We know that a lot of you who pre-ordered the game through Steam have already been playing around with the beta version of Team Fortress 2. We just wanted to put this message out to those of you who may still be on the fence. We've been enjoying the beta version of the game for a while now and, to put it mildly, we're extremely impressed.

Let us give you the quick version, if you're a complete TFC noob. Two teams, each competing for one objective. Each team is populated by very different classes of characters, each with their own special abilities. Team Fortress Classic is one of the all-time favorite multiplayer shooters, and as 1/3 (or 1/5, depending on your view) of the Orange Box, TF2 is looking to reinvent the game.

From from the beginning, we haven't quite understood Spider-Man: Friend or Foe. Is it a movie game? Is it standalone? Is it for kids, or can adults play too? We got in contact with producer Jamie Bafus to help us understand the rationale behind the new series.

A lot of people were confused when they saw Spider-Man: Friend or Foe announced so soon after Spider-Man 3. Can you tell us a little bit about the inception of the game, the vision for setting it apart from the movie games?

The previous movie-based Spider-Man games were rated "T" which left out the huge base of younger Spider-Man fans. With Spider-Man: Friend or Foe we set out to make a Spider-Man game that was not only suitable for kids but also fun for gamers of all ages.

When we were thinking of how to best create a family-friendly Spider-Man game, we liked the idea of combining all three movies together in one game, but we also had a concept for a team-up game which would have made it really difficult to follow the Spider-Man movie plots. So, we decided to pay homage to the movies in, what we think, are really fun ways and create something unique with the team-up aspect that we feel fans of all ages will want to play.

See, these are the weeks that picking the top release is easy. The Orange Box looks to be one of the best games of the year, but, more importantly, it looks to be one of the best gaming values. And we're all about the value here on Joystiq. We'd clip coupons, if our hands weren't already horribly misshapen and arthritis-ridden from decades of clipping coupons. Yeah ... we're pretty hardcore. PS3 is getting an interesting release too, with Folklore. Check out all the releases after the break.

Wow, did we ever miss you guys last weekend. It was crazy, there was this whole convoluted series of events that led to us having no Rodeo. But you know what? That's the past. This is today. And there are podcasts to listen to with our earholes.

Robotronic Dynomite - Thanks to Hot Topic, we've been avoiding any two words in which the second one is "Dynamite" for fear that we'd run into a sad bastard wearing a "Vote For Pedro" T-shirt. But, we imagined that the coast was probably clear by now, and we were pleased with what we found. The host of this podcast describes himself as "freshly mustachioed," and it's hard to go wrong with that. The content's about what you'd expect, though the movie section is a nice touch. But it's all presented by a group of very likable guys, which, in the end, is the most important thing anyway, right?

Joystiq Podcast - Have you had the opportunity to see three grown men made to be complete fools on their own show in the middle of said show? If not, this is your opportunity, as the Bungie news rips reality asunder mid-cast. It's a powerful experience that, in the end, we hope will bring us closer together.

One of the most interesting, and certainly most unique video games coming to the PlayStation 3 this year is Sony and SCE Studios Japan's Eye of Judgment, which combines elements of a physical collectible card game with that of a traditional video game for an experience that is, if anything, wholly its own.

While the influence of card games like Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon has long been felt in video games, Eye of Judgment represents the first time to our recollection that the marriage of the two mediums has evolved beyond gameplay to take on a more literal meaning. With real cards you hold in your hand, and a playing mat unfolded on the table, it's entirely possible to play Eye of Judgment with no PS3 involvement whatsoever, and even have a good deal of fun doing so. However, as the game comes bundled with the PS3's new PlayStation Eye camera, it seems a shame to leave such shiny new hardware ignored, so when the game showed up at Joystiq proper, we were inclined to put the new device through the wringer.

Each week Dennis McCauley contributes The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:

Once again, Miami attorney Jack Thompson is attempting to have a video game -- Halo 3 this time -- declared a public nuisance. He failed badly in such an attempt in 2006 with Rockstar's Bully.

Under Florida law the term "public nuisance" is generally applied to the likes of brothels and illegal gambling operations, things which, as the law states:

"...tend to annoy the community, injure the health of the citizens in general, or corrupt the public morals..."

It's difficult to imagine anyone but Thompson trying to shoehorn a video game into that legal definition. But this isn't really about public nuisances, or even Halo 3.

It's video game legislation -- through the backdoor.

