RickH
2881
Time is just as much a currency as cash. I hate wasting both.
Seriously?
You’re welcome to show up and wonder why we’re all posting about our impressions, good and bad, of gaming podcasts in a thread titled “Gaming Podcast Discussion,” but I don’t think you’re ever going to get it. The whole point of the thread is to, ya know, discuss podcasts, but you seem to think any discussion of how one of us doesn’t like a particular host or a particular podcast means we’re taking it “too seriously”.
JonRowe
2884
Well, often times it isn’t the fact that they don’t like a game that I like, it is how they go about expressing their opinion. There have been plenty of podcasts I have listened to in the past where the person talking basically would just be plain wrong factually, and go on some tirade about how a particular game is stupid when they obviously don’t know the first thing about it. (I am looking at you Rebel FM and Visiting the Village)
i.e. being a douchebag.
Yeah, the starting with a basic misunderstanding, and then tearing into that personal fabrication for what would be far too long even if it had been true, is unusually common to podcasts. Very often right at the beginning, too, and regarding some hot issue has already roared across the internet and back, with its correction in tow.
Usually new guys who are suffering both confidence and content … Quickest path from added to removed.
I think it’s fair not to listen to a podcast because you don’t really like how someone formulates their opinions. There are some game reviewers–Tom Chick, for example–with whom I frequently disagree, but whose writing I still very much enjoy, because I think they have interesting, well-founded thought processes.
Then there are people whose opinions seem to be derived haphazardly, in ways that are not illuminating or interesting. There are people who like the same games I like, or who dislike the same games I dislike, but whose thought process I don’t find particularly interesting or noteworthy. I don’t think there’s anything unfair about using that as a filter.
One of my favorite podcasts is Three Moves Ahead, even though I hardly even play any of the games they talk about, because I find the things they have to say about those games to be fascinating and well-formed. There are many podcasts I’ve tried to listen to, but have been unable to continue listening to, because the opinions and experiences are rarely expanded beyond “It was awesome” or “It just wasn’t good.”
I don’t mean to imply I’ve never fallen into that latter category on Idle Thumbs! I’m sure I have done so plenty of times. And if so, it would be a fair criticism. I have tried to be conscious of it, and I think we’ve settled into a good groove on balance.
But in a thread that is explicitly about “podcast discussion,” I think discussing the good and the bad of podcasts is precisely what one should expect.
You should totally do a guest appearance on three moves ahead Chris. I’d love to hear you and Tom Chick debate Empire Total War. Naturally, it would be important for Bruce Geryk to be there to rain on everyone’s parade and reference twenty year old board games.
tromik
2888
That was what I was trying to get across about the Bombcast. I guess I missed zengonzo’s constant dislike for the show. That said, if you’re a fan of the majority of their opinions, and you like what they’re doing, I think it’s completely irrational to write the show off because of a single “review” of a game made by one of the hosts.
Funny that you mention that. I’ve been doing a lot of driving lately, so I decided to start listening to Three Move Ahead from the beginning, even though I’m not a strategy gamer at all any longer. They are so good at what they do I ended up loading Civ4, Imperialism 2, and playing some EndWar. They’ve almost reprogrammed my brain.
This seems like a good place to mention probably my favorite Idle Thumbs moment ever - on one of the last shows of the 1.0 version of Idle Thumbs, Jake started out by saying something to the effect of “maybe I could just talk about video games the way I usually do. I don’t play video games and I hate them.” Even if that was an accurate statement, I would continue to listen to Idle Thumbs because Jake (and company) are consistently entertaining and have interesting things to say about games, even games that I don’t like or will never play.
By way of contrast, I’ve stopped listening to any of the 1up podcasts, even though they often talk about games I do like, because they’ve become overlong previews. I don’t like previews. I’m not going to listen to a show that often starts with 1.5 hours of talk about games that I’m interested in playing that aren’t out yet when that talk is all about the mechanics of the game.
So, in summary, I would listen to a podcast that pooped all over Crackdown if it did so in an entertaining and informative way.
If I could acquire Remo in a trade, I would.
Remo for Murdoch, Zacny and a Brian Reynolds game to named later.
(And thanks for the kind words, Chris. I love being told nice things.)
Troy
Fortunately absolutely no one has done that.
Completely agree with this sentiment. My most frequent example of this is Retronauts. I’ve not played a lot of the games they talk about, even though I’m almost 29 and am old to have been around for most of them. I never owned a 16 bit system (went from NES to N64, playing PC only in the interim). I’m also unlikely to ever play most of the games they talk about. But I love hearing their memories of the games and the social/historical context they came out in. I love hearing them compare the games to their contemporaries as well as modern takes on what they started.
Three Moves Ahead is a good example for me as well. I’m simply too dumb and have too short of an attention span to play most of the stuff they talk about. But man I loved hearing the Solium Infernum talk!
tromik
2893
No, sorry, I just trying to again point out why I wrote that originally based on my misunderstanding.
JonRowe
2894
My thoughts exactly on why I listen to both of those casts.
Possibly the most entertaining podcast episode evah.
http://bitmob.com/articles/mobcast-episode-43
The two guests they had were awesome.
Does Bitmob offer a way I can just look for Mobcast episodes? I only DL them if Crispin Boyer or Robert Ashley are on. Having to hear Raychul Moore’s voice before I realize that internet dreamboat Crispin Boyer won’t be on this episode is kind of a crushing defeat.
Vuh? You want to…check the description field in the XML to find Boyer or Ashley? It’s theoretically possible - maybe if you whisper a bunch of sweet nothings to Arogan he might be able to add it to his podcatcher if it’s not there already. I mean, I also could hack up the source code and see if it’s implementable, but that would be doing my day job during my off hours, and that makes me feel dirty. Does the Bitmob XML feed list the contributors to the podcast under a reliable segment?
Looking at the rss feed of the podcast in google reader I can see the names of the people appearing for every podcast, in fact that’s usually how I decide to download it or not . Have to say Crispin Boyer or Robert Ashley are not regulars haven’t appear for a long time. Dan Shoe, Aron Thomas and Demian are the usual hosts.
I didn’t realize Botmob had a podcast. I’ll have to check that out. I always liked when Hsu was on the 1up podcasts. I loved when Crispin Boyer was on! The bonus will be not having to hear Jen Tsao to hear either of the other two guys.
Well, they have a podcast, but their guests are somewhat irregular. Hsu is on a lot of them and Crispin shows up for, like, maybe five or six. I guess he’s too busy being some kind of rad surfer guy to do too many shows. He’s probably up to something gnarly and/or bodacious right now. They can be…a little dry sometimes, but their pitch is different (four people, each brings a topic, go) and they’re interesting often enough for me to want to check in and I keep on in the hopes that one day they’ll have Seanbaby on again.
