Game pickups of my last holiday. Wonder what I’ll get this time.

That time I inexplicably found a machine in an actual arcade rigged up to play roms (for money) and paid £1 for two credits on Blomby Car.

Audibly went “huh!” to myself at work, which is about as high as my excitement level can go. The Outfoxies is absolutely top-tier!

That time a few years back where I bought a ZX Spectrum game from Cash Converters, but technically could have paid it off in instalments.

Very neat! Wonder if we'll ever get the ones from the short-lived European service.

Thrill Drive is coming! (it probably isn’t)

I see my policy of only buying things that actually exist continues to be one of my better life decisions.

Using any kind of Generative AI on YouTube is an instant “no” from me. AI voices, hit backspace. AI music, I’m out. AI thumbnail, won’t click. AI logo, scroll past.

Found the old website. Imagine working for a company that primarily deals in game and cat-based entertainment, must be some job satisfaction in that somewhere.

I like it when I explore weird old game company websites, because then you find out that Magical Company were simultaneously trying to develop a PS2 golf game and operate some kind of cat theme park.

My advice to anyone trying to get to the bottom of every PS2 game released by Midas Interactive (including re-releases of earlier Swing Entertainment titles) is to not do that because it’s a living nightmare.

Midas things are happening!

So basically the scary banned game is just a bit of a surreal art house thing with weird content like thousands of European films. It’s just America doing their usual repressed panic attack they do every so often, like when they saw Janet Jackson’s nipple that time.

Finally, that weird game featuring the rise and fall of Alex Kidd.

Scariest thing is when you see the enormous lists on PSXdatacenter and think “hold on, I’ve got one that isn’t on the list”. How many others are lurking out there?

Slightly belated 25th Anniversary to Shenmue on the DC which I bought on Boxing Day from Gamestation in Leeds White Rose but they didn’t have any VMUs so I could only play Disc 1 for a few days. Still got my original copy. For the record, my favourite character is the jerk in the Slot House.

This got weirdly popular (by my standards) and makes me wonder if I should do some video about console link cable multiplayer stuff. It’s mostly driving games, which makes sense.

I’m just thinking out loud here and I don’t think I’ve ever played a game console with a link cable and two TVs setup. I guess I’ll do that in 2026, gives me something to aim for.

Always here for the brothers.

I'll do another one - in GTA3, the standard engine texture and some car wheel textures (e.g. Sentinel) are from a Honda HR-V. Some of the other cars use wheel textures from a Fiat Punto (e.g. police car, taxi).

Probably the only other good truly useless piece of game knowledge I know is that the early releases of Tokyo Road Race published by Midas Interactive for the PS2 in PAL regions have a typo on the spine so it reads "Toyko".

As it came up recently, the "Mike's Carpet Bomb" in Worms 2 is an local in-joke based around Mike's Carpets, a small chain of carpet showrooms around West Yorkshire run by Mike Smith (now deceased). A few years ago I encountered him in a car park and was going to ask him about it, but then I didn't.

Found a memoy card with dreadful blurry photos dated 2007 (!) of some of my collection of driving/racing games that I presume I posted on a forum or something, can't remember. C1 Circuit is an absolute honker, worth playing just for how the cars bounce off scenery.

It’s easy to overlook the Wii, but it’s probably the top console for “here’s a bit of a weird-sounding game for the price of a sandwich” impulse purchases.

Apparently I’m currently working in a building where people are informed of the importance of Worms.

Solitiba (Pocket Card Jockey) CD arrived today, but my car is with the mechanic so I can’t drive around blasting it at confused pedestrians. It’s one thing after another lately!

Update, the CD is in the post! This is going straight in the car CD changer so I can drive to my miserable job with joyful horse solitaire music.

My favourite Celebrity Jungle moment was in 2018 when Ant McPartlin recklessly crashed his car into two other vehicles whilst over double the drink-drive limit and the media desperately scrambled to frame it as a sad mental health issue rather than the actions of a completely selfish cunt.

All the stars are here!

Finally, an opportunity to bathe in Saturn games. @pandamonium.bsky.social

There's a lot of talk about Acclaim coming back, but I think it's about time somebody brought back Midas Interactive and their "might be amazing, might be awful, likely to be weird" attitude to PAL markets. Some of the finest games I ever played on the PS2 (and several of the worst).

I already had Side Pocket as a loose cartridge, but these little Namcot boxes are very appealing.

Found the old image file of some textures from Crimewave on the Saturn, was part of a reel from the graphics designer on his old website. I always loved the look of the game and all the weird shopfronts and ads, just wish it ran a bit better.

Post you from a different era Despite the woodgrain CRT and "some prick from Miami Vice" suit, this is probably only about 2010. Almost lost enough weight I can fit back into it.

You watch one @seanseanson.bsky.social video about Namco PS1 games and think you can handle it, only for it to gradually become an all-consuming addiction with the Namco Tennis extended universe.

I’ve bought new Grand Theft Auto games since you were driving stolen cars in a top-down perspective to a crane where a pair of lips told you “get your buns outta there”. Bought every single one new, many in multiple formats. This needs resolving or my GTAVI money is staying firmly in my pocket.

eliasdaler.itch.io/yume-nikki-ps1 (I forgot to post this link... 🫠) Thank you so much for all the positive feedback!

Yume Nikki PS1. Demo out NOW! It contains two dream worlds to explore. You can run it on a real PlayStation 1. This is a fan game. I put a lot of love and care into it. I hope you enjoy it. #yumenikki #ps1 #psx #gamedev #homebrew

For no reason, here's "Carry On!" by Jun Senoue from Victory Goal on the Saturn, recorded directly off the sound test screen. Fun Fact: When the local Speedibake factory burnt down in 2020, I was stuck in traffic for several hours playing this in my car CD player.

This is just a test for now, but I thought it would be nice to occasionally put up (lesser known) game music I find interesting. Here's the track "Step Bye Step" from Joe Down Studio featured in Virtual Casino on the Saturn. If the audio levels are terrible or something, I'll figure it out.

I miss the arcade near my college, they had so many winning cabinets including Tokyo Wars, GTI Club, House of the Dead, Metal Slug 2. It was full of slot machines so they had a free lunch “buffet” of sandwiches/orange juice to keep the problem gamblers in. Later became gambling only, then closed.

Wow! Astounded by this one, used a lot of my college “learning breaks” to play this in the arcade down the road, haven’t played it for over 20 years. Very exciting!

Even as somebody has reviewed games, I think reviews aren’t ideal since games (like most media) are utterly subjective - but giving a review to somebody who is close-minded and already doesn’t like that kind of game is a massive waste of time for everyone, especially readers.

Just remembered that the Platinum version of TOCA Touring Car Championship on the PS1 added Dual Shock support. Hope this memory serves you well.

Solidarity with the workers.

There she is!

I can’t think of any interesting Halloween gaming content, the closest I can give you is that many years ago there was an arcade with Splatterhouse and I played it. By then I’d already played Splatterhouse II on the Mega Drive, but they’re pretty much comparable.

Worth knowing, especially if your YouTube is full of low resolution games.

Come watch my very long video about Taito games on the PS1, every single one in fact! Can you believe how much Bub and Bob you're about to see? Bubble Dragon fans come through! A Look at EVERY Taito PS1 Game is out now!!! Likes and shares greatly appreciated as always <3 youtu.be/DtAKHQhVV98?...