A special show this week as Weekend Confirmed welcomes the winner of our playforjapan.org charity auction, Tod Curtis, sits in with Jeff, Jeff, and Garnett. Along with his generosity, Tod represents the listeners well on the show, highlighted by sharing a few rarities from his massive game collection that includes in excess of 700 NES titles. In Whatcha Been Playin? the mix of games runs from this week's big release L.A. Noire to the sleeper of '09, Demon's Souls, with a few others thrown in....
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
It's finally here, the big E3 show. This year saw more great games than ever at E3, and Weekend Confirmed rose to the occasion with an equally massive lineup of guests to bring you the best analysis of E3. Joining Jeff and Garnett are John Davison, Luke Smith, Shane Bettenhausen, Mark MacDonald, and Andrew Pfister. They breakdown the entire week from the opening press conferences to their favorite games after the closing bell sounded. In between every big game and then some gets to the table...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
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...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
Brink, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and Gatling Gears get the show off to a fine start in Whatcha' Been Playin? this week. Andrea Rene of Clevver TV joins Xav, Jeff, and Garnett in the studio for the conversation. A look at some of the top IP's created this generation in the Warning brings out just how many great games we've had over the past few years. There's the latest update on the continuing downtime for the PlayStation Network in the news but it closes out on happier matters with a handful...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
Like millions of happy gamers, the Weekend Confirmed crew eagerly jumped back into the joys of testing in Portal 2. But there's a lot more to keep guests EGMi's Andrew Pfister and Billy Berghammer, and Jeff and Garnett busy. Mortal Kombat has them in fighting spirits and a full report from Bethesda's recent spring showcase includes a deep look at the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Prey 2. There's also news of the next Wii hardware, codenamed "Cafe," and the brouhaha over Portal 2's ARG...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
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...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
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...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
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...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
Deus Ex Human Revolution made its hotly anticipated debut this week and everyone's been playing it, but don't think Weekend Confirmed would spoil the game for you. Xav, Jeff, and Garnett along with regular guest Christian Spicer spend the first segment of Whatcha Been Playin? talking about their experience with the game, and how it struck them from a variety of perspectives. There's sure to be more to come on this one, but there are other games this week as well, like Street Fighter 3: Third...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
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...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
Summer has arrived and Weekend Confirmed is ready to take it on with "Indie" Jeff Mattas joining Jeff and Garnett along with special guest Billy Berghammer. They start the show in Whatcha Been Playin? with a quick second look Shadows of the Damned, a first take on Dungeon Siege III, and Billy's playthrough of Ocarina of Time on the 3DS. Jeff brings a smorgasbord of indie games including Frozen Synapse, Jamestown, and Atom Zombie Smasher. The group moves on to discuss whether...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
Settling in to summer, the Weekend Confirmed crew finds a stack of great games waiting to be played. Christian Spicer sits in with Xav, Jeff, and Garnett to talk F.E.A.R. 3, Shadows of the Damned, inFamous 2, Trenched, and more in Whatcha' Been Playin? The Warning gets started with a continuation of a discussion that started on twitter about whether names like Mizuguchi, Suda, Mikami, and Yamaoka generate big buzz. The group also looks at all the other big games hitting their 10th anniversary...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
Jeff Cannata and Christian Spicer numbered among the crowds that descended on ComicCon last week. They tell Garnett and "Indie" Jeff a few tales from their adventure to start the show off. The opening segment concludes with a little more about Bastion, including a few spoilers in discussion of its ending. The rest of Whatcha Been Playin moves on to hit From Dust, NCAA Football, and Jeff's indie picks including It Belongs in an Ancient Ruin! The conversation continues with a look at...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
The heat may be getting to the crew as this week the show starts out a little...well, let's call it loose. Andrea Rene checks in for her monthly appearance, joining Xav, Jeff, and Garnett to talk Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon, Dungeon Siege III, Transformers Dark of the Moon, and more. In the Warning the conversation turns to whether we enjoy games like Darksiders for what they are or for scratching the Zelda itch while we wait for the next game in the series. Xav kicks off a new...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
