Which video game character first made you feel something beyond excitement and rage?

Smut Week has arrived, and we’re confessing our first gaming crushes, revisiting the characters developers clearly wanted us to fancy and discussing the game romances we took far too seriously.

From Chun Li, Nina Williams and Lara Croft to Solid Snake, Leon Kennedy, Shadowheart and the entire increasingly suspicious history of Hideo Kojima, prepare to learn far too much about us.

Before that, we give Gears of War E Day our verdicts, explain why Silver Pines could be one of 2026’s biggest horror surprises, discuss gaming on holiday and cautiously react to the latest unverified GTA VI footage.

We also return to GoldenEye 007 for Pixel Picks Replay before entering Gamer Court to discuss more of the most ridiculous takes in gaming

Who was your first video game crush? Give us the honest answer in the comments.

Review codes for Silver Pines were provided by Team17.

In this episode:

• Gears of War E-Day
• Silver Pines
• Main Topic: Smut Week
• Pixel Picks Replay
• Gamer Court

Subscribe for weekly gaming discussions from two adult gamer parents.

https://www.youtube.com/@PixelParentsPodcast

GET BONUS SHOWS AND MORE BY JOINING OUR ALWAYS FREE PATREON (www.patreon.com/pixelparents)

Music licensed through Soundstripe.
Code BMB591ST2JKNHXWE

#GamingPodcast #TheWitcher3 #GamingPodcast

—

CHAPTERS

00:00 Smut Week begins

01:05 Welcome to Pixel Parents

02:06 Cabins and wedding hangovers

05:21 Housekeeping

06:46 What we have been playing

07:23 Gears of War E Day verdict

17:20 Mafia III for a fiver

19:15 The reality of holiday gaming

20:40 Control Resonant check in

23:09 Too many October games

26:06 Silver Pines impressions

39:05 GTA VI footage discussion

45:28 Entering Smut Week

46:49 Our first gaming crushes

53:19 Developers knew what they were doing

01:01:17 Personality over pixels

01:02:47 Romances we took seriously

01:09:27 The panic pause

01:10:53 Questionable character choices

01:13:31 Snog, marry or delete

01:15:56 GoldenEye Pixel Picks Replay

01:17:21 Gamer Court

01:20:46 Soundtracks over graphics

01:24:23 Gaming concerts outside London

01:27:18 Thanks for listening

—

Write to us: pixelparentspodcast@gmail.com

Follow us on BlueSky: @pixelparents.bsky.social

Music & production by Sean Murray – barehandsdesigns.com

New episodes every Friday.

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Physical games were about more than owning a disc.

Game shops, midnight launches, manuals, trade ins and lending games to friends all helped make gaming feel like a visible culture.

This week, we ask what digital convenience has cost us, what today’s younger players may never experience and whether physical gaming is already beyond saving.

We also share our first impressions of Gears of War E Day, including its horror atmosphere, incredible opening act and why it feels like the Xbox game we have been waiting for, plus:

In this episode:

• Gears of War E-Day
• Ghost of Yōtei Echoes of Sekigahara
• Fire Emblem Fortune’s Weave
• PES 6 Master League
• The Vale Lostbound
• Pixel Picks Replay
• Gamer Court

Subscribe for weekly gaming discussions from two adult gamer parents.

https://www.youtube.com/@PixelParentsPodcast

GET BONUS SHOWS AND MORE BY JOINING OUR ALWAYS FREE PATREON (www.patreon.com/pixelparents)

Music licensed through Soundstripe.
Code BMB591ST2JKNHXWE

#GamingPodcast #TheWitcher3 #GamingPodcast

—

CHAPTERS

00:00 What we lose when games go digital

00:42 Butter in the beard

03:22 Welcome and housekeeping

04:25 PES 6 Master League

07:56 The Vale Lostbound

09:24 Fire Emblem Fortune’s Weave

15:28 The value of comfort games

21:50 Ghost of Yōtei Echoes of Sekigahara

33:22 Moonlighter 2 and card shop life

35:18 Gears of War E Day impressions

42:18 Gears becomes survival horror

49:26 Why the Locust feel frightening again

57:26 What we lose without physical games

01:00:31 What physical gaming meant to us

01:08:08 Manuals, game shops and discovery

01:14:07 The death of midnight launches

01:20:01 What younger gamers may never experience

01:28:24 Is physical gaming already dead?

01:32:19 GoldenEye 007 Pixel Picks Replay

01:33:55 Gamer Court puts PT on trial

01:39:29 Was the seventh generation gaming’s peak?

01:41:39 Thanks for listening

—

Write to us: pixelparentspodcast@gmail.com

Follow us on BlueSky: @pixelparents.bsky.social

Music & production by Sean Murray – barehandsdesigns.com

New episodes every Friday.

🎧 Listen on Spotify

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🍎 Listen on Apple Podcasts

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/pixel-parents-video-game-podcast/id1740836394

💬 Join our FREE Discord
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💖 Join the FREE Patreon

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✉️ Email the show

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What are the nine games that made you the gamer you are today?

Scott and Liam join the social media trend, but the grid only tells part of the story.

We explain how these games shaped our tastes, friendships, families and different stages of our lives.

These are not simply our nine favourite games. They are the games that made us.

In this episode:

• Minecraft Dungeons II review
• Fire Emblem Fortune’s Weave
• Control Resonant
• Star Wars Zero Company
• FC 27
• The Witcher 3 Remastered
• The Last of Us Part I in Pixel Picks Replay
• October 2026 Pixel Picks Replay selection

Subscribe for weekly gaming discussions from two adult gamer parents.

https://www.youtube.com/@PixelParentsPodcast

GET BONUS SHOWS AND MORE BY JOINING OUR ALWAYS FREE PATREON (www.patreon.com/pixelparents)

Music licensed through Soundstripe.
Code BMB591ST2JKNHXWE

#GamingPodcast #TheWitcher3 #GamingPodcast

—

CHAPTERS

00:00 The nine games that made us

00:41 Welcome to Pixel Parents

07:06 Minecraft Dungeons II review

15:42 Onimusha and Fire Emblem Fortune’s Weave

24:22 Control Resonant first impressions

30:18 Star Wars Zero Company

38:34 Is FC 27 worth returning to?

42:14 The Witcher 3 Remastered

47:00 Gears of War E Day review leak

49:26 Will we see more GTA VI?

52:30 Scott fights back against scam callers

55:52 The nine games that made us

57:44 The games that started everything

01:06:49 Games that shaped our tastes

01:11:11 Games tied to friendship

01:14:18 Games that helped us through life

01:17:09 Our most surprising choices

01:23:38 The final games

01:32:23 The games that missed out

01:35:37 Pixel Picks Replay

01:36:21 The Last of Us Part I

01:44:00 October’s game revealed

01:45:20 Closing

—

Write to us: pixelparentspodcast@gmail.com

Follow us on BlueSky: @pixelparents.bsky.social

Music & production by Sean Murray – barehandsdesigns.com

New episodes every Friday.

🎧 Listen on Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/show/2JE8TeviD5XXuiqVYxj63Q?_reload_cause=banner-auto-reload

🍎 Listen on Apple Podcasts

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/pixel-parents-video-game-podcast/id1740836394

💬 Join our FREE Discord
https://discord.gg/yjV2wSAZw

💖 Join the FREE Patreon

https://www.patreon.com/pixelparents

🦋 Follow us on Bluesky

https://bsky.app/profile/pixelparents.bsky.social

📺 Subscribe on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/@PixelParentsPodcast/S

✉️ Email the show

pixelparentspodcast@gmail.com