Unofficial Controller Podcast
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Unofficial Controller Podcast
Where Gaming Culture Comes Alive: The Timeless 25 Experience
Step into the heart of gaming culture with Timeless 25, Liverpool's premier gaming convention that tears down the barriers between fans and their heroes. In this in-depth conversation with event organizer Maggs, we explore how this beloved community gathering has evolved into the ultimate celebration of gaming passion.
Maggs reveals the exciting new venue spanning multiple connected spaces—Kane's Brewery arcade with its three floors of free-to-play games, and the adjoining Punch Tarmys pub transformed into exhibition halls and performance spaces. This expanded setting addresses previous feedback while maintaining the intimate, accessible atmosphere that makes Timeless truly special.
The lineup this year reads like a who's who of gaming personalities: WhatCulture Gaming team members, Stuart Ashen hosting panels, Slopes Game Room returning with his wildly popular quiz, and the creators of Tomb Raider sharing behind-the-scenes stories of the iconic franchise. The content creator panel, hosted by Big Fuzzy Yak, brings together diverse voices including Studio 42's Tommy and disability advocate One-Handed Gamer.
What distinguishes Timeless from other conventions is its commitment to inclusivity. With improved accessibility features, quiet spaces for those who need sensory breaks, and activities spanning all age ranges, everyone feels welcome. The event stretches into the evening with special competitions, arcade tournaments, and entertainment until around midnight.
For just £20 (or £17 with code UCP25), attendees gain access to tournaments, exhibitions, panels, free arcade games, and the opportunity to meet and chat with gaming celebrities in an environment where no VIP ropes separate fans from their heroes. As Maggs puts it: "This isn't just a festival of gaming—it's a festival of friendship."
Whether you're competing in the Just Dance competition, browsing rare collectibles, trying indie game demos, or simply connecting with fellow gamers, Timeless 25 offers an authentic celebration of gaming culture that puts community first. Join us on August 13th in Liverpool for an unforgettable day where gaming's past, present, and future come together.
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Cheers gamers!
Hello and welcome to the Unofficial Controller Podcast, your weekly gaming podcast, episode number 280. What a milestone. Me, george, and this week joined by you guessed it, you wanted him, you smell him, you want to touch him, taste him, feel him. Well, this is as close as you're going to get. He's a celebrity. He's Max. He's here this week to talk about Timeless 2025. Week to talk about Timeless 2025. He's the event guru to my can't even sort my own downstairs out.
Speaker 2:How are you, sir? I am very well, thank you. The fact you call me a superstar basically means that my ego's just inflated by 50%, so I am doing rather well, thank you.
Speaker 1:Mate, I'm here to blow it up like a cheap hooker from the South American streets. You've just returned back from your celebrity Before we dive into it. Obviously, thank you to everybody out there for pulling the shift while I was out being a well, even in my own life. In a strange way, I've just got back from a wedding and a honeymoon, so thank you all for your patience, and thank you to Scott, seb and RGT for holding the Fort Wiles away. All that to one side.
Speaker 2:Well, congratulations before. I say anything, congratulations and a little round of applause there. And there you go. I hope you had an amazing wedding, my friend.
Speaker 1:It was all beautiful. Some pictures up on the Discord, so very rare showing of my face. You know I'm anti it. It's a radio show at the best of times, but people do tune in for the video. Now, uh, although there won't be one for this, because we're too sexy for that and I'll be honest with you, we've woken up in this hotel room, we've shared a few things, yes, and we're not clothed, so imagine that too I know, and we've not even got the air con on what's going on?
Speaker 1:well, mate, I'll be honest with you. I had to demand that because I wanted to make sure I was showing for you uh, not just uh, not an arctic shrew. Basically, I didn't you know. You're a big man on campus, so I wanted to at least look like I've, you know, turned up to the sausage party. Before we get lost in all that, I have to ask you have you been playing?
Speaker 2:Oh, what haven't I been playing? Oh, my God. So most recently, the new Donkey Kong, donkey Kong Bonanza. Oh yes, tell me about that Loving that. Do you know? It was one of those games that they announced and I was kind of like this looks alright and that was my overall opinion of it. I'll be honest, this looks alright and picked it up. I was a bit behind because it turned up. I've been working away in foreign countries for my sins for the last couple of weeks for some events and I've come back and there was my copy sitting on the doorstep and I absolutely adore it. My biggest regret is I couldn't start playing it two weeks earlier, but that is just a phenomenal game and I can see that appearing in a lot of Game of the Year lists for people, because it's just very different. I think anyone who enjoyed mario odyssey will love this, but a lot of people didn't realize that this is a prequel to mario odyssey. Um, and anyone who was just expecting your bog standard donkey kong game will be very pleasantly surprised. Um, so that that is just quality, um.
Speaker 2:On the same day, actually, the new Robocop expansion slash DLC however you want to put it, unfinished Business came out and I've been playing that as well, because I was a big fan of the 2023 Rogue City. It was in my top 15 games of the year and this is just more of the same, with a few extra bonus bits. It's good. I wouldn't say it's as good as the main game and, considering it's been out a couple of weeks, there's a bit of lag. I think they need to do an update on it. I've been playing on Xbox and it's a bit laggy in places, but it's still great fun. It's more of the same. You can shoot arms, limbs, bollocks off whatever you want to do. The same you can shoot arms, limbs, bollocks off. Whatever you want to do Causes much damage and mayhem and you could just be an unstoppable tank. And they've put other things in it. There is a segment where you play as Alex Murphy, which is totally cool. My only thing is Peter Weller's fantastic and it's great that they brought Peter Weller back for Robocop, but he's weird because when he's playing Murphy, he's talking like Robocop. He's not speaking naturally, and that just felt a bit, took me out of it a bit, but apart from that, that's been fun. Other things everyone's been banging on about it Expedition 33. Uh, everyone's been banging on about it. Uh, expedition 33. Uh, that is just pure genius, uh, and congratulations to samful and kepler for making potentially one of the best games of the year.
Speaker 2:And I hate rpgs with a passion. Uh, I've never gotten with rpgs. There's very few rpgs I like um, but this was something amazing. I've probably enjoyed it. Yeah, so loads of that Still playing. They brought out a load more Astro Bot levels Loved Astro Bot Game of the year for me last year. So the more content they keep knocking out the park for free, the better. So it's been a bit of mishmash of stuff really. And then obviously, whatever gets thrown at me to uh talk about on um you know the old twitchy channel and stuff yeah, okay.
Speaker 1:Well, let's just to give people an update. I managed to while I've been on honeymoon. I've managed to finish witcher 3. Uh, on the switch I picked the worst place to play it and doubled down on it, but the Switch 2 has made it slightly more enjoyable. So I've actually been having quite a bit of fun actually being able to play that without blinking every other second to offset the frame rate. I've been playing a bit of Red Dead, which I quite enjoyed and I won't full deep dive. But I've also been made aware of and downloaded a game called Fading Afternoon.
Speaker 1:It's a 2D Yakuza game and the level of detail in that. So it's like a SNES pixel game, yeah, and it's a touch between a beat-em-up, a point-and-click adventure. It makes me feel when you're selecting different actions. But the level of detail in this I, you start the game and I took a subway and my guy was stood there and I thought obviously it's just a transitionary menu and I caught the stick and the guy kind of I caught the left hand stick and the guy just kind of rested on the pole and I was like, hang, hang on a minute. There's no way this level of details in here did I do that. So I flicked it straight again and it stood up. I pushed the stick up and he folded his arms. Oh, hang on a minute. Anyway, you end up. You're staying in a hotel. It's very much a rip-off of Yakuza, but done in a 2D style.
Speaker 1:And I went out onto the balcony and the guy was was there. I was like that's cool, push forward on the stick. He put his arms up on the balcony and leant forward and I was like hang on a minute, can't I have a cigarette? Press action cigarette starts having a cigarette. Like how many variations that?
Speaker 1:So this other um, and I'll tell you what, I would put that game on just to listen to this awesome sort of Japanese 80s jazz soundtrack it is. I don't know quite yet. I need to dig into it a bit more. I don't know quite whether it's the Emperor's Clothes or whether it's the Real Deal. I'm starting to feel it's the Real Deal, so I'm getting a little bit giddy about that. As a work of art, it deserves its place in any art gallery. But uh, yeah, it's.
Speaker 1:It's not a new game. I think I've come to it late, but I think it's a russian developer who's been working on similar games for some time, and this is almost like the, the apex of everything, right? Yeah, um, I've also downloaded a game called hold fast because, uh, it's a napoleonic war simulator and I'll be honest with you, if you've seen the videos on youtube of some guys shouting get with me, boys, everybody in line now, it's your ultimate sharp simulator. Everybody knows I don't do online, but I'm willing to pretend these people are ai as far as I'm concerned if it means I get to play hold fast. So I've got that on download. I've got a stack of games to the roof and this is one of the problems with the industry it's not shy of pumping out the content I've got. I've been saving Death Stranded for the big screen experience didn't want to portal it, so that's been saved.
Speaker 1:Absolutely love that. The first game probably my game of the generation for the ps4.
Speaker 2:I think you'll love the second one even more. I've not played it, but because I never played the first one, but everyone's been saying to me how amazing the second one is, so, um, I'm hyped. Yeah, I even want to try. I actually want to try it, even though I had no interest in the first one I don't think it matters with video games.
Speaker 1:There'll be a bit of an intro, you'll gloss past it and then you'll be deep into another Kijin.
Speaker 2:I mean the intro will be about 45 minutes long, but you know, that's still good.
Speaker 1:It's still part of it. I've got proper FOMO for Claire Obscura as you mentioned earlier in.
Speaker 1:Edition 33. Very, very excited for that. I've got hours and hours and hours and hours of content and games and whatnot just stacked up and the industry, I think, at times, is struggling for air. But one thing that's not struggling for air, it's like a scuba diver with the world's biggest tank. It's timeless. And you're here to pump this baby baby up because, let's face it, one of the most exciting and engaging industry events that the uk knows about. It's one of those places where you can get up, close and personal. There's no behind the step, back behind the curtain. Friend, within this environment, you are seeing us, the interlinked like muscle, and seeing you. It's, it's, it's one of the greatest events. It's growing each year, yeah, each event, to each different scenario. It grows not only in the scale of its its own size but the weight of guests it can carry. Uh, and this year we've got some exciting things to talk about. We've got a new venue, obviously, obviously.
Speaker 1:A new home for Timeless this year. Why don't you? Let's set the scene. Where will we be for Timeless 25?
Speaker 2:For the first time ever, we are going into the fantastic city of Liverpool for Timeless this year. City of culture, yes, the city of culture, actually, one of my two favourite cities of all time. So maybe my other one's, edinburgh, who knows? We might go to Edinburgh one time, just so I can get in some sightseeing after we've done the event. But no, I like Liverpool a lot and I want to say I'm going to say this now I want to say a big thank you to all the team at RK Club, because RK Club have been our home for three years. Yes, and I literally spoke to Andy from RK Club a couple of months ago because we still host some other events there for the Manchester Twitch meet. So we've still got that as our home for that and we're there a couple of times a year. So it's not like we completely ran, but we felt we'd outgrown.
