1UP.com - Games, Dammit!

What happens when one podcaster goes to CES, you have a new office with a podcast studio that lacks headphones, and you bring in guests from Double Fine? You get this Work-In-Progress-Sounding version of "Games, Dammit!" for the first week of 2011! Subbing in for Frank Cifaldi, we invited Tim Schafer (studio founder) and Lee Petty (project director) from Double Fine to sit and jabber with us. As a result, we have about an hour-and-a-half's hour of talk about games like Minotaur Rescue, Enslaved, Limbo, Dead Space 2, Heavy Rain, and, of course, Double Fine's Stacking. We also have Tim and Lee tackle questions about writing, the funniest thing that's happened to them, and CES memories. Unfortunately, as we recorded this without headphones (still setting up our new office space), we didn't know how our podcast actually sounded until post-production. So unfortunately, while you can get the essence of jokes about Weekend At Bernie's and how it relates to games, the definition of a "scotch nipple," or Lee's office antics at previous studios he's worked at, the reality is that sometimes, we all fade in and out of the podcast depending on how close we're leaning towards the microphone while talking. Oops. Our sincerest apologies for our un-optimal setup this week, enjoy what you can, and we'll have the podcast studio finalized and kinks ironed out for next week.

It's a Games, Dammit! holiday miracle! We start out thinking that because we're recording early in a short week before heading out for the holidays, that we'd have a short show, but nope, we still fill your ears with nonsense for nearly two hours. Games-wise, we talk about Stacking and Back to the Future -- in addition to each cast member detailing his personal Game of the Year (and the one 2011 he's looking forward to). You also learn that Scooter has a frankly irrational association with the number 12. Besides that, we tackle listener questions about elevator action pitches, time travel paradoxes, whether a game can address a heady issue like the Holocaust, and what is worth a dollar nowadays. And just like your uncle who keeps on ranting long after he's no longer relevant to your conversation, we close out the year by reminiscing about our Ziff-Davis days for way too long. Happy holidays,and we'll be back in 2011!

Nearly two hours of lovable nonsense this week! Games-wise, we chat a bit about Killzone 3, Intellivision Lives, and Jeremy's disappointment with Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary Limited Edition. Plus, we learn all about the Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer game via Amazon reviews (and Frank also attempts to buy Rudolph on-air), and Jeremy and Frank discuss the merits of the original TRON movie. After a very magical appearance from a "special guest," we get into listener queries about seasonal games, gaming guilty pleasures, elevator action, the state of survival horror games, Europeans and embargoes, and how Jeremy can play Vagrant Story on his PSP. All this, and a special offer from one Jeremy Parish to one lucky listener.

Frank Cifaldi's absence doesn't affect our ability to talk about games, dammit! With a quick substitution of Justin Haywald, we blaze though a somewhat games-packed, with talk about Journey, Uncharted 3, Tomb Raider, Catherine, Final Fantasy XIV, Demon's Souls, and Ni No Kuni (Another World -- which Justin and Jeremy go absolutely nuts over). We tackle questions about the disparity between preview and review coverage, our opinion on videogame music concerts, foreign boxarts, and our favorite JRPGs. All this, plus lots of lovable nonsense such as how much we hate the movie Eat Pray Love or what kind of concerts Matt Leone would attend.

Just because most of the big blockbuster titles have shipped doesn't mean there's not enough lovable nonsense to podcast about this week. The big thing occupying our minds is our imminent office move, and how our prepwork for said mode has unearthed some awesome treasure from the glory days of print magazines. Games-wise, we talk up Darkstar (and how it features, in Frank's words, "the memory of handsome"), Infinity Blade, Binary Domain, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, and even more Splatterhouse. Then we chat a bit about Matt's venture to Los Angeles, and our digressions include going from Uncharted to Lethal Weapon, and whether or not there's a massage in Punch-Out!! Questions lead to topics like: NES-era difficulty, why Xbox Live Indies aren't in all countries, how Mass Effect is like Grindhouse, Game of the Year nominations, and how Scooter handles gaming with his kids.

It's a Games, Dammit! Thanksgiving/Black Friday special! Well, we talk a bit about our sad lives, Thanksgiving plans, and gaming backlogs. Other topics include the casting of Marky Mark in Uncharted, and how Frank still plays OnLive. If you just want games, we talk up Disney Epic Mickey, Stacking, and Splatterhouse. Finally, we answer listener questions about embargoes, RSS feeds, and holiday release schedules. Enjoy Thanksgiving and Black Friday!

