Chatterbox Video Game Radio

Apparently it's normal and okay to sell unfinished products. Ara really doesn't like Google Glass. Alon's excited to almost have his hands on Sprortsfriends. Oculus has officially made it into the bigtime, and we're not upset about it.

Alon's finally in Denver. The UFC is all uppity about Ultimate Gay Fighter. Riot Games is genius, but it can't satisfy its players. Microsoft proves why its own planned DRM model never could have worked. Titanfall cheaters get cheated.

Alon failed on his personal quest to catch them all while Google allowed Pokemon to invade Maps, Gran Turismo 6 continues to fail Ara in his quest for a worthwhile virtual driving experience, and reality TV has failed us all (again).

Alon's been playing a lot of Titanfall. The folks who developed Monaco really did care what people thought about the game even if they didn't show it. Backing a game project on Kickstarter is likely to result in disappointment.

Alon's been playing a lot of Titanfall. The folks who developed Monaco really did care what people thought about the game even if they didn't show it. Backing a game project on Kickstarter is likely to result in disappointment.

This is a special presentation Ara put together that deeply analyzes the dynamics of some of the most popular 'free to play' games, especially with regard to learning, engagement, and psychological effects. Ara presents several hypotheses and predictions for the long term sustainability as well as unintended side effects of these dynamics.

The Project Spark Beta is pretty beta right now. Gaming media is stilled filled with vile, deceptive people. Games with Gold is pretty lame, even if it is giving away Civilization Revolution at the moment. We might know the real reason Flappy Bird was killed off.

Checkpoints, what Ben Kuchera thinks and what we think. The Gran Turismo devs made promises they're not keeping, and it's got us thinking a bit more about what expectations are reasonable for the consumer.

We dissect the Strider reboot's good and bad design. Ara can't stop hating the PSN interface. The state of the Wii U is worse than we thought. Retro Studios learned something about player psychology and the inherent reward of mastery.

Alon's been playing the Titanfall beta. Ara has not been playing the Ace Combat Infinity beta, but he did try out a new puzzle game mashup you never knew existed. Also, Alon fought with his wife.

The amazing/disgusting story of Flappy Bird and the clones that followed it. Also, Red Bouncing Ball Spikes. Warner Brothers is now officially evil. EA continues being evil.

What has the Killer Instinct reboot taught us about the free-to-play model? What's wrong with the current indie sales model? Is Conan O'Brien messing with you?

Is your PlayStation 4 eating your save data? Do you go into a game store looking for a new game, or do you only shop when you know what you want? How could EA lose so much money?

Alon is in having more trouble with the Killer Instinct Pin Ultimate challenge thing. Those Candy Crush Saga lawyers don't mess around. Nintendo screwed the pooch, and people want Iwata's head.

We might not plan to use them ourselves, but we can understand why game controllers for cell phones would be useful. Grid 2 is another example of quality sacrificed to accessibility. Lords of Shadow 2 is apparently a rape simulator, but we never would have realized it.

Killer Instinct on XBOX One demonstrates how bad communication can kill adoption. Vintage gaming is about to die as digital distribution destroys the possibility of gametiquing. Ara explains why he hates Penny Arcade but why he now has some respect for them. Also, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate HD is not a good game.

Is a virtual gaming cease fire worthwhile? Does Ara care about Gran Turismo 5's servers going offline? Is it right for Rockstar to crack down on people stealing money in Grand Theft Auto V Online when the game is all about stealing money?

Ara argues that the third player in a game derails fairness. Battlefield 4 is so bad that people are suing EA, and it makes us wonder if quality standards have generally been reduced across the board.

It doesn't seem that the developers of Gran Turismo 6 were paying attention to the GT community. Bill Moyers and Richard Slotkin weren't paying attention to common sense. And Ara wonders if game designers should pay attention to other designers' games.

Will the current social sharing trend backfire? Is the absence of shelf space destroying the possibility of success for digital games? How can kung fu kill a music rhythm game?