Speaker 2:Rk Club, considering last year, was such a runaway success, even more so than we realised what it was going to be. It was kind of like, okay, we need to have a look at the comments of what people are saying and a few people saying it was getting a bit cramped, it was getting a bit tight and for an event, as you say, that was very open, that you can just go speak to the guests, you can go meet the people. There's no, or you're not allowed in there, or blah, blah, blah. Um, we were like, yeah, it's getting a bit tough. So unfortunately we had to say goodbye to our k club for now. Um, and we uh had, uh, kane'swery brought to our attention and if anyone doesn't know where that is, it is literally across the road from the amazing Format venue. So if you've ever been to Format, it's across the road from it, which is insane. Oh, wow, yeah, so Kane's Brewery has got multiple venues and there is an arcade there. There's free for free floor arcade, uh, with free to play games.
Speaker 2:Um, I'd say, if you're looking for more, um, authentic arcade machines in terms of, like the real retro stuff, that's where arcade club does win. But if you're looking for a good mix of stuff, a modern stuff as well, this is where arcane steps up, because it has got a lot of retro stuff, but then it's got a heck of a lot of gaming PCs. It's got Switches, playstation 5s, xbox Series, xs, some VR games. It's got a lot of other new machines, machines that I've not seen before, um, and a lot of your classic machines as well, um, and on top of that it's got, it's got, um, it's got, like the uh, mini NES, mini SNES, uh, game cube, uh, I think of the main, was it the mini?
Speaker 2:Uh, I think of the main, was it the mini PlayStation that they brought out, a mini mega drive. You can even play those if you want to, there, um, and the arcade itself is pretty well spaced out and you know they've got little seating areas everywhere, um, and then they've got a number of bars, and then there's like one bar that's over 18s, but we're opening that up to everyone, so that's got even more seating.
Speaker 1:Hang on a minute. So if you're coming as an 11-year-old kid, you can get into an 18-year-old bar area. No questions asked.
Speaker 2:Correct. Yeah, For one day only of the year, they are allowing us to do that at the venue.
Speaker 1:So all the Chilli Poppers listening. Now this is your chance to have a pint with the big boys.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, go get your pints, go get your ID denied and then sit there with your panda pops instead.
Speaker 1:While you're watching. Yeah, there's Shandy. No one will know the difference.
Speaker 2:But yeah. So there's different bars. They've got a cafe again with a good range of food, but you can also order from one of the bars. So if you don't want to sit in a cafe, you can also order from one of the bars. So if you don't want to sit in a cafe, you can literally get pizzas and paninis from one of the bars.
Speaker 2:So that's quite cool. But the other thing is the arcade is just the arcade this year, so you normally pay about 20 quid to get into the arcade anyway. So this year, with Timeless, what we've done differently is we've taken over two venues, so it's a lot bigger. So we've actually taken over the Irish pub that's next door to it, called Punch Tarmys. So Punch Tarmys is going to be the heart of Timeless. So you'll walk in, you get your tickets, you've got a load of exhibitors in the first room, you've got your challenge stage smack banging, plus there's a bar, so all the competitions are taking place on there. You can then walk through to the next room, which has got a load more exhibitors and a huge bar, and you can order food from there as well. So basically, you've got the food at the arcade and you've got a completely different menu at Punch Tarmis. So if you don't like the stuff that's the arcade, you can have proper-sized meals and stuff like steaks.
Speaker 1:Hang on a minute, because what I'm seeing in front of me is almost like a Greek goal. You've cleared this mountainside and you've said, no, I'm going to build. I'm going to build a temple to game, and this is what I'm going to do. And this is what you do every time. It doesn't matter where it is. You find somewhere, boom, clear it off. Bury. Whoever thought they had a three tier arcade club?
Speaker 2:guess what.
Speaker 1:Lightning doesn't strike once for Mags, it strikes two and three times. And look, here he is, liverpool. Do you know what? No one even knew? Let me clear the space arcade, pub, gaming centre.
Speaker 1:So you've built the Acropolis here. You've built this. You've set a topic. Like you're in your throne, you're there. You've put on this amazing venue for the, for the plebs of the world, us gamers. We're like my god mags. He's done it again. He's only gone and done it again. Now you've created the venue, but now you're gonna fill it, as if that wasn't enough for us to go and have a good time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you've now filled this gaming temple with and I'm going to let you do, I'm going to let you spill the beans. But events, gaming, celebrities, activities, games to play the arcade, developers, people bringing industry inside of bits and bobs, the whole thing. That's what I'm saying here. Putting a night on where there's an arcade is one thing, but you're filled with the smattering of, let's face it, the very cream of the gaming industry, and I'm not just talking highbrow celebs, I'm talking cosplayers, the whole bag of tricks. Now I don't want to put words in God's mouth, so I'm going to let you now from your throne and I'll going to let you now from your throne. And I'll be honest with you. We should address for this, but I think it's all part of it. Maybe I flicked a loincloth over me out of embarrassment.
Speaker 2:I mean I could put some pants on, but I don't think it's worth it.
Speaker 1:No, when people imagine this scene, they're going to imagine a tripod in a chair basically telling us about gaming celebrities and we, we need a slice of this. Mags, tell me, do you want to drop this like morsel by morsel? Are you just going to just spew it all?
Speaker 2:I don't mind, I don't mind.
Speaker 1:However, however, your public demands it, I will give it, I I want a full-on, almost rainbow spew of everything from you, and then we're going to nibble through each and every little morsel.
Speaker 2:Okay, let's hammer through the whole thing. So, for the first time ever, we're running a VIP night. So for the content creators and all the VIP ticket holders and by the time you listen to this, I don't think there'll be any VIP tickets left so my apologies, because we've literally only got five at time recording. We have brought Jason Bradbury back because obviously he was our opening keynote last year. This year we're bringing him back for the VIP night only, so he's not going to be on the main event and he's going to be sharing footage of the film that he kick-started and launched and he's going to get the audience's opinion. So there's going to be 100 content creators, 100 VIPs saying we love that scene compared to that scene, we love that scene, that scene, that scene. So that's that the main event.
Speaker 2:We have got WhatCulture, whatculture Gaming. For the first time. We've got two of the team from WhatCulture plus. We've got two other members that are still guests on their podcast and do feature from time to time. We've got scott, um, who's been with them for 11 years, and we've also got ash milman that also was on playstation access and now does the horror game awards. Ash is fantastic, um. So we both got scott and ash.
Speaker 2:And then, actually, from what culture we've got, um, uh, we've got josh and sy, um, so it's almost like we're keeping that theme people know about timeless is we do the retro, we do the modern. So, ironically, we've got two presenters that used to be on it and we've got two presenters that are on it, so that that ticks the boxes, which is great. So they're going to be sharing their, their stories. Um, we've got ashen's back, but ashen's is not a keynote speaker. Ashens is actually one of our guest hosts this year, so he will be there, uh, running that panel for us. Um, we have, for the first time ever I am a mad fan of jackbox and jackbox have very kindly sponsored us, so we are doing something called mags jackbox bonanza, uh, where we will be playing Jackbox games and giving away copies of Jackbox. So I expect that to be chaos in a jar. Yeah, that'll be all right, and it's a family-friendly event, so I've had to pick the games very carefully, so no penis.
Speaker 1:We are advocating underage drinking as well, though.
Speaker 2:Oh well, yeah, because obviously they're all going to get denied, so it's fine. What else have we got? Drinking as well, though. Oh well, yeah, because obviously they're all gonna get denied. Um, so, uh, it's, it's fine. Um, uh, what else we got? We've got the content creator panel, which is always obviously very popular. Um, this year, uh, we've got, uh, your mate and my mate uh, she's very famous, big fuzzy yak hosting the panel. So she's there hosting the panel. And then we've got a couple of creators. We've got Tommy from Studio 42, which is one of the largest TikTok agencies in the world, so he's there sharing his advice and knowledge for TikTok.
Speaker 2:We've got Hemp's Finest, who's a great guy who's been through a hell of a lot and can share his story, and he's got probably one of the best comeback stories. He's a Twitch partner. That's out there. We've got Hibajibu, also known as Danny, great cosplayer. She's on there. One-handed gamer, great guy. Alex can literally play tournaments and smash games with his disability Such a good guy. They're all on the panel.
Speaker 2:Slopes is back with his ever-popular quiz. Slopes' game room is back. That was probably the one thing that was the most rammed for last year, apart from Jason, was Slopes' quiz. So that's back with a vengeance. We've got our Making of Tomb Raider panel.
Speaker 2:We have got the wonderful Heather and Gav basically talking about how they started the Tomb Raider panel. We have got the wonderful Heather and Gav basically talking about how they started the Tomb Raider games, how they made them. Also got Daryl Baxter, the author of the making of Tomb Raider book, who is also going to be and this isn't a spoiler is going to be announcing that the second book is underway and launching a second book, so you'll be able to get copies signed by heather and gav and daryl. Uh, there will be a little signing table for them, just purely them. Um, also there that they've got an event in october, so they'll be promoting that.
Speaker 2:Um. We've got the wonderful paul monaghan, who's the editor of pixel addict, hosting that panel. Um, we are back with our cosplay. This is possibly going to be the biggest cosplay competition we've ever held jinx and our co, uh, uh, co-hosts are back, and what's nice is um, we've got a couple of um judges that we've been with jinx. So we've got referia back, uh, and a few of the others familiar faces, but we've actually got the person that won the cosplay competition last year coming back as a judge, which I thought was a really nice touch.
Speaker 2:That is nice. So Ares, who won it last year, who, by memory, was so dumbstruck that they won it couldn't believe it. So now they are a judge. So anyone was like, oh, we're never going to beat Ares. Well, you potentially can, because Ares won't be taking part Nice. So they're going to be there.
Speaker 2:And then, for the first time ever, we are doing some evening entertainment on the main stage, where we've got the lads of Did you Know? Gaming. So Daz and Greg are there. And then we're bringing the what Culture team back Slopes, back Ashen's back, where we are doing an interactive competition where the audience can take part, but some of our special guests from earlier in the day are also competing against each other on stage, and I can't tell you much more than that because it would spoil it, but that is something we're doing. So we're doing some evening stuff as well.
Speaker 2:On top of that, we've got the challenge stage, where we mix some of the best of retro gaming with modern gaming, and we're doing Super Smash Bros, we're doing Astro Bot, super Mario Bros 3, obviously Just Dance with MZ Lee, the amazing Just Dancer. She's there. So we've got all them and they're going to be in full Just Dance cosplay with Just Dance judges as well. We're going to do FC25, because people always say you never do FIFA. Well, we're doing FIFA now and we've got the brand new Mario Kart World for the first time, because we've done Mario Kart for the last three years. So Mario Kart World, so we're doing that all on there.
Speaker 2:And then, after the main stage is closed, we're going to take some of you into the arcade because we're going to do a Pac-Man competition on the giant Pac-Man machine and the arcade at nine o'clock at night, and then we're going to do a Rampage competition and a Guitar Hero. So people kept saying why don't you utilize some of the machines in the arcade for competitions? So that's what we're doing. So if you guys want to carry on gaming into the late hours because we I think we're going to be open until 11 o'clock, maybe even midnight um, you can carry on gaming and playing games. Yes, some of you underage drinkers could potentially win a drink from the bar, but it'll have no alcohol in it. So the arcade competitions are something that's a little bit more fun. There's no massive prizes, but we'll probably chuck in a couple of dogs and a couple of rounds of drinks for people who win the competition.
