In the latest episode of Played, we kick off with discussion of Nintendo’s ban on designer Shigeru Miyamoto discussing his personal hobbies, then launch straight into what we’re playing.

Xbox Live Arcade is a big theme, with Chris and Mark playing Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 (and making unsolicited comparisons to Everyday Shooter) and Chris taking on Braid.  Liz has been into Soul Calibur IV, but less into its absurd achievements.

Finally, Mark has returned to Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune again, and he finally finished The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess almost two years after its release.

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Amazingly, we’re already back, the week after our previous episode.  This time, Chris covers the San Diego Comic-Con and tacks on a bit of residual E3 discussion, including High Voltage’s impressive Wii shooter The Conduit, Lionhead’s Fable 2, and Bethesda’s Fallout 3. 

As we move on to what we’ve been playing, Mark revisits Mass Effect and BioShock yet again, and seeths with anger over Siren: Blood Curse’s terrible installation.  Elizabeth admits to boss battle brutality in Space Invaders: Extreme, and Chris has been playing a trio of turn-based titles on Xbox 360: Civilization Revolution, Ticket to Ride, and Catan.   

Finally, we address the reactions of two successful musicians, Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney and John Mayer of John Mayer, to Guitar Hero and Rock Band.  Chris rebuts.  Plus: Everday Shooter!  It’s still awesome! 

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We’ve got a lot to talk about now that E3 has come and gone, but first we revel in the excitement of Blizzard’s recent Diablo III announcement! Then Elizabeth forces Chris to explain how he got Nintendo to inadvertently announce Pikmin 3 at this years E3. Then we move on to the games, including: Left 4 Dead, Mirror’s Edge, Dragon Age: Origins, Rage, GTA:Chinatown Wars, Microsoft’s new Dashboard design, Too Human, and much more!

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The Played crew kicks off this episode with ill-advised conspiratorial rantings about what Blizzard will announce during its Paris Worldwide Invitational this Saturday.  We’re hoping and praying for Diablo III.  We expect to be crushingly disappointed.

After that, it’s straight on to what we’ve been playing, with the lion’s share of discussion devoted to Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.  We follow up last week’s Demiurge Studios interview with some more discussion about the PC version of Mass Effect, then talk about Space Invaders Extreme and LEGO Indiana Jones.

Oh–there’s an introduction by David Hayter too!

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The bulk of this week’s show is spent with Albert Reed, studio manager of Massachusetts-based Demiurge Studios.  Demiurge just shipped its PC version of BioWare’s acclaimed Mass Effect–and polished out the game’s edges in the process.  Reed discusses his studio’s formation and experience, and its plans to launch its own original titles.

We wrap up the episode with Mark discussing GRID and Age of Conan–which Elizabeth has not played, to her dismay–while Chris touches on a recent visit to Valve, which saw the venerable developer make its case for the PC platform.

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As the Played crew slowly approaches something more closely resembling a regular schedule, we discuss the announcement of Guitar Hero World Tour and three games from the ex-Clover folks at PlatinumGames.  Elsewhere in the news is a raising of the Xbox Live Arcade game size cap to 350MB, LucasArts dropping out of the ESA, and Microsoft getting a little overzealous in its attempt to cleanse Live of signs of homosexuality.

Mark speaks about Boom Blox on Wii and Echochrome on PlayStation Network, while Chris and Liz have mainly (and shamefully) been playing Scrabulous.   Chris, however, has also checked out some real games: Rock Rock Revolution, Alone in the Dark, and N-Gage relaunch flagship title Reset Generation.

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We’re back, and only a week late this time! This episode kicks off with discussion of Playstation 3’s impressive install base in Europe, several publishers pulling out of this year’s E3 and one out of the ESA trade organization, and the controversial DRM solution announced for Spore and the upcoming PC version of Mass Effect.

We follow up those news briefs with a lengthy discussion of what we’ve been playing, the game that we haven’t been able to stop playing for days on end: Catan.

