60 acast.com Total Playtime https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime en Total Playtime videogames,rock paper shotgun,pc gaming,indie games Total Playtime support us on Patreon you'll get weekly episodes. Send us questions, ideas and feedback at totalplaytimepod@gmail.com, and follow us on BlueSky if you like.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> support us on Patreon you'll get weekly episodes. Send us questions, ideas and feedback at totalplaytimepod@gmail.com, and follow us on BlueSky if you like.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> false Total Playtime totalplaytimepod@gmail.com 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 total-playtime episodic https://assets.pippa.io/shows/cover/1736887990088-cf712be9-890a-4527-a1d0-67a89caf30a7.jpeg https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime Total Playtime Episode 32: Mr Beast Big Naturals Episode 32: Mr Beast Big Naturals Fri, 03 Apr 2026 14:00:00 GMT 59:07 69cfc0b7f44b357ce9967ff6 true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-32-mr-beast-big-naturals 69cfc0b7f44b357ce9967ff6 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-32-mr-beast-big-naturals full 1 32 This week we have fun (for a given value of fun) discussing Epic's mass layoffs, Sony's dynamic price testing, and the difficulty in reviewing Crimson Desert, maybe. One of these results on an extended discussion of the world's favourite glassy-eyed YouTuber. Please note, Jimmy, that the title is a lighthearted joke; I beg, do not turn your eye of Sauron upon us. 


Plus! Brendy gets unaccountably upset at us for saying things about mining but in a way that sort of implies we find mining sexually arousing. He genuinely seemed upset during recording as well. I don't think it was a bit. 


iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime


Thanks to all our current Patreons for making the podcast happen, and to Marsh Davies for our art and God Ribbon for our music. Send in what your regional time for woodlice is to totalplaytimepod@gmail.com. Make the most of our partnership by viewing Jank.cool.


Links!

Epic shitcanned a thousand people, and the Fortnite team are a bit like 'WELP'. Chet Falizsek went on a tear about it. Rumours abound that PlayStation are testing dynamic pricing. Now maybe spotted in the wild? Crimson Desert for some reason became the latest saviour of single player games (I think off the strength of one cool trailer maybe??) and then was distinctly mid. Paul Tassi wrote about how the review build was significantly different to the retail version.


Games!

Reanimal, Slay The Spire 2, and Hardspace Shipbreaker (and Edwin did write an article about the unionisation aspects!)


Recommendations!

The UK series of Last One Laughing, the sci-fi movie Project Hail Mary, and to look up and attend any of your local amateur dramatics societies. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> This week we have fun (for a given value of fun) discussing Epic's mass layoffs, Sony's dynamic price testing, and the difficulty in reviewing Crimson Desert, maybe. One of these results on an extended discussion of the world's favourite glassy-eyed YouTuber. Please note, Jimmy, that the title is a lighthearted joke; I beg, do not turn your eye of Sauron upon us. 


Plus! Brendy gets unaccountably upset at us for saying things about mining but in a way that sort of implies we find mining sexually arousing. He genuinely seemed upset during recording as well. I don't think it was a bit. 


iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime


Thanks to all our current Patreons for making the podcast happen, and to Marsh Davies for our art and God Ribbon for our music. Send in what your regional time for woodlice is to totalplaytimepod@gmail.com. Make the most of our partnership by viewing Jank.cool.


Links!

Epic shitcanned a thousand people, and the Fortnite team are a bit like 'WELP'. Chet Falizsek went on a tear about it. Rumours abound that PlayStation are testing dynamic pricing. Now maybe spotted in the wild? Crimson Desert for some reason became the latest saviour of single player games (I think off the strength of one cool trailer maybe??) and then was distinctly mid. Paul Tassi wrote about how the review build was significantly different to the retail version.


Games!

Reanimal, Slay The Spire 2, and Hardspace Shipbreaker (and Edwin did write an article about the unionisation aspects!)


Recommendations!

The UK series of Last One Laughing, the sci-fi movie Project Hail Mary, and to look up and attend any of your local amateur dramatics societies. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 31: Stoatal Playtime; Our DLSS 5 Is ON Episode 31: Stoatal Playtime; Our DLSS 5 Is ON Thu, 19 Mar 2026 22:00:00 GMT 1:00:05 69bc701f3bbfcfe8db238e22 true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-31-stoatal-playtime-our-dlss-5-is-on 69bc701f3bbfcfe8db238e22 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-31-stoatal-playtime-our-dlss-5-is-on full 1 31 This week we bring you an accidentally AI-themed extravaganza, as Krafton lost their Unknown Worlds/Subnautica 2 lawsuit for the funniest reason possible: they asked ChatGPT what to do. But just before that, Nvidia unveiled their new Super Sampling and its more like Super SLOP, am I right? Many came out to mock the TikTok-beauty-filterfication of Grace from Resi Requiem. And just before that, Jeff Kaplan, formerly Jeff from the Overwatch team (he's always the Queen from the Overwatch team of our hearts) dealt with some residual C-suit trauma by going on a podcast. Not this one, though. Maybe one day.


You can listen to the episode right here, or find it in your podcasting app of choice:

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime


Thanks to all our current Patreons for making the podcast happen, and to Marsh Davies for our art, Alix Attenborough for our editing, and God Ribbon for our music. Do not email me about Disco Elysium at totalplaytimepod@gmail.com. Make the most of our partnership by viewing Jank.cool.


Links!

ARC Raiders is replacing some of the genAI, and Digital Foundry saw Nvidia's DLSS5 and thought it was great, but everyone else made fun of it. Nvidia's CEO says we're all wrong; Kotaku asked a bunch of devs and they all hate it too. The Subnautica 2 lawsuit got weird (apparently it's coming out in May now, a decision Brendy describes as 'SUSPICIOUSLY fast'), Jeff Kaplan had a bad time.


Games!

Nate clamped his own mouth shut rather than talk about AoEII again, but Brendy has been playing Slay The Spire 2, and Alice has been playing Esoteric Ebb! They wrote about them on a website. Alice also got to play the demo for the upcoming Darkside Detective game, Backside of the Moon. She was very excited.


Recommendations!

1997 Australian comedy The Castle, Death Rider by Rhuairidh James, and commissioning an independent artist (specifically, this one)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> This week we bring you an accidentally AI-themed extravaganza, as Krafton lost their Unknown Worlds/Subnautica 2 lawsuit for the funniest reason possible: they asked ChatGPT what to do. But just before that, Nvidia unveiled their new Super Sampling and its more like Super SLOP, am I right? Many came out to mock the TikTok-beauty-filterfication of Grace from Resi Requiem. And just before that, Jeff Kaplan, formerly Jeff from the Overwatch team (he's always the Queen from the Overwatch team of our hearts) dealt with some residual C-suit trauma by going on a podcast. Not this one, though. Maybe one day.


You can listen to the episode right here, or find it in your podcasting app of choice:

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime


Thanks to all our current Patreons for making the podcast happen, and to Marsh Davies for our art, Alix Attenborough for our editing, and God Ribbon for our music. Do not email me about Disco Elysium at totalplaytimepod@gmail.com. Make the most of our partnership by viewing Jank.cool.


Links!

ARC Raiders is replacing some of the genAI, and Digital Foundry saw Nvidia's DLSS5 and thought it was great, but everyone else made fun of it. Nvidia's CEO says we're all wrong; Kotaku asked a bunch of devs and they all hate it too. The Subnautica 2 lawsuit got weird (apparently it's coming out in May now, a decision Brendy describes as 'SUSPICIOUSLY fast'), Jeff Kaplan had a bad time.


Games!

Nate clamped his own mouth shut rather than talk about AoEII again, but Brendy has been playing Slay The Spire 2, and Alice has been playing Esoteric Ebb! They wrote about them on a website. Alice also got to play the demo for the upcoming Darkside Detective game, Backside of the Moon. She was very excited.


Recommendations!

1997 Australian comedy The Castle, Death Rider by Rhuairidh James, and commissioning an independent artist (specifically, this one)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 30: The Phil Spencer Xbox Explosion Episode 30: The Phil Spencer Xbox Explosion Thu, 05 Mar 2026 19:06:31 GMT 1:01:06 69a9d438f6d1583bb88689a1 true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-30-the-phil-spencer-xbox-explosion 69a9d438f6d1583bb88689a1 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-30-the-phil-spencer-xbox-explosion full 1 30 It’s a quiet one this week, as Alice is away doing mysterious things and Nate is away on a secret mission which you’ll have to hear about in two weeks’ time. It thus falls to Jonty and Brendy to ruminate on Xbox without Phil Spencer, games journalism without humans, and deciding which Pokémon starter would be the best restaurant starter. 

You can listen to the episode right here, or find it in your podcasting app of choice:


iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067


Thanks to all our current Patreons for making the podcast happen, and to Marsh Davies for our art and God Ribbon for our music. Submit your Pokémon recipes at totalplaytimepod@gmail.com. Make the most of our partnership by viewing Jank.cool.


Links!

Phil Spencer left Xbox, along with Sarah Bond. Everybody except Brendy regards him as a lovely bloke who knew a lot about games. The new boss is a creation of pure business and maybe that’s for the best. Metacritic pulled the Videogamer’s Resi Requiem review for being written by AI after nearly all the staff were laid off. Clint Hocking has left Ubisoft again. We would only eat one of the new Pokémon starters. 


Games!

The tooth-cleaning game Jonty couldn't remember was Shark Dentist. Brendy loves Airframe Ultra; you may also consider Star Wars: Galactic Racer and Deathgrip. The other games we played were The Ratline, Beyond Words, Word Play and Resident Evil Requiem. Marathon is out today so you can find out yourself if Jonty’s just really bad at it.


Recommendations!

Werner Herzog’s Instagram and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> It’s a quiet one this week, as Alice is away doing mysterious things and Nate is away on a secret mission which you’ll have to hear about in two weeks’ time. It thus falls to Jonty and Brendy to ruminate on Xbox without Phil Spencer, games journalism without humans, and deciding which Pokémon starter would be the best restaurant starter. 

You can listen to the episode right here, or find it in your podcasting app of choice:


iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067


Thanks to all our current Patreons for making the podcast happen, and to Marsh Davies for our art and God Ribbon for our music. Submit your Pokémon recipes at totalplaytimepod@gmail.com. Make the most of our partnership by viewing Jank.cool.


Links!

Phil Spencer left Xbox, along with Sarah Bond. Everybody except Brendy regards him as a lovely bloke who knew a lot about games. The new boss is a creation of pure business and maybe that’s for the best. Metacritic pulled the Videogamer’s Resi Requiem review for being written by AI after nearly all the staff were laid off. Clint Hocking has left Ubisoft again. We would only eat one of the new Pokémon starters. 


Games!

The tooth-cleaning game Jonty couldn't remember was Shark Dentist. Brendy loves Airframe Ultra; you may also consider Star Wars: Galactic Racer and Deathgrip. The other games we played were The Ratline, Beyond Words, Word Play and Resident Evil Requiem. Marathon is out today so you can find out yourself if Jonty’s just really bad at it.


Recommendations!

