Last night, HBO gave us this new Game of Thrones trailer. Unlike the last trailer -- which I adored, by the way -- this one's got dialogue! And swordplay! And sexy naked ladies! And dudes hitting other dudes in the face! As a fan who's read the original series by George R. R. Martin, I'm ... concerned.

Don't get me wrong.

We always knew Sasha Frere-Jones would eventually produce something worthwhile; it was only a matter of time. This morning, the New Yorker's fancy-schmancy "Pop Critic" introduced the Twitterverse to the heretofore untapped musical potential of Google Translate: When using the program's voice function, sequences of strategically placed consonants result in a beatboxish effect.

YOU GUYS (hhhhhhh) I WANT YOU TO MEET SOMEONE (hhhhhh) SOMEONE VERY SPECIAL (hhhhhhh)

HER NAME IS JULIE AND WE HAVE BEEN DATING FOR TWO WEEKS (hhhhhhhh)

I THINK YOU GUYS WILL REALLY LIKE HER (hhhhhh)

Okay, so we only picked this one because it sounds hilarious ... but these two games are also worthy foes.

When it comes to casual, addictive games, Plants vs. Zombies is one of the best. Unlike your Farmvilles and your Bejeweleds, this game is not one that hardcore gamers are ashamed to admit they love.

We continue our run of difficult choices with this week's battle. We're calling on role-playing connoisseurs (and/or professors) for help with these two PC classics - both are immersive and addictive; neither, somewhat annoyingly, is currently available on Steam. Diablo II is kicking ass in our poll; Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, not so much.

The cartoonish faux-violence of pro wrestling and the cartoonish faux sexuality of burlesque make such an obvious combo, it's a cultural travesty that there aren't hundreds of traveling variety-show extravaganzas like LAs' Lucha Vavoom. In theory, such an all-wrestling, all-dancing spectacular would turn fans away at the door in every city they visited.

The Grand Theft Auto games are okay. But when Rockstar took the GTA formula, streamlined it a bit, and dressed it up in Old West garb, the result was one of my favorite games to come along in quite some time. Rockstar goes period again with its next big release, 2011's L.A. Noire, which is set in Los Angeles of the 1940s.

Bostonians! Power up your light sabers, because this Monday, actor Charles Ross is bringing his One-Man Star Wars Trilogy to the Coolidge Corner Theater for one night only. The show is a one-of-a-kind theatrical piece of intergalactic proportions, managing to distill all three films into a 75-minute extravaganza in which Ross plays all the characters, recreates the special effects, mans the ships, fights both sides of the battles, and even sings from John Williams's score.

Well, here's some news.

Kotaku is reporting that Viacom, parent company of MTV and a host of other media outlets, is planning to sell off Harmonix, the music-game-development house responsible for the original Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and the new Dance Central. It's a bit surprising given the apparent success of Dance Central, but then less surprising when you consider the disappointing sales of the last few iterations of the Rock Band franchise - even though Rock Band 3 is the best installment yet - and of music games in general (Guitar Hero's sales are also way down in the last few years).

Well, the same week that the Supreme Court heard a case about free speech in video games, we coincidentally selected a battle between two of the most violent, brutal, bloody action games of all time. Mortal Kombat was released amid a great deal of controversy over its portayal of beheadings and organ removals.

When we first caught wind of the soon to be premiered pop-culture monstrosity that is Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark (a.k.a. Wherein U2 Scores an Undeservedly Epic Musical Theater Adaptation of A Comic Book Franchise That America Might Not Be Tired of Just Yet), we were, well, intrigued. But now, we're just downright worried.

Ok, I have this rule for science fiction television: if your aliens/robots don't use contractions, I can't be bothered to watch your show. I have simply seen enough nonhumans asking "What is this love of which you speak?" to last me a lifetime.

That's why watching Caprica has been such a pleasure. The complexity of the characters, the sheer beauty of the cinematography and editing, the worldbuilding, the clever and evocative scores by Bear McCreary - it was a relief to watch something so well-made, especially after trying to prop my eyes open during shit like The Event.