One More Life

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The very first guest on One More Life is Trisha Hershberger, a gaming and tech expert who spoke to our host Rob Leane from her home in Los Angeles. Trisha is a YouTuber, a Twitch streamer and a TV host that you may have seen in all sorts of places including IGN, MTV, Disney XD, and Nerdist to name just a few. Rob spoke to Trisha about her love of retro gaming, the dreaded backlogs of unfinished games, the big upcoming titles of this year, and Trisha’s all-time favourite story-driven RPGs. Plus, learn why she uses chopsticks while gaming! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

**This week's episode has some language that may offend some listeners** This week’s guest is Ian Ryan, a massive FIFA fan who works in Gaming PR for a company called Way To Blue. He is also the brains behind some amazing social accounts including S**t London Guinness and Beautiful Pints. In this interview, Ian helps us say farewell to FIFA as the franchise relaunches as EA Sports FC. He shares some really fun stories and even some top tips to maximise those early days of the new Ultimate Team season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Writer and developer Sarah Beaulieu, the Narrative Director on Assassin’s Creed Mirage, shares the story of her gaming life. Sarah spoke to us from her home in France, a little while before the game came out. The latest entry in Ubisoft’s stealthy action series, Mirage takes place in 9th century Baghdad, telling the "Shakespearean tragedy" of Basim, a rookie assassin who you might remember from Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Sarah herself is a big fan of indie games, experimental experiences and rich narratives. Tune in now to hear her talk about taking the reins on this major AAA franchise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week’s guest is superhero superfan Will Preston, co-host of the Marvel Versus Marvel podcast. On Marvel Versus Marvel, Will represents the newer type of superhero fan that hasn’t read all the decades of comics. But when it comes to gaming, there’s no denying that Will is a proper expert. In today’s One More Life, Will joins Rob to talk about Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2, the hotly anticipated sequel to 2018’s Spider-Man and 2020’s Miles Morales, as well as some classic superhero games of yesteryear. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With Sonic Superstars, Super Mario Bros Wonder and Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Volume 1 all launching in the space of a week, plus Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered coming early next year, we needed a retro gaming expert to come on the show. Enter journalist and author Daryl Baxter, the man who literally wrote the book on Lara Croft. By day, Daryl is the Features Editor at iMore, an outlet that covers all things Apple from iPhones to Macs and beyond. By night, he writes books about gaming, the first of which was published in 2021 and titled The Making of Tomb Raider. In this chat, Daryl spoke about the nostalgia around retro gaming, which is reaching a fever pitch right now, and he also shared some recommendations for players on Apple Arcade. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week’s guest is Elle Osili-Wood, the new host of BBC Radio 3’s Sound of Gaming, a brilliant monthly show that celebrates video game music. Elle has been working as a host and presenter in the gaming world for years now, and you may have seen her hosting the BAFTA Games Awards on a number of occasions. In this interview, Elle shares her own gaming stories and explains what it’s like to take over a beloved institution like Sound of Gaming. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ant Farley, one of the key developers on Football Manager, joins Rob in the studio as the long-running soccer simulator franchise launches its 2024 edition. Ant was kind enough to share some insights about next year’s FM25 revamp, too! Football Manager - like Championship Manager before it - is a game that can really take over your life, as fans will know all too well, and Ant even addressed the topic of whether there’s such a thing as ‘too much’ time spent playing it. As well as telling us about his journey from Quality Assurance to Design Manager on FM24, Ant also shared his love of Final Fantasy and - of course - his gaming snack of choice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week’s guest is Lyndsay Pearson, the Vice President of Franchise Creative on The Sims 4 and its upcoming sequel Project Rene. Lyndsay’s life with gaming has taken her on the kind of journey that most fans can only dream of — she started out as an avid player of The Sims, and now she’s become one of its main creative talents. In this chat, Lyndsay discusses all the unusual things that people do with their Sims, and she teases what’s to come in The Sims' future with the addition of major new multiplayer experiences. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Russ Harding is the Chief Creative Officer at Maze Theory, a British game developer that has worked on numerous Doctor Who games and a Peaky Blinders VR title. In the week that David Tennant returns to Doctor Who on our screens, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to chat with one of the developers that have already trodden that exact same path. As well as bringing Tennant back to Doctor Who before the show did, Russ has also worked with Jodie Whittaker on various projects and Cillian Murphy on Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John Saavedra, Editor in Chief of Den of Geek, joins our host Rob Leane to geek out about Star Wars games and recap his life with gaming so far. Topics discussed include the greatest Star Wars games of all time, who would win in a fight between Cal Kestis and Starkiller, and upcoming titles including Ubisoft's Star Wars Outlaws and Quantic Dream's Star Wars Eclipse. A must-listen for Star Wars fans! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tim Nguyen, Senior Producer on Pokémon Go, talks Rob through his journey from swim coach to game developer, and delves into all the weird rumours and surprising facts that surround those pocket monsters. Plus, find out which starter Pokémon he'd pick from the original three, and what it's like to work on such a massive live-service game. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week’s guest is Jason Kingsley OBE, CEO of Rebellion Developments (Sniper Elite, Judge Dredd), who shares the amazing journey that gaming has taken him on. Starting out as an avid player of arcade machines, Jason went on to found a company with his brother that would employ hundreds of people. He even received an OBE for his troubles, directly from King Charles (who was still Prince Charles at the time), in a fascinating story that he shares on the podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lloyd Coombes, Editor in Chief at GGRecon, joins Rob to celebrate the biggest and best games of 2023. Which game will come out on top in a stacked year that gave us such instant classics as Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur’s Gate 3, Alan Wake 2, Diablo 4 and Final Fantasy 16? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a very special bonus episode, Marvel megastar Anthony Mackie pops in for a candid conversation about Twisted Metal, the rise of video game adaptations, and why his new show is “completely different” to “the Marvel thing”. Based on a classic car combat game from the PS1 era, Twisted Metal is a post-apocalyptic action comedy that arrives on Paramount Plus in the UK today. Mackie plays the leading role and also produced the show. One More Life host Rob Leane spoke to Anthony Mackie about his early memories of gaming, how he came to be involved in Twisted Metal, and why he thinks there are so many video game adaptations these days.  Mackie did talk about the MCU, as well, touching on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and whether there’s any added pressure now that Mackie is taking on the Captain America mantle in 2025’s Brave New World film. It’s a fun chat for gaming and Marvel fans alike! You can also read the article version of this interview: https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/anthony-mackie-twisted-metal-marvel-big-rt-interview  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The BAFTA Games Awards are taking place on Thursday 11th April, with the whole ceremony being streamed on BAFTA’s Twitch, YouTube and X accounts from 7pm onwards. Hosting this year’s gaming BAFTAs is the brilliant comedian Phil Wang, who you might recognise from Taskmaster, all the big panel shows and his Netflix comedy special Philly Philly Wang Wang. For a special bonus episode of One More Life, Rob spoke to Phil Wang at the BAFTA headquarters a few weeks before the event. From SkiFree to Total War, Phil Wang is a massive gamer and he really had Rob in stitches.  Listen now to learn more about the confluence between comedy and gaming, and to find out what BAFTA stands for — both figuratively and literally! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices