Playing Out of Control

About Playing Out of Control

Playing Out of Control is the podcast from POCG.net, Playing Out of Control Gaming, the retro and classic gaming site Adam Richardson founded with his friend Dave Wright in 1998. Every episode covers the week in retro: scored reviews, game preservation, hardware, the news worth your time, and the occasional deep dive into the people and stories behind the old machines. Expect a Sega bias, a soft spot for anything most people forgot, and zero patience for letting gaming history disappear. Adam has been writing about games since the GeoCities era. He turned down advertising money in the Dreamcast days over the strings attached, and that has not changed. No filters. Just opinions.

Publisher

Playing Out of Control Gaming

Category

leisure · society & culture · technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

22 Jun 2026

Latest episode

29 Jul 2026

Latest episodes

7 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   29 Jul 2026

   IT CAME WITH YOU

   The Game Boy landed in America on July 31, 1989, and it was the first console that did not care where your television was. Backseat, pool bag, porch, tent. So the last list of the summer run has a different rule: these are the games that went WITH you. The cartridge that was actually in the bag when you left the house. Tetris is number one and it is not close, because the pack-in was the smartest decision Nintendo ever made and even my stepdad played it. Link’s Awakening is the vacation game, an island you cannot leave on a machine built to go anywhere. Pokemon Red and Blue turned a solitary machine into a social event, and the first real Pokemon summer was 1999, a Link Cable stretched across somebody’s porch. Metroid II is the night game, played under the covers with a flashlight. The full ranked ten is on the site as an immersive scrolling feature. Go argue with it. Also this week: Sony’s PS5 disc deadline and why a Game-Key Card is a license in a box, the Video Game History Foundation’s free E3 archive, MiSTer booting original discs, and This Week in POCG History from July 1998 and 1999, when one shooter demo ate our entire front page. That closes the summer. August is two halves: PC and The Beige Years first, then 16-Bit August. Playing Out of Control Gaming. Retro and classic game reviews, PC to Nintendo, every system. Since 1998. No bought scores. No filters. Just opinions. More at pocg.net. The forum is open at forum.pocg.net. Follow on YouTube (@Pocgnet), Bluesky (@pocgnet.bsky.social), Mastodon (@pocg@mastodon.social (mailto:pocg@mastodon.social)), Instagram (@playingoutofcontrolgaming), Facebook (Playing Out of Control Gaming), and Reddit (r/pocg). (0:00) Cold Open · (1:59) The News · (11:15) This Week in POCG History · (13:17) The Game Boy Summer Ten · (25:53) Your Question Everything is at https://pocg.net (https://pocg.net) The full ranked ten: https://pocg.net/editorial/game-boy-summer-games/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/game-boy-summer-games/) Last week: The Ten N64 Games That Play Like Summer: https://pocg.net/editorial/n64-summer-games/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/n64-summer-games/) The SNES list that started the rule: https://pocg.net/editorial/snes-summer-games/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/snes-summer-games/) The Guides section (six live, no affiliate money): https://pocg.net/guides/ (https://pocg.net/guides/) The Restoration Project: https://pocg.net/restoration/ (https://pocg.net/restoration/) FOLLOW POCG YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Pocgnet (https://www.youtube.com/@Pocgnet) The Forum: https://forum.pocg.net (https://forum.pocg.net) Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/pocgnet.bsky.social (https://bsky.app/profile/pocgnet.bsky.social) Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@pocg (https://mastodon.social/@pocg) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/playingoutofcontrolgaming/ (https://www.instagram.com/playingoutofcontrolgaming/) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlayingOutofControlGaming (https://www.facebook.com/PlayingOutofControlGaming) Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/pocg/ (https://www.reddit.com/r/pocg/) The feed is always on.

2. 

