Is Activision the playground bully of the video game industry? Well, we're not sure, but one thing we are sure of is that GameSpot is a house of lies. Ara and Rich confuse Alon by each having opposing opinions of two games they recently tried, Burnout Paradise and Culdcept Saga. We also wonder why it is that girls apparently prefer 2D games to the 3D variety. Apparently Yoshi has something to do with it.

This week Alon gives his stock tips after working to award a company $185 million in a US Federal Court. He also tells a story about a friend's brain not being able to handle the complexity of the Wii Remote and relays some complaints about Trauma Center New Blood for the Wii (but only because it's such a fun game). Ara rejoins the topic of game reviews and provides evidence that they often aren't even written by their supposed authors. Rich, by the way, has abandoned us for the week.

We're joined by the Executive Editor of The Escapist (escapistmagazine.com), Julianne Greer. Without much prodding at all, she readily agrees with our completely fact-based opinion that C|Net is the devil and fired Gerstmann because he overbaked the Thanksgiving turkey. This week's lesson - keep it at 325 degrees and baste often. She also gives her review of the PlayStation 2 game, The Red Star... "I give it five stars."

In studio, we're joined by Floydd and the Krispie Pops - #1 band in all of Rock Band history. We discuss with the band the downsides of Rock Band's user interface and the upsides of the game's awesomeness. We also discuss the emotional response to violence in games and stupid people getting emotional about games that aren't even violent. Listener mail points out that we're misogynistic misanthropists... and, this just in... no one cares about IGN.

First of all, you should totally go download and apply the ChatterBox Video Game Radio gamerpic to your Gamercard on XBOX Live. Why? Because you can, that's why (it's free). Also, we have to point out that Rock Band is a box full of rock, and there's nothing else you can say about it. Jade Raymond is apparently a total skank, or at least we found a cartoon that says so. Although Rock Band and Guitar Hero might make you feel like a rockstar, the truth is that you probably aren't, and we try to figure out why. Ara also takes a moment to tell us that the new Castlevania remake (The Dracula X Chronicles) is pretty good.