While sitting drunk around a campfire talking about video games, my friend accused me of enjoying “mediocre sci-fi shooters”. At first I was taken aback, but then I started to think about the fact that I really enjoy science fiction, and I tried to reflect on why I believe it’s the superior sub-genre of action game.

One of the biggest names from my childhood has created a game based on a concept from one of the most beloved games of my youth. I am instantly eagerly anticipating this title and will stop at nothing to have it. Unfortunately, From Dust has not been the new breath of life for the genre I was waiting for.

Do you remember when demos used to come packed on disks attached to copies of Official PlayStation Magazine? Every month, a selection of five or six playable chunks of game, and apparently all for free. I remember. I’m sure if I was a PC gamer I’d have a different view on the history of videogame demonstration, but as it was, it was PlayStation Magazine’s cover disks.

When Onlive was announced in 2009, it seemed like a concept ahead of its time. Few argued against the value proposition: instant access to new games from almost any computer with no local installation. But skeptics, myself included, thought it was impossible to provide the lag-free service that games would require under the current network infrastructure. “One day, but surely not now.”

The game mechanics for most titles in the tower defense genre are well documented. We don’t often see many developers stray from the tried and true path of towers defending against waves of increasingly difficult opponents. I have to admit that I am a sucker for TD games. Plants vs. Zombies and Defense Grid got me hooked, and there are enough in common with 11bit Studio’s Anomaly: Warzone Earth to warrant referring to it as a reverse TD game, or even a “Tower Attack” game.

This week Ben, Jim and Adam discuss how awesome Deus Ex is thus far, and why you can’t buy it from Game Stop because they dun goofed and it was backtraced.

The gang’s all here, and we stay for a really uncomfortably long time. Dan talks about his new 3ds, Pete and Adam argue about Catherine, and Niki throws a contest at the wall to see if it’ll stick. At the end of the show, we talk Bastion spoilery and we all come to terms with each others’ opinions… which was really kind of weird.

The announcement was made recently, after many users saw and questioned it in the Alpha, that there would be no in-game menu or server browser for Battlefield 3. To launch the game, you’ll load up a browser and decide what to do from there. Instead of something cool on the periphery, Battlelog will be seen and used by everyone.

We’ve been working on a handful of improvements to the site, and we implemented a bunch of them last night. As always, give the site a hard refresh (CTRL-R) to clear your cache and make sure you’re seeing all the changes.

Updates in this version:

• New image-based Open Reviews section! The “heat meter” thing to the left of the image gives you an idea of how curious the community is about the game. Ask more questions and you’ll raise the game’s heat meter.
• Added a recent comments section to the sidebar.

Between Afghanistan and China, the world’s next flashpoint is about to erupt. The valleys, towns and mountains of Tajikistan will become bloody frontlines for the might of the People’s Liberation Army, insurgent guerrilla fighters and the United States Marine Corps.