Weekend Confirmed 91 - Metal Gear Rising, Last of Us, Syndicate

The flurry of new game trailers unleashed during the VGAs last week leads the conversation on Weekend Confirmed this week. Shacknews' own New York-based editor Andrew Yoon joins Xav, Jeff, and Garnett to wade through them, starting with Metal Gear Rising, and moving on through Last of Us, Fortnite, and Mass Effect 3. Andrew recently attended a Sony event back in New York and shares impressions from playing Syndicate, Journey, and Lumines. Listener Shadow13th called out Jeff for using saves to control his fate in role playing games and the group picks up the subject of the min/max approach to gaming and how it exposes the mechanics potentially to the detriment of immersion. There's still more too, with a quick look at November's NPD sales numbers, Trine 2, and Finishing Moves.

Listen: Episode Weekend Confirmed 91 »

The Weekend Confirmed crew starts getting into the holiday spirit as Jeff, "Indie" Jeff, and Christian sit down with Garnett for this show. The buzz around misinterpretations of Miyamoto's plans for the future and the new Xbox Live dashboard and its mobile apps kicks things off. We know Jeff loves loving things, and it's obvious he's found a new object of his affection in Rayman Origins. No less fun, but definitely fun of a different sort, Saints Row the Third has Christian enjoying the freedom to fool around without feeling like he's missing out on anything. And of course there's your comments and stories, more news, and Finishing Moves to complete the package.

Listen: Episode Weekend Confirmed 90 »

Jeff surprises Xav and Garnett this week with tales of his first few nights fighting to survive in Minecraft. He's been hard at work with his virtual pick and shows signs of being in for the long haul with the game. Garnett took advantage of the holiday time to get into Uncharted 3. A discussion of authored stories versus interactivity follows that pulls in the far different approach taken in Skyrim as a contrast. Mario also gets good time this week with both 3D Land and Kart finding their way into Xav and Jeff's hands. The latest on plans for Mass Effect 3 and an upcoming patch to fix the patch for Skyrim top the news highlights and it all wraps up with Finishing Moves.

Listen: Episode Weekend Confirmed 88 »

Join Xav, Jeff, Andrea, and Garnett as they celebrate the long Thanksgiving weekend. They share tales from Skyrim and Assassin's Creed Revelations during the beginning of the show. Some of the excellent discussions from the show comments last week fuel plenty of discussion on whether gamers want to be told a story, or play their own. Everyone is set for the 360 dashboard update, now that it's finally coming December 6. And the group starts to sort through the gaming leftovers already gathering from a great year of games that included LittleBIGPlanet 2, Bulletstorm, Crysis 2, L.A. Noire, and so many more titles that are already fading into memories. Finishing moves and a special Thanksgiving games edition of the tailgate wrap it all up.

Listen: Episode Weekend Confirmed 88 »

Link's next adventure, the Legend of Zelda: Skyward sword kept Billy--who also penned the Shacknews.com review--enthralled for over fifty hours. Jeff also dusted off his Wii to play it and the two of them have plenty of praise for the game to get the show started. Xav also returns to round out the rest of the cast joining Garnett this week. He's been adventuring in Skyrim and rediscovering Halo, in the ten year anniversary HD remake. With the momentous time on everyone's mind, we look back at the original Xbox, and lest we be remiss, Billy makes sure we remember the GameCube as well as it too turns ten. Along the way we also talk about how the big games of October fared at the register, which of them now reigns supreme online, and more before wrapping it up with Finishing Moves and weekly football tailgate.

Listen: Episode Weekend Confirmed 87 »

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Modern Warfare 3 arrived this week and the Weekend Confirmed crew takes a little break from playing them to share their stories from the games. Wouldn't you know, a cold bug seems to be sweeping through the offices as well, laying out Xav and sapping Garnett. He carries on, though, joined by Jeff and Christian because the show must go on. And boy does it. Saints Row the Third also got into the mix of what we've been playing and we take a look at whether it's odd to play portable games from the comforts of our couch and what we learned about Mass Effect 3 from the beta that briefly leaked out on Live. As always, we wrap it all up with Finishing Moves and our football Tailgate.

Listen: Episode Weekend Confirmed 86 »

Only a few blocks off the beach that inspired the virtual clone in seen in its opening, the Grand Theft Auto V trailer sparked the imagination when the Weekend Confirmed crew sat down to record this week's show. James Stevenson of Insomniac Games and Ariel Angelotti of Q-Games join Jeff and Garnett to speculate about the potential for Rockstar's next entry in the series before moving on to a number of other games, including two from their respective studios. Producer Dave Mabee hops on the mic to add his take on Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One, and then it's on to PixelJunk Sidescroller. Lord of the Rings: War in the North and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim also square off, and there's an update on the latest news including the $50 price tag for Resident Evil on the 3DS. Wrap it all up with Finishing Moves and it's another epic Weekend Confirmed in the books.

