On our first podcast in almost two years, Nick, Doug and Aaron pick through the rubble left by the election's crater to find a constructive way forward for our brand of games criticism.

The mere concept of an 80-hour game just isn't the same in 2014. What does that mean for gaming's tradition of massive, deep role-playing games? And what can developers do to avoid padding their games out with dull, superfluous side missions?

Missing faces. Go-karting Parisians. Awkward bystanders yammering about nothing. Maybe it's just us, but something about this French Revolution feels a little...off.

Missing faces. Go-karting Parisians. Awkward bystanders yammering about nothing. Maybe it's just us, but something about this French Revolution feels a little...off.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is, by many accounts, a big step forward for a series that was beginning to flounder. We got together to discuss how Sledgehammer Games updated the tried-and-true formula and speculate on where the series can go from here.

It's 2014: a brave new world where elephants are apparently vehicles of destruction and a simple button press is all it takes to feel feelings about a fallen brother-in-arms. How did we get here?

Months after the birth of the Gamergate movement, tensions are still high and threats are still being made. Where are we now? And what impact will Gamergate have on how we discuss ethical concerns in the games industry in the future?

It's been an uneven debut year for Sony and Microsoft's new hardware. How does it compare to previous console generations? And how long's it gonna be before a purchase will make sense to the average person?

Spencer jabbers with Samantha Kalman and Solon Scott of Doublecross, the community behind the Invisible Arcade expo.

Catch a sneak peak of our 2014 GOTYs: We discuss our current favorite releases, and get hyped about what's coming next as the year draws to a close.