Jay explores the effects of video games on our mental health and well-being. From the works of renowned researchers like Dr. Brene Brown to the effects of gaming on hand-eye coordination and puzzle solving, he discusses why video games are not just for entertainment but actually can have a positive impact on our mental health.

• Final Fantasy VII
• Dead or Alive 2
• Pokémon (series)

From mocap to Resident Evil, and from the passing of a family member to a financial loss of $105 million. This week we talk about the commercial failure (and reason why Square-Enix games where Playstation 2 exclusives for a long time) Final Fantasy: The Sprits Within

• Tekken (series)
• Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring
• Final Fantasy VII
• Final Fantasy VIII
• Final Fantasy IX

Moonwalking to the fridge, Memento, video games, kitties, The Lonely Island of programming, spoilers, whether Tom Holland knows he’s Spider-Man and silliness. That could only mean one thing: G has returned to the show. But what do these things have to do with video games? Only one way to find out: listen to this episode of the show.

• The Sims (series)
• Destiny 2
• God of War (2018)
• Stray
• Pikuniku

Squidge invited Jay to make his first appearance on the Cupboard of Shame, and he brought along a white whale of sorts. What do Arnie, Sly Stallone, and trashy 80s cyberpunk movies have in common? And why is Jay recommending running, head first, into walls? This CoS will answer those questions and more.

• Power Blade 2
• Power Blade
• Power Blazer
• Mega Man (series)
• Punch Out!

It is with a heavy heart that we heard about the passing of Bernie Stolar. He was a video game industry legend, will be missed, and his influence will be felt for decades.

• Crash Bandicoot
• Ridge Racer
• Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee
• Spyro the Dragon
• Duke Nukem 3D

In an episode which is not very family friendly at all, Squidge and JonnyG discuss a title which is really not meant for little ones and whether it should be cast into the Cupboard of Shame. They also discuss the mystery of Sylvester, Henry Cavil almost not being Superman, Twin Peaks, and accents in audio books.

• Deadly Premonition
• Elden Ring
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• Final Fantasy VII
• Silent Hill

Ginger of the Grand Rapidians Play Video Games podcast joined Squidge to discuss the Cupboard of Shame, the Bechdel Test, some passive-aggressive comments for GameStop, and strategy guides.

• Final Fantasy X-2
• Final Fantasy X
• Final Fantasy VII
• Final Fantasy IX
• Cyberpunk 2077

We were joined by Steven L Kent this week. Steven is someone who hasn’t just written about the history of video games, he has lived it; meeting some of the biggest names in the industry. Steven was gracious enough to share some of his time with us. We discussed his books (The Ultimate History of Video Games volumes 1 & 2), his favourite games ever, and the best consoles of the 90s.

• Pong
• Tempest
• Tempest 2000
• FIFA International Soccer (3DO)
• FIFA International Soccer (SNES)

Laughter, nonsense, and absurdity abounds in episode 130 of the podcast. We were joined by Lord Nerdy Cephalopod (aka Brian) to talk about the games we’ve been playing, what he would take with him to the Thunder Plains, and the game series that we love to come back to.

• Call of Duty (series)
• Splitgate
• Portal
• Halo
• Psychonauts

Y’aar. We be joined by CJ, the host of the Casually Meta podcast. We hoisted the main sail, scrubbed the poop-deck, and avoided walking the plank in this episode. Actually, we did none of that; but we did talk about what we’ve been playing recently. And Borderlands; lots and lots of Borderlands.

• ARK: Survival Evolved
• Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
• Call of Duty: Warzone
• Apex Legends
• Rust

Jason Maddison (Technical Director at Lost in Cult) joined us to talk about the [lock-on] journal, his piece for volume 001 (titled I Have Lived) and how it rang true to our childhoods, and about how the technobabble used in discussing video games and consoles is utter nonsense. All this with a lot of pro-wrestling terms thrown in for good measure

• Final Fantasy X
• Resident Evil (series)
• Shenmue
• Shenmue 2
• Goldeneye 007

Andrew Dickinson joins us to talk about the games he’s been playing recently, the SteamDeck, and everything Lost in Cult and Dreamcast Years.

