Welcome to VG247's Best Games Ever Podcast: Episode 30 - the best game that made you uninstall Uninstalling crap games is one thing. But uninstalling a game that would qualify in some way as a "best ever"? That's a difficult thing to imagine, or determine. Unfortunately for our panellists, that's the game. Cast: Tom Orry, Alex Donaldson, Connor Makar, and Jim Trinca. . . . . . . . . . . Our picks this week (SPOILERS AHEAD): Tom - TUNIC Tom didn't like this so he uninstalled it. That's it. That's...
Dec 16, 2022•30 min
Welcome to VG247's Best Games Ever Podcast: Episode 29 - the best game where you don't do much. This is a topic that's very close to my heart because I love sitting doing naff all. In that spirit, I haven't borthered writing an elaborate podcast description this week. This is yer lot. Bliss. I'm going to have a mince pie later after a long and productivity-free morning. You can't sack me Tom, I'm just being thematically consistent. Cast: Tom Orry, Alex Donaldson, Kelsey Raynor, and Jim Trinca. O...
Dec 09, 2022•27 min•Ep. 29
Welcome to VG247's Best Games Ever Podcast: Episode 28 - the best game to play while you wait for Starfield. This week's topic has come about because of two things: Firstly, we're desperate to do anything Starfield related because we are a games website and people click on articles about Starfield. But, rudely, it hasn't come out yet, so we have to get creative. I say creative. I mean, we have to go on about it on podcasts and things. Secondly, we're scraping the barrell and letting Jim pick the...
Dec 02, 2022•38 min•Ep. 28
The VG247 Best Games Ever Podcast has been going for six months! Can you believe it? The show that was spawned out of a random Slack message has gone from mild strength to ever-so-slightly-less-mild strength. To celebrate this milestone I sat down with host Jim Trinca to berate him about the choices he's made so far. Welcome to VG247's Best Games Ever Podcast: The 6-month Inquisition Special.Cast: Tom Orry and Jim Trinca. That's it. We definitely didn't do this because we ran out of time to do a...
Nov 25, 2022•1 hr 3 min
I've given up writing brilliant intros to these, now. If you want them to return, simply leave a bag containing £100k in unmarked bank notes on the hill at the top of the road near the church, behind the bin. Thanks. Alternatively, write a comment saying how much you miss the wonderful intros. Or leave a review for this podcast. You have exactly one week. Welcome to VG247's Best Games Ever Podcast: Episode 26 - The best game that crashed at the worst possible time. Cast: Tom Orry, Alex Donaldson...
Nov 18, 2022•37 min•Ep. 26
Michael Sheen is good, isn't he? Welcome to VG247's Best Games Ever Podcast: Episode 25 - The best game with a welsh actor in it. Please do let us know what you think of the show – and if this is your first time listening, do go back to listen to the previous episodes. If you’ve got suggestions for topics, we’d love to hear them, because we're just picking countries now and running with it. “What is VG247’s Best Games Ever Podcast?” you ask? Well, it is essentially a 30-minute panel show where p...
Nov 11, 2022•29 min•Ep. 25
I played the Discworld video game, remarkably, before I'd read a single Terry Pratchett book. I don't know if that speaks more to the cultural cache of video games, or to my own literary ignorance growing up, but getting to the age of 11 in the United Kingdom of the late twentieth century without having read a Terry Pratchett book is quite an astonishing un-achievement. One that I quickly remedied, of course. This was decades ago (I am old), and you'd think that, if anything, the acceptance of v...
Nov 04, 2022•27 min•Ep. 25
“Look, it’s very simple”, said Jim. “Review scores aren’t a flat scale, they’re all sort of, rubbery and compartmentalised.”“What on EARTH are you going on about now” replied Burns, already tired of this.Jim thought for a second, looking down at his floppy Meatball Marinara, freshly purchased from Croydon’s worst Subway (which takes some doing). “Well, consider food.”“The stuff you eat?” said Burns. “Yeah”, Jim clarified. “So like, the best thing you can get from McDonald’s-”“Big Tasty”, Burns i...
Oct 27, 2022•32 min•Ep. 24
What is the best game where you get to eat pie? Because it's the opening line of our theme tune, it's the first question anyone ever heard asked on our acclaimed Best Games Ever podcast: a five star rated show which some critics have described as "safe as badgers" and "short running time". So we decided to ask it for our first ever live podcast, recorded at EGX London earlier this year, with an open mic for members of the audience to chime in with their suggestions. After several arguments about...
Oct 26, 2022•28 min•Ep. 23
I don't believe in any god. I don't think that's a particularly unusual point of view in 2022, at least in some parts of the world, but if I did there are certainly some moments that stick with me as things I'd have potentially given a deity credit for. I was once sat under a tree watching a game of amateur cricket. From the tree fell the largest pinecone I'd ever seen and to probably ever exist in the history of the world. The kind of pinecone that if it were to land on a head, would crush it l...
