You've probably noticed how quiet things have become here at PTB in the past month, and if you're read my work for long enough, you've probably guessed that I'm once again having some health issues that have kept me away from writing.  After a year of remission, my Crohn's Disease has come roaring back with a vengeance which has kept me from being able to do much else besides sleep in my free time.  I have new medication that is keeping me stable and am awaiting more new medicine beyond that, but in the meantime, I'm focusing more on recovery and rest than I am on video games.  Blake Grundman and I are still trying to record and release new episodes of the Power Button podcast, and I have to thank him for helping me record the show in a way that allows me to only spend a few minutes preparing the final edit of each episode rather than the usual two hours I spend on the show each week.  Stick with me, folks.  I will be back.

With all the pressure and buzz pushing players to preorder the latest new video games sight unseen, how does one know when it's safe to put down money on an unproven product?  Who do you trust to release a solid, fun, working game?  On this episode of the Power Button podcast, Blake Grundman and I discuss the recent bad taste left in the collective mouth of Kickstarter backers after Keiji Inafune asks for new seed money for another game before his last crowdfunded project, Mighty No. 9, is finished.  That leads into a spirited back and forth regarding which developers and publishers have earned our trust over the years.  Hubba hubba hubba!  Download this week's episode directly from PTB, listen with the player below, find us on Stitcher, subscribe via iTunes, toss this RSS feed into your podcast aggregation software of choice, and be sure to catch up on past episodes if you're joining us late. Remember that you can reach us via , you can leave a message on the Power Button hotline by calling (720) 722-2781, and you can even follow us on Twitter at @PressTheButtons and @GrundyTheMan, or for just podcast updates, @ThePowerButton.