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For some reason, Mark kicks off this week’s month’s episode with a protracted story about his recent laser eye surgery. That strange escapade is followed by discussion of the recent Nintendo-dominated NPD sales figures for the US, the closure of long-time PC gaming mag Games for Windows (formerly Computer Gaming World), and the latest delay of PlayStation 3’s upcoming Home virtual world.

Chris reports on a recent Nintendo summit; Mark discusses God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP), Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword (NDS), and Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds (PS3); and Elizabeth has only been playing web games.

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This week’s trimmed and lean episode of Played kicks off with discussion of Grand Theft Auto IV and its just-announced multiplayer modes, with a bit of a detour to discuss Chris’ lack of Counter-Strike prowess–Liz also chimes in to discuss her lack of gaming prowess all around. The crew is also surprised to learn that Criterion’s new Burnout: Paradise island content will be free.

Liz has been playing quite a lot of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, while Chris has continued to spend his time on Advance Wars: Days of Ruin as well as PC classic No One Lives Forever 2. Mark has finished up Lost Odyssey and Army of Two, and is currently deep into Patapon on PSP.

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In this week’s episode of Played, the crew discusses the resignation of longtime Sony executive Phil Harrison, the death of HD DVD in the intense nerd-fought battle of high-def video formats, and the potential of Nintendo’s upcoming WiiWare download service and reports of a paid online gaming service from Nintendo.

Following up on his report in the last podcast, Chris speaks a bit on Masahiro Sakura’s Super Smash Bros. Brawl address at GDC and how it relates to differences between Japanese and Western game development. Finally, Liz is looking forward to Infinite Interactive’s Puzzle Quest followup Galactrix, and Mark has been playing Lost Odyssey and Frontlines. Plus, there is jazz.

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GDC has come and gone and Chris is back to chat about some of the cool stuff that he saw there. This includes Far Cry 2 tech, its dynamic systems, and the interesting steps the development team is taking to make a game with a message that’s not restricted or heavy-handed. We also talk about the LEGO Universe MMO and whether or not it could be the Wii of MMOs. Does the idea of pirates, dragons, and space all existing in the same universe sound exciting?

In “What We’re Playing,” Elizabeth sinks her teeth into No More Heroes. Chris is all about Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, and Mark begins playing the epic Lost Odyssey, gushes over The Club wondering why is no one playing this game, and lastly admits that he’s ventured back into World of Warcraft.

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The shenanigans and tomfoolery are back! We’ve got 51 minutes of entertainment for you guys!

We chat about the Nintendo DS version of Spore, Burnout: Paradise, Mass Effect on the PC, No More Heroes, Pixel Junk Monsters, Devil May Cry 4, and Advanced Wars: Days of Ruin!

Hope you enjoy!

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We’ve got a really excited show for you guys! First, we chat about Target pulling Manhunt 2 off the shelves due to a hack that’s available for the PSP that removes the blurs Rockstar implemented into the game in order to hid some graphic content.

Also, (Geek out alert!) Chris and Mark chat about the new computers they’ve built for (Crysis!) all the incredible games due out this Winter and beyond. You’ll also get to hear about Chris’s nightmare of an experience with Alienware a few years ago, as well as Mark’s experience with Falcon Northwest.

Games covered in this episode include Crysis, Folklore, Wipeout: Ultimate Carnage, The Witcher, Conan The Barbarian, Eye of Judgement, Blacksite: Area 51, Metal of Honor: Airborne, Portal, and even S.T.A.L.K.E.R. gets a mention.

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Games, games and more games! We’ve just got a ton of compelling games to discuss. No industry news analysis. No Micro-transaction updates. No waterproof Gadgetry goofs.

Games we cover in our discussion in this episode are Halo3, Team Fortress 2, BioShock, Heavenly Sword, Stranglehold, Dirt, Forza 2, Overlord, Lair, Blue Dragon and the super-fun Stuntman Ignition!

Then at the end of the show, stay tuned for our compelling Tommy Tallarico interview.

So grab a beer, kick back, and enjoy!

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