_04Well, next, also up from Eurogamer, we've got music games of crap, says Bunny Man. Wow, sounds like a UCP news article. Hopes players gets electrocuted. Wow. Simmer down here. That's a strong one. Yeah, Echo and the Bunny lead singer Ian McCulloch has dismissed music games as crap and wished instant death on everyone who plays them. McCulloch, who admits to owning a not owning a computer and recording his demos on cassette, was speaking to occasional Eurogamer contributor Steve Hill during an interview with Esquire. Asked if he was aware of games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. He claimed to have once seen somebody trying to play one. The opinionated McCulloch, famously dubbed Mac the Mouth, then offered to sum up the phenomenon in one sentence. Goaded by Hill, their singer replied, I hope they all get electrocuted because they shouldn't be playing with that crap. McCulloch was taking part in an interview to promote the Bunnyman's forthcoming album, The Fountain. It seems unlikely that tracks from it will be available as downloadable content for music games. And you could read the full article over on Esquire if that link would even still exist. I do not know. Um RGT, another interesting bit of news. Obviously, a man from a relatively successful uh 80s, 90s band has come in and said he doesn't want anything to do with this. Fair play, Ian. Um, I think what you're missing here is uh a hell of a lot of revenue in your back pocket. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Yeah, you're you're missing out on probably you know, that new car, that new garage, that new house in LA that you've always dreamed of. Um, just by putting your games in Guitar Hero Rock uh songs in Guitar Hero Rock Band. I doubt they'll come a knock-in for a bunny man song, but you never know RGT.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you don't. I think it's um I don't know if this has just been clicked by him. You know, there was probably more to it. He might have been joking, having a laugh, saying, Oh, I get electrocuted with that crap, you know.
SPEAKER_04Obviously it's hard to know. Context in written dialogue in in written conversation point like this, you lose the nuance.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and and he also he you know, from what we hear from this, it sounds like someone who uh thinks games are for kids and all games are crap, you know. They because they're not into it, it's rubbish, you know, and it's it's another one of them. But like you say, I wondered if um I wondered if he did find out what the royalties were for putting your song in rock band or guitar hero and maybe um Ian might have changed his mind.
SPEAKER_04But I'm sure he found a reverse gear when the payday came and knocked it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, exactly. Yeah, so um, I mean, I don't know if there was any Echo and the Bunny men. There we go. Comment down below if you do know if Echo and the Bunny men appeared in any of the the Guitar Hero rock rock band games. But yeah, I just this just made me laugh. That I mean, I'd like to say I don't know if he'd had a few sherbits when he done this or what, I don't know. But saying that they he hopes they get electrocuted um is slightly harsh if it was a meaningful sounds like the sort of thing I'd say. Exactly. Um but I just thought, well, it's uh there wasn't much to this conversation. I wouldn't imagine that you you thought they'd had kind of backwards and forwards, and have you played it? No, it's not really my thing, but I hear it's popular. No, just get electrocuted, they're crap.
SPEAKER_01It's wrong, I admit it.
SPEAKER_00But and also he's missing out the chance that um I know a lot of people that found bands through games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. I found I found loads of bands through Tony Hawks, you know, punk bands and bits and pieces, and uh yeah, absolutely amazing. And you just thought you could have really, even if you just put one song in, you'd have probably had people buying your back catalogue from that. But there we go, you know. Yeah, seems a shame, and um yeah, I'd be interesting to find out. So let us know if you know if they had any uh songs in because that'd be awesome if you did do a bit of a reversal and uh he got a nice little check for the post. Um our final bit of news, also from Eurogamer.
