Player 2's Podcasts

Hosted by Player2.net.au

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Episodes

137

Latest episode

Jun 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

The Player2.net.au crew get together to talk all things news, games and hot topics in the Australian gaming landscape

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60 recent

June 4, 20261 hr 2 min

The Player 2 PixelCast 186

By the time you're listening to this, the internet has probably tied itself into an unspecified, likely very messy and painful knot after having a very normal one about a God of War game where you play as Kratos's (gasp) wife. We didn't know that when we recorded this, though (the specific announcement, that is; people losing their shit we could have safely bet our homes on). But that's half the fun! This is a Summer Game Fest prediction episode where people can happily listen along, red markers in hand. Hewso has the misfortune of being in charge of all the flubbing guesswork, but Tim trips over his tongue a few times to help out. Not Steve, though. That man was born with silver in his mouth. Oh, and despite 2026's best efforts to be a relentless shitshow, everyone has been playing things that they mostly like, too! Games: 007: First Light, Mina the Hollower, Saros Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc Break Music: Wickedest Child by Chickusho Sound Team Cast Matthew Hewson Tim Henderson Stephen del Prado

May 21, 20261 hr 2 min

The Player 2 PixelCast 185

Potatoes! Guinness! Did you know that leprechaun is a really weird and difficult word to spell? Stereotypes! Whatever the case, Tim is back from Ireland where, apparently, the coffee is weak (serious talk, Ireland: we need to address this) and the whiskey* strong (you do you; water of life and all that). In his jet-lagged fugue, he played (and fell in love with) Mixtape. And so, this episode comes as something of the yang to 184’s ying, with games and moments that get by with very low mechanical focus taking centre-stage this time around. Turns out there are quite a few noteworthy examples, enough that he’s able to keep rabbiting on even when Hewso tries to steal his thunder with maybe the most potent and obvious example of all. * As a side note, he also has targeted advertising turned off on YouTube, and yet, somehow, magically, the playlist he was streaming from said site just cut to an ad where a guy is making coffee with whiskey in it. Go and get absolutely fucked with venomous cactus spines, Google. Games: Forza Horizon 6, Mixtape Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc Break Music: The Touch (guitar cover) by breadhenge Cast Matt Hewson Tim Henderson

May 7, 20261 hr 3 min

The Player 2 PixelCast 184

There is something to be said for a good gimmick. That one bit of gameplay design that a game can hang its hat on and say, "Hey, isn't this bloody cool?" That is what the team is talking about this week: those gameplay mechanics that have stuck in our heads over the years and left a lasting impression on games in general. From plastic instruments to amazing systems that get patented by evil corporations, the crew of Hewso, Stephen and Rob cast their eye over these mechanics and once again whistfully stare off into the distance thinking about Titanfall 2. Oh, and Tim left us to drink Guinness and Jameson in Ireland, so he left Matt in charge of the edit, which may have been a mistake. Games: Invincible Vs, iRacing Arcade, Aphelion Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc Break Music: Reward the Scars by Korn (From Diablo IV) Cast Matt Hewson Rob Caporetto Stephen del Prado

April 23, 202658 min

The Player 2 PixelCast 183

What if hardware got a bit more powerful, but the production on games visuals didn’t advance far beyond Hollywood’s year of the apocalypse, 2012? As it turns out, we would miss out on some fine-detail advancements and lighting bounces, but things could still look pretty spectacular. That’s what this episode is (or at least starts off being) about. Games that still look fantastic today, be it because of solid art direction, settings that can finally be maxed out on any half-decent PC, or a baseline standard simply having finally being reached. Tim is joined by Matt for this one, which probably makes sense, seeing as this whole thing is at least in part inspired by editor-man’s Blue Sky thread chronicling examples of this very phenomenon. Is it a phenomenon? Does it matter? We’re going to call it one anyway. Games: Pragmata, Batman: Arkham Asylum Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc Break Music: Adventure is in the Air by EmptyMy Cast Matt Hewson Tim Henderson

April 9, 20261 hr 12 min

The Player 2 PixelCast 182

He’s back! After traveling to and from from Heaven knows where, Hewso has reappeared in front of a microphone, ready to record… whatever silly topic we decide to have him record, I guess. That travelling everywhere thing has been hitting Tim as well, though, and so for this episode we’ve decided to focus in a bit on what our favourite games for different travel situations are, and why we think they work so well in said circumstance. Oh, and Rob’s here, too. Just in case you were scared that the Atari Lynx might get neglected (which, to be fair, it kind of does). Of course, we also find some new games (and gadgets) to talk about. What are they? That’s a bit of a mystery as we’re currently on a bit of a lonely island between big releases, so you’ll have to listen to find out (or maybe just scroll down the show notes a bit)! Games: Cleared Hot, Morbid Metal, PX Play Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc Break Music: Reunion by about:blank Cast Rob Caporetto Tim Henderson Matt Hewson

