Hi podfans!

Due to unforseen circumstances, we are subbing in a slightly shorter remote pod this week before resuming normal service next week.

We're using the break to take time to thank all of the listeners we've had so far and look forward to all of the listens yet to come. Fazz tells us why he's in Handheld Heaven right now

We also take some time to demonstrate how very little we know about Esports. Special thanks go out to @veggiehotdug for his insights into Esports and why they matter.

Finally Rich let's us know why Street Fighter 6 is appearing at both Evo and the Esports World Cup. Because it kicks ass, that's why!

Thank you all once again for all of your support and we hope you're loving listening to the podcast as much as we love making it!

Enjoy the pod.

Hi podfans

Welcome to another edition of 'Freeplay Fortnightly' where we both pick a video game that we want to play and keep it secret from our co-host. We then review said game on the podcast and ask our co-host to score the game out of 10 based on our review. Simple? You bet we are!

After a little chat about backlog evasion, Rich leaps into action with the 1998 Sega Saturn action game, Burning Rangers. Is this the best 'Soniclike' (trademark pending) game you've never played?

Whilst the Burning Rangers focus on saving others from fires, Fazz chooses a protagonist who is trying to save us all from the fires of Hell itself, Dante, Son of Sparda.

In this playthrough of the HD version of the 2001 PS2 classic, Devil May Cry, Fazz comes to the conclusion that Dante might just need a hug. And will someone save that beluga whale from a localised environmental disaster already?!

Enjoy the pod.

Ole ole ole ole...

This week on the pod, we're on the ball as we take aim at some 'soccer' games as part of a Euros/Copa America 2024 special. Last year, we gave the EA Sports FIFA series its moment in the Sun but now it's time to turn our attention to some of its rivals...

First up, it's the mid 90s and Sega/Nintendo are regularly duking it out between each other in the 'Console War Conference league'. Some of the best players to represent the teams, ISS Deluxe (SNES) and Worldwide Soccer (Sega Saturn) are being asked questions ahead of the big match such as "Are you a great video game?". Let's see how they respond in tonights matchup. ISS '98 and FIFA '98 also invade the pitch for a short time too!

Fast forward to 2006 and Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (PSP) is a technical powerhouse up front but will it ever knock FIFA off its perch? Something tells me (hindsight!) it might be time to let go of one of the greatest players to have ever graced the soccer video game scene... Probably on a free transfer to Trad Bricks to play alongside Ruud Von Mistelroum.

Finally, we ask should you play retro soccer games for fun in 2024?

Enjoy the pod.

Is it a game? Is it a movie? No... its some kind of freak show in the middle called Full Motion Video.

We were inspired to take a dive into the history of interactive FMV games by a random purchase from the Xbox store by Fazz.

Where did they come from? (Night Trap, 1992, Sega CD) (Sewer Shark, 1992, Sega CD)

Where are they now? (Bloodshore, 2021, Xbox Series S)

And what is the future of interactive gaming? Is it in photorealistic interactive storytelling (The Quarry, 2022, Xbox Series S)

As usual, we probably don't have the definitive answers but we do answer important questions such as:

Where does Rich rank on Fazz's list of favourite things?

Is Rich really 'The Scatman'?

Is the scariest part of the X Files PS1 game being 'softlocked'?

Enjoy the pod.

Hi Podfans

It's the showdown that you didn't know you needed:

One of the most ported games of all time with cute suicidal protagonists.

One of the most famous cinematic characters of all time with a desire for destruction/redemption.

And Brian Lara (who Fazz reckons could take Godzilla out with a bat on a dying wicket).

Lemmings are 6cm average height.

Godzilla is upto 150m tall.

Brian Lara hit 400 not out vs England in 2004.

Who has the better video game this week? We decide.

Enjoy the pod.

Keep rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin...

When Limp Bizkit released that track in 2000, we're pretty sure that they were just predicting the arrival of Katamari Damacy 4 years later...

