Gamer Podcasts

Trying to work through the E3 Weekend Confirmed cast.

I remember when Jon Davison used to say something other than lolipadizbettar over and over again.

I think I'm going to have to stop listening to this cast. I used to listen just for Jeff Cannata and Brian Leahy, but now that half that pair is gone it's gotten to be a chore. Garnett is almost impossible to put up with when I only care about the opinion of one other person on the cast.

I liked it when Brian was on. Seemed to have good chemistry but now Garnett has seemingly become more annoying. I still like his opinion as he has similar tastes to mine but I find it really hard to listen to when he goes off about the "high brow" stuff(I get it Heavy Rain is the future!) or playing devils advocate or when he hypes or slams a game he hasn't played ect.

Anyway this weeks Rebel FM was great. It's nice to go through E3 games without the people talking about them being noticeably exhausted and had time to think about how they feel about them. Plus they did what all gaming podcasts I hope do and that is make me want to play games.

Mr GT Chris wrote:

Frankly, on the latest episode of Weekend Confirmed, Zav and the lady (sorry I've forgotten her name) needed a lot of talking over. Especially when Zav went off on his self righteous rant about reviews and somewhat missing the point in the process.

Overall not one of the better episodes.

It's insane to me how I've seen a couple of different justifications for the ex-PR firm for Duke Nukem. The review for it were mean? So what. Some reviews being ill-thought, ill-constructed, and lacking context-- sure. But do we have to worry about hurting a game's feelings now? It irks me, and came up on this last week's ep.

demonbox wrote:
Mr GT Chris wrote:

Frankly, on the latest episode of Weekend Confirmed, Zav and the lady (sorry I've forgotten her name) needed a lot of talking over. Especially when Zav went off on his self righteous rant about reviews and somewhat missing the point in the process.

Overall not one of the better episodes.

It's insane to me how I've seen a couple of different justifications for the ex-PR firm for Duke Nukem. The review for it were mean? So what. Some reviews being ill-thought, ill-constructed, and lacking context-- sure. But do we have to worry about hurting a game's feelings now? It irks me, and came up on this last week's ep.

I also resent the implication that the only people competent to review a game are people that have played every game in the series or 100 other games in the genre. Sure, it could bring context, but that doesn't mean that a fresh perspective cannot give a game a fair shake.

I know I'm LTTP, but I started listening to Red Sun Gamer this week, and really enjoy it. 8-4 is another great podcast out from Japan I've recently discovered.

demonbox wrote:

It's insane to me how I've seen a couple of different justifications for the ex-PR firm for Duke Nukem. The review for it were mean? So what. Some reviews being ill-thought, ill-constructed, and lacking context-- sure. But do we have to worry about hurting a game's feelings now? It irks me, and came up on this last week's ep.

If a site is no longer critiquing your game but just using it as an excuse for vitriol and the site's own audience is buying into it then what possible benefit is there in assisting that site with their reporting? Jeff had it right when he said that the PR dude was in a no-win situation by tweeting about it. PR companies should just quietly blacklist those sites they don't want to deal with (which is what they currently do I'm sure). Openness doesn't pay in this case.

Zav got off track by talking about review scores and reviewer integrity. Gamespot (or whoever) giving the game a 3/10 was never the issue from what I understand.

I stopped listening to Weekend Confirmed a long while ago. I am trying to listen to this week's episode and it still feels like it is missing something.

obirano wrote:

I am trying to listen to this week's episode and it still feels like it is missing something someone.

Yep, Brian Leahy.

Dyni wrote:
obirano wrote:

I am trying to listen to this week's episode and it still feels like it is missing something someone.

Yep, Brian Leahy.

I don't miss Brian's Jon Davison level of iOS fawning but when he did talk about larger scale console and PC games, he often had some good insights. I don't know why they bother with Andrea Rene. She's clearly more a media personality who doesn't have much of value to contribute in my opinion.

Brian's Starcraft 2 chatter was always cool even though I'm not especially interested in the game. Definitely brought a different perspective.

Parallax Abstraction wrote:

I don't know why they bother with Andrea Rene. She's clearly more a media personality who doesn't have much of value to contribute in my opinion.

Sure she does! Dead Space is bad because it's too hard because you have to aim and stuff, remember?

Dyni wrote:
obirano wrote:

I am trying to listen to this week's episode and it still feels like it is missing something someone.

Yep, Brian Leahy.

Good point. It was very shortly after he left that I quit downloading the podcast.

obirano wrote:
Dyni wrote:
obirano wrote:

I am trying to listen to this week's episode and it still feels like it is missing something someone.

Yep, Brian Leahy.

Good point. It was very shortly after he left that I quit downloading the podcast.

I really didn't like him when he was on the show. Then as soon as he left I realized how much I missed disagreeing with him every week. The show hasn't been a regular listen since.

casual_alcoholic wrote:

I really didn't like him when he was on the show. Then as soon as he left I realized how much I missed disagreeing with him every week. The show hasn't been a regular listen since.

This is something I've noticed with myself, but it only happens or works with very specific people. Some people I disagree with regularly are great. Others I can't stand to listen to.