   22 Jul 2026

   Four Controllers

   The Nintendo 64 turned thirty this summer, and it came out of the box built for a room full of people: four controller ports, standard, right on the front. This week’s feature ranks the ten N64 games that actually play like summer, two ways at once — the vibe of the season, and the four-player couch that WAS the season. Last week’s rule holds: a summer game plays like summer, the release calendar does not get a vote. Wave Race 64 leads, because nothing on the machine says beach like that water. Super Mario 64 is the birthday game. GoldenEye earns number three without a grain of sand in it, on pure couch memory and the friend who always picked Oddjob. Pilotwings 64 closes the list. And the hardest cut is the one you think it is. In the news: the Zool N64 monster-tamer gets an English fan translation, God of War is confirmed for a physical disc as Sony sets 2028 to end new PlayStation disc production, Compulsion Games goes independent, Glen Schofield retires after 35 years, and a homebrew developer brings Super Monkey Ball home to the Dreamcast 25 years late. Plus Reggie Fils-Aime’s Disrupting the Game gets an Off the Shelf / On the Shelf verdict. Nintendo Month rolls on: SNES last week, the N64 this week, the Game Boy next week to close out July. The full ranked ten is on the site as an immersive scrolling feature: https://pocg.net/editorial/n64-summer-games/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/n64-summer-games/) More at https://pocg.net (https://pocg.net) · Forum: https://forum.pocg.net (https://forum.pocg.net) Playing Out of Control Gaming. Retro and classic game reviews, PC to Nintendo, since 1998. No bought scores. No filters. Just opinions. Everything is at https://pocg.net (https://pocg.net) The full ranked ten: https://pocg.net/editorial/game-boy-summer-games/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/game-boy-summer-games/) Last week: The Ten N64 Games That Play Like Summer: https://pocg.net/editorial/n64-summer-games/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/n64-summer-games/) The SNES list that started the rule: https://pocg.net/editorial/snes-summer-games/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/snes-summer-games/) The Guides section (six live, no affiliate money): https://pocg.net/guides/ (https://pocg.net/guides/) The Restoration Project: https://pocg.net/restoration/ (https://pocg.net/restoration/) FOLLOW POCG YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Pocgnet (https://www.youtube.com/@Pocgnet) The Forum: https://forum.pocg.net (https://forum.pocg.net) Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/pocgnet.bsky.social (https://bsky.app/profile/pocgnet.bsky.social) Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@pocg (https://mastodon.social/@pocg) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/playingoutofcontrolgaming/ (https://www.instagram.com/playingoutofcontrolgaming/) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlayingOutofControlGaming (https://www.facebook.com/PlayingOutofControlGaming) Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/pocg/ (https://www.reddit.com/r/pocg/) The feed is always on.

3. 

   14 Jul 2026

   Plays Like Summer

   School’s out, the pool’s open, and I made a list: the ten Super Nintendo games that actually play like summer. One rule, and I am holding myself to it: the release calendar does not get a vote. A summer game FEELS like summer. The beach, the backyard, the road trip, nowhere to be. Donkey Kong Country leads, because Aquatic Ambience sounds like warm water and David Wise built it on hardware that had no business doing it. EarthBound is the great American road trip. Zombies Ate My Neighbors is the sleeper, the summer movie marathon in cartridge form. Super Mario Kart, Yoshi’s Island, Secret of Mana, Harvest Moon and more fill it out, and some very famous cartridges did not make the cut. The full ranked ten is on the site. Go argue with it. Nintendo Month starts here: SNES this week, the N64’s 30th summer next week, Game Boy to close July. Plus a new segment, What It Plays: the ANBERNIC RG CubeXX, the $60 square-screen handheld whose comfort zone covers every game on this list. Bought with my own money, no affiliate links, full review on the site. In the news: Nintendo Month opens with an ending. The original Switch gets a European end date under the EU’s new battery rules, Mario Kart Tour and FFVII Ever Crisis get shutdown dates, the world’s largest public game archive loses its funding in Germany, and Xbox cuts 3,200 jobs while John Carmack says his old faith in Microsoft “isn’t aging well.” Playing Out of Control Gaming. Retro and classic game reviews, PC to Nintendo, every system. Since 1998. No bought scores. No filters. Just opinions. More at pocg.net. The forum is open at forum.pocg.net. Follow on YouTube (@Pocgnet), Bluesky (@pocgnet.bsky.social), Mastodon (@pocg@mastodon.social (mailto:pocg@mastodon.social)), Instagram (@playingoutofcontrolgaming), Facebook (Playing Out of Control Gaming), and Reddit (r/pocg). (0:00) Cold Open · (1:32) The News · (14:47) This Month in POCG History · (17:15) What It Plays: RG CubeXX · (22:35) The SNES Summer Ten · (34:10) Your Question Everything is at https://pocg.net (https://pocg.net) The full ranked ten: https://pocg.net/editorial/game-boy-summer-games/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/game-boy-summer-games/) Last week: The Ten N64 Games That Play Like Summer: https://pocg.net/editorial/n64-summer-games/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/n64-summer-games/) The SNES list that started the rule: https://pocg.net/editorial/snes-summer-games/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/snes-summer-games/) The Guides section (six live, no affiliate money): https://pocg.net/guides/ (https://pocg.net/guides/) The Restoration Project: https://pocg.net/restoration/ (https://pocg.net/restoration/) FOLLOW POCG YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Pocgnet (https://www.youtube.com/@Pocgnet) The Forum: https://forum.pocg.net (https://forum.pocg.net) Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/pocgnet.bsky.social (https://bsky.app/profile/pocgnet.bsky.social) Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@pocg (https://mastodon.social/@pocg) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/playingoutofcontrolgaming/ (https://www.instagram.com/playingoutofcontrolgaming/) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlayingOutofControlGaming (https://www.facebook.com/PlayingOutofControlGaming) Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/pocg/ (https://www.reddit.com/r/pocg/) The feed is always on.