Werner Herzog’s Instagram and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 29: Extremely Online Beef People Episode 29: Extremely Online Beef People Thu, 19 Feb 2026 19:19:49 GMT 1:08:04 699762564c238f5dca6a7501 true https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-29-beef-151176919 699762564c238f5dca6a7501 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-29-extremely-online-beef-people Plus: the ideological opposite of Rivers Cuomo full 1 29 This week it's a conspiracy theory special, as Alice develops increasingly outlandish theories about the forces and decisions that shape the games industry, the pharmaceutical industy and the world, and Jonty and Brendy try and talk her down. Plus, layoffs again, pondering the ideological opposite of Rivers Cuomo, why the AI era is dumb and stupid, and a truly inspired Alien: Isolation mod idea.


You can download the podcast right here, or find it in your podcasting apps:

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067


Thanks to all our current Patreons for making the podcast happen (join them here!) and to Marsh Davies for our art and God Ribbon for our music. Submit to the Sausage Mailbag at totalplaytimepod@gmail.com. Make the most of our partnership by viewing Jank.cool.


Links!

AI is eating all the RAM. Component shortages are coming for routers. If you want to read 10,000 words about OpenAI being a scam then Ed Z has you covered. Rob Fahey on how consoles left families behind. Lots of Highguard devs got laid off. Do not post on X. Some industry lessons from the Highguard launch, one of which is that the world can change a lot over the course of a game's development. There are some wildly disparate voice actors in Mewgenics and Edmund McMillen swears that's intentional. He also went on Post Games.


Games!

Mewgenics. Super Meat Boy. Relooted. South of Midnight.


Recommendations!

Glen Baxter. This game engine is from the 90s. Columbo is on Channel 5 in the UK and a number of episodes are up on YouTube. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> This week it's a conspiracy theory special, as Alice develops increasingly outlandish theories about the forces and decisions that shape the games industry, the pharmaceutical industy and the world, and Jonty and Brendy try and talk her down. Plus, layoffs again, pondering the ideological opposite of Rivers Cuomo, why the AI era is dumb and stupid, and a truly inspired Alien: Isolation mod idea.


You can download the podcast right here, or find it in your podcasting apps:

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067


Thanks to all our current Patreons for making the podcast happen (join them here!) and to Marsh Davies for our art and God Ribbon for our music. Submit to the Sausage Mailbag at totalplaytimepod@gmail.com. Make the most of our partnership by viewing Jank.cool.


Links!

AI is eating all the RAM. Component shortages are coming for routers. If you want to read 10,000 words about OpenAI being a scam then Ed Z has you covered. Rob Fahey on how consoles left families behind. Lots of Highguard devs got laid off. Do not post on X. Some industry lessons from the Highguard launch, one of which is that the world can change a lot over the course of a game's development. There are some wildly disparate voice actors in Mewgenics and Edmund McMillen swears that's intentional. He also went on Post Games.


Games!

Mewgenics. Super Meat Boy. Relooted. South of Midnight.


Recommendations!

Glen Baxter. This game engine is from the 90s. Columbo is on Channel 5 in the UK and a number of episodes are up on YouTube. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 28: Bugpunk Episode 28: Bugpunk Thu, 05 Feb 2026 21:26:09 GMT 1:03:43 69850af1a498433613766305 true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-28-bugpunk 69850af1a498433613766305 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-28-bugpunk Plus: the most Alan Partridge thing Alice has ever said full 1 28 It was claimed that Sydney Sweeney was excited about the Split Fiction movie, and that’s an excuse for Alice to be absolutely livid about the Split Fiction game, so please strap in for ten uninterrupted minutes of her choking on her own bile. After that, we manage to find time to discuss the nature of Morrowind, people choosing not to go to GDC, Highguard’s doomed pact with Geoff Keighley, the most Alan Partridge thing Alice has ever said, and more.


You can download the podcast right here, or find it in your podcasting apps:


iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime

Thanks to all our current Patreons for making the podcast happen, and to Marsh Davies for our art and God Ribbon for our music. Share your recommendations of games and shrimp at totalplaytimepod@gmail.com. Make the most of our partnership by viewing Jank.cool and perhaps joining the Discord.


Links!


Syd is not actually hype about the Split Fiction script. Bruce Nesmith reckons Morrowind doesn’t hold up. Nate never visited the Crab Palace. Lots of people said they’re skipping GDC this year but the organisers say it’s fine. Highguard’s debut went badly which the dev considers “risky in hindsight”, although they’re trying hard and the 5v5 mode is now permanent. Please enjoy MerritK’s post in the Jank newsletter, and the rest of Jank.cool come to that. Iron Lung is in cinemas now. Brendy reviewed TR49. 


Games!


Split Fiction. The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind. Highguard is free. Everything Is Crab. TR49. 


Recommendations!


Moldovan Rara Neagra, Shitstorm by Fernando Sdrigotti, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Andycruns on BlueSky.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> It was claimed that Sydney Sweeney was excited about the Split Fiction movie, and that’s an excuse for Alice to be absolutely livid about the Split Fiction game, so please strap in for ten uninterrupted minutes of her choking on her own bile. After that, we manage to find time to discuss the nature of Morrowind, people choosing not to go to GDC, Highguard’s doomed pact with Geoff Keighley, the most Alan Partridge thing Alice has ever said, and more.


You can download the podcast right here, or find it in your podcasting apps:


iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime

Thanks to all our current Patreons for making the podcast happen, and to Marsh Davies for our art and God Ribbon for our music. Share your recommendations of games and shrimp at totalplaytimepod@gmail.com. Make the most of our partnership by viewing Jank.cool and perhaps joining the Discord.


Links!


Syd is not actually hype about the Split Fiction script. Bruce Nesmith reckons Morrowind doesn’t hold up. Nate never visited the Crab Palace. Lots of people said they’re skipping GDC this year but the organisers say it’s fine. Highguard’s debut went badly which the dev considers “risky in hindsight”, although they’re trying hard and the 5v5 mode is now permanent. Please enjoy MerritK’s post in the Jank newsletter, and the rest of Jank.cool come to that. Iron Lung is in cinemas now. Brendy reviewed TR49. 


Games!


Split Fiction. The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind. Highguard is free. Everything Is Crab. TR49. 


Recommendations!


Moldovan Rara Neagra, Shitstorm by Fernando Sdrigotti, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Andycruns on BlueSky.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> <![CDATA[FREE TO ALL: Text Adventure: Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell]]> Tue, 03 Feb 2026 16:22:44 GMT 1:33:45 698220d4143ae987af2f1d88 false https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/free-to-all-text-adventure-tom-clancys-splinter-cell 698220d4143ae987af2f1d88 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 free-to-all-text-adventure-tom-clancys-splinter-cell A free Patreon episode for all our listeners full This episode was previously exclusive to our Patreon backers, but we're making it available to everybody to show what you're missing behind the paywall. You can get access to more Text Adventure plus a year of other subscriber episodes, at patreon.com/TotalPlaytimePodcast.


Text Adventure is our videogame book club, in which we and a guest read a videogame novelisation and try very hard to like it. In this episode we are joined by Johnny Chiodini to read Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, which turns out to be story about a neocon Alan Partridge who's totally devoid of emotional intelligence and incredibly bad at stealth. Which is quite close to how we played Splinter Cell but not, we suspect, the outcome they were aiming for for.


Music by God Ribbon, art by Marsh Davies and our entire existence care of our Patreon backers. Please consider joining them and enabling us to continue our quest to find a games book that isn't absolutely terrible.


Games!

You can still buy the first Splinter Cell game, but the remake is out soon(ish)


Links

This is the book most of us read and this is the one Nate read.


Recommendations!

Going to the charity shops in the most fancy area available to you, London Centric's snail farmer mafioso article, thermal instant cameras, and the Realms Unknown podcast which has featured our own Nate!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> This episode was previously exclusive to our Patreon backers, but we're making it available to everybody to show what you're missing behind the paywall. You can get access to more Text Adventure plus a year of other subscriber episodes, at patreon.com/TotalPlaytimePodcast.


Text Adventure is our videogame book club, in which we and a guest read a videogame novelisation and try very hard to like it. In this episode we are joined by Johnny Chiodini to read Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, which turns out to be story about a neocon Alan Partridge who's totally devoid of emotional intelligence and incredibly bad at stealth. Which is quite close to how we played Splinter Cell but not, we suspect, the outcome they were aiming for for.


Music by God Ribbon, art by Marsh Davies and our entire existence care of our Patreon backers. Please consider joining them and enabling us to continue our quest to find a games book that isn't absolutely terrible.


Games!

You can still buy the first Splinter Cell game, but the remake is out soon(ish)


Links

This is the book most of us read and this is the one Nate read.


Recommendations!

Going to the charity shops in the most fancy area available to you, London Centric's snail farmer mafioso article, thermal instant cameras, and the Realms Unknown podcast which has featured our own Nate!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 27: The Legendary Milk Egg Episode 27: The Legendary Milk Egg Thu, 22 Jan 2026 23:01:33 GMT 1:04:22 6972ac7c4b6b88f001a6be6c true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-27-the-legendary-milk-egg 6972ac7c4b6b88f001a6be6c 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-27-the-legendary-milk-egg Plus: the Roman god of webinars full 1 27 It's a heady intersection of belief systems this week, as we combine Alice's insomniac enthusiasm for weird Instagram crystal sales with Nate's rigorous interrogation of Tim Cain's Types Of Quests. Plus: a horny dog, a nightmarish Pikachu, the Roman god of webinars and Games Anubis joins our increasingly incoherent pantheon.


You can listen to the episode right here, or find it in your podcasting apps:

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067


Nate's Quiz will be coming to Patreon next month, but in the meantime we have many other fine episodes to which you get full access by subscribing at patreon.com/totalplaytimepodcast. Thanks to all our current Patreons for making the podcast happen, and to Marsh Davies for our art and God Ribbon for our music. You can suggest quest types and your means of death at totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.


Links!

Tim Cain's 9 types of Quest. The moderately nightmarish Lego Pikachu is yours for £179.99. Various people will sell you bootleg plans for Lego Metal Gear Rex and probably also the Horizon Zero Dawn Tallneck because Lego long since sold out. Facepunch offered to buy New World after it was given 12 months to live.


Games!

Assassin's Creed Origins and New World, but only if you bought it already.


Recommendations!

The Holdovers, Tokyo These Days and The Long Walk.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> It's a heady intersection of belief systems this week, as we combine Alice's insomniac enthusiasm for weird Instagram crystal sales with Nate's rigorous interrogation of Tim Cain's Types Of Quests. Plus: a horny dog, a nightmarish Pikachu, the Roman god of webinars and Games Anubis joins our increasingly incoherent pantheon.


You can listen to the episode right here, or find it in your podcasting apps:

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067


Nate's Quiz will be coming to Patreon next month, but in the meantime we have many other fine episodes to which you get full access by subscribing at patreon.com/totalplaytimepodcast. Thanks to all our current Patreons for making the podcast happen, and to Marsh Davies for our art and God Ribbon for our music. You can suggest quest types and your means of death at totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.


Links!

