Video games from all the platforms are the center of attention for hosts Garnett Lee and Jeff Cannata. Each Friday on their audio podcast they cover the best of what they've played, top news stories, comments from the Shacknews community, opinion, and welcome industry guests.
Weekend Confirmed - Ep. 191 - 11/15/2013
The PS4 launches today and it's time to celebrate with Weekend Confirmed. Hosts Garnett Lee and Jeff Cannata welcome in Shacknews' Andrew Yoon and The Escapist's Andrea Rene to usher in a new generation of consoles, but first, they discuss this past weekend's Blizzcon and all of the exciting news to come out of that event. Then the topic turns to next-generation consoles, where everyone discusses the PS4 launch lineup, including Killzone: Shadow Fall, Knack, Need For Speed: Rivals, and more. They also talk about what to expect from next week's Xbox One release and discuss why Nintendo may be a real force to be reckoned with this holiday season, thanks to the upcoming Super Mario 3D World and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. The show sends you to your shiny new PS4's with new Finishing Moves and the post-show Tailgate.
• 2 hours, 29 minutes, 37 seconds
Weekend Confirmed - Ep. 181 - 09/06/2013
It's a Weekend Confirmed Birthday Celebration! Host Garnett Lee celebrates his birthday, along with co-host Jeff Cannata, "Indie" Jeff Mattas, and The Escapist's Andrea Rene. They talk about the Xbox One release date and the landscape of the gaming world this fall. That leads to discussion of the many games covered at this year's PAX Prime, including those featured at this year's Indie Megabooth. Everyone's also been playing a number of games themselves, including Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Lost Planet 3, and Outlast. And then it's full-speed ahead on the new NFL season, so the Finishing Moves segment is cut a little short to help make way for the year's first Tailgate.
• 2 hours, 9 minutes, 19 seconds
Weekend Confirmed - Ep. 182 - 09/13/2013
Weekend Confirmed is ready to formally wrap up another week. Hosts Garnett Lee and Jeff Cannata welcome in the Shacknews tandem of Andrew Yoon and Ozzie Mejia to discuss the latest news to come from Sony, including the PS Vita TV. But first, Jeff kicks off the show by talking about his experience with Final Fantasy XIV before discussing World of Warcraft's latest 5.4 patch. Talk then shifts to games by the dozen, including Grand Theft Auto V's dizzying number of missions, while Andrew catches us up on several upcoming releases, like XCOM: Enemy Within, Dying Light, Batman: Arkham Origins, and Peggle 2. The show finishes up with discussion of Puppeteer, Killzone: Mercenary, and The Wonderful 101 before ushering in the weekend with Finishing Moves and this week's Tailgate.
• 2 hours, 17 minutes, 46 seconds
Weekend Confirmed - Ep. 184 - 09/27/2013
Weekend Confirmed begins with a cookie invasion! Hosts Garnett Lee and Jeff Cannata bravely fend off the Cookie Clicker attack brought on by The Escapist's Andrea Rene, but not before sadly losing Shacknews' Andrew Yoon to the cookie onslaught. After everyone regroups from the Great Cookie Clicker Invasion of 2014, the team discusses Valve's revelation of Steam Machines before diving into some more Grand Theft Auto V. After discussing GTA's advancements in gameplay and some more character discussion, it's time to move on to Tokyo Game Show, where Andrew talks about some of the best things the event had to offer, including Dead Rising 3, D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die, Kinect, and Vita TV. The show wraps up with a new slate of Finishing Moves and the post-show Tailgate.
• 2 hours, 22 minutes, 13 seconds
Weekend Confirmed - Ep. 180 - 08/30/2013
While the gaming world turns its eyes to PAX Prime in Seattle, Weekend Confirmed holds down the homefront. Hosts Garnett Lee and Jeff Cannata welcome in "Indie" Jeff Mattas and Shacknews' Ozzie Mejia to sort out this week's Nintendo announcements, including trying to make heads or tails of what the company was thinking with that 2DS design. After that, it's time to dive into games, as the team discusses Madden NFL 25, Saints Row IV, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Hearthstone (Or is it Hurthstone?), and Shelter. The show ends with a new round of Finishing Moves and a few Super Bowl predictions, because the NFL kicks off in just six days!
