Region Free Gamers: A Video Game Podcast

Today Geoff and Paul are joined by special guest and artist extraordinaire, Ryan Medlock (@videogamebear on Instagram) to talk about arguably the most successful British gaming developer and publisher, Team 17! First we catch up with Ryan and get some of his favourite platforming picks before heading into the Amiga era (of course!) and the birth of Team 17 (15:00). We talk about Alien Breed and some of their other earlier efforts (31:00) before moving on to the game that launched a thousand sequels, Worms! (45:30). Then we wrap up the show talking about Team 17's brilliant pivot to indie games with hits like Overcooked and Blasphemous (1:02:00)   Patreon! www.patreon.com/regionfreegamers Talk to us! Instagram @regionfreegamerspodcast Twitter @regionfreegamer Email regionfreegamers at gmail dot com   Music: Alien Breed - Menu Overcooked - Restaurant  

Today Arnaldo, Ozzy, Anthony, and Paul are here to celebrate the end of a miserable year in general, but a pretty good year for video games! The guys start the show catching up and talking about a bizarre year before getting on to the never confusing favourite non-2020 video game of 2020 including classics like Dark Souls and wish-they-were-classics like Chibi Robo (32:30). Some of our video game disappointments of 2020 are up next (54:00) followed by our picks for 2020 video game of the year! (1:25:00)   Patreon! www.patreon.com/regionfreegamers Talk to us! Instagram @regionfreegamerspodcast Twitter @regionfreegamer Email regionfreegamers at gmail dot com   Music: Chibi Robo - So dododo Sakuna: Of Rice And Ruin - Winding Roots Streets Of Rage 4 - Mrs. Y

In our most personally anticipated episode of the year, Arnaldo, Ozzy, Geoff, and Paul talk about the wrestling video games they grew up with and which ones managed to climb the ladder and grab the championship belt! We start off talking about our early experiences watching wrestling (04:30) followed by the earliest 8-bit wrestling games featuring King Slender and Doctor Guildo (15:00). A discussion of our favourite wrestlers comes next (The Rock may or may not be mentioned) (40:30) followed by the 16-bit and arcade wrestling games of the era (58:30). The crowning achievements of the 32bit era, WCW/nWo Revenge and their ilk are up for discussion next (1:04:30) and we close out with the PS2 generation of wrestling games (1:36:00) and our favourite wrestling moments! (1:55:30)   Visit us! www.regionfreegamers.com Patreon! www.patreon.com/regionfreegamers Talk to us! Instagram @regionfreegamerspodcast Twitter @regionfreegamer Email regionfreegamers at gmail dot com   Music: Tecmo World Wrestling - Fi

Today Arnaldo, Geoff, and Paul are joined by special guest Chris Coplien of the Retro Hangover Podcast to talk about our (mostly!) favourite RPG of the 16-bit era, Final Fantasy IV! We start off the show getting to know Chris and discuss his time flying in airplanes for a living and sneaking around on the Big Shell (2:30), followed by an intro to Final Fantasy IV and our experiences with this superlative video game (15:30). The all-star team of developers is up next along with their stories and a deep dive into the game and characters (33:30) and the show is wrapped up with some of the weird quirks from the game and a discussion of the legacy Final Fantasy IV has left behind (1:31:00)   Visit us! www.regionfreegamers.com Patreon! www.patreon.com/regionfreegamers Talk to us! Instagram @regionfreegamerspodcast Twitter @regionfreegamer Email regionfreegamers at gmail dot com   Music: Final Fantasy IV - Red Wings Final Fantasy IV - Main Theme Final Fantasy IV - Battle 2

Today Arnaldo, Geoff, Anthony and Paul talk about the release of the next generation of video game consoles, including the Xbox Series X, the Playstation 5, and the Nintendo Game & Watch! We really did actually get immediately distracted by the Game & Watch before getting to business with Anthony's hatred of UPS, our experiences trying to purchase these systems, and Anthony's surprising experience with the improved performance of the XBSX (04:00). Next we talk about what Microsoft will have to do this generation to get a foothold against Sony (31:00) followed by the next generation of controllers (1:06:00) and whether this will be the last generation of consoles (1:24:00). We close out the show with the most important thing: what next generation video games are we most looking forward to? (1:37:00)   Visit us! www.regionfreegamers.com Patreon! www.patreon.com/regionfreegamers Talk to us! Instagram @regionfreegamerspodcast Twitter @regionfreegamer Email regionfreegamers at gmail dot com   Mu