Tim Cain's 9 types of Quest. The moderately nightmarish Lego Pikachu is yours for £179.99. Various people will sell you bootleg plans for Lego Metal Gear Rex and probably also the Horizon Zero Dawn Tallneck because Lego long since sold out. Facepunch offered to buy New World after it was given 12 months to live.


Games!

Assassin's Creed Origins and New World, but only if you bought it already.


Recommendations!

The Holdovers, Tokyo These Days and The Long Walk.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> <![CDATA[Episode 26: New Year's Resolutions]]> Thu, 08 Jan 2026 18:06:17 GMT 56:20 695ff21ad11f0c4fbb719894 true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-26-new-years-resolutions 695ff21ad11f0c4fbb719894 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-26-new-years-resolutions Plus: the ARC Raiders suicide cult full 1 26 It's 2026, and Alice's dog is still being a dick so she had to leave Jonty, Nate and Brendan to share their gaming New Year's Resolutions, only for the wheels to come off immediately because Nate won't commit to playing new games and Brendan won't commit to resolutions as a concept. We were nevertheless able to muster some recommendations along important discussion of the Eurovision of games, becoming The Balls Guy and the unsettling experience of joining an ARC Raiders suicide cult.


You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime


Music by God Ribbon, art by Marsh Davies and our entire existence care of our Patreon supporters, without whom this show would not exist. Consider joining them at https://www.patreon.com/c/TotalPlaytimePodcast. Share your comments and additional New Year's Resolutions for Alice to totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.


Links!

People are convincing themselves that Half-Life 3 is coming. The plan for Subnautica 2 is mostly litigation.


Games!

ARC Raiders. Mon Bazou. Totally Legit Wheeler Seller. Let's Build A Zoo. Ark Nova. Crusader Kings 3: Roads to Power. Nivalis. Streets of Fortuna.


Recommendations!

but the games were good. Get yourself a snake plant, and schedule an input day but don't give Nate any credit for it.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> It's 2026, and Alice's dog is still being a dick so she had to leave Jonty, Nate and Brendan to share their gaming New Year's Resolutions, only for the wheels to come off immediately because Nate won't commit to playing new games and Brendan won't commit to resolutions as a concept. We were nevertheless able to muster some recommendations along important discussion of the Eurovision of games, becoming The Balls Guy and the unsettling experience of joining an ARC Raiders suicide cult.


You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime


Music by God Ribbon, art by Marsh Davies and our entire existence care of our Patreon supporters, without whom this show would not exist. Consider joining them at https://www.patreon.com/c/TotalPlaytimePodcast. Share your comments and additional New Year's Resolutions for Alice to totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.


Links!

People are convincing themselves that Half-Life 3 is coming. The plan for Subnautica 2 is mostly litigation.


Games!

ARC Raiders. Mon Bazou. Totally Legit Wheeler Seller. Let's Build A Zoo. Ark Nova. Crusader Kings 3: Roads to Power. Nivalis. Streets of Fortuna.


Recommendations!

but the games were good. Get yourself a snake plant, and schedule an input day but don't give Nate any credit for it.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 25: The Awards Awards Episode 25: The Awards Awards Thu, 25 Dec 2025 17:49:41 GMT 1:06:44 694d7934c9578c8cda373aa0 true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-25-the-awards-awards 694d7934c9578c8cda373aa0 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-25-the-awards-awards Plus: Finally building the Interat full 1 25 Merry Christmas, sausages one and all, and please enjoy our seasonal gift of grumbling about a Geoff Keighley event. All four of us, plus Anthony Hopkins, took time out from Christmas shopping/wrapping/disorganisation to judge the best of the year-end awards season, and also debate movie series that Alice should binge-watch in her act of seasonal self-harm.


Plus: the least-qualified discussion of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 on any gaming podcast this year, Lenny Kravitz as recession indicator, Rolf the Dog smoking a joint with Joe Rogan and finally building The Interat. Correction: Alice mistakenly credited Rage 2 to Ubisoft when it was of course Bethesda and Jonty was too polite to point this out UNTIL NOW.


You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime


Music by God Ribbon, art by Marsh Davies and our entire existence care of our Patreon supporters, who remain the most special sausages even in the face of stiff seasonal competition. Thanks again for making all of this happen. You can send us comments, feedback and suggestions for terrible movie franchises to totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.


Games!

Star Wars Fate of the Old Republic, Ace Combat 8, Bradley the Badger, Control: Resonant, Tomb Raider: Catalyst, Sunset Overdrive, Order of the Sinking Star, Ontos, Total Warhammer 40k, Stupid Never Dies, Gang of Dragon.


Links!

The interminable appearance of the Street Fighter Cast. Here is a music journalist getting mad at "gaming 'journalists' and other slack-jawed, brainless zombies" for disrespecting Andrew WK's E3 performance. Damion Schubert pointed out that Game Awards pricing is actually pretty good by contemporary marketing standards. Casey Hudson and Jason Schreier disagreed on when Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic will come out. The Divinity trailer was gross AF. The internet was entirely normal about the Divinity statue. The first trailer for Baldur's Gate 3 was also a bit much. Alan Hazelden on being part of a Jonathan Blow game. Some people got hype, and then disappointed, by Half-Life 3 again. Anthony Jeselnik's Top 10 books of 2025.


Recommendations!

The Sycamore Gap Mystery and The Salt Path Scandal (here's the Observer exposé), A Passion for Passion, the Inside of You podcast, The Three Body Problem.  

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Merry Christmas, sausages one and all, and please enjoy our seasonal gift of grumbling about a Geoff Keighley event. All four of us, plus Anthony Hopkins, took time out from Christmas shopping/wrapping/disorganisation to judge the best of the year-end awards season, and also debate movie series that Alice should binge-watch in her act of seasonal self-harm.


Plus: the least-qualified discussion of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 on any gaming podcast this year, Lenny Kravitz as recession indicator, Rolf the Dog smoking a joint with Joe Rogan and finally building The Interat. Correction: Alice mistakenly credited Rage 2 to Ubisoft when it was of course Bethesda and Jonty was too polite to point this out UNTIL NOW.


You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime


Music by God Ribbon, art by Marsh Davies and our entire existence care of our Patreon supporters, who remain the most special sausages even in the face of stiff seasonal competition. Thanks again for making all of this happen. You can send us comments, feedback and suggestions for terrible movie franchises to totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.


Games!

Star Wars Fate of the Old Republic, Ace Combat 8, Bradley the Badger, Control: Resonant, Tomb Raider: Catalyst, Sunset Overdrive, Order of the Sinking Star, Ontos, Total Warhammer 40k, Stupid Never Dies, Gang of Dragon.


Links!

The interminable appearance of the Street Fighter Cast. Here is a music journalist getting mad at "gaming 'journalists' and other slack-jawed, brainless zombies" for disrespecting Andrew WK's E3 performance. Damion Schubert pointed out that Game Awards pricing is actually pretty good by contemporary marketing standards. Casey Hudson and Jason Schreier disagreed on when Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic will come out. The Divinity trailer was gross AF. The internet was entirely normal about the Divinity statue. The first trailer for Baldur's Gate 3 was also a bit much. Alan Hazelden on being part of a Jonathan Blow game. Some people got hype, and then disappointed, by Half-Life 3 again. Anthony Jeselnik's Top 10 books of 2025.


Recommendations!

The Sycamore Gap Mystery and The Salt Path Scandal (here's the Observer exposé), A Passion for Passion, the Inside of You podcast, The Three Body Problem.  

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> <![CDATA[Episode 24: They Play Horses, Don't They?]]> Thu, 11 Dec 2025 20:30:00 GMT 59:34 693b28e3593d8f20b60cfcfe true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-24-they-play-horses-dont-they 693b28e3593d8f20b60cfcfe 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-24-they-play-horses-dont-they full 1 24 In this episode we discuss the (frankly, needlessly) controversial HORSES, an Italian surrealist horror game that has been banned from Steam and, latterly, the Epic Game Store, and boy everyone and their mother has been yapping about it. What do we think of Steam's ban? Is nudity ever okay? And what's up with this Ian dude? (Answers: Steam can do what they want but this is still bad; no, live in shame you freaks; it is beyond the remit of this podcast to discover that).


A big thank you to God Ribbon for our music, Marsh Davies for our art, and our Patron supporters, who are all too hot for TV. You can share comments, suggestions, and NO FEEDBACK WHATSOEVER to totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.

You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime


Links!

*deep breath* Horses got banned from Steam, in events described by the devs here and supplement by a statement from Valve; Eurogamer also further interviewed Pietro Righi Riva, studio director, here. The game was also yoinked from Epic and briefly delisted by Humble (a summary from the Verge here). This kerfuffle despite the fact that most people who play the game kind of shrug at the content (Edwin, at our old stomping ground, seemed to like it, and his review provides a lot of context). Also, Ian Bogost rose from the dead to remind us that games shouldn't have stories anyway, and if they do they're bad. Horses is available on Itch, Humble and GOG.


Games!

Brendy has been shredding in Skate Story. Jonty has been playing The Séance of Blake Manor and is incorrect about it. Santa Ragione's website with links to their other games is here.


Recommendations!

Brant recommends The Ooh Directory (via PCGamer), Jonty recommends internet newsletter Read Max, and I recommend cooking channel Kaz Cooks.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> In this episode we discuss the (frankly, needlessly) controversial HORSES, an Italian surrealist horror game that has been banned from Steam and, latterly, the Epic Game Store, and boy everyone and their mother has been yapping about it. What do we think of Steam's ban? Is nudity ever okay? And what's up with this Ian dude? (Answers: Steam can do what they want but this is still bad; no, live in shame you freaks; it is beyond the remit of this podcast to discover that).


A big thank you to God Ribbon for our music, Marsh Davies for our art, and our Patron supporters, who are all too hot for TV. You can share comments, suggestions, and NO FEEDBACK WHATSOEVER to totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.

You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime


Links!

*deep breath* Horses got banned from Steam, in events described by the devs here and supplement by a statement from Valve; Eurogamer also further interviewed Pietro Righi Riva, studio director, here. The game was also yoinked from Epic and briefly delisted by Humble (a summary from the Verge here). This kerfuffle despite the fact that most people who play the game kind of shrug at the content (Edwin, at our old stomping ground, seemed to like it, and his review provides a lot of context). Also, Ian Bogost rose from the dead to remind us that games shouldn't have stories anyway, and if they do they're bad. Horses is available on Itch, Humble and GOG.


Games!

Brendy has been shredding in Skate Story. Jonty has been playing The Séance of Blake Manor and is incorrect about it. Santa Ragione's website with links to their other games is here.


Recommendations!

Brant recommends The Ooh Directory (via PCGamer), Jonty recommends internet newsletter Read Max, and I recommend cooking channel Kaz Cooks.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> The John Cena Xbox 360 Anniversary Special The John Cena Xbox 360 Anniversary Special Thu, 27 Nov 2025 20:00:00 GMT 59:46 6928a7f8f8803779b943cc99 true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/the-john-cena-xbox-360-anniversary-special 6928a7f8f8803779b943cc99 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 the-john-cena-xbox-360-anniversary-special Remember Milo? Remember the Kinect? Remember light up shoulder pads? full 1 23 We celebrate the birth of the Xbox 360, and God's own sausage-in-a-suit-jacket Phil Spencer. But mostly the Xbox 360. We reminisce about what the 'box mean to us, and Jonty reveals some of the behind-the-scenes dead-eyed virtual child Milo goss you've been waiting for. Plus! Games Satan returns with possibly his weirdest question yet.