4. 

   9 Jul 2026

   The Most American Games Ever Made (Were Made in Japan)

   Happy Fourth of July. For the holiday I ranked the most American video games ever made, and seven of the ten were made outside the USA. Bad Dudes, where you punch ninjas to rescue the President. The Oregon Trail, manifest destiny with a hunting minigame. Vice City, America as a fever dream, painted in Scotland. And Metal Wolf Chaos, the most American game ever made, considered too niche to sell to Americans. The back half is the other kind of made in America: the launch of From the Zip Disks, a new series about how I lost this website for twenty years and got it back off a stack of Zip disks at my mom’s house, one of them labeled “Adam’s stuff” in my own handwriting. Plus the news: the fallout from Sony’s disc announcement (the full rant is the emergency episode right next to this one), Nintendo staying Nintendo, Limited Run’s Forever Physical, a lost Indiana Jones demo saved by one man’s personal archive, and Acclaim’s eighty-million-dollar quarter from the week in 1999 when nothing else happened. Playing Out of Control Gaming. Retro and classic game reviews, PC to Nintendo, every system. Since 1998. No bought scores. No filters. Just opinions. More at pocg.net. Follow on YouTube (@Pocgnet), Bluesky (@pocgnet.bsky.social), Mastodon (@pocg@mastodon.social (mailto:pocg@mastodon.social)), Instagram (@playingoutofcontrolgaming), Facebook (Playing Out of Control Gaming), and Reddit (r/pocg). (0:00) Cold Open · (TT:TT) The News · (TT:TT) This Week in POCG History · (TT:TT) The Most American Games Ever Made · (TT:TT) From the Zip Disks · (TT:TT) Your Question Everything is at https://pocg.net (https://pocg.net) The full ranked ten: https://pocg.net/editorial/game-boy-summer-games/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/game-boy-summer-games/) Last week: The Ten N64 Games That Play Like Summer: https://pocg.net/editorial/n64-summer-games/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/n64-summer-games/) The SNES list that started the rule: https://pocg.net/editorial/snes-summer-games/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/snes-summer-games/) The Guides section (six live, no affiliate money): https://pocg.net/guides/ (https://pocg.net/guides/) The Restoration Project: https://pocg.net/restoration/ (https://pocg.net/restoration/) FOLLOW POCG YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Pocgnet (https://www.youtube.com/@Pocgnet) The Forum: https://forum.pocg.net (https://forum.pocg.net) Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/pocgnet.bsky.social (https://bsky.app/profile/pocgnet.bsky.social) Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@pocg (https://mastodon.social/@pocg) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/playingoutofcontrolgaming/ (https://www.instagram.com/playingoutofcontrolgaming/) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlayingOutofControlGaming (https://www.facebook.com/PlayingOutofControlGaming) Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/pocg/ (https://www.reddit.com/r/pocg/) The feed is always on.

5. 