Listen: Episode Weekend Confirmed 85 »

Battlefield 3 blew up across the video game world this week and its shockwaves carried right over to Weekend Confirmed. But believe it or not, BlizzCon momentarily upstages the modern warfare, as Xav, Jeff, Andrea, and Garnett get distracted by pandas in WoW and the latest title to board the DOTA train. This special episode was recorded in the evening and the crew celebrated with beers and bourbon. So buckle up, it gets bumpy from the start. Along the rest of the way there's talk of Uncharted 3 and Dance Central 2, hopes and dreams for Grand Theft Auto V, and, of course, Finishing Moves.

Listen: Episode Weekend Confirmed 84 »

Like millions of gamers, the Weekend Confirmed crew jumped all over Batman: Arkham City when it came out this week. There's an abundance of love for the game, but Garnett does take exception to the move that put Catwoman out of the reach of gamers without an Internet connection. Along with the two Jeffs--Cannata and "Indie"--and with our second Play For Japan charity auction winner, Eric Hwang, they're just getting started. Forza 4, Skyrim, Orcs Must Die, and Dungeon Defenders all commanded attention over the past week. And the group also weighs in on the rising cumulative cost of games with DLC season passes, the Vita's launch outside Japan, whether the "core" audience is perhaps shrinking, and more before wrapping it all up with Finishing Moves.

Listen: Episode Weekend Confirmed 83 »

With Garnett Lee at a secret undisclosed location (called Portland), it's up to Jeff Cannata and Xav de Matos to carry the big show once again. This week, freelancer Billy Berghammer and Red 5 Studios founder and CEO Mark Kern join the party to discuss Red 5's Firefall, tell some World of Warcraft stories and discuss some more Dark Souls. Xav also spills the beans on a recent interview with THQ executive VP of Core Games Danny Bilson, and talks about the future of Relic's Space Marine franchise and teases some hands-on with Saint's Row: The Third. We wrap it up with questions from the audience and finishing moves.

Listen: Episode Weekend Confirmed 82 »

Billy "plan B" Berghammer joins Jeff and Garnett on a show that sounds like it would be full of angst. Rage and Dark Souls both came out this week, and there's a lot to talk about, including how the guy who "loves loving things" takes to a game renowned for its bleakness. Microsoft's additions to the television offerings on Live also become a hot topic, but the group doesn't seem nearly as impressed as the press release would lead one to believe. The iOS update and iPhone 4S also spark some debate on how mobile gaming continues to grow, as does the news that Unreal Engine 3 runs in Flash 11. The rest of the news of the week, a few other games, and your feedback and questions round out the show before wrapping up with Finishing Moves and the weekend football tailgate.

Listen: Episode Weekend Confirmed 81 »

We didn’t need the official beginning of fall to know the season had arrived. Games that promise to challenge for Game of the Year honors are hitting over the next several weeks and Weekend Confirmed will be digging into them in earnest. Garnett returns from his expedition to Japan just in time to catch up with the Gears of War 3 discussion to get things started. A nasty bout of the flu knocked Xav out this week but Jeff holds things down with our special guest James Stevenson of Insomniac Games. Naturally, there’s some Resistance 3 talk, but much more as well including the Battlefield 3 beta, Burnout Crash, and yes, Jeff braves the waters to talk some about Kirby. With the trifecta of EA Sports games out we also look at how the annual cycle could be improved. And of course we’ve got all the latest gaming news as well. We tweaked the format a little for this eightieth show, so please, let us know what you think in the official Shacknews.com comments.

Listen: Episode Weekend Confirmed 80 »

With Garnett Lee on vacation in Tokyo, it's up to Jeff Cannata and Xav de Matos to run the big show. Thankfully, comedian Christian Spicer and Machinima.com editorial manager Billy Shibley are on hand to discuss everything from the Deus Ex: Human Revolution 'The Missing Link' DLC, Kirby Mass Attack, additional thoughts on Resistance 3 and Gears of War 3, and more. We also take nearly two segments worth of questions from the Shacknews community and Twitter. In the end, we wrap it up with a short news segment and the return of Finishing Moves.

Listen: Episode Weekend Confirmed 79 »

Weekend Confirmed and the 8-4 Podcast have merged into one during the Tokyo Game Show once again! Garnett Lee and the crew at 8-4, Ltd.--behind such games as Shadow of the Damned--discuss their experience in Japan during TGS 2011. Then, Jeff Cannata and Xav de Matos take over from sunny, southern California and talk about Gears of War 3, the nefarious pricing structure of Crimson Alliance, and a handful of other games before ending it all with a few Twitter questions. The US segment was so quick that the WC Crew didn't even have time for Finishing Moves!

Listen: Episode Weekend Confirmed 78 »

Weekend Confirmed returns to the studio after a fantastic live show at PAX 2011, and just in time to dig into the first of the big releases due out this fall. "Indie" Jeff Mattas and Andrea Rene join Jeff and Garnett and the show gets right down to business with Warhammer 40K: Space Marine. From there it's on to Resistance 3, but there's more to Whatcha Been Playin? as well, including the Gunstringer, Escape Plan, and Jeff's Indie picks. The right stick attachment for the 3DS sparks the news segment this week and it gets going from there into a spirited discussion of the way Modern Warfare has grown to represent video gaming in popular culture. Finishing moves just about warp things up but it's football season so be sure to stick around for the Tailgate if you're an NFL fan.

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