TalkGames is a weekly show hosted by Senior Editor Artie Augustyn. The show was initially twenty minutes long and hosted by two people, but has since flourished to a two hour extravaganza with three core hosts. Although hosted on an xbox-centric website, TalkGames covers all platforms and games including Playstation 3, Wii, PC, and handhelds.

Each episode focuses on recent releases and headline news of the previous week. Every individual installment beings with what the hosts have been playing recently, and ends with a recap of big news stories and listener emails.

Occasionally more niche segments are implemented such as “Artie Gets Schooled” where the host Artie plays an older, highly praised game and discusses how its design and release affected the rest of the industry, and what developers of the game went on to do in the industry. TalkGames has gone through an extensive amount of hosts and guests:

Main Hosts

Artie Augustyn:

Artie is the host of TalkGames and is often labeled as a “new-school” gamer. His first personal console was a Nintendo 64 in 1997. Since then he has gradually gained a deeper interest in games. Because of his late-entry into the gaming medium he’s often criticized for not playing older, more venerable titles such as Super Mario Brothers 3, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, or Baldur’s Gate. Artie attempts to battle these criticisms with the segment “Artie Gets Schooled.” The segment was designed to increase his knowledge of the medium as well as give credit to gaming classics that are frequently forgotten about. Despite the effort, Artie frequently plays the first two hours of these games and never bothers to finish them.

Artie enjoys a variety of genres and game types but tends to prefer more action orientated titles. Having grown up with games like Goldeneye and Grand Theft Auto 3, he has an obvious affinity for shooters but also enjoys other genres including Role Playing Games, Real Time Strategy, Adventure, and Platformers. Artie has said his two favorite games of all time are Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Final Fantasy X. Despite his lengthy history of enjoying all genres in the medium, Artie is generally made fun of for “being bad at video games.”

Slade:

Slade is the current most frequent co-host of the TalkGames podcast. He hides his personal life in mystery but that doesn’t stop him from revealing his passionate views for video games. Slade appreciates mostly every genre of video games, but has an obvious preference for JRPGs. He frequently plays through extensive fifty hour JRPGs even if they’re just average in quality. Slade is obviously the most active-game player of the bunch, having played multiple new games almost every week.

Slade has a preference for his Playstation 3, and plays most games on that console, but also says he has nothing against any other console. It has been hypothesized by host Artie that Slade is an internet scam criminal due to a sketchy conversation that took place on the 02/28/10 episode of TalkGames.

James Trujillo:

James is the newest addition to both the TalkGames and has already garnered somewhat of a reputation. Similar to the other hosts he frequently plays many different genres and types of games, the main difference being he plays these games years after release. Due to never having the time or money to play the most recent releases James is constantly in a state of “catch up.” James once tried to make a list of all the games he needed to play, but he hasn’t had time to even finish writing the actual list. James is also of Native American descent which explains the few (and extremely racist) jokes referring to his ability to spirit walk (a reference to the game Prey) and his understanding of ghosts and the supernatural. On a more respectable note, James was a member of a band and worked in the music industry, making him the unofficial music-aficionado for the podcast.

Brian (Hogmasta Cho):

Brian is easily the most lovable, but least contributive co-host to the TalkGames podcast. He’s known for never talking, and rarely playing video games. Despite this, he chooses to appear on the show whenever possible. Brian has a soft spot for RPGs and tends to enjoy deeper games that you can revisit multiple times over buying a new release every few weeks. For example, Brian was not able to make a Top 5 list of games for 2009, because he hadn’t played five games that were released in 2009.

He’s known for making mods in Fallout 3, and spending over 300 hours in Half Life’s G-Mod. Brian is frequently referred to his internet pseudonym which has been described by Artie as “the most ridiculous name ever.” Brian defends the name by saying he “made it when he was 12.” Because his pseudonym is so memorable, most people refer to him as “Hog” instead of his real name.

