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
Steam Machine Priced Like A PC? Our Wallets Just Rage Quit
A shooter can live or die by how it feels in your hands. That’s where we start: unpacking why Halo’s air control and sticky mid-jump chaos still feel unmatched, while Resistance 2’s heavier, cover-first design delivers a different kind of tension. From checkpoint pain to flow states, we break down how movement, framerate, and responsiveness shape the stories we remember long after credits roll.
Then we jump into Hades 2 on Switch 2, running at a buttery 120 FPS at 1080p. We dig into why roguelikes benefit more from cadence than pixels, how the new gathering and upgrade wrinkles freshen the loop, and when it’s smarter to pick 1080p120 over 4K60. Along the way we revisit Infamous Second Son’s slow-burn unlocks, GTA 4’s moody Liberty City that still feels singular, and Fallout 3’s love-hate dance with VATS, save-crawls, and PS3-era performance quirks that can’t dim sharp storytelling.
We don’t shy away from platform takes. The PS5 Welcome Hub promises animated flair, but cluttered widgets and random screenshots often bury good art direction. UI should amplify anticipation, not drown it. And we tackle Valve’s Steam Machine value case: priced like a comparable PC, potentially less powerful than a PS5, and launching amid AI-driven RAM demand that’s pushing costs north. If it can’t be the cheapest path to your TV or the most powerful box under it, it needs to win on frictionless access to Steam’s ecosystem and a crystal-clear pitch to console-first players.
If you’re here for strong opinions rooted in hands-on play and a healthy dose of gaming nostalgia, you’re in the right place. Stick around for community updates, a big push for our new retro show Flashback, and plenty of practical insights on what to play next and why. Enjoy the ride, then help us grow: follow, subscribe, drop a review, and share this episode with a friend who loves games as much as you do.
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Cheers gamers!
Hello and welcome to the unofficial controller podcast, your weekly gaming podcast, episode number two hundred and ninety-five. With me, George, and this week joined by RGT. Rose to my friend. How's it going, RGT?
SPEAKER_05:I was gonna be ripped that live on a canal boat. Oh, that's yeah, I was gonna say that's uh that's one of the best ones yet. Um, really? Yeah. Brilliant. Um yeah, I'm good. Sorry if I sound a bit bunged up, got a bit of a cold, so if I do sound a bit more uh more deeper voice, then that's that's you sound a little bit nasally, but I'll be honest with you, I'm struggling to tell the difference. Oh. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, to be honest. Um but no, um other than that, yes, yes, I'm I'm good. I'm very good.
SPEAKER_02:So what are you gonna do? Uh crush up a couple of paracetamol, pour lemsip out on the kitchen table and and just sort of Henry Hoover that bad boy up in a bit to feel a bit better, or are you No, I normally uh well I have I have a lemsip, but normally uh Mrs.
SPEAKER_05:RGT makes it for me and she just gently mops my brow with a flannel because obviously in a mug? Yeah, yeah, unless well she looks after me, you see, so I can just sit on the couch with my switch too, playing some games where she mops my brow and looks after me. So her little boy boy is poorly. So her little boy, aka her husband.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_05:Oh this is gonna crop up in Discord. Oh yes. Uh what have you been playing? Um to do the same as usual, bit more resistance to. Um I tell you what, I'm finding it really tough. I am finding it a lot tougher than the first one. Whether that's just my skills are not that great, which is probably quite true as well. But yeah, um, I'm finding it, yeah, quite tough. Um I've probably only put another hour in, um, but still really enjoying it. Um, I think it's different enough to keep me, you know, drawn into it. And um yeah, yeah, it's good. I I still I'm still gonna carry on with it, but there was one mission, took me ages, just kept dying and going back to the start of the mission until I got to a checkpoint. I thought, phew, that was what these um sort of zombie things are running at you from around his house, and you just get swamped. And I I was on limited ammo and didn't have another gun, so I was I ended up trying to just sort of shoot a couple, turning and high tailing it for a bit, turn around and shoot a couple and run again. And yeah, that that was quite tough. Eventually got there. Um and I'm sort of learning, I've got a uh a guy with me, so I'm sort of learning to let him take a few out as well. So in other words, push him in first, let him tap a few out, and then I go in and try and go back.
SPEAKER_02:Very similar to your podcasting strategy.
SPEAKER_05:Wow. Wow. Yes. Anyway, we'll gloss over that. Um, so yeah, a bit more just to do loads more bolex pit. Um, just keep because the way my work schedule is at the minute, that suits me down to the ground. Keep jumping in, jumping out. Um, a few minutes here, a few minutes there. Um, nearly unlocked another level. Um, I've been playing back through the levels with my characters. Um got loads of characters now, nearly unlocked all the houses. Um, I think I'm sort of 25, 30 hours into a um yeah, I know us mad. I don't know how this where the time's coming from, but it is. Um, but yeah, I won't go on because I've been talking the last three weeks about that, so I won't talk about that too much. Um what I have jumped back onto, um only played the first hour again, Halo 4. Um I was gonna um get rid of my Series X because I just don't use it, and then I thought, hang on, I still haven't played the Halos yet. I've got Master Chief collection, which was kindly given to me by Bobo. And I thought, oh what I let's get this storyline done because I love the Halo games, I've been really enjoying them, and I've had about eight months, so I haven't really played them. So I thought I'm gonna start Halo 4 again. I've got about halfway and forgot that, so I've started that again. Um, that does look good on the Series X, I've got to say that that um Master Chief collection from the Xbox One running on the Series X, that does look good, plays really well. Um, so yeah, I've only about an hour in, but really enjoying that so far. It's great to be back in that Halo world. Um, yeah, that's you you you get these first person shooter story games, so that's hard to top that with with Halo. You know, they're they seem to be. I don't know how they were rated. I didn't play them in the day, I don't know what people think of Halo 4. Um let us know.
SPEAKER_02:I don't really remember four. Obviously, I was on board day and date for one, two, and three. Um, but four kind of slipped me by. Listen, I I'd imagine it it's pretty good. I can't really remember any of the sort of hubbub about it, to be honest with the after three. Uh Halo Wars, maybe a sniff of ODST, but ultimately kind of maybe a bit sort of done with it at that point. Um you know, the full sort of bungee suite to me was enough of a storytelling of John to really be enough for me. And I never felt the pull of four, I definitely didn't feel the pull of infinite. Uh you know, that thing, these are things that I ought to really sort of do stuff like you're doing, really. I'd like to maybe have another go at three. It's been a long time, but thinking about it the other day, is that my favourite? Possi possibly, you know, it's it's very slick three. Yeah, it's very much we talked in the latest or soon-to-be latest released flashback episode about those sort of um treasured sort of 360 memories, and Halo 3 is right up there. The menu felt slick, it felt new, it felt fresh, you know. And as I say, ultimately that left me a little bit wanting for four, uh or not wanting for four, but you know, um glad to where you're enjoying it.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, yeah, really enjoying it. Um like I say, and um sort of going from the back of resistance to, which is still a brilliant looking game for the era, then you sort of see, or you know, although this was sort of remastered game for the generation, next generation, you can see the leap that there was. You know, it looks big, you know. I know the Series X is touching it all up in bits and pieces, but yeah, it's kind of kind of not.
SPEAKER_02:I think that um the Halo games always had that kind of edge.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, very crisp, I'd say, very clean, crispy.
SPEAKER_02:Very clean, very nice um frames per second from them as well. So it's all very fluid in terms of your playability. No disrespect to the boys over at Resistance there, but um it's not the same. Resistance feels like an evolved PS2 game, whereas the the Master Chief trilogy specifically feels like something very new, very fresh, yeah, um, very light physics on the single player on on John 117. He he's very sprightly, he can move, and you've got this sort of dexterity in the air that gives you some very fluidity of movement gameplay moments. Like you can jump in the air and spin round and shoot someone on your way down, throw a sticker grenade, you know, it gives you that sort of frenetic very sort of easy to pick up, hard to master gameplay, whereas resistance is very your feet are magnetically attracted to the floor pretty much. Yeah, you're a sort of super soldier with just this sort of addiction to the ground, you're not looking up, you haven't got that fluidity of movement, so therefore it becomes a lot more sort of of the era corridor shooter kind of you're playing the cover game. You're never gonna I mean you might on resistance. I know I sometimes have had to do this just to crack the deadlock and the deadlock and move to the next area. But you're never gonna go on a run of like jumping over a barricade, lobbing a sticky down, turning around, sort of shotgunning the dude in the back, you know, or needling someone else. Oh, needless yeah, brilliant. Yeah, you know, Halo has got its detractors, but I'd say to you find me a better playing, sort of, especially online, but you know, that multi quality. Okay, fair enough. You found me a better one, okay. But in terms of like actual fluidity of movement and play, Halo had it nailed. Halo will always kind of have it nailed. If you think about the fluidity, it was something they were trying to stitch into COD when they were trying to bake in that sort of weird ass wall running uh dribble they were putting in. They were trying to give your character a bit of a break. So a lot to be said for Halo there, mate.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, yeah. So yeah, been enjoying that, and hopefully I can get through that and get four done and dusted. Um is that your direct comparison?
SPEAKER_02:Do you think you get that floaty sort of kick-ass feeling from Halo? Do you feel do you agree with that sort of bolted to the ground and resistance?
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, resistance feels like you're a bit more got sandbags on, you're a bit more intrigued. It's very smooth. It's very, very smooth. You know, you can like you say, uh there was one bit I came into this because they were all on my ship. Um, and there was there was sort of a circle room, and there was some on the left, some on the right, and I just ran in this room, sticky bomb, sticky bomb two, turned round, taking out the others, and behind me, you can hear it took those down, and you just think you wouldn't do that in resistance too. That's a bit more going, shoot what's in front of you, turn round, shoot what's in front of it. Yeah, so yeah, there's it's a big difference to it. Um, but it is great fun. So I'm really looking forward to it. I love the storyline anyway.
SPEAKER_02:The funny difference between you workers if you've got like an ADHD guy comes in, starts a job, doesn't really finish it, jumps off, stickies the other guy, turns around, bam, sorts out the filing, boom, turns around, you know, made us someone a brew upside down on the roof. He's probably reading something on his phone, uh something completely unrelated, like the history of the Egyptian Empire. And then you've got you've got old straight in front of him, you know, Johnny turns up, you know, grabs his stuff, walks forward, processes, walks forward, processes. What's making the guy leaping over his head while bloody putting a Facebook post up, but he didn't want to he didn't want to pick Gen Z too hard. Uh he just didn't understand it.
SPEAKER_05:Very good comparison. Um, but yeah, very similar. Um, but yeah, enjoying that. Um, like I say, can't wait to get through that. Um and finally this week, I had a little game drop through my letterbox on my doormat on Friday.
SPEAKER_01:Are they euphemisms for anything or are we actually no, no?
SPEAKER_05:Well, I was gonna talk doormat. No, definitely not. But it was Amazon actually, so it was just chucked in the porch. But anyway, um is that a euphemism? Oh dear. Right, compose yourself. Um right, okay. I had a delivery this week. You can pop round and chunk someone in your porch.
SPEAKER_02:Uh I'm not gonna muck about, I'm not gonna mess around with your wet door, Matt. I'm gonna go straight in the box, slap it in the porch at the same time. It's a big delivery, RGT. You better be prepared to uh take it.
SPEAKER_05:Anyway, I had a game delivered this one. Um, Hades 2 on Switch 2. Oh, so if you're a Hades fan and you haven't played 2 yet, make sure you play it because so far, uh a couple of hours I've played, it is very, very, very good. Um really interested me um when I first loaded it up, done the first run. Um obviously didn't last very long. Got back to my hub world and I thought this looks very, very smooth. Very smooth. So on my TV I've got lot this optimizer where you can bring up and that'll tell you what frames you're running and all the rest of it. 120 frames per second that runs, and I thought, really? So I'm gonna Google this and check. So I checked, yes. So on Switch 2, it automatically boots up, it only boots up 1080p, but it boots up 120 fps, but it still looks stunning. It is so smooth, which is good for that game. I mean, I think you can change it to 4K60, but this game I think you need the smoother frame rate as you can get, so it runs exceptionally well. Um really good. It's um I noticed there was I mean it's got some great reviews. I think it's running a 95 on Metacritic at the minute. Um, so it's it's a highly rated game, but I noticed there was some guy put on there um too similar to the first one, and that they hadn't really done a lot different. And I thought, well, the first one was that good anyway, and they have sort of changed it a bit. Um the way your upgrade is a bit different, and they've also done where you can gather items as you go. So you have a pickaxe and you you'll find a lot of rock, and you can, you know, just go up to the rock when you've done a battle and get some ore or get some flowers, and then you've got a cauldron where you can, you know, that's not much different, but it's a nice little touch. Um, but yeah, really, really good. I can see sort of ball X Pit slowly going to one side and Hades 2 coming in. Um, yeah, it's releasing me from my uh Ball X Pit addiction. Um god, but yeah, it's it if you know Hades, you know Hades. That's that graphic style, the music, the acting from when the gods come down. Um, yeah, it's it's it's more Hades, but yeah, it's got all these little extra touches. Um so really, really enjoying it. I can't recommend it enough. So it looks really good on Switch 2. Um I haven't played it on the others console, so I can't put it as a comparison, but um, yeah, oh super giant, I believe he makes that. Um, you know what they're doing with these games because it's just uh it's a really good quality product that's you know runs how it should, plays how it should, and you you get exactly what it says on the box, you know. So really, really good. So looking forward to putting hours into that. But what you've been playing, young George?