Don't even act like the Podcast Rodeo staff is upset that they didn't get to go to Tokyo Game Show, cause they're not. My crew of 8-eared carnival freaks don't even have time for globe-trotting, what with all the podcast listening that they have to do. ... Sniff.

The Wiire: We think The Wiire serves as a really good example of what a fancast should be. Instead of just covering the Wii and Wii-related items, the crew covers all of video games from a Wii fan's point of view. Of course, Wii business is discussed, including Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Virtual Console releases. Also, BioShock is discussed.

1UP Yours: Not only is this week's 1UP Yours brought to you from Tokyo, they also add old favorite John Riccardi and Kojima producer Ryan Payton. So what you're going to get is 2 1/2 hours of Tokyo impressions from a lot of different perspectives. It also sounds like a few members of the crew found a stray bottle of sake ... or eight. Of course, no matter what time zone it is, would it be 1UP Yours without drinking?

Surprisingly the line for Metal Gear Online was relatively short, even for a press day, so we took advantage and got our hands on the upcoming online stealth shooter. Twelve PS3s were set up so that a constant rotation of players could fight together, six to a team. As each match began the next set of players were sent to a mysterious back room. Finally it was our turn and we could discover what was going on back there.

The door opened onto a tiny room filled with chairs, a projector and a Japanese woman with a pointer who sternly (though she was talking in Japanese so we can't be sure) gave us our briefing. Undoubtedly hilarious if you understand Japanese, we were sadly left staring at the lady's beret. We did, however, learn the basic controls via the enthusiastic pointing at the handy images that were being projected onto the wall. These will be familiar to anyone who's ever played a Metal Gear Solid game before. After a short talk on the skill system and an overview of the map we were sent out to fight.

It occurred to me that if I'm doing the Podcast Rodeo every Sunday, I should probably be making some football predictions based on my deep knowledge of the gridiron. So, what better time to start than now? Here's this week's football prediction:

So, you want a fancy new theme on your PSP-2000? Well, who can blame you? You've had the thing for all of a week now, it's time for a change. So let's get started!

Upgrade!: First things first, you're going to want to update to the 3.70 PSP Firmware. Just go all the way to the left in that XMB menu and hit "Network Update." (Tip: Make sure your PSP is able to connect to the internet, otherwise this will go poorly.) Follow the instructions to update your firmware.

To mark the Dreamcast's eighth birthday, we were going to solely feature podcasts that are Dreamcast-centric. Surprising no one, we came up empty. We hope that you can still enjoy this week's offering despite its lack of colorful swirls.

EGM Live: With little fanfare, EGM Live has gone from a little brother of 1UP Yours to a really entertaining listen in its own right. Instead of a long show, they've switched to a more broken up format, with each episode containing a series of features. Just this week, for example, you'll hear Factor 5 defending Lair from critics and hear from a couple of moms who Nintendo is targeting to spread the Wii message for them.

Video Game Jocks: Arrgh! We're angry at the VGJs. The idea of using Kanye West's new song "Stronger" as an intro is so good that we wish we'd thought of it. Ah well, we're going to rise above and recommend that you go listen to all the talk of Halo, Halloween and (war)Hawk that you can handle.

With the new PSP-2000 available in the wild, we decided to answer a few more questions in this final iteration of our ongoing series. Want to know what new background colors are in firmware 3.60? Want to see the TV out function in action? Check out this video overview we made, then check more questions after the cut.

OK, it's official (and we never thought we'd say this): We're sick of BioShock. No, not the game, that's still (insert your superlative here), we're tired of listening to people talk about it endlessly on every podcast. We're officially putting the kibosh on it. Please spread the word to the rest of the internet.

The GameSpy Debriefings: Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning's Creative Director Paul Barnett has just been promoted to one of our favorite people. This interview with him is priceless. For instance, we wish we could get his spiel about why video games are like shampoo tattooed on our arm. Also, his way of setting MMOs apart as hobbies rather than games is a real eye-opener. If you listen to one podcast this week, make it the Joystiq Podcast. If you listen to two, it must be this. Also ... BioShock is discussed.

PC Gamer Podcast: We often will feature podcasts when they're having handicapped episode. Maybe half the team is absent, maybe they're pressed for time, but we find that a mixed-up show can often just ooze freshness. This week's PC Gamer Podcast, with a crew of "second-stringers" is a lot of fun, especially their conversation about the death of the internet. Also ... BioShock is discussed.