For instance, I very often disagree with Jeff Gerstmann or even Rabbit on the CC, but can listen to them talk and voice their opinion anyway and not have any problems at all. I'm totally cool listening to either one of them say tons of things I disagree with and I'm fine, or maybe even more interested in the conversation. Shawn Elliot used to sort of jump in and out of this group too, depending on the game he was talking about at the time. Jeff Cannata is in this group too. I disagree with him on probably 75% of the games he talks about, but I'll happily listen to him anyway.

On the other hand... Tom Chick and Nick Suttner used to both be able to singlehandedly kill a podcast for me. They annoy me to a degree I didn't think possible for a person I'm not in any form of at least semi direct conversation with. Thankfully they seem to have disappeared from the face of the earth, at least as far as podcasts are concerned. Garnett Lee and maybe one or two other people can kill a cast for me too if there aren't enough other people there to balance things out.

In what way did they kill it for you? I've never listened to them, or disliked anyone that much on a show, so it's hard for me to understand.

Thin_J wrote:

On the other hand... Tom Chick and Nick Suttner used to both be able to singlehandedly kill a podcast for me. They annoy me to a degree I didn't think possible for a person I'm not in any form of at least semi direct conversation with. Thankfully they seem to have disappeared from the face of the earth, at least as far as podcasts are concerned. Garnett Lee and maybe one or two other people can kill a cast for me too if there aren't enough other people there to balance things out.

I love listening to Tom Chick talk about games, and he is definitely in that group of folks that I can disagree with but enjoy his commentary. I have a good feel about a game when he discusses it, even if he is unhappy with stuff that i might like. He just breaks it all down very efficiently. I think this makes him a great reviewer, too.

The reason I like the CC is that i feel this way about all of the guys (and Lara!), except for Gald. I like like him, but when I am disagreeing with him, I want someone to put a gag in his mouth. Although I do like him in the smaller doses we get now.

Another regular guest from the JtS podcast I really like, even when he is wrong, is Michael Barnes. Like Chick, he breaks down a game very well and really finds the nuggets that make it work or fail.

1Dgaf wrote:

In what way did they kill it for you? I've never listened to them, or disliked anyone that much on a show, so it's hard for me to understand.

Nick Suttner: He's just boring. In every possible way. His disappearance from the podcast scene was a wonderful, wonderful day for me. His ability to suck the fun from a podcast in three sentences or less led me to stop listening to or skip large sections of basically every podcast on 1up whenever he was on them.

Tom Chick: States opinions as facts, and claims facts are just opinion. Does both constantly, particularly in any conversation he has about an RTS game. That's where probably something close to 100% of my problems with him come in. Impossible for me to listen to without wishing for the magical ability to punch someone through the internet.

Garnett Lee: Possibly the rudest, most arbitrarily and needlessly argumentative person in the gaming podcast business. He interrupts people in mid sentence multiple times in just about every single cast, and never for good reason. Someone else on the given cast has to be willing to call him out on his BS regularly for him to be tolerable.

I can give examples for at least a specific discussion or two where people have said something that is factually just flat out wrong and then spent ages arguing it, which is something that can sour me on a person almost instantly, but I feel like actually getting into that will lead to a significant amount of off topic discussion about the games involved.

Jayhawker wrote:

Stuff about Tom Chick

I disagree with this so hard I don't even know how to put it accurately into words.

Thin_J wrote:
Jayhawker wrote:

Stuff about Tom Chick

I disagree with this so hard I don't even know how to put it accurately into words.

I'd say your analysis of Tom Chick is guilty of EXACTLY what you claim about him.

But I know he is divisive and produces pretty strong reactions in some folks. I know Certis mentioned that he won't read his reviews because he ruins games for him. But I got the impression it was more that Chick dings games for things that are usually not a big deal for him, but it does make it harder to enjoy the game if you keep seeing the things he complained about.

Personally, I don't get to worked up over someone saying something as a fact that I know is an opinion. It seems like a waste of time to pick apart the semantics when I know what is meant.

I haven't listened to a JTS with Barnes (or haven't realized it) but I definitely like his writing on NHS a lot. I loved his review of Portal 2, for example, even though I really enjoyed the game.

Jayhawker wrote:

I'd say your analysis of Tom Chick is guilty of EXACTLY what you claim about him.

That doesn't even make sense.

gregrampage wrote:

I haven't listened to a JTS with Barnes (or haven't realized it) but I definitely like his writing on NHS a lot. I loved his review of Portal 2, for example, even though I really enjoyed the game.

With Bill and Brandon out, Mike should be joining us for this week's show (to be posted next Monday). Hopefully we start getting him on a bit more regularly going forward. That's an oversight in desperate need of correction as Mike is a blast to have on. (Talk about someone I frequently disagree with, but whom I immensely enjoy talking to and reading.)

