It’s a bit of a short episode this week as all of us are down with a cold, but somehow we manage to inject ourselves with enough stimpacks to talk about videogames. This time we have team member Fran, our very own Broken Frandroid, on board.

What have you been playing?

• Whilst Fran’s been waiting for the Skyrim update, she’s filled her time marathoning all the Dragon Age Games, and since Dean’s also been slowly working his way through Dragon Age: Inquisition on nightmare difficulty, we have a big old chat about this franchise that’s much loved at Ready Up – including how underrated Dragon Age 2 is…
• Dean has mixed feelings about Destiny: Rise of Iron and begins to sound like a recovering drug addict.
• Susan has been playing Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice (aka Ace Attorney 6), which she’s been enjoying more than Ace Attorney 5 as its picking up some of the dropped threads from previous games.

Theme of the Week: Holodecks!

• In honour of the Mass Effect hamster we discuss our favourite videogame pets – dogs and cats are overrated yo!

Two Truths, One Lie

• It’s time to wrap this germ train up with two truths, one lie. But can Fran find something Susan doesn’t already know about her?

Thanks for listening to the podcast! Do us a solid and leave a rating and review if you enjoy the show! Subscribe using iTunes, Stitcher or our Podcast RSS Feed. Any feedback? Tweet us @readyup.

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We’re joined by special guest, team member Adam Gulliver, Ready Up’s resident… Resident Evil film fanboy.

What have you been playing?

• Adam has been playing Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice and Susan is pleased at having someone to discuss the game with. Adam has also been playing Forza Horizon 3 but feels that it’s not quite challenging enough, although everything looks really cool.
• Dean has been having some multiplayer fun with Tricky Towers – who knew that Tetris was broken and needed fixing? He’s also been having great fun with Womrs: Weapons of Mass Destruction, especially with the vehicles, crafting mechanic and massive steel girders.
• Susan has been playing a lot of visual novels, including the unintentionally hilarious Seduce Me the Otome and has also entered the murky world of visual novel patching with Air and If My Heart Had Wings.

Guest Spotlight

• Dean is surprised by Adam’s devotion to the Resident Evil movies, ‘the greatest cinematic experience of all time’. Adam also discusses his extensive Amiibo collection.

Red Dead Redemption 2 and Nintendo Switch

• The Red Dead Redemption teaser trailer provides a discussion that allows everyone to be impressed by Dean’s thorough knowledge of Westerns.
• Nintendo Switch appears to be the culmination of many Nintendo ideas, and a true step forward, but even within the excitement there is some trepidation.

Theme of the Week: Scary video game moments

• Things take a spooky turn as we discuss our scariest video game moments. There’s a lot of Resident Evil in there.

Two Truths, One Lie

• Just how good is Adam at racing games, and just how much does he love the Mega Man games?

Thanks for listening to the podcast! Do us a solid and leave a rating and review if you enjoy the show! Subscribe using iTunes, Stitcher or our Podcast RSS Feed. Any feedback? Tweet us @readyup.

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We’re joined by special guest, Chris Birch from Modiphius Entertainment, a boardgame/roleplaying game publisher based in the UK. Chris started Modiphius in 2012 with his wife, Rita before launching the Achtung! Cthulu gaming universe via Kickstarter. Modiphius has since run a series of successful Kickstarters including the Thunderbirds co-op game by Matt Leacock (who Dean interviewed a while back), the Conan roleplaying game, and the reboot of the Mutant Chronicles RPG. Modiphius will also be publishing the forthcoming Star Trek Adventures game.

Find out more at modiphius.com, follow @modiphius on Twitter, or find Modiphius on Facebook.

What have you been playing?

• Chris has been playing the twisted and creepy game Lobotomy. But is it all just in his head?
• Susan has made her first foray into Dungeons and Dragons by creating a character called Finnan Tosscobble. We then take a little detour to hear about Chris’s very extensive history with roleplaying games, wargames and other boardgames.
• Dean has been enjoying the giant fighting robots in Titanfall 2, but doesn’t click with the reflex-based gameplay.

Guest Spotlight

• Given Chris’s long-lasting love for board games and roleplaying games, it seemed almost inevitable that he would start Modiphius Entertainment. Chris talks us through his career path, from fashion designer to cardboard king, how Kickstarter opened up a lot of quest doors, and how Modiphius Entertainment grew from humble beginnings. Chris also talks about upcoming projects from Modiphius, including Star Trek Adventures.

Theme of the Week: Boardgame recommendations

• We take some time to talk about our boardgame recommendations which range from the complicated (from Dean, surprise surprise) through to the casual (and yes, Susan’s choice involves some kind of cute animal).

Two Truths, One Lie

• Chris’s office is being tidied behind him so it’s time to move on but there’s still time to quiz him on his statements. Does he have an affinity for squirrels? Is he a LARPer? Or did he really very nearly become mayor of his hometown?

Thanks for listening to the podcast! Do us a solid and leave a rating and review if you enjoy the show! Subscribe using iTunes, Stitcher or our Podcast RSS Feed. Any feedback? Tweet us @readyup.