   7 Jul 2026

   Physical Media Dies Quietly

   A special episode, an emergency one, because something is happening in gaming right now that I could not sit on until the schedule said it was time. Game preservation is losing, and I want to talk about why, what we actually lose, and what, if anything, we can do about it. The short version: follow the money. The box was always cheap, the games were always the business, and going all digital lets the platform holders keep the entire cut. Sony announced this week that new-game disc production ends in January 2028, the first of the big three to say it out loud, and closed the PS3 and Vita stores in the same breath. The Verge reports the next Xbox drops the disc drive and is testing a disc-to-digital conversion. So I walk through the whole cost: no resale, no lending, nothing to hand down to your kids, and the local and boutique stores that die when the new physical sales dry up. Even physical movies get caught in it, because your console is the last Blu-ray player most people own. Then the hard part. Games are 200-plus gigs now and there is no cheap format left to save them on. Frank Cifaldi of the Video Game History Foundation put it flat this weekend: piracy is the only extant form of media preservation that exists in games right now. I know that firsthand. This whole site only exists because a box of Zip disks and floppies survived at my mom’s house. There is one bright spot, US physical spending rose last year for the first time since 2009, on the back of the Switch 2, which proves the demand these companies are walking away from is real. Read alongside this one: The Subsidy, Part Two is live on the site, and so is The Man Who Called It Ancient, on Jim Ryan and the worldview behind the end of the PlayStation disc. No bought scores. No filters. Just opinions. This week’s question: what is the one game on a disc or a cartridge on your shelf that you would hate to only ever own as a download? Tell me why. In this episode: Sony announces the end of new-game disc production in January 2028, the first of the big three (pre-2028 discs unaffected) The companion post closes the PS3 and PS Vita stores, regional from August 2026, worldwide July 2027 The Verge reports the next Xbox (code name Project Helix) drops the disc drive and is testing a disc-to-digital conversion, not confirmed by Microsoft Why the box was always cheap and the games were the business, from the Genesis cartridge fee to the 30 percent digital cut What all-digital takes away: resale, lending, and anything to leave to your kids, plus the local and boutique stores that live on new physical sales Physical movies get caught in it too, because the console is the last mainstream Blu-ray player The format problem: 200-plus gig games and no cheap high-density disc left to save them on Frank Cifaldi (Video Game History Foundation): piracy is the only extant form of media preservation that exists in games right now How the POCG archive itself only survived on a box of Zip disks and floppies The bright spot: US physical spending rose for the first time since 2009, driven by the Switch 2 What you can do: buy physical while you can, support your local store and the boutiques (Limited Run, iam8bit) and the homebrew crews (Wallop the Wallaby on the Genesis) Read alongside: The Subsidy, Part Two - https://pocg.net/editorial/the-subsidy-part-two/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/the-subsidy-part-two/) The Man Who Called It Ancient, on Jim Ryan and the worldview behind the end of the PlayStation disc - https://pocg.net/editorial/the-man-who-called-it-ancient/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/the-man-who-called-it-ancient/) This week’s question: What is the one game on a disc or cartridge you would hate to only ever own as a download? Everything is at https://pocg.net (https://pocg.net) The full ranked ten: https://pocg.net/editorial/game-boy-summer-games/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/game-boy-summer-games/) Last week: The Ten N64 Games That Play Like Summer: https://pocg.net/editorial/n64-summer-games/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/n64-summer-games/) The SNES list that started the rule: https://pocg.net/editorial/snes-summer-games/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/snes-summer-games/) The Guides section (six live, no affiliate money): https://pocg.net/guides/ (https://pocg.net/guides/) The Restoration Project: https://pocg.net/restoration/ (https://pocg.net/restoration/) FOLLOW POCG YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Pocgnet (https://www.youtube.com/@Pocgnet) The Forum: https://forum.pocg.net (https://forum.pocg.net) Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/pocgnet.bsky.social (https://bsky.app/profile/pocgnet.bsky.social) Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@pocg (https://mastodon.social/@pocg) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/playingoutofcontrolgaming/ (https://www.instagram.com/playingoutofcontrolgaming/) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlayingOutofControlGaming (https://www.facebook.com/PlayingOutofControlGaming) Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/pocg/ (https://www.reddit.com/r/pocg/) The feed is always on.

6. 

   29 Jun 2026

   Born on the 23rd: Sonic at 35, the N64 at 30, and the Week Physical Media Broke and Came Back