Speaker 1:I'll be honest with you the opportunity to come possibly drink at the bar and have a late night, up till maybe midnight, I mean, let alone the rest of the stuff you've put on. But let's go through that because, yeah, that's a lot. I feel like I've been stood at the foot of tsunami. No, I looked up at the Acropolis and I thought, my God, that's impressive alone. And then you just went, whoa, and it was a lot.
Speaker 1:So and I thought my God, that's impressive alone. And then you just went, whoa, and it was a lot. So let's just run through some of those bullet points. I don't know where to begin. Let's start at the beginning, okay, so the VIP night for the content creators, that's all teed up on the night before. It's a bit of a preamble.
Speaker 1:We don't want to hype it too much, but great to hear Jason come come back to all those that are going to be able to gain access to that. What a great event to be able to work in conjunction with him towards this, this movie that he's putting together. Um, obviously it's in. It's the shooting's done and they're in an editing creation phase, which is amazing. And to get an insight to that in a film's incarnation, let alone one about gaming that Jason's involved in, is, to be honest with you, industry-defining. So props to you for that. Thank you. Clear the decks yeah, the next day we start off early. Now some of these guests. Let's start with ashen's, because he's what your hosts were the most for the event he's, he's, he's the host for the what culture panel.
Speaker 2:For this one, you still got, you still got me as you still got me as the host for the main stage I was getting a bit nervous there, where you are for you yeah, I'm taking a bit of step, a step back, but I'm not taking a massive step back.
Speaker 2:So, uh, last year I had the stupid idea of trying to bounce between two stages, which I'm never going to do again. Um, I mean, this is made easier because obviously we had a stage on the ground floor last year and we had a stage on the second floor. Yeah, the good thing about this is because obviously, as I said, we're in the irish pub pub. It's one big floor and you just go from room to room to room. So there's three big rooms in Punch Tarmies and then you can go to the arcade and then you can go up and downstairs or up a lift or whatever you want to do. So to get to one stage to the other is actually a lot easier this year, but I'm going to be mainly tied to the main stage, so that's where you'll find me, that's my home. And then jinx is running the uh challenge stage, which is in the first room so let's, let's, let's segue into that, because the cosplay section of yeah the.
Speaker 1:The, the cosplay section of of tarnus has always been probably one of the best parts. You know you can be you can be a rank amateur, turning up with something you made in poundland on the way, or you can turn up literally bedecked and head to toe with the most lifelike recreation of of your gaming hero.
Speaker 1:And and jinx pulls it all together, lovely girl um and and makes that to honest the spine that runs up and down the event. It's lovely to see people in the gear and to reward that and encourage them to come as well, because nothing lifts an event than seeing your favourite gaming hero right next to you.
Speaker 2:I know, do you know what? And the nice thing is, this year we've seen a lot of stuff of people that are actually putting their costumes together and we've been sent photos and some of it some has been posted on social media and some of it has been sent to the team say, look, we're going to turn up like this, uh, and we're like, oh my god, like people are really really like stepping up the game in terms of the cosplay this year and I don't want to spoil it for somebody One person has done this phenomenal outfit which goes really well with one of the panels that we're doing, and it's just like how long did that take? Because that's insane. So, yeah, I think this will be the biggest cosplay parade and Jinx is amazing with what she does. She puts her heart and soul and obviously all the others, all the other cosplay judges as well.
Speaker 2:But they just keep it moving and go around and talk to the cosplayers, say, do you want to get joining in the parade and stuff, and then, if they take part you know we had three people win lots of prizes and then they did an audience vote last year. I don't know what jinx's plans are yet, whether we're doing that or not. I'll find out closer to the time, but, um, you know we had five winners. Um and uh, you know, aries ended up becoming an official judge, which I know they were very, very happy about, so I mean incredible and and maybe a glimpse into the future of the next one as well.
Speaker 1:So it's open and, as I said before, no glass separating here, no kind of ranks of peerage. There's none of that. It's muscle and sinew, as I said, literally intertwined, and that's what makes this event special. Now we flipped away from the.
Speaker 2:I put you up as a Greek god, but everyone's got a boss, and as far as I'm concerned, let's look up another couple of panthers and there's actions.
Speaker 1:Right there he is. He's back now. That guy is a legend, not only within the gaming industry, also film, yeah, television, he's been everywhere. Comedy he's everything. And he's a phenomenal youtuber. But I'll tell you one thing he is friend of the show, very humble man. He's a very humble man, yeah, and to have him there again chairing the what culture panel very interesting. Tell me about that dynamic um.
Speaker 2:So stewart wanted to be involved again. I mean, he was, he was amazing for us last year and his support and everything was just overwhelming and he was just kind of like I want to do it again Now. We kind of have a policy that we try not to bring the same guest back year on year. Now, obviously I know we're doing slopes, his quiz but that's always popular. It's a different kind of format and if we have brought guests back, we've used them in a different way. So we kind of wanted to use the same strategy.
Speaker 2:I said to Stuart look, um, we don't want you to do another talk. No offense, um, but we would like you to be involved, um. And he said well, whatever you need me for. So we were like well, why don't you host the what culture panel? Because you know, from one youtuber to another, um, they can share their experiences and talk about, you know, the pros and cons of youtube and especially something like what culture, which is a behemoth of a channel and as different outbreaches as well, because obviously ash, you used to be with them obviously helped define the what culture horror channel, yes, and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:So they branched out into what culture, watch culture, gaming, blah, blah blah. So I think it'd be interesting to see their opinions on that. And then, obviously, we got a bit of fun with bringing him back for the evening, but he's just generally there to support us and he's he's honest words were uh, even if you don't need me to do anything, I will still come support the event, and that just shows you what a gentleman he is. Um, what? So yeah?
Speaker 1:he, he makes me weak. He don't even need to get out of bed in the mornings and yet he's there and he's what the thing about is. He'll be bringing in stuff, he'll be setting up banners for you, he'll be cleaning the bar down. He's the most realist man ever. He. He'll be there, front and centre, giving his all. The guy is a lovely guy and I think, wrapping that up, it's a great endearment to yourself. The fact that he wanted to come back, the fact he wants to be involved. Like I say, he could be opening a quicksave in Dagenham, but instead he's here, right and he's hosting this panel, which is great.
Speaker 1:Now, before we scratch the scab off, that's a terrible way of putting it. The Watt culture on my own channel huge to have them there we talk about. You mentioned Slopes coming back. You say, oh well, we try not to have the same people. But let me tell you now Slopes a little bit like the King's speech. It's got to be there now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a firm favourite, the quiz.
Speaker 1:And I'll tell you what. There's something about it that, as you say, that room fills. He commands the stage. It feels like you're part of a slick game show and he brings that kind of down to earth, debonair kind of feel to it that makes it's. I would say that's probably one of the most almost family vibe moments of the show, where he brings you all together and it's warm, it's inclusive. Bringing him back I think is is a masterstroke mate, if I'm honest again, he's another absolute gen and me and Slopes get on very well.
Speaker 2:It's funny how our relationship has grown in that respect. I've got a lot of time for him. He obviously has a lot of time for us, which we greatly appreciate. I'm going from, say, maybe three years ago, where we didn't even know each other, to this point where now, um, we'll have a quick natter on whatsapp, uh, about random things, which is great. Um, or he'll pop into, he'll pop into watch, or he's been on my show, or he's popped in, uh, to say hello on twitch, and vice versa.
Speaker 2:It's, it's, it's heartwarming, I think, the fact that he's just so passionate and, again, he's another person that, just like Stuart, can see what we're trying to do. I'm going to put this very plain we are a no-frills gaming event. We ain't got massive budgets, we ain't got massive sponsors. We literally there's three of us putting this thing on together and, any way, you can support us, we will, and we support him in the same way, because we're just like look, if you're coming to do this for us, bring the family, because it's a family-friendly event and, as you said, his quiz was. He had people of all ages doing his quiz last year and that's why it was so popular, and it is. We we're very much a family-orientated event, so we said to him bring all the family again and come and have some fun with us. So yeah, it'll be bringing that back.
Speaker 1:And no doubt it'll still be rammed. Mate, I've just it's peaked. Darling, hold my hand, nothing beats a timeless gaming convention. Use UCP25 for 15% off off. That's money for a family of four absolutely phenomenal. The family vibe slopes, to be honest.
Speaker 1:Uh, friend of the show he's. He's been on, he's a lovely guy. Every time we bump into him at one of these events he's warm, he's friendly. Same for Ashton's. He doesn't need neither of them need to look at me, even in a polite way. They should probably just slap the living snot out of me. They embrace me, they embrace everybody in the room and they make everyone feel inclusive and that, to be honest, mate, is something that is my biggest takeaway. It's a great event, but it's a great place to make friends, and I say this every time.
Speaker 1:As gamers, we tend to be a bit, you know, hide-in-our-bed-dreams kind of characters. We don't necessarily do well in a face-to-face environment, but the one thing that kind of makes it all okay is timeless. It can take me a more awkward man at best of times and it can throw me into a situation with other awkward people. Gamers, nerds, you know we all flock to the same drum. We're not a cool nerd like you, but we aspire to be and we get a foothold into this event. Now the arcade, his family, everything that you've themed has always been. I've brought my own children to your event and, I'll be honest with you, they probably got more out of it than me. Now they're down with the kids. They're cool, too cool for school at times, and they were blown away by it. Now, not only that, but to draw all that back in again.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:It's incredible.
Speaker 2:Honestly, it's probably the one thing that we're most praised on and it's something we're probably the most proudest of as well is that we try to be as inclusive as possible, and this is another reason why we can't remove venues, because we look back at some of the feedback and we wanted a venue that had better disability access, which this has, and for the first time a year, we've offered disability concessions, because there is one floor of the arcade that we can't get wheelchairs and stuff to, so we've offered a discount because they're missing out on one floor. Now, granted, a lot of the same stuff is on the second floor and the third floor, so don't miss out as much. But for that inconvenience we've done that and we've offered the carers tickets as well that go alongside that. So if you've got a carer, the carer can come free. But it meant there's better disability access, there's more space for all the neurodivergent people who were like wow, it's a bit crazy in here. There's more spaces to sit, there's more quiet areas, there's more just general seating areas in the whole building, just generally, not just the arcade but in the pub as well.
Speaker 2:So if you're sitting and go, do you know what? I want? To sit this one out. You can sit out but still watch it. But for the first time ever, we've got a giant courtyard outside at the back, which, if you're just going whoa, my mind's overstimulated, this is way too much. You can go sit in the courtyard. It's a quiet area. It's got a big roof, so if it does tip it down with rain which fingers crossed it won't, because it's always been baking out every time. We've done this. Yes, um, um, you can just sit out there. And then there's a qr code on the on, like the park benches. You click that and you can order your food and drink to the table. So that's been included, the variety of food we've covered for. So there's two completely different restaurants. Um, there's like five bars which cater for all different types of drinks, and it's just like.
Speaker 2:We basically look back at the feedback and we're like right, we're a very inclusive event and, as you said, just for the people the geeks, nerds, gamers this is the event that they do flock to and say this is our rite of passage, to turn up here. Yes, because we talk to everyone, and this is the other thing. We also decided to scrap the crater lounge, which has ruffled a few feathers, because we had a crater lounge last year to say thank you to our craters, with a little area they could go. This year we said no, we want it to be all open. So there is like a crater area which is like the third room, but it's open to everyone so you can go in there and play some other games, win prizes and do some other stuff. So there's loads of stuff going on there, courtesy of the Gamer Guide, but the idea is it's open to everyone.
