Bond Special.

With Quantum of Solace breaking all kinds of box office records we felt it only right to do a proper Bond-focused episode. So every official 007 movie is discussed and we do a full review of both Casino Royale and QoS.

Up for discussion are Alex and Tony’s closing thoughts on Fable 2, and the Mirror’s Edge demo. We also debate the possibility of finding oneself burned out on music-rhythm-action games very shortly as both Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band 2 are about to be released in Europe, bringing with them over 150 new songs to learn. This isn’t even counting Singstar, Disney Sing-It and Lips. Could the new favourite game genre be exhausted already?

Rabid Bond fans may want to strap themselves in. We pull no punches with the flaws of this British institution. It makes the better films seem all the more of an achievement.

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Fable 2/Dead Space.

As the deluge of Christmas titles pours in our direction, the first two triple-A titles fall under the intense scrutiny of the Digital Cowboys.

Fable 2: Peter Molyneux’s latest bag of hyperbole, tall tales and empty promises at last bursts open and Tony and Alex examine what’s inside.

Dead Space: At least one Cowboy got thoroughly freaked out by this Event Horizon-flavoured offering from EA that many have dubbed ‘Resident Evil in space’. Find out if that’s a fair summation with viewpoints from all three hosts.

Also reviewed is High School Musical 3, which would appear to take quaintness to heights not seen in cinema since the days when men had to leave a foot on the floor when in bed with a lady for fear of being too suggestive.

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LBP Controversy/Brothers in Arms HH/FIFA 09.

This last week, Little Big Planet has caught the public eye mere days from release for a rather controversial reason. We discuss it in this week’s express-length (ie; less than an hour) episode.

Also up for debate are Tony’s thaughts on the Blu Ray of Kill Bill (and more importantly Vol. 2) and his reviews of Brothers in Arms: Hells Highway, FIFA 09 and the new Coen Brothers film; Burn After Reading.

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To celebrate our 75th episode and to mark the passing of a good online friend we decided to talk about the community that has built up around video games over the years. We trace the simple LAN parties of Doom through to the imminent update for Xbox Live and onward to the user-created content of future games. Every aspect of the group following and social aspects of online gaming is explored in this very special episode. Also to mix things up a bit; Tony’s hosting this week!

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Dead Console Special.

Now that we’ve discussed the most popular consoles of the 80’s and 90’s, we turn our eye to their less successful competitors.

So here for your delectation (slightly later than usual) is the dead console special, focusing on the Turbo Grafx-16, the Atari Lynx and Jaguar, the 3DO, the Sega Saturn, the Nintendo Virtual Boy and the Nokia N-Gage. Find out how they failed and whether any of us bought them.

Also discussed is the new Halo 3 trailer and Kill Bill on Blu-Ray.

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The Force Unleashed/Death Race/Tropic Thunder/Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise.

Paul reveals some awesome new Queen song packs available on the Singstore now.

We go over the upcoming movie releases before the end of the year.

Paul reviews Jason Statham-starring prison, action flick; Death Race and explains why it’s star is the new Tim Robbins.

Tony talks Tropic Thunder and why it probably wasn’t worth ninety million dollars.Then divulges his love for candy-filled animals in a review of Viva Pinata: Trouble in paradise; a fiendish resource-management sim, masquerading as a cutesy romp.

Then Alex spills the beans on the best and worst aspects of the new Star Wars game. The review is spoiler-free but after some warning music at the end there is a full plot synopsis so those who wish to play it, be wary.

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Christmas Game Releases 2008.

In light of the avalanche of games heading our way in October and November this year we did an episode focusing on each week of release, and the choices we have to make.

Pretty much every important Q4 release is discussed (Except Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, which we forgot.)

Let me tell you folks, this Christmas is going to drain your wallets dry, BUT the games themselves look absolutely kickass so it WILL be worth it in the long run.

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Metallica/Too Human/Soul Calibur IV/Merceneries 2.

To combat the rambling nature of recent shows we’ve streamlined this week so there’s minimal wandering off on tangents and instead we strike straight at the heart of the games to give you swift, concise reviews.

So Paul discusses the new Metallica album, released as DLC for Guitar Hero, Tony talks Too Human and Alex reveals whether Merceneries 2 rocked his world.

Also discussed are Soul Calibur IV, price cuts for the 360 and an awesome album we’ve been listening to recently.

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SNES Special.

We’re back! After two weeks up to his arms in baby business, Alex returns refreshed and ready for more DC action.

What better way to start the first of his episodes broadcasting as a father than  to focus on the console that so many folks recall most fondly from their childhood; The Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

Paul’s back too, after a month off to move and relax. He’s been playing many a music rhythm-action game and has a juicy snippet of news about Rock Band 2 to confer.

And of course, faithful, lantern-jawed Tony is here as always to join in with the many stories and tidbits of information on this most hallowed console.

As a result of the podcast, Alex went out and bought a SNES, so be warned, you may find yourself cruising ebay, hungry for 16-bit goodness.

(Note. Alex mentions the construction of a picture of a man in a SNES joypad costume for this weeks episode. the result was so freakish, he destroyed it out of fear and anger and went with the far more tasteful image you see above. It’s better this way.)

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Amiga 500/Clone Wars/Bourne Conspiracy.

Quantum’s back! And this week he bought a friend; the Amiga 500.

Continuing our platform focused episodes, this week we’re discussing the home gaming computers popularised in the late 80’s and early 90’s by machines like the Atari ST and the Amiga 500. This is a shadowy subject for Alex who hopped straight into consoles, but Tony Atkins and Tony Edwards both had one and reminisce about what it was like to play the first installments of some surprisingly long-lived gaming franchises. The impact of these machines on gaming was subtle but undeniably important as they paved the way to advanced gaming PC’s able to play Doom.

Also discussed are the new Star wars animated movie; The Clone Wars, The Bourne Conspiracy gets a 360 review and Tony Atkins talks about the pub games for Fable 2.

Alex mentions TWO top ten lists but only mentions one. The other one is the top ten Amiga/ST games ever and it’s reprinted for you here in no particular order;

10. Syndicate
9. Cannon Fodder
8. Rainbow Islands
7. Sensible Soccer
6. Worms
5. Kick Off
4. Lemmings
3. Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe
2. The Secret of Monkey Island
1. Monkey Island 2 – LeChuckâs Revenge

Next week; Paul?

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