A Winner Is You

KDB rejoins his best friends for a distinctly, well, friendly draft. This time, it's 2008 under the microscope, as the lads all draft 10 games each from the year and hope to have the best metacritic score by the end.

David's won the last two in a row, and is looking for a cheeky hat-trick. KDB just doesn't want to lose again. You can play along by checking the list of 2008 games we drafted from here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:2008_video_games

There's also a bonus bit of chat about Alone in the Dark, Dave the Diver and FFVII Remake.

Like/rate/review/subscribe/be nice. Say hi @winnerisyoupod and we'll see you next episode for Metal Gear Solid 2!

We round off the madness of March and all its movie magnificence with two fantastic pieces of Batman media.

First up is the the latest entry into Batman's cinematic adventures, with 2022's grisly detective thriller, The Batman.

The second half of the pod is dedicated to one of the greatest licensed games of all time, the one that started a revolution - Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Follow us on Twitter @winnerisyoupod and please rate/review on your pod platform of choice!

Grab your popcorn and curl up for a movie night with the lads. In a new annual feature, we're combining a movie with a game on our pods for the month of March, and first up is a cracking combo.

We watched the 1988 classic RoboCop (Alex also watched RoboCop 2) and played RoboCop: Rogue City so we can talk about both of them in one pod!

Don't forget to rate/review on your pod platform of choice, say hi over @winnerisyoupod and stay tuned for the next instalment of Triple M, where we'll be covering The Batman + Batman: Arkham Asylum.

PS. Sorry about the audio not being as good as normal this episode. Alex had the wrong input selected when recording so we had to edit the pod using the audio from the Discord call. It'll be better next time, please don't tell ED-209 about this.

Ook ook, are you folks ready to go a... oh wait, I already did that one. Still, you don't need to be a king (preferably nobody is) to appreciate Kong around here - we absolutely love DKC: Tropical Freeze.

We love it so much, in fact, that we both rank it in our top 10 2D platformers of all time. After we get through praising the game for its 10th birthday, we talk about our individual lists of GOAT platformers.

Don't forget to rate/review us on your pod platform of choice, say hi over @winnerisyoupod and tune in next time for the inaugural February Film Fest episode!

A little later than usual, but we're finally ready to draw a line under 2023 with our annual GOTY Awards. Remember, friends, that our awards specifically cover the games covered on this podcast in 2023, so some winners/nominees will be old games.

Don't forget to rate/review us on your pod platform of choice, come say hi over @winnerisyoupod and get ready to go ape in the next episode with 10 years of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze!

It’s the first podcast of 2024, and the first since the apparently infamous console ranking! As such, the lads are forced to deal with the Sega Nutters of Twitter and the realisation that ranking the Sega Saturn below the Wii U is some kind of a hate crime against miserable little incels who really need to touch grass.

So, if it’s ok with you, we’d like to talk about how amazing Alan Wake 2 is. Please don’t also bully us on Twitter for that (@winnerisyoupod either way). We’re only ever here to celebrate video games, and this one is an absolute masterpiece.

Don't forget to rate/review on your pod platform of choice, and we'll see you next time for GOTY 2023!

HO HO HO! For our holiday special, we basically lost our minds and decided to spend FOUR HOURS ranking every home video game console from Sega, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft - starting with the Master System right up to the PS5!

It's a long debate, but you can't muck about with things of such importance, we're sure you're aware. What would your number one console of all time be? Let us know via @winnerisyoupod

Show some festive spirit by leaving us a review/rating on your pod platform of choice and have a yourself a merry little Christmas from A Winner is You!

To keep you on tenter hooks for a bit longer before we tackle Alan Wake 2, we pay respects to another Remedy sequel - 2003's Max Payne 2.

We chat about what the increased budget did for the game, where bullet time went, whether it's a puzzle game or not, the story, the legacy of the series, our hopes for the remasters and much more!

There's also time to chat about our plans for next year, including February Film Fest, which will start in 2024 and deliver a movie and game club episode all at once!

Side note: David recorded this podcast while suffering (unbeknownst at the time) from his third bout of Covid. So excuse if he says anything silly like Idris Elba is in Alan Wake 2. He was not himself!

Don't forget to rate/review/say hi to us @winnerisyoupod, and we'll see you next time for the ranking of every home console Christmas special!

KDB returns to the pod for another hard-hitting, smack-talking, game-picking, JRPG-lamenting video game draft!

This time, we each draft 10 games from the year 2007, and total up their metacritic scores to determine a winner.

Don't forget to rate/review on your pod platform of choice, and come say hi to us on X over @winnerisyoupod

It's Mario. It's wonderful. It's Super Mario Bros. Wonder! Join us as we celebrate one of the highlights of the year, and the best 2D Mario since the SNES.

