Digitally Uploaded

It's finally here! The sequel to the best console of all time! In this podcast, Trent and Matt chat through the Switch 2, and why we think it's a more than adequate follow-up to an amazing console. 

We also chat through the games of June (and thanks to a console launch, there are a lot of those!), before taking a look at the ongoing role of AI in games. That's a less pleasant conversation, but a critically important one. 

Thanks as always for tuning in, and all those Switch 2 early adopters, let us know what you th...

In this episode, we dig deep into the all-time classic, iconic Mario Kart series. We chat about where we all started with the series, what our personal favourites are, and what we think of an open world, Forza Horizon style take on the formula. 

From there, we talk about games that surprised us. Titles that we almost didn't play, gave it a crack for the hell of it, and then discovered that we loved it. Games as broad as NieR and Atelier Rorona, Star Ocean and Beyond Eyes.

We also, of course, chat about all t...

What do Mario 64 and Wingspan have in common? Both are games that we turn to when we need to give our minds a break and relax through stress, anxiety and the like. 

What does Metroid and Rhythm Heaven have in common? They're among the last games that Nintendo will publish on the Nintendo Switch. We chat about what will likely be the last Nintendo Direct for one of the greatest consoles of all time. 

And, naturally, we chat through the games of April. Plenty coming there to look forward to!

Welcome to the March edition of the Digitally Uploaded podcast! In this episode we dive deep into Xenoblade Chronicles X, now that it's finally being rescued from Wii U exclusivity.

We also chat about music, with one of the music team from our very own upcoming visual novel, The Last Waltz, joining to talk about the experience.

And of course we talk through all the big games releasing in March - there's more than just Xenoblade Chronicles X!

Many thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next month!

It's our first episode of 2025, and we're rolling January and February together, as the team is busy with lifestyle activities like getting married. 

For this first episode, we run through the intimidatingly big release line-up for February, and then talk in-depth about the Switch 2 - what we saw from the big reveal teaser and what we hope to see as Nintendo ramps up to the big release. 

Here's to a big and exciting 2025 for video games! It certainly looks like we're set for a big year.

Join us in the final episode of the Digitally Uploaded podcast for the year as we look back at the games that were in 2024, and what we're looking forward to the most in 2025. 

Overall 2024 has been a really good year for releases. So much so, in fact, that so many of the really good games have already (tragically) faded into obscurity. So we dust off a couple of those to recommend you look back at before the year is out. 

Then we look at what's coming in 2025. Some big blockbusters, of course, but there's also a...

After ten years there's finally a new Dragon Age game. Unfortunately, it's also one of the biggest disappointments of the year. So we dig into that a bit, looking at where things went to wrong and what the game really should have been. 

We also look at the newly-released Nintendo Music app, and all the promise it holds. Is it just the start of bigger things to come? We think so...

And of course we discuss all the big games releasing in November. There's plenty to look forward to!

It's the spooky time of year again, and of course all the developers and publishers have been rushing out their horror games. There's some good ones, too, and this month we chat a bit about what makes a good horror game in our view. 

We also talk about all the other games that are releasing in October - there are a lot of them! Games to suit every taste, no less! 

And then finally we also take some time to talk about our own visual novel project: The Last Waltz. After working on it for mo...

Lollipop Chainsaw is back! Lollipop Chainsaw is back! FINALLY! 

We're very excited about the imminent re-release of the game with the cheerleader, her mini-skirt, and all them zombies to slay. But we're also very interested to see if the discourse behind this game has changed in any way, because it was once a very controversial title indeed. 

Elsewhere on the podcast we also discuss the inglorious fate of Concord and the seemingly inevitable decline of live service games. The market is demonstrating that it has firmly met its saturation point and it is almost certainly a...

Who doesn't love their Switch? It is arguably the finest console of all time (though the arguments you can make in favour of it are very compelling), and this week we dig into some of our most played games of all time. 

Given that it's the 2024 Olympic Games, we also talk about sports, and the kinds of sports games we like to see. As it turns out, there is a point where "realism" in sports games can be to its detriment. 

And finally we chat about all the game releases in August. It's not the bi...

Welcome to the July episode of the Digitally Uploaded podcast! 

