Number 31 - Thumper, Octopath Traveler, Pokémon Emerald

THIS WEEK:
Minty has popped back to Skyrim's Tamriel as a man with magic mitts. 

Chris has popped Super Mario Maker into his 3DS, and found what is perhaps the only 'hidden gem' in the core Mario franchise. 

Jonathan has popped between Animal Crossing and the Last of Us, seesawing between glorious climes and azure waters, and bleak, post-apocalyptic ruins.  

ALSO THIS WEEK:
Chris goes biblical with his description of Thumper, a dreadful, visceral 'rhythm violence' game best experienced in VR. 

Jonathan recounts his time with Octopath Traveller, a sprawling RPG that follows an octet of lads and lasses in a tilt-shifted, pop-up book world.

Minty takes you to the cinema (remember the cinema?) to collect a special Pokémon in Emerald, one of the GBA's strongest entries in the Poké-pantheon.

What a love-er-ley bunch of video games!

Number 40 - Stardew Valley, Super Mario 3D World, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

Today is the start of the week, and therefore the start of another Our Three Cents ODYSSEY!

Can you believe we are now sixty games deep? There's been some crossover, sure, but still, we have now collectively delivered ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY monologues about our favourite games. 

'fore we raise this hallowed number to 183, listen out for: a mysterious creak on Minty's audio channel (a genuine prize for ANYONE who gets close to identifying its source - details on our Facebook page!); a deep discussion on secondary school discos; thoughts of Bravely Default 2's refreshing approach to game demos; Jonathan's multiplayer PC smorgasbord; thoughts on the recent Streets of Rage 4; Chris' apology to indie developers who find themselves at the behest of unscrupulous console porting houses; and… of course... some updates on the gang's progress in Animal Crossing. 

Jonathan tells of the bucolic delights of Stardew Valley.
Chris hazily remembers the Ghibli charm of Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch.
Minty is illuminated by the warm glow and feline embrace of Super Mario 3D World.

Every one of these games are worth your time and attention, and hopefully you'll agree that our 40 minute chat about these wonderful titles is an equally solid way to kill a commute, or a morning lie-in if you're currently furloughed. 

Stay safe. We love you all almost as much as we love video games!

Number 46 - Final Fantasy VII, Parodius: Fantastic Journey, Luigi’s Mansion 2

Hey, hey, kids! 

Have you ever played Final Fantasy VII, Parodius: The Fantastic Journey or Luigi's Mansion 2? 

If so, listen in and see what we thought of the games you may have loved or loathed. And if not so, maybe we can talk you into giving them a blast? 

We three cents place hands firmly on our hearts and suggest that this generation defining RPG, this cutesy, parody shoot 'em up, and this.. hoover simulator (?) are all very, very worthy of your time. 

Also this week: Jonathan finishes Outer Wilds, Minty doesn't finish Tales of Vesperia, and Chris gets someone else to finish Limbo.

Number 55 - Mario Golf, Metal Gear Solid, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

This week on Our Three Cents we have another eclectic triptych of games including an Italian-plumber-based-handheld-sporting RPG, a 32-bit odyssey about a man’s obsession with hiding in a cardboard box, and an epic adventure involving a black knight in the darkness of the night whilst you try to forge some lightness into the world!

Elsewhere, Chris spends his week killing time with Suicide Guy, and we also have a full debrief on Pokémon Sword & Shield, complete with the presentation of the 1st ever annual Jonathan Andrew Dunn Pokémon Awards. Find out which lucky critters have been selected as the recipients of the coveted JADPAs! 

And, more importantly, find out whether Jonathan & Chris’ school English teacher, Mr Haywood, ever got round to playing Chris’ childhood gaming creation, Dunce Goes to Hollywood?

Only on Our Three Cents. What a bunch of absolute ridiculousness. Amen.

Number 56 - The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Time Crisis 2, Viewtiful Joe

Oh boy! In a bumper episode, hear the trio chop through a massive stack of games they've played recently, as well as their usual three listed all-time favourites!

