WackerJr

Well done Sam & Mike for getting Plok! I’ve never played it, but here was my clearly wrong thinking from those clues last week: • Super Mario All-Stars: based on that VHS, but clearly those tunes weren’t from it. • Battletoads: again featured on that VHS and developed by Rare. Completely different style of sound though. • Wheel of Fortune: Rare developed a NES game and the SNES version actually thanks “Dave Lister” in the credits (Craig Charles’ character in Red Dwarf). I thought this would be an amazing link, but sadly the game contains a grand total of just one tune in it! • Super Robot Wars: since Craig Charles used to present Robot Wars when I watched it... sadly nothing else about that game was like the tunes or associated with Rare. Still, I enjoyed the clues and my laughably failed attempts to work it out! Kudos to Nick, plus Sam & Mike for being much smarter & more knowledgeable than me!

If I wasn’t confused enough before about which game that music came from, now I’m completely flummoxed (& I like Craig Charles too!).

Paw Patrol: Ready, Race Rescue As a parent with a child consumed by the merchandising machine & TV power of Paw Patrol, I was expecting something ever-so-slightly different to an extended episode of the TV show. Sadly, if course it wasn’t. My daughter and I saw the previous movie (Mighty Pups), which at least had a slight variation to the usual saving the day plot (that one included superpowers). This one was very much ‘Cars for 3 year-olds‘ although even my 3 year old was pointing out the plot faults in this one! They missed out on the obvious fan service (even if their fans are under 5) such as cameos by the newer characters, although I would probably still missed them had my daughter’s confusion not kept me from falling asleep! I don’t think my thoughts on this apply to anyone here unless you have an under 5... they will enjoy it, even if it is a terrible movie with a positive message for tiny people.

I agree with your thoughts on the event. I thought Becky vs Asuka was hard-hitting and excellent, just a shame it was the one match the crowd didn’t fully get into. I was disappointed with the Women’s winner for the same reasons, but the swerve this week with her choice is more the better for me.

I’m happy with any of those choices, so I’m going to cast my vote for Kirby’s Dream Course.

I agree 100%. Themes would be a great addition & I enjoy my 3DS ones. While realistically it wouldn’t work for every game, I’ve been rewarded with themes for completing some PS4 games. With the lack of an achievement system (which I would love on the Switch) this would be an enjoyable reward for completing games.

Tonight is the WWE Royal Rumble, always one of the events I am most excited about in the year! For me, the actual Royal Rumble matches have fallen considerably under the radar as far as WWE hyping them up. I’m hoping this means they are going to spring a surprise or two and actually under-advertising it will end up with them being better than expected. As long as the Men’s match doesn’t become a Brock Lesnar gauntlet match I’m predicting the following: Woman’s match: Winner Ronda Rousey with final 4 being her, Charlotte, Sasha Banks & Shayna Baisler. Men’s match: Winner Roman Reigns with final 4 being him, Braun Strowman, Drew McIntyre and Finn Balor.

Oh I’ve got it! Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego? Or 80 Days? Or Mario Kart: World Tour? Or Mario is Missing? 😁 No? Nope I’m out!

Another fine episode. No idea on the transition tunes this week! Great discussion on the movies and TV shows too. Thanks @londragon for picking that one. There were some there I hadn’t considered too. I agree @Vileplume2000 about Ready Player One. I really enjoyed the book (I can see the heavy reliance on so many classic videogames as putting some people off but I loved it!). The film looked visually impressive but, yeah, the differences were noticeable and the film wasn’t that memorable for me.

I agree completely and expect that to be their plan too. At least going the 3rd party route has meant we’ve learned to expect the unexpected and it gives a much greater pool of characters and companies to try and negotiate rights with!

DLC Pack 2 confirmed! 😁😂 I’m so excited about this. Regardless of whether the reveal is huge or a disappointment they’ve managed to keep gamers interested for the better part of a year now which is so impressive! I hope it’s not but my realistic guesses are Steve, Doom Guy, Dante or Travis Touchdown. My personal hope is for Sora (KH), Conker (which Chris Seavor has already shot down), Master Chief, Phoenix Wright or Alex Kidd. Maybe the extra time will also be used to reveal an updated ‘Break the Targets’?

I love this topic, and it reminds me of some of the great games I’ve played (or not played!). Limiting it to one per franchise & excluding updates of older games, here are ten of my favourites (in year order): Ghost Trick (DS, 2011) A clever puzzler with a neat time-travel mechanic and enjoyable story. Portal 2 (Various, 2011) Improves on the scope & scale of its popular predecessor, with some really brain-melting solutions to puzzles & fantastic in co-op. Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward (3DS, 2012) Clever, twisty-turny story involving friendship, loss, betrayal, an evil bunny & lots of deaths. Tomb Raider (Various, 2013) A brilliant revival for the series, with plenty of excellent action sequences that rarely let up. Poor Lara - has the same luck as Jack Bauer! Grand Theft Auto 5 (Various, 2013) Huge in scope with so many action-packed missions. Not everything was a hit, but still plenty of enjoyable sequences throughout that mammoth world. Super Mario 3D World (Wii U, 2013) Nintendo consistently deliver incredible 3D platforming, and these shorter but incredibly varied levels were an absolute delight to play, with some real challenge come the end. Life is Strange series (Various, 2015) A mature story of teenage life that grows into so much more & stays with you. Your decisions really do matter & affect the flow of the game. This had me & my wife hooked throughout. Pokemon Go (Mobile, 2016) Showed that the behemoth that is the Pokemon franchise is still popular. It took over people’s lives, brought people together, meant people got exercise while playing video games, and drained the battery life of so many mobile phones! The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Wii U / Switch, 2017) Epic! An amazing world that held surprises around every turn. Strange to think that there are so many things they could do to improve it, yet it was still such a joy to play & one of the best gaming experiences I’ve ever had! Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch, 2018) Sakurai is right, there may never be another opportunity than this for so many popular gaming characters to appear together in one gaming universe that anyone can play. Whether the remaining DLC prove to be a disappointment or a joyous surprise, the development team have done an amazing job of bringing so many of them together (albeit to kick the snot of one another!).

