Affectionate Discourse Oratorio Tangram

About Affectionate Discourse Oratorio Tangram

Videogames and Videogame culture, with Tony Coles proving he can talk about them for ages. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Publisher

Tony Coles

Category

comedy · leisure · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

14 Feb 2025

Latest episode

9 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

11 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   9 Sept 2026

   Affectionate Discourse Oratorio Tangram Episode 11: PlayStation 2 with Mark Sorrell

   Finally, Tony Coles manages to pin someone down and interrogate them at length about Tony's morally grey and legally dubious PlayStation 2. First off it's returning guest Mark Sorrell, who worked on a real and genuine PlayStation 2 magazine in period and therefore couldn't be a better candidate for the format's debut. Suitably meandering, entirely as intended, they talk about lots of gaming things while Tony struggles to maintain the format's structure and in doing so, interrupts Mark far too many times. Still, it's probably all worth it in the end. Please note: our chat is rammed with factual errors caused by age, drugs and incompetence so please feel free to get in touch if you want to add any corrections and I'll issue a full and frank apology for every single one. The Affectionate Discourse PlayStation 2 games list can be found here (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1560iKGSYCnCR0dpVbAOWxyE9BLyWVbWnHmSEaB7_Cgg/edit?usp=sharing). Mark's company, Artificial Games, can be found here! (https://artificialgames.ai/) If you'd like to do battle with me over my PlayStation 2, please find me on BlueSky (https://bsky.app/profile/tontcoles.bsky.social) or email affectionatediscourse@gmail.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

2. 

   13 Aug 2026

   Affectionate Discourse Oratorio Tangram Episode 10: Magazines

   To celebrate the tenth episode of his podcast, Tony Coles inflicts more than ten hours of solid rambling on his audience as he explores the world of videogame magazines. Featuring several tried-and-tested magazine read-throughs of issues that carry colossal personal significance, this absolute monster of an episode will be chopped into more digestible chunks when Tony can be bothered. For now, just soak it up. Issues featured: Commodore User issue 34, July 1986 (https://archive.org/details/commodore-user-magazine-34) Timestamp: 01:43:30 Zzap 64 issue 21, Christmas 1986 (https://archive.org/details/zzap64-magazine-1986-christmas) Timestamp: 03:50:16 Zero issue 2, December 1989 (https://archive.org/details/ZeroIssue02Dec89) Timestamp: 05:11:13 EDGE issue 9, June 1994 (https://archive.org/details/edge-009-june-1994/mode/2up) Timestamp: 07:01:46 ????????????????????? (https://itisamystery.com/) Timestamp: 09:17:15 View my long-dormant Tumblr, OMG Barry, here (https://omgbarry.tumblr.com/archive). Blah blah substack (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/), Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/tontcoles.bsky.social)and another Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/affectionatedisco.bsky.social). BLAH. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

3. 

   10 Jul 2026

   Affectionate Discourse Oratorio Tangram: Episode 9: NEC PC Engine

   In this episode, Tony Coles talks at length about NEC's little wonder-console, the PC Engine. Expect the usual waffles and tangents, with diversions for arcade CPU trends, the two journos who singlehandedly created the UK import console scene and over-frothing the under-appreciated Taito classic, Parasol Stars. It finishes with a run through his HuCard collection and has multiple interjections from Barbarella, a cat. Read Tony's PC Engine piece here (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/the-nec-pc-engine-the-definitive). And another about his love of Bubble Bobble here (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/the-bubble-bobble-series-the-definitive). He wrote about shitloads of emulators in this piece (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/emulators-i-have-loved-and-lost-the), and learn more about the brilliant Zero magazine here (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/zero-magazine-the-definitive-review)! Go on - buy a HuCard today! (https://www.ebay.co.uk/b/bn_447030) From Ebay! You'll feel better for owning one, even if you don't buy a PC Engine console (https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=PC+Engine+console&_sacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p4439441.m570.l1313). With immense gratitude to NEC Retro (https://necretro.org/Main_Page), here's the absolutely glorious Parodius manual in full PDF glory (https://necretro.org/images/9/98/ParodiusDa%21ShinwakaraOwaraie_PCE_HuCard_JP_Manual.pdf). Get in touch via affectionatediscourse@gmail.com or affectionatedisco (https://bsky.app/profile/affectionatedisco.bsky.social) on BlueSky! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

4. 