A big thank you to God Ribbon for our music, Marsh Davies for our art, and the best sausages in the world, our Patreon supporters, for financing our silliness. You can share comments, suggestions, feedback, and Xbox memories to totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.


You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime


Links!

Eurogamer's piece on the end of the 360, and their hub of 360 articles. Here's the Milo demo, and the whole 2010 conference that Jonty was at if you're arsed. Enjoy the 360 reveal feat. Elijah Wood on PCGamer.


Recommendations!

Conceited by Lola Young, Wharf Aquatics, Wirecutter's mystery Amazon pallet unboxing, and The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> We celebrate the birth of the Xbox 360, and God's own sausage-in-a-suit-jacket Phil Spencer. But mostly the Xbox 360. We reminisce about what the 'box mean to us, and Jonty reveals some of the behind-the-scenes dead-eyed virtual child Milo goss you've been waiting for. Plus! Games Satan returns with possibly his weirdest question yet.


A big thank you to God Ribbon for our music, Marsh Davies for our art, and the best sausages in the world, our Patreon supporters, for financing our silliness. You can share comments, suggestions, feedback, and Xbox memories to totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.


You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime


Links!

Eurogamer's piece on the end of the 360, and their hub of 360 articles. Here's the Milo demo, and the whole 2010 conference that Jonty was at if you're arsed. Enjoy the 360 reveal feat. Elijah Wood on PCGamer.


Recommendations!

Conceited by Lola Young, Wharf Aquatics, Wirecutter's mystery Amazon pallet unboxing, and The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> <![CDATA[Episode 22: GTA6 Definitely Won't Be Delayed Again]]> Thu, 13 Nov 2025 21:00:00 GMT 1:15:58 6916440f7a0043834a00aaca true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-22-gta6-definitely-wont-be-delayed-again 6916440f7a0043834a00aaca 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-22-gta6-definitely-wont-be-delayed-again The devs have been having a straussful time full 1 22 This week is another two-hander, as Jonty and Nate are both away, so Brendy earns his keep by joining me as we have mild opinions about Rockstar delaying Grand Theft Auto VI, but stronger opinions about Rockstar firing a bunch of developers out of nowhere. We also discuss an interesting interview from Tomas Sala, developer of Bulwark and The Falconeer, AND, as a special treat, we've been playing some topical and current video games this week. 


A big thank you to God Ribbon for our music, Marsh Davies for our art, and ethical and sensible Patreon supporters for financing our silliness. You can share comments, suggestions, feedback, and union support to totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.


You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime


Links!

GTAVI is delayed, but Strauss Zelnick is like 'no worries m8'. Rockstar has been accused of union busting and can suck it if this is indeed the case (since we recorded Rockstar are facing legal action). Tomas Sala on finding a sustainable dev life away from virality, via Eurogamer.

Matthew "Iggy" Kowalski needs a kidney.


Games!

Arc Raiders! Dispatch! The Séance of Blake Manor!

Recommendations!

Bronder recommends Gutshot by Amelia Gray, and I recommend A Very Vexing Murder by Lucy Andrew

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> This week is another two-hander, as Jonty and Nate are both away, so Brendy earns his keep by joining me as we have mild opinions about Rockstar delaying Grand Theft Auto VI, but stronger opinions about Rockstar firing a bunch of developers out of nowhere. We also discuss an interesting interview from Tomas Sala, developer of Bulwark and The Falconeer, AND, as a special treat, we've been playing some topical and current video games this week. 


A big thank you to God Ribbon for our music, Marsh Davies for our art, and ethical and sensible Patreon supporters for financing our silliness. You can share comments, suggestions, feedback, and union support to totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.


You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime


Links!

GTAVI is delayed, but Strauss Zelnick is like 'no worries m8'. Rockstar has been accused of union busting and can suck it if this is indeed the case (since we recorded Rockstar are facing legal action). Tomas Sala on finding a sustainable dev life away from virality, via Eurogamer.

Matthew "Iggy" Kowalski needs a kidney.


Games!

Arc Raiders! Dispatch! The Séance of Blake Manor!

Recommendations!

Bronder recommends Gutshot by Amelia Gray, and I recommend A Very Vexing Murder by Lucy Andrew

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 21: An Xbox Where His Hand Should Be Episode 21: An Xbox Where His Hand Should Be Thu, 30 Oct 2025 23:44:51 GMT 1:06:04 6903f87359814a1956da5412 true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-21-an-xbox-where-his-hand-should-be 6903f87359814a1956da5412 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-21-an-xbox-where-his-hand-should-be A big week for Mr. Chief and the Halo Boys full 1 21 This week we're down a Jonty (not permanently, don't worry) but up a new chair, thanks to our Patreon pals! And it's been a week of upheaval elsewhere, as Microsoft and Xbox has been the focus of a lot of news. Halo is re-back, but also on PlayStation!? What do we think this means for hexboks? Nothing particularly encouraging, but Brendy is annoyed by some Halo rocks. PLUS Nate makes fun of AI, and Alice has been playing Bloodlines 2, as is her curse.


A big thank you to God Ribbon for our music, Marsh Davies for our art, and our very cool and majestic Patreon supporters for being the wind beneath our wings - a wind that allows for a new host, no less. You can share comments, suggestions, feedback, and strong opinions about Halo rocks at totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.


Links!

Xbox allegedly pushes for 30% margins, is unconcerned by other platforms, and is putting arguably its flagship product on the Sony box. Remember when the internet stopped working? That was because of one software bug, but best not to worry unless your bed bricked. EA signed a deal with Stability AI, and it's fun to laugh at bad AI, unless you're on dating apps, I guess.


Games!

Keep Driving! Bloodlines 2! PowerWash Simulator 2! Dawn Of War! Carimara!

Recommendations!

Make a kind of mincemeat toast instead of a mince pie, observe Stewthius, the perpetual stew, watch ish's terrifying Minecraft social experiments.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> This week we're down a Jonty (not permanently, don't worry) but up a new chair, thanks to our Patreon pals! And it's been a week of upheaval elsewhere, as Microsoft and Xbox has been the focus of a lot of news. Halo is re-back, but also on PlayStation!? What do we think this means for hexboks? Nothing particularly encouraging, but Brendy is annoyed by some Halo rocks. PLUS Nate makes fun of AI, and Alice has been playing Bloodlines 2, as is her curse.


A big thank you to God Ribbon for our music, Marsh Davies for our art, and our very cool and majestic Patreon supporters for being the wind beneath our wings - a wind that allows for a new host, no less. You can share comments, suggestions, feedback, and strong opinions about Halo rocks at totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.


Links!

Xbox allegedly pushes for 30% margins, is unconcerned by other platforms, and is putting arguably its flagship product on the Sony box. Remember when the internet stopped working? That was because of one software bug, but best not to worry unless your bed bricked. EA signed a deal with Stability AI, and it's fun to laugh at bad AI, unless you're on dating apps, I guess.


Games!

Keep Driving! Bloodlines 2! PowerWash Simulator 2! Dawn Of War! Carimara!

Recommendations!

Make a kind of mincemeat toast instead of a mince pie, observe Stewthius, the perpetual stew, watch ish's terrifying Minecraft social experiments.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 20: A Series of Developer Complaints Episode 20: A Series of Developer Complaints Fri, 17 Oct 2025 22:53:24 GMT 1:07:54 68f2c8d880f266774027b78e true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-20-a-series-of-developer-complaints 68f2c8d880f266774027b78e 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-20-a-series-of-developer-complaints Plus: actual hardware analysis full 1 20 Alice is unavailable so we are joined by another voice of podcasts past: James Archer, the RPS master of waring hard. He assists us in considering the latest collection of furious developer commentary and shares his judgement on the handheld Xbox thing, for which he is rewarded by being anointed Archbishop of Games Canterbury. You may think these freeform attempts at rolling our own belief system are unsustainable but we're British (derogatory), this stuff is in our blood.

Thanks to God Ribbon for our music, Marsh Davies for our art, and our beloved Patreon backers for funding the podcast and make it happen. You can share comments, suggestions and prospective papal edicts at totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.


Links!

Game File revealed that Ubisoft cancelled a Reconstruction-era Assassin's Creed game. Glen Israel left 343 Industries in an extremely portentous way. Halo already did an anime. The IWGB union published an open letter savaging the management at Build A Rocket Boy. The ROG Xbox Ally X.


Games!

Assassin's Creed Freedom Cry. Halos Infinite and 4. Prototype lets you punch people into spaghetti by design rather than graphical error. Everybody loved Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, eventually. Rimworld Odyssey. Dawn of War: Definitive Edition. There's an updated version of Red Alert in Command and Conquer Remastered. Battlefield 6. Cloverpit.


Recommendations!

Tenggar Cavalry, Kartuli and Peacemaker.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Alice is unavailable so we are joined by another voice of podcasts past: James Archer, the RPS master of waring hard. He assists us in considering the latest collection of furious developer commentary and shares his judgement on the handheld Xbox thing, for which he is rewarded by being anointed Archbishop of Games Canterbury. You may think these freeform attempts at rolling our own belief system are unsustainable but we're British (derogatory), this stuff is in our blood.

Thanks to God Ribbon for our music, Marsh Davies for our art, and our beloved Patreon backers for funding the podcast and make it happen. You can share comments, suggestions and prospective papal edicts at totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.


Links!

Game File revealed that Ubisoft cancelled a Reconstruction-era Assassin's Creed game. Glen Israel left 343 Industries in an extremely portentous way. Halo already did an anime. The IWGB union published an open letter savaging the management at Build A Rocket Boy. The ROG Xbox Ally X.


Games!

Assassin's Creed Freedom Cry. Halos Infinite and 4. Prototype lets you punch people into spaghetti by design rather than graphical error. Everybody loved Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, eventually. Rimworld Odyssey. Dawn of War: Definitive Edition. There's an updated version of Red Alert in Command and Conquer Remastered. Battlefield 6. Cloverpit.


Recommendations!

Tenggar Cavalry, Kartuli and Peacemaker.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 19: I Thought It Was A Joke When You Said Jared Kushner Episode 19: I Thought It Was A Joke When You Said Jared Kushner Thu, 02 Oct 2025 22:00:00 GMT 1:07:57 68deee2dbd7f04b74f33e12d true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-19-i-thought-it-was-a-joke-when-you-said-jared-kushn 68deee2dbd7f04b74f33e12d 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-19-i-thought-it-was-a-joke-when-you-said-jared-kushn Plus: a dynamically soiling onesie full 1 19 Circumstances forced us to once again talk about serious things this week, as EA has (subject to approval, lol) been bought by a consortium of definitely not the worst people you don't know. Meanwhile, we got a first look at Insomniac's Wolverine game, and for a 'cat rescued from a tree' sorry of levity, Randy Pitchford posted through Borderland's 4's PC optimisation problems.

