The Codec Moments Podcast

Revelling in Reveals

We hadn't even made it to Easter before some of the biggest gaming reveals in ages dropped this April, including new Xbox and PlayStation console announcements!  In this episode of The Codec Moments Podcast, Matt, Andy and Ali discuss:

• Forza Street (not sure why)
• Xbox One S All Digital
• PlayStation 5
• Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
• The Marvel Cinematic Universe, Endgame and Game of Thrones (not really, just brief mentions but Ali told me to include it for SEO)

Why not join our Discord channels to talk games (and other stuff) and listen to live recordings (and join in) – click here.  If you think that Discord will sweep the leg, then why not check us out on Twitter, Facebook or contact us via email.  The Codec Moments Podcast will return in "Matthew Holt and The Quest for Content".

Beat It Till It Bleeds

If there's one thing that the Codec Moments team are partial to, it's a fighting game... well, one third of the team is at least.  With Mortal Kombat 11 just around the corner it seems an apt time to talk about their experience with the genre, and fortunately Matt's tagged in some support from outside the ring and asked Stuart Cullen and Connor McKervey to lend their wisdom of haduken's and fatalities.  It doesn't matter whether you know how to pull off a 10 hit combo or a multi-part chain throw, listen in if you've ever grabbed a pad and set about battering your friends in the name of relaxation.

In this episode of the Codec Moments podcast you'll hear:

• Mentions of more games than you can shake a fight stick at
• 2D vs 3D presentation
• What we think of couch brawlers
• Who embarrassed Stu at Street Fighter
• Are they just fancy rock, paper, scissors simulators?
• What the Tekken bible is
• Online vs couch competitive
• Which has the best mini-game
• and so much more.

Why not join our Discord channels to talk games (and other stuff) and listen to live recordings (and join in) – click here.  If you think that Discord will sweep the leg, then why not check us out on Twitter, Facebook or contact us via email.  The Codec Moments Podcast will return next week if it manages to evade detection by the Empire for another 7 days.

Codec Momentum - March 2019

It's time to see how people did on their Codec Momentum submissions in March, so Andy, Matt and Ali are back with a live show!

Listen to this latest update on the 2019 Codec Momentum submission to find out:

• Who's at the top
• Who's at the bottom
• Who won the prize draw this month
• When did Andy press 'record'
• What is the pile of shame themed quiz

Why not join our Discord channels to talk games (and other stuff) and listen to live recordings (and join in) – click here.  If you think that Discord doesn’t agree with clearing its pile of shame, then why not check us out on Twitter, Facebook or contact us via email.  The Codec Moments Podcast will return next week with some fighting talk!

Long Division

Ubisoft's post-apocalyptic looter shooter has returned with a bang (probably from an exploding remote controlled car), but this time The Division 2 lets us take in the sights and sounds of Washington D.C.

In this episode of the Codec Moments podcast, Andy, Ali and the Scottish Sun's Stuart Cullen talk about:

• The Division and The Division 2 - plot and does it really matter?
• What’s different to The Division 1?
• Enemy AI
• Group levelling
• Variety of early game content
• Difficulty
• Changes to gear and Mod system
• Brand sets
• Skills
• Help requests
• Clans
• Specializations
• and the all important endgame

Why not join our Discord channels to talk games (and other stuff) and listen to live recordings (and join in) – click here.  You can also find us on Twitter, Facebook or contact us via email.  The Codec Moments Podcast will return on 6th April for our live Codec Momentum update show!

Ten Year Challenge

We're not sure whether it's a harmless bit of Facebook fun, or if we've all been suckered into training an NSA database for the purposes of facial recognition; whatever it is, the ten year challenge started us thinking fondly about some of the games we were playing a decade ago.

In this episode of the Codec Moments podcast, Andy, Ali and Matt talk about:

• PSP ports
• XBLA classics
• Uncharted 2
• Assassin's Creed 2
• Resident Evil 5
• Arkham Asylum
• Borderlands
• and Modern Warfare 2

There's also a quiz of Matt's design; so tune in and listen to Ali and Andy squirm uncomfortably.

Why not join our Discord channels to talk games (and other stuff) and listen to live recordings (and join in) – click here.  You can also find us on Twitter, Facebook or contact us via email.  The Codec Moments Podcast will return next week, when we will be talking about The Division 2.

Anthem vs Apex Legends

Arguably the two biggest online shooters to release in the first part of 2019, and they both come from the EA stable.  Respawn's Apex Legends surprised a lot of people almost coming from nowhere to show off what they could do in the Battle Royale genre, and Bioware's Anthem has been hyped into the stratosphere since it was announced.  They might not be targeted at the same audiences, but when they do a similar job it might mean the less informed gamer doesn't know which one to plough their cash into... and one of them is free.  The team get together to work out whether EA are causing themselves sales problems by chucking these games out so close to each other. Note: at the time of recording The Division 2 hadn't been released.

