* There are more shenanigans with EA and Take Two, this time ZelnickMedia trying to line their own pockets before getting bought - until they were thwarted by EA. * GDC and DICE are now considering an invite-only model for press access...We talk about why it's both a good AND a bad thing. * Phil Harrison abruptly resigned from Sony Worldwide Studios, and a comment he made at GDC may shed light as to why. * Nintendo announced that Mario Kart Wii will only allow chatting via predetermined phrases, but with the amount of vulgarity on Xbox Live, is this really a bad thing? * Then we take calls on Nintendo on who they're catering to, and a personal question about my girlfriend. (It's gaming related!)

* The BREAKING NEWS that came out several hours before we went on the air was Electronic Arts' bid to purchase Take Two Interactive - something that Take Two didn't take to kindly. These were just the first salvos - this one is going to be long, drawn out, and ugly. * Then we talk about the XNA-related news that came out of this week's GDC - namely the XNA Community Games portal for the Xbox 360 and XNA Game Studio 3.0's ability to develop for the Zune. We discuss some questions and answers that delve deeper than the keynote presentation went into. * It was reported that Microsoft cut the royalties of indie developers of Xbox Live Arcade titles in half - we find out if that's completely true or not. * We talk a little bit about AudioSurf, the IGF winning rhythm action game that uses your own music and is now available on Steam for the low price of $9.95. * And then we take a call about Ninja Gaiden II and Too Human's control scheme.

* We start off talking about the seeming death of offline multiplayer and how companies seem to believe that online multiplayer is much more important than playing with your friends on the same couch. * Then we take a look at two Wii games - No More Heroes and Geometry Wars Galaxies. * We also give our impressions on Sam & Max Episode 203: Night of the Raving Dead. * Spore finally has a release date, but you won't believe who gets it first. * And the HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray format war is now over, as Toshiba has pulled out. * Then we take a call about offline multiplayer and the value of bots in FPS's.

* Poker Smash just came out on Xbox Live Arcade, and we think that it's a smash. * We take a look at two EA-related stories that were revealed this week. The first one is that EA's CEO John Riccitiello admits to "blowing it" with regards to three beloved studios EA gobbled up years ago - Bullfrog, Origin, and Westwood. * Then we learn why you need a hard drive to play Burnout Paradise online on the Xbox 360. * Our mid-show music break is PEN-15's Wikimedia, which you can get the uncensored version from myspace.com/halfninjahalfmachine. * We asked a question about the good side of violent games being a release for those that need it, but instead the callers discuss games being too easy these days.

* Rez HD is out, find out why we call it an experience. * Also out this past week - The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters on DVD...Find out what we thought of the special features! (For your perusal, here is Twin Galaxies official response to the film.) * We read an email continuing the discussion about photorealism in games from last week. * Steam has announced Steamworks, a free platform for PC developers...We look into what it is and, more importantly, what it isn't. * Valve is also unbundling The Orange Box for retail consumers, so now if you already have Half-Life 2 and Episode One, you won't have to rebuy them. * Also, a victory for PC gamers everywhere is that Crysis just sold one million copies - but is that a legit number? * Then we take a call about if the PC truly is the "unified platform" we are talking about. * We round out the show with a personal tale about performing in the 2000 Superbowl Halftime Show: Disney's Millenium Celebration, Tapestry of Nations, the show that IGN dubbed as the 6th worst halftime show in Superbowl history.