Look, we all know nostalgia is a powerful force, especially thinking back fondly on pop culture of the past. Hell, our highlight on Disney+ in March is X-Men ’97, which kicks off exactly where beloved 90s cartoon X-Men: The Animated Series left off.
Now if you’re someone who thinks as blissfully of the gaming of yesteryear, there’s a freshly relaunched South African podcast for you. Reborn in the last quarter of 2023, CoffeeXControllers offers one-hour retrospectives on the standout games of the Nineties and Noughties (plus some Eighties arcade throwbacks too), with contemporary commentary on the side. The podcast is hosted by Capetonians Shadley Desai, who you may remember from the Explained to My Wife YouTube series, comedian Yaaseen Barnes, along with Brad Buttner and Sa’eed Masoet.
You can follow CoffeeXControllers on TikTok and Instagram for highlight snippets from each episode, but expect regular ongoing Game of the Year discussions (the most recent edition looks at 2003, with the release of Max Payne 2, Pokémon Ruby and the first baby steps of social media), as well as deep dives into specific titles and series, like Grand Theft Auto.
These are the games that made us, and these are some local gamers and creators explaining their influence from a uniquely South African perspective. Give CoffeeXControllers a listen, and follow, now.