SPEAKER_02:Um I have been playing so kind of getting moved in now to the point where everything's sort of solid fine back down to um bit PS5. I just again not really wanting to commit to a big game. So I've obviously got the two bangers sat there purring away. Um so I started playing Infamous Second Son or whatever it is. Um Rachel's obviously just not that long ago finished two, sort of blasted it in a week and kind of enjoyed it. I've kind of got quite far, I didn't realise quite how far I'd got on this uh infamous and I played it four or five four years ago, probably. Um it's it still looks, and I'm obviously playing it on pro, it's no damn right looking as good as it does, honestly. It's unbelievable. Um but yeah, these sort of PlayStation games quite early on in it, so I've got no real powers unlocked, so you really do feel the burn of a struggle at the start, yeah. Um, and that's one of the unfortunate things about it. You've got you've really got to. I remember I was talking to Rachel about when I first played Ghost Hoshima. I was just enjoying myself generally and hadn't really considered levels, and I just sort of generally just kind of walked from situation to situation. I found myself in a very sort of high-level enemy area and was unable to move forward and then convince myself I was obviously garbage at games, but then I came into the map and realised that uh okay, I've strayed off the beaten path a little bit here and tried to sort of kick myself back to where I started the game or what felt like the tutorial kind of area. All of a sudden that the enemies were dropping like flies, and I was like, right, okay, build myself up again, build myself up again. And I found a little bit of this with infamous as you prior to unlocking your skills, especially if you played before, I was like reaching for buttons. I know I can shoot these guys from a distance, but what am I doing wrong? And then I locked it. I was like, oh patience, Georgie Boy, patience, Georgie Boy. I was like trying to do a jump. I was like, No, I know I can do a floaty jump in this. Why is this not working? Next tutorial, floaty jump mode. Oh, right, okay, okay, okay.
SPEAKER_05:I've actually just purchased those two games for PS3.
SPEAKER_02:Um no, Second Sun's PS4. Oh, you mean one or two for PS4? Yeah, one or two, sorry, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Didn't you have those?
SPEAKER_05:I always thought I did, but they were vacant from the shelf. So I um when I got some of my stubborn credit, um, obviously people on Discord saw I got the uncharted PS4 and I got those two as well to sort of clear off the credit. So just trying to get all the bangers in there.
SPEAKER_02:But anyway, like a dollar each, a pound each?
SPEAKER_05:No, they're crept up a bit now. I think they were eight bucks and ten bucks, I think, or eight bucks and twelve bucks. Wow. Yeah, surprising.
SPEAKER_02:Um to be honest with you, the first two, especially, I think great little games, especially now I've had the time to retrospectively go back in and munch through two. Uh, I'll probably give this a go. I didn't really grab with it the other day. It was one of those nights where we're just sort of stumbling around, had 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there, didn't really have a lot of time before bedtime, and it was like, yeah, just have a little go around this and that and the other. I've been playing a lot of GTA 4 though. Um, again, for the God knows how many times I've played that, and I have to admit this time through, uh I'm at the midway point now. Wow, you're you've you've put some hours in there. Oh, don't you worry, mate. Yeah. Our here and there, I'll I'll claw it back. And um Yeah, I I just personally, Rachel's not at all, she's loving it, never seen this one before, obviously. And I I honestly still feel, although it's probably one of the best selling games they ever made, still one of the most forgotten games they ever made. You know, people say our bully's forgot. Not really. I'll tell you, I'll show you a game that's forgotten. GTA four. And um, although not by this show. I was looking through the content the other day, I was like, oh god, how many times can one man mention this? Better move on. You know, at times really enjoying it. I don't know why, but I've always felt more at home and like there's always more to do, and I've always said this about four, because as an experiment, we also I don't know how Rachel's up the lid. Well, she says she is, probably not, probably on Tinder. Um probably as an experiment, no, she's not. Uh well, she tells me she's not. You know, discuss all this with yourself, had you. Mumsy fetch me a phone. Yeah, don't no, don't do that. Um we look we uploaded five on PS3. Uh, because as I'm kind of of a when I put the SSD in the PS3, I've been going through trying to make sure some of the bangers are up there. So I've got a lot of space on the hard drive to kind of fill. I thought, well, might as well have it say when I decide I'm gonna put in one of the big games. I can just go in and play it. I haven't got to sit there and watch it update for ten hours. I haven't had the bravery to start downloading GTA 6 yet, but you know, or GT6 yet, but I'm sure I'll I was gonna say when you said GTA 6, how have you got that? On PS3, stuff like that. Can't imagine what that looks like. So we uploaded we downloaded five onto the onto the PS3. Four looks great. Five looks now want to draw in some lines of comparison here. Four has a unique colour palette where it's set in sort of winter autumnal, very sort of late fall. Yeah, there's still heat in New York, you can see it in the heat haze, but a lot of the time there's rain, the trees are brown, yeah, everything's kind of dragged down a little bit, and you've got I tell you what, never a game has given you a feeling of a time and a place as much as GTA 4. Because you flip it to the sun-soaked, sun-bleached GTA 5, and immediately because everything's so well lit, there's an immediate thought to say this is a better graphically looking game. Now it is, but it's a hard one to choose because the draw distance is in five because of the vistas and the distances that they locked it right out. I don't I've there's been times in GTA 4 where I've had a similar sort of length of view across the islands.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So the character models definitely in four have got that kind of drawn by the guy who did San Andreas look to them. Whereas by the time we get to five, that's been even more eroded, and obviously, from screens you've seen of six, that's been further eroded again. You know, they've gone for that realism.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, and I think what was GTA four was what, 2009, was it, I believe.
SPEAKER_02:I think it was, yeah. Or maybe 2008, even or early 2009, maybe we got the DLCs a bit later on, or something. Yeah, I can't remember.
SPEAKER_05:And then I think GTA 5 is 2013, right at the end of the life, and you can see correct. You can see I could I had right at the end of the PS3, and then because I would I went and bought it again on PS4 and played it again, but it's it it's for a PS3 game, it does look good fives, but in a different way. I mean, four still looks incredible, but they'd sort of you could see that there were certain areas with, like you say, character models, um, rather than the distance of the look of the game, it was more the close-up shots and bits and pieces, the car models, you know, and it was a different different area of the country as well.
SPEAKER_02:When I first rolled into it and you do that level, you do the the robbery, the the back end of the heist, where you kind of wake up in the middle of it and then you you kind of you do the escape, etc. feeds into the game and the funeral, all that sort of stuff. When that first loaded up and I was in that presume it's a bank, I thought to myself, oh back to back, interior shot. This is this is pretty close. Yeah. The fidelity on the main character has been increased, obviously. And I know why I'm talking about a PlayStation 3 game. Park that Georgie Boy. Park it. What else have you been playing? Well, in preparation for new Fallout series, me and Rachel have been playing through a little bit of just pin in out of Fallout 3, nothing too strenuous, although Wow. I went full PC gamer, dude. We ended up in this I can't remember where we were, underground somewhere, involved in whatever it was we were wrapped up in. And I'd been absolute I'd had my trousers pulled down around my ankles in this area, and my Livy White backside spank so hard that it was redder than Mrs. RGT's lipstick on on Valentine's night. Wow, and that is red. It was oh my goodness gracious me. You know when your dogs get a little bit carried away? Redder than that. Alright. Redder than the tip of that.
SPEAKER_05:Wow, what a comparison.
SPEAKER_02:How does that make you feel as a man?
SPEAKER_05:Um slightly odd, but yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. I I'll be honest, I think I've even slightly discussed it myself a little bit. Yeah. Um but anyway, these dungeons per se, as uh better word, I was actually got down to the point where I was using obviously Fallout's got the unique VAT system where it kind of takes it um turn-based in that moment. You've got if you've got enough action points, you can go from being a kind of first person shooter to just grabbing a moment of sanity and going into almost a turn-based system, right? Where you can get it.
SPEAKER_05:I've never really got the Fallout games. Never really. I've dabbled with four, but I just I've got it, yeah. Yeah, but I've never I've never got into them.
SPEAKER_02:I've never really the the introduction to the universe in three compared to four, where you kind of the the vault section of it feels a bit more abrupt, so you don't get the time. You kind of get in, frozen, wake up, and all you really care about is quite rightly finding your wife. Well, not not your wife, uh but your kid for sure. Yeah. And uh in Fortnite 3, without again ruining uh a 20-year-old game too much, you you are doing inverted comedy, born in the vault and grow up within the vault. So you get to see a bit like the TV show people, the jumpsuits, the kind of social hierarchy politics within the Fallout bunker before you leave. And then similar to the TV series, something happens one night, all of a sudden, your dad's gone a little bit feral. Um obviously the dating pool in the vault's a bit restrictive. Um since Mumsy passed away, I'll be honest, there's only one copy of Drop the Barbarian in that vault, and uh spin past you know, passed around a couple of times. He gets out anyway, and you wake up, you're like, oh, you know, still a teenager, you're like, or whatever your age you are. Um where's daddy? Daddy, daddy, daddy. So you wake up with a few daddy issues, go running out of the vault. I would say probably a bit foolheartily, really, because you go from the safety of the vault to the immediate present danger of the nuclear apocalyptic wastelands. Uh, and we're talking people that make the Mad Max universe look like an episode of neighbours at times.
SPEAKER_05:Um I live in Suffolk, so I'm very used to them sort of people. So it's quite familiar.
SPEAKER_02:Very fallout New Vegas Suffolk, I would say. Yeah, very similar. But yeah, if you've never played it, it's got that sort of gentle Bethesda kind of and it is very much a Bethesda game, by the way, but it's got that gentle sort of story, it's got a little bit, a couple of thought-provoking elements to it, which is quite interesting. Um, I think me and Rachel had just got to the main story section where we had um, and again, not too many spoilers here, but you went to like a mini virtual reality section where you end up in uh a 50s VR simulation, but it's all in like C Plack and White because they haven't nailed colour, obviously. So it's it's it's really good. And there's a comedic bit in there, you're looking for your dad, and you've gone into this virtual reality simulation to see if you can find him. Not too much of a spoiler, but some crazy sort of German scientist who's been running this Vault experiment, who's in this world as a little girl, by the way. Because when you sort of like force them into a bit of a situation, the voice goes from, oh really, let's play in the parts of the Um I I actually Guten Tages is just a bit like, oh right, okay, I said I won't gonna go there. Uh I kind of did, but I didn't I didn't I didn't raise the I didn't raise my I didn't raise my right arm, I didn't go full shouty, I just said one word. Right? Got listeners in Germany, I'm not gonna go there. Well I might, but I'm not. So anyway. Then because having a conversation with this little girl within this VR world, and obviously that's the danger of online in some ways, but then when she gets angry, she just flips into this German scientist voice. Oh my, oh my, I forgot about this at first from when I played it the first time. I was like, I forgot about all this and make it a little bit. That sounds very creepy, actually. Well, Rachel's finding it very sort of intriguing, like, oh crikey, I didn't expect that. I was like, yeah, I kind of forgot about this a bit. I said, Oh, let's go talk to the dog. So I was like, hey up, dog, are you alright? Like I was like, oh yeah. And spoilers now, so just give ahead 30 seconds. In the end, you trigger something in the vault in this simulation to turn it off. Um and when you get out, your dad comes over to you and he's like very grateful, and he said, I thought I was gonna be trapped in there forever. And then it dawns on you. Your dad had been trapped in that simulation of that dog. I laugh, but you know, the wake in reality of being forced into a world as a he couldn't he couldn't speak because I asked this dog questions and it barked once. Now I think back, it probably barked once for yes and twice for no, and I think that's it. And it was like oh, okay, whatever. You get out of there's like, oh my god. And so the sort of almost um uh being John Malkovich sort of end terror of being sort of trapped in this world without any. Control kind of haunted me a bit. I was like, oh, that's well, the graphics are terrible, the storytelling is kind of great, I'll give you that. Yeah. So anyway, I think one thing I was saying about me being a PC gamer and said would love to hear this, was that I was having to kill a dude, save it, try and kill the next dude, die numerous times, reload to save just for that one time where everything lines up perfectly, and I kill him. Save it immediately, move on to the next area where I engage the next guy and get into a frickal die. Like, okay, fine. Let's try and kill him this way. Die. Okay, fine. Let's try this way. Boom. Kill him. Success. Right. Save immediately. And I manage to sort of save crawl my way out. Now, actual gameplay time might reflect like 10 minutes in this dungeon. Real time lost in this dungeon. God knows. Probably an hour. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:Uh say like me and my Evocade just quit doing quick save pauses because you can on the retro games because it's so hard. So you do. But then I was I've got another inch. Stop, pause, save, crawl another inch.
SPEAKER_02:Stop, pause, save. You had a save co-pilot. Yeah, like just because don't get ahead of yourself, don't forget to save. Like, oh yeah, because you get this bravado, don't you, in video games. You're like, yeah, I killed him, ripped his head, clean off his shoulders next. It's like, no, George, let's reflect on the reality. Don't get wrapped up in what your save tells you you did. You didn't just kill all these guys, one shot, one shot, one shot, one shot. Pala it was sort of one shot dice.
SPEAKER_05:94 saves in three and a half hours, young man.
