Video Game Hangover’s 100th episode is just around the corner. It’s been an incredible ride and a lot of fun getting to this point, but we wouldn’t still be podcasting every week if it wasn’t for you–our listeners! We’ve got big plans for episode 100, but we’re going to need some help from you.

Specifically, one of you.

That’s right: We want to bring you, dear VGH listener, onto episode 100 so you can chat with us about what you’ve been playing in the Hangover, discuss a gaming topic of your choosing, get in a Last Call shout-out, and generally be a part of the mayhem that goes into producing a VGH episode. (Don’t worry, we’ll take care of all the paperwork.)

Are you excited yet? Great! Here’s all you have to do for your chance to sit in the guest host chair:

- Own a computer microphone or headset. It’ll be a short show if you can’t talk to us!
- Be available to record via Skype on either Saturday, June 1st or Sunday, June 2nd.
- Send us a 60-second (or shorter) message, via audioboo.fm/vghangover or 682-999-VGH1*, describing your topic and why you should guest host. Don’t forget to mention some way for us to reach you!

That’s it! We’ll pick a guest host by Thursday, May 23rd and contact you to get everything ready for you to come on the show. All you need to do now is give us a call! (Please leave your 60-second message by the end of Monday, May 20th, so we have time to listen to them!)

*Since phone calls usually don’t sound great, we’d prefer you leave us a message via Audioboo, but it’s up to you!

Update: We’ve updated the post to answer some common questions. To save you the trouble of reading the post again, here they are:

Q: What day will the recording take place?
A: We’ll record either on Saturday, June 1st or Sunday, June 2nd, depending on when you’re available. We’ll contact you about which day (and what time) you prefer.

Q: How long do I have to send in my recording?
A: To ensure we have enough time to listen to and compare everyone’s recordings, please send yours by the end of the day on Monday, May 20th.

If you have any other questions, leave us a comment below, or hit us up on Twitter @vghangover.

As we covered in Episode 90, Rock Band may be over, but the massive music libraries we’ve built over the last six years are here to stay. I thought I’d share a list of my favorite songs to play–which was actually turned out to be quite difficult since my original PS3 died late last year and I still haven’t gotten around to redownloading all my songs onto the new one. But anyway, these are some of my personal picks for whenever I feel like picking up that plastic guitar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwzzYA5oUOE

“Pressure Cooker” – Magnus “SoulEye” Pålsson

OK, this is kind of a silly start and it might not even be one of my favorites to play (for reasons that become obvious once you watch the video), but I love that the Rock Band Network made it possible for a bunch of VVVVVV songs into the game.

“Here Comes Your Man” – Pixies

It’s funny seeing this song broken down into Rock Band tracks because you realize how simple and repetetive it is. But dude, it’s the Pixies! Even the solo lies on the easy side of things, but it’s still really satisfying to play. (Fun fact: If you’re playing the entire Doolittle album, you’re exactly 1/3 through after this one.)

“There’s No Other Way” – Blur

A classic Blur song from their first album! Sadly, it’s one of their only songs available for Rock Band, but it’s a good one. The opening guitar riff is extremely technical but overall it’s a lot of fun, with some great hammer-on/pull-off action. Don’t miss the signature Blur lead-in to the solo.

“Australia” – The Shins

The beginning is deceptively simple but once the song starts going, it’s tons of fun. The finger work has enough variety that it never really feels repetetive… except for the ending, but at that point, your fret hand may be in need of a break anyway.

“Sea and Sand” – The Who

There’s only one song from Quadrophenia on Rock Band, but Harmonix made the right choice. The main sections require some pretty dextrous fretwork (admittedly, not my favorite part of this song), but then you’re rewarded by getting to jam out some classic Who chords. And then there’s the closing solo! It’s probably my favorite solo in the whole game. Someday, I’ll be able to 100% it. Someday.

Do you have a go-to song or playlist, or are there any songs you always wanted to play but they never made it into the game? (Two words: Tomoyasu Hotei.) Let us know in the comments!

Runner2 is out this week and we’re excited! We’re so excited, in fact, that we’re giving away some BIT.TRIP prizes to get you hyped up for the new game.

Here’s what you can win:

- a copy of BIT.TRIP Saga for 3DS*
- the original BIT.TRIP Runner on Steam
- Grand Prize: The BIT.TRIP Lovers’ Bundle (includes Runner2, Runner2 soundtrack, and all six BIT.TRIP soundtracks)

All you have to do to enter is follow us on Twitter and then retweet the following:

RT and follow @VGHangover to win the brand new Runner2 and other BIT.TRIP prizes! #iamonlyaman http://j.mp/YPXlVK

The contest will run until 5:00 PM Pacific on Monday, February 25, and we’ll randomly choose a winner for each prize that evening. Good luck to all who enter!

