2 worthy video game podcasts

[ferghead]

Oh shit

 

POTTYMOUTH POTTYMOUTH POTTYMOUTH

[Chris++]

Happy Birthday, Ferg!

The arcade memories episode was awesome. You might already know this, but that coin-op you're babysitting was the first with speech synthesis. It was called Stratovox sometimes and Speak & Rescue at other times, but I'm not sure when the latter applied.

[S1500]

For the Toyshop Trouble episode of Atari 2600 GBG, Rick's email segment mentioned a TV special featuring Robin Williams talking about sci fi movies. It was mostly a clip show, but really well done featuring sci fi movie clips from 1950s until today(1982's "today").

 

It was called "ET & Friends". I had that on video tape(betamax) and watched it about 10000 times as a kid. 75% of it is on YouTube.

 

Wait, did we talk about this a few pages back? I saw it a few months ago on YT.

Edited December 22, 2014 by S1500

[RJ]

Halfway thru ferg's latest (TT) ep, & yeah that Brian (the 1st audio submission, he starts around 23:30 in) does have a REALLY great speaking voice. A podcast from him would be most welcome.

[RJ]

& when ferg thanks Willie for all his help getting his podcast off the ground, I was in the middle of a cough & heard him thank Willie for "getting his punk-ass off the ground."

 

[SoulBlazer]

Wow, my ego is getting raised big time this week!

 

First I recorded a podcast with Willie (this week's SNES Podcast, which should be up tomorrow) on Sat. Then my letter gets read on No Quarter that dropped last night. And then Ferg released his 2600 Christmas Memories podcast today which I did a recording for. And then the Christmas Memories for The History of Personal Computing should be out Wed and I did a audio submission for THAT.

 

This week for Christmas it's all about me, me, me!

 

Ferg -- I haven't listened to your new podcast yet, I will tomorrow at work, so I'm just assuming my recording is on it. I don't really know where the Spiderman vs Batman reference came from at the end, I just thought of it while I was recording and thought it was funny. And if you haven't listened to the new No Quarter yet, I also poked a little fun at you on there....feel free to get me back by the method of your choosing.

 

Willie -- thanks for changing the logo for us! And it was great talking with you on Sat night. I'll listen to the Colcovision Podcast at work tomorrow also.

 

Everyone else -- I'm going to do a special SNES episode for this weekend as Chad is not available. I'm not 100 percent sure what on yet, but I may talk about SNES homebrews, or my 10 favorite games, or something else. So I'll have that out for you guys on Sat. Trying to help to fill the gap from my fellow podcasters who actually have families and wives.

[SoulBlazer]

Episode #2 of the SNES Podcast is now live!

 

Welcome to the SNES Podcast episode #2! In this episode Chad and I discuss Knights of the Round, a port of the beat-em-up arcade game from Capcom in 1991. We are joined by guest host Willie of the Colecovision Podcast and ArcadeUSA on YouTube. Willie is a big fan of the game and it was a honor to have him on the podcast. Please submit all feedback, comments, questions, etc. either to the e-mail at thesnespodcast@yahoo.com or on our Facebook page under The SNES Podcast. Next week Chad is doing holiday things so I will record a SNES Special (content TBA) and we Chad and I will return with a new game on Jan 3rd. Thank you for your support, it means so much to us!

 

http://thesnespodcast.podomatic.com/entry/2014-12-22T21_18_36-08_00

[chrisbid]

 

HDC 15!!!

[SoulBlazer]

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I was inspired by other Christmas episodes that other podcasters have done to record a few days early and include my own SNES Christmas memories (and some other systems) and three of my favorite SNES games that I got for Christmas. The episode finishes with some discussion about SNES homebrews. Chad and I will be back with a regular SNES podcast on Jan 3rd with Earth Defense Force. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, etc. please contact me at thesnespodcast@yahoo.com or on the Facebook pages. Thanks for your support!

 

http://thesnespodcast.podomatic.com/entry/2014-12-24T13_08_17-08_00

[SoulBlazer]

We haven't gotten a lot of feedback on The SNES Podcast yet -- with 5 episodes up, I expected more from this point. But many thanks to those who have commented.