   June 23rd gave us both Sonic the Hedgehog and the Nintendo 64, five years apart to the day. In episode two we celebrate Sonic at 35, the N64 at 30, and Quake at 30, then dig into a week where physical media took a beating and quietly came back. GTA VI is shipping with no disc. Xbox pushed the Series X to 750 dollars. One Sega veteran wants to make all 4,500 Sega games playable before he retires. And a 1998 review pulled off an old Zip disk accidentally proves the whole point of this show: if nobody saves these games and tells their history, they just disappear. Plus a new editorial series, The Beige Years, starting with Myst, and a new book segment, On the Shelf, opening with Console Wars. Playing Out of Control Gaming. Retro and classic game reviews, PC to Nintendo, every system. Since 1998. No bought scores. No filters. Just opinions. More at pocg.net. Follow on YouTube (@Pocgnet), Bluesky (@pocgnet.bsky.social), Mastodon (@pocg@mastodon.social (mailto:pocg@mastodon.social)), Instagram (@playingoutofcontrolgaming), Facebook (Playing Out of Control Gaming), and Reddit (r/pocg). (0:00) Cold Open · (1:49) The News · (5:23) Saving Sega · (9:47) This Week in POCG History · (14:06) The Beige Years: Myst · (18:09) On the Shelf: Console Wars · (20:43) Same Day, Five Years Apart · (21:15) Sonic at 35 · (25:49) The N64 at 30 · (31:10) Quake at 30 · (33:23) Your Question Everything is at https://pocg.net (https://pocg.net) The full ranked ten: https://pocg.net/editorial/game-boy-summer-games/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/game-boy-summer-games/) Last week: The Ten N64 Games That Play Like Summer: https://pocg.net/editorial/n64-summer-games/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/n64-summer-games/) The SNES list that started the rule: https://pocg.net/editorial/snes-summer-games/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/snes-summer-games/) The Guides section (six live, no affiliate money): https://pocg.net/guides/ (https://pocg.net/guides/) The Restoration Project: https://pocg.net/restoration/ (https://pocg.net/restoration/) FOLLOW POCG YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Pocgnet (https://www.youtube.com/@Pocgnet) The Forum: https://forum.pocg.net (https://forum.pocg.net) Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/pocgnet.bsky.social (https://bsky.app/profile/pocgnet.bsky.social) Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@pocg (https://mastodon.social/@pocg) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/playingoutofcontrolgaming/ (https://www.instagram.com/playingoutofcontrolgaming/) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlayingOutofControlGaming (https://www.facebook.com/PlayingOutofControlGaming) Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/pocg/ (https://www.reddit.com/r/pocg/) The feed is always on.

7. 

   22 Jun 2026

   Who Put the Controller in Your Hands

   Episode one. We’re back. After years away, Playing Out of Control is on again. This week was a big one. In the news: Microsoft, the Xbox studio closures, and what the word “subsidy” really means for your library and for backward compatibility. The full editorial, The Subsidy, is up on the site. Then the lighter wins, because there were a lot of them. GoldenEye’s cancelled Xbox 360 remaster recompiled into a real native PC game. Two unreleased Atomiswave arcade football games, Premier Eleven and Miracle Stadium, preserved on the Dreamcast. A lost Sega Rally DS prototype back after twenty years. One person’s eighteen-year remake of the original Mother. Romhack.ing pulling AI-translated patches. Plus quick hits on Space Cyclone, Wolfenstein 3D on the Atari Lynx, the RPG Maker forums closing, and Shinobi: Art of Vengeance. Then the heart of it, because it’s Father’s Day: fathers and gaming. My dad, a gold Zelda cartridge, and a pawn-shop Sega Master System that made me a Sega guy for life. My stepdad Wayne, a back-room Tandy, and the web software he handed me that built POCG in 1998. And my grandfather, a hellfire and brimstone Baptist preacher who bought a PlayStation so his grandson could review games. No sponsors. No filters. Just opinions. This week’s question: who put the controller in your hands? Tell me about the person who made you a gamer. Next time: the Nintendo 64 turns 30. Send me your N64 memories. Everything is at https://pocg.net (https://pocg.net) The full ranked ten: https://pocg.net/editorial/game-boy-summer-games/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/game-boy-summer-games/) Last week: The Ten N64 Games That Play Like Summer: https://pocg.net/editorial/n64-summer-games/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/n64-summer-games/) The SNES list that started the rule: https://pocg.net/editorial/snes-summer-games/ (https://pocg.net/editorial/snes-summer-games/) The Guides section (six live, no affiliate money): https://pocg.net/guides/ (https://pocg.net/guides/) The Restoration Project: https://pocg.net/restoration/ (https://pocg.net/restoration/) FOLLOW POCG YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Pocgnet (https://www.youtube.com/@Pocgnet) The Forum: https://forum.pocg.net (https://forum.pocg.net) Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/pocgnet.bsky.social (https://bsky.app/profile/pocgnet.bsky.social) Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@pocg (https://mastodon.social/@pocg) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/playingoutofcontrolgaming/ (https://www.instagram.com/playingoutofcontrolgaming/) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlayingOutofControlGaming (https://www.facebook.com/PlayingOutofControlGaming) Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/pocg/ (https://www.reddit.com/r/pocg/) The feed is always on.

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Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

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