• 2 hours, 23 minutes, 6 seconds
Weekend Confirmed - Ep. 190 - 11/08/2013
The 190th episode of Weekend Confirmed comes to you in full 1080p! With co-host Jeff Cannata away for the week, host Garnett Lee invites the Shacknews tandem of Andrew Yoon and Ozzie Mejia, along with Christian Spicer, to discuss the imminent arrival of Xbox One. But first, discussion turns to Call of Duty: Ghosts, talking about the series' growing sense of stagnation and whether it's necessarily a problem that can be solved or even one worth solving at all. After that, Andrew catches up on all things Xbox One, including games like Zoo Tycoon, Forza Motorsport 5, Ryse: Son of Rome, and Dead Rising 3, while also making a convincing case for why the packed-in Kinect peripheral matters. The show wraps up with Christian's impressions of the other major Batman game to release, the handheld Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, before everyone goes into Finishing Moves and the post-show Tailgate.
• 2 hours, 15 minutes, 13 seconds
Weekend Confirmed - Ep. 194 - 12/06/2013
Jeff Cannata is in the Big Apple this weekend, which leaves host Garnett Lee to lead this week's episode of Weekend Confirmed solo. He welcomes in Shacknews' Ozzie Mejia, Christian Spicer, and Nikole Zivalich and they lead off the show by discussing the increasing problems plaguingBattlefield 4 and where the game goes from here. The show then goes handheld, as Christian discusses everything that makes Media Molecule's Tearaway a sublime experience before Ozzie and Nikole dive into The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. As you might expect, this leads to a comparison of the two handhelds. Afterwards, Garnett takes the floor and discusses the good and the bad of Gran Turismo 6, taking a critical look at its microtransactions before discussing everything that makes it a more-than-worth entry to the long-running series. The show wraps up with new Finishing Moves and the post-show Tailgate.
• 2 hours, 16 minutes, 14 seconds
Weekend Confirmed - Ep. 195 - 12/13/2013
With only 12 days left until Christmas, it's time for Weekend Confirmed! Hosts Garnett Lee and Jeff Cannata welcome in Shacknews' Ozzie Mejia and "Indie" Jeff Mattas to take a look back at last Saturday's VGX awards. After briefly looking at the show, in general, the topic turns to the many games that were on display, including Titanfall, No Man's Sky, Quantum Break, and Tales from the Borderlands. With the VGX in the books, it's time to focus on more microtransaction controversy, this time, as it relates to NBA 2K14. Then it's time to talk more games, with Garnett and Jeff sharing their respective knowledge to one another: Garnett teaches Jeff the intricacies of driving in Gran Turismo 6, while Jeff tells Garnett everything that he's doing wrong in Rogue Legacy. The show wraps up with a look back at Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Tearaway, Dead Rising 3, and more before concluding the week with new Finishing Moves and the post-show Tailgate.
• 2 hours, 21 minutes, 41 seconds
Weekend Confirmed - Ep. 198 - 12/31/2013
Weekend Confirmed is ready to say goodbye to 2013. Hosts Garnett Lee and Jeff Cannata are ready to usher in the new year with all of your favorite guests! The show starts with Naughty Dog's Jason Paul, The Escapist's Andrea Rene, Marcus Beer, and Shane Satterfield getting the ball rolling on some of 2014's most anticipated games, like the upcoming Uncharted, Watch Dogs, Titanfall, Infamous: Second Son, and Thief. Shacknews' Andrew Yoon, "Indie" Jeff Mattas, Christian Spicer, and Insomniac's James Stevenson jump into the second segment to talk about Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Child of Light, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and Dark Souls II. The third segment kicks off with James, Andrea, Jason, and Shane discussing what 2014 holds for driving games like DriveClub and The Crew, before jumping into The Elder Scrolls Online and what the upcoming year could mean for microtransactions in games. The final segment welcomes in Shacknews' Ozzie Mejia, Christian, "Indie" Jeff, and Marcus to discuss their predictions for 2014, including whether Xbox One or PlayStation 4 will have the better year. The show concludes with everyone giving one prediction for the new year and a very special announcement from Garnett regarding Weekend Confirmed in 2014. Happy New Year, everyone!