*Since this is a physical copy of the game, you need to have a mailing address in North America to be eligible for this prize.

It may already be February, but 2012 lives on thanks to my iPod filled with last year’s best game soundtracks. Put on some headphones and listen to a quick sampling of ten of my favorites below.

“Rocket Zero” – Rhythm Heaven Fever by Tsunku

Rhythm Heaven‘s extensive soundtrack features tons of styles and variety, making it tough to narrow it down to one favorite. One song never fails to put a grin on my face, though: the inspirational march of “Rocket Zero,” one of the only songs I’ve heard to prominently feature bowling pins.

“Dark Pit’s Theme” – Kid Icarus: Uprising by Motoi Sakuraba/Yasunori Mitsuda

Uprising‘s soundtrack boasts an all-star cast of composers, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since Super Smash Bros. Brawl. (Which also happened to be developed by the Sora team… hmm.) The standout, though, is the Spanish guitar theme that accompanies your nemesis, Dark Pit.

“Emmett’s Theme” – Starhawk by Christopher Lennertz

Christopher Lennertz makes Starhawk‘s futuristic battles sound sophisticated and still dangerous and frontier-sy by combining Warhawk‘s orchestral flair with some twangy electric guitar.

“Civil (Explore)” – FTL: Faster Than Light by Ben Prunty

If you ask me, the three-chord motif in the middle of this track is the most worthy of being considered FTL‘s main theme. It’s clean, minimal, and—with a little imagination—wouldn’t sound out of place over the intercom of some Hollywood starship.

“Main Plaza” – Nintendo Land by Hajime Wakai/Ryo Nagamatsu

Nintendo Land contains a huge assortment of classic Nintendo remixes, but it’s the main plaza theme that steals the show (and sticks in your head hours after you’ve put down the gamepad).

“Miami Disco” – Hotline Miami by Perturbator

If most of Hotline Miami‘s soundtrack feels like an uncomfortable drug trip, “Miami Disco” is like a splash of cold water on the face. (Then you go immediately back to mass murdering, but at least now you’re lucid.)

“Neon Jungle” – Double Dragon Neon by Jake Kaufman

The best part of Double Dragon Neon‘s 80s throwback is how deftly it toes the line between irony and authenticity. I love this song because it knows how cheesy it is… or does it?

Tokyo Jungle soundtrack by TaQ

If the sight of feral pomeranians rampaging through post-apocalyptic Tokyo wasn’t insane enough already, how about some house music? Somehow it’s just crazy enough to work.

“Her Reputation Precedes Her” – Crimson Shroud by Hitoshi Sakimoto

In Yasumi Matsuno’s latest, it feels like you’re either fighting a minotaur or taking a moment to reminisce. This song captures the spirit of the latter superbly. (If you’d prefer the former, try this.)

Did you end up with any of these stuck in your head last year? Let us know your favorite 2012 game music in the comments, and check back for Paul’s selections later this week!

#5: Soulcalibur V

It’s been an auspicious year for fighting games–can you imagine the reaction just a few years ago if someone predicted that in one year, we’d see new iterations of nearly every major fighting franchise? That’s exactly what happened in 2012, and I’ve got to give credit to the latest in my favorite fighting series: Soulcalibur. Despite some skepticism over new gameplay mechanics and a dramatically different character roster, SCV emerged as one of the series’ strongest entries and even appeared to gain back some respect from the arcade circuit. Best of all: No Star Wars characters in sight.

#4: Borderlands 2

I preordered Borderlands 2 weeks in advance, figuring I knew exactly what I’d be getting–thousands of guns, plus hordes of zany enemies to shoot with said guns. That’s Borderlands in a nutshell, and I would have been fine with just that, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much effort developer Gearbox spent improving on nearly every aspect of the original game. They took the wafer-thin storyline of the original and layered on a hilarious and, at times, emotional, narrative. New environments like ice floes and acid-drenched caves provided refreshing new stages for many a shootout. And the bazillion guns are back with more unique flavor and appeal than I ever expected. Add in tons of sidequests and a season pass’s worth of downloadable missions and Borderlands 2 might even fulfill my FPS fix through 2013.

