Maximum Power Up

This episode we revisit the "listener choice" format, previously used on our Dreamcast, Game Boy and Commodore 64 shows. Back before the world went mad, we asked our listeners to share their five favourite SEGA Mega Drive games with us, which we then got Paul to count up and combine to create a Top 10 of the most popular ones. Join Chris Smith v2 and Tom Charnock as they tackle the listeners top 10 Mega Drive games, and try to find new things to say about a list that holds few surprises. They mostly seem to manage this by just going wildly off-topic. Enjoy! Do get in touch on the usual channels to say hello or to give us any feedback. If you enjoy our work, it would be great if you could drop us a review on iTunes, they really do help us get the show out there.

In this episode we celebrate 100 episodes of Maximum Power Up. Since the show started in 2015 we have covered a mixture of modern and retrogaming. Most of the team share their experiences of making the podcast, fave episodes, games played etc. Even though it does take a lot of work we are very happy to have great listeners that have helped the show grow. It has been brilliant to have had the chance to have on so many guests from the games industry and many well known games magazines. Hearing their stories has always been a highlight. We have become well known as the podcast for lovers of games magazines and there are more interviews to come. We hope you enjoy the episode and here is to many more.  

In this bonus episode we have two guests, Frank Gasking and Sam Dyer. Frank runs the excellent and informative website Games That Weren't for the last 20 years. Sam is known for his excellent work over at Bitmap Books. Games That Weren't features many games that were due to be released but for various reasons didn't happen. Frank has spent years speaking to the people that worked on these games and systems and is now taking it to the next level. Working with Sam at Bitmap Books, Games That Weren't is coming out as a book.  At over 600 pages it covers over 80 games from 1975-2015 it covers unreleased titles for arcade, home computers, consoles and more.  We discuss a few things that you can expect to see in the book and why you should preorder it for the release this August. Follow the link here https://www.bitmapbooks.co.uk/products/the-games-that-werent

In this episode we are very happy to have Dominik Diamond on the show. For many gamers in the 90's he was the face of gaming on television as the host of GamesMaster. The show covered so many amazing challenges, features and more. We discuss some of Dominik's favourite memories of the show, guests that were on, commentators and more. We also talk about his other games television show from the mid 00's, "When Games Attack", gaming in general and even discuss his love for Glasgow Celtic Football Club. We hope you enjoy the show and do check out Dominik's Twitch show Mon-Fri 5pm UK time.  

The Maximum Power up team for another special bonus episode as Lockdown 2020 continues. In this new Pandemic Pod, the team discuss the two "big hitters" Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Streets of Rage 4, and also share what else they've been up to. As ever, if you like the episode or have any feedback, we'd love it if you'd hit us up on the socials and leave reviews. However, self-care is more important. Look after yourselves and each other first. We'll be okay.

We are delighted to have Danny Wallace on the show discussing his career. In this 90 minute chat we discuss how he started out doing work experience on Sega Power magazine before being taken on by Future and had several years on much loved mags Super Play, Total and a return to Sega Power. As well as this Danny shares his early experiences working with Ross Noble and on The Mighty Boosh at the start of their careers. Working in TV, being a best selling author, BAFTA winner for Thomas Was Alone and being a voice actor in Assassin's Creed series, gave us loads to discuss. Oh we also hear about his experiences working with Jim Carrey for the film Yes Man based on his best selling book. We hope you enjoy the show and a massive thank you to Danny for his time.

Following on from episode 94 we continue our walk down memory lane looking at July to December 1998. Many gamers see 1998 as one of the greatest years in gaming. All the main machines had several must own titles that were released. We share our experiences and memories playing Banjo Kazooie, Half-Life, Tekken 3 and many more. We also discuss some of the major gaming news stories from each month and Chris shares his experiences of importing a Sega Dreamcast to end the year. We hope you enjoy the show and where possible please leave an iTunes review.  

In this episode we speak to Glen O'Connell about his career in the games industry as well as sports PR. Starting out at Psygnosis  he shares some great experiences of visiting games magazines helping promote new titles and his early thoughts working in the industry. However when Sony were ready to launch the PlayStation things soon changed. Titles such as Wipeout had everyone wanting a piece of the Playstation. Glen discusses taking along import consoles to HMV etc to help create buzz.   As well as this we discuss his time in PR roles for EA and Rage Software where he met David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Mr.T and many more well known sports stars.   Staying in PR with other companies he shares so many stories and some of the key moments in his career so far.    We hope you enjoy the show and if possible leave us an iTunes review.

For this special bonus episode of the Maximum Power Up podcast, we have an almost full house* as the team gather to keep each other sane during Lockdown 2020. What games do the team reach for in times of trouble? What games will they play over the coming weeks as they're "staying home" like responsible adults? What tips do they have for you, the listener, to help you get through this time? Does Paul even like videogames? Find out the answers to all this and more, in the Pandemic Pod. As ever, if you like the episode or have any feedback, we'd love it if you'd hit us up on the socials and leave reviews. However, self-care is more important. Look after yourselves and each other first. We'll be okay. *Jake and Tommy would have made it if kayjoon had his act together and invited them in time. Although editing six people was hard enough.