 

The download numbers seem okay for a new podcast, and I have no way of checking ITunes, but I've gotten little in the way of any comments good or bad besides some technical issues, which (I think) have been fixed as of the newest podcast (Knights of the Round). Chad, my co-host, is doing the editing and he's getting better at it.

 

I realize it could just be a combo of a new podcast and the holiday season, but I'm trying to get the word out to as many places as possible. Thanks to those who have mentioned it in their podcasts.

[RJ]

'Sokay. Im not the biggest SNES fan, & the 1st couple games chosen didnt really grab me, though KOTR is fun in multiplayer. Im not a big iTunes FB guy either, were I to post a review I'd say B to B+ just on your backstory, drive, & courage to get the show going. Podcast-wise there's nothing really spectacular or dazzling about the show, content, or how it's presented.

 

.02

 

 

EDIT- just realized "FB" above could be misconstrued as Facebook rather than feedback. Haha!

Edited December 27, 2014 by RJ

[+Rick Reynolds]

My thoughts (and I can't believe I'm chiming in on this as I consider myself a podcasting newbie).

 

I have about 40 minutes total of gameplay on the SNES. So I'm not listening for any kind of nostalgia, nor am I particularly familiar with the stuff you're covering. I've listened to the first couple of episodes so far and honestly, it isn't grabbing me. Maybe I'm not the target audience? You'd need to explain a bunch of things to a listener like me about the type of game you're covering. E.g. I know a bit about RPGs, but I've never really played one to its end. I've played the original Legend of Zelda, but I understand that one is pretty much RPG-lite. I've seen beat-em-ups, but they don't hold any attraction and all look the same to me. So the SNES is a system that isn't particularly attractive to me, based on what I've seen. But I'd love to hear about some gems in that library that someone like me should check out.

 

For someone who isn't familiar with the SNES (like me) you need to convince me that the game is worth my time. Should I try it? However, for someone familiar with the SNES, I'd guess you want to talk about the game's place within the overall game catalog. Is it one of the best of the genre? An also-ran that can be skipped? It can be tough to walk that line because you risk boring one or the other bit of the audience.

 

Anyway, I think the most important thing is to do the show you want to make. Ideally, do the show you'd like to listen to. In the end, you should be able to find the right audience.

 

I can feel your pain because the Holiday Special Podcast I do doesn't seem to have found the size of audience that I thought/hoped it might - not yet anyway. But I'm doing the kind of show that I like - a plot summary and mild-critique/analysis of the shows. That's the kind of content that I like to consume in my spare time, so I'm making shows like that.

[Swainy]

Guys, just wondering if any of you listen to the Retro Asylum? If so, I'd love some feedback.

 

 

Merry Christmas everyone! Join us as we go on our Retro Asylum Christmas Dinner to chat about games & systems from Christmas past. Also Dean Swain talks to the host & producer of YouTube hit Classic Game Room.

 

http://retroasylum.podomatic.com/enclosure/2014-12-26T14_44_33-08_00.mp3

 

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/retro-asylum-podcast/id474414834?mt=2#episodeGuid=http%3A%2F%2Fretroasylum.podomatic.com%2Fentry%2F2014-12-26T14_44_33-08_00

[Rob625]

Soulblazer, don't worry about about the numbers, my friend. With the SNES being such a popular and beloved console, a big chunk of retro gaming enthusiasts will definitely tune in out of curiosity. The best piece of advice I can give you is to be true to yourself. Like Rick said, create a show you would want to listen to. Pour your heart and soul into what you do and focus on quality instead of quantity. Just go in there knowing that while you can't please everyone, you can still create a show that you're proud of.

 

Of course, constructive criticism can help. Sometimes other listeners will bring up little distracting quirks you might not have noticed or realized were in the show, so editing them out certainly helps in creating a quality podcast. And sometimes listeners will come up with great ideas that will only benefit your show--if you actually want to adopt those ideas, of course! However, try not to curtail your show to appease everyone's requests/criticisms, because you might just lose sight of your own vision and passion.

