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Shane Bettenhausen! Ryan Payton! Billy Berghammer! We've got special guests up the wazoo here at the 8-4 Towers to celebrate 8-4 Play's first anniversary (yay!) and to help us break down the 2011 Tokyo Game Show. Tune in for hands- (and/or eyes-) on impressions of all the big games, including the PlayStation Vita launch lineup, Binary Domain, Phantasy Star Online 2, Anarchy Reigns, Soul Calibur 5, the 3DS "Frankenstick" right stick add-on, and more. And when you're done, be sure to head over to Shacknews.com to pick up the second half of our big discussion with Garnett Lee on this week's Weekend Confirmed.

School and gaming: an unlikely combination? Yet somehow Retronauts host Bob Mackey and guests Sam Claiborn and Ray Barnholt generated 90 minutes of discussion on this topic -- with the help of our lovely listeners, of course.

Freshly-unemployed Internet sensation Shane Bettenhausen joins us as we kick off TGS week with a blow-by-blow breakdown of the big two pre-show press conferences - Nintendo's Frankenstick-free Monster Hunter megathon and Sony's 94% gameplay-free Vita launch bonanza. Tune in for an hour-long preview of what's to come, and then check back Friday for our monster Tokyo Game Show/8-4 Play 1-year-Anniversary special crossover with Weekend Confirmed's Garnett Lee.

Welcome to the "Let's Bring Back The 1UP Tradition of Drinking During a Podcast" episode. Scooter, Matt, Jose, and Bob knock back some beers while talking about games like: Dead Island, Star Fox 64 3D, Rise of Nightmares, Crimson Alliance, BloodRayne Betrayal, Leedmees, and Resistance 3. There's also lots of random digressions in-between games, which is how this podcast is 96 minutes of nonsense.

And the megatons fall like rain: Dragon Quest X revealed as a massively-multiplayer online game for Wii and Wii U. :BWAAAH: Monster Hunter coming to the 3DS -- and with "monstrous" right-stick add-on, no less. :BWAAAH: Who better to join us in the fallout shelter than a man in the news himself, Kojima Productions vet Ryan Payton, who left Microsoft to go indie and to talk with us about 3DS vs. Vita, PS3 HD Remasters, Soul Bladder, the looming Tokyo Game Show, and more? So grab your totem and :BWAAAH:

Didn't happen to be in Seattle for PAX Prime 2011? Don't worry; we've managed to tap into the underground podcast bootleg scene to bring you one full hour of Jeremy Parish, Chris Kohler, Jeff Green, Nich Maragos, and Bob Mackey ripping into the beloved games of their devoted fans.

Jeremy is out being a boss, so that leave Scooter, Matt, Jose, and Bob Mackey left to talk about such things as: The OC, Spelunky, Persona, counting the hours we spent playing games, Rise of Nightmares, Kinect gaming in general, Jose feeding Matt a hamburger, rampant misogyny, and Labor Day weekend plans.

What's the deaaal with Star Fox? Over the next 87 minutes, Retronauts host Bob Mackey and co-pilots Kat Bailey (of GamePro), Sam Claiborn, and Brian Altano (both from IGN) attempt to figure out one of Nintendo's oddest franchises with more rowdiness than you would expect. Also, prepare yourself for bonus discussion of Nintendo's Urban Champion, making this podcast the most anyone has talked about that game in 25 years.

With Jeremy away at PAX, Ryan takes over to chat with Mike Nelson, Matt Leone and IGN's Destin Legarie about Gamestop's Deus Ex/OnLive debacle, Wing Commander, the delay of Kinect Star Wars, Steve Jobs' resignation, and the 20th anniversary of the SNES.

You could just listen to the 8-4 crew talk 3DS rumors, PS3 and Vita announcements, MHP3rdHD, DOTA2 and Street Fighter IV as eSports, games that will hit and miss the upcoming Tokyo Game Show, and the Valve / EA / Activision shit-talkin' express and then just call it a day. Perfectly acceptable. But if you want the real, secret, best ending to the podcast, bust out some healing herb and stick around as Resident-Evil-superfan Alex "cvxfreak" Aniel joins us in the second half for part 1 of our long-awaited, quote-laden celebration of the seminal survival horror franchise's 15th anniversary.

This is the one where we have to listen to Tina talk about Gamescom. Borderlands 2, MW3, BF3, etc. Also, we all bash Alice for her British accent.

It's still August, which means the Super Nintendo 20th Anniversary train is still a-rollin'. Strap on your earbuds and enter a world of informed opinions as Retronauts host Bob Mackey and guests Jeremy Parish, Jose Otero, and Marty Sliva wrangle calls in an attempt to give the SNES even more love. It's gonna get sloppy.

With the release of Deus Ex: Human Revolution on the horizon, Retronauts host Bob Mackey sits down with Thierry "Scooter" Nguyen, Ryan Winterhalter, Scott Sharkey, and Mike Nelson to talk about Ion Storm's groundbreaking franchise -- and since Metroid's 25th anniversary just passed us by, there's talk of that as well. This episode truly has something for everyone, except for people who don’t care about Deus Ex or Metroid.

In which our heroes discuss: Armored Core V and Dark Souls pushed back, Xenoblade Chronicles moved up, PlayStation Vita coming right on time (sorta), 3DS sales rising (used), 3DS sales falling (new), 3DS sales rising again (post-price drop), addiction to EVO streams, ham withdrawal, what's good about Peter Moore, what's bad about Skyrim, who and what will and won't be at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show, and pictures of your Love Plus girlfriend in her santa outfit.

A week of dreary gaming news deserves a deary podcast! After talking about delicious food for a moment, we delve into the hard times that have befallen Nintendo, THQ, and Team Bondi lately. A little Descendents of Erdrick music helps pep things up, tho.