We have news this week!  Within the course of a couple of weeks, streaming game company OnLive was rumored to have laid off everyone, but really they only laid off half of everyone, then they confirmed that Steve Perlman would continue as CEO, only to then boot him out.  Also booted out: the first- and second-place winners of League of Legends Summer Championship after being accused of collusion.  Olympians got nothing on gamers.

In the meat of the episode today, we pretty much just talk about games the whole time.  And by “we,” I actually pretty much just mean Jonathan.

First, though, Alex shares his initial thoughts on Madden, which are surprisingly positive considered past years.  He also gives us another book recommendation, Prince of Thorns, which is all about the bad guy.

Sam brings a couple more games to the table than Alex, one new and one old.  The old one, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, ended up causing a bit of obsessiveness in Sam, while the new one. Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, has Sam’s opinions mixed.

Jonathan has played through Journey again, and found even more reasons to love it than before.  He’s also signed up for Playstation Plus, which ought to keep his game appetite sated for a while.

The game, though, that dominates the podcast is one Alex was curious about last week, Papo & Yo.  Jonathan has some personal experience with the subject matter which inspired Papo & Yo, and he’s got a bit of a different perspective on how effective the game truly is at conveying its message.  Ultimately, he finds the game fundamentally flawed, but worth playing by anyone looking for a counterargument to Cristoph Hartmann’s idiocy, or who are simply interested in seeing games expand as an art form.

We will no doubt revisit this topic in the future.

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Ads in games!

Among the Sleep!

Frivolous lawsuit dropped!

Jonathan plays SkullPogo!

Hemisphere‘s breaks Sam’s brain!

Alex enjoys Dragon’s Dogma!

Sam and Alex recon Ghosts!

Max Payne is dark!

E3 Predictions get ridiculous!

See you next week!

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Hello, peeps!  Alex is somewhere in Ohio this week, so it’s just Jonathan and Sam on the mics for this episode.  In honor of the news guy’s absence, we discuss news.

First though, Sam discusses Kingdom’s of Amalur, which he’s found to be intriguing, if a bit frustrating, and Mass Effect 3, which has succeeded in bringing out Hulk Sam.  Jonathan picked Skyrim back up for an incredibly awkward honeymoon, and has also been playing Word Stack on his phone, wherein you take words and stack them.

Headlines:

• Microsoft drops the 360′s price to $99 (with a two-year contract).
• A different way to consider ME3′s ending.
• It’s a dream team of RPG greats, for an iOS game.
• Video games are actively preventing violence in Africa.
• Star Wars: The Old Republic loses 400,000 subscribers.
• Ubisoft enlists gamers in marketing effort with a promise of more marketing.
• Raptr sets up a reward program for doing what you’d do anyway.

Next week, one of the hosts has to eat crow early!  I know I’m looking forward to it.

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We cover a ton of news this week!  It’s almost like we’re returning to the days of yore.

First, though, games, and even Sam has something to contribute this week.  Sam put Shadows of the Damned in, and almost immediately wanted to take it back.  Alex and Jonathan may have convinced him to give it a second try, though.  Jonathan’s played more Mario Party 9, and also finally given Assassin’s Creed Recollections a try.  One’s more of the same, and one he doesn’t enjoy at all.  And Alex had an interesting Easter experience in Gears of War 3, and a great time with multiplayer Splinter Cell.

Headlines!

• Homeland Security wants to hack your Xbox!
• GTA V might launch in October!
• The PS3 might hit $200!
• Activision Blizzard might have to settle a lawsuit!
• Gamers are looking forward to Halo 4!
• Resident Evil 6 Platinum Edition is really expensive!

Finally, we wrap up the show with a topic discussion.  That’s right, folks!  Games, headlines, and a topic all within an hour!  It’s a ChristmasEaster Miracle!  What’s better for social network gaming?  Asynchronous or synchronous gameplay?  And can you really have a game that only includes one or the other anymore?

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Due to scheduling conflicts, the boys have only had a couple of days since Episode 102 was recorded, so game talk is light this week.  That’s okay, though, because we’re bringing back the headlines!

What little gaming did we do?  Alex tried to force himself through the Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood finally, and fails to make it past Hitman: Blood Money‘s tutorial.  Jonathan picked up and started playing Space Marine, and found that the atmosphere is fantastic, but the difficult spikes are irritating.  Sam, meanwhile, busts out a Skyrim dragon story, and talks up ODST with Brad and William Pall.

In the headlines this week, we’ve got protests, lawsuits, delays, leaks, and hacks.

• ESA Drops Support for PIPA, SOPA
• EA Invokes First Amendment Protection for Video Games in Trademark Dispute with Helicopter Maker
• XCOM FPA Pushed to 2013, Firaxis Strategy Reboot Still Set for 2012
• Max Payne 3 Pushed Back to May
• Windows Live Login Suggested as Xbox Live Security Flaw
• BioShock Infinite 1999 Mode for System Shock Fans
• Resident Evil 6 Logo, Release Date Leaked

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Welcome back, folks!

We’ve got a new contest running.  We’ve got codes (thanks, Brad!) for NightSky and the Ben There, Dan That/Time, Gentlemen, Please! combo pack.  Send us your favorite indie game via email, forum, or comment below, and you’ll be entered to win.  On New Year’s Eve, we’ll pick two winners and then let you have an epic grudge match duel to the death over who gets which game.  (Or we’ll do that arbitrarily, too.)