 

Bottom line is, have fun, be true to yourself, and make the best show you can make, buddy!

Edited December 27, 2014 by Rob625

[+Ripdubski]

Wow, 5 episode already. Vroom! ITunes feedback has been slow/non-existent for me with most coming through Facebook, email, and Twitter.

[S1500]

SoulBlazer, podcast like how Italians drive. Don't look behind you. Just keep castin' like you're the most popular podcast in the world.

 

Broken Token's latest episode is 6 hours, 56 minutes. A new record?

[SoulBlazer]

'Sokay. Im not the biggest SNES fan, & the 1st couple games chosen didnt really grab me, though KOTR is fun in multiplayer. Im not a big iTunes FB guy either, were I to post a review I'd say B to B+ just on your backstory, drive, & courage to get the show going. Podcast-wise there's nothing really spectacular or dazzling about the show, content, or how it's presented.

 

.02

 

 

EDIT- just realized "FB" above could be misconstrued as Facebook rather than feedback. Haha!

 

My thoughts (and I can't believe I'm chiming in on this as I consider myself a podcasting newbie).

 

I have about 40 minutes total of gameplay on the SNES. So I'm not listening for any kind of nostalgia, nor am I particularly familiar with the stuff you're covering. I've listened to the first couple of episodes so far and honestly, it isn't grabbing me. Maybe I'm not the target audience? You'd need to explain a bunch of things to a listener like me about the type of game you're covering. E.g. I know a bit about RPGs, but I've never really played one to its end. I've played the original Legend of Zelda, but I understand that one is pretty much RPG-lite. I've seen beat-em-ups, but they don't hold any attraction and all look the same to me. So the SNES is a system that isn't particularly attractive to me, based on what I've seen. But I'd love to hear about some gems in that library that someone like me should check out.

 

For someone who isn't familiar with the SNES (like me) you need to convince me that the game is worth my time. Should I try it? However, for someone familiar with the SNES, I'd guess you want to talk about the game's place within the overall game catalog. Is it one of the best of the genre? An also-ran that can be skipped? It can be tough to walk that line because you risk boring one or the other bit of the audience.

 

Anyway, I think the most important thing is to do the show you want to make. Ideally, do the show you'd like to listen to. In the end, you should be able to find the right audience.

 

I can feel your pain because the Holiday Special Podcast I do doesn't seem to have found the size of audience that I thought/hoped it might - not yet anyway. But I'm doing the kind of show that I like - a plot summary and mild-critique/analysis of the shows. That's the kind of content that I like to consume in my spare time, so I'm making shows like that.

 

Thanks to everyone who commented on this and offered some constructive feedback and advise. I wanted to reply especily to RJ and Rick cause of the points that they raised.

 

First off, I SAY 5 episodes but there's really only 2 game episodes so far -- Soul Blazer and Knights of the Round. There is a bonus episode talking about my Mom managing a video store and renting NES games when I was a kid that I helped out with, a intro episode, and a holiday episode. So there hasn't been really much content yet. It's probably a bit unrealistic for me to expect much when I only have two games up, and more obscure ones at that.

 

Which brings me to one of the biggest thoughts and perhaps change to the podcast. As others have said, I AM doing the podcast that I want and that I want to listen to. I've always been a huge SNES fan and I love the system and the games for it. But I also listen to a number of podcasts for systems I know nothing about, or have no attachment with. I just like learning about other systems and hearing people talk about the games for them.

 

Having said that, I also want to make a podcast that others out there enjoy listening to. It doesn't do any good to make something, to put all the time and effort into it, and then not have anyone listen to it. There's two groups of people out there -- people who grew up with a SNES or enjoy playing the games for it and know all about the system and the biggest and most popular games, and those who know little or nothing about it and the games for it. As Rick said, it's a fine line between both groups. I want to appeal to both groups if I can.