Don't forget to leave us a review/rating and come say hi to us over @winnerisyoupod on Twitter!

Spooktoberfest comes to an end for another year with a horror games draft. Happy Halloween! Alex and David pick 10 games each across a variety of categories, and you lot get to vote on whose final list of 10 games is better. Do that over @winnerisyoupod on Twitter.

Don't forget to rate/review on your pod platform of choice, check out the YouTube version, and have a look at our stuff on TikTok.

The lads prepare for the upcoming Alan Wake II episode by fumbling around in the dark with Alan Wake. Honestly? It holds up even better than it felt originally!

We talk the story, episodic nature, action, characters, and much more!

Don't forget to rate/review on your pod platform of choice, check out YouTube for the video version, and come say hi to us on X @winnerisyoupod

If we're being honest, F.E.A.R. didn't really fill us with much fear, but it did fill a bunch of super soldiers with very slow-moving bullets that look cool. So, there's that.

The game does have horror leanings, especially with its Ring/Grudge influences, and we talk about that as well as the story, gunplay, visuals, development, trivia and much more!

Please rate/review the show on your pod platform of choice and come say hi on X @winnerisyoupod

BOO! Spooky season is upon us and, as we are contractually obligated, so is Spooktoberfest! Once again we bring you a terrifying dose of Halloween havoc with a whole month of horror podcasts.

Up first this year is Bloober Team's 2016 cult hit, Layers of Fear. Alex was genuinely terrified by this game, while David was a much braver boy.

We delve deep into the story of the game and do our best to explain all the subtle things you may have missed.

Please rate/review on your pod platform of choice, check out the video version on YouTube if you like faces, and say hi to us on Twitter @winnerisyoupod.

Aye carumba! Are you folks ready to laugh? Well, you should be, because we bring you a podcast celebrating 20 years of the 2003 open world classic, The Simpsons: Hit & Run.

Does it hold up? Is it funny? Is it the best Simpsons game ever made? You better listen to find out.

Don't forget to rate/review on your platform of choice, say hi to us on X @winnerisyoupod, or check us out on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.

We're in celebratory mood, as September '23 marks the 25th birthday of one of the seminal works in video games - the classic Kojima masterpiece Metal Gear Solid.

We both love the game, but there's definitely plenty of opportunity to poke fun at its eccentricities and nonsense. Alex also played Twin Snakes for comparison between the two, so we also chat about why that game is a bit of a black sheep (perhaps harshly).

Please rate/review on your pod platform of choice, check out our YouTube if you want to see the video version, and come say hi to us on Twitter @winnerisyoupod

Chuck on your jersey, pad up your shins, take your energy drinks, make sure the laces are out (Dan) and get ready to kick off - it's the AWIY Sports Video Game Draft!

David and Alex each draft 10 sports games across a variety of categories ranging from arcade to motorsport, and you get to vote on whose list of 10 is better!

Head on over to @winnerisyoupod on Twitter/X to cast your vote on who is the draft winner!

This year's Summer of Resi rounds out with the game that started it all, the original Resident Evil for PlayStation.

Regular bros of the podcast will know we ranked this game 7th out of all the Resident Evils we've covered on the pod so far, but that doesn't mean we don't love it.

Don't forget to rate/review us on your pod platform of choice, check out the YouTube channel for video versions of the pods, and hit us up on X @WinnerIsYouPod

We needed a bit more time to bring you Resident Evil 1 so to fill the gap we decided to go through all 10 Resident Evil games we've covered so far on the podcast. Including Resident Evil 1 because Alex knows it well and David was right near the end of the game. And Resident Evil 6 because we started playing it for the podcast and had enough. And Dino Crisis because we say so.

The 10 games being ranked for now - until we get through another couple of years when we'll come back to it - are: Resident Evil, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Dino Crisis, Resident Evil 0, Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil 6, Resident Evil 7, Resident Evil 2 Remake, Resident Evil Village, and Resident Evil 4 Remake.

Let us know how you'd rank those games over @winnerisyoupod or via email to awinnerisyoupod@gmail.com and sorry about the audio issues. Alex had his input set to his cocking iPhone earphones mic and it was like having your ears turned into a Jill sandwich. We had to scrape the audio from the Discord video feed (where he had set it to the correct mic) but it was a proper patch-up. Next episode will sound beautiful. Promise!

Please rate/review the show on your pod platform of choice, you lovely people who are lovely to us.

We keep rollin' through Raccoon City for Summer of Resi 2023, this time with a big ol' bugger on our tail. Join us as we dive deep into the spinoff-turned-full-game (kinda), 1999's PS1 classic, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.

As usual, we talk at length about the story, development, gameplay, legacy, and our own thoughts, with the obligatory dose of irreverent banter you expect from AWIY.

