Grumpy Old Gamer

Grumpy Old Gamer

por Grumpy Old Gamer
Videojuegos
Temporada 2
Who Won the Console War? [S02E08]
The lads are back and there are four of them this time. Ian, Al, Tim, and Lucas dig into the big question: who actually won the console war? Spoiler: it's not complicated. Then things get interesting as the crew unpacks Phil Spencer's exit from Xbox, the arrival of Asha Sharma with her AI background and no games industry experience, Sony's quiet 180 on exclusivity, and what Project Helix plus Steam on Xbox might actually mean for the next round of the console wars. The Steam Machine gets a look-in too. Nobody holds back.
T2 · E8
29 abr 2026
48:30
Steam: Our pile of shame
Al, Tim, and Lucas confess their digital hoarding addictions by analyzing their Steam libraries. Turns out we've all got hundreds of games we'll never play, bought during sales we can't resist, gifted by friends who promise "we'll play together" and then ghost us. We used SteamDB to crunch the numbers. Al has £550 worth of unplayed games sitting in his library gathering digital dust. Lucas bought Elder Scrolls Online three times - bought it, refunded it, bought it again on sale, refunded it again, then bought it a third time because it was even cheaper. Tim can't remember buying Farming Simulator 2013 and has no idea why it's installed. The conversation spirals into the psychology of Steam sales. Why do we buy games at 90% off when we know we'll never play them? Why does "it's only £2" feel like a compelling reason to add another title to the pile? Why do we convince ourselves we'll definitely play Dying Light this time when we've been saying that for 11 years? We debate physical versus digital ownership. Tim and Al have shelves of boxed PC games they'll never install because who runs optical drives anymore. Lucas sees his Steam library as a collection of military badges - achievements for simply owning the games. We're all hypocrites who miss game manuals while exclusively buying digital. Regional pricing gets exposed. Lucas admits Argentina used to have ridiculous Steam discounts - £50 games for £5. Free-to-play games get dissected. Tim's spent hundreds on Magic: The Gathering Arena and it shows as £0 library value. The friendship tax is real - buying games together, playing for an hour, never touching them again. Nobody's changing their behaviour. The Spring Sale just started. We're all doomed.
T2 · E7
15 abr 2026
53:16
From Outrun to iRacing: The Evolution of Racing Games [S02E06]
Al has a confession: he doesn't play racing games. Tim and Lucas do. This was always going to be an interesting conversation. In this episode, the three of us trace the full arc of racing games, from chucking 10p into Outrun at the arcade to Formula 1 drivers logging laps on iRacing between Grand Prix weekends. We argue about whether Driver counts as a racing game, mourn the fact that Lucas has never heard of Wipeout, celebrate Mario Kart's role as the ultimate family destroyer, and spend a suspicious amount of time on the Forza Horizon open world and what people get up to on its motorways. We also tackle the big question: has the simulation side of the genre hit a ceiling? And if arcade racing still has room to grow, what does that actually look like? Ian is not here. He has not been sacked (yet).
T2 · E6
1 abr 2026
50:30
Warhammer 40,000: The Lore Dump (Feat. One Virgin and Two Self-Confessed Experts) [S02E05]
Al and Tim think they know Warhammer 40,000. Ian definitely does not. So this week, Ian asks the questions, Al and Tim answer them without any preparation whatsoever, and somehow everyone learns something. Topics covered include what Warhammer 40k actually is, the Horus Heresy, why the Emperor is essentially a very expensive battery, the Tyrannids versus the Xenomorphs, whether the Enterprise D would survive five minutes in the Imperium of Man, who the good guys are (short answer: there aren't any), and why the Necrons haven't just killed everyone yet. Drinking is involved. Accuracy is not guaranteed. Come and tell us what we got wrong.
T2 · E5
18 mar 2026
1:14:12
Grinding in Games: Rewarding Loop or Lazy Design? [S02E04]
Grinding in games used to feel rewarding. You put the time in, you got stronger, and you saw the difference. Now it often feels like a second job, or worse, something designed to push you toward spending money. In this episode, we break down what grinding used to be, what it’s become, and where the line should be drawn.
