This week lacks Paul, but has plenty of good show, as Jordan refuses to believe in the magic of the old adventure game Alter Ego. This week’s game of the week is inspired by the Kickstarter reboot, as the gang discusses the classic Battle Chess.

As for the news:

• Aussie Diablo III preorders not getting refunded from GAME
• CliffyB praises Dark Souls multiplayer, urges Japanese devs to take notice
• Atari: Eden Studios not closed, Test Drive Unlimited 2 support still ongoing
• Bach: Sony’s mismanagement of PS3 led to Xbox successes
• Report: 38 Studios fighting to stay solvent

All this, plus Reader Feedback and the Question of the Week, “What is your favorite free-to-play game?”

Episode 262 may be a week late, but it’s definitely chock full ‘o podcast goodness, as the full crew rambles on and off subject about this and that. This week’s Gaming Flashback is the old coin-op arcade game Star Castle while begat Yars’ Revenge, with a twist ending to the classic game’s tale.

This week’s news items include:

• EA deals with Rock Band iOS debacle
• Microsoft “banned” in Germany
• Analyst predicts 3.5M sales of Diablo III in first year of release
• Report: Next Xbox already in production

All that, plus Reader Feedback and the Question of the Week, “What Kickstarter project have you backed or are most interested in buying?”

This week is another bountiful podcast as the crew has a surprisingly long discussion about this week’s Gaming Flashback, Make Trax. The guys also discuss 1990′s kids shows like Reading Rainbow and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? The contest winner for a copy of Magicka is also revealed, as some magical books are discussed.

In the news:

• Rumor: Wii U will cost Nintendo $180 and retail for $300
• Online petition calls for end to Tera ‘censorship’ in EU
• Videogame-only Kickstarter alternative debuting at E3 2012
• NPD: 40% of freemium players pay for in-game upgrades

Interestingly enough, the day after the podcast was recorded, the gore slider issue was resolved.

We also have some great Reader Feedback, but no contest or question this week. Sorry, folks!

This week is packed full of gaming goodness, as the winner of the Civilization V contest is revealed. If that weren’t enough, the news items for the week invoked a lot of conversation:

• New Halo 4 multiplayer details revealed
• EA dismisses “big layoffs” claim, always “growing and morphing”
• Rumor: Microsoft finding new ways to “monetize” Xbox Live

The podcast also features some great, heartwarming Reader Feedback as well as a new contest to win a code for Magicka. The question of the week, “What books featuring magic do you like the best?”

This week, there’s only one news item, but that’s because Jonah Falcon returns from PAX East 2012 to discuss the games he managed to check out and even play, including Assassin’s Creed 3, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Civilization V: Gods & Kings, Max Payne 3, Spec Ops: The Line, Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor, Borderlands 2, Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 3, Orcs Must Die! 2, Tera, Solitaire Blitz, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Mark of the Ninja and Code Hero.

The show does cover one news item:

• Zelnick regrets predicting THQ’s demise in six months

Finally, a new contest: win a free copy of Civilization V Special Edition on Steam. To win it, just state what your favorite civilization in history is and why. All that and Reader Feedback and a special surprise at the end!

Because you asked for it, the podcast features four guys, including Jonah Falcon, Paul S. Nowak, Jordan Lund, and Dan Quick. This is the no frills edition, however, as due to travel to PAX East, there’s no Gaming Flashback, and only a few news items.

They include:

• Rumor: Xbox 720 will require constant internet connection
• Spector saw “look of fear in people’s eyes” over musicals in Epic Mickey 2
• GAME acquired by OpCapita, no store closures planned
• Sony confirms Zipper Interactive closure
• Wii U less powerful than PS3, Xbox 360, developers say

We also include Reader Feedback. We’ll have a Question of the Week next week, we promise.

This week’s episode has a lot of … personality. That is, a lot of mockery, cursing, sniping, and general chaos – making it one of the best podcasts ever. Jordan Lund wasn’t available due to commitments at work, so Dan Quick once again filled in, and as expected, got along with Paul S. Nowak famously, as they tagteamed Jonah Falcon. In the meantime, the Gaming Flashback this week was Civilization II.