Garnett returns and brings back with him tales of a trio of PixelJunk games. He got to play lifelike and demystifies its creative approach to interactively remixing music. He also got some more stick time with Sidescroller and a peek at the just announced Monsters for social networks. Jeff snuck off to Comic Con but he'll be back next week with a full report. Xav and "Indie" Jeff, though, bring plenty of their own ammo to Whatcha Been Playin, including Bastion and the upcoming...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
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...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
With Garnett Lee on vacation it's up to Jeff and Xav to drive the truck. Helping them keep the Weekend Confirmed bus out of the ditch is Totally Rad Show co-host Dan Trachtenberg and DJ Andy Reid from 44th and Filth. The crew talks Ms. Splosion Man, Alice: Madness Returns, Dead Space 2, Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012, and more. In Listener Feedback we discuss whether Nintendo has aged along with its old school fanbase and whether or not Call of Duty is the media's favorite...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
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...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
Diablo 3 starts this week's show off for Xav, Jeff, Garnett, and their guest, Clevver games' Andrea Rene. Garnett details his time playing a Demon Hunter in the beta before the subject turns to Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, Catherine, the Resistance 3 multiplayer beta, and a couple other games. Diablo 3 also comes back up during the Warning with a discussion of Blizzard's decision to allow gear to be sold for cash in the game that gets, well, a little animated. Xav gets the show back on track...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
Legend has it he lives by the Konami Code and topples maniacal bosses with a single Hadouken. Man-God Shane Bettenhausen of Ignition Entertainment joins Xav, Jeff, and Garnett this week, and brings with him an in-depth look at their new game due next week, El Shaddai. But there's much more than it to cover in a Whatcha Been Playin? that includes Dead Island, Hard Reset, and the intriguing Runespell: Overture that combines fantasy RPG with a mythical poker system for combat. In the Warning...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
By popular request, Weekend Confirmed takes on all of Portal 2 in the opening segment. Though the conversation covers much of the game in feel and concept, there are spoilers. So for those wanting to avoid them, skip forward to the start of the second segment at the 32 minute mark. And there's still plenty of great stuff to come from there like Child of Eden, Outland, Thor, our new "knockout" game, how Sony could tackle E3, the top news stories of the week, and Finishing Moves to top...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
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...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
With E3 next week, Xav, Jeff, and Garnett take on a deluge of big games in this week's show, none of them larger than the Witcher 2. Both Xav and Jeff have been playing it and they have much to share about their budding romance with the game. From there it's on to a massive stack of titles including Metro: Last Light, Batman: Arkham City, Saint's Row: the Third, Journey, and more. The third segment belongs to Sony's upcoming handheld--the NGP, Vita, or whatever you want to call it. Garnett got...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
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.
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
The dust has settled on E3 2011 and we sweep up with a full slate of games we saw on this week's show. But before getting to that, Xav, Jeff, Garnett, and our good friend Andrea Rene of Clevver TV tackle Duke Nukem Forever. From there it's on to Forza 4, F1, Hitman, Torchlight 2, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, Ace Combat, and many more. Duke resurfaces in the news when the group discusses the fervor over the reviews and pr responses. There's the rest of the videogame news as well and we wrap it...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
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...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
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.
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
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...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
The power trio of Xav, Jeff, and Garnett come together for a midsummer's night podcast. Picking up on the excitement Shane left last week, El Shaddai gets a closer look after some time having played it and fairs well for the most part. Other games in Whatcha Been Playin? include NHL 12, Madden, Portal 2 co-op, and Toy Soldiers: Cold War. For the Warning, whether MMO design needs to better emphasize group play and the recent assertion that few people finish games are the topic of conversation....