Thanks to our Patreon backers for making this podcast possible! Please consider joining them so that we can start our own ethically pure esports league. Our music is by God Ribbon, our art is by Marsh Davies and our inbox is totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.

Links!

Don't worry, universally beloved Andrew Wilson is staying on at EA (here's SuperJoost on the acquisition). Wolverine is exceptionally violent, possibly in retaliation for his being kidnapped and ransomed. Borderlands 4 works fine on PC, thank you very much, and Randy Pitchford is fine about it (more on this from HitPoints)

Games!

Borderlands 4 is fine on PC, stop asking! Marvel at the dynamically soiling onesie in Baby Steps, write your own jokes here about Megabonk, and go off the titular world in RimWorld's new Odyssey DLC. Plus: pleasing moments in Hades 2!

Recommendations!

The Woolwich Harbour ferry, the town of Cleethorpes, and the reboot of Matlock.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Circumstances forced us to once again talk about serious things this week, as EA has (subject to approval, lol) been bought by a consortium of definitely not the worst people you don't know. Meanwhile, we got a first look at Insomniac's Wolverine game, and for a 'cat rescued from a tree' sorry of levity, Randy Pitchford posted through Borderland's 4's PC optimisation problems.

Thanks to our Patreon backers for making this podcast possible! Please consider joining them so that we can start our own ethically pure esports league. Our music is by God Ribbon, our art is by Marsh Davies and our inbox is totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.

Links!

Don't worry, universally beloved Andrew Wilson is staying on at EA (here's SuperJoost on the acquisition). Wolverine is exceptionally violent, possibly in retaliation for his being kidnapped and ransomed. Borderlands 4 works fine on PC, thank you very much, and Randy Pitchford is fine about it (more on this from HitPoints)

Games!

Borderlands 4 is fine on PC, stop asking! Marvel at the dynamically soiling onesie in Baby Steps, write your own jokes here about Megabonk, and go off the titular world in RimWorld's new Odyssey DLC. Plus: pleasing moments in Hades 2!

Recommendations!

The Woolwich Harbour ferry, the town of Cleethorpes, and the reboot of Matlock.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 18: Thematic Insect Attack Episode 18: Thematic Insect Attack Mon, 22 Sep 2025 21:11:32 GMT 1:12:54 68d1bb84325b3a0ac80f6b49 true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-18-thematic-insect-attack 68d1bb84325b3a0ac80f6b49 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-18-thematic-insect-attack Plus: A gritty Wind in the Willows reboot full 1 18 Alice has been Nic Cage Wickerman'd by her own dog, a sorry state of affairs, but one that does at least tie in with talking about Hollow Knight: Silksong, a somewhat popular game, as we understand it. You know who else is popular? That Mario fella. He turned 40 this past weekend (sort of, if you start counting from Super Mario Bros. rather than Donkey Kong, which is technically Mario's first appearance even though he was called Jumpman at the time) [deep breath]. Also Nate torments us with a medieval bestiary and we conceive of a gritty Wind In The Willows reboot. What's not to love?


Thanks to our Patreon backers for making this podcast possible! Please consider joining them so that we can force Jonty to go to Gamescom as Business Arbiter. Our music is by God Ribbon, our art is by Marsh Davies and our inbox is totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.


Links!

Happy Underwhelming 40th Birthday Nintendo Direct to Mario! Including a tiny tease of the next Mario movie. Reviews are dripping out now for Silksong (including IGN, which hadn't drapt at time of recording), but hilariously the first patch made it easier. People are saying it's too hard, in fact. Three (mini) Kobolds In A Trenchcoat.


Games!

Silksong has been out a couple of weeks, the bugs are too sexy. Hades II has been out for longer, but the pretend kind of out where you get two releases, like the Queen. Strange Antiquities is a very lovely Purveyor Of Cursed Items simulator for fans of Strange Horticulture.


Recommendations!

Jonty makes the bold statement that The Usual Suspects is a good movie, Alice responds that so is The Ballad Of Wallis Island, and Nate double recommends Alien Earth and Blue Eye Samurai.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Alice has been Nic Cage Wickerman'd by her own dog, a sorry state of affairs, but one that does at least tie in with talking about Hollow Knight: Silksong, a somewhat popular game, as we understand it. You know who else is popular? That Mario fella. He turned 40 this past weekend (sort of, if you start counting from Super Mario Bros. rather than Donkey Kong, which is technically Mario's first appearance even though he was called Jumpman at the time) [deep breath]. Also Nate torments us with a medieval bestiary and we conceive of a gritty Wind In The Willows reboot. What's not to love?


Thanks to our Patreon backers for making this podcast possible! Please consider joining them so that we can force Jonty to go to Gamescom as Business Arbiter. Our music is by God Ribbon, our art is by Marsh Davies and our inbox is totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.


Links!

Happy Underwhelming 40th Birthday Nintendo Direct to Mario! Including a tiny tease of the next Mario movie. Reviews are dripping out now for Silksong (including IGN, which hadn't drapt at time of recording), but hilariously the first patch made it easier. People are saying it's too hard, in fact. Three (mini) Kobolds In A Trenchcoat.


Games!

Silksong has been out a couple of weeks, the bugs are too sexy. Hades II has been out for longer, but the pretend kind of out where you get two releases, like the Queen. Strange Antiquities is a very lovely Purveyor Of Cursed Items simulator for fans of Strange Horticulture.


Recommendations!

Jonty makes the bold statement that The Usual Suspects is a good movie, Alice responds that so is The Ballad Of Wallis Island, and Nate double recommends Alien Earth and Blue Eye Samurai.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 17: A Motorhead Tour in Reverse Episode 17: A Motorhead Tour in Reverse Thu, 04 Sep 2025 21:28:34 GMT 1:07:04 68ba04824629f1c6be63e185 true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-17-a-motorhead-tour-in-reverse 68ba04824629f1c6be63e185 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-17-a-motorhead-tour-in-reverse full 1 17 Alice went to Gamescom and she's here to tell us all about it: games, German KFC, stealing from the Capcom booth and posing with the Farming Simulator tractor. A pretty standard Gamescom experience, all told, although she didn't go to the shitty bar that all the other Brits attend or get completely screwed by the German rail system so there's still room for improvement. Plus: the in-game currency for life, big worm, and forcing Jonty to cosplay as a militarised squid-dog.


Thanks to our Patreon backers for making this podcast possible! Please consider joining them so that we can force Jonty to go to Gamescom as Business Arbiter. Our music is by God Ribbon, our art is by Marsh Davies and our inbox is totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.


Links!

The Trap Door is available on YouTube. Legendäre Burger bei KFC. GameDiscoverCo. Why Silksong took so long to make. The Snyder Cut. We are blessed to know The Blorko Guy (who also has a podcast).


Games!

Silksong is indeed out now although you can't download it. Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 does not exist in Alice's world. Hirogami is also out now. Resident Evil Requiem. Onimusha: Way of the Sword. Pragmata. NUTMEG! A Storied Life: Tabitha. The Séance of Blake Manor. Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road.


Recommendations!

The Van Gogh Museum, Deva Roman Experience and Star Trek: Picard - re:View.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Alice went to Gamescom and she's here to tell us all about it: games, German KFC, stealing from the Capcom booth and posing with the Farming Simulator tractor. A pretty standard Gamescom experience, all told, although she didn't go to the shitty bar that all the other Brits attend or get completely screwed by the German rail system so there's still room for improvement. Plus: the in-game currency for life, big worm, and forcing Jonty to cosplay as a militarised squid-dog.


Thanks to our Patreon backers for making this podcast possible! Please consider joining them so that we can force Jonty to go to Gamescom as Business Arbiter. Our music is by God Ribbon, our art is by Marsh Davies and our inbox is totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.


Links!

The Trap Door is available on YouTube. Legendäre Burger bei KFC. GameDiscoverCo. Why Silksong took so long to make. The Snyder Cut. We are blessed to know The Blorko Guy (who also has a podcast).


Games!

Silksong is indeed out now although you can't download it. Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 does not exist in Alice's world. Hirogami is also out now. Resident Evil Requiem. Onimusha: Way of the Sword. Pragmata. NUTMEG! A Storied Life: Tabitha. The Séance of Blake Manor. Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road.


Recommendations!

The Van Gogh Museum, Deva Roman Experience and Star Trek: Picard - re:View.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 16: Goo-Pilled To The Max Episode 16: Goo-Pilled To The Max Thu, 21 Aug 2025 21:05:24 GMT 1:10:04 68a78a4073bf5b6298a342b0 true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-16-goo-pilled-to-the-max 68a78a4073bf5b6298a342b0 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-16-goo-pilled-to-the-max Plus: Digital Foundry, book drama, and avoiding Roblox full 1 16 Nate's on deadline so it's just Alice and Jonty this week, considering the newly independent Digital Foundry, the not-at-all-newly-scandal-engulfed Roblox, the latest on the Subnautica 2 and Itch.io drama, and all the games we've been playing. Anybody would think this is a podcast about videogames or something.

You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW


Art by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon. Funding for this entire endeavour is by our Patreon backers and to them we are truly thankful.


Links!


Krafton vs Subnautica devs continues. Digital Foundry on going independent. Roblox banned vigilantes and Lousiana sued Roblox. Alice's new book. The Observer investigation into The Salt Path.


Games!

Rosewater, and Roger, Strange Jigsaws, Occlude, Word Play, Wordatro, Battlefield 6.


Recommendations!

Vivian Dies Again and What a Glut of New Oasis Books is Leaving Unwritten. Palm Springs is on Amazon, not Neflix, we regret the error.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Nate's on deadline so it's just Alice and Jonty this week, considering the newly independent Digital Foundry, the not-at-all-newly-scandal-engulfed Roblox, the latest on the Subnautica 2 and Itch.io drama, and all the games we've been playing. Anybody would think this is a podcast about videogames or something.

You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW


Art by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon. Funding for this entire endeavour is by our Patreon backers and to them we are truly thankful.


Links!


Krafton vs Subnautica devs continues. Digital Foundry on going independent. Roblox banned vigilantes and Lousiana sued Roblox. Alice's new book. The Observer investigation into The Salt Path.


Games!

Rosewater, and Roger, Strange Jigsaws, Occlude, Word Play, Wordatro, Battlefield 6.


Recommendations!

Vivian Dies Again and What a Glut of New Oasis Books is Leaving Unwritten. Palm Springs is on Amazon, not Neflix, we regret the error.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 15: What Fight Have Been Episode 15: What Fight Have Been Thu, 07 Aug 2025 21:57:49 GMT 1:06:35 6895215df9482328d0d00a26 true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-15-what-fight-have-been 6895215df9482328d0d00a26 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-15-what-fight-have-been Plus: the thicc man of Europe full 1 15 Alice was out of action this week, so Jonty and Nate met up to ponder Battlefield 6, cringe over Jonty's new collection of sex games, and reposition the Bioshock jar in the fridge. Plus: the thicc man of Europe, the best artillery in videogames, and another attempt at deal-making.