Tim Schafer Origins And Game Visionaries
SPEAKER_00Tim Schaefer is 20 years old or something. Designer designer celebrates getting jobs, etc. We missed this the other day, but we wouldn't want you to miss it too. Double finds Tim Schaefer has celebrated his 20th anniversary of getting into the games industry by posting up some rejection letters and reminiscing about getting a job at Lucasfilm. The letters are scanned in on the Double Find website. Um, man what an ego maniac. Wow. Starting uh with his rejection by Atari in March 1989, your qualifications have been carefully reviewed, the real art the real Atari once wrote. However, in relation to our current needs, we are unable to offer you a position. Things didn't improve for Schaefer when he tried tried it with Huart Packard, apparently inspired by Kurt Vonnegut's thing about writing at night while working at General Electric, who fobbed him off with a line about tough hiring controls. I used that one when my sister asked to borrow money. Fortunately, Lucasfilm eventually saw something in him for the role of assistant designer programmer, despite Schaefer accidentally owning up to video game piracy in a telephone interview and sending in a cover letter in the form of a semi-graphic adventure, which is also included on the website post. So, what advice does Schaefer have for people trying to get a job in the games industry these days? If I can get a job in the game industry, anybody can. Not at my company, of course. I would never hire somebody as unqualified as I was. I was lucky finding people smarter than me. Um smarter than me is so easy. And in closing, don't do what I did. It all worked in the 80s. The next game Schaefer's involved in is Brutal Legend, which is due out for PS3 and Xbox 360 on the 16th of October 2009. Check out our recent preview to see what the old man lunatics have been doing with it. Um yeah, I thought I this one I was reading um when I was researching, and I just thought you always think of Tim Schaefer as just one of them creative people that just jumped straight into games.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But obviously, you know, things were different then. We know about obviously the micro computer industry. Here in the 80s, and that was literally if you can code, code a game, put out a cassette, and send it into a company, it's almost like being in a band and sending a demo in. Um, and you were hired. And this seems a bit like that as well. You know, you didn't really have computer courses or programming courses in the day, you just needed the knack of doing it, and uh Tim obviously just tried this way to sending letters in until something stuck and it worked, you know. But you make you wonder if a lot of these companies look back now and think, Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. We should have maybe taken him on. Um, such a different time to the modern day, though, George.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I think that's something we need to remember about video games. It's a multi-billion dollar enterprise now, probably multi-trillion dollar enterprise now, really. If you add it all up and the wide gamut that video games touches or the classification of video games touches, but if you wind it all the way back to those early days of home computing post the Atari boom, and even really including the Atari boom, because some of the developers that were making games for Atari were literally knocking up games in an afternoon. And there are a lot of like young kids in the UK scene, like the bedroom stability scene where they would be creating and coding games in their spare time. You know, some of the mega hits that are known in the industry now were coded over a cheese and onion sandwich, I'd imagine. Um brothers and that, and yeah, that bedroom in Dagenham somewhere, and and you know, they went on to become maybe the founding fathers of the industry that are still involved in it now. Um, I'm pretty confident a lot of those sort of Batroom coders secured jobs. You've only got to look at people like Argonaut and their attachment to Nintendo. Stampers and Rare and all those twins and coding boys that have gone down as like the founding fathers, and without them, where would the industry be now? I I think it would be probably less well off. Um you know, and and those founding fathers, as RGT points out, become like um unique pop-ups at video game events around the UK. If you know, you can always add a bit of credibility by getting one of the rare boys in or getting the team behind Rare in and sitting them up on a stage and talking about the games. These guys, these are the guys that at you know, 10, 11 years old were sat up until midnight coding these games in or experimenting with the actual code of basic, and that evolved into C or whatever it's called. And yeah, Tim Schaefer, he's had an interesting journey through gaming from his backroom designs to working at Lucasfilm with games like Secret of Monkey Island and Death Tentacle, probably full throttle, and things like maybe Grim Fandango, let me know if I'm right. Uh, and then over cross to Double Fine, a game I was talking about not that long ago, uh Psycho Nort blew me away with its kind of like forward-facing kind of acceptance of how games are played and the way that the controls and setup of the game and saving of the game was kind of woven into the narrative of it. Very, very clever. I've also talked about you know Brutal Legend, a game that you know, from the moment I put it in the console, felt like a really great A product. You've got Jack Black doing the intro, and the way that you scan through the menus is an album from you know heavy metal history that's like this hidden brutal legend album that no one really knows about unless they're a real rocker, and you know, you go then into the game and it pulls you into the album, and you know, there's a lot to be said about this man's either artistic integrity, his kind of way he involves the game or the way he tries to even in those sort of LucasArt attempts, Lucas art, Lucasfilm attempts, where he kind of like tried to make the game more than more of an event or more of something than it was. You know, he was dealing with like point-and-click adventures, but you know, he he probably set the standard for how those go down ever since, basically. Um, the guy's a legend, to be fair. I mean, it's a little bit sad news moving this out of 2009 to the modern era that obviously Double Final took a little bit of a kick in off the back of Microsoft shedding studios they acquired as quick as they picked him up, sort of thing. And I do believe Tim's been able to secure his minis team's future. I I do believe he's had to do some layoffs to make that happen as well. But you know, this was a high moment for him where it was kind of reflecting on not only his own studio but his kind of limited beginnings. To your to his point, oh, don't do what I did, it only worked in the 80s. He's a thousand percent correct. Oh, god yeah. Getting into the industry in those days was a little bit more open. Um, you still needed to know your stuff, you needed to still be talented artists, but yeah, oh yeah, you had to be self-taught talented artists.