This week’s news also made Paul explode. Twice:

• Congressmen want warning labels on all games
• Exec: Console version of Diablo III will be “full Blizzard experience”
• Grand Theft Auto V details allegedly leaked
• EVE Online FanFest Panel accused of “tasteless” behavior
• Rumor: Microsoft to release ‘Xbox Lite’ before next-gen

The winners of The Darkness II contest were also announced. All this in an episode bursting full of good, old-fashioned bitchiness.

This week’s Gaming Podcast gets down and dirty, with plenty of AAAA goodness. The Darkness II contest is still going on this week, and winners will be announced next week.

In the meantime:

• Analyst predicts 66M iPad sales in 2012
• Diablo III gets May 15 release date
• Epic: Next gen console launch titles will probably use Unreal Engine 3
• Microsoft looking for executive producer to work on an “AAAA” Xbox title
• Wasteland 2 aiming for October 2013 release date

All that, plus Reader Feedback.

Dan Quick returns again to cover for Paul Nowak, and this week, the Gaming Podcast is offering free copies of The Darkness II Limited Edition, which comes with the main game and some free DLC. The guys are giving away an Xbox 360 version and a PlayStation 3 version. To win, just listen to the podcast and post what your favorite scary movie is.

The game news this week includes:

• Ex-SCEE senior VP Phil Harrison joins Microsoft’s European team
• DOOM developer John Romero has “plans” for “old school” shooter
• EA defends Mass Effect 3 From Ashes DLC data being on disc
• Notch settles with Bethesda over “Scrolls” trademark
• DICE: 2GB RAM won’t be enough for next gen consoles
• Angry Birds theme park to open in Finland
• GAME puts itself up for sale, GameStop interested
• Diablo III release date announcement “in a few days“, no PvP in launch version

And yes, they know that the announcement was just made today – May 15th release date for Diablo III.

The contest to win either the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 version of The Darkness II will run this and next week, with the winners announced in Episode 257.

This week, the full man crew is back, and incredibly deep-voiced as they proclaim themselves the Protectors of Humanity™, as Mass Effect 3 launches today. The Gaming Flashback is a Gaming Preview of Assassin’s Creed 3.

This week’s news includes:

• Microsoft: Xbox Live Arcade will be phased out eventually
• Leaked images “nothing to do with” Doom 4, fans will “see awesome”
• SimCity 5 coming in 2013
• GAME drops 5% in shares after Mass Effect 3 no-show
• Rumor: PlayStation 4 ditches Cell processor tech

This, and the most contentious Reader Feedback ever.

This week, Paul is still not available, which is unfortunate, since the Gaming Flashback is the classic DuckTales for the NES. There’s also a bunch of scintillating news items including:

• Pachter: Nintendo “Blew It” With Wii U, “In Disarray”
• Bethesda hiring talent for Xbox 720, PlayStation 4 game
• EA reveals Mass Effect 3 preorders well ahead of Mass Effect 2‘s
• Pachter: Next generation Sony and Microsoft consoles will have 4GB SKU
• Sony filed patent For Kinect-like motion device
• PSN Minis not working on Vita

We also reveal the winner of the Pixie Diamonds contest.

This week, Paul can’t make it, so we bring on a Paul substitute, Dan Quick of the PolyCast podcast – and the show doesn’t skip a beat thanks to Dan behaving like Paul without realizing it. This week’s Gaming Flashback explodes like a blood sausage with Wasteland.

This week’s news items include:

• Dashboard update gives Indie Marketplace more visibility
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 outed by Amazon France
• Skyrim DLC won’t follow same model as Fallout DLC
• Electronic Arts terminates “free Battlefield 3 for preordering Mass Effect 3” deal early
• Alan Wake on PC because Remedy “a nagging little kid” to Microsoft

In addition, we have Reader Feedback for Paul’s Pixie Diamonds contest – the winners will be determined next week. The contest’s Question of the Week remains the same: “Who is your favorite Disney Prince or Hero, and why?”

After last week’s special appearance by Derrick and Jennifer Schommer along with Don Dunn, the regular crew of Jonah Falcon, Jordan Lund and Paul S. Nowak return, and they find themselves with some fascinating news items.