You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.


iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067


Art by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.


Links!

Itch.io is re-indexing free adult content. Countess Lita played No Mercy. Tom Clancy's Tom Clancy was just a huge submarine nerd. GOG gave away a bunch of sex games for freedom. Ars Technica's deep dive on Battlefield and the misery of AAA development. Everybody was playing Battlefront 2 and EA couldn't have cared less. Splinter Cell Conviction at high framerate. God departed RPS and left some parting wisdom on games coverage.


Games!

Battlefront 6. Star Wars Battlefront (2004), Dawn of War, with Winter Assault DLC. Total Annihilation. GTA Online. Splinter Cell Conviction.


Recommendations!

Hit Points and Cells at Work!.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Alice was out of action this week, so Jonty and Nate met up to ponder Battlefield 6, cringe over Jonty's new collection of sex games, and reposition the Bioshock jar in the fridge. Plus: the thicc man of Europe, the best artillery in videogames, and another attempt at deal-making.


You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.


iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067


Art by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.


Links!

Itch.io is re-indexing free adult content. Countess Lita played No Mercy. Tom Clancy's Tom Clancy was just a huge submarine nerd. GOG gave away a bunch of sex games for freedom. Ars Technica's deep dive on Battlefield and the misery of AAA development. Everybody was playing Battlefront 2 and EA couldn't have cared less. Splinter Cell Conviction at high framerate. God departed RPS and left some parting wisdom on games coverage.


Games!

Battlefront 6. Star Wars Battlefront (2004), Dawn of War, with Winter Assault DLC. Total Annihilation. GTA Online. Splinter Cell Conviction.


Recommendations!

Hit Points and Cells at Work!.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 14: Very Effective Form of Censorship Episode 14: Very Effective Form of Censorship Fri, 25 Jul 2025 10:43:35 GMT 1:02:38 68835fd7f6d4262b076ea5db true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-14-very-effective-form-of-censorship 68835fd7f6d4262b076ea5db 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-14-very-effective-form-of-censorship Plus: Another sausage mailbag full 1 14 In a first for us, this week we end up discussing a developing news story, which then further developed after we recorded on Monday night. Had we recorded after Itch also took down adult content we would probably have been less complacent and more angry. As it is, we're still pretty angry about payment processors leveraging their Victorian prudishness to censor the internet. We're also angry at the UK government, the wizard lady author, and Alice's older brother - but that's sort of not his fault.

In happier news, we're not angry at the game discovery app Ludocene, which is actually good, or you, the listeners, who have sent in some nice messages. We welcome further messages, which you can send to us at totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.


You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067


Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.

Games!


Bollocks Pit.


Links!

Steam took down a bunch of sexy games, which a tedious pressure group claimed responsibility for. Waypoint took down a couple of articles about that, which Streisand-effected Waypoint into near oblivion. After we recorded, Itch delisted anything tagged to indicate it had adult content while it audits everything. Consider all this also in the context of, for example, the UK's tedious and ill-conceived Online Safety Act, which is why you have to give BlueSky your picture and niche cycling forums have closed.

In better news, Ludocene, the game discovery app in testing right now, is good! Alice endorses it.


Recommendations

Jonty recommends the YouTube channel 'British Movie Commentary Collection', which is exactly what it sounds like. Alice recommends the sitcom Such Brave Girls (also please send her pictures of your miniature painting).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> In a first for us, this week we end up discussing a developing news story, which then further developed after we recorded on Monday night. Had we recorded after Itch also took down adult content we would probably have been less complacent and more angry. As it is, we're still pretty angry about payment processors leveraging their Victorian prudishness to censor the internet. We're also angry at the UK government, the wizard lady author, and Alice's older brother - but that's sort of not his fault.

In happier news, we're not angry at the game discovery app Ludocene, which is actually good, or you, the listeners, who have sent in some nice messages. We welcome further messages, which you can send to us at totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.


You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067


Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.

Games!


Bollocks Pit.


Links!

Steam took down a bunch of sexy games, which a tedious pressure group claimed responsibility for. Waypoint took down a couple of articles about that, which Streisand-effected Waypoint into near oblivion. After we recorded, Itch delisted anything tagged to indicate it had adult content while it audits everything. Consider all this also in the context of, for example, the UK's tedious and ill-conceived Online Safety Act, which is why you have to give BlueSky your picture and niche cycling forums have closed.

In better news, Ludocene, the game discovery app in testing right now, is good! Alice endorses it.


Recommendations

Jonty recommends the YouTube channel 'British Movie Commentary Collection', which is exactly what it sounds like. Alice recommends the sitcom Such Brave Girls (also please send her pictures of your miniature painting).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> <![CDATA[Episode 13: Can't Live Without A Grunger]]> Thu, 10 Jul 2025 21:07:33 GMT 1:02:37 68702b95fe0897380ea68674 true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-13-cant-live-without-a-grunger 68702b95fe0897380ea68674 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-13-cant-live-without-a-grunger full 1 13 It would be nice to do an episode in which we don't talk about layoffs, wouldn't it, but it's once again the main news event so we have to. Jonty and Nate conferred to despair over Microsoft's cutbacks, consider potential comedy games, and commend some actually good news about games media. Alice is both unwell and furious, for unrelated reasons, but will return for future episodes. You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067


Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.


Links!

Microsoft laid off another 9,000 people despite their roadmap "never looking stronger". Hat Trick are looking for comedy games. News Knight is regrettably still available. MindsEye does not need external saboteurs. Krafton was remarkably snotty about replacing the leadership of Subnautica 2. Kotaku was sold and Paste launched Endless Mode.


Games!

Perfect Dark. Forza Motorsport. Subnautica 2 (and Subnautica). Ark Nova.


Recommendations!

Nate recommends Jurassic World Dominion and Jonty recommends Overclocked: An Archive of Graphics Card Box Art.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> It would be nice to do an episode in which we don't talk about layoffs, wouldn't it, but it's once again the main news event so we have to. Jonty and Nate conferred to despair over Microsoft's cutbacks, consider potential comedy games, and commend some actually good news about games media. Alice is both unwell and furious, for unrelated reasons, but will return for future episodes. You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067


Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.


Links!

Microsoft laid off another 9,000 people despite their roadmap "never looking stronger". Hat Trick are looking for comedy games. News Knight is regrettably still available. MindsEye does not need external saboteurs. Krafton was remarkably snotty about replacing the leadership of Subnautica 2. Kotaku was sold and Paste launched Endless Mode.


Games!

Perfect Dark. Forza Motorsport. Subnautica 2 (and Subnautica). Ark Nova.


Recommendations!

Nate recommends Jurassic World Dominion and Jonty recommends Overclocked: An Archive of Graphics Card Box Art.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> <![CDATA[Episode 12: You're Late, Here's Your Gun]]> Thu, 26 Jun 2025 20:30:00 GMT 1:29:53 685dad2047311de1b60fc4bd true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-12-youre-late-heres-your-gun 685dad2047311de1b60fc4bd 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-12-youre-late-heres-your-gun full 1 12 We catch up on the undrama around Mindseye, a game that was both unexpected and unexpectedly terrible. Plus, all of us have actually been playing games this week, and Jonty has his first game of Sweeten The Deal (with poor attempts at speaking French).

You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime

Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.

Links!

Mindseye sucks, but you only think that because you've been paid off, unlike the streamers who had their streams cancelled last minute. NexusMods has new, possibly sus owners.

Games we've been playing

Promise Mascot Agency! Void War! The Baby Steps demo! Date Everything!

Recommendations

Double Fine's post on when Full Throttle released, back issues of The Fortean Times (also my new book is coming out). 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> We catch up on the undrama around Mindseye, a game that was both unexpected and unexpectedly terrible. Plus, all of us have actually been playing games this week, and Jonty has his first game of Sweeten The Deal (with poor attempts at speaking French).

You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime

Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.

Links!

Mindseye sucks, but you only think that because you've been paid off, unlike the streamers who had their streams cancelled last minute. NexusMods has new, possibly sus owners.

Games we've been playing

Promise Mascot Agency! Void War! The Baby Steps demo! Date Everything!

Recommendations

Double Fine's post on when Full Throttle released, back issues of The Fortean Times (also my new book is coming out). 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 11: The Weekend Showcase Showcase Episode 11: The Weekend Showcase Showcase Thu, 12 Jun 2025 15:00:00 GMT 1:01:19 684adfdf1c97ce2ed1fb423a false https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-11-the-weekend-showcase-showcase 684adfdf1c97ce2ed1fb423a 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-11-the-weekend-showcase-showcase We breakdown over a breakdown of Summer Game Fest et al. full 1 11 We're all thoroughly exhausted from Keigh 3, a weekend containing an interminable number of videogame presentations. Join us as we navigate what actually happened at Summer Game Fest, State Of Play, the Xbox Showcase, et al. There are several games we liked!

You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime

Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.

Links!

Jonters has summarised the big three here.

From State Of Play: Pragmata, Baby Steps, Jams Bend Fist Light, the PSVR Thief game, Hirogami.

From Jeff Fest: Resident Evil Requiem, Felt That, Atomic Heart 2

From the Xbox Showcase: There Are No Ghosts At The Grand, Clockwork Revolution, The Outer Worlds 2.

Elsewhere this weekend: Mandrake, Big Walk, The Alters.

Games we've been playing

Duck Detective: The Ghost Of Glamping, Logic Town, Squeakross, Boltgun - Words Of Vengeance, Vampire Survivors.

Recommendations

Jonty has recommended a fishy pasta recipe, and for details you will have to listen to the episode. Alice recommends the artist Abi Stevens.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> We're all thoroughly exhausted from Keigh 3, a weekend containing an interminable number of videogame presentations. Join us as we navigate what actually happened at Summer Game Fest, State Of Play, the Xbox Showcase, et al. There are several games we liked!

You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime

Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.

Links!

Jonters has summarised the big three here.

From State Of Play: Pragmata, Baby Steps, Jams Bend Fist Light, the PSVR Thief game, Hirogami.

From Jeff Fest: Resident Evil Requiem, Felt That, Atomic Heart 2

From the Xbox Showcase: There Are No Ghosts At The Grand, Clockwork Revolution, The Outer Worlds 2.

Elsewhere this weekend: Mandrake, Big Walk, The Alters.

Games we've been playing

Duck Detective: The Ghost Of Glamping, Logic Town, Squeakross, Boltgun - Words Of Vengeance, Vampire Survivors.

Recommendations

Jonty has recommended a fishy pasta recipe, and for details you will have to listen to the episode. Alice recommends the artist Abi Stevens.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 10: Bespoke Farm-To-Table Art Theft Episode 10: Bespoke Farm-To-Table Art Theft Thu, 29 May 2025 18:00:00 GMT 1:04:26 6838a00a964166a365c92004 false https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-10-bespoke-farm-to-table-art-theft 6838a00a964166a365c92004 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-10-bespoke-farm-to-table-art-theft full 1 10 This week we, despite all being busted, discuss Palworld's woes, Marathons woes, and also the philosophical question of what it means to be a 'beasted butler'. Plus! Jonty has been playing Helldivers II and getting grit in his shower (the two events are unrelated).

