MGIF S6 E5 - GLESGAMES! - and The Scottish Game Scene (SCOTLAND FOREVER)

Photos courtesy of Lyndsay Spence


It’s a longer one this week as I take you on an audio journey to Scotland, as I make my way to the fabulous Glesgames!

Recorded THIS MONTH - March 2024 - I took a train to Edinburgh where I stayed with a friend (shout outs to Mark - I love you mate) before making my way over to Glasgow to attend Glesgames - an evening of socialising and gaming, opened with a live episode of the 2GoodBoys Podcast.

If you don’t know, the 2goodboys podcast is an occasional and very off topic podcast about - in their own words - nothing in particular. It’s headed up by Barry Topping and Guy Woodward, two quality members of what I like to call the Scottish Games Contingent. It’s a really funny, casual and unplanned chat which often goes really dark, exploring the worst bits of the internet, and has gathered quite a following over the years.

I catch up with the good boys after their live podcast to chat shite with them, as well as having a chat with regular 2GoodBoys guest, filmmaker, streamer and all round loveable lad Richie Morgan, who I intend to feature in a future episode.

After that, it’s time to plug the big microphones in and have a good chat with the lovely Gavin Spence, illustrator, podcaster, and youtuber legend in his own right (check out transformers done quick AKA TRDQ on youtube)

Then it’s on to the man himself, Simon Marshall, organiser of Glesgames, to chat about the show itself, why it sells out an hour after tickets go live and why you should not miss your chance to come to the next one, before ending the night with a chat with the absolutely wonderful Scott White, who was co host of Bitsocket before it sadly closed its doors last year, where we talk mainly about the reboot of Gladiators for some reason, alongside some computer games of course!

Thanks to everyone who chatted on the mic for me. This is a bit of a longer one with lots more ambient sound than usual because I really wanted to get the feeling of taking you on the journey for this one. I care about making this podcast a unique listen and I hope this recreates some of the feeling of journeying without the knackering element of actually bloody doing it.

So please join me for a trip to see 2GoodBoys, Glesgames, and all the other magical people you can meet in the Scottish games scene.

****Images of Glesgames credit to Lyndsay Spence**** - thanks to Lyndsay for covering it whilst pulling double duty as security for anyone trying to sneak in without a ticket.

Thanks you so much for listening, follow me over at @garydooton and @mgifshow. Stay subbed, stay following!

Lots of Love,

Gary x




MGIF S6 E4 - George Osborn


Welcome back! Episode 4 is with returning guest George “not that one) Osborn!

Recorded in Octobier 2023, I was refreshing George’s headshots in Stoke Newington’s Loading Bar so I decided we should double up (or double down?) and crack out an hour of magical podcasting.

Surprisingly for us, we used up 80% of our usual mutual silliness putting the headshots together, so when it came to sit down and chat we actually became intelligent and insightful! That’s not to say we didn’t manage to eke out some prize horse shit along the way but the tone was one of a naturally occurring thoughtful discussion, and for that I am truly sorry.

George knows his bloody onions and it’s a pleasure to have my brain expanded by him. I would recommend signing up to George’s excellent weekly videogame news roundup, the Videogames Industry Memo. You can do that right here.


Thanks you so much for listening, follow me over at @garydooton and @mgifshow. Stay subbed, stay following!

Lots of Love,

Gary x




MGIF S6 E3 - Luke Hebbelthwaite

Welcome back! Episode 3 is with the magnificent Luke Hebbelthwaite!

Luke is head of games at BAFTA - if you’ve seen a BAFTA games thing in the past, you can bet Luke was involved in it!

Recorded in January 2024, Luke met with me in the churchyard close to BAFTA 195 in London Piccadilly where we had a mini tour of the surrounding area, before heading inside to BAFTA 195 where we had a big old chat about Luke’s career, his first love of games, as well as getting into the details of Luke’s extremely busy job getting games front and centre in various different ways at BAFTA.

Luke is an absolute smasher and I had a lovely time talking to him and finding out more about why BAFTA Games is making a difference. You can follow him on twitter at @Lukethehebble

Thanks you so much for listening, follow me over at @garydooton and @mgifshow. Stay subbed, stay following!

Lots of Love,

Gary x



MGIF S6 E2 - Ellie Gibson

Welcome back! Episode 2 of Season 6 is with the mighty Ellie Gibson!