March 26, 20261 hr 15 min

The Player 2 PixelCast 181

Ever feel like everything is turning to garbage? Funny thing, that... so do we! But just how bad is said garbage? Is it at least neatly sorted into different bins? Maybe scattered around on the floor a bit? Or is is all just on fire releasing obnoxious fumes over unreasonable distances? That's kind of what we went into this episode hoping to find out. Well, from the perspective of gaming as we know it at least. The entire situation of the world as we know it may perhaps be just a bit too bleak to look at. So it falls to Tim and Rob to look at the state of gaming right now, what with an absolute avalanche of firings, gaming media getting shuttered and technological developments that could be promising tending to decide to go down the path of greater evil whenever given a chance. Is there any light to be found? Time to see if we can dig upwards. Games: Blaze of Storm, Screamer Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc Break Music: Sweet Summer Breeze by MkVaff Cast Tim Henderson Rob Caporetto

March 12, 20261 hr 11 min

The Player 2 PixelCast 180

Really, if things were more logical and less tied to the soft power of American and British pop-cultural influence, if Australia were to only succumb to Halloween in a sensible way then it is around about now that we should be eyeing the finest-looking pumpkins. At least Capcom is on our side, pretty reliably releasing new Resident Evil games in Q1 when its own Northern Hemisphere is heading into spring, but Australia is very much beginning to sniff the relief that is autumn. And so it is that we bring horror back into our topic rotation for the first time in a couple of years. Naturally, this means that Jason is on board to help Tim along. Also, Jenn is hear, although she doesn’t talk quite as much as might be expected on account of slobbering over images of Leon Kennedy opening cupboards. Games: Skyrim with a silly number of mods, Mewgenics, Hell is Us Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc Break Music: Whiterun by mellogear Cast Tim Henderson Jason Hawkins Jenn Christodoulou

February 26, 20261 hr 2 min

The Player 2 PixelCast 179

Fun fact: while coffee itself is in fact a dehydrating, the amount of water added to your standard cut means that any diuretic effect is rendered basically meaningless. You’re still getting hydration from that sweet, sweet water. Sadly, the same doesn’t seem to apply to beer. Not that this is an episode about beer. Or coffee, sadly. Rather, this one is about that elixir of life itself: water. While getting baseline pretty water now seems pretty much to be a solved problem, that wasn’t always the case, and some examples of fluid simulation in games stand out as more impressive as others. So, grab a cut of nice, hydrating coffee and join Tim and Rob as they try to decide if anything is yet to surpass the heavy rain effect on that tanker opening to Metal Gear Solid 2. Games: Super Woden: Rally Edge, Silent Hill 2 Remake Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc Break Music: Broken Reflection by Chromatic Apparatus, Flavio Teles Cast Tim Henderson Rob Caporetto

February 12, 20261 hr 8 min

The Player 2 PixelCast 178

Well, the year is underway and honestly, with January now behind us, it feels like a rollocking start. Best guess is it's because everyone wants to get the eff-train out of the way of the splash that Grand Theft Auto is going to make when it lands towards the end of the year, so now things are kind of a little bit in reverse. That did lead us to think, though: how might the gaming landscape look or be different if certain key titles throughout its short history were either plucked from existence, or simply failed to catch fire the way that they did? Tim is back in charge here, and he's managed to drag Hewso along for the ride. Hendo & Hewso it is then, like some crappy Murdoch FM radio show from the '90s, only with fewer airhorn sound effects and way less transphobia. And also more video games. Way more video games. Games: Disciples: Domination, Romeo is a Dead Man Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc Break Music: Freestyle Dojo by MkVaff Cast Matt Hewson Tim Henderson

January 29, 20261 hr 25 min

The Player 2 PixelCast 177

Sometimes, sh*t happens. You go to turn on your PC, only to find that Microsoft borked a Windows 11 update so bad that it won't even boot up. You go to turn on your trusty RoG Ally, only to find that Microsoft borked a Windows 11 security update so bad that now it seems to view loading up games as the enemy. You go to record a podcast, only to... well, this one may not be entirely Microsoft's fault, but it would have been nice had the levels been more even and the uploading process less of a pain. Still, we're releasing what we have. And why wouldn't we? Hewso is in charge or shepherding the crew through what will surely, in time, turn out to be some truly stupid predictions about the future. Jump in! Games: Tainted Grail, Code Vein II, Star Wars Outlaws Theme Music: Visitors from Dreams by Mathieu Stempell Dma-Sc Cast Matthew Hewson Shaun Nicholls Stephen del Prado

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