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We welcome Vincent da Silva, Dutch game designer extraordinaire and one of the team behind Woven, a cute 3D-exploration game with a crafting aesthetic. Follow Woven on Twitter (@woventhegame) and Facebook. Check out highlights from our playthrough of the demo below.

What have you been playing?

• Vincent has been playing Planet Coaster and explains his approach to theme park building.
• Dean gives his fortnightly Dragon Age: Inquisition check in (he has the Platinum now), and gives his thoughts on the DLCs. Dean has also played the new hotness tabletop wargame Cry Havoc by Portal Games, in which three invading forces simultaneously turn up to claim the same alien planet (typical, just like buses!).
• Susan has started The Witcher 3 (she has a lot of catching up to do because Dean has the Platinum on that too) and is already making morally dubious choices.

Guest Spotlight

• We talk to Vincent about Woven, his route into the Dutch games industry via academia, making the Sims before Will Wright, his experience with crowd funding, difficult decisions around interface design, and inventing Eggnuts. Also, Susan discovers you can’t always have the cute without the spikey!

Theme of the Week: Visually Appealing

• It’s time for theme of the week, where we talk about games with visually appealing aesthetics.

Two Truths, One Lie

• Finally, it’s time to wrap things up with Two Truths, One Lie – in which we become hopelessly distracted by literacy games aimed at seven-year-olds…

Thanks for listening to the podcast! Do us a solid and leave a rating and review if you enjoy the show! Subscribe using iTunes, Stitcher or our Podcast RSS Feed. Any feedback? Tweet us @readyup.

Ready Up Podcast theme music courtesy of Tommy Tallarico

We welcome Vincent DeSilva, Dutch game designer extraordinaire, developer of Woven, a cute 3D exploration game with a crafting aesthetic. Keep your eyes peeled for an announcement about Woven in about a month either on Twitter (@woventhegame) or on Facebook.

What have you been playing?

• Vincent has been playing Planet Coaster and explains his approach to theme park building, which gives us a sneak peek into his relationship.
• Dean gives his fortnightly Dragon Age: Inquisition check in (he has the Platinum now), and gives his thoughts on the DLCs.
• Susan has started the Witcher 3 (she has a lot of catching up to do because Dean has the Platinum on that too) and is already making morally dubious choices.
• Dean has played the new hotness tabletop wargame Cry Havoc by Portal Games, in which three invading forces simultaneously turn up to claim the same alien planet (typical, just like buses!).

Guest Spotlight

• We talk to Vincent about Woven, his route into the Dutch games industry via academia, making the Sims before Will Wright, his experience with crowd funding, difficult decisions around interface design, and inventing Eggnuts – Also, Susan discovers you can’t always have the cute without the spikey!

Theme of the Week: Visual Appeal

• It’s time for theme of the week, where we talk about games with visually appealing aesthetics.

Two Truths, One Lie

• Finally, it’s time to wrap things up with Two Truths, One Lie – in which we become hopelessly distracted by literacy games aimed at seven-year-olds…

Thanks for listening to the podcast! Do us a solid and leave a rating and review if you enjoy the show! Subscribe using iTunes, Stitcher or our Podcast RSS Feed. Any feedback? Tweet us @readyup.

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Join Susan, Dean and special guest Alice Bell, Content Editor at videogamer.com, on an audio road trip to find material for our difficult seventh album podcast. Check out Alice’s writing at videogamer.com and follow her on Twitter: @babygotbell.

What have you been playing?

• Alice has been playing Final Fantasy XV and we discuss which member of the J-Pop band at the centre of the game that we’d most like to date.
• Alice also puts us straight on Watchdogs 2, which is way better than the first one.
• Susan’s been keeping up to date this time by playing Pokémon Sun and is enjoying the fact that she doesn’t have to go to the gym.
• Dean picked us 4X strategy game Endless Legends and reflects on the pros and cons of the game compared to genre powerhouse Civilisation and the various takes on the genre in board games.
• Dean is excited about the new map for Paragon: Monolith, which looks set to completely reshape the game (and possibly the MOBA genre).

Playstation Experience

• Since we have a real games journalist with us we take the opportunity to discuss The PlayStation Experience and select some of our favourite announcements. We also have a chat about the promising progressive trend for more female characters emerging in games… oh, and Nier.

Guest Spotlight

• We talk to our guest Alice Bell about her role at Videogamer.com, how she got into the industry, her inspirations, the inspired ‘Fuckduplet’ series at Videobrains, and the badass scar on her midriff.

Theme of the Week: Good Hair Game

• It’s time to talk about hair for the theme of the week, in honour of Alice Bell’s glorious locks and those dapper lads in Final Fantasy. Check out our forthcoming beauty and lifestyle podcast ‘character creation’.

Two Truths, One Lie

• It’s time for two truths one lie, where some discussions of Dragon Age fan fic cuts a little too close to home for Susan…

Thanks for listening to the podcast! Do us a solid and leave a rating and review if you enjoy the show! Subscribe using iTunes, Stitcher or our Podcast RSS Feed. Any feedback? Tweet us @readyup.