You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime

Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.

Links!

They're making an Elden Ring movie! Unfortunately online games are doomed. Palworld has responded to Ninty's impending copyright claim (also at GamesFray, the author apparently being a Trump fan with a Libertarian streak). What's going on with Marathon? Bungie admit to taking at least one artist's work and the rumour is that Marathon needs to be a top-5-of-the-year game to be considered a success.

Games we talked about

Helldivers 2. Hearthstone. Out Of Hands.

Recommendations

GBOL having adventures in All The Gear, Everyone Is Wrong About The Lamentus, and MV Freedom.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> This week we, despite all being busted, discuss Palworld's woes, Marathons woes, and also the philosophical question of what it means to be a 'beasted butler'. Plus! Jonty has been playing Helldivers II and getting grit in his shower (the two events are unrelated).

You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime

Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.

Links!

They're making an Elden Ring movie! Unfortunately online games are doomed. Palworld has responded to Ninty's impending copyright claim (also at GamesFray, the author apparently being a Trump fan with a Libertarian streak). What's going on with Marathon? Bungie admit to taking at least one artist's work and the rumour is that Marathon needs to be a top-5-of-the-year game to be considered a success.

Games we talked about

Helldivers 2. Hearthstone. Out Of Hands.

Recommendations

GBOL having adventures in All The Gear, Everyone Is Wrong About The Lamentus, and MV Freedom.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 9: Grand Jeff Auto Episode 9: Grand Jeff Auto Fri, 16 May 2025 09:14:30 GMT 1:12:57 682701f6696b5d1232ee1f10 true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-9-grand-jeff-auto 682701f6696b5d1232ee1f10 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-9-grand-jeff-auto Plus: battle of the gaming Popes full 1 9 This week there was even more news about what remains of games media, and a new GTA 6 trailer following the delay of GTA 6, which itself is probably bad news for games media. It's rough out there, folks. We discuss all of these things plus Sean Bean, the joke that will kill Nate, and the GTA feature requests of the Gaming Anti-Pope. Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.


Links!

Will Alice ever outrun the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Pope Crave accidentally became a real media outlet. Giant Bomb bought Giant Bomb in an all-Jeff transaction. Jeff Prime saluted Kinda Funny. Polygon was bought by Valnet, which is probably bad. The GTA 6 trailer came out and it wasn't on the date predicted.The GTA 6 website contains enough material for like five different magazine cover features, we used to be a country. Do not become addicted to Latinas. Jonty reviewed Revenge of the Savage Planet. Qanon Anonymous.


Games!

Crusader Kings 3, Revenge of the Savage Planet and Skin Deep.


Recommendations:

Alice recommends The failure of Pop Quiz Hotshot, Jonty recommends Carpoolers by Alejandro Cartagena, Nate recommends The Floozies, Marvel Years and Moon Tricks.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> This week there was even more news about what remains of games media, and a new GTA 6 trailer following the delay of GTA 6, which itself is probably bad news for games media. It's rough out there, folks. We discuss all of these things plus Sean Bean, the joke that will kill Nate, and the GTA feature requests of the Gaming Anti-Pope. Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.


Links!

Will Alice ever outrun the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Pope Crave accidentally became a real media outlet. Giant Bomb bought Giant Bomb in an all-Jeff transaction. Jeff Prime saluted Kinda Funny. Polygon was bought by Valnet, which is probably bad. The GTA 6 trailer came out and it wasn't on the date predicted.The GTA 6 website contains enough material for like five different magazine cover features, we used to be a country. Do not become addicted to Latinas. Jonty reviewed Revenge of the Savage Planet. Qanon Anonymous.


Games!

Crusader Kings 3, Revenge of the Savage Planet and Skin Deep.


Recommendations:

Alice recommends The failure of Pop Quiz Hotshot, Jonty recommends Carpoolers by Alejandro Cartagena, Nate recommends The Floozies, Marvel Years and Moon Tricks.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 8: Revenge Of The Ouibs Episode 8: Revenge Of The Ouibs Thu, 01 May 2025 15:00:00 GMT 1:09:11 68138b186ac0e5213be75fa6 true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-8-revenge-of-the-ouibs 68138b186ac0e5213be75fa6 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-8-revenge-of-the-ouibs full 1 8 The internet briefly tore itself apart over how good games are allowed to be, most specifically Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a French JRPG (??) that everyone loves - or possibly loves too much. We discuss this, Todd Howard cucking us (and indie games) by shadow-dropping the Oblivion remaster, plus our reviews of Blue Prince and Old Skies.

You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime

Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.

Links!

EA revealed their XCOM but Star Wars game (on the 19th). Sure, whatever. The Oblivion remaster came out, but the Skyblivion folk say they will continue their work. Raw Fury will too, no matter how many times they have to release a game! Clair Obscur is out and did really well and everyone loves it. (FYI the BDS movement is calling for boycotts of Xbox)

Games!

Blue Prince and Old Skies.

Recommendations

Grow your own tomatoes, support trans rights and charities, go to protests and buy from cool trans businesses, creators, authors and artists.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> The internet briefly tore itself apart over how good games are allowed to be, most specifically Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a French JRPG (??) that everyone loves - or possibly loves too much. We discuss this, Todd Howard cucking us (and indie games) by shadow-dropping the Oblivion remaster, plus our reviews of Blue Prince and Old Skies.

You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime

Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.

Links!

EA revealed their XCOM but Star Wars game (on the 19th). Sure, whatever. The Oblivion remaster came out, but the Skyblivion folk say they will continue their work. Raw Fury will too, no matter how many times they have to release a game! Clair Obscur is out and did really well and everyone loves it. (FYI the BDS movement is calling for boycotts of Xbox)

Games!

Blue Prince and Old Skies.

Recommendations

Grow your own tomatoes, support trans rights and charities, go to protests and buy from cool trans businesses, creators, authors and artists.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode7: Running A Marathon Episode7: Running A Marathon Thu, 17 Apr 2025 17:27:05 GMT 59:45 680139ea1aabee4d38c5eca9 true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode7-running-a-marathon 680139ea1aabee4d38c5eca9 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode7-running-a-marathon (The title is a pun) full 1 7 This week Jonty is away in Europe not doing counter espionage, so Alice and Nate talk about Bungie's new game Marathon, which looks fine, I guess. We discuss whether it's worth going to see the A Minecraft Movie (no). Also, Nate explains Civ 7 and Age Of Empires patches, and forces Alice to design an absurd breakfast.

You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime

Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.

Links!

Why hello there, Marathon. Civ 7 and AoEII are both getting updated. Critical support for Phoebe Waller Bridge. No support for Jared Hess.

Games!

Promise Mascot Agency. It's really good!

Recommendations

Nate recommends Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerlands and Alice recommends Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> This week Jonty is away in Europe not doing counter espionage, so Alice and Nate talk about Bungie's new game Marathon, which looks fine, I guess. We discuss whether it's worth going to see the A Minecraft Movie (no). Also, Nate explains Civ 7 and Age Of Empires patches, and forces Alice to design an absurd breakfast.

You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime

Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.

Links!

Why hello there, Marathon. Civ 7 and AoEII are both getting updated. Critical support for Phoebe Waller Bridge. No support for Jared Hess.

Games!

Promise Mascot Agency. It's really good!

Recommendations

Nate recommends Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerlands and Alice recommends Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 6: Ubisoft Is Doing Fine, Why Do You Ask? Episode 6: Ubisoft Is Doing Fine, Why Do You Ask? Thu, 03 Apr 2025 18:01:39 GMT 1:06:16 67eecd03d4b40d7b3052cf87 true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-6-ubisoft-is-doing-fine-why-do-you-ask 67eecd03d4b40d7b3052cf87 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-6-ubisoft-is-doing-fine-why-do-you-ask Subsidiary? I hardly know her! full 1 6 Ubisoft's latest stab-fest did really well, hurrah! But they still did that weird subsidiary plan with Tencent, hurroo. At least the official Ass Creed social media account got in a few shots. Plus: Bloodlines 2 delayed again, Game Informer is back, and we prepare to fight Gul'dan. 

You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime

Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.

Links!

The CWA formed a games union! Cool! Game Informer is back, but at what cost? AC: Shadows did good numbers, and so did this burn on Elon Musk, but Ubi still sold 25% of their best franchises to Tencent, in a move that just kind of instinctively feels bad. FightinCowboy going off on his Shadows stream, however, felt good. Bloodlines 2 is delayed again. I first previewed it like 6 years ago, lol.

Games!

Schedule I. The Beekeeper's Picnic. AC: Shadows.

Recommendations

Jonty recommends Father John Misty, Nate recommends the Shamrock Shake, although it is now no longer available in the UK so here is its Wikipedia page, and I recommend Out There Screaming: An Anthology of Black Horror.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Ubisoft's latest stab-fest did really well, hurrah! But they still did that weird subsidiary plan with Tencent, hurroo. At least the official Ass Creed social media account got in a few shots. Plus: Bloodlines 2 delayed again, Game Informer is back, and we prepare to fight Gul'dan. 

You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime

Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.

Links!

The CWA formed a games union! Cool! Game Informer is back, but at what cost? AC: Shadows did good numbers, and so did this burn on Elon Musk, but Ubi still sold 25% of their best franchises to Tencent, in a move that just kind of instinctively feels bad. FightinCowboy going off on his Shadows stream, however, felt good. Bloodlines 2 is delayed again. I first previewed it like 6 years ago, lol.

Games!

Schedule I. The Beekeeper's Picnic. AC: Shadows.

Recommendations

Jonty recommends Father John Misty, Nate recommends the Shamrock Shake, although it is now no longer available in the UK so here is its Wikipedia page, and I recommend Out There Screaming: An Anthology of Black Horror.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> <![CDATA[Episode 5: Everyone Hates Sony's Leaked A.I.loy]]> Thu, 20 Mar 2025 16:00:00 GMT 1:06:08 67dc25a8fe6b19f2d2f7d407 true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-5-everyone-hates-sonys-leaked-ailoy 67dc25a8fe6b19f2d2f7d407 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-5-everyone-hates-sonys-leaked-ailoy Stop trying to make fetch happen. full 1 5 This week everyone is trying to make fetch happen, from the leaked demo of an infinitely genAI small-talking NPC, to Ubisoft finally launching the rumoured Animus Hub alongside Assassin's Creed Shadows. Sometimes you just have to do something to get your manager off your back. Plus: we've been playing Wanderstop and looking at Split Fiction.

You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime

Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.

Links!

Everyone hates fake Aloy, although Ashly Burch has a more measured take. Games writers got mad at one guy in particular. I will fucking piledrive you if you mention AI again by Nikhil Suresh. Assassin's Creed Shadows is the first to feature the Animus Hub, may God have mercy on our souls, but also we're hoping Shadows does well for all our sakes. The writing in Split Fiction might not be that great and Josef Fares isn't that concerned about genAI.

Games!

Split Fiction. No Case Should Remain Unsolved. Wanderstop.

