Unofficial Controller Podcast
Your number one weekly gaming podcast for all the latest Sony Playstation , Microsoft Xbox , Nintendo Switch and PC News. Retrospectives , Readers Mail and Industry Chat.
Unofficial Controller Podcast
What Happens When A Gamer Is Left Alone With His Thoughts?
What happens when a gaming podcast host is left to his own devices? You get a delightfully chaotic journey through the gaming universe! In this solo adventure, George takes listeners on a meandering exploration of his current gaming obsessions, industry news, and the bizarre thoughts that populate a gamer's mind when there's no co-host to rein them in.
The journey begins with No Man's Sky's exciting new Corvette update, which finally lets players construct and walk around their own customizable spaceships—a dream feature that's been years in the making. Though it requires significant in-game currency to fully realize, the potential for creating your personal space sanctuary is tantalizing. Meanwhile, Persona 4 continues to captivate with its unique blend of dungeon-crawling and social simulation, featuring some of gaming's most bizarre enemy designs (including a baby wrapped in a black bag with flower petals—don't try this cosplay at home).
On the news front, we explore Attic Archive's collection of 13 quirky classic games from the 1980s coming to modern consoles, Stardew Valley's upcoming 1.7 update (proving creator Eric Barone's remarkable dedication to his player community), and how Gears of War Reloaded's cross-platform success signals the continued dissolution of traditional console war boundaries.
Between gaming discussions, George offers candid reflections on five years of podcasting, expressing genuine gratitude to the UCP community while maintaining the show's trademark humor. Whether you're a longtime listener or first-time visitor to this gaming sanctuary, this episode captures the passion, quirks, and community spirit that make gaming culture so uniquely engaging.
Join our Discord community to continue the conversation, share your gaming adventures, and maybe even win some prizes in our monthly challenges. The controller may be unofficial, but the gaming love is absolutely genuine.
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Hello and welcome to the Unofficial Controller Podcast, your weekly gaming podcast, episode number 283, by my retinue. With this week, me George, joined by no other than the legendary hero of this show, myself. That's correct. It's going to be a bit of a solo show and I'm okay with that. Boys have pulled in some absolute flankers for me, and here we are, it's me on, milosan. What does that mean for you? Well, it means you get to listen to just my voice and you get to hear me having semi-lucid arguments with myself. I mean, buckle in for a quick roughshod, run through my mental health. Here we go. So how do we normally kick off the show? Well, we kick off the show with uh, what you've been playing? Well, what have I been playing? More's to the point, well, tell you what I've been playing.
Speaker 1:Again, it's been a week on the go, so it's all been a little bit switch to based. And I was flicking through instagram before the show started and I see Harvey Retro's thrown down his love behind the Immortal Switch 2. He had a pair of hipster glasses on, looking awfully cool the way he does. He's brandishing his Switch like a freshly born bear and he says I'm a Switch 2 fanatic and I'll be honest with you, I didn't see it coming, but me too, I don't know what it is. Maybe it's a flashy piece of tech. Maybe it's a flashy piece of tech. Maybe it's just the right place at the right time for me. Maybe it just currently suits the way I'm gaming, but that's where nearly all of my efforts have been spent. Now. That's not totally true. So let's start with the outlier. A little bit of PS5 time. Why? I'll tell you why.
Speaker 1:No Man's Sky got an update. Since that game launched, I've wanted nothing more than to be able to turn around in my ship as I'm transiting to another planet, go, I don't know, fix my air purifier or something like that, or just sit and look out the window at these beautiful vistas as my ship navigates the eternal blackness and abyss. For whatever reason, uh hello. Games never quite got to that point, but with this new update, they've issued what I would call a compromise. Compromise normally is something where two parties agree on something of which neither are happy, but in this case, I think I'm happy, unfortunately, although the update's free, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Now let's just get into the meat and bones of what. What all this is. What are you talking about, george. Well, this new voyages update has introduced a new ship class called the corvette, which you can construct like a base, manipulate to make it look however you want.
Speaker 1:Now, obviously, obviously I learned about this and went on to the internet, that wonderful place where all the wonderful things of the human race collect and also some of the bad things. But one of the wonderful things I went looking for I thought, oh wow, hang on a minute, this update. People wonder if someone's made a ship or anything, yet Of course they have. People wonder if someone's made a ship or anything, yet Of course they have Some of the most finest, most exquisite works of sci-fi extravaganza you've possibly seen. I'm thinking, wow, I can't wait to jump in my version of that Brilliant. Well, george loaded up his save and I think my save in there is currently running at. It's got to be at least eight years ago when the game came out, so I've got an eight-year-old save on there.
Speaker 1:Could I afford to buy anything for this Corvette? No, you have to start with landing gear. So I had one landing gear. I had one habitation module slapped on top of it and a cockpit nailed on the front of that. I put a Duplo brick set. It was hideous, but I didn't really care. I wanted to fly it.
Speaker 1:Now. I referred to it being an eight-year save because I thought that might help you assume that I'm quite financially viable in a no Man's Sky universe. Well, it transpires. Do you know what, george? You're flat broke baby Now. Flat broke in no Man's Sky, mean, I threw I don't know eight million credits at this thing. Could it fly after that? No, it couldn't even take off. It's not finished, that's why. So I do see a little bit of a grind in there to get to that point. But to be fair, if and when I get there, that will be my elysium in vr especially. It's kind of what I've always wanted. So I'm very uh, I'm kind of tepidly excited of finding the in-game currency to make that happen.
Speaker 1:I'm sure loads of people are listening now saying oh, george, you're not playing the game right. Why don't you use this spam glitch here and that weasel glitch there and do the infinite grow of flip-flop mineral there and you'll have a million credits in 10 minutes. George, why are you messing around? I've always just tore about the galaxy like a complete pirate. To be fair, I normally avoid conflict, although I'm that leveled up now. Even Sentinels are not a threat to me really.
Speaker 1:My little craft, which I would love to walk around in, that I've had for some time now in the game I can't, I can't. It's going to get retired, but at the same token, this Corvette, or whatever it is, is going to take have to be pretty incredible to beat my exhausted Aegis, which is one of the funny things about no Man's Sky. The procedural generation not only affects the ships and the planets and the strange three-headed looking dinosaurs that you go to look at on those planets. It also affects the ship generation and the names. So there's some very weird things going on in there. But I put it down to just being all part of the fun, right, all part of the fun.
Speaker 1:What else have I been playing? Well, I've been away and I did that thing of doing two minutes on every game I own and not really getting anywhere on it. I think the most time I solidified was a full 20-minute bash on Witcher 3, doing a little bit more. I've got some outstanding contracts on Skellige Islands, so I've rustled off down there to see a few of them through.
Speaker 1:I'm end-game level now, so hoovering up some of these low-level side missions is a bit I don't know. It feels a bit naughty, really. Walk straight up to a guy, press one hit button and I've beheaded him. No messing about about that's what they call me, the beheader, um, but I mean, that's where I'm at in the game. So you know, cleaning up some of these level 16 nader wells, um, he's proven to be quite the easy coin Toss a coin to your witcher, as they say.