SPEAKER_02:But then I was thinking to myself, something corrupted in my head about these um Bethesda games on uh PlayStation consoles, or specifically the PS3, where the more you save, the more and the bigger the file gets, because I've watched it creep up from a very small amount of kilobytes in this dungeon alone. I watched it go from 3705 to when I got out, I think 3950, and I was like, Oh, hang on a minute. Do I remember something? Then my brain went, Yeah, you do, George. On PlayStation 3, the more times you save, the more corrupt and broken your game is. And by the more times you save, the more frames per second get stripped away towards the back end of the game as this file gets too big for the for it to be able to handle because they didn't code the game. I know it's specifically an issue in Oblivion, like a big problem, that the SSD kind of does mitigate, but then even it's like nah, I can't deal with this anymore. So I'm I've never realized that. I'm getting a bit nervous about this strategy, um, which we've deployed as almost like a mini couples game. Say like, hey, but hang on. Oh god. Four frames per second, exactly, one frame a second, because there've been a few times as well where and thank goodness we've got the SSD in there. Been exploring the waist lines, and it must be built up in chunks. And I transitioned a chunk, and I don't remember this on the 360 version, not at all. And the whole game froze for probably about 30 seconds. Now, if that had had a standard hard drive in, I'd have been up and turned it off.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, well, you'd had gun Matt a cup of tea and come back before us actually.
SPEAKER_02:You think it's crashed? Yeah, because I was like, it's crashed. Just enough time for me to go, hmm, god, I'm gonna have to stand up. That's the worst thought and then it kind of broke into life. Maybe one frame, I saw a crack. I was like, right, I'm in here. Um but I think that probably draws to a close. Uh I tell you, I'll tell you what, RGT, all this research of flashbacks leaving me feeling like this is an episode of flashback. One bit of news before the news, obviously. I think you're here to report that we've got all the listings where you're required to push forward as a show. Boom.
SPEAKER_05:Yes. Um it's just a couple of smaller podcast providers. We're just waiting for at the moment. Push them into the ground, ignore them. We're launching Podchaser and a couple of others.
SPEAKER_02:But other than that, Spotify we're on.com. RGTR'd imagine by this time next week I'll have zero cat pictures to share with you.
SPEAKER_05:Let's push forward. Put it this way. If we've got 500 cat pictures, we are in big trouble. We're done. Yeah, we're that's it. Um the flashback shippers sailing. Yes, so hang on a minute.
SPEAKER_02:As a nautical man and myself, I must apologize ahead of time. So then I'm on a community correction. No one's sailing anywhere. You sailed or you sail. RGT should have had my throat clean out for that. I really wanted to be lying in a pool of my own blood, looking at you, looking at you with much of Kia hanging off your claw.
SPEAKER_05:Well, you've heard the way I speak, so that's just normal, normal talk for me. So I shouldn't be. I'm a sailing. Yeah, you're a sailing. Um that ship is a sailing. Um but yes, so we're on Spotify now, iTunes, blah, blah, blah. Flashback or search flashback on future controller. You'll find us on there.
SPEAKER_02:Promotes it harder.
SPEAKER_05:I will if you don't stop keep interrupting. Um that's been a while since I heard that. Um, so slower. Definitely never heard that. Um think you think you might have done, Captain. Anywho, flashback. Yeah, it's on so iTunes, Spotify, it's there. Search flashback, unofficial controller podcast. If you could download the pilot, and as of you'll get a list, the episode one will be out today. So if you can download that, give us a review, um, follow us, give us a like, and if you could, I notice a couple of people have popped that on their socials yesterday. Really much appreciated. Um, yeah, so we can start building.
SPEAKER_02:That's a hard sell. A bit of an audience. This is a hard sell. You're getting another show, hours long, free of charge. Do us a favour, download it on your phone, download it on your mum's phone, get all of your people at work. Oh, play video gauge your own so I can't get people in headlock. Well, just do it anyway. Take the risk for the show, push the living flashback. If that's not the biggest retro show by this time next Friday, RGT will have to sacrifice two-thirds of his gaming collection.
SPEAKER_00:Already have, so that'll be the last version.
SPEAKER_02:Well, whatever you get left, you can still two-thirds of it up. But even if you've got one game, RGT I can two-thirds of that bad boy. I can do it in a way that lets you play the disc. Insert that game disc in manual. We can class those as items. Yeah, but you mess with me, our disc's getting cut in through. Wow. That's you're not you're not messing about today. I'm not messing around anymore. I don't know how kind we need to be to people. Jaded George is back. We just want a little bit of oh, we see you guys trying, giving us stuff for free. Hours and hours of content. Anyway, flashback, episode one was a really great time to record. I lovely, I really enjoyed it. Those these time machine journeys you take me on that awaken my kind of latent memories at the moment, RGT, were so strong, I was seeing Xbox 360 avatars almost like the ghosts of Christmas past, future, and present in my sleep. Um yeah, it was a bit much. It came to visit me with my Xbox Avatar DLC uh wardrobe pack. Uh so obviously, first one was just standard George, just with the T's that Microsoft gave him, and then there was like the present, which was like him with a few bits of drip on. Uh maybe an orange box t-shirt or something like that. He sort of stood there looking preppy, his arms hanging down, it's massive, getting head wobbling about. And then the ghostly Christmas Future was like this weird sort of modern day avatar dressed in like Halo Infinite T. He's got like a backwards, I don't know, Phil Spencer camp. Uh it's scary. It was scary, I'll be honest with you. Then I became an avatar. Uh wow. Yeah, and walked across to my friends panel and looked at all my sort of dead, sleeping avatar friends. It was a kind of a reminder to be a better person, really.
SPEAKER_05:Wow, that's a trip. Wow, that went down a rabbit hole. But anyway, yeah, flashback. Um, yeah, but yeah, that was great fun record first episode, which will be out today as well. So you you get and they'll hear that in it, won't they?
SPEAKER_02:They'll hear that in it, but it was an insanely enjoyable show.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, um, I just thought also just just fake a couple of people. I said I'd give them a shout out. Um, people in Lost Off CEX. So when I was that in uh trading in a load of games the other day, I had to get on their phone and uh follow our own show because they're interested to listen. So everyone at Lostoff CEX, hello. And also to um Retro Cyber Monkey on Etsy, who I've been buying some cartridge displays off. Um we ended up going into a deep dive on Etsy chat room talking about video games and bits. So I said I'll give him a shout out. So hopefully you're downloading it and uh thank you again.
SPEAKER_02:Have you been buying? These cases? I've been buying these little display standsy 3D printing.
SPEAKER_05:Get down, get it down, let's have a look at it. I cannot reach at the moment. I'll show you off air, but um really, really good. No, show me what you bought off in of Etsy. I can't get to it at the moment because I'm behind my desk on my recording setup.
SPEAKER_02:Why are you making this sound so shady?
SPEAKER_05:That's not shady. I will I will show you off air because I can then get up and move round and get my. Um, I know, but uh I've thought okay. Be shy, I'm kind of liking it. Oh show you, but anyway, that I've put them on, I have put them on um our Discord anyway, they're on there. So if you'd have been on there, you would have seen them. Anyway, um so they're lovely little display stands on my links.
SPEAKER_02:I'm about two jobs away from having a breakdown, but you know, as you were.
SPEAKER_05:N64 is the one I first bought, displays eight cartridges, lovely. You can pick all your colours and you're writing. So I've got one of those, I've got a SNES one on the way, and another N64 one. So basically, um my all my loose cartridges I've got on the shelf just looks a mess. I can't find a way of displaying them nicely, and I thought, well, this would be good because they sit on top of the shelf all along. You can see the labels, see what the games are, and just a lot neater for my loose cartridges.
SPEAKER_02:So do you want to display my loose carts?
SPEAKER_05:Oh. In a tin in a cupboard. Yeah, I did think as much. Um just just chucked in an old quality street tin.
SPEAKER_02:Is there a confession of should have tried harder at school? If I have, I've had these mint sealed on the shelf. If because I didn't, they were in a loose, in a dirty quality street tin, which is probably worth more than the games in it these days.
SPEAKER_05:Probably, yeah. Um, so yeah, but yes, thanks. Retro Side Mighty. Um brilliant service, and uh, I should be buying plenty more. I've got two more on the way. Just gonna keep getting is it just these display pieces he does? Like this the most he does um he's got he's got a he's showing me a picture of his 3D print set up. He's got about eight machines all set up and he prints all these and he does even things for like Hot Wheels, cars, display stands to put all the cards in and all that. Really good, all different ones from uh 3DS to DS to even PS Vitas. He does them with a display for the Vita, and you can put the cards, loose cards in, or your PSP, or Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, he does all of them, he's got loads on there, very, very good. Very good.
SPEAKER_02:I'm thinking of pushing my setup into the very premium display area, and I think I'm going I think I need to curate even harder than I have. Okay, some of these third-party titles have made their way in as bangers. Are they though? And then actually curate that right down, not get rid of stuff essentially, maybe some stuff that I've accumulated tat-wise, like maybe it needs to go. Maybe some of the other stuff created down into a tote, put away. I might and I'm talking the games that I've either played, completed, that aren't like big bangers that you want to display, yeah. Um, maybe put those to one side. Because the the likelihood of me going to I suppose these days at the minute, the likelihood of me going to my shelf and just pulling any random game down and playing it are quite high. Um, but I would like to get to a place where I could have a Vita on a display stand in a in a cupboard lit nice selection of games in front of it.
SPEAKER_05:It's exactly where I'm at and what I'm doing at the moment. So getting everything the things I really want, you know, my uncharted collection, the Last of Us collection. I've got well, you've seen that, I think my display case of getting that curated, and then the bits I really want on top of the shelves, Vita displayed, PSP displayed, getting these little 3D printed displays, they look good, they do look good.
SPEAKER_02:One thing that did make me laugh the other day, you were showing some pictures of the stuff that you were taking to the trade pile. And I think I remember saying to you, I asked myself this RGT, do I need a copy of Football Manager PSP 1, 2, 3, 2010 to 2011? I don't know, do I? And then in the pile, I saw the foundation layer of that pile was championship football manager games. Yeah, PSP.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, that's what made me get them out because you reminded me I had them on PSP. Right, there you go and goodbye.
SPEAKER_02:I kept, I think I kept maybe the very last version, um, because they're sometimes good to have on the go, but I think after a little bit of cold reflection, are you ever gonna play it? It's gonna be getting Hevo as well.
SPEAKER_05:Uh which did make I was like, what? I'll tell you what, has gone. This will shock you. Barbie's Horse Adventures on the original Xbox. That got the boot, that's gone.
SPEAKER_02:Thank God. Yeah. Thank God. I I think I'll be honest with you, RGT. This last year for your soul must have been very cleansing internally.
SPEAKER_05:It's actually as addictive as having a game collection is, as addictive actually getting rid of it. Now I'm just like, right, what's going next? I'm just like throat chopping everything. Get off the shelves, gone. So, with this last slot I've just done, um, I've got about nearly 200 pounds in credit, which I'm now getting the last of us pro console to go in the display cabinet.
SPEAKER_02:So that I'll be honest on board for this, but I think we should do an experiment. Close your eyes for me, RGT, and randomly weld your arms around until I know it's stop.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:When you say stop, you'll push forward with your finger onto the spine of the game that we have randomly chosen. What from behind the collection? And the universe will decide whether it's worthy of the collection or whether you need to have one long, cold, hard look at yourself in the mirror.
SPEAKER_05:Hang on, what you might like, not like as a game, I might like. So Well, let's see. Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Prepare the Randomator. Which arm? Uh I think no. Well, you're a right arm man, so you're stronger with the right arm. So we'll go with that one. Yeah. You can wave that thing around for hours. What about the hours? Uh no, flip it round on the other side as well. We're gonna go into all. We're gonna fully savage you.
SPEAKER_05:I'm in a bit of a stop.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Extend your right hand forward. Yeah. You've been fingering that section of the PS4 for cupboard, so I think you're feeling quite safe, but we'll see. Or it's fallen down, which is even better. So, what game is this? Trials Fusion. Get it gone. Physical, you don't need it. Waste of space, waste of skin. When is the next time you're gonna put that in? I'm not denying it's not a good game.
SPEAKER_05:There is a re I do love Trials Fusion. There is a reason I have kept this. Why? Because Mrs. RGT bought it for me.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, listen. If you're gonna go down the sentimental route with everything I touch, I think this game's boring.
SPEAKER_01:RGT, it's time for the news.