If you want to experience Resi 3 in the beautiful seamless HD the way we did when playing for this episode, you can download everything you need here: https://www.reshdp.com/re3/

Rate/review us on your pod platform of choice, please!

Check out the YouTube version of this podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@awinnerisyoupodcast1501

Say hi on Twitter to @winnerisyoupod, @davidsmillie1 and @superthrillex

Summer of Resi returns for Season Two! For the rest of the summer, we're focusing on nothing but Capcom's Resident Evil series - starting with the incredible 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2!

We chat about the game's development and release, dish out some trivia, a tonne of opinions, and go through the major moments in the campaigns of Leon and Claire.

See you next episode for Resident Evil 3: Nemesis!

Like/review/rate us on your pod app of choice. Please!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WinnerIsYouPod

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@awinnerisyoupodcast1501

TikTok: https://t.co/ZZLpcSz1Fn

We got one hell of a package for you this episode, pals! Yes, it really is 30 sodding years since we were able to gorge ourselves silly on four SNES-ified remakes of classic Super Mario Bros.

We take you through the development of the game, the key changes between the NES originals and the remakes, our feelings on each individual game and, of course, a music tier list!

Get in touch with us on Twitter @winnerisyoupod! Please rate/review/subscribe (and check us on YouTube if you want to look at beards)

We ride again, drafters! KDB joins us once more to pick 10 games each, this time from the year 2006, and total up their Metacritic scores to see who wins.

Will Kelsi retain his crown from 2005? Will David overtake Alex in the overall league table? Will Alex do something stupid like picking only games from Nintendo consoles? Oh, the suspense!

Don't forget to leave a rating/review on your pod platform of choice, and hit us up on Twitter (if you're still on there) @VG_HOF. We'll be on Threads and more soon when we can be arsed to make the accounts!

25 years of one of the greatest Rare games, nae, N64 games, nae, 3D platformers, nae, video games of all time - Banjo-Kazooie!

We've been so excited to finally discuss a game beloved by us for such a large part of our lives, and this episode is a real corker. We've got trivia, we've got info on the game's development, we've got some critiquing of magazine reviews from the time, we've got a music tier list, and more! Banjo fans don't want to miss this one.

Don't forget to leave us a rating/review on your pod platform of choice, tweet us @winnerisyoupod or email awinnerisyoupod@gmail.com

Tell the girls you're off to do something manly and cool, because we're actually all off to the Games Workshop together to purge some scum in Warhammer 40k: Boltgun. An unabashed homage to Doom (just look at the box art) set in the Warhammer universe, this isn't Roy Hodgson's Warhammer. No, sir, this is a blood-soaked, viscera-splattered gore-fest of glorious, righteous violence.

With gameplay and visuals straight out of the late '90s, these games can often become a bit of a slog once you get sick of traipsing round for 20 minutes looking for the COCK-SHITTING BLUE KEY... but does Boltgun fall into that same trap? Does it have bollocks AI? A terrible soundtrack? Is it better than Doom? Does it have the best guns in the boomer shooter game? Listen to find out!

Don't forget to check out and sub to David's SubStack over at https://supersmillie.substack.com/ and follow us on Twitter @winnerisyoupod. Rate, review, subscribe, love.

MAYtroidvania concludes with the 2009 award-winner from Epic Games, Shadow Complex. We discuss the game's hilariously terrible story, its map design, upgrade system, controls and combat, development and more!

Don't forget to leave us a review/rating and subscribe, tweet us @winnerisyoupod or email awinnerisyoupod@gmail.com

Arise, yourself and your shadow, it's time for MAYtroidvania! You know we love a themed period of pods on this show, so for the month of May we've been (slowly) playing through some of the best Metroidvania (or 'search action' if you're a hipster) games to bring to you yet more pod goodness.

First up is the Kickstarter phenomenon, the game they totally made not shite after the first trailer, the return of Igavania - Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. Y'all may remember that last year David fell in love with Igarashi's masterpiece, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, so this was an easy sell to get him playing.

Does it live up to that lofty predecessor, or indeed anything else in the Igavania catalogue? Is the map too big? Is the voice acting too terrible? Is the game absolutely awesome? Listen and find out.

Don't forget to leave a review, tweet us @winnerisyoupod or email awinnerisyoupod@gmail.com

We're back with another roller-coaster, tension-filled, laugh-a-minute Video Game Draft! Joined, as is the tradition, by The Man of 1000 Podcasts, Mr KDB, to take on The Ice Man (because Scotland), David, and The People's Champ, Alex in a battle to the death over the best games of 2004.

If you don't know the format by now, you suck, but as you should be aware, we each take turns to draft a game at time for 10 rounds and then total up the Metacritic scores to determine a winner. Alex is currently winning 2-1-0 over David and KDB respectively, but there's plenty of time for this tournament of kings to twist and turn. Can David win his second draft in a row? Will KDB finally get one over the line? Listen and find out!