SPEAKER_00There wasn't courses to do nowadays or trainee courses you needed to go in and say, I can do this, right? You're in, simple as that.
SPEAKER_04So it was it was more of a capability thing where there was very limited capability on the ground or in the employment pool. So Tim is a great example of that coming through and then sort of establishing himself into a top-tier studio at the same time, quite rightly. Um, like I say, a little bit in the very recent times, a little bit of like disappointing news to him and his team, but you know, they lived to fight another day, and Psychonauts 2 went down pretty well, so yeah, interesting time.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I think as well, he's one of them, which is a very much a dying breed now, because we we think of game companies as a whole now. We don't tend to get the names, you know, you Neil Druckmans and that and a fading away fast. And the thing I liked about Tim Schaefer is he reminds me, you know, similar with David Cage, he had a creative vision, and that's what he was doing. He wasn't going to be pushed into a genre or anything. And Tim Schaefer, I always liked, he always said his main goal in a video game is to make a creative, story-driven game with no cutscenes. It's that interactive that you don't need cutscenes, and it's that good a story. And I was just thought that was always his number one goal, and that's what he's tried to do. And I just think, how good is that? You have a name, and the tech might not be there yet, but that's what you're aiming to do. And I just thought that's a fantastic vision.
SPEAKER_04I think a lot of those to spin off that word, visionaries, um, were trying to do things ahead of the technology, but they kind of knew the vision that they needed. Now is the time where maybe the vision can be fully realised, um, but now there's different draws on them, like money and time and corporate responsibilities. I mentioned a few weeks ago there's not many or tears left in the gaming industry, not properly that we know. Tim Schaefer, let's add him to the list. David Cage, Schaefer, Kojima, you know, Miyamoto, Druckmann, Druckmann to a lesser degree, in my humble opinion. Um he's a fantastic writer and his games have been good, but I think we need to see one or two mucks more successes out of Druckmann, solidly attached to Druckman alone. For that to Last of Us, massive success. Last of Us Two, massive success. A little bit maybe grating to some people, I think for the wrong reasons. But yeah, I mean Druckmann I say to a lesser extent just because I want to see more from him. Um, if you want a video game that made you feel something, Last of Us Two will make you feel a whole range of emotions.
SPEAKER_00Um, reassess them at the end, you know, especially with Druckmann nowadays, games are taking sometimes up to ten years to create. So you oh wait, yeah, you're very limited as to your actual back catalogue, aren't you? But I know what you mean. You know, if Intersgalactic, you know, the heretic prophecy, whatever it's called, if that's if that if that hits the ground running, then we'll never know. But no, you're right.
SPEAKER_04If that hits the ground running, I will retrospectively deploy him also as an autair.
SPEAKER_00So but yeah, you you you don't see.
SPEAKER_04I mean, but if you're bringing in Druckmann you've got to then bring in what, Cory Balrog or someone like that. You you gotta head over to Bungie and start pulling in people from there. You know, uh the autair thing I think is is the vision. Druckmann's in on a technicality right now, pending Intergalactic Prophecy hitting and landing. How's that?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'll take that. Definitely.
SPEAKER_04Fine.
SPEAKER_00I'll take that.
SPEAKER_04Let him know, I'm sure he'll be buzzing.
SPEAKER_00I'll give him a ring in a minute when we're finished recording.
