SpaceChem

Everything is ready. The stage is set. Let the summer of barbecues commence! Burgers? Yes! Sausages? Of course! Steak? Fo' sho’! Salad? We’re grillin’ it!

This week we talk about a ton of stuff including Titanfall, GameSpy’s demise, XBOX One changes, Space Engineers, New Super Mario Bros. U, Hover: Revolt of Gamers, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Spacechem, Star Wars canon, Unreal Tournament, Mario Kart 8, LEGO City Undercover... and what 2014 episode of the Saladcast would be complete without mentioning Bravely Default?

Bringing in the new year in the best way possible, like any other week, it's time to start tackling that backlog. It's like plumbing that you never fixed properly and gurgles to you in the night, tormenting you into submission with the stench of guilt. I hope that's guilt...

For a game we're still a tiny bit 'meh' over we don't half talk about it a bit. Skyrim is indeed mysterious in its ways. Dan gets in on the discussion this time as Zac tries to figure out how you play the game sensibly. Rob finishes up on Timeshift, gushes about Sonic Generations and questions the direction of L.A. Noire. Dan wraps things up with some cardcasting in Magic: The Gathering and goes in circles with F1 2011.

Being outside must play havoc with our feeble immune system and time keeping abilities. This late edition of the SaladCast sees us return to the hole from whence we came. But not without games!

Plenty of Battlefield 3 Beta impressions, more informed Gears of War 3 opinion and a liberal dose of Deus Ex progress round off this post's feature list.

Just for the record, all the things people say about beer and wine and mixing are totally true. All of them. Even the bits that contradict the other bits. Rob is living proof of this and is nursing a monster hangover. Don't mix. You will thank us one day.

We talk a lot of games and kinda just run out of material, and pad for a bit at the end. Fine if you're in a rush and need a slightly smaller salad morsel. There's some Bulletstorm and Kinect Sports from Rob, the usual Teraria, Minecraft and SpaceChem bit from Zeg and Dan finishes Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood at last.

Summer is definitely upon us as certain inevitabilities come to pass. The clouds roll in, Rob's phrase book rolls out, distracting noises become the norm.

Amidst all this we still manage to continue the Batman and SpaceChem coverage and GASP! Breaking news as Dan gets a Duke Nukem Forever hands on! Look at us being all professional and journalist like.

Also we rag on Brink a bit... which we haven’t played.

Deciphering the world of Pokémon on a cup of coffee in the Abode of Unfortunate Ends is a tough task. Among Zac's thoughts of Pokémon Black/White we can’t help but be confused how about such a world could possibly work with such ignorant occupants.

Rob continues following Dan's gaming suggestions and finally starts playing Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Dan hasn't played too much but we fill the gap with more Portal 2 talk (mostly spoiler free still), the usual Minecraft and TF2 entries with a surprise return for SpaceChem.