For the uninitiated, the Katamari series consists of a small prince rolling around a sticky ball (Katamari) cleaning up a multitude of the King of All Cosmos balls(!)ups. The Prince does this by rolling up all sorts of random bits which increase in size from candy to continents It's all a bit... well... insane really.

We thought it would be useful to take a sample of the whole series across various consoles and circumnavigate them for you to let you know whether you should roll back the years on Katamari. The games in the rotation this week are:

- Katamari Damacy Reroll (Xbox One, 2020)

- Me and My Katamari (PSP, 2005)

- Beautiful Katamari (Xbox 360, 2007)

- Touch my Katamari (PS Vita, 2011)

Podfans... let's roll out!

Enjoy the pod.

Driving games... We love em here at Living La Vita Loca! So what about the well known game series that is literally titled 'Driver'? Surely there's nothing that'll put us in a spin here... right?

This week we've popped the hood on several games from the Infogrames franchise to see if they are 'wheely' good or 'ariely' bad... sorry. The games drifting into our rear view mirror are:

- Driver (PS1)

- Driver 76' (PSP)

- Driver: San Francisco (Xbox 360)

How does being the wheelman, feel, man?!?

Seriously... no spoiler(s)...

Okay w(he)e'll stop now. Sorry.

Enjoy the pod.

Hey podgoers

We've got some real abandonment issues this week...

Before we get to psychoanalysing that, we spend some time celebrating some of our favourite podcasts and YouTube content providers with effectively an IOU starter. And gravy. Thicc gravy.

Now, about those abandonment issues...

First up, Rich wiggles his worryingly strong digits in the direction of Typing of the Dead (2000, Microsoft Windows) which is available as abandonware online right now. It took a lot of brains from Sega to develop something this cool.

Mmm... Brains... brrraaaaiiinnnssss... wait is that how you spell brrraaaaiiinnnssss?!? We'd better ask the guy with the typewriter.

Next up, Fazz tackles the abandonment of a mute female protagonist who wakes up in the middle of Aperture Science facilities with no real idea what is going on. Yes, we're talking about the Portal Companion Collection (2022, Nintendo Switch).

How well ported is this Portal port to the semi portable console? Is Fazz 'GlaDOS' to have played a pair of the best reviewed games of all time?

Now where did we put that morality core down? Ooh... cake...

Enjoy the pod.

Hi everyone and welcome to RE-living La Vita Loca... wait, hang on a minute!

Yes that's right, we're so unoriginal we're running it back on a few franchises we have hit already... but for good reason!

Firstly, we're heading back a whole 4 episodes to dip back into the world of Sonic The Hedgehog. Just weeks after 'murdering' the Blue Blur, we're bringing him back through popular (some) demand with Rich checking out Sonic 1 & 2 AGAIN (Sega Master System). Will childhood memories be spiked?

Next, we head back to look at something we (sorta) reviewed over a year ago in Episode 12... Locoroco rolls back into our lives but this time we're focusing more on Locoroco 2 (PSP) and how well it holds up against the original.

Fazz famously(!) declared Locoroco as his favourite PSP game of all time giving it 10/10. This was wrongly removed from our arbitrary score rankings in Episode 41... by Fazz. Now, he wants to put some respect back on Locoroco's name. Respect he removed.... because he's an idiot.

We also discuss how 'samey' sequels should be???

Enjoy the pod.

Hi Podfans.

Are you ready for a hat-o-full of crazy, irreverent indie gaming kookiness? Take your pick from the following in this weeks 'Freeplay Fortnightly' episode...

• A main protagonist who is dating birds in a powerpoint format (Hatoful Boyfriend, PS Vita).

• A skating sim where aliens REALLY want you to land a hardflip on a rainbow (Olli Olli World Rad Edition, Nintendo Switch).

Which ever path you choose, we hope you struggle as much as we did to arbitrarily score these games this week!

Enjoy the pod.