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
This week Christian Spicer joins Jeff and Garnett on the show and they waste no time getting into the games. Well, okay, there might be a little NBA and NHL playoffs talk but then it's right on to Rage, Portal 2, Dragon Age 2 (Jeff finished it with 65 hours on the clock), and more. Of course, the big news of user data getting stolen from the PlayStation Network gets plenty of discussion as does the confirmation from Nintendo that a new console will indeed debut at E3. When Finishing Moves wraps...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
Weekend Confirmed took the stage in the Unicorn Theater for this special PAX 2011 show. Recorded in front of an awesome crowd, a whole host of distinguished guests joined Xav, Jeff, and Garnett including Andrew Pfister, John Davison, Shane Bettenhausen, Billy Berghammer, Jeff Green, and Luke Smith. They shared their takes on some of the best games around the show, including favorites from the PAX 10 indies, in a custom Whatcha Been Playin, at PAX, and then answered some questions from the...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
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...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
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...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
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...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
While the Jeff is away, Andrew Pfister, Christian Spicer, Xav, and Garnett play, and take a few more swipes at Cougar Town. But this is no wine-sipping sitcom; we crack open a couple beers and dig in to games, like LA Noire, Modern Warfare 3, BioShock Infinite, From Dust, Bastion, and more. In the warning we return with more of our and some of your moments that stand out as game-changers for videogaming. And we bring it all home with this week's news and Finishing Moves.
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
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...
Topic: Weekend Confirmed
Weekend Confirmed is celebrating a milestone today with its 200th episode! Join hosts Garnett Lee and Jeff Cannata, along with the Shacknews duo of Andrew Yoon and Ozzie Mejia, as they journey forward by looking into the problems that are plaguing Nintendo and what they can do to keep their boat above water. The topic then turns into the best-selling games of the year and what they mean for games and innovation moving forward. Then Garnett talks about Don't Starve and whether certain games...
Topics: Weekend Confirmed, WeekendConfirmed, wkndcnfrmd, weekend confirmed, Garnett Lee, Jeff Cannata, Del...
Videogame consultant and columnist N'Gai Croal joins Garnett, Brian, and Jeff on the show this week. Heavy-hitters like Star Wars Force Unleashed 2 and Fable 3 step to the plate in Whatcha' Been Playin? along with hands-on reports from Blizzcon on Diablo 3 and the upcoming custom StarCraft 2 maps. A quick consideration of whether game design stagnates at times by falling in to habits leads off the Warning which moves on to topics including whether derivative design is inherently bad and why we...
Topics: Weekend Confirmed, WeekendConfirmed, wkndcnfrmd, weekend confirmed, Garnett Lee, Jeff Cannata, Del...
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 WiiU plans, budding love for Dustforce,...
Topics: Weekend Confirmed, WeekendConfirmed, wkndcnfrmd, weekend confirmed, Garnett Lee, Jeff Cannata, Del...
Good friend of the show Christian Spicer joins Garnett, Jeff, and Jeff this week. They've been playing a number of games, filling Whatcha' Been Playin? with Magicka, the Witcher, a new run through Halo: Reach and Red Dead Redemption, a report from Namco's 2011 preview event, and more. Your conversations about last week's announcement of the Sony NGP get things started in the Warning, which continues through to some of our "happiness" games. And in the news, more on the post-launch...
Topics: Weekend Confirmed, WeekendConfirmed, wkndcnfrmd, weekend confirmed, Garnett Lee, Jeff Cannata, Del...
Garnett Lee is away at DICE this week, but never fear! Jeff Cannata, Jeff Mattas, Andrew Yoon, and Alex Albrecht convene for this week's spirited episode of Weekend Confirmed. Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time gets a glowing recommendation from Andrew, Mattas talks about his experience playing through Dead Space 3 twice in one week, and Alex opines about a big crop of past and present MMORPG's. Cannata also shares his very impressive, hands-on experience with Google Fiber, and an extra-strength dose...
Topics: Weekend Confirmed, WeekendConfirmed, wkndcnfrmd, weekend confirmed, Garnett Lee, Jeff Cannata, Del...
Topics: Weekend Confirmed, WeekendConfirmed, wkndcnfrmd, weekend confirmed, Garnett Lee, Jeff Cannata, Del...
With Metroid Other M and Halo: Reach to open get Whatcha' Been Playing? you know you're in for a big show, and that's only the beginning. Garnett, Brian and Jeff also work Shank and Elemental into the conversation. Cannata-ford includes a game Garnett declares as one of the most pure fun plays he's had all year. The Warning begins with your stories of how gaming figures in your circles and later hits on whether trailers give up too much of the games they seek to promote. And in the Front Page,...