Speaker 2:And our way of saying thank you to the content creators is we put the VIP night on. So that's their thing, that they get right and the VIPs get that, including their ticket. But we want the whole event to be open to everybody and everything. And this is the other thing. We always pick guests that will quite openly walk around the venue and talk to you, no matter who you are. They'll be happy to sign an autograph or happy to have a selfie or happy just to talk games. And that's what makes Timeless. It's not all this stuff we chuck into it, it is the whole concept of it. Doesn't matter where you're from, what games you play, what area you're from. You are always welcome at this event and you will always be made to feel welcome, and that's the one thing that we love about this.
Speaker 1:Well, something you touched on there. As a fan as I am of Arcade Club Bury, I have to admit there's been a couple of times at the last two events where I've been very overwhelmed.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, it can be. It's an amazing venue. It can be, but especially with people on the spectrum of neurodivergent all those machines flashing noises I had a mate of mine who went last year and he had to step outside and he was just like I love this place so much but I think my brain's going to explode.
Speaker 1:Well, it's almost. I look at it this way right, that would be overwhelming anyway. But if you're in any way even excited about gaming, you're rubbing shoulders at these events with your arcade heroes. The machines themselves run off. It's like being given a pass to Santa's Grotto. You're seeing everything.
Speaker 1:I've had to step outside a couple of times. The talk of this area where you can sit and chill in the little walled area, as you call it, I think, is absolutely fantastic. It gives you a moment to breathe, but it doesn't mean that you have to step outside, outside. So you've got this extra space now where you can chill between, but you're still part of it. Barry's great, but obviously when you step outside, you're outside. Yeah, yeah, whereas this. I like this idea, mags, I love it. Every single time you just pop another stitch in the perfect scenario In again.
Speaker 1:Now, these things don't happen by chance, they're by design and I have to doff my cap to you. But let me say we're obviously going to pump the living daylights out of this and obviously the listeners are hearing this and they're like yeah, george, you've been on about this all week. You've run that code down our throats. You've put the link so far up our noses. We actually think it's our own DNA. We don't know what's happening to us anymore. Now they're going to be there. One thing I'm going to say, I'm going to say it now. I'm going to throw myself out there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, at some point in time at this event, there will be a prize. One of those will be the. Now I haven't really talked enough about this, but we've been lucky enough. Cult status. I don't even know what it is, but we've been. We've, we've actually got our own version of it. Ucp against humanity. I can't I can't even begin to imagine what world we're living in where this is a thing. And we're going to give two boxes to you to give away. That's amazing, thank you. So, uh, what relevance that's got to someone who doesn't know the cult status of the UCP? I guess they'll find out by the time they've read through the card.
Speaker 2:Well, that's the thing. If there's anyone who has not heard of you, then they will have to start listening so they can understand the thing. So it's a win-win for everybody. They get to play a game and they get to listen to your podcast.
Speaker 1:So I can tell Mum and Auntie Doris to step down because we've got two more listeners, so you can relax, you can enjoy your retirement.
Speaker 2:They can now go on alternative weeks.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love my mum, but sometimes it's pangs of guilt, max, to be honest, of having to widen into all those clockwork orange machines and feeding the UCP 24-7 like a battery hen. I think it's having a bit of a negative effect on her, I'll be honest, although I sell the UCP as a cure to all ills. Although now Timeless has come along, I'll be honest, I look a little bit like a snake horse, ellsman, but you know when real medicine turns up you've got to sup down. So one thing I want to touch on you've always been a rabid fan and supporter in your own world of the Jackbox games. Now I have, yeah, talk to me about the insane chaos that is you doing a jackbox party game at timeless 25 yeah, um, so this was a bit of a random one.
Speaker 2:So I've been loving jackbox since. I stumbled on it, like most people kind of, during the pandemic and that was even before I even started content creating and streaming fell in love with the games and then it was something that's a regular feature on my streams. We play them and then, literally this year I don't know if you either sheer hard work or recognition or just by plain stupid luck, which I think it is the latter I was approached by the agency that looked after jackbox and said would you like to do some streams purely for us? And we did them. Uh, going back, uh, start of july, start of july, um, just before I disappeared on my travels, um, and it went down really well. And they came back to us and said well, obviously we've got some stuff coming out in late year, but if you've got anything else going on, do let us know.
Speaker 2:Now we've run some mini versions of this for the Manchester Twitch meets and it always goes down well. We just drop 15 minutes in here and there and I said well, actually we do do an event, and is there any way? I realize Jackbox are in a completely different country, but is there any way they could support it? And I went yeah, if you want to do this, we'll chuck you a load of Jackbox games as prizes and send you some stuff and we'll support it. So they have very kindly. The wonderful people at Jackbox are supporting this, so we are going to play again some family-friendly Jackbox games. So unfortunately, you will not be able to draw penises, I'm just telling you now.
Speaker 1:Who says?
Speaker 2:Well, me, because I've picked the games that you can't draw penises. So you know a family-friendly event. But we pick games that you answer the questions but you can't write, because, look, when we do it on stream, people will write derogatory things or things that are a bit saucy. That's fine. This we can't. So we've picked the games where you just have to pick answers, but it's still a lot of fun and we're just going to get 10 people up at a time over the course of 45 minutes to an hour, and we're just going to play some random Jackbox games, but every time the one person wins, they win a jack box game. We've got quite a few to give away. We've got, uh, some of the new ones. There's a survey scramble, there's the naughty pack for the adults out there, uh, we've got some of the party packs, uh, starter packs, uh, and all that. So they've very kindly given us a load of um jack box games to give away. So we'll probably play about five or six rounds of jack box.
Speaker 1:You say very kindly, but in the space of the next 12 months, if you're not the face of Jackbox Party, these people need their head inspected. And if you're listening now, you're blowing your best opportunity here to make this game relevant to the rest of the world. It's a select few Max can. It's a select few Mags can take this thing global.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, you want the box Jackbox 11 coming out in October?
Speaker 1:I believe it is so I'm sure we'll do stuff with them, but it's time to reshoot the box art Mags. I think it's about time you put your foot down.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I Do. You can imagine if I ended up being one of the celebrity guests on things not like Fibbage or something. That'd be funny, you know, just because you've got like Cookie and a few of the others. But can you imagine hey, this is Mags and we're doing well. Actually I wouldn't want to take it away from the other ones. So if they come up with a new game that I could do.
Speaker 1:No, no, take it away from them.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:I'm not.
Speaker 2:No, let's not get ideas above our station here. I don't make the games. I do not create the games.
Speaker 1:I just enjoy playing the games To me. You're the face, okay, you're that guy, you're that dude. I'm just saying Listen, jackbox, don't blow this. You've got the best thing ever on fly's toast right in front of you.
Speaker 2:I am very grateful for everything they've done for me this year, so it's fine. As far as I'm concerned, they've done more than enough, so this was a beautiful gesture from them. I don't want them turning around going bloody hell. We heard that UCP podcast, by the way. We're not doing anything else with you.
Speaker 1:I think they're more likely going to say, yeah, that guy is crazy, but you are the face you are. Let's get a picture on the green screen holding the Abel version. That's all I'm saying. Yeah, the naughty pack.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you are the naughty pack. The naughty pack too. There you go. I could feature on that.
Speaker 1:Perfect. Now we've talked about a lot of things. You spewed rainbow across us at the beginning. Let's double down a little bit more on some of the panels. Talk to me about a little bit more in depth. The Tomb Raider panel what's happening here and people turning up for this alone? Yeah, there are.
Speaker 2:The Tomb Raider panel. We're very fortunate Again. We always focus on the new uh and and the retro, and obviously the last two years we've had some great uh remasters of the tomb raider games. Last year we got tomb raider one to three and this year we got four to six. Yeah, and we got, we got.
Speaker 2:Thinking I'm going well, wouldn't it be good to hear the stories of the people that originally made those games? So we've got a panel. We've got the wonderful Heather it was like the original, original voice of Lara before they got the voice person in to do Lara, which was great and she'd done artwork and stuff and she used to work for Rare and she said she will gnaw anyone's ear off if they buy her a gin and tonic. That was her exact words, which I absolutely loved, wow. And we've got Gavin that worked on the games and put a lot of content in it and they've probably got some of the best stories to tell about how it all came about. And then obviously we've also got Daryl Baxter. Now, everyone who doesn't know Daryl, daryl's an accomplished author and he's wrote a number of gaming books, but one of the most successful ones was the Making of Tomb Raider, so he spent a lot of time with these wonderful guys and gals behind the scenes talking about their experiences and sharing stories. So he's got another book that's coming out. So he knows these guys like they're his best friends, so he knows just as much. So we put a slant on it. So it's technically we're not talking Tomb Raider 1 to 6. Oh, how did you? It's like the making of Tomb Raider. That's what we've gone for, so we can share the stories and highlights and all the technical details.
Speaker 2:And we've got Paul Monaghan from Pixel Addict, who hosted the Legends panel last year. Obviously he knows his retro stuff, so he'll be. He's interviewed Daryl before but has never met Daryl, so he's over the moon that he gets to do, oh wow. So he's going to sit down with the three of them and interview them and ask questions. But then all you Tomb Raider fans can ask your questions to the panel as well.
Speaker 2:But not just that. There is going to be a stand close to the stage where a wonderful gentleman called Luke Earl, who's helped put this panel together because I'm not taking the credit for putting this panel together, but Luke Earl. He runs a Tomb Raider convention every year and they've got theirs running in October. So Luke will be there so you can find out more information, because they can pull in more names than we ever could for the tomb raider thing. So you can go speak to luke, find out more about the event in october, but then you can see this wonderful panel. But then heather gavin, daryl, will be there. You can sit down, you can chat to them at this this stand. You can get stuff signed by them. You can even buy copies of Daryl's book. Get that signed by all of them if you want, and then you can pass through him to find out when the second book's going to come out.
Speaker 1:I mean, this is incredible Access to the very Adam and Eve of the Tomb Raider franchise and their own personal bibliographer along for the ride as well. Who's collated the history, who, as you say, has interwoven himself into the very fabric of the Tomb Raider franchise. What better person to chair that interaction? And I suppose, as we led into it, you kind of touched on it. I'm sat here now listening to episode 280, the ucp upon. Oh, this is incredible. How do I get involved? Okay, well, ucp 25 gets you 15 off. It doesn't really get any better than that. We've already talked about the jet 2, like this account of that incredible and and just for you listener, but they're going to get to turn up now. How do they pose their question for this panel? What's the platform?
Speaker 2:It's going to be pretty simple. We'll literally stick your hands up in the air and we'll try and get around to you as many of you as possible in the time that we've got.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but how open is that? So it's not precluded. It's not answers on a card. Get read out, possibly, possibly, maybe it's put your hand in the air and have the patience, or maybe the longest arm or the most outrageous sleeve.
Speaker 2:Yes, this panel's probably the panel that's got the longest amount of time, because it's slightly over an hour. So obviously, paul's going to interview them and ask questions and they're going to share stories for, let's say, a good chunk of the 40, 45 minutes and then for the next 15, 20, 20 minutes you can literally just ask away. And if you, if you unfortunately don't get selected from the questions, then you can still go up to them after the panel and ask your questions personally to them. Isn't that the joy? Yeah, and this is the other thing as well.