Would you like to know our thoughts on The World Next Door, Metal Wolf Chaos, or Forager? How about Ni No Kuni and its sequel, Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz, or Bloodstained? Maybe Ring Fit Adventure, Luigi's Mansion 3, or Pokémon Sword and / or Shield? Or even the varied entries in the Cube Escape series of mobile games? 

For this week's numbered entries, Minty goes for a splash with the Gamecube's legendary Wind Waker and regales its avian-come-oceanic story with the gusto of a Jackanory presenter; Chris shoots some baddies with a plastic pistol and a bulky cathode ray tube television in the fantastic home port of Time Crisis 2; and Jonathan goes deep on the late Clover Studio's ridiculously stylish whack-em-up Viewtiful Joe.

big deep breath 

So come along and enjoy some of O3C's most impressive expletive bleeping, some silly callbacks for long term fans, everyone's favourite Pokémon, 'Floopididoop', as well as a LOT of curry.

Number 57 - Super Mario World, Journey, Thomas Was Alone

On the menu this week - the further adventures of Minty questing after dragons, Jonathan grinding some stones and Chris racing a football (something like that I believe…)

In the rankings, a classic Nintendo game on a classic Nintendo system, a small fragment of AI experiencing isolation and “a big warm hug of a game.” Three really quite incredible games - real absolute bangers!

Also dogs. Well, more specifically requests for dogs. If it wasn’t implied in all our episodes previously, we now request dogs explicitly. 

Dogs are great. We don’t deserve them.

Bonus Level - Wellbeing Special

Thursday the 10th of October marks World Mental Health Awareness day. In recognition of this, our trio tell personal stories of how videogames can be a force for good in managing mental health and periods of distress or low mood.

Clone Hero, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, A Link to the Past, Alto's Adventure, Tetris, and Super Mario Bros 3. Disparate games linked here by their ability to make our triumvirate slow down, refocus, and calm.

Videogames may not be the solution for everyone, but we at Our Three Cents firmly believe in their value as tools for offering escapism, structure, or soothing nostalgia when the world seems a difficult place.

Much love to all listening. Be kind to one another.

Number 63 - Mario Kart 8, SuperHot VR, Thumper

It’s another week at the Our Three Cents towers and the lads have hoisted their banners to celebrate their 63rd favourite video games of all time. In this week, we have a gravity-defying plumber, a time-defying gunslinger, a sanity-defying beetle, and a deep analysis of what is need to make virtual reality a virtue and a reality for current generation gaming.

Meanwhile, the gang conjure some veritable computer-game Chimeras thanks to a listener question about genre-bending classic game series; Jonathan’s Astral adventure is off the chain; Minty is pining for a horrible goose; and Chris has apparently started working as a part-time Samsung TV troubleshooting guru!

Behold.

Number 65 - Mario & Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Um Jammer Lammy, Psychonauts

Mario guest stars alongside Ubisoft's Minion-esque abominations, Parappa the Rapper hands the spotlight to his guitar playing pal, and Tim Schafer goes all weird again. 

Three great games, talked up by three great guys!

Also, learn the answers to questions as varied as: Can Chris continue to engorge his quiz win tally on account of Minty's cross Atlantic phone delay? How many This War of Mine scenarios will Jonathan play through before he suffers a case of mental distress not too dissimilar to the games protagonists? How has Minty spent his tax rebate?

Bonus Level - E3 2019 Special

E3, or the Eideo Eames Eonference, has come and gone once again to delight and disappoint swathes of angry entitled nerds. We take a break from our regularly scheduled chat about three games to tackle the mammoth docket of Everything Nintendo Announced, and Whatever That Thing They Wheeled Out Keanu Reeves For was. We discuss each company's approach to showcasing their upcoming releases and, whilst Jonathan attempts to retain some PokéOptimism, Minty is jumping aboard the Pokémon Hate Steam Train (this is a joke that references the setting of the new games by way of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and Minty wishes he’d come up with it when we recorded), and Chris is ready to cross oceans to raise a riot in the Pokémon head office! Come and listen to how we somehow talk about 60 games in 45 minutes!!