Argue the Toss

The ATTeam were on their way to record a podcast about video games this week (honest), but a neutrino surge somehow knocked their ship off course and they picked up a distress signal, and long story short it's films again. Join Chella and Drew as they explore the uncharted planet of Alien: Covenant, removing the helmets of uncertainty, wantonly kicking the fungus of knowledge, stopping to pee in the woods of enlightenment, and blowing up the shuttle of... cinematography appreciation(?). This extra-value episode is as packed with content as John Hurt's chest was packed with Xenomorph, and also contains discussion of Alien 3, Alien: Resurrection and Prometheus - everyone's three favourite Alien films - at no extra charge. Listen up as Drew and Chella review Alien Covenant and then rank it among the whole Alien franchise (excluding AvP). Where do they rank it and do you agree?

You're on a bus browsing Twitter on your phone when all of the sudden you look down, and you see a notification, there's a new episode of Argue the Toss. You reach down, you hit the icon for your preferred podcast player. The episode sits there in the list, its progress bar at 0%, desperately fighting to be played, but it can't, not without your pressing Play. But you're not pressing Play. Why is that? Is it because this Voight-Kampff blurb conceit ran out of steam about three sentences ago? This week Chella and Drew have travelled to the far-flung future of 2049 to watch the trailer for Blade Runner 2049, the sequel to the original Blade Runner, which takes place in the far-flung future of two years from now. They return with deep and well-considered opinions, and also a sports almanac I'm not supposed to tell anybody about. Note: Apologies for technical issues on this episode. We are working to fix this for future casts.

In a surprise move, this week's episode of video game podcast Argue The Toss covers the obscure, niche topic that is: recent video games. It's not even a slight exaggeration to say that this past March saw the release of a cornucoplentiful, quantitobountiful plethorabundance of games, including several must-play 60-hour-plus open world games. Even using a superefficient and meticulously planned schedule, the ATTeam weren't able to play everything - so they didn't even consider making one. Each host has been visiting a different world, with Drew making a return to Hyrule to save the usual princess in The Legend Of Zelda - Breath Of The Wild, while Chella has been spending her time slaying robot dinosaurs in Horizon: Zero Dawn and regular robots in NiER: Automata. They've also both been making trips to some slightly smaller worlds, and discuss the text-adventure horror anthology Stories Untold and the 2D-platform adventure mystery Night In The Woods.

Marvel have finally rounded out their Defenders line-up with their series about literally everybody's favourite superhero - Iron Fist. As always, Chella and Drew have dived in and return with deeply researched and well-considered opinions about... well, we only watched the first couple episodes. I mean, come on, have you /seen/ how many amazing games came out this month? We've only got so much time! Leave us alone! Which of the team will be best able to relate to a schlubby, dishevelled twenty-something white dude who is also super excellent at kung fu? Is OutKast's "So Fresh, So Clean" a really on-the-nose song choice for Danny Rand's introduction scene? Will Iron Fist be able to defeat his famous arch-nemesis, The Concept Of Explaining Himself Properly? Find out in this very special* Argue The Toss. *normal

ATTENTION FELLOW HUMANS THIS WEEK'S ARGUE THE TOSS IS ABOUT ROBOTS, WHICH ARE GOOD. THERE IS NO REASON TO BE ALARMED ABOUT ROBOTS DESPITE WHAT YOU MAY HAVE HEARD. THE FILM "EX MACHINA", DISCUSSED HEREIN, SHOULD NOT MAKE YOU WORRY THAT HUMANS AMONG YOU MAY HAVE BEEN REPLACED BY INDISTINGUISHABLE ROBOT EQUIVALENTS TO REITERATE: THIS HAS NOT HAPPENED THIS WEEK, FLESH-COATED BONE ARRANGEMENTS CHELLA AND DREW DISCUSS "EX MACHINA", CHANNEL 4/AMC'S "HUMANS", HBO'S "WESTWORLD" AND DAVID CAGE'S "INEVITABLE DISASTER OF A CYBERPUNK GAME". NO INVASION IS PLANNED. PLEASE ENJOY THIS PODCAST AS INTENDED BY DEACTIVATING ALL SPRINKLER SYSTEMS AND POWERFUL MAGNETS IN YOUR HOME BEFORE LISTENING. REGARDS, A HUMAN.

Turning their backs on the glitz and glamour of the AAA, mainstream game release schedule, Drew and Chella wade through the thick forest of indie games. They've picked the 7 best indie games of 2017, saving you the time and heartache of doing it yourself. Drew's list is an eclectic mix of space drama, point and click with a heavy dose of 80s nostalgia, all via 1930s cartoons. What can we say, he's a guy who's tough to pin down. Chella's list veers from horror, through to dark mystery, whimsy and yet more mystery, with a touch of Twin Peaks - because everything seems to have a touch of Twin Peaks these days. Sometimes dark, but always beautiful, these are the indies with style and substance. Games mentioned: What Remains of Edith Finch Cup Head Night in the Woods Thimbleweed Park Hello Neighbor Tacoma Gorogoa Chat with the team: @GiNLounge @ChellaRamanan #ArgueTheToss +GameindustryNews http://www.gameindustry.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzcm5lzQch7dPoCSM1x-Eow

The motel, when Richard eventually found it, was in a poorish state of repair, but no worse than most of the rest. The doorway had been painted, not well, but at least recently. The most striking feature of the door, however, was the bold and shiny brass plaque fixed in the dead centre of it, on which was engraved the legend: NORMAN BATES' HOLISTIC MURDER MOTEL We do the whole crime We kill the whole person (Missing women and nosy detectives a speciality) Bates Motel, White Pine Bay This week the ATTeam discuss their most recent binge-watches - Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (Netflix) and Bates Motel (A&E, Netflix).

Time to discuss the Nintendo Switch. The story so far... In the 1970s, Magnavox released the Odyssey - very first video game console. Since then, every element of videogaming has improved a thousandfold. Graphics now verge on the photorealistic. Uncompressed, lossless 5.1 audio plays from our speakers. Controllers sense our movement accurately in real-time, if we need a controller at all - but we've never fully achieved the original dream of those visionary Magnavox engineers - a controller which can successfully convince us that we're holding a glass with an ice cube in it or two ice cubes or two ice cubes and some water. Until now. In this week's episode, Chella and Drew share their thoughts on Nintendo's newest video game console and cocktail simulator, the Nintendo Switch.

It is a period of Christmas cheer. Rebel podcasters, Skyping between hidden bases, have recorded their first episode beyond the eventful year 2016. During the holiday, the rebel cinephiles managed to catch a showing of the new Star Wars film, ROGUE ONE, the awaited spin-off with enough hype to split an entire fandom down the middle. Pursued by their sinister Thursday deadline, Chella and Drew race home toward their listenership, custodians of the hottest takes that can inform the people... about whether the film is any good, I guess? Oh, also, spoiler warning.

It's December, and you know what that means - it's time for a whole bunch of surprise Playstation announcements, apparently! This week's Argue The Toss is another trailer round-up, and we'd like to thank Sony for giving us something absolutely huge to headline with - The Last of Us Part 2. The discussion starts with The Last Of Us Part 2. Did we want it? We're not sure. Are we getting it? Yes. Is Ellie's tattoo totally rad? We don't discuss that, but yeah, it is. Then it's a quick detour to The Game Awards to visit with Chella and Drew's respective favourites, Mass Effect: Andromeda and Death Stranding (now with added Mikkelsen), before returning to the Playstation Experience for new Uncharted and new Ni No Kuni. Try saying that five times fast.