A look at gaming in April 2005

Send us Fan MailApril 2005 wasn’t just a month, it was a snapshot of gaming right before everything sped up. I’m joined by Tom, aka Digital Monkery, and we dig into the games we’d be playing, the releases people forgot, and the industry stories that sound unbelievable until you realize they actually happened. We start with the fun stuff: Super Monkey Ball Deluxe as the kind of party game that can ruin friendships in the best way, plus Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 Remix showing off why the PlayStation Portable felt like a pocket-sized PS2. From there we bounce through Twisted Metal Head-On, the overlooked shine of Midnight Club 3 Dub Edition, and the kind of left-field experiment you rarely see today with Metal Gear Acid turning stealth into card-based strategy. We also take a moment to appreciate Psychonauts and what it represents: studios taking creative risks and building worlds that still feel unique decades later. Then we hit April 2005 gaming news and it gets weird fast. A UK retailer jumps the gun with speculative PSP preorder pricing, Gizmondo tries to survive by slashing cost and showing targeted ads, and a Nielsen report claims video games are already outspending music in the US, setting the stage for gaming to become the dominant entertainment industry. We wrap with quick picks from May 2005, including Pokemon Emerald and Cold Fear, plus a couple of movie grabs for the time capsule vibe. If you like retro gaming deep dives, PSP history, PS2-era classics, and the stories behind the headlines, subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave us a review so more people can find Flashback.Join our fantastic discordhttps://discord.gg/v7RFSUcGIf link has expired then message us at [email protected] click the linktree on our instagram.or DM us on instagram or X and we'll send you an invite.Cheers gamers!

Send us Fan MailNovember 2010 doesn’t just feel like “not that long ago” it’s a reminder of how fast gaming changed, and how stacked the release calendar used to be. We open our Flashback time capsule and trade the games we’d be playing across PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, handhelds, and early smartphone classics, from Cut The Rope’s perfect little physics puzzles to overlooked console gems like Enslaved: Odyssey to the West.We also dig into what made that era so special: when you had to stand out with fresh ideas, not just bigger budgets. That takes us through Super Scribblenauts and its vocabulary-powered problem solving, Kirby’s Epic Yarn and Nintendo’s knack for reinventing its own characters, plus DJ Hero 2 as a criminally fun party game that still holds up if you can track down the full kit. And yes, we go horror-heavy too: Dead Space proves atmosphere, lighting, and sound design can outlive any graphics generation.Then we hit the headlines that defined the month, including PlayStation Move’s big “sales” number and the fine print behind it, Nintendo’s huge Black Friday hardware surge, and Gran Turismo 5 knocking Call of Duty: Black Ops off the UK #1 spot. We wrap with Stingray’s Boot picks, a couple of movie choices, and how to join the community for playthroughs and challenges.If you like retro gaming history, seventh generation deep cuts, and honest talk about why creativity can get lost when the stakes get huge, hit play. Subscribe, share the show with a friend who lived through 2010, and leave us a review so more retro-curious listeners can find us.Join our fantastic discordhttps://discord.gg/v7RFSUcGIf link has expired then message us at [email protected] click the linktree on our instagram.or DM us on instagram or X and we'll send you an invite.Cheers gamers!

Send us Fan MailSega is cutting jobs. The Dreamcast is being phased out. And somehow, February 2001 is still packed with the kind of gaming memories that stick to your ribs. We rewind the clock and talk honestly about what it feels like when you love a console that the rest of the world is already leaving behind, using Headhunter as the perfect late-era Dreamcast snapshot: ambitious, stylish, a little rough around the edges, and impossible to separate from the mood of the moment.From there we bounce across the era the way real gaming life did back then. We get into Robot Wars: Arenas of Destruction on PS2, why the license sounded like a guaranteed hit, and why the execution never quite matched the fantasy of building a bot, earning credits, and flipping rivals in the arena. We also highlight Star Wars Starfighter, a PS2 space shooter that deserves more love for its mission structure, atmosphere, and pure “I’m in Star Wars” sound design.Then we zoom out into the business side with period news that hits differently today: Eidos missing targets after delays, Take-Two posting “promising results” before GTA 3 changes everything, and the uncomfortable question of how gaming jumped from tens of millions to tens of billions. We wrap with Stingray’s Boot picks for March 2001, including Shadow of Memories, Resident Evil Code Veronica X, F-Zero Maximum Velocity, and Zone of the Enders. Subscribe, share the show, and leave a review, and tell us in the comments: what console end-of-life hurt the most for you?Join our fantastic discordhttps://discord.gg/v7RFSUcGIf link has expired then message us at [email protected] click the linktree on our instagram.or DM us on instagram or X and we'll send you an invite.Cheers gamers!