• Pokémon (series)
• Mario Golf: Super Rush
• Wii Sports Club
• Resident Evil: Village
• Resident Evil 2 (2019)

Wigglies, bad hawk CGI (and bad puppetry), a romantic main plot, a plot for mitochondria to take over the world, and nudity-without-any-actual-nudity are at play in this episode. We also talk about the Parasite Eve film, too.

• Parasite Eve
• Parasite Eve 2
• The 3rd Birthday
• Final Fantasy VII

We interrupt your regularly scheduled episode programming to bring you a bonus interview with the folks behind lock-on Volume 1: Jon Doyle and Jason Maddison. They are putting together a series of journals on gaming, starting with the Sony Playstation. We caught up with them to discuss what lead to the decision to create the journal, some of the contributors, and how you can help with their Kickstarter.

• Final Fantasy VII
• Metal Gear Solid
• Resident Evil
• Silent Hill
• Dino Crisis

Mike Hermann returns to talk about RetroMania Wrestling. We got the low down on what’s been happening since he was last on the show (April, 2020) who’s on the roster, paying tribute to the fans,and what to expect when the game drops a few weeks after the episode’s release.

• RetroMania Wrestling
• Jay and Silent Bob: Mall Brawl
• Luigi's Mansion
• Tetris 99
• Breath of Fire

We’ve reached 100 episodes! Can you believe it? For this very special occasion, we reached out to Internet comedian, podcaster, corn maze enthusiast, and occasional bee impersonator Asterios Kokkinos for comment. ANd his comment was, "I WANT IN ON YOUR SHOW!" So this is our special episode with a special guest.

• Cyberpunk 2077
• Pokémon (series)
• Cyberpunk 2013
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Hyrule Warriors

RPGs are a big subject. And an even bigger subject is how to craft a character (or a "build" as they are sometimes known). So we sat with G (aka #dontCallMeAudry) and got some top tips on how you go about deciding what kind of character you want to be in a modern (classic) RPG

• Diablo (series)
• Borderlands (series)
• DOOM
• Mass Effect (series)
• Dragon Age (series)

Squidge and Lulu wanted to talk about the FFVII Remake, but Jay hadn’t played it yet. So we covered recent games, then Jay bowed out to save himself from spoilers.

• Final Fantasy VII (2020)
• Mobius Final Fantasy
• Animal Crossing: New Horizons
• Final Fantasy XIV
• Lego Jurassic World

The follow up to Andrew’s previous book "Dreamcast: Year One" is due to be released very soon - in fact, the Kickstarter is due to kick off (pardon the pun) a few days after this episode drops. So we wanted to catch up with Andrew about the new book, what he’s been playing, and which games he’d want in a Dreamcast Mini

• F1 2020
• F1 2019
• The Last of Us 2
• The Last of Us
• Final Fantasy VII (2020)

We chatted with Alex Aniel (aka cvxfreak) about his upcoming book: "Itchy, Tasty: An Unofficial History of Resident Evil", the Resident Evil series as a whole, our favourites, some top tips for learning foreign languages, and that dooty doot song from the Dual Shock Director’s Cut

• Final Fantasy VII (2020)
• Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection
• Animal Crossing: New Horizons
• Resident Evil 4
• Resident Evil: Code Veronica

Part two of our discussion with Lulu about the Final Fantasy VII Remake was all about that Moogle slide (yes it returns), relationships, expanded character backstories and interactions, and what we are hoping for the remaining parts in the series. Also, Jay still hasn’t played it

• Final Fantasy VII (2020)
• Final Fantasy VI
• Final Fantasy VII
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• Final Fantasy XV

We sat with Lulu in order to discuss the Final Fantasy VII Remake. This is part one of our conversation and covers our thoughts about Wall Market, the remake as a whole, "that" section of the game, Hell House, and some top tips.

