Hey we’re back! Sort of. Some of us are back. Not all of us. We’re partially back!

Look, I’m rusty at this, give me a break.

There are lots of reasons for the lack of episodes this time around, and we talk about some of that within – basically, a big part of it is that in addition to being busy with other stuff, I’ve been feeling kinda crappy about gaming for a little while, because in a lot of ways it’s been crappy. If it could stop that, it’d be swell. It seems to be getting better, but clearly there are bumps in the road we’re traveling.

But we still love playing games and talking about games, and focusing on the good helps, so we do a lot of that. We don’t just focus on the crappy stuff, don’t worry. There’ve been some sweet games out there lately – Clayton walks us through the surprisingly high-quality Wolfenstein: The New Order, for instance, and I gush unreservedly over Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. And Steam curation! And Blizzard canceling Titan! And Notch getting unfathomably rich! There’s lots of stuff, give it a listen and hear for yourself.

Small crew this time around, but we’ll try to up the player count next time around. If anybody’s around, that is. I mean, I hear Gamer Is Dead! Maybe. Probably Not.

Hosted and Summarized by Eric [Ravenlock]
Participants are Robert [Trebor] and Clayton [Voodoo]
Produced by Clayton [Voodoo]

(Don’t forget to follow our Twitter feed, and if you want to join the discussion, come visit the forum thread over at Colony of Gamers.)

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I just don’t even know, you guys. I don’t.

We tried to schedule and record this episode what felt like 24 times. It was more like 4 times, but that’s still a lot. Many e-mails were passed around, many schedules were uncooperative. But finally, we managed to get ourselves around the microphones, and then we just couldn’t stop talking. Not everybody makes it to the end, because this one goes real long. I hope you’re into that.

Just about everybody’s back on board for this episode other than Twitch Media Mogul Dennis, who’s got mad bank to make (go check that guy out!), but we were pleased to welcome Colony of Gamers regular Jeremy (Ghostbear, in those parts) to our ranks for this outing.

What did we talk about? What didn’t we talk about? A whole lot of games we’ve been playing. PAX East, which was something of a letdown for Steve but provided lots of discussion regardless. The Ars Technica Steam Gauge project. Not Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea, even though I really wanted to. Soon, though. Other stuff, too – I can’t remember it all, it was like 17 hours long. Go listen and find out!

I would claim that the next episode will be shorter, or sooner, but I can’t lie to you like that. We’ll see you when we see you, and I hope it’s soon. For now, join us for Another Overdue Reunion.

Hosted and Summarized by Eric [Ravenlock]
Participants are James [Vigil80], Robert [Trebor], Steve [Dukefrukem], and Jeremy [Ghostbear]
Produced by Clayton [Voodoo]

(Don’t forget to follow our Twitter feed, and if you want to join the discussion, come visit the forum thread over at Colony of Gamers.)

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Eric was the elegant host, Dennis was DJ, and I was ready to party. Robert agreed to let us all tell our parents we were staying at his place. Steve brought his hot new date, Assassin’s Creed, but the rest of us were worried about her reputation for being an angry drunk after the third round. And then the power went out. I think Dennis’s voice-activated turntable tripped the breaker, but we’ll never know for sure. By the time we got the lights back on, Eric had to leave on a beer run. But he did leave me with clear instructions not to burn the place down.

We eventually manage to pore over an eclectic selection of the year’s finest games. If it was interesting, affecting, or merely very fun, chances are good that one of us noticed. If it was ridiculous or shameful, we noticed that too, but we don’t let it get us down.

If you aren’t surprised by some of the crew’s favorites, I’ll eat the leftover collard greens from New Year’s Day dinner. Cold.

Grab a cold one and raise a toast to the best games of 2013.

Hosted by Eric [Ravenlock] and James [Vigil80]
Participants are Robert [Trebor], Steve [Dukefrukem], and Dennis [OP Nerd]
Produced by Clayton [Voodoo]

Enjoy the tradition of Game of the Year debate at our Twitter feed and the Colony of Gamers discussion thread.

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See what I did there? Because it’s our sixty-ninth episode and we didn’t record all Autumn– and the song title — …Sorry, I’ll go sit in the corner.

We’ve been away awhile, but the good news is, that means we came back with all sorts of games to talk about. It’s been an eventful Autumn and this is a lengthy show with a full-sized cast… minus James, whose absence was keenly felt. The rest of us are a little rusty, but we pulled it out in the end! In terms of topic, it was honestly mostly just games (fancy that), though the Steam sale and the iBuyPower Steam Machine and Steam Greenlight and the Just Cause 2 multiplayer mod on Steam all got mentioned. …So, Steam Steam Steam Steam. Shocking, I know.

Here’s a few of the games that got discussed, with links to ones you might not know: Assassin’s Creed IV: I Was Wrong And I’m Sorry, Batman: Arkham Origins, Eldritch, Risk of Rain, Delver, Nuclear Throne, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Frozen Endzone, Bugbear Games’ Next Car Game, Starbound, Steamworld: Dig, Skyrim, Typing of the Dead: Overkill (and the Shakespeare DLC!) Saints Row III and IV, Hexcells, Borderlands 2, the Dishonored DLC, Path of Exile, War Thunder (and some Youtube videos about the same), Alien Breed.

Also, we were happy to be joined by Dennis (OP Nerd on CoG) for this episode, and we talked about his Twitch channel a bit, which you should absolutely check out. He’s also started a streaming community website. He’s an ambitious guy. We hope to have Dennis back for our end-of-year wrap up, which will almost certainly happen sooner in relation to this episode than this one did to the last.

Oh! Steve has a Twitch.TV channel too.

Okay, I’m gonna stop yappin’. You’ve got a long episode to listen to. Let’s talk about the Autumn of 69.

Hosted and Summarized by Eric [Ravenlock]
Participants are Robert [Trebor], Steve [Dukefrukem], and Dennis [OP Nerd]
Produced by Clayton [Voodoo]

(Don’t forget to follow our Twitter feed, and if you want to join the discussion, come visit the forum thread over at Colony of Gamers.)

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