1up.com - Games, Dammit!

With John and Garnett embarking on new and separate adventures we gather one last time as a group and reminisce of our favorite episodes and even sneak in some talk about new games

We're back to wrap up TGS 2009. 8-4 again generously offered us their offices to record and JJ, Mark, and John join in for the show as well. Sam, Shane, and Garnett complete the group that sits down to get everything they've seen out on the table. And while we had the impression the show had been really down, when we put together the list there were plenty of games to talk about including Final Fantasy XIII, Yakuza 4, Gran Turismo 5, PixelJunk Shooter, Zero Day Attack on Earth, Quantum Theory, Dead Rising 2 multiplayer, and more.

With TGS set to open in the morning Jeremy, Matt, David, Sam, and Garnett sit down to discuss what they're most excited to see at the show. Is it Yakuza 4? the Metal Gear Peacewalker demo maybe? or will something unexpected be on their minds? There's also a quick look back at couple of distractions from earlier in the week including the Videogames Live concert and a trip to the arcade.

We start our Tokyo Game Show coverage by catching up on the hottest games in Japan and a general look at the videogame scene here with Justin Epperson, John Ricciardi, and Mark MacDonald of 8-4. Sam Kennedy and David Ellis also join Garnett at the table as the group gets up to speed on Monster Hunter, Dragon Quest, and more. The second half of the show then gets into some of the trends here including the popularity of handheld gaming and a breakdown of the current situation for Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360.

With Sam already in Japan, Jeremy joins David, John, and Garnett for the week before TGS show. In the first segment Whatcha Been Playin covers Halo 3 ODST, Modern Warfare 2 Multiplayer, Mario and Luigi, DJ Hero, Gran Turismo PSP, and more. Holiday hardware moves from a rumored Wii price cut to the rapid momentum gained by the PS3 start off the second segment before giving way to whether Nathan Drake really needs to Twitter, and John's checklist for TGS.

The band gets back together at PAX 2009 as Andrew, Shane, David, John, and Garnett take the stage. The show opens with their recap of some of their favorites on the show floor and then they open the floor to audience questions. (Note the audio quality is less than ideal due to the live recording and it improves approximately 10 minutes into the show.)

With David catching the PAX flu and Sam away in NYC John and Garnett tackle a massive show with the aid of Gamasutra's Christian Nutt. In a wide ranging Whatcha Been Playin they get into Osmos, Torchlight, Need for Speed Shift, Motorstorm Arctic Edge, Soul Calibur Broken Destiny, Batman Arkham Asylum, and more. The second segment keeps up the pace beginning with a recap of the August NPD sales stats hot off the presses and afterward including Apple calling out the DS and PSP for a handheld console war, the announcement of a new 2D Sonic headed our way in 2010, and Left 4 Dead 2 Boycotters changing their minds after a trip to Valve.

Sam, David, and Garnett return from their journeys but John's a late scratch from the lineup. The trio finds their hands full with Star Trek Online, NFS Shift vs. Forza 3 vs. Gran Turismo 5, Dead Nation, Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles, Eye Pet, Osmos, and more just in Whatcha' Been Playin? alone. And then after the break they tackle the price drops (and in the UK an increase) on console hardware, whether 40 dollars could be the magic price for expanding the games market, Kojima's plans for Peace Walker, and more.

Sam and Garnett wrap-up a week's worth of the awesome games and announcements at Gamescom 2009 in Cologne, Germany. It's cornucopia of the best upcoming games including Heavy Rain, Final Fantasy 13, Diablo 3, DJ Hero, Assassins Creed 2, Castlevania, ModNation Racers, and much more.

The infamous fourth chair gets a week off as Sam, John, and Garnett do the show as a trio. They've got their hands full with a Whatcha Been Playin? segment that includes Madden 10 both for 360/PS3 and Wii, Fat Princess, TMNT Turtles in Time Re-Shelled, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, and more. There's no letup after the break with July NPD sales figures kicking off a discussion that covers Sega's renewed commitment to mature games on the Wii, impressions of the XBL update, and a quick look at the buzz from the first day of QuakeCon.