This month, we kick off discussing all the big games in July, highlighting anticipated titles like Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail, Battle Cats Unite, and The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak. We also discuss niche titles and ports like Spin Rhythm XD, Princess Maker 2 Regeneration, and Earth Defense Force 6.

From there, we explore the newly released Nintendo 64 Mature App, which currently includes the two classics Perfect Dark and Turok. Two games doesn't make much of a compilation, so we discuss some of the other games t...

Welcome to the latest episode of the Digitally Uploaded Podcast! 

This month we talk about the sorry state of game development, in light of everything that has been going on with Microsoft shuttering studios (and then immediately looking for more acquisitions)

Then we discuss the controversy surrounding Ubisoft's upcoming Assassin's Creed game set in Japan, focusing on the historical character Yasuke, the first African samurai. We chat about the importance of accurate historical representation and the backlash against the game's protagonist. 

And, of course, we discuss all the big game releases for June. Wh...

This month we delve into everything from the controversial Stella Blade to the untapped potential in Australian game stories such as Broken Roads, and everything in-between.

We kick off the podcast talking about all the games we're looking forward to that are coming out in May. There are some surprising ones on the horizon that you probably weren't aware of, but should have on the radar! 

From there we talk about the quirky, less popular games from the 90s such as Iggy's Wrecking Balls and Ayden Chronicles, and how difficult it can be t...

This month on the Digitally Uploaded podcast, we dive deep into Dragon's Dogma 2, as a rare example of an open world that delivers on the promise of open world games. It's not for everyone... but wow is it a work of art. 

We also discuss how game developers on board us with new games and concepts... especially at a time when we're all busy and only have a few hours a week to ourselves. What can developers do to make sure we're enjoying that time to the best, rather than learning complex systems?

Finally, we t...

Welcome to the March episode of the Digitally Uploaded podcast – your go-to destination for everything video gaming. It's a big month. It's a Final Fantasy month!

We start by chatting about the big games coming out this month, including Fitness Boxing featuring Hatsune Miku, the retro Top Racer Collection which revisits the nostalgia of 16-bit racing games, and Snufkin, Melody of Moominvalley. And that's just the indie stuff. There are some BIG games on the way.

Then we chat about Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's gripping narrative, versus some of the open-world stuff, which we are of tw...

Diving into Gaming Accessible to All

In the first episode of 2024, we start by looking at all the upcoming game releases for February 2024. This year has been off to an incredible start, and the momentum continues this month. Big time.

From Final Fantasy to Sony games, we investigate the strides taken in gaming accessibility in this episode. We explore the convenience provided by features such as "easy story-based mode" in action-based games, the challenge in making boss battles work without relying on grinding experience, and how to optimise games based on...

It's the final podcast of 2023! We hope that everyone has played some magnificent games this year, and is looking forward to a well-earned break (and perhaps a chance to catch up on the backlog). 

We've rounded out the year in style, with a big podcast, looking back at all the great and memorable things we played in 2023, the big games still to come, and then, for the retro-inclined, those classics that were difficult and challenging to audiences. 

As always, let us know what you think, and have a wonderful end of the year, everyone!

...

In among all the big games releasing in November (seriously, just check out the "games of the month" list), we found some time to muse on what to expect from the Nintendo Switch successor this month.

Surely the console is reaching the end of its life, and surely Nintendo is getting closer to making the announcement of the successor... so what are we expecting from it?

In this podcast we also discuss some games that we just know we'll love... and yet haven't played yet. You might be surprised by some of the stuff we've...

We've reached the tail end of the year, and the games keep on coming! As you'll see from our October release list, there's a lot to look forward to - a lot - so make sure you clear those weekends away. 

Then, for the rest of the podcast, we tackle two topics to deal with the big end of town. Firstly, with Jim Ryan stepping down from Sony, we discuss his legacy, how Sony changes under his management, and what might be next now the company will have a chance in leadership. 

Then we also ch...

It's September already! We recorded this episode well in advance for scheduling reasons, and so some of the things we say in here will be out of date... but we still have a good laugh, despite not knowing what has happened over the last six weeks. 

