It's not often The HotSpot crew get to use the phrase "ripped from groin to gullet," but The Darkness II gives us the perfect excuse. Mostly because that's a thing that actually happens in this game. With The Darkness II and Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning as this week's backdrop, Carolyn Petit, Kevin VanOrd, Tom Mc Shea, Marko Djordjevic, and Tom Magrino rip into combat mechanics, from groin to gullet, one might say.

The HotSpot - Kingdoms of Amalur, Darkness II - 2/8/12 by gamespot

Audio above, video below.

...

It's Japan week on the HotSpot, as Kevin VanOrd, Maxwell McGee, Tom Mc Shea, and Tom Magrino dig into Final Fantasy XIII-2, NeverDead, and SoulCalibur V. These may be three completely different games, but we manage to tie it all together. Or should I say, duck tape it all together. Also, what the heck is going on with THQ? We discuss.

The HotSpot - Final Fantasy, NeverDead - 2/1/12 by gamespot

Audio above, video below.

Spore was bad game design. I didn't say it, Chris Hecker did! Sort of. Not really. The one-time Spore developer and often-time media distortion target joins Kevin VanOrd, Tom Mc Shea, and Tom Magrino to talk about his compelling new indie project, Spy Party. Get the manual here!

The HotSpot - Spy Party - 1/25/12 by gamespot

Audio above, video below.

Mr. Street Fighter Yoshinori Ono joins The HotSpot for a few rounds (perfecting us, it was pretty impressive). But before that, Maxwell McGee, Tyler Winegarner, Kevin VanOrd, and Tom Magrino reflect back on last week's Consumer Electronics Show and try to make sense of maybe sort-of gaming tablets (aka Razer's Project Fiona), haptic feedback, stupid big TVs, and, of course, underwater technology.

The HotSpot - Street Fighter X Tekken, CES - 1/18/12 by gamespot

Audio above, video below.

With Tom Magrino off gallivanting at the Consumer Electronics Show, Brendan Sinclair takes the host's chair and fumbles his way through a discussion on the future of gaming with Justin Calvert, Tom Mc Shea, and Carolyn Petit. What features do gamers want from the next wave of consoles? Will there even be a new PlayStation and Xbox to talk about, and if so, when? And who buys a $300 system because it's backwards compatible with the one they already own?

The HotSpot - Mind the Generation Gap - 1/11/12 by gamespot

That's the audio bit. The moving pictures part is below.

…and we're back. 2012 begins with a case of mild-to-moderate whiplash, as Shaun McInnis, Chris Watters, Tom Mc Shea, and Tom Magrino take a quick look back at 2011 and then a long look ahead at 2012. Can the industry with a straight face make 2012 a year of 4s, as 2011 was a year of 3s? Will Microsoft unveil the Xbox 720? Is the PlayStation Vita DOA? How many Wii U tablets could a Wii U tablet tablet if a Wii U tablet could tablet tablet? Answers are in short supply, but we'll speculate our a**es off anyway!

The HotSpot - Game of the Year, and then? - 1/04/12 by gamespot

Audio above, video below.

Why yes, this is the podcast you were looking for! In the final HotSpot of 2011, Star Wars: The Old Republic lead writer Daniel Erickson joins Kurtis Seid, Brendan Sinclair, and Tom Magrino to explain how one even goes about getting massively multiplayer online gamers to give two craps about a story. (Hint: Make it good.) Also, did you know Daniel used to be lead designer on EA's NBA Street franchise? Crazy!

The HotSpot - Star Wars: The Old Republic - 12/21/11 by gamespot

Audio above, video below!

If one thing can be learned from this week's episode of The HotSpot, it's that VGA is not an acronym that should be pronounced phonetically. But Shaun McInnis, Tom Mc Shea, Brendan Sinclair, and Tom Magrino do anyway! Repeatedly! We also give our impressions of The Last of Us, Command & Conquer: Generals 2, Fortnite, and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, before Chris Watttttters puts a bullet in the week's show with talk of Gears of War 3: RAAM's Shadow.

The HotSpot - VGAs, Gears 3 - 12/14/11 by gamespot

A rebroadcast of last weekend's VGAs can not be found below. Do not click the below video if that's what you're looking for.