🤜🏻✋🏻Thom & Ross From Gonarchs Lair Talk Alex Kidd Cosplay, Homemade Sauce and Pac Man Stickers 🤜🏻✋🏻 @gonarchslair

The Lads From The Audaciously Awesome Podcast "Gonarch's Lair" Take A Break From The Lair To Answer Some Games Freezer Questions So As You Can Get To Know Thom and Ross a Bit More Intimately...

Grab yourself a head crab and sit back and read all about the deadly duo!

1. What's your earliest video gaming memory?

Thom: Lying on the living room floor of my first family home, playing Boxer and Pac-Man on an Acorn Electron that my parent’s friends had brought over one evening.

Nothing was ever the same again for me after that night, I used to be blind, but then I could see. 

Ross: Collecting Pac-Man stickers while playing on Battlezone (or a Battlezone clone) on my friends VIC-20. I loved those wire-frame graphics…

2. What was the first video game console that you owned?

Thom: Sinclair ZX Spectrum James Bond 007 Action Pack with the Light Gun, technically it was my brother’s, as was the Master System and Mega Drive that followed; the first console that was bought for me, excluding the Game Boy, was the wonderfully grey PlayStation. 

Ross: The Commodore 64 was the first machine that was all mine, I got the old chunky model with a black and white TV and a boatload of games from Santa. I loved playing Bubble Bobble, Turrican, Who Dares Wins II and Pitstop II.

3. How did you get into the retro gaming scene on Twitter?

Thom: The Gonarch’s Lair Twitter account was set up by our producer to accompany and promote the podcast, it was then that we discovered the plethora of retro gaming accounts available for our delectation. 

Ross: It was through Thom posting on our Gonarch's Lair account. I like to neb on other people’s feeds now and then (hi, @nylar!), but I don't actually post anything myself.

4. What's your favourite video game of all time?

Thom: Freedom Fighters on the PlayStation 2. We have pontificated endlessly about why I loved it so much, you will have to listen to every single episode of the podcast to find out! 

Ross: Man, sooo hard to pick one! Maybe Doom…

5. What's your favourite console of all time?

Thom: Xbox 360, I played some of my favourite games on that console, it kept getting so much right and introduced me to new features such as online gaming and achievements; it cemented my love for so many amazing gaming franchises, and it connected me to a thriving universe where almost anything was possible.

Ross: This is a hard one again because I love different machines for different reasons, but I think I’ll pick the Amiga. It's one of a kind and you could do so much with it, also it had classic games like Sensible World of Soccer, Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, Dune II, the Lotus series, and Super Cars II. Oooh yeah!

6. What's your favourite arcade game of all time?

Thom: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, that game introduced me to the concept of co-op play and the side-scrolling Beat ‘em Up genre, all the while letting me play a part in one of my favourite cartoons. 

Ross: Smash TV for the dual joysticks (I’d buy that for a dollar!)

7. What's your favourite sandwich?

Thom: I had an incredible toasted sandwich at a place called Juice Bar in Budva, Montenegro recently; it had cheese and ham, salad, and a mysterious ‘homemade spread’, all held together by toasted sun-dried tomato bread. In all seriousness, it was the best sandwich I have ever had. 

Ross: Fish finger

8. What's your favourite cuisine?

Thom: Mexican. Meat, cheese, nachos, rice, beans, yes. 

Ross: Italian

9. What's your favourite alcoholic drink?

Thom: Give me a cold, refreshing IPA and I am all yours. 

Ross: Hmm, beer. Anything from real ales to cheap lagers (but not Carling or Fosters).


10. What current generation video games do you play?

Thom: Rocket League, Rainbow Six: Siege, Battlefield, PUBG, I am really looking forward to Cyberpunk 2077 and Battlefield V! 

Ross: I have a PS4 and love FromSoftware’s games (Dark Souls, Bloodborne), indie titles like Celeste and Shovel Knight, and Battlefield 1 for my online blasting fix.

11. Who's your fave person to follow on Twitter? 

Thom: It’s a toss-up between @Nylar and @darkbulbus, one day we will make them fight to the death and the winner will be crowned our number 1 fan. 

Ross: @GamesFreezer

12. What's your favourite video game genre?

Thom: Wow, that’s a tough question... honestly I go through periods of enjoying so many different genres; First-person shooters, platformers, puzzle games, point-and-clicks, the most important thing for me is that I feel challenged, and the pretty graphics of course! 

Ross: Action role-playing games like Dark Souls, Zelda, and Fallout: New Vegas really float my boat!

13. If you were a console, which one would you be and why?

Thom: The iQue Player whose Chinese name, Shén Yóu Ji, translates as ‘Divine Gaming Machine’. No further explanation required. 

Ross: I’d be the Mega Drive because I too have a Blast processor…

14. Can you recommend a good retro gaming shop?

Thom: Would Forbidden Planet in Newcastle count? If so, Forbidden Planet in Newcastle. 

Ross: CeX or Cash Converters often have some hidden gems.

15. If you were going to do a Cosplay tomorrow, what would it be and why?

Thom: Alex Kidd, I’ve been told I have his ears, and I definitely have a penchant for Janken… no, that isn’t a typo.

Ross: Kratos from God of War. I already have the beard and bald head combo, but maybe not the toned bod.

16. We love your awesome podcast Gonarch's Lair, how did the idea come about to start up the podcast?

Both: Ross and Thom met a long time ago and became friends over a mutual love for gaming and making music (their band was called Dr Crend’s Medical Workshop FYI), we talk almost non-stop about video games whenever we are together so we thought, “Why not record what we are saying, and see if anyone gives a shit?” It turned out that a few people did actually give a shit and could tolerate our meandering conversations, so we kept at it and here we are 3 long years later! 

17. Where do our readers need to go to catch the awesome Gonarch's Lair podcast?

Both: We broadcast directly from Xen and publish our work over on SoundCloud, it is then distributed to all of your major podcast directories including iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, and TuneIn. "