Topics: Weekend Confirmed, WeekendConfirmed, wkndcnfrmd, weekend confirmed, Garnett Lee, Jeff Cannata, Del...
Love (of video games) is in the air on this week's episode of Weekend Confirmed! Hosts Garnett Lee and Jeff Cannata are joined by Nikole Zivalich and Ariel Angelotti to talk about Aliens: Colonial Marines, Ni No Kuni, Fire Emblem: Awakening, and more! Given the show's late-Valentine's Day recording time, the crew also sprinkles some "Gamer Dating Advice" throughout the show, before bringing it all home with some Finishing Moves.
Topics: Weekend Confirmed, WeekendConfirmed, wkndcnfrmd, weekend confirmed, Garnett Lee, Jeff Cannata, Del...
E3 looms less than two weeks away but games already out get this week's show off to a big start. Jeff is away on vacation but EGM Now EIC Billy Berghammer returns to talk Metal Gear, Backbreaker, Red Dead Redemption, Alpha Protocol, and more in Whatcha Been Playin? with Garnett and Brian. Before getting into the Warning episodic gaming and immersion versus mechanics lead listener comments, along with the very first Weekend Confirmed one-act audio theater. Then the timer starts and attention...
Topics: Weekend Confirmed, WeekendConfirmed, wkndcnfrmd, weekend confirmed, Garnett Lee, Jeff Cannata, Del...
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...
Topics: Weekend Confirmed, WeekendConfirmed, wkndcnfrmd, weekend confirmed, Garnett Lee, Jeff Cannata, Del...
Thanksgiving might be a week away but the new release feast is in full swing. After a couple of quick follow ups to last week's Black Ops coverage, Garnett, Brian, and Jeff serve up Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, 007: Blood Stone, and Donkey Kong Country Returns as the main dishes in Whatcha' Been Playin? The reactionary commentary of ESPN's 1st and Ten cast in response to Kobe's appearance in the Black Ops ads starts off the Warning. Your thoughts on shooter fatigue, urgency without a ticking...
Topics: Weekend Confirmed, WeekendConfirmed, wkndcnfrmd, weekend confirmed, Garnett Lee, Jeff Cannata, Del...
Another rambunctious round of Weekend Confirmed has arrived! Garnett and "Indie Jeff" Mattas are joined by G4's Nikole Zivalich, and co-host Jeff Cannata rolls in a bit late to help close out the show's second half. This week's hot topics this week include the shake up at Bioshock Infinite developer Irrational Games, some talk about the Elder Scrolls V expansion, Dawnguard, and Garnett professes his appreciation for the unique music maker, PixelJunk 4am. Other topics--from iOS games...
Topics: Weekend Confirmed, WeekendConfirmed, wkndcnfrmd, weekend confirmed, Garnett Lee, Jeff Cannata, Del...
With the next-gen consoles rapidly approaching, this week's edition of Weekend Confirmed begins with hosts Garnett Lee and Jeff Cannata discussing the rumored differences in resolution between the Xbox One and the PS4 and how it could potentially affect the two consoles in the long run. After that, the Team Rocket duo of Shacknews' Ozzie Mejia and The Odd Gentleman's Nikole Zivalich try to convince Jeff to stick with Pokemon X and Y, arguing for the merits of the games. That's followed by some...
Topics: Weekend Confirmed, WeekendConfirmed, wkndcnfrmd, weekend confirmed, Garnett Lee, Jeff Cannata, Del...
As winter storms head into California, a deluge of big games rain down on Whatcha' Been Playin? getting this week's show off to a strong start. Killzone 3, Bulletstorm, the Witcher 2, and Deus Ex: Human Revolution. With Jeff, Jeff, and Billy joining Garnett around the mics, the Warning picks up your conversations on controllers, matchmaking, and what it takes to make an enjoyable game. The show finishes strong with news of the 3DS launch titles, a new Medal of Honor from EA, and more in the...
Topics: Weekend Confirmed, WeekendConfirmed, wkndcnfrmd, weekend confirmed, Garnett Lee, Jeff Cannata, Del...
