On the Level Podcast

After a small hiatus Grandpa remembered how to push "play" and "record" on the old tape-recorder and so we're back! A lot has happened in the intervening months so we cherry pick a few topics in order to get ourselves match-fit again...

Death Stranding spoilers, review embargos, Stadia hype, WWE 2K20 suplexes back a few generations, Fortnite is off, Fortnite is on and so much League of Legends on this weeks episode. Plus: is the Joker any good? After banging our heads together over it; neither of us are entirely sure. But, lordy there's a lot of dancing.

It was a quiet, unassuming few days but unbeknownst to us Sony had a few things to say for themselves... And what a bizarre triple whammy!? PS Now takes a price tumble, cuddly Shawn quietly leaves and the PS5 gets and official name: PS5. Gasp.

The most important piece of information to come from either "Inside Xbox" or "State of Play" is that Wattam is clearly Death Stranding. Nothing else comes even remotely close to being as interesting as that, but we talk about it all regardless.

We'll always have Paris... and Final Fantasy 7. After a excessively long loading time we are back in the game, and this week we catch up on some of the bigger stories and ask why it is we keep going back to Final Fantasy 7.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Actually, who cares; the more important question is whether the console sells the games or whether the games sell the consoles. The answer isn't quite as obvious as either of us originally thought and the whole conversation nearly gets derailed when we fall out over an argument about VO (I'm right, btw).

Can you ever have too much of a good thing? Marvel & Disney are certainly exploring the boundaries of that sentiment if their Phase 4 plans are anything to go by. We also had another look at Square's Avengers game - only we didn't see it (and it looks like we won't at Gamescom either). And, of course, Kojima keeps going the full Kojima.

The worst kept secret of 2019 (so far, at least!)has been spilled but will we all lap it up like hungry cats? If history is anything to go by then yes. The Nintendo Switch Lite is here to bury itself in your heart until the inevitable "distracted boyfriend meme" / Switch Pro scenario in a few months time. Maybe. Also, Harry wants to fish.

Ahoy! Sony acts the prude and Nintendo lets it all hang out? Will Marvel's Avengers have a break out showing at SDCC? The Sims gets a Semen Cafe? We keep a look out on the horizon for plenty of other news so join as we set sail on the good ship "Censor" and enjoy a complimentary cool and refreshing glass of "Definitely Milk."

Games should cost more but they don't... yet, but is that about to change dramatically with all those attractive streaming services you'll be tempted to waggle your wallet at? Also pissing in bins.

We're back,baby! We've got a black light and a whole box of latex gloves so let's start prodding... it's the E3 2019 autopsy party and you're all invited! (There is liberal use of the, perhaps, dirtiest of swear-words; so fair warning. We also say EA a fair bit.)

Yup, it's a video game. It'll be nonsense; good looking, mechanically sound nonsense. You know this already. Aside from the 8 mins that Kojima splooged onto the internet earlier this week we go through the most recent batch of pre-E3 leaks and rumours. Sorry, "leaks."

Absolute filth this week - so many new couplings it's like the cover of some grotty gossip rag! Microsoft and Sony, Sony and Hollywood, Fromsoft and George RR Martin, Epic and everyone (or Epic and nobody), but all Simon wants to talk about is teeth...

Two big games out this week with one deserving success far more than the other; is that fair? Also Randy puts his foot in it, a whole load of Ubisoft bods put their foot in it, Harry gets animated about DOTA and Simon gets an awkward boner over animated foxes.

Days Gone is incredible! Days Gone is awful! Days Gone is average! (delete as applicable). Seriously though; what the Hell is going on with the reviews for this one? We dig in and try to figure it out. Plus our thoughts on Endgame, the Saint's Row movie and that Sonic trailer. Come back Bob Hoskins, all is forgiven.

Gonk gonk gonk gonk gonk gonk gonk and a few words about PS5s, discless Xboxes, ropey Capcom arcade sticks, Wuggles, laughable Game of Thrones and bland, white protagonists. Gonk.

Following on from our (unfortunately truncated) conversation on Sekiro, we take another look at it from the perspective of accessibility and what we think about cheating. And ahead of the reveal of the Jedi Fallen Order, at the time of recording at least, we have brief discussion on some of the Star Wars things coming our galaxy in the not too distant future.

In a sort of delicious twist of irony we even found recording our discussion of Sekiro a little too hard - a technical Gremlin caused us to lose a good chunk of the back half of our discussion! We manage to get through the news with nary a hiccup and we do have a solid chinwag regarding From Soft's latest, so it's not a complete disaster (unlike whatever the fuck that Apple Arcade arse was all about).

