Under Consoletation: The Video Game Television Podcast

Breaking their own rules, Ash & Cliff journey back to JANUARY 1985 to pay a final visit to Mac, Leslie and scumbag Fregg at the BBC's Micro Live. There's movie special effects, Brian Jacks vs Atari, more telephones, some Ghostbusters and an IN STUDIO CHALLENGE. It's very exciting. Watch the episode of Micro Live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q8hgSAmzH4 Theme song by Other Chris Follow...

Join the Nintendbros Cliff and Andy (@tamagon64) as we take a look at Nintendo's first franchise as it hits 45 years old, Donkey Kong. We start with our mate Shigsy joining Nintendo, Andy's incredible deep dive into those court documents, rejoice Rare's efforts, get confused by Bongo drums and end with a Bonanza. Theme song by Other Chris Follow Under Consoletation on BlueSky Follow Under Consolet...

As the sun begins to set on UCP it's time to check in with some old friends at the end of their journey. A Challenge based episode of Videogame Nation is the subject matter of the day, so join Ash & Cliff as they watch John, Eoife and Dan battle for ultimate supremacy over 5 challenges. Also, there's talk about food in beards. It's gripping stuff. Watch the Videogame Nation episode here: https...

Ash digs into the engine shed containing the past of Densha De GO! Digging up vodka, peanuts and communism! Cliff drops in to talk Densha De GO! 64, and then there's a transfer back to the Ash Express for information on the series up until the present day, how to play it, and a valid reason for visiting Croydon. Theme song by Other Chris Follow Under Consoletation on BlueSky Follow Under Consoleta...

Shuppatsu Shinkou! Join Cliff and Ash as we rejoin a favourite of UCP, GameCenter CX. This time The Chief... sorry... The Conductor is revisiting a game he failed on in series 17, Densha De GO!, but this time the greatest videogame challenge TV show of all time meets the greatest computer game console of all time, as Arino has to complete the N64 version of the game. Apart from some Moon Cakes and...

Mortal Kombat has been a series steeped in kontroversy, both with its third game, the kontroversies became less about the violence, and more about the changes to the game itself. No Scorpion? No Raiden? Animalities? How many ribcages? Ultimate what-now? Join Ash Versus as he takes a solo dive into some of the kontroversies that dogged the series for its third outing in this months UCP Focus. Theme...

Ash and Cliff are back with Princess Terra in the post-apocalyptic Portugal for another visit to CyberMaster! But this is a younger Terra, and she's in her Velour phase and has a pet cyborg called Kronos. Beyond that it's the same mixture of challenges, shouting, 90s editing, borderline fetishwear, and a creepy disembodied head threatening children. Perfectly normal light entertainment. Watch the...

DISCLAIMER: The Floppies this year should have been less of a technical nightmare, what with us being sat in the same room... and yet. And still. So this audio release represents the best effort to clean it up, remove the echo/reverb, and make it at least palatable to listen to. Cheers! it's The Floppies 2026! Myself and Cliff get together in person to reveal the winners and the almost winners, di...

I want to be the very best... like no one ever was! To plant them is my real test, to pluck them is my cause! Yes, it's the game that used one of the other vowels, PIKMIN! Ash and Cliff go into the origins, question how truthful Miyamoto is, if he likes boiled eggs, and whether the cold weather has caused shrinkage. Also, we talk about the origins of the game. A bit. Theme song by Other Chris Foll...

Ash & Cliff are stumbling back to 2002 for a late night post session kebab whilst they watch Thumb Bandits on Channel 4! There's Slipknot! Pikmin! Slipknot! Smash Bros.! Slipknot! Cancelled games! Slipknot! Wrestling! and also... Slipknot! Watch the episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNSs5-fqhm0 Theme song by Other Chris Follow Under Consoletation on BlueSky Follow Under Consoletati...

Ash and Cliff go to the younger side of Good Game to check out what the spawnlings are into. They're taking a deep dive into the spin-off show aimed at younger gamers SPAWN POINT. Cliff will vent about Paper Mario, defend the Wii U, and gain another game to add to his 'to play pile'. Ash will end the episode still wondering what Pocket Planes are. It's a trip. Watch the episode here: https://www.y...

Greeetings! Welcome to a new month of UCP fun as we dive back into a show that is one of our favourites, Good Game. We revisit Bajo and Hex, as they battle Hex's sugar zoomies, and Bajo's urge to find a game that is the perfect level of discovery, gameplay and storyline (SPOILERS: Nothing meets Goldie Locks needs). The episode consists of arty explorer Proteus, epic JRPG Persona 4 Golden and FPS C...

