Number 58 - Celeste, Earth Defence Force 2017, Chrono Trigger

Do you like videogames? Do you?!

Join an uncharacteristically excitable trio in their ongoing mission to talk up the videogames which make them happiest.

Can Chris keep up his commanding quiz lead? Is The Witcher 3's recent Switch port any cop? A few months in, how is Jonathan getting on with Mario Kart Tour's layered economy? How is Minty progressing in his personal Dragon Quest?

Onto the rankings: What makes artsy platformer Celeste so good? How long can Chris talk about Earth Defense Force, a series that no-one in the world knows of or cares about? Is Chrono Trigger worth downloading on your mobular telephone or personal computer? 

(we like videogames)

Number 59 - Mario Kart 8, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Plants vs. Zombies

After a brief, one-week hiatus to allow Jonathan to enjoy being newly married to his lovely lady wife, the boys are back in town (copyright Phil Lynott, lyrics used by permission of Vertigo Records) to once again celebrate their love of video games. 

Tackling their 59th favourite video games of all time, listen intently as Jonathan gives Mario Kart 8 a big thumbs up; Minty gives a huge A-OK hand gesture in the general direction of A Link Between Worlds; and Chris gives a standing ovation to Plants vs Zombies. 

Link visits a Mercedes Benz dealership on the outskirts of Hyrule Market! Dinosaurs duff each other up! Lands of both high and low topography fall into disrepair! Flooded literature! A shitty ouroborous! Plants inexplicably fighting zombies! 

All of that, and probably a bit more: it's Our Three Cents.

(I apologise for the moistness of this episode - I will never again eat chocolate raisins whilst recording. I am sorry for your ears. -JD)

Bonus Level - Halloween Special

Boo!

Haha just kidding it’s the fellas from Our Three Cents here!

One of the benefits of paying homage to our favourite games over a period of literal years means we can show appreciation for loosely related public holidays and the like. This week, instead of our rose tinted lenses we’re looking through novelty pumpkin shaped glasses to bring you our favourite ghoulish games and monstrous memories.

Sit back, crack open a cold cauldron of spooky stew and enjoy the spinning of spine tingling gaming yarns (into cobwebs, the spookiest string).

Number 60 - Pokémon X, Fire Emblem Fates, Hyrule Warriors

The accusation that we three cents are just a bunch of Nintendo fanboys is usually unfounded! Especially given Chris’ notorious love of all things Mega Drive, and Jonathan’s salacious affair with the Sega Saturn library! But in an episode that touches on the three big Nintendo RPG series, it’s hard to argue that we don’t absolutely flipping love Nin-ruddy-tendo!

Swords, shields, monsters and incest - the main pillars of many games, are all present here! We also take some time to discuss the ongoing questing of Minty and his dragons whilst he attempts to escape rooms on his phone; Jonathan having a wonderful time venturing into the blind forest with Ori, and Chris’ tremendous disappointment with poorly ported retro games!

It’s all good fun!

Number 61 - Euro Truck Simulator 2, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Kingdom Hearts

Honk! This week on Our Three Cents, the chaps are all horrible. “What’s different from usual?” I hear you ask! Well, this time, they’re all horrible geese! Enabled by the sterling work of House House, Untitled Goose Game has captured all of our imaginations - find out what these three cents think of the game here. Will you be having a honkingly good time terrorising the neighbourhood?

Also, hear all about Nintendo’s latest mobile release in Mario Kart Tour - is it worth your time? 

Meanwhile a can of time worms is opened as Chris waxes lyrical about his time on the open road with the cult classic, Euro Truck Simulator 2; Jonathan wanes chordially about his titanic adventure in Xenoblade Chronicles 2; and Minty moons melodically about the hugely successful Final Fantasy & Disney chimera that is Kingdom Hearts!

Which of these 61st favourite video games of all time have you played?!

What’s with all of these rhetorical questions? You tell me… that’s not how rhetoric works… Sorry?

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 62 - Machinarium, GoldenEye 007, Super Mario Odyssey

Join Joddy Doddy, Chroddy Doddy and Moddy Boddy for another exciting half hour of gaming guff.

Can Apple save mobile gaming with the disruptive Apple Arcade? Can Nintendo sort out some of the framerate wobbles in Link's Awakening's otherwise stellar revamp? Just who or what is the Bucket Mouse?

Then, onto the rankings where the gang rip through rusty robots, golden eyes and anthropomorphic forks by way of rude words, whimsy, bullet decals, dead ends, trilbys, and joy.

They're good games, Brent.

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 64 - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Gunstar Heroes, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

Look, mate, we know it's hard being the only kid in the playground during Monday lunch not talking about the latest Our Three Cents episode. 

They'll all be talking up how Chris was banging on about the Mega Drive yet again whilst Jonathan and Minty had a bit of a Zelda love-in, and you'll be staring at your shoes thinking 'if only I were a centurion, if only I knew what the boys 64th favourite video games of all time were'.

Now you can. Now you can!

Embrace the cents. 

b e c o m e  t h e  c e n t

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?

Number 66 - Puzzle & Dragons Z + Super Mario Bros. Edition, Beautiful Katamari, Rayman Legends

In just five minutes marvel as the trio chat about: a noughties pop sensation! Onions! Extreme heat! Beasts of ascending sizes! Chris misunderstanding the word ‘unique’! 

Then, with your podcast appetites whet, listen on for a further 25 minutes as Minty talks up his collection of purses, Chris goes on and on about a load of balls, and Jonathan reflects upon his favourite co-op experience of all time.

Three lovely games that you should listen to us talk about, and then go out and beg, borrow or steal* to play yourselves.