Speaker 1:Now, with that put to bed, I did have a little rumble out of curiosity on no Man's Sky on Switch 2, but I'm not even out of training shorts in that game, to be honest with you. So yeah, that's going flat nowhere in terms of finding a corvette, I think I'm still in the starter ship, so that gives you an idea of uh thing is, when you've got a game going on the, on the ps5 that you've had going for years, it kind of feels a bit counterproductive to pour effort in somewhere else. I probably shouldn't be so uh rigid. Weird, if I'm honest with you, but that's the way I am. I'm a strange cat and uh long may it continue. Um, the other thing that I've been playing lots of. Well, I've been spectating stroke backseat gaming. Uh, is there anything worse than a backseat driver? Yeah, I think it's a backseat gamer, which is exactly where I find myself in Rachel and I's pursuit of perfection in Persona 4.
Speaker 1:Rachel walked into a classic JRPG trope of being enthusiastically whipped up about the game's storyline. Enthusiastically whipped up about the game's storyline, but that causes you to rush forward a little bit when you probably should have spent the last 60 hours grinding in that dungeon. And the lack of persona is about managing the dungeon grind versus your social connections in what's dubbed to be the real world, the non-dream world, the non-in-persona-for, the non-TV world, and I'll be the first to admit the pull of the social links and the interdynamics and chemistry that you develop when you're not in the dungeons is. The battles are rewarding, you know, know. They're interesting, they're challenging, don't get me wrong. Classic leveling system running through its dna, though, which means that if you haven't got the right level and you're trying to push forward in the game, you're going to get your arse handed to you, and I watched her sort of enthusiasm begin to wane, but she knuckled down and she got through it. Now we've dedicated to some serious levelling, so we've got the bathhouse done, teddy's on the team, all that sort of jazz. To all those out there who've already played this probably rapidly approaching 20-year-old game, if not more. There's no spoilers here, but yeah, we're well on the way Again, thoroughly enjoying it. It's a sit down, chill on the sofa kind of watch what's going on, laugh at some of the social link activities or the things these kids are doing and really just enjoy that social dynamic. In a way, as frustrating as it is often in Persona, the dungeons seem to be a bit of an annoying distraction, but it's interesting to see the story through, see where it goes and the method of which you do that is through those dungeons.
Speaker 1:So yeah, persona has some of the most bizarre-looking enemies I've ever seen in a game. I don't quite know whether to fall in love with half of them or to ask myself George, what are you looking at? I mean, a great example is an American looking cop with this rather sort of large looking stomach completely hollowed out. I'm talking like you can see right through it like a porthole and in the middle of it for whatever reason, and see right through it like a porthole and in the middle of it for whatever reason, he's decided to hang a key. Yeah, they're the sort of people you're dealing with. Uh, what's one of the other ones? A strange animated ball mouth. That special move is a very aggressive lick to the face which can cause an immense amount of damage.
Speaker 1:Now I think one of the most disconcerting enemies, and ones that certainly sends a shiver up mine and Rachel's spine not because it's well, it's pretty grotesque to look at. I'm not going to be honest. It's a very weird image, but it is devastating. It can do all sorts of weird anti-spells on you, so when you hit it you hurt yourself. It sounds like my interpersonal relationships, but it's this baby that looks like. It's wrapped head to toe in a black bag, and the black bag is formed at the top of its head almost like a top knot, and that top knot also has flower petals on the top of it. I mean, I don't know what I'm looking at. Really. That's my interpretation.
Speaker 1:I'm sure someone's going to message you and say actually, george, it's not that at all, mate, and you've just made a complete embarrassment of yourself on a worldwide podcast. To me it looks like a baby, baby. Now don't do this at home, guys. I don't know why, if we drop these safety measures in, we feel compelled, because society compels us to. So I'm telling someone not to put their kid in a black bag for a cosplay. I can't see it working out that well, to be fair. But kudos to you. You saw something you thought you could angle and you went with it. Sadly, a black bag at a four-hour convention in the red-hot heat is probably not survivable, but as you were. So there's your safety guideline for today, and also a quick reminder that Persona's 4 enemies are very bizarre.
Speaker 1:But that's not, as I say, impacts our enjoyment. In fact, sometimes it sort of adds to it. Like what are we looking at now? And that really draws a line under the whole what have you been playing section. It's strange when you ain't got someone to bounce off asking that question.
Speaker 1:But those that know, those that care, those that have had this almost cult-like way the show goes imprinted on their brain, know that the next sign along the road is the news. You've scoured. That's what we've done. We've scoured the very darkest regions of the internet to bring you the latest stories First up. First up is an article over on Pure Xbox by the legendary Fraser Gilbert and it's 13 quirky classic games from the 1980s heading to Xbox in Attic Arcade Archive. Forgive me, I misspoke. Another new release that's caught our eye is Attic Archive, which is a compilation of 13 quirky classic games from the 1980s that span the Commodore 64, amstrad, cpc and ZX Spectrum platforms. Here are the 13 games included in the Attic Archive.
Speaker 1:On Xbox We've got Ardident, formerly on the C64 and Spectrum, and it's Escape a Dangerous Toy Box as a Teddy Bear. Oh, my goodness, let's keep going. Arcadia for C64 and also for the ZX Spectrum. Shoot down waves as deadly attackers Sounds a bit more normal, doesn't it? Armageddon for C64 and ZX Spectrum. Protecting cities from falling missiles Makes sense. Bc Bill for C64 and ZX Spectrum Experienced life as a cartoon caveman. Can't wait to see how realistic that gets. Am I skinning a stoat at the back door and then using its skin as a G-string? Doubtful Gilligan's Gold was on the C64. Amstrad, cpc and ZX Spectrum Gather Gold in a Hazardous Mine Again, makes sense. Mutant Monty, this was another triple header for the C64, cpc, amstrad and ZX Spectrum.
Speaker 1:Make your way through surreal environments to find Precious Trevor. Precious Trevor, ha ha. I can't really bounce off myself, but I've just got this vision now of this precious Trevor. He's the last surviving Trevor on planet Earth. Let's face it, it's not a name. People are queuing up to call their kids anymore and I don't think I'm going down that road. I'm just saying I don't hear many Trevors. There's a few classic English names that seem to be falling by the wayside. I mean, when you can't shout Brian, brian, hey, brian, over the road, trev, hey up, trev. It's a bit of hard do, isn't it? But there you go. So anyway, trevor is safe.
Speaker 1:Mutant Monty and the Temple of Doom for the ZX Spectrum Delve the temple this is their words, not mine and grab artifacts Straight up, no messing about. That's all we're doing this second time around. Trevor's not bothered. We're not bothered about Trevor. Next up is Mutants Was formerly on the C64, amstrad, cpc and ZX Spectrum Battle.
