What you are about to listen to is real. The participants are not journalists, they are ACTUAL localizers with a giant project looming over their heads. All parties have agreed to dismiss their work for an hour and 52 minutes and have their disputes (over Wii U launch, Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Destiny, the week in Kickstarter and more) settled here, in our forum, on 8-4 Play.

Hi again, it's JJ from 8-4. While much of the world waits for Wii U, there are millions of gamers looking for new adventures for their video game systems. And that's what this 8-4 Direct is all about. This episode, we talk about Animal Crossing: New Leaf, a game where YOU get to be the mayor and design your town in any way you want. We also talk about Halo 4. You control Master Chief to do battle against a whole new race of aliens called "the Promethians." We haven't forgot about the listeners out there that care about news either. We discuss the hardware features of the Wii U, Grand Theft Auto V, Final Fantasy XIV, and how sometimes karma is a bitch. There's never been a better time to be an 8-4 Play listener.

Let's be honest: You don't give a crap what we write here, you just want the list of what we talked about on the podcast, right? Fine then: Crashmo, Punch Quest, Paper Mario: Sticker Star (a bit), Dark Souls (a bit more), Dragon Quest X (John bought a house!), Nintendo sales projections (down!), Nintendo Wii U projections (up!), Dragon Quest VII for 3DS, Retro Studios Zelda (?), and a bunch more news. There, you happy?!

Everyone's playing it! Everyone's talking about it! It's this fall's hottest game! It's...Bravely Default: Flying Fairy?! ...Uh, okay, sure, why not! We breakdown Squeenix's excellent new 3DS RPG, then chat about continuing adventures in Dragon Quest X, PSN store stuff, Zynga, Kevin Butler, Thriller Instinct (that's right), and more, with a brief detour into old-school Nintendo Power with former editor (and current 8-4 collaborator) Alan Averill

Barry? Where's Barry? Who knows. But the internet's biggest Resident Evil fan, Alex "cvxfreak" Aniel? He's right here, talking highs and lows (and lows...and lows...) of RE6 for a solid hour. (That's almost 15 minutes per point it got on many review scales!) But first: Kokuga, DQX, To the Moon, Earth Defense Force 3 Portable, Wii U-pdates, Nintendo Directs, and various Monster Hunters ('natch).

TGS! Metal Gear Rising! Monster Hunter 4! Dragon Quest X Wii U! Mega Man X Over! PSO 2 Vita! Tank Tank Tank! Lost Planet 3! Soul Sacrifice! EX Troopers! Ace Attorney! Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z! Box! Open Me! New PS3 hardware! New Vita colors! Jeremy Parish! Mike McWhertor! Russ Frushtick! 4 hours! Listen! Now! Excite! Exclamation mark!

To be honest, none of us remember recording this episode -- after the deluge of Nintendo's Wii U announcements (prices! Dates! 2 SKUs! Monster Hunter Ultimate! Toki Tori 2! ...wait, I mean Bayonetta 2!), we woke up the next day, and it was just THERE. We took it as a sign to add on part two of our Super Nintendo 21st (more or less) Super-anniversary retro-sode, focusing on the system's epic game library (OCD bonus: in chronological order!).

Part one of our long-awaited Super Nintendo 21st (and change) Super-anniversary retro-sode is here, and you don't even need your Mom to drive you to the mall to get it! But before that, thoughts on the latest Nintendo Direct, Monster Hunter 4, rumored Wii U pricing, Lightning Returns:

FF13, Super Hexagon, Steam Greenlight, Rhythm Hunter: HarmoKnight and (wait for it)...more!

You asked for it: A moment-to-moment recollection of the Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes demo that just debuted in Tokyo, discussing everything we saw and know (hint: not much!) about the story, characters, graphics and gameplay. Hear just what it is that's got us so damn excited.

Join the 8-4 gang and special guest Kevin "Big John Studd" Gifford as they talk about Sony's Gamescom showing (Tearway, Cross Buy, Rain, Puppeteer, and...what was the name of that horror game?), Nintendo Power's shuttering, Dragon Quest X and Nayuta No Kiseki playing, flea-marketing, Neo Geo X Gold buying (or not), imitating classic video game sounds, and dying alone.

First! Hear New Super Mario Bros. 2, Sound Shapes, addictive iOS fave 10000000, and (surprisingly positive!) 3DS XL/LL impressions. Then! Polish up your Mini Medals and settle in with some Medicinal Herb for LXX minutes of in-depth chit-chat on the Wii's (not-so-MMO)RPG, DQ X. Finally! Polish it off with news on Ouya, Steam, the Oculus Rift VR headset, Japanese fighting game tournament Super Battle Opera, and, of course, more.

