Chatterbox Video Game Radio

This episode is pretty much all about The Last Of Us... how Alon liked it, how Ara didn't, how it treated narrative differently, and how it didn't.

How irresponsible was Tim Schafer with his Kickstarter project? How could the XBOX Cloud inadvertently hurt us, and is it really inadvertent? What are the constant sales and free apps doing to our minds and the app economy?

Alon came back from Iceland with just enough time to play The Last of Us, Ara's been too scared to use his Playstation 3's, and Don Mattrick gives us another reason to resent him.

Ara dishes about his experience in the professional game development cycle of employment - specifically, Acclaim and THQ's unsavory UNemployment practices.

How Nintendo is trying and failing to fix the Wii U, how Sony may have covertly messed with Microsoft, and how Microsoft managed to hurt itself.

Hot off the heals of the Microsoft and Sony E3 press conferences, we tell you what we liked, what we didn't like, and what was just plain weird.

How does access to a game demo affect your decision to buy?

We question the validity of a claim that gaming consoles are not economically viable, speculate some more about the XBOX One, thank the Kickstarter process, and fear the new Kinect.

The XBOX One was 'revealed' today. That's pretty much it... this one's all about XBOX.

Dance Dance Revolution is a dangerous game, and Alon tells you what's wrong with Doritos Crash Course 2.

Alon's still playing Dorito's Crash Course, and Ara's still upset about leaderboard rankings. Terraria's pretty boring. Pirates get some of their own medicine.

The Behemoth's Battle Block Theater. What's there to say about it? A lot, apparently.

Real Racing 3 is officially off Ara's list. The IGDA doesn't even want you THINKING about girls. Nintendo is given an interesting proposition.

This week's show comes in two parts. First, we consider the value of the always-on console and the wrath of the always-on Twitterverse. Next, we debate both the hypothetical and the real value of MetaCritic.

Ara went to Zapcon and learned about the history of pinball. He's also discovered Android games for the first time and decided how he feels about Richard Garriott. Then Alon tells you how he feels about Peter Moore and EA's new transparency.

Tim's in the house to tell us more about the development of Indiana Stone, we chat a bit (or a lot) about the latest Brenda Romero sensationalism, and then we talk to Tim some more about GDC and freemium models.

Tim's game came out! Go buy Indiana Stone: The Brave and the Boulder on iOS! Also... we tell you what we think about the Susan Wilson Kickstarter, Ara changed his mind about Real Racing 3, and we debate the artistic value of the Tokyo Jungle cover art.

Ara got a Nexus 7 so he could read in bed. Of course, now he's playing games on it, so it's time to critique app stores, microtransactions, and incentive economies.

Aside from a tangent about sneaky buffalo wings, this week is almost completely devoted to the great Sim City failure and a long critique of the attention being given an unnamed feminist gaming chick.

Worst high score ever, unfulfilling Facebook comment, victorious Vectrex, Outrun out of stock, Castlevania and the Wii U sadness.