Oct 21, 2022•32 min•Ep. 22
The PlayStation 3 was a strange thing. The console, arriving late to the party that the Xbox 360 kicked off quite brilliantly, was a big deal. Certainly, in Sony-owned countries like the UK, it seemed everyone was waiting for it. It didn't really matter that the launch line-up was a bit naff, that the console itself looked hideous, or that it was ridiculously expensive. The follow-up to perhaps the greatest console of all time, the PS2, was a huge deal. But what exactly were people desperate to ...
Oct 14, 2022•37 min•Ep. 21
Do you ever think about the time before mobile phones? The era of calling your the landline in your mate's house, only for their mum to answer. "Can I talk to Jimmy, please?" "Is that Tom? OK, I'll get Jimmy." "... JIMMY! JIMMY! TOM IS ON THE PHONE." "Hello." "Hello. Do you want to come round my house?" "... MUM! CAN I GO ROUND TOM'S HOUSE?" "... ARE YOU HAVING TEA THERE?" "Mum says am I having tea there?" "... MUM, CAN JIMMY HAVE TEA HERE?" "... YES." "Yes." "OK." "OK." "Bye." We had such wonde...
Oct 07, 2022•33 min•Ep. 20
It’s Barking, 1978. We’re playing an away match against the Under 9 Tigers, and I’m in goal, being the team’s only goalkeeper, and despite my repeated request for new kneepads being consistently denied. “Ain’t got the funds, lad” was the constant refrain from the manager, Keith, ever clad in his suede coat, gold chains, and cashmere polo neck: the standard uniform at the time of people who had large status in small towns. Last minute penalties. Unprotected joints. A striker four years my senior,...
Sep 30, 2022•31 min•Ep. 19
Having kids is wonderful when it's not the most tiring, life-changing thing you can do to yourself - and even then you only remember the wonderful bits. When your child smiles at you for the first time and it isn't a build up of gas... wonderful. When your child says "dada" not as part of a string of completely random sounds... wonderful. When your child laughs at you for doing something only they would laugh at... wonderful. As I said, it's not always wonderful. Waking up four times a night... ...
Sep 23, 2022•36 min•Ep. 18
It's not common knowledge, but international mega star, Beyoncé, is a huge Assassin's Creed fan. I'm quite surprised more hasn't been made about this, given her influence, but now you know. Her 2006 stratospheric chart topper, Irreplaceable, was at one point all about Assassin's Creed - a game she played an early build of and loved so much she simply had to pen a song about it, even before it hit stores. The song, which went on to the biggest tune of 2007 in the US, originally talked about how ...
Sep 16, 2022•32 min•Ep. 17
Games who ape films Who like films to be games Who make films like they're games Who make games like they're films Always should be something you really love You couldn't go anywhere in 1994 without Blur's classic, Games and Films, wriggling through the airwaves and into your ears. No other song captured the mood of the era better. Video games were rising, but wanted to get the credibility of films, while films were looking at the growing success of games and wondering if they should be keeping ...
Sep 09, 2022•33 min•Ep. 16
I’ll come clean. I’m writing this well in advance of publication as I’m going on holiday. I usually spend literal minutes coming up with a brilliant way to segue into the topic of the week’s podcast. It is often very brilliant and hilarious. The relationship between me and the podcast article is complicated. It’s not easy. It requires work for it to be the best it can be. You can’t just turn up and hope to have a great podcast article without trying your hardest. Sometimes I even hold a little c...
Sep 02, 2022•30 min•Ep. 15
In my final year of Primary School the whole of Year 6 worked together to create a time capsule. This was nothing new, I’m sure. No doubt that school field is now almost impossible to navigate with stepping on precious artifacts of a bygone era. But, the point is, we were attempting to put together a package that one day would be looked at by future children (probably with hover boots, and hover cars, and hover food, and hover dogs), so they could appreciate the wonderful world we lived in. My m...
Aug 26, 2022•37 min•Ep. 14
My daughter has a favourite toy. It's a Squishmallow called Serene. Serene is a round-ish turquoise squirrel. If you're not into soft toys, you may not know how popular Squishmallows are, but to give you an idea... the last time I was in the local toy shop, every one of the four people in the queue to pay had hold of a Squishmallow. But the popularity of Squishmallows isn’t the point of this little story. Serene goes everywhere with my daughter and is her best friend - as much as a wannabe toddl...
Aug 19, 2022•35 min•Ep. 13
We can't help it when something rubs us the wrong way. Disclaimer: For legal reasons some of the names of the people involved in this story have been altered. ”Steve,” exclaimed the supply teacher, Miss Personality Vacuum. ”Yes, Miss,” replied Steve. ”Frank.” ”Here, Miss,” replied Frank. ”George.” ”Yes, Miss,” replied George. ”Stacey.” ”Yes, Miss, here” replied Stacey. ”Dickhead,” continued Miss Personality Vacuum. There was silence, only broken by the slight sound of heads turning and necks rub...