Ellie Gibson is a comedian, journalist and these days a streamer of computer games, as people over 40 born in the UK sometimes call them. Aside from her legendary tenure at Eurogamer, you may know her from the TV series Dara O’ Briain’s Go 8 Bit as well as being one half of the extremely successful Scummy Mummies podcast.

Recorded at the end of September 2023, Ellie picked me up in her car and whisked me away for a comprehensive tour of Catford and its many features / horrors. We then ended up in the pub way before noon, where we feasted on a banquet of Tayto salt and vinegar crisps and two pints of strong ale.

Ellie is an absolute delight to be around and we had a wonderful time seeing the sights and sitting down for our boozy brunch. Please check out her twitch over at EllieGibsonGames and join the very friendly community there - you’ll probably run into me too!

Thanks you so much for listening, follow me over at @garydooton and @mgifshow. Stay subbed, stay following!

Lots of Love,

Gary x



MGIF S6 E1 - Johnny Chiodini

Welcome to season 6 of MGIF, a videogames-leaning podcast where you listen to me walking around (mostly) London having fun silly chats with people who are involved with or have an interest in videogames in one way or another. IF, while you’re listening to this podcast, you begin to think about videogame culture and its wider place in society, that is NOT my fault.

The new season is here! Episode 1 of Season 6 is with the incomparable Johnny Chiodini!

Johnny is a wonderfully talented games media legend and has made things for Gamespot, Eurogamer, ITN and Channel 4. Once a key figure over at Eurogamer, Johnny decided to fly the nest and go freelance, bringing their exceptional video producing and presenting skills to Patreon. These days, Johnny creates a bunch of amazing stuff on the Johnny Chiodini youtube channel as well as being involved in running D&D for Oxventure.

Recorded in September 2023, me and Johnny grabbed a coffee and went for a nice walk into a delightful wood before sitting in front of a lovely lake. We talked about D&D, Baldurs gate 3, dark souls, streaming, what it’s like to get a Patreon running of your own with a dedicated fanbase and lots of other shite!

Thanks you so much for listening, follow me over at @garydooton and @mgifshow. Stay subbed, stay following!

Lots of Love,

Gary x



MGIF Off Season Special - MGIF at WASD

It’s been a while, and I know you’re all waiting for the new season to drop, well here’s something to be getting on with until the new season is ready - it’s MGIF goes to WASD!

WASD is an indie-focused videogames expo that was hosted this weekend at the Truman Brewery in Shoreditch. I pootled along with my microphone and did my usual shit chatting, as well as talking to some devs about their games. If you missed the show, this will give you a fun little flavour of what it was like to be there!

If it’s your first time here, hello! Please feel free to go back and listen to Season 5 which wrapped up earlier this year, and subscribe so you don’t miss when the next season drops later in the year (hopefully, maybe later).

Thanks to WASD for letting me come in and waft my press badge in everyone’s faces so people thought I was important. Get down to the next WASD if you can because it was a really nice time.

Cheers and lots of Love,

Gary x



MGIF S5 E11 - Mike Anderson

Episode 11 and the season finale is with ustwo Games producer, Mike Anderson!

Mike is an old friends from my time where I spent three years creating a photodocumentary of the people of ustwo games as they made Monument Valley 2. This is a completely off the rails chat where we chat about all sorts of nonsense, but of course various video games and some chat about ustwo games and how it got started is in the mix too.

We met at Liverpool Street in London and took a walk down to Boxpark in Shoreditch, where we sat down for a bit of lunch and continued our absolute bullshit for a while longer.

Thanks you so much for listening, please throw me some feedback over @garydooton or @mgifpod on twitter and let me know how you got on with this season. Who your favourite guest was and how you found the season overall. I WILL BE BACK with a new season and some new episodes, so stay tuned, stay subbed, stay following!

Lots of Love,

Gary x



MGIF S5 E10 - Anna Hollinrake

Episode 10 is with co-founder of the brand new game studio Electric Saint, it’s the FIRST returning guest, the majestic Anna Hollinrake!

I met up with Anna at a sandwich shop and fuelled up for our walk through the park. We talked about Anna’s new studio Electric Saint, in between getting lost on various flights of whimsy, as you might expect from two artists meeting up in a park on a sunny day.

It’s always a pleasure to see Anna and it was a privilege to document the start of her venture into the next episode of her life. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.

Keep listening keep sharing and let’s make this podcast grow!

Love,

Gary x