The news items include:

• Blizzard brags Diablo III will have difficulties that are harder-than-hard
• Sony passed on Demon’s Souls because it was “crap“
• Sony credit rating downgraded, “strong recovery in earnings unlikely”
• Tim Schafer raises $1.6M (and counting) to develop an adventure game
• Epic’s Sweeney: Lifelike graphics will come in our lifetime

Paul is also running a contest to earn “Pixie Diamonds” currency for Disney’s Pixie Hollow social networking MMO, with the prize going to the person who can answer, “Who is your favorite Disney Prince or Hero, and why?”

It’s the fabulous 250th Episode milestone, and this particular podcast features a major surprise for longtime listeners. Not only is this one of the funniest podcasts in a long while, but there’s plenty of show to go around, too. First, the Gaming Flashback checks out the classic shooter No One Lives Forever, while the Gaming History examines the infamous Gizmondo handheld gaming console.

As for the news:

• Hirai: Sony could be facing “serious trouble“
• Take Two CEO states “strong become stronger” with next-gen transitions
• Developer Starbreeze fears Syndicate may be “too hard“
• Oklahoma state rep wants 1% violent videogame tax
• Ubisoft cuts off legit players With DRM server migration

There’s no Question of the Week, but we’re definitely sure there will be plenty of comments for the podcast hosts.

For those of you good at math, you might notice that the TD Gaming Podcast is one episode away from a special number. While we have a surprise in store for loyal listeners, there’s still this week’s news to discuss. For starters, the classic Silent Hill 2 is the subject of the Gaming Flashback, even though none of the podcasters have gotten a chance to actually play it.

There’s also some interesting news to discuss, including:

• Christian group accuses The Old Republic of “warping kids” with pro-gay message
• Rumor: Next Harmonix project being released on XBLA, PSN, and Facebook
• EA Sports: SSX will bring extreme sports videogames back to prominence
• Xbox 720 rumors springing up like wildfire
• PS Vita continues to struggle in Japan
• SNK brings Neo*Geo back as a handheld

There’s plenty of Reader Feedback, but there’s no Question of the Week, because there’s a special episode coming up. Ooooh, what could it possibly be?

As the podcast approaches the magic 250th episode, Paul, Jordan and Jonah check out some of the big news that hit this week in the land of videogames, and in the Gaming Flashback, looked back at an all-time worst game, Superman 64.

This week’s news includes:

• ESA drops SOPA support (via Herr Alien)
• R18+ bill to be voted on by Australian Parliament on 7th February
• Vita sales continue to freefall in Japan
• Guild Wars 2 open beta this Spring, launching in 2012
• Starbreeze states they don’t look at games from a genre perspective anymore

All this and Reader Feedback, as well as the Question of the Week, “What do you look for in a sequel?”

Despite having multiple technical difficulties that were edited out of the podcast, Episode 247 is full of gaming discussion goodness, despite Paul’s constant declaration that companies are full of bullbleep.

This week’s gaming news includes:

• Bioware confirms Mass Effect 3 is Origin-only
• Electronic Arts passed $1B in digital sales in 2011
• The Lund Report for the December 2011 NPD
• Gaikai: Sony or Microsoft won’t have next-gen console
• Thief 4 rumored to have multiplayer
• Videogame industry companies shutting down to protest SOPA

This plus two reader mails and the Question of the Week, “What was the first multiplayer gaming you ever enjoyed?”

CES 2012 is going strong, as Jonah and Jordan do tonight’s podcast without Paul, who is packing for a trip. This week’s Gaming Flashback is the notorious Custer’s Revenge, and a punch of intriguing news and rumors comprise this week’s topics:

• Fallout MMO rights belong to Bethesda as Interplay settles
• Pachter sez there’s “zero chance” of PS4 at E3 2012
• Rumor: Next Xbox tablet-based?
• Rumor: Kaz Hirai to return as president of Sony
• Diablo III release held due to South Korea (from GameFront)

Plenty of Reader Feedback this week, which is good because we forgot to include a Question of the Week this time.

This week is double-stuffed full of goodness, with over two hours of podcast, as Jonah, Paul and Jordan cover not only the news of the last week, but also recap 2011, talking about games that pleased and disappointed them.