   2 Jul 2026

   Affectionate Discourse Oratorio Tangram: Episode 8: Forza Horizon 6

   In a refreshing display of bitterness and obstinacy, Tony Coles refuses to enjoy various aspects of Forza Horizon 6, and spends the first hour making himself increasingly angry and unreasonable. Things calm down as he moves on to discuss the history of open-road, open-world racing games and gets hazily nostalgic for Test Drive Unlimited. His deranged and utterly unworkable ideas for how to fix the Forza Horizon malaise are right at the very end, pretending to be bonus content. He forgot to edit out quite few coughs and one burp, for which he's very sorry. Despite multiple attempts and an addendum dedicated to it, Tony also fails to grasp how the Auction House actually works, underlining his point about Forza Horizon's broken economy using the well-worn epistemic device, proof by incompetence. Tony has written about Forza Horizon here (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/forza-horizon-6-the-definitive-review) and here (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/forza-horizon-5-the-definitive-review). Read his Test Drive Unlimited retrospective here (https://www.eurogamer.net/test-drive-unlimited-retrospective)! Please consider this episode as deliberate ragebait for Forza heads. Tell him why he's wrong by emailing affectionatediscourse@gmail.com, via BlueSky as @tontcoles.bsky.social (https://bsky.app/profile/tontcoles.bsky.social) and don't forget to follow @affectionatedisco.bsky.social (https://bsky.app/profile/affectionatedisco.bsky.social). THANKS. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

5. 

   12 Jun 2026

   Affectionate Discourse Oratorio Tangram: Episode 7 - Starfield

   Unfortunately for all concerned, Tony Coles embarks on a marathon waffle about Bethesda's much-maligned open-worlder, Starfield. With apologies to everyone, except Mr David Steer. Timestamps (which could be wrong): 0:00:00 - Intro and initial overview waffle 1:00:00 - Interstitial placeholder vibes followed by conceptual inconsistency as a brand virtue 1:22:00 - The games that lead me to Starfield, wild tangent spectacular 2:53:00 - Spaceships and houses: the Bethesda difference 3:35:40 - WEAPONS with an addendum for more WEAPONS 4:12:00 - Factions, stories, spoilers There are no other notes other than listen to this amazing podcast with one of the genuine founders of CGI, James F Blinn: https://www.fxguide.com/fxfeatured/founders-series-industry-legend-jim-blinn/ Many thanks to David Steer for bringing this to my attention. Tony has written about Starfield a lot of times. Just go to the archive and search for it, should you give a shit: https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/archive (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/archive) Find Tony Coles here: https://bsky.app/profile/tontcoles.bsky.social (https://bsky.app/profile/tontcoles.bsky.social) And https://bsky.app/profile/affectionatedisco.bsky.social (https://bsky.app/profile/affectionatedisco.bsky.social) Or email him abuse at: affectionatediscourse@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

6. 

   28 May 2026

   Affectionate Discourse Oratorio Tangram: Episode 6

   In a novel twist, Tony Coles launches an all-out assault on a game he didn't enjoy in 2025 while heaping further praise on one he forgot about. Capped off with a long ramble about children's science fiction/fact books published between 1978 and 1984, this episode forms an unholy alliance with the extended Buck Rogers monologue from the previous episode. Read the Star Wars Outlaws review here (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/star-wars-outlaws-the-definitive?utm_source=publication-search). Read the Heat Signature one here. (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/heat-signature-the-definitive-review?utm_source=publication-search) And I love-lettered X-Wing here. (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/star-wars-x-wing-the-definitive-review?utm_source=publication-search) Read about the Usborne World of the Unknown here (https://usborne.com/gb/blog/post/behind-the-scenes-at-usborne/how-usborne-world-of-the-unknown-books-shaped-the-lives-of-a-generation), with the World of the Future here (https://usborne.com/gb/blog/post/usborne-news/the-book-that-changed-my-life-usborne-s-book-of-the-future). This blog (https://2warpstoneptune.com/2014/03/04/usborne-publishing-the-world-of-the-future-future-cities-1979/) has more detail on Future Cities, showing off some lovely illo. The Terran Trade Authority books can be seen here (http://www.terrantradeauthority.com/tta-books-2/), and let's finish with a link to the website of my favourite sci-fi artist, Peter Elson (https://www.peterelson.co.uk/gallery/category.php?cat=11). Errata for the addendum! It's not Neil Shreeve, you moron, it's Mark Shreeve and the tune is called Myriad Of Colours ( https://youtube.com/watch?v=sXc3XbyfhtE&si=7AoOzW_3tN_lNxsj): Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

7. 