Former / Newbie Co-Hosts

In addition to core regular hosts, TalkGames has also featured other previous co-hosts, and newer additions that have either chosen to appear less frequently, or have just recently joined the rotation:

Jesse – aka Tanooki:

Tanooki was a previous co-host who was on the podcast from January 2009 – November 2009. After a dispute about the direction of the show Tanooki has claimed he “doesn’t have interest in participating right now.” Despite this, Tanooki is allowed to come back on the show whenever possible, and has made multiple appearances since his departure. Tanooki  has plans to move to Australia by the end of 2010, making it unlikely he will continue to host the show after his move. Tanooki is known for being a “total badass” often choosing to play games on the hardest difficulty. He is a hardcore old-school gamer who frequently defends the idea of games needing to be fun and not focus on narratives, saying “A good story can make a good game better, but it can’t make a bad game good.” Tanooki loves competition and games that test his skill and ability. frequently mentioning his disdain for auto-aim and games overall becoming too easy.

Tom Bowen:

Tom was the first stable co-host of the TalkGames podcast and was present for virtually every episode of season one. Since season two Tom was asked not to return due to his frequent derailment of the show. Despite this he still appears periodically when needed. Tom is known to be very vocal about his opinions and insulting as many people as possible. Tom started the movement that “Artie sucks at video games” (that has been continued on by Slade and Tanooki) and often tries to create as many awkward moments possible in a show. Tom’s job at GameStop allows him to buy new releases every week, but he rarely removes them from the plastic wrap and prefers to continue leveling in World of Warcraft or buying new songs in Rock Band 2. Tom is also known for bringing the majority of the co-hosts to the podcast including Brian, Tanooki, Slade, and special guests Colin, Shane, and Oddjob.

Doug Buffone:

Doug Buffone was a previous writer and co-host to TalkXbox and TalkGames, but has since decided to focus on college work instead of gaming journalism. He’s known for his long-winded responses and love for all narrative-focused video games. He actively believes that games can be taken more seriously if they prove themselves to the mainstream public. He has nothing but good things to say about story focused games such as Metal Gear Solid and Grand Theft Auto. Doug hasn’t been on the show in over a year, but is still likely to make a returning appearance one day.

Jarret:

Jarret is more frequently known as JonnyAvacado, the popular vlog-based user from GiantBomb. Jarret is known to have an immensely busy life, rarely having time to play games or even make it to the show on a consistent basis. He enjoys complex games that have a lot of depth to them such as Ninja Gaiden 2 or Bayonetta but also enjoys single player “thrill ride” games like InFamous or Prototype. Jarret has mysteriously disappeared from the podcast, but it is assumed that he is doing work somewhere.

Special Guests

The TalkGames podcast constantly goes through cast changes in attempts to find the perfect four co-hosts. The show has gotten more stable since its inception, but still tries out newcomers from time to time. Including these few:

Brendon – The first co-host of TalkGames, decided he didn’t have much interest in the show and quit after two episodes, and was replaced by Tom Bowen.

Leeroy – Artie’s old Starcraft clan friend who was literally only brought on to be a laugh track. When asked to leave the show, Leeroy responded with “I don’t know why you didn’t remove me sooner.”

Nintendo James – Another Starcraft friend of Artie’s, who disappeared one day and hasn’t been heard of since.

Brittany – Brittany was a previous writer for TalkXbox who decided to leave after a dispute with Artie.

TalkXbox Justin – Justin is another writer for TalkXbox who stopped doing the podcast for unknown reasons, and no longer is associated with the website.

Colin – Tom’s co-worker who is only added to shows as a last resort, comparing his first appearance to when The Who picked a member of the concert crowd to play drums for a show. Colin still listens to the show, and holds a grudge against Artie for not awarding him a copy of Gears of War 2 during a contest on the show.

Justin – Yet again another friend of Artie’s from Starcraft. Justin has said he “doesn’t want to do the show, but wants to be asked to do the show.” His most memorable trait was when he claims to have stood-up a girl on Valentine’s Day in favor of playing F.E.A.R. 2 instead.

Shane – Tom’s other co-worker who appeared near the end of season one and has not shown interest to returning. Shane works in the women’s section of a Calvin Klein store and frequently talks to his friends on the phone while the podcast is being recorded.

Oddjob – Tom’s friend who rarely said anything and apparently works for Nickelodeon. Artie has also noted “I’m pretty sure Oddjob hates me.”