Weekend Confirmed 106 - Xenoblade Chronicles, Operation Raccoon City, Silent Hill Downpour

Jeff Cannata takes a well-earned week off but his Double Jump partner in crime Christian Spicer takes up the slack. He joins "Indie" Jeff and Ariel Angelotti to fill out the table around Garnett for this week's show. Our strong response to Journey sparked many discussions in the show thread last week, which reignites the conversation. From there the topic turns to good look at Xenoblade Chronicles, the game Operation Rainfall helped ensure got a North American release. After that Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City and Silent Hill Downpour square off in a debate over which revered survival horror franchise has suffered the hardest fall. And there's some chewing on the latest PlayStation 4 rumors and other news bits before wrapping it all up in finishing moves.

Listen: Weekend Confirmed Episode 106 »

After a long look at Mass Effect 3 last week, Jeff, Jeff, Andrea, and Garnett turn their attentions to Journey, the upcoming Mists of Pandaria expansion for World of Warcraft, and other games. However, they cannot ignore the interesting turn the controversy over the ending of Mass Effect 3 took with BioWare co-founder Dr. Ray Muzyka directly addressing fans to promise them "clarity" and "closure" through new content the team will create. We also catch up on the announcement of an Epic Mickey sequel along the way to wrapping up with Finishing Moves.

Listen: Weekend Confirmed Episode 105 »

Mass Effect 3 tops everyone's list. There's no way the Weekend Confirmed crew couldn't talk about it, but there are no spoilers... hell, Cannata's not even finished with it yet and we wouldn't want to do that to him. It's no secret, though, that the game's ending has rubbed a lot of fans the wrong way. What we want from game endings and the difficulties faced in putting a conclusion on a story we've invested so many hours offers a lot to consider. We also take a first look at some of our impressions from the game being careful to not give anything story-related away. Other things are happening as well. There's the Diablo 3 release date announcement, finally, and we've got a bunch of stuff left over from GDC last week as well. It's a non-stop ride to Finishing Moves.

Listen: Weekend Confirmed Episode 104 »

Weekend Confirmed goes on the road to the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco and finds some long-time friends of the show to make it a doubly excellent episode. John Davison of CBSi joins Jeff and Garnett for the show, with 8-4 Play's Mark MacDonald and videogame editorial ninja Billy Berghammer tag-teaming the fourth chair. Along with some of the topics of the day from the conference, the group catches up on a long list of games. Halo 4 and the newly announced Wreckateer highlight take top honors from Microsoft's recent Spring Showcase Event, the first look at Medal of Honor Warfighter also gets its due, SSX springs back to the forefront of the discussion again this week, and there's much more. Special thanks to CBSi and GameSpot for graciously opening the door and allowing Weekend Confirmed the space to record the show again this year.

Listen: Weekend Confirmed Episode 103 »

GDC looms on the horizon next week but there's no quiet before the storm. Christian Spicer and James Stevenson join Jeff and Garnett for a show stacked with great games. SSX, Binary Domain, and Syndicate co-op lead the pack, and there's still plenty more to talk about with the PlayStation Vita. The conversations also cover some of your games that drive you right to the brink but keep you coming back for more and hoped-for inclusions in the rumored to be announced SimCity 5. And that's just some of the talk that races by along the way before Finishing Moves caps it all off.

Listen: Weekend Confirmed Episode 101 »

The second century of Weekend Confirmed begins with a corker. Coin-op TV's Rob "Pennyman" Welkner joins Jeff, Ariel, and Garnett for episode 101. They've been playing games like Alan Wake's American Nightmare, Syndicate, and the Darkeness 2. With countless hours invested in Skylanders, Rob helps shed some light on how this unlikely game became a breakout hit for kids of all ages. Discussions also take a look at why we play games that make us curse at the screen, whether Mass Effect 3's day-one DLC is a must-have for the "complete" experience, and Sony's explanation and apology for not offering the PSP UMD "Passport" transfer service to Vita owners outside Japan. All that and more before Finishing Moves puts the exclamation point on the show.

Listen: Weekend Confirmed Episode 101 »

Weekend Confirmed serves up its epic 100th episode with Jeff and Garnett joined by Jeff Mattas, Ariel Angelotti, and Andrea Rene. The celebration includes your listener greetings, a look back at some of the origins and good times from the first century of Weekend Confirmed, and, of course cake and beer. There's a whole lot more to get to as well. The PlayStation Vita started arriving outside Japan and we take a good look at the retail hardware, the user experience, and a couple of the launch games like Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Lumines Electronic Symphony. Jeff and Garnett both talk about the fun they're having in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, but square off when it comes down to how good the game is. There's even a philosophical discussion on the convergence of physical and virtual economies as relates to intellectual property. All that and more before it all wraps up in Finishing Moves.