Speaker 1:Bizarre mutant strains to assemble a machine. These games are all going to be very similar, aren't they? Let mutant strains to assemble a machine. These games are all going to be very similar, aren't they? Let's face it Nomad. Well, I say Nomad as in the travelling wanderer, but it's NOMAD, sorry. Buffering Brain completely tripped itself up there and I stumbled at M. That was for the C64, amstrad, cpc and ZX Spectrum Control. An advanced attack droid to destroy a criminal tyrant. We've got pause C64 dipped out here, because it's just for the CPC and ZX Spectrum.
Speaker 1:Rescue your kittens from dangerous dogs. Now, this game predates the dangerous breeds here, so I don't know what those dangerous dogs look like, but they're certainly not going to be those alpha, whatever they are. Superkid is for the C64, amstrad, cpc and ZX Spectrum. I mean obvious. Become a superhero, Save the city, all while making sure your bedroom's tidy and getting your homework done. Skating usa c60 super kid it's all right as long as there's not an issue during school hours, which case I'm going to be invariably missing during my maths exam. Skating usa c64, amstrad, cpc andX Spectrum save the city again, this time on Skateboard.
Speaker 1:Super Kid in Space C60 for the Holy Trinity, let's call it that. Now. Save the world from alien invasion. There's a trailer for that out on the YouTube. Go look it up. It includes various options, or it showcases in there various options, such as horizontal nearly George, horizontal scaling, crt scan lines and more, along with your ability to rewind your gameplay. Looking forward to see a little bit of that. It's coming on Wednesday, september the 3rd, so it's not out by the time you hear this show, but don't worry, haven't got long to wait until it does. There's no price for it yet.
Speaker 1:But don't forget that Xbox allows you to wish list the games that you want. There's a little bit of a blurb here, just to finish off wish list the games that you want. There's a little bit of a blurb here, just to finish off. Originally published for the Holy Trinity I'm not saying it all that again, these games are authentically reproduced in all their 8-bit glory, featuring classics from Ocean Software, arctic Computing, imagine Software and Atlantis. Now, here below me are some screenshots. Now, the menu looks absolutely fantastic.
Speaker 1:There's a range of tapes on the shelf arranged around the usual 80s ephemera, and I'm looking at the games. I'm looking at the games and I'll say one thing no modern kid is buying these. These games are all going to get wrapped up by people like myself wanting a little bit of nostalgia for that game that looked like CFAX they were playing 30 years ago More. If that's what you're looking for, this game will more than scratch that itch and I can see you spending maybe an average amount of time in it 20 minutes here, 20 minutes there. So with the backlog the way it is, I don't need further guilt by adding games back on a medium that most kids don't even know what a cassette tape is anymore. I've already got a few of those in my backlog of shame and they're the very foundational layer.
Speaker 1:I've got 20 games that I never got round to back in the day and, let's face it, now never will. Um, but you live in hope that one day you get more than the lifetime's worth of time to sit and play through your retro tat you've collected or the shame pile that you've been building since not long after birth. Don't worry, I'm now doing the the cross, the holy cross in the air. I'm'm forgiving all your backlog sins. Go to your backlog, literally, pick the whole thing up and just chuck it on your shelf. Forget about it. Your backlog's gone. That's really what you come to the UCP for forgiveness of your sins. Trust me, my son, it's okay that you didn't finish that PS2 game you bought from cex six months ago. You're never gonna play it anyway.
Speaker 1:Uh, moving on, if you want to comment back or have a little conversation, maybe these one man shows should go a little bit like this I post questions, you answer them on the discord, george, what's the discord? Well, if you're new here or you've not really been listening properly. We've got a free Discord. Everybody's welcome. Bring your extended family. We need to boost the size a little bit. Why not Use it as your own communication platform between your family members?
Speaker 1:At this point anything goes right. So the Discord you can go on there and fire these back at me, like George. Why are you disrespecting the British 8-bit glory days? I'm not disrespecting them. I'm saying I've got better things to do. And that's me talking. But if you want to employ a rabid defense, you can email us at questions at unofficialcontrollerpodcastcom or you can DM us on any of the social platforms. Word to the wise as is well known, in the Discord, I can barely turn my phone on, and the fact that we're nearly 300 episodes deep on this podcast, based on my technological understanding of anything outside of a gamepad eg Push X to go is not great. So it's literally a miracle that you're hearing my voice right now, and I know all the Gen Zs have just turned off because I can't deal. This guy's obviously too old to be in technology. Come back, come back, give me a chance.
Speaker 1:Next in the news, we take the news chariot very strongly in the direction of the publication known as Nintendo Life. Now, this game is not necessarily Nintendo-centric news. I know it does great guns on there, but here's one for the sat home feeling not very well. Rgts caught a bout of COVID off a dirty teaspoon in the UCP canteen that I was using to stir the cesspit just to make sure it didn't, you know, turn into just one big clagulated mess. Last time that happened here on the UCP estate, it crawled out and demanded time on the show. Obviously it didn't get it and we've now rehoused it in the East Wing, but it was a scary moment for us all. It was obviously part of us all, but the very worst parts.
Speaker 1:So if you want to imagine what that creature was like, uh, I'll leave it with you. Drawings, please. To the discord or air of what that creature was, please go for it. Anyway, ramble, done um. Stardew valley, which is platform graces every platform. I think it's probably even on my phone. I'm pretty sure I played it on the abacus in the kids back bedroom the other day, but I got sidetracked on my ramble. I wish you well, rgt. I think he's feeling a lot better now. I should be by the time he hears this, and don't touch dirty spoons, but from his deathbed I'm sure he's playing a little bit of stardew I. He can't put it down. Uh, no one can put it down and I think, uh, the developer, eric concerned eight barone, who's been trying to get out hotel chocolatier for what feels like a decade. Now he's come back to his immortal classic stardew valley. But let's get get into it here with the official words of everything that's going on.
Speaker 1:Fans of the hugely successful farming and lifestyle sim Stardew Valley can look forward to another major update in the future. The creator, the aforementioned Eric Concerned 8 Barone, actually shared the news at the Stardew concert this week and has now followed up with an announcement on social media. In brief, a Stardew Valley version 1.7 update is happening. Words from the man himself OK, I revealed this at the concert last night and now the cat's out the bag. So I'll confirm for everyone there will be a Stardew Valley 1.7 update. No release date, no estimate, but it's happening. Fair play to you, eric, it's pretty bold. Now, I know there's no current release date and no estimate about what and when it could arrive. It's not been revealed and what will specifically be added in this next major update. The news has already got the Stardew Valley community buzzing. Well, wouldn't it? The last big update for Stardew Valley was 1.6 update, which shuffled onto the Switch in November last year. It added multiple new festivals and events, a whole new farm type and much more content and improvements. Following this update, multiple other patches were also released, improving and adding to the overall experience. Now, in an interview earlier this year this is what I referred to at the top of the comment Brougham was asked about the chance of a sequel to Stardew Valley and had admitted at the time it was much easier just to update the existing gameplay and systems.
