Chatterbox Video Game Radio

Ara talked to some Girl Scouts, Alon thinks Sony is full of idiots, and Ara describes the horribly uninteresting Page Chronica.

Mike, longtime ChatterBox listener and evergreen gamer, joins Alon for a special New York City episode.

Alon wants to record episode 473 with some New Yorkers. Email him at Alon@ChatterBoxGameShow.com if you're up for it and available Sunday, February 17th. This episode we talk about Resident Evil, consumer psychology, and brand dilution. We also rage on DICE for spreading the idea that Journey, and "games" like it, represent the pinnacle of interactive entertainment.

Metal Gear Revengeance surprises Ara with a great disparity between the quality of its presentation and its gameplay. Doublefine's The Cave also fails to impress by forcing the player to make non-obvious decisions. Microsoft disappoints us both by letting XBOX Live Indie Games fail with so much potential to succeed.

Now that THQ has fallen, Ara's getting calls from recruiters, and he likes to tell them what's up. We share our thoughts on managing player expectations and how not to get stuck breaking them. China somehow surprises us with a decade-old restriction we never knew about.

What do you think of the show? Bowpro802 seems to like it. How about game patches? Alon's not a big fan. Peripheral vision? Ara can't get enough. Sexism? Come on, now... everyone loves sexism.

Baird has useless predictions, but they do make us think about the future of the Wii U. We also get into the political anti-game discussions that have been going on lately and debate a bit about the psychology of crazy.

Ara's extreme driving simulator is ALMOST finished, THQ IS finished, We WISH game console interfaces were finished, and Samurai Shodown was NEVER finished.

Why Ara doesn't like his car anymore, how the new Dorito's Crash Course DLC tickled Alon so, how Fuel Overdose left a bad impression, and why Alon hates Notch.

Alon's father steps into the 20th century, Black Knight Sword catches us a little off guard, Unfinished Swan leaves us with mixed feelings, and Ernest Adams empassions Ara for another game design rant.

What can we learn about the corporate game development life cycle from Guitar Hero 7? How awesome is the New Super Mario Bros. U challenge mode? Is it OK to limit the number of times a demo can be played?

Listen to Ara's talk on Game Depth at http://x.co/arastalk -- In this episode, we learn that people don't like it when you honk at them, Sportsfriends got funded (!), Nintendo's network got weirder, and low prices might actually hurt us.

Ara will be speaking at the IGDA meeting in a couple days. The topic is depth in games. Details are at http://igdaphoenix.wordpress.com - if you're in Phoenix, he wants you to come. He brings a bit of that talk into this episode, and Alon derails it with a story about installing a NewerTech USB outlet and kind of enjoying Double Dragon Neon game.

Ara finally gets his hands on a Wii U, and it turns out he has good things to say about it. We also laugh a bit about the Tolkien estate and debate the viability of a pay-for-time karaoke game.

Ara recalls an amazing story of overcoming great hardship, a listener asks about inversion, and Wii U... they all Wii U about the Wii U and how Wii U it is.

Alon relives a recent death race experience for you and tells the tale of how he snuck into the front of the Halo 4 line. He also begs you to help with the Sportsfriends (read, Johann Sebastian Joust) Kickstarter project. Ara dives a bit further into the connection between difficulty, learning, and reward.

Ara seems surprised that his $5 copy of The Need For Speed The Run isn't a perfect game playing experience. Alon finally manages to reserve a Wii U Deluxe. American Express is running a truly interesting promotion for Halo 4. Ara dissects Pid.

Ara gives his last pickup play-by-play and tells of a listener who put our tips into practice. We review the Rab Florence and Eurogamer contraversy which, coincidentally, has ties back to ChatterBox from years ago.

Alon laments the Wii U release plans (again) and Nintendo's refusal to simplify online interactions, Alon interviews Ara about the history of his development work, and Ara shares his thoughts on forcing a player to suffer.

By popular demand, Ara's got more stories from the Red Light. We also laugh about EA's big Origin giveaway, and Alon tries to pull his jaw off the floor after seeing a Vizio product that looked good.