It's here and it might well be the future but the big question is WHY Google decided to get in on the whole game streaming business. Did the next-gen arrive already or will Stadia be consigned to the room with all those Google glasses?

For a franchise that almost started my accident, Dante and the boys haven't done half bad for themselves... With the launch of the exceptionally well received 5th entry (in the original continuity) Harry attempts to explain the story line(s) to Simon. It's weird. But not as weird as "real doll" foot monsters.

If it's 'OK' is it any good? Can you wring excitement from a 5/10 or are you just passing the time? How much stock do we put into reviews and review aggregates? It's time to find out on this perfectly acceptable, middle of the road episode...

Today's popular games are tomorrow's fish and chip wrappings (does that analogy mean anything to anyone these days?). That's not entirely fair, but we do seem to be seeing games that hit BIG for short amounts of time. What gives? Who makes it happen? Are we now seeing the gaming equivalent of fidget spinners and loom bands? Yes, basically.

Lots to catch up this week! Our thoughts on RE2 now that we've both done it, Harry has a moment on KH3, everyone plays Apex, the Metro/Epic situation, Pete might be back, Inside Xbox, dull Super Bowl trailers and McNuggets. So very many McNuggets. Pull up a bucket and let's get stuck in...

Think you know what 'Science Fiction' is? We did. Turns out we absolutely don't, but there are certainly plenty of video games it. Or maybe there aren't. Anyway, we more or less have it cracked by the end of it. Or maybe we don't.

The title does exactly what it says on the tin. This week it's all about mods. From tiny little cosmetic tweaks, brand new games, new modes, levels, characters even jobs! And, of course, big, jiggly... jiggly bits. So it's out with the old and in with the new. Or, at the very least, the new old thing.

Holy Moly 2019 starts a bit strong, doesn't it? Even if we end up in a barren desert of releases after the first 3 months this year is already an embarrassment of riches! AND Shenmue 3!! Oh, sorry, there's a bit more: ...and Shenmue 3 is not coming out in 2019.

2018. It certainly was a 12 month period, wasn't it? We take a look back over the year in gaming and see if it was really all it was cracked up to be. Time to exclaim repeatedly "Jesus! That was THIS year??" a lot.

What's 3 hours long and is kinda disappointing despite the hype? Watching Batman & Robin one and a half times? The Eurovision song contest? Yep. And also the Video Game Awards. As Harry so eloquently put it it's the video game equivalent of a rolled up sock temptingly tucked into your paramour's boxers... you can have fun, but not as much as you were expecting.

"We were so wrong" to quote from Prometheus (ironically, almost, as we didn't get a whisper of Aliens)... By the time you listen to this the VGATGAs will have been and gone and all our predictions will have been for nothing. The good news is that we barely got anything right. Still good news; the awards didn't get in the way of us discussing games and series that change on a dime.

"We were so wrong..." to quote Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (ironic, given that we didn't get a lick of Aliens during the night) regarding the TGAVGAs. But hey-ho. We may be well out of date and waaaaaay off target with our TGA predictions but we had fun. And that's the important thing! We also shot the breeze about games and series that suddenly change on a dime, so the evening wasn't a total waste!

We're back! Harry has enjoyed a bottle of Jack and Simon is ruing the possibility of the Criterion Edition of 'Fast & Furious 8' but we're back!! On to the mess that is Fallout 76, the stupidity of what's missing from Spyro, why awards don't matter but why award show do matter (whatever they're called). Welcome to the On The Level: Blackout podcast...

We sauntered just south of the border this week as we looked back on the madness (and loudness) that was Microsoft's XO18 before leaping over the wall to discuss some of the VGA nominees. Who knew that Mexican Xbox fans loved Shinji Hashimoto so much? We didn't. In fact we didn't know who Shinji Hashimoto was and Harry plays ALOT of Kingdom Hearts.

Sometimes a video game is a little more than pointing and either clicking or shooting and this week we take a look at some of those games that took on a serious subject or dealt with more adult issues. It got a little emotional. (Also, apologies for the barrage of fireworks! They've been muffled as best they could!)

We're back in the saddle and broke-backing again and this week it's about that teeny tiny Rockstar release amongst a 10-gallon hats worth of news: The PS Classic looks a bit pants, Call of Cthulhu manages the impossible, MediEvil will be the PS4 swansong and Nintendo manage ANOTHER round of Smash Bros news... And as it was Halloween we give each other the willies by discussing some of our more memorable scary moments.

I went to see Halloween this week - was it worth sitting through 20 mins of trailers in a moderately comfortable chair for? SPOILER ALERT - yes. Also, there are no spoilers in the review. (Normal service will resume next week...)

