Argue the Toss

Sweet Christmas! After an impressive parade of technical issues, Argue The Toss is delighted to welcome back our now technically regular guest Corey Brotherson, for the third attempt at the second half of his first appearance. This week the ATT daring duo and their plucky plus-one return to the Marvel Universe and hit the streets of Harlem with Luke Cage.

Another fortnight, another episode of Argue The Toss to incompetently smuggle into your ears. This week Chella and Drew return with another TV round-up, finally returning from the Upside-Down for the long-promised Stranger Things discussion. Then it's time for a TV-show showdown, with each expounding the virtues of their newest binge watches. Drew saddles up to navigate the maze of Westworld, while Chella's been visiting The Man In The High Castle, and has come back to tell you whether it's something you should see, or something you should Nazi. Or maybe they'll both turn out to be turkeys (because Thanksgiving. Sorry. I'm real tired).

Folk still tell tales of the day the stranger walked into town. Stood in the doors of the saloon like the shadow o' Death, hands poised over his two hip-slung holsters, where his weapons slept so lightly. All eyes upon him as he stalked towards the bar. Locked eyes with McGinty the bartender. And he spoke, in a voice that was sand, and drought, and Time. "I'm here for the sheriff," the stranger said. McGinty swallowed. A bead of sweat dripped from his jutting brow. "Sheriff ain't been in this morning." The stranger's draw was quick as lightning. Threw back the tails of his battle-scarred duster and whipped both of his armaments out of the holsters. They spun, once, in his hands. And then, with practised accuracy, he slid each one into the waiting grooves either side of his Nintendo Switch, flipped open the kickstand, and struck up a game of Mario Kart. "That's OK," he said. "I'll wait." This week Argue The Toss finally catches up with the flood of recent trailers, releases and announcements with a double-bill episode covering the announcement trailers for Red Dead Redemption 2 and Nintendo's new Switch console.

Drew and Chella enter the world of Doctor Strange and deliver their verdict on the latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Chella gives the long-running comic fan's perspective, whilst Drew is a Doctor Strange virgin and offers a newcomer's take on the film. Tune in for in-depth analysis of the things the film got right and where it went wrong, in this episode of Argue the Toss, the geek and gaming podcast for www.gameindustry.com? This episode is spoiler-free for the first two thirds and then gives you an early warning before dropping the spoiler wall.

This week in Argue the Toss, Corey Brotherson flies into the studio to discuss his career writing about games and how he created and published his own comics series. Drew and Chella find out just how you get a job working for Sony PlayStation and what it takes to move from comics nerd to writing your own stories and getting them published. There may be some tangents discussing Silver Surfer, Doctor Strange and the polite length of time you can expect your other half to wait to go see the latest Marvel film. This is Part One of a two-part interview with Corey. In Part Two Corey is back to discuss Luke Cage and Argue the Toss once more. Find out more about Corey's comics @CoreyBrotherson

It's October already, and as we close in on the spookiest day of the year, it's time to turn our attention to something truly terrifying - genuine human emotional connection. This week's Argue The Toss is all about romance. Which games do romance right, and which get it wrong? The team have picked through their little black book of games, and invited a slew of potential suitors to grab the handles of the Love Tester machine, to find out who's Red Hot and who's just a Cold Fish. Games discussed include Mass Effect, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Life Is Strange, Uncharted, and a reunion with the team's old flame - David Cage. Which digital darlings and pixel paramours will capture Chella and Drew's respective hearts? Spoilers: it isn't David Cage.

If you go down to the Kingdom woods, you're sure of a weird surprise. If you go down to those woods today, they're full of the FBI. 'Cause sleepy towns on 90s TV all hide dark secrets amidst the trees - Today's the day the team talk about Virginia. This week Drew and Chella Argue the Toss about the debut game by developer Variable State - an ethereal, wordless first-person mystery thriller that's equal parts Twin Peaks, X-Files, Silence of the Lambs and the Outer Limits. Grab a cup of coffee - damn good coffee, and hot - and listen along. Warning: Contains spoilers. Or does it? Isn't that all just down to interpretation?

It's a dry week for releases, so, with no games afoot, the ATTeam turn to a very special genre - the episodic controllerless videogame, known to connoisseurs as 'television'. ​After a busy couple of weeks, Chella and Drew ​have returned to their homes to see what's on, and ​talk about shows that they always want one more bite of. ​Drew ​discusses his Elementary binge, while Chella delves even further into literary history with the BBC's adaptation of The Three Musketeers. ​Meanwhile, Drew tries to write a decent show blurb, realises he doesn't know any good Three Musketeers references, and ends up feeling like a Dumas.​

Drew and Chella have been bumming around the universe in No Man's Sky, but they've been going about it all wrong. Luckily, space guide Barbie (a.k.a. gameindustry.com editor) John Breeden is on hand with the tips every beginner needs to know before jumping into No Man's Sky. What is an Atlas Pass and how do you get one? How did we get this far and not know about linking slots? And how is Drew like Captain Kirk in Star Trek Beyond? All these questions and more are answered right here, right now. So what are you waiting for?

This week, the ATTeam have been captured by mysterious men, torn apart by angry dogs, electrocuted by sentry robots, chased by rampant pigs and drowned by malevolent water children. They also both played Inside, which seemed like a more relevant topic for a podcast episode. Have caution - the second half of this episode contains endgame spoilers. We'll warn you when to stop listening if you don't want to hear them.