   24 Apr 2026

   Affectionate Discourse Oratorio Tangram: Episode 5

   After an extremely long and completely unwarranted break, Tony Coles returns to waffle and swear about Obsidian's twin open-world RPGs. Read the Affectionate Discourse (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/) stuff on Outer Worlds 2 here (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/the-outer-worlds-2-the-definitive), here (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/the-spirit-of-the-outer-worlds-2) and here (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/the-outer-worlds-2s-ending-the-definitive)! Read about Avowed here (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/avowed-the-definitive-review) and here (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/avoweds-last-maps-the-definitive). Beautifully, Duck Dodgers can we watched in full here (https://www.reddit.com/r/looneytunes/comments/198k1de/duck_dodgers_in_the_24%C2%BD_century/)! After all the references to movies and TVs I drop in this episode, Duck Dodgers is 100% the one you should watch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

8. 

   27 Mar 2026

   Affectionate Discourse Oratorio Tangram: Episode 4

   In direct violation of several court orders, Tony tracks down ex-Journo and F2P expert Mark Sorrell and harasses him at length, spoiling what would have been a really pleasant walk in the country. We chat about AI for the most part, and how we see it might influence and affect videogames in general. Expect slammed dynamics (sloppy normalisation), some panting (due to exercise), strong opinions (due to gross ignorance on my part) and swearing (par for the course). Tony wrote about AI once and has seemingly learned nothing since, and you can read it here (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/generative-ai-the-definitive-review). Mark writes about AI and other things right here (https://marksorrell.substack.com/). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

9. 

   18 Mar 2026

   Affectionate Discourse Oratorio Tangram: Episode 3

   Once again, Tony Coles waffles indulgently about games he loves and loathes with a surprising density of swearing, even by his usual standards. This one is all about the niche, featuring discussion of Shmups R-Type Final 3 Ultimate, Gradius V and the historical compilation, Gradius Origins. Also mentioned for extra cool points are Blazing Star and Progear. Tony uses the second half to ramble about WH Smiths as an excuse to smuggle in a bit about the SID chip and its tunes while utterly fumbling its model number like a rank amateur. He ends up losing his shit, Ed Zitron style, over the death of physical games and arguing that everybody should be ransacking charity shops of DVDs because you can buy a HDMI-out player in B&M for £25 (https://www.bmstores.co.uk/products/goodmans-hdmi-dvd-player-386548). Read about R-Type Final 3 Ultimate here (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/how-to-play-r-type-final-3-evolved) and here (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/the-discreet-charm-of-the-filler). Read about the death of GAME here! (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/game-the-shop-the-definitive-review) Listen to the SIDtune mix right here (https://soundcloud.com/affectionate-discourse/sid_mix_reeq). Also read everything on Affectionate Discourse (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/), because he needs the likes and shares. Email affectionatediscourse@gmail.com or abuse him at length on Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/tontcoles.bsky.social). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

10. 

    7 Mar 2026

    Affectionate Discourse Oratorio Tangram: Episode 2

    In a doomed attempt to become a self-facilitating media node, Gen-X bore Tony Coles of Affectionate Discourse (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/) rambles at length about games he loved in 2025. For this episode, it's S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, Sniper Elite: Resistance and Atomfall. Expect swearing, coughing, hugely unreasonable opinions on videogame narratives and some vague observations about things. Read Tony's thoughts on S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 here (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/stalker-2-heart-of-chornobyl-the) or here (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/stalker-2s-swamp-the-definitive-review) or here! (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/stalker-2s-ending-the-definitive) He also did a guide to playing it, here (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/how-to-play-stalker-2-the-definitive). Tony's waffle about Sniper Elite: Resistance is here (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/snippy-elite-resistance-the-definitive). Read how much he loved Atomfall here (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/p/atomfall-the-definitive-review). Blah blah Bluesky profile (https://bsky.app/profile/tontcoles.bsky.social) blah, affectionatediscourse@gmail.com etc. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

11. 

    14 Feb 2025

    Affectionate Discourse Oratorio Tangram S00_E00 - The Pilot

    Hello! This is the first episode of the official Affectionate Discourse (https://affectionatediscourse.substack.com/) podcast, which is a Substack about videogames and videogaming culture written by me, Tony Coles. This podcast has some origin story waffle, but is mostly to do with my PlayStation 2. Feel free to assail me with any corrections, complaints, desires and so forth. Find me via the Substack, on Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/tontcoles.bsky.social), or email me at affectionatediscourse@gmail dot com. I sincerely hope I manage to record more than one episode of this. Best wishes, Tony Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.