PPR 159

Everything’s an Ad nowadays (#notanAd) and the constant outpour of late-stage capitalism getting pumped out through our screens and on our pages has objectively reached a point of Ad nauseam (sorry, we just couldn’t resist.)

In all seriousness, though, if there’s one form of entertainment that’s fueled by marketing magic more than any other medium, it’s video games, and there are generations upon generations of material to take a look back at and examine the expansive world of Video Game advertisements via printed ads and broadcast commercials. Join George, Sean, Andrew, and special guest Peter Skerrit as they examine nearly 50 years of promotional material and discuss some of the memorable, or more accurately, psychologically impactful ads that have embedded themselves deep into the minds of these middle-aged game junkies.

From the edgy attack Ads of the 90’s to the arthouse schlock of the late aughts, we’ve got all of the deep cuts for you, as we can’t help but feel nostalgic for the shameless sales pitches of old and the levels of showmanship that Video Game advertisements used to have back then before giving up and paying Geoff Keighley a bunch of money to hock their stuff for them.

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on our Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

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QCF: Elsie

It’s often said that necessity is the mother of invention, and in the case of the dispiriting limbo that Capcom has planted the Blue Bomber in, the iconic robot’s absence has encouraged multiple studios and visionaries to step up and deliver an experience not all too dissimilar to that of the Mega Man effect. With the rare exception of 2018’s Mega Man 11, the super fighting robot has been mainly relegated to nostalgia collections or vanity cameos, and the weight of his “pew-pew” gameplay has been carried on by a variety of indie developments or community efforts.

This new influx of games, however, has also encouraged studios to do more than a superficial spin on the trademark Run’nGun formula, with select titles really showing off the timeless potential of Mega Man-inspired side-scrolling action. One of which is Elsie, an independently developed adventure starring a larger-than-life, mascot-pilled android made by Knight Shift Games and published by Playtonic's new publishing branch, “Playtonic Friends.” As the fourth game to be supported by Playtonic’s offshoot publication label, Elsie offers many familiar dynamics that more resemble the feel of the Mega Man X series than its 8-bit counterpart, only with a Rougelike twist on the setup. While this territory isn’t exactly uncharted with 20XX and 30XX making waves in the subgenre, Elsie sinks its teeth more into the character-driven spectacle its inspiration is famous for, with a side of frenetic bullet action that blends into something like Mega Man X meets SuperGiant Games’ Hades.

I say this with my whole chest and every heavy breath huffed in—words really can’t serve justice to what Knight Shift Games has done with those mechanics—I genuinely believe that Elsie breathes a whole new sense of life into some admittedly fatigued concepts by delivering an immaculate sense of game feel and presentation that I haven’t experienced in years.

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PPR Presents Limelight: Doom: The Dark Ages

2025 is jam-packed full of huge releases, but one particular release appears to have come and gone from the gaming water cooler, and that’s DOOM: The Dark Ages.

The latest entry of the modern take on the FPS giant amps the frenzy of DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal by adding even more mobility options, and a Marvel Hero-ass Shield that you bash and parry with, and of course, even more DOOM guy lore to set the latest stage of hell in. George and Andrew will be hosting tonight’s limelight, with George on the sticks and Andrew on the side-cans, where they’ll chop it up on the newest entry of the violent shooter franchise.

Be sure to tune in to our Twitch at 7:00 PM PST on 08/28/2025 to watch the medieval twist of the iconic Rip & Tear gameplay we’ve come to know and love! You can check out the streams here or directly on our Twitch channel, and vibe along with us as we work towards ushering in a new age of Limelight for y'all!

PPR Presents Ourcade: Nintendo Randomized Tandemizer!

So here’s something—remember that new video feature we’ve been teasing for the last couple of years? We’re FINALLY doing it; the feature is Ourcade, and it’ll be a special feature where my partner, Val, and I, will stream some games in tandem with one another—specifically games that have had a remaster or remake, where I will be playing the original, and Val will be playing the new version (unless we decide to switch up the roles for certain exceptions.)

Other times, we might just play games that share a certain theme, which is what we’ll be breaking out in the inaugural episode with! In this debut stream of Ourcade, George and Val will be playing some randomized hacks of Nintendo classics! George will be playing a special randomized hack that combines SNES favorites, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Super Metroid, into one combined experience where not only will various rooms or doorways transition you between Hyrule and Zebes, but integral items from both games will be randomly shuffled from their typical areas in the game. In an even bigger twist, the items can be randomized into the other mashed game, i.e., the hookshot could be held by a Chozo while the Super Missile will be stashed in a treasure chest in some dungeon—shit’s going to be wild. Val, on the other hand, will be playing Pokémon Soul Silver, which will randomize all aspects of Pokémon encounters, from the choice of starters, to the wild encounters, and the teams that various trainers and leaders will have when you run into a challenge—oh, and items will also be randomized too!