#3: Crimson Shroud

Yasumi Matsuno’s latest might not be quite as sprawling as his usual fare, but that’s why it’s so fascinating. Essentially a short form RPG, Crimson Shroud quickly sweeps the player up with its mysterious, albeit minimal, cast and setting, a solid combat system that you can tweak by rolling multi-sided dice, and a unique tabletop aesthetic. It hits all the usual Matsuno notes: a storyline filled with ancient intrigue, equipment tinkering, and one of the finest scores to come out of Hitoshi Sakimoto’s Basiscape group in some time. It’s a bit short at six or seven hours for the first playthrough (There’s a New Game+ mode available.), but this way it mercifully avoids the common RPG pitfall of stumbling on far longer than it needs. The mechanics, the presentation, and even the ending are far gutsier than a typical, 40+ hour RPG could get away with, and it’s this sensibility that has me hoping other genre veterans might follow their next epic with a Crimson Shroud of their own.

#2: FTL: Faster Than Light

It looks harmless and unassuming at a glance–tiny, 2D crewmembers patrolling a spaceship, manning the various systems, firing the occasional burst laser or operating a teleporter here and there–but scored for its ruthlessness, FTL is second only to venting an airlock into space while an enemy boarding party’s still in it. It’s ruthless in the way it sinks its claws into you, egging you into navigating just one more system, and ruthless in that your mission can go bad very quickly if you’re not captaining your ship to the utmost. It’s hard not to feel crushed when you see your trusty ship come apart at the seams after one unlucky missile hit too many, but it’s harder still not to immediately jump into a fresh, new cruiser, vowing to do better this time.

#1: Rhythm Heaven / Rhythm Heaven Fever

It’s a strange time for gaming. As developers strives towards experiences featuring darker, more Oscar-worthy plots and Tough Moral Decisions for the player to make, the whimsical Rhythm Heaven series reminded me of all I need games to be: fun! I’ve always had a thing for music games that featured note charts or similar methods of abstracting popular songs into something playable, but Rhythm Heaven sets off in its own direction by teaching the player cues so that they can intuitively play along with the music–almost like playing an instrument. Before you know it, you’re in the groove, tapping and flicking along with the rhythm, without even having to look at the screen. Just like performing in a band, it’s gleeful, emotional, and a triumphant example of what games can do.

I only began playing the DS Rhythm Heaven last January, weeks before Rhythm Heaven Fever’s release on the Wii. After spending countless hours with each version, I’m proud to name the series my favorite gaming experience of 2012.

Honorable Mention

(in no particular order)

DJMAX Technika Tune – The touch-based branching of my favorite PSP music series lands on the Vita. While I still prefer pushing physical buttons, Technika‘s different style of gameplay is still hours and hours of frantic fun–often more than I plan for.

Journey – The most genre-defying game this year. Not satisfied with just flipping multiplayer conventions upside-down, it rewards patience and compassion with unexpected emotions for an unforgettable experience.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy – I can’t believe it took so long for this to happen: Decades of classic Final Fantasy songs combine with frantic stylus action to make a pretty exceptional rhythm game. Musically inclined fans of the series can’t go wrong.

Tokyo Jungle – A post-apocalyptic roguelike starring feral house pets and plenty of insane Japanese humor. Challenging but also silly fun, plain and simple.

Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward – A worthy follow-up to 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors. It has some of, if not the best puzzles I’ve encountered in a game–I actually enjoyed having to sketch out possible solutions on paper.

Special “Came Out in 2011″ Prize

Battlefield 3 – Yes, BF3 already placed in my 2011 top 5. But the way DICE has supported the game throughout 2012 via patches, quality expansion packs, and community involvement deserves another round of recognition.

Has it been two years already? We’re ending 2012 on a high note (or maybe just a tipsy one) with our second annual Hungover Hangover call-in show. (Two drink minimum!) We want to hear your thoughts and questions and we’ll be reading and responding to everyone throughout this special episode, gaming-related or not. Does Paul have any secret Mass Effect-themed dessert recipes? How many small dogs can Randy lift at once? We’ll answer (almost) anything!

There are a few ways to submit your question or comment. If you want to be played on the air, leave us a Google Voice message by calling* 682-999-VGH1 (682-999-8441). Or, use your laptop mic, headset or smartphone and send us an Audioboo for free! If you don’t need to be heard, you can always tweet us (@vghangover), send an email to contact@vghangover.com, or just leave your questions in the comments below.

Just be sure to send your message in by Saturday, December 15 to ensure we receive it in time.