T2 · E4
4 mar 2026
47:48
Comfort Gaming: The Games We Always Go Back To [S02E03]
Ian, Tim, and Lucas dig into comfort gaming — those familiar titles you keep coming back to when you need to switch off and just play. From Fallout and The Sims to Powerwash Simulator and Path of Exile, the lads talk nostalgia trips, cozy games, survival base-builders, challenge runs, and why some stressful games are weirdly relaxing. Plus: Tim's mobile game shame, Lucas's obsession with South Park: The Stick of Truth, a deep cut on Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis, and the entire squad agrees — fuck Ubisoft (but Black Flag was class). Al's been sacked again. Obviously. https://gog.fm https://gog.fm/blog https://gog.fm/spotify https://gog.fm/apple https://gog.fm/amazon https://gog.fm/discord https://gog.fm/twitch https://gog.fm/steam https://gog.fm/curator https://gog.fm/facebook https://gog.fm/twitter https://gog.fm/bsky https://gog.fm/instagram https://gog.fm/threads
T2 · E3
18 feb 2026
40:34
The Ownership Illusion - Subscriptions, DRM, and Digital Rights [S02E02]
We replaced Tim with Lucas from Argentina and nobody told him. Now three idiots argue about subscription services, cloud gaming, and why you technically don't own any of your digital games. The conversation covers how none of us can remember the last time we bought a physical game, yet we complain about not owning anything. We're all trapped in the Steam ecosystem with hundreds of games we'll never play again and can't resell. Game Pass costs more than just buying Minecraft outright, but people keep paying anyway because we're gullible idiots who forget to cancel subscriptions. Cloud gaming gets debated as either the great equalizer or the final nail in ownership's coffin. Lucas argues for the satisfaction of building your own PC. Al suggests cloud access might democratize gaming. Ian points out the practical benefits of playing games on a potato laptop. Nobody agrees on anything. GOG gets praised for selling DRM-free games you can own, but we all still use Steam because the interface is better and our libraries are already there. The EU's Stop Killing Games initiative offers hope for permanent game access, assuming it passes and forces global changes like Steam's refund policy did. https://gog.fm https://gog.fm/blog https://gog.fm/spotify https://gog.fm/apple https://gog.fm/amazon https://gog.fm/discord https://gog.fm/twitch https://gog.fm/steam https://gog.fm/curator https://gog.fm/facebook https://gog.fm/twitter https://gog.fm/bsky https://gog.fm/instagram https://gog.fm/threads
T2 · E2
4 feb 2026
59:13
Season 2 Premiere: Game Recommendations Challenge [S02E01]
Season 2 starts with a challenge. Each host picks two games under £10 for the others to play. We'll revisit these choices in the season finale to see how wrong everyone was. Ian recommends Far Cry 5 to Tim for its co-op chaos and rural Montana cult-shooting. Tim throws Tekken 7 at Al as a callback to our arcade episode and a test of whether RTS players can handle fighting games. Al drops Warhammer 40K Boltgun on Ian as an entry point to the setting before episode 5's planned 40K deep-dive. Ian counters with Remnant 2, a souls-like co-op shooter he claims isn't that hard. Tim unleashes Stellaris on Ian, which Al warns could consume months of his life. Al finishes with Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2 for Tim, full cathedral-sized battleships and enough lore to drown in. Games covered: Far Cry 5 (Ian → Tim) Tekken 7 (Tim → Al) Warhammer 40K Boltgun (Al → Ian) Remnant 2 (Ian → Al) Stellaris (Tim → Ian) Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2 (Al → Tim) https://store.steampowered.com/app/552520/Far_Cry_5/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/389730/TEKKEN_7/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/2005010/Warhammer_40000_Boltgun/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1282100/REMNANT_II/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/281990/Stellaris/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/573100/Battlefleet_Gothic_Armada_2/
T2 · E1
21 ene 2026
50:53
Temporada 1
Season Finale: Gaming Might Not Be Shit After All [S01E10]
It's the Season 1 finale, and we're coming full circle. 10 episodes ago, we kicked things off with a bold claim: Gaming Is Shit Now. But after 20 weeks of arguing about everything from Half-Life 2's superiority over GTA to the death of couch co-op and the predatory practices of EA (f##k EA) and Ubisoft (f##k Ubisoft even more), we've reached a surprising conclusion. In this episode, we confront our own hypocrisy. We hate live service games... but we're both paying for EA Play to play Battlefield 6. We despise subscription models... but we're using them like they're demo discs. We complained about broken launches and day-one patches... but maybe early access and the ability to fix games post-launch isn't the worst thing? What We Discuss: Are we just hypocrites for complaining about things we actively support? Live service games, season passes, and monetization (and why we tolerate them) How cross-platform play has revolutionized gaming accessibility The Stop Killing Games initiative and consumer protections Why broken launches still suck but patches are actually beneficial The positives of modern gaming we've been ignoring Our final verdict: Is gaming ACTUALLY shit? BONUS: Post-credits rant about Call of Duty Black Ops 7's disastrous launch, Battlefield 6's victory, and Steam's new console dominating the future. After 10 episodes of being grumpy bastards, we've finally admitted it: gaming in 2025 might actually be... good? The benefits far outweigh the negatives. Cross-play, consumer choice, accessibility, and yes, even those bloody subscription services have their place. Thanks for sticking with us through Season 1. We'll be back in 6 weeks for Season 2, bigger, grumpier, and ready to contradict ourselves all over again. https://gog.fm https://gog.fm/blog https://gog.fm/spotify https://gog.fm/apple https://gog.fm/amazon https://gog.fm/discord https://gog.fm/twitch https://gog.fm/steam https://gog.fm/curator https://gog.fm/facebook https://gog.fm/twitter https://gog.fm/bsky https://gog.fm/instagram https://gog.fm/threads
T1 · E10
10 dic 2025
59:39
The Best and Worst of 2025 in Videogames [ S01E09]
The Grumpy Old Gamer team takes a quick look at the best and worst of videogames in 2025. The greatest releases - or at least the ones that we bothered to play - the controversy of Assassin's Creed Shadows and the sale of EA to Saudi Arabia, and the games that should have hit but somehow fell short. https://gog.fm https://gog.fm/blog https://gog.fm/spotify https://gog.fm/apple https://gog.fm/amazon https://gog.fm/discord https://gog.fm/twitch https://gog.fm/steam https://gog.fm/curator https://gog.fm/facebook https://gog.fm/twitter https://gog.fm/bsky https://gog.fm/instagram https://gog.fm/threads
T1 · E9
26 nov 2025
37:25
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