8-4 Play

Part one of our long-awaited Super Nintendo 21st (and change) Super-anniversary retro-sode is here, and you don't even need your Mom to drive you to the mall to get it! But before that, thoughts on the latest Nintendo Direct, Monster Hunter 4, rumored Wii U pricing, Lightning Returns: FF13, Super Hexagon, Steam Greenlight, Rhythm Hunter: HarmoKnight and (wait for it)...more!

You asked for it: A moment-to-moment recollection of the Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes demo that just debuted in Tokyo, discussing everything we saw and know (hint: not much!) about the story, characters, graphics and gameplay. Hear just what it is that's got us so damn excited.

Join the 8-4 gang and special guest Kevin "Big John Studd" Gifford as they talk about Sony's Gamescom showing (Tearway, Cross Buy, Rain, Puppeteer, and...what was the name of that horror game?), Nintendo Power's shuttering, Dragon Quest X and Nayuta No Kiseki playing, flea-marketing, Neo Geo X Gold buying (or not), imitating classic video game sounds, and dying alone.

First! Hear New Super Mario Bros. 2, Sound Shapes, addictive iOS fave 10000000, and (surprisingly positive!) 3DS XL/LL impressions. Then! Polish up your Mini Medals and settle in with some Medicinal Herb for LXX minutes of in-depth chit-chat on the Wii's (not-so-MMO)RPG, DQ X. Finally! Polish it off with news on Ouya, Steam, the Oculus Rift VR headset, Japanese fighting game tournament Super Battle Opera, and, of course, more.

With John out on a super secret mission, a super secret special guest...from cheapassgamer.com joins us to talk about the INCREDIBLE 3DS XL, Fez Patches, Vita sales, Foos Balls, New Super Mario Bros. 2, FF XIII, Nyuta No Kiseki, and more.

With Mark away soaking up the rays of freedom, we asked friends of the show Alex "cvxfreak" Aniel and Rob "star" Fox to join us to talk about EVO 2012, Spelunky, DYAD, the Resident Evil 6 demo (and cafe), Time Travelers, Penny Arcade Rain-Slick 3, Ouya, Gaikai, Blooblah, Hodfarg and more.

Come for the talk about 3DS XL, Xbox 720, Lollipop Chainsaw, Tokyo Jungle, Persona 4: The Golden and more -- stay for a deep, deep dive into the minds behind Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP on the eve of its Japanese release (being handled by...hey, whattaya know?! 8-4!)

A massive, 3-hour E3 recap lovefest, where we have nothing but great things to say about the amazing press conferences, creative and fresh AAA games, awesome Vita support, stunning WiiU launch lineup, and every other wonderful-funderful thing about gaming's greatest trade show ever!

Ex-Capcom producer Ben Judd joins the 8-4 crew aboard the E3 Hype Train, fueled not by Dew, but by wild thoughts and oddly-specific predictions (some already proven wrong!) on what we'll see from Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, and all the major third-parties at the big show this week, plus impressions of Sonic 4: Ep II, Dragons' Dogma, and news..

The 8-4 gang goes all Project Icebreaker on Camouflaj's Ryan Payton to dig up the dirt on Kickstarter, Republique and the 8-4 bump, Diablo 3, Soul Sacrifice, Capcom's DLC woes, the appeal of DOTA2, the rise and fall of the “Comp Gatcha”, E.X. (or ex-?) Troopers, Devil's Third, and bacon-loving twitter bots.

17-Bit's Jake Kazdal joins us to talk Phantasy Star Online 2, Shinji Mikami's return to survival horror, Dragon's Dogma, Dragon's Crown, Dragon's Dragon, Tokyo Jungle, Soul Sacrifice, yay or nay on CoD: Black Ops 2,  and what it’s like to start and run your own indie game studio.

Imported from the exotic orient (no region lock): Talk about Fire Emblem: Awakening, Dark Souls PC, Fez, Wii U cost and price, Valve and Apple, and a new Ocarina of Time world record.