Just heard the Podcast and another good one. I loved the transition tunes this week and it’s one of my favourite gaming soundtracks, even being an 8-bit game! I believe they even brought back the Moon tune & used it in a more recent episode of the cartoon. Great choice!

Sakurai has posted some of the screenshots he’s taken during gameplay. I’ve always loved how inventive & creative the team have been in this and past titles, and his screenshots continue to show just how creative he is! https://gonintendo.com/stories/352063-masahiro-sakurai-shares-his-personal-smash-bros-ultimate-picture https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/01/gallery_masahiro_sakurai_shares_the_photos_hes_taken_in_smash_bros_ultimate

It’s another stacked card! I never realised they ran it over two nights. That’s a good idea with the sheer volume of matches.

Agreed. And with last night’s result it seems even more secure. Liverpool have been excellent this season, seemingly reminiscent of Alex Ferguson’s Man Utd where if they’re not comfortably beating teams they have a back of grinding out results, more often than not through a stroke of luck or injury time goals. That’s not a criticism though, it’s how what teams that win leagues do, and they have so far been the best team in the league and deserve the top spot.

So a little early but Merry Christmas to all! Wow just from the sounds of the first few comments my Christmas should be much easier in comparison! Hosting family who are travelling to stay at ours. It’ll be fun, although cooking the Christmas Dinner always proved to be immensely stressful! I’ve no idea how my Mum made it look so easy growing up!

Another enjoyable episode. I really liked the transition tubes in Episode 7, although no idea what game! 😂 It’s nice to hear that others have had similar problems to me, still going through the backlog of games so I haven’t actually played many 2019 releases. It’s a shame no-one seems to have played AI: The Somnium Files, as I haven’t yet either, but I was hoping it would be among the top games of the year so I can justify getting it! A good choice of games by the team though. Thanks as always!

This afternoon probably hasn’t helped your mood... It’s a tricky one looking at just the one match vs Man City, who on a good day can blow almost any team out of the water so I wouldn’t judge Ljundberg on this match. The previous games and performances admittedly haven’t been great though.

Lots of fun conversation that flowed easily this week, and you both sounded very relaxed. I liked the transition tunes too, although no idea what they’re from...!

It’s going to be interesting having him as a presenter without the ties to Nintendo (the history yes). Hopefully the 10-game surprises will perk up the show, due to imo a weaker year for standout games. A Smash Bros reveal would be rather lovely too! 😁

I’m in a similar situation to others, as with a child and other activities to do as an adult, my available gaming time has reduced. This means I do tend to struggle a little more with long games, which I used to love getting invested in. I try to mix it up a little, with the longer games being interspersed with much shorter titles, usually for the satisfaction of completing a game as well as getting through my library. I also think this another reason that the shorter, cheaper, indie games are thriving more right now, since there are many more things to compete with people’s free time in general.

I subscribed through SoundCloud. Just listened to it & I think everyone involved has done an excellent job! I enjoyed the discussion to the rather good listener question too! 😜 I was impressed with the quality of the music and transitions between sections. The discussions started flowing better as the Podcast went on and I found it very listenable. I enjoyed all three of you & your opinions - it didn’t sound forced to me. Anyway, you don’t need a review from me - fantastic job & I recommend anyone reading this to give it a listen.

Logo looks good and this sounds like a great idea. There’s certainly room for 2 separate podcasts. I listen to some sites that have multiple podcasts, sometimes with different staff, sometimes the same, and it works fine. If talk is interesting then it doesn’t matter if some topics are duplicated. I’m happy to contribute, although it looks as though there are plenty of offers, and for me it would make more sense for it to be staffers (although of course if there are ever any spaces on the staff... 😂). Couple of listener questions if you want them: ~ With the rumours of Terry Bogurt joining the Smash Bros cast this shortly, which fighter do you think will be announced next and when? ~ Nintendo chief Furukawa was recently quoted as wanting more 3DS franchises on Switch. Which franchises would you like to see appear?

So tonight’s WWE Smackdown will be interesting since the majority of their roster are apparently still stuck in Saudi Arabia due to plane issues. I had been thinking about that recently and what a risky idea it is to hold two large live events across two days so far apart. I guess they’re fortunate that the majority of female wrestlers didn’t go, along with the likes of Daniel Bryan and Sami Zayn. Expect a lot of women wrestling tonight and a load of NXT call-ups if the first match is anything to go by.