SPEAKER_02:Scatter the very darkest regions of the internet and to bring you the lattice stories. First up, RGT. I'll take this, has got me uh got me head on properly. Here's something I want to talk about, and thanks to Sammy Varker for giving us the opportunity to go wrong push square RGT. Tried out story to something. He's coming riding a very small white pony. Um, particularly it's the push square way. Uh headline is this PS5 testing slideshow wallpapers of popular Welcome Hub feature. The Welcome Hub has become an important part of the PS5 experience. Really? Offering customizable widgets which allow you to show at a glance info that's pertinent to you. A recent update added a section for your most recently played releases, detailing how many sessions you've launched in total and how long you've spent playing the game overall. There's also widgets for your wish list, friends, trophies, and more. In addition, Sony's been bolstering this section with animated backgrounds inspired by popular first-party games like Stellar Blade. Go see Yotai. Recently added seasonal animations, which will change depending on the time of the year. Now, as part of the new beta test, spotted by YouTuber Mystic. Now, Mystic is a man who needs some praise. My god, he is an absolute dude. I love his content. Um, so head over there and follow him. God knows he needs a support. Big show like ours, that's what we do. We help the smaller YouTubers, RGT. Um Mystic Notes the company's toying with some new improvements. First is a kind of standby mode, which will fade out all the widgets and show the animated background like a screensaver when you idle. Mystic Notes, while the feature is cool, the screen save will only actually load if you've clicked into the welcome hub, rendering it a bit useless. Um the other addition is a slide start slow slideshow, background. Hold up. Sit down, don't worry. There's a console, but it could spill you all the way out, didn't it? Um background which can pull from your favourite screenshots. You mean all the times I slip and hit the share button? Great. It's just the animation of the wipes and the speed at which the picture rotates. Some fun new additions then, which will likely get rolled out universally in the near future. Hopefully with a little bit more refinement. So, RGT, I bring it here because I'll be honest with you. The PSY menu, when it launched, it felt fresh, it felt different, obviously, because it wasn't PS4, and at the time uh that was used as a line of delineation between the Series X, which was using the sort of ever-evolving, more kind of Windows style. Just because you've got a new PC doesn't mean you're running the new Windows. Xbox, just because you got a brand new console, don't think you're getting a brand new update for the Dash. You've got our new Dash, deal with it. Okay. The PS5 new button here, new notification center there, new way turning the console off here. If you load up the game and if the developer's bothered, you're gonna get music and like quite a nice little splash page. If they haven't, if you're playing a PS4 screen from a third party, you're gonna get the random PS5 menu music, just sort of restarting and playing again, and then an image. Sometimes, if you're playing a game and you're halfway through it, instead of that nice art that you like, we're just gonna display a random, pretty ugly looking picture from within the game as the background. Idea why we're doing it, but just to remind you that however you remembered the game, please remember before you start, it looks this awful. Like, oh great, yeah. I kind of preferred the artwork if I'm honest, guys, but you know, whatever. Um, and for that reason, I felt a little bit disjointed and disconnected from the PS5 Dash redesign RGT, and then it graces with the welcome hub. And I thought, ah, the solve for all my issues, the salve for all my aches and pains. Unfortunately, you've littered it with that much garbage. You can't actually see the picture in the background you're meant to be getting me hyped about. So much so that I hear a news in a release, I hear about the animated version, I get a little bit giddy. I go in the welcome hub and I I look at the selection of pictures RGT and I think, wow, this could be great. Go back to the Welcome Hub, and it's basically clouded out with a load of apps and garbage. Uh I want to like this section. I wanna like it. But I feel they woke up realizing that they sold quite a few themes last gen. Wondered if there was a way of squeezing us into buying themes this gen. Realised that their design idea had kind of committed them to forcing you to have this garbage on the welcome hub. Then realised they probably really, even Sony themselves woke up and thought, This is that garbage, uh, Mary friend. We can't even charge for these. No, give them away for free so it looks like a customer goodwill. Uh and I'll try and write this expense off as uh a mistake. Uh, in the meantime, try and come up with a reason for them to give a rat's ass about the welcome hub. RGT, am I alone in that feeling, or do you feel equally as betrayed by this absolute sinew of garbage?
SPEAKER_05:Uh it's it's a weird place at the moment, the game and platforms, and like you say, Xbox have always had this. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, kind of mentality. Your dashboard is the same, your series X controller is you know, pretty much an Xbox One controller, just a little tiny bit different.
SPEAKER_02:I would say, I would argue, R2T, they were quite ahead of the training, maybe way more ahead of where we thought already, in terms of them just thinking this is the Xbox platform, this is an Xbox controller, it's not specific to the Series X, you big turd. Why would we do that? This is your Xbox dashboard. You can get that on Xbox um whatever you want, if you want to.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, it's weird because they're they're they're almost completely opposite of each other. Whereas you get PlayStation, I always find it always fiddling, they're always fiddling with it. So, like you your dual sense, you know, from your jewel shop four, I mean you've got the touchpad again, then you've got the microphones, you've got your your um triggers and your uh haptic feedback, and you but they're always fiddling with bits, and that also goes into your your interface. Um I think something in the middle would be better because I think Xbox, you know, I think if you love the Xbox interface, which I know a lot of people do, you don't like the PlayStation one, and vice versa. Um, I find the Xbox One quite hard to navigate, but I know Boba doesn't like the PS5 one since he's had one, so it's I didn't speak for both.
SPEAKER_02:I think there's arguments to be said, you know, that control center in the PlayStation where you access it to turn it off. There's no other freaking way without pressing that button now. Some people like that. Yeah. After the PlayStation 4, it feels completely disconnected, dude. Whereas Xbox has always been like here to turn off, here to turn off, here to turn on, here to go in here, there and everywhere.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, I could across you, but my god, yeah, and so I think a happy medium between the both, but I always find sometimes PlayStation and Sony they're they they fiddle too much because at the moment, where I'm I turn my PS5 on maybe once a week, if that, and there's always something that they've changed, another update of well, they've changed this now, and you just think sometimes just do what Xbox do, get your interface, it works well. The gamers and your customers like it, just calm down a bit. But uh, like you say, this almost seems a bit of a monetization flip here.
SPEAKER_02:Well, to me as well, like the like you go into that welcome hub and I want to enjoy it, and I've gone in and deleted half the widgets, but you still you the with that PlayStation's tile icon thing the way they've done it, you lose half the screen the minute you click on it. Yeah, when you go down into the detail like you do on Welcome Hub, on PS4, you kind of like deleted some of the writing that kind of disappeared, and some of the sort of extra widgets disappeared, and you were just left with like a solid piece of art, or god forbid, the theme that you spent money on that's literally dead to you now, unless you've got a PlayStation 4. And if you've got a PlayStation 4 plugged in to play PlayStation 4 games and have a look at your random themes, then you've got a PS5. I'll be honest with you, hold up your medication. You've got a serious problem, cowboy or cowgirl, or cow thing, you know. I'm not here to delineate. Um whatever you are, if you're into cows, we got you covered here at the UCP. RGT, last word on these uh this this this welcome home. Because I brought this here as good news, but I also bring it here to reflect on what the hell's going on.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, it's I think at the moment, especially with where the market is, they almost seem to be almost like force of new things on us all the time, like that's a great new thing. Don't worry, because we're doing this for you, you know. Don't worry, the PS6 is coming, we're with AMD, you know, we're all best friends, and it almost seems like they know something's happening in the market. We all know there's trouble in the market, and they're almost sort of distraction and trying these things, but sometimes you just think, just leave it alone. Do you know what I mean? It's just getting a bit overcomplicated.
SPEAKER_02:There was something about an Xbox to this to this end, still to the same. There's something about a theme or a wallpaper that you get to see that themes your area, basically. It's the background to your area, not the game, and that random still that it's chosen from some time. That's another thing. I know I touched on it in that preamble at the start of RGT. When you go, you get a new game and you put it in, and you get the tile, and then you get that lovely background art, and sometimes the music as well from the game comes in and swells, and it adds up a layer of classic. It's like you're about to go into this experience, and I think, oh, this is awesome. Then you play the game. God of War was a particularly irk to me because that loading music, that that that tile art and the background art and the music was so good. Then you play it for a little bit, and all of a sudden, it's a random picture of like a stool. And I go to about a wooden one, you mean? Oh, yeah, 100%. Okay, it's a good one. It's a show where you do need to clarify. Yeah, you're absolutely right. And I've I've gone from turning on the PlayStation, going to the Ragnarok tile and going, oh, that's nice, to now going to Ragnarok Tile and immediately going, What is this? Yeah. What mind did the developer go? I'll tell you what it'll look cool. Why don't we randomly choose a very close in, you know, not that great looking picture of a stool?
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, I don't get that. Yeah, I don't get that at all. You think you just have a specific pictures he would use. Leave off looking at a stool. Yeah, yeah, it's it's I don't get that at all because it doesn't do the game much justice. It doesn't do your home screen much justice either.
SPEAKER_02:Well, it makes the game that you bought look from a flashy experience to one that looks like it's sort of it's the sort of thing they would show like some desperate modern would show you was like an upgraded version of the PS2 UI. Like, wow, you've got that running on a PS2. That's impressive. It's garbage, pal. But what it is, it's impressive. Show me this on a PS5 or laugh you out of the room. Laugh you out of the room is ridiculous.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, yeah. I don't I don't know what it is. It's always this, oh, we know what they'll like. Well, I don't know if we do.
SPEAKER_02:I'm also a bit nervous that they think that uh we're all high-level digital photographers as well, because the other alternative alternative option is that uh they show you screenshots from that you've taken from your own games. Yeah. And I think to myself, some of the screenshots I've taken in games, I don't know if I want blasting across my 52-inch TV in front of the family.
SPEAKER_05:Well, yeah, and also like now on um EAFC 26, they've done this on 25 as well, they've really overcomplicated the replay and picture element. I mean, it's you need a degree in photography to do this, so they've really and I just cannot get to grips with it. So mine's if they crop up with a screenshot of that, while mine's flying in the top corner from 30 yards, I'm taking a picture of the referee's boot lace on a muddy pitch, which is 30 yards up the up the way because I cannot get the camera to move up and down and ran all these buttons, and I'm going, Well, how the hell? Where's oh I missed the goal? What where's the ball? Bloody, then I'm up in the sky and got this you know 2D flat cloud picture. I'm like, what is going on here? Yeah, so you need to stream that, mate. To see me have a breakdown while I'm just trying to get a picture of the ball flying in the top corner of the net, and it's me trying to zoom in this camera around completely. That's not giving me a drone for the first time, and just flying round for 30 seconds, up down, ran, smashed it in the floor. That's how that camera works. So, yeah, if they're if they're doing screenshots of that just gonna clip up, then that is gonna look a complete mess on my PS5 dashboard.
SPEAKER_02:Ukrainian drone factory, wouldn't it? Why their profits are up? It's because RGT can't even get. They were losing him in battle. They didn't realise they were just all fallen victims in Suffolk.
SPEAKER_05:Oh dear me, yeah. So uh yeah, my my screenshot live doesn't look good, so I don't really want back to it.
SPEAKER_02:Mine resembles the one of a frightened child, you know. I meant to press this button, oh pressed up that. I want to get rid of it. Oh, you've pressed X. You've actually took a screenshot of this embarrassment. I don't need to be reminded of my gaming mediocrity in age by displaying pictures of me, you know, in high intense moments having grabbed the screenshot button. Yeah. I just before we leave this RGT, you've reminded me of one of the most bizarre things I find about photo modes in games. Some games you go in the photo mode, you take a picture within the photo mode, it goes within the game's photo library. In some games, it gives you a photo mode. You get in it and you look to the capture button, there isn't one. Because actually, what they want you to do is press the share button. Yeah, take the HUD share menu to come on and then press X to take the picture. Yeah. Just give me a button to press X, you weirdos.
SPEAKER_05:Oh yeah, I know what you mean, because I've done that many a time where you've that says remove HUD, so you remove the HUD off, right. I've got it level. Head or take the picture. Where's so you bring the HUD back up?
SPEAKER_02:I didn't realise there would be the chicken riding in off the back of Sony's share button. That's not what I expected from you. Yeah. Although it does solve the problem of like maybe the rare occasion I get so lonely, and I mean I'm married, but I'm not acting like a married man because I'm taking screenshots on my kids' game, uh, my kids' toy. Uh yeah, let's leave that there, RGT. What's the next bit of news?
SPEAKER_05:Uh this was also from Sammy Barker again. Double dipping, he'd be getting a pay rise. Yeah, double dipping with Sammy Barker.
SPEAKER_02:Do we need to pay him?
SPEAKER_05:Because, you know, we we're putting as far as a lot of Sammy's work. Well, put it this way, I hope not, because petty cash is down to 36 pence, and we've only got half a packet of Chewets left, so if he's happy with that, then we're all gold.
SPEAKER_02:Dude. What? How can can't be 30 pence left in the in the in the drawer because you you You said you were going to run an advertising campaign with a Suffolk standard.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, I did. That's why there's only 36 pence left, it's quite expensive.
SPEAKER_02:A lot of retro games in Suffolk, pal out. Something tells me you might have made a boo-boo there.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, I'm starting to think I have as well, because 36 pence is probably only about a week's run and cost for us. Well, exactly.
SPEAKER_02:So we've been eating the Tuarts, so broccoli's cheap. Right? You could have a four at a night. I'll send you an A package by Friday.
SPEAKER_05:No, I've been scrumping the fields for potatoes at night and carrots and bits.
SPEAKER_02:That's the actual art of taking grown produce without the authorisation of the landowner. That is correct. Right, I didn't know.
SPEAKER_05:Okay, yeah, no worries. So midnight wellies carry a bag off a go, you know. So times are hard. Anyway, so over on Pushquest.
SPEAKER_02:Huh? I wasn't sure what scrumping is. Now you've sort of told me your outfit for scrumping, and I think it is what I thought it was before you told me it was the other thing it is.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:I'll leave that there with you. Um, so over on Pushquest, Sammy Barker says Valve won't substitute subsidize Steam Machine. God, that's a mouthful. Expected to be pricier and than more powerful PS5. It's more in line with current PC market. Um, yeah, while we still don't have official pricing for Valve's Steam Machine, we're starting to get a clearer picture about how much it's going to cost. It sounds like it won't be competing with the more powerful PS5. In an interview with SkillUp Valve developer Pierre Loupe Graffet, explained that the company won't be subsidising the new console-like hardware, and fans should expect it to be priced similarly to equivalent PC. I think that if you build a PC uh from parts and get to basically the same level of performance, that's the general price we aim to be at. We'd like to be competitive with uh with that and have a pretty good deal. But we're working on refining that. Right now, it's not a good time to have a good idea of what the price is going to be because there is a lot of external things going on. So, no, it's not going to be subsidized. It's more in line with what you can expect from the current PC market. Of course, it's still difficult to predict exactly how much that'll be. Estimates range anywhere from 500 to 750 bucks and beyond. What's become increasingly clear, however, is that Steam Machine will not be encroaching on PS5's territory at all and will be servicing a different segment of the market entirely.