Speaker 2:I forgot to say this on the vip night, all our guests that are on the main stage, you're going to be at the vip night. So if you that are on the main stage, you're going to be at the vip night. So if you're kind of like, want to get some questions in early, a lot of them are going to be there and they're happy to answer questions. So what culture team ashen's? Uh, obviously, you know jason's going to be there, but all the team raider panel, all them lot will be there. So if you're like, well, I want to get the questions in early, you know you can. Uh, they're not going to mind because they're there to you know. Have a chat to everyone, so that's that's what it is now.
Speaker 1:One thing I've noticed is there's a hell of a lot of cross-pollination of ucp friends here and a hell of a lot of cross-pollination of timeless friends. That's one of those people that you mentioned on the way is big fuzzy yak. Now what? What's her involvement in this?
Speaker 2:so, uh, sarah, I absolutely adore um, I first met her two years ago, uh, wasd, and it was all over to do with the fact there was no milk for coffee or tea, um, at this event, which was hilarious, and we just got talking, and I think that the thing that strikes me about Sarah is just a wonderful American accent and we just hit it off. And ever since then, we've got this funny thing where, whatever event we're at together, she will shout from across the room oh my God, you're famous. And I'm like, yep, there's big fuzzy yak and um, she, she came to timeless last year for the first time with a wonderful husband uh, big fuzzy panda.
Speaker 1:so yeah, yeah, I feel he needs pumps as well.
Speaker 2:I big, yeah, he's such a lovely guy he's, they're just just the most wonderful couple, full stop. And so we, we were uh, we, we wanted to get big fuzzy yak on on the panel, the creator panel, because she's just she's bit again. She's a person that, if you don't know her that well, she's been through a lot bless her. But she just constantly bounces back. The content she brings out is amazing. If there's an event on anywhere in London, maybe related, she's at it, which just shows you how popular she is.
Speaker 1:F1 as well. Don't forget, she's a big F1 fan, oh huge F1 fan and bless her.
Speaker 2:she invited me to her birthday birthday party, which was a screening of the f1 film, and of course muggins here is the other side of the friggin world doing more events, so I I couldn't go so I was absolutely wounded, but it was nice to be invited to that and that's sweet, so we well.
Speaker 2:I said to her look, do you want to be on this panel? And she was like, oh yeah, I'd love to. And then she stopped and paused and went hell, I could even present it. And I went, yep, and she went no, I was joking, I was like no, no, no, I'm not. So you are doing it because she's bright. She's vibrant yes, I totally agree um, you know, uh, I just thought it was a perfect fit so I'll be honest, mate, over the years her rise to prominence has been great.
Speaker 1:You talk of her coverage of London events. Really great, you know, really flawless in fact. And I think you know that sort of slow growth of people well, not slow, but insane growth of people like Fuzzy to the point where she's now coming over, and there's something about her enthusiasm. People like well, not slow, but insane greats, people like Fuzzy to the point where she's now coming over. There's something about her enthusiasm. And we've got a couple of American co-hosts herself. They just add that little bit of showbiz, that little bit of Hollywood, that little bit of gravitas in a way. And it's great to see Fuzzy getting involved. I had the luxury of being in the queue with her the last time. Always friendly, big Fuzzy Panda, always kind, yeah.
Speaker 1:Just the nicest people, right yeah.
Speaker 2:And to be honest with you just like a number of the other people, I can honestly say she's a great friend. It's really good. I don't get to see her husband as much because he doesn't always come to the events. I know he's coming to times, which is fantastic, but whenever we bump into each other like we've seen each other a couple of times this year we have such a laugh. She is a true, true friend, so I love it a bit. So it's just great she can be there for us it's going to make that panel exciting and fun.
Speaker 1:So you know, exciting as you say all these great faces, all this great enthusiasm.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:All assembled under one roof. Yeah, some of them gods themselves. Yes, all praying to the mighty mags, to the timeless.
Speaker 2:Not to me. I'll say to the timeless yeah, whatever, I'm just like the side thing as much as you're inseparable from Jackbox.
Speaker 1:In my mind, even timeless are literally interwoven like DNA. I won't have it any other way, you beautiful man. So we're all there, we've turned up. Okay, very great centre location for Liverpool.
Speaker 2:Very near, yes, easy to get to the centre and everything 15 minutes walk from the city centre, about 15 minutes walk from the docks Loads of parking, loads of hotels, loads of hotels.
Speaker 2:And I'm going to say this now if you haven't bought your hotel, go onto our website because another thing we've done for the first time ever, we have offered cheap, discounted hotels. You can go on the website. Yes, Now most of those hotels have gone, but there are still a few. But we negotiated through our friends, through Conference Liverpool, and they got some great deals on some fantastic hotels. I think some of the cheapest were 75 quid a night and we're talking four-star hotels, three-star four-star hotels. So, yeah, you can get your travel lodges, you can get your Premier Inns. That's fine, but we managed to get some really decent hotels and I think the most expensive ones were 150 a night and they're really decent hotels.
Speaker 1:Darling hold my hand.
Speaker 2:Yeah, nothing beats a timeless holiday.
Speaker 1:Nothing beats a timeless holiday 15% off at UCP25. Perfect, it's, the gods themselves have written this. Now, if I may, let's rest timeless for a moment and move on to Liverpool, because, might I add, beautiful city You're going down for timeless, let's face it. Let's face it, you can have a couple of glasses of pop at least.
Speaker 1:So you're staying over. You wake up the next morning with a day to spend in Liverpool. I am a big Beatles fan. For any even slight interest in musical history or culture whatsoever, it's literally a boiling pot. You could spend a week there and not see everything. You've got the Beatles Museum. You've got the Cavern. You've got the Beatles Experience. You've got the tours. You, you've got the Cavern, you've got the Beatles Experience. You've got the tours. You can go on.
Speaker 1:Let's say you don't like any of that. There's shopping in Liverpool. It's first class, let's face it. We're all going to go nerd out in CAX the next day, pour out the glass at some special edition, while some guy waltzes in big wallet and just buys it and walks out and we all, like little sheep, like look at matey, he's bought the Tomb Raider Special Edition. Lara breast implant edition, boom, three grand. We all follow him around like loving sheep just to sniff it. So there's that whole experience where you make it to the next day so much you know shopping to be involved with things to see, things to do, food.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the food places are insane. Bars and restaurants Well, the one thing about a timeless party is a timeless party. Don't stop so. No doubt at that moment I will pass you outside a recycling bin. I'll mistake you for a homeless person. Throw a couple of pennies in your cup of coffee and you say george mate, oh, my god, it's mags. I't realise I'm a little bit drunk, but the party's carried on Two, three days in Liverpool wrapping around this whole thing. I can't imagine you do sell yourself short. I can't imagine a greater time, a greater place to spend with friends, to make new friends, to learn about exciting new gaming developments. We haven't even touched on some of the people that you've got there supporting content and things.
Speaker 1:We've got all the slabbers there that you could possibly imagine, but they've broken down the barriers. They're in there breaking bread, touching, feeling, smelling as normal people Probably a little bit of BO. We're gamers. I don't want to talk.
Speaker 2:You know you get excited. Just use the ointment please, if you do think you're a bit whiffy.
Speaker 1:I will bring. I will bring roll-on and spray, like the lucky, lucky man in the toilets. I'm going to make it happen for you. I'm going to be a roll. I'll bring a little sort of tea trolley but it's going to have a range of smellies on it just to make sure little nerds are smelling good. A selection of mints get a bit dry mouth. You just met the creator, lara. You don't want to just go up and horse all over him. Here's some polos. Get your mouth wet. A little splash of water, make yourself feel good.
Speaker 1:I was going to say I might turn up dressed as a nurse but I feel like RGT is going to turn up dressed as a nurse, but I feel like RGT's going to turn up dressed as a nurse, right, okay, yeah, I might just have a stethoscope. I might be in a house, something like that. Roadhouse Left boot got it.
Speaker 2:Waiting my whole life to use that.
Speaker 1:What a great time, mate. I don't don't you know so many things to talk about. Is there anything on the table that you think, hang on a minute, let's george wait. You've got excited, you've got giddy. I know you can't wait, but let me just pour a spotlight on this. Is there anything that you want to just pour spotlight to and say, hang on a minute, you've forgotten? This is probably the greatest thing yeah, yeah, do you know what?
Speaker 2:I haven't even mentioned the fact that we've got a load of exhibitors and indie games there. That's the other thing. So we've probably got more exhibitors than we've ever had before. We've got people selling everything from video games to gaming books, gaming magazines, tabletop games, clothing, d&d dice, we've got jewellery, we've got artwork, and then we've got a selection, a little splattered selection of indie games. So in the main stage room we've got four indie games that are up and coming that we've picked personally. So we've got Rock and Scroll, we've got Haven, we've got Nanute, which is a wonderful game from the people from Out the Bit who made the amazing Full Void, and then we've got Sleepytime Village. So they're games that we've personally demoed and played and tried ourselves and will be coming out or just about to come out. So they'll be there.
Speaker 2:Um, we've also got some tech equipment. The wonderful people from techwear are there again. They will be in the what we call the creator room at the back with the team from gamer guide, and you'll be able to play on some of their pcs and win prizes. Um, so the gamer guide are running, as I say, some competitions in there, but we've got the exhibitors spread across the three rooms, so it's almost like a cascade of stuff and again, this is one of the things I said that works, rather than it all being split across floors. Yes, the arcade is split across floors, but you could spend the whole day just in punch tamis, going from room to room to room and back, and it's all on one surface without even stepping foot in the arcade. The arcade's almost like an additional bonus this year. So you know it costs you 20 quid to get in 17 quid if you use that code UCP25.
Speaker 1:Don't hold my hand.
Speaker 2:Woo, nothing beats a UCP holiday. But the thing is it's like it costs you 20 quid to get into the arcade. So you get all this amazing stuff and then if you go into the arcade you save yourself 20 quid anyway, because that's their standard cost to get into the arcade. So whereas the last three years it's going to be an event that's held in an arcade, this year it's an event in its own right, but the arcade's tagged on. And the beautiful thing is it's not a separate entrance to the arcade. You literally walk into punch tamis and you can. Either you'll be straight in the forefront of the first room when you walk in, and then you can either keep going straight ahead, which takes you into the main stage room, and then behind that is the crater room, or you turn right and straight into the arcade. So either way, everything's connectable and you can get from the courtyard from the arcade and you can get from the courtyard from Bunch of Tarmies. So it all links back to each other. So it's just a melting pot of gaming.
Speaker 1:I wanted to get onto the exhibitors. I wanted to get onto now. I've never been to a. I wanted to get onto the exhibitors. I wanted to get onto Now. I've never been to a Timeless event and left with any money, I have to admit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sorry about that.
Speaker 1:No, it's fine, dude. Normally, in this day and age, with a retreat in High Street, it's ever harder to get your hands on physical goods. It's ever harder to get your hands on those exclusive little geeky bits that we all love, that we can't normally. Oh, I'm on a website I'm not really sure, and a lot of these great creators that create insta pages and things, and obviously rowan, um big friend of the show, yeah, um he will.
Speaker 2:He will be there. He's not exhibiting, but he well, his stuff will be on sale on one of the other spans is what I will politely say so.