With John out on a super secret mission, a super secret special guest...from cheapassgamer.com joins us to talk about the INCREDIBLE 3DS XL, Fez Patches, Vita sales, Foos Balls, New Super Mario Bros. 2, FF XIII, Nyuta No Kiseki, and more.

With Mark away soaking up the rays of freedom, we asked friends of the show Alex "cvxfreak" Aniel and Rob "star" Fox to join us to talk about EVO 2012, Spelunky, DYAD, the Resident Evil 6 demo (and cafe), Time Travelers, Penny Arcade Rain-Slick 3, Ouya, Gaikai, Blooblah, Hodfarg and more.

Come for the talk about 3DS XL, Xbox 720, Lollipop Chainsaw, Tokyo Jungle, Persona 4: The Golden and more -- stay for a deep, deep dive into the minds behind Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP on the eve of its Japanese release (being handled by...hey, whattaya know?! 8-4!)

A massive, 3-hour E3 recap lovefest, where we have nothing but great things to say about the amazing press conferences, creative and fresh AAA games, awesome Vita support, stunning WiiU launch lineup, and every other wonderful-funderful thing about gaming's greatest trade show ever! <3<3<3

Ex-Capcom producer Ben Judd joins the 8-4 crew aboard the E3 Hype Train, fueled not by Dew, but by wild thoughts and oddly-specific predictions (some already proven wrong!) on what we'll see from Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, and all the major third-parties at the big show this week, plus impressions of Sonic 4: Ep II, Dragons' Dogma, and news..

The 8-4 gang goes all Project Icebreaker on Camouflaj's Ryan Payton to dig up the dirt on Kickstarter, Republique and the 8-4 bump, Diablo 3, Soul Sacrifice, Capcom's DLC woes, the appeal of DOTA2, the rise and fall of the “Comp Gatcha”, E.X. (or ex-?) Troopers, Devil's Third, and bacon-loving twitter bots.

17-Bit's Jake Kazdal joins us to talk Phantasy Star Online 2, Shinji Mikami's return to survival horror, Dragon's Dogma, Dragon's Crown, Dragon's Dragon, Tokyo Jungle, Soul Sacrifice, yay or nay on CoD: Black Ops 2,  and what it’s like to start and run your own indie game studio.

Imported from the exotic orient (no region lock): Talk about Fire Emblem: Awakening, Dark Souls PC, Fez, Wii U cost and price, Valve and Apple, and a new Ocarina of Time world record.

We offer the following rewards to people who help listen to our podcast: PLEDGE 20 MINUTES OR MORE: Talk about creating characters in Phantasy Star Online 2, more Kid Icarus and Lumines, and the WiiU's (supposed) capabilities 40 MINUTES: Kickstarter game projects, good and bad 60 MINUTES: Notch's ambitious sci-fi crazy-name game, 0x10c 70 MINUTES: Sega's money problems and retro re-releases, Vita updates, and bronze-colored finger puppets of the cast.*  (*Actually, no.)

With Gaming Jesus bedridden from an evil GDC pox and both JJ and Hiroko fighting off the flu, we thought about taking the week off. But then, like an angel from Heaven above, our intern showed up at the door with three pre-release copies of Kid Icarus: Uprising, and all the pain and suffering went away. Listen to a half hour's worth of spoiler-free discussion on the 3DS's first major release of 2012, along with follow-up thoughts on Journey (also spoiler-free!), quick impressions of PixelJunk 4AM and Lollipop Chainsaw, some scattershot news and GDC thoughts, and more talk from Hiroko than you've heard in the last 10 episodes combined.

Internet sensation David "CheapyD" Abrams returns to the show for a truly rare event: we actually played some games! Tune in to the first segment for impressions of Journey, Asura's Wrath, Mass Effect 3 multiplayer, Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy, and Level-5's Girls RPG, plus thoughts on the new iPad, Valve's rumored (and then debunked) "SteamBox" console, Phil Fish and Keiji Inafune's feelings about Japanese games, and more. Then stick around for the second segment for a quick burst of fresh-from-YouTube commentary on Sony's "PS Vita Game Heaven" video barrage! (One word: PSO2!)

