It's August, which is when the first of the big holiday releases traditionally begin to arrive. Kat, Thierry, Ray and Alice parse the rest of the year's releases so you don't have to, featuring discussion of everything from World of WarCraft: Cataclysm to Final Fantasy: 4 Heroes of Light. Also discussed is Tim Schafer's new RPG, the surprise Torchlight II announcement and whether or not the world is ready for more EverQuest. Super bonus: The bass is back!

Classic Gaming Expo and Scott Pilgrim provide grist for the retrogaming love mill. Jeremy Parish and Chris Kohler rap with Alice Liang and Alan Johnson. (Disclaimer: This episode contains no rap music, and definitely not a Kohler/Parish rap battle.)

Sex! We "tee hee" a lot when it comes up. On this week's OddNews, we talk about Ratchet and Clank, Blizzard removing inappropriate maps in StarCraft II, and Activision making a move on hindering used game sales. Recession gaming involves the shooter in your pants, a.k.a. Privates. And we tangent off into a talk about cyber sex in World of Warcraft. With Scott Sharkey gone this week, we fill his place with another Scott from the office.

It's Alan's last show before he heads off to the world of community managing at Telltalle Games. We discuss what it's going to take to fill his shoes and his recent review of Madden NFL 11. The crew take some listener calls and then have a follow-up discussion about last week's StarCraft Movie Pitch. In Final Notes, Batman and Jackie Brown.

Ray's still out, so Mike is back back on hosting duties. This week, Frank, Matt, and Mike are joined by Karl Stewart, Global Brand Manager at Crystal Dynamics (Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light). Gaming news is discussed and then the guys grill Karl a little bit about Lara Croft, and why Adam West isn't in Batman: Arkham Asylum.

The whole crew is reunited after a short absence from Chris. Battlefield 3 is announced in a shitty way, the Gears of War movie adaptation is delayed, the Crayon Physics guy has another food game, and we talk about our Games to Play Before You Die feature. And we close off with our q and a segment.

Win Mike's Xbox 360S! Well, it may be Mike's, but you can win one nontheless! Head to the 1UP homepage for details. Meanwhile, on the show, the crew go Grimlock on a caller, talk about free games, pitch a StarCraft movie, and chat about the Classic Gaming Expo.

It's the Sound Test's first Jazz Show. Join host Ray Barnholt on a trip through the smoother side of game music, from arrangementss of classic games like Rolling Thunder and Phoenix Wright, to original selections from SimCity, Napple Tale, and much more. More than in a usual episode, in fact.

Ray Barnholt has gone fishin', so manager Matt Leone has decided to call Mike Cruz out of the bullpen to man the mound. Frank Cifaldi leads off with a wrap-up of his Comic-Con adventures, Justin Haywald argues with the ump about What Games to Play Before You Die, and the whole team gets together in the dugout to talk about the news of the week. And what does this episode have to do with baseball? Absolutely nothing.

Having dissected Dragon Quest IX over the course of multiple episodes, Kat, Jeremy, Justin and Jade offer their final thoughts on the franchise's latest entry. Our heroes also cover the recently announced Tactics Ogre remake, and Scooter drops in to discuss the newly-revealed Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and Darkspore. Can Maxis make a Diablo-style RPG? Can a retired baseball player make an RPG? We'll find out!