As for the stuff written about Tom, I prefer to stay out of discussions criticizing people on podcasts (ours or anyone else's; well, unless I can have some fun with it). It's tough to do these things week in and week out and not run aground for one reason or another (which is one of the many reasons I respect the GWJCC's longevity so damn much), but like him or no, Tom's one of the good guys in this business. I get that he often holds minority opinions (some I agree with, some that I don't), and he's absolutely strong in his opinions, but the notion he pushes his opinion on others is completely contrary to my experience with him. The man likes discussions about games about as much as anyone I've met.

obirano wrote:
Dyni wrote:
obirano wrote:

I am trying to listen to this week's episode and it still feels like it is missing something someone.

Yep, Brian Leahy.

Good point. It was very shortly after he left that I quit downloading the podcast.

Yeah he was the reason I started listening to it to begin with.

Thin_J wrote:

Tom Chick and Nick Suttner used to both be able to singlehandedly kill a podcast for me. They annoy me to a degree I didn't think possible for a person I'm not in any form of at least semi direct conversation with. Thankfully they seem to have disappeared from the face of the earth, at least as far as podcasts are concerned. Garnett Lee and maybe one or two other people can kill a cast for me too if there aren't enough other people there to balance things out.

I find this almost funny because those are by far my two favorite reviewers in the entire industry. I still feel a little empty not getting Suttner's opinions on games, though am glad to see that it's working out for him at Sony. Tom Chick I can understand disliking as a reviewer as he has a very particular taste in games. He expects a lot out of them and pays attention to minute details that would make most people say "Who cares?".

1Dgaf wrote:

In what way did they kill it for you? I've never listened to them, or disliked anyone that much on a show, so it's hard for me to understand.

Same here. Nobody has ever bothered me enough on a podcast to stop me from listening. That is assuming there is still something on the show that pulls me in.

I don't get all the John Davison hate either. Yes he does compare things to iDevices a lot, but I've found that it's usually relevant. He does love iDevices but I don't think it's blind love.

Delerat wrote:

I find this almost funny because those are by far my two favorite reviewers in the entire industry.

Well, I find it totally confusing that anyone can listen to either one of them.

Agree to disagree and all that I guess.

Delerat wrote:

I don't get all the John Davison hate either. Yes he does compare things to iDevices a lot, but I've found that it's usually relevant. He does love iDevices but I don't think it's blind love.

I don't hate him. I really don't. I just want him to talk about something else again. I used to like him quite a lot when he'd get going on a racing game or any number of other things. He's intelligent, and he's a good conversationalist and that comes across very well on a podcast. But the last three or four times I've heard him on a podcast he's drug the conversation to the iPad and the iPhone and the applewhatthehellever multiple times in a single cast. He'll mumble out one or two lines about everything else and then wait for another opportunity to squeeze Apple into the conversation.

Thin_J wrote:

I don't hate him. I really don't. I just want him to talk about something else again. I used to like him quite a lot when he'd get going on a racing game or any number of other things. He's intelligent, and he's a good conversationalist and that comes across very well on a podcast. But the last three or four times I've heard him on a podcast he's drug the conversation to the iPad and the iPhone and the applewhatthehellever multiple times in a single cast. He'll mumble out one or two lines about everything else and then wait for another opportunity to squeeze Apple into the conversation.

Understandable, but I think without a regular podcast to be on, he hasn't had the pressure of keeping himself up to date on everything, and he's likely very busy between Gamespot, family, etc. I realize I'm making excuses for him, but as annoying as his love for iDevices might be right now, I don't want to see his opinions disregarded like he's just a blind fanboy.

Sorry if this one has already been posted, but Radio Free Nintendo is a great underrated podcast, not entirely focused on the Big N. The hosts are, at heart, Nintendo fans but they also play 360, PS3 and PC games. They are funny, make interesting points, are very well educated about the gaming medium and don't get the attention they deserve for the work that they do.

They come from Nintendo World Report, previously known as Planet Gamecube, founded by Billy Berghammer (he has promoted the website and podcast before).

Itsathief wrote:

The hosts are, at heart, Nintendo fans but they also play 360, PS3 and PC games.

Hmm, that's me. And I'm kicking Weekend Confirmed out of my rotation. I'll have to give it a listen.

I generally give anyone that talks for two plus hours in a row a lot of slack, because you are bound to say some things that don't make a whole lot of sense. I've said things in court that, thinking back on, have been totally idiotic. I've also heard other lawyers and judges say equally dumb things. It's much easier to listen and pick them out, however, than talk a lot and sound like Cicero all the time.

Nevermind, I basically made the exact same point as Thin_J.

Brian Lehey was the person I cared about the least when the show started, by the time he had left he was almost the only reason I came to listen to the show.

Jeff Cannata... ehh he was charming and had a certain impact back in the days when he was the occasional guest.... can't say the same in a regulars role.

Garnett Lee is the pillar of the show, but he's only really the pillar. What the show actually gets built as is a void he just can't fill on his own. Without Brian Lehey, it's hard to go back to the podcast other than out of just a certain sense of 'loyalty' to Garnett. 1up Yours was the first podcast I ever listened to (soon followed by GFWL, and then GWJ), and it was the reason why I ever started paying attention to what actually goes on in games I play (other than just 'winning' the best and most efficient way possible) as well as the industry in general.

Maybe if they started bringing in more guests in like they used to in the hey-days of 1up Yours??