Recommendations

Jonty recommends you grow some rosemary and put it on steak, and I recommend the book Character Limit and the podcast QAA (for the Nth time).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> This week everyone is trying to make fetch happen, from the leaked demo of an infinitely genAI small-talking NPC, to Ubisoft finally launching the rumoured Animus Hub alongside Assassin's Creed Shadows. Sometimes you just have to do something to get your manager off your back. Plus: we've been playing Wanderstop and looking at Split Fiction.

You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime

Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.

Links!

Everyone hates fake Aloy, although Ashly Burch has a more measured take. Games writers got mad at one guy in particular. I will fucking piledrive you if you mention AI again by Nikhil Suresh. Assassin's Creed Shadows is the first to feature the Animus Hub, may God have mercy on our souls, but also we're hoping Shadows does well for all our sakes. The writing in Split Fiction might not be that great and Josef Fares isn't that concerned about genAI.

Games!

Split Fiction. No Case Should Remain Unsolved. Wanderstop.

Recommendations

Jonty recommends you grow some rosemary and put it on steak, and I recommend the book Character Limit and the podcast QAA (for the Nth time).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 4: Digital Ownership and Discoverability Episode 4: Digital Ownership and Discoverability Thu, 06 Mar 2025 16:00:00 GMT 55:15 67c9ad9722c74795c3f8d531 true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-4-digital-ownership-and-discoverability 67c9ad9722c74795c3f8d531 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-4-digital-ownership-and-discoverability Warner Bros. did redundancies and none of us own anything full 1 4 The I've had three hours of sleep and can't think of a better title edition! This time we discuss Warner Bros. doing more redundancies and how digital ownership is an illusion. Plus! Steam Next Fest demos, and the new discoverability app everyone's talking about. And more! We've been playing Avowed, and a cool free text-based puzzle game feat. mysterious deaths.

You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime

Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon. 

Links

WB shut down good studios and have good systems in their Indiana Jones warehouse of patents. You don't own your Amazon ebooks. The Video Game History Foundation is preserving games. Dominic Tarason has a great free games spreadsheet. Ludocene is having a crack at a different, better kind of game discovery.

Games

Cantaloupe Chronicle, Do No Harm, Type Help, Avowed, Resogun

Recommendations

The Sky Thief article on Rolling Stone; Todd In The Shadows.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> The I've had three hours of sleep and can't think of a better title edition! This time we discuss Warner Bros. doing more redundancies and how digital ownership is an illusion. Plus! Steam Next Fest demos, and the new discoverability app everyone's talking about. And more! We've been playing Avowed, and a cool free text-based puzzle game feat. mysterious deaths.

You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime

Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon. 

Links

WB shut down good studios and have good systems in their Indiana Jones warehouse of patents. You don't own your Amazon ebooks. The Video Game History Foundation is preserving games. Dominic Tarason has a great free games spreadsheet. Ludocene is having a crack at a different, better kind of game discovery.

Games

Cantaloupe Chronicle, Do No Harm, Type Help, Avowed, Resogun

Recommendations

The Sky Thief article on Rolling Stone; Todd In The Shadows.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 3: The Great Review Score Debate (Forever) Episode 3: The Great Review Score Debate (Forever) Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:00:00 GMT 1:07:16 67b74398b6cab9efc4a6bfb2 true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-3-the-great-review-score-debate-forever 67b74398b6cab9efc4a6bfb2 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-3-the-great-review-score-debate-forever full 1 3 Our episode this week was recorded... this week! Regular episodes are back on current events schedule. We talk about techxecutives, trying to make Meta happen, and argue about review scores, as games media are cursed to do until the sun explodes. Plus! We've been playing Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, My Summer Car, and Spirit Swap.

You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime

Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.

Links!

Lawsuits are fake, Avowed and Civ 7 reactions, lol at Meta's terrible ad, VR devs don't feel great about Meta, being all gamergatey bites Kingdom Come II on the bum, sorry, you're legally not allowed to review my game poorly.

Games!

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, Spirit Swap, My Summer Car.

Recommendations:

25 commandments for journalists, by the late Tim Radford (his obit. can be found here), the musical And Juliet, the film Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, and the documentary Boyzone: No Matter What.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Our episode this week was recorded... this week! Regular episodes are back on current events schedule. We talk about techxecutives, trying to make Meta happen, and argue about review scores, as games media are cursed to do until the sun explodes. Plus! We've been playing Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, My Summer Car, and Spirit Swap.

You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKW

RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime

Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.

Links!

Lawsuits are fake, Avowed and Civ 7 reactions, lol at Meta's terrible ad, VR devs don't feel great about Meta, being all gamergatey bites Kingdom Come II on the bum, sorry, you're legally not allowed to review my game poorly.

Games!

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, Spirit Swap, My Summer Car.

Recommendations:

25 commandments for journalists, by the late Tim Radford (his obit. can be found here), the musical And Juliet, the film Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, and the documentary Boyzone: No Matter What.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 2: Most Anticipated Game Things Of 2025 Episode 2: Most Anticipated Game Things Of 2025 Thu, 06 Feb 2025 16:00:00 GMT 1:04:18 67a362b0a7aa51f115747615 true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/most-anticipated-game-things-of-2025 67a362b0a7aa51f115747615 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 most-anticipated-game-things-of-2025 Plus, the two genders: Tina Turner and Agent 47 full 1 2 It's another catchup episode we recorded far too long ago! The next one will be more timely, but here we're discussing the games that we're most looking forward to in 2025. Mushrooms! Dinosaurs! Kings! Some of these games have already come out and we take no responsibility for their quality. You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.


Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.

Links!

Jonty's picks: GTAVI! Fable! Doom: The Dark Ages! Commandos Origins! That Half-Life thing! Mouse: PI For Hire!

Alice's picks: Mushroom Musume! Dead Letter Dept! Eldritch House! Avowed! (The Mermaid Mask! Promise Mascot Agency!)

Nate's picks: Civ VII! Kingmakers! Subnautica 2! Atomfall! Jurassic Park: Survival!

Recommendations this week are SBC Hyrdra-Collagen gel, St. Elwick's Newsletter Association, Video Nasty, and Blank Check.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> It's another catchup episode we recorded far too long ago! The next one will be more timely, but here we're discussing the games that we're most looking forward to in 2025. Mushrooms! Dinosaurs! Kings! Some of these games have already come out and we take no responsibility for their quality. You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.


Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.

Links!

Jonty's picks: GTAVI! Fable! Doom: The Dark Ages! Commandos Origins! That Half-Life thing! Mouse: PI For Hire!

Alice's picks: Mushroom Musume! Dead Letter Dept! Eldritch House! Avowed! (The Mermaid Mask! Promise Mascot Agency!)

Nate's picks: Civ VII! Kingmakers! Subnautica 2! Atomfall! Jurassic Park: Survival!

Recommendations this week are SBC Hyrdra-Collagen gel, St. Elwick's Newsletter Association, Video Nasty, and Blank Check.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 1: Everything We Missed Since We Got Fired Episode 1: Everything We Missed Since We Got Fired Thu, 23 Jan 2025 15:00:00 GMT 1:33:46 6792599ed50dd45655d087ae true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-1-everything-we-missed-since-we-got-fired 6792599ed50dd45655d087ae 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-1-everything-we-missed-since-we-got-fired (We did not actually get fired) full 1 1 In this bumper episode of Total Playtime we discuss everything* that we would have discussed if we were on air at the time, except we all** got fired*** six months ago. Where things are out of date or have changed since we recorded we have endeavoured to provide more up-to-date context in the links below. Thanks for listening!


*Not everything

**Two of us

***were made redundant.


Links!

Neil is a big seal. "Soft layoffs" impacted Ziff Davis More recent GDC survey than the one we mention indicates even more people are impacted by layoffs. Digital Foundry: John vs. Palword. Nintendo sued Palworld. Swen from Larian did a good speech. Catly initially looked like it might be AI but the devs have since denied it and released another trailer. Read Max's thesis that people like AI because people like bad art. Stage Fright looks cool, as did Outer Worlds 2 and One Move Away. The Witcher IV is happening. Naughty Dog's new IP looks like shit Star Wars. Borderlands 4 is ready to drop the hottest memes of 2011.


Recommendations: Bookmarked by Chris, Matt's Off Road Recovery, Lidl Spicy Salami Sticks, and Skulls: An Exploration Of Alan Dudley's Curious Collection. Find game links on Patreon.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> In this bumper episode of Total Playtime we discuss everything* that we would have discussed if we were on air at the time, except we all** got fired*** six months ago. Where things are out of date or have changed since we recorded we have endeavoured to provide more up-to-date context in the links below. Thanks for listening!


*Not everything

**Two of us

***were made redundant.


Links!

Neil is a big seal. "Soft layoffs" impacted Ziff Davis More recent GDC survey than the one we mention indicates even more people are impacted by layoffs. Digital Foundry: John vs. Palword. Nintendo sued Palworld. Swen from Larian did a good speech. Catly initially looked like it might be AI but the devs have since denied it and released another trailer. Read Max's thesis that people like AI because people like bad art. Stage Fright looks cool, as did Outer Worlds 2 and One Move Away. The Witcher IV is happening. Naughty Dog's new IP looks like shit Star Wars. Borderlands 4 is ready to drop the hottest memes of 2011.


Recommendations: Bookmarked by Chris, Matt's Off Road Recovery, Lidl Spicy Salami Sticks, and Skulls: An Exploration Of Alan Dudley's Curious Collection. Find game links on Patreon.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Episode 0: Hello World! Episode 0: Hello World! Thu, 16 Jan 2025 10:32:40 GMT 33:25 6786d1523ceecdbe85eb4c8f true https://shows.acast.com/total-playtime/episodes/episode-0-hello-world 6786d1523ceecdbe85eb4c8f 6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067 episode-0-hello-world Who are these people anyway full 1 It's a big commitment, deciding whether to listen to a new podcast, so for our first episode we're giving you a little taster. An amuse bouche but for the ears, as it were. Alice, Nate and Jon(ty) introduce themselves anew to you, our lovely little sausages, and talk a bit about what the podcast will be. Or at least what they hope it'll be. Tell us what you hope it'll be at totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.


Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.


Links!

Recommendations this week are Ed Zitron's long rant about why the internet sucks and whose fault it is, and Matt Levine's Bloomberg newsletter Money Stuff to make heavy duty finance stuff more understandable. Plus a trio of nature recs from Nate: the Netflix documentary Our Oceans for good whale footage, the YouTube channel Extinct Zoo, and the PBS Eons podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> It's a big commitment, deciding whether to listen to a new podcast, so for our first episode we're giving you a little taster. An amuse bouche but for the ears, as it were. Alice, Nate and Jon(ty) introduce themselves anew to you, our lovely little sausages, and talk a bit about what the podcast will be. Or at least what they hope it'll be. Tell us what you hope it'll be at totalplaytimepod@gmail.com.


Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.


Links!

Recommendations this week are Ed Zitron's long rant about why the internet sucks and whose fault it is, and Matt Levine's Bloomberg newsletter Money Stuff to make heavy duty finance stuff more understandable. Plus a trio of nature recs from Nate: the Netflix documentary Our Oceans for good whale footage, the YouTube channel Extinct Zoo, and the PBS Eons podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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