When should a game review be a critique? When should it be a product review? Always, never, some of the times? These questions and many more are answered in this week's episode. We also talk about NBA2K12, Batman, Professor Layton, Dark Souls and the joy of pushing the limits with Michael Phelps.

Thanks for listening and don't forget to send all podcast feedback to wabner@gameshark.com.

No Bill this week, but we are joined by Danielle's girlfriend, the lovely Teresa Tuan. What the hell, right? It's just Todd, Danielle and Brandon for the first section where we talk NBA2K12, Batman: Arkham City and Professor Layton and the Last Specter. Then Teresa joins us as we talk about the joys of emergent gameplay. Bill will return from his vacation utopia next week, so don't worry.

Thanks for listening and don't forget to send all podcast feedback to wabner@gameshark.com.

Danielle may not be here, but we're not about to let that spoil our fun. Bill, Todd and Brandon talk about NBA2K12, Spider-Man: Edge of Time, Solatorobo: Red the Hunter and Dark Souls before answering the age old question of how much game is too much?

Thanks for listening and don't forget to send all podcast feedback to wabner@gameshark.com.

Dad's away so the kids will play! Todd and Bill are not around leaving Danielle and Brandon to mind the shop. They talk about Gears of War 3, X-Men: Destiny and Rochard before taking the IGeNerator for a spin and coming up with games journalism's hottest stories.

Don't worry, the usual crew should be back next week to put an end to such rampant silliness.

When is it ok to make gameplay sacrifices to use a licensed property well and when must the license take a back seat? These questions and many more are tackled in this week's hard hitting episode of Jumping the Shark. Danielle may be gone but the boys manage to talk about Dragon Age 2 - Legacy DLC, FIFA '12, Witcher 1, Game of Thrones RTS (sort of), King of Tokyo/Survive boardgames, X-Men Destiny, Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2, and Gears of War III.

Thanks for listening and don't forget to send all podcast feedback to wabner@gameshark.com.