Send us Fan MailFifteen years is an eternity in podcast time, especially in retro gaming, where trends cycle fast and attention is always shifting. We’re joined by Retro Asylum’s Dean Swain to get the real story behind one of the longest-running retro gaming podcasts in the UK, and why it still feels like a few mates talking games rather than a polished sales pitch.We start where so many collectors live right now: trying to keep vintage hardware playable without losing what made it special. Dean walks us through his MiSTer FPGA setup, the recent vector arcade cores that nail that unmistakable glow, and why the Vectrex has become both a dream system and a pricey headache. We also get into practical realities like repairs, CRT servicing, and why finding skilled techs matters if you want these machines to survive the next decade.Then we rewind into Dean’s gaming history, from early consoles to the Atari 2600, and the moment the ZX Spectrum becomes the center of everything, magazines, BASIC listings, tape swapping, and all. Along the way we hit his all-time favorite game, Double Dragon, plus the bigger question underneath it all: what makes retro gaming feel better than modern 100-hour time sinks.To close, we dig into how Retro Asylum grew, how the team evolved, what the awards did and didn’t mean, and why listener messages often matter more than charts. If you care about retro gaming community, podcast longevity, and making content that stays fun, you’ll get a lot out of this one. Subscribe, share this with a retro fan, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show.Join our fantastic discordhttps://discord.gg/v7RFSUcGIf link has expired then message us at [email protected] click the linktree on our instagram.or DM us on instagram or X and we'll send you an invite.Cheers gamers!

Send us Fan MailTen PS3 games, one simple goal: help you start a “new retro” PlayStation 3 collection with confidence, not confusion. We each bring five picks to the table, aiming for a true starter kit that mixes iconic heavy hitters with the kind of PS3 gems that slipped past people the first time around. If you have been hunting for the best PS3 games to collect, or you just dragged a console out of storage and want a smart list that covers multiple genres, we’ve got you.We dig into why these games still land today. George makes the case for Final Fantasy XIII as a gorgeous, turn-based leaning JRPG with incredible music and style, then we dive into the atmosphere of Bioshock and what makes Rapture unforgettable. From there we spotlight Transformers War for Cybertron as a shockingly faithful G1 love letter, shout out Singularity as a short, satisfying sci-fi shooter, and revisit Resistance Fall of Man as a PS3 launch-era exclusive that still feels rewarding once you adjust to the visuals.The back half goes big on world building and story. We talk LA Noire as a rare noir detective game with facial capture that still impresses, then plant the flag for GTA IV as Rockstar’s most “alive” city, right down to physics, weather, and street-level detail. We close with two Naughty Dog cornerstones, The Last of Us as a PS3 swan song and Uncharted Drake’s Fortune as the best place to start that whole adventure.To keep it practical, we round everything off with current prices (and one massive curveball), plus a quick reality check on what is still cheap, what is climbing, and what is worth grabbing now. If you enjoy it, subscribe, share the episode with a fellow PS3 collector, and leave us a review so more people can find the show.Join our fantastic discordhttps://discord.gg/v7RFSUcGIf link has expired then message us at [email protected] click the linktree on our instagram.or DM us on instagram or X and we'll send you an invite.Cheers gamers!

