Chatterbox Video Game Radio

Ara tries to convince us that Bastion isn't doing anything new. PEN wants us to know how wrong we are. Yu Suzuki doesn't like games. Girls can't LAN.

Despite his desire for new gaming experiences, Alon insists on playing Infamous, which he finished playing last week when it was called Prototype. Ara rebuts Pen's hysterical ravings that he and Alon have lost their mojo. They also talk about why Catherine is mildy interesting and greatly mediocre.

Sonic the Hedgehog isn't getting any better, Sony continues to remove features from the PlayStation 3, and we tell you how to ease your kids into a life of carefree gaming.

Alon is back from his trip to Europe. He and caller, Pen, experience separate, but similar, realizations that they spent too much time playing games that weren't worthy of the attention received.

Dungeon crawlers. Too many Street Fighters. Permanent Resident Evil saves. Parents gonna hate. Scott vs SCOTUS.

Duke Nukem causes PR meltdown. The thin line reviewers walk. Guest and Unity code enthusiast, Trapper, talks UScript. Retro shmups. iPad games for 40 bucks.

Hands have mystery fat. Kinect is inferior tech. Wii U is the future. Prototype 2 makes us revisit the original. E3 surprises. Throat babies.

Playing co-op Portal 2 doesn't suck. Dirt 3 also doesn't suck. Even paying for Call of Duty Elite online services doesn't completely suck. Yet, somehow, in this world of endless positivity, GameStop finds a way to suck more than ever before.

Instruction manuals have disappeared, downloadable content is officially denying us of a full experience, and video game marketing has found a new trend (porn).

Ara argues that video games are the greatest teaching tools available and that Sony did nothing wrong in its handling of The Great PSN Breach of 2011.

The ESRB is shifting to a content review model that doesn't involve actual review of content, a developer has sunk to a new low with downloadable content, and Children of Eden creates a new hope in one starry-eyed Jedi at Joystiq.com.

Christopher Walken makes a suprise guest appearance to tell us how he feels about video games. Alon gives Ara the bad news that Outland on XBOX Live Arcade is actually pretty good. Alon also explains why mirror neurons make British people angry.

Sony got haxored and completely took down the PlayStation Network. Alon and Ara recall ancient feelings of wonderment from their childhood gaming adventures. They also debate about the utility of Kiip, a startup hoping to bring you real world rewards from your virtual world achievements.

Netflix is finally updated with Kinect support even though it still doesn't work from the couch, Portal 2 is finally out and doing everything it can to get you to purchase the PlayStation 3 version, and Microsoft finds a way to stop ratings manipulation. Also, something about PlayStation Home.

This week, we learn all about Ara's quest to produce the perfect driver's seat; we go all sad panda over the passing of Jerry Lawson, creator of the Fairchild Channel F; and we get evidence that people don't trust reviews, even though we find it hard to trust those people.

Alon ends his hunt for the Nintendo 3DS and is underwhelmed. Ara covers the news with stories of the Governator, the gaming drug, a video game violence study, and the nasty side effects of allowing a Lacrosse game into the free market.

Though the stores are stocked with Nintendo 3DS systems, Alon can't find one to play. One game he IS playing is Microsoft's Full House Poker, but they make it oddly difficult to find a human opponent. Ara's upset over the new Metacritic plan to datamine information on individual game developers and their performance.

Lacking explanation or reason, Alon is excited about the impending release of the Nintendo 3DS. He's also pretty keen on this new Full House Poker game on XBOX Live Arcade. Ara and caller, Joe, explain why Best Buy's buyback program is an idiot tax. Ara warns that no game review can be trusted.

Alon finally plays Hard Corps Uprising and discovers that he needs to take advantage of an exploit in order to handle its tedium and difficulty while Ara is concerned that exploits can break a game. Ara is also concerned about the assumption that a female gaming preference exists and turns to Molly for answers.

Play Spent with us and learn how charity gaming is sweeping the nation while keeping you unemployed and impoverished. Find out all the things Ara hates about the game he loves, Hard Corps Uprising. Discover the relationship between Gran Turismo 5 and World of Warcraft and what Sony is doing to stop it.