1UP.com - Games, Dammit!

We're recording on the road once again. Joining us this week from Japan is John Riccardi and Mark MacDonald from 8-4, Shane Bettenhausen from Ignition Entertainment, and 1UP executive editor, Matt Leone. There's plenty to talk about this week with Nintendo's summer release announcements for Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid Other M. We also go a little further in talking about Nintendo's rumored new consoles along with what Sony can do to shore up their handheld division. Rounding things out we lament about the edits made to the US version of Yakuza 3, and we all gang up on Mark about the splendor of Heavy Rain.

With Microsoft inviting a whopping mass of devs and press alike into town this week, we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to invite an old friend on to break down all the happenings. It also turned out to be a great chance to make some new friends by chatting up some the biggest names in game development. We chat with Peter Molyneux about his ongoing ambitions in game design, Bungie's Brian Jarrard and Marcus Lehto give us a tiny peak behind Halo Reach's curtain and Peter, James, and John tell us all about Crackdown 2. All this and much, much more. Enjoy!

It's not every week that a sequel get's announced 16 years after the last title. Since Sega decided to pull back the curtain on Sonic 4: Episode 1 it was the perfect time to bring Ray Barnholt and Jeremy Parish to talk about the significance of Sega adding that 4 to the title. Not to be outdone we also talk about the latest Fallout game, the ESRB getting a little too descriptive, and Grasshopper games adding some serious talent. In Whatcha been playin Ray talks about the recently released No More Heroes 2, Scooter talk Aliens vs. Predator, David explores his Russian side with Metro 2033 and Jeremy discusses the wonder that is a roguelike with Shiren the Wanderer.

Between the iPad and Monster Hunter Frontier port it's been a week filled with underwhelming announcements. That's ok because we've been playing plenty of games that will pick up the slack. While Sam and John talk about their hands-on experience with Apple new wundertablet, Scooter and David spent some quality time with Resident Evil 5's first DLC package and blew a bunch of stuff up in Split-Second. Then we round it out with our spoiler-free love in for Mass Effect 2. (Note: If you haven't played through Mass Effect 1 we spoil the hell out of that one.)

Last week Bioware's Casey Hudson was kind enough to drop by the studio to chat about Mass Effect 2. We decided to hang onto the episode until the game launched as there are a few bits of information are best heard after you've played through the opening of the game. During the conversation we talk about the process of creating Bioware's first true sequel in a long time, making changes based on consumer feedback, and creating a potentially controversial new DLC network.

With the Independent Games Festival and GDC coming up we thought it would be a good week to go a little indie. We welcome Braid artist David Hellman, Area 5's Ryan O'donnell, and Scott Sharkey to talk about their experiences in the independent gaming scene. Along the way we sing the praises of Darksiders and lament on the future of the Zelda franchise while shining our collective light on some interesting titles that you can download now for FREE.

We're back from the holiday break detour to CES, and with four peope in-studio finally living up to our namesake. Former EA producer Amer Ajami joins us to talk about his experience working as part of the team that spawned the "EA Spouse" controversy, and also hints a little at what the future has in store for him. In news, some games are getting delayed (Splinter Cell Conviction) while others are announced out of nowhere (New Assassin's Creed). Finally we round out whatcha been playin' with more Modern Warfare 2, Kane and Lynch 2, Dark Void, Star Trek Online, and Genetos, the playable museum for classic shoot 'em ups.

They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Screw that noise. G4TV's Patrick Klepek joins Matt Leone and David Ellis to talk about all the gaming business going down at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Along the way they discuss whether Natal has been effectively neutered even before its release and offer hands-on impressions from Splinter Cell Conviction, Split Second, Scrap Metal, and other games on the show floor. Also, what the heck is Xbox Live Game Room all about? Tune in to find out.

We're still recovering from the holiday break, but that doesn't mean we're skipping a week. Recorded before the break, Constantine Hantzopoulos (Sega of America) joins David Ellis and Matt Leone in-studio to talk about his career and transition from developer to publisher back to developer.

It's Christmas time, and the year is winding down. That means an empty office around here, but boisterous Brit and all-around great guy John Davison drops by to talk about his transition back to hardcore games press. He joins David Ellis to discuss the themes that stood out in 2009, and put on their psychic caps to make some bold predictions for 2010. When will the Wii HD be announced? Will the PSP survive the year? When will Facebook take over the games space?

Games, dammit! That's the mantra this week as we talk almost too many titles to list. We go two segments deep with Mass Effect 2 (one spoiler free) and find out if Matt Leone or David Ellis would make a better digital parent. Then we follow that up with exploitation central via No More Heroes and Bayonetta. Finally we round out the show with tales of Splinter Cell Conviction Co-op and Red Dead Redemption.

With the VGA's looming we're recording on the road (pardon our echoes) in not-so-sunny LA. Friend of the show Billy Berghammer joins former Pandemic producer Cory Lewis as we talk about the studio closing and relive memories of the Gamecube launch. Along the way we discuss our favorite games of the year and what the VGA's need to do to become the Academy Awards of video games.

We go a little Hollywood this week as PC Gamer founder turned motion picture writer Gary Whitta joins us to talk about his career transition.

With the holiday season upon us we change things up a bit. Sam Kennedy, Jeremy Parish, and Matt Leone join David Ellis to take a look back at the history of 1UP, from it's early days to this year.

It's a jam-packed episode as we welcome Alice Liang and Gamasutra's Christian Nutt to talk about the layoffs at Pandemic, the PS3 going 3-D, and the next iterations of the DS and PSP. David joins in to sing the praises of Assassin's Creed II. The rest of the crew rounds things out with talk of Lego Indy 2, Dragon Age, and a tease for Zelda: Spirit Tracks.