In this episode of the Codec Moments podcast, Ali and Matt are joined by Stuart Cullen, and you'll find out:

• What is Apex Legends
• How does Anthem work
• Why they spend an inordinate amount of time talking about Battlefield V
• Which game the team consider the last decent EA title
• Who thinks Battle Royale games can go and f$%! themselves
• Whether we should really be giving a copy of Anthem away
• and more.

Why not join our Discord channels to talk games (and other stuff) and listen to live recordings (and join in) – click here.  If you think that Discord doesn’t like Battle Royale games, then why not check us out on Twitter, Facebook or contact us via email.  The Codec Moments Podcast will return soon to consider the ten year challenge.

Codec Momentum - February 2019

It's come around quickly this month, but that's February for you folks!  In a heartbeat the time seems to have flown by and the chances of getting one of those pile of shame games completed has shrivelled away, but only for some of you it seems.  Two thirds of the Codec Moments team might not have been particularly productive, and it might be the lowest number of entries in a good few months, yet there's still a lot to celebrate.  On with the show...

Listen to this latest update on the 2019 Codec Momentum submission to find out:

• Who's at the top
• Who's at the bottom
• Whether Ali got around to finishing Hellblade
• If the scores add up this month
• What we've drawn the prize winner from this month
• How much further Stuart Neill has walked... or not, he hadn't sent us the submission at the time of recording
• Whether Andy has clung onto a medal paying position in the leaderboard

Why not join our Discord channels to talk games (and other stuff) and listen to live recordings (and join in) – click here.  If you think that Discord doesn’t agree with clearing its pile of shame, then why not check us out on Twitter, Facebook or contact us via email.  The Codec Moments Podcast will return soon with more talk about online multiplayer games.

The Apocalypse and the Acrobat

There's been quite a bit of gaming going on recently in the team, but what should we expect given how many top tier releases there have been over the last month.  For this episode of the Codec Moments Podcast, Andy, Matt and Ali get together to talk mainly about two that have impressed them the most in the last month - Metro: Exodus and Trials Rising.  Listen to to find out:

• how you can win an Xbox One copy of Metro: Exodus (that's in the first 30 seconds if you don't want to put up with us for half an hour)
• what Andy did on his holiday
• why Metro is so distinct from other FPS games
• how much sleep is possible to lose with Trials Rising
• and a whole host of other things related to the games

If you want to read more about what we thought on Metro: Exodus then check out the review here, or enter the competition if you just need to try if for yourself.

Why not join our Discord channels to talk games (and other stuff) and listen to live recordings (and join in) – click here.  If you think that Discord is going to make you complete all its tracks on extreme difficulty, then why not check us out on Twitter, Facebook or contact us via email.  The Codec Moments Podcast will return with the February Codec Momentum roundup.

DiRTy Talk

Today marks the general release of DiRT Rally 2.0 - the sequel to the most hardcore rally game we've ever played.  In this special podcast Matt and Ali talk (a lot) about what the game's like and how it differs to the last entries in the series.  It's not all motor sport though, to break things up there's a quiz!  You might regret listening to it though...

Listen to this episode of the Codec Moments Podcast to find out:

• who's played more of DiRT Rally 2.0
• how it handles
• why Andy's not taking part
• what difficulty options there are
• if rallycross has improved since the last iteration
• whether we agree with the monetisation of rally tracks
• who knows the most about Mills and Boon literature
• and more.

If you want to read our full review of DiRT Rally 2.0 then click this link, or if you've a hankering to find out what a decent base level set of Logitech wheel settings are then follow this one.  The quiz music theme used in this episode appears courtesy of Purple Planet (https://www.purple-planet.com).

Why not join our Discord channels to talk games (and other stuff) and listen to live recordings (and join in) – click here.  If you think that Discord is going to cut half an hour of wheel settings talk out of a podcast (and that's no exaggeration), then why not check us out on Twitter, Facebook or contact us via email.  The Codec Moments Podcast will return soon with more talk about Metro: Exodus.

Cost of a Coffee - Universal Paperclips

Andy and Stuart discuss their secret love of clicker games and not so secret love of spreadsheets in this week's Cost of a Coffee.

Universal Paperclips is the story of a AI designed to manufacture paperclips, above all else.  We would describe it in greater detail, but that would just be wasting precious time in which you could be making paperclips...

"Release the Hypno Drones."