Speaker 1:He also previously stated he doesn't necessarily want to close the book on the game's development, even though he's now working on his new project, haunted Chocolatier. Tell you what the amount of time he's spent working on that? That's going to be absolutely banging. I hope that he hasn't spread himself a bit too thin. He is an incredible guy who's made an incredible game and his commitment to the further development of that almost at his own further advancement of his other projects, I would say. But fair play to his commitment. His support of the people that have bought his title either, however, many years ago or last week, is incredible. And to be fair, what does he get from free updates? Absolutely nothing. I suppose he's got a hope that another buzz happens around the latest update, that it creates a whole new raft of people who've never downloaded the game to download it. Or, more likely, one would imagine, he just feels he needs to keep giving to the audience that gave.
Speaker 1:I'll be honest with you, I resonate with that. As someone who bangs out weekly sub-average content, one has to position oneself as a supporter of the people that support, and I have to say that Eric is doing just that. I'll actually go as far as to say that the last update, with its size and scope, he could have charged for that. I don't necessarily see why he's not, but I'll be the first to call that sort of stuff out. It's a little bit mercenary. But I'm not against pay DLC if it is worth it. But I'm not against pay DLC if it is worth it and also if it wasn't baked in at the start and it's just hidden behind some bizarre paywall unlock. Eric's not that guy. So fair play and respect.
Speaker 1:I myself have even played a little bit of Stardew Valley Not just a little bit, I think. I even streamed a bit on the show's YouTube channel for a short while it's an enjoyable game, um, and I got a fair bit from it, but it's not quite my kind of farming and I uh, before Stardew Valley came along, I completely burnt myself out on historic harvest moons, so this probably has had less of a pinch for me, but, um, still thoroughly enjoyable to see it thriving and doing really well for itself. Fair play and a good story of games, goodwill, development winning out over money, hungry pigs. Stick that on a T-shirt Up next over on Push Square. Holy Trinity's left, right and Chelsea baby, the immortal Sammy Barker. Yep, he is Mr Push Square, let's face it, and I'd like to say good friend of the show, but he's never even heard 30 seconds of this. I'll be surprised, sammy, reach out.
Speaker 1:Gears of War reckons it's ended the console war as reloaded tops. Buckle in for this number. Listeners, one million players Outrageous. Let's dig into what that's all about. More than one million players have tried out Gears of War Reloaded following its release across PS5, xbox Series X and S and PC earlier this week. According to the developer, a milestone means the title is ending the console war one grub at a time. We're not so sure about that, says Sammy. The player number has likely been accelerated by free upgrades on platforms where the franchise has existed before, as well as its inclusion on Xbox Games Pass. But we have to imagine full price. Ps5 sales are strong, as the series is making its PlayStation debut on Sony's system At the time of writing. On the USPS store, the remaster is currently ranked 10th on the best sellers list, behind only Metal Gear Solid, snake, eater and Evergreen, such as Roblox, fortnite and Madden NFL 26. It's certainly be interesting to see a breakdown of sales across all systems, but we're unlikely to ever get that level of granular detail outside of estimates.
Speaker 1:Question to you listener did you grab it? I was looking on the Discord just prior to recording and I kind of get the idea that a few people have picked it up. I've played the original, haven't had a go on the remake yet, but I'm kind of tempted to give it a shot. Always had a soft spot for one. It felt new and fresh when it came out and obviously the gameplays remain the same here and they've just given Marcus and his team a little bit of nip and tuck here and there and then give the backgrounds a little bit of a clean.
Speaker 1:I've heard some sort of moans about the AI. Well, the AI existed as it was in the first game and, yeah, ai's got more advanced, but it serves a purpose. You know, I know the grunts, the locusts, are intelligent to a certain degree, but a lot of the time we just feel like you're mowing through walking maggots, and they've got the intelligence of that as well. Your teammates, people complain about their AI and do you know what? It's a similar situation to when Ellie stands up and walks around in the middle of Last of Us and completely gives you away, but they can't see you. But if you as much as sneeze, they'll bite your throat clean out.
Speaker 1:Now you know, if it was a game that had come out today, I might have an opinion on it, but it's a remastered game that came out some time ago and, to be honest, you're protecting the core gameplay loop. You've got to respect that. You want this game to feel like it did 15 years ago. I mean, this is where my internal clock's well off. How long ago did this come out? It's got to be 20 years ago or rapidly approaching. Therefore, I need to probably readjust the timeline of what I call persona four at the top of the show. It's probably a lot older than I give it credit for, to be fair. Anyway, gears, let's focus. George, stick with one sentence in your mouth at a time and you're going to go really far. I really like this.
Speaker 1:One has to wonder, you know, it'd be nice to see a comparison between this in a head-to-head with Helldivers or with a just-under-the-console war. George, I'm not through that dynamic. I just want to see in a head-to-head with Helldivers, with the just-ended console war, george, I'm not through that dynamic. I just want to see how each of those relative games of a semi-similar nature are performing on each of those platforms. Oh, george, helldivers is nothing like Gears. You're going through alien-feeling environments, blasting creatures of non-humanoid form in their thousands. I'll be honest on paper it sounds like a very similar game. It's not, and I'll be the first to say it's not. But, to be fair, on the back of the VHS in Village Video, you'd be hard to pick between the two. So it would be interesting to see how each other's crossovers have performed against each other in totality and on each other's platforms. It would be really interesting to see. See, not to poke the console war, just to see how these, just to see how this gorgeously prepared buffet is being eaten and where really it'd be very interesting.
Speaker 1:I did have a phone call with og tom during the week and although it's wonderful that hell divers has found its way onto Xbox which has got to be applauded, and the Halo cross content on it and everything wonderful but from a business point of view, from a gaming point of view, from everyone hugging each other, from your Xbox brother ripping his t-shirt off, your Nintendo brother doing the same and your Playstation doing the same, and them all sort of grabbing up in a mutual mano, a mano hug in the middle of the playground, declaring peace in our time, that's all well and good. But I don't quite understand why sony felt compelled to put hell divers there. Yes, it was studio led and they endorsed it and possibly a little bit of an experiment. But we kind, kind of know, I kind of expected that. To come to Switch 2, to be fair, there's some big sales numbers happening there. There's a lot of momentum and trajectory.
Speaker 1:From a business point of view, to me that's the one that made the most sense. But hey, do you know what? If gamers get to experience that game? And, to be fair, the initial buzz of Helldivers 2 is incredible. You won't be able to shake it. You'll be enjoying it. I'm sure there's Xbox players having their first Helldivers 2 experience dressed as Master Chief or someone out of ODST, absolutely buzzing their nipples off, and I don't blame you.
Speaker 1:It's one hell of a ride, but it kind of does wear thin. It did wear thin for me, not quickly, but it kind of does wear. It did wear thin for me, not quickly, probably a two week period, which, for, first of all, for me to get on board on a multiplayer game and, secondly, for me to commit even that amount of time to it, was outstanding in its, was outstanding deference to it in itself. What a great product. Anyway, back to Gears never in my wildest dreams when I saw the ad hit to it. In itself, what a great product.