SPEAKER_04So make him try a bit harder on Intergalactic Prophecy, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, he knows if he knows if we're not happy on flashback, he's gonna knuckle down and put an extra shift in.
SPEAKER_04I mean, look, if you're gonna roll, if you're trying to roll him in, you've got to roll in someone like Cliffy B, who's not even in the industry anymore, but like rocked out three or four games that were second to none, launched a franchise. Heck, he made jazz Jackrabbit for God's sake. So, you know, is he in au-terre? I think he is, but someone that got burnt out by the industry, went off to make his own game and then got absolutely crushed, bless him, um, during the Fortnite push. So, yeah, we'll review Druckman in 18 months' time.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think, and also Druckmann's probably the you know, one of the ones a bit like Schaefer's one of the some of the last ones standing at the moment for their games are a dying breed now. Um would there be many more games like that? I don't know. I think we're more of a corporate quick cash live server sort of games now. So I don't know if we'll see many more. But anyway, I go off piste. Tim Chaffin, absolute legend. Um brilliant to see you know his uh little employment history and how he got got eventually got into the industry, and we're so glad he did for the hits he has had. Um but yeah, I that brings us to the end of the news, George. Quite an interesting little smoggers board of 2009 from band swastickers in Wolfenstein in the German version of the game to um Ian McCulloch from Echo and the Bunny men saying he hopes you get electrocuted if you play musical games. Oh, I hope you do because they're crap. Um, right on to finishing up with what we just talked about, Tim Schaefer and uh how he got in industry and all the knockbacks he had, but he still got there eventually, and like I say, we're glad he
Stingray Boot New Releases October 2009
SPEAKER_00did. But um, I think it's now time for what we're effectually called, Stingway's boot. I'm nestled between some counterfeit nappies and a dodgy copy for Battle for Endor. It's some of the new releases for October 2009. Spring stopped quite a wow. Whoa, whoa, whoa, wow. Hey, you see you in the Ray this week, then Georgie bought it.
SPEAKER_04I'll be honest, Ray stepped out pretty bold. He's he stepped out, he's blurred and obscured, but I can tell from my historic eye that he's come dressed as Joseph Goebbels, head of propaganda for Hitler. Um pretty realistic looking fella, to be honest with you. When I peer through the pixelation, I can't pick you apart. Have you brought your son with you? Course he has. Little Wayne, he's rocked up as uh miniature Hitler. How are you, Adolph? Absolutely fan. Let me have a little look at you. That mustache is banging, Wayne. Yeah, spot on. So they've come despite the German ban on the Nazi Party. They've come with a blur, but push past that, and they are damn photorealistic copies. Although young Wayne, I don't think Adolf was a tall man, but obviously young Wayne's pushed that to the outer limits. He's he's only 18 inches tall, is our young Wayne, and he's he's he's come dressed as the uh the Fuhrer. Nice, yeah. Yeah, interesting. How are you seeing him? Because I did notice, I don't know if people will pick up on this, when they came down the drive, it was hopefully this will make it into the audio recording. It sounded like a pan um like a snooker dive bomber, which like made me a bit on edge.
SPEAKER_00Put me a bit on edge, I know that.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah, that that howl. I knew it, I knew I knew it was edgy. But I can't be held responsible for how he turns up.
SPEAKER_00No, you can't. Unfortunately. Um for me. He's just done a 360, 180, he's done a handbrake, he's reversed round, done a J turn. Oh, he's in a he's in a Subaru. Oh, dirt, he's in a dirt subaru. Oh man, let's see what he gets out of. Oh he's I thought he'd be in a little racing suit and a hell no, he's in a he's in a mountaineering costume. Oh wow, but why is he holding a massive Wiimote? Oh, it's from Cursed Mountain. Oh, okay, I'll get where's Wayne then? Where's Wayne, right? Oh, it's the Wiimote. Oh, no wonder it's so big. Oh, so Wayne's the eighty moat. Yeah, well, still a big Wiimote.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, you wouldn't want to park it somewhere, would you? Definitely make your eyes water.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. I was gonna say clumped around the head, but yeah, not that show, George.