Send us Fan MailMarch 1995 is one of those months where gaming feels like it’s changing shape in real time. We’re proud to hit episode 40 by cracking open a fresh Flashback time capsule, swapping stories from the tail end of the 16-bit era while the industry starts side-eyeing polygons and “next gen” hardware. If you love retro gaming nostalgia, gaming history deep dives, and the kind of forgotten details you only got from magazines and playground chatter, this one is built for you.We start with the games that still deserve more love. Beneath a Steel Sky brings that Amiga and MS-DOS point-and-click adventure mood, all cyberpunk atmosphere and strong storytelling. Then we jump to Star Wars Dark Forces, a first-person shooter that felt wild at the time, packed with the sound and texture that made Star Wars fans obsess over every blaster hit. From there, it’s pure Sega love letter territory as we dig into Comic Zone’s comic-book brilliance and Ristar’s late-era Mega Drive polish, the kind of pixel art craftsmanship that still looks confident decades later.The news roundup is where 1995 gets delightfully strange. We talk Sega Saturn’s Video CD ambitions, Atari Jaguar’s mail-in bundle tactics, Apple and Bandai’s Pippin promise of a do-it-all 64-bit CD machine, and a wireless motion-style controller called the bird that feels like a prototype for the future that arrived much later. We wrap with Stingray’s boot picks, including Panzer Dragoon, plus a couple of movie choices to keep the time-travel vibe going.If you enjoy the ride, subscribe and share the show, leave us a review, and come argue your favorite 1995 game with us in the community. What’s the one title from this era you’d defend forever?Join our fantastic discordhttps://discord.gg/v7RFSUcGIf link has expired then message us at [email protected] click the linktree on our instagram.or DM us on instagram or X and we'll send you an invite.Cheers gamers!

Send us Fan MailJuly 1998 was the kind of month where a game could look “photo-realistic” for five minutes and still play like a brick, where every company with a license thought they could beat Nintendo, and where Sega was quietly lining up its last great swing. We jump back into that moment with the stuff we’d actually be playing, plus the gaming news that shaped the next few years.First up, we get honest about WWF Warzone, the Acclaim wrestling game we played to death even while admitting the controls were a mess. From there we swap notes on International Superstar Soccer 98 on N64, why couch multiplayer keeps old sports games alive, and how Konami’s gameplay-first mindset helped set the stage for the Pro Evolution Soccer years. Then we head into X-Files territory with The X-Files: The Game, an FMV detective adventure that feels like a missing episode if you can survive the era’s clunkiness.On the hardware side, we dig into WonderSwan versus Game Boy ambitions, Tiger’s Game.com Pocket Pro and its “organizer features,” and the Katana coverage that previews the Sega Dreamcast strategy: retailers, launch pressure, and the promise of quality titles after the Saturn stumble. We wrap with our August 1998 picks, a quick movie double feature (The Truman Show and Saving Private Ryan), and some ways to keep the conversation going with us.Subscribe for more retro gaming deep dives, share this with a friend who lived through the 90s console wars, and leave a review telling us what you were playing in July 1998.Join our fantastic discordhttps://discord.gg/v7RFSUcGIf link has expired then message us at [email protected] click the linktree on our instagram.or DM us on instagram or X and we'll send you an invite.Cheers gamers!