• Final Fantasy VII (2020)
• Final Fantasy VII
• Final Fantasy XV
• Final Fantasy XIV
• Rock Band

I bought a Switch back in September 2019, and have been buying and playing a number of games since then. But what games have I been playing? This post lists all of the games I have bought in 2019

• ESPN NFL 2K5
• Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition
• Untitled Goose Game
• Mutant Football League
• Brutal Sports Football

We interviewed Craig Snape about his upcoming game "Kung Fu Jesus", the inspiration for it, and even what he would take with him to the "Thunder Plains"

• Kung Fu Jesus
• Streets of Rage
• Disco Elysium
• Jenny LeClue
• Crossing Souls

In part one of our WaffleFest special: we catch up with The B, discuss what we’ve all been playing recently, talk about the 5 big games of 2020 so far, and the idea of role-playing a specific goose in a specific game - neither of which are related to one another.

• Dead or Alive (series)
• Final Fantasy VII
• Tekken (series)
• Final Fantasy VII (2020)
• Street Fighter (series)

Episode 70 of the podcast has Squidge and Jay discuss the PlayStation Classic, and decide on their dream line up for the little console that couldn’t - seriously, the hardware design was obviously phoned in.

• Sonic The Hedgehog
• Battle Arena Toshinden
• Soul Edge
• Cool Boarders 2
• Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2

Chief returns to talk Mini consoles, metaphors that don’t really work, buying consoles at launch (and why you should never do that), and a little on DRM

• Goldeneye 007
• Street Fighter II
• Star Fox (series)
• Final Fantasy VII
• Metal Gear Solid

Chief returns for our first episode in 2020. We talk about the 2037 problem; how Squidge isn’t going to play Cyberpunk 2077 but also is going to play it; how I absolutely love ‘Til Death To Us Blart; and I drop some financial advice on how to buy video games

• Dead Rising 4
• Resident Evil Gaiden
• Fifa (series)
• Dragon Age (series)
• Borderlands 3

Jay decided to write about the history of mini consoles. Strap in, prepare for some technical details, and lets learn a little about the many different mini consoles

• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Metal Gear Solid
• Resident Evil Director's Cut
• Final Fantasy VII
• Gran Turismo

The end is nigh! … for 2019, anyway. Also, it’s that time of year again: time to figure out just where Santa is. In this episode, we chat with G about the games he has been playing since we last heard from him, a little on MST3K, and a nifty little gadget that both Squidge and I bought.

• Batman: Arkham
• Ori and the Blind Forest
• The Last of Us
• Red Dead Revolver
• Destiny 2

Chief joins us to talk Real Time Strategy and Real Time Tactics games - and yes, there’s a difference. We also talk about what he has been playing recently

• Dragon Age: Inquisition
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2020
• FIFA (series)
• Persona 5
• Persona 4

Continuing on from our conversation with Lulu, we talk Distant Worlds, E3 predictions, and Final Fantasy VII (2020) thoughts

• Battlefield (series)
• Call of Duty (series)
• Final Fantasy (series)
• Final Fantasy VII
• Half-Life 2

As a way of rounding down out recent conversations on Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, Lulu brings some questions that her friends from discord have for us. And not all of them are related to Final Fantasy, too

• Dragon Age: Origins (series)
• Final Fantasy IX
• Final Fantasy Legends (series)
• Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
• Final Fantasy VI

We (Squidgey, Lulu, Chief, and myself) talk Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts

• Dark Souls (series)
• FIFA (series)
• Final Fantasy IX
• Final Fantasy VII
• Final Fantasy VII (2020)

Part three of our special episode with Unaffiliated JZ contains discussions on the upcoming Resident Evil 2 (2019), the board game, stupid character names, and much more

• Dynasty Warriors (series)
• Final Fantasy II
• Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
• Final Fantasy VII
• The Last of Us

In part two of our conversation with Chief, we talk about some of the games that we’ve been playing, some of our ideas for video games, and Squidgey having accidentally unlocked an extremely rare drop on Diablo III

• Final Fantasy
• Alien 3 (SNES)
• Super Mario Bros
• Final; Fantasy VII
• Final Fantasy VIII

Squidey is back from his super secret mission and ready to talk about all manner of video games. We cover some video game music, one piece of news (some unfortunate news, that is), and a few of my ideas for indie games

• Dynasty Warriors (series)
• Resident Evil (series)
• Virtua Fighter
• Silent Hill
• Ninja: Shadow of Darkness