Join us for a little boom-tiss-boom, as James "Milkman" Mielke of Q Entertainment visits 8-4 Towers to go deep (so deep) into the creation of PS Vita launch title Lumines: Electronic Symphony. But first, a game-by-game dissection of the U.S. and Japanese Nintendo Direct conferences, and updates on PS3 faves The Last Guardian and (most importantly) Tokyo Jungle, all in news. Wrap it all up with fresh hands-on Gravity Daze/Rush impressions and you got yourself a show, mister!

It's crunch-time at 8-4 Towers, so there's no time for your fancy podcast prep work! Listen for even offer-the-cuff-than-usual chit-chat on Vita's U.S. launch lineup (and our Vita giveaway contest winner), the new Suikoden game for PSP, Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters, Denpa Ningen RPG for 3DS, Double Fine's adventure game kickstarter, and…uh….#$%^ it, we'll do it live!

THRILL! As the 8-4 crew gets caught up in a rad bromance with the new Resident Evil 6 trailer, and make hands-on revelaitons re: the latest RE on 3DS. LISTEN! To chatter of new Wii U features, rumors of the neXtBox, and other tender newsy morsels. EXCITE! To more Vita game impressions, as well as the details of our amazing giveaway contest <<<**LOOK**FREE PLAYSTATION VITA CLICK NOW!!**<<<

Why try out games and form your own opinions when you can sit back and let the 8-4-some do it for you? This episode the newly-reunited gang takes on the (Press up!) new Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Asura's Wrath demos (Right, RIGHT!), sparking a lively debate on quicktime (Tap 'A' repea—ALRIGHT ENOUGH!) events that pops up outta nowhere like…you know what. Speaking of outta nowhere: Wut up with that 3DS stand that comes included with Kid Icarus: Uprising? Plus the Independent Games Festival finalists, Yu Suzuki, avatar tattoos, and speculation on redesigned 3DS hardware and next-gen timing for Sony and Microsoft. (Hit 'Download'!)

Is Miyamoto stepping down at Nintendo? Did Ueda quit Sony? What's going on with the Vita?! What games will be revealed at that Spikey awards show thing?!? Why worry about such questions when you can listen to the 8-4 gang fret about them for almost 3 hours! Also: Infinity Blade 2, Mario Kart 7, more (yes more, dammit!) Skyrim and Uncharted 3, Pushmo for 3DSware, firmware updates for the 3DS, 360, and PS3, and more newsy news.

Question: Which game should you be playing right now, Skyrim or Zelda: Skyward Sword? Answer: Yes. Honestly, that's all you need to know, but the 8-4 crew prattles on anyway in a spoiler-free discussion of the glorious highs and bowel-quaking lows (OK, more like the minor annoyances) of two of this year's best games, then chit-chat (read: rage) about Sony's PSP UMD-to-Vita transfer program, rumors about the next Xbox, and online buzz on the future of Metal Gear in news. 

You'll have to think fast and move even faster to complete this podcast! Gaming Jesus is being held captive by the evil Koopa tribe of turtles. It's up to you to rescue him from the clutches of the Koopa King before time runs out. But it won't be easy. To get there, you'll have to listen to detailed impressions of Super Mario 3D Land, plus chatter about Uncharted 3, Wii U, the future of the 3DS, controller patents, and some late-breaking info about Robin Hood and where babies come from.

:DEEP BREATH: PlayStation Vita pre-order lines, Level-5 World games (Ni no Kuni for PS3, Yokai Watch, Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney, etc.), Nintendo 3DS high and lowlights, Mario Kart 7, Find Mii 2, Reggie's chin, Monster Hunter 3G, WoW meets Digimon, Zelda: Skyward Sword reviews, MAGs in Phantasy Star Online 2, Ezio in Soul Calibur V, GTA V predictions, Yakuza 5 towns, Dark Souls DLC (or lack therof), Metal…Ge….*cough* :PASS OUT:

PRAISE THE SUN! Dark Souls has been consuming most of our lives, but we do manage to eventually break away from talking about it to discuss other recent happenings, including Square Enix's surprise retooling of Final Fantasy XIV, Sega's XBLA remake of Guardian Heroes, and Capcom's limited edition Monster Hunter 3DS. Plus: hands-on impressions of Robot Invader's Wind-Up Knight, ears-on impressions of the 25th anniversary Zelda Symphony orchestra concert, listener feedback, and more!

