Giant Bomb Bomb-All

I missed Austin because he tried really hard to challenge the crew to think more deeply about the content they were consuming, even to an academic level. It added some weight to help balance their silly banter.

I tried following Austin over to Waypoint but then it got way too heady for me. The balance that the Beastcast had really was something special.

jamos5 wrote:

I missed Austin because he tried really hard to challenge the crew to think more deeply about the content they were consuming, even to an academic level. It added some weight to help balance their silly banter.

I tried following Austin over to Waypoint but then it got way too heady for me. The balance that the Beastcast had really was something special.

This is me as well. I loved what Waypoint is/was doing but it got exhausting.

One thing with Giant Bomb is that it's aged and is no longer a scrappy young start-up. That's a healthy thing. Start-ups drain everyone involved. I like the variety of Giant Bomb and their willingness to try out different ideas. I wish they would put more effort into researching a game a little bit before recording the Quick Look. The missing on-screen prompts, release dates, prices, developer history, etc. is all pretty basic stuff that they continue to ignore.

My main complaint, and I'm a weirdo who watches and listens to everything Giant Bomb produces, is that they lack variety in genre tastes. There are 9 editorial/production on staff (not including Rorie) and there's such a heavy focus on platformers, first person shooters, and fighting games. Austin had a deep love of PC RPGs and indifference to Nintendo products (okay this just mimics my own feelings) while Ben pretty much just likes the games Jeff likes with some anime thrown in. Abby brings a good mix and a new perspective. I'd really like to see more than Vinny's confused misrememberings and Rorie's indifference whenever a PC RPG pops up.

Selfishly, I'd love to have members of the crew play through something like Divinity: OS or one of the other PC RPGs that let you DM.

I miss East's adventure game playthrough's. I couldn't be any more indifferent to Dan's various N64 game playthrough's but I've always disliked that console and it's games to begin with. They hold up very poorly to boot.

I loved both Austin and Patrick during their time at GB. I love Rob Zacny on the Shift+F1 podcast.

But Waypoint is 100% Not For Me, and that's fine, it certainly doesn't have to be.

Somewhat related story, I ran into Patrick at Bub City BBQ here in Rosemont one night. I was there with my Dell reps, he was there with his wife Katie to have food before an RTJ show. I barely recognized him as I walked past his table toward the restrooms because he was much taller than I expected. The GB Staff Height Reality Distortion Field effect is real. On my way back I noticed that Katie had vanished, so I quickly stopped by and said hello, and that I loved his articles and whatnot. He was super chill and friendly. Katie came back to the table so I said hello to her and then excused myself so as to not intrude.

I think I may have been more awkward in my attempts to extract myself quickly than I would have been had I just retreated normally.

I never thought that something could be "too lefty" for me, and I love Austin a lot, but Waypoint was that for me. Everything always broke down in a political discussion to the point that I got tired of it. I'm 100% on their spectrum, but sometimes I just wanted to hear about video games and forget about the sh*t going on right now.

Austin was perfect for that as a foil to Vinny's stupidity or Dan's learned ignorance. I don't think he really has a good person to counterpunch with at Waypoint.

Still, I read everything Austin writes. He's a great writer. I feel like we are missing some of that right now with the current GB crew. They are more interested in just doing random nonsense on a live stream - which I love, but I like the deep dives that really only seem to pop up during GotY debates or occasionally during a podcast.

They should bring back Jar Time with Jeff.

Totally understandable, but you're still missing the best thing going in podcasting right now if you're not listening to Waypoint Radio.

That's a really weird way to spell "F1: Beyond the Grid."

Waypoint feels really unique for the lane they've chosen.

Maybe I don't listen to enough podcasts but the combo of Austin, Patrick and Rob make for some of the most intelligent industry & culture analysis that I've heard to date. I appreciate how they weave modern socio-political trends into gaming, reflecting back how intertwined the two can be. Their earnestness and eloquence on the subject is a rare gem, imo.

It's also a nice juxtapose to GB's "goofball" take on the hobby.

I would hesitate to describe Rob's attitude most of the time as "earnest." Sometimes I find his above-it-all cynicism to be unbearable.

My favorite Waypoint is when they are playful and having fun--e.g. Austin reacting to Patrick and Rob's description of Control this week, or much of the conversation around Fire Emblem Three Houses.

Again, I truly like all the folks involved, but I knew that I wasn't their intended audience when they did their first Game of the Year content.

Rob's a bit cynical in Shift+F1 too, if I'm honest. But I still enjoy his input.

r013nt0 wrote:

That's a really weird way to spell "F1: Beyond the Grid."

That's a weird way to spell Shift F1.

Rob and Austin are both super interesting and super eloquent guys who share a lot of ideas and opinions about the world, but the real magic is that the dramatic differences in their personalities create exciting and engaging conversation on just about any topic they cover.

Rob works extremely well on Shift F1 for similar reasons -- his personality and approach to the world are so sharply different than Dan and Drew's that he can't help but generate interesting conversation in his wake. (There's an excellent modern F1 aerodynamics analogy to be drawn here, but I've already burned too much time writing in other threads today to properly carve it out right now. )

My biggest issue with Waypoint Radio is that Contreras has an awful giggle, and he giggles a lot.