Don't forget to leave us a review on your pod platforms, or send us tweets over to @winnerisyoupod. We will see you next time for a special event for the month of May - don't miss it!

What a biggie this is, and it's not even the Summer of Resi yet! Pop a Plagas suppository in your anus and join us in full Ganado glory for a chat about the remake to one of the greatest video games of all time - the mighty Resident Evil 4.

We discuss the history of the original game and its development, overall changes to the remake - like the new controls, voice actors, and mechanics - and dive deep going through the chapters of the game (with more discussions on what's changed from the OG). It's a huge pod for a huge game, and richly deserved it is too.

Don't forget to leave us a lovely review on your pod platform and check us out on Twitter @winnerisyoupod

Get your drafting pens at the ready, because we're back on the clock for another Video Game Draft! KDB - of First Aid Spray, Gears Intel, and Tapes From The Wastes fame - joins us once again to take turns picking 10 games each, this time from the year 2003, and determine a winner based on the total Metacritic scores for said games.

Will Alex make it a threepeat with his underhanded GBA game-picking tactics? Will David go mad and inexplicably keep picking American football games? Will KDB pick something that's actually terrible and kill his total score yet again? Tune in to find out, and play along if you want by hitting up the Wikipedia 'category: 2003 games' page and pick your own dream team.

Don't forget to leave us a review if you liked what you heard, and come say hello over on Twitter @winnerisyoupod. See you next episode for Resident Evil 4 Remake!

Ook ook. Are you folks ready to go ape? That's right, we're in Kong country, and it's a pretty big country, so we've decided to cram in Rare's iconic SNES classics Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest into one podcast!

We'll talk, as usual, about our own opinions and historical experiences with the game, the development, its reception, and we're picking out notable levels from each game to pour over. So get comfortable, check on your banana horde, dust off your mine cart and ready yourself for some monkey mayhem! In podcast form!

Don't forget to leave us a review if you like what you hear, tweet us @winnerisyoupod, or email us via awinnerisyoupod@gmail.com

Let's just take a moment to pay respects to an incredible video game. Alex finally managed to convince David to drop everything (mostly Apex Legends) and play through the campaign of Respawn's marvellous 2016 shooter, Titanfall 2. 

We discuss the, ahem, story and the relationship between Cooper and BT, the gunplay and Titan loadouts, the movement mechanics and level gimmicks, the game's development, its critical and commercial reception, and loads more! 

Don't forget to give us a rating on your pod platform of choice, and come say hi over @winnerisyoupod

We couldn't help ourselves. Once you go full Necromorph, you never go back. Well, you do go back... to Dead Space. Specifically to its sequel, as we set virtual sail for Titan Station in 2011's blockbuster (except in terms of sales) Dead Space 2.

A much more linear, action-heavy game than the original, it doesn't stop Visceral's efforts from still feeling as satisfying and scary as it did 11 years ago. We chat about the ongoing trials and tribulations of Isaac Clarke after he awakens in a mental hospital aboard a space station on one of Saturn's moons known as The Sprawl, and the endless nightmare he endures thereafter. 

How does the story hold up? Is the combat still great? Is the game scary or just relentlessly full-on? What weapons did we use this time? We answer these questions and many more in typical AWIY deep dive fashion.  

Don't forget to leave us a review on your pod platform of choice, and head over to @winnerisyoupod on Twitter to get in touch!

We're back on the clock for another Video Game Draft special! This time, it's what we believe to be the greatest games of 2002 that are under the spotlight. 

As with before, we are joined by KDB from the Gears Intel and First Aid Spray podcasts (among many others), and once again the three of us take turns to draft 10 games each, then find the Metacritic score for all the games, add it all up and the person with the highest total score at the end wins. 

There are some real corkers to choose from 2002 - Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, GTA: Vice City, Urban Yeti!, Nancy Drew: Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake, Jazz Jackrabbit, Resident Evil REmake, and Go! Go! Beckham! Adventure on Soccer Island. 

Alex is the current reigning champeen. Can anyone stop his march towards greatness, or will he storm into a 2-0-0 lead? 

Don't forget to tweet us @winnerisyoupod or email awinnerisyoupod@gmail.com - and give us a rating on your podcast app, yeah?

Our first new release pod of the year is the bone-chillingly fantastic Dead Space Remake. We're huge fans of the original game, and this remake is the goldest of gold standards on how to do it properly. 

We chat about the story, gameplay, world design, and highlight the changes between this and the original game. We loved our time with the game so much that we've decided to dive straight in to Dead Space 2 for the next episode! 

Tune in next time for that, and don't forget to tweet any questions or feedback to @winnerisyoupod or email us at awinnerisyoupod@gmail.com