With Mark out of town on business and Tokyo Game Show now behind us, life at 8-4 Towers has been pretty quiet lately. But that's no excuse not to record a podcast! ...OK, actually, it kind of is, but we went ahead and recorded one anyway! Tune in to hear us talk about Dark Souls, Zelda: Four Swords 25th Anniversary Edition, the Diablo III beta, porntips from Thailand (not what you think!), "Lucky Lassi" Monster Hunter drinks from Family Mart (...probably what you think), and plenty more.

Shane Bettenhausen! Ryan Payton! Billy Berghammer! We've got special guests up the wazoo here at 8-4 Towers to celebrate 8-4 Play's first anniversary (yay!) and to help us break down the 2011 Tokyo Game Show. Tune in for hands- (and/or eyes-) on impressions of all the big games, including the PlayStation Vita launch lineup, Binary Domain, Phantasy Star Online 2, Anarchy Reigns, Soul Calibur 5, the 3DS "Frankenstick" right stick add-on, and more. And when you're done, be sure to head over to Shacknews.com to pick up the second half of our big discussion with Garnett Lee on this week's Weekend Confirmed.

Freshly-unemployed Internet sensation Shane Bettenhausen joins us as we kick off TGS week with a blow-by-blow breakdown of the big two pre-show press conferences - Nintendo's Frankenstick-free Monster Hunter megathon and Sony's 94% gameplay-free Vita launch bonanza. Tune in for an hour-long preview of what's to come, and then check back Friday for our monster Tokyo Game Show/8-4 Play 1-year-Anniversary special crossover with Weekend Confirmed's Garnett Lee.

And the megatons fall like rain: Dragon Quest X revealed as a massively-multiplayer online game for Wii and Wii U. :BWAAAH: Monster Hunter coming to the 3DS -- and with "monstrous" right-stick add-on, no less. :BWAAAH: Who better to join us in the fallout shelter than a man in the news himself, Kojima Productions vet Ryan Payton, who left Microsoft to go indie and to talk with us about 3DS vs. Vita, PS3 HD Remasters, Soul Bladder, the looming Tokyo Game Show, and more? So grab your totem and :BWAAAH:

You could just listen to the 8-4 crew talk 3DS rumors, PS3 and Vita announcements, MHP3rdHD, DOTA2 and Street Fighter IV as eSports, games that will hit and miss the upcoming Tokyo Game Show, and the Valve / EA / Activision shit-talkin' express and then just call it a day. Perfectly acceptable. But if you want the real, secret, best ending to the podcast, bust out some healing herb and stick around as Resident-Evil-superfan Alex "cvxfreak" Aniel joins us in the second half for part 1 of our long-awaited, quote-laden celebration of the seminal survival horror franchise's 15th anniversary.

In which our heroes discuss: Armored Core V and Dark Souls pushed back, Xenoblade Chronicles moved up, PlayStation Vita coming right on time (sorta), 3DS sales rising (used), 3DS sales falling (new), 3DS sales rising again (post-price drop), addiction to EVO streams, ham withdrawal, what's good about Peter Moore, what's bad about Skyrim, who and what will and won't be at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show, and pictures of your Love Plus girlfriend in her santa outfit.

Yes, we eventually talk about Rhythm Heaven for the Wii, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, Groove Coaster, From Dust, Phantasy Star Online 2, Irem's apparent demise, Mega Man Legends 3's definite demise and so on, but mostly this episode is all about Nintendo's embattled 3DS handheld and just about every aspect of the news surrounding its upcoming price drop, complete with color commentary from discount-expert Mr. CheapyD of CheapAssGamer.com fame.

Played Shadows of the Damned? You should! Why? 1) Read the reviews, it's a great game! 2) We here at 8-4 worked on it! 3) Oh yeah, so did some other guys, Suda 51 and Shinji Mikami. 4) You will enjoy this podcast a helluvalot more, since we discuss the soundtrack with legendary game musician Akira Yamaoka and talk shop about creating the script. When you tire of our self-congratulatory nonsense, there's plenty more chit-chat about Xenoblade, PS4 motion controls, Dragon's Crown, Final Fantasies XIII-2 and Theatrhythm, and more. Do me, do m—er, do it!

The Nintendo 3DS is out in Japan, and the 8-4 crew is back from launch morning chaos with a pile of brand new 3DS gear and a bevy of special guests ready to give hands-on impressions, including Brad Douglas of Sony (shock!) and Che Chou of Microsoft (awe!). Tune in for first thoughts on the hardware, the games, the 3D camera, the AR cards, and much, much more.