Speaker 1:All I'm going to say is it's very rare you get a spotlight on creators like Rowan and able to buy their products and physically leaf through them as well. If anyone doesn't know, he creates these fabulous instruction manuals for Switch games that Nintendo don't even bother to create the instruction manual for, I know. And then he creates this awesome bit of merch, this awesome instruction manual. And then he creates this awesome bit of merch, merch, this, this awesome literal as nintendo would make it themselves instruction book that you can buy.
Speaker 1:Now, it's only when you get hands-on with these things that you realize how good they are now like I say, the ever retreating high street, the unsureity of physically touching something on the internet, makes this another. I would say string to your bow. I'm down there, I'm leafing through the 1995 copy of meme machines before I buy it because I want to make sure it's got that article or that advert in that I wanted. That's not something that's normally available to us mere mortals, but you've laid it out and you know all these different layers all tying together to me to be the perfect environment for a nerd to turn up to and have an absolutely brilliant time. It's a festival of gaming. Oh, it's not only that, it's a festival of friendship and that's what makes it special. There's a lot of gaming events I've been to along the years and it's very formal. It's very us and them. It's very. Oh, you can come in this section but you can't here. Or you can buy this but you can't. And Timeless brings it all together but remembers the most important element of all these events the people. Now they are in there, literally forming the most significant part of the cog that makes the day work, and I think that's what brings the specialness to the friendship. Now, year on year on year, these friendships have built not only for us but for the people that have turned up and had a great environment and a great time, and this is another year again where another whole new host of people get brought in and woven into it.
Speaker 1:Now that, to me, is the takeaway. But you're walking out the door with some prizes. You've got a bag load of merch under you've tried on. I've bought some clothes from there. I think um uh, simran had a clothing range there last time weeks inherit the earth t-shirt. I'm walking out, cap on jacket on brand new trainers covered in pin badges, smiling from ear to ear, because I got to even be in the same room as the creators of Tomb Raider. I've actually got to sniff Ashen's wrist. I've been able to get within touching distance or as much as my restraining order will.
Speaker 1:Let me get to Ash Millman. I've been in awe of the WhatCulture boys. I've watched the face of Jack Box host a game and seen him give away a myriad of prizes. I'm in Liverpool. I've got a pair of John Lennon glasses on. I feel like I've won the lottery because I've come in and I've used UCP 25 and got 15% off. I'll be honest with you at this point I'm thinking to myself. At least Dick Turpin wore a mask, because this is highway bloody robbery.
Speaker 1:As far as I'm concerned, I'm going back to my concessioned hotel that's already got a discount on it. I'm getting it overnight. I'm making the missus happy because we're going to go look at George Harrison's childhood home tomorrow and possibly get a picture in front of the yellow submarine. Everybody's going home happy, from a two-year-old to a 92-year-old and even older. There's everything for everybody. There's drinks for the old enough, there's shandies for the boys that aren't old enough but want to look like the bigger boys, and there's panda pot with a hell of a head on it, so it looks like you're drinking Guinness. For the smallers, it doesn't really get any better than that. Weave into this as well, as always, possibly the finest range of food again a good one ever.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a really good range this year.
Speaker 1:Very good range. You're sitting down in a sun-dappled courtyard, you zap a QR code to your left and all of a sudden you've got a steaming hot pizza pie in your right hand and another topple of whatever it is you fancy in your glass. If I've described to you and, let's face it, I did heaven on earth, as the Romans would call it, elysium get yourself a code. Not only that, this crazy-ass bastard has thrown another 15% at you because you listened to some backwater podcast. I have to wonder now if a man needs a sainthood, a knightdom or more. It's you. You already appear in the world of the UCP. I can't make you a prince, my friend.
Speaker 2:I also need a sanity check as well, but that's another story.
Speaker 1:You just keep giving yeah. Only when you dress it down like this and break down the individual components, do you realize how much value is wrapped up in this. It's insane, isn't it.
Speaker 2:It's ridiculous. I'm starting to think we need to scale this back. Even you said it. I was like, wow, no wonder it's so hard work putting this on year on year, because of what we do Listen.
Speaker 1:I don't think you realize as these things grow, and they grow in a laminate fashion. You don't quite realize how it's stacked up. Every single time it's a better and better offering, new venue. Taken on board the critiques of previous shows, you've made it all one level. You made it more accessible to everybody in terms of, uh, disability, access. I've got to say, friend, if there was ever any critique and they were minor if you took them on board and served up the freshest slice of gaming event, this side of something done in the States, I think that this is the proudest moment and does it represent British gamers in a way that no other event does? Yes, I think it does. It's tapped into the very core of what makes that British gaming. It's very unique. It's got a slice into the cassette history of many years ago and you've woven that through with your panels that you've had in the past and we're now up to Tomb Raider era. We've done the rare stuff, we've gone further back and now, as it comes through, it's dragging through all these different bits. Mate, I'll be honest with you this is the British gaming convention, no doubt, from the guests to the people involved, the people that you've chosen Jason Bradbury, obviously big TV name in the UK. He's here. And then we've got those people that have literally woven gaming content in the uk and made what it is. We've got the legend of slopes. We've got the legend of ascians. We've got what culture, the bastions mate of what it is to be a gamer in the uk in 2025.
Speaker 1:And there you are sat now, very nonchalantly, very humble, head on shoulder, the thinker, almost like a greek statue, I think. Therefore, I am. Timeless is therefore, it is click your fingers now. You talked before about oh yeah, it's now. You realize how difficult it is. Just for a moment, just put all of that to one side and embrace me, mano a mano. Okay, this is a lot to organize. It is the biggest british gaming event. How do you keep all this together regularly? We haven't even given a moment to blow up your own channels, but this is a timeless do, but you're keeping all that together yeah, yeah everything that you've got your fingers into, and it's a lot.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And you've just done this on the side. Obviously you've got some people helping you, yeah yeah, we've got a wonderful team of people. Just talk me through how you even attain If I could even think of time. This is an idea. It would then collapse because of all the other things I've got, but you managed to somehow find space for all of it.
Speaker 2:Just help a mere mortal man understand how, how the hell you do it I don't know, because there is a lot going on, because I think there's a thing that people don't realize that obviously I run a. I run a lot of events. It's not just timeless. There's a lot of stuff we do for twitch obviously I I spoke at my very first twitch con in europe, um, but then I was also helping running the networking events. I was asked to do that, which is a big honor. I I probably enjoyed that went all the way over to the netherlands back in the end of may.
Speaker 2:Um, there's potential for me to go out there and do stuff in America this year. Whether I fit that in this year I don't know. I've got to weigh that up. By the time you've heard this recording. I will have also done a load of stuff for Bethesda at Bloodstock Festival, which is a heavy metal festival in Derbyshire, and we're hosting a load of stuff for the new Doom game. So I do a lot of mc and so I it's mad I juggle the mc and events. I've just come back from south america doing I've done three of three events there. So I'm still technically jet lagged because I got back on monday. I'm still jet lagged now.
Speaker 2:Um, so I do all that I do all the streaming I do timeless, and somehow I do have a life somewhere. Um, and everyone's like I don't get how you do it. But it's funny because, like people say to me, you're like the busiest man in gaming. But then I know people who are busy in me because you look like we mentioned big fuzzy yak. I feel the big fuzzy yak does five times more than what I ever do. What is my secret? I actually think my body died five years ago and it's just fuelled by gas and excitement and just my gob keeping things moving along, and therefore I am the gaming equivalent of Weekend at Bernie's. I just chatter along and keep going, and once the gaming industry dies on its ass, so will I.
Speaker 1:Well, not true, mate. To me, you're like the Chris Evans of gaming. You've got Hear me out. You're an incredible presenter, one that can entertain on your Twitch channel for hours and people can watch that and enjoy it. But behind that and this is where the link comes from you're organising events and shows, and that's probably one element, and I say this from a professional point of view. Whatever you think of him as a person, that's totally cool, but hold it together from a presenting point of view. And then, behind the scenes, has his own production company with with thousands of different things going on, and that's the. That's the kind of comparison I'm making.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, I, I go with that, yeah, I, it is. And I I thing is that I'm not going to take all the credit, because there are, in the multiple events and different things that we do, there are teams of people that work with me to make that happen. So we've got the Timeless team. I'm going to give a big shout out to Jesse and Dave, who are the main core of the team. Plus, we've got a whole volunteer team that are helping this year, so big shout out to them.
Speaker 2:Obviously, with the Twitch stuff, there are some wonderful people that help with that, that work on that Brenny, mooney, lisa, amongst other people. So I never want to say, hey, look at me, look how amazing I am, because this stuff, more than half this stuff wouldn't happen if we hadn't got the wonderful people that back me. But I think it's the fact that they like, the fact that I'm like right, we're going to go do this, let's do it, and then they back me and then, obviously, I back them and we make it happen. And it's just, it's probably as as crazy as that sounds, it's as simple as that. It's having those good relationships making things happen. Does it always run smoothly? No, but we get to the point that when the event actually runs, the event runs smoothly and that's all that matters. And as long as the people that turn up on the, the event runs smoothly and that's all that matters.
Speaker 1:And as long as the people that turn up on the day have a great time. That's all we care about. One thing I would say, and this is true of all events if you're involved in the very key of organising it, you see it all, and you're like oh God, you know that's To us walking in through the door.
Speaker 1:You don't know any different and we're loving it. So you might think I don't feel like we've done a very good job of that. Don't ever think that it's not received absolutely brilliantly on the good side do you know what?
Speaker 2:it's funny because I'm going to put this out there I didn't get to enjoy Timeless last year. I know that sounds crazy, but I don't remember a lot of it. That happened because it was so much and I think we were so overwhelmed by the fact that it was the biggest turnout we've ever had. Well, mate, and there was so many, so many people that we saw we were like, as segments of it, I forgot. And I've had to go back and look at video footage and stuff and, bearing in mind I don't touch a drop of alcohol until the show's finished, so it's not like, oh yeah, he didn't remember it because he was drunk. That's not true. I wish it was, but it's that thing of so much happens that my brain can't compute it. And then, weeks after, I'm still getting messages from people and people saying you know we had, I had some people say we would have liked the next insomnia. Now I'm not even going to go down that route of that said mentioned event, but I feel very flattered that we were brought up in the same sort of conversation as that event and people saying that it was there. They went to loads of events last year and by far. Our event was the best and their favorite event and still is, and I that just that's just flattering and it means a lot because it means we've achieved our goal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the day and, as you rightly say, there are things that go behind the scenes that are utter chaos. I seem to remember something happened this is a true story and for anyone who captured this I apologise, but there was a point where something happened and it was like how on earth are we going to fix it? And it was an absolute nightmare to fix. So just for 30 seconds I walked outside to the car park of RK Club and just screamed live. And there was loads of people out there because obviously it was a sunny day people out there and I just went, ahhh, stopped and people went you alright. And I was like, yeah, I'm fine, now thanks. And they were just like well, I've got to get back in, we've got to crack on, and that was it.
Speaker 2:And we saw it and it was just that one moment. I was like I have got to do this for my insanity, but I think people just thought I was doing it as a comedy stint because people were filming it, but it was like no, I actually genuinely was like I need a release very quickly because I don't want to say something horrible to someone. So I did that and I was fine. So hopefully there won't be any of those moments. But it was the fact that everything just carried on and people had such a good time and really enjoyed it. I hope to.
