This week, we look ahead to the rest of the games that are coming out in 2011.  What’s got us stoked?  What’s got us annoyed?  What’s got us sitting on the fence?

First though, Jonathan talks about his “Week of More”: more L.A. Noire (it’s good), more Final Fantasy 6 (it’s good), more iOS card games in the form of Ascension (it’s good).

Alex talks about how he got Dawn of War 2: Retribution off of Steam for cheap, but it’s just not pushing his buttons.  Also not pushing his buttons, Crysis 2, which Sam disagrees with.

Sam’s completed Crysis 2 and is giving it heavy-duty praise.  Also completed, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but the praise is lacking.

The games we cover in our topic, in no particular order:

• Catherine
• Battlefield 3
• Modern Warfare 3
• Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
• Forza 4
• Saint’s Row: The Third
• Batman: Arkham City
• Skyrim
• El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron
• Lord of the Rings: War in the North
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution
• Uncharted 3
• The Darkness 2
• Need for Speed: The Run
• Dead Island
• RAGE
• Body Count
• Game of Thrones: Genesis
• Call of Juarez: The Cartel
• Gears of War 3
• Driver: San Francisco
• Cursed Crusade
• Age of Empires Online
• Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

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Look at this!  A show posted on time!  I told you I’d get my act together.

Before we get into this episode’s headlines, we take a moment to talk about the games we’ve been playing.  Jonathan picked up Halo: Reach.  He’s neither disappointed nor thrilled with it.  It’s pretty much exactly what you’d expect from a Halo game.  He also played a little bit of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, and was really not impressed.

Alex talks about R.U.S.E., and no one is surprised.  :-)  Also on the list is Alan Wake, but Jonathan cruelly steps in and quashes that topic in favor of saving some suspense for the Three-Way Review that all the guys ought to be recording soonish.

Sam shares some thoughts on Alan Wake (which were quashed as well), Halo: Reach, and Plants vs. Zombies.

Then it’s into the headlines!

• DOW2 Retribution Ditches Games For Windows For Steamworks
• Tokyo Game Show!
  • Steel Battalion goes from hundreds of buttons to no buttons
  • Project Draco: We know nothing. Alex is intrigued. Jonathan predicts massive disappointment.
  • Ico and Shadow of the Colossus HD: I’ll be in my bunk.
  • A new trailer for The Last Guardian: More bunk time.
  • THE BIGGEST GAME OF TGS!
• APB bites the dust.
• Good Old Games’ shenanigans.

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Headlines this week, and a new addition to the cast!  Sam has joined our motley crew, and we are now a three-host podcast, at least until such time as we fire him.

Sam gets welcomed to the ‘cast.  Jonathan talks about Gen Con and Ex Illis, a game he didn’t have the opportunity to actually try out, but still has opinions on.  Alex goes on and on about GameStop again.  Then we get into headlines!

The News:

• Three Brothers Killed Over Xbox 360
• A bunch of game announcements and release dates that’ll take up too much space to link individually.
• Guard plays Plants vs. Zombies. Inmates play Run Away!
• Bow Wow Loses $100k to the Game in Madden Beatdown
• NCSoft sued for making games that are too addictive.
• PS3 Cracked via USB Dongle
• Australian iPhone Censorship, Developers Threaten Pullout

See ya next week for a headline that ballooned into its own topic!

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