Aside from the biggest news of 2011, the current news items the gang listed to include:

• Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony all pull support from SOPA – sort of
• Wii U launch price expected to be $399
• Guitar Hero may return in 2012
• Judge ruling deals Silicon Knights a serious blow in suit against Epic Games
• FlatOut 3 dev calls Modern Warfare 3 a “beta“
• Bioware defends The Old Republic subscription model, teases free-to-play for older IPs

The podcast also received a ton of new Reader Feedback, while the Question of the Week is “Which would you rather game on – a handheld console or a mobile device?”

It’s the final podcast of 2011, as Jonah, Jordan and Paul will not be podcasting next week. However, there’s plenty of news, reader feedback and a Gaming Flashback of the terrible PlayStation One game, Irritating Stick.

The news for this week includes:

• EA selling virtual car for $100 in NFS World
• Modern Warfare 3 beats Avatar
• Naughty Dog: Move to next-gen is “terrifying“
• Star Wars: The Old Republic sales could already be 1.5M
• Man sues Sony for ToS update forbidding suing
• Nintendo only showing E3 Wii U demos at CES 2012

The question of the week is “What game are you most interested in for 2012?” Let us know what you think, and see you in 2012.

The latest episode, which is on the short side after having a really long one two weeks ago, sees Paul returning from the flu with somewhat of a shady attitude this week. Meanwhile, the Gaming Flashback is the 1976 coin-op arcade game Blockade.

The news for this week includes:

• Gabe Newell teases something for E3 2012 with a “3” in it
• Richard Garriott working on Ultima successor
• Microsoft includes “do not class action sue us” clause for Xbox Live
• Bizarre circumstances surround GSC Game World

All that plus Reader Feedback and the Question of the Week, “What was your favorite handheld game?”

It’s the episode just before Thanksgiving, and both Jordan and Paul have new jobs, as the latter settles into his new Los Angeles home. This week’s Gaming Flashback is the Atari 2600 game Kaboom!

The guys also discuss the following news items:

• EA targeted for class action suit over Battlefield 3 PS3 bait and switch
• Modern Warfare 3 makes $775M in 5 days
• Square-Enix officially opens Montreal studio
• Blockbuster has “ramped up the rental” of games, getting an “awful lot of support”
• Rockstar eager to return to Bully IP

The question of the week: “How do you buy games most often these days: retail, online retailer, or digital distributor?”

This week, Paul is too busy unpacking in his new home in California, so it’s just Jonah and Jordan, as the news mainly deals with DRM. The Gaming Flashback this week is the Activision racer The Great American Cross-Country Road Race, while this week’s Gaming History doesn’t focus on a video game company or developer, but a fictional character instead, Mario’s favorite mount, Yoshi.

The news this week includes:

• EA forum bans cause game bans
• Research film states piracy’s up 20% in past 5 years
• GOG sez customers hate DRM
• Steam user database cracked
• Uncharted 3 launches with 1.1M sold in first week

All that plus Reader Feedback and the Question of the Week, “What DRM would you tolerate?”

This week, Paul is not around, as Jonah Falcon and Jordan Lund discuss the latest news, which includes pandas. Lots and lots of pandas. That, and a Gaming History profile on David Crane.

The news this week includes:

• World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria announced
• Sony: April PSN outage has resulted in improved service
• Deep Silver: “There is a clear technology gap“
• Starcraft II DOTA mod will remain free but monetized
• “Literally, there’s three of us” on console Diablo III
• Minecraft dev wins interim injunction over Scrolls name

With that is Reader Mail and the Queston of the Week: What was your favorite Atari 2600 game?

This week, there’s no Gaming Flashback or Gaming History, but there is a ton of news and Reader Feedback as Paul is finally present to react to some hate mail.

The news includes some huge items, like:

• No PSN unless you waive lawsuit
• Netflix adds game rentals to Qwikster
• DC Universe Online goes free-to-play
• Xbox Live officially a part of Windows 8
• Microsoft: Xbox TV this Fall
• Rogers Cable ordered to stop throttling gamers
• Nintendo and Valve say no to smartphone games

The Question of the Week: What was the very first home videogame you ever played?