So this week we kick off by looking at the big games releasing in September. Then we chat about games that "get worse" over time. Finally, we have a good laugh examining where our limits are as to what we'd play on the train. 

Thanks as always for tuning in...

This month's podcast is a simple one: we rank all the JRPGs! Yep, that's right, we go through all the major series, old and new, and class them according to the tiers we think they belong to. 

We assume some people are going to yell at us over our picks!

We also list out all the big games happening in August. It's yet another month where you better get those batteries charged, because there's a lot to play. 

Let us know your own JRPG rankings, and we'll see you next month!

Something old and something new for discussion in this month's podcast! 

We kick things off as we always do with a look at all the games releasing in July. If you're a fan of Japanese games - and JRPGs in particular - steel yourself because the month is going to be intense.

From there we talk about Final Fantasy XVI in-depth. What were the themes that we found most poignant about it, what has disappointed us in how the conversation around the game has gone, and what do we think (and hope) this masterpiece means f...

Welcome to the June 2023 edition of the Digitally Uploaded podcast! As usual we've got a great show for you planned. 

We start by chatting through all the big releases in June. It's dominated by one particular game, but there's a lot of other interesting stuff coming too! 

Then we talk about sequels - what makes a good sequel? Should it be a direct continuation of its predecessor, or something totally different? And is it okay to reuse elements, such as the same in-game world?

Finally, we talk about narrative accessibility. With games becoming in...

Hello everyone, and welcome to the bumper podcast we have for you for May!

In addition to talking through all the big games coming out this month (it's dominated by one game in particular... can you guess what game?), we also chat through two big topics:

Firstly, with Final Fantasy XVI just on the horizon (and the Pixel Remasters just out on console), we ask ourselves what were our favourite moments of the series, from its early days right through to the most modern releases.

Then, in light of the horrible releases of...

This month on the Digitally Uploaded podcast, we grapple with the thorniest of issues currently plaguing video games: The role that AI is increasingly playing in the "creative" side of development. In short, it's a problem. Potentially, a very big problem.

Then, to be more positive, we talk about excellent writing in games. What are some of the games over the years that have really stood out to us as examples of just purely good writing?

All that, plus our usual wrap of the most interesting-looking games coming out this month. Kick back and enjoy...

This month on the Digitally Uploaded podcast, we have a bumper episode where we talk through the GB and GBA games that we'd love to see on Switch. How do games from that era hold up, or are they just for the nostalgic, and will we get the full breadth of creativity that was released for those consoles?

Then, in honour of the release of Wo Long, Koei Tecmo's latest Soulslike, we chat about that genre again. Specifically, we ask the question: what helps a Soulslike from a developer other than FromSoftware stand out? What does FromSoftware...

Welcome to the February episode of the podcast!

As always, we've got a cracking episode for you this month. We start out by discussing the games of the month as always. Then we move on to our favourite snacks & drinks while gaming, before capping things off with a chat about game music in symphonies; what works and what do we prefer to have as part of the gaming experience?

As always let us know your own thoughts, and have a great month in gaming!

We are back for another year! The January episode of the Digitally Uploaded podcast is a big, two-hour special, and we have a special guest on this week!

We start the episode by talking about the big game releases in January (and there are some surprises to look forward to!), and then we each pick our three big games of the last year that stood out to us as highlights.

From there we have a chat with Lachlan, of Lached Up Games. He recently released his latest game, My Mad Scientist Roommate Turned Me Into...

Welcome everyone to the last podcast of 2022, and we have a bumper 2-hour special for your listening pleasure.

First of all, we talk about the last wave of games to land in the year (there's more than you think!), and then we chat about the challenges of open-world games, and taking formerly linear adventures and moving them into those open spaces.

Finally, we talk about the two approaches to characterisation - named characters (where player choice over character creation might be limited) vs. character creation (where the developer has no idea what kind of character...

Welcome to the month's podcast, everyone! As always we've got a great show to share with you this month. We kick things off by discussing all the big releases happening in November (there's a lot). 

Then we chat about sequels, and specifically, what is the best approach to take. Should a sequel assume that players have played the previous titles, or should each sequel be self-contained?

Finally, we get a bit nostalgic this month, and each pick three game properties that have been put on ice, and we'd just love to see them back. What w...