Send us Fan MailMarch 2006 isn’t just a date, it’s a mood: PS2 is still delivering late-era stunners, Xbox 360 has landed and everyone is chasing that first true “wow” game, and PSP is quietly becoming the most ambitious handheld Sony ever made. We’re RGT and UCP George, and we’re cracking open that exact month to figure out what we would have played, what still holds up, and what the era tells us about how gaming changed.We dig into 24: The Game and why it’s one of the better examples of a licensed PS2 game, right down to the show-style presentation tricks that still feel slick. From there, we get into the weird story of State Of Emergency 2 and how exclusivity and print runs can matter more than quality when retro game prices climb. Then it’s onto early Xbox 360 energy with Fight Night Round 3 as a genuine showpiece and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter as a more tactical, “grown up” shooter that made the new generation feel real.Oblivion brings the big nostalgia hit: the magazine preview excitement, the midnight launch mentality, and that old-school belief that a sequel on new hardware would be bigger and better by default. We also hit the March 2006 headlines, from the GTA lawsuit conversation to Sony ending PS1 production after a staggering 100+ million units, plus PSP’s price cut and its all-in plan for PS1 emulation, multimedia features, and add-ons.If you love retro gaming, Xbox 360 history, PS2 classics, PSP nostalgia, and the stories that come with them, queue this up. Subscribe, share the show with a friend who misses that era, and leave us a review with your own March 2006 picks.Join our fantastic discordhttps://discord.gg/v7RFSUcGIf link has expired then message us at [email protected] click the linktree on our instagram.or DM us on instagram or X and we'll send you an invite.Cheers gamers!

Send us Fan MailSeptember 2002 doesn’t flood the calendar with releases, but the hits it does have are the kind that stick to you for decades. We’re building a retro gaming time capsule around a tight set of essentials across PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube, starting with Kingdom Hearts as the rare “Disney looking” action RPG that’s genuinely rewarding, surprisingly tough late game, and perfect for passing the controller with someone you actually like. If you’ve ever skipped it because the box art felt childish, we make the case for why that’s a mistake.From there we jump to two very “only in the early 2000s” GameCube swings: Star Fox Adventures, the famously pivoted project that began as Dinosaur Planet, and Super Mario Sunshine, where FLUDD turns movement into the main character. We talk about why both games show their era in the best way, how they feel today, and why they still belong in a curated retro collection even if they’re not the obvious, safe picks.Then we go deeper on Sly Cooper, a cel shaded stealth platformer that looks cute and plays sharp, plus the collector side of the hobby with the CIBI app for cataloging your shelves and tracking value. We also crack open the September 2002 news time capsule: early “Xbox Two” rumors, the heartbreak of MicroProse UK shutting down and Jeff Crammond’s legacy, and the surprisingly important moment when 2.4GHz wireless controllers started to feel real. If you love retro games, physical media, and the stories that shaped the industry, you’ll feel right at home. Subscribe, share this with a friend who lived through the PS2 era, and leave a review with the one 2002 game you’d defend forever.Join our fantastic discordhttps://discord.gg/v7RFSUcGIf link has expired then message us at [email protected] click the linktree on our instagram.or DM us on instagram or X and we'll send you an invite.Cheers gamers!

Send us Fan MailMarch 2015 is close enough to remember clearly and far enough away to feel weirdly historic. We crack open that month like a time capsule and start with The Order 1886, the PS4 exclusive that took a beating for its length and linear design, yet still looks stunning and nails a grimy Victorian steampunk mood. We talk about why it plays so well as a “palette cleanser,” how perceptions shift after a decade, and why it still feels like a sequel shaped hole in the PS4 era.Then we jump to games that quietly built lasting fandoms. Trine reminds us how good console indie platformers can be when they mix puzzles, combat, and character switching into a smooth rhythm. City Skylines turns into a full blown obsession, from traffic problems and pollution planning to the rabbit hole of YouTube megaprojects and experiments. After that we celebrate Axiom Verge, a Metroidvania love letter made by one person, and dig into why its atmosphere and soundtrack punch so far above its pixel art style.The back half swings into March 2015 news oddities: the Metal Gear Solid movie script chatter that went nowhere, and a console durability stunt where machines get dropped from 15 feet and drenched in Mountain Dew, with a surprise winner. We finish with Stingray’s boot picks, including Kerbal Space Program, and movie night choices like Jurassic World and Ex Machina, plus how to join our community playthrough chats. If you enjoyed the nostalgia, subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a quick review so more people can find us.Join our fantastic discordhttps://discord.gg/v7RFSUcGIf link has expired then message us at [email protected] click the linktree on our instagram.or DM us on instagram or X and we'll send you an invite.Cheers gamers!