 

When I started the podcast, it was with the former mindset -- I assumed most people know about the SNES and have heard people talk about the biggest and most popular games for the system. It seemed redundant to cover those games since other people have so very well. I wanted to focus on the 'hidden gems' of the system, the games that are fun to play and that hardly anyone has heard about them. With such a huge catalog of games (around 780) I have no intent on covering every game for the system, and I figured people wanted to hear about the more unusual stuff. Perhaps I was wrong to enter with that mindset.

 

Also, it seems like for some reason there's a huge backlash against RPG's right now, especily the older JRPG types. I've had at least two people specifically tell me that they don't want me to cover ANY RPG's on the podcast. Well, that hurts what I can do, cause not only was the SNES probably best known for it's RPG's, but the catalog is loaded with great ones. Not only the popular well known ones like Final Fantasy 4 and 6, Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, and Breath of Fire 1 and 2, but more obscure ones as well such as Lagoon, Arcana, Lufia 1 and 2, and the 7th Saga. I don't understand what's causing this backlash right now, but as a huge RPG fan myself, I want to talk about some of these games and what makes them so great.

 

So, I think I'm going to make a couple major changes to how the podcast is handled. I don't seem any harm in dropping in a popular game to cover on the podcast now and then. Kind of take the No Quarter approach to it -- sprinkle in a wicked popular game every few episodes to balance out the obscure ones that no one has heard anything about. The people who know the system should enjoy hearing about the game, and the ones who don't will learn about one of the great games for the console. There's SO many popular and huge games for the system that are a blast to play even today -- Super Mario World, Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, Actriser, Super Castlevania IV, Contra 3: The Alien Wars, F-Zero, Pilotwings, Gradius 3, and the RPG's I mentioned above.

 

Rick, I'm wondering what you ment about how the games we've covered so far. I thought Chad and I did a good job in saying toward the front what kind of game that it is (RPG, Beat Em Up, etc.) and at the end of the game not only saying what we thought about it but to help you decide if you are the target audience for it. For example, 'if you like Zelda games, you'll like this' and 'if you enjoy fight games this is a good one to check out'. And in saying if the game is really average in that genre for the SNES or if it stands out. I'll try to make sure those points are emphasized even more.

 

RJ, you didn't go into any specifics but I'm wondering if your thoughts mirror those of Rick's?

 

Anyway, I'm going to see if I can get Chad to join us here so he can weigh in on this also -- as half of the show, I really value his opinion and thoughts and I'm glad that I got someone else to do the show with me.

 

Finally, do you guys like the idea of a third guest host now and then to talk about one of their favorite games? I always liked it when other podcasts did this, and it was fun doing Knights of the Round with Willie. I'm hoping to get Ferg on the podcast sometime in January to talk about Q-Bert 3 (Ferg, send me a PM when you can so we can hammer that weekend out! ). I really like the idea of getting other people on to talk about it with Chad and myself, but I'm not sure how that goes over.

 

As a closing thought, I also want to do a wide range of topics on the podcast with the games. We've done a Action-RPG and a beat-em-up already, and the next game is going to be a space shooter. I'm not going to change what we're doing next since it's been announced and all, but I strongly believe for the next podcast we'll cover one of the biggest and most popular games for the system. But in the future I also want to do a simulation game, a sports game, a platform game, a strategy game, an arcade collection, and so on.

 

Thanks again to all that commented with their thoughts and their feelings on this. It's a difficult process, and I'm still trying to feel things out. I'm going to apply to the Throwback Network soon as I want to get this on more stuff to get word out there. I'm already on Retro Junkies and those guys have been great! Really supportive. I just wish I was getting some feedback either way. I know most people won't bother -- hell, I'm terrible at it myself. But like Ferg, I'm a little self conscious about doing this and the crickets have been a bit of a concern. Hopefully it's just the combo of a new podcast and it being December. (Why the F did I start in December? I must be on drugs or something.... )

 

Best wishes, Greg

[SoulBlazer]

Wow, 5 episode already. Vroom! ITunes feedback has been slow/non-existent for me with most coming through Facebook, email, and Twitter.

