On this week’s podcast we sit down at the campfire to discuss a pair of new downloadable games on the Xbox Live arcade, Crimson Alliance and Crazy Machines Elements and the comic Locke & Key – Keys to the Kingdom.

Crimson Alliance - Crazy Machines Elements - Locke & Key - Ep 138 - Shiny WhosIts! [ 40:54 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Crimson Alliance (00:54 – 23:27)

Crimson Alliance is a free downloadable game on the Xbox Live Arcade that charges for class upgrades for your characters; 800 MS points for one character or 1200 points for all three. We take a look at not only the game itself but their model for distributing the game and the trend of micro transactions in games.

Crazy Machines Elements (23:59 – 33:06)

Released back in August, Crazy Machine Elements is a game that lets the player construct Rube Goldberg style devices in order to accomplish numerous tasks. The game is available for 800 MS points.

Locke and Key – Keys to the Kingdom (33:17 – 38:05)

Andrew, who has previously brought us some discussion on Locke & Key, catches us up with volume 4, Keys to the Kingdom.

This week on the podcast, we look at a new downloadable game on the Xbox 360, Super Meat Boy. Bill and Drew look at some recent news items including Indiana Jones in 3-D, Star Trek 2 villains, casting for The Hobbit and Locke & Key coming to TV. And we wrap things up by revisiting some fall TV shows.

Podcast Episode # 91 - I Like Your Watson [ 1:07:54 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Super Meat Boy (01:07 – 13:50)

Developed by Team Meat, Super Meat Boy is the follow up to the flash game Meat Boy. Available on the Xbox Live Arcade (and coming in November to WiiWare, Windows and Mac), Meat Boy’s task is to save his kidnapped girlfriend, Bandage Girl over the course of 350 plus levels.

A Whole Bunch of News Items (14:22 – 42:15)

Bill and Andrew get together and share some thoughts on a number of recent items of interest that have come through the news wires. We take a look at the rumors of Indiana Jones in 3-D, potential Star Trek 2 villains, casting for The Hobbit and Locke & Key now as a TV series headed to Fox.

Fall TV Follow-up (42:36 -66:02)

Back in September we previewed some of the new fall TV shows premiering. So we wanted to follow-up to see what shows we’ve stuck with and what ones we’ve already dropped from our viewing schedule. But this time we’ve done a bit of a lightening round to hit a whole bunch of different shows including Chase, Hawaii Five-O, Blue Bloods, Mike and Molly, No Ordinary Family, The Defenders, The Whole Truth, The Event, Nikita,  Sons of Anarchy, Shit My Dad Says and The Walking Dead.

Episode # 76 - Big Feet, Big Shoes [ 56:16 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This week on the show we have a couple of older game releases, a comic series by author Joe Hill and a new DVD release of an older Swedish film from last year.

Guitar Hero: Metallica (01:57 – 17:17)

Andrew and Vern take a look at this older selection from the Guitar Hero franchise on the Xbox 360.

Defense Grid: The Awakening (17:36 – 28:41)

Another Out of the Bin selection previously released on the PC and also out for the Xbox Live Arcade by Hidden Path Entertainment. It was recently a part of Xbox’s Deal of the Week and also released a pile of new downloadable content back in June 2010.

Locke & Key (28:52 – 40:50)

Andrew takes a look at Welcome to Lovecraft and Head Games from this comic series published by IDW Publishing. Written by Joe Hill and  illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez, this series has been released as both individual issues and as collected editions; one for each limited series.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (41:04 – 52:02)

We wrap it up by looking at a film that had been released last year in it’s native Sweden but just released on DVD this week in North America. Based on the book by author Stieg Larsson, this film (and book) are the first in the Millennium Trilogy.