We're going back to GamesMaster! Kind of! Ash and Cliff dive into Issue 2 of the magazine of the TV show from all the way back in January 1993. Cliff goes off schedule, Ash compares Ducks to Cheese, and some letter writers have strong feelings on Atari vs Commodore. It's all there in a standard magazine episode that should have been a nice gentle start to 2026, but really really wasn't. Read the m...

AWOOGA! Ash and Cliff finally enter the Cyberzone after getting lost in Cyber Swindon... curse that magic roundabout! Craig shouts a lot, Thesp chews the digital scenery, and two of our contestants are from Mensa! Well.. one of them is, but the other did apply! Will Ash and Cliff survive their encounters with the Borg? Can they get their minds around the complexities of the puzzles? Will they know...

That's a wrap for recording in 2025, so as Ash and Cliff finish recording January's core episode they take a few moments to reflect on the year gone, as well as launching the survey for this years Floppies awards! Fill in your results here: https://forms.gle/LF4aYLozHfScLDdu6 Theme song by Other Chris Follow Under Consoletation on BlueSky Follow Under Consoletation on Twitter Follow Under Consolet...

There's somebody at the door, there's somebody at the door! And somebody at the window! Somebody at the window! And people trapped in a painting! And people trapped in a painting! Yes, it's the UCP Christmas special, and keeping with our core and Extra episodes it's Christmas 1984 as Ash and Cliff visit the Pink Windmill for a show filled with excitement, song and dance numbers, adventure, song an...

Ash and Cliff are back in Studio 1 for the Micro Live Christmas Special! The studio is EXTRA flammable today, and that's not just from the brandy bottles hidden around the set, it's also covered in pre-safety code tinsel! As the episode careens towards its end credits, there's hackers, games, animation, drummers, and Cliff sulking that once again he has got himself all worked up for something that...

No Focus this month... Ash & Cliff are still shambling their way through Cybermania, as it lurches its way towards an appropriate climax, and an inappropriate joke. The first televised awards ceremony for the gaming and interactive media industry, it is as transparently corporate as it is ramshackle, containing missed cues, absent footballs, broken teleprompters, and the occasional AWOL nomina...

It's Cybermania 1994! You know CYBERMANIA! It's going to be like the Academy Awards, or the Emmys but even more corrupt and bias. Ash and Cliff don their penguin suits and prepare their speeches as they tune in for the first televised videogame and computer entertainment award show in the world, and try to work out who thought getting Leslie Nielsen to host this was a good idea. This is the first...

** Editors note: Whilst curse words have been censored there's some things that are just rude, even without the cuss words. So... consider yourself warned. - Ash ** Girls if you are driving a ride... You'll be caught in the night - Night Trap! Ash & Cliff join SCAT and do their best to save everyone whilst looking at the notorious videogame nasty that... wasn't actually that nasty. Don't let r...

Seeing we've had two different (or incorrect) explanations of what VR is, why not throw in a third for good measure? Cliff & Ash jump head first into what may be one of the worst episodes of the X-Files out there, First Person Shooter. "The story dictated it" has never been use so much in a single episode. Theme song by Other Chris Follow Under Consoletation on BlueSky Follow Under Consoletati...

Our core episode for October is all Trick and no Treat as a company robs the grave of a defunct videogame publisher, steals the vital organs of their published and unpublished games, and creates the freakish Frankenstein's movie monster that is GAME OVER... otherwise known as Maximum Surge the movie. Cliff and Ash discuss a film which stars people who never agreed to be in it, has a framing device...

Three console, three games, one Nintendo legend, and a number of false starts: Wave Race is a property that languished in relative obscurity, launched one console, and then failed to make a splash on a second. Now it sits in Dave Jones locker... Ash and Cliff discover where it came from, where it went, and skirt dangerously close to saying things that might be libellous. Allegedly. Theme song by O...

Generations of Canadians grew up watching Video & Arcade Top 10. They stare misty eyed through rose tinted glasses at their LP VHS distorted childhood and think of better times. Ash & Cliff are not Canadian. They have no nostalgia for this show. It goes as well as you'd expect. Watch V&A Top 10 here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hygwroh3kVg Theme song by Other Chris Follow Under Cons...

Just when you thought Shadow Man was finally here... HERE COMES A NEW CHALLENGER. We had so many unanswered questions from our episode on Games Republic that when a contestant reached out, we'd have been fools to say no! So Michael LeRoi can go brood and monologue elsewhere this month, as Cliff storms off to have a meltdown, and Ash has a chat with Lee aka PugHoofGaming where we discuss GamesMaste...