Ready Up Podcast theme music courtesy of Tommy Tallarico

Dean and Susan welcome Dr Dave Raynard, founder of new VR studio Dream Reality Interactive, and former manager of Sony’s London Studio, whose long line of accolades include London Heist, Wonder Book, and Singstar. Follow Dave on Twitter: @Dr__Dave

What have you been playing?

• Dave tells us about his adventures as a medieval king in the ever popular Reigns. Dave’s eldest son has been playing Arkham Asylum recently, which leads us to reminisce about the elegance of its design. We also hear about Danger Ball, Dave’s favourite game on Playstation VR.

•  Dean dusted off his Vita and has been digging into Steamworld Heist to help him survive the Christmas period. Following a year of amazing games, that have been hard to keep up with, Dean also finally started Uncharted 4 and he’s getting a Goonies vibe. Dave trumps us by telling us he’s been zipgliding with Nolan North!
•  As is fitting for the new year, Susan’s turned over a new leaf with Animal Crossing: New Leaf Welcome Amiibo. Or maybe it’s just an old leaf with an update. Apparently they’ve tried to put a game in it now. We find out about the relative sizes of Susan and her partner’s heads via a discussion of Pierhead Arcade, a VR game set in a funfair arcade.

Guest Spotlight

• It’s time for us to talk to our guest Dave in detail. We find out how he got into the industry via Psygnosis, worked his way up the ranks through Sony by doing a bit of everything and how he decided to strike out on his own.

Theme of the Week: Gaming Resolutions

• For theme of the week we make our new year’s gaming resolutions for the coming year.

Two Truths, One Lie

• It’s time for two truths one lie, and we’re treated to some cracking anecdotes from Dave.

Thanks for listening to the podcast! Do us a solid and leave a rating and review if you enjoy the show! Subscribe using iTunes, Stitcher or our Podcast RSS Feed. Any feedback? Tweet us @readyup.

Ready Up Podcast theme music courtesy of Tommy Tallarico

Susan hosts while Dean is off doing academic things, and is joined by team members Kitty and Scott. Kitty is fresh from her victory having smashed the leaderboards for indie game Loot Rascals, and Scott accepts his title as Ready Up’s Technical Pedant.

What have you been playing?

• Kitty has been playing Rise of the Tomb Raider, but the game makes her incredibly angry every time she plays it. “I know kung fu!”
• Scott has been playing Pokémon Moon and along with Susan, takes Kitty on a tour of the franchise. Kitty didn’t realise just how expansive the Pokémon empire was!
• Scott has also been playing Overwatch, and talks about what it is about the game that pulls him back in every time he is just about ready to quit.
• Susan has been stressing out over XCOM 2, and trying not to kill the entire squad.

Global Game Jam

• Kitty took part in the Global Game Jam. The theme was ‘Waves’ and she talks about what her and her team came up with – a concept which uses Google Cardboard and an improvised headstrap which definitely is not a pair of pants. Kitty also runs through some of her highlights of the jam.
• The team also get distracted momentarily by Kitty’s farming exploits in Stardew Valley, and we take a brief detour into the Ready Up Bath Podcast.

Theme of the Week: Time to play!

• The team discuss games that they remember spending the most time on. Scott knows the first six hours of The Secret of Monkey Island off by heart, and Susan reminisces about Game and Watch Gallery.

Two Truths, One Lie

• It’s time for two truths one lie, and things are a little reversed this episode as Susan tries to fool the guests with her three statements.

Thanks for listening to the podcast! Do us a solid and leave a rating and review if you enjoy the show! Subscribe using iTunes, Stitcher or our Podcast RSS Feed. Any feedback? Tweet us @readyup.

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Scott steps in to co-host alongside Susan while Dean continues to play the escape game that is academic life. They’re joined by Anna Eerkes (@lpfreaky90) and Stephen Ferguson (@lonewolf2056) of Prism Studios (@PrismStudiosUK), the developers behind Portal Stories: Mel, and Portal Stories: VR.

What have you been playing?

• Stephen has been playing Factorio, and the smooth automation and constant refining reminds him of… video game development.
• Anna has been playing Dark Souls 2, and enjoying running around naked with a big sword. She’s also been playtesting Prism Game Studio’s upcoming title, The YR Initiative.
• Scott has finished Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice, and has dabbled in Uncharted 4, appreciating that Nathan Drake’s idea of fun/adventure isn’t quite the same as everyone else’s.
• Susan went back to XCOM: Enemy Unknown to get some training in and… it’s not going very well.

Guest Spotlight
We chat to Anna and Stephen about the award-winning Portal Stories: Mel, which leads to an interesting diversion about fanworks, licensing and the stances that large developers take concerning usage of their properties. They share stories of developing Portal Stories: VR, and speak more about their adventures of developing in VR. Finally, they offer up some of their best advice for aspiring developers.