We offer the following rewards to people who help listen to our podcast: PLEDGE 20 MINUTES OR MORE: Talk about creating characters in Phantasy Star Online 2, more Kid Icarus and Lumines, and the WiiU's (supposed) capabilities 40 MINUTES: Kickstarter game projects, good and bad 60 MINUTES: Notch's ambitious sci-fi crazy-name game, 0x10c 70 MINUTES: Sega's money problems and retro re-releases, Vita updates, and bronze-colored finger puppets of the cast.*  (*Actually, no.)

With Gaming Jesus bedridden from an evil GDC pox and both JJ and Hiroko fighting off the flu, we thought about taking the week off. But then, like an angel from Heaven above, our intern showed up at the door with three pre-release copies of Kid Icarus: Uprising, and all the pain and suffering went away. Listen to a half hour's worth of spoiler-free discussion on the 3DS's first major release of 2012, along with follow-up thoughts on Journey (also spoiler-free!), quick impressions of PixelJunk 4AM and Lollipop Chainsaw, some scattershot news and GDC thoughts, and more talk from Hiroko than you've heard in the last 10 episodes combined.

Internet sensation David "CheapyD" Abrams returns to the show for a truly rare event: we actually played some games! Tune in to the first segment for impressions of Journey, Asura's Wrath, Mass Effect 3 multiplayer, Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy, and Level-5's Girls RPG, plus thoughts on the new iPad, Valve's rumored (and then debunked) "SteamBox" console, Phil Fish and Keiji Inafune's feelings about Japanese games, and more. Then stick around for the second segment for a quick burst of fresh-from-YouTube commentary on Sony's "PS Vita Game Heaven" video barrage! (One word: PSO2!)

Join us for a little boom-tiss-boom, as James "Milkman" Mielke of Q Entertainment visits 8-4 Towers to go deep (so deep) into the creation of PS Vita launch title Lumines: Electronic Symphony. But first, a game-by-game dissection of the U.S. and Japanese Nintendo Direct conferences, and updates on PS3 faves The Last Guardian and (most importantly) Tokyo Jungle, all in news. Wrap it all up with fresh hands-on Gravity Daze/Rush impressions and you got yourself a show, mister!

It's crunch-time at 8-4 Towers, so there's no time for your fancy podcast prep work! Listen for even offer-the-cuff-than-usual chit-chat on Vita's U.S. launch lineup (and our Vita giveaway contest winner), the new Suikoden game for PSP, Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters, Denpa Ningen RPG for 3DS, Double Fine's adventure game kickstarter, and…uh….#$%^ it, we'll do it live!

THRILL! As the 8-4 crew gets caught up in a rad bromance with the new Resident Evil 6 trailer, and make hands-on revelaitons re: the latest RE on 3DS. LISTEN! To chatter of new Wii U features, rumors of the neXtBox, and other tender newsy morsels. EXCITE! To more Vita game impressions, as well as the details of our amazing giveaway contest

Why try out games and form your own opinions when you can sit back and let the 8-4-some do it for you? This episode the newly-reunited gang takes on the (Press up!) new Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Asura's Wrath demos (Right, RIGHT!), sparking a lively debate on quicktime (Tap 'A' repea—ALRIGHT ENOUGH!) events that pops up outta nowhere like…you know what. Speaking of outta nowhere: Wut up with that 3DS stand that comes included with Kid Icarus: Uprising? Plus the Independent Games Festival finalists, Yu Suzuki, avatar tattoos, and speculation on redesigned 3DS hardware and next-gen timing for Sony and Microsoft. (Hit 'Download'!)

Ready for those boring ol' holidays to turn into crazy-awesome holiDAZE? ...No? ...Wait -- did you notice there was a "z" on the end? ...Well the point is you should listen to this 8-4 podcast, with talk about 3DS & Vita sales numbers and what they mean (and don't mean), Gravity Rush, Uncharted, and Hot Shots Golf (all Vita), 3DS's Swapnote and new demos for Resident Evil: Revelations, Metal Gear Solid 3D, and Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy, plus Kiki Trick for Wii, the Zelda timeline, Mario 64 speedruns, and more.