SPEAKER_02:Um can I cut in because you brought a pretty great news story there, RGT. Obviously, we've been talking about Steam and Steam Decks, and obviously Seb did his best to I'll be honest with you snake water salesman me into a PC a couple of weeks ago. If I wasn't so polite and British, I think I would probably ripped his throat out. But I went along with it, played his game. And there's some uh there's some arguments to be said for Seb's points and the general points made about maybe some advocates of the Steam business platform that they're putting together here. One thing I want to say is initially I thought to myself this is an own goal to not getting this in at a price point of the comparable uh console performance, and it is currently pegged at a little bit similar to Series S performance according to Digital Foundry, which is interesting. Now, price-wise, it certainly raised my eyebrows, probably like an early 80s cartoon character four foot above my actual head.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And I dismissed this immediately as just a ridiculous move. And then I stopped and thought to myself, well, maybe, maybe not. Obviously, they want to be price sensible, price reasonable, and by that I mean the box actually stacks up for a cost, and then they sell that cost with profit to remunerate. They aren't looking to try in early sort of couple of gens ago console style, trying to smooth this under the radar with a low cash price, get you addicted to a library, get you hooked into the Steam Um ecosystem, and then lock you in. And that you know would be a good idea. All right, yeah, it's not the highest specs, but I get access to the full Steam catalogue, and within that I can play whatever I like and a lot of the online accessory or prices that are charged, subscriptions, etc., by the console manufacturers. I am free of this technically pays for itself. I can see that argument forming, and partially I'm in line with it, but I the part I don't get RGT is they're new to the scene, they're already making a Steam Deck for this money or less. They've removed the screen, they've removed the battery technology. One thing they should be able to nail this out the door if they're not looking at chasing the highest specs, they should be looking at being the most at least painful way of getting in under your TV. In what, if they're fighting for TV space, RGT is a very crowded area. What do you think of Steam's strategy here?
SPEAKER_05:Um originally I thought this was a great idea because I thought um if you think in numbers, PS5 sold 85 million or so consoles, plus you've got still people playing PS4, you've got over 100 million people playing on the PlayStation format. Now, you really want to be making them people think, well, oh, if you come in under the price of a PS5, then there's a good chance that me, you, people who play PlayStation or even Xbox, for instance, are gonna say, Do you know what? I might have a little dip in Steam, 350 quid. I could probably do that. I won't get a PS5 Pro, I'll get I'll get a Steam machine and but now to actually be more expensive than the main market leader who you're probably trying to lure them people across at with a less powerful machine, it's I know I'm changing my angle on this a bit. I'm now starting to think, oh, who is this aimed at? Because if you're a Steam user anyway, you're good, your likelihood is you've got a pretty banging PC, you're not gonna buy one, so it's gonna be more likely console gamers who are gonna buy it. But then if you're aiming at a price that's more expensive than the people you're trying to look at, uh it does I don't know where it sits, it's flowing in this nowhere world. I don't quite know where this sits.
SPEAKER_02:Ninty used a very clever strategy and pricing strategy with the Switch 1 to make itself that comfortable, and by this is no disrespect because I'll explain this as I go along. That comfortable second console. I don't mean by any stretch that the Switch is the second machine, I don't by any stretch that it's second in terms of sales numbers, but the way Nintendo kind of broke the hardcore market again was by saying, here's this thing you can have in your pocket. It's a price, but it's not unreasonable in the world that you play in. No, plus here's this big catalogue of games, not at launch, admittedly, but you know, the Switch was peppered with titles very quickly from Nintendo themselves and third parties. That it became it then kind of hung around with its n very you know minimal UI, it's straight to the game's attitude, and it was that perfect sort of second foil when you wanted a bit of something different or you were working away or in between games or doing some multi-screen enjoyment with the with the family. Yeah the Steam Machine the Steam Deck does fulfill some of those uh ideas, but is at the upper end of the price, if I may be so bold. The Steam Machine fulfills none of those properties and is the upper thick end of price, especially compared to its comparable specs, is way out of bed.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. What well there's two things here for me. Um one is we all know that the the big three don't tend to make profits off hardware, they make profits off the software. This being Steam, I would imagine they need to make a profit off the hardware, hence the high price. I mean, remember when the PS5 first released back in 2020, they were saying there was there was$1,200 worth of parts in it for a machine that was$450. So it but they made that back in software, whereas Steam, that's a bit of a different kettle of fish there. But also, um, there's another story I saw that came out yesterday that the Xbox is now putting the price up again on their consoles, um, and PlayStation will be following. And the reason for this is is these massive AI hubs they've been building has just been hoovering up all the RAM chips, and to get these RAM chips, the price is going through the floor, hence why console's Horizon, which might be another reason why Valve was probably aimed to go in at a certain price point and thought, whoa, hold on, these RAM chips we need, we're competing with Sony who are ordering 20 million at a time, and Xbox and Switch, and then not only that, mobile phones, laptops, uh tablets, yeah. Um, and these AI hubs are just hoovering these RAM chips up. So I reckon that price point is going up for them two reasons. Me personally, they need to make a few quid off this, plus this chip shortage, they're gonna be fourth in line at the very least of getting these chips. So I think this could be a reason why. And the and the problem with that, like I said, is it puts them in no man's land because if you if you haven't got a console or you want an upgrade, if you're still on a PS4 or Xbox One or original Switch, and you're thinking, right, I want a console for at home, or what's this Steam Machine? It's the power of a Series S, yeah, I can get a PS5 for less, which is more powerful than the library. It's a tough sell. And I know I've done a U-turn on this, but I really thought if this came in at 350, you're gonna draw a lot of people over to have an extra console at this price point. If it's right, this is all here at the moment. Yeah. If that price point is correct, I think this could struggle.
SPEAKER_02:I think the price point is correct. I think your added little bit of definition you've given us today about the the very insightful and to the minute news of the RAM shortages, I think it's very interesting. I was reading an article that Sony had kind of insulated themselves against us a little bit, um, and were kind of looking to avoid a price rise, but inevitably it's only a stop gap.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, I think I think Xbox is going up. I mean, this will be what a third increase this year. I think Xbox is a very small thing. Because they're ordering smaller quantities because they're not selling the hardware. Well, I think with Sony, these chip manufacturers will will will give them the deals, we'll still give them the deals because they're selling gangbusters, you know, they're bulk ordering up from they're bulk ordering 20 probably million at a time. Um, I think I did read somewhere that was 20 million a time that they bulk order, so that's where that's going to be fulfilled.
SPEAKER_02:But I don't think it's gonna be for long because how long before the AI um companies are buying more than Sony.
SPEAKER_05:But ironically, what I found is the bit one of the biggest AI hubs is Microsoft. They've built this huge, massive AI hub. I've never seen nothing like it. Yeah, being shit. Yeah, and they've built this massive AI hub, they're absorbing all these RAM chips, yet they're having to put their own console Xbox price up because they can't get the. I'll be honest with you, mate.
SPEAKER_02:I think it shows you the business priorities for Microsoft, and and that's the problem when you're a wider technology company, and Sony are guilty of this to a degree, but nowhere near as forward thinking as Microsoft in terms of software, hence a hence chasing the AI dragon like billio. Uh, it's like Microsoft needs to be in front and centre leading that charge, or if it's not, then it might already be game over. So they're then hence why they're chucking the money and leading the charge and providing the infrastructure and the clouds for maybe other AI AIs to hinge off.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, and they got that, they got that money up front to predict, you know, like when they done with online gaming and bits of it, they've got the money to chuck it in saying we think this is where we're going in five years, but if it doesn't, it doesn't matter. Yes, 100 million to us, all right. We took that chance, but that's gone. That's probably.
SPEAKER_02:They're the customers of Microsoft's AI services in ten years.
SPEAKER_05:Yes, exactly.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and that's the that's probably the clear delineation. And also, you know, your Microsoft, I hate to say this, but and that people, George, they've got infinite money. They've got infinite money to a point. You're trying to launch, get ahead, and be a leader and have a market similar, dominant position in 10 years' time as you have now in the advent of AI, you've got to spend boatloads of cash right now. Are you overly bothered about your gaming division at this point? Um, no. A little bit, but not really. And I'll be honest with you guys, I'm a little bit more interested in what the next version of Windows looks like as compared to whatever the next Halo game is you're making, or even no disrespect Call of Duty. Get it out, get it made, get it sold. Uh I don't care what it goes on, as long as you make me X. That's a lot of money. We'll make that.
SPEAKER_05:Sadly, yes, true. Sadly, it's true. They're just keeping just dipping a toe in, just keeping their toe dipped in the game and stuff.
SPEAKER_02:I think this kind of move to a software developer or publisher stroke developer is starting to make a lot more sense to me in terms of Microsoft's wider now. At the moment they're clearing up, but this AI robotic drive that's kind of leading the charging technology at the moment is almost like the transition from horse to steam power in the industrial revolution. It's big. Yeah. Uh and they can't afford to get left behind. So I the world's changing so fast these days. Uh I don't know how companies like that are supposed to keep up with it. But you know, RGT, we unexpectedly get new toys uh for grown men out the back of all this technological advancement. So exactly, yeah. I'm not gonna complain too hard, but I think that brings us to the end of an interesting but quiet news week. Um as we said last week, we're gonna start trying to incorporate listener comments, thoughts, queries, uh opinions on the news we may have missed, etc. etc. Uh, we want to have those talking points with you going forward. Might treat it like a news section. Here's a here's a depends how many we get, I guess. Here's an email in from I don't know, Badabinkster or John from Wigan. Um wants to know RGT's opinion on uh the best hidden gems for PS2, or wants to know George's opinion on the Halo series, or George, you know, I've got a pet cat. I was wondering about getting a pet dog. Oh well, yeah. Let me wade in on that. It's the sort of thing I think people want to know. Uh our opinion on RGT. I'll be honest. So, questions at onofficialcontrollerpodcast.com. Uh, email us to be featured on the show, either an opinion, a thought, a concern. Uh it doesn't have to be related to the news we talked about. Can just generally be a thought for you about gaming. Like one day I woke up one morning and thought, why the hell aren't they doing demo discs on magazines anymore? I think my point to that would be why aren't they doing magazines anymore? You know, whatever you want to throw at us. Uh we're up for, basically, and we want to encourage that sort of listener interaction we had back in the early days of the show. Secondly, I want to take this moment to thank everybody that listens. Uh I want to thank everyone in the Discord as well. I also want to ask you from the bottom of my heart, if you're listening to this, we've launched a new channel in a bid to give you content off the back of some of you uh paying to support the show. We'll get to you in good time. It's allowed us to do more. Uh it's allowed us to do more for the freeloaders. So you don't have to pay anything to get anything from this show. Uh, in fact, we welcome you just as a listener. But one thing we do ask, it's not that big an ask, is you download it, you subscribe, you follow, and you tell a friend, and you get them to do the same. If they're not listening to you, if you it's all feeling a bit like a Netflix recommendation, grab them by the throat gently. I don't want to leave marks. Nothing that can be traced back to the show. I don't want that heat. Okay. You hold them there while you grab the phone, face unlock, done. That's what you've got them by the throat. You go in, you download Spotify, Apple Music, whatever garbage you can get hold of, tune in Deezer, not the ones that RGT said we haven't been listed on yet. Pull your finger out, guys, you're the smallest areas, and you take the longest to approve a show. Nobody is small, uh, small breeds small. And then you take that and you download it multiple times across all those different platforms on that one device, and then this time next week me and RGT can can can retire of all the free lessons that we've had.
SPEAKER_05:I'm not sure that'll happen, but it would be nice.
SPEAKER_02:Uh someone living the fantasy with me, please. You know, we're giving you a great and flashback. I think RGT, the ECP, I genuinely believe is a great product for a gamer. Gives them something to listen to, some light-hearted banter, and not even talking about the extra stuff. I'm not talking about the Discord and all the bits and bobs that we give them. No, not that. Just a show alone to get you to and from work, giving you a bit of gaming news, a bit of opinion. She makes in the car that you listen to on your way to work, and you think, oh, let's see what our GT makes of this game. Well, it's not going to talk about it, it's going to talk about a PS3 game 20 years ago. Do you know what? I like him enough for I'll let it get away with it. You know, I don't care who's not playing games for the Yo tie. I really don't care.
SPEAKER_05:Um, and also if if if you have a game shop or you you're a member of a game community or you have friends, if you want me to send you some flyers, we have vast amounts of little A5 flyers. Um, if you feel you think, well, I'll tell you what, I'll help the boys out. Let's stick a few in my local game shop. I'll send them to you. Let me know, I'll get them sent to you. Um, and that really helps with finding the flyer drive, really helps us. Um you tend to hit them areas where you know social media's good and you get it shown. Um, but when you're in a game shop, you'll you're getting flyers too.
SPEAKER_02:What I like about the flyer though, RGT. Not only is our beautiful artwork this time round from Harvey Retro beautiful to look at, and even though it's got our faces on it. Right, it's beautiful to look at, but it's also infinitely displayable. In a world of can you just scan this QR code because we can't run to the budget of doing some hard paper printing just like the old school days? When the UCP maintains an addiction to printing like Pete Docherty does to chemicals, I think we're in a good place, RGT. We're giving people physical property to hold, display on the wall, then memorize. Not only that is it's insanely beautiful as well. I think those flyers are working for us because they are frickin' awesome.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. Thank you again to Harvey for that. Yeah, brilliant. Um I'm thinking of doing some flashback ones, and I'm also thinking of doing some sort of crossovers, so a flyer with both shows on.
SPEAKER_02:So let me why don't you do it like a 1990s, maybe late 80s WrestleMania poster? Yeah, that'd be pretty cool. Yeah, that'd be pretty cool.
SPEAKER_05:But yeah, so um, yeah, if you could if anyone, you know, would be obliged to do that, we would be very happy, and I could soon get them sent out to you. Um, that's a great show. Um I know there's a couple of people I've got to send some too, which I haven't sure will do. If you're listening, I will do.