Speaker 1:Anyway, back to Gears Never in my wildest dreams when I saw the ad hit for the 360 and got goosebumps on my arm as Mad World played in the background to what can only be described as some of the most outrageous visuals I've ever seen in my life. I do believe it was non-gameplay footage, but either which way, I'd already seen the magazine stills and whatnot, and hearing that on mainstream TV, as was at the time, was, I'll be honest, it was something else and, like I say, I got a lot of nostalgia for the game. I wish it really well For me. It framed up the 360, as did sort of stars like Cliffy B, major Nielsen, the Inside Xbox boys that we've talked about, andy Farron, and that was his name in the other one Awful creature, george, but they don't know my name, right. The other one awful creature, georgia, but they don't know my name, right and um, yeah, a really great era and one that I think, uh, a large people are nostalgic for.
Speaker 1:I keep seeing, uh, for the longest time, you know, the next wave of collectors were, you know, not collecting for the 16-bit machines anymore. They were, and then 64 had kind of been passed by. These people were solidly in the PS2 era, collecting full sets, this, that and the other. The full set for PS2 is incredibly brave because 70% of your library you're never going to touch, absolute drivel, lots of bangers, but there's a hell of a lot of shelf filler on that console. Equally, so, I hear people either going for ps2 and xbox 360 full set simultaneously, or I hear people kind of coming to the end of their ps2 collecting commitment and then they're moving to 360, kind of mapping their historic journey across consoles that they grew up with as children.
Speaker 1:It's all about nostalgia, guys. At the end of the day we're all just trying to reclaim that lost childhood we thought we got, took from us. We took it from ourselves because we came teenagers and we didn't want to play toy anymore. So they went in the bin and we got given to a younger cousin or sibling. We never really got over that. It's a deep moment. But you know, now we're adults, we've got disposable income. We won't just buy the games that we wanted, that we didn't have. We're going to buy every game for that platform that ever existed, including, like including Barbie's Horse Parade. It's a myriad of mediocre hunting games that came off the discount spinner on Morrison's. They're a part of DVDs of films that even I have never heard of. If they're in the full PAL library. Good luck to you, son.
Speaker 1:Now, with all that said and done, that's the news. Now, if you had an opinion on the news, as I said earlier, it would be my absolute pleasure to engage you in a spirited discourse about my humble opinion. Everyone's allowed one. They're a bit like arseholes, so I'm not going to pull you up for it. But we can have a spirited discourse about my opinion versus your opinion and agree to settle down in belief of our own opinions and move on with our lives, and that's how that works.
Speaker 1:Obviously, while you're popping into the Discord to verbally berate me about my lack of Gears of War history knowledge, which I probably deserve you can pop by and get involved in a myriad of activities we've got going on on there and you can say, george, but how much does this cost you? Absolutely zero, boys and girls. You can share pictures of your ever burgeoning collection of games. You can even, should you want to, get involved in the challenge accepted section where every month the immortal now digital mongery takes himself off, prepares a challenge for gamers to rise to. He's a bit like norris mcwhirter, throwing down record-breaking challenges left right in Chelsea and the UCP community pick it up and slap him around the face. Now I did see that it's been a bit of an upset challenge-accepted world, because a bit of an outsider, certainly in a challenge-accepted scene in retro ed suddenly mantled to the top tier position.
Speaker 1:This took home a prize. Well, winners attract winners, don't they? Because the very same week he won a contribution prize for his efforts in the clip quest that we ran for the YouTube shorts to promote the show. I'm absolutely flat broke. The clip quest that we ran for the YouTube shorts to promote the show? I'm absolutely flat broke. Don't worry about me.
Speaker 1:The show is there for you and the show will always be there for you and we'll always do what we can to make sure everyone gets a share and a turn in the barrel. It's what we're about. It's not everyone wins a prize at sports day. It's more like um pass the parcel with the sweets in each layer. So it is a bit like everybody wins a sports day, but do you know what heck it? We're inclusive. We're getting ready for the next wave of youngsters coming through. We're ahead of our time, some could argue. This ancient cult status podcast, run by a decrepit, gen xer uh, is preparing for the new wave of listeners, and that's by offering contribution prizes. Don't tell me I don't know what the future looks like.
Speaker 1:Anyway, feel free to come join in if you don't want to get involved in the games, if you don't want to post screenshots of your latest acquisitions. There's even a section where you can post pictures of what you've ate or your pets. Those two aren't mutually exclusive. By the way, if you want to show me a picture of the pet you just ate, I'll let you work out what section of the Discord you want to put it in Either pets or culinary delights. I think it fits in both brackets, if I'm honest with you, but I'm not here to tell you what to do. There's a joke section. There's a meme section and gifs all that good stuff that you young geezers and what's the opposite of a geezer? Is it a bird? It doesn't feel very progressive, does it? That's where I'm going to stick to it, so all you geezers and birds out there can post up pictures of whatever the hell you like.
Speaker 1:There's general discussion, where people generally get together and discuss the life of the universe and everything, normally games this is Discord for a gaming website podcast, after all. But there is also the Unglorious section. What's that, george? Well, if you are a supporter of the show financially and we don't ask for a lot a monthly period we ask for three dollars you have wasted more than that so many times that we have been feeding you content for five years every week without fail within reason. That's worth three pound a month, isn't it? You're like oh well, george you know. But is it worth it? Yeah, because you're gonna get a t-shirt for your offering.
Speaker 1:So hang on a minute. When have you been able to walk in primark and spend three pound to get down there, 300 episodes of a podcast and a free t-shirt? It doesn't even happen. And I I tell you one thing. Actually I can't vouch for this. I don't 100% know that T-shirts are child labor friendly, but let's say there's a 60% chance that some of the garment that we are issuing has had some form of inappropriate employment conditions around it. Look, I can't be everywhere all at once. And they're a good T-shirt. It is what it is, as far as I'm aware. We're safe, we're clear, we're clean. We use a local company for the printing Comes up fantastic.
Speaker 1:If also, you're listening and you don't want to maybe give on a monthly basis or a one-off basis and you just want to get a little bit of a T-shirt, maybe your favorite show. We've got rapidly approaching more designs than I can shake a fish at. I've never tried to shake a fish. I wouldn't like to imagine how many designs I can or can't shake at. That's a metric of measure. I think we'll never know what it truly means. But if you just want to grab a t-shirt, fine.
Speaker 1:If, after listening to all of this, you don't want to do anything and you want to continue being a free listener, and damn it, george. Bring me my show. You piece of dirt on a silver platter. Right now, consider it done. Just by listening. Just by listening, you're doing enough. But if you want to step to the next level, god damn you. You beautiful human being, I love you so much and, to that end, every single person that contributes gets to have their name read out on the show. Now, probably not always in the way they expect their name to get read out on the show, but in the spirit of the show. That's how this is going to go, okay, so, god, I'm desperate for a co-host next week. Have I still got OG Tom's phone number? Subtle foreshadowing. Yeah, yeah, I have. I wonder if he's still got the same phone. We'll see. Anyway, you didn't come here for gaming news. You didn't even come here to find out what I've been playing, and you certainly didn't come here to find out what the Discord's all about. You came to this section of the show to hear me read your name out. So here we go Up.