I said at the time Austin provided a very important perspective, and it's still the case. Really wish there were episodes he and Abby were both on.

I agree with alto of points on the bombcast and beastcast. It just feels a little less cohesive. I wonder if thats jsut from being imbedded in a larger company instead of stuck in it together as a scrappier team. Its sad to loose that, but I think its worth it if it makes their lives easier.

Dream Team Bombcast: Ryan, Jeff, Vinny, Abbey, Patrick, Austin. Drew at the board.

Whats the 411 on waypoint? I listened for a bit, but check outs a year (maybe 2?) ago. They were being too depressing, and way too horny about every peace of popculture(just like the bombcast gets too stuck on its tangents). Which is a shame since I enjoyed Patrick and Austin away from Waypoint at GB, and Danielle at Idlethumbs. Well the main Idle thumbs. Idle weekend was a bit too much of two people agreeing with each other, and having the exact same take on everything.

Woof.

Don't remind me about Idle Thumbs.

So sad that it just unceremoniously...ended, when they packed up and moved to WA (Valve).

I know Ben says he used some MS voice program for this interstitial music bit, but it sounds eerily like Ronald Reagan.

At least Breckon still streams on the regular.

zeroKFE wrote:

Totally understandable, but you're still missing the best thing going in podcasting right now if you're not listening to Waypoint Radio.

Yes. I hear that Rob is excellent.

...which of course he is! I knew him from his time here at GWJ.

Atomicvideohead wrote:

At least Breckon still streams on the regular.

It's just now Idle Thumb.

I'm miffed too that they just up and left, but hey... new jobs and all will do that to you after the success of Firewatch.

Atomic take

Vrikk wrote:
Atomicvideohead wrote:

At least Breckon still streams on the regular.

It's just now Idle Thumb.

I'm miffed too that they just up and left, but hey... new jobs and all will do that to you after the success of Firewatch.

Its not the first time they stopped the podcast went on like a 2 year hiatus until they got a Patreon or Kickstarter to come back. After they left this time they did have that spin off podcast about random musings they had not sure if it's still going.

I always enjoyed the perspective they brought to podcasts but near the end much like waypoint it started to become too political for me. I appreciate that some people like to absorb games as more of an art form or political outlet. I guess I just don't engage with it at that level.

Off on a side tangent for example there is that 3d realms game that recently came out that everyone on the message board seemed to love. Now understandably some stuff has come to light about it and everyone is disappointed in themselves for having liked it. I have 0 interest in the game but even if I did I can't see some sh*tty thing the developers do turning me off of something I like. It's actually a bit of a problem that I am having trying to reconcile in my head, on one half I recognize the problems on the other I just want to like what I like without having to learn the history or backstory of the creation and everyone involved. I realize I'm probably part of the problem. It just seems exhausting.

I loved Idle Thumbs right up until the "Won't somebody think of the poor orcs? " episode.
Which was the last I ever listened to...

Jeff Cannata's DLC is a good podcast, I assume Christian will be holding it up while Jeff is out recovering.

r013nt0 wrote:

I loved Idle Thumbs right up until the "Won't somebody think of the poor orcs? " episode.
Which was the last I ever listened to...

Jeff Cannata's DLC is a good podcast, I assume Christian will be holding it up while Jeff is out recovering.

I'm assuming that was when they were talking about the enslavement of orcs by the player and the ramifications of it?

Yeah a little to self righteous and absurd for me at that point. Falls into the same category of people being upset and killing animals in games but fine with games like COD. It's all fake it's not real.

Yep. It was so absurd I thought they were joking at first. Until it became obvious they were sincere.

I still don't understand what they were even on about. There was no point to make.

Imma have to dig these up, because takes like this are usually a sign that there was a very good point to make.

SpacePPoliceman wrote:

Imma have to dig these up, because takes like this are usually a sign that there was a very good point to make.

Absolutely look it up if it sounds interesting. I believe it was in and around the release time of Shadow of War. They are usually pretty good about mentioning the games they discuss in the episode blurbs. I think it was mentioned over the course of multiple episodes so it shouldn't be hard to track down.

Not my cup of tea but I'm sure there is an audience for it. They are pretty intelligent well spoken people.

It's probably this episode, but I'm not gonna scrub through to find out for sure!
https://www.idlethumbs.net/forums/to...

edit: The first comment right there on that link discusses it. So yeah.

If you found that conversation off-putting, I can't see how you could like any of the podcast.

Wait, y'all noped out over the f*cking Shadow of Mordor slavery conversation? Wow. That stuff was the blandest take in existence.

I listened to idle thumbs right until the end, the orc conversation didn't make me "nope out". Didn't make the conversation any less absurd and ridiculous though, I feel like they went on about it over the course of multiple episodes it's been awhile since I listened though.

I'll stop talking about thumbs a now non existent podcast in the giant bomb thread ;p. I will quickly say I remembered the name of their new podcast "important if true" not sure if it's still current.

It was more of a final straw than that particular episode being the reason.

But I also wouldn't call that take bland, I'd call it... insipidly obnoxious.

Anyway, yes, time to move on, sorry.

Anybody watch the Advance stream? Worth checking out?