It’s been an amazing second year of VGH and we wouldn’t still be here if it wasn’t for you, our listeners! We can’t wait to hear from you!

*Long distance charges may apply.

In case you missed our Twitter announcement yesterday (you’re following us on Twitter, right?), we won’t be publishing an episode this week due to some problems we ran into during recording. Randy may have survived Hurricane Sandy, but it’s taken a special level of coaxing to get Paul’s Internet to cooperate lately and this week it just wasn’t having it. It should be fixed soon, though, so we’ll be back on the air next Thursday.

In the meantime, what are you guys playing this weekend? I’m hoping to put a few more hours into either Virtue’s Last Reward (it’s really good) or Assassin’s Creed III (it’s really… something). Also, Rockstar just dropped a ton of new Grand Theft Auto V info, including the revelation the game will have three protagonists. Does that make you three times as excited for the game’s release this Spring? Let us know in the comments!

LittleBigPlanet is (officially) out for the PlayStation Vita this week, and we want to help you get started creating and playing your own custom levels by giving you a copy!

You can earn entries to the giveaway by completing steps in the widget below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Also, you can earn 2 additional entries just by leaving a comment on this post telling us your favorite custom level from any version of LittleBigPlanet. Don’t have one? Just tell us what custom LittleBigPlanet level you want to see or build! (One comment per person will earn extra entries.)

The contest will run until 12:01 AM Pacific on Monday, October 1, and we’ll contact the winner later that day. Good luck to all who enter!

Every weekend, the VGH crew answers a few follow-up questions from that week’s episode, then turns the floor over to you! This is VGHomework.

This week’s episode was all about the Mars lander and space games–the definition of which was up for debate. That, and we had some trouble agreeing on what a space marine actually is. You might say our definitions were a bit nebulous.

Q: What’s your favorite game that’s set in outer space?

Paul: (@spaulsandhu): I know on the show I mentioned Wing Commander II as my favourite space game but clearly I was coerced into not talking about Mass Effect.

Mass Effect is hands down my favourite space game. The first one I mean. I love the sequels but they are more of in the vein of a space marine action rpg, and less of what I want to see in a proper “space game”. The first Mass Effect has a certain charm about it that can only come with an introduction to a new series. The game bombards you with details about the characters, aliens, interstellar politics and what have you. I ate that stuff up and it might be why the first entry of the series is my overall favourite (but not by much).

All of my life I have been interested in space exploration and the grander questions surrounding the origins of the universe so much so that if it weren’t for my supreme laziness I would have considered astronomy a career path.

Mass Effect allows me to partially live out some long lingering childhood fantasies (but with giant guns) so it is always gonna be a special title for me.

Randy (@randy_wrecked): My favorite space game? Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time. Not only do you get awesome platforming, insane weapons, and head-scratching time puzzles but you also get to fly a spaceship around the galaxy, visit strange alien worlds and BLOW SHIT UP. Stick that in your holodeck, D.J.

D.J. (@metaly): My favorite space game is definitely Modern Warfare 2. Remember that part where you play as an astronaut? I thought I was in Star Trek!

But seriously–Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters, no contest. Few games had the depth and breadth that Toys for Bob’s PC classic did. As the captain of an prototype starship from a remote human colony, you return to Earth only to find out that Earth and her allies lost the war in the original Star Control, and you spend the rest of the game discovering what happened in the years since the war ended, all the while building up a new alliance to fight back. The sprawling campaign has hundreds of planets, a huge cast of memorable (and often hilarious) aliens, and a killer battle mode that can be played separately against a friend.

A version of the game’s code was released as the open source The Ur-Quan Masters and as a result you can play it on a whole host of systems, although I haven’t been brave enough to try it on my PSP yet.

What’s your own #1 space game? Is Commander Shepard your favorite space marine on the Citadel? And just how would you make a game out of the Curiosity lander? (Please, somebody make one before Zynga does.) Tell us your ideas in the comments!

Confession: We straight up forgot to check in with our backlog progress last episode. We’re really embarrassed! Almost as embarrassed as we are to admit that last week was the slowest backlog week in six weeks running. I lost some of the momentum coming off Mega Man and was lured away by Modern Warfare 3. Paul still hates first-person shooters. And Randy… we heard he was too busy tracking down his new laptop, bounty-hunter style.

Has the crew hit bottom? I don’t want to give anything away, but tune in to this week’s episode for some shocking revelations in the most inflammatory installment of Backlog Attack yet!