• 2 hours, 20 minutes, 52 seconds
Weekend Confirmed - Ep. 187 - 10/18/2013
For this edition of Weekend Confirmed, we have two crews for you! We start the show with the Weekend Confirmed X crew of hosts Garnett Lee and Jeff Cannata and the Shacknews duo of Andrew Yoon and Ozzie Mejia reacting to the Watch Dogs delay and how that affects the decision to jump on to next-gen on launch day. That's followed by some early discussion of Pokemon X and Y before jumping into discussion of Telltale's The Wolf Among Us. After the first hour, we switch to Weekend Confirmed Y, with Insomniac's James Stevenson jumping in for a discussion on some of the latest board games before Jeff and Andrew debate their respective views on Beyond: Two Souls. The show wraps up with a new round of Finishing Moves before Andrew and Ozzie switch chairs once more for the post-show Tailgate.
• 2 hours, 21 minutes, 58 seconds
Weekend Confirmed - Ep. 201 - 01/24/2014
Jeff Cannata is preparing for his play's premiere on Friday night, so that leaves host Garnett Lee to lead Weekend Confirmed into Episode 201 with Shacknews' Ozzie Mejia playing the co-pilot role. They welcome in Sega Mobile's Ethan Einhorn and Area 5's (and former 1up Show alum) Matt Chandronait to break down what happened this week with everything involving Microsoft, EA, and Machinima, discussing how it could potentially affect an audience's perception of YouTube content providers. The talk then turns towards the world of mobile game development and how much of a brave new world it becomes for newcomers, especially those coming in from the media. The crew then recaps the Shacknews Best of 2013 (particularly Gone Home at #3 and the gradual backlash that's built across the online sphere towards The Fullbright Company's game) before jumping into the many possibilities presented by remote play through the Vita, the Wii U GamePad, and Nvidia's Shield. The show finishes up with a look back at Final Fantasy XIII-2 (and the lead-in to Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII-3), Starbound, and Rust. The show wraps up with a fresh round of Finishing Moves, leading into next week's final episode from the Atlantis Group Studios.
• 2 hours, 11 minutes, 8 seconds
Weekend Confirmed - Ep. 185 - 10/04/2013
Grand Theft Auto Online has launched, but sadly, hosts Garnett Lee and Jeff Cannata (and Shacknews' Ozzie Mejia) are stuck at the beginning on a "Waiting for players" message. But one person was lucky enough to get in and that's "Indie" Jeff Mattas, who's here to give us his early impressions of GTA 5's new online mode. But not before a brief discussion about Steam Machines and Valve's new controller. After talking some GTA, the crew talks about Card Hunter and what makes it so great, before lamenting its trip down the free-to-play rabbit hole. The show wraps up with some talk of what everyone's looking forward to playing this holiday season, before flying off into the weekend with some new Finishing Moves and the post-show Tailgate.
• 2 hours, 12 minutes, 1 second
Weekend Confirmed - Ep. 189 - 11/01/2013
Weekend Confirmed has finally reached the month of November and with next-gen console arrivals imminent, hosts Garnett Lee and Jeff Cannata invite Shacknews' Andrew Yoon and "Indie" Jeff Mattas to discuss the week's next-gen console stories, including the rumored different in resolution and the hardware announcements from Sony. After that, it's time to discuss games, as the crew breaks down Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag and Batman: Arkham Origins before Jeff professes further love for Path of Exile. The show wraps up with "Indie" Jeff revisiting The Stanley Parableover two years after first discussing the original mod, a brief talk about the strange Device 6, and everyone's rapidly-increasing Piles of Shame before going into some post-Halloween Finishing Moves and the post-show Tailgate.