Theme of the Week: It Takes Two!

• Since Stephen and Anna come as a pair, it’s only fair that we discuss our favourite video game duos.

Two Truths, One Lie

• It’s a double-whammy of a round with both guests coming up with a set of truths and lies! Can Susan and Scott navigate through and net that sweet, sweet double score?

Thanks for listening to the podcast! Do us a solid and leave a rating and review if you enjoy the show! Subscribe using iTunes, Stitcher or our Podcast RSS Feed. Any feedback? Tweet us @readyup.

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Dean is back from the depths of academic life to join co-host Susan, and team member Danny Russell, aka Ready Up’s Former Man in Japan.

What have you been playing?

• Danny has been travelling and playing a load of handheld classics, including Dragon Quest VIII and The Binding of Isaac. He also got one of those Switch thingies, but hasn’t had the chance to delve into Breath of the Wild, instead spending some casual time with Puyo Puyo Tetris.
• Dean has a love-hate relationship with Nioh, which has been unfairly described as the ‘samurai Dark Souls’. He thinks it’s more like an 80s action movie where the protagonist just wants to find his cat.
• Susan has been playing Chibi Robo: Plug Into Adventure! in anticipation of guesting on an upcoming Cane and Rinse podcast. This leads into a fun off-topic discussion about the team’s favourite robots.

Theme of the Week

• Danny is fresh from GDC and still suffering from jet lag, so the team talk about the best/worst conference moments. For Danny, some people are better presenters than others – can we just get Reggie to present all of E3, please?
• Dean reflects on just how cool Hideo Kojima is, and muses about the GDC Vault, the massive archive of GDC talks that is freely available, should anyone wish to make the most of it.
• Susan reminds everyone of that awkward Trials of the Blood Dragon announcement.

Two Truths, One Lie

• After Susan wrecked the score when left on her own, can Dean fool Danny and claw back some dignity for the hosts? Also, Danny confuses Sesame Street with the Foo Fighters.

Thanks for listening to the podcast! Do us a solid and leave a rating and review if you enjoy the show! Subscribe using iTunes, Stitcher or our Podcast RSS Feed. Any feedback? Tweet us @readyup.

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Susan is joined by fellow Ready Uppers Verity and Scott, and special guest Rob to talk about all of the indie games they played at EGX Rezzed. Timestamps for the individual games are below.

• 00.01.01 Call the Blacksmith The team had a great time getting their smelt on with this efficient, time-management pixel smithy adventure.
• 00.02.37 Serial Cleaner Susan loves games where you can do chores! She’s also incredibly good at hiding the bodies.
• 00.04.25 Yooka-Laylee With the game’s release right around the corner, Susan and Scott revel in the N64 nostalgia.
• 00.06.54 Augmented Empire Resident VR Trooper Rob doesn’t let the awkward Gear VR controls get in the way of an interesting experience.

• 09.08 King Under the Mountain Survival expert Verity loved carving out her own kingdom.
• 12.05 Impact Winter Verity also liked surviving in freezing cold conditions.
• 13.40 Phantom Halls The team were impressed with Evil Dead Ash’s boomstick, but found the controls lacking overall.
• 17.30 A Light in Chorus Susan was particularly taken with this otherworldly adventure.
• 24.43 Bombslinger Scott took a look at a game which has clear connections with classic Bomberman

• 26.53 Figment Susan and Verity got lost in this beautiful game’s imaginatio
• 29.32 Inops Cute shadow characters and fun platform puzzle elements gave this game a little bounce
• 34.28 Captain Kaon In which Scott got stuck under a lever
• 37.42 Knights and Bikes Good game, but an unfortunate seating experience for Scott
• 39.40 Sure Footing Susan proved she knows the steps by smashing and holding the high score for a good 6 hours at a packed show.

• 42.51 BeeBeeQ The team get a real buzz from this hilarious VR multiplayer game
• 47.19 Aaerea After some debate about pronounciation, Scott and Verity note this game’s excellent boss battle.
• 50.03 Super Arcade Football Things got a bit brutal in this Sensible Soccer-like multiplayer football game.
• 52.17 At Sundown The team had great fun shooting at each other in the dark.
• 54.48 Deckbound Spears Team Ready Up threw spears at each other, and then completely broke the game.
• 57.59 Oh My Godheads One of our top games of the show, where capturing the flag (or the godhead) often spells trouble.

Thanks for listening to the podcast! Do us a solid and leave a rating and review if you enjoy the show! Subscribe using iTunes, Stitcher or our Podcast RSS Feed. Any feedback? Tweet us @readyup.

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We welcome our guest Ricky Haggett (@kommanderklobb) creator of Hohokum, Frobisher Says and Super Exploding Zoo. Ricky’s studio Hollow Ponds (@hllwpnds) has recently released the roguelike strategy card game, Loot Rascals.

Take a look at our Kitty’s playthrough of Loot Rascals – she’s very good at the game!

What have you been playing?