When was the last time you finished a game? Statistically speaking it was probably a long time ago. We buy more and more games but finish fewer and fewer of them - why? Is it length? Is it choice? Are they too big? And does it have anything to do with Jason Statham falling in love with a shark?

Imagine that; another Call of Duty game! These things must be quite popular, so popular that we thought we'd better spend some time going through a bit of it's history. From it's Medal of Honour beginnings to it's,,, well, is it going to ever have an ending? Harry says yes, Simon says no(possibility of a naked death match stream on Twitch to determine the winner is now under discussion).

Mmmmmmm... that cool, refreshing taste; nothing else hits that spot quite like a chilled glass of Coca Cola. Anyway, this week it's all about the move from print-to-pimp media and the world of influencers and the like. So settle in and try pouring yourself a serving of the first, non alcoholic beverage that springs to mind. All glory to the HYPNOTOAD!

Telltale goes and Bowsette explodes were clearly the big stories of last week but there was also TGS and EGX to generate a headline or two. How much merch can Kojima shift before his game actually launches? How many hats can your horse wear in RDR2? Who is V from DMC5? And could Harry really be on course to finish 2 whole games in 2019??

It's not quite Grand Theft Video game, but it's pretty darn close. This week it's all about celebrating the pioneers and shining a light on the mildly dubious practices of certain companies who couldn't be bothered to think for themselves. Or those businesses who saw a good opportunity languishing in obscurity and decided to do something about it. Cheeky? Dumb? Genius? Let's get into it...

Can you hear it? Or smell it? Yes! It's Christmas already, practically. The Silly Season starts in earnest once we break into the middle of September and, wouldn't you know it, here we are! Lara's back, FIFA's back, Call of Duty is BACK, Fallout is kinda back and Battlefield might as well have not bothered. Also that GTA thing with horses.

Some are AMAZING! Some are even SPECTACULAR! But most are not. This week to celebrate the launch of Spider-man on the PS4 we go through Superhero games and find out why there are so many Spider-man games (we Purge if we don't get them), where did all the movie tie-ins go, why there isn't a SINGLE Wonder Woman game and what the future holds. Also Harry get's VERY confused by Batman.

Another month, another gaming conference... Starlink surprises, Sekiro continues to impress, Close To The Sun brings the Bioshhock, Lovecraft gets short changed, Man of Medan intrigues and we didn't see Cyberpunk, then we did - but did we like it? Time to pull on your lederhosen DLC: it's Gamescom 2018!

As Gamescom wasn't quite finished and Harry was away for his Hols we thought we'd play catch up on all the news that we missed over the last week or so. Twitch, Emus, Jason Statham, the final moments of Miyamoto, terrifying Sonics, abnormally tall men - we cover ALL the big news storys.

Epic are going very much all in with their Fortnite tourney (to the tune of $100 million), so just how big can it get and will it be the event to properly break into the mainstream? Not just a big eSports event, but to the World a sporting event that we all want to watch (and therefore all the big boys will want to advertise at). Also Harry gets to talk about DOTA, which is nice.

2 years ago we had a look at where we thought eSports might be heading so we thought we'd check up to see what the Hell was going on. Turns out we're both pretty disappointed - the content is there, we're just not getting alerted to it! So, who's to blame?

An extraordinary amount of useless information is imparted this week along with our thoughts on the most surprising threequel in living memory. Did Tom Hanks really want to play Mario? Did Scorsese direct a Skylanders advert? Where are all those other Yakuza games? And why can't Miyamoto ride a bicycle? It's all a surprise...

SDCC has blustered through town like a nerd-culture tornado, leaving trailers and news strewn about like so much rubble and twisted metal. How the DC subscription service might work, why Dwayne Johnson should just kiss a dude, what exactly is happening with the MGS movie and a bunch of those trailer reviews that are all the rage. No Helllboy though. Dammit.

We've decided to look back over the last 6 months because why the Hell not. And, my goodness, it was an interesting 6 months; surprises, scandals, great games and Nintendo not showing us Metroid Prime 4. Amazingly, after well over a 100 episodes, Harry has finally decided on a review barometer and so, from now on, everything is now measured out in one to a possible seven 'Harrys'.

This week we're taking our hats off to those game developers who braved the path alone in creating. Amazing games created by just one person and, in some cases, changing the video game landscape forever in the process! Bonus confusions for this week include Harry and hats and Simon's terrible memory for other people named Simon.

We do it! We get around to talking about the classic Resident Evil 2 and the history surrounding it. From the abandoned 1.5, the fan made Reborn all the way up to official remake and beyond as well as discussing the surprisingly diverse universe that Capcom have managed to build around Raccoon City.