SPEAKER_02:Um, but yeah, don't make yourself feel guilty. I've still got that US, I've still got that sort of USB, PSP adapter plug to send you. That's what brought about that PSP sort of reawakening, dude. To tell you, it's game changer.
SPEAKER_05:Oh no, I can't wait. Um, but yes, so yeah, just thanks everyone, and like I say, I hope you like the show. We're very proud of it. Um, yes, me especially, very proud of doing it. So I hope you enjoy it. And the episode one will be out today. So, like I say, download on every device you've got, give us that push, and if you could leave us a little review and and and share us along with it.
SPEAKER_02:It's a little bit like Christmas. You're you're in the UTP universe. So let's say, imagine let's take the customer journey, the listener journey of someone who woke up this morning. They looked at the podcast they listened to, and they were like, you know what, they're alright, but I'm a bit sick of those guys. They're not real, they're not they're not real people, they're not proper gamers. I'm gonna search today. Someone woke up straight up in bed, frustrated with their current life choices, especially around their gaming podcasts. They went searching. Found the UCP main show pretty quickly because it's obviously up there in all the rotations. Straight on that, like a locust across sort of 200 BC Egypt, boom, strict, raided, downloaded the whole back catalogue. Full owned it. I don't know what that fun was. I think it was a bit sexually aggressive. I'll take it. Yeah, I mean, I actually saw it in video form as well, which was it it it it sounded it's already, which kind of gives me a little bit of currently as well, especially a little bit of an inbred look after that. You know, it it's not the face you want bearing down on you during that moment.
SPEAKER_05:No, definitely not. I mean, to me, I I feel slightly disgusted, but carry on.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, a little bit of away. Listen to Journey, they then they then listen to this episode and realize there's a whole other show they didn't know about. So they suddenly got two for one. Not only did they get a slice of modern and future, they also get a slice of past. And they are living in all moments simultaneously. They've never been happier. They've got probably three hours of content plus a week. Yeah. And he's just looked at the price. Shaking his head of disbelief. He's like, this is free. This is outrageous. I'd pay three dollars a month for that. Well, guess what, listener journey? Welcome back to the party, because we've got something for you. Welcome to the show. It's your first ever show, but guess what? You feel simultaneously compelled to throw three dollars at me. And the host has said, Don't give me any more, you trunk. All right, you're gonna get a t-shirt for this, you're gonna get read out on the show. Simmer down, don't give me any more of your money. Of course, if you want to, there are other benefits. But again, at£3, gonna get you a t-shirt. It's gonna get your name read out on the show like this list of beautiful people coming up, RGT. And I tell you what, never, never has there been a time more likely where you're gonna feel very satisfied with what you're doing. Because we're rapidly approaching the 300th episode RGT, and behind the scenes, people who care about the show, not me, are producing some extras for the show. Yeah, to me, it's just a number. But I appreciate the strength and recognition of getting to 300 episodes to do, and I appreciate the journey that everyone's been on with us to get here. So that's they're right, you're right, they're right. Let's freaking celebrate it. Um, I'm just probably not the person that recognises what's good about the show. So I I would leave that to people that can see the unique value of it. Uh because sometimes I'm probably a bit too close to the oven to recognise I'm burning the milk.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, so we have got something very special for the 300th, as we mentioned last week. Um, we've got someone working very hard in the background doing some designs and um doing have you fed them yet? Have you allowed them to come up for food? Not till they're complete, no. Get it done, then you might have a little glass of water and some bread. We're talking about then doing the artwork or yeah. Yeah. Right, okay. Yeah. Amongst other things. Um, so yeah. Um, but yeah, it's it's looking very cool. So um how that is displayed to you subs, we don't know yet, but you will be getting something special. Um just to say as a little extra thanks for your commitment to the show and you know, and putting your hands in your pockets every month, which is just unbelievable, and you know, has really helped us develop the show, do things, um, do artworks, do extra shows, you know. It's it is a lifesaver to us, and I know we say it all the time, but yeah, just uh thanks to everyone.
SPEAKER_02:So hopefully this will be a a little thank you back and a little something to say, yeah, you know, I appreciate the guys have you know um just to reassure everyone about the fact that oh George didn't pop up on the Discord for the length of time you've not heard from me during this podcast, I've been in my phone trying to work out how to look at the subs list.
SPEAKER_05:So it's it's sent to you on message, so that's why I sent it to you.
SPEAKER_02:No, I know you did, but I couldn't find the message at. I couldn't. Do you want me to resend it to you? No, no, no, I've got it now. I've got it now. Okay. I want to reassure people it took me that long. The one thing I've got a confession on. You know, as an adult, one of the most annoying things that you have is that you buy a subscription and then people around you, not necessarily family, end up freeloading on it. Oh god, yes. Oh god yes. That woman who walks a dog with your auntie who's got your login for Amazon Prime, happened to mention series. That woman said she didn't have Amazon Prime, so your auntie freely gave away. Of course, your login details to Amazon Prime. So June on the dog walking group can watch the latest episode of Ryan Carter or whatever. Now, I kind of I'm not I don't really mind about that, whatever. Uh but this this this week. Yeah, this past two weeks actually. And I wanna confess that I am a grown man with children who is freeloading on his daughter's subscription for Discovery Plus. And it's allowed me to start getting caught up on the three to four years of Gold Rush, the TV series, which um I knew you were gonna say gold rush.
SPEAKER_01:I'm addicted to gold rush, I don't even care. I'm Tony Bead's man, I style his hair. I will walk with Parker for days. Come on, baby, I'm loving this gold haze. Woo! Woo!
SPEAKER_02:Coffee's kicked in. The coffee is kicked in. I don't think that's called coffee. I think that's called contact cleaner. Spray it in the lid, leave it around. It's a little bit like Poppers. It's the new era. Go with me. We can say these things now. But it's sort of gamers.
unknown:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Wow. Come up with a brand name. I'll spray this in bottles. We'll sell it as UCP air room. Game abuse.
SPEAKER_05:Oh, yeah. I just yeah, I shouldn't always say what comes in my mind.
SPEAKER_02:You won't want a spill contact cleaner. He knows you won't. Anyway, where are we headed here? Where are we headed here? I don't know. You pulled me up for getting excited. All I'm saying is I'm now that piece of turd, a grown man, who's basically co-opting off his young daughter's subscription to Discovery Plus. And off the back of watching this much Gold Rush. You know, let's do the Tom. Play the game, buy the game, live the game, eat the game, beat the t-shirt. You know, do all of it. Yeah. I downloaded Gold Rush again, the game. And you can get yourself instead of in it, kidacks. This is important. During this god-awful sort of invasion of my own headspace to download the game that I know is garbage and will be ultimately disappointed by by the time it downloads. There's a sequel coming out, and it's on Unreal Engine 5. An RGT. It's got multiplayer in it.
SPEAKER_05:But it's gonna be garbage.
SPEAKER_02:And it looks absolutely phenomenal.
SPEAKER_05:Hmm. It's reminding me. I don't know if I can. No, I can't reach it from here. It reminds me of another game that I've got. Oh, can I no, I can't get to it. Reminds me of another game which I had a similar premise of. Um, I'm still sitting there with the wrapper on, it's called Roadcraft. Um, you bought Roadcraft! Oh, yeah, on day and day, and it still isn't unwrapped because after all expeditions and everything else, I loved expeditions and uh yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I go back to it every now and then, and it just feels so what I liked about the idea of expeditions was it made things a little bit more accessible. Single player was was great. So barren though, dude, isn't it? Yeah, and doing a job on your own is and this is the letdown of gold rush, you've got to dig the gold, you've got to put it in the truck, you've got to drive the truck to the tromle to wash it. Like, hang on a minute. Even in farming simulator, I can get a dude to do the digging. I've got to be everything to everybody all at once. I can't do that. Anyway, RGT. I think I've taken enough of indulgence during the subsection of the show to talk about my look. I think confessed is a thing you're already kind of aftergiving yourself for mentally, so I've already I'm over it now. RGT. These people, this list of what can only be described as good, honest, decent people. Yeah, we'll go with that for now. Good, honest, decent people have decided in their infinite wisdom to support the show at the three dollars or higher level. Now they are gods to me. Especially because a lot of them pay the full amount. And I'll to be honest with you, that blows me away. Not only it's generosity, but just the scale of support the show receives, it it is phenomenal and it blows me away every time. And that's why we try and overload you with goodies to try and make sure that we can get to sleep at night so we we feel morally right because yeah, we know there are two four clowns, sometimes five, that are speaking absolute garbage down the microphone. Uh, so we we we we do bloody appreciate the hell out of you.
SPEAKER_05:Oh, yeah, incredible it is, and especially this week we've got another new new sub. Um new subscriberio! And you don't realise how excited that makes us because George always sees it first, so I'll get a little message through saying, We've got another tub, we've got another tub, and I'm just like, ah, that's your uncle. Yeah, I'm now paying out£150 a month, but there you go.
SPEAKER_02:It's uh well, yeah, no, you know.
SPEAKER_05:I'm running out of names I can make up, but it's part of the purpose of being on the show, okay.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, uh, you pay me tribute, a bit like Captain Jack. Well, we pay you tribute, yes, you do. Uh yeah, so I I would like this because I I want I want them in my mouth for the first time. I want to take their UCP V baby. Okay. No. Subscribe.
SPEAKER_00:You should like Scarlet.
SPEAKER_02:Yep. That sort of I confess, Captain Scarlet. I think I'd nailed the Mr. On drums at the start, but in a bid to stay close to the theme tune, I went raw but left myself emotionally open, and it got co-opted into the Captain Planet theme tune at the end.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, it's a bit of a remix.
SPEAKER_02:A bit of a mashup. Bit of a misremember, if I'm honest with you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you, Captain Scott, but apologies.
SPEAKER_05:I thank you very much. That's very much appreciated, and welcome to the family. So, and your t-shirt will be with you in the next week. So, uh, I hope you enjoy that. Wear it with pride. What did he choose? Um, he's got the standard artwork. Um, because it's just a lot of people love the standard artwork. White or black tea? Um, I honestly can't remember. Now I think it's black. I think. Nice. I can't remember.
SPEAKER_02:I want to see some more of the whites, to be honest with you, because I've seen I've seen loads of the blacks, and it's super cool. But I think you've shown me one or two of the whites that people have ordered, and it just looks so fresh.
SPEAKER_05:It's quite interesting as well, because the people we have do it have um offering a lot more things now as well. So there's you know, polos and hoodies and caps, and so yeah, I've been quite connected with caps. Caps, baseball caps. Yes.
SPEAKER_00:Caps. RGT, go in the Swiss bank account, the UCP Swiss bank account, download.
SPEAKER_02:We've got a Swiss bank account. Yeah, we've got a Swiss bank account full of cats. I was a cat burglar in a past life, so I filled this bank account full of cats. So I want you to go withdraw two Siamese and get me a cat. Okay. Oh, just for you, just one for you, yeah? Yes. Okay. Yeah, no problem. I'll prototype it. If I look half decent in it, you know you're gonna look awesome in it, so then you can get one with the other two with whatever that's is left of cats. I think there's a couple of what you know, dogs, like you have pure breeds and you have mongrels. But with cats, you just have cats. Are you right today?
SPEAKER_05:I'm not sure. Why do you ask? No reason. Um, next up on the list is what is a mongrel cat call?
SPEAKER_02:No idea. Just be some sort of you say, Oh George, are you okay? And then I say something that's causing me issue mentally, and I say it, and I immediately see you go head over heels in the ditch over it. It's like, oh yeah, actually, I've never what you call a mongrel cat.
SPEAKER_05:Exactly. Yeah, I don't I don't know why we're even discussing what a manky old pussy looks like. I don't know why we're even going down that route. All right, okay.
SPEAKER_02:It caught me off guard a bit. Now you framed it up like that. I want to get it all up in it. So let's talk about it some more.
SPEAKER_05:No, next up on the list, we have the wonderful Retro Ed. Thank you very much, Retro Ed.
SPEAKER_02:He's the man over on the YouTube making it happen for us. He's commenting, he's doing things.
SPEAKER_05:He is brilliant, and another thing a lot, Retro Ed, as soon as you you know I put anything flashback up or do a little thing on Instagram, he's instantly reposted it, a bit like Badabinkster and a few of the other subs. Be like Retro Ed. Yeah, it's brilliant. It's straight up there. So thank you. I appreciate for all what you do, Retro.
SPEAKER_02:Someone else you should be like as well. You know, he saw me not being represented on the show, didn't have enough support. Okay, he could have come on as Carlos, he came on as the one-man George fan club. Now, that's the guy I can get behind. Yes, in every way you could imagine, but I'll also let him get behind me.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, and he he's just been in America on holiday, and um he's uh been showing some game shop snaps and games he's been picking up all on his travels, and uh yeah, brilliant absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:I just need this direct. I I think if you listen if you subscribe to the show, I think I should just give you my WhatsApp number because I just need it straight in my eyes. I could deal I could probably deal with that. Yeah, going to Discord, like well, what the hell's going on? Like, why am I sending a picture of ging? Like, what one ging is swollen? What the hell's going on with firm returns? He's juggling. Holy shit. Next up, is that all him? God, it is. I love how I love how there was this moment of the show where everyone suddenly got like ripped or firm added to their name because all of a sudden we started seeing pictures of our listeners, and they're all absolute washboard stomached gods. Yeah, uh, I'm here representing the sort of slightly more rotund gentlemen these days. I'll have to sort of make up the person I'd want to attract to the show. Yeah, just want to attract myself bad. Yeah, like what the hell's going on? It's like the best looking community that you've ever seen in your life.