Speaker 1:I hope to enjoy this one more because, as I say, I'm taking a bit more of a step back um I I also think that the venue mate, if I may add, is going to lend to your own personal enjoyment more yeah, because I'm not running up two flights of stairs every 30 seconds and that and that and, as I say, I'm not here to poo-poo the venue.
Speaker 1:I've loved every single second I've spent in it, but that stairwell alone is is just mad full of people. Yeah, if, if your mags are timeless, everyone wants to say thanks, hi, whatever, just transitioning.
Speaker 2:That stairwell is a four-hour event and you've got 30 seconds to do it, so yeah, I always feel bad because some there were some people that I got to have. Really stairwell is a four hour event and you've got 30 seconds to do it. So I yeah, I always feel bad because there was some people that I got to have really, you know, good conversations with. And there's some people like one guy traveled such a long way and I literally got to speak to him for more than five seconds because I was literally had to go sort something out on the second floor and I just said I'm really sorry I've got to go. And on the second floor, and I just said I'm really sorry I've got to go and I know he enjoyed the day, but I didn't get to see him again for the rest of the day. I felt really bad because I was just like, oh, he wanted to talk to me, but it's not always that possible.
Speaker 2:What I'm saying is I'm not saying I'm not approachable. By all means, come and say hi and talk when I've got to go sort stuff out. I will need to go sort stuff out. So, by all means, please do not think I'm being rude if I very quickly say hi and then leg it. But hopefully it should be easy because the guys that are running the main desk are actually going to be in the room next door to me, so they can literally just walk down.
Speaker 1:to me, it makes a lot easier.
Speaker 2:And again, there's a lot of the panels last year I didn't even get to see, which sounds insane. Obviously, I got to see a bit of Jason's. I only missed about 15 minutes of Jason's. I got to see most of Ashen's. The Legends panel I did not see at all. Considering that I invited those guests to come to that. I got to speak to them before and and after, but didn't get to see the talk, which I'm absolutely wounded about. Um, but yeah, this time hopefully I'll get to see a lot of the content and get to enjoy it as much as everyone else.
Speaker 1:Beautiful um, so let's. I feel like that probably puts a neat little bow on it and we will go through and just let you feature. Dump the highlights one last time. But to anyone listening now, obviously don't forget UCP25. That's your 15% off. Don't forget to check the Timeless website if you're thinking of getting some accommodation. You might as well get the approved Timeless Convention discounted hotel experience in the wonderful city of Liverpool that it is. They owe me a couple of million for that. I am the face of Liverpool tourism. That's probably doing.
Speaker 2:We'll get our people to talk to your people and we'll get it to them.
Speaker 1:With all that wrapped up there. Obviously, if you're listening, we've had behind the scenes one of our supporter shows where someone has won the very first copy of the Cards Against UCP. If you missed out on that opportunity in this early phase, there is a chance to win another couple of boxes at Timeless. As if it wasn't good enough already, boys and girls, now, if you're listening now, you're obviously a fan of the show and we've rammed the discount code down your throat. There's also links on the discord as well. If you've just stumbled across this show and you think, hey, I'm, I'm, I'm on a bit of a loose end on the 13th of august, uh, ucp 25, use it, abuse it can't wait to see you there. If you want to get mano a mano with the UCP hosts, well, let me tell you myself. God knows why, but make sure you get your rabies shots. The awesome Scotty aka, in his own right, a hero, marathon gaming and the legend of the internet is RGT will be there.
Speaker 1:I'm hoping to drag across some of the discord sheriffs as well and anybody from the ucp discord family. Talk to me, let's get involved, let's get you here, let's make that happen. Uh, maybe try and corral some of us together for a little bit of a ucp event as well, and then rock up at Timeless. Ready to rock and roll, mate, I am very, very, very excited. Like I said before, I don't think that you shout from the rooftops. Very humble of you, I have to admit, very genuine of you. But hell, baby, this needs freaking shouting about. And I'll be honest with you, if no one else is doing it, I will Always enjoyed the event personally. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Like I say, even if I just went for the shopping, I would walk out buzzing absolutely boobies off, but throwing everything else, and that's really the reason to turn up. Don't take my shopping thing and flip it on its head. We're turning up for this wonderful gaming event, the celebrities, the panels, the fun, the friends. But bear in mind there's a little bit of something for everyone, and I mean everybody. Even if you just go and come away with a Final Fantasy VII handmade brooch, you're winning at life. Right, yeah, you are winning at life. Add in all the other stuff that you can get game attack, that we can't live without adding. All the gaming events, the guests, everything, mate, what a great day. Yeah, it's not often that gaming gets celebrated, but to do that with your friends and new friends alone. Yeah, a chance to maybe, if I'm being honest with you, sniff your earlobe, look at, maybe, look at Jinx's ankle from a safe distance of 100 yards, Again under the restraining order.
Speaker 2:Unfortunately, Wonderful ankles, though. Wonderful ankles on that girl, the best in the business.
Speaker 1:What more could anybody want, mate, I'm excited. Personally, I can't wait to see you there. I want a piece of that elo. I tell you that now, uh, is there anything that uh, a rather overexcited school boy like myself may have forgotten that we've left off the table?
Speaker 2:uh, uh, obviously we. The only thing I will say is we, oh well, that's the other thing. So I will say this if, for any reason, you unfortunately have to work that day, but you are in the area and you're like, well, I wish I could still go to the event, but you know it's going to finish at five o'clock, that's not true because we are over a 12-hour event. Uh, we do offer discounted tickets, uh, for just evening only entry, which actually gets you in after five o'clock. So, yes, you're going to miss most of the main content, but you'll still get to see the cosplay parade, the just dance final, you can get involved with the did you know? Gaming event which is at 7 3030 on the main stage, and then we're going to go do the arcade challenges. So you'd still get a day's worth of stuff out of it and it costs you half the price, at a tenner, so you can get in after work. We have sold quite a few evening-only tickets, wow. So, whereas we've kind of gone where we've done that thing, where we've done the cosplay parade, we've kind of gone where we've done that thing, where we've done the cosplay parade, we've given away the prizes and gone, well, just go enjoy the facilities. This time it's kind of like we're going to keep going until they kick us out of this building Nice.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, that was something we decided to change. So for people who want to spend all day there, they now can. And people who are like, yeah, do you know what? I'll pop down for four or five hours, because do you know what? Again, just for turning up. If you turn up after five, you only have to pay a tenner and, as I said, if you turned up in an evening to go to the arcade, it still costs you 20 quid. So you can get in the arcade for half price. Just for that, even if you don't care about what's going on in the stages. So that's a win-win. So there's so much stuff we've thought about, but I think that's pretty much covered every aspect, every nook and cranny, every corner. You couldn't even get a dice around it. We've covered it.
Speaker 1:There's one thing I wanted to talk about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, go for it.
Speaker 1:We've saved it till the end. You touched on it briefly, but let's face it timeless is famous for many things. Celebrities, yes, rivaled uh. Gaming, tap buying experience uh. One-on-one with the vips, hands-on with a curated selection of fine indie titles yes, but? But the reason why I think I'm personally coming to time is the reason why I'm personally putting my hand in my pocket, the reason why many people are and anyone who's not is insane. But the reason why we're all doing it is for your Just Dance experience.
Speaker 2:Oh, dear, god, no.
Speaker 1:We saved the very best till last, as you know. Oh, only the real timeless OGs know that. This is the reason why anybody turns up to any event that you hold is for the Just Dance experience. Now the question I've got is have you perfected your pirouettes, have you succeeded at the splits, and can you fucking foxtrot like a god?
Speaker 2:I. I can tell you, in non-preparation for what may or may not happen on that stage uh, I've just gained weight, so, um that, that's that muscle weighs more than fat mags, as we all know.
Speaker 1:You're sat in front of me right now without clothes, and I happen to see you literally chiseled out of stone.
Speaker 2:It depends which angle you look at it from.
Speaker 1:Every angle. You, sexy devil, now tell me about this dancing.
Speaker 2:Okay, so just dance has been a thing of our events since we ever started it. We always did a little competition and then I got roped into. Well, the last three years got roped. Well, the first two years I got roped into doing the same dance as what the finalist did.
Speaker 2:Last year we decided to go all out on it and actually get the wonderful mz lee, who features in the game and she's a soft creator and she's a big advocate of just dance uh, her wonderful judges. So she did a fantastic job last year. So we ran the heats on the challenge stage and ran the final on the main stage and we brought that back and she's doing exactly the same and she's getting dressed up. I think she even put out on social media which character should I be this year? Because she's going to be in full on Just Dance cosplay for the whole event last year. Wow, she's outstanding, and so will our judges. Um, and like we won the judges. He's like the international champion of just dance, which is just phenomenal in its own right. Um, but um, last year I thought I got away with it without having to get up and dance.
Speaker 2:No, no, but instead Emsi turned around and said let's do something different. And actually I did really enjoy it. There's a little story here, so I'm going to kind of depart a bit. But they got the finalists and some of the judges, along with Emsi and me, to perform a dance number which I had never done in my life before. So I didn't know any of the moves, but it was really good fun and there was like 10 or 12 of us doing it all together at the same time, which was a nice touch. I don't know if that'll happen again. I get the feeling that the crowd will probably go feral if it doesn't, so I will leave that this is your pre-warning.
Speaker 1:now I will rip your throat clean out unless I see it.
Speaker 2:So MZ will probably do something.
Speaker 1:It's a tradition. If slopes is a tradition, you're freaking. Dancing to Just Dance is a tradition.
Speaker 2:But I'm going to say there was a redeeming, there was a redemption story here, because I toddled off to EGX last October and it was great to see and this is what I love about MZ and everything she's getting more and more of a platform for Just Dance and the EGX slash Comic-Con. Last autumn and also the one that went past in London back in May, she had her very own Just Dance stage. So she she had people up and dancing, they were showing some of the routines with the professionals, but anybody could get up kids, families, friends and I said I'll come down and see you and support you and I came down and watched them on the Friday and on the Sunday. She was like do you want to get off and do that dance that you did at Timeless? And there was a few of the people that were actually there at Timeless, at EGA, and we all did it together and, even though I still couldn't master the routine and bodged it horribly, I had a great lot of fun with it.
Speaker 2:And I know Emsi has just been at Megacon, which took place in Manchester, manchester, and she's going to be at lots of things. I know that they're going to be at Format this year and hopefully this is a spoiler, but they're doing something different, so they're not doing the same thing they're doing at our event. I think they're actually doing a proper performance for the first time, so that's going to be something amazing. So I think the Just Dance community are amazing. I think the Just Dance community are amazing. I think the people behind it are amazing. I'm very honoured to have them all there because I love them to bits. And do you know what? It's a bit of a guilty pleasure, just, you know, getting up having a bit of a dance to a song, but just having fun with it. You know I can't dance for toffee, but I really do. Yes, you can. The jury's out on that one. We'll see. You're the first to just dance.
Speaker 2:We'll see what the just dance judges think. We'll get the professional opinion whether I can dance for toffee or not. I might be able to dance on a toffee, but we'll see.
