Gary, Colin and producer Kris talk the May NPDs, and whether or not PS3's 22,000 win over the 360 really means anything at all. We also talk about Microsoft's latest comments on the dreaded Xbox 360 RROD, Nintendo's "geeks and otakus" remark, the rise of peripheral-based games, and our first post-release impressions of Metal Gear Solid 4.

And as a side note, we will be taking a two-week break from the 'cast due to various scheduling conflicts, so soak this one in!

Developer James Portnow joins Gary and producer Kris in a wide-spanning podcast that covers Portnow's adventures in creating a start-up game firm, the release of Metal Gear Solid 4 (and whether or not hour-long cut scenes are a good thing), a Nielsen survey that found the Wii straggling behind rivals in terms of console play time, and a few other interesting tidbits.

And where's Colin?

Note: Skype was funky today, making Kris' voice sound like a Decpticon's.

Fabled ex-Game Theory producer Jeremy Williams pops in (on a temporary basis--sorry J-Will fan club) to talk about his work on the recently announced Qore, a high-def video-based games "magazine" available via PSN. We also talk about Valve's latest defense of PC gaming, which turns into a Steam love-fest, as well as 3D gaming (with glasses!) and boob issues in Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures.

This week, Colin, Gary and producer Kris talk about whether or not Age of Conan can possibly give World of Warcraft a run for its money, Microsoft's recently announced changes to Xbox Live Arcade, a recent survey on gamers' habits, and how Wii has been used an icebreaker for group sex...

Due to Kris taking a holiday - and Gary and Colin being way too dumb to figure out how to record and edit a podcast - there will be no show this week. Back, as usual, next week. Apologies.

Gary, Colin and producer Kris are joined by Cheryl K. Olson, Sc.D, co-author of the book Grand Theft Childhood (www.grandtheftchildhood.com) and co-director of Center for Mental Health and Media, Harvard Medical School, to talk about the effects of violent games on kids. We also talk Sony's latest PS3 hardware sales figures, EA's new quality commitment, Hideo Kojima's comments about Western developers surpassing Japan and Microsoft's tirade against Sony...

Fallout 3 lead designer Emil Pagliarulo from Bethesda Softworks joins Gary, Colin and producer Kris to talk about storytelling in open-ended games, bringing a hardcore PC franchise to the mass console market and other topics related to what might be the most anticipated RPG of '08. Also, we talk about the integrity (or lack thereof?) of exclusive game reviews, the dwindling purpose behind E3 and potential hardware price cuts later this year.

Journalist Heather Chaplin joins Gary, Colin and producer Kris in a 1 hour-plus podcast that's all about a little game called Grand Theft Auto IV. Chaplin has plenty of great insight, as she just conducted an interview with Rockstar Games for NPR (a fine piece that can be viewed/heard here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90041944).

Meanwhile, Gary goes completely gangsta.

Gary, Colin and producer Kris talk the news of the past week: Nintendo Wii's insane US March sales figures; Shigeru Miyamoto's assertion that the Wii is also for hardcore gamers; whether or not PC gaming is as hunky dory as Microsoft would have us believe; and how QA testers are treated like the "chimney sweeps" of the games industry, whatever that means.

Gary, Colin and producer Kris tackle the rekindled controversy over Capcom's trailer for Resident Evil 5: Are responses to the game's racial undertones legit, or are people over-analyzing the situation? Also, we touch on lighter subjects, such as the promising WiiWare lineup, the best videogame taglines and whether the suits in the industry deserve to be paid more than the people actually making the games (because they are being paid more).