Between breaks for holidays and vacations, a brief return with notes on Patton Oswalt in ‘Big Fan’, ‘The State’ on DVD, Chan-wook Park’s ‘Thirst’, New Flaming Lips, and ‘Modern Warfare 2′ (with goggles?).

‘Daybreakers’ makes vampires badass again; ‘Bored to Death’ brings a new gumshoe to HBO; and ‘Trine’ brings beauty to puzzle-platforming while leaving story in the dark.

Brian and Spencer discuss Up and the pros and cons of 3D, InFamous on PS3, Punch Out! on Wii, albums by Grizzly Bear and The Rural Alberta Advantage, plus Friday Night Lights and the book House of Cards with bonus guest, James. And fart jokes.

Tired of the same old games? Here are the top 7 sequels shown at this year’s E3, and why it may be worth revisiting them instead of just wishing their creators would move on.

Far Cry 2 is an exceptional game buried beneath a pile of inconveniences. Burnout Paradise is a decent game condensed down to the purest, most concentrated fun.

What makes this downloadable ‘Grand Theft Auto’ a big step forward for the series, and what they can learn from an unlikely source: ‘The Simpsons’.

Beloved author Dave Eggers tries his hand at two screenplays, the Game Developers’ Choice Awards highlight creators’ favorites, and possibly the first truly great Batman game in ‘Arkham Asylum’.

Flower achieves more than just thumbs up for ‘different’ and ‘beautiful’. It builds on fundamental ideas that bring a refreshing perspective to game design.

On paper there’s a good case for calling it the best game of 2008. But for all the impressive things built into ‘Fallout 3′, what’s left out prevents it from being as satisfying as its potential.

Our panel of two sat down for an epic virtual discussion of our absolute favorite things of the year, in every category we could think of, and why each one made the list.