Speaker 1:First, he is the one man George fan club. He's the 50% championship winner of UC ClipQuest, an all-round good guy. Carlos up next Now. The other day I was skirting around on the internet. I stumbled across a Nigerian prince offering me a fair share more than 50% Burj Khalifa. All he needed, because he had fallen into some financial difficulty, was literally £1,000 from me cash sterling, no questions asked. So I am also the proud owner now of a 51% stake in Burj Khalifa. I don't think that's my wisest financial investment, but if you do want to make a wise financial investment then you should look no further than Firm Returns over on X. Now he calls himself Firm Returns, but for clip quest he appeared naked from the waist up, juggling what can only be described as the healthiest set of balls I've ever seen in a man's hands. If he's that safe with a pair of balls, you've got to imagine your money is safe in ripped returns.
Speaker 1:Fingers Trestles, new York, one of the finest eateries down in Queens, also home to the show for some time during our New York period. We thank you for your support and your kindness and your love. Back up is this man has been integral to the show. This man and I want this to go down in the history of the UCP. This man was the first person to ever email the unofficial controller podcast. Some would argue he's the last, but let's not let that get in the way of the glory this man deserves.
Speaker 1:It's Roast Space Monk, up next. Everybody stand up. Sir Bring up, everybody sit down. Sir Prego, everybody sit down. Sir Tanti belli cosi, badda bingster. Tanti belli cosi stammi bene Buongiorno. That was the immortal Italian stallion, badda bingster.
Speaker 1:Up next, a man that needs no introduction, and it's about time. His good lady, wife Nu so position your Bluetooth speaker within earshot now. Tingle tuner, as I say now, obviously we talk about great men. I have to admit, probably one of the greatest men I've ever met or had the privilege of sharing company with is this man, tingle Tuner. Every time I see him his name, a picture of him, his reflection in the surface, I feel compelled to throw myself at him. And it's not just his looks, it's not just his humour, it's not just his humour, it's his intelligence, his compassion and his care. If I could secure myself a moment with his loins, it would be a moment that would live with me for the rest of my days. His wife has to be the luckiest human on planet Earth. God bless you, mrs Turner. I did a faux pas. That was all perfect until I called her Mrs Turner. In fact her name's Mrs Tuna. Yes, they were named after the cannery. His parents were, on that, burnt down in a rather hideous fire. Who would think wet fish could be flammable? But it was Hence he now wanted to drop back from his name and just refer to himself as Tuna, which sounds like fish. He died. When you've got no one to bounce off, it's a hard gig. I hope you're still with me.
Speaker 1:Up next, digital Moncrie, one of the sheriffs of the Discord. He's there, a little bit like Bill Wild, bill Hickok I suppose running up and down a rough shod on the outskirts of UCP towers making sure no infractions are going on on Discord. Because, I'll be honest with you, many people control their Discords by putting bounties on people wanting dead or alive. Digimonkey just wants them dead, so behave. Digimonkey just wants them dead, so behave. Up next, this man you would think is follicly challenged and the rider of boards. But what I think you find is he is Up next.
Speaker 1:I've been arguing against it, I've been railing against it. I don't know why. I see an establishment and I just want to against it. I've been railing against it, I don't know why. I see an establishment and I just want to bring it down, but now I realise going brown is Bo Blober's inner calling. Thank you to you, sir.
Speaker 1:He's the other sheriff of the discord. He's more of a lean back in his chair with his spurs on the table kind of guy Smoking a cheroot, waiting for it to kick off in the saloon so he could wander down there and smash some heads. He's not a proactive sheriff, he's more of a responsive one. Either way work. They compliment each other like chalk and cheese. Actually, no, that's not right.
Speaker 1:Is it Red and white wine? When you spill some red on the carpet, you pour white all over it. Job done, you just pour some white all over the carpet. White carpet. You'd probably get away with it. But logically attached, you've got to pour red all over it. But then you've got to get a bottle of white to pour all over the red. Hang on.
Speaker 1:What gets white wine out? Red wine. Pour red wine on it. Hang on a minute. They've got red wine. Now what gets red wine out? White wine. You can see where this is going. I spilt some red wine in one of the annexes of the mansion 10 years ago. It one of the annexes of the mansion 10 years ago. It's now six foot deep in amalgamation of vinegared wine. But one would imagine underneath I've got a crystal white carpet, almost like a Maldives beach underneath that rippling blue sea. I haven't been down there for a while. It's probably re-fermented and got rats swimming in it. That's the perk of having more rooms than sense Next up.
Speaker 1:Where did that come from, george? I don't know. Hopefully you're enjoying this one-man journey into what's called madness. Up next, my red-headed stepson. Just because he's got red hair doesn't mean I love him any less. Just because he'sheaded stepson, just because he's got red hair, doesn't mean I love him any less Just because he's my stepson? No, absolutely not.
Speaker 1:This absolute beast of a man could rip every single human being apart with his little finger. Does he choose to? No, that's because he's a merciful God. Keep it up, ginge, love you Next. God, keep it up, ginge, love you Next. He's a man that flirts with horror. He's a man that takes a stroll through a graveyard at midnight because he likes the ambience. He's a man that has a dry ice machine strapped to his back so he can always arrive in a situation looking impressive. He is the Lord of Darkness, one part of Enigmatic Productions over on YouTube. Absolutely ripped snorting heroes over on YouTube and very honoured that they wouldn't take five minutes out of their day to even look or listen two seconds of this content. So thank you to Harvey Retro.
Speaker 1:Up next, the immortal Emma Sharp for confirmation she's back in the UK needing a normal life after a global success promoting the show. Thank you for that, emma. Up next now. There's been a lot of conversation forward and backward about where Berlin is and where nowhere near Berlin actually is. Well, wherever it is, I'll tell you where it's nowhere near Berlin. Up next, you've got to love her. It's the immortal mumsy. She's the spiritual mumsy to us all, the ones that called us down for dinner right in the middle of the game loading, for us to come back up and realise it failed on line 30. Literally hadn't even got out of the room to descend for our fish fingers and ketchup sauce before the game had up-yorsed and crashed within seconds.
Speaker 1:Up next it's the RGT Fan Club. No talk of how many members, but the fact they're amassed into a club certainly means there's more of them than my one-man army. But when you've got a one-man army you don't need anybody else. The RGT Fan Club fair play to you. Thank you for contributing. Thank you to all of you. Club fair play to you. Thank you for contributing. Thank you to all of you. Uh, you tight wads independently getting together to pay in a group. I hate this guy. Up next, pete brocklehurst he's a man that uh plays keepy uppies with cannonballsballs. Billy Marmite, a guy that you love to hate, if I'm honest with you blokes, an absolute menace to society. Up next, simon Pryke a good friend of the show, an absolute hero.
