PAL KEYS returns on July 26! Here's why the podcast is finally back after three years
PAL KEYS is coming back after a long hiatus. Not as a reboot, but as a continuation — Series 4 starts on July 26! A bunch of episodes have already been recorded and it's been a lot of fun.
Fair enough if you're looking at this and thinking, "PAL What?"
But for anyone who was a subscriber to my podcast between 2018 and 2021: yes, PAL KEYS is coming back after a long hiatus. Not as a reboot, but as a continuation — Series 4 starts on July 26! A bunch of episodes have already been recorded and it's been a lot of fun.
You can subscribe here right now:
🟣Apple Podcasts
🟢Spotify
🟠Pocket Casts
🔴YouTube
With this in mind, I thought it'd be helpful to explain in this issue about why I created PAL KEYS in the first place, what it's about for anyone new to the show, and why I'm bringing it back.
"Snake, you've got to get that key..."
PAL KEYS began in 2018 as a way of just talking to random folk about their careers and answering two questions that's stayed with the show since the start:
- Memorable Game
- Memorable Boss Stage
Of course, a highlight was speaking to David Hayter, the voice of Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid. By the time Series 3 wrapped up in 2021, I was burnt out. I was getting worried that I was repeating myself at times, so I liked the idea of resting PAL KEYS for a while until I had time to do the show again, as well as keeping an eye on potential new guests in the meantime.
The original plan was to bring it back in late 2022, but circumstances meant that PAL KEYS and other projects had to take a backseat. Once my second book, '50 Years of Boss Fights', was done, I remade the website this very newsletter is hosted on. I also moved it from WordPress and onto Ghost, starting afresh.
What I didn't realise at the time, was that the original RSS Feed for PAL KEYS would be lost. This is essentially a way for podcast apps to keep track of any previous or new episodes of a show. However, some apps like Amazon Music are still hosting the old episodes. This means that a new RSS Feed is needed for Series 4 and beyond, which you can find here for your third-party podcast app of choice.
I may look into hosting these older episodes in some way. I'm in two minds about that for now though — do let me know if that's something that interests you.
Gooood Morning Shadow Moses!
Regardless, recent circumstances meant that I began to miss PAL KEYS. It was always fun talking to random people, many of whom I keep in touch today — some have even become work colleagues!
But also, the gaming industry has seen some huge changes in the past three years. Massive layoffs, baffling and quite frankly stupid decisions by companies who think they know better, have meant so many people are now looking for new jobs.
There's a next generation out there who still want to get a job in the industry regardless — it could be in games development, PR or Journalism. So I want PAL KEYS to try and showcase the positives of that in some small way - and maybe, also, bring some hope for those who have had it rough lately.
With all that in mind, PAL KEYS 4.1 comes out on July 26, followed by a new episode every fortnight. Although there may be surprises now and again.
And of course, if you'd like to be a guest on the show, do get in touch.
Thanks for reading.