• Ricky has been playing the excellent Night in the Woods, and the story cuts close to home for Dean. Ricky then talks to us about Monty Python and Renaissance art inspired point and click adventure Four Last Things. Lastly, Ricky starts drawing some boundaries for realistic videogame consumption, prompting the crew to reflect on some videogame turn offs and Dean unveils a tenuous analogy about… tax collecting?
• Dean’s been tax collecting in the intriguing post-post-apocalyptic world of Horizon Zero Dawn, which has become one of his favourite sci-fi stories of recent years because of the way it sets up and handles its mysteries. Dean’s also started playing the ill-fated Mass Effect Andromeda, which in contrast doesn’t handle its mysteries very well, prompting a discussion of whether various franchises manage to earn their status as ‘serious’ sci-fi.
• Speaking of sci-fi that deserves to be taken seriously (Man, the segues are good this episode!) Susan’s been playing Milkmaid of the Milkyway (or Heidi in space).

Guest Spotlight

• We interview our guest Ricky about his work at Hollow Ponds and his latest game Loot Rascals, which has been influenced by board games and seeks to settle once and for all whether PC or PS4 players are the bigger arseholes.

Theme of the Week: Easter Eggs

• With Easter around the corner we’ve decided to discuss our favourite Easter eggs in games.

Two Truths, One Lie

• Another fantastic segue takes us to Two Truths, One Lie, and a particularly brilliant collection of minor videogames celebrity anecdotes.

Thanks for listening to the podcast! Do us a solid and leave a rating and review if you enjoy the show! Subscribe using iTunes, Stitcher or our Podcast RSS Feed. Any feedback? Tweet us @readyup.

Ready Up Podcast theme music courtesy of Tommy Tallarico

We introduce our very special guest Fryda Wolff, illustrious videogame voice actress, most recently for Sara Ryder in Mass Effect: Andromeda, tuning in all the way from sunny LA. Team member Fran also joins us for moral support. After cementing the British stereotype for apologising constantly and talking about the weather, we finally get the show on the road with what we’ve been playing.

You can follow Fryda Wolff on Twitter @frydawolff or check out her website at frydawolff.com

What have you been playing?

• In amongst playing Hearthstone (on the toilet) and looking forward to playing Prey, Fryda has also been playing Paradigm, an Eastern Bloc inspired point and click adventure featuring her very own voice. We stop for an important Public Safety Announcement as Fryda discusses proper toilet etiquette and we find it difficult to move on from this, bouncing around like a turd on a space station…
• A discussion of Jaal’s metal thong leads us onto a discussion of Mass Effect: Andromeda and space Australians. Dean needs to upgrade his Nomad. Then we get back onto butts…
• Fran fills us in on her thoughts around Persona 5 and purple toilet demons, much to Dean’s amazement. This is our most thematic episode ever; it’s a shame about the theme!
• Dean’s just finished Full Throttle Remastered, and challenges its lauded position in the adventure game canon.
• Susan has finished XCOM 2, having streamed the entire gruelling playthrough on our Twitch channel.  Check out an explosive highlight below. Fryda also features in the game as American soldier #2 – another toilet reference for the record! Is anyone keeping count?

Watch live video from ReadyUpVideo on www.twitch.tv

Guest Spotlight

• We interview Fryda about her voice work, including her route into the industry and the pros and cons of typecasting. But, of course, we begin starting with assessing the quality of her British accent, as featured in her voice for Sloan in the Mass Effect audio book, which leads to some interesting insights into recording for audio books and anime dubbing (ADR).
• The interview continues, and now we turn to a discussion of Fryda’s approach to Ryder and what it’s like to hang out with Mark Hamill in a lobby. Also, how do you reconcile playing a role in a branching narrative RPG that can be carried in so many directions through player choice?

Theme of the Week

• For our theme of the week Fran and Fryda select their ideal explorer squad in light of Mass Effect: Andromeda. Somehow we get into an argument about what’s in Lady Grey tea.

Two Truths, One Lie

• It’s time for two truths one lie. Tigers in Las Vegas, Cold War romances with Hungarian spies, imported Scotsmen and Scientology boarding schools all make appearances to round out this surreal episode.

Thanks for listening to the podcast! Do us a solid and leave a rating and review if you enjoy the show! Subscribe using iTunes, Stitcher or our Podcast RSS Feed. Any feedback? Tweet us @readyup.

Ready Up Podcast theme music courtesy of Tommy Tallarico

Welcome to our new currency podcast (that’s the first lie). We introduce our very special guest Leon Cox from the Cane and Rinse Podcast, a podcast dedicated to critically analysing games old and new.

Check out Cane and Rinse’s continuing efforts to cover all the games at caneandrinse.com, and follow them on Twitter @caneandrinse. If you like what they do, head on over to their Patreon to show your support. You can also find the episodes with Susan as a guest: Chibi-Robo and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. Or follow Leon @ratsoalbion

What have you been playing?

