This week on the AmpedGaming Podcast, all three of us are back together again for the first time in two shows. A pretty simple, but lively nighttime recording, we have a pretty lengthy "What you been playing" segment followed by some news.  As always, rate us on iTunes and send us any feedback at podcast@ampedgaming.com. [podcast]http://www.ampedgaming.com/podcast/Ampedgaming_podcast_episode_8... more.

While at PAX East, Matt and I finally got to meet up. The result? This 30 minute podcast where we discuss what we saw during the first ever PAX East in Boston, MA. As usual, email us at podcast@ampedgaming.com and please rate us on iTunes! [podcast]http://www.ampedgaming.com/podcast/Ampedgaming_podcast_PAX_Special.mp3[/podcast]... more.

We were invited by 2K Games to see an early build of the next iteration of my personal favorite time sink, Civilization 5. While it was only an eyes-on presentation, it’s fairly obvious after seeing the game in motion that a bunch of things have been made better. The first thing you can see is that the grid is composed of what Firaxis likes to refer to as "Hexes". These give the world a more ... more.

After a few hiccups with getting the podcast up on our servers, episode 7 is finally here. Unfortunately, Matt could not join us this time thanks to some audio issues with Skype, but we manage to put out a decent episode with just the two of us running on 3-4 hours of sleep. Arsen and I talk about what we've been playing, which includes a bit of God of War III, the Splinter Cell: Conviction demo, ... more.

In this weeks podcast, Arsen is back and catches up with his comments on Mass Effect 2's ending. We then have a lengthy "What you been playing?" section which includes demos, Heavy Rain, new internet sensation Chat Roulette, and more. We then end the show with the crazy news stories that came out of this week's headlines. The NSFW Chat Roulette related link that Arsen sent to Matt and I can be ... more.

When I was asked to review Risen, I actually had not even heard of the game before. It was made by Piranha Bytes, the developers responsible for the Gothic series, and had been released last year on the PC. While there are definitely some graphical hangups and some minor control issues, Risen ended up impressing me more than I thought it would. Though I can't recommend this game to just anyone, pe... more.

Nintendo has released a new trailer for Super Mario Galaxy 2, set to be released May 23rd. I loved the first one and I suppose this means May 23 is the date I need to get another Wii by. ... more.

iPhone game centric site Slide to Play has put up a video of some hands on time with Street Fighter IV on the iPhone. While things look great, it seems like it's going to be a huge pain to pull off the special moves.  According to Gamepro, it's scheduled to come out in March and will cost $9.99, featuring seven of the franchise's usual cast of characters: Ryu, Ken, Guile, Blanka, Chun-Li, Dhalsim... more.

This weeks episode is the next to last time we'll be talking about Mass Effect 2 (aside from future DLC of course). Arsen couldn't make it this time so we'll give him a chance to talk about his ME2 experience in a couple weeks. Matt and I spoil the last half of this epic game and finish things off with a short discussion on some of the other things I've been playing recently. Intro and outro... more.

In anticipation for the upcoming Starcraft II beta, my roommate and I decided to buy the first one again digitally off the Blizzard Store. After figuring out strange work arounds to get the game to display correctly in Windows 7, we were once again stuck playing this 11 year old game for hours. Yesterday marked when Blizzard finally let people in to the highly anticipated sequel to what appears... more.