Listen: Weekend Confirmed Episode 100 »

Regular hosts Garnett Lee and Jeff Cannata are away attending to other business, but producer DelRio steps in to shepherd Xav from Joystiq, Christian Spicer, and "Indie" Jeff Mattas through a number of topics. The insanely successful start to indie developer Double Fine's attempt at crowd-funding is discussed, a multitude of listener comments and feedback are addressed, and there's even some time left over to talk about games like Reckoning and Skyrim, and indies like Cell HD: emergence, and Gunpoint.

Listen: Weekend Confirmed Episode 99 »

Anticipation for Mass Effect 3 continues to mount but the game's new Facebook campaign doesn't score many points with Jeff and Garnett, or this week's guests Andrea and James Stevenson. That hasn't stopped Andrea from starting an epic fifth playthrough of the second game, though, purely to enjoy its best moments over again. Other highlights from what the group's been playing this week include Soul Calibur V, Neverdead, and Super Monday Night Combat Invitational. The discussion of leveling up players in online shooters continues with your comments from last week's show. And when Jeff has to dash off to make rehearsal, Ariel steps in for the fourth segment to bring the show home strong.

Listen: Weekend Confirmed Episode 98 »

With the holiday lull drawing to a close, Jeff returns to the cast just in time for Xav's last show as an official Shacker. Ariel Angelotti and Christian Spicer also join the show making this a fearsome fivesome with Garnett. There's plenty on the table, too, with Ariel sharing her experience with the Japanese version of Final Fantasy XIII-2 in advance of its US release next week, news from Nintendo's financial briefing including an update on 3DS and Wii U plans, budding love for Dustforce, Insomniac's farewell to Resistance, and more making the time fly by to the wrap-up with Finishing Moves.

Listen: Weekend Confirmed Episode 96 »

Game designer David Jaffe and Game Trailers managing editor Michael McWhertor join Xav and Garnett for this week's show. Along with getting into Twisted Metal and car combat games the crew tackles a wide range of topics including a look at Shacknews's Game of Year winners, the different ways gamers see the balance in games between narrative and mechanics, more hands-on experiences with the Vita, and more. Buckle up; it's one helluva ride to the Finishing Moves.

Listen: Weekend Confirmed Episode 96 »

Two game design heavyweights lend their voices to the show this week. Weekend Confirmed welcomes the legendary Ken Rolston, lead designer on Morrowind and Oblivion, who is currently working on Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Big Huge Games' lead combat designer Joe Quadara also joins us. Together, they provide new insights from the creator's side in our ongoing discussions around Skyrim and storytelling within large-scale open world role playing games. Of course, the conversation naturally then turns to the approaches they took with Reckoning, and we get into some detail about the upcoming game. There's much more as well with news and your comments from last week's show before we wrap it all up with Finishing Moves.

Listen: Weekend Confirmed Episode 95 »

Recovered from the holidays, Xav and Jeff join Garnett for the first Weekend Confirmed of 2012. The year kicks off with a special guest in the fourth chair, prolific videogame voice actor Zach Hanks. If you've played a game in the past few months, you've almost certainly heard his work. He gives a unique look inside the voice acting that breathes life into videogame characters. He's also a gamer, and holds nothing back as the conversation go on to consider the rapidly dwindling sales of the PlayStation Vita only weeks after its launch in Japan, games we've been playing like Star Wars the Old Republic, the announcement of new action strategy XCOM game, and a few more thoughts on what 2012 may hold. The group gets so involved they talk right past Finishing Moves, but there's a little time left for Jeff to savor his season win in the football tailgate and get in to the playoff spirit.

Listen: Weekend Confirmed Episode 94 »

Weekend Confirmed wraps up 2011 and rings in 2012 with a New Year's special. Andrea Rene of Clevver Games and Ariel Angelotti join Xav, Jeff, and Garnett for a recap of the many games that became somewhat hidden gems in the shadow of the heavyweights. It's filled with titles like Bulletstorm, Alice: Madness Returns, LA Noire, and infamous 2. Of course, the big games get their due as well, and the group discusses the biggest stories of the year like the hacker attack that took the PlayStation Network offline for weeks and the launch of Nintendo's newest handheld, the 3DS. And we couldn't resist topping it all off with a few thoughts on what may lay ahead in 2012.

Listen: Weekend Confirmed Episode 93 »

Join us as for our Weekend Confirmed holiday special as we head into this long weekend. Insomniac's James Stevenson and game developer Ariel Angelotti join Xav, Jeff, and Garnett for the festivities. Many of you shared stories of your videogame memories from the season which we enjoy retelling with you throughout the show. We also get to talk about some of the games we've been playing like Alan Wake American Nightmare and Star Wars the Old Republic. There's even a little news as we check in on the release of the PlayStation Vita in Japan and the big Steam sale's contest that will see one lucky gamer win the entire catalog on the service. We even remember to get in finishing moves and our end of the season football tailgate.

Listen: Episode Weekend Confirmed 92 »