• Leon has been back on Puyo Puyo Tetris, since it finally made its way over to the West. Dean approves of jazzing up Tetris, like in Tricky Towers.
• Leon’s also been keeping up with his daily Rogue Like runs in the form of Spelunky and Binding of Isaac. Leon and Dean find out they are at odds on the issue of procedural generation.
• Leon’s started playing through the Witcher trilogy right from the start, in preparation for their efforts to cover the series on Cane and Rinse this season. Videogames are, after all, defined by Sisyphean tasks.
• Leon’s been a busy boy as he’s also been playing Perfect Dark for the show. Somehow we get onto the origins of games and what a successful rip off artist Nolan Bushnell was, and also how dependent the industry is on plagiarism. “Good artists borrow, great artists steal,” as Picasso once said.

• Both games Dean has been playing are rehashes in different ways. First up he continues his nostalgic dive into the back catalogue of Lucas Arts by jumping into Day of the Tentacle Remastered, which he likes way better than Full Throttle.
• The other game is Prey, which is a massive love letter to Bioshock, one of Dean’s favourite games, and is reengaging his enthusiasm for videogames with the way it plays with the tropes of games and moves things forward post Bioshock. In fact it’s so good it’s made him reassess exactly what he likes the most in videogames.
• Susan’s also been reinforcing her interest in a specific game genre: the visual novel. She recently played the FMV narrative game Late Shift on stream, which for better or worse is definitely more movie than game.
• Susan’s also been playing Porn? Oh wait Pawn… An anime adventure murder mystery set in a high school. Maybe Porn would have been more acceptable after all…

Guest Spotlight

It’s time to talk about Leon about Cane and Rinse, rigorous schedules, imaginary beefs, the importance of critical distance and avoiding hyperbole, subjectivity of taste, ludological minutiae and one humungous spreadsheet!

Theme of the Week: Sweet video game lies

It’s time for theme of the week, which is about deceitful games. In the words of Fleetwood Mac: “Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies!” Discussions of Heavy Rain, Bioshock, Outrun, Godus, Braid, Sega’s Blast Processing, Red Dead Redemption, E3 spin and questioning how much freedom a player really has.

Two Truths, One Lie

After what seems like one enormous segue it’s time for two truths one lie, where we really put Susan’s dedication to Pokémon to the test.

Thanks for listening to the podcast! Do us a solid and leave a rating and review if you enjoy the show! Subscribe using iTunes or our Podcast RSS Feed. Any feedback? Tweet us @readyup.

Ready Up Podcast theme music courtesy of Tommy Tallarico

We welcome our special guest for this episode, Dazz Loyall Brown, founder of Did You Know Gaming, VGFacts and The Spriters Resource and walking repository of infinite video game knowledge.

You can follow Dazz on Twitter @TheVGResource. Check out Did You Know Gaming on their Youtube channel, and follow them @didyouknowgamin.

What have you been playing?

• Dazz kicks things off with talking about multiplayer hell runs on Spelunky, and how fun it is to listen to lo-fi hip-hop while exploring and casually murdering your fellow players in the service of the greater mission of completing a run.
• Dazz has also been playing Towerfall Ascension, which leads to a brief discussion about its origins on the doomed Ouya console, which then leads to a further discussion about XBMC as the origins for the excellent open source home theatre app, Kodi.
• It’s somewhere around this point that Dean realises that Scott (guest-hosting for this week) and Dazz are basically clones of each other and that the rambling is likely to carry on until the end of time as each gets excited about another video game related factoid or anecdote. Scott apologises in advance to whoever is going to be editing this. (THANKS, SCOTT.)
• Dazz also talks about the game that changed his life, Suikogaiden, which leads to another long tangent about anime, the virtues of subs versus dubs, some good dubs, much love for Kids on the Slope (which everyone should watch by the way) etc, etc.
• Back on track, Dean has been Prey-ing a lot, and is still very much in love with the game with nothing but praise for it. Dean also reveals a worrying enjoyment for snooping around people’s emails.
• Dean also provides an environmental interlude as he shares his love of Topsoil, a mobile game where the puzzle is in planting.
• Meanwhile, Scott has finished Persona 5 but doesn’t want to share too much because spoilers, except to say that it was excellent, and one particular sidestory cut a little too close, perhaps…

Guest Spotlight

We chat to Dazz about the founding of Did You Know Gaming and its origins as a way to remember cool facts about video games and share them with people through the magic of social media, before it expanded into Youtube. He talks about making it big, expanding into other shows and gives a glimpse into the reality of running Did You Know Gaming. Dazz also talks about The Spriters Resource, and the work he put into it and other websites as a hobby while in his late teens (shout out for Geocities!) and how it exploded to become the valued resource that it is today.

Theme of the Week: Favourite Video Game Facts

In honour of Did You Know Gaming always bringing to light obscure things you may not know, or that you may have known but forgotten, everyone shares one of their favourite video game facts. Discover the secret behind ‘guru meditation’ get a slice of British video game history, and find out exactly how we managed to work our beloved Undertale into this podcast.

Two Truths, One Lie

Some crazy facts here – or at least, two of them – as we discover just what it’s like to be in the video games press, and how deep Dazz’s passion for the Sonic the Hedgehog games runs.