Welcome to Version 2.0 of our first official episode as "Games, Dammit!" Due to a combination of user error, technical non-know-how, and Jeremy leaving for vacation, this week's episode is at 75% strength with Scooter, Matt, and Frank. There will be lots of references to the "lost" version of this episode (which sounded like Matt and Scooter talking to a mute Jeremy while Frank weaves in and out of the show depending on his excitement and volume), but overall, we cover the same ground. We talk up OnLive, Shenmue City, L.A. Noire, and the goodness of Desert Bus. For reader questions, we discuss plagiarism, why you shouldn't drive and talk at the same time, and the Spike VGAs (don't say "Spike VGA Awards"). Until next week!

Welcome to the podcast formerly known as In This Thread/4 Guys 1UP/1UP Yours, and now currently being called either "Burger Time" or "USS 1UP Flagship Podcast." For this pilot episode of an all-new podcast, we have Thierry "Scooter" Nguyen on host/showrunning duties along with a ragtag band of fellows such as Frank Cifaldi, Matt Leone, and Jeremy Parish. If there's one way to summarize this episode, it'd be, "lovable nonsense interspersed with some game commentary." Sure, we lay down the basic ideas and format for this podcast moving forward, and we do talk about games like L.A. Noire, Fallout: New Vegas, Solatorobo, Final Fantasy Tactics, and numerous announcements such as new titles from EA and a new Super Monkey Ball. But then we frequently get sidetracked by things such as poetry from the past, the brief loss and rebirth of red M and Ms, our feelings about Gamefan, our advice for covering arcade expos, and just for you, an aural unboxing of some upcoming hardware. All this, plus a plea for reader input and a possible name for next week's episode.

Warren Spector joins Frank and Mike in the studio to discuss Epic Mickey, bringing back Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and classic cartoons. Also, what's this about Spector wanting to do a DuckTales game?

Another busy weeks leads to a shortened lineup -- only Justin and Matt join Ray, but there's still plenty to talk about. Ray's been playing Game Dev Story and the "new" Time Crisis, and news deals with Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright's team-up, the far-outness of the new Command and Conquer, and Billy Joel in Rock Band, for starters. Plus, what makes a beard "pop?" The answer may surprise you. All this and more.

Ray, Matt, Justin and Alice hit the ground running in this uncharacterist morning taping of In This Thread. Impressions of Rock Band 3 lead the show, along with a bittersweet judgment on Sonic the Hedgehog 4. In News, it's the officially-official retail release of NBA Jam on the HD consoles, Mega Man Legends 3, Grashopper's new hires, OutRun's upcoming disappearance from XBLA, DOTA 2, and a few more bits. Then it's back into games with Alice's views on Kirby's Epic Yarn, and another round of post-release thoughts on Sengoku Basara. Rousing, you might say. And... you may be right.

In this special one-off edition of In This Thread, we talk to Eric Chahi and Guillame Brunier about From Dust, their upcoming simulation game on the way from Ubisoft. Chahi was also the creator of the groundbreaking action-adventure Another World (Out of This World), as well as the 1998 platformer Heart of Darkness. We discuss those early days with Chahi, as well.

Ray gets Matt, Justin and Scooter in the studio on a rare Hump Day recording, and things start with post-release discussion of EA's NBA Jam (and its price), playing Black Ops in 3D, a little more of Kirby's Epic Yarn, and Ubisoft's Kinect fighting game. In news, it's the weirdness surrounding Medal of Honor, an introduction to Panasonic's "Jungle" handheld, commentary on games from Guillermo del Toro, and the value of Hollywood partnerships with Ken Levine. Plus, Justin teaches Matt how to pronounce Japanese words.

Lots to talk about this week, starting with the Nintendo 3DS press conference update, where we go over the system's features before its launch next year; some light mudslinging from Bobby Kotick and EA; NBA Elite's delay and NBA Jam's new life; and in the second half, an honest-to-god discussion about new games we've played, including Ubisoft's Outland, From Dust, and more; Castlevania Lords of Shadow; Enslaved, and we forget what color taupe is.

The thread is packed to the gills this week, as we open with TGS leftovers, Who's Beaten the Donkey Kong High Score This Week, the Michael Jackson MMO, Billy Blanks' Wii game, the iffiness of GOG.com's death and return, Netflix in Canada, and tangents, tangents, tangents!