SPEAKER_04Um, but uh you interpret what you want to interpret, Party.
SPEAKER_00But uh yeah, so Mountaineer at Subaru, Wayne is a Wiimote. Absolutely stunning. Um, what are you picking out the boot then?
Buzz Quiz World And Gran Turismo PSP
SPEAKER_04Um listen, mate, there is absolutely loads in here. He's done a absolute banging job.
SPEAKER_00Um we pick two and then we'll do some honourable mentions we'd like to get maybe all right, all right, all right.
SPEAKER_04Well, I'll pick up Buzz Quiz World with it. Fine, leave it there.
SPEAKER_00I'll pick up No no have a no, you're okay.
SPEAKER_04I'll pick up Buzz Quiz World and uh PlayStation Quiz game. I've had lots and lots and lots of fun with the family on this. I've got the PS3, comes in a little blue presenter box with like a silk inlay with the four buzz remotes in and the game in it, and then a card slip over the top of it. Very nice to look at, but a great way of getting them, uh getting the game up and running. Um you know, you stick your PS3 eye toy camera in there, or the what was the PS3 camera called RGT?
SPEAKER_00Uh I can't remember.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it was like the move camera or something like that.
SPEAKER_00Something like that, yeah.
SPEAKER_04You plug that in and stick that on as well, and it will take snaps of you during the game and then display them up at the end. So really great package. Um, the other game I want to pick up, which is on the PSP, is Gran Turismo 2009. Oh a little different to your average Gran Turismo in the fact that you don't play through it in the traditional way, but it's still a really fun game, and it's an interesting way to have made it uh in your pocket and pick up and play, so less commitment to it literally is a pocket version of Gran Turismo, in it scale down, it is still very good for a handheld. The driving dynamics are absolutely fantastic, and it makes great use of the PSP's nub.
SPEAKER_00Oh, you can't see this, uh listeners, but the determination on his face when he had to come into the microphone, raise the eyebrows, and go nub. Brilliant.
SPEAKER_04That little nub, uh you know, and I promote playing with a nub, I really do. You know, it's gonna make you a great partner. But yeah, the the Oh dear, oh dear.
SPEAKER_00He's dragging the show down.
SPEAKER_04Check the listening date, look, check the age demographic, it's totally fine. They're gonna be okay with this. Um but the Gran Turismo PSP is you know, came came relatively late towards the end of the well, mid to end cycle of the PSP itself, and a great game to pick up. Um probably the best place to play it was on Vita, but seeing as that was due to licensing removed about four years ago from there, uh, and the store's shutting down, yeah, probably a bit of a I didn't think about that playing it on the Vita. Your opportunity's long since gone, friend, unless you wouldn't have even game likes out of it.
SPEAKER_00Was that like the PSP classic sort of thing on the store?
SPEAKER_04Was it yeah, it was. When I first got my Vita, it was there, and I was like, Oh no, I'm gonna get it on PSP, and then by the time I realised actually no, I ought to be playing this on the Vita, it was gone.
unknownDamn.
SPEAKER_04I'm sure the licensing agreements on the cars ran out, uh, and therefore they had to delist it. So there's another reason why you've got to grab these things physical when you can. So I'm I'm limited to the PSP version, it's the original place, and the only place to really play it. Um, but yeah, fun, fun game. Definitely something, as I said, this is yin to Arctic Edges Yang at the top of the show, yeah, yeah, very true. Um, but still equally pick up and play a lot more serious, you're not gonna get away with some of the crazy antics you do there. You've kind of got to follow the rules of the road in Grantrism, as you know, but yeah, a compelling enough racer. Not much of a challenge, I would say, in terms of the AI. Sometimes that can be a bit frustrating. It it's you know, you kind of play in the same, there's only so many circuits, and you kind of play them through time and time again with different cars to earn different money. And the store in the PSP version is kind of different because the cars aren't always up. You you kind of have to keep logging on, which brings in that pick-up and play aspect again. We've like, oh, I better just have a quick look at what game what cars I can grab now. Because you can't always get the cars you want on Gran Turismo handheld on PSP, but yeah, a great little package. What have you got, good sir? What are your two games?