Needless to say, we’re pretty excited (and terrified) about what’s ahead of us for tonight’s stream!

Be sure to tune in to our Twitch at 7:00 PM PST on 08/22/2025 to watch our gameplay of iconic Nintendo titles filtered through randomized chaos! You can check out the streams here or directly on our Twitch Channel, and vibe along with us as we work towards ushering in a new age of Limelight for y'all!

PPR Presents Limelight: Virtual Boy Wario Land

This year makes the Pearl year for the Virtual Boy folks—yeah, that’s right—thirty friggin’ years of the Nintendo misunderstood 3D-enhanced 32-Bit platform. Now, we here at Press Pause Radio are no strangers to romanticizing the goggled little tripod-ass tripoding shitpost of a video game system, but this year just so happens to coincides with the same year we achieved our bog boost in video and audio production. Which means we now have hands on a consolized Virtual Boy that’s been RGB-modded with Furrtek’s Virtual Tap mod and Retro Onyx’s wireless Virtual Boy controller!

So what game are we going to ring in the special occasion with? The obvious one of course! George and Sean are going to get down with Virtual Boy Wario Land, and chop up all of their memories of the platform and its current status in the current pantheon of gaming culture (or they might just sigh a lot, the Virtual Boy just kind of brings it out of them.)

Be sure to tune in to our Twitch at 7:00 PM PST on 08/21/2025 to watch our gameplay of old Nintendo hardware and the weird-ass obscurities stuck on it! You can check out the streams here or directly on our Twitch Channel, and vibe along with us as we work towards ushering in a new age of Limelight for y'all!

PPR 158

Look!—is it a bird? A plane? No! it’s the latest episode of Press Pause Radio!

In the shadow of the Man of Steel’s newest film, George, Andrew, and Sean get swept up in all of the hype of a new Superman movie, and the possible family ties between David Corenswet and Christopher McDonald, along with some of the summer concert experiences and the dreaded summer heatwave that’s being thrust upon us in this ruthless month of July.

This episode is another “What’s in your Console” special where we sit back and discuss all of the games we’ve been playing or fussing with; in this episode you’ll hear about Persona 3 Reload, Lost Winds, Clair Obscur Expedition 33, Bolatro, Fortnite, Splatoon 3, Death Stranding Director’s Cut, ZPF, Paprium, Atari 50, the Atari VCS, the PlayDate, the Atari 5200, and so much more!

Enjoy the latest episode, and be sure to remind folks Superman was always Woke and has been since he was leaping tall buildings back in 1938!

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on our Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

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PPR 157

It’s finally here! At the top of what was arguably the most chaotic week for video games in 2025, the Nintendo Switch 2 is available now, and we’re going to spend this whole episode talking about our first impressions of it.

The roundtable of chairs for the show this go-around features George, Andrew, and a very special guest, Greg Sewart, one of the Co-hosts of the esteemed Player One Podcast, and Electronic Gaming Monthly alumni, and we don’t waste any time dishing it up on Nintendo’s new thingy. From the technical performance between its handheld mode and docked mode to the ergonomic feel and system calibration, the crew tries to cover every granular detail they can about the system, the new features available, and the only real launch title released for the platform, Mario Kart World.

Is it worth the hype (or more importantly, the price?) Who knows! We’re here to gush and gripe about the damn thing and share our initial thoughts so far on the successor to a nine-year-old (yes, you read that right) platform, and the roller-coaster of emotions we’ve experienced with Nintendo’s aging hybrid console leading up to this point.

We Hope you enjoy the show, and please be sure to subscribe to the Player One Podcast if you haven’t already!

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on our Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

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PPR Presents Limelight Double-Feature: Mario Kart World & Slitterhead

Life’s been a bit busier than usual…BUT NOT TOO BUSY TO SNAG THE LATEST HARDWARE FROM NINTENDO YA HEEEAAAARRRD-DUH?!

Yup, despite a clumsy-ass preorder experience, George was able to bring the Switch 2 home, and he’s jonesing to stream the big new launch title that debuted with the platform, Mario Kart World!

Since Press Pause Radio is running behind on its streaming schedule though, some adjustments had to be made, and it looks like the cast has settled on making this Sunday a “Double-Feature” sort of production! So, in addition to getting a new look at Mario Kart World, we’re then going to heavily lead into some tonal whiplash and also broadcast some gameplay from one the sleeper-hits of 2024, Bokeh Game Studio Inc.’s Slitterhead. This body-horror action title seemingly…slittered between the cracks, and didn’t get the buzz we think it deserves, especially when you consider that it was masterminded by Keiichiro friggin’ Toyama, the visionary behind Silent Hill and Gravity Rush.

Be sure to tune in to our Twitch at 7:00 PM PST on 06/08/2025 to watch our gameplay of new Nintendo hardware and weird-ass obscurities! You can check out the streams here or directly on our Twitch Channel, and vibe along with us as we work towards ushering in a new age of Limelight for y'all!