SPEAKER_05:Um fair play, TEP people. Um, which nicely adds us on to Firm Returns himself, so thank you very much.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, an apology to the Nigerian rural family. Um seemingly what Firm Returns was dealing with last week was actually true. So, you know, if you want to have a little deal with Omundo investments, whatever it was called, it's probably mispronounced it. I think I'm very good at African, if I'm honest with you. Um but yeah, firm returns reckons it's a good deal. So if you want to follow him, like he's got even more great, insane financial advice to take you from Trump to Trump within a week.
SPEAKER_05:That needs to be on a t-shirt. Firm returns from Trump to Trump in a week.
SPEAKER_02:Firm returns, investment services from Trump to Trump in a week. Seriously, I don't care if it's AI or what the fuck. I don't give a rat's ass. I'm swearing today. I don't care. I'm excited. Oh my god. I want this in the download section by tea time. Depends when I get the show out, to be honest. I'm tired. It might be out by Monday. If you make this on Sunday, it's no care.
SPEAKER_05:Do not let George have two espresso before and don't let George near the electrical contact cleaner. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Jeez. The room aroma aromarizer. The UCP room aromarizer. Basically, just let George tin off the paint in the corner of the room.
SPEAKER_05:Right, who we got next? Come on, let's get this.
SPEAKER_02:I don't know who I am anymore. I gathered that. Up next, it's the beloved second home to me, New York, uh, and the main home to the show in series two when we moved there. It's the beautiful uh we even recorded an episode with Dick Trestles. It's the beautiful trestles of New York.
SPEAKER_05:Brilliant, thank you very much. Um, next up we have the wonderful Ro Space Mike, who uh has asked me a few questions on my tent box this week. So uh I reckon he might be thinking of um doing a bit of uh glamping. So uh yeah, I don't blame you, mate. It's very, very good. But yes, thank you as always, Rose Space. Is it a roof box? It's a roof tent.
SPEAKER_02:I've got but it's the box they're called roof boxes, aren't they? As well, or tent boxes or whatever roof tent boxes that's actually the brand is tent box here. Oh, is it sorry, and you've got a script third party one, or have you gotten boxed? I've got a tent box, yeah. You've gone full branded? Yes. Okay, well let's get a sponsorship deal. Tent box.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, well I'll I'll message him so I gave him a show on the show, but he's a gamer podcast, nothing to do with the box.
SPEAKER_02:Did you manage to secure the sale of another one to a colleague, Rose Basemont, to a listener, Roast Space Month? He's our friend and you know, beloved family member now, but you know, in terms of you selling yourself to tent box. Yeah. Pay it to me, you get your 10% from that.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_02:Sit down. I may trick you into thinking an idiot, but actually, do you know what? I'll have you I'll have my rubric set and I'll build a picture of a dog.
SPEAKER_03:Um the uh Stanley Bern there. Fantastical. Glad to me, there, Badabinkster. Glad to see me. Badabinkster? Excuse me. Dante Bella Coursey. Stanley Bern there.
SPEAKER_05:There we go, we're done. Brilliant. Thank you, Badabinkster.
SPEAKER_02:Um to be honest, it's gonna feel like me saying all that's gonna feel a little bit like he's on his granny's knee. Um but you know, being embraced in your mother tongue. No, not thanks, but next.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, probably a good time to stop that one. Um, next up we have the connoisseur of the Nintendo JRPG. His beautiful library, the Zelda cravat. It is tingle tuner. Everything in his life is beautiful.
SPEAKER_02:His wife, his kids, his gaming collection, his career, himself, his house. Anything he's got, he's got the very best of.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, he's perfect. He is perfect. Oh, that was uh that was a noise.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, I like it, I like him. I I confess to want to be a bit like him, but I don't even know the first place to start, to be honest with you. Someone else I want to be like, I'll be honest with you, wouldn't mind spending the day in his shoes. It's the uh sheriff, one of the sheriffs, who got two sheriffs, like a shotgun. We call them the Winchester boys because they're double barreled.
SPEAKER_00:Did you mind Chris? The Winchester boys.
SPEAKER_05:My god, you are on you are on form today, my god. Something like that, anyway. That's not a bad in red dead. You better look up for them Winchester boys.
SPEAKER_04:Don't be saying two controversial on a discord. They want messables, they'll ban you.
SPEAKER_02:Anyway, one of the Winchester boys, as he's now colloquially known, did he's a munkery. Thank you, sir, for all you're doing. I'm seeing the text you're sending me. I I think I need a knock here. I can't work an iPhone. I'm loving uh the suggestions. I'll talk to you on the text. I don't know why we're conducting our private affair right here in the support section. Who's the next RGT?
SPEAKER_05:Next up, we next app, next up. Oh my god, you got me bloody stammering over my words now. Um wow, that's my that's what I'm known for now.
SPEAKER_02:Founder of the show and stammerer. Yeah. Anything else? No. Well, foot quit.
SPEAKER_05:Wow, there's some F-bobs in this show today. Um, we have Bald Border. Thank you very much, mate. I hope you're getting on well with Hades. And uh, I did send him a picture of my Hades 2 the other day, and he was like, Yep, can't wait to play that. And I was like, Yeah, you you're gonna love it, mate. If you're enjoying Hades, Hades 2, you're gonna really love it. But thanks again for your support, mate.
SPEAKER_02:I think the last supporting Christian Greek probably just walked out the doors today. I'm sorry for that. Thank you for the support to this far this journey to the journey to this point. But uh it's a Sunday morning, the lack of which we ain't recorded in at least a week. Uh, because normally we got into the habit of recording on a Thursday, didn't we? Yeah, today. So we're very professional. So that ties on from a day of you know, telling people we didn't want their promo codes and we don't want your sponsorship deals. It's flat out here at the UCP doing that. Trying to say PUTU. Uh we're not taking any brown paper envelopes, are we? No, no, definitely not.
SPEAKER_05:Until our deal next week with contact cleaner and tent bots.
SPEAKER_02:George, you wouldn't you said you want sold, you would sell out.
SPEAKER_05:Uh yeah, anyway. Uh yeah, I don't remember saying that.
SPEAKER_02:Anyway, uh let's get this right back on track because I do believe, right, the second part of the Winchester posse just pulled up. It's Boba. Yeah, he's here, he's looking sexy. Uh as always. I saw a picture in the other day of him looking quite cold in his shed. Um, Winter's took a turn here in the UK and uh he it was brunishing a brew. I think he displayed the temperature on his what's on his story, whatever I couldn't call it WhatsApp, but I don't think you get stories on there, do you?
SPEAKER_05:Um no, I think you uh I think you northern boys have had it a bit harder than us down here, so I think just if you had stories.
SPEAKER_02:As all northerners would tell you, yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:Next up, we have your red head stepson. It is Ginge who has done another couple of platinums this week. So 717 platinums. Um my god.
SPEAKER_02:I'll tell you what, Ginge, right, he's the sort of stepson you want. Absolutely banging lad. I'm not even banging his mum anymore, and he still supports the show. Absolute legend. He's the sort of son you want. You know, I wish he was actually mine. Uh is what it is. You know, thanks for your support, Ginge. Yeah, thank you. Have you seen this thing doing the rounds on the internet? It's probably quite old, classic me. I've probably discovered it 20 years too late. But have you seen that last who's arrested uh for taking part in a robbery?
SPEAKER_04:I think about I sent it to you on Instagram, and she's like, I'm legally blind and that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, a bit of paper, and she's there. Well, you can see, can't you?
SPEAKER_01:See, barely gives it all that, gets in the car, and then suddenly out of nowhere, gets real hard. She's like, The police, tea squad, starts crying, yeah.
SPEAKER_05:Almost singing it in a gospel voice.
SPEAKER_04:The voice breaks like squapal, fuck the police a lot in all.
SPEAKER_05:Well, what how did you get on that from Jinge?
SPEAKER_04:I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:There was a reason, there was like the semblance of a reason. I know you've forgotten that reason. Yes, right. Who's next? It's the fourth time it's happened to me on the show. I'd say it's early onset. Don't mention it, but it's it's probably contact cleaner.
SPEAKER_05:It definitely contact cleaner. You've been showering down on that like I've never seen.
SPEAKER_02:I'll be honest, in reality, I think this is just what exhausts you the feels like. It's it's it's Monday tomorrow, back to the UCP grind, and I'll be honest, with all this home stuff going on, I just haven't like rested. Today is a day of rest, and I'm probably gonna waste it realising the gold rush of the game is garbage. Um, up next to Lord of Darkness, it's Harvey Retro. He's gonna come in, steal all the lightness, but make you feel good about it.
SPEAKER_05:Yes, absolutely wonderful. Thank you very much, Harvey. Um, next we have the wonderful Emma Sharp. I hope you're doing well in your new job, Emma. So glad to see you uh managed to find more work. So uh I hope you're doing well.
SPEAKER_02:It's like the Alan Wicker, all the Judith Charmers of the show. Definitely. Uh I'll tell you somewhere who wouldn't be any good, or you could argue might be great as a modern-day Alan Wicker. It's uh Greg. Because I'll tell you where he's been everywhere. Tell you where he hasn't been.
SPEAKER_05:Nowhere near Berlin. Smoo of a capital smoo. Um next up we have the wonderful Mumsy. Don't really say need to say much about Mumsey, but uh thank you, Mumsy, as always.
SPEAKER_02:Someone asked me the other day for clarity. 34 triple D's. Uh RGT fan club has also got in touch. They've supported the show to the premium level, have to admit. Fair played. You've won a t-shirt. Quite how all 12 of you are gonna wear it. Probably on rotation or a leg each or something.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, well, I said to mum and dad, they're similar size, so they can have a week each with a t-shirt. So thanks, mum. Cheers, dad. You know, I'm not made of money, so it's actually one of my old ones, but there you go. Yeah. Next up, we have one of the hardest men, apart from ginge. Um I'll leave you to giggle.
SPEAKER_01:I just love the idea you give them a cast off as well.
SPEAKER_05:Well, not so. When you got 36p in petty cash, I'm not made of money.
SPEAKER_02:You ain't got that either, because I've just bought your uh bottles of broccoli. Um broccoli, it's the Lego version of a broccoli florette, yeah.
SPEAKER_05:Oh, nice. I'll have to look that up. Brockery, yeah. Anyway, Pete Brocklehurst, thank you very much.
SPEAKER_02:Nice work, you absolute dude. Um coming in, like the sort of breakfast side you never know you needed. Is gonna turn a good meal great and a good meal terrible, depending on the side of the fence that you sick. It's Billy Marmite, which unfortunately sticks me into the what I would call director's seat, really. Uh one of the perks is if you want the your name read out in any specific way, we've outlived everybody, but we have specific contractual instructions for that Zangeeve, where we need to scream his name in a post-cortical fashion. Uh, during sim during various different uh imagined scenarios that we put each other through as co-presenters. Now, one of the ways I want you to deliver me the fatzangief this week, uh, and just quite an asset for me, please, is this fat zangief is what I would call a tripled zange. It's a post-apocalyptic movie, it's the end of the world. Everybody around you is with their partners embracing making love that one last time in the face of a you know abhorrent danger. It's the end of the world, literally. And this is how I'm picturing the scene, it's how I'm picturing the movie. It's literally the end of the world. Surrounded by this frightened love, you become a little bit lonely and a little bit intrigued by what's happening around you. Simultaneously, at that moment, you also watch the sun go supernova and a wave of energy blast through not only the planet and you, ripping you clean in half during the Zangif.
SPEAKER_05:No, you've got to lay off his contact cleaner. My god.
SPEAKER_02:Best show I've ever done best show we've ever done. I may take that to this day. I used to say it was alternative control, it's now whatever the hell AI calls this, and I hope that's the name. So, scene set, quite on the set. Anyone who's not authorised to be on the set because this is this is a big performance and he's obviously a little bit exposed. I want a clear set, go, gone. Kill it. Mumsy get him gone. Perfect. And I want you to leave as well. I know you've seen it before, but not like this. Perfect. Once I give you the action, you take as long as you need, and we'll do it in the edit, all right? Okay.
SPEAKER_05:How's that?
SPEAKER_02:It was exactly how I imagined someone Zandeeping to a room full of loved up lovers while watching the the sun rip supernova clean through them.
SPEAKER_05:I mean, they won't hear this in the show, but obviously I've had two hours practice now, and we've just come back and I've just delivered that performance.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and just so you know, I had to trade the broccoli florette for 14p to get the money back to pay Phil the editor to come back after I've ritually sacked him. Yeah, yeah, it's rates are low, so it works for us. To edit out the what I can only call the the four-hour method that produced what I'll be honest with you, at the end of the year at the Ponces, I think we need award for best and gifts, so people need to submit in the Unglorious, which was the best Zangeef. I think so. And then we can do a nomination. So yeah, RGT nominated for his supernova Zangev, George nominated for his paper bag rustling in the wind Zangeef. Um, you know, yeah, Seb for his folks, Zangiev, Scotty for his, I don't know, Razzle Zangev. Razzle Zangeeve. Yeah, I'm sure he's Razzled a Zangeef about us for the point.
SPEAKER_05:Yes, thanks to everyone on the in the subs list. We really appreciate it. I know we say every week, and you probably get bored of hearing it, but we do really appreciate you, and thank you so much for all you do. I'm just waiting for the time until they get bored of hearing us. Um I hope that never happens, but depends how much contact cleaning you keep indulging in. But what's my contact cleaning is having a negative effect on the lessons?
SPEAKER_02:It's having a negative effect on me. You're loving it. Tell me what you're hoping to play, Stud.
SPEAKER_05:Um pretty similar to what I have been planning. Uh a bit more resistance, more Halo uh 4. Um, but I think mostly it's gonna be uh uh Hades 2, I think, start the show. I've got a number of.