Today Arnaldo and Paul are joined by special guest James Moller (@pintsandplatformers on instagram) to chat about what video games we have been playing lately! Arnaldo starts us off with the terrified teenagers of Until Dawn (16:30), followed by Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons (24:30), and the toothbrush wielding Chibi Robo (30:30). James is up next with the stress of Darkest Dungeon (43:00), Supergiant's artful gem Transistor (47:30), and not-a-peeing-simulator Firewatch (55:00). Paul closes out the show with Vanillaware masterpiece 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (1:08:00), dream fulfiller Star Wars: Squadrons (1:23:00) and Slay The Spire-like, Monster Train (1:34:30).   Visit us! www.regionfreegamers.com Patreon! www.patreon.com/regionfreegamers Talk to us! Instagram @regionfreegamerspodcast Twitter @regionfreegamer Email regionfreegamers at gmail dot com   Music: Transistor - Apex Beat 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim -DEOXYRIBOSE

For this Halloween-centric episode, Ozzy is joined by Geoff and Arnie, with special guest Josh (a/k/a @NinjaArtorias on Instagram) to discuss the game of the decade that was Dark Souls. The crew goes for a deep dive on FromSoftware's beloved title, exploring its story and lore, the beauty of its gameplay loop and the type of imprint they believe the game will leave behind. It is a super fun episode with knights, dragons and more souls talk than you can shake your hilt at.    Visit us! www.regionfreegamers.com Patreon! www.patreon.com/regionfreegamers Talk to us! Instagram @regionfreegamerspodcast Twitter @regionfreegamer Email regionfreegamers at gmail dot com   Music: Firelink Shrine (30:00) Prologue (51:25) Great Grey Wolf Sif  (1:05:03) Gwyn, Lord of Cinder (1:46:35)

Today Geoff, Arnaldo, and Paul talk about one of the great British video game development houses of the 90's, Psygnosis! We can't stop ourselves from immediately getting into the logo and iconic artwork for Psygnosis' games (8:00) and continue with Psygnosis in the Amiga era and hits like Shadow Of The Beast and Lemmings (24:00). The 32-bit era is up next with system seller and spelling mystery WipEout (55:30), followed by Psygnosis' space based games G-Police and Colony Wars (1:21:00). Alas nothing good lasts forever, and we close with the interesting story behind Psygnosis' demise (1:40:00).   Visit us! www.regionfreegamers.com Patreon! www.patreon.com/regionfreegamers Talk to us! Instagram @regionfreegamerspodcast Twitter @regionfreegamer Email regionfreegamers at gmail dot com   Music: Shadow Of The Beast - The Cavern Formula-1 - Stateside Colony Wars - Track 03

Arnaldo, Ozzy, Paul, and Anthony are up today answering some video game (and non-video game!) related questions! Our first question leads to a bizarre discussion about Blade for the PS1 and why exactly Wesley Snipes isn't in it (8:00). Other questions and answers include our thoughts on Limited Run Games (30:00), how we can improve diversity in gaming (1:02:30), our favourite 3rd party video game controllers (1:30:30) and how to avoid video game burnout (1:50:00).   Visit us! www.regionfreegamers.com Patreon! www.patreon.com/regionfreegamers Talk to us! Instagram @regionfreegamerspodcast Twitter @regionfreegamer Email regionfreegamers at gmail dot com   Music: Super Robot Wars F - Getter Robo! Super Mario World - Underwater Theme Ridge Racer Type 4 - Garage Talk

Today, Arnaldo and Ozzy are joined by special guest and Nintendo Power art collector, Stephan Reese, of the Collector's Quest podcast, to talk about collecting all things video games! After talking a little about about Stephan's collection, the crew talks about his first days of gaming and getting into the video game industry (21:00) followed by how he got into collecting video game collectibles (25:00). The nitty gritty of Nintendo Power specific collecting is next (38:30) and why going from collecting games to other items happened at all (52:00). The guys wrap things up talking about the old Nintendo Game Counsellors and what kind of collectibles come from that world (1:16:00) and finding artwork that readers submitted to Nintendo Power (1:36:30).   Visit us! www.regionfreegamers.com Patreon! www.patreon.com/regionfreegamers Talk to us! Instagram @regionfreegamerspodcast Twitter @regionfreegamer Email regionfreegamers at gmail dot com   Music: Super Mario World - Overworld Theme Mega Man 2 - Fl