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In this bonus episode Dean and Susan introduce members of the team discussing the 5 major E3 press conferences in depth.

You can also watch these segments on youtube.com/readyupvideo

Before we jump into the conference roundups, Susan and Dean give some general thoughts on E3 as a whole, their picks of the show and pirates… They also talk about that Devolver Digital ‘presentation. Check out the podcast we recorded with Devolver Digital’s Andrew Parson’s last year here.

EA

Stewart, Cameron and Kieran discuss the EA press conference including Battlefield 1: In the Name of the Tsar; Need for Speed Payback; Josef Fare’s followup to Brothers, A Way Out; the orgy of Star Wars that was the 30-min showing of Battlefront; and of course SPORTS SPORTS SPORTS!

Microsoft

Stewart, Dean and Cameron discuss the Microsoft conference, including: Rare’s quirky multiplayer pirate sim, Sea of Thieves; the bombastic Crackdown 3 (presented by Terry Cruz); Bioware’s big new reveal Anthem; Backwards compatibility (“Don’t forget backwards compatibility, because we didn’t [Sony]”); and Metro Exodus, which sees players shedding the gas mask and venturing into the open world.

Bethesda

Stewart, Dean and Cameron take a trip to Bethesdaland to discuss: Doom and Fallout VR; Elderscrolls Online: Return to Morrowind; Bethesda’s new approach to modding in the form of the Creation Club; another version of Skyrim, this time for Switch; Dishonored 2’s DLC, Death of the Outsider; Quake Champions taking on eSports; Evil Within 2; and show highlight Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus.

Ubisoft

Stewart, Cameron and Scott discuss Ubisoft’s press conference including: Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle; The Crew 2 (or is it The Club, Scott?); Inside Elijah Wood with the Black Mirror-esque Transference; PvP Black Flag with Skull and Bones; more toys to life shenanigans with Starlink; Taking on the American right wing in Far Cry 5; and one of the biggest surprises of the show: Beyond Good and Evil 2, which is thoroughly oozing Luc Besson style.

Sony

Stewart, Cameron and Scott discuss Sony’s press conference including: DLC for Uncharted, in the form of The Lost Legacy, and Horizon Zero Dawn, in the form of The Frozen Wilds; Zombie Bikers in Days Gone; Monster Hunter Worlds, which looks like a real videogame; In a surprise drop, Bluepoint are doing a remake of Shadow of the Colossus; The iconic shooter returns to its roots with Call of Duty WWII; PlayStation showed where they wanted their emphasis to be with their VR showreel; Kratos takes on the Norse deities in God of War (but how long will the child survive?); David Cage imagines our dark future in Detroit; and Sony’s big exclusive reveal is a licensed Spiderman game by Insomniac?!

Nintendo

Stewart, Cameron and Scott discuss Nintendo’s press conference, including: Rocket League coming to Switch; Keeping it classic with Xenoblade Chronicles 2; Fire Emblem Warriors; Kirby; a core Pokemon game; Metroid Prime 4; Yoshi (is it a gritty reboot?); Not one, but two Breath of the Wild DLC packs; the game you’ve all been waiting for, the bonkers looking Super Mario Odyssey; and the Metroid 2 remake, Samus Returns.

Susan and guest host Scott welcome fellow podcasters Stuart Neill and Ali Cornwall from Lapsed Gamer Radio. You can check out Lapsed Gamer Radio’s podcast, find out more about them and follow them on Twitter @lapsedgamer

Our very own Kitty Crawford guested on Lapsed Gamer Radio episode 53, so check that one out (and then the rest!)

What have you been playing?

• Stuart has been training Magikarps to the dizzying heights of victory in Magikarp Jump! This leads everyone to muse briefly on the eternal problem of the Pokemon cookbook. Stuart also talks about Paper Mario Color Splash and its place in the Paper Mario pantheon, and some surprising bargains he snapped up recently. 
• Ali is all about the cars, starting with mobile traffic management game Does Not Commute, through to Motorsport Manager and the ultra-punishing Dirt. 
• Susan is decompressing with chilled mobile building/crafting game Zombie Castaways. But how did the zombies even get there? Who knows?
• Scott has been playing Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, and gives some brief thoughts on the game and its position in the franchise.

Guest Spotlight

• We talk to Ali and Stuart about Lapsed Gamer Radio, commiserate as fellow podcasters and find out a little bit more about their own gaming interests.

Theme of the Week: What pulled you out of a gaming slump?

• Everyone chats through the games that have pulled them out of a ‘lapse’. From MMOs to mobile games and more, everyone has a game or genre of game that they have fallen back on during a dry spell, between longer adventures, or during periods where time has been short.

Two Truths, One Lie

• Trailing behind in points, can the hosts save some face by successfully navigating Stuart and Ali’s double round?

Thanks for listening to the podcast! Do us a solid and leave a rating and review if you enjoy the show! Subscribe using iTunes or our Podcast RSS Feed. Any feedback? Tweet us @readyup.

