Region Free Gamers: The Podcast Fluent in Gaming!

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).

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Music:

Medley - Mike Tyson's Punch Out - Main Theme / Gilette Cavalcade Of Sports Theme

Punch Out!! (Wii) - Main Theme

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).

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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.

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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

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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).

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Music

Magatama - Track 03

Shin Megami Tensei: Nine - Shinjuku

Double S.T.E.A.L - hilariously bad dialogue

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).

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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.

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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).

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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).

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Music:

Radiant Silvergun - Evasion

Marvel vs. Capcom - Ryu's Theme

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron - Title

Today, Arnaldo, Geoff, Ozzy, and Paul talk about the ups and downs of one of the UK's greatest video game developers, Bullfrog! But not before Ozzy gets congratulated for his acquisition of a Neo Geo MVS cabinet and his future decline into poverty as a result of purchasing games for it (2:45). The guys have a chat about British video game development in general (7:00) before moving on to the birth and growth of Bullfrog (20:40). Of course, we can't talk about Bullfrog without talking about their games, and the place to start is the hugely influential Populous (30:00) followed by hyperviolent dystopian darling, Syndicate (56:00) and the subversive capitalism simulator, Theme Park (1:13:45). After determining whether there was an N-Gage port of Syndicate, the guys make a brief stops at Magic Carpet and Hi-Octane (1:26:35), and finish up with Dungeon Keeper's unusual development story (1:40:20) followed by a discussion about the legacy Bullfrog left behind (1:53:40).

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Music:

Populous - Main Theme

Syndicate - Danger

Magic Carpet - Track 2