Uncharted 2 And Ratchet And Clank
SPEAKER_00Obvious one for the first one, probably one of the greatest games ever made. It's Uncharted 2 Among Thieves. Wow, yeah, best best or one of the best opening scenes in a game ever made. Um, so yeah, come at me in the comments because I know people who say, Oh no, you don't know. Well, whatever, I love it. Um, we've also I'm there were so many good games on here, George, to pick. I just I had a bit of a list here. I'm probably gonna go with Ratchet and Clank cracking time.
SPEAKER_04Um I thought you might go for that.
SPEAKER_00Just I mean, I know there's better versions of Ratchet and Clank, there's lesser versions, but you're still not what you're gonna get, and they're just good fun. The controls are always tight, they're just great games, Ratchet and Clank, you know. And again, you know, PS3 as well, they look good on there, they play well on there. So, yeah, I'm gonna go with Ratchet and Clank a cracking time. What about honourable mentions then?
SPEAKER_04Oh, let's go crazy because I know this seems outrageous, but I think this game deserves it for the amount of copies it's shifted. It's Wii Fit Plus. Um Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising was an interesting idea by uh Codemasters in terms of making the game much more bigger in scale. Um so that's a like a large war fighting game. Uh I think battlefront, but simulation based. Uh Demon Souls, um which is the PS3 version. Um also want to put a shout out to Brutal Legend that we talked about, Shim Tim Schaefer Shim Shim Schaefer's game. Tim Schaefer's game, Brutal Legend, October 13th, 2009. Way of the Samurai 3, a game that um I think I still need to acquire. I've played Way of the Samurai one and really quite enjoyed it, uh, three to completion, and I've had a play with two, but three on the PS3 does seem to me. Um, quick reference to Stein's Gate, Stein's Gate, depending on where you're from. Obviously, one of the big games at the time, Borderlands, doing some good numbers. Um, and I probably ought to rest it there so I don't completely kill what you're gonna choose, RGT.
SPEAKER_00Um, I'm gonna jump in with DJ Hero. Had so many hours of fun on DJ Hero. Um, it gets a bit overshadowed by Guitar Hero, but DJ Hero is so much fun, and then a freaking cool peripheral, by the way, and a great box. It is brilliant. I ended up having to buy three of those in the end to get one with an actual work and dongle. So if anyone needs a turntable, hit me up. You can have one. The dongle's the thing you need, and you can't use a guitar hero one, you need the DJ Hero one. Um, but you can use it on a PS2 and PS3. So you can use a PS, you can play yeah, you can play the PS2 games and the PS3 games. Um, but so much fun, DJ Hero, and the way you mix your tracks and are so well done. We again, that's another one. Mate, get your mates around, get that turntable on your lap, get yourself a couple of beers and away you go, just making up different songs and playing through the game. Brilliant fun. Um, obviously, we had bayonetas uh or the bayonetta when that first came out. Um, obviously, successful hack and slash series. Um, what else did we have? Oh, uh 4s of Motorsport 2, uh three, sorry, was out. 4s of Motorsport 3. Um, again, they were then hitting their stride then. Um one and two, and they were starting to try and be the Xbox version of Gran Turismo. Um and I'll tell you what, if you're an Xbox only user at the time, I don't think you'd been disappointed. Great games. Um, what else do we have? FIFA 10.
SPEAKER_04Sing Star, take that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, SingStar again. They were getting licenses all over the place, weren't they? Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. Um Steck mark still on the coffee cup. Wow.
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_00Marion Sonic at the Olympic winter games. I know people like those games to play. Um addictive again. iPet we had. I mean Star Wars.
SPEAKER_04What about the Speaker Manager 10? Is that something you'd have picked up? I don't know if that's PC or what?
SPEAKER_00Um no, not really. I know there was a s there was a time as well Pro Evo done it, done a Pro Evo management. They both tried to jump into that management and it just didn't work.
SPEAKER_04Well they ended up rolling that into the main game, really.
SPEAKER_00But the main game in career mode is your managing and playing the games.
SPEAKER_04Exactly.
SPEAKER_00So it it it was a bit of a bit nullified. I mean they've sort of left that to Premier Manager and Championship Manager that was, and they were sort of the games of the era.