We are very happy to welcome David Wilson on the show for this new episode. David recently left Sony after almost 20 years as Head of UK PR and Director of Communications.   Starting in the games industry on classic gaming mags Your Sinclair and Zero, he shares some of his early memories playing and reviewing key games and the challenges faced working on games mags at that time.    Moving on from magazines we cover his time at EA as Head of European PR for almost a decade including how he met Buzz Aldrin. Obviously discussing the Sony PlayStation brand gave us lots to discuss including the PS2, Vita, PSP and more.   We hope you enjoy the show and if possible please leave us an iTunes review as every one helps.

Is this one of the greatest years for games releases? Paul, Chris, Arron and Chris sit down to discuss if it truly is. The major players in the industry were still battling it out to be number one with each of the major consoles hitting their stride. The Nintendo 64 had 1080 Snowboarding and Banjo Kazooie. The Sega Saturn had Panzer Dragoon Saga and Burning Rangers, and finally the Sony PlayStation had Resident Evil 2 and Alundra.   So over 20 years ago what were we playing and buying? We look back on the news and reviews of the first half of 1998 and share our memories.    Remember to look out for 1998 part 2 as we had to split up such a momentous year. Finally if you can spare a moment please leave us an iTunes review as everyone helps. Enjoy the show.

Once again Chris Smith mark 2 is joined by Paul & the other Chris Smith, with Arron coming along for the ride too. After the fairly well received Christmas episode, the boys are back with their highlights from 2019, and the old and new games they’re planning to play during 2020. They even manage to commit themselves to a few gaming resolutions that’ll probably be forgotten come February. Please take the time to leave us a review on your podcast service of choice, and drop us any feedback via the usual socials.

Chris Smith mark 2 is joined by Paul & the other Chris Smith for a bit of Christmas chatter. Somehow Maximum Power Up hasn’t done this before. Tune in as your hosts compare Christmas memories. Some of them are bleaker than others.  As per Paul’s Christmas wish, please take the time to leave us a review on iTunes, or wherever you listen to podcasts, and hit us up on the socials below.

This is a special one off episode celebrating the games writing of Jason Brookes who sadly passed away recently. In 2016 and 2019 Paul had the pleasure of interviewing Jason to discuss his time on Super Play and Edge. These interviews have been taken from episodes 33 and 86 so we understand some listeners will have already heard them but we felt they make a great tribute to Jason's work. We hope you enjoy the interviews and from everyone at Maximum Power Up we send our love to Jason's family and friends.

In this episode we take a look at one of the most loved 16bit game tie ins. Released in 1993 for the Sega Megadrive and Super Nintendo, gamers were treated to two very nice looking but very different games based on the hit Disney movie. Chris, Paul and Arron sit down to discuss the two versions and their experiences playing them. The pros and cons are covered of each but which game is the king, Capcom's or Virgin's? We also discuss the amazing Disney film as well as what three wishes would eack of us make if we had a magic lamp?   We hope you enjoy the show.

Well this is a blast from the past, back in 2014, Chris got together with Martin Hinson and Kurt Kalata from Hardcore Gaming 101 to talk all things Castlevania. Now these were thought lost after a laptop containing the files was lost, however Chris had backed them up to an external hdd without realising and here they are now.  There is another Castlevania episode and Konami shooter episode that will appear in the near future, stay tuned! 

Paul sits down with Cam Winstanley to discuss one of the most popular Amiga magazines, Amiga Power.  Lasting over 5 years Amiga Power built up a passionate readership that Cam was there to witness for several years starting as a writer and later becoming editor. We discuss some of his favourite memories and games from his time on the magazine. As well as this he tells us why he feels Amiga Power is still fondly remembered even now.  We hope you enjoy the interview and please leave an iTunes review if possible.

In November 2001 Microsoft released their first console into a market that was changing. Sega's Dreamcast had failed so they left the market. However Microsoft knew how to make an entrance! From the off they set out to do things differently. With a several must own exclusive games, a built in hard drive, some amazing arcade style games from Sega of all people and more, gamers had to take notice. In this episode Paul, Tom and Chris Smith Mk2 discuss their early memories of the machine, what led to them buying the console, which games they feel should be played and more. Going up against the Nintendo Gamecube and Sony Playstation 2 was a bold move for the Xbox but with games such as Halo, Fable, House Of The Dead 3, Project Gotham Racing etc  there was plenty for all gamers to get excited about. We hope by the end of this episode you agree.

Join Chris, Phil and Aaron as they take a trip to the movies. In what’s hopefully a first of many movies based on games episodes the crew take a look at 1993’s Super Mario Bros The Movie. We take you through the movie, offer our thoughts and what we want from a future Mario Movie. 

Welcome to part 2 of the Top 10 Games Mags. These are the final 5 magazines that have been voted by our listeners on Twitter, Facebook and more. Paul sits down with a guest from each magazine again to discuss their memories and thoughts of each magazine in the list. With over 100 magazines voted for a lot didn't make the final 10 and we give a quick shout out to some of these right at the end of the show. So if you are a fan of Sega, Nintendo, PlayStation and more we hope you enjoy the episode. Please check out our past episodes for much more magazine related chat and many other topics.