Ready Up Podcast theme music courtesy of Tommy Tallarico

We welcome our very own genetically modified team member, Stewart Griffin. Follow him on Twitter: @StuffSGThinks

What have you been playing?

• Stewart can’t stop playing Bloodborne, so the team take the opportunity to take it back to the concrete streets of Yharnam to discuss its special approach to design and its perverse take on body horror. Dean apologises for his behaviour and for bringing the podcast to disrepute. Stewart tells us about his adventures with the free-till-pay MMO Onigiri.
• Dean’s finished Prey and loves the design of Talos1. He also talks briefly about Hollow Knight, a hand drawn Metroidvania.
• Susan’s been playing the semi-procedural, FMV detective game The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker.

Guest Spotlight

• It’s time to grill Stewart about the kinds of game he likes, especially board games. Also Dean talks a little about the UK Games Expo.

Theme of the Week: Board? Game!

• We each give a board game recommendation. Learn how to manipulate your hand in Great Western Trail, the stock market in Nautilus Industries and your friendship in Cash $ Guns.

Two Truths, One Lie

• We put Stewart’s Polish pronunciation to the test…

We’re joined by Ready Up’s queen of survival and crafting (oh, and she does all our videos too), Verity Hartley.

What have you been playing?

• Verity has been building a colony of psychopaths in Rimworld… and harvesting organs?  Verity and Dean also talk about our inability to finish anything – Teleophobia?
• Verity is trying to decide whether to replay Horizon: Zero Dawn to get the new achievements.
• Verity and Susan argue over which of them Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is made for – it’s got crafting and the murk for Verity and fairies and cute cats for Susan.

• Verity tells us about her bloodsoaked adventures in Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds, and how not to steal a car.
• Dean’s been playing the Destiny 2 Beta and gives his thoughts on the sequel to Bungie’s frustratingly poorly coordinated space shooter.
• Dean’s hooked all over again on Final Fantasy XII now that the remaster The Zodiac Age has been released. Dean gets his geek on by doing a dramatic reading from the script.
• Susan’s been playing a couple of visual novels: Highway Blossoms, a nice visual novel road trip; and Analogue: A Hate Story, about interacting with two treacherous AIs on an abandoned spacecraft.

Theme of the Week: Back in Time

• Having Verity on we take the opportunity to take a trip back in time to talk about The Hobbit, which Susan has been struggling with. Needless to say the story unfurled very differently to the book!
•  Now that we’re on the subject of retro games we each try to think back to one of our earliest gaming memories. We also discover how Chuck e Cheese jump started the British games industry… Were all games back in the day sponsored by American fast food chains?

Two Truths, One Lie

• It’s time for Two truths, One Lie, in which Verity attempts, once more, to bluff her way past us.

That’s it from the Ready Up Podcast for Season 6! Don’t forget to come back at the end of the summer after we’ve had a little break. Toodle pip!

Thanks for listening to the podcast! Do us a solid and leave a rating and review if you enjoy the show! Subscribe using iTunes or our Podcast RSS Feed. Any feedback? Tweet us @readyup.

Ready Up Podcast theme music courtesy of Tommy Tallarico

We’re back from our summer hiatus for a new season, and who better to kick things off with than resident technical pedant, chicken aficionado and regular emergency co-host Scott Cameron.

What have you been playing?

• Scott’s been playing a raft of games old and new. First up is Yakuza 0 where we convince Susan as to its virtues by diving deep into the series’ absurdities – as it fluctuates wildly between extreme violence, sentimentality and slapstick humour (much like this podcast).
• Scott’s been tidying up in Guild Wars 2 in anticipation for the forthcoming Path of Fire.

• Next up on the mega Scott playlist is Metroid: Samus Returns, which prompts an inevitable discussion of the ill-fated fan remake of Metroid 2 in contrast to the pseudo-official fan made Sonic Mania.
• Finally Scott’s tried the Octopath Traveller demo on Switch, Square Enix’s charming new retro RPG from the Bravely Default team.

• Dean has been playing Paragon a lot more since the update The New Dawn, which has seismically changed the game.
• Dean has also been submerged in Destiny 2 and is determined to get Raid ready, although he’s not sure he’s enjoying Crucible as much.
• Susan’s been playing and streaming (in both senses of the word) Life is Strange: Before the Storm and getting back in touch with her Emo teenage inner persona.

Spotlight: Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds

For our spotlight this time we discuss the site’s continuing, and possibly abusive, love affair with Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) and Scott’s bitterness over its success. You can check out our streams of this and other games over at www.twitch.com/readyupvideo

Two Truths, One Lie

It’s time to wrap up with two truths, one lie with Scott, but can we see through his deep knowledge of retro games and eighties ephemera?

Thanks for listening to the podcast! Do us a solid and leave a rating and review if you enjoy the show! Subscribe using iTunes or our Podcast RSS Feed. Any feedback? Tweet us @readyup.

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Ready Up Podcast theme music courtesy of Tommy Tallarico