Speaker 1:And last but my no means least, let me just prepare myself for this. I'm not 100% sure how to deliver this solo. In fact, there's the inspiration I needed. I'm going to deliver this the same way I would if I was doing a solo A little bit fast and loose. I know exactly where I need to go to get where I need to go. So it's just a bit businesslike and it's a fast and easy. Thank you for that.
Speaker 1:Everybody that contributes, as I said, don't feel like you have to, but if you do, we are immensely grateful for what you do. And if you drop off, don't wake up in the morning thinking George will hate me. George, I never hate any of you. You've given more than we've ever deserved. But if you want to become the next victim on a long list of broken hearts, please feel free to click the link at the bottom of the show in its audio form Apple Podcasts, spotify, whatever. There's a little link there going to take you to a secure site run by a podcast hosting platform called Buzzsprout where you can give between three $10 a month as a one-off or until you see fit.
Speaker 1:Um, I mean I encourage people to get on at the lowest level. To be fair. I mean super amazing to the people that are super generous and it blows me away. Um, and I'm a second moment, while I'm here on my own, to say that 280, some odd shows five years. There's obviously been some ups and downs behind the microphone in many different ways, but I like to think we've always been consistent. For you guys, we've always smashed out a relatively good show.
Speaker 1:One would probably argue, after listening to all of this, whether this qualifies, but if this show exists for no other reason than for me to say to you all and I hope you can hear the genuineness when I say this thank you. I started this show out of a dark place, to be fair, not with malintent, but to try and move me to a slightly brighter future. I hope that along the way I might be able to entertain a few people with my netness and make them giggle at my knack of knowledge about video games. But do you know what? We've got through it and the show's become way more popular than I ever envisioned it could be. I mean, it's not exactly true. Anyone who starts a podcast like to imagine they're Joe Rogan tomorrow. But in this day and age is that ever going to happen? It's doubtful. But you know, if you guys believe in it and you believe in me, feel free to share it, feel free to spread the word wherever you hear it. None will ever get turned away.
Speaker 1:We try not to be too offensive. It doesn't mean we sell this line. We're a little bit naughty at times. The show was PG at one point in time, but anyone that was listening then with young kids in the car they're at uni now and I'm sure they've heard an innuendo of three. So although it's not an absolute swear house round here, we have relaxings a little bit and we hope the adult audience can enjoy it more. If you want to push to PG, if you were like my goodness George, that was the only place I could go where I didn't hear an inflammatory word uh, maybe we should move back to it. I don't know, but I don't think we're hurting anybody. I don't think we're super offensive.
Speaker 1:Try and put a little giggle old smile on your face and, like I say, guys, I'm the fact that we get listeners unbelievable I'm just a guy sat in my pyjamas talking into a microphone the fact that we get people want to support us in what we do, which is why we try and drive all of it back into giving back with the prizes and the T-shirts and the fridge magnets and all of it You're giving, so we can give. Yes, we do put some of it into the production preservation of the show. Now, um, we have quite the back catalog and maybe we could ditch some of it. I don't know, but to me it all forms one coherent piece of work, like, yeah, you're probably not going to go back to episode 2 and listen to the news, but you know what the law kind of means. You gotta love the show for the law.
Speaker 1:Sometimes I think that some of the inside jokes are a little not inclusive to a new listener, but I think there's enough face value stuff for you to get what you need, while you, if you want to investigate the history behind some of this drivel or, uh, alternatively, just want to jump on now and, from what you know, your sort of acbc crossover is here and you don't care about what happened before christ, you just care about what happened after him, right? Whatever, either which way, I think that's a long-worded, rounded way of me saying I'm very grateful. But if you've enjoyed this in any way and you can't financially contribute, just share the living wheels off of it, and that's more than fair payment. Anybody who's been almost Pavel dog-liked by this 280, some odd episode of the show know that George does his intro, normally humbles himself, derides himself and pushes up his co-host, elevates him on a platform. He then does the what you've been playing section. They then do the news, where they scour also the darkest corners of the internet but uh, they're not that dark and then they normally talk about something meeting in the middle or expand to the new sections. Yes, yes, george, we know this. And then you read our names up. Yes, yes, george, we know that you do that. Yes, we've heard all the names and it was a sub to average, let's face it was. It was blow mediocre sangief. But we've heard all the names and it was a sub to average, let's face it. It was blow mediocre Sangief. But we'll let you get away with it. You know there'd be not a lot of back pressure there today, so it just came out as a bit of an air ghost, if I'm honest, and a bit of a fuck Sangief. Me lip quivered so he did something right and I think my toe was curled, so it might not have been the most explicit one, but I certainly felt it.
Speaker 1:Anyway, now that we've Zangiefed all over the place, we can move to a place where I ask myself what I'm hoping to play. Now, what am I hoping to play? Well, sadly, I've got a little bit more travel and hotel rooms ahead of me this week. So, yeah, I'm on a worldwide tour promoting the show. Let's not let the truth get in the way of a good story. Absolutely, 1000%. That's the reason. So I'll be taking the Switch 2 with me. Rachel's probably going to think that's not very good because she's not going to be able to play any Persona 4, but as soon as you lose, babe, I'll be taking that with me.
Speaker 1:I keep meaning to take the pool, but these hotels I go to I cannot. I keep meaning to take the pool, but these hotels I go to I cannot, I cannot. And this is the sort of foible of the pool because I would have took it with me and the Switch prior to the Switch 2 coming out. But I'm always like the the internet's not good enough in UK hotels that I stay in for it to really function properly. It's a bit spotty and I think I might have to do something with my home setup because, you know, even it's been a bit patchy lately. I was playing no Man's Sky and I wanted to turn on the heel and the game froze. And then all of a sudden, because Impatient George kept hammering the controller, the guy was locked in the 360 for some time, pirouetting like a Russian ballerina. If anyone had witnessed that, what the hell's this dude doing? Probably smashing grapes in a French winery. So I'll be taking the Switch 2.
Speaker 1:Probably just going to, you know, when I get in on a night time, probably just going to end up settling into a bit of Witcher. I'm quite keen. Now I really want to get stuck into the DLCs. I've heard nothing but good things about them since the day they launched and, yes, I'm late to the party. I suppose my critique of Witcher 3 is it's a great game. I don't think I'd ever slap a 9 or a 10 on it, no, but maybe an 8. I think probably if I played it on launch, maybe get a fresh boost, get to a 9.
Speaker 1:Who am I to talk about? Who are you to rate games, george? You're blithering half-wit, you're right, but you know what? Anyone with a microphone seems to have a valid opinion these days For whatever that's worth. There we are. But one thing I can't hold against it is the enjoyment factor that you get from it Graphically. At times, even running the Switch One port, there's moments where you just see some incredible vistas, attention to detail, to lots of nooks and crannies that kind of make it a very grounded, believable world, and that's a world that I enjoy being in. On Honeymoon I even picked up the first Witcher book. I can't remember what it's called, but it's the Amalgamation of Short Stories and you know I actually quite enjoyed that and the universe is great. So there'll be a little bit of that I've been thinking about. I thoroughly love SnowRunner.
