Octal FM

After 263 episodes and six years it's time for a break. We're going to take some time out to think about what we want to do next.Octal FM has first and foremost always been about hanging out and spending some time together, which we're still going to do. But this means we take away the pressures of researching, producing, and editing a podcast along with it.Thanks for listening, we'll be back soon!

In this episode we peel back the curtain behind ranking and recommendation systems. How does that top 100 list on MyAnimeList work? Why does Amazon recommend me weird stuff? Those questions answered, and more!Some further technical reading for you: Collaborative Filtering What are content-based recommenders?

In this episode we discuss the growing momentum behind the Right to Repair movement.

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. Some more new games this week - Sefran has been playing Satisfactory and we've both been playing 20 Minutes Till Dawn.

In this episode we take a deeper dive into the history of the Elder Scrolls games. It's a big-un!

We're continuing our anime-themed Octal FM series! Sefran has watched anime for most of his life, but Jalada has watched almost none. We're changing that. This time, Jalada has been watching another recommendation of Sef's; Honey and Clover, or Hachimitsu to Kurōbā.

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. Jalada caught COVID and cheered himself up in isolation by buying Spelunky 2 on Switch.

We think you can probably guess what this episode is all about! Jalada tries to convince Sefran to dust off his Pokéballs one more time...

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. Microsoft and Riot have announced a Game Pass partnership.

In this episode we continue our recurring segment where we discuss the most important and interesting games of a particular year. In episode 139 we covered 1989. This episode we take a look at the games of 1989.Games we discuss: Super Mario World & F-Zero, for the SNES launch Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake Wing Commander Commander Keen

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. Some news from Sony's State of Play...

In this episode of Octal FM we do a bit of a 'bluffers guide' to blockchain. Cryptocurrency, NFTs, smart contracts, video games, and Octal FM hot takes. It's all here!Further reading: The Web3 Fraud Moxie Marlinspike: My first impressions of web3 Web3 is going just great /s David Rosenthal's talk @ Stanford

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. Jalada got a chance to try out a kitted out sim-racing setup in VR, and that got us thinking...

In Game Club, we pick a game to both play separately that we've never played before, and then come together on the show to discuss our thoughts. This time, we play the latest installment in a series very close to our hearts; Age of Empires IV.

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. Sefran has picked up the sequel to the game that defined 'Rogue-lite'. But is Rogue Legacy 2 a worthy successor to the OG?

We continue our recurring segment of breaking down the games that we feel define a genre. This time it's another chunky genre; racing games. We even have to define what a racing game actually is.Games we discuss include: Out Run F-Zero Super Mario Kart Gran Turismo Need for Speed: Underground 2 Forza Horizon

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. Jalada has been checking back in with No Man's Sky after the latest Outlaws update. What does he think?

It's been a while since we last had a guest host join us; but today we're joined by Martyn for the first time. Martyn is a friend of the show and agreed to come on to discuss getting started with role-playing games. Not the video game ones, the real-life ones. We discuss how to get started, recommended games, different types of RP, DMing, LARPing, and more!

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. We've been watching Elden Ring's sales and wondering...what makes Elden Ring so different to its siblings?Putting Elden Ring's 12 million sales in context

In our retrospective episodes we take a look at the mammoth multiplayer first-person shooter series that is Counter-Strike. We'll start right at the beginning with the beta mod, look at the troubled development of Condition Zero, where it's at now and our relationship with it. And finally add some classic Octal FM hot takes about the series' future.

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. Sefran has been playing Prey brackets 2017 and he wants to tell you how amazing it is.

Following on from last episode we're moving from the realms of desktop computer to mobile computing with a discussion of mobile operating systems. How they work, how they differ, and what we think the future holds for them.

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. This turned a bit long; but we had a few thoughts on the news that Elite Dangerous: Odyssey is no longer coming to consoles

We take another deep dive into a technical topic, this time something you use every day - operating systems, specifically on desktop computers like PCs, Macs, and soon the Steam Deck.

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. There's been some big reveals for Pokémon Day. One of us is feeling cautiously optimistic, the other cautiously pessimistic. Can you guess who?