• 2 hours, 19 minutes, 21 seconds
Weekend Confirmed - Ep. 193 - 11/27/2013
It's the Thanksgiving weekend edition of Weekend Confirmed and hosts Garnett Lee and Jeff Cannata welcome in Shacknews' Ozzie Mejia and Shane Satterfield to give thanks to all things video games. The show begins with an extensive look at Forza Motorsport 5, discussing everything that makes the game one of the Xbox One's best launch titles. From there, the topic turns to Forza's controversial use of microtransactions, dissecting in detail an interview Garnett had conducted with Turn 10's Dan Greenwalt shortly before the start of the show. The topic then turns to Dead Rising 3 and Xbox Fitness before discussing the PS4 and Xbox One's respective controllers and wrapping the show up with thoughts on Super Mario 3D World and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. The show wraps up with Thanksgiving Finishing Moves and the post-show Tailgate.
• 2 hours, 28 minutes, 36 seconds
Weekend Confirmed - Ep. 192 - 11/22/2013
The next generation of consoles have all arrived and Weekend Confirmed is ready to celebrate with you. Join hosts Garnett Lee and Jeff Cannata, as they welcome in Shacknews' Andrew Yoon and "Indie" Jeff Mattas to break down both the PS4 and the Xbox One. The show re-visits some major titles from the PS4 launch, like Knack, Killzone: Shadow Fall, Resogun, and Need For Speed: Rivals. To help move the Xbox One discussion, Shacknews' Ozzie Mejia joins in the final segment to briefly talk about Ryse: Son of Rome, Dead Rising 3, and Killer Instinct before "Indie" Jeff Mattas talks some Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag and State of Decay. To send you into your weekend, the crew reels off a new round of Finishing Moves before the post-show Tailgate.
• 2 hours, 14 minutes, 22 seconds
Weekend Confirmed - Ep. 197 - 12/24/2013
Merry Christmas to everyone from the Weekend Confirmed family! It's time to march into the end of 2013 and hosts Garnett Lee and Jeff Cannata welcome in a slew of guests to discuss all of this year's best games, as well as many of our favorites. The show kicks off with Naughty Dog's Jason Paul, Christian Spicer, and "Indie" Jeff Mattas talking about BioShock Infinite, The Last of Us, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Tearaway, and Call of Juarez: Gunslinger. That's followed by Shacknews' Andrew Yoon, Shane Satterfield, and Marcus Beer coming aboard to discuss Injustice: Gods Among Us, Metro Last Light, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, DMC: Devil May Cry, Saints Row IV, Super Mario 3D World, and Fire Emblem: Awakening, among many others. The third segment continues the Super Mario 3D World love with Shacknews' Ozzie Mejia, Insomniac's James Stevenson, and The Escapist's Andrea Rene, before they jump into Grand Theft Auto 5, Rogue Legacy, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. The next segment picks up with Andrew, "Indie" Jeff, Christian, and James summing up the year in indies, before the entire crew comes into the studio to reveal the Weekend Confirmed Game of the Year! We also have holiday greetings from developers and listeners alike, all wishing our wonderful audience the happiest of holidays!
• 2 hours, 22 minutes, 17 seconds
Weekend Confirmed - Ep. 199 - 01/10/2014
Weekend Confirmed is one step closer to a major milestone, having reached Episode 199! Hosts Garnett Lee and Jeff Cannata welcome in Shacknews' Andrew Yoon and "Indie" Jeff Mattas to talk about a whole lot of CES fallout, including Valve's reveal of Steam Machines and whether they're viable in the gaming market. That's followed by some talk about DayZ before jumping into Titanfall's announcement of 6v6 multiplayer and how it could potentially compare to other shooters like MAG, PlanetSide 2, Resistance 2, and Brink. Focus then shifts to the upcoming Alien: Isolation before discussing the Bravely Default demo and Republique. The show wraps up with an extensive conversation about PlayStation Now and what Sony could potentially make out of this new service. The 199th episode ends with a new round of Finishing Moves, followed by the post-show Tailgate.
• 2 hours, 14 minutes, 32 seconds
Weekend Confirmed - Ep. 196 - 12/20/2013
There are two holiday episodes of Weekend Confirmed on tap for the end of 2013, but first, there's one more "regular season" edition to get through. Hosts Garnett Lee and Jeff Cannata welcome in Shacknews' Andrew Yoon and Christian Spicer to talk about some of the final bits of news left over for the year, starting off with the recently-revealed sales numbers for Call of Duty: Ghosts. That leads into this week's Nintendo Direct and whether the news revealed can generate any sort of excitement for Nintendo in 2014. And yes, there's ample discussion about the games revealed for both the Wii U and 3DS. The show then moves into some talk about The Walking Dead: Season Two before wrapping up with Finishing Moves and the weekend Tailgate.