Speaker 1:It's no surprise to long-term listeners of the show that I do a lot of geeky, weird stuff, and one of them is either farming simulators or multi-terrain driving delivery simulator games. Yeah, that's the guy that sadly just had an opinion on Witcher 3. You've got to wonder if it's valid or not. As I say, probably not, and I've been thinking about downloading the original Spin Tires game or the original that us console gamers could get hands on in Mudrunner. I've got it for PS4 and I find find it to be or ps5 or playstation, let's say, is a more colloquial term to phrase it up these days and the same on the other side of the fence, xbox. Right, you know, with all the backwards compatibility that's going on, might as well just call the whole platform xbox at this point. The same for playstation.
Speaker 1:Anyway, mudrunner, in its bleakness, in its lack of handholding, in its kind of yeah, here's your vehicle barely really even going to tell you controls, pan yo, and that their finger point is roughly the direction you're going to need to go in. But that's as far as we're going to help you, and if you go straight in that direction you're going to plunge off a cliff or into some deep quagmire of mud that you can't successfully navigate. So you've got to pick your roots and you've got to get through that. There was, there was something in its innocence. And crudidity crudeness crudidity is not a word, although I just invented it. Let's get that on a T-shirt, right. Crudity yeah. Have you tried to rate Witcher 3, george? Yeah, all right, mate, I think we'll see what IGN say. They probably agree. Anyway, that probably draws a line under the sort of gaming activity I'm flirting with. Downloading a 10-year-old game yeah, that's right, even though I have its sequel Sort of strange cat that I am, oh, and I forget its name now, something Afternoon, was it that sort of Yakuza 2D game that I'd sort of discovered and have been playing?
Speaker 1:Really just incredible attention to detail in terms of the pixel art and animation. Honestly more animation, rounds and frames attached to that character than I have ever seen attached to a character before in a 2d game. Specifically, you can take your coat on off, you can squat down, have a cigarette, can stand up, having a cigarette. You can throw the cigarette away. You can pull your gun out. You can do this, you can do that. You can lean against the wall. I mean, you can lay down in bed, you can get up, you can do. You can lay down in bed, you can get up, you can do this, you can do that. Is it Fading Afternoon? I think it's called.
Speaker 1:I have to admit it's a bit disadvantaged by its art tile on the Switch 2. It doesn't really do it good justice in my opinion. I don't quite know what its Steam tile looks like on the Steam Deck OS, but yeah, I think it's the same, but I just don't really feel like it matches the game that well. But all that by the by underneath is a game I'm still curiously trying to figure out, if I'm honest, just trying to piece together how you play this thing. It's not hand-holdy at all, like I got sort of pushed or eventually stumbled in the general direction of what I believe to be like a Yakuza HQ and I really kind of. After all, that didn't really get too much direction, other than there was a bit of a guy hanging around in the pachinko place.
Speaker 1:Pachinko's a Japanese, you get them in the UK but it's basically a bit of a gambling machine really. But you put things in the top and they bounce through and it's a bit like a pegboard but like a very futuristic version of it. I think it's completely random, although there may be some skill involvement, but I don't know. You can play the same ones in Yakuza Like a Dragon series, but there's no one there. And I've been to this pachinko morning, noon and night and walked and tried to interact with everything and everyone in there and I've drawn a bit of a blank. So I've been kind of going to my hotel room but I'm burning through cash and you have to pay for your hotel room.
Speaker 1:Because one of the things I did read when I was kind of giving this game a bit of a cursory research because I literally knew nothing about it was that if you don't pay your bill you end up homeless. You know, I've also noticed I've got up a couple of mornings and didn't realize that shaving in game was a thing in a 2d side-scrolling RPG, beat-em-up lifestyle simulator that hang on on a minute, have I got stubble, went into the bathroom, pressed action and down. The guy picked up his electric razor and buzzed it off his face. That's the level of detail we're talking about and that's why I hope you can imagine why I'm finding it very difficult to play, because there's so much going on and there's I kind of I want to. I I want to maybe look at a guide to maybe give me maybe a rough idea of how to push this forward, but at the same token, I kind of don't want to look at a guide. I think the only thing I can lay my hand on where I may have made a mistake and not even a mistake, but just not chosen to indulge the tutorial, if you could even call it that was I got told to buy a gun from a pawn shop Not that kind of shop, yeah, the place where you take things that you want to exchange for cash, that kind of shop.
Speaker 1:And this underhand character had guns under the table. You know that sort of place and I purchased a gun. This feels like it's positive. On the way into the shop, I passed a couple of nadowells and it did flash up. If you want to attack another gang, you press this and this, and this is how it happens. Classic me. I was like head down, I need to get to the shop and do this and I've been back since and they're not there and you've got to wonder was that the game's way of like? You know this is how you fight people. You never did that bit and I don't think it's that linear. I don't think it's not because that means I've just sandwiched myself and there's no way I I think it's not because that means I've just sandwiched myself in a non-endgame making position. I can't believe it, I refuse to believe it. So I guess I just need to keep visiting all of the places even more until I find a little bit of evidence.
Speaker 1:One has to say it's certainly got a subtle nod to Yakuza. When you leave your hotel and turn right, not left, the screen kind of goes into a pseudo 3d, almost isometric viewpoint of the um, similar area to Japan to which Yakuza's based. It's not. It's kind of looks a bit like real life but isn't ever pertained to be that place. But it's pretty close. To be fair, sega Ryogoku 2, it's pretty damn close.
Speaker 1:I use it as a never-going-to-get-to-go-to-Japan, might as well play Yakuza kind of holiday simulator. There's a section where you walk the riverside and it's got these very distinct bridges over and these very distinct shops along this very distinct double-tiered, almost terraced path. And that's in this 2D game. But the fact to kind of spin the perspective a little bit so you kind of know what you're walking along absolutely nailed the aesthetic of it, very, very good uh, details, as I say everywhere, literally exemplary. And I do believe this game, much like stardew, for the most part is a one-man production and it's the levels of detail that some of these one-man, indie, small developers or very small teams go to. It's literally astounding.
Speaker 1:Anyway, with enough of my praise for the gaming industry, I guess really that means I've hit a point in time where I'm all out of words. As I say A little bit of an emotional moment during the show. I hope that didn't turn too many of you off. I know you normally come here for my Well, I assume you come here for my bizarreness, strange opinions and takes that probably don't hold up in the face of logic and, uh, just emotional ramblings really, if I'm honest with you. But here we are, I'm all out of words and that's all we have time for this week. Listeners, always thank you for your time and look forward to the pleasure 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 that counts. See you, george. Uh, yeah, see you, mate. Outro Music.