It's Geoff, Ozzy, and Paul today talking about what video games they've been playing! After talking about empty airports and crowded airplanes, Geoff starts us off with a trip down memory lane into City 17 and Half Life 2 (10:30), followed by embarrassing Paul over his lack of pop culture acumen with point and click classic Blade Runner (24:00). Ozzy is up next with stories about peeing (literally) thanks to PSVR (37:00), drifting terribly in Out Run 2 (53:00), and going back to basics with Samurai Shodown for the PS4 (1:03:31). Paul wraps things up trying avoid depressing thoughts in Disco Elysium (1:12:30) and the video game that is the opposite of depressing, Shovel Knight! (1:26:00)   Visit us! www.regionfreegamers.com Patreon! www.patreon.com/regionfreegamers Talk to us! Instagram @regionfreegamerspodcast Twitter @regionfreegamer Email regionfreegamers at gmail dot com   Music: Out Run 2 - Magical Sound Shower Shovel Knight - Strike The Earth! (Plains Of Passage)

Arnaldo and Paul are both surprised to learn that each wanted to do an episode on old video game favourite, Punch Out!! (even if nobody else did!). Too bad for them though, because this episode is a great time, starting off with our experiences with the game and boxing in general (1:00) followed by a look at the original Nintendo arcade cabinet, Punch Out!! featuring Italy's pride, Pizza Pasta and his origin story (14:00). The arcade version of Super Punch Out!! is up next featuring Paul's doppelganger, Canadian Bear Hugger (40:00), unlicensed knockoff Frank Bruno's boxing (49:30) and, of course, the video game that truly started it all, Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! for the NES (55:00). Next we discuss the SNES version of Super Punch Out!! and its shameless subversion of sacred boxing rules (1:22:30) followed by the triumphant Punch Out!! for the Nintendo Wii (1:41:30).   Visit us! www.regionfreegamers.com   Talk to us! Instagram @regionfreegamerspodcast Twitter @regionfreegamer Email regionfreegamers at

Finally! It’s the FINALS of The King Of Games 98! Today the whole crew is here to select the greatest video game of 1998, and it’s all very, very official. Before we get to the picks, first we talk about some of our favourite moments in the series (9:00) and some of the games we wish had made it past the first round (28:00). The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time is up against Gran Turismo next for the bronze medal (34:30) followed by the long awaited gold medal matchup between FPS pioneer Half Life and Kojima’s breakout hit, Metal Gear Solid (55:00). Visit us! www.regionfreegamers.com   Talk to us! Instagram @regionfreegamerspodcast Twitter @regionfreegamer Email regionfreegamers at gmail dot com Music: Pokemon Red/Blue - Gym Theme The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time - Zelda's Theme

Today Anthony, Arnaldo, Geoff, and Paul talk about the launch lineups for Sony's video game consoles over the last four generations and what has changed over the years. How much does a launch lineup matter? The show starts off with a warm message for Montreal Canadiens fans before moving on the original PlayStation launch lineup (6:00) and just how important it was to the console's success. The juggernaut PS2 is up next (29:00) with some light poking at Fantavision. How bad was the PS3's launch? (53:00) We discuss this before moving on to the redemption story, the PS4 (1:13:00) and a chat about whether launch lineups even matter anymore.   Visit us! www.regionfreegamers.com   Talk to us! Instagram @regionfreegamerspodcast Twitter @regionfreegamer Email regionfreegamers at gmail dot com   Music: Ridge Racer - Main Menu Fantavision - Into Space    

We are into the semi-finals portion of The King of Games 98 tournament. These games are the cream of the crop with two match-ups of titanic proportions.   The first match-up is PC heavyweight, Half-Life, going up against the real driving simulator, Gran Turismo. The second match-up (51:04) is a finals match-up in and of itself, with Hideo Kojima's masterpiece, Metal Gear Solid, going up against Shigeru Miyamoto's swan song, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.   Only two of these games will advance to the finals. Who will it be? Find out on our latest episode of The King of Games 98!   Music: Gran Turismo 2 - Moon Over the Castle   Visit us! www.regionfreegamers.com   Talk to us! Instagram @regionfreegamerspodcast Twitter @regionfreegamer Email regionfreegamers at gmail dot com