• 2 hours, 36 minutes, 8 seconds
Weekend Confirmed - Ep. 188 - 10/25/2013
With the next-gen consoles rapidly approaching, this week's edition of Weekend Confirmed begins with hosts Garnett Lee and Jeff Cannata discussing the rumored differences in resolution between the Xbox One and the PS4 and how it could potentially affect the two consoles in the long run. After that, the Team Rocket duo of Shacknews' Ozzie Mejia and The Odd Gentleman's Nikole Zivalich try to convince Jeff to stick with Pokemon X and Y, arguing for the merits of the games. That's followed by some discussion of Path of Exile and the console version of Diablo 3, before diving into some more of the Weekend Confirmed crew's GTA Online stories. The show wraps up with a quick talk about Neil Gaiman's upcoming Wayward Manor and the latest Capcom lawyer throwdown, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies. The show wraps up with a new round of Finishing Moves and the post-show Tailgate.
• 2 hours, 13 minutes, 53 seconds
Weekend Confirmed - Ep. 200 - 01/17/2014
Weekend Confirmed is celebrating a milestone today with its 200th episode! Join hosts Garnett Lee and Jeff Cannata, along with the Shacknews duo of Andrew Yoon and Ozzie Mejia, as they journey forward by looking into the problems that are plaguing Nintendo and what they can do to keep their boat above water. The topic then turns into the best-selling games of the year and what they mean for games and innovation moving forward. Then Garnett talks about Don't Starve and whether certain games would benefit more from assisting players more at the beginning. Then it's time to celebrate by looking back at the very first episode of Weekend Confirmed and where the world of games has gone since that day back in 2010. Look back upon 200 episodes with some of your favorite clips and rejoice in new Finishing Moves and the post-show Tailgate.
• 2 hours, 42 minutes, 1 second
Weekend Confirmed - Ep. 202 - 01/31/2014
This is it. Come confirm your weekends one last time. Join hosts Garnett Lee, Jeff Cannata, and Brian Leahy, reunited one more time with all of your favorite guests from the last 202 episodes: The Escapist's Andrea Rene, Joystiq's Xav de Matos, The Odd Gentleman's Nikole Zivalich, Christian Spicer, and "Indie" Jeff Mattas. We are ghost.
• 3 hours, 4 minutes, 34 seconds
Weekend Confirmed - Ep. 183 - 09/20/2013
It's Grand Theft Auto V week at Weekend Confirmed! Hosts Garnett Lee and Jeff Cannata welcome in "Indie" Jeff Mattas and Game Trailers' Marcus Beer to first discuss Diablo 3 and the closure of the auction houses. Then it's a full-length discussion of GTA V, diving into everyone's first impressions of Rockstar's newest opus, the game's similarities to real-world Los Angeles, a breakdown of the game's characters (including the sociopathic Trevor), and the ways in which Rockstar will (both fairly and unfairly) shoulder the controversy burden for years to come. That's followed up with some listener questions before everyone drives off into the weekend with a new round of Finishing Moves and the post-show Tailgate.
• 2 hours, 10 minutes, 36 seconds
Weekend Confirmed - Ep. 186 - 10/11/2013
It's a power trio for this edition of Weekend Confirmed. Hosts Garnett Lee and Jeff Cannata are joined by Shacknews' Ozzie Mejia and they briefly muse about last week's League of Legends World Championship, as they all consider jumping back into the world of Riot's MOBA phenomenon. Discussion turns to Grand Theft Auto Online, including some listener stories about their experience in the game. Then everyone talks about the upcoming next-generation of consoles and the Battlefield 4 beta before Jeff talks about his brief experience with Beyond: Two Souls and Ozzie reels off the best of what he saw at this year's IndieCade. And to send you into your weekend, everyone breaks out a new round of Finishing Moves before the post-show Tailgate.