Speaker 1:That itself is an art. That's a very small suite to perform. It is yeah and you do it flawlessly. Yeah, yeah, right. So, all joking aside, that literally to me is is part of the woven dna of the timeless bayo tapestry. It's something that, if it doesn't happen, even with all the things that you've given us literally for, for free, because the money, the, the, the, the content far outweighs the cash. So in my mind it's free, right? You've given us all this stuff for free. If you didn't dance, I'd kick off.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I actually think if, if it doesn't happen, you should actually parade me outside down to the docks and throw me into the Mersey.
Speaker 1:And then I shall ride you like a merman.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then I will never be seen again. We'll sail off into the sunset.
Speaker 1:Both of us will. That'll be the end of it. So you'll simultaneously kill the UCP as well.
Speaker 2:I will kill Timeless and UCP because that is the kind of person I'm going to be. I don't care about consequences.
Speaker 1:Gods are cruel, mate, and if we didn't set you up as a god at the start, sat on top of the Acropolis.
Speaker 2:And then how the mighty will fall. Well, I say fall. We'll be sailing, but we're good. I might even just organize to get Rod Stewart to sing while we sail out into the sunset.
Speaker 1:That's the sort of thing I've got the UTP budget to blow for. I mean, how much is Rod for the rest of his life? A couple of quid.
Speaker 2:Yeah, pretty much. Now he's done Glastonbury, it doesn't matter now, does it? We're getting for a flyer, yeah.
Speaker 1:Last time we got him for a bag of it was Tesco value sort of England crisps and a can of that Guinness Nitro Surge with the lid on it.
Speaker 2:It's only the 20 quid haircut. That's really the deal breaker on this. But he's got to have his hair cut every so often, hasn't he?
Speaker 1:I'll be honest. I'm going to speak to his agent and push for a shower cap because I can't afford the. He's near the wet. He's going to blow up. I don't want it. I can't afford it. Yeah, it's just a voice moment, fair enough.
Speaker 2:I might just shave him bold. See what happens.
Speaker 1:I, to be fair, that's got Duncan Goodhue vibes and if we're in the water he needs to be hydrodynamic, does Rod? I think we shave him.
Speaker 2:So we probably shave him down, fully shave Rod Stewart, and away we go.
Speaker 1:His armpit's gone. He's bathing. Yeah, we've rolled him in a big industrial vat of Imac and then we've rode him. I don't know. I think we'll probably get arrested for this. There's another Australian in order coming my way. We've sidetracked. Let's get back on track. Yes sorry yeah, have we as hair suit as we are now? How have we covered off timeless in a good fashion, do you think?
Speaker 1:I blooming well? Hope so. Well, I'll be honest with you. If people have just tuned in, if they've not been left blown away by the outrageous value that's on hand here, I think they probably need to be checked for a pulse. The only thing I can recommend to them is 10 cc's of adrenaline. To everybody else I would say UCP 25 at checkout gets you 15% off if it wasn't already an outrageous deal.
Speaker 1:This is what it feels like to rob mags yes, on a daily basis yeah, it feels a little bit underhand, to be honest, but I am looking forward to enjoying the content. I'm looking forward to enjoying the pleasure of your company, everybody that goes year on year, and to all the new people that arrive in. Heck, another load of friends to meet and make um, plenty of prizes. Like I say, a little bit of a ucp brucey bonus in in the cards against oh yes, great news. I shall do everything I can to fast track those. If we can't get them here in time, I will literally sacrifice my own, uh to make this happen.
Speaker 1:RGT you've also just lost your cards. That's how fresh and hot off the press this actually is. Sorry, rgt, some would argue this might actually be the greatest prize you're giving away, and no disrespect to obviously your proud collaborators, but this is a hot ticket. Yes, all that said and done, sir, I'm excited. I can't wait to see you there. Don't forget, not that far now. So if you haven't got tickets, act fast. 13th of August. Don't snooze on this, you losers. Don't be one of those guys that looks at Instagram after and goes, oh that looked cool, lower shard gone. Sort your shit out. Sort your personal admin out. Get your tickets bought now. It's already last minute. You're already. You know it's already dicey whether you might get one. Don't think oh, I'm not going to check. You see P25, feel outrageous If you're not from the local area. Very cheap hotel If you're trying to talk the missus into it there's a whole city of culture at the back end of it.
Speaker 1:So it works both ways. Puts up with you staring at pop funko's and then the next day you get to treat it to a rooftop meal in liverpool. It's going to be outrageously beautiful weather. It's going to be august what more could you want, really? And if you want to go, look at the place where that guy used to jump around on a map when they were filming. This morning it's right there at Albert Dock. So all these bastions of what it means to be a great British person, great British gaming event, the greatest. We'll see you there. Before I let you go, what are you hoping to play?
Speaker 2:What at the event.
Speaker 1:Or just in your personal time. When all that's done, you shut the door, you grab that gaming device. You aren't taking a little bit of time for mags? Yeah, Just back there.
Speaker 2:Well, I can definitely say, because the week of Timeless, the new Mafia game, comes out oh, so I have already got it down that I will be playing that the Monday after time, because obviously I'm in Liverpool for that whole week up until like Monday to Friday because there's so much to do. So then I probably will deliberately play it as a stream the following Monday and then just continue to play that for the next two weeks until I've completed it. It's looking quite tight.
Speaker 1:that, by the way, it's looking very tight. The gunplay and the combat's looking absolutely brilliant.
Speaker 2:It's looking very good. I really enjoyed all the Mafia games and I really enjoyed the remaster of the original game. I don't know why they remastered the other two, I'll be honest, because there wasn't much to it and I found it weird that, you know, Mafia 3 came out in 2017 and they remastered it three years later. That's another story.
Speaker 1:That's the new trend in gaming.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is. Yeah, oh, we brought out a game. Next year we're going to remaster it and the year after that we sound familiar. Um, so, yeah, it's, uh, it's, uh, I'm really looking forward to this one. Um, I, I don't, I don't think it'll disappoint. I hope it won't.
Speaker 2:Um, I, I'm gonna say there have been I'm not gonna mention names, but there have been some games that I've been really looking forward to this year that have let me down big time and they they've not been awful games, they've just been very okay. But then I found out, like I said with Expedition 33, that this year there's been a lot of games that I didn't expect much from or wasn't really on my radar, that basically shot the living life out of me and have been some of the best things I've played this year. So this year's been a very odd year for gaming and hopefully I won't be disappointed with Mafia, but if I do end up being disappointed with it so hopefully we'll come along that will surprise me and surpass that so I mean, it's been another stacked year for gaming, as you say.
Speaker 1:Some big sort of surprises, uh, and some slightly underwhelming experiences, to be honest. Another stacked um back end of the year coming up and a year where the switch to launch is and it becomes a footnote in the games that have come out absolutely incredible if you think about it. So a great year, uh, for gaming, the industry. We talked off air a little bit, goodness knows at the moment, but hey, do you know what it's been waiting for? A springboard, and the springboard is timeless 25, 13th of August, ucp 25.
Speaker 1:Haven't really got much more to say other than you've. You've entertained us once, twice, three times a lady. Yes, you know what do they. You've entertained us once, twice, three times a lady. Yes, you know what do they say First time's on me, second time, shame on me or whatever it is. And this is what three, four times in the barrel with us. I think. So. You know, even rats will win quicker than you. But I'll be honest, absolutely floored by your kindness, the fact that we're welcome back at Timeless, the fact that you've come on the show and shared some time with us. You're insanely busy. You're a globetrotting mega celebrity of the gaming world. Don't, don't, don't, you, don't you dare. I'm keeping my mouth shut. You've organized another event and you've literally flicked it up a whole other level. I'm keeping my mouth shut. You've organized another event and you've literally flicked it up a whole other level, which is incredible. Yet again, I don't know how you keep doing it.
Speaker 2:I don't know.
Speaker 1:If we hang on at this trajectory, I'll see you in Vegas for Timeless 30. Yeah, I mean, mate, it's glorious to even be in the scrapples of dust at the feet of you and Thomas, you're a humble man. You've had us on again. We're lucky to be going again. Thank you so much for finding the time to sit with this random old fool and talk about video games. I'm very, very grateful. I look forward to seeing you there. To anybody who doesn't know, there's someone across this show and they're like hang on a minute, let's find out a little bit more about the Magsweller Outside of Timeless. Where are they going to find you and how are they going to enjoy your freaking, outrageously awesome content?
Speaker 2:So you will find me on Twitch most weekdays, monday to Thursday. Twitch, which most weekdays, monday to Thursday. Twitchtv, middle Age Gamer Guy UK. I play all the new games that are out. So whatever's new, you will find me playing that. I try to do a good array of content of different games. I try and cover as much as possible. I even play the games that are truly awful. Mind's Eye, thank you very much. So that was truly awful. Mind's eye, thank you very much. So that was joyous.
Speaker 2:But what mainly the people flock for is Tuesday Night Gaming Chat, the weekly talk show with me and my co-host, dave, where we talk about all the latest gaming news and reviews for the last seven days. And we have wonderful guests on each week. And, yeah, there will be, obviously, yeah, yeah, we've had tons of different guests on the show. We've had game designers, we've had game journalists, we've had content creators, we've had wonderful podcasters like yourself. Uh, we've had gaming royalty. Um, you know, we've had people from outside xbox. Uh, ashen's, uh, obviously, obviously, jason's been on Slopes, numerous other people, just wonderful, wonderful people. Ash Millman was on a couple of weeks ago. She's absolutely adorable. Yeah, we've had some wonderful, wonderful people on the show. So that's my. That's the one thing. If you want to go check that out, please do, because that would mean a lot to me. Come and watch us live, get in the debate. Debate. You can join in and guess the scores of what the critics said about games and.
Speaker 1:I've got to be honest with you. We talk about timeless, but that show, which I've looked enough to be on the whole guessing the score thing, is enough reason to turn up alone. It's absolutely captivating format. I talked before about liking the new tour presenter. You didn't like it. But to be honest with you, mate, that show has got outrageous like don't forget your toothbrush vibes about it. It's absolutely brilliant. It's wonderfully engaging. It's wonderfully inviting the ability for the audience to chime in and feel part of it at the same time.
Speaker 1:Shout out for Dave. Yeah, big up, dave. You know what a wonderful dynamic of that show he is. He's a hidden gem of your content. I can't imagine it working without him. Brilliant guy, great program, the sort of stuff that deserves to be on mainstream TV if they could get themselves around the idea of what people actually enjoy watching in this age. Well received, very well loved, a jewel in your pantheon of things that you put out, not only physical touching events, but also these Twitch events. You're obviously deeply involved in Twitch itself, been to the Netherlands, and all that good stuff. So, mate, the success that you've garnered to you is well earned and justified and I can't wait to see you again, I wish you the best.
Speaker 1:Everyone who likes a bit of UCP content is going to absolutely hoover up Max's stuff like a Dyson with a Bolivian powder habit. You're going to go absolutely nuts for it. So get yourself there. There's back catalog stuff as well if you want to deep dive it. So if you scratch hard enough between the substrat, you might find an episode of the uc that we did there. Rgt's been on um, you've been on talked ashen's, all those sort of characters have been on uh, standing on the shoulders of giants. If I'm honest with you, max, it's been absolutely. Thank you, scintillating to share a room with you, especially undressed as we are, and I would say that's all we have time for this week. Listeners, always thank you for your time. Look forward to the pleasure of speaking to you again next week. Until then, happy gaming and remember there's nothing wrong with being given the unofficial controller. It's what you do with it that counts. See you, mags, see you.