Aug 12, 2022•41 min•Ep. 12
Teenage independence brought with it the chance to shape our own gaming futures. Goodbye England's rose May you ever grow in our hearts You were the grace that placed itself Where lives were torn apart You called out to our country And you whispered to those in pain Now you belong to heaven And the stars spell out your name As the news of Diana’s death forced itself into the homes of everyone in Great Britain, royalist tears flooding the carpets and dampening the underside of sofas, some people ...
Aug 05, 2022•32 min•Ep. 11
We all love things we shouldn't love. Video games are no different. ”I can’t believe you!” she screamed, having caught him in the act. She’d left work to surprise him. A lovely little act of kindness on what would have otherwise been a completely ordinary day. Just another feature-less weekday blended in with all the rest – the palatable home-made protein smoothie of life. A posh afternoon tea from the local fancy-for-the-area cafe that sits on the park. Sandwiches with pickle that isn’t Bransto...
Jul 29, 2022•40 min•Ep. 10
When this topic was decided, we overestimated our ability to ignore the obvious crude options. This was the moment. Time to be a hero, to go down as a legend, forever remembered in the history books as the person who took the team into the final. He stepped up to the penalty spot, placed the ball and shuffled back. The goalkeeper looked nervous, but then so was the penalty taker. It was a cold afternoon, but inside this arena (a field), things had reached boiling point. Thoughts flashed through ...
Jul 22, 2022•31 min•Ep. 9
Look, we know this is pushing the term "most," but just go with it. It was February, 1996. A coke-filled, overweight 13-year-old me was reading about CES in issue 148 of CVG and salivating over the ultra-positive review of Sonic 3. CVG gave out some high scores, but a 94 was pretty exciting for a SEGA boy like me. What a life I’d have as a games journalist, I thought to myself. Not high on drugs, just full of the hope only a child can possess. I would make this dream a reality and live like a ki...
Jul 15, 2022•42 min•Ep. 8
It's hard being a kid. There are so many games but rarely do you have the cash to get them all. It was 4:45 pm on Tuesday. The moon was visible in the blue sky, motionless and distant but looming large. Like an egg in the ocean, that you happened to be viewing through some binoculars you accidentally had the wrong way round. This, I thought, was the world manifesting my brain’s turmoil. My noggin had stopped working and the spectre of the impending deadline was high in my mind. What is a person ...
Jul 08, 2022•34 min•Ep. 7
Video games can be ridiculous, but which ones would the average Joe think you'd completely made up? Someone please save me from writing something here every week. Is there a not an AI capable of doing this, albeit without my amazing sense of humour? We’ve got games that let you explore procedurally generated worlds! Someone procedurally generate some words for me! On that happy note, the VG247 The Best Games Ever Podcast returns, with episode 6. This week I was concerned that we’d be unable to p...
Jul 01, 2022•32 min•Ep. 6
Sometimes we seek out games. Other times they seek out us. It's another brilliant VG247 podcast. Hello again I won’t lie. As I attempt to write some general blurb about this podcast for the fifth time and not make it the dullest thing imaginable, I’m struggling. But hey, ho, the VG247 The Best Games Ever Podcast returns, with episode 5. This week I worried we’d end up talking about how Steve from over the road lent a copy of Advance Wars on the GBA, but instead we soon became a blip on the radar...
Jun 24, 2022•32 min•Ep. 5
Hello again listeners. It’s hard to believe it’s been a whole week since I rewrote the last one of these, but the calendar does not lie. The VG247 The Best Games Ever Podcast returns, with episode 4. This week we’re talking about the most British of things: pubs. And by “talking” I mean, arguing about the best game with a pub. Are the games good, and what makes for a good pub? That and more will be conveyed to you by the medium of talking people in this podcast. “What is VG247’s Best Games Ever ...
Jun 17, 2022•34 min•Ep. 4
This one is going to cause some arguments. What defines a mini-game? The VG247 The Best Games Ever Podcast returns once more, with episode 3. This week we’re arguing (quite a lot, actually) over the best game with a mini-game better than the main game. This brought up some good choices, but also posed the eternal question: what defines a mini-game? Have a listen to see if you agree. “What is VG247’s Best Games Ever Podcast?” you ask, with the child-like glee usually reserved for when you find so...
Jun 09, 2022•31 min•Ep. 3
Can you think of a great game that everyone seemed to ignore? We came up with three. The VG247 The Best Games Ever Podcast is back with episode 2, following the tradition of going after episode 1. This week we’re fighting over the best game that nobody cares about. Hmm, tricky one, that. Have a listen to see if you agree with our choices and which game was victorious. “What is VG247’s Best Games Ever Podcast?” you ask, with the child-like glee usually reserved for when you see a new limited edit...
Jun 03, 2022•37 min•Ep. 2