SPEAKER_02:Can I just say one thing in my defence, by the way? Yes, you can. As I just sorted my show notes out, I realised that uh you're always gonna be in for a rough ride when it was this at the start of the show. With me, George, and this week joined by RGT, Rose to my thread.
SPEAKER_01:If that wasn't a warning, clear of what's going on.
SPEAKER_02:It was a massive warning and I'd be on lights.
SPEAKER_05:George has been at the contact cleaner. Well, I do believe I've sort of half scribed into my notebook here, this is gonna be a long one. So banger. Yeah, yeah. And in George's said talking about a steam deck for eight hours.
SPEAKER_02:No, nope, it's talking about contact cleaner and talking about broccoli. Every now and then you need a contact cleaner episode, you do. Yes. Uh, by the way, not even joking.
SPEAKER_05:No, he's he's yep, he's holding up a tin of contact cleaner. So um made by Silver Hour.
SPEAKER_02:Um, I don't know what country of origin, but Silver Hour are based in uh Harold Wood, London. So if you're a fan of their products, hop on to ww.silverhook.co.uk and a branded electrical contact cleaner looking to have that out for the 300th episode. You wanted surprises. You got 'em. Also want a t shirt, Silverhook Contact Cleaner. UCP ditching by by supper time, darling. Supper time. Anything else you're hoping to play? Hades 2 quite fiercely forced itself into the rotation, I see, and Ball X Pit's been thrown out like a used rag. At the uh Carvalatin Bay. Yes, uh took a clean one there. What's uh anything retro you're gonna play? Anything a little bit of a a stall walk through that pile of degrading silicon you surrounded yourself in, or is that just an ode to your sort of mood room?
SPEAKER_05:Um I've I've been in a bit of dilemma as how to set up my retro stuff at the moment. I think a lot of people are gonna think, oh my god, what are you doing, RGT? But I've got plastic. Uh thank you. Um I've got um I've got my old consoles. I've got my a few of my old consoles all running through lots a uh OSSC, but I've also got my Retron 5, which is Yeah, I was gonna let can I pick your brains on that?
SPEAKER_02:So your new setup, obviously a little bit sort of has to be a little bit tighter, curated, display everything, because it's sort of obviously can't lead a room in the in the home. Yes. Um I've just put two and two together and Nils, if you listen, I'm sorry, unfortunate casualty chat addiction to video games, but uh she getting her own place.
SPEAKER_05:Yes, she is, yes, she's as of recording this, she moves out in a week's time.
SPEAKER_02:So Dons, Dons, Dons, Dons. I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, my darling wife, I love you more than ever. I've ever I ever love you. This this this game of lounge is not working for me. I I need room, I need space to grow, I need space to sort of stretch out. It sounds familiar. Uh I I think I I I I need somewhere for my collection to sort of grow into the collection it always wanted to be. It's uh a little bit like Hitler annex in Poland. Are you looking at annexing your uh your daughter's bedroom anytime soon?
SPEAKER_05:Oh god, yes. Yeah. So isn't she going? I need the room. See ya.
SPEAKER_02:Um migrate in there or are you gonna keep that as a spare room for guests on your doors, or should she come back in?
SPEAKER_05:It's gonna be across between the spare room for guests and also my recording room, so my desks going in there because I'm currently recording in the living room, so that'll be a little recording room um in there out of the way. So anyways, yeah, so that's what I'll be using that for. Um, but yes, so um, yeah, so I'll probably if I do, I'm looking at like not having NES and SNES set up, but having them run play them on the Rectron through the TV HD, just to you know, the Rectron plays like 11, 12 different consoles.
SPEAKER_02:Is there any retro consoles? Well, I would pass as retro consoles that you are gonna have up and you're gonna say no to the Rectron on.
SPEAKER_05:Um, well, the ones that it doesn't play pretty much. I mean, I've got like N64 that runs through the RSSC. I've got um like the disc based consoles, obviously, but also I've got like Mega C D because obviously you can't run that on your Rectron. So but then I can I haven't got my mass system set up, but I've got a mass system mega drive converter, which does work on the Rectron. So I thought, well, I don't know what's got the master system. It does, yes, yes.
SPEAKER_02:Well, it's the it's the master system board in there using the jumper plate to try and try and using the jumper lines of the cartridge to get it up on the screen, isn't it? I think from memory.
SPEAKER_05:So yeah, yeah, yeah. So that does actually surprisingly work on a Rectron. So I'll probably um I'll just use that. And on the game gear, it did a version for the game gear, if you remember. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:There you go for the master system Mark I master system converter, because I obviously use the two version.
SPEAKER_05:So I'll be using that. So I've sort of had to confine it down, so keep my disc based ones, 360, Ridge or Xbox, PS2, because then I can play PS1 through, you know, that sort of thing. Combine it down a bit and then run them through your SSC.
SPEAKER_02:So um see the furthest back I go in the playable consoles plugged in is PlayStation 1. Um, I but I find that a lot of my itches are scratched with the Nintendo Switch Online N64 area, the SNES area, um, the Mega Drive area within that. Admittedly, I've got a soft, super soft spot for a Mark I stack, even if it's just the Mega C D 1 and the Mega 5 One.
SPEAKER_05:That's why I have the well, I got both, but I I have the Mark I because I just think that is gorgeous looking properly.
SPEAKER_02:Accommodating the 32X. Night Rider Tech. Oh yeah. Accommodating the 32X in that stack is a little bit although it's the ultimate stack, it makes it that high that you can't get it in a TV unit without needing to sort of spit on the top of the cart, slide it in under the bottom of your TV center, and then straight down into the converter.
SPEAKER_05:It looks like a ninja air fryer, it's that big in the kitchen, no one did a second glass.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, probably in the Italian one's like, oh, what's that? Oh mate, you sound cultural. Get out, yeah. First time you drank beer eroded all memory of consoles, gaming. Yeah, beer.
SPEAKER_05:So, yeah, I have over the last sort of 12 months. I have purchased some new Mega Drive games, um, which I really want to play because I think there could be some hidden gems in there. So I I want to.
SPEAKER_02:Oh yes, please. I'd love for you to come back next week and have a 16-bit sort of memory map. When you say Mega Drive games, are you talking old, new old or new new?
SPEAKER_05:New old. Oh, good. So I'd pick some some good ones up, I think. So um in box complete as well. So I need to play those and um um give me a taste of one that you've picked up that's gonna get me wet. Oh, I can't remember the name of it now.
SPEAKER_02:I said that strangely and it kind of left me being a little bit sexually exposed, if I'm honest.
SPEAKER_05:I loved it. Um okay. Yeah, I've oh actually I picked up a SNES game as well, which I think is a bit of an RPG that I hadn't really heard of, so I think that could be a good contender. What's that one? Um, I'm not gonna say it yet, because it might be the hidden gem. So god, I think I I think I picked picked up a shooter and I can't remember what the other one was on Mega Drive, but side scrolling shooter. Uh I believe it's vertical shooter, I think. Oh, but that style.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So obviously shooter can mean like pod in this day and age as well, can't it? Yeah, well, I've sort of got a small why's that morphenstime or boom running at one frame per second. Which hidden gem is it that you're bringing?
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, um, but yeah, so I'll uh I'll hopefully have one of those ready for next week, so we will see. So hopefully.
SPEAKER_02:We we will see. Um yeah, yeah. I don't know. Do we still want to do them? Are you feeling comfortable?
SPEAKER_05:The only thing I like doing them. I there's a lot going on behind the scenes. The list is growing of are you asking me all the listeners?
SPEAKER_02:Because I love a hidden gem.
SPEAKER_05:But I also listeners if you'd like me to keep doing them, I will keep doing them. I know they're a bit sporadic, but we're it's very busy behind the scenes, and I'd like to say the list of things I'm doing is growing and growing, so I am finding it a little bit harder. But if you still want me to do them, I will still do them. Messaging, yes. Yes, because I I have got a preset list. I just need to either replay them to make sure, or play new ones that I'm finding.
SPEAKER_02:So um well, let's soften that off a little bit. You know, we're giving a lot of content at the minute, and I'm aware of the sort of burden. We're not watching a new show, guys. Please help help help us to help you, and we'll get hidden gem out. Uh by that, I it's the aforementioned yes, you need to go on to your mums, your grands, your dads, your aunties, your uncles, phone, download every single podcast app that you can and download the show on every single one of those apps. And then burn their phone, and when they get a new one, do the same again and continue that process until we are bigger than Joe Rogan. Burn the phone. It's easy. See you in a week.
SPEAKER_05:Um Yeah, so I think other than that, we meant a bit off piece there, but that's what I'm hoping to play. Um so what about you?
SPEAKER_02:What you uh Well, I got the confession in early, so I'm probably gonna take about 20 minutes to realise that I despise Gold Rush or Gold Miner Simulator the game, and then equally pin all my hopes on the sequel, which will probably be equally as disappointing.
SPEAKER_05:Which being that Rogue Craft, do you pre-order that, get the copy, sit it on the shelf, and never play it?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, there's just something weird about Rogue Craft that I'd never already got. The way the materials were handled in the game looked weird. It wasn't even like construction simulator, it was more like gold mining simulator in terms of the ground deformation and stuff, and I don't know, it didn't feel right within the.
SPEAKER_05:I'll be quite honest about this. I pre-ordered it because I was so excited after expeditions, and after putting 120, 130 hours into that game, I thought, yep, this is a bit of me. Pre-ordered it, completely forgot I'd pre-ordered it until it came through the door, and I realised the money had come out of the bank. At that point, I wasn't really sure I even wanted the game, so it was a bit of a faux pas, hence why it still sits on the shelf. So, yeah, yeah, nice, a bit embarrassing.
SPEAKER_02:So, a bit of that, a little bit of GTA 4, little bit of uh Fallout 3, uh probably kick infamous around again. Like I say, at the minute, I'm doing trying to get myself in the era of the first four episodes of flashback that we've chosen within reason, within reason, um, but definitely getting my head in that headspace because it helped when we went on the show the other day and we did flashback episode one. It it really helped having dived into the PSP and PS3 of that era to be very present in the show, which is great. Yeah, um so there'll be a bit more of that going on. Um, and that that's probably it. The way I'm playing at the minute is very sporadic, but I'm looking forward to being done, sit down and dedicate myself to a game like we used to, you know, like the show's famous for. So yeah, very excited to feed back on some of those games that I've missed this year. And I think 2026 will be a bit of a return to form for a gaming rotation. I would say RGT. I think this year's been a bit when Seb came on and was like, How you've been like, Yeah, how you've been gaming been strange, I was like, Oh, yeah, thank goodness. Validation, it's not just me and RGT thinking this has been a very odd year. Um some good stuff, some lots of great stuff, but generally just a very odd year in gaming.
SPEAKER_05:Um it has been, and I I was thinking um the other day, I was thinking it's been a strange year, and I had that, you know, I haven't really had the games on pre-order, haven't really been buying that many. But then when I look back at games I have played, I have played some good games, the Mafia, Me Too, Grand Bazaar, now on Hades 2, Ball X Pit. So for the Ponsies, I'm still gonna have a good list there. I know I play a lot of older stuff, you know, the Pier 3, um, some proper cartridge retro stuff, but yeah, I've played some, you know, some the modern stuff, they have been trickling out. There has been some good games. Um, I think we're lucky enough that we have all the major systems. Um, so it it thins out the you know, when there's only a few games coming out on each, we still have a bit of the pickings of them. Whereas if you're only on one system, it could have been a bit of a dry year, but you know, we're lucky that we have been um bit more bit more lucky than I thought we had originally when I actually looked back and started getting games written down for Ponzies. I thought, hmm, actually, I've done alright. I've done all right this year, I think. Definitely.
SPEAKER_02:I am going to be filling that list with uh 2008 best games. Yeah, I would argue, but that's the joy of the Ponzies. You never quite know what's gonna be game of the year, much to Seb's annoyance, but uh it's the GTA 4 taking it this year. It's the MLB 25 taking it, and although there's a game that's probably more worthy of praise in the MLB franchise than this. Uh sadly, I'm a bit burnt out. I'm even wondering if 26 should get bought. But I'm gonna end up buying 26 on probably three platforms. I don't know what's wrong with me. I know, I have that feeling. Um, but you know, with all that said and done, RGT, I think that draws us to a close. I've had a great time. Hopefully, the listeners have had some fun as well. Yes, there's been some spill contract contact cleaner, but in the end of the day, hopefully no tears, RGT. No, it's been a joy to record with you as always, and we hope the listeners have had an equal amount of fun. I'm gonna say it one last time. Help us to help you make flashbacks a success. Um so go download that, tell everyone, share it on the socials, do whatever it is that you've got to do to help us to make this be the biggest retro show going. You've helped us make the UCP quite honestly the pride of the internet. If you help us do that with flashback, RGT's gonna get a pretty unlimited plane ticket to basically unleash five knuckle shuckles, five knuckle shuffles across the planet.
SPEAKER_05:I don't didn't see that one in my contract, but I need to read it a bit better, I think. But if that's what I've got to do, that's what I'll do.
SPEAKER_02:Just to make sure we're on the same boat, the five-knuckle shuffle is the thing the boxers do where they kind of jab their feet backwards and forwards in a dance while kind of just sort of tripping fists in the air. You know, if you meet someone angry in the street and they think they're a bit of a boxer, they kind of spring into the five-knuckle shuffle.
SPEAKER_05:That's what I thought, yeah. I didn't. What did you think I meant?
SPEAKER_02:Well, I don't know, you've been very seedy this episode, so I just wanted to make sure you weren't sort of misusing my innocence in some sort of weird sexual innuendo that was going over my head. No, no, why would I ever do that? Alright, well, 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. Till 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 all, GT. Later,