SPEAKER_04I suppose the one thing that FIFA had going in its in its benefit was that they probably used the game engine to display the games that you sat on the sidelines for, which some people may find a little bit more interactive, intuitive, or better storytelling method than dots on the screen.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I still I still think one of the best manager games, and it's basic now, but you can buy it on the iStore and play it still, is Kevin Tom's football manager, the Spectrum Game. That's such a good game. Very basic, but you have to buy your players and upgrade and win matches and put them in positions for a spectrum game. So well done, you know, and I think that in sort of inspired a lot of management games, but many have tried, but many have failed. That's why you don't see many of them nowadays, do you? But um yeah, I think that'll be uh R games. Anyway, what are you gonna pick for a movie from from Raiden?
Movie Picks Avatar And The Hangover
SPEAKER_00Have a rummage in the boot.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, Ray's Coming Clutch is I've seen this, it's a blueskin, it's not uh Smurfs, it's Avatar, so I'm gonna take the first Avatar movie.
SPEAKER_00Oh god, I can't believe that's 2009.
SPEAKER_04I can't, I'm a bit nervous saying it, but I do believe it is, so thanks, Ray.
SPEAKER_00I still think the only way to watch that is 3D. Me and the missus watch that in 3D on the 3D telly in a bedroom as brilliant in 3D.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, Ray's Coming Clutch is give me two copies so I can play them on two tellies at the same time. Oh no, I clever. He just says squint.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, he's he's good, he's good at that. He's always got an option. Always got an option. Um I'm gonna go in with the hangover.
SPEAKER_03Oh wow.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Brilliant film, hilariously funny, a bit different to Avatar, put it that way, but you know, if Mike Tyson's laying you're out, you've got to watch it, really, and the same film. Yeah. Um Right, well that's Ray gone and he disappears up the driver. See you, my feeling. Wow. Um we'll get on to a bit of housekeeping.
Housekeeping Community And How To Reach Us
SPEAKER_00Um obviously we talk about UCP Unoffe's Controller Podcast. Don't forget to check that out. Um, our main show over on YouTube or download of your podcast provider. We're we're here, there, everywhere. You can also check out the unofficial controller podcast.com website, um, rapidly evolving website with reviews and um challenges and bits and pieces and what we've been up to and even find out a bit about us. Um if you want to give us any questions or speak to us, we've got questions at unofficialcontrollerpodcast.com, which is our email. So check us a line on anything you want to speak about or about the show, or if you're enjoying it, or do you think we should do something different? Just let us know. Um also got a Discord, jump on there, us always going, always chatting about games, always doing different challenges, just a brilliant little community with brilliant people, really. TikTok, you'll see some funny videos that Captain the Scarlet clips of us and then chucks on and normally makes us more idiots than what we normally are, which is quite an achievement in itself. Um And we've also got Instagram, we've got X. Um and I think I think that is about it, George. I think we've covered everything. Is there anything you want to read? About either September 2009 or anything I've missed off the housekeeping list or anything funny thinking. Yes, subscribe. Don't forget to do that. If you if you're on YouTube, please subscribe. Please comment the sub like all that. Um yeah, but thanks George for that. I enjoyed a little look back at September 2009 and realising how many games we haven't played.
SPEAKER_04How many more we've got to add to the backlog of shame to be considered podcasters?
SPEAKER_00It's uh the worrying thing is we probably own the all-in- ones, we haven't Don't bring your filth in here. Uh yours as well, thank you very much.
SPEAKER_04No, but I don't need reminding of my own failings.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'll just say persona. Um yeah, get on that, son. Carp on time away.
SPEAKER_04Um that's a gut punch swine.
SPEAKER_00I thought I'd leave you with that, but thanks for joining
Final Thoughts And Sign Off
SPEAKER_00me again, George. Really enjoyed that. That was brilliant. Thanks everyone for listening, for downloading, spread the word, tell all your friends if they're into games, have a listen to Flashback if you like retro. Um, and just leaves me to say flashback to games you loved, the stories you forgot. I'll see you later, everyone, and I'll see you next week, George.
SPEAKER_04See you guys. I hope you don't get electrocute painting stuff.
SPEAKER_01Take care of the change.