(*Our Three Cents do not condone burglary with intent to thieve…
…
…
…
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…unless it’s the only way in which you can access Puzzle and Dragons, Beautiful Katamari, or Rayman Legends)

Number 67 - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Metroid Fusion, Ico

It’s another week, and a Bank Holiday Monday, so what better way to enjoy your bonus time than by listening to this week’s episode! We discuss mobile games, virtual reality and disappointing woodland adventures. And Feathers are ruffled in the rankings this week, as we discuss what it feels like to be scared, what it feels like to be small and, most importantly, just how much starch belongs in a floppy green hat! 

And if that doesn’t get you listening, I know that you’re going to want to know which game has a tenuous link to the forgotten, and incredibly niche Sega Saturn release, Enemy Zero. Listen on to find out!

Number 68 - Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse, The End is Nigh, Pokémon FireRed

This week on Our Three Cents, the chaps tackle another eclectic tryptic of games in the form of a significantly-formative childhood gaming experience featuring a mouse; an expectation-subverting modern platformer featuring a tumour; and an abbreviation-smattered classic RPG remake featuring some running shoes!

Also on the docket for discussion are Chris’ veritable summer-holiday-gaming stampede of activity; Jonathan’s veritable summer-holiday-gaming descent into pure unadulterated wartime bleakness; and Minty’s veritable summer-holiday-gaming instigation of Chris’ robo-dino-phobic beliefs!

More hyphenations than you can shake a stickily-sticky stick at!

Deal with it.

Number 69 - Street Racer, Rocket Knight Adventures, Sonic 3D Blast

Three more games. 
And good ones at that!

Punch your mates (or your AI mates if you find yourself riding solo) in an early competitor to Super Mario Kart with Minty, zip around as an Opossum who finds itself adorned recklessly with a rocket propulsion system atop its back with Chris, and look quizzical at Sonic's roughshod attempt at an isometric adventure game with Jonathan.

Additionally, enjoy a discussion on veritable hot potatoes: videogame violence, uncouth youth, and digital literacy; some extremely late to the party views on Playdead's Inside; the perils of Kickstarter funded independent games; and technobabble that fuelled the 16-bit console wars!

And all of that within a spritely 32 minutes?! YES!

Number 70 - Pokémon UltraSun, Pokémon X, Proteus

P-p-pick up a podcast! In this 'p' filled episode the chums embark on a merry hike across seasons, portmanteau'd archipelagos and a facsimile of continental europe. An uncharacteristically raunchy episode, listener discretion is advised (unless you want to be cursed with thinking about a Charmander's naughty bits).

Bonus Level - Summer Special

Take shelter from the UK's unseasonably warm start to the summer, by allowing the cool, soothing tones of three doofi (doofus; plural) talk sunny, bright weather and sunny, bright games.

Find a comfy spot in the garden, crack open a fizzy pop, then injure your neck as you twist to best utilise the sun's searing rays to illuminate your Gameboy's monochrome screen, sharing all the while in the summer gaming memories of three young men who could probably do with getting outside a bit more.

Football! Progressive rock! Balance boards! Family holidays! It's all here. As well as, of course, the usual nerdy discussion on games past, present and future that we assume you all harbour an insatiable taste for.

BLUE SKIES FOREVER

Number 71 - Banjo-Kazooie, Sonic & Knuckles, Sid Meier's Pirates!

Marvel as three ostensibly sober adults appear inebriated through sheer early 30s tiredness, as the boys discuss their 71st favourite videogames of all time.

Let Minty sleepily teach you why Banjo Kazooie a particular treat for the neurodiverse. Allow Jonathan to elucidate you on the echidna, and reflect on how accurately Sonic & Knuckles portrays this egg-laying mammal. Finally, let Chris refresh your GCSE English skills by recalling the difference between the definite and indefinite article in a tangential aside when discussing Sid Meier's Pirates.

Games, eh?

Number 72 - Metroid Fusion, Mario Golf, Kirby's Epic Yarn

Congratulations on arriving at the start of another week! Whether or not you have much time for games yourself, listen to the boys recommend the best way to stuff 30 minute windows of stolen gaming time, wax lyrical over the pedagogical approach Nintendo have taken with Super Mario Maker 2’s story mode, before settling in for another esoteric trio of video games linked only by their matching places on three distinct numerical lists.

Jonathan extols the virtue of doing a lot with a little on the Gameboy Advance’s diminutive screen; Chris details the outfit that saw him sneered at when attempting to master the Happy Gilmore swing at a local driving range; and Minty gets all tangled in pastel coloured yarn.

Also: an 'I Love You' present, an abrasive impression of a British children's TV institution, and at least one word that only Minty can comfortably wield in day to day life.

Number 73 - Super Mario Galaxy, DJ Hero, Wario Land II

This week, two games from the Super Mario Extended Universe feature as Jonathan & Minty’s choices, in addition to a literal curveball (rotating disc) from Chris! 

Meanwhile, some things never change - like traffic congestion, pencils and the inevitability of death. Also not changing are our video gaming habits this week: Jonathan’s tackling a Metroidvania indie game, Chris is playing a retro classic and Minty is continuing his tactical adventure through Dead Cells. 

Also, a user question turns the table on another user question, and we discuss what the best movie video games are! Listen to find out if your favourite movie or indeed, your favourite game is mentioned!

This episode is absolutely jam packed with top class video game chat! Talc up, and dive in!

Number 74 - Terraria, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Creatures 2

In our most disparate trio of games yet, our three gamers discuss their 74th favourite video games of all time! Elsewhere, voyeurism, a sad fat man, a little red fella and a multitude of hats collide in our weekly video game chat! Oh, and Jonathan destroys Minty’s precious childhood memory. Whoops.