There's actually two ITunes reviews up for my podcast, both 5 stars. They were posted just when it started, though, so maybe they hate it now.

[S1500]

 

 

 

Also, it seems like for some reason there's a huge backlash against RPG's right now, especily the older JRPG types. I've had at least two people specifically tell me that they don't want me to cover ANY RPG's on the podcast. Well, that hurts what I can do, cause not only was the SNES probably best known for it's RPG's, but the catalog is loaded with great ones. Not only the popular well known ones like Final Fantasy 4 and 6, Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, and Breath of Fire 1 and 2, but more obscure ones as well such as Lagoon, Arcana, Lufia 1 and 2, and the 7th Saga. I don't understand what's causing this backlash right now, but as a huge RPG fan myself, I want to talk about some of these games and what makes them so great.

 

 

The biggest backlash is from me, but that's only in the context is that's the only thing that is talked about in their podcast(Final Fantasy), when there's plenty of of other RPGs to talk about. Look at the Retronauts episodes for examples of going overboard. They talk about JRPGs so much without any sort of introduction to the reader, they alienate their listeners. It is basically them talking among themselves, with things they only know. You can totally talk about Final Fantasy, giving it your perspective. I would suggest explaining the FF game(in question for the episode) to someone who's never experienced it before. I still have yet to to find free time to try out any of the FF games(but will). But definitely talk about the lesser-known RPGs if that's what you like, and you can shed some light on games other podcasts have skipped over.

 

Heck, even I did an all-RPG episode or two(Tunnels of Doom & Fallout Tactics). With the depth of RPGs by nature, there's plenty to talk about in any one given episode. Captain Novlin? Not so much.

[Rob625]

I'm just looking forward to hearing some love from Lufia for the SNES. I had to dress up like a girl for that game!

 

...Long story...

[S1500]

I had to dress up like a girl for that game!

 

...Long story...

 

(Subarubrat voice) Isolate that..

[RJ]

I DID enjoy fhe nostalgic mom's video store ep, my favorite so far. I love nostalgia & reminiscing about the goood ol days of the 80s (90s for SNES) but thats about where I graduated, entered the real world & started working, took on responsibilities. & life wasnt all snacks & video games after school anymore (I'm 43 BTW). I was always an ATARI guy & a housemate had an NES, then went to Genesis, so that was my only source/exposure to 16-bit gaming. Then he went Saturn, then Playstation, so actually I skipped over the SNES In its heyday.

 

So, though the 90s do hold some memories for me, when I look back on good times & awesome video games I always choose fhe 80s. Additionally, I didnt have SNES until I found a base unit at Goodwill for $4 around, maybe early 2000s?

 

I plan to stay subbed & if I see an episode Im not interested in I'll jiust pass on it. I like hearing about games I already know about/am familiar with- which may sound odd, but thats where the nostalgia comes in. & I think I stated before, I know the SNES was big on RPGs & assumed some would be podcast subjects. I'd simply duck those episodes. I've tried RPGs & just cant get into them.

 

Buuut...I look forward to fhe Qbert 3 show- I have the cart & can relate to playing it. It's arcade-y & fun & acfion oriented & doesnt stop or drag.

Edited December 27, 2014 by RJ

[+Rick Reynolds]

Hmm. Maybe I should listen to the Soul Blazer episode again, this time more carefully. I didn't come away with a good feeling for whether or not I would like the game, but that might have been my poor listening.

 

I really don't know much about the SNES, so maybe that's holding me back a bit. I should probably listen to a few more episodes and then rethink it.

[S1500]

So who scored the longest podcast episode for 2014? BrokenToken just hit 6:56 recently. Still need to check times(for 2014 only) for the Intellivisionaries & other BrokenToken episodes + RetroGaming Roundup.

[S1500]

Here's the 2014 Award categories:

 

We Miss You!

Best Podcast Intro

Most Irritating Co-Host

Best New Pinball Podcast

Best Podcast to Fast Forward Through

Best New Retro Computing Podcast

Best Off-Topic Podcast

Podcast of the Year