We're continuing our anime-themed Octal FM series! Sefran has watched anime for most of his life, but Jalada has watched almost none. We're changing that. This time, we've both been to see a new film that was screened in the UK; Belle, or Ryū to Sobakasu no Hime.

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. We've been following some of the embargo-free information about the Steam Deck hardware with interest...

In this episode we continue our recurring segment where we discuss the most important and interesting games of a particular year. In episode 131 we covered 1988. This episode we take a look at the games of 1989.Key games we discuss: Populous Sim City Sweet Home Super Mario Land DuckTales Honorable mentions go to Tetris, Strider, Alex Kidd, Mother, Prince of Persia (we've talked a lot about this before), Herzog Zwei, The Wizard.

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. Sefran has been to see Sing a Bit of Harmony, and he's keen to share his thoughts!If you're quick, it's still showing in cinemas in the UK.

In Game Club, we pick a game to both play separately that we've never played before, and then come together on the show to discuss our thoughts. Along with those games, we're continuing to work through the entire Metroid series, and this time it's the turn of Metroid Fusion, which we have actually both played before.

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. This week we've...not been up to much. We've got a bunch of stuff in the pipeline but it's just not ready to share yet, so for now we discuss some of the new arcades and game bars that have sprung up that we've been to recently.

Welcome to the first proper episode of 2022! Toni is back with us to discuss games we're looking forward to in 2022. Maybe some of them will actually come out this year, who knows?!

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. We've been recording our year end / year beginning episodes and this Sound-byte continues our tradition of reviewing our gaming predictions from the start of 2021.

Toni joins us for our recurring end of year look back at our games of 2021.We discuss: Mini Motorways World of Warcraft Classic The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD Monster Hunter Rise Persona 5 Strikers 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim Dyson Sphere Program Monster Train XCOM 2 Long War 2 Hades And some honorable mentions along the way.

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. Sefran has just finished watching Arcane, a Netflix show based on the MOBA goliath League of Legends. 

We continue our recurring segment of breaking down the games that we feel define a genre. This time we discuss the mammoth genre that is first person shooters.Games we discuss: Doom Half Life Halo: Combat Evolved Destiny ARMA

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. Jalada has been playing the new Pokémon Pearl remake. Sefran is skeptical - is it any good?

We're concluding our multi-part retrospective this episode with part two of our look back at the behemoth that is World of Wacraft.

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. Jalada and Sefran both got a chance to (separately) see two Neon Genesis Evangelion films. But does Jalada like Eva, yet?

We're starting a multi-part retrospective this episode with a look back at the behemoth that is World of Wacraft.

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. Jalada was very excited to finally go and see Dune in the cinema. But did it live up to his expectations?

We're continuing our anime-themed Octal FM series! Sefran has watched anime for most of his life, but Jalada has watched almost none. We're changing that. This time, Jalada watched the anime adaptation of the light novel series, Baccano!

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. We've both been watching the new information and trailers from Netflix's Cowboy Bebop live action with...interest!Jalada watched Cowboy Bebop for episode 87 and it was a show Sefran recommended in Great Teacher Sefran.

In this episode we continue our recurring segment where we discuss the most important and interesting games of a particular year. In episode 124 we covered 1987. This episode we take a look at the games of 1988.Games discussed: Mega Man 2 Altered Beast Battle Chess (yes, really) Ninja Gaiden Super Mario Bros 3

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. Sefran is pretty stoked that some of his favourite anime studios got given access to the Star Wars IP...

In Game Club, we pick a game to both play separately that we've never played before, and then come together on the show to discuss our thoughts. This time, we picked out a game Jalada has been meaning to play for a while, so snuck it in to the game club list: Star Wars: Squadrons!

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. Sad news about one of our recommended tourist destinations in Tokyo...

In this episode we conclude the discussions from episode 128 and episode 116 by discussing the effects of translation & localisation on the games that we play. One game in particular, which inspired this whole series, is the discussion of this episode: Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. Sefran is watching the details about Yu-gi-oh! Master Duel with a pessimistic eye...

In this episode we continue what we began in episode 116 looking at the world of translation & localisation, this time the various methods and approaches.

Sound-bytes are our shorter episodes about what we've been up to recently. Our resident Zelda fanatic has been playing Skyward Sword HD on the Switch. But what does he think?