We're neck deep in niche today as Arnaldo, Ozzy, Paul, and special guest Rick Girton (@ashevent on Instagram) talk about the Xbox games that didn't make it out of Japan. The crew starts off with a discussion on the basics of Xbox modding in order to make the machine truly Region Free (7:45) followed by a look at the best Xbox games that didn't make it out of Japan, starting with Magatama (14:00). The insane experience that is Metal Wolf Chaos is up next (33:45) followed by the forgotten SMT game, Shin Megami Tensei: Nine (57:15). We bust out the tranquilizer guns for some Dinosaur Hunting (1:10:35), show a complete disregard for pedestrians in Double S.T.E.A.L (1:19:15), and get a camera full of Japanese robo-butt in N.U.D.E (1:28:45). The show wraps up with rapid fire looks at the remainder of the lineup, including Petit Copter and wrestling extravaganza, The Wild Rings (1:37:15).   Visit us! www.regionfreegamers.com Talk to us! Instagram @regionfreegamerspodcast Twitter @regionfreegamer Email regionf

Arnie is joined by Paul and Geoff to discuss what they have been playing recently. Geoff starts the discussion by finally getting to unload all of his feelings about the remake to his much beloved Final Fantasy 7. Paul then beats up fools in Streets of Rage 4 (38:12) and goes full anime in Trails of Cold Steel 2 (53:21). Arnie closes it out by opening up about his dangerous addiction to Slay the Spire (1:11:26) and then chatting about Moonlighter and Kotodama: The 7 Mysteries of Fujisawa (1:21:57). Visit us! www.regionfreegamers.com Talk to us! Instagram @regionfreegamerspodcast Twitter @regionfreegamer Email regionfreegamers at gmail dot com

Today it's Arnaldo, Geoff, Anthony, and Paul talking about the upcoming Playstation 5, and we've got a lot of questions! What do we think of the new, avant garde design? Will Geoff be able to sneak it past his wife into his apartment? Are we finally done with physical media? Will Microsoft not shoot themselves in both feet like last gen? Do we even care about backwards compatibility? And which of the revealed video games are we most looking forward to? Tune in and find out! But seriously, we're not optimistic for Geoff's chances.   Visit us! www.regionfreegamers.com Talk to us! Instagram @regionfreegamerspodcast Twitter @regionfreegamer Email regionfreegamers at gmail dot com

Today the.. what's the opposite of dynamic? - duo of Arnaldo and Paul talk about some of their favourite video games from childhood! After reliving the Dennis Rodman chairshot that sent DDP to the yoga studio, Arnie starts things off with a video game that probably deserves its own episode, Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic (6:30) followed by Paul doing everything to avoid talking about Kung Fu Kid for the Sega Master System (26:00). Arnie then reaches deep into the N64 catalog and unleashes Flying Dragon! (52:00) Paul is up next with Willow for the NES (1:03:00) and the guys finish up with some quick hits including the likes of Road Rash and Golden Sun (1:16:30).   Visit us! www.regionfreegamers.com Talk to us! Instagram @regionfreegamerspodcast Twitter @regionfreegamer Email regionfreegamers at gmail dot com   Music: Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic - The Old Republic Theme Kung Fu Kid - Stage 3 & 5 Flying Dragon - Ryuhi

Today it's Ozzy, Arnaldo, Anthony, and Paul going over their favourite video games of 1998 that didn't make the cut to the Round of 16. Some glaring omissions are addressed, and some surprises make the list as well! Paul starts off with Starsiege: Tribes and Radiant Silvergun (11:00). The baton is handed off to Arnie to talk about the game that delayed Ocarina of Time, 1080 Snowboarding, and crowd favourite, Marvel vs. Capcom (33:00). Anthony is up next with Rare64 video games, NFL Blitz and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (53:00) before Ozzy rounds things out with Geoff's picks in absentia, Tenchu: Stealth Assassins and Street Fighter Alpha 3 (1:10:30) and, of course, his own, Parasite Eve and Einhander (1:16:20).   Visit us! www.regionfreegamers.com Talk to us! Instagram @regionfreegamerspodcast Twitter @regionfreegamer Email regionfreegamers at gmail dot com   Music: Radiant Silvergun - Evasion Marvel vs. Capcom - Ryu's Theme Star Wars: Rogue Squadron - Title