In the banter, Sam has finished Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, and his opinion of the game has diminished and gone into the West.  He’s also been plowing through his backlog of L.A. Noire, El Shaddai, and Hunted: The Demon’s Forge.

He and Jonathan have both finished Saints Row The Third, with Jonathan full-on 100&ing it.  Jonathan has some warnings, but still thinks it’s a definite Purchase.  Not worth your time, though, is Otomedius Excellent, which manages to be boring and wildly creepy at the same time.

Finally, Alex survived Black Friday, though it sounds like that wasn’t much of an accomplishment.

Headlines!  Oh, how we’ve missed thee!

• ‘Gamer’ Husband Auctioned Off on Craigslist
• Consumer Reports: Microsoft is Nice, GameStop is Naughty
• EB Games/GameStop Gets Rid of Used Games Section [Update]
• Ghost Recon Game Skipping PC Because of, you Guessed it, Piracy
• URGENT! Sign the White House Ban on the Dangerous Video Game “SkyRim“

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Yes, we talk about Catherine again.  No, we don’t spend a whole episode on it again.

Sam and Jonathan have both completed Catherine, one on each end of the spectrum.  Jonathan has started Eternal Sonata, though he’s not very far through it.  Sam has also been playing Bastion, and his love for the Narrator is complete.  Alex got his grubby mitts on El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron, and he compares it to a super model.

Then we get into headlines.

• GOP presidential candidate quoted Pokemon: The Movie 2000. Four times.
• MGS HD collection includes MGS3 ‘Subsistence’ worldwide, MGS1 code in Japan
• Class Action Lawsuit Filed for Xbox Live Subscription Double Billing
• XBLIG Title FortressCraft Sees $1.2 Million in Sales
• Fable: The Journey won’t have swords or guns due to lack of feedback

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Sorry about the delay, folks.  Between Jonathan’s semester coming to an end, and a network snafu somewhere between Alex and Jonathan, things have been weird this week.  That said, we’re still here!

Video game news has been exploding over the past few weeks, and so despite Sam’s absence, we’re bringing you a headline show this week.

Portal 2 is the big news for Alex and Jonathan’s gaming of the week, despite Mortal Kombat’s release.  Jonathan gets all philosophical about Portal, while Alex just likes that GLaDOS calls Chell fat a lot.  (That may not be fair to the views expressed in the episode.)  Jonathan talks a bit about Minecraft, and tries to avoid arguing with Alex about Texas Heat and Full House Poker.  He almost succeeds.

Our headlines are dominated by the PlayStation Network outage, with a little talk about new consoles, and a new religion.

• PlayStation Network Down for Fifth Day as Sony ‘Rebuilds’ from ‘Intrusion’ (Updated)
• Sony PlayStation Network Breached, 77 Million Users Private Data Stolen
• Sony sued for PlayStation Network data breach
• Press Release: Some PlayStation Network and Qriocity Services to be Available This Week
• Nintendo announces Wii successor for 2012
• It’s Official, The PSPgo Is Dead
• File-Sharers Await Official Recognition of New Religion

No game this week because, well, there are only two of us.  Sam’ll be back in episode 68, as is NTG.

Until then, have fun!

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Headlines this week!  Of course, first, we talk about games.

Jonathan’s simply given up on intense RPGs (because of his classwork), and he’s picked up Minecraft again (despite his classwork).  He and Alex also argue about Full House Poker.

Alex talks about how he wishes Dynasty Warriors 7 was some other game.  He also gripes about AssBro asses, and gloats over his pre-release access to Portal 2.

Sam’s been re-exploring Mass Effect 1, and has similar gripes to Alex about Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2.

Headlines:

• Vote manipulation in the XBL Indie marketplace.
• DARPA rolls out an online game that lets players try to catch elusive, quiet enemy submarines.
• Anonymous launches DDoS attack against Sony in revenge for PS3 hacking lawsuits.
• Minecraft To Officially Launch 11/11/11
• Bethesda bumps Brink up a week, now coming May 10
• The Sun conducts flawed 3DS experiment. Pocket Gamer conducts flawed The Sun experiment.

Finally, Alex closes out season 2 of Name That Game.  We’re not entirely sure who won this one.  Perhaps no one.

Next week, we have a special guest, as Alex cancelled on us because he “had to work.”

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Welcome back, folks!  We’ve got headline talk this week.

First though, Jonathan picked up a PS2 based on Alex’s recommendation, as well as Dead Space and Resonance of Fate.  He’s found Dead Space to be fairly ho-hum, one chapter in, and he hates a character who apparently has some sort of satisfying death.  He also talks a bit about WoW’s late game content, with a note that he’ll be quitting soon.  Really.

Sam rejoices over finishing Fable 3, and talks a bit about Dead Space 2.  He’s also got hold of a new laptop, so perhaps PC games other than WoW will make appearances in the show again, and we get a brief explanation of the Burning Rome teaser, and a recommendation to watch Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

Alex puts off game talk in favor of revising his “Best Thing of 2010 That Wasn’t a Game” pick, and giving his take on what his contest entry would have looked like assuming he was allowed to enter.

Our headlines this week cover the gamut:

• Sony announces the “Next Generation Portable”
• Rumors say Sony might start using serial keys for PS3 games
• Hell moves ever closer to freezing over as Duke Nukem gets a release date
• The Russian media tries to blame Modern Warfare 2 for terrorism
• California tries to slap warning labels on video games
• OnLive announces their new unlimited gaming pack

Before Name That Game, Jonathan almost announces a new contest, but doesn’t quite, and then Sam unleashes game show hell on his cohorts.  It gets ugly.

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