We pull the old double switch with Gamasutra features director Christian Nutt and our own Alice Liang joining David and Garnett. In the opening segment Little King's Story gets Whatcha' Been Playin? started before a look back at Lost Odyssey and Mass Effect gives a little preview of the upcoming RPG discussion and DiRT 2 shifts gears entirely to wrap it all up. After the break Christian helps revisit the topic of revitalizing Japanese RPGs and then the talk turns to Fat Princess's launch struggles, Starcraft 2's delay, and a potential PlayStation customer loyalty program.

The quiet summer erupts as Sam, David, John, and Garnett find themselves in a first segment Whatcha Been Playin? packed with Scribblenauts, Borderlands, PixelJunk Shooter, Shadow Complex, Shatter, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, and still there's more. After the break the second half of the show begins with a look at what it takes to establish and sustain a franchise before getting into what's upcoming in the Halo world, Sega's struggles with Sonic and mishandling of Yakuza in America, and more.

With Comic-Con in full swing down in San Diego we inaugurate the new weekly four minute warning question to start the second segment with a discussion of what makes a good comic license-based game. Sam, David, John, and Garnett blow right past the four minute timer before tackling other topics including the announcement of Sam Raimi directing the WoW movie, Valve's Gabe Newell talking about gamers financing games, and the future of jRPGs. A summer of sports theme kicks the show off in a Watcha Been Playin? segment filled with Wii Sports Resort, FIFA 10, Tiger Woods, and Grand Slam Tennis with a little change of pace from Need for Speed: Shift and King of Fighters XII.

SFour Minute Warning rocks the second half of the show with Gamasutra's Christian Nutt joining David, John, and Garnett. June NPD sales figures also get a quick recap. Whatcha' Been Playin? opens the show with Battlefield 1943, a retro flash of NES and SNES games, NCAA Football 10, Wii Sports Resort and more.

Sam, John, David, and Garnett kick things off with Trine, Splosion Man, Shatter, Tales of Monkey Island, Sacred 2, and more in Whatcha' Been Playin? In the second segment the conversation ranges from the negative community response to TAGES DRM in Dawn of Discovery Anno 1404 to Epic's CliffyB assertion that RPG's hold the future for shooters with a stop along the way to consider how far PSN has come on the PS3.

We put together a special episode for the holiday weekend with Robert Ashley joining David, John, and Garnett. They talk The Sims 3, Call of Juarez, Blueberry Garden, Men of War, and more in Whatcha Been Playin'. At the break Listen UP debuts a track off the upcoming release for Robert's band, I Come to Shanghai available Monday from their site. In the second half the conversation starts with music in games and whether today's soundtracks measure up to those from earlier eras before hitting some hopes that backward compatibility may yet return to the PS3.

A bevy of games fill Whatcha Been Playin? in the first segment including The Conduit, Overlord 2, Section 8, Battlefield 1943, EA Sports Active and more. Plus, David's moved on from Ico to tackle Shadow of the Colossus. After the break the conversation ranges from the Zenimax acquisition of iD Software and Howard Stringer's vision to revitalizing Sony to whether game critics are disconnected from their audience.

Sam returns for a second engagement as the fourth with David, John, and Garnett. Everyone's been playing and enjoying the early summer surprise Red Faction Guerrilla. The rest of a broad Whatcha' Been Playin? includes online racing in iRacing, Lego Battles, My Sims Agents, and Garnett eating crow and coming to the PSP Remote Play party two years late. In the second half attention turns to the continued hype building around next year's Natal launch, Miyamoto confirming the Demo Play system will debut in New Super Mario Bros. for the Wii and more.

John returns to join David and Garnett with Sam taking a turn in the fourth chair. Whatcha' Been Playin? is packed with games including Red Faction: Guerrilla, Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, Prototype, inFamous, the Uncharted 2 beta, and more. In the second segment John catches up on how E3 2009 looked from the outside and then there's the May NPD sales figures and controversy over Left4Dead 2 to get to.

E3 2009 Listen UP specials conclude with the epic wrap up episode from the G4 stage. A host of guests join host Garnett Lee to talk about one of the best lineups of games at an E3 in recent memory including Billy Berghammer, Sterling McGsrvey, Raymond Padilla, Christian Nutt, Andrew Pfister, Mark MacDonald, Patrick Klepek, Adam Sessler, James Stevenson, Pete Wanat, and Todd Howard. Be sure to watch the HD video version of the show too on G4TV.com.