We've got another big, 2-hour episode of the podcast for your listening pleasure this month!

In addition to our usual wrap of all the games coming out this month, we chat about a lack of understanding about how games get made and published. This is of course in response to the GTA VI leaks from a few weeks ago, but it does seem to be a timeless topic - why do people not better learn about how games are made? 

And then we also chat about a favourite genre of ours at DDNet - the r...

Welcome to another massive episode of the DDNet podcast! This month we kick things off with a look at all the big releases happening (it is a lot!) as usual... then we talk about handhelds. With competition heating up to bring Steam handhelds to market, will we even need consoles and PCs soon?

From there we talk about endlessly updating games. Is it a good thing that games are updated now and previous versions of those games are purged from existence? We would argue that that's not so cut-and-dry.

Thanks as always for tuning in...

A couple of us on the podcast made the terrible mistake of watching the new Resident Evil television series recently. It really was a mistake - don't do it to yourselves - but in watching that we realised that there was a good discussion in there about what motivates these TV/film adaptations of video games, and why are they rarely any good?

In addition, we chat about the ongoing discourse around short games. Stray really did kick off a new round of that, but on the podcast, we take a broader video on the topic, and t...

This month on the Digitally Uploaded podcast, we discuss what the next 12 months look like for the major console publishers. Now that their mid-year streams and shows have ended, what do we think will happen in the next few months...

Then we discuss this concept of the "blockbuster" JRPG. In a genre that's so often niche and unassuming... do we even need those big-ticket JRPGs, designed for all audiences?

Finally, of course, we discuss all the big games coming out this month... speaking of JRPGs, it's going to be a big one.

Thanks...

Hello listeners! We've got a cracking good podcast this month, with Ryan Brown of Super Rare Games jumping on to talk about his amazing Mixtape project, where he collects together some of the best indie titles from itch.io and other places, and gives you a chance to own amazing artistry and creativity in a physical format.

We also talk about the game series that we can't ever get enough of (Warriors/Musou and Mario Bros. rank highly, unsurprisingly), and as always we run through the big upcoming games for the month... fair warning to your backlogs...

The news yesterday that Square Enix was selling off its western development studios to help fund a move into blockchain gaming, NFTs and other such things makes this podcast all the more pertinent. We actually recorded it before that news broke, but we actually talk about how terrible NFTs will be to the video game industry going forwards.

Elsewhere, we list off the massive number of May game releases you should be looking forward to, and chat about video game narratives that would be absolutely impossible to achieve in other media; just how can video games shape...

This month on the Digitally Uploaded podcast, we chat about Stranger of Paradise - Square Enix and Koei Tecmo's new action JRPG that is turning heads and amusing people... but is also one of the smartest games that you'll play all year and highlights some important developments in video games as an art form.

Then, we chat about the game canon. What makes a game "canon"? Is it just that it's the most fun game? That it sells well? Or are there other qualities that elevate the great and entertaining to the masterpieces of the form?<...

Howdy peeps, and welcome to the March edition of the Digitally Uploaded podcast! We've got some great stuff to chat through this month so kick back and enjoy the 2-hour ride!

First, we run through all the stuff releasing in the month ahead (it's a staggering line-up of games). Then we talk about Elden Ring - a game that is surely going to be turning heads for many years to come (and with good reason). Finally, we talk about spoiler culture, and just how much our obsession with spoilers is letting the art form down.

...

Welcome to the February edition of the Digitally Uploaded podcast!

This month we have one thing on our minds: Pokémon! With the first brand new Pokémon title in quite some time - Arceus - landing on our doorsteps, we've been playing it like mad because this is an absolute return to form for the series. And so we have focused the podcast on this topic.

Not only do we chat about Arceus itself, but how Game Freak is managing the property, our own history with Pokémon, and what we might see from the...

We're back for 2022! And we've got a great podcast to kick things off!

This week, we're chatting about emulation consoles - what they are, why they're great, and what we can expect from them in 2022. When it comes to archiving and accessing the otherwise lost games of yesteryear, emulation consoles are worth their weight in gold.

We also chat about digital board games - what we like to play and why we like them.

Thanks for tuning in, and let's have a great 2022!