March 25, 2009 GDC is warming up, and so are we. Idle Thumbs alums Marek Bronstring, Duncan Fyfe, and Lawrence Bishop join in for an look at GDC's first days of Indie-focused content, our anticipated panels, fabricated sex scandals and more. We love GDC this much.

Games Discussed: Jason Rohrer, WiiWare, OnLive, Neil Young, Peter Molyneux, Carmack's Reverse Revenge

March 19, 2009 You lie on the ground, the last breaths leaving your body as you look up into the glowing, burlap sack-wrapped eyeholes of the man who ended your life. As voices recede and the world drifts away, you realize your dying thought will be "I wish I'd spent the 99 cents on that rocket launcher," and are disappointed.

Games Discussed: Merchants of Brooklyn, Resident Evil 5, Team Fortress 2, Diablo III, Puffins: Island Adventure

March 11, 2009 Sometimes a game blows up in your face, 106 moves in. Sometimes a tutorial man tells you the controls backwards, just because. Sometimes, no matter what you try, the old man just can't kill that snake. When the world's got you feeling down, do what we do, and put on the top ghost.

Games Discussed: Empire: Total War, Tom Clancy's HAWX, Up, Mirror's Edge Pure Time Trials, Team Fortress 2, Super Mario World, Half-Life Episodes

March 4, 2009 Virtual worlds fall around you. Objectives appear before your eyes, cluttering your vision. Everything falls silent. As tears stream down your space visor you realize, too late, that it has you. Welcome to The Hypersonic Effect.

Games Discussed: League of Legends: Clash of Fates, Empire: Total War, The Chase: Felix Meets Felicity, Tabula Rasa, Mass Effect, TIE Fighter, FreeSpace 2, Independence War

February 25, 2009 Has your desire to explore and investigate given way to a guided experience that just wants to hold your hand? Find out at the next waypoint. Join us as we offer up impressions from the DICE Summit, discuss this week's surprise assault of great games, and eat our own butt.

Games Discussed: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II, Noby Noby Boy, Empire: Total War, Tom Clancy's HAWX, Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and The Damned

February 18, 2009 Special guest Steve Gaynor joins us as we sail over grassy dewswept mountains resplendent with gaming's bounty, then crash-land into an F-bomb laden cutscene. Plus: Watch your cursor drift towards the "buy" button as Nick fills us in on the Dawn of War II single-player.

Games Discussed: Flower, House of the Dead: Overkill, Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II, Burnout Paradise

February 12, 2009 Following modern trends, this episode eschews its core gameplay for a series of scattered but crowd-pleasing showpieces. Hop in a Big Stompin' Mech with F.E.A.R. 2, use a mandatory turret to defend your favorite FPS titles, and perform an overly-animated finishing move on "opinions."

Games Discussed: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, Wanted: Weapons of Fate, Watchmen: The End is Nigh, Quake Live, Left 4 Dead, Killzone 2

February 5, 2009 Special Report! Duck for cover, commandeer a Jeep, and man a turret: Resident Evil is back, and Idle Thumbs is blasting through the gates of a midnight embargo. With Joe Pesci. Sometimes something comes up mid-week that we want to talk about. This time we actually did. We may do more of these in the future.

Games Discussed: Resident Evil 5

February 4, 2009 Grab a brew and waste the Space Fuhrer with your friends from the quad. Chris weighs in on Killzone 2, Nick weighs the good and bad of two upcoming strategy titles, and Jake weighs the importance of a polished first play experience... with your mom. How many times have you heard a dictionary say "penis?"

Games Discussed: Killzone 2, Halo Wars, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II, World of Goo, Left 4 Dead

January 28, 2009 Confidential informants collide and megatons are dropped in this week's high-speed episode. We talk about gaming narrative as a pastiche of tone and suggestion, but you just want your damn cutscenes. Plus: Wired's Chris Kohler joins us to dismember your naked form with a samurai sword. Replayability: 3.7.

Games Discussed: Afro Samurai, Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard, Assassin's Creed, Mirror's Edge, Full Throttle

January 21, 2009 Kaz Hirai says you'll truly appreciate the complexity of this podcast in about nine and a half years. What's that? Gonna cry? Nick Breckon says you're a baby who likes baby games. And a cheat, too, I bet.

Games Discussed: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II (Beta), StarCraft II, Mirror's Edge, Bit.Trip Beat, Crysis: Warhead, Assassin's Creed

January 14, 2009 BioShock 2 lead level designer JP LeBreton joins us for this accidentally retro-filled episode to recount the rich tapestry of game music, talk up the LucasArts classics, and dream of a world where Grand Theft Auto was reimagined as a 1930's Warner Bros. cartoon.

Games Discussed: BioShock, Monkey Island 2, Gravity Hook, Assassin's Creed, Tomb Raider: Underworld

January 7, 2009 We loudly ring in Year of the Video Game with a double episode of post-holiday potluck warmth. Like a worried mom, we lecture about driving under the influence of video games. Like a drunk uncle, we can't shut up about "ol' Spelunky." You know (wink), "the Tomb Raider?"

Games Discussed: Prince of Persia (2008), Tomb Raider Underworld, Tomb Raider, Prince of Persia (1989), Nobi Nobi Boy, Osmos, Brainpipe, Spelunky, Bus Driver

December 30, 2008 Concluding our trio of podcasts recorded two weeks ago due to holiday issues, the crew remains joined by 2K Marin's Steve Gaynor to discuss psychopathic murderer Gordon Freeman, John Madden getting a government bailout, classic network sitcom Coach, and the love affair between the Japanese people and Wizardry.

Games Discussed: Half-Life 2, The Dark Spire, Bangai-O Spirits, DinoPark Tycoon, Burnout Paradise, Fallout 3, Far Cry 2

December 23, 2008 Last week, Thumbs invited 2K Marin's Steve Gaynor to help pre-record a low- key cast on nuclear plant sims, traffic sims, sewage construction sims, bus sims, boat sims, and ghosts. Riveting stuff.

Games Discussed: Persona 4, Minotaur China Shop, Hitman: Blood Money, The Last Express, Penumbra, SimCity iPhone, Retro/Grade, Cities XL, Sonic & the Black Knight, Three Mile Island, Energy Czar, Ship Simulator 2010: Extremes